Saturday, August 16, 2008

Departing

Welcome to Taiwan!!

The shopaholic's diaries to Taiwan begins today as she embarks on her journey to Taiwan.

Not a smooth start, her airlines was delayed by 1 hour 45 minutes, and there was a minor crisis when she couldn't find her passport last night (it was still in the luggage she had brought to her trip to Penang several weeks ago).

But apart from that, after a free breakfast from the airlines for the delay, she's ready to go!

See ya!

Monday, August 11, 2008

8 August vs 9 August

After watching the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony on 8 August, our Singapore National Day Parade on 9 August seemed so…what’s the word…miniscule/ insignificant/ pathetic/ dull…

But of course, who couldn’t do wonders with a $40million budget, as opposed to a cut off our taxpayers money.

And you’re also talking about selecting cream of the crop performers from 1.3 billion people, as opposed to selecting from 4 million people, with performances by students, social clubs, etc.

The difference in the quality of performance is inevitable. China had 7 years to prepare for this once in 4 years event, while Singapore had less than a year to prepare for this yearly event.

Therefore, as a Singaporean, I am proud of its efforts. Perhaps I’ve outgrown it. I’m not sure if one can outgrow the national day spirit, but these past few years, I’ve taken less interest in it. It wasn’t such a big hoohah as it was years ago when I was a little girl. You won’t find me religiously watching the parade from start to finish, and I’m not as excited about the fireworks. Perhaps it’s the result of seeing the same old thing year after year. There’s the procession of armed forces, the entry of the PAP followed by the president, the shouting of commands, the firing of the cannons/ rifles, then the performances and the songs (which seem similar to the year before’s), the closing fireworks followed by the leaving of the president.

It’s always the same old routine that it seems dull, but on the other hand, it is also about familiarity and tradition. Isn’t everything?

Friday, August 08, 2008

080808 @ 8:08

What’s up with that d8?!

Chinese and their 8s.

China has been anticip8ing for this day since who knows when!

Nurses and Gynaecologists will celebr8 the hospital rush.

This d8 will mark the anniversary of many newly-weds.

It’s another gr8 trick for advertisers, event companies, etc.

And though I told myself not to make a big deal out of it, I fell into its b8.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Amidst the Busyness…

With the launch of one new line of fragrance to organise, and another launch of a new perfume, I’ve been busy planning, organising, and executing. This is my first launches and I finally understand the amount of effort that needs to be put in for a successful launch! THE COORDINATION!

And my boss suddenly decides that we should also manufacture vials instead of buying it from the brand, so for the past few weeks, we’ve been sourcing for quotations, and just today, the production run has started. The coordination of this project is extensive, due to the production chain. It involves the manufacture of the empty glass vials (China), the production of the vial cardholders, the delivery of the glass vials to the filling company (Malaysia) at exactly the same time the delivery of the bulk fragrance is sent to the filling company, as well as the same time the printing of the vial cardholders are sent to the filling company. Then filling & packing occurs, before having to send it back to our warehouse (Singapore) for distribution purposes. I can’t wait to see the final product, but somehow, I doubt it’ll arrive on time. Oh well.

On top of this busy couple of months to come, I have taken an 8 days tour + 3 days extension holiday, effective next Saturday, to Taiwan. This means major planning, not only at work to ensure everything goes smoothly while I’m away, but also major planning for the last 3 days of our trip, to make full use of this extension. It’s going to be my last holiday for the year – whoohoo! I’ve exhausted all my leave till 31st December!

However, during this chaotic time, I still managed to put on a horrible tummy. Yes, a little bulge that no matter how much I suck in, it still remains there. A horrible little tummy, visible to me. So what do I do? I try to exercise. The operative word being “try”. And yes, admist the busyness, this one, I can proudly say, I fail terribly at.

So, I’ve started eating healthy again. It’s back to salads for me. This means having to buy ingredients for my salads, having grumbling tummies in the late afternoon when my tummy has digested all the greens I had consumed. Then I drink a nice glass of milo and put the calories back on. BAH.

And amidst this busyness, I tell myself I must try not to take chocolates (the comfort food that I crave for 24-7), and and and COFFEE!!! COFFEE or CHOCOLATES? I don’t know…it’s a tough choice, but MOCHA has both doesn’t it? YUMMMMMM…

So…? The moral of the story is…amidst the busyness, I’m still alive. And better still, I have the time to write this entry. This goes to show…