the epitome of iridescence ... or so i wish

Self-reflection

2010-05-12T10:19:00.005+08:00

There may be much unfairness in this world.

But all comparisons should cease when the green-eyed monster rears its ugly head. It's no longer healthy to bear such negative thoughts. You gotta learn to accept, pessimistic as it may sound. Don't give yourself such undue pressure or stress.

If things happen, you will look back and say with gusto that you'd done nothing against your own conscience. Others have done you wrong, but you need not follow suit. You may wish to forgive, but you certainly won't forget.

On a side note, trust is a delicate thing which once broken, will never be recovered.

Why am i getting all emo this morning? Guess there may be some days whereby one wakes up feeling crappy and dreadful... asking oneself whatcha doing with one's own life? Why's there so much unfairness around yourself which you gotta continue to help sustain, without any benefit whatsoever to yourself?

Life's not all about winning and losing, benefits and losses, which to me, are immediate and to a certain extent, materialistic. It should be about human relations, human touch and helping others.

Why's it human nature to be the ultimate survivor at the expense of others?

Man-made Rules

2009-10-21T09:55:00.003+08:00

Some rules are flawed. They are of double-standards and are inconsistent. How then to follow such man-made rules that you find hard to comprehend, much less, be in compliance to and an 'advocate' of?

Rules are man-made. Man should dictate what rules to obey.

So, let's just be apathetic and follow your own rules instead. :)

Time

2009-10-21T09:19:00.007+08:00

It has been a really long time since I last penned. Many things have happened thus far. It has been slightly more than a year since I joined my present company. How time flies! The kids are bigger, older and hopefully, slightly wiser. Ryan and Ilyssa may quarrel and fight over minor issues still, but they are, I believe, slightly more understanding. After all, they have a little sibling, Charlene to consider now.

With the passing of time, I feel older actually. My body seems to have degenerated after several bouts of virus attacks. The common flu and most recently, stomach flu. Backaches too bug me. I can't deny the fact that the passing of time has indeed rendered me to be physically older and I guess, weaker as well. Gone are the days whereby I can swim laps after laps - 42KM - within an hr plus or so, almost effortlessly. I must summon Discipline back home one of these days or flab is certainly here to stay. But oftentimes, the body beats the brain as the brain is weak. :)

Over time, my mindset changes. What may seem blurry and uncertain about a year back remains blurry. However, the thick fog ahead has in a way, eased into haze. I have a clearer idea of my goals and what I want in life. However, the journey/routes towards these goals are ever-changing which explains the haze. There may be distractions or opportunities (it really depends on how you view it) along the way that lead you to tread different paths. But the ultimate goal(s), I believe, are constant. The climb may be different. One climb may take a longer hike than the alternative one. It is the choices you make that differ.

On a slightly different note, Time is strange. It may just fly for some. But for others, it may seem like an eternal torture. Natural disasters could hit you within seconds and last for perhaps, minutes. However, the aftermath of rebuilding infrastructures and reconstructing lives makes time tick ever so slowly. The passing on of closed ones during such disasters result in those left behind to take time to heal wounds and to readjust their lives. Time certainly doesn't fly for them. Having had experienced a closed one leave me before, I guess, on a certain level, I do know how they feel. However, I am certain that after emerging stronger from such difficult times and looking back to see the personal hurdles that they had crossed, they would feel that time has treated them kindly after all.

Everything happens for a reason.

Trust me. Pain doesn't stay. Time is the cure, if you believe.

Rihanna!!!

2008-11-12T21:54:00.003+08:00

She'd be in town tmr for her 1st ever concert in Singapore... and I'd b a part of it!!! Wheee! Can't wait for after work hours tmr!!!!! Hope it'll b a blast! It sure will!

Please don't stop the music...

love is in the air

2008-10-27T12:48:00.002+08:00

Bu dropped the bomb this morning on me. Didn't exactly saw tt coming though it really sld not have been much of a surprise. But anyways... as the saying goes, enjoy the moment, especially so when love is still in the air! ;)

Cheers to all lovers in the world! Stay happy!

KPE tunnel run

2008-10-10T19:14:00.018+08:00

This event probably is the event of the year in a way cos it was our very first time running in a tunnel. What made it even more special was that it was also the opening day for the KPE tunnel, Singapore's longest underground tunnel. :)

The event was called Swing KPE, and it was also in collaboration with the annual President's Star Charity. All the signs around us read the same "welcome to swing KPE" instead of the usual road signs like say, "accident in lane 2. Avoid lane 2". So it was different in a way.

All of us woke up really early that morning, abt 5 plus am. It has been a really long while since I last woke up at 5. It kinda reminded me of my sec school days whereby I had to wake up tt early to catch the bus. So naturally, I was extremely sleepy that morning. But the bath did wonders to wake me up! We caught a shuttle at Tampines and coincidentally, we were in the first shuttle. So, we were amongst the first to be there actually. Look at sab! She's all ready to charge for her competitive event! The women's 10km run.

What a difference an hour makes. See the crowd that has started to form? There were loads of elderly from various RCs who took part in the event too. Mum proudly declared that she was the youngest elderly there. That's how shameless my mom can be. Haha!

It was a really long wait before we were flagged off. So we decided to snap a few shots of ourselves. I didn't have stable hands so this was actually the best shot of the 2 of us from the many others we took. Haha.. tt's how terrible a photographer I am. Our faces look extremely huge man! Haha! And yeah... we all hated our striking green shirts. It was only when we reached there tt we realised there were so many other colours we cld choose from. hahaha... oh wells, anyways, that's probably the first and last time we'd wear tt shirt out. It'd probably remain stashed somewhere in our cupboards or as a home shirt! :)

It was an extremely long wait, and I was bored... so I took a few more ridiculously boliao shots, like this one. Haha! Check my fat leg on the left out, with mom's on the right. Hehe! I thought her addidas shoe was kinda happening actually. Pink! Hehe!

There were 4 ppl on stilts to entertain all of us while we waited and waited almost impatiently to be flagged off. The crowd made the wait even more stuffy and hot, but our spirits were still kept high. Thank goodness the weather was great and not tt sunny, else we'd probably faint any moment! Hehe! These 4 stilt-walkers had on masks which looked pretty freaky to me too. ;)

While waiting, (yes, it was a pretty long wait in fact) we had another entertainer who swallowed balls of fire. The DJ on the right (can't recall her name... but I think she was from 95.8fm?) was almost shocked beyong words when he swallowed the fire right before her eyes! Haha!

Glenn Ong was shocked as well (i think). Haha!

And after a really long wait, we were finally released into the tunnel. haha! It felt almost like a hungry ghost fest, and we were the ghosts on the run, sorta! HAHA! There were so many ppl who participated in the event! I guess tt in a way, Singaporeans aren't tt boring after all! Haha! The first lap was kinda stuffy actually. There wasn't much wind in the tunnel and even though I wasn't really running that fast, I was perspiring like crazy! Haha!

There was a part of the tunnel that was really dark. And so, we all whipped out our lanterns in our attempt to break the world record currently held by the germans. The pic didn't turn out that well... but it was a pretty cool sight to see so many ppl holding small balls of red lights in total darkness, with pop music blasting in the background. The tunnel was converted into a disco actually! An underground disco! How cool's tt?

And finally... we completed the morning workout! The remaining lap back was shiok cos it was well ventilated with great blasts of wind! U cld hear many ppl saying "wah.. so shiok" as soon as we turned into the cooler tunnel from the previous 'heater'.

And finally.... at the end of the day, my sister's name's on the board! WOW! 10th in place! Check tt out! COOL!

Sab at the winner holding area while waiting for the prize giving ceremony to commence.

Are u able to spot our president and the ministers?

Sab with the LTA guy

So, next up shall be the standchart marathon in december. Oh man... kinda freaking out... cos i'm not even prepared for this! hahaha! I guess my stamina is zilch!

Just looking at the route is capable of making me feel queezy man! Haha!

Bird Park

2008-10-06T12:35:00.008+08:00

It was pretty weird that wkend when we went to the Bird Park. It was my sister's company's family day but she wasn't there. All of us were present but she was overseas on a biz trip. I mean, it's her company's family day and yet all of us were there except her. The flamingo room where we had our lunch was nice. Anywhere's nice with a/c on a hot day!

Saw a few familiar faces there as I'd worked there for a brief period before, during one of my uni vacations. It was the period just before I left for USA to do my student exchange to be exact. It's a great company. Loved their company culture. If I'd majored in a relevant discipline, tt'd most probably be one of my work choices! Saw Jocelyn and her son as well. Ryan calls her Aunty Dinosaur. Haha! Such a cute term of endearment!

We didn't take many pictures as the weather was rather hot. We caught the bird show/performance and it's almost the same as the one I caught when I was in Primary school. But I guess, it's probably something the crowds and children liked. We were stuck at the viewing gallery of the penguins for a really long time. Ryan loved to see the penguins. He calls them Happy Feet, after the cartoon. That's a really blur picture of Ryan and my mom.

While Ryan and mummy were in the viewing gallery, sab and I decided to take some pictures with the fake penguins outside. Ilyssa was kinda fascinated with penguins as tall as them.

And that's me and Ilyssa. Oh and I guess it must have been a coincidence. Sab, mum and I were all dressed in blue that day. Family Day it was!

After that, we went straight home as the kids had to take their afternoon naps. As soon as the little monster woke up, he had to play with his racing track and I was obviously not spared as well. I had to fix the track for him again. :( Haha! I think my hse is gonna be filled with toys really soon. There are toys all over!

A last parting shot of Ryan acting macho. I can't help but to laugh whenever I see this. He looks so funny. These days he's really funny. Whenever he's angry with somebody, he'd threaten to eat the person. He'd say things like... " Put you outside and let the monster eat!" or "Put jam, butter, cheese, sauce, fish cake, oil and eat". Thank goodness it's only part of his imagination cos If he were to really make such a combination, tt'd really b gross man.

argh!

2008-10-06T11:59:00.002+08:00

ARGH!

I absolutely hate it when ads are placed under the wiper of my car. For one, sometimes, it may pose as a hazard to all drivers out there. Especially when u get into the car and drive off w/o noticing that u've got a paper sticking on ur window. You decide to ignore it as u are in a rush but somehow or other, the ad just keeps attracting ur attention, making it hard for u to concentrate on driving. OR you decide to get rid of it while driving, so u turn on the wiper. However, the ad flies over to the front of the driver and gets stuck at the window there instead. How strategic it is in preparation for an accident.

I think the worst of it all is for the ad to be soaked with rain minutes or hours after the ad has been placed there. The next time u collect ur car and notice the irritating ad under the wiper, it's already been wet and dried perhaps countless number of times such that it's now pretty difficult getting rid of the ad. It's sorta stuck to the window already. U try tearing it from the window and succeed perhaps 80% as the other 20% is still stuck to ur window, leaving white crap there. (See the picture above) U need to get water and a cloth or something like say, ur fingernail to scrape the dried paper off it. It's really exasperating for car drivers out there who honestly can do without knowledge of ur ad.

I'm not being difficult here and I do know that it's a great way to spread the message for your company/service but it can pose as much of a hazard or encumbrance. However, sad to say, I bet that this mode of advertising is here to stay as I doubt there is any way of stopping them from doing so. It's something like junk mail at ur good old letter box or email inbox. It's irritating and u wished u cld just axe it altogether but it's here to stay for 'good'.

As if I m not mad enough, hotmail just had to fail on me. I can't read any of my mails as there's always this sickening message that tells me there's error in loading the page. I can view my inbox but yet am unable to click to read any of my mails. And hotmail isn't helping either. Despite sending them so many SOS msgs they keep sending me emails to ask me to try this or that and none of their mthds work. The worst thing is that they actually told me to reply to their msg if i still get the same prob. Can't they understand that I'm unable to even click any of the toolbars there and so, replying is obviously a nono?!?!?! I feel so handicapped. I can't read my emails even though I know I've received several impt mails. I seriously hope that this is a server problem and that it gets ironed out asap. It can't be that my browser that has been serving me well all this while is suddenly unsuitable. Besides, I have not dlded any new software lately to render this error. WTH! It's just so pissing off!

teachers day at ti-sarana

2008-10-06T11:11:00.018+08:00

Ti-Sarana celebrated teachers' day last month as well and the children were part of it. Ryan's class consists of children who were the youngest, so their teachers thought of a brilliant idea to get them to give dhana in their own little way. Each parent was instructed to bring along a type of fruit. We brought green grapes. What each child had to do was to string different sorts of fruits and give them to their teachers/bhantes/parents/friends/themselves. Basically anybody they wanted whom they cld just show a little act of kindness to. The act of selfless giving is above all, one of the greatest.

And so, on a sunday morning, the children gave thought to those who donated the fruits and offered a little prayer and thank you message of their own.

The children started out by plucking out the stems and leaves from the fruits that were given to them individually.

The children and ryan at work. He looked so serious for once. Or is that him playing poker?

And suddenly, all of them heard loud noises in the skies. Is that superman? Is that a bird? Noo... it's a fighter plane in the sky doing acrobatics!

Ryan got all excited with the plane and started telling his teacher all about it. His friend next to him doesn't quite like the loud noise of the plane. The other boy on the right decided to just care less and concentrate on washing his fruits instead.

Ryan looking bored while washing his fruits. He's with his friend Lalita here.

Ryan and his classmates giving the fruits a good wash. Mum decided to join in as well.

Ok! It's time to string the fruits with the satay sticks! Mum helping out while sab looks bored.

A close up of Ryan at work. Wow! He has already done so many!

Yay! I have finished! Finally!

Ryan's classmate Darryl. He's so cute! He wanted a picture of himself taken and started posing and smiling as soon as he saw me taking pictures of ryan.

Ilyssa finally woke up and was whisked off to take a picture with sabrina.

It's my turn with Ilyssa now. Poor girl.... she just woke up. But sab decided that the pic was too dark and so....

We took another shot. But this time, her tongue was sticking out and my fringe was in a mess. Oh... wth.. watever. Let's just give our princess a break from camwhoring.

Sabrina is a resident teacher at Ti-Sarana Sunday School as well so she had to offer flowers with Sim Lian.

Time for some cake cutting sessions to celebrate teachers day, starting off with the bhantes first and then the teachers.

It's interesting isn't it? Celebrating teachers day in this fashion. Haha. Anyways, for those of you who are interested in knowing more about Ti-Sarana and the Sunday School, feel free to let me know. Sunday classes for children all the way to adults are free. All it requires is a probing and open mind.

durians galore!

2008-10-06T10:53:00.003+08:00

Sabrina started the durian eating frenzy in our hse this year. It has been a long long time since we all ate durians. I think one of the reasons was bcos durians are known to us as being 'heaty' i.e. u cld jolly well fall sick really easily IF u do not drink enough water after consuming them. Another reason was bcos w/o daddy, eating durians seem to be different somehow. In the past, we'd buy many durians and stuff them in huge red plastic bags before bringing them home. Once home, we'd lay newspapers on the floor and wait while dad pries open the durians to reveal those yellow gems before our eyes. We'd actually watch dad getting down to action. But these days, durians are placed in styrofoam boxes. It's much more convenient for ppl like us but it has kinda lost that old-school feeling of eating durians, somehow. If u know what I mean...

Sab got those delicious, creamy durians from a store at Geylang. It's a pretty famous restaurant and gawd... do they taste heavenly!? We never really knew how to differentiate durians according to their grades but when sab bought different 'breeds' for us to try, it really was then that we realised how awesome D24s and XOs tasted. The next few days, up to about a wk or 2, the durian craze got to us. We bought durians really frequently and even ate them for meals even. HAHA! For those durian-haters, I bet you must be feeling really nauseous now. How cld something so smelly to u guys b taken for meals? HAHA! But for durian lovers like us, it's nothing short of being magnificent.

Haha... come to think of it, these pix of durians actually do look rather gross. They look so much like yellow poop eh? HAHAHA! For those of u who wanna know which stall sells heavenly durians, let me know! I have his namecard even!

mummy's bday 2008

2008-10-06T10:06:00.010+08:00

Time flies. It was mum's bday again and yep... u got it right. This is one of those dated entries again. Mum's bday's on 18th sept and today's already October. Haha.. well, this isn't the only dated entry I've got as u shall see later. Was supposed to meet liting and huijuan to celebrate koala's bday but I cldn't make it in the end as we had to celebrate mum's bday. Oh... and this reminds me that I've yet to mail koala her bday present yet. SHUCKS! I'd better get down to it asap else she'd think I'm really heartless to forget all abt her! Which isn't the case. Her present is lying somewhere in my hse just that I keep forgetting to get it weighed and mailed. Drats!

Mum had at least 2 celebrations with me this year. Though none were grand, but hey... it's the thought that counts! On that Saturday when all of us cld make it, we met up separately at Holiday Inn. Me, mum and Sab got there first followed by serene, ben and the kids. The parking there was really tight and I almost sweated when I had to go to the next lower level. I was so afraid of leaving an awful dent on the car. But thank gdness nothing bad happened. Just move the car slowly and all wld be fine!

Mum had been wanting to taste Holiday Inn's buffet for a really long time and that finally came to fruition. These days she's itching for family restaurant again and rice table. Perhaps another day, shall we? Oh and not to forget, the famous crab restaurant near our place as well! Spot anything missing in the above pic? Yeah! The fork! *rolls eyes... ignore me... i'm being lame here. Haha!*

That's Sab with some food in her mouth when I got her to pose for a picture. She was busy tucking in to her plate when I bugged her. Haha! But well, no signs of irritation here. And there's mum's fav dim sum. She loves dim sum.

Oh... and I thought these were pretty cute. They're actually popiahs but they look like cupcakes here. There's a name for them. But I've forgotten what they're called already. The rest of the food were the norm. Rice, chicken, noodles, veg, fish, mutton, pork, salad bar, dessert, thosai... blahblahblah.... Is ur tummy growling now?

Ryan has arrived! And Ilyssa was sleeping... so too bad... no shots of fluffy! Cheeky ryan was busy disturbing me by kicking my leg under the table and laughing.

The granny-grandson duo side by side. Ryan with his special treat! And I think I spot a rice grain on his cheek. Haha!

So that was that. The week before, sab, mum and I drove down to Quality Hotel for yet another buffet. Just the 3 of us. The vegetarian restaurant was awesome so this time we tried the restaurant downstairs. The food was ok. But I'm not really a porridge person so I didn't take much of the porridge. Took the rest of the other food there. Oh! And there's ice cream too! Woots!

A shocked looking mum and sab posing together.

Me and mummy. Oh and for once, I had a bowl of chicken curry as well. Mark my words. CURRY! And my tummy didn't feel queezy after that. Is that an improvement? Haha! But I'd better not try my luck the next time as it's almost a sure thing that i'd make a dash for the toilet.

Sisters unite! Do we look similar??

Mum's actual bday was spent with me cos that was a weekday and she took a half day off. I can't quite recall what we did on her actual day already. But it was concrete/quality time spent between mother and daughter alright. Haha! So till next year! Hopefully we can do something different instead of just eating, whatcha think mummy? IF i mean IF we r fortunate enough to spare some time, we can spend ur bday overseas or something! Hopefully that will work out. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Science Ctr Outing

2008-10-03T10:52:00.011+08:00

The last time I was at the Science ctr was when I was in pri school. The past few wks seem really odd to me cos it seems as though I'd been visiting the local paid attractions quite a bit, one after the other. Just a coincidence I guess. With kids especially, it makes it seem almost a norm or a must to take them there for at least once. It was the zoo the other day, the science ctr in this entry and the bird park just last wkend. More updates abt the bird park later. The drive there wasn't exactly that long but somehow or other, the thought of the science ctr being located all the way in the west kinda puts an easterner off. Hahaha! Mum had to work whilst Ben was off to Golf in Malaysia, so it was just me, serene, sabrina, ryan, Ilyssa and toonjang.

So yup... the science ctr changed quite a bit from the last time when I was there. There's now this pretty fun water play area. I dun recall having this in the past. It was quite fun shooting water at passers-by or at each other and seeing balls being transported from one station to the next just based on the energy flow of water.

As you can see, the young one seems to be having quite alot of fun spraying water at guess who? Sabrina! HAHA! She had to dodge from his water shots really fast!

And with F1 fever these days, it wasn't exactly tt surprising to have an area dedicated to just F1. Ryan loves those racing cars. He tried cutting the q to play with those u know... simulated racing car-drives. But his legs weren't long enough to reach those pedals. So... so much for him squeezing to the front to cut the q! Haha!

That's lovely Ilyssa playing with the phone that tried explaining to her how dangerous some germs could be. Do u think she cld understand what they were talking about?

At another section of the science ctr, there were some slides and transporters. Serene had some fun sliding down this slide too. But she claimed that she almost got stuck in it halfway down! Haha! Ilyssa looking pensive. Haha...

And of course, the famous little chicks. That's about the only thing I rmb abt the science ctr when I knew we were going there. The feeling's a little bizarre cos little did we expect then that we'd be back with 2 kids in tow years later.

Look at these small play houses. Ilyssa looked quite happy playing with ryan's windows.

And that's ryan coming out of his small little house. Knock Knock.. who's there?...

There was also a dinosaur exhibition there. The kids loved it. Ryan especially. He is crazy over dinosaurs these days after Jocelyn's son gave him a bag of dinosaur toys to play with. Ryan now knows a t-rex from a triceratops. Amazing. All this coming from a boy barely 3 years old. He knows some other dinos names as well.. but well... I can't quite recall too. Reptor? What else? Anyways, he's enchanted by a dino egg in this pic. haha!

Sabrina seemed happy even though she might jolly well be the dinosaur's lunch! Haha!

A last shot before the huge t-rex before we left the science ctr. It seems like it'd most probably be a long time before we next step foot there!

delegation to increase productivity

2008-10-03T10:06:00.002+08:00

Read an article this morning by Justin Tyme that really struck a chord with me. It was titled 'Share the Workload - Delegation is a useful tool to increase productivity and train employees'. How true is that? I realised that oftentimes it is true. Delegation is a useful tool but also an important art for all employers or managers to have to master. And I emphasize the word HAVE TO. After all, managers and those above you are hired to solve problems, not create more problems for you isn't it? Some do delegate the work but perhaps in a pretty or very much lop-sided fashion... Food for thought... who first comes to ur mind? Haha.

Oh wells... Anyways, the following are excerpts from the article. Check it out. Do I see u nodding fervently away? Haha!

" The inability to delegate is one of the most common problems of managers. Management and leadership are all about getting results by organizing and supervising a workforce.

Poor delegation or no delegation is inefficient and expensive. And the worst thing about not delegating is that managers are losing wonderful training opportunities for their workers.

Managers have many reasons for not delegating:
- They feel at ease doing routine tasks rather than supervising the work of others
- They are not familiar with the skills of their workers and are therefore unsure of other people's ability to take more responsibility
- They hate correcting other people's work; and
- They know they can do some things better than others.

Delegating is hard work, but it is work that is needed to help an organization grow and improve...
However, many managers still limit their own effectiveness, create imbalances in the organization, waste their department's time and energies, and fail to develop their subordinates by either ignoring or mismanaging the techniques of delegation."

So managers out there, u guys had better take heed before good employees under you decide to raise the white flag as they'd had enough.

hot shot

2008-09-03T13:55:00.005+08:00

Have been watching one of the latest Taiwanese drama serials that is currently screening ... Hot Shot/籃球火 starring Jerry Yan, Wu Zun and Show Luo outta boredom.

A show that combines the best of both Slam Dunk and Kungfu Dunk makes watching their basketball moves really exciting, especially when it involves players flying to do a slamdunk. Awesome even though it isn't exactly that realistic. I mean... even the bball coach is a hot babe! Haha!

But all in all, it's a great drama to catch if ur a bball fan itching for some comic relief! Haha... Oh and guess what? I found a song tt's the english version of one of the show's soundtracks! Check it out!

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singapore fireworks pyrotechnics display 2008

2008-09-03T10:05:00.017+08:00

It rained again this year just hours before the singapore fireworks pyrotechnics display show 2008 started. So what tt meant was tt we'd have our bums settled on wet seats yet again. But this year was slightly wetter cos the rain started coming down on us halfway through the performance. We didnt want to inconvenience the ppl sitting behind us so we didn't whip out our umbrellas to shelter ourselves and more so the kids. So the kids ended up having to don plastic bags over their small heads. Ryan looked like a little red riding hood sorta! LOL!

We were hesitating whether we sld actually go this year even though we'd already paid for the tix. Wld the show go on as per normal since it was raining? We decided to try our luck anyways. Parking lots near the floating platform were tough as hell to locate as expected. But the signboards indicating how many more lots were available was actually quite useful I must admit. We grabbed takeaways for dinner before rushing off to the floating platform. Citylink was darn crowded and worse still, the underpass to the esplanade was closed!! Argh... Had to take a longer route. We reached there after much jostling!

Wheeeee! Red fireworks came raining down on us! Pretty!

More red fireworks that exploded right before our eyes...! Pom Pom Pom... we cld almost feel our heart pumping outta our bodies man! Ok... just exaggerating! haha!

Fireworks setting off like rockets before they explode individually to huge fireworks high up in the sky.

With the tall CBD buildings in the backgrd + water... it becomes really scenic!

Sweet! Halfway through the show, guess what music was aired? The theme song of Da Chang Jin! HAHA! It kinda took us aback cos none of us really saw tt coming though we knew it was a fireworks display by the koreans. hahaha

Thought I liked this pic though the screen kinda spoilt the pic, being slapped right in the ctr. Anyways, I thought last yr's display was much nicer... perhaps it has got to do with firsts. First experiences are always much more treasured and memorable? Hmm...

We've got purple explosions in the air this time ard! They look like flowers don't they?

More pix of the fireworks... are u getting bored already?

Ok... this shall be the last pic. Shan't upload all that I'd taken else u'd be bored to tears I bet!

After the fireworks display ended, we rushed out of the place. After last yr's experience, we knew we just had to be slightly more kiasu by literally rushing out else we'd be stuck in a massive human jam for a really long time! We made our way towards Marina Square for shelter from the rain whilst waiting for Ben to drive over. So that's a pic of serene and ilyssa up there!

Sabrina and Ryan who insisted on being a cheeky little monster by covering his eyes. Oh yeah... guess who I saw while there? Cuijing! Haha! It has been ages since I last saw her.. she looked a little different though I can't pinpoint exactly what... Didn't go say hi to her cos I wasn't exactly in a great state. Having jostled with the crowd, I was perspiring + carrying ryan... so it's not surprising if i looked like some dishevelled mom. Haha.. besides I wasn't even sure if tt was her. But yup... she confirmed tt it was her days later. So anyways, made my way towards Carl's jnr to meet serene and ilyssa. Yup.. we were separated by the crowd. Haha... Kudos to HPs I tell ya. Whoever invented them, ur a genius!

There! Me and Serene with the restless kids. HAHA! Look at our oily faces... ewww... simply gross!

My mum who's on self-declared eternal reverse gear with Ilyssa. Guess what she did? My mom actually took her granddaughter to play with the escalators. *faints* Hahaha! Nonsensical eh?

The best shot of the night taken by none other than yours truly. Don't u think the kids look adorable here? Especially Ilyssa...!! She cld actually pose even though it's close to her bedtime! HAHAHA! Oh man... look at tt.... i feel like cuddling her right now!!

Ilyssa's 1st bday at Gymboree, harbourfront ctr

2008-09-01T10:03:00.010+08:00

Ilyssa turned one on the 29th of Aug but we celebrated her bday abt 2 weeks earlier at Gymboree, Harbourfront Ctr. This was a place where kids could play with the varied equipments and set-ups together with the organizers who would sing along with them. Set-ups would be placed according to the theme of the party and in this case, it was a jungle theme. For those of u who wanna bring ur kids there, be sure to bring along ur socks else u'd have to purchase socks there and then which honestly, isn't cheap! Haha!

I like this picture! Ryan's doing his protective brother thang once again! Don't u think they both look really cute? Awww...

That's my sis with her kids at Gymboree. I was appointed the photographer for the day... :\ ... hahhaa... Oh wells.... But anyways, I thought this pic was cute!

Look at all the kids and their parents there! All of them were there to wish Ilyssa a happy bday! Ryan was so excited to see all his friends there that it was sooo tough getting a decent shot of him. He was running ALL OVER the place. LOL!

And that's both of them with some of the party organizers, sitting atop their 'parachute'. :)

The kids gather round the cake as they await the moment for the little star to cut her cake!

There u go! That's the little star for the day! Ain't she a doll?

The cake costs a bomb! 80+ bucks! But it was worth it. We got a friend to bake it and gawd... he bakes cakes that taste heavenly. It was worth every single cent man! He used to bake cakes for hotels but has since stopped to bake cakes on his own at home. If u hadn't tried his cakes, u hadn't eaten a real cake before. Hahaha... i mean.. seriously!

That day ended on a different note. Serene and Ben brought the kids home to sleep before we meet up the following day. Guess what we did? We sent 4th aunt back home. And of course, I had to rely on my best friend GPS to get there cos it was the first time for me getting from harbourfront to makepeace rd! We didn't intend to enter her hse but since we were already there, why not? The moment yueh and I stepped into her place, nostalgia hit us. We hadn't been to her place for years, since we were in pri/sec school I think. And now that we're finally back there again.... the feeling was just weird. That's a place with loads of our childhood memories, a place where we'd chill after school while waiting for mom to knock off from work, especially since it was so near scgs at dunearn rd. When we were even younger, we'd play silly games with our cousins Angeline, Lucky and Ronnie ... like hide and seek, and even games whereby we'd imagine we were at the market buying vegetables from vege sellers (Angeline). The joke's that she'd always get a big scolding from her mom after we're done playing cos all her plants were in a total wreck! HAHAHA! It was pretty fun those days... I mean where else could u find cousins who were double ur age and willing to entertain us bored kids by playing such childish games? Haha...

It's strange cos as we all grew up and got older, we kinda drifted apart. The last time we actually really got together was the Bangkok trip many years ago when Dad was still around. That was like ... 8 years ago! When we cousins meet up these days, it's just awkward. We're all just so cordial and polite, with little to talk abt. Strange eh? But I guess the present relationship is not too bad after all cos at the very least, we r still in contact, albeit minimally but still in touch every now and then whenever one of us has an event/occassion to invite each other. Wonder when will be the next time we all gather to meet again?

olympics hotties

2008-08-26T11:21:00.072+08:00

Olympics 2008 ended with China being the big winner. Singapore finally got an Olympic medal after a 48 year long wait. Kudos to the women's table tennis team! To be honest, I was one of those who caught several table tennis matches on tv and it certainly was exciting to watch those matches, especially when u've got a team to root for. You literally feel nervous for them! haha!

Anyways, now that it has finally come to an end, let's recap who the hotties were eh? Haha! Olympics is great cos what other better event is there for all great sporting athletes to congregate in one place? HOT BODS! Woots! So here goes... some of the eye candies... but well, got to admit that some of these pix below aren't exactly that flattering. They look better when animated! LOL! (in no particular order)

yoris grandjean, belgium, swimming.

tyler kepkay, canada, bball.

tulio melo, brazil, soccer.

tom lucy rowing great britain

thomas voeckler, france, cycling.

thomas haffield, swimming, great britain.

thomas buffel, belgium, soccer.

steven lopez, usa, taekwondo.

stefan kober, boxing, germany.

sam mcgregor, aussie, waterpolo.

Ryan Lochte, USA, Swimming

rami zur, usa, canoe kayak.

pietro figlioli, aussie, waterpolo.

peter varellas, usa, waterpolo.

pete reed, rowing, great britain.

pascal behrenbruch, track and field, germany.

morten jensen, denmark, track and field.

mitar mrdic, bosnia and herzegovina, judo.

minghui wang, taipei, rowing.

mike brown, canada, swimming.

mikalai zhukavets, belarus, sailing.

michael weiss, austria, cycling.

matt targett, aussie, swimming.

markus rogan, austria, swimming.

mark bridge, aussie, soccer.

marcel nguyen, gymnastics, germany.

manuel strlek, croatia, handball.

maimaitituersun qiong, china, boxing.

ludwig paischer, austria, judo.

luciano pagliarini, brazil, cycling.

logan bailly, belgium, soccer.

lleyton hewitt, aussie, tennis.

kim minchul, south korea, wrestling.

jurgen van der walle, belgium, cycling.

junichi miyashita, japan, swimming.

juan monaco, argentina, tennis.

juan alberto nicolas cuellar, argentina, boxing.

jose martin meolans, argentina, swimming.

jordan jovtchev, bulgaria, gym.

jonathan horton, usa, gym.

jan frodeno, triathalon, germany.

istvan mate, austria, swimming.

hiroyuki tomita, japan, gym.

henry cejudo, usa, wrestling.

he chong, china, diving.

hajimi hosogai, japan, soccer.

gabor balog, swimming, hungary.

feng xiaoting, china, soccer.

eduardo filho piller, brazil, soccer.

eamon sullivan, aussie, swimming.

duje draganja, croatia, swimming.

david boudia, usa, diving.

daniel keatings, gym, great britain.

christian sprenger, aussie, swimming.

chen yibing, gym, china

brian duensing, usa, baseball.

brenton rickard, aussie, swimming.

ben anslie, sailing, great britain.

ashley delaney, aussie, swimming.

ante janjic, croatia, rowing.

andrew willows, canada, rowing.

alexis vastine, france, boxing.

alexandre pato, brazil, soccer.

alex garcia, brazil, basketball.

adam van koeverden, canada, canoe kayak.

aaron feltham canada waterpolo

So who's ur fav olympic 2008 hottie? Haha... ;) Looking forward to London 2012!

tension's 23rd bday!

2008-08-19T11:08:00.009+08:00

Heylo everybodaay! Haha! It's been yet another long time since I last blogged. How have all of u been? These days, I've never felt so relaxed and happy since I started work. Guess it was the right decision after all. When u feel like ur soul and life has been sucked outta ur system and ur no longer enjoying urself but working instead, that's the signal for u to turn the switch off!

After all, life is short. We sld always live and enjoy the moment.

Anyways, met up with cheapos last friday. A pity it was that Mandy was stuck at a meeting so she cldn't come. I miss her! It has been ages since I last saw her. The last I spoke to her was on like what... msn! See how sad tt is. Sobs... but no worries... we'd be meeting up again at the end of the month. Hopefully it'll be a complete cheapo gathering then!

It wasn't until we all sat down to chat that we realised just how long we've all known each other for. 6 years! Oh man! That really is a long time. It certainly felt like just yesterday when we were all in tj skipping classes, escaping PE lessons, skipping Leo Club... stuff like tt. Haha! Terrible isn't it? When it comes to recollecting my jc days, that's the only thing we can think of! Haha!

This place was yy's recommendation. Cheap and good food tt lives up to our cheapo motto. I got gong bao ji ding fan and surprisingly, I managed to stomach it even though the lady added in chilli! No mad rush to the toilet after tt too! Wow! Hahaha.. this outta be in the Panda's records man! The pic above was the only group shot we managed to take that night. And gl said it right! Why's it that we always only take pix when eating? HAHAH! That's right man... makes us all appear so piggish! haha!

And that's the gift we got for him! Walao... yy and janet, thanks huh! Dumped me the duty of getting him a bday gift. LOL! That took me hours! I got him a few ties in the end and yep! They're placed in that huge box! Haha! Ay... not cheap ok! Better appreciate it. And what innovation we got! We threw in a pic of a sexy hot babe too! Haha.... Mandy, u sld have caught the look on gl's face when he opened the present! Priceless man! He looked shocked and kinda touched too and he said "Wow! How do u know that I only got 1 tie? Thanks! I really like it! Now I got a few ties to choose from when I go for court sessions!" HAHAHA! Yeah awesome! Glad u liked it! And rmb to think of us when u don them on!

As usual, janet and yy just had to take paparazzi shots. So the above pix are courtesy of their works. Hahaha... gross pix eh? So many of us look so 38 there. Oh man... sucha disgrace!

And here's a great work of yy. She made them pose together with the bday gift but conveniently cropped it by zooming in straight at them. Hahaha! Cheeky girl!

Wheee! Birthday cake for tension! We deliberately chose the cake with 4 'balls' okie! See how considerate we all are! hahahah!

We decided to give the train a miss and walked from bugis to suntec (trust me. It really was a very short walk) to take the bus instead. Bus 14 was a long wait as usual and when it finally arrived, though it was a double deck, it was packed like hell! Wth! But we were luck to get seats after like... 10 mins of the busride? Haha!

Can't wait for our next meetup! Mandy! I really hope u'd be able to come!

I dont wanna be a post-it girl anymore!

2008-08-08T09:58:00.003+08:00

Haha... the very first episode of this hit a (raw) nerve in me. Though the character was sorta exaggerated, but I guess many ppl can relate to her too. Work bullies come in different forms. Some work u like a slave, others abuse u verbally. Some may even be both! But of course, in front of higher authority, they treat u as a human. Beats me how such ppl actually exist but oh well... anyways, check out the clip below (2:33 - 4:47) and perhaps u might also find traces of urself in her! :)

If ur stressed and/or feel grieved at work, try catching this drama just for laughs. Having the colloquial taiwanese language spoken at times in this drama adds great comic effect to it too. Haha!

Best quote of this show I'd think is this: "Fear not the past as they are actually fertilizers that form part of ur own unique life story." Haha... true eh? It sounds so much better in chinese actually. But somehow, when translated, it doesnt have much of an impact.

Anyways, to all post-it girls/boys out there, get a revamp. It need not be an image overhaul... but start from within urself and stop being nice to others at the expense of urself. Try getting back some self-confidence and stand ur own grounds at times. That ain't gonna hurt. Never allow urself to be pushed again.

an inspiring speech

2008-08-08T09:05:00.002+08:00

Something I read this morning that really inspires and sets you thinking abt the harsh realities of life and the importance of love to mankind and humanity. Just something to share with all of u guys out there:

Adrian Tan's convocation speech to NTU's graduating class of 2008. He wrote The Teenage Textbook and is a litigator for Drew & Napier in Singapore.

Life and How to Survive It

"I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It's a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you've already won her heart, you don't need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You're done learning.You've probably been told the big lie that "Learning is a lifelong process" and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters' degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don't you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they're wrong.The bad news is that you don't need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You're in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I'm here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There's very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you'll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they're 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn't meet their life expectancy.I'm here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.After all, it's calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don't need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life's a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.Don't expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.The most important is this: do not work.Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.Work kills. The Japanese have a term "Karoshi", which means death from overwork. That's the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there's nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There's a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are "making a living". No, they're not. They're dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan "Arbeit macht frei" was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn't do that, I would've been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don't imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I'll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don't, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I'm not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.It's not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it's often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one's own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.I didn't say "be loved". That requires too much compromise. If one changes one's looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We've taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person.

Despite popular culture, love doesn't happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don't, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don't work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.

You're going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there's no life expectancy."

Graduation 2008

2008-07-31T18:12:00.036+08:00

So that's how it feels to be a graduate.... no feeling. Haha... ironic eh? All tt paper chase boils down to just this but yet when the moment arrives, there's not much sense of jubilation wadsoever. It's just another one of those graduation ceremonies. It just kinda felt like dejavu sorta, u know... on your last day at school, be it sec school or jc, u'd gather with some of ur pals for some picture taking and tt's abt it. I rmb when I was a kid, I'd always watch the tv and they'd portray graduation ceremonies as something grand, something which everyone in the family will look forward to. But when it really happens to me, it doesn't really feel quite like that.

Anyways, I'm officially a graduate. Look daddy! I've graduated! Still rmb my kiddo pic with the graduation robes? Now this is the real shyte.

Some pix taken that day... Which reminds me... I haven't got ur pix yet YH, SL and Celeste! ;

This is really cliche but well... seems like all NUS grads pose with these... wth!

Was ...

Here!

Upon finally finding a parking lot, we rushed to the robing room panting like crazy cos we were running late! Haha!

And that probably explains why both our smiles look so fake. Haha! With Mummy!

Sucha coincidence! Siewling's sitting just next to me! Woots!

YAWNS.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Harry potters' big reunion

My few secs on stage... can u believe it? So many years of mugging just for those few secs? haha!

Yay! It's partaaaayyy time!

With Velinda, someone I got to know better during the last sem and our final marketing paper. Still recall our bitching msn sessions on the eve of our exams! Haha!

With Binjuan and elf. Haha! I thought this pic looked kinda odd cos we're all standing so straight!

With celeste and hunnie

Tipin, my nonsensical Deutsche pal!

With Ting Ting and Wen Tirng!

Haha... ain't this a surprise? Finally met my long-lost sushido pal!

And my long-lost granny. Kidding... tt's just liting's mum. HAHAH! Oh man! I was trying real hard to stifle my laughters.

With Maybelline. Haha.. Still recall those days when she'd 'scold' me for skipping an entire sem's worth of lects.

With my sista, sab. Notice how plastic our smiles looked? That's cos mum takes years to snap a shot so we'd both be left standing there to pose whilst feeling our smiles quiver. I'm sure deep down within us we'd all be cursing and wondering when she'd finally press the button. Haha!

With my nonsensical mum! haha!

Celeste, Ya-ning, Binjuan, me, Siewling and yihan

Yaowei and I

The regular 5 of us! ;)

Mummy bought that lion for me. Haha! For a moment, I really felt like a kid. Anyways, fyi, tt's yihan's nephew leroy in the background. Haha!

That's me! Credits to sab the photographer

If only the lion were a panda... that wld have been perfect man!

With my bestie Liting!

Hunnie, Chris and muaaa

the 3 loonies: ya-ning, siewling and binjuan! Hahah!

me and hunnie!

With koala~

My 2 besties in nus! ahaha!

me, binjuan and celeste again! hahaha

mei nu and hunnie

The 5 of us going crazy. Hahah! Honestly, this is my fav shot cos we look ridiculously spastic. HAHAHA!

bubu's bday

2008-07-31T11:09:00.008+08:00

One of those dated entries....

Liting's bday! 4th of July 2008 was it. Met her and Geraldine after work for dinner before the rest of her gang appeared to surprise her. Though I was really tired with an impending packed wkend to be burnt by work yet again, but they removed my weariness as soon as I saw them~! They're a really friendly and fun-loving gang. Glad to have gotten to know them.

Some pix taken that day. Collage courtesy of our bday girl!

Cake cutting ceremony by our beloved bday girl

Haha... for a moment, liting actually kinda looks like a statue or ambassador of some sort. Hahaha!

Its the guys' turn now!

Group shot! Those flowers reminded me of the really embarrassing ride from Raffles place! Haha...!

qiaoyun, me, liting, geraldine and sandy

Haha... guess she probably offended the guys somehow!

And that was probably one of the better after-work days! Hope she had fun that night! Here's looking forward to more bday celebrations together tt will last us for a lifetime! Friends Forever!

accident yet again

2008-07-31T06:27:00.002+08:00

I hate having to tell and to live a lie but I guess this time, there really isn't much of a choice.

Sab asked me for a favour to send her to the office yesterday morning which I did. The first couple of mins drive was as per normal until we reached the exit from Bedok into PIE. There was this lane that merged 2 lanes into one. What happened was that as the 2 lanes merged into 1, with me on the right lane and this long vehicle on the left, the end result was that the long vehicle actually clipped off my left wing mirror and left a scratch to the front left-hand side of my car. I didn't know what to do and the driver of the long vehicle motioned to me that it was too close and he drove off. I was in a state of shock and as I didnt want sab to be late for work, I just drove her to her workplace. Upon reaching her workplace, I stopped the car at the carpark and waited for sab to pass me tape to tape the badly damaged mirror up temporarily before I sent the car to the workshop.

I have yet to file any report with the police or the insurance (even though I've got his vehicle number) after discussing with sab. We didnt want mum to know as she'd probably kick up a big fuss and bar me from driving or something. And this, sab says isn't my fault as she witnessed that it was the long vehicle's long and bulky steel rods that snipped our wing mirror off. I'm so confused. We have decided not to make a report as if we were to do so, mum will know. So right now, I have to bear the brunt of the repair works which really ain't cheap. $905 for the mirror. I've yet to spray praint the mirror cover yet which I'd probably have to do so later today once mum sets off for work. (Didn't do it together yesterday as mum wld know abt the incident as the car would have to be left at the workshop overnight.) Spray works will add another $60 to the grand total.

Sigh... I really really hate lying and I feel so horrible over this. Though I know it's not my fault...now I'm just so worried that anything will go wrong.

i'm back!

2008-07-14T10:22:00.009+08:00

It feels like eons since I last touched my laptop to blog! Been working practically everyday since I started work. Including sundays..! Finally got a chance to rest today since it's convocation day! It's supposedly something to look forward to since after all, i'd been studying for donkey years just for today. But well, I don't exactly feel any sense of happiness or excitement. Just happy that it's finally an off day. ;) Haha.. strange eh?

Loadsa stuff happened since I last blogged. No idea where to start even. Let's just skip it shall we? Work has been really stressful but I hope I'm adapting well to it. I've learnt alot the past 2 months, especially after Pris left. Sometimes, I feel bad cos I do know that I've sorta neglected my family bcos of work. So, right now, I treasure the rare moments that I can spend with them.

Some pix taken during weekends:

Swimming with the kids at Seletar

Ryan says he's a red power ranger

The little boy with his surfer dude board shorts. haha!

Ilyssa in her tiny bikini!

At Toys R Us!

Some light moments with granny at the zoo

The human predator!

And here's introducing to you our new inclusion to the family... my few mths old baby!

Say cheeeeze!

Baby's cute backside! Haha!

work

2008-05-19T10:08:00.005+08:00

The reality of me being part of national statistics for the employed hasn't quite sunk in yet. I still feel very much like a kid or someone who's there to intern rather than someone who's really working there. For one, I've just soooo much to learn. What I have in theoretical knowledge, I find myself sorely lacking in practical knowledge. Inexperience makes me feel so small and dumb, but I guess tt's just what all greenhorns gotta experience and I can't possibly be an exception. Hopefully my learning process can be expedited and I can pick things up quick. I'm aware tt some things just can't be rushed and impatience won't do any good for me. But I just wish I cld feel a bit more confident abt myself and my abilities once I have a clearer picture of how things work. How long will tt take for me? Oh well.... Don't give up sam... try ur best! Treat each and every day as a learning process. On-the-job learning can be demoralizing but at the end of the day, u'd still be able to pick things up. Haha... let's just try to drill tt into my head shall we?

Work seems to have prolonged the days and shortened nights. Haha... perhaps my body hasn't quite gotten used to worklife hrs as yet as by the 2nd wk, work took a toll on my body. Sore throat, fever, cough and flu hit me. So for all who are abt to start work, do take care and drink loadsa water! Rmb to hyrdate urself! I'm in the process of recovering now so hopefully i'd recover fully soon! Work is tiring even if it's on days when u do nothing much. By the time u get back home, bathe etc, ur already shagged and it's more or less already time to hit the bed. The next thing u know, the next day's here again. Something which I also gotta get used to is tt an entire wk's worth of newspapers can only be read on sundays! Haha... which makes me really out of tune with current affairs. I'm always late by a wk! Haha!

But well, work has its pros too. The upside of working at raffles place is tt liting's just a phone call and mins away from my workplace. Having a lunch khaki like her really rawks. She never fails to cheer me up each time I meet her. ;)

On days when I lunch alone, this is what I see. Nice view eh? Having some time spent with urself is never a lonely thing. It's always a good time for recollecting ur thoughts and seeking... what I call inner peace before u go back to complete the rest of the workday.

It's vesak today which makes this wk 1 day shorter. Woohooo! But well... just checked the calender and the next public holiday is national day which is in August. Wow... a long wait tt is. Hopefully by then, i'd have gotten more accustomed to stuff and familiarised myself to many things. Let's just see shall we?

Alright... gtg... no idea when the next entry will be but let's just take it tt in the meantime, i'm out there at the battlefield, somewhere. Ahhh Chaaarr! Haha...

update 1

2008-05-18T21:45:00.004+08:00

Feels like a while since I last updated. How's things going for all of u guys?

And so... I finally completed my undergrad years. With just 1 day of break to readjust my frame of mind, that transition in life seemed to have been accelerated somewhat somehow. I can't quite explain it but anyways, biological clock needed some major reworks, learning had to start all over from scratch again... Shall talk more abt this another time I guess.

Labour day was spent chilling with mum and serene and the kids at suntec. Ate at pizza hut before we hit the malls to get some office attire. Dano's it man. Reasonable prices too.

Ilyssa... what r u looking at darling?

Ryan and his hot mama

Labour day was a short break. Before I knew it, it was already my first day at work. No room for regrets now sam. Don't go envying ur coursemates who are either packing up for various gradtrips or still at their exam battlefields. Just make good with ur situation!

Time seemed to have flown by real quickly. Mothers' Day was up next and I survived my 1st week at work! Woots! To be exact, I've completed ... 2 wks by now, which is already 1/2 mth! Time flies doesn't it? Hopefully I've made some progress during these 2 wks and am less of a sotong now? Haha... *crosses fingers*

What we had for mothers' day? International buffet at changi village hotel! Gosh... it really was a spread! Food galore! No kid!

Isn't it funny? It was mothers' day but we were more fascinated with Ilyssa instead. Haha... she's a doll! Fluffy's just so cute! And ur right... I had no pix taken with mummy. Haha...

2008-04-30T09:42:00.002+08:00

I've received quite a couple of congratulatory smses early this morning. Finally, it is D day. And I repeat, FINALLY! Haha... But I'm not sure why... right now, I don't exactly feel tt excited. I guess as the hrs draw nearer, when reality really hits me, I'd feel slightly more thrilled then.

I can't imagine how I'd feel when the examiner announces "Alright.. stop writing."
How wld I feel when I place my final full stop to the exam script?
Haha... I'd tell u more when this whole shitty ordeal's over!

Until then, let me 'enjoy' my final moments as an undergrad. Yeah... I'm really dying to break free from my cells. In abt 9 hrs time, I'd be released.

And pls... let's just hope everything ends on a good note.

done with thesis! finally!

2008-04-28T14:56:00.002+08:00

I am finally done with my dreaded thesis. DONE DONE DONE!!! Woohooo! That's it! After mths of shit, it is finally completed! But of course, not before I was sent on a mad run btw places again. They just had to do tt eh?

Anyway... I'm just so happy. Finally, it's really just down to one more stupid paper and I'm Outta here! YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Haha... the end product of shit! And that most treasured signature of my all time fav. HAHAHAHA! I'm abt 75% close to partying now! Hang in there sam!!!!

study angst

2008-04-27T11:07:00.003+08:00

Ok.. so what if i screwed up on the first paper? It's over already, isn't it?

Concentrate on the final one to salvage the situation grey. (Haha... new nick from Piggy!) Though I know I sld really be studying now, but yet I still wanna procrastinate. And well, perhaps babysitting can come in as a relevant excuse not to study this wkend? haha... Yeah!

Anyway, thanks for making my mugging hrs less of a torture. To Bu and Oinky, pineapple lurves u! Thanks for tolerating my nonsensical msns and prank calls! Haha!

My study table's in a big mess as usual... and look at my notebook. I HATE U! I so wanna shred u right now. Haha.. I sure do sound like a violent arse!

Haha... just to prove my point. I hate my handwriting, I hate what I'm reading, I hate having to read and study when so many others have already finished their torture.

Ahh! Release and set me free asap! 30th April 2008, 7pm will make me a very very happy moo.

paranoia

2008-04-25T14:08:00.004+08:00

I think I'm being paranoid. Most ppl choose to focus on the gist of say, a person's correspondence to u. But I'd choose to focus on the less important details. Take my prof's recent email to all of us as example. (look below) Guess what I was focusing on?

Dear All

I have marked both assignments. All passed and have done well. Except for a few, majority have good grades. Hence, I would urge that you do well in your examination which constitutes 60%. It is likely that your examination result will determine the final grade you will achieve in this module as most of you generally did well in the assignments.

Wish you good luck and remember to bring along a simple calculator.

Regards

And ur right... My instant thought was... Shit! Am I one of the few he mentioned abt? Haha... There's no time to even think abt it. It's time to hit the books sam! What r u doing now? Blogging?!?! For gdness sake, everyone's studying their butts off now. Haha... Somebody, slap me pls.

sam's wish

2008-04-25T10:33:00.002+08:00

sam's wish

If it's possible,
I wanna will you to be more obedient.
Hypocrisy rears its ugly horns
when you do exactly what basic logic tells you not to.

You obviously know how to tell right from wrong,
yet
Temptation is constantly there to distract and mislead you
time and again.

Have you already been disqualified?
It's really time for some
mental and physical synchronization.
If you know what's best for you.

tell myself...

2008-04-23T11:00:00.004+08:00

In less than a wk's time, I'd be free.
Press on sam! U really can't afford to be so easily distracted now of all times.

Found this picture on the web. Cute isn't it? For all u sufferers out there, this baby here is rooting for u as well. Don't give up!

Ich Kann... Ich will alles richtig zu machen.

uob heartbeat marathon

2008-04-21T12:51:00.004+08:00

Yesterday was Sab's 7.3km company marathon. We woke up really early just so we cld make it in time to be at uob plaza 7ish in the morning. I was proud of my sis cos she actually came in 4th in the women's category! 3rd place had a timing of 40:14. She clocked in at 40:16. Gosh! How close was she in walking away with a couple of hundreds richer + air tix for some holiday trip! But well.. it doesn't matter... there's always the next year to try for! Perhaps there'd be better prizes next year up for grabs too! Haha.. so much for consoling.

At the finish line!

Being 4th meant tt she cldn't go on stage to collect any medals or prizes... so this was obviously taken when everything was over! Haha!

She obviously is very much in love with mr birdy... :)

Next year will be a better year for ya i'm sure! Try harder! Ur power legs will certainly prove u proud really soon! Haha! Just make sure u keep distractions *ahem* outta ur way when the time comes. lol

walkathon!

2008-04-16T11:49:00.006+08:00

We did a formidable feat last sunday. We were at race course road to pay our respects to my great grandmother. Thereafter, we walked towards Little India and explored the whole of little india by foot. I felt like a tourist in Singapore actually cos it has been years since I last stepped foot there... I think the last time I was there was when I was in secondary school? Man! It was really an eye-opener. There were so many sights within little india itself that u would never really link it to Singapore. A pity it was as I'd forgotten to snap those lovely sights while feasting my eyes. So I can't show u visually what I mean. Haha but well... another time i guess. We bought loadsa crap as well... Mum was tempted to get a sari as well but she left it for the next time. I got 2 pairs of sunglasses. Haha... Kinda like a spur of the moment thing... but they were really cheap! Less than 10 bucks can u believe it? haha!

the first pair i got which was just normal looking i think.

Haha! The 2nd pair! Haha... retro eh? I think my mood tt day was blackish? I duno... but both pairs turned out to be black ones.

After we were done with Little India, we decided to walk to Bugis. Haha!!! And so we did... Walkathon Sunday it was!

Oh... and this pic was taken cos I was so shocked. I really felt like a local tourist! Haha... I mean I'd never noticed this building there before. It looked so foreign but well... pretty artistic eh?

After shopping, we stopped for dinner. Ginger tea! No prizes for guessing which's the one with honey.

Mum and sab!

Mum's - some specialty noodles but it looks like wanton noodles to me.

Mine. It doesn't look appetizing but it tasted marvellous. It was Chicken Martell soup. The martell tasted not too strong. Just nice!

Sab's. She grumbled tt the bowl was big but the portion was small. Really?

qing ming

2008-04-16T11:38:00.004+08:00

Qing Ming Festival, also called Tomb Sweeping Day or All Souls Day, is a day whereby the living calls to mind their departed loved ones. In the past, we used to pay our respects to our ancestors - those whom we never before saw in our lives - such as my great grandparents for example. But as time passed, we soon had to pay our respects to ppl whom we know and loved ever so deeply before and still do.

Was at Tse Tho Um (not sure of the spelling) to visit dad last wkend. That was the same place he was cremated at years back. And strange how it seems... the place still looked every bit the same. U know what... i really dislike certain times of the year as they will always serve as a painful reminder to me of many unpleasant things and horribly greedy ppl year aft year without fail, i mean... beasts who used to be relatives. Anyways, i shan't dwell on that here... ;) Time shall heal all these wounds... though in this case, it's more or less a matter of trying to disregard the matter rather than truly forgiving.

Both kids were there this year as well. Ryan was pretty cute actually especially when he said "Hi gong gong! I am ryan" as he smiled and waved at my dad's urn which bore his picture at the front of it. Haha.. he's adorable isn't he? Ilyssa was looking cute too!

Some stuff we bought for dad as offerings this year. They're customs and beliefs which my mom holds true to, so we just followed her instructions. But anways, this car looks exactly like our old car doesn't it?

woots! 8836! Try ur luck at 4D! Haha!

And lastly, an honest wish from me to u daddy: I hope ur well and happy wherever u may be.

scams!

2008-04-12T10:08:00.003+08:00

Alright... this entry may sound like one of those forwarded messages which u usually receive through email and disregard it altogether, thinking that it must be one of those spam mails or something. But well, let me tell u tt it actually is very real cos I encountered it just yesterday.

So what was it? SCAMS! What happened was tt ard 1105am yesterday, I was getting ready to go to school when I received this automated voice message tt went along the lines of "You have a message from the Supreme Court of Singapore. Press 1 or 9." Thinking tt it had to do with sab's interview, I pressed 1 and was made to hold while they connected me to an operator. What happened next was this:

Operator (who sounded like a foreigner... probably a Viet or a Filipino): Yes? May I help you?
me: Err... apparently there's a message for me. What do u mean by may i help you?
operator: Hold on while I check out what this call is abt
me: ok
(waited for a really long time while she continued typing something. Btw, there was loadsa voice recorded msgs and fax machine sounds in the backgrd)
operator: may i have ur name?
me: samantha
operator: how to spell?
me: S A M A N T H A
operator: smampha?
me: S A M A N T H A
operator: sanampha?
(after a really long time of getting her to spell it correctly...)
operator: what's ur ic number?
me: S ....
(actually come to think of it... it was really silly of me to tell her such stuff. But at tt point in time, i'd no idea why but i just gave it to her thinking it was no big deal anyway.)
operator: Is this the name in ur ic? I don't have it in my system.
me: no. it's ong ....
(ok.. and so another excruciatingly looooong time was spent getting her to spell my name correctly)
operator: ok. got it. so it's O N G.....
me: yes.
operator: Ok.. this was what the call's abt. You are involved in a loanshark .... (she sounded like she was reading off a script)
me: (interrupting her) Loanshark? This is ridiculous.
operator: Have u ever lent or dropped ur ic?
me: no. never. and please do not waste my time any further.
operator:You will need to fax over some of your documents at ...
me: (interrupting her as i sensed something was really wrong) Sorry but i do not think tt it's necessary. I can do so myself. Where do i have to submit these docs?
operator: CID. I can do it for you. Fax them over at ..
me: (interrupting her again) CID u say? Ok. I'd go down personally then. And who do i look for?
operator: Yeo Tee Cheong
me: ok. I'd do it myself. Though i'm pretty sure this is a scam, so i'd not bother anyways.
operator: huh?
me: forget it. is tt all?
operator: yes. tt's all (click)

And so... she was the one who hung up on me, almost hurriedly. Good. I was in a rush too. Apparently, according to news reports etc, if I were to follow through her instructions and to fax over those docs, what will happen next is tt they'd make me send some money over to pay up my 'fines' for being a loanshark. Wow... how ridiculous does tt sound? Though nothing happened out of this, less for the fact tt i wasted loadsa time entertaining her call and tt my name and ic is still out there somewhere... but I still feel stupid. So, if u do receive such calls, just dismiss it altogether. It's a hoax. A scam! I've not made a police report cos i'm sure it's gonna be troublesome and at most, I'd just be advised not to be careless with my personal details etc... not sure if it's a wise choice, but I'd think tt they can't do much with my name and ic too, right? Whatever... Well, apparently, there were many others who received such ridiculous calls too, with varying experiences. Mine was mild I guess, compared to some of them who went through the whole thing. Check it out here if ur interested.

great artists

2008-04-10T13:36:00.008+08:00

I think there are a handful of local celebs who have some really great hidden talents that have yet to be acknowledged or fully explored. I guess no one wld have known that bryan wong really is pretty much artistically inclined if not for tt program. His talent for interior design is just magnificent. And... I really salute him for his painting works! They are just so pretty ... if only I had tt flair for drawing... my walls wldn't just merely be in boring and conventional shades like it is at present. Check out his works below. Credits to his blog of course. ;)

Indian princess?

the great artist

Mona Lisa in today's context. Check out the peace sign she makes.

This reminds me of my archi module. Haha

Nice touch eh?

The artist with one of my fav works of his.

There... a close up of buddha. This must have cost him much effort and time... but the end result is nothing short of magnificent.

Haha...!!

He's able to draw simply anything under the sun eh?

Even simple stuff like this... he made it look really good.

Beautiful isn't it?

I can't help but to admire them each time I read his blog. Haha... If only I cld own tt buddha painting of his. Awesome.

janet's discipline's awesome

2008-04-09T10:42:00.003+08:00

This is kinda delayed.... but still, I wanna say tt Janet Jackson's Discipline album's a bomb! I really really really lurve it! Each and every single track's so good. Besides Feedback, other tracks like Luv, Can't B Good and Never Letchu Go are awesome! In fact, all tracks rawk! Seriously. Go check them out if u haven't already done so!

A Singaporean touch to her latest album. ;)

Haha... I kinda like these too. So, which do u prefer? The left or the right?

Janet! Keep doing ur thang! Haha... Absolutely looking forward to ur next!

jogs

2008-04-08T09:42:00.002+08:00

It has been a long time since I last jogged. Been busy with loadsa crap... school, work and kids. Gosh... come to think of it, I kinda sound like a frumpy mom actually.. haha. Anyways, I finally took the time to work those flabs out last thursday and friday. Haha... After sucha long break from exercising, my stamina was surprisingly ok. Jogged my usual 20 rounds round that small park downstairs and I wasn't panting much. Guess it must be bcos I jogged extremely slowly tt's why. Haha... I mean... it's impossible that my stamina did not deteriorate at all. One thing I absolutely hate abt jogging after a long hiatus from it is the uphill task of rebuilding ur stamina.

I love jogging, not so much for the fact tt I get to exercise. But bcos jogging's one of the rare moments that I actually get to spend time with myself and get some thoughts straightened out while jogging and listening to music. Loadsa stuff was figured out during jogs... like say, my thesis topic for example. Besides, jogging's also a great way to vent ur anger and to release some steam. When u feel immense frust building up in ur system, go jog. When ur upset and feeling miserable over something, go jog. When ur confused abt something, think abt it while jogging. Oftentimes, after tt one hr or so, u'd come up with a solution somehow. So u see, jogging works wonders. Trust me.

Apparently, I wasn't the only loony on thurs jogging at noon. There was another guy there as well. I think I may consider myself pretty selfish cos I was actually hoping tt he cld up and go asap so tt I cld have the whole park to myself. Haha.... which eventually did happen of course. :)

After my 20th round, I brisk-walked for another round and found myself looking at the trees in the park. Haha.. I think I'm mad. But they actually look kinda pretty. I even took pix of insects can u believe it? Haha... Gross eh? So to spare u from those sights tt may freak u out, I'd only post 2 pix of the greens and leave out the others like caterpillars and red ants for example. Haha!

See this? It wasn't tt well reflected with my cam-phone. But when u look up and peer through these tree crowns, u'd get a faint view of the midday sun which is pretty cos it has a mysterious allure to it. Perhaps... it's kinda like the light at the end of the tunnel sorta... haha. Am i there yet?

And this! Can this pass off as a cover for one of kevin kern's works? haha... Well, ok... he has higher standards I'm sure.

So there... weird things I do when I'm alone. Haha... perhaps there is some truth to it when my friends call me 'mad' or 'siao char boh'. Haha

stanchart beach sundown party

2008-03-31T12:30:00.003+08:00

Thank goodness the skies cleared yesterday after the afternoon rain. We went to east coast park like always, only tt this time ard, it was to attend mum's family day. They call it the beach sundown party. It was fun! Though the weather was excruciatingly hot, but still... the combination of sun, sea and sand dispelled all our complaints abt our burning scalps! Haha!

Mum, sab and I went there first before we were joined by serene, ben and the kids. Guess what was our mode of transport? Hahaha! I suggested walking to ecp which we eventually did. It was pretty cool actually... though it wasn't exactly a short walk from home, but still, it wasn't as tiring as we thought. As we walked, we bitched and before we knew it, we were already at ecp. I kinda retraced my TJC jogging tracks too. Haha.. still recall those horrible tj days whereby we'd have to run outdoors, pass by russell's place, towards ecp and then returning to school from ecp towards Casa Fina and back to school. URGH! Hahaha!

There was so much food available yesterday! Nachos, Hotdogs, Samosa, Ice-cream, BBQ Food Buffett tt included satay, chicken wings, prawns, sausages, corn, dessert etc (By Smiling Orchid) as well as Liquid Buffett (tiger beer, iced lemon tea and canned drinks like H20, 7-up Pepsi etc). We ate till we almost exploded I think. Haha! It was great cos it was free flow and u cld take watever u wanted. Unlike the old coupon system tt restricted u to the type of food u cld take. But well, this system kinda has its cons as well cos there were quite a few gatecrashers like some foreign workers who blatently helped themselves to the food!

My lovely sisters chillaxing!

Oh yeah... something funny to round up the day. Ben signed serene up for some singing contest called 1 min of fame. So she was kinda dragged up on stage to sing inpromptu. LOL! It was hilarious and she showed no signs of cold feet though I bet she was secretly cursing ben! Haha! She didn't win but we gotta give her props for being such a sport! I mean.. especially since she was competing with kids as young as 3 yrs old. LOL! Hahaha!

Here goes the clip! Check it out!

vegetarian restaurant and Gallop Stable

2008-03-30T12:26:00.014+08:00

Yesterday was pretty fun. We met 4th aunt for lunch at this vegetarian restaurant at Balestier. It was buffet-style with loadsa variety. It was really good! There was pastries, dessert, ice-cream, fruits, drinks, finger food, noodles, rice, loadsa other ingredients, sushi etc... Even Ryan loved it. ;) Apparently, the menu there always changes so there's always something different each time u return. For vegetarians, u may wanna check tt out! Highly recommended!

Some pix while getting the kids ready...

Ilyssa looked cute yesterday! Haha

Is tt a smile fluffy?

Serene said she looks hot here. *faints* Haha!

When the kids r here, the whole hse is in a mess with toys and their clothes strewned all over the place. Gross eh?

Ryan loves drinking the new black sesame soya drink. Haha... sounds like a weird combination but it doesn't taste tt bad actually.

Gulps!

I'm done yiyi!

This is the restaurant called Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant. Props!

The little boy was fascinated by the lighted balls.

Ryan's cheeky grin!

Some friends Ryan befriended in btw his balancing act:

After lunch, we went back just so the kids cld catch up on some snooze before we headed out to Pasir Ris park. Pasir Ris Park is great! If u ever get bored with ECP, u can come here! :) Haha... We went to Gallop Stable as well! Cute ponies there which both the kids were totally in love with. If u ever run outta places to go to for dates... try this! Haha!

Didn't have the chance to snap much pix there... but I managed to snag one pic from the web! haha... never knew Singapore had such places eh?

Plans for today...? Supposed to go to ECP in an hr's time but it's raining right now! :( Just hope the skies will clear soon!

mum's a model

2008-03-27T15:23:00.003+08:00

The day mum started her modelling career...

Haha... well, she's not exactly a model... but still, it's pretty amazing to see her doing such stuff. I mean... she actually participated in this. Haha! And of course, she proudly forwarded me these soft copies of her 'shoot', telling me to check her out. *faints* Haha!

The final product.

See if u can spot her! I've already narrowed down the search for ya! Now.. time to spot... Where's Themis?

wow!

2008-03-27T12:37:00.006+08:00

I finally got to know the miracles of the power of ur mind. Ever since thesis submission, I'd been procrastinating. Never really got down to clearing that whole series of backdated webcast lectures. And guess what? I must have woken up from the wrong side of the bed this morning cos I was actually disciplined enough to sit through 3 whole marketing lectures in a row. That's like 6 hrs worth of lectures. Zzzzzz! Ok... maybe I cheated since I set the speed to the max of 2.0, so it's technically less than 6 hrs. But still... ain't tt a feat?! Don't question me on how much knowledge's retained in my puny brain. I'm sure u won't wanna know.

But hey... anyways, I gotta complain. For watever reasons, my lecturer decided to stop webcast lects for the remaining wks. Oh man! There goes my Friday plans! Entirely butchered with the need to go back to school for lects. Somebody... Kill me! Perhaps I sld just consider skipping it with or w/o webcast... let's see my mood shall we? Haha!

Oh and just for updates. I finally signed my slavish life away yesterday. Now there r other things to deliberate abt in my agenda... more immediate concerns will be which to purchase? Will brand be a main concern? Maintenance cost? Upfront cheaper rates or long term savings? What's my financing scheme gonna be like? Other stuff to plan and to think abt .... How's my mthly expenses (loans, mhtly allowance to give etc) and savings gonna shape up to look like? Which to invest in? How to better plan my finances towards retirement? It's always good to plan ahead and to make time to give some proper thought to such stuff. It's never too early. Isn't it strange how practical i've become? But tt's just life man. Though I'm still pretty excited abt work, but with so many stories abt working life tt i've been fed with, I've no idea how excited I really am man. Just gotta hope and pray tt work doesn't end up becoming a chore and a dread. Until then, I shall just enjoy the rest of my undergrad days. Days when I'm free to do watever I wanna do... days when ur pretty much the master of ur own time.

Anyway, it's terrible. I already feel as if I've graduated though I'm still pretty much stuck in shit. Before the 30th of April arrives, I've still got 1 more prj, 1 more tut, 2 more lects and 2 more exams to go! 1 mktg lecture and nego workshop will b done by the end of tmr. I've completed my part for marketing prj (tho there r still meetings to attend plus some compilation work to be done before we're finally done with it in 2 wks time) The end is near! YESSS!!!

reminisce

2008-03-20T22:17:00.003+08:00

It's already the end of March, which leaves me with about a month or so as an undergrad. That's like 41 more days before I can finally say I've graduated! Working life beckons immediately thereafter in May. Am I a workaholic? No break? Haha... (Yeah! It's confirmed and I've finally reached a decision as to which offer I'd take. I'm pretty excited actually cos never did I imagine tt I'd end up working as tt. But well, let's just hope tt it's a wise choice. I sure hope it is! Haha)

Anyways, I wanna take the time to reminisce abt my undergrad yrs. Nah, I'd not bore u guys to tears abt my incessant complaints with the uni like I always do. But well, for a change, let me think abt the positive things shall I? Haha. Besides the friendship forged btw great friends, a major plus will be the many overseas opportunities which I was really fortunate to be a part of. Not only was I able to interact with many ppl of various cultures, nationalities, beliefs, ages and occupations, at the end of the day, I've befriended them as well. U know that despite the geographical distance, they still form a very significant part of ur life. Besides, with technology, remaining in contact isn't difficult at all.

My overseas ventures are certainly something I'd never forget for life. I've gained alot and learnt so much abt myself through them that never did I ever regret. I mean, if I were to turn back time, I'd certainly do the same. I might even take on more overseas trips if possible! Haha.

Let's walk down memory lane shall we? :)

Year 1 was all abt trying to fit in to the university, to the culture of my faculty and the new faces ard me. CORS was certainly something which I had to get used to. Administratively, it is the best system to adopt. However, there is a downside to it as well. Sometimes, u may actually end up taking a module which doesn't interest u at all just so u cld clear certain uni reqts within tt semester. But well, there's always pros and cons to anything. So CORS sldn't be an exception.

My decision to take up german for 2 years wasn't something which I regretted. But I gotta admit tt during the 2 years itself, it really wasn't easy. Sometimes, I even thought of giving up. To learn a language requires discipline, determination and drive. Haha... having the interest itself isn't enough. One thing u really need is an absorptive brain tt retains data. Memorising all the articles (Der, Die, Das) isn't all. There's so much other stuff u gotta rmb too. For someone whose memory is so terrible, tell me.. is tt dreadful? Haha... But well, everything worked out in the end and I survived those 2 years! Now, I can say... Ich spreche Deutsche aber Ich kann nur ein bischen Deutsche sprechen. (Haha...Nicht sehr gut Deutsche ja?) lol... Oh yeah... I went for a language immersion program to Freiburg at the end of yr 1. Check the following pix out! Gosh... it's been a really long time since I last saw these pix! Haha!

germany, switzerland, france

2008-03-20T22:03:00.002+08:00

The following are just some pix taken during my Germany trip in 2005. Some of them are pix from Switzerland and France. I can't quite recall the names for some of them... so pardon me if there happen to be any errors alright! haha! Boy! How I yearn to be back in Europe again!

The view from the plane's simply breathtaking isn't it?

We have reached Frankfurt after the really long flight!

The German ICE

Time to get our bio clocks adjusted while waiting for the ICE to take us to Freiburg!

The girls in the prog. Never regretted going for this though I was the only one from my faculty. Made many new friends from other facs (mostly engine or arts) too!

With the host families. We were late so we weren't in the pic. Schade!

My hosts Frau Elisabeth und Herr Dietz at their workplace. They own a pharmacy (Apotheke).

Where I stayed during the immersion programme.

The view u get just outside my home at Paduaallee.

Calming effect?

Haha... taking an evening stroll with jess just before we head back home to sleep!

At Europa Park. Boy.. the rides are scary!!!

What u see at the sky tower thingy in Europa Park

With Jacelyn aka "Miss Ach So" at one of the water rides in Europa Park

With Sipei and Yingshi at Colmar, France

I really like Colmar cos it's so pretty and clean. Pix just look like portraits!

Check those pretty colours out!

Whee! We've reached Switzerland! The Swiss flag!

The trams at Basel, Switzerland

"SHE" at Switz!

Yixiang and Michelle at one of the churches in Switzerland. We were lucky tt day cos the church tower was opened FOC! Climbing up the tower was excruciating cos it was cram. u cld only climb up and down the stairs single-file) But once u reached the top, it was all worth it. The view was nothing short of magnificent.

A kindergarten in the woods. There's where samuel and his siblings attend school! Interesting concept dun u think so? We had a real BBQ tt night using tree branches and a bonfire. Cool isn't it!

A free park at Mundenhof, Germany. Check out those sexy camels! Haha

the bewildered looking horse!

The countryside has a peaceful feel doesn't it?

The Gemuese (vege) family! It kinda looks a bit sparse right! Haha

With my german Mama Elisabeth at this place tt served really good desserts like banana split!! OH MAN! SLURPS! But it was a freaking huge portion. haha

Papa Dietz!

We failed miserable trying to do a self shot with all 3 of us in it. haha

At a German fest which Herr Dietz and Frau Elisabeth brought me to

Just the 2 of them

And me on the other side ! Haha

Flammkuchen (can't rmb the spelling). I guess it's the german version of roti prata cum pizza?

We went to a funfair near Hauptbahnhof. Haha... deprived childhood eh?

Overgrown kids we r!

In one of our boat rides

Gross pic 1: 3 of us with Karolin at Konstanz

On the boat while on our way to Konstanz!

Yixiang being terrorized by a street busking clown. Haha!

Some jugglers doing their thing near the shopping malls

Wow! Military band!

Nice european architecture!

Majestic eh

Munsterplatz marketplace where so many things were sold. Flowers, Sauerkraut and yummy Wurst tt's billig!

We visited the TV station studios at Suedbaden too. haha

At the Staufen ruins

Gin and Clarence going crazy

The authentic Schwarzwaldkuchen (blackforest cake) with some alcohol! YUMMY!!

Extremely delicious Sachertorte (chocolate cake). U might even reach ur big O just consuming this man! haha

Choo choo train! Looks so cute!

Horse rides! Where's my prince charming?

Germans really enjoy life, especially the retirees ... sipping hot tea/coffee in the chilly winds while looking out into the sea. How awesome's tt?

Titisee with Schwarzwald (the blackforest) in the back ground

With Dennis

Jess baby!

SHE going crazy in class.

With my partner Siwei in class. He's the german god!

With Susanna our teacher! Our classroom's at the basement and frankly speaking, it's pretty cold there. Imagine how cold it'd be w/o those heaters man!

So that kinda put a superb end to my 1st year in uni. Year 2 was spent in Singapore. But I had something to look forward to which was my student exchange programme (SEP) for a semester in the US at the end of yr 2 and start of year 3! Woots!

Next up, SEP in the US!

USA

2008-03-20T21:55:00.036+08:00

2006. SEP at University of California, San Diego was extremely fun. Classes were similar to back home but the only diff was tt it felt much more relaxing learning in ucsd. Professors there seem to be really passionate abt teaching and they're really encouraging especially when it comes to grading. Project work was pretty fun too and I really enjoyed my exchange there. I stayed off-campus but it turned out to be a wise choice as not only was transport free since I stayed at Costa Verde which was within the free radius zone of the uni, grocery shopping was also convenient cos it was along the way. Oh! And another plus point was tt UTC Mall was just a 10 mins walk away from home. Muahaha!

A crazy shot taken with yixuan during our first few days there

Chilling out at the church!

With the japs at the bonfire

At Mount Soledad, San Diego

Still at Mount Soledad. Haha

I stole Mickey's car at disneyland, Los Angeles!

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco was chilly!

The narrowest road in the world~

Pier 39, San Francisco

Waterfall at Yosemite

At Rodeo Drive. Breathing in the expensive air real hard. Hahaha

Nice sunset at the Cliffs near campus

Tucking into some decent Korean BBQ during our Orange County/LA trip. yumyum!

At UCLA with Bao

Nice beach, great company.

With Helen at UCSD's Oceanview Terrace (OVT). Oh man! I miss the food there!

Miramar airshow was really cool! Best of all? It was FREE! Hahaha

The really superb Taiwanese family whom I stayed with.

Celebrating Charmain's bday at I House.

Shrek! Ur a dude!

Universal Studios was fun! I preferred it to Disneyland actually.

With Sam and Yvette at the beach!

Racing in the snow at yosemite with Sam 1 was fun!

Dennis snapped this on the sly at Grand Canyon. I had no idea he took this actually!

Las Vegas, Nevada

Presenting to u the ninjas

Brrr! It's so cold!!

Close-up of the ninjas

Show me the money baby!

On the bus!

While waiting for Shamu's grand appearance at the Seaworld.

Christmas dinner at Cheesecake Factory!

While waiting for our food...

We tried being funky. Hahaha

And so tt was abt it. Some snippets of my SEP. Haha. It was just fun fun fun! Imagine always having something to do each and every wkend. Travelling and sightseeing was fun, especially when ur with crazy ppl like them! Haha. It made schooling bearable cos there's always something to look forward to at the end of the day or during the wkends. But it's not like schooling was a dread there either. The only bad thing's tt texts and bks are just so expensive there!! I really miss those carefree days, the teachers and the great friends I made during this trip. Although we still keep in touch through emails and msn, but still... it's different w/o face to face contact. Haha... I just hope tt we'd catch up with one another somewhere on planet earth sometime soon! :)

The semester after I came back from SEP was pretty trying. Not only must I catch up with 1 sem's worth of work, but I also had to readjust myself back to the local system. Classes are no longer in 50 mins sessions like it was in ucsd but it's now back to 2 hrs! So very often, I'd have to tell myself to WAKE UP and to quit spacing out! And tt happened really frequently actually. I was just so restless during class! It didn't help tt the semester I returned was a heavy one with mods that involved soooo much prj work. It was really really really trying. But I was glad things turned out well eventually. I even improved my cap during tt sem which was pretty baffling actually. Haha!

Next up... 2007's Summer Program at China!

China 1

2008-03-20T21:40:00.036+08:00

2007: Dept's Summer Programme to China. What's great abt this is tt u get to clear 1 mod and 4 MCs during the uni vacation itself. This means tt when term starts, u'd have 1 lesser mod to do. Most imptantly, u get to travel too! The uni's pretty kind to reimburse us a portion of the cost so tt's a bonus as well.

This programme took us to Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou. We got to network with many companies there and it was quite an experience. Besides tt, we also had the opportunity to attend some lessons at the local unis like Fudan, Tongji and Zhejiang. It sure was quite different from NUS. Haha.. for one, lessons are in chinese. ;) Our trip to Beijing aft the end of the whole prog was fun too, if not for the extremely hot weather. Qi pu lu, shanghai ke ji guan and our 'tiff and cos' were cool as well!

Anyway, shall let the pix do the talking now!

Shanghai cashcows at changi airport

What's up there?

We've reached shanghai!

At Capitaland. Yay! We finally got to rest our feet!

Lunch together

Raffles Mall

At an urban exhibition

We met huijun who was sep-ing there!

A group of us who had lunch together

Our family kinda expanded

Spas 1, 2 and 3 in action

Yoyoyo Sista!!!

Can we be ur ambassadors?

Attention!

hx looks a bit sian rite? hahaha

One of the rare China pix with both lt and i in it. We were practically strangers then.

the 4 of us relaxing

johnny joined us!

with our student guide

At GIC

In the bus

Jing An Si

I think this was taken during the Frasers' trip?

with SL

Shanghai cashcows trying hard to look professional

Who's singing? Haha

3 of us minus yn the photographer

Keeping our spirits high despite telling the cab driver to take us to the wrong place

Cute vending machines and canned drinks

wassup yihan?

who's the naughty boy?

extremely cheap breakfast!

China streets, shops and apartments

Tucking into jia chang fan near our hotel. Still recall the chef and waitress who served us in their pjs.

me and my roommate at our room

Some ppl went berserk aft coming back from qi pu lu. Haha

China 2

2008-03-20T21:36:00.125+08:00

More China pix to be continued here... hahaha

Cab drivers in china

Eating along roadside stalls

Snakes tt are to be fried... :\

At this taiwanese restaurant at raffles city tt didn't taste tt delicious after all

Shanghai lao jie

the 4 of us while waiting for our xiao long baos

time to tuck in!

The bund was pretty!

Nicest stretch of bldgs at Shanghai!

another shot! We practically stopped to snap pix every few steps taken

There there... another one

What's tt in our mouths?

Dong Fang Ming Zhu

Are u getting bored already?

Shhhh!

Flowers at Tongji uni!

It's the guys' turns

Us at tongji uni

yn, celeste, yihan and i

sl, johnny, han and me

Gasp! Such a huge helping!

guess who's the real pianist amongst us 4?

The whole bunch of us

Steamboat at xiao fei yang

The siblings of a really complicated family

the modern day farmer

At the subway

I'm gonna dunk u into the sea han! Watch out!

what's behind us?

at one of the water villages

me as coolie!

check out the view behind us

the sails

our most memorable bus ride ever. Cramp, stuffy, hot

our family tree

Guess who we caught in the act?

Fruits galore at hangzhou

at ling ying si with jinting the horny babe and sl!

in the cave

Tadaa!

Everybody at our table

poster girls for the local library?

X woman on the loose!

Boat ride no thanks to some inconsiderate ppl

why am i in formal attire while sightseeing? argh!! They sld have just told us before hand isn't it?!

the water village

some shops there

it's raining. what r we doing here?

nice calligraphy

me and my bodyguards

Let's hope and pray tt...

at westlake

R we flying?

row row row ur boat, gently down the stream...

the 4 ducklings

bicycles everywhere

act cute~

the happy guys

with us on the other side of the table!

the regular grp

superman john snagging the lenses

The superman pose kinda got to us all

While waiting for the coach to arrive

delicious lunch

last shot before we set off for beijing~

beijing railway station

wen hua jie

Ouch!

Haha... john's really funny!

we were all so tired. Check out our fake smiles man! haha

Great wall! Here we r!

With Miss Bushy and her family

Fighting!

on my way to the halfway mark of the great wall

to me, great wall is the world's greatest wonder, no doubts abt it

Ba Da ling has black bears too

No! Yihan! U can't take those bills!

one of the many pix me, han and john took while yn and sl listens to the tourguide. Haha.. we were bored to death!

Peekaboo!

Wat r we doing at a tcm hall? Yawns

cosplay on a different level?

Do we look weird? Which reminds me... sl.. u've not developed the pix for us yet!!

the mother and son duo

the concubines at war

It's my turn to fool ard! haha

Outside forbidden city

Presenting to u..

Seems like anywhere can be ur playground

Oh man! We came at the wrong time! Everything's under construction!

Boo!

at the entrance

the men in uniforms

yay! we r done!

waiting for our tix

han cldn't shake off the 3 buggers who destroyed her pic.haha

no prizes for guessing who's on the line with sl

Yummy beijing roast duck from quan ju de

this was on SL

where r the puppets?

back to the past?

airing my pits. HAHA

wang fu jing night market

wenjie, dont get jealous. this is called filial piety

where r u sl?

Breakfast before going to tian tan. Extremely cheap!

Chillaxing

chinese archi

I feel like a tourguide. haha

this is just so cool

Do they look like twins?

yn and i

Tadaaa!

on our way back to shanghai

time for some cup noodles on the train

john strutting a sexy pose while waiting for the super inefficient tailor to find her stuff

some meditation was needed too

Last meal at Beijing~

Travelling's always fun. It'll be even more fun if ur travelling with great company like ur friends! Haha... Can't wait for the next trip! Grad trip may not be possible... but perhaps end of the year or something!! Cool!

uni friends

2008-03-20T21:26:00.025+08:00

The following are just snippets of my uni life in Singapore. As u can tell, I'm pretty lazy, so they r not in chronological order. In fact, they're kinda messed up actually. Haha.. Check to see if ur able to see how much I've aged these yrs!

Aren't we supposed to be discussing instead? Haha

China Visa was what met up for but we kinda got distracted as usual.

Chinese New Year 2007. Yu Sheng time!

Yihan....!!

Celeste's bday~

With project grpmates on presentation day

Yours truly's bday

Colourful balloons~

Yummy Ice cream from SF!

Yay! One module down!

Family photo with an intruder. Haha

the 'white-ties'

Before lecture begins!

In btw our countless prj discussions

KTV sessions

Muacks!

SDE Career Showcase '07

With the guys this time rd

Bleah!

At Starbucks

The ' We struck lottery' looks

Can't believe i'm actually at lakeside for prj. *faints*

Those were actually pretty fun times come to think of it. Guess they'd always be times when I'd look back and think... hey.. I rmb tt! Hopefully as time goes by, we'd still be in touch. No matter what, thank u all for having been such a significant part of my uni life. :)

Haha... know this pic is kinda out of point. But well... just something to remind me of my refugee days ard the hse while thesis-ing. Haha!

And finally! Something in the mail to cheer me up abt! Commencement 2008!!!

If ever there's a time whereby I wanna think back on my uni days, be sure tt these good times will be first to come to my mind. Thank you all for being a part of it.

confused

2008-03-13T10:46:00.004+08:00

SHIT! My mind's in a whirl now. I've got totally no mood to work on my thesis cos I'm so confused. Past offers were clear to me cos I knew I didn't want them, so rejection was easy. But this one? I've absolutely no clue at all. I'm half-hearted. I don't mind the jobscope and I think I'd be able to get the exposure that I want, based on my discussion sessions with them so far. But I'm also waiting for the other company's reply. They've indicated an interest in working with me and have requested for me to wait for their reply which will come in sometime next wk earliest. Oh man... I gotta come to a decision by the end of this wk for this one. U know... what I'm really afraid's tt I'd end up regretting if I were to really sign on the dotted line and subsequent offers turn out to be even better than this one. I gotta seek some sorta balance within myself and stay firm on my choice, whichever tt turns out to be. Sigh... choosing amongst choices tt are both good... That's a real headache. I'm just so confused!!!