the whimsical eccentric

argh...

2012-01-26T19:57:00.000+08:00

sick with stomach flu after 3 cakes and 1 ice cream... ouchh

but it has been really busy i especially love cny this year.

the family bonding--
good food (hua ting is yumz) --
abalone is yumz! ---
waterloo street vegetarian food is yumz!--

some random thoughts

tarot reading is really scarily accurate
stomach flu can be the kick start of my diet! (right now all thoughts of food repulse me)
macarons workshop w kc!
cannot sleep...
wants to buy good oven/ food processor/ happy call pans

CNY!

2012-01-25T04:58:00.000+08:00

passes like a blur this year! and now it's back to the same routine again---
this year the most distinctive memory i have is eating and eating and eating

Happy New Year! 2012!!

2012-01-22T09:41:00.000+08:00

I reread some of my oldest blog entries and was struck by how immature I sounded. haha! but it still sounded distinctively me- which was inane and rather excitable.

A new year! Woosh! so fast so sudden! I can never prepare for new year emotionally. It always feel like I barged into someone's room totally bewildered and confused. So my sneaky way is to procrastinate till Chinese New Year to anticipate the rush of a new clean beginning. and nothing, i mean nothing!! makes a bigger impact on a new year like the lunar new year. The massive once a year spring cleaning (when tempers fray and my father will hide somewhere where the screaming won't reach him), the last minute (really like on the DAY of the new year) shopping in chinatown, visiting waterloo temple in the wee morning of chinese new year (grabbing some vegetarian nosh after that) and the rather enjoyable visitings to our relatives. The drama during this period can really create enough content for a cny movie. hahaha or even better- Reality tv. It will i promise, be absolutely riveting.

This year (and even last year) there is a sense of aiyah i dun care le la feeling. The last exams, work and all the never ending chores in the new place (and since I'm not living in the old home now) has create that void in me- whatever will be will be. We will be flexible and play by ear. No time? Just hide the things somewhere for the time being hahahahah! My only regrets is that too bad we are a small family. If there were more people, it will be more boisterous and fun.

Okay, my inevitable new year resolution list. abit more comprehensive so that it will create more impact to me

1) LOSE 10 kg (min) -every month lose 1 kg. (i know anyone who reads this will start scoffing le. SMIRK AWAY!) Rabbit food here i come!

2) regain my sensitivity chip - where and when did i lose that?

3) concentration and focus - yah i know. stop floating along.

It's a short list but at least it is easy to attain right? HUAT AH!

Perpetually hungry

2011-08-16T22:19:00.000+08:00

Food!!!

Feel like blogging lately

2011-08-15T17:21:00.000+08:00

It's ironic that while i like reading people's blog so much i dun write anything on mine. too much effort somehow, having to find your own voice again. But it's been brewing again- the (argh the smell of my neighbour's food is distracting meee...) feeling of wanting to share my experiences, my thoughts.

Nothing in particular~~

2011-03-05T22:47:00.002+08:00

Lalalaa....

Here i am again

2010-05-17T05:35:00.004+08:00

I hesitate a little to write this post because it's been so long. I find that it takes longer to express myself in writing compared to before. But the thought of returning to blog has been festering in my mind for some time and i think it's time to write again before i lose touch with that faculty forever.

Some updates since my last post one year ago (!)

1) Started a new business with my friends

This is by far the biggest change in my life. This takes up 70% of my life.

2) Gain an unprecedented amount of weight.

Well, not really unprecedented, because i did gain alot of weight in a single month in primary and secondary school. But not since i lost all that excess weight in 2000 had i been so heavy. This update is the most troubling of all the recent year changes because now i have to exert alot of time and effort to losing weight again. Bleaahh...

3) Become a flextarian and aiming to be a lacto ovo vegetarian

Flextarian is someone who is a vegetarian usually but eats meat occasionally for cultural, nutritional reasons. Well for me the reason is because i still have the occasional hankering for meat. And i can never be a true vegetarian because i can never never not eat dairy and eggs. Imagine not being able to eat cake and ice creams. Ever! I can't imagine that.

It all started a mere 3 weeks ago, when i realised how much meat i take. Even my friends had remarked on this. I wasn't like this when i was younger, because i am sure everyone would remember me as the "salad" or the "vegetable" person. But with the stress in the recent year, (cannot think of recent time when i actually have a day for myself) i had really let myself go back to my very bad habits. I haven't visited a gym in ages.

So really, this new diet is for myself. I am glad that it helps the environment and that it complements my religious beliefs but the main reason why i want to be a lacto ovo vegetarian is because i want to be healthier again. But it does build new awareness to my life regarding sustainability, sanctity of life and Buddhism.

I don't really miss meat so much, just that limiting my diet do inconvenience my life abit. I will most definitely go for food trails and all, just that that will happen less regularly.

4) Driving

At once liberating, confining, convenient and not

Liberating/convenience: the number of things and places you can do in a single day with a car. Very good for someone like me who likes to grab a few things from somewhere and run. Can bring alot of things around in a car. Loves driving to a bookstore or library or supermarket.

Driving a car can be so surreal for me. I always thought it will be a skill impossible for me considering how clumsy and blur i am but unbelievably i passed, and the feeling of driving is so indescribable. The feeling of freedom, of how you can go where ever you want is very very intoxicating.

Confining: Running errands, expectations, parking, costs, driving fatigue, lack of exercise, and traffic sux so much in Singapore!(jams most of the time, and being caught speeding means heavy fines and points deducted)

I still love taking the buses, despite the fact that i might have to stand, because sometimes it really feels good to be driven around. and it's nice to see the scenery pass by and you can just daydream or think.

ok, spent too much time writing, time to do stuff!

New blogskin!

2009-05-18T13:54:00.000+08:00

Lots of hiccups! Still under amendments!

2009-04-05T03:44:00.004+08:00

It's been a long time since i last update!

Not very surprising if i consider my blogging history. :)

I am definitely going to change my blogskin. Am very tired of the overly saccharine current skin and want something purer and simpler. It will surely take some time, but the process of finding and editing the right blogskin is fun. :)

I am chionging driving lessons now in anticipation of my test on 21 April. Hoping i can pass! Driving will be very liberating i am sure although i still drive with fear.

Am also going for Art lessons with Lucy and i have to say, i really like painting. Not that great wielding the brushes but i will try!

Went to Batam with Lucy and Giant over the weekend and it was fun and rather interesting. Love the hotel we stayed in - Holiday Inn, really good food! (Burger and Thai food! Finger licking good!) Ate the obligatory seafood dinner at Golden prawn (Not bad, but somewhat disappointing. Tasted better in Singapore.) Went for a $8 reflexology, ate at A & W and shopped at the Nagara Hill. All in all, a really great holiday. It reminded me of the Cameron Highland trip. There were alot of wilderness in Batam. Saw a lone nursery there. Wonder what interesting plants Batam holds.

]

Had been chionging manga and books since i got back and i love love the library! I found really great mind altering books there. Borrowing is free so it allow me to get books i won't dare buy in bookstores. Will probably post some nuggets of wisdoms i found in the books soon for discussion.

Till then! Take Care Folks!

2009-01-20T04:49:00.002+08:00

Been thinking....

of taking a diploma in art or design... part time i suppose.

2009-01-15T12:13:00.001+08:00

Love the GCS forum people. Very friendly, generous and helpful. :D

2009-01-15T05:20:00.003+08:00

Some miscellaneous updates

Erm, happy new year? Righto, had been too lazy to update my blog since Christmas. Have been busy lately spring cleaning. I like CNY, but sometimes the stress gets to me. Factors in very uncooperative family members and my temper runs quite high during this period. I believe my neighbours think of murder everytime we quarrel and that explains why they always give us wide breadths and slitty eyes when we cross paths. We are quite a loud and boisterous family. :)

Not alot to update, but i have been meeting old friends lately. Met the Monash people back for holidays, Bao, Min, Eunice who are really quirky and cute. hahah... Feels like they had matured alot somehow. Met Malvin through Yi Fang, who i had not contacted for a few years. As usual he is witty, really knowledgeble and incredibly helpful. I find it really sad that it is the nicest people who had to suffer the most setbacks and misfortunes. He took us to Daiso, GNC, Watson etc to look at skincare products and boy does he know alot!

Also met up with Yi Fang and joined by her cousin Janelle much later at Chinatown to sing KTV. It was a very enjoyable experience. The place doesn't look like much but the service was ok, the room (behind the drinks counter hmm... ) we were allocated was sweet and cosy and $10 for 5 hours for Ktving as well as free flow drinks and a bowl of sharks' fin (fake of course waddoya expect?) were pretty much fantastic! Best of all, they had quite a fair bit of English music! Even Missy Elliot and Newton Faulkner's original mtvs. MTVs! MTVs!! I nearly fell off the sofa when i chanced upon them. I never sang so much in my life before. After that i thought i nearly pass out from exhaustion. Oh yes! Before the Ktv experience we went up the Smith street hawker centre to lunch and wow i have to say the food is pretty damn fantastic. I ate the poh piah and chicken and char siew Che Cheong Fan (and stole some pork noodle from YF) and swooned. I ate better Che Cheong Fan at Alexander Village in Bukit Merah but this one was pretty good too. Too bad i never took pictures. I always always forget to take pictures when i eat. The anticipation of eating is so overwhelming i forget to do anything else!

Saw my ex colleagues for mala hotpot at Chinatown and i got to say this. DO NOT EAT CHONGQIN hotpot at SMITH STREET! I love Chinatown food, love all the eateries there to bits except THIS. Felt so pai sei because i was the one to recommend this but they took it well. I tried to remain inconspicuous during dinner but fortunately they assumed stoic expressions and tried not to wince when they swallow their food whole. Can see that they are repressing their natural instinct to gag. Chen Kun was very very quiet. He said he was enjoying the food but we all know that if he opens his mouth the food will just come right back up. Food isn't too good because it's not fresh. Everything looked quite slimy and the cooked food oily and grimy. Argh. But Genevieve livened up the dinner by talking alot. alot. (feel the need to emphasize that) hahah! She and her friend Jason were really garrulous. Then we went to walk around Chinatown while i practise my photography skills. Chen Yen is so sweet! She is so excited and happy to see everything. :D She added alot of pleasure to the outing. Took alot of pictures, most of them quite lousy. Will post it here when i have more time. Am hoping to go there again soon because Chinatown is simply gorgeous during this time. There it is. Pretty much of what i did. It was fun recollecting the memories of the rare outings with these friends.

Hmm... wanted to simply write two three lines of update and it became a essay.

I watched two fantastic shows today. Voices, a Japanese drama and Rideback, a well... Japanese anime. Can't wait! Can't wait for the next episodes! (anticipating something can really add fulfillment in our lives.)

2008-12-25T18:27:00.007+08:00

Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! It's been a frenzy of gifts buying and wrapping but oh boy oh boy i love this festive season. Giving and receiving presents is always so heartwarming... >_<

With the new Sarah Mclachlan's Christmas cd, Janice's huge and juicy turkey and cool, light rain, christmas eve is quite perfect. :)

Simple dinner (due partly i only had like half an hour to cook before the rest collapse from hunger), only 3 porkchops because they are exclusively for my mom. She can't eat turkey this year, hope she recover from her cough soon.

Am loving the melancholic song Wintersong by Sarah Mclachlan.

Loves her voice, so warm and clear.

2008-12-14T21:17:00.003+08:00

Life in focus

Watching/watched
Nothing really. Don't even watch any anime now or J drama because there is nothing interesting. Am repeatedly hounding the nearby Videoezy for House md s4/s5. I am quite an oddity, unlike many of my peers, i don't watch much tv. When i do, i watch shows they dun watch.

Reading/Read
The only good English book i can recall reading lately is Ariana Frankin's City of Shadow which tells of the Romanov and World War II. Good story and writing although there were some bits that was quite far-fetched.
I used to love David Hewson 's Nic Costa's mysteries but while the storyline is always intriguing and the characters delightfully quirky the prose had been increasingly choppy and it's highly distracting. That's why i can't finish his latest book Dante's number.
Also reading Christopher Fowler's The Water Room and i absolutely love the eccentric protagonists. They are old and cranky but yet possesses a certain droll humour distinctive of the Brits. I am so going to get the other books in the series.
I love British humour. It is way more subtle and intelligent than say the American in-your-face humour.

Games
I am going to get Persona 4 next week. Most of the gameshops doesn't have it yet and those that have are so far from my place. Persona 4 is unique in the sense that it actually has sim and rpg elements in a game plus a good plot. can't wait can't wait!
Finished playing Fable 2 and i must say that the game is disappointing. It does shine in some areas such as the social interactions and moral choices but it gets very repetitive. Add on a chunky menu section and shallow plot well... i got really bored. I find myself comparing it with Oblivion quite alot and find Fable 2 wanting. Oblivion might be repetitive too but there are so much more depth to it. (etc spell casting, combat and plot.)

Anticipating
Christmas! Ah... the stress of buying presents. I will promise myself to buy all the presents (after all i've got plenty of time now) by next Fri so i can enjoy Christmas in peace. Tomorrow i will put up the trees in my (ex) office and home. Had procrastinated far too long. Lots of christmas dinners and lunch and looking forward to dolling up for a change. I'm like young only once. :D Already thought of what updos i am going to wear but they will consist of bottles of hairsprays and lots of pins. Ah well... once a yr...

Planning
Buying presents mainly. And they are huge headaches because i really hope they'll love the presents i give them. So i will take alot of time and effort to choose them.
Oh and i want to buy nice dresses. Went to Haji and Far East on Saturday but i don't see anything i like. Only bought like 3 jackets (!) and a whole load of accessories. Well, worse come to worse i just borrow them from my sister. Surreptitiously of course. hehe...
I foresee i will be baking alot this season too. Hehe... goodness, seems like i got alot of things to do.

Thinking
Been reading books (like dummy books hahah) on Buddhism and Philosophy. Had not read enough to comment on anything just as yet but they are very interesting. I always find it sad that some of my peers find Buddhism and Taoism "unfashionable", "for the old only" or "superstituous". Each religion has its own beliefs and that we should be free to believe what we want (as long as it teaches good). We should be tolerant and respectful to other religions especially if we do not know enough of it to comment on it. I am of the mind that all religions are the same (for the good of mankind) and that we are simply worshipping the same gods/god. Differences from various religions come about due to the variance of races, cultures and perceptions we have in the world. Just my humble opinion. It really bothers me when i see people fighting in the name of religions.

Ending Remarks
Am luxuriating in bumming bliss. No need to be accountable to anyone for now except myself. I am also trying to make up for the lost sleep over the busy period during exam and work and every day i wake up (late) marvelling to myself that i don't have any plans for that day! Isn't that great? Of course i feel somewhat guilty (kinda take the edge off the happiness) but i had been working and studying almost none stop since i was 21 and i really need a break.
After the holiday stress i am going to do overhaul of my home. Make everything spic and span and get ready for Chinese New Year instead of leaving everything last minute. (i used to have the excuse of work and study but now nada.) Am actually relishing it (Being a typical Virgo and a masochistic one lol) because my home had been collecting years of rubbish and dust. Can't wait to actually make it pretty. My ending remark is getting long, so till next time!

2008-12-07T21:42:00.015+08:00

Pictures finally!

Haha, just the recollection of yesterday makes me chuckle to myself. What a tumultuous day indeed.

I started off the day by going to gym, staving off fingers-gnawing hunger and ran for 25 (yes yes i know is very little) minutes. I suppose that my stamina and speed has increased. I can now run faster and somewhat longer. But i am really really bored. Was thinking if i should drag Joseph to my gym since he needs to lose weight too. Why why why do 3/4 of my friends live so far away from me? The remaining friends refuses to acknowledge the word gym exists in their world or that they are skinny as a pencil. Ok, i shall now contradict myself by saying that i also like exercising alone. One of my revelations this year is that i simply cannot multi-task. Take studying for example. I can hardly concentrate when i study with someone else. I will talk alot. Studying sessions will become gossip or philosophizing fest. Does this mean that i have too many Y chromosomes? Shucks.

Exercising alone let me think. And my mind will wanders off to irrelevant tangents. Which i really excels in. Haha... I guess i should just download more music to the handphone, am getting quite numb to John Mayer. Another 10 mins on the stepper or something and i had to rush home so i can meet Yh at 2. Of course, the meeting at 2pm never materialized. I only realized at far east that i forgotten to bring phone. And being the klutz i am, i never took the trouble to remember her number. I tried calling home but my dearest (notice the mangling of the 2nd syllabus and the sound of gashing teeth) siblings were so deep in their sublime slumbers that they did not hear my countless calls using the taxi driver's hp. It was very nice of the man. He was quite reluctant to lend me the phone initially but i guess i managed to persuade him with my quivering lips and pleading eyes. (definitely not by my great beauty) After that he began to share my panic and we started to curse together the endless cars that waylay our frantic journey. i finally reached home after 18 levels of emotional hell and found 13 missed calls by a certain person. Instead of answering my call with a metaphoric sharpening of a saw to slit my tardy throat i got a "where are you? i was worried sick!" Forgetting the perspiration dotting my forehead, the pull-until-become-bird-nest-hair and somewhat disarrayed clothes, i was struck dumb by her kindness and goodwill. Anyone else i know will be screaming bloody murder at me but she was worried about me! Ok, at this point i will like to say she is single for the time being and i have no doubt that she will be taken very soon because she is not only kind, sweet and vivacious but she is really gorgeous as well. (Eligible males please send a msg to my phone. 1.78m above need applies.) I was really touched by her and Lucy's concern and reached Far east again sheepishly. Hiaz...

So we met Huiling and Lucy at 4 something and we went shopping for Joseph's present! (and cake) and of course we all bought something for ourselves there. Far East Plaza is THE shopping haven for girls/women. I love Haji Lane for its eclectic range of hard to find fashion and an edgy atmosphere but FEP has far more range and variety. I bought the glittery sandal i was eyeing that day at 30% off as it was the last pair (mixed feelings about this) and an adorable pink wooden deer necklace. (when am i going to grow up?!) Huiling bought a shimmering bronze dress for an important wedding function (the dress is gorgeous and fit her like a t. >_<); Lucy bought 2 pairs of shoes, also shimmery and metallic. (Very chic!) and finally YH bought a denim vest. (glad she found a pair that she likes since she didn't bought the one in Japan) For Joseph, we bought a black leather bag and a nice black forest cake and we headed to mind cafe at Purvis Street for the birthday celebration! We honestly had alot of fun. The place was quite noisy so we all talked at our loudest volume and the laughing and shouting made my throat quite hoarse. Lol. Really super funny! Some pictures (at last i know) to give ppl an idea.

Joseph still stuffing his face. Hahah! the cake must be damn good!

Really the funniest moment of the day. From this picture can you guess that she is acting out the word "protestor"? We all thought it might be "president" or something for all the hand waving she did. Hahaha... We all laugh until the place rumble.

Thurga (aka Vulture/and Bla**** non politically correct but what the heck, she calls me "doggie with sports shoes" and "dumpling" unreservedly) and Ernest (Horse hahah! and he makes the neigh~ sound very convincingly and non embarrassingly), you guys might not be there physically but your presence is definitely felt on Saturday. Our group is like a zoo. Other than the above, lucy is a tweety bird, yu han (boy) is a fish, Giant is otherwise known as a pony (christianed by horse) and Joseph is the odd one out. He is a bean. (Mr Bean. hahaha!)

I think i will add some last day pictures as well.

hahah! Most of the pictures are impromptu so this was taken when Adrian is lamenting about me going or something. He just cut his hair and it made him look even funnier. HAHAHA! He always look so funny. Can you believe he is my boss?! He explicitly (with threats of murder) asked me not to put his pictures but really... i can't help it!

My bosses (Adrian and Trivina, who is so incredibly nice to me. >_<) and Willie. Who cannot sleep unless he suan me or ask me some inane question to aggravate me. LOL... Bosses took us to Anchorpoint Cha chan tin to celebrate (ya, their word) my last day. hahah! Should have ordered more, but i wanted to save them money, ended up see my colleagues order so much!

Grabbed the gals to take a picture with them. My mouth was full. Stupid Willie!

Chen Yen on the left and Genieveve on the right. Only known G for like 1 month at the most and CY for 1 1/2 week? But can feel da connection. Lol...

Was urged by the buggers to finish my food because they ask me "not to waste food." Closed my eyes in mental concentration, my mouth is bulging with food again.

Jasper and me. The super joker of the company but also the sandwich provider. hahah!

Denny, another suanner. Sorry but i really have to put this picture! HAHHAH!! Denny with the wings i bought for Halloween.

That it! Tomorrow is another holiday! Must sleep more!!!!!!!

2008-12-01T11:26:00.005+08:00

Insubstantial things

(Mon) The past one week passed by like a blur. There were notable events like the release of my exams (which made me ecstatically happy initially then blah the next) and that the school rejecting my appeal to take Psychology for summer on the basis that i applied too late. (And i had paid and all.) Ah well... at least i have 3 months to slack. I am still working sadly... Because i need to coach the sweet new gal taking over my position and my last day will hopefully be this Fri. I was perpetually tired last week. Must be the combination of work and exercise. I will feel energized and happy after gym then after an hour, like death itself. But i can totally understand why exercise is addictive. It really feels good after a run. Unfortunately, my appetite has increased drastically. Shucks.
Met the Monash girls Mamta, Cindy and Maha today for reunion lunch and it was very fun and nostalgic. It is also sad because Cindy will be leaving Singapore somewhat for good. Ah well, i will find someway to see her again. Beware Cindy! I might pop up in front of you one day!
After gym on Monday i saw Natalie from my sec school (whom i never saw for like 8 years?!) and boy did we talked! We stood beside the noisy road and talked for 2 whole hours. Talked? More like gossiped. hhahah! I learnt news of my old classmates that were in turn gratifying, interesting and shocking. Life is truly unpredictable. You never know what you gets really. (in the wise words of Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump.)
(Thurs) Went to the dermatologist yesterday. She was very very good. Particularly patient and understanding. I managed to zap away the small but irritating swollen blood vessel on my nose i had for years and enquire about the recent itchy scalp problem. (if anyone need her contact let me know.) Walked around Orchard for a few hours and i have to physically restrain myself from buying anything. I love far east plaza! The place is full of treasures! I saw a bag that is really chic but it costs $119. Also drooled over a glittery sandal that costs $80+. Argh... After spending so much for the treatment i know i better control my spending. Argh! Dragged myself to the gym in the evening and to counter my utter boredom i talked to the Indian guy on the treadmill who comes religiously to the gym everyday and had so far lost like 20kg! Really cool. Respect respect.
Tomorrow will be my last day! I will endeavour to take as many pictures as i can so that i can remember those zany guys.

2008-11-23T05:36:00.006+08:00

inane chatter II, honestly i am just a empty headed bimbo, without the good looks (lol)

Saturday! I wasn't looking forward for this day, because i got so many things to do, which i did. I just want to slack, dammit! Woke up at a unearthly hour at 8, (for a weekend at least, become a habit already... so sad.) did household chores for a few agonizing hours while the rest of my family lolled in their beds. Clean and scrub my gardening area and pots while expressing apologies to my long suffering plants. Then Cook! Wow, have not cook for a long time other than making some odd sandwiches. (But that doesn't count.) I opened my refrigerator and found half of ingredients missing. Where are all my eggs?! But i made do and bit back screams of anguish. Half way through my dad called me to gloat that I am now the ONE doing the household chores while he is traipsing the Malaysian countrysides photographing birds. I contemplated the wisdom of flinging plates around the kitchen but decided it was too much mess. Thank goodness i don't need to cook for my siblings because they won't wake up till mid afternoon at least these lazy buggers.

Finally took a leisurely brunch while reading the newspapers and lowering what is left of my IQ by watching the latest episode of Gossip girls. The show sucks. But it made for compulsive watching because i want to watch how low the plot can sink. I am pretty sure the writers strike had been over for a few months. I want HOUSE md s4!! The craggy face, tortured visage, lanky build and acerbic wit, not to mention the intense eyes... i am salivating am i?

I am sure there is alot of photoshopping done here but... you get the picture. Looks doesn't count. haha!

Not like me to moon so much but well.. I have to act like a gal sometimes!

I rushed off excitedly to school. I like the psychology teacher because he is quite a kind sweet man. He will be quite a teacher if he talks faster and insert more interesting subjects to the lecture. So I was fighting to keep awake as i listen to him talk. Around me, everyone looked black face and stern. I tried to talk to a few people but they look very guarded. So i ended up being very sian in the class. Seriously seriously misses my last semester friends. Hiaz... Good thing is that I met my Law teacher in school and was so happy to see his face. He even shook my hand. hahah... Much as i like him, i hope i don't get to see him next semester.

I ran off (quite literally) to the library and borrowed 6 books including a very interesting one on Sigmund Freud's cases. Woohoo! I also went to look at Bras Plaza for art classes but only saw a pathetic one which only offer design classes. I am interested, but Lucy and i need fine arts classes. Why is it so difficult to find one?

20% Kinokuniya members discount! I beelined to Kinokuniya after the library and got 1 magazine and 2 comic books. I look like i am shifting homes/or libraries at that point. I noticed that there aren't good new books in the bookstores lately. What's up with that?

Finally i carried the books to Soup Spoon to grab dinner. I love love love their soup. Surprisingly there was alot of empty seats despite Bugis being super crowded. So i read and eat at the same time. I know it's odd to eat alone, especially in a restaurant, but when you are occupied with a book, people fade away.

After alighting at Newton mrt, i decided (foolishly) to walk home with my load of 9 books. It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes and at one point i was really tempted to throw my books onto the road and let the cars run over them. I must have looked really limp and grouchy because a dog i passed by actually eyed me quite moanfully. A dog commiserating with me? Man... I reach a new low. Thank goodness i only met jogging caucasions (one with lots of holes in his shirt. lol) and cycling foreign workers as my body's reserve of water is depleted.

But i love walking. (read: only in the evening/night) I love the alternating sweet and woody smell of trees and flowers and of imminent rain; wind ruffling my hair and clothes; random thoughts fleeting through my mind. These are really sweet and simple pleasures i adore. And while i cursed my books and my throbbing feet, i think when time allows, i will do it again today, and tomorrow and the next.

End of long essay... now sleep for awhile before i start on another long day...zzz...

2008-11-19T20:10:00.004+08:00

more inane chatter

It is another rainy day, another day of humdrum. So i thought as i went to work in the morning. And was greeted by Jasper's patented nutty honey mustard sandwich. Yummy! Despite his protests, I suspect it's his wife who made it. Taste too good to be made by this clownish and macho bugger. Everyone in the office had half a slice while he made a full sandwich for himself. Okkkk...
I also talked at length with a primary school classmate whom i found in facebook. 16 years! The last time i saw him was 16 years ago and we can talk so naturally on msn now. And about controversial topics like homosexuality (no we aren't) and "Tiger" shows in Bangkok somemore. Hahah! It was funny. I had to cover up quickly when my bosses walk pass. I am really not a model employee today.
The highlight of the day is when my bosses tell me that they have settled on someone they can replace me with!! WOOHOO! She will be coming next Monday and i only need to coach her for a week before i can gooo!! WOOHOO! Yes, despite my inner jubilations i felt tugs of sadness. I had been working in Rhema for more than a year and i love the people here. Definitely including my bosses. Everyone there are fair, kind, understanding and very funny people. And we share this unlikely chemistry with each other. Not chemistry actually, i reckon it is the "bully Sijin" spirit that they really have. hhaha... I can be totally myself there. As in the irrelevant and madcap person that i restrain myself from being because they are highly tolerant to my nonsense. haha! Maybe the people there are more nonsensical than me that's why. Now that i wrote this i am wondering why i am even leaving... No... i got too much things to do, most of all my family responsibilities. Oh man... i think i will really miss them...
I love taking the bus home, especially after a rain, especially when i am beside the window. It always put me in an introspective mood. And today is no different.
Realized i have been blogging quite alot lately. Which is unusual judging from the frequencies of my past entries. Well... writing is very cathartic. It does evoke alot of feelings and memories as i write but when i finish my last word there is a great sense of release and relief. I love writing and my secondary school teacher, Mr Quek, was instrumental to that. He even told the class that he will bring my journal (we used to write journals and the teachers will mark them.) home so he can read it at his own leisure. Hiaz... i love secondary school. While primary school remain the time i had unaffected unadulterated fun, secondary school was the time i was great in what i love to do. Which was art and literature. On the hindsight of the academic disaster that was junior college, i should have taken what i love instead of the conventional and the practical route. At that moment of time, i didn't dare to step out of the ordinary and now i have to suffer the rest of the way... Oh boy.. i suddenly really intensely miss my secondary school teachers... Mr. Sim, Mr. Teoh, Ms. Kathy Yeo (she is the greatest of all art teachers), Mr Quek, Ms. Chua... You might not realized the effect that your guidance give to your myriad students, but for us, it will stay with us for the rest of our lives...
I have always been horrendous at following up with people, with friends. I hope this holiday i can meet up with my old and new friends as well as my past teachers.

Busy weekend

2008-11-17T09:12:00.004+08:00

Weekend

Verbal Diarrhoea- so dun read if you want to read something of substance.

What a busy busy weekend. I went to Yi Fang's home to play with her baby, and took some very blurred pictures because Si yan wants to try taking pictures. Haha! Good effort though. Managed to go Haji Lane to spend alot of money on clothes and shoes. Went to the Kuan Yin temple to pray because my eye had been consistently twitching these days, might be the lack of quality sleep but i never know. Met Caili awhile to look at some projects she had done. Rushed down to Bishan Herb garden to learn more about herb gardening. Finally having dinner with my parents after so long (months!) and buying 2 books so that i got something interesting to read. Sadly, i didn't manage to go to the gym again this weekend. Will chiong again during the weekday. After all, my membership only applies for weekdays and going in the weekend means i have to pay $5 for day pass. Seriously not worth it.

The best part of the weekend came yesterday as i am waiting for my father at the bus stop alone. It was coming dusk and the air was filled the scent of impending rain. It was quite cool and gentle breezes was brushing lightly against my skin. I was bored and decided to plug in my earphones to listen to John Mayer. I have only got John Mayer on my phone because i was lazy to download more music ever since i bought the phone. The music from W980 is sublime... Now i understand why some people buy the best and the most expensive sound systems. Gosh, I really love acoustic and i love John Mayer's voice. His voice is so husky and intoxicating. Especially when he sings "Falling" and "In your atmosphere." My hair literally stands on its ends.

As i was waiting, i saw the weirdest thing. A 40ish woman brisk walked pass me wearing black and white tailored work jacket on top and red sport SHORTS and SHOES below. She was also carrying stacks of documents on her hands and an umbrella hanging from her arm. The contrast is just jarring... I just look incredulously at her back as she walked quickly away. I guess i had that usual expression on my face la, you know lah friends, the mouth ajar and THAT frown. And i even placed a finger on my chin like "what the hell?" Then i turned around and saw someone in a car just infront of me laughing hilariously at ME. Bugger. No, is not my father.

2008-11-13T00:43:00.006+08:00

Life in focus II

What I'm watching now

Michiko to Hatchin, Kuroshitsuji, Kurozuka, Mouryou no Hako, Gossip Girl. Mostly supernatural animes except for the last which is purely for sniggering purposes. Used to be actually interesting in the first season but deteriorate into something cliche and incoherant in the second.
When can i get my House md season 4?

Watched recently

Thanks to Caroline, Taken (a fantastic Liam Neeson, though the story is quite predictable and heavily sterilised), and Byosoku 5 centimeter (i vomitted blood throughout the show. Dun understand why the male protaganist so wishy washy and passive. He loves her so much, yet never do anything, just type unsent messages. Too stylised for my taste, gorgeous animation though.)

Reading now
Nothing interesting for the first time. I am waiting for Kinokuniya to get back to me on Phil Rickman's latest book. (which is released already but not here in Singapore... HIAZ...) I hate to say this Yun Jin but though Borders do have more books the customer service sux big time. The only time i can call in the system is down and the sales assistant never attempted to help look for my book. Kino will never let the customers down this way. We do have system slowdowns and failures but we always try our best.) Anyway, for the uninitiated, it is a fantastic UK series on a mystery solving pastor. I have reread each of his books at least twice. I need to visit the libraries pronto.

Games playing
Fable 2 (which is getting boring now); The Sims 2; The Lost Crown-Ghost hunting adventure (quite ok, the Saxon premises is quite intriguing but characters are uninspired and game isn't scary)

Anticipating
My tomato to ripen; Christmas; stopping work; online purchases to come; learning Japanese, Art and violin; going Malaysia and Bangkok in December; going to the gym (no really, it makes me happy after the self-induced torture.); taking Psychology; bookstores and libraries marathon; painting and drawing again

Planning
Going Malaysia and Bkk; to clean up home and room; getting fit; exploring Chinatown, Little India and Haji Lane & going to farms and MacRitchie Reservoir (who can i drag there? Rub hands.. heheh...)

Hating
Recent never ending breakouts; working; being broke.

Ending remarks
Really really missing Japan. Also been in a blue flunk lately. Haiz...

Where did my Fri and Sat go?

2008-11-09T09:51:00.002+08:00

I resolve to work really hard next week. Have been the most lousiest employee for some time and the bosses have been really really nice about it. Haiz, i will seriously miss the people there if not the soul draining monotonous work.
It is the real start of my "holiday". Not say "holiday" now because i just learnt that i can take psychology this semester. That's great, because while i can lighten the load for my next semester, the workings of the human mind also intrigue me. Lucy, Yu han and i are always contemplating the utter unpredictability and intricacies of our psyche. We are the philosopher bunch and can talk about anything under the sun and beyond it in fact. Even cancelling the Halloween party so that we can talk. Take me for example, i am fantastically idiosyncratic. I tend to procrastinate more when i am stressed. The more work i need to do, the more i will divert my attention to less important things. Or that while i am very much an open book i will sometimes act in contradiction to my emotions so that i can hide behind the facade of impassiveness and detachness. This latter characteristic is something that we all 3 agree that we will do to protect ourselves from disappointment and uncertainty.

Chit chat hmm... I just realised that i am happier and comfortable with people who i can talk things with. People who actually have opinions, experience and perception about human issues. That is why i get along with people older than me better, Lucy and Yu han not including. I used to be very serious, focused and pensive when i was in secondary school, early part of JC and early part of monash college (i 'm sure Ilica and gang can attest) but as i grow older and know people who are younger, much younger, i guess i started to become more frivolous and immature. I do love that part of me, where i can banter, laugh freely, be spontaneous and nutty. (It came with a cost, because as i reflect now, i grow less driven and focused academically when i become like that. Guess that i am just someone who cannot multi task. Is either one way or the other.) But i still prefer talking, because this is when my real self comes in. When i marvel and deliberate at the things going around me, to discuss about things but to try not to judge because we are human and above all, fallable. I took feature writing last sem because of this and was devastated as the lecturer in Singapore is not charismatic and experienced enough to make the students discuss about human interest stories. Hiaz... well, i hope psychology is different. Hope that it will really give me something to think about.

Since when did this post become so serious and self indulgent? Wanted to write about the Caroline's slumber party and it evolved to this. Lol.. Ah well, i write about it tomorrow and all. It got some very unflattering pictures of me but i am going to post it up or Caiyun and gang will start snoring.

Post exam

2008-11-07T06:57:00.003+08:00

I wake up after a measly 6 hours sleep with a racking cough. Thanks to you Adrian, i foresee i have to spend a big part of my holiday coughing my lungs out. Next time we really should enter your office with face masks and suits so we dun get infected by your miscellaneous illnesses. zzz.

Yesterday was my last day of exams and haiz, HIAZZ... I can only cross my fingers (and toes) and wish for the best. The paper wasn't tough, but all the things that i studied just happen to leak out of my brains before the exam. Ok, i am not going to think about it, pondering about things done only makes me crazy.

Was bombarded by calls and msgs by my parents after the exam. Then Caroline for tonight's slumber party. (I AM FINE WITH ANYTHING!! LOL!) It will be really good to see the girls again after so long... I have sorely neglected you guys. Dun worry, this holiday you will see so much of me that you might puke. (not surprising with the breakout i am having.)

I went to work after the horrible exam very sadly. Thinking of how slowly time will move there. I was really exhausted and didn't have the mood to think anymore. It is incredible how Nicole and Janice can work full time and study simultanously. I guess for me...one part is that i am really bored with the job scope and that i'm so tired of working. so so so tired... Have been working almost non stop since i was 19. I just want to do my own stuff for awhile. But I love the people there. We are absolutely the most spontaneous and wackiest ppl there. And i never laugh so much anywhere else before. These people are nuts.

After work, with really small squinty eyes since my eyes are really tired i finally get to see a friend that i have not seen for MONTHS. Yi fang, will make up to you i promise. :) She brought Yan yan along and i am absolutely charmed. She is so adorable and sweet! The nicest thing about her is that she is so happy and bubbly, bouncing here and there, letting me carry her, hold her hands. Another great thing is that Yi fang gave me a belated birthday present (s) and i am really touched by the effort she took to choose and buy it for me. I love them girl. Thank you. ^_^

Managed to coerce them to Borders ahahah! Feel somewhat guilty because Yi Fang doesn't read, but she happily read to Yan Yan while i did a quick run around the place and was really sian to see no interesting books to buy. After buying two miserable magazines so that i got something to read at least, we went up Wheelocks Place to talk about very interesting things. LOL...

Ok, my eyes are shutting again, wonder if i got time to sleep before i get ready for work. This is a very disjointed effort of writing, will refine it again if i got the time... now...zzzz.....

2008-05-28T04:01:00.013+08:00

Day 1 (Part 2 ) in Japan

So we reached Dai-Ichi Tokyo Hotel! Sad to say, we didn't really take any pictures of the hotel. Why? I dunno! Not the exterior anyway. you can take alook at their website at http://www.daiichihotels.com/hotel/tokyo/ When we reached the hotel we were exhausted. But also quite pumped up to explore the area. Dai-ichi is located at Shimbashi, which is like 10 mins walk to Ginza and it's really very quiet actually. We thought it might be really buzzling with people. In fact, we thought that Tokyo seems quite quiet when we went there, despite it was in the midst of the golden week. Ok, some pictures of the hotel room we took when we reach the room. Wah, so psyche when we enter the room. It looks really girly and pretty. Most of the hotel is done up with pink strips wallpaper.

It actually give a key to open our room door! Isn't it unique?

View from the window. It overlooks the railway but the sound was pretty muffled so is ok.

Super gorgeous Victorian style toilet. The range of toiletries they supplied was incredible. All Shisedo stuff. And they keep on refilling everytime they do house cleaning. Which is like everyday. I bought back all the stuff, will post a pic of them when i got time.

Japanese legendary toilet bowl. With many functions on the left. Personally i never used it. First, no time, secondly, abit leery where the water comes from. One great touch of their toilet bowl is that it is warm when you sit on it! Great in cold weather.

We went out to find dinner. As you can see, we were damn shiok to reach there.

We finally choose a small Japanese restaurant. Have to order and pay immediately by pressing what you want on this machine. then pass the slip to the obasan at the counter.

Curry katsu don tasted damn yummy! But i suspected the sauce contains beef. But i try to finish all the food i can since I've already ordered it. Lucy and my rationale is that though we shouldn't eat beef, we shouldn't waste it if we unknowingly ordered it since the cow sacrificed its life for us already. This costs less than S$10 bucks. Free self service barley water!

That concludes the first day in Japan!

2008-05-11T01:41:00.010+08:00

Japan day 1

Ah, the joy and misery of procrastination. You know you need to do a whole lot of homework and stuff yet you just feel compelled to do meaningless and yet oddly satisfying things like writing on blogs, learning photoshop, watching japanese anime and drama, doing a marathon reading of 4 books in 2 days. Sigh... it's just those period in your life you have so much to really work on, yet you can't bring yourself to do.

Well, back to the main purpose of the post. Japan day 1. It's been exactly 2 week since the day we arrived in Japan and it feels like a dream now. It felt like a dream then, it feels more like it now.

Our flight was at 8.30am and i reached Changi Airport at 7.15am with my parents and sis. I was feeling v weepy (am embarrassed to say). Close friends will know that i never been overseas with my friends before and i am feeling excited and worried at the same time. I could already feel the homesickness setting in and i haven't even left the country! I so love my family. My mom gave me a hongpao on the road to the airport and i started crying for real because my mom had been very protective of me; she used all sorts of ways to prevent me from going overseas for so long and yet now she is relenting so graciously, even offering to help me buy my insurance the day before. My father and sister, while being stoic presences in the car, had supported me and help me so much during the preparation. My dad was so sweet as to help me buy lots of medicine for the trip and worried over my welfare in Japan. I was surprised my sister volunteered to send me off. (i know how protective she is over her sleep) and the nicest thing was that she offered to let me borrow her precious clothes to wear in Japan. (I choose a scarf and a checkered shirt) I was missing them everyday when i was in Japan.

Upon reaching the airport to meet Agnes and Lucy (who were there early), we set off to weigh and check in our luggages. My 22" luggage weigh only 9kg, proud to say. My family skipped off to Imperior Treasure for breakfast where my mom complained the lack of variety of food they serve for breakfast and then it's time to set off!

My cool sis and camera (s) obsessive dad at the Changi airport restaurant

Me and my funny mom

My mom and us!

It was an exhausting 6+ hours flight. I was initially excited to see the clouds and the sky but boy was it boring. The food comprising of fish and vege was nice to look at but somewhat saltish. Oh, the good thing was that we have a personal tv, so i ended up watching some miscellaneous movies. Lucy was avidly watching Ps-I love you. It looks pretty good except i can't watch any sad shows as i will tear up and boy i had enough of that for 1 day.

Finally we arrived at the Narita airport! Oddly enough, it feels like an extension of Changi. Doesn't feel like we're in Japan. We got hit by a burst of cold air when we stepped into the airport and pretty much pave the way for the weather the whole time we were in Japan. Oh, we saw a really cute AIRPORT TECHNICIAN when we arrived! Lucy remarked he looked even better than Kimura Takuya! I was like WOAH! Japanese guys are really pretty hot. They have predominantly sharp features, pretty tall and lean and stylish to boot, not that it's surprising since this is Japan we're talking about. Lots of eye candies walking about.

I didn't much take any pics of the airport since we are exhausted but it was quite efficient. Everything was done quickly and they even have someone to carry our luggage from the luggage collection point. We got somewhat lost finding where we can buy our Suica + N'ex card and i was trying to get a rental phone so i can call home. I gave up when i learnt they only take credit card. After we board the N'ex running, since we were trying to board the earliest train to Tokyo station we spend another hour navigating to our hotel. One thing for sure, Tokyo really dun have enough escalator and lifts in their train stations! We have to lug our heavy luggages from Tokyo to Shimbashi through neverending flights of stairs. It was challenging man. Especially for Giant, since she have to carry and extra big and heavy suitcase.

Finally, we reached Dai-ich Hotel Tokyo. And i think the hotel really rue the day they accepted our reservations since we are a mass of trouble for them. *Giggle* But their service is truly top rate, they stay helpful and tolerant until our last day. Argh! Oddly enough, none of us took pictures of the hotel. The exterior i mean. But it was pleasantly cosy and classy. And the room was very comfortable.

To be continued!

2008-05-06T10:37:00.001+08:00

I want more time!

To make bento and cook
To go shopping
To read more
To lose weight
To sleep
To be more self absorbed
To watch more anime and J-Drama

2008-05-03T16:43:00.007+08:00

My life in focus

What i am watching now

A lot of Japanese animes and dramas
Himitsu, Itazura na Kiss, Kimi Hannin Janai yo ne e, Nabari no Ou, Kurenai, Crystal Blaze

Reading now

Just the Straits Time for now. Oh, and the Japanese magazines like Soup and Seventeen.

Anticipating now

Caroline's housewarming, Eunice's bdae bash, new haircut, finishing all assignments, getting a new flip phone, unpacking all the things bought recently from Japan

Planning now

How to lose the excess weight gained recently, a new chicer haircut and how to finish all my damn assignments

Dressing now

Very Japanese inspired layering and feminine look

Happy about now

Having gone to Japan with Lucy and Giant, seeing my family again after 1 week and luxuriating on my own bed, back in the familiarity and comfort of Singapore

Hate now

Having to bia all my assignments, going back to the monotony of my life, the heat in Singapore (35 degree!)

Thinking now

Why is Japan so much more efficient, cleaner and vibrant than Singapore? How i can understand why people says that Singapore's service sucks now that i had been to Japan. How nice and helpful the Japanese can be. How the Japanese can look so stylish and put together? (as Lucy puts it-the particular class they have that no other country can emulate) When i can go Japan again~

2008-05-03T02:01:00.003+08:00

Man... what a week. It's been a real eye opener in Japan and i would really really absolutely want to go back again. Wasn't able to update in Japan because of the breakneck itinerary we had but i will over the next following days. Keep feeling the last 7 days are a long dream~ really exhausted but satisfied. Sorta. We didn't get to really walk Shibuya! zzz. Super beautiful-Japan.

2008-04-22T01:12:00.002+08:00

I did something really very careless today and had caused my friend alot of unhappiness. really thank her for being so understanding. Despite her situation she still think of my wellbeing. I am very thankful and grateful to have her as my friend.

2008-04-21T00:22:00.013+08:00

We celebrated Lucy's bdae today at Downtown East at Pasir Ris today! Wah, was really fun even though we didn't spend alot of time together. The best thing of all was that the gals, for the first time in our long history together, did not have to beng the food. The guys (Kenneth, Raphael and Joseph ) was a really great help. In previous bbqs we gals always have to do the bulk of work but the birthday gal and Kenneth already got the fire and food going by the time we come. Which is really sweet! Lucy deserve an extra present from Japan if she sees anything she likes there. 3>

So i dunno if it is me or anything, but the food is never better! (prawns, satay, wings. sausages, crabstick, otak) Especially the prawn in cheese. Slurp! I'm salivating again. We got Lucy a sparkling Swaroski earrings since it looks elegant and easily match with her other outfits. But nothing beats Kenneth's pink psp. We gave audible gasps of envy and admiration when the glimmering psp emerged from the box. Wow. And we proceeded to help her play Silent Hill. Which is the best game in psp in my humble opinion. (bar Crisis Core, which i haven't play yet but i know had been praised to high heaven by Caroline and in games forums.)

Everyone's been so great in this bbq. Bdae gal Lucy aka Tweety and Kenneth for organizing the most efficient party, booking this fantastic chalet (too bad we can't get to use it.), not minding we come so late for the party (hard to find a prezzie Lucy might like, also partly my fault was held up at home); Alicia and Raphael for buying the delicious cake (32 candles lol!) and so graciously cook so much for us lazy pigs, we'll find something for you guys in Japan! (disclaimer: if time and money constrain allows); Joseph aka Bean (for being so helpful and providing much dry wit in the bdae, you sometime super funny lei); Tunga (your presence gives us a focus for our jokes <>, and also makes us wish we can meet you more since we really miss you) and nutty Yu Han aka Giant who was a perpetual bundle of energy and was in a phototaking frenzy today. (Your laughter is so contagious!) It was really fun!

Actually ah Lucy, your hair is very nice lei! Makes me want to cut my very messy hair. Your chio-ness have increase tenfold!

2008-04-20T08:23:00.002+08:00

Today will be the start of hell before i go Japan in less than a week. I need to complete 2 and a half assignments; go on a vege diet so that i won't look like a blimp when i return; work and go school. I'll be surprised if i won't see my hair turn white by Friday. I need to buy a good luggage too. Decided to buy a bigger one so that i can buy back more stuff. So an expensive one is out since it costs more. Yu han is going to bring an empty suitcase there and carry her clothes in a handcarry. Argh... so many things to do so little time!

I am BACK!

2008-04-19T14:54:00.001+08:00

Yeah! This blog has been resurrected! I like the new blogskin. I know it is really really saccharine, but what the heck, i am in that really girlie mood lately and is in love with all sweet, pinkie, cutie stuffs.
Ah well, the mood might pass after i come back from Japan when i have my fill of all things adorable. Can't wait! Will take one million and one pictures and will post them on this and the Multiply blog. Hopefully, i will be able to blog my experience in Japan real time! I will be bringing my new Acer 2920Z there.
Talking about my laptop, i like it alot despite the many crashes and hangs which i suspect is due to Vista. The visuals are aesthetically pleasing and facier than the dowdier Xp.

Ok! Will update again tomorrow for Lucy's bdae or tonight when i got something to write again.

*This time it is going to a sustained writing spree.
and i need to update everyone's blog links!

Some random pictures

2007-03-22T03:34:00.000+08:00

Ga... I wrote a long heartfelt blog and uploaded some pictures and my dwang computer hang on me before i can save it. Bwah....

My father is a fanatic for photography and he had been urging me to do the same. I managed to resist for a while, mainly because i know it's a hobby that will take up alot of time and effort, to say the least. And i really don't want to part from my books, animes and computer games. (yah, i am a geek.) But he managed to batter down my wall of resistance. So, my last weekend consists of me trudging around MacRitchie Reservoir, Botanic Gardens and Bird Park, twice a day. Great exercise, though i gain alot of calluses on my feet for that. Guess what? I decided i really enjoy the expeditions. It is a challenge to take better pictures with the multiple functions of the camera, what's more, I love immersing myself in nature and the bonding with my parents.

Botanic gardens

Wahahaha! My father very willingly allow me to use him as a model to improve my portrait pictures and i think he explicitly say he will kill me if i use his pictures in my blog, but he should be glad that i didn't post the ones he acted as a monkey. Hehehe... This picture is actually pretty lousy, it's dark and the contrast not very vivid. Yah, i got lots to improve on. -_- The reason why he is dressed like that is because he needs to protect his eyes. (or he have to OP again.)Photography pretty much strains the eyes. So hence the sunglasses and hat.

I think there is a conversion problem, it looks better if you click on it, then the bee will look clearer. My father says it's overexposed, but i like the colours contrast of the flower, bee and background.

Looks much more clearer if you click on it. The background sucks, but i love the intricate details of the dragonfly. Too bad i couldn't manage to take it flying.

My favourite, though it's alittle blurred. and a stupid leaf is covering the flower. It's a sunbird. And it can be found where these yellow flowers grow.

Bird Park

A lory bathing. These really colourful birds are housed in a huge impressive aviary. The bird was wiggling and splashing around in the water really happily when it bathed. Very very cute, i was smiling when i took the pictures.

Lories fighting over bathing space. >_<

I was trying to feed an ostrich a blade of leaf, dunno why my father never take the ostrich in this picture. I got other pictures, but it's pretty blur and yellow. We were half dead from the heat when he took this one for me so in the five or six pictures he took, only this one is presentable. The camera is so heavy that i slouch the whole time.

MacRitchie Reservoir

I went to MacRitchie myself because it's really relaxing and quiet. It was pretty late when i reached there so most of the pictures are quite dark. My camera (being the cheap model) isn't good for taking pictures in the dark. The higher the aperture the better it can take pictures at night, and of course, such cameras are really expensive. (*Dryly*)

I took this picture at the boardwalk. I like to stare at the huge expanse of water and trees on the other end and imagine myself in Amazon. Hahahaha... okok, i know i'm insane. It's an uneventful picture, but i like the ripples in the water and the dark moody atmosphere. I went to the reservoir after a rain hoping to capture the mist that sometimes hang above the water after a downpour, but it was absent that day. Gaaa...

After the sky darken ominously, i walked to the flower shops beside it and bought some cut flowers. Far east flora have an extensive range, but i balked at the prices. The lilies from overseas eg Taiwan and China can cost up to $20 odd dollars! (Ole sua gu me) So i chose the really fragranted "special offer" (*read-going to die in 2 days, so not worth it*) lilies at $5. and some pots of lavender and rosemary. I decided to buy pots of herbs as oppose to growing them because i read from somewhere that cuttings grow stronger than growing them by seeds. After weaning them in my home for a bit, i'll repot them to bigger pots so that they can flower and grow bigger. Then i'll dry it and give to my friends as potpourri. Heee...

My lilies and sucks i've forgotten to switch on the anti-shake.

and my herbs. 0_0
Oh yah, behind are some of the myriad pictures of my family.

My mother's bdae

2007-03-08T02:23:00.000+08:00

Some random pictures. I wanted to crack my head on the car window just now because my mother made me wait for her for in her car for 2 to 3 hours 'cause she need to settle some personal stuff. Ga... Lucky i had some magazines to read or i would have seriously gone insane. After paying my school fees, we went to 3 to 4 places to get the food for her birthday. We went to Chinatown hawker centre to buy their famous char siew sao rou and my absolute favourite fried gyoza! Then she went to Holland to get the set dinner for 2 person from crystal jade. We were just about to return home when she suddenly remembered she need to buy noodles for prosperity. So we turned back to a coffee shop near home to get fried noodles. I had to really admire my mom for not blowing her top on me for how much i complain in the car. I absolutely hate hate hate waiting. and i had spent half the day waiting for her in the hot, stuffy and small car. It reminds me how much i love her for erm... tolerating me sometimes. Happy 63 birthday Mame!!! (Quite fun and happy because my bro and dad were in an exceptionally hilarious mood, though Yunjin was black face when she came back, but she perked up after my father made some stomach clenching jokes. )

After that i have this sudden hankering to watch horror movies, and it happened that my father had borrowed DVD like "The American Haunting" and "Night Watch". The former was quite sucky, although the ending was a slight revelation it doesn't have the certain impact that makes it really scary. The latter was seriously stylish and cool. (Although i hate the way the camera keeps on zooming in to things for no discernible meaning. )I love the ending because it was freaking unexpected. (or maybe i was just stupid. Hee...) Score a big one for the Russians!

Sundry

2007-03-07T00:56:00.000+08:00

I woke up at 11 something today. That is really nothing to be proud of and sucks... i am really becoming a pig now, sleeping so much. (What to do? It's my holiday and i am making up for all the lost nights i spent slogging over exams and projects! and best, no need to help dad to work for now.) I was awoken by my handphone actually but i refused to pick it up because i don't want to wake up, dammit. So it rang on and on. When it stopped, i heard my house phone rang. I slammed my head on the wall beside my bed. That's why i hate having my handphone in my room when i sleep. No peace. When i picked up the phone, my father was yelling frantically about hiding underneath the tables and wearing pillows on our head. I was still abit drowsy and dozed off while my father went on ranting. When he pause for breath, i intercepted to complain that i had been sleeping and he woke me up. Needless to say, he was irritated. "I was so worried for you guys and you tell me i woke you up?! Next time i don't care about you!" Oops. I felt really touched. Then he said, "What if the ceiling fall off and the floor collapse? You know how old and dilapidated our home is!" (*cue shoulder stumped*) By then, the fact that Singapore had actually experienced an earthquake had began to sink in my thick skull. But i really didn't feel any tremors...Or maybe it happened when i was happily in my dreamland? I really don't know, but i was kinda worried for some of my friends and decided to msg them to find out if they are safe and sound. Thank goodness most of them only faced small tremors or nothing at all. But Joycelene (Whatever it is spelt) replied back --- "At first i thought you were crazy and then Penny said got quake too." What do you mean by that Jocelene?! Your first reaction to my concerned message was that i am insane? Do my words always lack credibility?! Do you think i got so much free time in the world to message you? Grrr... This call for retaliation.

Bwhahaha! Warned you Joselene. Anyway, we took this picture at Kino when i went back to return my uniform, So sad, like i really left for good when i turned over my shoebox and uniform. The funny people in the picture are Yaty, me, Francine and yah... my evil doppelganger. My ultimate nemesis Kenny took this picture and as you can see he didn't wait for us to get ready before snapping. I think he is piqued because he is reduced to a camera man and couldn't take a picture with us. Hehehe... Really miss those people in Kino. Sigh...

I met Lucy(aka Tweety) and Yu han (aka Giant) at about 3pm and we spent a happy and relaxing afternoon at Giant's place. But it was freaking hot. When i alighted from the bus and walked to her home i think i sweat out every droplet of water from my body. We ate the pasar Malam food beside Giant's home and by God it taste so so so nice!! I never see siew mais so big before. It's like 3 times the size of the ordinary one and 3 times as juicy! I want to go back there and eat it again! We talked alot, mostly about the earthquake, ghost stories, niagara fall, falling to our deaths from the 21th floor of Giant's condo and some unmentionable things. Then we went to Sakura at Bukit Panjang to eat our favourite fried wanton, tom yam soup, kang kong and hot plate chicken. I love the food and the company. As we eat, we went on happily yakking away, talking about our animal nicknames that we were given in JC. (And we realised that most of it were christianed by Ernest Ng Po Hau. *administered flying kick to Horse*)

When we realised that we were the last in the restaurant, we hastily packed up and found a empty bench to continue our talk. We started talking about relationships. I really think that tweety's relationship is so incredibly sweet. When you really love someone, you accept all their flaws unconditionally, physically and emotionally, so as i say time and time again, while most girls gush over and drool after good looking guys with six packs and chiselled faces, most of the time they are just looking for a caring, intelligent, humorous boyfriend, looks be damned. Seriously. (Guys, however, are the total opposite. *assume stoic look*) We all also agreed that love is weird, and that people just don't act how they feel sometimes because they are shy, embarrassed and possess low esteem, and that really complicated matters. Ah well, all these things really boggle my thick brains and if i think more of these stuffs, i need to go for one of my noctural walks again. >_<>

P.s: this long enough for you Bean?!!

Nocturnal walks

2007-03-06T14:07:00.000+08:00

Here i am, back safe and sound in my haven. Just about 45 minutes ago, i went for a night walk around my neighbourhood. It was actually quite a sudden decision to go for the walk, but i had eaten quite a large portion of chicken pie and was getting the ole guilty-i-ate too-much feeling. I unlocked the gate with much apprehension. It was like, one am in the morning and i know the neighbourhood will be really quiet and dangerous. If my parents know what i planned to do they would go ape shit. (Really couldn't blame them, if i got kids i would have done the same.) I haven't went for such walks for months and as i started walking i felt really uncomfortable, warily looking at every dark corners and constantly looking behind me. It sorta work in my favour that my surroundings are disconcerningly quiet. Because i know that anyone following me would be heard even if they tried sneaking as softly as they could behind me. (Ok, i know i sound a little paranoid but i got causes to.) It's weird that as you grow older you get more easily scared. I say, ignorance is really bliss. When i had my nocturnal walks months back i was fearless. But now i just feel like anything can happen.

As i went on, i began to lose the jittery feeling and start to enjoy the walk. I decided that if anyone would to sneak up behind me i would hear it, and since there are so many houses around me i would juz scream like mad for help, god knows i am good at that. The air is cool and sweet (All carbon dioxide i know.) and any sweat dries off pretty quickly. It sounds weird, but, it feels quite magical and peaceful as i walk along the rows of houses, looking at the sky and the twinkling stars, smelling the fragrance of the frangipani trees that grow in abundance, feeling the slight breeze. It clears the mind.

A year and a half ago before i started work, i was really frustrated and upset with certain things. Walking at night made me feel alot better because it makes me think rationally about my problems and how i need to face them or to forget about it. In the whole, it make me realized that any problems are not as impossible as it seems. The walk was quite relaxing, i look at all the huge houses and wonder what they are doing inside. I peered through some gates to see the decors within, thinking how i would choose to decorate my own home. I have to say here that i am not a voyeur! It's just a sort of curiosity wondering how others live their live, whether they are happy or not. Things like that.

Now i am typing all this feelings down, reliving the experience i had less than an hour ago and i know that i will go out to walk again tomorrow, but only before midnight. >_<

Resolutions for CNY!

2007-03-04T04:42:00.000+08:00

I must resolve to speak at a lower pitch. Had been watching the movie filmed by the Giant for the CNY BBQ and i flinched when i heard my voice. It sounds so shrill and whiny! I'm so traumatised! (*shoulder stumped*) No wonder everyone says my voice is so distinctive in Kino and school. Ga... Dammit. But i can't help that when i get excited and happy i automatically raise my voice... In any case, i got to lower my voice.(First resolution of the chinese new year)

I'm so freaking excitable!! I get nervous and jittery at any push. It is so embarrassing sometimes because i couldn't concentrate and starts blushing furiously. Oh man... why couldn't i be someone who is always so cool, mysterious(Lol! That will not be something that can ever be used to describe me. Ha!), and serene. I'm so easy to read! Dammit! I need to stay calm and collected... (Second resolution of the year)
I seriously need to work out. Ever since i stopped working at Kino the only exercise is the spring cleaning, housework to maintain the condition of my home (so proud of myself for that. Hee...) and the occasional photography jaunts with my dad at botanic gardens. (Yep, i'll stand around looking for birds to capture on film. I call that exercise.) Now that i withdrawn the membership from california fitness and wouldn't dare to jog in the night for fear of the molestors, exhibitionists and weirdos. (I seemed to have an affinity for them. And yah, i know it's weird to run in the night, but it's cooler, you sweat less.) I have to search for a nice, free, comfortable, convenient place to work out. Botanic Gardens? Darn... why is so freaking far... (Sigh... why is the resolutions list growing longer and longer...)

I'm killing my poor plants... My marigold seedlings are wilting... Lately i just couldn't bring myself to repot them... It seems to become a herculean task to endure... So sad for my plants... I couldn't see myself in the eye when i face the mirror. (No more torturing and killing my plants this new year.)
I want to see my friends more... I have been so lazy... so busy... so tired. (Yep, put that on the list)

Need to tidy up my room and the kitchen. Sux. The CNY spring cleaning has ensured that the living and dining area is, for once, in like 10 years, in its cleanest state! (Courtesy of me and dad. I personally work like hell to do that and i am freaking--FREAKING proud of myself!) But alas, that doesn't apply to my room and kitchen... But, i have my excuses. I share my room with sis. "Nuff said. (Anyone who shares a room with a younger sis will understand my pain. Sniff.)

I was out with Perlie, her BF Ian and Ana at Vivo city today and was adamantly trying not to vomit out blood. We happened to go RiverIsland first, and everything i selected comments like "too plain...", "why you always choose the same kind of clothes!?", "no more denim skirts!" "why the same colour again?!" I feel so demoralised. (*Flying kick the offendors*) But i can understand. I seemed to always wear the same variation of clothes. I will be more experimental. (*Pump fists*)
Ok, i need to be more organised and less lazy. I said that every year and haven't seemed to make much progress. This year... (*Pump fists harder*)

Finally, i will try to be a better person. Lately i have been increasingly disappointed in myself. I just keep on lowering my standards because i have been so lazy and undisciplined. Sigh... As we grow older, we just change our perspectives and ethos to conform to our environments. Sometimes i don't even know who i am anymore. (*Winced*)

That's it... I think. There is always more isn't it? Haha... Oh yes... i know i will be updating my blog more frequently this year. Sometimes i don't because it isn't easy writing something personal you know will be read by someone else. It seemed so self indulgent and narcissistic. (Well, aren't we all sometimes?) But i do enjoy writing. (*Shrug*) Hopefully i can post more pics the next post. Usually i leave my pictures in my multiply site because it takes aeons to load here. Ok... i need to sleep, i'm nearly camotose with tiredness.... >_<

New Year? Nah... same old same old...

2007-01-03T23:56:00.000+08:00

I love rainy nights. It feels so cozy and cool in nights like these. But like all good things, there is always an inevitably bad thing attached to it. My home always floods badly when it rains, so it kind of diminishes the nice happy feelings that rain evoke. Haha! I’m staying up late to do some work and I’m feeling uncharacteristic nostalgic tonight so I can’t concentrate on studying. I know I didn’t update for a long time, but didn’t have the mood to then. I wanted to do bring up some nice pictures I took for Christmas Eve, Ghim Moh school closing and Zmin’s bdae but I just keep on procrastinating. I think this word just sum up my lazy mood for 2007. Procrastination.
It doesn’t feel like a new year. When I saw the clock struck 12 on the 1st of Jan I just bobbed my head and went back to playing the Sims. I can’t summon any ounce of determination to do things. Didn’t even run up to my parents to wish them happy New Year as usual. Zzzzz… My exams are coming and I just feel like sleeping, sleeping…. I’m always like this when I know that I got a lot of things to do. Exams, spring cleaning, help my parents, knick knacks. Zzzzz…

waah... long time no update!

2006-11-14T00:22:00.000+08:00

i had been super vain lately, buying dresses, dyeing hair, getting highlights and ow... getting manicure. yes... my wallet hurts, but haiz... youth only comes once. besides, i get over this phrase soon enough, and you guys will see the sloppy, irrelevant, denim skirts clad, juz grab anything from the closet Sijin again. but it feels really nice to dress up once in a while. but it really takes up alot of time. hmm... my hair colour. i had to go Kimage twice to get a satisfactory result. the first time i wasn't happy with the non-existence highlights. everyone complained saying they couldn't see any change from before. (vomit blood.) no one noticed i even dyed my hair again until i told them. ($80++ wasted.) Luckily, my friend told me that Kimage can redo your hair till you are happy with the results as long as you bring the receipt to them within 10 days of the first service. Not bad!! i have to say, i really feel very pai sei that i requested to do re-highlights. but the stylist was really nice about it. he even gave me a scalp massage when he could have spit on my bowl of hair colour. In the end? My highlights are pretty obvious now... but i think i will attempt a lighter shade of brown next time. People usually get experimental when they are teenagers, me? i go a little crazy when i become 22.
I went a little Stephen King frenzy over the week, reading 2 of his newest books within 5 days. I got his latest hardcover-Lisey's story first, then gleefully grabbed the newly released paperback-Cell, when i juz finished Lisey. He is really a marvellous writer. Truly, remarkable prose and awe inspiring imagination aside, i think his greatest talent lies in the fact that he managed to create characters so real i can absolutely relate myself to them. Stephen King really managed to capture the quirks, idiosycracies and characteristics of people stunningly on the mark. I went " woah... bulls' eye!" Personally, although Cell is a pretty good effort by Stephen King, i like Lisey's story better. Read it and you know. I find it very touching.

haiz...

2006-10-20T04:13:00.000+08:00

so near, but yet so far...

last day of work

2006-10-18T18:35:00.000+08:00

i took these pictures not knowing that that day is my last at Kino. Sigh...

yogurt have beef!!!

2006-10-18T17:56:00.000+08:00

I was thinking of eating Yoplait yogurt my brother bought and out of curiosity i look at the list of ingredients. Guess what i found?? Gelatin!
Gelatin is made up of the about animal protein. 65 % of the world-wide produced gelatin comes from hidesplits, connective tissue and the bones of cattle. Otherwise pigs serve for source material. Only in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand also sheep are used. The quality of the gelatin is influenced by the source of supply, which in Europe traditionally is mainly from pigs in the case of gelatin for food and medicaments. i also read that gelatin is used in sour creams, soup, gummy bears, sour cream, cream cheese cake icing and frosting, marshmallows, soups, sauces and gravies, canned ham and chicken, corned beef and sausages. Even the outer casing of pills are also made of gelatin! To think all these time i had been unwittingly eating beef.
My god.

frivolous day

2006-10-16T23:56:00.000+08:00

i didn't know why i was feeling so tired today... even though i haven't done anything. I went to Chinatown with my mother and went happily shopping. I don't know why, but i juz love China town so much. Maybe because my mom was born there. :) didn't bought much, only a hair pin (influenced by Lucy, Huiling and Yu han's stick pin. Haha!) it's a different though. it's made up of 2 hair slides. nice, will wear it next time i go out. so many nice things, so little money to buy. especially when i'm not working right now. speaking of working... feels so weird. ought to be working today but turn out my last day is on Sat. really miss working miss the people i work with. no one to irritate now. haha... going to find someone to drive up the wall now. :)

lousy... feel so lousy, in need of change

2006-10-14T04:16:00.000+08:00

self confidence plummeted, exam results sucked, life felt pretty confusing, meaningless and tiring. like what a friend once told me, sometime or another, you feel like you have fallen into a black hole and it's hard to get up. me? i'm grasping the edge of the hole. yes, i hate complaining too. i'll get over it, as usual, life goes on, but i need a new start. i need to feel in control. need to know i'm doing something useful. need to achieve something...

a breather

2006-09-16T08:54:00.000+08:00

it's been a long time since i last write.i'm really going to change my layout. less clutter, bigger words and space. but definitely after my exams. man, talking about exams, marketing and law on the same day!!! they are trying to kill us!!
I am resigning from my job... i just couldn't believe it... i can't believe i made such a big step... i couldn't believe i finally went through the whole resignation procedure and most of all, how much i will miss working there. When the words came out of my mouth, i really feel like taking it back. But it set things in motion. Once you start, you really can't stop. Especially when you have been thinking for a long time about it. But when i told my senior about it, i really feel very depressed. I think i've been feeling quite bad since i broke the news. It's this feeling of heart ache, when i think of all the time i spent in there. All the friends i have made there. I spent alot of happy times there. When i feel lousy about school or about my family, i usually go work, crap with my seniors and colleagues and feel so much better. It just feel like my second home. The people i met there are so so special. I hardly meet other people more generous and patient with me. I don't think i can win any best employee award or something there yet most of the time they are really tolerant to my crappy mistakes and my idiosyncracies. After i told my manager, i thought, can i just tell them the next day i was kidding and it's all a September joke or something? Suddenly, i just can imagine how life will feel after i stop working there. It feels so ... i dunno. There is this hollow feeling i get in my stomach when i think about it. The one month notice is really torturous. I feel like just hiding in my room.
I'm 22 already... It's a threshold to responsibilities and maturity. I know some people reach it much earlier than me but sometimes you don't want to let go of youth. There is a barrier around you when you are young. You have your parents to comfort and protect you. But i know that this can't last forever. My parents are growing old, and sometimes they remind me that at their age, i'm suppose to look after them, not the other way round. It's rather painful when they say it but i know it's very true. I have to step off from the caccoon and to the real world. I have so much that i need to improve and change. But i just want to hide in my room sometimes.

the 3 days of doing absolute nothing

2006-08-04T00:44:00.000+08:00

humph. i think i'm cursed. i can't believe how unfortunate i was to have contacted flu on Monday, the day before i got a work leave. (moan.....) i didn't manage to do anything for the last 3 days, no work, no studies, absolute zilch. I feel like a loser. It's worse because i already planned out what to do on Tuesday. To go school, study, do some marketing assignment, go Thomson to buy some soil, pots and seeds, and go Botanic Gardens for some exercise with my dad. Argh... How ironic is that? Darn.
I have to say, the last few days was one of agony. I have had flu before, but none as bad as this... The first day i was sneezing non stop, the second i was aching all over so badly i couldn't bear to touch anything. Today i was so tired from the medicine i was KO the whole day. Bugger. I've never slept so much in my life before. Worse, the medicine bill was a freaking $48! I couldn't believe my ears! When has the doctors' bill rise so much? A few years ago, the same medicine would have cost less than $40. My god. The last time i went to the doctor for food poisoning it cost me $50! The hole in my pocket is growing bigger and bigger...

The herb experience

2006-07-29T19:58:00.000+08:00

I went for the herb gardening class today and i have to admit it was an eye opener. I learn so much! I've learnt how to grow my herbs better and the class also answer the many questions i have. Do you know that one of the golden rule of growing herbs is not to use fertilisers? It will dilute the taste and smell of herbs. But we can water them with water that we use to wash fishes when we cook, or leave crush eggs on the soil of the pots. The teacher also made a herbal concoction for us made of old ginger, raspberry, strawberries, mints and basil. Very enlightening. We also receive a $5 voucher and a free box of fertiliser. Not bad for a $25 class. people who are interested can register at either Far East Flora Thomson or Queensway. The class is held every Saturdays at 10am to 12 pm at Queensway near the Rideout McDonald Tea House.
I also went shopping alone today at holland village. I bought a cool $10 polo t-shirt, a pants that i bargained $4 off and a Scoll shoes. The last i bought only because my old shoes have no fiction at all because the bottom of the slippers have worn off. It was raining and i kept slipping. After buying the shoes, i nearly vomited blood. I was wondering why i got the shoes at such a steal of $30 when other shops sell them for $50 and above. Now i know why. Although it is apparently genuine, the shoes are super uncomfortable!! I end up having to buy a shoe pad to keep the shoes from slipping off my feet. Haiz, the offending shoes.

But i have to admit, in spite of it all, i still like it alot. It looks sweet, classy and most of all, it costs me $30!!! I better make full use of it. So girls, please don't buy anything with a price tag too good to be true! Argh.

A Nice Tuesday 2

2006-07-29T19:49:00.000+08:00

This are the pictures i took at Far East Flora and McRitchie Reservoir.

McRitchie. Doesn't it look so eerily beautiful? All the lights and the gleaming water.

This is the coldroom at Far East Flora. Of course, this is only like one-fifth of the room. It was freaking cold but the flowers are gorgeous. Like the one below.

So nice. O_o

A Nice Tuesday

2006-07-29T18:31:00.000+08:00

I had recently changed my work schedule and now have my Tuesday evenings free! Wow... you have no idea how it feels, this is this first time in more than a year i was able to go out and see the sun sets, enjoy the cool evening air and watch the light decends into the darkness. I never expect how much i will miss this time of the day till i started working part time. I love it when the sun cast an orange tinge to everything we see, and when you sense the air around us turn cool and fragrant. People will start to move and act slower, and there is a certain exquisite stillness in the surroundings. I love to walk around Botanic gardens and watch the sights and the sounds around me as the day slides to the night.
I was ecstatic when Tuesday come. It feels like i got a world of possibilities at my feet, free to go anywhere i choose, free to do what i wish. I got school on that day and planned to do some homework after that. I brought my incredibly heavy laptop to school to do some excel work. It was pretty fun at school, we went to the new Ding Tai Fung at Raffles City and i blew $12 on some baos and wantons. I still prefer Crystal Jade however. In my eyes, Crystal Jade still beat other chinese restaurants hands down. I think it might be the chicken stock.
After that, i went to study with Big Bao and Jason. I sort of show them my blog. (well, they insisted. Haha.) So i say that i will put their faces on my blog the next time. Here they are!! Now you know why we call the Big Bao a bao and Jason the bugger!!

The bao and bugger
haha!!
After the "revision" in which i never accomplish anything, i decided to go Far East Flora at Thomson. Why there? I love flowers, herbs, nature and gardening. I haven't garden for a long while because i just didn't have the time! Gardening takes up plenty of our time, no kidding.
I took some nice pictures of the flowers at Far East Flora. Look! All flowers! They also have a coldroom where they store all the freshly cut flowers. I was tempted to buy them, but i hated the fact that they'll die after a while. It seems so cruel.
I also decided to sign up for a herbs gardening session on the coming Saturday because i simply love herbs. I've grown all kinds of herbs-thymes, rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, mints, and basils. ah, love them all. We can even use them for aromatherapy, cooking and even as alternative medicine. Best of all they all smell incredible.
It was 8pm when i left the place. Since it was near McRitchie Reservoir i decided to go there for a solitary stroll carrying my nearly 2kg laptop and random textbooks. Well, good exercise, i have to say. I took some pictures of the reservoir while peering behind me warily. It was the first day of the seventh month and i was worried about perverts. There were a few people there, lovers, joggers and a woman smoking and muttering to her 5 dogs. I think i really look out of place there. Everyone stared weirdly at me.
My parents came to pick me up so that we can have dinner at an organic shop called Yogi Hub at Little India. My father had just returned from Malaysia and i was really happy to see him. Really miss him.
Hmm. What an eventful day. I'll endeavour to go Botanic Gardens on the next Tuesday.
Ps: will post the pictures i've taken on the next entry.

department dinner!! yah! Free food!

2006-07-16T13:25:00.000+08:00

The happy part timers and an unwilling self proclaimed "mud".

Wah! We had the annual department dinner at Royal Park hotel. It was a buffet with lots of sumptuous food! Yummy! It also have a fondue where we can dip fruits, cookies at the gleaming chocolate fountain. My only regret is that i didn't get to eat more because we were all too busy taking pictures! Fun!

The children section Full timers and Part timers

21 going 45

2006-07-16T11:16:00.000+08:00

Grabbed this picture from my-coke-goddess. Felt rather disappointed that i didn't bring my sis's camera along. Hmph, she needed it for her music concert thingie the same day.

Ah yes, i finally went "clubbing" at DXO. 21 odd years old and just stepping into a club for the first time. Just call me the epitome of suakunness.

I have to say, DXO is a pretty good chill out place. Nice ambience, intimate, beautiful scenery, small crowd.(so you don't really have to jostle with the rest.) They had a Miss bikini competition that night and me, Xiao Ding Dang, My Coke Goddess was highly amused by the slinky moves the girls made as they prance along the stage.

This whole experience of going to a club is sort of a non-event. I had a pretty high expectation of how clubbing will be like and when i finally went, it felt pretty... well, boring. Not what i imagine. Maybe it was the small crowd, the total absence of dancing(because of the Bikini competition), the casual dress code, but it doesn't have the thrill i anticipated. Everything felt so mellow. I couldn't really drink alcohol (but i sipped some vodha lime. It taste surprisingly good. Oh no, i'm a potential alcoholic.) because i'm recovering from food poisoning. I was pretty sapped of energy too, the result of food poisoning and a busy Friday nite at Kino. My parents will be so proud of me.

But i think, knowing the kind of person i am, that the real clubbing scene which i expect (if me and my friends go Mos or Zouk next time.) will probably bore me senseless after awhile. I think the dancing, drinking and dressing up is mindless frenzy. There isn't much of purpose to it. (though we girls can lose weight from it.) You get wild for awhile and if you drink alot, get a hefty hangover the next day. Clubbing is somewhat overrated. Hmm... I think i'll prefer drinking coffee or tea at some cafe, snuggling at some over sized sofa and chatting away, or shopping. Yes, i'm a boring person. >_<

It helps that you have a bunch of good friends that you can hang out with during boring times like this. Coke Goddess, Giant and Xiao Ding Dang are always so perky and fun. Especially when they are high with alcohol. Wah haha. Too bad that Giant had to leave when i come. Feel so xian with my working hours. It's too irregular. I can't spend time with my family and friends during the evenings when they are free. Sigh.

A usual day 0_o

2006-06-26T23:36:00.000+08:00

Hmm... found out today that i need to start school on Wed. This news gave me a tingle of anticipation. Yay!! Studying again! I know it sounds odd but i think being a student, studying gives me a sense of purpose. (Well, i know i won't say that after a month into the term. o_o) Holidays are fun but it feels a little empty somehow. At least this holiday. I think it must be because i didn't accomplish much.
What a hot hot weather today. Today is the first day of the Chinese Lunar month so i am going to stay clear of all meat. As of all first and fifteen of each lunar month, i helped my mom with the preparation of all the stuff we need to burn. It is a long and tedious process. Other than the preparation itself in which we need to fold alot of hell papers into ingots, my family's tradition is that we pray at our house, followed by the temple housing my mother's side ancestors and lastly, by my late grandfather from my father's side. It is tiring but i have to confess that finishing the whole process give us a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes i wonder why we have to go through it. It is what a lot of people will consider a waste of time. But i think it is for a peace of mind. Call me superstitious, and i think alot of people will, but i believe in the existence of the afterlife. (i think i'm beginning to sound like a crank now.) Another reason why i do that is also because i have to help my mom sometimes. If i don't help her, she have to do it all alone. I do get lazy and escape from it alot, but i will help out when i can. Sometimes i'm really glad that i have a bunch of friends who can understand my weird lifestyle. When i tell them that i need to do this, they'll be considerate. (it helps that they are Buddhist.)
My grandmother was asleep when i visited the house. She looked so vulnerable and small when she sleeps. My grandmother is over ninety years old and she's so small she doesn't take up much space on her huge bed. It's been eleven years since my grandfather passed away yet she still keep to her side of the bed. It's achingly sad. I heard that she still stare at my grandfather's picture and cry sometimes. Life is... i don't know...
My mom and i went for a celebratory ice cream after that. I have to say, but the ice cream shop at Serene Center is really healthy. No preservative, no artificial anything and from personal experience, not sweet too. i was unsettled when i tasted the first bite. So health freaks, you know where to go.
I'm watching the anime Blood+ now. Woah, it's really gory and mysterious. Just my cup of tea. It's a story narrating a seemingly young girl Saya, who's blood kills vampires. She's an immortal who live a couple of lifespans trying to kill humanity's sworn enemy, who is also her (guess what?) sister. (Yes, yes, what a cliche.) The storyline is interesting, always keep you guessing, and the characters are multi-dimentional. (I love Haji.) It is not as nice as Samurai Champloo, Full metal panic and Full metal alchemist (Just watch the movie and was rather disappointed). but it is fun.
Ah, the end of my holidays. I have this overwhelming feeling to buy alot of stationery for the new term. ( all the G-techs, Pilots and U-zone calling for me.) Yah, and to get a new school diary. Hmm... love being a student. I will miss the carefree days of the holidays, but school beckons.

Wasted holiday! Argh.

2006-06-23T09:25:00.000+08:00

Next week school will start. As much as i anticipate the prospect of going school again to study, i felt that the 3 weeks of holiday seemed so fleeting. I didn't even get to do the things i set out to do! Bugger. ( * i'm juz wondering if i should change my blogskin. The words are so tiny that it makes reading difficult. Argh. Have to re edit all the html again.*)

What did i say i want to do for my holidays again?

Go little India myself after work. But just can't muster the effort to go, usually exhausted after work but honestly, Mustafa Center is the best after 11pm. I love the place, so many things to see and browse.
Start Gardening. Couldn't pick up the spade. Sigh... i'm so procrastinative. (Wait, where is the spade now?) Bugger. I enjoy planting and growing plants, especially herbs because they smell really nice. Since i grow them without using pesticides and chemicals, they can be used for cooking and other stuff too.
Buying clothes and shoes. No money. 'nuff said. But i probably have to buy some t shirts and a new pair of slippers for school.
Create a blog. That i manage to do. I want to be more internet and computer savvy and to practice my flagging English.
Read more books. Oddly enough, i'm way below my average of 7 to 8 books per holiday. This holiday i only read 3 books. The rest are computer books. Yes computer books. I never thought i will ever be interested in computer stuff.
To go out more. In fact, i think i have become a hermit. Having internet and a personal laptop has really open up a new world to me so much that i think i don't want to go out so often. Yes i know, i'm nuts but i only get internet access this year. Have i failed to mention this but my family lived in the stone age.
Lose weight, exercise more. Ultimate and total failure.
Yes, to get in touch with my religion more. I have been neglecting my religion. During my exams, i started to think i need soul replenishment. Don't you think that after some time, you feel tainted and affected by all the rubbish (bad aura) around us? I do. That's why sometimes i hide at home. Everything is so much less complicated when you have a moment of solitude. I love going to the temple. When i enter one, i usually feel a sense of peace. All the noise (in all sense.) dies away and i feel enveloped in calmness and ,for some reasons unknown, happiness. I love the smell of incense (but not when it start sticking to my hair and clothes.), the glitter of the statues and the flickers of flames on candles. Perhaps the feelings are purely psychological, although saying that seem to undermine the significance of Buddhism to me. I think everybody should have a religion to find the inner balance. Any religion that suits you. But it never fail to make me sad when i see the prejudice people have on Buddhism. Some say it is old-fashioned, superstitious, for the aunties, and simply worshipping empty statues. Each to its own. But people should read more on Buddhism to understand the history and meaning behind it before criticizing it.

All these goals and 80% undone. Sigh... Wonder if i can squeeze these goals all by this weekend? Never hurt to try. -_-

Better English

2006-06-23T07:45:00.000+08:00

I had an interesting talk with my friend, Indian Lotus, from school yesterday. It started with our indignation with our exam results (more on that later) and move on to the subject of our country. She said that though Singlish do give us our cultural identity, it is detrimental to the standard of English in Singapore. i was unconvinced at first, until i remember the various times i couldn't find a way to express myself in English because i had been using Singlish, Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese to substitute it. Although it is easier for Singaporean communicating this way but what happens when we travel overseas or when we need to present an important meeting in front of foreign businessmen? They would not be able to understand us. In fact, as much as i will like to think i can switch off Singlish when the time comes for me to speak proper English, Singlish is far too deeply entrenched in me. I will unknowingly drop the " 'll " and the " 're " and say embarrassing things like"the colour is blue." and "pronounciation". I think to speak good English is vital for Singaporeans. We might not need to cut off all Singlish but we have to ensure that our spoken and written English are grammatically correct. There is one interesting article on it at this link. Read at your own risk. http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/musings/index.html on Friday, June 16, 2006 (i had to read it twice before i can grasp what it says.

Actually, my idea to start a blog actually started when i realised that my school essays usually suck because i always couldn't express myself very well. I always write long and draggy paragraphs that frustrates my teachers to the point that they tear their hair off and give me results that reflect that. So i decided i need practice. >_<

It seems weird. I used to like writing. I even got complimented on my writing when i when i was in primary and secndary school. What happen?

usual unpredictable day >_<

2006-06-22T00:30:00.000+08:00

Today is a normal shift work day. I went to work with a really heavy heart thinking of all the mistakes and mishaps that could happen. My premature trepidations was justified. I was late by 5 minutes. Salary deducted. Bugger. Well, i knew i'll be late. But... it could be avoided if i had taken a cab... and spend an overwhelming $7. At least the money that is deducted is not as much as what i will spend on a taxi ride. Still... I spent a full minute on self-pity. Reached the place perspiring and red on my face since i needed to run as the bus does't stop in front of Taka. Except for that slight hiccup, the day went off smoothly. (Touch Wood. Superstitious me.) I made mistakes and received the usual exaggerated frowns and exclamations of "how can you make such a mistake!" as i try to find places to run and hide. Sometimes, I wonder how my seniors' sanity remain intact with me around. (Well, one of them is leaving and she did stare hard at me when she announced that but...no proof the reason's me.) One of my senior said that working with me is always "entertaining". Hmm.

Sometimes i feel like quiting. The pressure of working and studying at the same time is staggering. Especially the last few weeks of the last term. I slept an average of 4 hours every night trying to finish all my assignments and exam revisions. I also have little personal time of my own to meet my friends, family, do revisions and pursue my hobbies. Yet, for every moment i think of quiting, some occasions hold me back-some shared laughter with my seniors or friends there; when i make a mistake and was not scolded; when i feel happy i accomplished a task. I really like working there sometimes. Especially when there are fellow part timers with me and i can joke, talk with them. The people there are essentially nice, supportive and friendly people. (and really patient ones to stand all my random mistakes and blurness) It will be difficult to find another job with such congenial working environment. Money is also another factor. It is empowering to earn your own money, to quit relying on your parents so much and adding excess burden to them. Although it is stressful now, i know i need this experience.

Back to my day. The reason i was late was in my lunchbox. When i open the lunchbox today, it was quite the centre of attention. My manager who ate with me on Monday already warned the rest. "Look like canned dog food."she had said to them. "Smells weird." The senior leaving soon said with a frown and she passed my lunchbox around. I make up my mind not to sit beside her again. Luckily they change the topic to why i don't eat carbo or they'll soon be stabbed by my plastic fork.

I had a throbbing headache when i left work. When i went up the bus, i realised to my horror that i don't have any more credit to my ez-link hard. What luck, what joy. I had to change my lucky $2 note with some disconcerted passengers as happy passengers behind me rushed up to claim the best seats. I have to resign sitting beside a person who kept talking to himself and give off B.O. I had to bury my nose in my bag pretending to sleep.

Well, couldn't say my day is perfect today. It certainly has its up and down. But that's life i guess. I couldn't ask for anything more. :)