My Path My World My Choice My Dreams My Life

Looking back at 2011, Looking forward to 2012

2012-01-08T22:13:00.005+08:00

This is going to be purely personal and nothing to do with the world crisis, Singapore governmental issues or macro/micro economic outlook though I understand how these can greatly affect me. I will just do a simple self reflection on a personal note else this post will be never-ending.

2011 was a very eventful year (I guess it speaks for the world as well), never a dull moment though some down times. I had many 1st-time experiences and still wishing for more. Although I didn't set any resolutions, it will still be a sweet journey to reflect upon the colourful events of the year and make a few resolutions for the new year!

Let's get going...

1) Simon proposed with the girls-will-all-die-for-it-ring contained in that highly overpriced little-turquoise-box. Under much anticipation (everyone is betting that he will propose during Europe trip and true enough he did!) and not much of a surprise (unfortunately as I accidentally picked the little blue box out from his backpack while searching for travelling map, what a lousy place to keep secrets!!!), it was a total flop! I was still happy to be popped the question but fairly disappointed with the way he proposed - no surprise, lack romance, no feeling of "I'm-the-happiest-woman-on-earth" and worst no down-on-the-knees!!! Am I expecting too much because they are fantasies that only exist in fairy tales?

2) We bought our 1st love nest together! A 4-room HDB in Tampines Greenwood at Blk 868B Ave 8, my mum definitely like the 888s. As I have been staying near central region all my life, its almost impossible to uproot me and move me far east/west but I have learnt to make sacrifices in a relationship to make things work. Even writing off the minimum criteria that if a flat is not located centrally, it MUST be within 500m walking distance from an mrt. For that, the husband-to-be has promised that I will be owning my own steering + 4-wheels, we shall see in 2014/15. For now, I am kept busy running through Home & Decor magazines for interior design ideas though it's only going to be ready in 2.5 years, I can't wait to fix-up my 1st nest.

3) Simon and I set up a joint savings account to prepare for our future expenses together, we are facing reality very soon and it has hit us quite hard right after we casually (mind you ONLY CASUALLY) discussed about the cost of getting hitched and homed.

4) Our 1st time travelling half the world away on a faraway trip to Europe! To France, the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris where the husband proposed and the lovely wedding of Ben & Elsa in Montpelier. To Italy, where the rich Romanian history lies. To Spain, the world famous FC Barcelona team plays. I must admit that this trip wasn't as exciting as I imagined it to be. There were many hiccups that caused us to breakdown many times and almost to the point of breaking up. However, there were many 1st times and happy times during this trip too! We took way too many photos to be uploaded as everything just seem amazing to us and we followed the locals to do little "illegal" stuff such as not paying for metro tickets a couple of times =P But we got scared and didn't do it often haha. Simon bought me my 1st Dior Bag as promised and I rewarded myself my 1st Prada wallet. I remembered almost wanting to buy the whole Dior and Prada boutique when I was there but after using them for a while now, I don't think I will be buying branded goods in the near future. Not that they failed on me, I just didn't feel justified for the price tag. Until I come to terms with paying for brands, my encounters with luxury goods for now would probably stay at ads plastered all over shopping malls, newspapers and magazines.

5) Alright so here comes an expected surprise-no-surprise - 2nd Proposal by Simon in Perhentian. I was requested by him to take a day off work though I only just started on my new job which wasn't the best thing to do and it's presidential election weekend too, bad choice. What's more? The proposal, though sweet, was too expected (why else would you want to go for a trip all of a sudden?) and I accidentally caught him in the act AGAIN! Yes again!!! Seekee once told me "Can you not spoil your own surprises?" To that I can only say "If I could and I would!". Simon collected the ring after it was sent for resetting to the right size and planned a proposal underwater while we were doing safety stop after our dive. Pretty cool but I saw it coming =P Other than the 11-hours one-way-only bus journey, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip a lot as the food was damn good and the accommodation very comfortable!

6) What beats having something exciting to look forward to such as a new job? I got a position at M co. and left P co. with some mixed feelings. Colleagues at P co. are so fantastic, I had a great time working with everyone including the nice bosses but I know I need to do more, hence the decision to move on but I am constantly in touch with those cool chaps I met in P co. so it seemed like I have never left! Joining M co. was a great blessing in many ways and the best one which I cannot emphasize more, is to finally understand the scary financial markets. There is so much to learn that I literally only covered a tiny bit after being here for 5 months but it was sufficient to entice me to find out more and I am enjoying knowing a little more everyday. Right after joining M co., I made my virgin stock investment. How cool is that? They are performing pretty ok in comparison to the volatile south-heading market. I am glad and thankful for a good and understanding mentor. Such pleasure didn't come very easy too! I had to pass 3 gruesome CMFAS licensing exams which nearly made me unable to fulfill my probation terms which equates to losing my job but that is all history. Always wanting to achieve more, I thought of spending some time every weekend to do volunteer work with animals and I ended up with a part-time post instead - Marine Mammal Trainer with D co. The job is exactly what I was looking for as I was always curious to know the real work that goes behind training and caring for animals and upkeeping their enclosures. So far so good, enjoying the days though I must point out that work is physically very demanding till the point that I am always drained after a day at work.

7) One of the saddest event of my life --- Steven's Death. Never have I ever experience the sudden death of friends or someone close to me. 1st time, very painful. Made me realise how vulnerable life can be and how we should not take things for granted. Shan't dwell on it and move on...

8) Went on too many holidays last year with Simon, Family & Friends.
Simon: Guilin was a random trip as we needed a getaway to a nature place. It was very affordable and the place is really nice for relaxation, looking at the scenic mountains and cycling around the padi fields. Yes and to Hong Kong again as Simon was posted there for work and I went there for a weekend to explore new places with him. Anyway I had unused mileages which were going to expire that year end so why not? Year-end trip to Malapascua was the BEST TRIP to round up the hectic year, I guess we both enjoyed it a lot as there was so much time to slack and swim freely in the private beach. Seeing the thresher shark leap out of water is one of the best moments!

WAT babes: Hanoi was really sucky. After I visited Guilin, I don't quite understand why Halong Bay is a UNESCO site seriously well nevertheless, I enjoyed watching "How I met your mother" with the girls in our hotel suite. Luckily we were smart enough to know that we are a bunch of slackers who will enjoy posturepedic mattresses and cable tv more than walking along honking streets of Hanoi!

SWA girls: Taiwan is always the best place to be with friends, GIRL friends to be specific! 6D5N fully-packed with food, shopping, more food and more shopping. I bought myself 10pairs of pumps and heels only because they were screaming out to me that they were way too cheap to be ignored. Bought a bag of clothes too, noticed that I used "a bag"? I didn't really count the number of pieces that I bought and haven't worn any since I came back... What can I say? At least Chinese New Year clothes are settled =)

Kota Kinabalu was suppose to be a business trip but I sneakily turned it to a half leisure trip =P Flew on Silkair (1st time taking silkair) with Lester and Arnold for seminar, they are the main stars while I'm only a free-riders. Main highlight of the trip is scaling Mount KK with Arnold. It was an extremely-cold-at-night, tiring, 3-hr-sleep-only, physically-demanding 2-day experience but I am glad we survived it. Great to discover from this trip that Arnold is quite caring too. If you ask me whether I will scale another mountain again, I would have answered a big "N""O" in CAPs while I was still catching my breath and fighting off my fever, trying very hard to complete the route. However, looking back at what I have conquered, I might be a bit tempted when Benny told me how magnificent the Himalayas was... time to start preparation/training?

Family trip to Batam: As you have already guessed, it was just a leisure trip over the weekends which was easy to plan and affordable through buying online deals. Really nothing to shout about and more of a family bonding experience.

9) Adding on to travel, this is somehow related. I was kind of tired of working and decided to apply for Working Holiday visa to New Zealand together with Stacy. Seem like now this has to take a back seat as I got a new job opportunity which I would like to work hard on. Shall see how my new job work out and I always have a choice until 13 May 2012.

10) Fitness was one of my achievements for the year as I picked up Tennis from Arnold and made a fairly good investment by signing up for Willow Stream gym spa membership. The price was so attractive (only $750 per annum and includes fitness classes + 2-hr parking each visit) that I couldn't resist! What's more? I began learning yoga and am loving it! At first I thought yoga was just some easy feat for the lazy peeps but it proved to work very well for core strength training and muscle flexibility! Unfortunately, I "neglected" Tennis after a few months as I was too caught up with my weekend commitment. Hopefully I will get some practice by organizing tennis sessions soon!

11) I guess this is going to be one of the best gift I have given myself, where I will continue to enjoy at least for the next quarter of my life? The world is so clear now after the amzing technology --- LASIK. I think the last time I was free of any spects or contacts on was at a tender age of 8? Woah! 17 years of needy friendship on visiual aids! My sudden declaration of independence is as good as China opening up their market to the world, what a wise choice =)

12) The year ended for me torn between my family chalet and the bimbos JB hotel suite. Luckily it ended well as I was able to spend time with both. Hopefully the Bims can countdown in Boracay next year!

Now that I am done reflecting the whole of last year, let me set some targets for this year!

2012 Resolution

1) Establish better relationships with my loved ones i.e. Simon, family & friends

Simon: I am glad I didn't give up on us although there were too many times of exasperation. I am very convinced that you are the one, I don't know how I realise it, maybe just wake up one day knowing it. Reflecting back on our relationship, I truly know how much you mean to me and I hope we can walk our life journey and travel the world together hand-in-hand =)

Family: Unfortunately the most taken for granted and neglected but most depended group of people, I hope for harmony within the family and to bring my mummy for an overseas trip this year, maybe Beijing? The last time we travelled far was in Oct 2010 to Korea. I am glad we managed to at least visit Batam in 2011 together with my brother and his family.

Friends: Mixed feelings due to different priorities and maybe it's just the introvert-loner-me at play again. Sometimes I just don't feel like hanging out with anyone at all and want to be left alone which is impossible if you have an ongoing friendship to maintain. Time is needed to nurture a good friendship though activities like meeting up and b*tching about life. I hope that I can manage my time and emotions better to accommodate all my friends so that no one feels that I don't treasure them or don't give them priority.

2) Grow my wealth by 2x from now through investments and savings

Investments: With the current job, I am in the best position to learn about financial markets and investments. I hope to take the opportunity to make wise and well-planned investments to aid my wealth growth target.

Savings: The most obvious but often overlooked way to accumulate wealth. I ought to cut down on unnecessary indulgences such as
a) massages - I did at least 1 massage (sometimes even 3 or 4 times) per month last year. Way too much! Budget this year: Any kind of massage, once every 2 months only!
b) mani & pedi - Due to working with marine mammals, I am not allowed to wear nail polish. Great rule for me!
c) eye wear - I bought 5 pairs of spectacles in the last 18 months. Time to enjoy my investment in LASIK and stop spending a single cent on any visual aids!
d) apparels - My wardrobe consist of 2 cupboards with 4 doors which cannot close properly due to contents in it spilling out, 1 large travel luggage and a huge plastic box. ENOUGH!
e) footwear - I bought 10 pairs of heels and pumps during the Taiwan trip in July last year and had only worn one pair. My 2011 x'mas gift from Simon was a pair of black Aldo heels. NO MORE for 2012!
f) alcohol - It is expensive and doesn't do good to human body but I still love it! Guess I will have to shop more at DFS =P
g) expensive meals (defined as more than $50 per pax) - Will be good to limit to just special occasions and not more than twice a month

3) Better health and stronger body - Exercise at least 3 times a week (does not include yoga classes), drink a cup of milk and eat fruits everyday, make vegetables my best friend during meals, reduce munching on snacks

4) Take on more task at work
M co.: Hope to start producing and presenting research reports and learn to do equity sales.
My long term goal: Be a featured star analyst on the hottest financial magazine, take on fund manager role and be a sought-after banker =) Sounds good!
D co.: Hope to be a good presenter for shows and start handling dolphins

5) Be more knowledgeable
I realised just how much I don't know... so!!! in order to be in the know, I will need to further my studies! Lazy as I am (I thought that passing CMFAS was an achievement, how myopic can I get?), I definitely need to look beyond my current educational level and maybe purse Masters or CFA? This shall be one of my 2012 resolution to make a planned decision (work out finances and timeline) of what I really want to achieve. Hopefully I can then get down to doing it by 2013!

6) See more of the world
Do a 10km/half marathon in a foreign land to experience and see the country in a different light. Hopefully find a place with great dive sites too! Probable destinations: Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, Lombok
I hope to visit one of this legendary land - Sipadan for diving heaven, Seychelles for the nature and marine life, Christmas Island for animal migration

7) Gadget Desires
(*not important at all) I haven't set my heart or eyes on any yet but I wish to e a proud owner of a new camera with underwater photography ability (or separate device is fine)
Definitely going to get a new phone, just torn between waiting for the in-hard-labour Iphone 5 or get the current 4S or try something different with the Samsung Galaxy Note

Cliché as it may sound, I shall end here with a short note for myself "Life is an adventure, a gift that you should truly enjoy"

You will always be in our heart

2011-04-23T14:32:00.009+08:00

Steven's iPhone whatsapp
23 April 2011 10.54am
The wake for steven will be held at blk 204 Marsiling drive from today(sat) 23/04 to tue 26/04.

In my mind I was thinking "Is he pulling a prank on me or something?" I was thinking if I should call him to verify and I called my sis instead to ask if she heard about anything of him. She said no and I called the whatsapp mobile no. back immediately.

Couldn't get through after a few tries, and every moment of delay just make me feel uneasy. I can't wait any longer and called his other private mobile no. which only his close friends know of. As it starts ringing, the fear in me was overwhelming enough to make my hands tremble but I was still hoping to hear him say "harlow, what's up?" to me again.

To my greatest regret, an unfamiliar voice said hello to me. I couldn't help but have to give it one last try "Hello Steven? Where's Steven?". My hands were trembling even more. "I'm sorry, he's no longer with us", the guy's voice started to break down, and so did I.

It's just too sudden, it's hard to swallow... But we have to face up to the fact that you are no longer with us anymore. That's physical but you will always be on our minds. The good buddy you are to so many people around you. Always willing to help anyone in need. You will be missed very very dearly.

I will never forget how nice you were to me throughout the whole time we know each other. You are always there when I needed you, without fail! Accompanying me through my rough patches in life and making me smile all the time. Even when I didn't ask for you, you will somehow still miraculously appear to cheer me up! Thanks for the special last gift you got for me. This blue dream-catcher, though didn't help me get over my insomnia, made me feel warm in my heart and that a true friend like you care about me sincerely.

Lastly, you have the coolest bikes in the whole world!!! And I'm glad you left the world riding on your dream and your love.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
I love you Steven Ang Mia Soon and I miss you very much.

結伴騎大型摩哆車遊泰‧http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif新加坡男大馬翻車死

与车友北上泰国途中翻车新加坡骑士魂断霹雳

骑越野车征泰国　狮城独子撞死

Only son dies in motorcycle accident

Western Australia Trip (Part 1)

2010-05-05T11:54:00.058+08:00

9-day leave APPROVED! Western Australia journey starts as of 26 March to 11 April =)

Simon and I had decided on WA as our destination as Perth was the cheapest "non-asian" city to fly to and they have great diving spots too! I had initially wanted Great Barrier Reef and Ayers Rocks really badly but decided to give them a miss and travel within our budget. Simon had also offered to be the one to pay for all expenses on this trip as a gift plus to fulfill his promise of bringing me on an all-expenses-covered-by-him trip. Greatly appreciated =)

Something different this time:

1) I decided to take Tiger instead of SQ - $400nett VS $720nett per tix. Which will you choose? Some will probably take SQ for comfort as it is a 5-hr flight plus there are extra perks like food and in-flight entertainment but for me, I thought we could have better spent the extra charge on something else e.g. car rental or good food.
2) I backpacked instead of the usual trolley-luggage travel so I can move around easily and save on check-in cost too! (Tiger check-in is an extra $15-$25) Yeah I know it's cheap but we had to do a budget travel this time as Simon is paying for everything which wasn't easy for him.

Day 0
I left work in the afternoon to catch my 3.50pm flight at Budget Terminal. It was a total mad rush as I had to hand over many work matters and issues while I am away for 2 weeks! We got there slightly early and had time for a meal at Mac before boarding.

5 hours of compressed air is no joking matter! Hence the need to care for my face =) I was comfortably lying down occupying 2 seats as the flight was pretty empty!

We reached Perth International Airport at night, approximately 9pm and took a cab to our host, Ken's house in Kewdale. It was merely the beginning of our holidays in Australia and we experienced 1st-hand of what everyone has been warning us about --- discrimination. Our cab driver was trying to navigate on his GPS to get us to the correct house and stopped by the roadside to double-check the road sign. It was really dark as there weren't any street lights and really quiet. Suddenly, a car from behind starting honking and drove pass us shouting vulgarities at the cab driver with his middle finger pointed at him. We were pretty shocked as I never had such explicit experience before, even after months of travel in US. The driver, who is from Iran, explained that it was very common here and all he have to do is to "be fierce back" to let them know that he's not a good target for bully. We were glad that we made it safely to Ken's house and what was in for us was a comfortable double bed in a private room!

Day 1

Ken brought us to the mall in the morning so we could buy some groceries. Totally felt like US again with the big billboards and spacious parking lots. One thing we realised was that in Perth, it was common to park head-in, while we usually do reverse parking in Singapore - maybe it's to fully utilise the spacious lot. We were on our own to explore Perth after getting home, the good thing was that there was a bus stop right in front of Ken's house which makes it really convenient! TransPerth has a unique way of charging fares hence it requires some understanding to fully comprehend how to get the best fare for your public transport. We did on some occasions foolishly paid much much more than we should =( I must say Perth's public transport is very well-planned with timetables of bus routes clearly printed with simple maps and quite affordable. However, it would be good if the frequency can be improved and they can operate until a later time. Do you know that their last bus/train on weekends ends at 6 or 7 pm? This means that you can forget about going out if you don't own your own vehicle!

We had arranged to meet Angeline at Fremantle hence took a bus to Burswood to take a train down to Perth before changing to another train line further to Fre0 (that's what Australians call it). Lunch at Gino's, although yummy, didn't come cheap - 2 plates of pastas shared among 4 of us cost a whopping AUD42! We were warned that food in Perth is really expensive, which explains why many people cook and eat-in most of the time! It may also be due to the fact that everywhere in Perth closes at 5pm(especially on weekends)?

After lunch, we walked around Fremantle market and bought fresh grapes and an organic choco doughnut! Damn good! We visited the tourist spots such as the Fremantle prison and hopped on the free CATS bus to visit the Fremantle chocolate factory! Love the free choco tasting =P

Next up was to Shipwreck Galleries, the usual kind of museum visit except that this time round, we were not looking at red indian tools and history. They had fairly interesting sea-related equipments, mostly recovered from the sea with divers going deep into the waters to retrieve them. The day was exceptionally cold and windy hence we decided to have early dinner to seek shelter from the harsh winds. It doesn't help that all of us were in summer clothes! Angeline and Kelvin said it was an unusual day as it was usually very warm.

Anyhow, dinner was decided to be Fremantle's habour-famous Cicerella's Fish & Chips! As we were still very full from late lunch, we bought one portion to share among the 4 of us! Excitingly, I went to order but was taken aback when they told me that tartar sauce will be charged at AUD1.80!? I always thought that condiments are FREE?

We ended the day missing our bus and hiding at Esplanade busport to seek warmth for an hour plus before boarding the last bus 39 home to Kewdale. The suburbs were totally pitch dark at night and it was so easy to miss our stop if not for the friendly bus driver who will inform us when we are suppose to alight! I cannot imagine if we had missed this last bus or our bus stop!

Day 2

It was a blessing that bus 39 extends its service to King's Park on Sundays hence we decided to visit the park with a family rider pass which only cost AUD8.80 for up to 7 pax with unlimited rides on TransPerth services. Good deal right? A family-friendly pass for big groups travelling on weekends or public and school holidays! Perth's King's Park is New York's Central Park equivalent! It overlooks the city and is a nice place for jogging or picnic.

Next up to Cottesloe Beach! Nice beach with many kite surfers doing really cool stunts but it was so chilly that I didn't dare to take a dip. There were so many seagulls around and they were really huge in size - that of my head? One of them even came very close to my hip (refer to photo below), probably to pick up scraps of chips we dropped.

We ended the day with Mc Donald's family meal as dinner (refer to photo below). It was the most value-for-money meal for 4 pax plus one of the very few restaurants opened at 5.30pm that day. Yes we were searching for a decent place to have dinner at 5pm but not many places were opened. As usual, we were charged for requesting for extra sauce. I mean how can we enjoy nuggets w/o sauce?

Day 3

A healthy holiday starts with light jogging at Tomato Lake near Ken's house. The breakfast & Mac dinner photos was taken the day before. Breakfast for us were usually toast and milk we bought from the shops. One interesting fact I found out was that our host stored his bread in the freezer and toast them only when he wants to eat them. Many others (Angeline does that too) also do that to preserve their bread for a longer time (as long as weeks!) as a loaf of bread is quite big. I miss freshly baked bread...

We explored the city of Perth and took the short ferry ride over to South Perth. Did you know that Coke in Perth cost AUD3plus per can? We were so glad to find AUD1 Mountain Dew at Esplanade Busport!

There were loads of interesting shops with nice designs at South Perth. We also went for Outlet Shopping at Habour Town and got myself a pair of shades and pumps =) Good Buy!

Food, especially good ones, plays a paramount role in our holiday. Lunch was at Red Rooster, a fast food chain which is only found in Australia. I love Red Rooster's fries! They taste like seasoned chips, very yummy!

Later in the evening, our 2nd CS host, Elise and Russ, picked us from Ken's house and brought us to their nice house in Bassendean. We once again got a private room with double bed (refer to photo below) and even have our own toilet and bathroom! We took one last photo with Ken and his beloved bike before leaving. He is an avid biker and a very adventurous/active man - skydived more than 600 times!

Elise and Russ introduced us to Alfred's Kitchen which Simon and I totally LOVE!!! They serve really good burgers and there is a fire place where you can sit around to keep warm while you dig into your meal. Elise and Russ also brought us to see King's Park as they wanted us to feel the difference when we are there in the morning and at night. It's nice to just relax on the grass patch and see the twinkling stars.

Day 4

We took a train to Perth City the next morning to pick up our rental car. It was supposed to be from Baywater but their service was really bad hence we changed to car2000. We had a reservation with Bayswater (I think we paid an online deposit too!) and they told us that they ran out of GPS when we were there to collect our car. Instead of offering us an alternative, they simply snapped at us with a "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude without any trail of remorse at all! Do they even know what customer service means? We can be bothered as we do not want to ruin our holidays and paid a cancellation fee of AUD10 to shut them off. Car2000, located right opposite Bayswater was a whole load better! Their staff offered us additional maps in case the GPS go bonkers and gave us a wire to plug in our ipods for music during roadtrips!

We headed straight to Caversham Wildlife Park right after. It's a highly recommended place to go if you would like to have close interaction with animals. Check out our kangaroo-feeding photos below =)

Ahahaha I hear your laughter... Now you know why people always say 马脸? The gums and the jaw is really hilarious! The pig and little lambs are really cute too! Check out the retired camel farm owner sign.

The Molly's Farm Show is a good way for city dwellers like myself to know more about farm work. They demonstrated the use of whip to crack, swinging of pail for tea and herding dog at work. There was even a "live" demo of how a sheep is sheared! In case you are wondering why I was touching the freshly sheared sheep, I was frantically trying to gain cosmetic benefits from it! We were told that Lanolin, a natural oil found in the sheep's fleece and produced when sheeps are sheared to keep their body moisturised, is the main ingredient used in women's expensive beauty products. So how can I miss out on this bargain =) for FREE? Haha and I also got a chance to milk a cow for the 1st time in my whole life!

My 2 funny encounter with animals: The cow pee-ed rightaway when Simon tried to milk it! So funny, it was as though he squeezed the wrong part =P The deer was poo-ing as it was walking away from me and I thought its waste look very much like hershey's chocolate kisses =X

It's rare for city dwellers like us to be in close contact with animals hence I just have to play with them for a while more! The furry bear-seal-like grey creature is called a wombat. It's really cute and lazy but Russ told us that there was a recent news report abotu a wombat attacking a camper as he accidentally stepped on it when getting off his vehicle. It was so unbelievable as wombats are know to be mellow...

After Caversham Wildlife Park, we headed to Swan Valley for some wine & cheese and chocolate tasting. Love all of them! When we got home, Elise and Russ were so nice to have prepared BBQ dinner for us which included Kangaroo steak... Yummy =P It's lean and fat-free!

Day 5

A day trip to a nice town called Kalamunda in Perth's Hill and its surroundings. There was so much to see! We drove up the hill and through the zigzag road which we were told that they sometimes hold racing events there. We visited the interesting bee farm where I finally understood how honey is harvested. We also visited the beautiful lake and the important dam. One of the most interesting sight was the bibbulum track which stretches from Kalamunda (Perth Hills) to Albany (South Coast), nearly 1000km long!

The town had an evening market (equivalent of our pasar malam) going on that day and we returned to Perth after taking a walk. Dinner was with our host at a Chinese resturant as there was a CS gathering.

Day 6

Hilary Habour was a good place for tanning and a dip. It's a mystery how they can keep the waters so clear even though it's a docking port for all the yatch! We did many jetty jumps and also took many lonely-planet alike photos at the fabulous beach next to it! Since we had the luxury of driving, we took the scenic route along the beach all the way to Frementale and ended the day with Fish & Chips at Kaili's - wanted to compare which is nicer at Freo Habour!

Network Storage

2010-04-30T15:37:00.001+08:00

Network storage is an effective yet cost-saving option for businesses to increase their network storage without the forking out deep pocket budgets to upgrade the network or server. What’s more? Installation is pretty easy too!

External HDD

2010-04-30T15:28:00.001+08:00

External hdd has become very popular in recent times. Many love to store their personal data such as music or videos and bring along their HDD wherever they go to plug in to any computers for easy data access.

The month of FEB in 2010

2010-03-01T13:04:00.036+08:00

Ok maybe I should make it a resolution this year to post an entry every once a month at least or most?

26 Feb 2010 Hand Foot Mouth Diease and ME
Yeah go ahead and laugh all you want because that was exactly what I did 2 years ago when my friend told me she had HFMD. "Hahahaha I thought only kids get it, oh maybe you are like a kid that's why you are prone to it!" She is indeed a very petite girl, just like your primary school niece. Anyway Karmas do exist, and that's why:

Those are images of my body parts in case you are wondering including all the ulcers and rashes. I was suspecting that I might be having HFMD on thursday night when I saw red spots on my fingers. By Friday morning, I had a big disgusting ulcer (you see in the photo above) on my tongue and I went ahead for work as I didn't want to waste time, got a big project on hand. However by near noon time, I really thought I shouldn't be selfish because I have a pregnant colleague (ok I don't know what are the repercussions of HFMD to pregnant ladies), my bossess have small kids and my other colleagues are confined in the same office as me! I left work to see a doctor just so to be safe. I think even the doctor felt amused as he couldn't confirm and diagnose me as having HFMD. He had this hmmm and half unsure but amused face when he said "It's a rare occurrence in adults and usually for kids only but your symptoms are exactly like it so I will have to give you 5 days MC, if you are a kid I will give you 7 days to stay home. I will make a compulsory report to the health authorities." Yeah and that explains why I became so much fatter munching on all the CNY goodies even though my tongue and throat hurts a great deal and unable to go out to exercise. Anyway the doctor said I can't exercise at all, just light exercise but I feel totally healthy! I read that one of the symptoms of HFMD is loss of appetite, why doesn't it apply to me at all? RAR!

The most worrying thing was that I met WAT babes on Thursday evening for dinner at Wendy's and I shared food and drinks with them =( But I think they won't be so unlucky! Anyway I found out the cause of my disease --- my darn nephew! Everyone esp. my mum, my bro, my sis-in-law and even simon were in more close contact with him than me yet... Haiz, I'm just down on my luck. Or maybe I am still young =D

CNY Visitations & FUN

1st day of CNY is always a pleasant sight as everyone looks lively and sparkling just like us:

Hong Yun Dang Tou is the word for my hair colour! Whenever people comment "Wah, your hair!", I will tell them that =) I started visitation with Simon 1st to his relative's place and then both of us came back to pick my mum + sis & Ric to Ah Ma's place in the late afternoon. It has always been the culture for my family to start visitation late. "Loots" aka angpows for this year seems promising =p CNY happen to be V'day too! Happy V'day to all, no singles will be alone on this special day anymore since it's also CNY! Simon & I watched "Valentine's Day" after all the visiting and I kept tearing nearing to the end of the movie. Don't know why but I felt very strongly for the story and I felt the twist within was really good!

People say Chu Yi (day 1 of CNY) is for visiting your dad's relatives, Chu Er (day 2 of CNY) is for visiting your mum's relatives and Chu San (day 3 of CNY) I would say will be to hang out with friends! Well since it's a holiday in lieu, we wasted no time in heading to Cable Ski at Batam!

Nice Simon gathered all 7 of us, namely (in order of confirmation to the trip) Simon, Me, Edmund, Stacy, Siew Kia and last min my sister and Richard! Other than 1) all of us being overkissed by the sun, 2) my sis spraining her back hence stopped ski-ing halfway, 3) Stacy still being slammed into the water right after she starts, 4) totally famished by evening time, I figured that we had too much fun! I still can't ski the whole round though, only managed 10 secs of fame haha and the falls got so unbearable that I had to wear a helmet as I could sense brain concussion on the way! I will definitely be back for more!

A must-do for CNY in Singapore would be to visit River Ang Pow! Even more so for the year of Tiger since I am one =p It's sort of customary now that this exhibition has been ongoing for years, 24th year this year. Eeek that means it started on the year when I was born?

Knocked off work on Friday evening and headed straight home with Simon to pick my mum, sis and 2 monsters aka my niece and nephew so we can all have fun together. It was mostly photo-taking and viewing the exhibits plus letting the kids have a ride at the funfair. With the photos as evidence of fun, we did enjoy ourselves and got to the point that all of us were so tired by the time we reach home at midnight! I think having kids are really not on my agenda list for the years ahead =) For that I am sure!

Couchsurfing has always been something I hold onto dearly although I am not as active as I should be but I know deep down, I admire such a great invention. So despite a busy week like CNY, I still managed to find time to meet up with Scott from Canada who is visiting Singapore for only 3 days...

I brought him to our longest shopping belt Orchard, to eat laksa at bugis (like what else other than food in Singapore is attractive tell me!) and lastly, we managed to get to swisshotel for that paramount view of central Singapore before he catches his 9pm plane to Australia! After every new meeting with a CSers, I always wonder when will we next meet again...

After meeting Scott, I headed over to RiHao's house for the annual SK gathering (Sang Khem)!

*Awaiting Photo!*

All thanks to WeeMay, RiHao and KarWai's initiative, we all got together again! It's always a tought job to "gather" people, especially a big group of more than 5. Even so, my bimbo gang have to make pre-booking one month in advance to meet and cannot even organise an overseas trip since 2 years ago. That is the norm or sad truth for the working-class I guess, for the various commitments people are tied up with. It has been a while since all of us (less some who didn't turn up) gathered on a dinner table with self-prepared food like what we did back in Cambodia. As we were going to start tucking in, Peiling suddenly commented "Wah got the Sang Khem feel" Hahaha I can't agree more. We talked and laughed and nua-ed the whole night away in RiHao's newly-renovated house. Our main laughing topic was how poorly renovated RiHao's house was, posing too many hazards to us. Hope we can keep to our annual meeting tradition!

Steamboat at SeeKee's House was pre-arranged like more than a month ago?

I was the EARLIEST!!! Haha hence had the privilege to eat all the good food I want 1st. Stupid Stacy was still playing mahjong when all of us were already halfway through our steamboat! Luckily she brought gifts for us haha! Seek's friend also came by and we all played Ban Luck together from which I won 80cents yeah must note down in my diary hahaha. That was the joke of the night for bimbos as Linda sneakily peek into Seek's diary and saw that she wrote "Won $1 from Mahjong =)". We finally tentatively fixed a date for our Taiwan trip in September! That's an achievement, really!

13 Feb 2010 Pre-Valentine's Day

Tadang! Dream come true for Mr. Simon =)

Yes the one on the right, who is me, is of course definitely a dream-come-true for him haha but the one on the left... Let's just say that I am a sweet girlfriend, yes I know that! I bought him a 32-inch Samsung LCD TV for V'day cum 19-monthsary. I granted one of his wishes! He was so surprised to see me that night as I was suppose to be staying at home to watch CNY countdown. So effort right? *full of praises for myself*

30 Jan 2010 Jimmy & Moon's Wedding

Got a phone call on my mobile one fine day at work "Hi I am calling from HDB. You have won a HDB 4-room flat, when can you come down to claim your prize?" Yeah right, when does HDB ever give out flats as lucky draw prizes? Moreover, I don't remember taking part in any lucky draws at ALL! It was actually Jimmy (sort of considered my ex-colleague) on the line. He simply wanted to invite me for his wedding! How linked is that to the 1st conversation sentence he started with?

Anyway, congrats to him and his bride (who happens to be the ex-girlfriend of my ex-colleague cum Uni-mate). Haha they have such a complicated relationship but wells the wedding was a good catch up session for all of us as I seldom meet them for KTV now. May they have a blissful marriage.

26 Jan 2010 Multi Racial Gathering

Had my once-in-a-blue-moon multi-racial meet up. Yeah sounds really cool and since one of the threesome had wrote about it, I shan't elaborate more as you can get all of the juicy details in Giraffe. The rationale behind that post title was purely because of my innocence =) Amy was raving about how great the body worlds exhibition at Science Centre was and gave details about how they even portrayed the real procreation process of human using cross-sectional view. She added that there was exhibition of giraffe also! So I went "oh my so they showed giraffes mating too?" Answer is NO, she merely wanted to say that there are animal exhibits but she made the topics seemed so linked right?

Looking forward to my trip to Perth, my next post will probably be a review of it!

Fall in love again...

2010-01-27T17:24:00.004+08:00

I have to admit that I am kind of having mood swings or just emotionally unstable these few days. Well, maybe not? But I am missing the feeling of falling in love =)

Remember the time when you lay your eyes on someone special and just can't take your eyes off him/her? At any moment that you can afford, you will just take the chance to steal glances at him/her?

And then you realise you want to know more about him/her so you start digging info from your friends or find out his/her schedule and personal details? You will be overjoy to even know that a friend of yours is a good friend of his/her so there is some kind of "connection", so that maybe it can help to pull you closer to the special one?

When you know that you both are somehow related in some ways, you will try as much as possible to make "coincidences" happen e.g. bump into him/her along the corridor or join the same activities in school or hang out at the same club/ resturants.

Maybe you all have talked, maybe not, but miraculously both of you exchanged contacts like maybe email? So you can't wait to check him/her out on facebook and hopes that he/she keeps a blog then you pray that the email works for msn as well.

After some exchanges on such online social networking tools, both of your mobile phones are stored with each other's number but nothing happens. The best part that comes along would be to see that special someone's name appear on your phone! Either an sms or a phone call can make you go crazy!

And then you all start to meet up, and go on dates. During all this while, you feel shy and inhibited. You only present your best front and put on your best whatever you can! You can just smile to yourself without any specific reason all the time, just because you are having that someone in mind.

Everything is perfect as you start to explore someone you are so attracted to! Such sweet moments only happen once and for a short time and I am sure everyone enjoys it so much. You feel that you can spend your whole life with him/her.

All these thoughts came along while I watched the trailer of "New York, I Love U". Guess it will be stronger when I watch the whole movie!

I hope to fall in love all over again...

My 1st Bonus!

2010-01-22T19:02:00.003+08:00

Yeah!!! I finally got my well-deserved bonus today after close to 1 year of hard work =) As I am not entitled to AWS, this little bonus means a lot to me. Although amount is not substantial, it's just enough to replace what's missing in my salary package. Did I mention that I got a little increment too? Wish me luck for more to come. Huat ah!!!

2009 Christmas Trip to KL, 2010 New Year Countdown at Elaine's

2010-01-04T16:57:00.025+08:00

It's a season to be jolly lalalalala la la la LA~~~ Yeah it's time of the year again where people take a whole long break period to go on holidays or simply just celebrate. As for me, I kept it simple to just a short trip to KL during X'mas and steamboat countdown at Elaine's house.

Baby and I decided to visit KL since I haven't been there before, yeah I know very sua gu but I just didn't get the chance. I managed to purchase the last few return bus tickets at the Lavender bus terminal (haha just opposite my office) for $57 per pax. At 1st we were worried that last-row seats are not comfy but it wasn't too bad. We set off from Singapore at 8.30am, arrived at KL about 2.30pm and were both so hungry that we immediately went on our food hunt right after we checked into Equatorial Hotel!!! I must say that our efforts to hunt for this Hakha Yong Tau Hoo wasn't wasted - The Food is SO GREAT! I like the unique Chee Cheong Fun taste, it's like dry skinny hor fun made salty with crispy bee hiam. We also love the fried dumpling!

We decided to watch a movie to kill some time and decided on "Sherlock Holmes", great movie I must say. Our itinerary for the rest of the trip was all just about shopping and eating... I am so surprised to see Krispy Kreme there and can't help but had to let darling try what I had experienced in the states. We had planned to visit the Petronas Twin Tower very early in the morning on Day 2. Unfortunately, as holidays should be, we only managed to wake up at 7.30 am and reached the lobby at 8.30am. By that time, the crowd was crazy beyond imagination (check out the photo on bottom left). Hence we could only continue our hunt for good food haha and we tried Sister Drunken Chicken Mee. The wine taste is very overpowering and it's really subjective - I liked it but Simon didn't.

Shopping at Times Square was good for girls out on the prowl for blogshop dresses. I got 2 dresses and a top for myself at a steal! Cost of 1 dress: RM25, top: RM10. Of course there are more expensive ones but as you should know, Ms Jasmine only loves the best bargains! Haha =P We also visited ChinaTown which wasn't to our liking at all. It feels like HK's Ladies St so we simply sat down at a resturant for dinner to pass time. The service sucks although the food was not too bad. Can you imagine having to call out more than 5 times for someone to clear your table and another 5 times to get someone's attention to take your orders? Wells, maybe my expectations are too high!

WanPing happen to be on family trip to KL and Sunway Lagoon hence we met up for a drink at the bar of Trader's Hotel. I simply love the stunning view from the bar at level 36! Look at the photos and you will know what I mean. WP's family came with us too, only reason being that PIG didn't bring any identity out with her and her family is worried that she might be checked by matas(police)! From what I heard, it is an offence not to produce any form of identity upon request by officials and they can lock you up to 48/72 hours immediately and there is no way for you to contact anyone during this time. I also heard (no prize for guessing who I heard it from) that there was a famous case in Malaysia whereby a girl was locked up for 18months as she didn't have her ID and didn't have the chance to contact anyone, oh my!

We had a whole lot of time on the last day as our return bus to Singapore was at 10.30pm, no choice. Simon wanted to go to Batu Caves very badly but unfortunately, we never made it there. We asked for directions from 6 different people and got 6 different responses! In the end we decided to just sit down and have a slice of Secret Recipe cake each. We also went to the sky tower but didn't go up as the resturant was fully booked. We then proceeded to KLCC for some shopping and I bought a bra from La Senza =P 15% off for UOB cards!

Oh did I mention that there was free shuttle service from the ground to the base of the tower? You can choose to walk but it's quite a distance plus it's elevated! We planned to have dinner at Nandos as baby kept saying that he must eat it! The food is really good but it brought upon us a nightmare later on as their service is really slow and their cashiering machine was down. Anyway, Nandos is coming to Singapore so it won't be too long before I can enjoy it again!

We nearly couldn't make it back to SG if not for bolt's smart idea and my strong stamina! By the time we finished our meal and rushed them to settle the bill, it was already 10.20pm. We hurried to take the tram and changed tram and finally reached the puduraya bus terminal and we ran and ran like no one's biz! We finally found the booth and asked for the boarding stairs no. but was told that chances are slim as the bus probably left. We bolted right down the no.13 stairs to the lot where buses are parked to pick up passengers only to be told by drivers there that the KL-SG bus left and this bus is not for us. Simon and I was very sian and he suddenly just said "the bus is in front, it just left!" So we chased after that moving bus and stopped it, only to realise KL-IPOH. Oh MY... imagine my disappointment. Then suddenly Simon said the most brilliant sentence of his life "go to the main road!". The beauty about this terminal is that it has only one blardy entrance and one stupid exit which explains the congestion but the design has finally prove its usefulness for our case. We ran and banged through the crowd and finally got to the main road where buses exit and Simon stopped one of the bus which was about to filter out to the highway road. I was actively catching up with his speed and you cannot imagine my joy to see KL-SG!!!! Oh my, my heart finally came to a relieve when I went up the stairs and saw that row 3 was empty - that was our assigned seats.

What a way to end our trip =)

Tadang!!! Sumptous Steamboat for the New Year! Took a half day off work (my company doesn't practice half-days =( sad!) to join Bimbos in getting food. We had bimbotic times preparing the food and getting ready.

I remembered we took a smiliar photo years ago... here

We still had our norm to do x'mas present exchange! We also had fun with card games and the oh-so-funny Monopoly! Elaine is as her job title suggest, the best with keeping cash! Seek and me were struggling to keep afloat and Stacy is the funniest! She kept offering collaborations to help the poor but doesn't benefit herself too much. Shows how suitable she can be in doing business. In the end she got so fed up that she said we should just end the game, and we DID! haha =D

We also identified our characteristics at work with the Bad Boss card game seek brought.
Elaine: MC King, Uptight Bitch
Me: PIG aka SOB (i.e. office bulldozer who'll do anything to get things done), Gossiper
Seek: Pantry Thief
Linda: Micro Manager
Stacy: Mental Case, Nervous Wreck

The game is suppose to end with a player losing when he/she is left with the BAD BOSS card. However for Bimbos to play, the player who gets the BAD BOSS card gets to sleep on the bed! Haha so bimbotic!

We started our day with a brunch fondue! A happy start to a new year!!!

Say "Hi" to 2010

2009-12-31T09:28:00.023+08:00

And bye to 2009...

let's check back on my resolutions for year 2009

Resolutions for Year 2009
~~1) Land a good job which I enjoy working and with good pay and benefits.~~
Kind of fulfilled I guess? My job's stable although benefits are minimal and pay is not that fantastic but wells, many people are still struggling to find a job!

~~2) Travel overseas again!~~
Totally fulfilled!
Diving trips to P.Aur, Tioman and NhaTrang (Vietnam)
Short trips to JB, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, P.Besar
Leisure trips to Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, Zhu Hai

~~3) Swim at least once a week to keep fit.~~
Yes I did! But ever since starting my long distance jogging twice a week, swimming became less frequent

~~4) Good health for my family, friends and me.~~
I think everyone around me has been quite healthy (not considering those minor flu and fever)less the fact that many of those who started working are expanding horizontally =D

5) Economy to improve and less people suffers.
I feel that it's getting better but people are still suffering. I was especially affected by the environmental issues now that Copenhagen Summit has ended and no concrete measures are in place

Reflecting on year 2009, I guess it's a combination of ups and downs as with any other years or maybe more?

One of the most significant event must be that I embarked on my career path - 1st permanent job after graduation. I must say it was a stable year for my work and I was full of drive and energy when I first started out. I learnt a lot about an industry which I had zero knowledge of prior to taking on this challenge. I am particularly grateful that my boss offered me an opportunity to grow with the company even though I was a fresh grad at that point and the economic situation was worst than one could imagine. Brushing aside the fact that I might be cheaper to hire, hmmm let's not go into that, in the positive light, my boss saw potential in me! Anyways, all was not so smooth-sailing for me. The truth is, I missed my US life a lot and I can't help reminiscing the good O' days I had with my 3 other gal buddies in US. The carefree life we led, the places we got to see, the time we spent together and all the great people we met! It got especially unbearable when I had time on hand to recollect the fond memories with familar music blasting my eardrums from my mp3 player during my bus rides to workplace, even if it's just a short 20mins is enough to make me sign. Other than my own emotions roaring, I also had difficulties coming to terms with my job sometimes. Being always the earliest to get off work, waiting for friends to get off work to meet me which leads to the previous point, having to spearhead various unrelated work issues, not doing job functions I really want to do hence losing interest and focus on my job and not being constantly challenged proved too much for me to bear. I would sometimes question myself of my existence and my satisfaction towards my job. It also doesn't help when people keep thinking that my life is good and especially for my job. Maybe I am too impatient, but I am someone who's just out of school, ready to take on the world, if you know what I mean. For now, I have spoken to my boss and let's just hope that things gets better for the coming year.

Well there is always a saying that you gain something when you lose something, not really reflective of the situation I have here but somehow similar. I feel really lucky to have met nice colleagues in the company whom I can really call my friends and I believe I will stay in contact with them even when in future we are not working for the same organisation anymore. How often do you get the chance to be able to complain to your colleagues about work? Colleagues! Mind You! Are the very people you guard your arse against politics and more politics right? So I consider myself very fortunate in this respect.

As work now forms a big part of my life, I have dedicated quite a huge quota of words to it. Nevertheless, I would also want to reflect upon my personal life. First up let's have my family. The year can still be referred to as smooth for us less some usual family matters unsettled and some angry, irritable and emotional moments. My sister is planning to get married and I wish her all the best and hope she can take more time to do self-reflection to be a better person. As for my parents, I just hope they can live peacefully and be healthy always. Next up, my soulmate. I feel happy that we have been going quite strong and the main factor is that we share similar interest such as travelling, diving, swimming, hiking and exploring places we have never been to. However, there is really much improvements to be made for how we treat and accomodate each other. It proves to be a huge challenge and the worst thing is that he doesn't see it as a problem at all, which is worrying to me. Last but not least, Friends. Had some minor unhappiness with few friends at different times. Guess it's unavoidable especially when all of us are now working, less time, more commitments and different agendas. Nevertheless, it's good to know that Bimbos are meeting up regularly, once a month vs once in ages previously. WAT babes are also meeting regulartly plus an overseas trip to Macau and Zhu Hai. However, I haven't really made the effort for other friends (stood up RaRa gathering =( and seldom meet my primary school bestie; what about my sec sch buddies? Am I only going to see them during BIG events like wedding and baby's birth?). Hope to really get down to it in year 2010!

Seems like a satifying year huh? I have achieved my few resolutions for 2009. It's always good to set achievable targets. Shall now move forward to set more viable targets for the year ahead. In no order of preference:

My Resolutions for 2010
1) Bring my family on an overseas trip (maybe Great Wall of China?)
2) Pay increment, Bonus and more job functions to satisfy my ambitions
3) Achieve measurable success in my marketing job function
4) Leisure Travel to Australia and many other places
5) Dive trip to Sipadan and more
6) Travel to Taiwan with Bimbos
7) Exercise 5 times a week, no joke! combination of swimming and jogging
8) Take part in NIKE SHAPE Run doing 5km
9) Meet and catch up with all my friends
10) Attend enrichment courses e.g. Photography, Personal Development, Spanish
11) Obtain Powered Pleasure Craft Driving Licenses (PPCDL)
12) Do my part to save the environment
13) Engage in some volunteering activities
14) Good health for myself, my family and friends
15) Economic situation to get better and more jobs created
16) More concrete plans from the authorities to save Mother Earth

Hope to strike off all 16 points at the end of the year when 31 Dec 2010 arrives...

7-16 Nov 09 Hong Kong, Macau & Zhu Hai

2009-11-22T23:56:00.059+08:00

Yes it's HK again and I realised that I really ♥ HONG KONG! This trip was initiated by work as there was an interesting conference related to my industry taking place at HKCC hence I seeked permission from my boss to attend it.

Managed to get a good deal on JetStar at S$288 (all inclusive with 20kg check-in) return air tix. What's more? I had the luxury to depart to HK and return from Macau. Sweet! Darling decided to take a short break from work and tag along with me to explore HK as he has never been there before...

Haha dunno why that cheese ring pack ballooned so much! I watched the movie "He's Just Not That Into You" on board and I really liked the movie because it really makes sense. Don't be mistaken, it was on my netbook, Jetstar still doesn't have personal screens. For the price I am paying? Dream On! We took bus a21 from the airport which takes us to Tsim Sha Tsui, very near to our hotel. It cost about HKD30 and passes the whole long Nathan Road so I suppose you can go to MongKok too.

Lucky for me, I got a food list from SeeKee and it was such a treasure! The list contains all the good food and addresses of where to find them. Darling and I basically live off it for the whole time we were in HK. You will know what I mean as you see more of our food hunt adventures. I will update the list according to my own experience too, let me know if you want it, more than willing to share! Our 1st stop: Macau Resturant

Food taste pretty good but not exceeding expectations and the serving was too large for both of us to share. Tarts were good! Took a random shot with the billboard that has Sammi Cheng haha. It is really odd that we didn't take a photo with our hotel along Kimberly Road. I only realised after I tried to find a photo of us with our hotel but couldn't. Maybe because it wasn't impressive at all and their service was very disappointing. Anyway, we stayed at The Empire Hotel, Kowloon at S$780 for 6 nights. I would consider it expensive as the hotel was as good as guesthouse standards only and it was quite a distance from the main road to take buses and MTR.

I am not too sure if it's the street that is atas or what but all the cars that runs along this street are Lexus, BMW, minicooper, Mercz, Bentley, Audi, Lambo, Ferrari, Porsche etc. The amount of BMWs, Lexuses, Merczs, Audis etc are that of our honda, nissan, toyota, suzuki and their Bentley, Lambo, Ferrari, Porsche are equivalent to the no. of Mercz, Lexus, BMWs we have on our roads. WOAH... was there problems with my eyes or car's too cheap over there? None! I was told that if you are considered rich in HK, you really are and you won't want to buy an asian-made car.

Took the MTR to ShaTin to see horse racing. Initially planned to go to Happy Valley but the hotel staff advised us to go to ShaTin instead as you can see the real horse in action and not only the big screen. Haha the cushioned seats you see me sitting on was actually for 1st class MTR tickets. I went to the wrong cabin =P We were a little late as we reach in the late afternoon at about 4pm and there were no more trains to the racecourse station hence we had to take the MTR to Fou Tan and take a short 10mins walk over. It was worth it! The place is definitely much bigger than Singapore's Turf club although I haven't been to SG's one before. The grand stands are so huge and stretch all the way across a few mountains! I'm not kidding. It's cool to see so many people who really do hardcore gambling, shouting and swearing at the horses and throwing their wasted tickets on the ground haha

Headed over to Hong Kong Industrial Centre next as I heard that it's a wholesale centre for lady's fashion, clothes, bags accessories etc. It proved to be a wrong choice as the season is fall and their clothes are all long sleeve, not suitable for summer Singapore! Moreover, the people there are a little unfriendly as they prefer to do wholesale than retail. Left after a few rounds and headed to the oh-so-famous MongKok. Haha did the usual of shopping around then went for our 2nd food stop: Mai Wen Ji Mian Jia. Best Wanton Mee in HK! We also ordered nai cha and steam egg from the neighbour stall Australia Dairy Company which was also recommended on the food list.

Day 2 was all about nature! We took MTR again to Choi Hung, a more sub-urban area for hiking at Sai Gong. Sai Gong is a very interesting place where seafood is very fresh and a main source of living for some. Check out the fresh seafood in the containers on the boat. People standing at the jetty can just purchase them directly from these fishermen. I filmed a video of how this live seafood are being processed! Damn yucky =p

Embarking on our nature trail...

I love this hike, all thanks to darling who planned it! I never knew HK have such places to visit. Previous 2 times I visited HK was all about shopping eating and growing fat. Simon kept saying that it would be so nice to live in HK because you will work in the city during the weekdays and on weekends you can choose to experience nature by coming to such places which are not far away. Just hiking, jogging or long walks will make one feel so good to be in touch with the natural environment again.

Unfortunately for not-so-strong me, I had to take many breaks in between and even stopped for a bowl of tou fu hua =P We were also a little too adventurous as we were advised to take a cab or bus but thought that we could manage a 6km trail easily, not knowing that it was a up-down-up-up-down-down route instead of a flat ground route. Plus down is those really steep kind which you will slip and fall if not careful enough. Haha wells, it was all worth it...

After a long tiring but fulfilling hike, we must of course reward ourselves to good food and so food stop 3: Mikawaya at Hung Hom. We were so tired that we took a minibus back to Sai Gong and took another minibus back to central area. As the bus stop by Hung Hom which is near to TST, we thought we should just select a food place here to try out. FOOD WAS GREAT! Curry Pork Chop Rice and Smoked Duck Breast Udon!

Oh there's this drink in HK that I like a lot - Yang Chi Gan Lu! It can be conveniently found at all those shops at MTR stations selling drinks. You really should give it a try if you like mango =)

After a tiring day, we went back to our hotel room to nua but thought we shouldn't waste time like that! As such, here we go: Isn't it gorgeous?

Day 3 was hanging around central and causeway bay, looking at their CBD area which is a great interest to Simon. He is especially interested to take a look at one of the strongest finicial hub in asia. We took the affordable HKD2.80 ferry over. This mode of water transport across the sea (known as "guo hai"), I guess has been around for a long long time. Food was of course our priority too and therefore food stop 3: Lin Heung Tea House

It's such a chaotic place and check out my "sian diao" face after managing to grab a basket of food! Guess it's really for the brave only as suggested by the food list because it's a very old style teahouse and the old people already know what they want to order and the culture. Basically in Hong Kong they don't value customer service too much and you are required to know what you want the minute you sit down, no time to waste! You will even be scolded if you take too long to decide what to eat! I think only the char siew pau is nice.

We walked around again before heading over to the childhood fantasy land - Ocean Park!

Although I have been there before on the 1st time I went to HK, it was always my dream to go pak tor with my date as always seen in HK serials or movies haha dream come true!

They have a few new rides I think. There's this new tunnel train that brings you from the top to bottom and vice versa, a whole lot faster than the long-winding escalators. The roller coaster never fails to excite me and as usual the big wirly curly roller coaster is closed =( I plucked up courage to ride on the free fall this time as I didn't dare to the previous time I was here after my scary experience in Genting haha. It wasn't as scary as I have expected, maybe because I am older?

We had a fun time at Ocean Park, the company counts the most =) Went for food stop 4: 新翠華茶餐廳 - A char chum ting at causeway bay that sells the best claypot rice in HK! Very very true, both of us enjoyed it alot. Order anything from the menu, you will not go wrong! We also went to try the "zha leong"(you tiao wrapped in chee cheong fun dipped with soy sauce)at Ocean Empire Food Shop woah... nice! I brought dearie to a xiu liu shan near our hotel as he haven't been to one before. I guess quality is assured at all outlets and we both love it!

Last day for baby in HK and so we must visit the place he wants to go to the most - HK stock exchange! I was in Tokyo stock exchange before hence this didn't excite me too much. Moreover the hype of trading with bare hands, shouting across the platform era was already long over so there's really nothing much to see...

Strolled along WanChai and Hong Kong Convention Centre. Our food hunt continues and we particularly ♥ this Tai Cheong Bakery which really sells the best egg tarts in HK. I like this kind of buttery crust, that of pineapple tart more than the pastry type. We also tried out Mido Cafe(cheese bake rice, wanton with sweet sauce), which was highly recommended by many but it turned out to be so-so only...

Don't be mistaken. Nope we didn't go to Disneyland. We were actually on our way to Tung Chung CityGate outlet mall and I thought since Simon haven't been to Disney before, why not just take a peek? Haha and indeed he was very impressed... The outlet mall wasn't impressive at all, I cannot image why do people like to go there. I wanted to buy another Kate Spade bag or some other branded bags for myself but couldn't find anything. Their collection is so limited and not nice =( We went for dinner at Itamae Sushi before baby goes back to Singapore and leave me all alone in a foreign land *boo... The sushi is awesome! They even give clear instructions as to how to eat sushi in the proper way, dipping it into the sauce etc. Ken told me that it's in Singapore already at ION Orchard, I really hope so and will definitely eat it again!

As baby left, I went according to plans to meet Ken, his love and his gang! It was very coincidental that one fine day when I was having Ben & Jerry's ice cream at The Cathay, Ken passed by and we both started talking. It was then that I realised that he was getting MARRIED!!! Woah so fast, oh my! I had already planned my travel dates and asked if he will be in HK and guess what? He planned for his wedding shoots during the same period in Macau too. Oh yeah and so here we are, meeting up for KTV. He introduced me to his wife and sister (who is so kind to follow him to HK to help out for the shoot). Others you see in the photo are his wife's friends whom Ken himself also didn't really know haha. It's ok, youngsters get along easily.

Next 2 days are just work but also fun at work. I will still hold food close to my heart, no doubt about that! So lonely as it may be, I still continued the good food tasting at WanChai all by myself during lunch...

1st lonely lunch was at Wing Wah Noodle Shop, wanton mee rockz! There's this preserved white carrot on the table which taste good. You can help yourself to to it, free flow. If you are wondering how I could still take a photo, I asked a lady sitting opposite me to do that =P Embarrassing!
2nd lonely lunch was at Sang Kee Restaurant which I had to walk into a building through the corridor behind a metal gate and take a lift to 2nd floor, those kind you see in HK serials? Ordered the recommended 豉油王炒麵 (fried mee) and a bowl of tasty soup came as a yummy surprise! The waiters there were a little surprised to see me visiting their resturant to eat alone haha I was later informed by a couchsurfer's friend that the resturant is good for family or big group dining. In case you are wondering again, I self-took the photo with my noodle =P

I also took the chance to meet up with couchsurfers to have them bring me to see the real HK! Alfred was the 1st host of mine and he's a real foodie - I asked for a food tour and he really fulfilled his role! I ate yong tau hoo, pig liver noodle, some lard-alike stuff, dessert and clay pot rice. The list is not exhaustive =) He also brought me to the computer mall, that of Sim Lim Square and the "Light"streets where you can find all the lightings you ever need. Would really like to say a big Thank You to him for bringing me to the no-tourist places and making me FAT!

My 2nd evening was spent meeting yet another couchsurfer Jeffrey who brought a friend Ben to make a group. They had initially wanted to bring me to the claypot rice which I had previously visited with Simon and was shocked when I told them that I have tried it. Seem like I am quite resourceful heh! I told them I was craving for shao er and they brought me to Tai Hing, a modern resturant. After which, we took the HKD2 tram around the island and headed to the famous Lan Kwai Fong! Jeffrey had a lot of card tricks and some were really impressive while some were errr haha. We also met up with another of Jeff's friend, Vic and his gf. Vic's gf brought me into the clubs and let the guys wait outside as it's ladies night and I just wanted to see how's HK clubs like =) Pretty much the same as Singapore, guess it's universal huh.

Next day morning was to Kwai Chung Plaza for shopping myself before I leave Hong Kong. The weather started to turn chilly and I could feel it when I stepped out of the hotel, luckily I chose long sleeve for that day. It was the kind of mall that I wanted but unfortunately, the shops were all closed and started to open only after noon time =( They have ladies fashion wear like dresses shoes, bags and accessories at cheap prices just like our Far East Plaza. Sadly, I didn't have much time to shop as I had a lunch appointment with Jeff or Ben, whoever can meet me. In the end I met Jeff at MongKok as his lunchtime was later which means I could shop longer. The plaza is located at Kwai Fong station which is quite a distance away from the central. Anyway there is one very interesting thing I must share about the MTR station - there is 4 computer stations with internet connection for use at the MTR station! How cool is that for a tourist who sometimes badly needs internet for just a couple of minutes?

Anyway, lunch was really good! It's at a eastern-western cafe-resturant called Feng Yue Tang. The lunch set was everything sufficient to satisfy all your cravings - appetizer, bread & butter, main course, tea, dessert! Mind you the dessert is waffle ice cream, not some kind of cheapo cakes or tiny-sized dessert yeah!

I bought a ferry tix online at New World First Ferry (Macau) for HKD133 and set sail alone from HK to Macau... So lonely! Luckily I had my ipod with me and the seats are pretty alright plus the journey was only less than 2hours. I totally slept through the whole 2 hours haha

Finally!!!! My bella queen suite...

More of macau and zhu hai to come... [stay tuned]

My Happie 23rd Birthday

2009-10-26T10:29:00.015+08:00

Specially requested by the special someone to pen down my happiness for the past 2 days and here it goes:

Was told to look forward to an "experience". He even said that I am required to wear bikini and ask me to go exercise and diet to slim down in order to look good on photos. Wondering if it's really worth it...

Here's what I'm in for:

Siloso Beach Resort - Roof Garden Suite, located at level 8 and each suite features a private stairway leading to an open air private roof top garden including bathtub with jacuzzi where you can rejuvenate and enjoy the magnificent view of the sea and the tropics.

Roof terrace has 2 deck chairs for sun tanning and an open air outdoor bathtub with jacuzzi. BRILLIANT!

How cool can it be? I am very pleased haha very excited to be exact.

After a dip in the tub and piggish afternoon nap, I was tasked to look for my 1st birthday gift. I really can't explain why I am so tired or was it because the surroundings was too conducive for sleeping that I had to nap. Maybe it's tiredness from work.. Hmmm let's not talk about work!

My 1st ♥ found! Yeah ipod nano, just what I need! An mp3 player to motivate me when working out, Neat! Hopefully I can find the waterproof cover so that I can swim with it!

Mr dear darling wasn't too good with hiding secrets and giving surprises so I knew there was more to come and went to "doll up" a bit. Just as I was lining my 2nd eye, the door bell rang and a man's voice said "room service"! Smart me immediately knew something was up but as you should know the definition of BIMBO, the bimbos totally gave it away when I peek through the peephole! The hotel staff was at the door but i could see a sexy lady's leg at the side and I think I saw balloons too. Haha but have to give credits to the bimbos for their coordination efforts.

*Tadang* and surprise to see Wende and Angeline too thanks for the presents and both your presence. Yummy spread (pizza and sushi) was the highlight as everyone was famished from trying to coordinate and communicate!

Oh yeah and must thank dear Stacy (Yu shidai) for helping simon all the way. Not forgetting to mention her "great" organisational skills in coordinating this party which made everyone fall into confusion. Special thanks to Edmund for his efforts too and especially the great ice wine he bought for me! I love the underwater camera casing the BIMS bought too! See even Seeks wanna snatch from me =p

Some BFF shots haha...

Nice group shots!

Thanks for the b'day celebration dearie, I ♥ them all =)

My presents collected so far...

We went for breakfast the next day and decided to make use of the resort's facilities after checking out e.g. swimming pool! It's really nice and has 2 slides to play on.

Check out my photography skills underwater! I am making full use of my present ok?

Ain't my photography skills just fabulous?

After we played at the pool for some time, dear baby said there is another surprise for me! Hmmm, not knowing what other tricks he can be up to, I didn't care too much until...

Woah!!! So exciting! Diving at underwater world!!! Haha although I know it sounds kind of retarded especially for certified divers, it is still an experience I will recommend. How often do you have the opportunity to feed manta rays, get up close and personal with a baby shark and touch all the sea creatures you see knowing you won't get hurt?

I am truly happy =) thanks everyone!

My 23rd Birthday Wishlist

2009-10-09T18:11:00.028+08:00

I know this entry is random and off, really off especially when I didn't even log on to this blog for such a long time but I guess it will serve as a useful guide =P

My TOP wish: *To earn my ideal salary before I turn 23* but I know it's not possible now ... =( oh so sad

Alright coming back to reality, my wishlist in order of preference:

1) LV Tambour Diving Lady Watch

ok I know this is impossible too but I LOVE IT!!! Don't you think it's so classy, lovely and pretty? I like all 3 colours (white and blue too)so even the cheapest of the 3 is good enough =P haha but even the cheapest cost 5k yeah I know I need to be realistic again.

2) DSLR

I know I'm in the clouds again because this is not too possible still =P haha but I just thought that I wanted to take nicer photos and I need to have a good camera to do that. I haven't even lay my hands on any DSLR and haven't done any research to see which one suits me and don't even know how to properly use one yet ~ But one thing for sure, they look really pro and I'm going to own one in the near future!

3) ~~Underwater Camera Casing for my IXUS 75~~ got it! =)

Thanks to my lovely friends and the hardwork that Ms Ping went through to fulfill me my IXUS 75 wish on my 21st birthday but now I need some protective clothes for it. I am really serious about picking up underwater photography ok? Those who know me should know my deep little secret interest for photography. So I need this to fulfill my little dream under water.

4) ~~An awesome pair of good looking long distance running shoes for flat-footed me~~
got it! Through a friend's recommendation for serious long-dist jogging, I decided not to get fanciful stuff and got a very useful and sturdy pair of Blue Saucony Women Hurricane.

But because of my special needs, you might like to refer to this article to see what I really need: Running Shoes for Flat Feet. I have been (ir)regularly exercising nowadays and I realised that I have got aches on my calves and knees. I kept thinking that it was because I had a good workout until Simon pointed out that I might need a good pair of running shoes to reduce injuries from long distance running. I think I really need this! Found either Nike Lunar Glide + or Adidas Supernova sequence 2W to be suitable. US Size 7.5 or 8 =)

5) ~~Some sort of serum or moisturiser that conditions and lushes up my eyelashes (+ applicable for brows too) to enhance length and thickness.~~ got it! =)

Saw some brands online e.g. BeautyDirect but not too sure of which is good. Was also recommended such products at beauty emporium @ dempsey and browhaus too! Thought it might be good for fine-hair me =P

6) ~~Waterproof / Underwater mp3 player~~ got it! ipod nano pink =)

I love swimming and I wanna force myself to swim more but I feel very bored while doing those strokes forward and usually daydream so having one of this will motivate me further! Anyway I never had a proper mp3 player so yeah, it'll be great to have it! It'll be great if be used while jogging too so that I know my perspiration won't spoil the device. Best if it has radio function too and have pre-installed 1 zillion songs before I own it =P haha *hint*hint*

7) Victoria's Secret Pink® Laptop case

Ok I know this is redundant but I just love VS ok? I happen to need(more of want/desire) a laptop bag and this blue pretty seem just the right one since I am a hip trendy executive not OL please haha! I refuse to use the conventional black bulky one that comes free with the laptop YUCKS!

8) Victoria's Secret Pink® Eau de Parfum Spray

Haha I admitted I am a VS addict.

9) Victoria's Secret Pink® Old-school zip hoodie Size S

Alright I am very aware of my closet that contains too many pieces of clothes that falls into this category e.g. cardigans, jackets, pull-overs, sweatshirts, trenchcoat and winter wear BUT one more nice one doesn't kill right? Anyway from what I remember, I don't have a nice black hoodie!

10) UK size 8 or 10 Office wear / Dresses that can be worn to office

I will need it everyday so why not? Going to work can be hyped-up with nice office clothes =D the photo above just serve as a reference. I think it can be a bit difficult since clothes size varies.

11) Hong Kong Dollars since I'm going there soon? Then I can buy all the things listed here from HK! Haha

Hope this wish list helps!

Vietnam Getaway for National Day long weekend (7-11 August 2009)

2009-08-16T22:07:00.056+08:00

Here comes a long weekend again and so I took an extra 2 days off to go for a short getaway with bolt bolt! Actually we booked our tickets way back in March when there was a promo on TigerAirways thinking that S$250nett for 2 pax return tix from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh was a good deal. Didn't know the total came up to S$290 as there was a facilitation fee of S$5 per flight sector, which means X4 for both of our to and fro plus we opted for a lousy S$20 insurance. Anyway we still thought $145nett each is pretty reasonable. Took Mac breakfast before we set off...

It's darling's 1st time on a budget airline and he claimed that it's quite good, he don't mind taking it again! Guess what? That's because it's beginner's luck that we got an emergency exit row and there was a lot of leg room! I bet he will beg to differ if we were to be allocated a normal seat.

We planned to visit Nha Trang directly without exploring HCM 1st as our arrival time at HCM was already 10am and their open tours start really early at 8am. We decided to do it this way: Nha Tran -> Da Lat -> HCM. Hence we took a domestic flight on Vietnam Airlines for VND 830000 (appro SGD75) per pax to NhaTrang from HCM. We had a couple of hours to kill hence decided to walk around and try their famous Pho noodle. Bolt didn't like it and they charged us a whopping USD2 seeing that we are tourists. Damn!

The flight to NhaTrang was pretty short and we particularly enjoyed the taxi ride (arranged by our guesthouse) from airport to our guesthouse. The scenery is like that of a desert but not that hot and their sand is so snow-white and fine! We stayed at a very affordable but comfortable Son & Daughter Guesthouse for only USD18 per night! There is a Single bed and S.Single or Queen bed (can't really remember the bigger bed size) plus bathtub with glass panel as wall which feels like the Furama Hotel (see photos below).

Our 1st activity is of course beach-related as Nha Trang is known for its beaches. We paid about S$70 for one round of Parasailing. It was a thrilling ride which both of us screamed (or maybe me only) to our hearts and enjoyed the chilly winds high up. I had wanted to do that in KeyWest, Florida but unfortunately, there was lighting and we couldn't sail out.

There were a few places we wanted to visit but were quite a distance away hence bolt decided we should rent a S$7.50 bike from our guesthouse for a day to tour around. Bolt basically spent a lot of time getting use to the crazy traffic in Vietnam (you should know how crazy it can be) and navigating to reach our destination hence we only managed to visit the Big Buddha and accidentally look into their small village lives. We marked the end of our day with with dinner at Lemon Grass restaurant. It wasn't as great as recommended.

Our 2nd day in NhaTrang is dedicated to our favorite sport - Diving! We booked 2 fun dives with Sailing Club for USD$40 (includes on board lunch) and it was all worth it! Not only are we served like Kings & Queens (they gear up and wear our gears for us), we also got 1 dive master to lead us (ratio 1:2)!

Initially when we reached the seabed, it was all sand and I felt so disappointed and cheated. As we moved along, we being to see more and more live creatures and eventually a mega piece of beautiful coral! We saw much more than what we could have seen for our previous dives in Malaysia! Check out some of the sea creatures we saw: (and more which I cannot remember)

We decided that we should seek professional help when needed and paid 2 scooters VND15,000 each to visit the famous Mudbath and Cham Towers! Mudbath was cool and the skin feels really good for a brief moment after but the mud is yucky! It caused my eyes to have a lot of discharge for a while after that and it's really not recommended that you wear your new bathing suit to soak inside. Else, you'll have a free natural yellow dye for your bikini, you know what I mean. We bought the big crispy dough-like thing to munch as we see it on sale everywhere. Not too bad, quite crunchy but bland.

We visited Cham Towers before heading back to our room for a shower and randomly picked a resturant for dinner. We also walked around and chanced upon a museum which has some funny weird artifacts but didn't have too much time to look around as the place closed shortly after we arrived.

Day 3 was to visit DaLat and we booked 2 bus tickets at 8am in the morning from Sinh Cafe for usd9 per tix only. The ride is pretty long (approx 8 hours) and we had a long stopover for lunch. We had breakfast nearby our guesthouse after checking out , it's something like Lao Shi Fen but has a Vietnam taste =) The monkey you see caged in the photo is just reared by owners of a random place we stopped for lunch. But the monkey is really cute.

Our 1st activity in DaLat was an Elephant Ride! It took us quite a while to get to do our itineraries as we had difficulty finding our tour guide. The address printed on our reservation slip brought us to an internet cafe and we were so confused! Luckily, the youngsters there helped us to call the no. printed on the slip and our guide finally came to meet us. He said he actually waited at the bus end location where we were dropped off but how could we have regconised each other right? We never met before! Haiz wasted our money to purchase a map to navigate to the internet cafe, not really a cafe mind you, the toilet is hmmm undescribable.

Anyway, the elephant ride was really cool and bolt bolt enjoyed it a lot as he had always wanted and constantly nagged to ride on one. We bought bananas to feed it after the stroll - CUTE! It has really thick skin haha

We walked a short bridge trail under the natural water falls and also visited Crazy House. The water falls wasn't too impressive for me after I saw Niagara Falls but walking under the cliffs was a new experience! Crazy House is a place which I would recommend especially for those who have vast interest in architectural. The whole place is build like a jungle but marketed as a hotel accommodation with each room having a different jungle or animal theme e.g. ants, bears, kangaroos. The interior is made to look exactly like what you expect the theme to provide and it is equipped with basic amenities such as beds and wardrobes.

It was pretty late into the night after we completed our Crazy House tour so we simply visited some nice churches and the famous lake before heading to food yet again! Dinner sounds gross if I were to tell you what we ate but they taste really normal only - Rabbit and Boar meat. Gross right? But we are just cheeky and want to try something new. Not recommended at all because it doesn't taste fantastic and shadows you with a huge sense of guilt. Wonder why I never felt this way with pigs, chickens, ducks, sheeps or cows? We left Da Lat on a high note with a very brillant massage as recommended by our tour guide. Our over night bus ticket was booked in Nha Trang with the tour guide's sister. They have a network operation where they have different contacts in various states for their hospitality business. The bus is not operated by them though but it's interesting to know that they serve us mineral water and gave us blankets during the ride.

We arrived in HCM on Day 4 in the wee morning, even the guesthouse owner was still sleeping. I didn't like our accomodation at all, we were "cheated" by the lady (tourguide's sister) who booked it for us in NhaTrang saying that it's a lot better than where we are staying then. Bullshit! Anyway we washed up, went for breakfast and embarked on our Cui Chi tunnel tour! Tell me how do you pronounce "Cui Chi"? Let me teach you, it's "Gu Qi"! Zai anot? How I came to realise was because I told a lot of Vietnamese that I want to go to "Cui Chi" tunnel and all of them gave me a weird look and shook their head. The most headache part was that the lady couldn't understand which tour we wanted to book and finally I saw a flyer and pointed to her! It was then she realised and said "OOHHhhhh, GU QI tunnel!!!!" Oh my GOD! We booked the tour for only USD10 per pax. The 1st stop was to a handicraft manufacturing place whereby the people use eggshells to make decors of a painting or containers.

We then rode on for approximately 1 hour to reach the oh-so-famous Cui Chi Tunnel. They are really very smart in initiating, planning and executing their war tricks! They had a very advanced tunnel system underground and the opening is tiny enough for asians only hence they eventually won the war against big-sized Americans!

Check out one of the brilliant hiding methods they adopted: Now you see Simon, then you don't! Actually, I tried it also but my photos wasn't as good (you know who to blame) and so I used Simon's haha. But I am good with their warfare techniques ok? Our guide called me a Beautiful Guerilla =p Our tour ended with a little treat to tapioca as our guide told us that it was a staple food during times of war.

We visited the remaining tourist spots ourselves. War Remnants Museum was particularly disturbing as I saw the words on the exhibits and I just felt very strongly for those innocent people who had to suffer from the mistakes of their ancestors. It doesn't help that the event happened just few years back and there was even a letter penned to President Barrack Obama to ask for assistance. A heartfelt experience...

Our last day was a short one as we had to catch our plane in the afternoon. We had initially wanted to visit the nearby Ben Thanh market and take some photos before returning back to our hostel to pack up and go. However, a trishaw-rider approached us and asked if we wanted a ride and we rejected them. He went on to offer a price of VND15,000 only, showed us a book of reviews other tourists had written for him and promised to send us to a further Chinatown market that no tourists will go to. We decided to take it to kill some time as our legs were kind of tired too!

That proved to be a wrong choice. When we reached the market, we got down and wanted to pay but they say need not and will wait for us. Puzzled, we just went ahead with shopping and I got myself a nice office yellow top =) They (old men) came to look for us as we were preparing to leave and insisted that they want to bring us to the temples and other sight-seeing areas. Since we had some time on hand, we decided to hop on and go ahead. At the end of it all, the trishaw men brought us to a restaurant and asked if we could treat them to a drink. Seeing that they made such great efforts to cycle us all around under the hot scorching sun, we obliged. He whipped out his review book for Simon to leave a comment after we sat down to enjoy our drinks. Following which, he announced that it's time to pay them and asked for VND750,000 for each of them. WTH! That's like USD75 each! Me and Simon immediately knew we were conned. The rest is history and we subsequently settled the bill at VND200,000 each. Heart pain but a lesson learnt! =( I hate them! My top only cost VND85,000 lah!

All in all, we had enjoyed ourselves during the getaway mostly during sea activities and massage but not too much of the money-cheating parts =D

Feeling Lousy...

2009-07-20T23:36:00.003+08:00

When life's not treating you good and unpleasant things happen to make you upset, there's always a saying that friends works best! Yeah that's very true because you can't always confide in your loved ones as they may just be the ones causing you the pains.

Sometimes do you realise that you need to speak to someone but yet don't know who to call? Names of close friends flash across your mind but you are wondering which exactly to call and if it's an appropriate time to call or you are afraid they are not free to entertain you or worst they don't even pick up your call.

At times like this, a sense of loneliness just sets in and you feel like in fact you don't have friends at all... and so you continue to feel lousy...

Advanced Open Water at Pulau Aur (yes Aur again)

2009-05-27T00:46:00.006+08:00

Promises were kept and there you go! The forces re-unite again after 1 year =)

Compare it to our open water attempt last year here

Guess we are missing Francis only , our dear dive master. Jerry was next door hah so counted as present. Initially, Stacy didn't want to go as she strongly resisted the 4-hour boat ride but in the end we still went through AOW together! Could still remember all of us mocking cum laughing at her wanting to FLY to redang to do AOW and FLY back. So rich huh? Plus after diving you'll have to wait sometime before taking flights again and we'll all wave bye-bye to her while she's stranded at the airport whining!

The whole course actually felt more like a leisure trip =P Sorry to say but I really didn't feel that I have learnt much, only trying something more e.g. deep dive, night dive. We also had an extra leisure dive thanks to Daniel, the leisure trip DM, who kindly agreed to bring the 7 of us along =P We originally wanted to play beach volley but thought that since we're here to dive, beach volley should be left to Sentosa.

One of the most memorable sightings for me was seeing a cuttlefish lay eggs! Pearly white eggs in the corals. So Cool! I have also seen a school of barracudas but as I was at the surface, I could only have a bird-eye view hence it wasn't very impressive. Still prefer the buoyant-perfect cuttlefish =)

The best part of the whole trip I must say is that I did not experience motion sickness AT ALL!!! Except for the 4-hour night boat ride to Aur. I guess it really make a big difference because I really enjoyed the dives more than the previous ones that I've been to. Good investment in the ginger pills =)YEAH!!!

The worst part I should say is having the damn tank fall and hit me OUCH! ok very pain but far better than the tank smashing my toes! 2 hose on the regulator was damaged and I was held accountable for them... really sad^ I was consoled to take it as a painful lesson to remind me to strap up my own tanks in future. Yeah really painful on the pocket and my thigh! Initially I was pretty upset that they held on to my certification mailer and said that I have to settle payment back in Singapore 1st before releasing it to me! =( I was so looking forward to filling in my details on that form to mail it out! Good thing I have good, nice and understanding friends to help me =)

Conclusion: I will be diving again (already have dream destinations in mind) and would want to be a responsible + more pro diver! And I definitely definitely want to explore underwater photography =) for sure!

Work work work

2009-03-29T12:17:00.004+08:00

Opps busy working life have resulted in negligence of my blog and I guess every working individuals can vouch for that. As much as I enjoy my work, fatigue has set in for as long as I have realised. At some point in time, I kind of feel that I have no "social life". Everyday after work, I feel so tired and would just want to head home for a nice dinner, read the newspapers and watch a light-hearted tv prog before heading to bed. On weekends, I just want to wake up as late as I can, have brunch and laze around my house. These happen sometimes and come to think of it, I do spend much time catching up with folks.

I met up with the bimbos for Elaine's birthday. We bought her a COACH HERITAGE STRIPE TOP HANDLE POUCH and had dinner at some pizza place (can't remember the name)in Raffles City.

Visited Martina at Thomson Medical Centre with Selina, Shi Ying and Loretta. Haven't seen them for ages! Mart's princess is so cute!!! I think all babies look almost alike =P Her babe has got so much hair and weigh a whopping 3.57kg. Looking forward to her 1-monthsary.

Celebrated Peiyi's birthday at Manhattan with a chocolate brownie cake and a pair of Aspial- Lee Hwa butterfly-shaped 18k earrings. We ended the celebration with watching Paul Blart mall Cop which was hilarious! We were laughing out so loudly that when the lights came on, the whole cinema of movie-goers turned to look at us! I really swear they did, whether explicitly or implicitly. In anyway, I felt that it was a really good movie to laugh-your-hearts-out and also being in US for a whole good 4 months plus made the 4 of us feel that we can relate to the situations and settings really well - the large malls, parking lots and the security guard's transportation =D It used to be the case whereby we are more focused on the actors. I guess we really miss life back then.

I watched a movie every week and stuck to my new year resolution of exercising at least once a week by swimming with my health-conscious dear. He is my only source of motivation to work out as any attempt with other friends after work always end up with a sumptuous dinner!

Had also met up with my ktv friends once and hopefully will make more time for them. It's high-time that I update myself with new Mando-pop songs and not always hit on the "oldies" =P

This issue has never stopped bugging me and that's TRAVEL! Not matter how busy am I with work or anything else, I would always have plans for travel. Currently in mind would be going for advanced diving and Vietnam later in the year.

Looking forward, I will be tasked with more work hence a busier schedule and also hoping for friends from overseas to come visit us soon!

A week at Work!

2009-02-14T13:20:00.008+08:00

I have finally started work on monday and it's been a week of enjoyment.

I'm working as a marketing executive for an organistion in the beauty wellness industry, somthing which I had always wanted to do. My salary is decent for the current situation, or so many people say. Well, ask me if you want to know where I work and how much salary I draw!

My boss is a nice and approachable person whom I communicate well with. Whatever changes I suggested to him, he will always listen and agree if it's good. Of course, I have also done a good job on my part.

Next would be my colleages. When I was 1st offered the job, shiqi told me she thinks she has a friend working there and helped me find out more. It puts me at ease to know that there is at least someone who's already working in there and gave positive feedback about the company. I finally met her and she's a really cute and bubbly girl who's my senior (same JC and Uni).

I do not have many colleages as we are the HQ of the business and I can easily count them with my fingers. Lunch with them is real good as they enjoy eating good food as much as I do! It does help that our office is located at Lavender and all the good food are there! All of them are very chatty and helpful too! Lunchtime is something I look forward to everyday at work.

So far I have been kept busy with preparing marketing materials and there's really one point which I have to make! My internship in marcom has really helped prepare me for this job and given me the relevant knowledge and experience to handle what I need to do now! That said, my advice is for students to go for internship in something which they hope to do in future. I was thinking about how I would have been so lost and useless without the prior experience I gained from my marcom internship. For example, I wouldn't have known how to guide a designer to design a flyer and where to source for stock photos.

On top of that, I also have to mention the uber-good aspect of my Communications and New Media course which aided in my job now. Haha =P I had to revamp the company website and without the knowledge I learnt from NM3217 (Linda Perry), I wouldn't have known how to spot visual diasters in a website. Yeah, I really love the course!

Well well, now everything is looking in place for me after fulfilling my dreams of Work and Travel in US and a short trip to Japan and the various other trips that I had and now a 9-6 job for 5days a week with a decent pay.

My message goes out to those who are still actively seeking a job - Don't give up!

It was a down period for me after I returned from US and was jobless for 2 months. Yeah I know 2 months is short but it got me and I can really feel how those people who lost their jobs feel. Especially when they have mouths to feed. In fact, I only felt restless after a month as I was still trying to settle down for the 1st month.

In any way, I am now constantly encouraging fresh grads or job seekers alike not to give up, just like how my loved ones and friends have given me their support during my job-hunt period.

Just so it helps, I have sent out a total of close to 60 resumes, had more than 10 interviews with job agencies and MNCs, got scrutinized very badly by 2 interviewers at a very famous MNC, got praised by some interviewers for my impressive resume as a fresh grad and spent a sum on transport for interviews before landing my current job.

Most big companies are interested to meet me but not interested to hire me due to the lack of "proper" (permanent job) experience. I've only got internships, school event organisation and part-time relevant experiences so they're keen to see what I can offer. Some of them even praise me but I never did hear from them subsequently. Ultimately, I guess there are many more experienced people out there who are willing to take up the job for the same pay as me.

I also offered a biz support job in the travel industry with a promised one and a half weeks europe tour as part of the employment package. I was then offered a slightly higher pay as a counter-offer to the amount I proposed but decided against it as the pay cannot substain me. I need to service bank loans and there's this minimum amount that I can accept although I was really keen on the travel offer. I liked the job and the company likes me too but we just could not meet eye-to-eye on the terms.

In the end I continued on my quest and finally got his job. I am still enjoying every moment of it!

Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-02T15:49:00.006+08:00

Year 2008 has passed and Year 2009 is here! It's time of the year for reflections and resolutions =)

Here's what I had set out to achieve a year ago:
Resolutions for 2008
~~1) Slim down & exercise more to be healthy!!!~~ My body keeps fluctuating, guess I have to keep to a more stringent diet and regular exercise regime
~~2) Put up a good dance performance at BTC this coming 28 & 29feb~~
~~3) Catch up with more friends whom I have neglected~~
~~4) To graduate from NUS, attend commencement ceremony and take loads of graduation pics wid everyone and anyone =P (Notice that I din mention CAPS? ahaha it really doesn't make much diff)~~
~~5) Join US Work & Travel with PeiYi, Stacy and WanPing and enjoy it to the fullest!~~ Had a smashing great time in US!
~~6) Be a nicer girl~~
~~7) Be a more filial daughter =P~~ think i can do better
~~8) Put more smiles on other's faces =)~~ think i can do better too
9) Control/manage my temper and emotions more effectively don't think i achieved that yet
10) Go on graduation trip (to Taiwan or Australia) with the bimbos! Sadly not fulfilled but we managed to go to Genting for New Year Countdown! =)
11) Learn to manage my finances better hmmm still learning i guess

Well not too bad, only 3 out of 11 resolutions not fulfilled. Anyway reflecting upon year 2008, this are the happiest moments of my life:

1) Graduating from college. I'm sure my mum is proud of me, I guess it's every heartlander parent's dream for their kids to attend a local university.

2) Volunteered at SPCA

3) Attended and completed open water course which certified me as a diver!

4) Meeting you! my dear during the diving trip...

5) US WAT. Many wonderful memories.

6) Went to Japan after US.

7) Went overseas for the 1st time with my darling to Batam during x'mas.

8) went overseas for the 1st time with my bimbos to Genting for New Year countdown.

Resolutions for Year 2009
1) Land a good job which I enjoy working and with good pay and benefits.
2) Travel overseas again!
3) Swim at least once a week to keep fit.
4) Good health for my family, friends and me.
5) Economy to improve and less people suffers.

Finally!!!

2008-12-28T23:29:00.006+08:00

No.1

I found the song which I heard on radio when I was in US and really really liked it. However, I don't know the title, neither do I know the singer. Worst still, once the song is not playing anymore, I will forget the tune and even the lyrics.

Hee but suddenly when I was uploading and arranging my travel photos today, it suddenly just hit me that I had wanted to download this song I liked very much back in US... And the tune sounds something like... And I magically started humming it! Best part is that I actually remebered part of the lyrics!

Yeah~ So knowing and remebering is one part, being able to locate the song is another. Hence I went to google and youtube the part of the lyrics I remebered and holla! I found it in youtube =) Thanks to people who bother to tag in lyrics to the videos they upload! Wow! The power of technology and new media! Never regretted spending 3 years studying about it!

I bet by now the song should have loaded as you are reading this post. Love Remains the Same by Gavin Rossdale.

No.2

I got rid of some of the junk in my house through flea market sale =) yes it was quite a success considering the fact that I cleared one out of three luggages fully packed with unwanted clothes. Although I sold everything at a cheap cut-throat price, I am glad I have achieved my target! Special thanks to my dear mum and sis and of course the most important person who helped me from the start(booking of space) to the end(sending and carrying stuff for me) you know who you are =P

Awesome Christmas Getaway to Batam~

2008-12-26T14:43:00.025+08:00

As the blog title suggest, I had a great time in Batam during Christmas and X'mas eve! It's the first time me and Simon went overseas together and we really LOVE it =) Such a short getaway came at a good time to distract me from the job hunt depression.

Cable Ski whole day package (sgd$90per pax)+ Harris Hotel Indulge Package(sgd$170) is such a steal!

We met very early at 8plus am at Habour Front to collect our ferry tickets to board the 1st ferry to Batam!

We booked the whole day cable ski package at S$90 per person and it includes return ferry tickets, packed lunch and of course the luxury of cable skiing for the whole day! Everything was properly prepared for us! The forms were filled up and we didn't have to worry for anything at all. This is despite the fact that we have not paid yet! =P

Some breakfast before we board the ferry!

In the ferry... It wasn't too crowded so I could extend my legs across the sets and sleep comfortably on Simon's lap.

We arrived 1 hour later at the Water Front Terminal and there was a guy from the cable ski park to pick us up!

Here's the cable ski start point:

Some spectator's seat to relax along the ski pond.

Getting ready to go! We first try out kneeboarding as I haven't done any wakeboarding before. It is much easier and really fun!

Simon knee-boarding!

Me and the kneeboard! Warning: Girls should never wear only bikini to cable ski unless you are really pro and won't fall because the impact of the water will rip aside your bikini when you fall!

Simon with the kneeboard!

After trying kneeboarding, it's time to upgrade to something more challenging!

Simon and the wakeboard!

I love the kneeboard haha it's easier to maneuver!

Check out the rates here! S$90 for the full day package will include the $34 return ferry tickets and lunch so it's more worthwhile! You can even bring your own ipod to blast music at the park!

on your mark...

get set...

GO!

haha if you happen to fall off very far away from the starting point, no worries! They will send a motorbike to pick you up so that you spend more energy skiing than swimming and walking back with the board!

Here's a photo of the ski pond! If you fall between box 2 and slightly after box 3, a motorbike will come pick you up! Don't expect such service if you fall at the red start line or anywhere before box 1 and after box 4!

It's my turn!!! I look so pro huh? By the way, I recommend for girls to wear a t-shirt over to protect themselves in case their bikini "flies" off due to the impact of the water. It happened to me once, even with the life jacket. It will also be good to wear draw string shorts (not rubber band) over your bikini bottom. My sister was wearing swimming shorts and it was pulled down her arse crack when she fell!

very nervously waiting for the cable to start pulling me...

Opps!

Again!

Finally manage to wakeboard for a couple of seconds before falling =P Not really counted I guess!

If you are good enough, you can try this! (one hand hold)

cable-ski.com

Our lunch! Included in the 90bucks!

We ate at 12.30pm after skiing for 2 hours. We then proceed to check-in at the hotel before returning to ski again at 2 plus pm.

Tired but satisfied couple! We had the whole ski park to ourselves for the whole day as no one else went that day hence we went rounds again and again until we were so tired! We even did a double kneeboarding whereby I just hug Simon from the back and he has to do all the energy-draining work of hanging on to the handle of the calbe. Haha =P

Hada great time and will definitely be back for more! Simon kept crapping that he booked the whole park for me specially for Christmas -___- Yeah right~

Our Harris Hotel Room with King-sized bed and park view! The bathroom has got a bathtub too! Our Harris Indulge package cost S$170(+ surcharge of S$35 for festive season) includes 2D1N stay, free land tranfer to and from WaterFront City ferry terminal (which we didn't use as we went for cable ski and the cable ski park was just a 5-min walk to Harris Hotel), breakfast for 2, complimentary set Lunch or 1 pan of pizza(pizza is quite yummy!), free city shuttle to Nagoya Town and most importantly, complimentary 1 hour Indonesian Massage for 2 person at H spa.

Our room number!

In the elevator on our way to our massage after a whole day of tiring ski =P

A photo with the x'mas decors!

At H spa! They have a separate building for their lounge and entertainment so we had to walk unsheltered to the building from the hotel for our indo massage which explains for my sparkly face as it was raining!

The massage room! It is built in a small hut with 2 beds per room on the 3rd level of the building so that couples can enjoy their spa or massage together!

Me getting ready!

After spa! Both of us felt great! But at certain parts I felt really painful and itchy =P but I didn't dare to tell her!

Simon loves it!

After the massage, we were suppose to head for our compulsory x'mas dinner which cost sgd$45 per person but the staff at check-in forgot to issue us a coupon hence we were given a choice whether to join them or not and iobviously, we didn't! So we went to their resturant to order ala carte instead!

The ikan set with chilli which I ordered for my dearie is super good!

The tom yam soup is tasty too! My grilled tuna mango is so-so to me but simon likes it! The total bill came up to S$57 which we felt was more worth than paying S$90.

The next morning, we went for compliementary breakfast and went around for camwhore!

Their poolside decor...

Christmas Trishaw man!

The xiao jie =P

Lazing at the ratten huge chair-bed...

Blissful...

Enjoying the sea breeze...

Happy together =)

If you thought self-timer pictures were easy to capture, check out how we had to rush and pose properly before the 10secs is up! Look at Simon's legs trying to squeeze through that tiny opening and me rushing to go to position! =D Really funny photo!

Ran into Santa on our way back to the hotel!

When we were at the hotel lobby, a staff came around to entertain guests with an impromptu game and we were the 1st victims! Haha

Simon tried the game twice but failed =(

The kind staff still rewarded him for his efforts! I really like how they plan many activities to engage their guest and also their service is really good! They are very very polite as compared to hotel staff I had experience with in Singapore and US.

My room balcony view. Haha notice my scarf!

Yeah~ I am a fan of Harris Hotel!

Went to the resturant for our complimentary pizza. My sis said it was nice so we chose pizza over the set lunch.

After which, we took the free shuttle at 2pm to Nagoya Town to walk around and bought some really cheap sanitary pads =P and other daily hygenie care products which some, was less than half the price in Singapore! We drank A&W root beer float too!

We then took a cab which cost 50,000rupiah to Batam Centre and ate A&W curly fries (kind of ex 16900rupiah)! Also ate cup corn which cost only 4000rupiah. I did pedicure w/o colour for 60500rupiah which I think is kind of ex =P haha was expecting S$12 for full hand and foot! I also bought freshkon clear monthly contact lenses for S$20 for 3 pairs with 8 free pairs of dailies. Not too bad, almost the same price as Malaysia.

Our return ferry at 8pm was from Batam Centre as we wanted to explore their town and Harris Hotel had it arranged for us already. Before we left, we had to each pay S$7 for seaport tax. That marks the end of our 2D1N trip. Bye bye batam!

In case you want to know...
Summary of our Batam Trip (cost and itinerary)

Day 1
8.30am Collect ferry tickets (cost included in ski package)
9.00am Board ferry and set off
10.15am Arrive at Batam WaterFront Ferry Terminal, pick up provided to ski park
10.30am Start cable ski (whole-day package at S$90 each)
12.30pm Lunch (inclded in ski package)
1.15pm Check-in at hotel(Harris Indulge package S$170nett + Festive surcharge $35)
2.00pm Back to ski
5.00pm Too tired to ski, return to hotel to bathe
6.00pm 1-hr Indonesia Massgae at H Spa (Complimentary for 2 with hotel package)
7.00pm Dinner ($57 at resturant, own expense)
9.00pm Laze in King-sized bed

Day 2
8.30am Breakfast (complimentary with hotel package)
10.00am Camwhore around hotel and relax by the seaside
12.30pm Pizza Lunch at H resturant (complimentary with hotel package, can choose set lunch if you like)
1.15pm Walk over to ski park to watch others ski
2.00pm Take free shuttle from hotel to Nagoya Town
4.30pm Take cab to Batam Centre (50,000rupiah)
8.00pm Board ferry back to Singapore(S$7 seaport tax, ferry tix price included in ski package)

Job Hunting...

2008-12-23T11:25:00.000+08:00

is tough and depressing =(

Looking forward to the days leading to end of Year 2008

2008-12-19T01:06:00.002+08:00

24-25dec08 Batam Christmas Trip with darling
What to expect?
cable ski, indonesia massage, x'mas dinner and pedicure!

27dec08 Flea Market Sale
What to expect?
setting up a stall at pasir ris flea market to sell away all my unwanted clothes+stuff at very very cheap prices

30dec08-1jan09 Countdown at Genting with Bimbos!
What to expect?
Bimbotic stuff duh! =D

Really excited to be going overseas again although it's not too far away=) The 1st time I'm going "abroad" with my dear and dear bimbos! Really really looking forward to it. Hopefully next year when all of us have a stable job and start earning more, we can go somewhere further for our annual countdown!

Have been feeling really depressed this couple of days, hope that things will turn for the better.

Can't wait to reflect upon year 2008 and make resoultions for year 2009...

I'm back home! & enjoying every moment of it

2008-12-07T11:41:00.008+08:00

Yes I'm finally back home after being away for more than 4 months and frankly speaking, I am adapting well back in Singapore =)

Other than being too fat and being laughed at becoming so fat plus the worry of finding a dream job, life's been good for me from the time I touch down until now!

Here's why:

A really surprising very-belated b'day celebration by the bimbos and specially planned by my dear at Timbre =) It was really a good surprise as I completely didn't know that Simon was secretly planning everything under my nose! I was really shocked to see the girls waiting for me at Timbre and I was very-extremely excited to see all of them as it was a long time since I last saw them!

It was such a rare chance that all of us can meet up because there will always be absentees during our bimbo outing! So nice~ We spent so much time gossiping and catching up on each other's lives and taking photos (of course using the extra darling person as our photographer). I really had a great time last night.

Before the meet up, simon brought me to a resturant at the Republic of Singapore Yatch Club for a nice dinner and I really like the lobster linguine yummy ^_^ The place is really nice too, just beside the sea where all the yatch are parked. Highly recommended for guys to bring their girlfriends!

p/s: Thank you =) I love all of U! *Looking forward to the spending our holidays overseas with U and u all!*

US Work & Travel Part 4c - Old Montreal, Niagara Falls

2008-11-03T12:02:00.018+08:00

It is our last day in Quebec, Montreal before we head to Ontario, Niagara Falls! So we decided to have a "rest and relax" plus camwhore day.

We bought pastry at a bakery in Chinatown. Yums! Long time since we had Chinese pastry!

A nice christmas gift shop along old montreal...

Statue cum fountain!

Day view of the church which Celine Dion got married

Jumping along the streets...

At the park...

Beside the pond...

I love maple trees!

Clock tower...

Along the way to the park

Street of Old montreal!

Railway track emo shot!

Another emo shot ahaha =p

The true colours!

The scenery is really pretty right?

Amily & me! Btw, this black jacket that I'm wearing is once again courtesy of Amily! She has so many jackets and is really kind to share it with me =)

I love the reflection!

Emo shot again! I love taking sephia photos =)

The famous festival in Montreal!

Drinking on the last night!

We took a ride share the next morning to Toronto. There was no tour to Niagara Falls on tuesday hence we had to make our own arrangement for hotel and transport. Luckily Cyrus is going with us so there's 3 of us to split the cost.

A ride share in US means that someone is driving to somewhere alone and he/she will post on craig's list to see if anyone is going to the same place on the same day so that they can share the cost of gas/car rental(if it's not their own car)! It was the 1st time that we tried a ride share and it worked out well =) I saw snow for the 1st time in my life on the way to Toronto from Montreal as it was too cold!

The famous tower in Toronto!

We reached Niagara Falls quite late in the evening and stayed in Radisson hotel! Notice the snow?

The hotel room! It was quite a good deal at usd90 for a night shared among the 3 of us!

Check out the bathtub! There's jacuzzi Oh my =p

We went out straight after we put our stuff in the hotel room so that we can see the night fall! It was so cold and snowing the whole time!

I was all wet and really really freezing cold! But it was worthwhile to see this spectacular fall!

Tadang! Welcome =)

We woke up really early the next morning to catch the sunrise and try to complete everything we plan as we've got a flight to catch at 2pm.

The bridge and the fall!

The other fall!

It looks kind of fake doesn't it?

I love nature!

Winter Sonata! Haha emo shot with Cyrus~

Trying to get everything into one picture!

View from the skytower!

The horseshoe fall view from the skytower!

I said I love nature didn't I?

This boat tour is going to be closed for the winter in a few day's time hence it is our last chance to take it before it is closed!

The bridge that connects US and Canada!

On the boat!

Looks like I'm taking a photo with a picture huh?

I don't know why but nature looks fake!

It is just like the photos I took at Grand Canyon! So unreal!

This is by no way any elements of photoshop in it!

The last photo of the famous fall before Stacy and I had to leave for buffalo airport to catch a flight to phoenix for our work =(

US Work & Travel Part 4b - Montreal and Vermont

2008-11-02T05:12:00.028+08:00

after taking 8 hours of greyhound ride from boston, we finally reach montreal! Stacy's friend Zheng Wei is an exchange student there from NUS and he arranged for us to stay at his other exchange friend's place.

Our host Amily and Carol! Haha we reached at 8plus am in the morning hence all of us have the "sleepy" look and were having breakfast prepared by them! Yummy wafffles!

all dolled up taking the metro to the famous sphere!

on the road… I finally got to wear this carpet-like top of mine which I bought years ago and had no chance to wear in a tropical country like Singapore! It was really cold there!

nice fall leaf colours

Biosphere! If you didn't know, Montreal uses french as its 1st lang!

Look like a scene in movie huh?

Romantica~

Woah~ I love maple leaves~

De` babes

Pine trees are nice too!

Another tree with nice leaves =)

Where can I find these kind of trees in Singapore?

I just love taking pictures with these trees~

evidence that I am in Montreal!!! keke

Stacy and I wraping round the sphere!

the river nearby, we were trying to spot beavers =p

nice stone house =)

the metro station, check out the french words! Throughout the whole time I was in Canada, I didn't know which stations that I was at and which ones to alight to go to the places I want to go. I depended solely on my freinds =p

We took the metro down to old montreal after visiting the sphere. This is the church where Celine Dion got married. We paid to watch a introductory show with light effects and stuff but they kind of screwed up and the curtains didn't fall so it wasn't a spectacular view for us =(

It was really really cold and I had to wear another jacket which I brought. This is another historical building among the many!

This whole group of people are exchange students from Singapore in Montreal! We met up and went to Chinatown for Chinese food, something which I miss a lot and took for granted in the past =( Yeah, it's always like that... You'll only realise when it's gone. Sometimes it may not be too late but most of the time there is nothing you can do to get it back anymore~

Chack this out! I'm not kidding you. It's really really cold at 0 degrees and I was not prepared for it at all!!! The only warm clothes I have was sweatshirts! I bought the gloves from forever21 solely because I was "playful" and wanted to use them in Japan later.

This is another church we saw on our way to Zheng Wei's house the next morning. His host family is really nice to offer us his car for the day as we had plans to go on a road trip! You'll find out later.

When we arrived at Zheng Wei's host house, they were out and forgot to leave the car keys for us boo =( but it gave us time to ride their bicycles to the park!

As there were only 2 bikes(Zheng Wei took 1), Stacy had to pillion me =p Haha we look like 2 countryside pumpkins huh?

Nice lakeview of the park!

Another nice lakeview of the park!

If only Stacy was a drop-dead gorgeous hunk =p then it'll be autumn in my heart~

Enjoying ourselves at the park!

I love this!

Yeah and so we finally got the car and we're on a really long (to me) 3-hour drive cross borders to US. Yeah I know it's funny why we cross over to Canada and then do a road trip to US when we were originally from US.

Nice view while on the road to Vermont! Yeah now some clue to where we're heading~

Yeah that's right! Ben & Jerry's Factory!

This is the state where B&J 1st originated!

Their graphics are kind of easy to regconise aren't they? The video that was shown during our tour mentioned Singapore! Our country haha! They were trying to tell that B&J's ice-cream is popular and have travelled to even Singapore!

Pints and pints of display!

This is where a small scoop of ice-cream was served after our factory tour!

Lovely!

We got to see the big machineries that made the ice creams but we were there on a Sunday hence there was no one manually working.

This is the size of the ice-cream that they should serve us instead of the small little cup you see me holding in the above picture. We paid usd3 for the tour which is worth a pint of B&J from Walmart! By the way, Walmart has the cheapest price for a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice-cream. It was usd3 and now there is a promotion at usd2.50 a pint.

New flavours!

I love B&J's ice-cream!!!

Hall of fame/flavours?

I love this flavour! and many other more of course =)

This is their ranking for the flavours!

I~Scream!~

I look like a moo~~

Opps this is the flavour graveyard whereby flavours they had before are no longer in production mainly because they are not popular or the production cost is too high!

Oh no! So many flavours "killed"...

1986! Produced the same year I was born! But passed on way earlier than me =P

Who is Ben and who's Jerry?

Another 3 hours drive back was really tiring *_* I didn't really want to drive but it was really unfair that Stacy kept driving so I took the wheels for like 20mins =P I know it's short but it still helps right? I was really tired and I don't think it's safe anyways. I nearly rammed into the side railings as I was dozing off while drving!

Our car had been emitting smoke from the front since we 1st lay our hands on it and we don't know what's wrong. We figured that it's too cold but the lady at the custom was really scared and kept asking us to check it! In the end we got asked to pull over to have all our passports checked =(

Dinner at Woodlands resturant!

The top that I was wearing for the day was courtesy of Amily =) I really like this top from Abercrombie =D

to be continued...

US Work & Travel Part 4a - Atlanta, D.C, Boston

2008-11-01T10:07:00.026+08:00

After work with Charlie's ended on 12oct and before I had to start work for Vista Mobility, Stacy and I had 10 days to travel! So the 1st part of our tour goes:

13oct 08 Atlanta

We took a greyhound bus from Montgomery to Atlanta and spent a night at Ehsan's place. He's a chatty guy who's really kind to host us at a short notice for a night at his nice house. He has a very funny neighbour, a nice girlfriend and a bimbo friend, all of whom I enjoyed hanging out with at the front yard for that night. Too bad the idea of a photo did not struck when I was enjoying wine and hooka with them =( Ehsan even woke up very early in the morning to send us to the matra to catch a train to the airport!

14oct08 Washington D.C.

Oh wells, what's new? Stacy and I was once again late for our flight =( Just one day after WanPing and PeiYi missed their flight due to time difference. Haha they thought that they were an hour early and sat down to wait while looking at their plane take off right in front of them! We weren't allowed to check-in as we were 3mins late! 3 mins! Haiz... I was really panicking cos I am suppose to meet Adam at the DC airport at a fixed time and location as he lost his phone and there was no way to contact him! Luckily, Stacy thought of the idea that I could go ahead and board the plane w/o any check-in and just bring one of the smaller luggage as carry-on and she'll take the later flight with our bigger luggage to check-in. Smart her, it worked and I managed to meet Adam =D

He kind of looked different from the last time I saw him in Hawaii! It has been a year and he looked kind of tired. Anyway, he has just been relocated to DC so he's a tourist too and we all toured the town together =)

The WHITE HOUSE!

One of the nice government buildings...

The tower which we intended to climb for the spectacular overview of DC but did not manage to do so in the end =( It was nice to just sleep on the grass patch and enjoy the breeze!

Another photo with Adam =)

The Washington Post!

After a whole day of touring, we finally got to our couch thanks to Stacee (Adam's friend) and her husband who sent us to Andrew's house. Before that, we had dinner together and I think the bar served the best fries that I have ever eaten! I can't remember the name of the bar though =p It was a nice walk around town.

Haha there was a funny incident which took place that night when I bathed - I didn't know how to use the shower and Stacy went to get help from him as I was already undressed. He came into bathroom to teach me how to use the shower while I was still naked in the bathtub trying to figure out how to use the showers. It was so embarrassing! Imagine the curtains weren't there... =p Stacy said he knocked but I didn't hear nothing!

Andrew's house! Very nice right?

The outside of his house!

Our handsome host with the comfy couch at the basement of his house! =)

We went to the postal musuem the next day after we missed our appointment with Adam to climb the tower =( really sad cos both of us didn't set alarm and overslept and there's no way to contact him =( =< =[ We figured that we have had enough of historical musuems and postal musuem is something new and interesting =)

Check out the cute mail boxes!

The history of how mails were transported!

photo with a tree after the leaves changes colour during fall... I think it's pretty!

a walk down the streets with Stacy's BIMBO luggage in tow! She bought it in the morning we were out and spent usd220 plus tax on it! usd30 kindly sponsored by your truly =)

The state capital!

A guard took this photo for us! Not too bad huh?

We specially took the subway to the airport just to take a photo with it =p haha to prove that we were in D.C since we missed the chance to do so when we first arrived as we are on different flights!

We saw this sign light up after we alighted from one of the train stations and immediately barged in to buy one! Doug, our previous employer from Charlie, promised to bring us to KK when the HOT~ sign lights up but never had the chance. It was really yummy =p

16oct08 Boston via New York

We took megabus overnight from DC to NY (appro 4 hrs) and then stop in NY for 4hrs before taking the next magebus from NY to Boston for another 4 hrs! I was soooo tired by the time I reached Boston! This driver in NY insisted that he muzt be in the photo with us when he saw Stacy taking a picture of me with the bus! Haha really funny guy!

In Boston, the raliway tracks and the platform are of the same level!

Waiting tiredly for the train to our host's place. We didn't know that he was not staying in Boston but the suburbs and we need to take a train to reach there! =(

Finally reaching our host's University! Yes! We are staying in his dorm =)

Dinner at Harvard Square with Toby, our cute and shy but very helpful and kind host. His room mate is a funky guy and they had 2 more mattresses for me and Stacy =)

The train station at Brandeis University...

It's the kind of train that goes long distance, not the normal subway! Stacy and I met a really nice station master who didn't charge us for the usd5 train ticket! He's really nice =) I think he thinks that we are poor students =( which is quite true! keke

The bridge! Don't ask me for the name =p

We are going to embark on the famous Freedom Trail in Boston!

Evidence that we are really on it! It is really chilly in Boston. Me and Stacy had to wear sweatshirts and jeans!

The wind direction thingy... i forgot it' name =p

Some nice houses down the trail...

I enjoy walking and just looking at their nice buildings...

Massachusetts Gate!

We scaled the bunker hill monument with 294 steps! I nearly died =P haha but the view was all worth it =)

still on track...

A nice house and tree at the Boston National Historical Park

Navy Yard...

We were in Little Italy!

Having a quick snack at the famous Mike's Pastry! I love the strawberry cheesecake and the log lookalike cream pastry!

The streets of Boston!

Quincy Market!

The old City Hall, way nicer than the new one. Toby was telling us the story about how the new city hall was built when we were with him the night before.

Guess which school has the privilege of such a nice park?

It was a nice place to jog and just chill out!

None other than the famous MIT!

No prize for guessing this other famous school where tour buses stop by just to let tonnes of Japanese tourists to take photos!

Yeah Arts =) Can you recognize the school badge?

Nice field they have huh?

Harvard! Haha you know what? In fact, I think I should have been a student of this school. I think my it's either my face or my "aura" that goes well with the image of the school. When I was walking along the streets of Harvard, I was approached twice by people to ask for directions! =) Haha I knew I got what it takes to be a student of Harvard =P I just chose to be near home Right~

Harvard Square - A small town which the famous university sits

They have a Coop too! Guess it's a universal word huh? =)

To be continued...

Visit to 1 of the 7 wonders of the world - Grand Canyon!

2008-10-30T03:26:00.007+08:00

and so comes monday whereby the fair is closed and we can't afford to waste anytime =) To Grand Canyon we go~

Booked a usd160 day tour. I know it's kinda ex but we can't help it =( it's a 4-hour drive there and another 4-hour drive back so I don't think Stacy or I can do that long hours of driving. Plus we don't know the way too!

It is part of the day tour to go to sedona and oak creek canyon. Nice =)

The bridge which is no longer in use...

Looks like I'm taking a photo with a painting right?

See colorado river?

Looks like another photo with a painting right? Yeah everything just looks fake but it's real! Just like what I saw on tv~

I'm at the top of the world =p

No prize for guessing who's this man trying to rescue me - My guide cum driver cum narrator! I don't know if it's considered lucky or not but I was sitting at the front seat beside the driver throughout the whole trip. Fortunately, the guide is really funny and he enjoys talking to me but unfortunately, I can't sleep during the road trip cos he keeps waking me up at every minute to talk to me or show me some scenery -_-

One last photo before I say goodbye =)

Kelvin came to pick us from the hotel after our trip and Mark invited us to their bbq. American's bbq is nothing like ours! They have only got burger, baked beans and never ending amount of BEER! I miss satay, chicken wings, crab meat, sting rays and you-name-it =(

Woke up the next morning and decide to take a photo of my bed!

and my tiny private room too!

The living condition here, like I said, is a lot better =)

My new job in Phoenix, Arizona

2008-10-25T13:44:00.009+08:00

Woah, I've abandoned this blog for more than a month. So much to update!

1st of all, I've gotten myself a new job and here's how it works:

Yes, I'm back to working at fairs again =) but this time round, I'm renting out strollers, wagons, wheelchairs and electric scooters. I can't help it but always find employment in fairs cos throughout the whole time I've been working in fairs! I met this boss in Indianapolis when our truck was parked next to their RV.

Since he only needed 2 person at a time. Waping and peiyi came to work for 10days 1st while me and stacy travel. After which we'll come and replace them to work and they will travel. It is kind of neat =)

Well anyway, you would have noticed that this is can be quite a boring job when no one comes to rent anything from me so this is how I kill time:

Haha I set up a comfy environment with tv such that I can watch dvds during work. It is part of the job to kill time =) Good life huh? Which job pays you to watch 10 episodes of Prison Break during a work day.

Hmmm but don't think that all is easy ok? The place we are at is a desert. A DESERT mind you! So in the day it's freaking hot and it feels like anytime u'll get a heat stroke but at night, you just feel like putting on your winter wear. Yes, it is that extreme. My skin is so dry and I have to drink so much water!!!

Ok another good thing about this job is that the trailer we are living in is way better than what we had in the previous job. We have stove, microwave, fridge, oven and even a toilet to use! So of course I have to make good use of it and here's curry for all 4 of us =)

That's basically it. One day i'll watch dvd and the next day I'll use the internet on wanping's laptop cos me and stacy are working at different gates and only one gate has wireless. Oh I miss my travel days just before I came here =( D.C, Boston, Montreal, Vermont(to visit Ben & Jerry's Factory) and Nigara Falls. I really enjoyed myself for the 10 days and it was the 1st time I saw snow!!! Shall blog about it soon. Hope wanping and peiyi have an enjoyable and safe trip!

In Florida!

2008-09-23T12:32:00.001+08:00

I'm having fun =)

US Work & Travel Part 3 - Sun Priaire & Indianapolis

2008-09-08T04:51:00.024+08:00

We headed back to SunPriaire (the place where our employers stay) after the Rochester Fair and sleep for a night at their barn.

This is our new bunk truck =( it’s kind of worst than our previous tiny twin-sharing one but four of us are now sleeping together and it’s slightly bigger.

The potty at their barn =( I hate potties!!!

My first paycheck!!! =) Haha happie! But it’s really very little as it’s for 3 days of work and they deducted a $40 deposit for room and we have to pay $30 for our uniforms =(

Us and the “main” employer – Charlie and Mary. We are with their son, Douglas’s crew.

The barn!

The barn again!

We went out to the gas station to get hot chocolate, it’s our favorite hot drink here! haha

To the laundry mat!

Walking around while waiting for our laundry...

Still walking...

I always could not understand it when I watch movies or drama serials from overseas as to why they have to bring all their laundry out to a shop to wash it. That’s how some romance in the shows start, you know? Waiting for laundry and dryer and start talking to the girl or guy next to you OR you always go to the same laundry mat and notice this girl or guy always going at this time so in future you will always go at this time so that you will meet him or her again! How fun! Haha but not so for me because we always visit different laundry mat at different states. Now I’m doing exactly what I could not understand because in Singapore, we usually have a washing machine in our home!

Back to collect our clothes from the dryer!

Dinner at Fazoli’s. Their bread stick is yummy and the best part is that it is free flow! One thing about restaurants and fast food outlets in US is that their soft drinks come with free refills! How good right? It is never going to work in Singapore coz everyone will just go for unlimited refills.

Camwhore in the toilet

Again…

The Grand Stand of the Indiana State Fair where Carrie Underwood, Jessica Simpson and Backstreet Boys performs!

Nice place near my food stand

The entrance…

Look at that uncle behind! So funny right?

The prizes they offer…

The funfair

The rides…

Merry-go-round~

Oh my~ the fur feels damn good!!!!

See! I told ya the stars were there! Did I mention how I know the performance was live? I heard backstreet boys sing off tune!

And more!

This was suppose to be for the jockey and horse to pose for photos ahaha

If you have watched Babe Pig and the City or Charlotte’s Web, you will sort of have a feel of the fairs I work at. They will have a section for farm animals and they usually hold competition for the animals, like which has the nicest fur or nicest body shape, stuff like that!

The winning pig and it’s piglets!

The chicken barn.

WanPing and Me

The fairgrounds.

My naughty and cheeky 18-year old neighbour. Their trailer is parked right next to ours, so sometimes we will meet outside to chitchat and have a drink or ask some of them to accompany us to the toilet ahaha.

Me at work! Don’t think it’s all so glamourous, you will know what I mean after you see more photos below!

The pizza I baked! Looks yummy huh?

This is how we spend our break time…

Hiding in the tents because of the scorching sun and sleeping on the freezer.

Here’s the moment of truth – I am sweeping the roads!!!

Here’s stacy! We are just like cleaners!

This is worst! Haha

Check out my fat and grumpy face while scrubbing the fryer!

Well but sometimes we have some happy moments too! Such as shopping at Walmart after work! Haha! I bought curry seasoning and cooked for the 4 of us (stole all the ingredients from our food stand – fries as potato, onions, burger pattee as beef) while peiyi bought packet rice.

We also get some form social activity too! Celebrating our boss’s birthday!

The whole family! That little boy Willy is really cheeky and naughty and he doesn’t like to take photos.

This is a nice one! Candid!

I'm surviving well here =) I even travelled to Chicago for 4days during our break! Will try to update soon I hope =)

p/s: I don't do collage now cos my mum complain that the pics are too small for her to see!

I'm at Elkhorn!

2008-08-27T02:49:00.003+08:00

At Elkhorn library now but unable to update my blog with photos as my lappy just died on me. Using their workstation now. Sad =( I've got so much to talk about! I want to blog about my day off at the Indianapolis State Fair whereby I visited the downtown and also about the 4-day Chicago trip which I just returned from!

Wells guess I'll have to wait or I'll use WanPing's.

Pretty excited that I'll be going to Florida, Miami and Key West after the next fair at Nashville. What's more? Was told that we'll get a day off to shop at the outlet malls in Nashville! Heard that almost all the big brands are there =)

That's it for now! Will try to upload more pics soon!

US Work & Travel Part 2 - Madison, Seymour & Rochester

2008-08-13T22:19:00.016+08:00

Left New Yorker hotel and reached Madison Fairgrounds at night...

At work the next day...

Taking pics around the fairgrounds...

With the farm animals...

A group pic before we leave for the next fair at Seymour...

My tiny room =(

Reached Seymour! and to Walmart we go!

Went to a small pub at night and working at the fairgrounds...

Chilling out with co-workers after work...

I was taking charge of one foodstand all by myself man! Tough job =P

Roadtrip to the next fair! This is the mississippi river! haha

Stacy, PeiYi and Me were in the same pickup...

Reachign Rochester...

Here it is! That's our bunk room!

Shopping time! (Yes, Walmart again!)

I bought a new net10 phone and it's the 1st time that I have to buy beauty products like face and foot moisturiser cos the weather here is too dry for my skin!

We got half a day off to shop at old navy and walmart and another full day off to shop at the mall! Bought 2 tees from wetseal cos i am running out of clothes to take photos in! Haha there was no tax for clothes! Happy =)

To the library...

Working at Rochester fair! Our boss traded with another food stand and I got to drink really yummy strawberry smoothies, feast on tenderloins and chicken! OMG! They taste really good! Guess what? My appetite has really grown to fit that of a normal American so don't be surprised when I return to Singapore =P

The little girl is really cute! She is helping her parents at the food stand next to our lemonade stand and she's only 4 years old and really witty and talkative!

Next up will be Indianapolis State Fair!

US Work & Travel Part 1

2008-08-02T23:24:00.010+08:00

WooHoo! I'm finally blogging again after a long long break! I'm so busy working and there isn't internet readily available in US which explains my long overdue entry. I'm practically working almost everyday from approximately from 11am to 11pm.

Departed on the 14jul08 from Changi Terminal 1. Hocky was there to send me off too! He followed me all the way till the boarding room ahaha the advantage of working at airport!

We were staying at New Yorker's Hotel for the 3 days that we were in New York for orientation. It's a great hotel I must say, with wireless in every room! Heard that the movie "Maybe, Definitely" used it for filming =)

Stacy and me arrived in NY 1st on 14jul night while WanPing and PeiYi joined us only on 15jul late morning. We had to attend orientation on the day following our arrival hence we couldn't wait for WP and PY. Basically orientation was only for a few hours of instructions and administration and the rest of the time was free for us to explore! Stacy and me went to apply for our Social Security Pass at Chinatown immediately after orientation and met the other girls later in the afternoon.

Taking the 24-hr subway in NY

Stacy went to visit her uncle while WP, PY, some other fellow singaporeans and me headed to Central Park, the place where Enchanted is filmed and Charlotte from Sex & the City always jogs . Check out all the movie shoot locations!

This very cute baby came crawling to us as we were sitting down on the grass patch taking pictures!

Walking around NY city...

So many fake Statue of Liberty...

The real one...

This is the 2nd day in NY whereby we visited Statue of Liberty on the free ferry! WP and me managed to "zi pia" a photo with it! Haha =P Visited Times Square too! I went to Macy's, the largest shopping mall in NY by myself in the morning as Stacy went out with her uncle while WP and PY had to attend orientation!

Streets of ny...

We wanted to watch a broadway musical but ended up choosing a wrong show and watching a damn crap musical which all of us were totally damn sian cost it was a total waste of time and money hmph! Look as if we are clubbing right? We shopped at the nearby forever21 after that crap musical and there was so many things that were on sale and so cheap! I only bought a pair of sunglasses in the end, need to have self control to last the whole 4 months man!

Haha the best thing is Stacy and me met up with Justin in NY! OMG! We spend so much time in Singapore yet we nv did meet up and yet when we are in ny for only 3days (justin was only there for a night to transit), we manage to see each other! We met at the Mc Donald's opposite our hotel and guess what? A guy who was mugging at the table next to us identified us as fellow Singaporeans haha So funny heh! He is studying in Australia but was in US for exchange.

Last day of photo-taking in ny...

Comfortably webcaming on my hotel bed the night before and more photos before we head to milwakee!

Had a tiring but great time in ny! Next up will be Madison =)

I graduated!

2008-07-09T23:43:00.003+08:00

What does love mean?

2008-06-20T16:10:00.000+08:00

"Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the way."

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."

"Love is when someone hurts you. And you get so mad but you don't yell at them because you know it would hurt their feelings."

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

"Love is when my mom makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."

"When you tell someone something bad about yourself and you're scared they won't love you anymore. But then you get surprised because not only do they still love you, they love you even more."

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."

"My mom loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."

"Love is when mom gives daddy the best piece of chicken."

"Love is when mom sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is more handsome than Robert Redford."

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."

You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot else people forget... ...

Matters matter...

2008-06-11T13:22:00.002+08:00

So many events have taken place since my last entry. So so many... Some are really simply fabulous while some I wish I didn't had to go through. But wells, that's life and I have got to face up to reality. A trip to the hospital made me think hard about life...

Shall upload pics of those happy moments soon =)

p/s: I would really like to thank this person, whom I don't think is going to read this and I can't name anyway, for sharing personal stories with me and had enlightened me in a very kind, caring and humorous way. I think you are really a nice person and I really hope that I can have a boss like you in future! =)

pp/s: I really really sincerely appreciate friends who have helped me through the tough moments, be it a listening ear or bitching or a lunch or efforts in helping me out. Yeah, makes me feel that I am loved.

my simple wish is just to be happy, hope that it's not too much to ask for...

Angela 張韶涵 Live @ Singapore 2008

2008-06-02T09:19:00.015+08:00

Was at Angela's concert last night courtesy of tab('s friend) haha as she couldn't make it for the rescheduled concert date.

When I saw Angela Zhang last night, I was surprised that she did not look as skinny as she was on tv. I didn't know that this power-pack petite singer cum cutish actress had a heart problem and had to undergo surgery hence had to reschedule her concert from march to yesterday. Maybe that's why she put on weight as she is "well-rested". But I must say that she look really good with more "meat". Despite her illness, she still sang with a great voice. Hopefully she will recover fully =)

Here are some better quality photos that I took!

Opening...

dancing...

more dancing...

a duet with Fan Wei Qi

solo...

threesome!

cutish song~

lively!

this was really funny! Angela was asking the crowd for a guy to sing a duet with her and this joker spontaneously stood up almost immediately and demanded that he should be up on stage! *kowtow* to his courage and enthusiasm

in the end this guy in red cap was choosen instead, guess it's all pre-planned =\

slow track...

she was very emotional while delivering this song as she was thanking the people who helped and encouraged her during the most difficult time of her life! Her command of English is quite good =)

singing her hearts out...

interacting with audience...

encore!

a hip tune!

i love this photo!

to prove that I was there! =D

the concert ended pretty early, approximately 2hours. It was my first time watching a full-staged concert but I was pretty disappointed as I felt that the concert wasn't really impactful enough and the "rara-ness" element was missing from the crowd. However, I still have to give it to her for being able to deliver her songs with her powerful voice even after surgery although I realised that a few songs were lip-synced.

Took some videos her singing some of my fav songs... enjoy =)

Journey

Duet with Fan Wei Qi

Bu Xiang Dong De

Yi Shi De Mei Hao

The finale song...

Mommi & Dotti

2008-05-26T15:11:00.007+08:00

Went for a complimentary makeover few weeks ago with mummy and jiejie. We were allowed 2 outfits - one natural, which is what we were wearing and the other wearing something from their wardrobe

Here's how we look!

Happie =)

The Korean Babes

Pretty huh? =P

although we took many shots, only 2 digital copies were given to us in a disc. Anything more would have cost us a bomb! The lady suggested a 3.5k Daylight robbery package for us and said we could use it for graduation photoshoot too! Thanks but no thanks!

It's time that I start searching for a studio for our graduation + family photo shoot before jie fly off to US and followed by me to US and by then, we'll never have a proper time to gather!

Let me know if any of you know of cheap and good ones around!

My 1st open water diving course at Pulau Aur

2008-05-23T09:43:00.032+08:00

At the very moment I woke up on friday morning, I knew I was doom. The first thing I did was to message Stacy! Woah and surprisingly I checked my phone after washing up and got a reply from her. Considering that it's 7.30am in the morning, it was a plesant surprise. The same message went to Gilbert next! I told them that I'm having a slight fever, block nose and sore throat plus the worst thing that can ever occur in a month - my "aunty" came!

Heh! I was whining all the way through my smses to Gilbert and Stacy. Worrying about everything that I could =( *boo I was even considering about not going and joining the next trip!

However, by evening after work, I decided that I should just go ahead. Hahaha why? Cos during lunchtime I made a good investment in something that will solve my "aunty" problem and I was feeling better =)

Yeap and I got the whole lot of girls in my office involved in my greatest 1st TIME! hahaha We call it the T-bag, a spin-off nick from the oh-so-lovable ibag nick! If you still can't guess what it is, it's either you are a guy or you are a boy =P

Anyhow, I got it "going"(go-in) but work ended late that day because we had to review the tonnes of applications =( THe vol of work was GROSS! I didn't stay back for too long as we had to meet in school at 7.30pm. Anyway I won't be appreciated to stay back so heck it! Initially I waited for a bus to school but alighted halfway at the highway and took a cab down instead in case I miss the group =P In the end the bus came late! Hmph! Stacy was still frantically hurrying and calling me on my phone!

Well the best part of the trip shall be shared NOW!

Nevermind that the bus was late and that we had to be stranded at the Mersing jetty as the Malaysia army was having an emergency military drill. Ok of all times it must take place on the day and time that we need to board the ferry at Mersing! Due to security reasons, no boats are allowed to leave the jetty until 4am in the morning. Thanks! And so we had to spend a couple of hours trying to make ourselves comfortable lying down on the dirty plastic chairs (those that use to be at the polyclinics).

After sleeping for an hour plus, I was forced to wake up due to the freezing temperature and my growling stomache. It doesn't help that Gilbert told me that all of them had ate Ramily burgers! Courtesy of Alex =) Damn! One of the dive master (I forgot his name) was really nice as he overheard our conversation (most probably Stacy's whining) and went to order 2 burgers for us =D Yeah!

The highlight of the whole trip is going to be unfolded like RIGHT NOW! Hmmm after happily gobbling down the burger, I was told that we can start boarding the ferry. That same dive master who bought us the burger was "issuing" motion sickness pills and gave me one too! From my previous experiences, I knew it was not going to be effective but still swallowed it anyway. The good thing is that I fell asleep right after I settled down in the ferry.

Just when I thought that I was going to pull through this, I woke up suddenly halfway through the boat ride. It was a total pitch dark and I just have to "shake" Stacy to wake her up to get me a plastic bag! Oh my! Luckily she had one prepared at the side of her bag and she passed it to me immediately. Without delay, my whole digisted ramily went into the bag. Yucks I know it's gross but I can't help it. Luckily Stacy prepared a big bag too! If not...

I have never been so happy to know that we have arrived at civilisation. However, my trauma did not stop there =( We had to transfer to a tiny speedboat as the seabed was too shallow for the ferry to reach the island. You definitely cannot imagine what I have to go through if you have no history of motion sickness! The boat was freaking jerky and keeps swaying sideways. You can really feel that it is going to capsize anytime and it doesn't help that water keeps flowing in! Poor me was screaming and screaming all the way and grabbing on to anything that I can reach which mostly are human's body parts! =P Anyway I think everyone on the boat must be thinking that I am a crazy woman but I don't care! I am SOOooo scared plus the jerkiness doesn't help my seasickness.

Before we set off - look at the happy faces and compare it to the last pic which was taken after a "puking" 4-hr boat ride!

After we reached the island, I headed straight to the dining area and sat down to rest. Everyone was busy with breakfast but even food didn't appeal to me anymore! Woah, I swear to myself that I will never go diving again and never to go on beach holidays that requires a boat ride!

After all the "tak glam" puking, I guess I really look vey bad to the extent that someone whom I don't really know offered me his motion sickness pills. He's actually Stacy's friend and she kind of introduced us at the wrong moment =( I look really bad then which at that point of time I didn't care as I was too concern about recovery! Anyhow, I quite like the pills =P because it's not bitter like other motion sickness pills and I'll always be reminded of the price as Marcus had deliberately pass me the slab with the price tag!

Me and Stacy on our 1st diving attempt! I must say that the airtank is really heavy and luckily I received some help in transporting that as I had to concentrate controlling my motion sickness so that I don't puke =(

The 4 buddies and our dear instructor Jerry who's always on the lookout for Stacy and me as we are the most "trouble-free" rookies!

Our 1st dive at the sea! I was the 1st to descend as I was experiencing sea sickness! BAD CHOICE! I was waiting for the longest time for everyone to get down and it was really cold plus there were surfs at the sea that swept us all around the seabed! Even the rope that we were holding on to for support did not help! Oh and did I mention that I accidentally damaged a mushroom-like coral by kicking it with my flippers while being swept away by the sea surfs? I feel really bad but Saify is worst! He literally sat on the whole mushroom coral and crash it!

Back for lunch! I didn't dare to eat much as I puked on our way back after the 1st dive! Jerry is freaking gross la! He told everyone that I was vomiting brownish liquid -___- Ya cos I ate an orange during breakfast and I guess chemical reactions are at work!

Our island... (the naughty fat male cat went up to our beds! I took a photo for evidence ahaha) We had 10 person to 1 room with 2 bathroom/toilets. On the 1st night when me and Stacy were taking our baths after our 3rd dive, the water supply was disrupted after I shampooed my hair! It took really long before help was rendered =( My hair smelled super nice after that bath as the my hair was seasoned by the shampoo that stayed for so long!

Fooling around...

Still fooling around...

Our instructors! Alex & Jerry!

CamWHORE!!!

Spot the difference! Haha

We brought a piece of bread along to feed the fishes but didn't manage to get a good shot of them all around us. Anyway, I am still very afraid of one particular drill - take off my mask and put it back on! Partly maybe due to the fact that I am wearing lenses but another thing was that I will have the tendency to breath through my nose and I will swallow a lot of sea water after completing that drill. To illustrate just how afraid I am, I had to ask Stacy to hold on to me for assurance and I have to hold on to Jerry for greater assurance! To make sure that he is near me when I do the drill =P Also I kept blowing and blowing to get the water out of the mask continuously until Jerry had to tap me and tell me to stop as there was no more water inside the mask =P During all of these, my eyes were tightly shut and I didn't dare to open them at all! Not even to peep!

Got thrown into the sea by alex but we were happily swimming! Haha

The cutish star cushion & us!!!! It's so cute! We saw a lot of other stuff too! Bumphead Parrot fish, Turtle, Moral Eel, Clown Fish etc. Haha smart Stacy and me always stay close to Jerry and Francis! Stacy is really damn funny! Francis brought us a very unique-looking sea cucumber and excited I took over the creature from him and wanted to let Stacy touch it. Even before I could turn around, Stacy fled faraway from me! Wahaha it was really funny cos she swam away so quickly!

Da 4 of us again!

A nice group shot that marks the end of our last dive for open waters!

Returning on the boat...

Camwhoring during lunch...

On the ferry back to Mersing... my unglam moment again! The "after" diving photo of the four of us!

Simon was so in the holiday mood and kept wanting to eat seafood! We were even planning to extend another night in Malaysia but decided to head back to Singapore instead for safety reasons! There will be a chance for seafood next time!

We are now in talks for a leisure dive trip to redang or somewhere equivalent. Talking about swearing not to go on any diving trips or beach holidays? =D

Bad day at work =(

2008-05-21T23:33:00.009+08:00

Damn it was a freaking bad day at work today! Everything jus went wrong and I'm so frustrated wid myself!!! Screwed up so many minute stuff ROAR!

"erm whr's the colour code?"
"this is a very simple thing, how many reserves haf we got here?"
"how many times haf i told u tt *beep* is spelt with a capital T?"
"so my point is u didn't print it!"

Ok like wadever ya? I cld feel tt I was running a slight fever alrdy! Yeah and tt's abt it! I was stomping my way out of the office jus now, scolding the person who happen to call me at tt crucial moment. Opps! too bad.

I'm gonna get a good rest and start anew tmr! YEAH!

On a sidenote, I was really happy to see familiar faces these few days... Met Benny for dinner before he flew back to HK 2 nites ago and ate all the spicy seafood at Newton (got my throat dying), met Hocky ytd evening and ate at TongShui cafe which was quite yummilicious (initially planned for laksa steamboat but my bad throat didn't agree to it), met Peihong tis afternoon for lunch and ate yong tau hoo which she initially wanted to try but didn't had a chance and lastly I bumped into Kay on my way home jus now and had a short chat at the mrt station for a while =) So coincidental!

Hopefully I will get to meet the sk peeps tis fri =)

I really miss toking to friends, those whom u can really tok to and those who sincerely haf a heart to heart tok wid u! Those who dun tok only abt shallow stuff and those whom u can dun even tok yet feel so comfortable jus hanging ard with them.

It only during bad times tt u suddenly rem the good times u haf wid ya true frens huh? N realise tt u miss them so much =|

if u'll ask me now, yes I do miss u...

Looking forward to meeting the bimbo babes tmr nite! Also, not forgetting "Happy 22nd b'day Stacy!" Thanks for taking all my nonsense and my "seasickness" cum "lovesickness" and going diving wid me and gg US wrk & travel wid me and the so many many things tt u share wid me! *BIG HUGS* n_n

My first pool session for diving

2008-05-13T10:33:00.007+08:00

Was a physically very tiring day cos I met felicia early in the morning to go to the gym. First time hitting the company's gym! It's free access so no complains =)

Come evening was the first pool session for my open water course! OMG, i was so scared! Didn't know diving is so scary... Cos u haf to breathe thru ur mouth and I'm so used to breathing thru my nose so I panicked when I submerged under water =(

It doesn't help tt I've got a tiny hole in my ear drums n i'm really afraid tt the i can't equalise and go deaf =P Well anw, I was told tt the pool is too shallow for the need to equalise.

Another thing is tt communication is a prob underwater!!! U can at most communicate with the limited hand signs and anything more wld test the mutual understanding between u and ur buddy! Apparently stacy isn't so understanding towards me =P but I cld quite understand the stuff she tried to signal to me!

Lastly, I felt really uncomfortable when I suddenly surface to the top from the bottom of the pool. Yeap heard tt if u do tt too quickly, ur lungs will burst n u will DIE!!! Eeek so scary =(

Well well well, guess I'll haf to polish my skills more and brave myself up in the nx pool session in preparation for the real dive!

Since the last paper...

2008-05-12T09:39:00.038+08:00

I've been busy with stuff, yeah real stuff!

6may08 Last Exam

nm3219 paper marks the last exam of my nus life. Pretty managable i must say but kinda tricky too bcos u'll nv noe wad's required of u! =)

Right aft exams I went bk hall to pack my nv-ending amt of junk in my hall rm and found a complimentary massage voucher which I kept away for sometime. Haha so I decided to try my luck and called them up to arrange for an appointment and surprise surprise they actually agreed even though the voucher was way pass its expiry. Booked an appointment on the day itself as I thot it wld be a good stress-relieve activity and headed down to the cathay aft which.

Met my sis aft tt and she bought me 2 pairs of pretty working shoes. Keke she feeling generous heh and being in the shopping mood proves to be advantagous for me =P

Anw I ended my day by returning back to hall to pack stuff till late and shifted home tt day itself.

7may08 Mambo @ Zouk

Clubbing with my lovely mkting de agency peeps as promised! Headed down to mambo at zouk at 10.30 pm plus and luckily my fren was alrdy queueing so we managed to get in quite fast but we weren't allowed into Phuture at all!!! So sian! =( We ended up taking a "drink" break at the nearby coffeeshop and went bk at 3am to enter phuture as promised by the bouncer

testing the camera b4 we set off from kit's hse...

whr is jonnie? =P look closely!!! can see a tiny weeny bit of his face!

Yeah a nice grp pic whr everyone is seen! except for jonnie's jaws!

Covered by "FOG!" n opps whr is jonnie agn?

stitch it with the previous pic and u'll almost get the whole of jonnie's face. Did i say almost?

The real mkt grp less suu mon who can't come due to the typhoon at myamar, she was v worried and was planning to head home =(

Babes - Lava Jessie and Jasmine!

It's Jessie's last few days in Singapore. She's an exchange student from US and kit invited her to join us =)

trying to squeeze my face into the pic...

A nice one b4 the nite ends...

ahaha had a great nite gg crazy with them and muz thank our dear chauffeur waikit for fetching n sending us home!

8may08 A day @ Work

I thot I was gonna die at work but I felt surprisingly awake for work until like 4pm when I started dozing off at some intervals =P Mayb volka redbull helps =)

Hoho resourceful me and a helpful cutish colleage nad gave me a web based msn add so tt I cld still log on to msn so I "secretly" did tt! I happen to see felicia online and msged her to see how she was doing and I realized that she is working in the same company as me! So conincidental! We are once again colleages aft years. Met her for lunch tt day and she brought me to a cute-funny yong tau hoo stall at orchard point. It's a very small stall so the seats are limited. U'll get a queue no. aft u select wad u wan and they will call for ur no. to take a seat when the front customers leave =) They serve yummy yong tau hoo and their soup is nice too!

9may08 Diving Theory Lesson & Chalet Day 1

Attended my 1st ever diving theory lesson in sch aft wrk and b4 I head to chalet! The 3-hr session came along with a final graded exam and 4 quizzes! How shocking but of course smart me handle it wid no probs at all (compare ans with frens =P)

Right aft lesson was playtime!!!

vegetarian steamboat!!!

Haha us trying to take a nice pic with the champagne...

Ah B and my sis can b awarded the most enthu mahjong gambler prize sia! Thru out the whole nite they were the only 2 crazy ones being over enthu abt mahjong! I hid upstairs in the aircon room and watched "I am Legend" =P Slpt the earliest too!

The hammlock is so comfy!!! the last pic was taken during nx day's lunch whr we cleared all the left-overs from steamboat!

10may08 Chalet Day 2

Woke up and watched lust caution while waiting for others to get ready for mac breakfast! we ended up with 6 boxes of hotcakes for 4 pple. Here's y: JiaJun had some points from his ezlink card to exchange for 3 boxes of hotcakes so he told Ah b and me to wait for him b4 ordering. We did n he came bk with the receipt of his pts and said tt we can haf 3 hotcakes. So we thot oh.. 3 hot cakes so we''ll order 3 more boxes so tt each can haf a box. Ah b even confirmed with him "is it 3 hotcakes or 3 boxes of hotcakes?" & he replied "Yes 3!!!" and the rest is history... so here's the confusion and tt's y we had hotcakes for lunch too! ahaha

played blackjack to kill time...

catered yummy dinner...

dinner and interaction time when more pple came plus more gambling...

been a long time since I saw these peeps...

11may08 Happy Mummy's Day

Mother's day dinner at KFC!!! how random? Haha cos my sis had craving and my mum felt like eating too aft being reminded of it...

Mummy & Dottis...

Lenny Boy and his aunt!!!

Lenny Boy and ah ma and aunty...

=)

Stina and mummy and aunty...

da "aunties" haha

Dotti and Dadi!

Happie family!

All together!!!

Happy (grand)Mother's Day! =D

Just 1 day before my final paper!

2008-05-05T19:42:00.017+08:00

Tomorrow will be my last paper for the sem and also the last paper that I will ever take as an undergrad ~~(hopefully)~~. The mood of studying is gone and I jus feel like doing everything and anything except to study! Realized that I haven't been updating my blog so here's a sneak preview to my work so far =)

Inez & me =)

Day 1:

Went to Kart World in Jurong with Edmund cos my internet connection wasn't up yet and there was nothing much I cld do!

Took a shot of the tracks - pretty small as compared to permas

Their karts collection...

Day 2:

I was at Suntec for a company function, no prize for guessing my role thr - registration

That was the kart that we were looking at ytd...

My most impt role for the end of the day was to distribute souvenirs!

Yup so basically that's a summary of what I did and I guess this honeymoon will only last for the 1st week. Heard that thr's a lot more wrk to come.

Anw, I jus received the event photos from my sis (kevin jus sent her) so as promised, I am suppose to show everyone how "aunty" I was tt day. Surprise surprise the photos turn out quite good =P pays to be photogenic heh?

all the phone brand ladies...

shows that I am working ok! not slacking =P

Da sistas! Kevin is damn off! he passed the phone to my sis to pose wid it -__-

Haha amos was thr too! saw alot of familiar faces =) My sis is jus thr to extra la ahaha

In case u din noe, tt's kevin! He's the photographer of the day and also the one who helped me and hock "tok to" the starhub dealers months ago when we had probs communicating with them while he was signing up for their service. Ahaha he was tinking tt i looked v familiar n yeah i reminded him of tt incident!

All the ladies agn.. God i'm so at the wrong position! Tt place will make one look the fattest cos of camera angle!!!

MWG & Palm - frenly!

Hmmm shall get on to packing so that I can shift my stuff back home soon =)

Back Home!

2008-04-26T12:42:00.013+08:00

Yeah finally the internet is up and running agn after such a long period of disruption! Didn't intend to go home for the weekends as I thot I will b guai guai mugging in sch, either central or biz lib. I even told louis tt I wun b able to watch movie with him cos i haf a paper on mon n nd to mug for it! but haha =P I fell aslp ytd halfway thru reading lect notes in lib n decided tt enough was enuff! I shd go ahead wid a nice movie aft the 1st paper.

And so I msged louis n told him tt i changed my mind & haha yes! luckily he didn't plan any prog for the nite n was feeling bored too! When I called, he was at Tampines Ikea buying photoframe for his 6-month-sary present for his gf! I went online to book GV max tixs for The Forbidden Kingdom, totally wrong choice even though i love GVmax. Firstly, it was a crap show that gave a lousy interpretation of Chinese Classic Epics and it's so unrealistic to see Chinese speak English during olden days. Secondly, I booked the 6th row sits which initially I thot was alrite but ltr on had neck aches. Tink it's better to get further back sits for GVmax huh!

Oh but the highlight of ytd was none other than a phone call from the brand manager of da big U, offering me a temp position/ internship with their company =( Haiz... The heart-wrenching moment of me having to tell her that I have to turn down her kind offer in the midst of her telling me all about the employment procedure and remuneration etc. and wanting me to start work on tues and tt she will settle all the admin stuff by mon... is so hard to bear! =( I really can't bring myself to tell her that I can't take up her offer. It has always been my dreams (ok not really dream but desire) to work in companies dealing with FMCG(fastmoving consumer goods- a term i learnt fr her too!) such as Unilever and P&G.

Aft tt phone call, I felt really lousy and keep asking myself if I had made the right choice. I would have hoped that they wouldn't grant me an offer so that I dun haf to turn them down but the other half of me will of course hope tt they gif me an offer so that it shows i'm good rite? Ahaha

I could hear that she sounded very disappointed too. Yup could hear tt she was disappointed and AIYA wasted kinda feeling =(

Hmmm but I haf weigh the odds and really feel that I wan some exposure to Corp Comm. Louis was saying that hopefully I will not be used as cheap labour to go gif out flyers etc since such a large scale event will definitely require a lot of part-time workers. Hock was saying that since I have alrdy done mkting b4, it'll b good to gain exposure in other areas. Moreover, the prestigious event will definitely keep me occupied and it will look good on my CV nx time to be part of the organizing team of this "first ever" in Singapore! TRUE =)

It's good that I am facing this prob now cos in future, i may face the same situation and this time round, it will b a perm job tt I'll stay on with for a long time.

Ahaha although well-consoled, I was still somehow affected by it and went home and related tt incident to my dad. He said I did a right choice. =P ahaha i jus need reassurance la really!

Well and so it goes, I've already confirmed my start date of the internship to be next tuesday 29apr. One day aft my 2nd (also 2nd last) paper animal behaviour and my 3rd and last paper nm3219 is more than 1 week ltr on the 6may. I noe it sounds crazy tt i start b4 i finish my exams but I wanna start and end early! Cos they r gonna employ me for exactly 2months n commencement is on 9 or 10 jul. So if I start 29apr, i'll end 29jun and if I start 7may, i'll end 7jul which leaves me a few days for preparation for convo and my US work and travel. Anw if by any chance i need to take leave, I can make up some working days to them and it will stretch my end date later.

Yeap hope that all goes well and may I truly enjoy myself and not regret my decision yesterday night!

End of 1st paper now to Animal Behaviour

2008-04-25T12:02:00.007+08:00

Woo Hoo just cleared the 1st paper - Biz comm. Not bad, I would written more if I had more time. Tink my answers are abit insufficient =( But anyhow, I'm happy =) Now is full concentration on Animal Behaviour already but I'm having a real big prob here. I dunno how to mug for it! Haha wells i'll still try.

Saw Remmy jus now, he was sitting diagonally from me during exam and I had a short chat with him on the shuttle. He's taking double degree CNM and Biz 4.5years! V good rite? I always felt that a CNM degree coupled with Biz is the best and most valuable combi on earth! I rem I gave my full support for CNM to start this initiative 3 years ago when I was in year 1. I tink they were at the planning stage and tried to gather feedback from us and I immediately replied Dr. Millie with full support for it! Haha Dr Millie even replied to thank me for the feedback even though it did not affect me directly. I still have that email in my inbox =P

Anw, I tink Dr. Millie is really zai. I dunno abt others but personally, I really like her. She's one of the reasons why I chose to major in CNM cos she gave interesting lectures during NM1101e. N peihong told me that it was her who initiated the internship prog for CNM students. If it was really her who did it, I will really admire her cos for all that she has done, it's so beneficial to students. Respect her for that!

Btw, work ytd was fine. Quite good actually cos thr wasn't much to do and I had a good time catching up with a few familiar faces plus thr's good food which we were allowed to eat aft work too =) Haiz but one very sad thing was that EVERYONE KEPT COMMENTING ON MY DRESSING!!!! 1st the technician who conducted training for me told me that some managers or dunno who said I look like I'm gg to the mkt. -___- thanks! Then my sis came and said OMG u look fat, and ur butt looks so darn BIG!

Ok like do I haf a choice? I was told to wear white pants or 3quads wad and I only haf tt pathetic one 3quads bottom which even my mum can fit in! Given a choice I wld haf jus wore my skinnys or denims. DARN! shd haf trusted my own judgment. Now seem like following instructions is a bad choice yet on other times when I dun, I get reprimanded! Getting really bitchy here huh!

Plus it doesn't help that 3563789450245210678 people on earth are telling me that
- Jasmine u grew fatter
- Jasmine ni fei le
- Jasmine u look v shagged
- Jasmine u look v qiao cui
- Jasmine can see ur double chin
- Jasmine u eat a lot ah
- Jasmine ur eye bags very obvious
- Jasmine u got dark circles

Jasmine this Jasmine that... OK! Thank you so much for you feedbacks I will work on them after exams k! Wa Lao eEEE! Spare me la pls! It's exam time and so stressful (ok i'm lying here, it shd be i'm so relax until i'm worried abt why m n not stress hence tt made me stressed!). What's worst? Davin even said that I keep eating too fat cannot be show girl. WT* I admit tt I'm greedy and I love good food. Life is so short to miss out on good things wad! I really can't be like the skinny gers who pass good food jus to stay anorexic k! SORRY! *bitchy tone*

Anw, photos are not sent to me yet. I'll post them here n everyone can flame me for all they wan. I dun gif a damn!

The last day of school... Tomorrow is my 1st paper ...

2008-04-24T10:11:00.011+08:00

Apart from my face being so bloated in tis pic, everything else looks nice! It's the last tutorial that I attended for the last semester I'm in NUS. The next day was the deadline for this mod's project too! SO this nm3219 Writing for Communications Management is the last module to end. Unofficially, it marks the end of my NUS undergrad life. Haha being emo here. The tutor, Ms mary Lee is really cute, i was totally enjoying myself during her lesson cos she's so funny! Yeap n i also enjoy fooling ard with my grp mates too even though we had v tight deadlines and spend v little time wrking together! Ok mayb they dun enjoy my company =P ahaha but i dun care! Jus force myself on them! 5W1H - 5 women 1 hunk!

Can't imagine life aft school--- work! Actually I've already got my plans rolled out until the end of this year already so technically I am quite fulfilled, not lazing ard ahha

25apr, 28 apr, 6may - biz comm, animal behaviour, nm3219 exam
29apr - hopefully to meet siew to celebrate her belated 22nd b'day on 28apr
7may - mambo with the crazy bunch (mkt proj grp mates)
29apr to 29jun - Internship
9may - Diving Theory lesson (diving ah not driving! Already got my license k!)
9may to 11may - Chalet with childhood frens (ahaha dunno how to name them)
12may - Diving Pool Session 1
14may - Diving Pool Session 2
16may to 18may - Diving Trip to P. Aur
21may - stacy's b'day (maybe can arrange to meet)
7jun - Uncle's wedding in M'sia (a very close uncle of mine)
30jun - JieJie's b'day
9 or 10 jul - Commencement Ceremony
14jul to 17 nov - US Work & Travel
17nov to 27nov - Japan Tour (outbound)

----------------

Ok have got to plan for
1) seafood & go-karting trip to m'sia with mkt peeps agn
2) wakeboarding (hopefully) with the mkt peeps also =P
3) bimbo babes meet up (most prob near/during stace's b'day)
4) multi-racial (harmony) meet up
5) whether to work part time on top of the internship to earn more $ for travel =(
6) work at PC show 08

Hmmm tmr's my 1st paper. Biz comm haha yet i'm still blogging and doing everything except to study! Ytd i saw layz at lib and tok to her for like an hr plus or close to tt? GROSS i noe but i realized that thr's nothing much i can study cos it's not theory based, it's more of application qns plus it's open book! Moreover, my tutor jus called me cos I msged her last nite and told her tt i haf some clarifications to make. She's v nice rite? SO far throughout my whole NUS sch life, she's the one of the very few (some other tutors also gave their hp no.s) who gave her personal number and make the effort to call me up when i sms or email her qns! Nx time if u wanna take biz comm look out for Ms Waheeda =)

N guess wad? I'm gg to work for a short while ltr la =P ahaha from 6-9pm for i dunno wad but i'm promoting a new phone launch Atom V from MWG, previously know as O2. ahaha y r all of them changing names? Dopod to HTC! o2 to MWG. But i haf to admit tt i really like the phone aft jus holding it for 2 days(since mon)! It has so many functions for me to play ard with and it has a big screen YET only as heavy as my nokia 6500! V amazing rite?

It's not tt cos i'm wrking for them tt's y i say positive things about their phones. In general, i tink PDA phones are very useful and I will definitely get one in future. I was happily watching jay chou's mtvs (cos the technician stored some inside)and surfing online with that PDA =) ahahaha so far so good, no lag or hang!

The only drawback is that the batt life is ultra weak. It only last me thru 3quater of the day and died! Tink it's a common prob for PDA phones too cos running multiple applications drain the batt. Stacy was complaining that her iPhone cld only last her half a day but the funny thing is that after a while, the batt life seem to last longer. Now she can use it for a day =)

I'll only get a pda phone aft the batt prob is solved and the lagging/hang prob is reduced significantly! Yeah we shall wait and see...

F1 Launch Event by Singtel

2008-04-23T08:52:00.009+08:00

Woo Hoo! Exciting event to be at yesterday evening! Inez and myself was invited to this Singtel F1 Launch at Comcentre by the manager (also our direct in-charge).

Quite an eye opener for me bcos I usually see this kinda event reported on news but have nv been to one personally. Had always wondered how it's like and there I was!

The Guest of Honours giving opening speech to the media! Look at the number of cameras!

Unveiling the F1 Race Car! First of its kind in Singapore! The authentic one k! Cos I heard that thr are fake ones going ard but tis's the real one. It must have cost Singtel quite a bomb to get this fixed up with all the simulator equipments.

Everyone having a good time =D The food was good too! Snacks and desserts, Mocktails, wines and champagnes with waiters walking around to serve.

NOW! It's the act pro go-kart race queen wananbe to take her shot at the F1 race car hur hur! (in office wear, skirt somemore heh so sexy! ERPS tak galm more)

Getting in... Finally comfortably sitted!

All ready to GO!

Speed up to 250plus! Woo Hoo! but lang gar 4 or 5 times =P super pai seh ahaha cos u see the 3 monitor in front of me? The center monitor is being projected on 2 big screens la so u can imagine everyone's looking at u crash ur vehicle and judging ur level of pro-ness in racing!

Wanna blend into the promo poster!

Nice huh?

Oh my the host Jaymee Ong is so gorgeous! U noe when I first stepped into the event venue, the first person I noticed was HER! She totally stood out from the crowd with her stunning attractive looks plus she has short hair! TO me, I tink that ladies who can carry off short hair very well is a real beauty. Indeed, she is =) The guy on the right is Edmund.

Don't you tink he look like the Hong Kong singer-actor Ah B Kenny B 钟镇涛! *Compare look like rite? Btw, he's a real funny guy. I was telling him he look like a hk actor but i can't rem the name and he said "yes yes i noe i noe" then he gave me a "stop" hand signal, trying to telling me thr's no need to say, he noe who's the person. Then aft some "fake contemplating" plus "eh ummm ya i noe.... tt guy! Takashi rite?" OMG! me and Inez nearly choked =D but it was a real good joke la. Got to gif it to him but he's far from my idol haha takashi's a heart throb eh my god, how shuai la!

Another shot with the other host - Glenn Ong, a funny chap too!

The event actually ended at like 9plus but we stayed on to play with the game console and hang ard until 10 plus and I went back hall aft tt!

I must admit that I really enjoyed the event exposure and it gave a very good headstart to the internship. May I enjoy this internship as much as I did for the previous one n_n

*on a side note, I finally understood the meaning of "staged events" in mkting and PR terms hmmm like some activities are purposely created to creae a BUZZ!