Multi-tasking - Raine's 'speciality'

Multi-tasking is the topic of today's discussion. Specifically, Raine's current multi-tasks.

I realise that recently, I'm taking on many things, from classes to TV shows. There are so many things I need to juggle at a time and I am finding less and less time to blog about it, and hence the 'once in a while' pointless blog posts which really isn't a detailed insight into my 'appearingly' eventful life.

So let me share with you some of the tasks I have on hand:

1) French Classes
Bonjour tout le monde! Ca va? Je m'appelle Lorraine. If you didn't get what I just said, basically I was greeting "Hello to everyone. How's it going? My name is Lorraine." Yes, Daddy and I have started taking French lessons every Monday evening at Edgewater College. It's for 15 weeks, an hour and a half per lesson. We've attended 3 lessons so far, but we are only just scrapping the surface, covering the basic greetings. Slow progress but I guess at the end of this 15 weeks, I'll be able to speak a-little-bitta French to take on Paris for 3 days in January.

2) Korean Language
This should always be a work-in-progress for Lorraine, and that is to be constantly learning and practicing my korean language.

3) Save Money
Ahh...telling a shoppaholic to stop spending is like telling a pig to fly - impossible. But...I really need to and if I have to sacrifice some wants, then it's got to be done. Why the big saving spree? One, I'm planning a sky-diving trip at the end of this year...can't wait, and also coz I need to save up for my UK holiday plus my future investments in Singapore. Several things need to go: my bionicle collection - no more buying of new bionicle figurines; my barbie collection - I guess the 8 girls will have to remain single; clothes, shoes and accessories - there will be much nicer and cheaper ones in Singapore, plus, my luggage can't fit all of my clothes, let alone the new ones. Okay...maybe I'll just get the odd item once in a while when it catches my eye, and of course I need to hunt around for a nice warm winter jacket for UK and for future investment purposes - completely justified. Try telling a shoppaholic to go cold turkey - IN YOUR DREAMS.

4) Meteor Garden Comics
I've just started reading my Meteor Garden Comics all over again, and currently I've got 35 and three quarter to go.

5) The Bible
I've also just started reading my Bible once again and I'm aiming to read one chapter every day - NO SLACKING ALLOWED.

6) Television Shows
I've got a long long list of shows I want to watch all over again. Right now, I've just started watching this Jap drama called 'OverTime'. Other shows on the list are Meteor Garden (both the anime as well as the taiwanese version), the Jap Initial D anime series, Friends (this Korean-Jap mini series), this Korean drama that I want to rent from the video rental shop (but that would mean spending money, see point 3 for why it might not be possible); and of course, I want to watch all the classic movies all over again, like last night, we watched 'Mary Poppins', tomorrow night we'll watch 'My Fair Lady' and other need-to-watch classics (to my definition) are 'The Sound of Music', 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'Notting Hill', 'You've Got Mail', and many others.

7) My stories
I'm currently in the process of typing out this 151 chapter story that I wrote (handwritten). At the mo, I'm halfway through chapter 8. Just 143 chapters more to go. Whoo Hoo! I've also started writing another story, I've only written 2 chapters and I'm suffering from writers' block - well, not actually writers' block but rather, laziness and lack of flowery vocab is hindering the progress of this book. So much for wanting to be a budding writer huh!

8) My 112 Days Project
I'm into the second day of my 112 days project. I'm keeping it on a down-low coz the aim of it is a pretty silly one that I don't want to publish to the world - SO DON'T ASK - but just know that I've got to put away around 40 minutes everyday for that. I don't know what the outcome of it would be and that's why I don't want to go around boasting about it - just in case it doesn't work out.

Wallah, this is all that I can think of at the mo. I think it's a lot to start with right now...not to mention some others that I haven't mentioned, like brushing up on my one and only piano piece I know how to play, and improving my golf.

Ambitious? I reckon! Multi-tasking? Oh help me!

Why didn't I blog last night...today, it's just not the same feeling.

Yesterday, we had an awesome cell group discussion. It wasn't one like we used to do, with a set topic and a set regime, rather, it was impromptu and I reckon, rather useful.

We talked about why there are different denominations among Christians (methodist, pentecostal, baptist, brethren, etc) and each one has their own way of worshiping God, is there a right or a wrong or a good and a better? We had a really productive discussion, and at the end of the discussion, I have learnt a good answer when asked this question.

First, bible quotes:

1 Corinthians 12:12-13
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

1 Corinthians 12:21
The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"

Next:

Well, what's next is pretty S.E.. So even though there's so many different denominations, but at the end of the day, we are one, worshiping and praising God's name.

I feel very blessed to have this wonderful group of friends, who are always there to support and encourage. That's the one thing I'm going to miss when I return to Singapore...but I think it'll be a good thing as well, because I'll be seeking out for such an awesome cell group in Singapore, and if I find one - AWESOME - and if I don't, no worries, coz it will only give me more determination to start a cell group like this...

God has big plans...AND I'M PART OF IT!

You do the math!

Today, Lorraine's curiousity into the weight-watchers points system caused her meals to be under scrutiny.

One of my colleagues is on the weight-watchers programme and out of curiousity, I wondered how much I had eaten up until afternoon tea, so we did a little bit of calculation, refering to her trusty point booklet for guidance.

Breakfast:
2 slices of pizza (last night's leftovers)... ...9 points (!!!!!!)

Morning Tea:
1 biscuit... ...~0.5 (unknown really coz didn't know how much that was worth)

Lunch:
3 slices of pizza (polished off the remaining pieces of pizza)... ...13.5 points (OUCH!!!)
Salad (no dressing)... ...0 points (THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT!)

Afternoon Tea:
Half a scone (shared with a colleague)... ...2 points

SUB-TOTAL: 25 points

And if you are wondering, is that a lot? Well...at the end a any day, here's how many points I shouldn't exceed if I'm (my current weight taken into consideration) on weight-watchers: (DRUM ROLL) 18!

Therefore, you do the maths. I'm 7 points over! And it wasn't even at the end of the day...throw in dinner (pineapple yellow rice - a bigger portion than I usually eat, a couple of fried chicken wings, some dark soysauce marinated kind of chicken wings, curry chicken, and for dessert, half a crunchie bar ice cream - yea I'm into my halves)...

And the result.....................................

I HATE PLAYSTATION

I HATE PLAYSTATION!
I HATE PLAYSTATION!
I HATE PLAYSTATION!

I CAN'T PLAY!
I CAN'T PLAY!
I CAN'T PLAY!

I SUCK AT IT!
I SUCK AT IT!
I SUCK AT IT!

WHY! WHY! WHY!

I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY I SUCK SO BAD AT PLAYSTATION!! LAURA...COME HOME!! I WANT YOU TO COME HOME AND PLAY KINGDOM HEARTS FOR ME!! I WANT TO PLAY KINGDOM HEARTS BUT I KEEP GETTING STUCK AT THIS STAGE. I'M IN THIS RACE AND I NEED TO GET TO THIS STAR BUT I CAN'T SEEM TO JUMP FROM STUMP TO STUMP TO GET TO IT. I KEEP FALLING! I CAN'T GET TO THAT STAR AND IT'S SO FRUSTRATING COZ I KEEP HAVING TO REPEAT WHAT I'M DOING AND I'M NOT GETTING ANY CLOSER. I KEEP FALLING WHEN I LEAP FROM STUMP TO STUMP AND THEN I HAVE TO START ALL OVER FROM THE FIRST STUMP.

I HATE PLAYSTATION. WHY DO I SUCK SO BAD AT IT.

BUT I WANT TO PLAY KINGDOM HEARTS!!! IT'S SUCH A CUTE WALT DISNEY GAME!! ACTUALLY...I DON'T MIND JUST SITTING AND WATCHING SOMEONE PLAY FOR ME...I JUST WANT TO WATCH THE SHOW!!! LAURA COME HOME!!!

NOT FAIR NOT FAIR NOT FAIR!!! I HAVE THIS FEELING THE MOMENT LAURA PLAYS THE GAME...SHE WILL GET IT. FOR THE PAST HOUR, I HAVE BEEN AT IT AND TRYING TO CONQUER THIS STAGE. I NEED TO GET TO THIS STAR AND I CAN'T GET TO IT. I NEED TO JUMP FROM STUMP TO STUMP TO GET TO THIS STAR AND ALWAYS, AT THIS PARTICULAR STUMP, I CAN'T LEAP ACROSS AND I FALL FALL FALL, ALL THE TIME. SO IRRITATING!!! AND I CAN'T PLAY ANYTHING ELSE COZ I NEED TO GET TO THE STAR FIRST! AND THE STUPID COOL GUY WILL DEFINITELY BEAT ME TO IT FOR SURE AND NOW HE GETS TO SHARE THE FRUIT WITH THE CUTE CUTE GIRL. NOT FAIR NOT FAIR NOT FAIR. MY GUY IS SUPPOSE TO SHARE THE FRUIT WITH THAT CUTE CUTE GIRL. SHE'S MY GUY'S GIRL!

POOZ!! WHY DO I SUCK SO MUCH AT PLAYSTATION? I DON'T GET WHY MY FINGERS DON'T RESPOND TO THE CONTROLLER! IT'S JUST IRRITATING. IT'S LIKE I'M PLAYSTATION ILLITERATE!

POOZ POOZ POOOOZZ POOOOOZZZ POOOOOOZZZZ

Flutterby and Lecery Facts

I'm bored, so I thought I'll entertain you with some Flutterby and Lecery facts.

1) The original name for butterfly was flutterby.

For all you know, 'cucumber' was 'cumcuber' and 'certificate' was 'cerfiticate' when our little mouths were tongue-tied with those big big words.

2) Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.

Hey hey...all you people dieting out there...now that's a reason to eat chocolates!

Take 5...

I should load photos of the 5-star room and Minus 5 and all that stuff, but I'm too lazy. Another night...TV TIME. Maybe I'll start a new Japanese Drama - wait...I've got to finish my current Japanese Drama - OH NO...Apprentice is on TV NOW!!!!!!

The big catch up

Here I am again, after a good long break...and 'boy' do I have heaps to tell!

Let me start from Thursday and Friday. I had this 'Workplace First Aid' course over those 2 days, and it was boring. I'm not nurse material. Give me blood and I'll freak and whimp out. But nevertheless, I survived the boring course. I learnt how to do CPR (I gave my first kiss to a maniqin) and I'm certified to break a few rib bones while I'm at it, saved a choking maniqin (whack them as hard as you can on the small of the back), and had a big cut of my right arm, sprained my wrist and ankle and of course I went into shock (we all became qualified actors at the end of this course).

On Friday, right after my course, I raced home - excited to finally get out of that boring course - but also coz I hadn't packed for the weekend. That Friday evening, Dad and I drove down to Rotorua, meeting up with Mum, her friend and her son who had left that morning. We stayed at the Rydges Hotel in Rotorua - 5 STAR and FANTASTIC!! The room was like...right out of a Korean Drama, where the rich man stays in a nice hotel room when on holiday. There was a king size bed, flat screen LCD TV in the bedroom, a kitchen, a glass dining table for 6, a 2-1 sofa set plus another TV in the living area, a balcony with amazing views overlooking into a horse-racing track, but of course, you can't miss the private SPA tub with jacuzzi jets! AWwwwwww....I had a bubbly bubbly time!!!

On Saturday morning, we checked out of the hotel and made our way down to Palmerston North - the main reason for our trip: to pass Laura the Camry now that we didn't need it. Meeting and catching up with Laura was fun. We shopped around a little that Saturday afternoon - didn't really buy much though I wish I did buy this corduroy jacket from Supre - pooz to my ficklemindedness. Maybe I will go shopping this weekend and get it from the New Market Supre. After that, we had dinner and chilled at the motel, watching a funny and sweet korean show on Laura's lap top called "My Little Bride". After that, we went out for supper at this road-side truck selling Japanese takeaways. The truck caters for the masses of Japanese students staying at this international college and it operates at nights. You can sit in (probably can accommodate only 6 people) or takeaway. It was just a fun experience, seeing a road-side food truck in NZ. Kind of unheard of after 9pm at night. We had takeaways and watched the 'Initial D' movie till late into the night.

Sunday, we said our goodbyes and went on our long long journey back to Auckland. However, it wasn't as long as it felt from last time because this time around, we had fun company, hearing stories about my mum and her friend's childhood.

We got back that Sunday evening, had dinner and after that, we headed into the city and went to Minus 5 to freeze our butts off for 20 minutes in this ICE ICE ICEY BAR. BRrrrrrr!

So that was my eventful weekend...but wait...that's not all.

On Monday night, I caught up on the Gilmore Girls episode I missed that Sunday. YAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!

"Luke, will you marry me?" - End of episode.

Oh my gosh...I would never ever ever ever have imagined Lorelai asking that question!!! But YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!! They are my perfect couple...they have to get married...which brings me to my next worry.

I don't want to know what's going to happen in the next and last episode of Season 5. Last episodes of the season always ends horribly...leaving you hanging and irritated and impatient and just frustrated. I don't want that. I want Season 5 to end NOW coz I love the ending!!!!! I can just use my imagination from here on. I don't wanna watch the last episode coz I have this bad bad feeling - it always is...but then I wanna know as well.

Should I read the episode transcript for the last episode??

Nurse Raine

For the next 2 days, I'll be attending a First Aid course that my company has sent me on...apparently, it's quite informative...but BORING. Guess there's always a trade-off. Anyway...I better go off to bed coz I need to get up at 6.30am tomorrow morning to get ready for that - half an hour earlier than my usual working day!! Pooz. But the good thing is...I can wear JEANS...I can take a break from working clothes and put on something FUNKY. Always a perk! Gotta look good when I'm saving someone's life...

CPR...here I come!

Stay...

Oh my gosh!!!

Mum's friend from Singapore just came over and she brought over heaps of goodies for us, including Mooncakes, Love Letters, Pineapple Tarts and all those yummy biscuits!! Oh...she even managed to get 'Arh Zha' (pickled vegetables) through customs!!! Amazing...but the best best best things I received...

DRUMROLL...........Dum dum dum dummmmm..............

1) Kangta's 3rd Album: Persona
2) Fly to the Sky's 5th Album: Gravity

I highly recommend these 2 CDS!!! LOVE!!! I've downloaded most of Kangta's new songs, so the songs on the album didn't surprise me at all - LOVE.

But Fly to the Sky...my gosh!! They have matured - I mean in their voices, that is. They sound fantastic!!! Gorgeous voices and beautiful songs. I listened to the CD 3 times in the car on my way to work, going around to the client's places and coming home from work!! And tonight, I shall listen it to sleep. AMAZING!!! I LOVE THIS CD. Every album of theirs get better and better...the best song is 'Stay'. It has an amazing chorus, with a beautiful background choir, a wonderful ensemble of musical instruments and not to forget, the amazing crescendo that just gives that whole song a 'umfph'.

Encore!

Paris Twist!

I love Lovers in Paris!!!

Hey Rach, Jo, the ending wasn't as bad as I had thought you guys made it sound. I loved it! It's a twist, but aside from the twist, it's so beautiful and it ends on a hopefully note - truely fairytale-lish! I'm a sucker for 'happily ever after' stories.

I cried so much while watching the last couple of discs, my eyes must be swollen right now, but I cheered at the ending which erases all that sorrow throughout the show. Love happy endings!

I want to watch it again...sigh...I love the little bits in the show, those little couple-ly lovey-dovey parts...just the little bits where they are just having fun in each other's company...I reckon those are so much more romantic than a candles-on-the-beach scene - not that candles on the beach is not romantic but I think even the little things in life can set off tingly feelings within me.

                        I can't wait for my turn...
                                                           Ki Da Ri...

Lovers in Paris - The Pash

Today, I thought I would write a review on Lovers in Paris - or rather, a review about my favourite favourite part in the show so far (I'm only on episode 12 of this 20 or so episode serial)...

So here's the setting in brief. There's a very rich guy - lead actor - who likes this poor girl - lead actress - but he's supposed to be engaged (marriage of convenience) to this other rich girl whom he doesn't like her at all - every drama has got to have their biatch. So, Yoon-Ah (the biatch) is jealous of the attention Ki-Joo (the lead actor) is giving to Tae-Young (the lead actress) and comes up with this plan to humilate Tae-Young in front of Ki-Joo's classy friends.

Yoon-Ah rings Tae-Young, asking her to meet at this posh social club that Ki-Joo and friends are. Yoon-Ah then shows up unannounced, throwing Ki-Joo off course, asking Ki-Joo to introduce her to his friends. Ki-Joo is of course reluctant, hating her every presence (okay, maybe I'm dramatising a bit but its all fun). Without Ki-Joo saying anything, his friends recognise her as "the one who almost got engaged with Ki-Joo". (Okay...flash back, they had this major engagement party where Ki-Joo walked out, saying he will not get engaged to her). Yoon-Ah agreed, saying that there was some delay but they are setting a new date. Ki-Joo rolls his eyes, irritated at her as he had told her countless times that he will not get engaged to her.

At this moment, the screen flashes to Tar-Young, dressed so casually in tee-shirt and pants, as she strodes into the posh club. Heads turns to look at her in disdain at her outfit. Tae-Young notices but doesn't put it to heart, making her way through the club to search for Yoon-Ah. She accidently bumps into this guy (a 'friend' of Ki-Joo - they never really got along), spilling his drink over his suit. She apologies profusely and he takes fancy on her uniqueness (aka proverty) as she is not a person who comes along frequently into these rich rich rich men's life. He asks her for a drink and she turns it down, saying that she's looking for a friend and walks off, leaving him staring with an impressed expression on his face, maybe impressed and slightly shocked that she didn't take up his (generous) offer. He rejoins the group of 'friends'.

Yoon-Ah spots Tae-Young and runs over, dragging Tae-Young to meet the group. Tae-Young is shocked and in a daze to see Ki-Joo. Ki-Joo doesn't speak, neither does he look stunned. He looks on at Tae-Young. The guy that Tae-young bumped into recognised her, and started hitting on her once again, suggesting that they should have a drink. Tae-Young is put on the spot once again, and she tries to explain (staring straight at Ki-Joo who still remains silent) how she came to know him but she only manages to stutter. The guy cuts her off, saying that Tae-Young stands out in her outfit and he thought this gathering was boring, but now the fun was starting. He put his hand onto Tae-Young's shoulder, saying that he likes cute girls. Tae-Young is of course in an awkward position and flips his hand off, staring with anger at Ki-Joo, who doesn't come to her rescue but instead stares silently along. The guy tells his friends to have a good time and he took Tae-Young by the shoulders and said they would go upstairs to the quiet rooms and enjoy themselves.

FINALLY...Ki-Joo speaks in a commanding tone, "Get your hands off her."

"What?" The guy asks back.

"I said, get your hands off her." Ki-Joo orders.

"Why don't you take care of your fiancee?" He asked back in a what-is-it-to-you tone.

This sets Ki-Joo off and he lunged at his 'friend', throwing punches at him. Ki-Joo shouted at him, "Didn't I tell you? I told you to get your hands off my woman!" Their friends held them back as they struggled to attack each other.

After warning his 'friend', Ki-Joo grabbed Tae-Young and dragged her out of the club. Yoon-Ah wanted to follow but was stopped by Ki-Joo's right hand man and good friend, who told Yoon-Ah to stop and asked her why she was following them. He said, "what more do you need before you give up?" Yoon-Ah is left humilated. This was fantastic!! Usually in Korean dramas, when the evil person sets up a plan, it never back-fires but ends up causing terrible things and break-ups and stuff. But in this scene, not only did the plan back-fire, the bi-atch got humilated along with it as well. BRILLANT!

But...the best part is yet to come. Outside the club, Ki-Joo asked Tae-Young in a demanding tone, "Why? Why were you just standing there? Are you dumb? Why can't you talk? Why didn't you tell him to get his hands off?"

Tae-Young, her eyes brimming with tears, says fearfully, "How would I?"

"Why not? Can't you talk? Can't you scream? Cant' you tell him?"

"I would have if I could, but he was your friend." Tae-Young said for herself.

"What friend? He's not my friend!" Ki-Joo said in a fit of anger.

"I couldn't say it because of you." Tae-Young replies with a little fear in her tone.

"For me? Why not for you? Why for me? "He's my man", "He's my boyfriend". WHY CAN'T YOU SAY THAT?!?!" Ki-Joo shouted in agitatedly.

Tae-Young finally stood up for herself crying as she spoke, "How can I say that looking like this? How could I, among those people? What would they think of you? I can't embarrass you in exchange for my little pride. How could I?"

What would they think of you? I can't embarrass you in exchange for my little pride. That was all she needed to say. He walked over to her, wrapped her in his arms and kissed her passionately and the Korean music rose in the background as the camera spinned around the love-struck couple embracing in their first kiss.

GAHP !!!! (Translation: AWWWWWWWWWWW............)

Drowning noise with noise

My computer is making this weird weird noise, in fact, it's been doing this for several weeks now. It started with just "wheeeeaaa wheeeaa" every once in half an hour or so and this "whhhheeeeeeee" sound prolonged till now, it's just "whheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-ing" constantly and I have this ominous feeling that it's going to die soon. No...I KNOW that it's going to die soon...the only question there is to it is "WHEN?"

And to conquere this problem, I've cranked up my Windows Media Player to drown out the noise - a logical approach to solving a "wheee-ing" sound in a computer's hard drive. Actually...I can't say it's really effective because the "wheeeeeeeee-ing" is competing with my music, but I guess on a more positive note, there's a constant rhythm to all my songs.

Anyway...I think this is a rather useless blog entry about my 'rather interesting' life. I think staring at my new blog layout would be more facinating. And while we are on this topic, what do you think of my new layout? I don't really know what I think about it...I am not extremely happy about it, but I'm not dissappointed as well. I like it, but there's just something about it that's bugging me - maybe it's the cluttered-ness of all the pictures, or maybe it's just the too-pastel colours, or maybe it's the "The page cannot be displayed" tag board (which is completely out of my control)...but two things I like about this new layout is the background with only a few - definitely not all - of my fav brands and a very - very (might I add) - tiny insight to my assets.

Okay...I think I shall pull a Houdini now. TV time! I'm currently stuck on this AMAZING korean drama serial - recommended highly by Rachel, another korean drama fanatic - called "LOVERS IN PARIS" (only on episode 4 of 21) and it's a fantastically fairytale-ishly dreamable material. I want to watch more now but my parents are not home yet. I've got them hooked on the show, except that mum doesn't get back till 6.30pm, and dinner doesn't finish by 7.30pm, plus watching the show without them is out of the question, so I have to patiently wait wait wait till we are all ready to sit down and have our family tv time. But for the time being, I shall just rewatch the first episode or something, brush up on my korean and have a good laugh. Pear, this is a must watch if they are showing it in Singapore or if you can get hold of the DVD from your mum's friend.

An Nyong!

I NEED PICTURES!!

Help everyone!!

I need pictures of you or your friends partying at a club or pub...being merry and well...slightly drunk is alright too!! Or pictures of bands on stage performing in a club...DJs welcomed as well!

WHY? Well...coz I'm banner girl that's why! I need pictures to be inserted into our Gig Guide Banner (all about Gigs in South Auckland) and I need all the help I can get...sorry, I don't have time to explain in further detail, but if you have any suitable pictures...please HELP!

Banner Girl

Yes, you are looking at the Manukau Courier's Advertising Coordinator, as well as their very own BANNER GIRL.

HA! Just because I started designing the 'Party Planner' banner (which may I add has not been published in the paper yet as there were not enough advertisers to come under the banner), I've taken several other banner assignments since then:

1) MOTHER'S DAY banner (quite a pretty attempt I must add - though the process of getting to this final product was a gruelling process between us and SNAP - the creative department at head office)
2) HOT WEEKEND SPECIALS banner (finding suitable pictures were a pain in the butt and there were arguements with the title 'WEEKENDER', 'HOT WEEKEND SHOPPING' but finally, it was settled on 'HOT WEEKEND SPECIALS' - however, the banner is not up and running yet)
3) TRAVEL DESTINATION banner (not enough advertisers to get the banner going - same old same old)
4) And the latest ENTERTAINMENT & LEISURE banner (which is running this thursday - I HOPE).

And today, in the weekly sales meeting while discussing this new 'GIG GUIDE' feature, there was talk about needing a banner and almost automatically, my manager delegated "Lorraine will design this banner for us". THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Do they know how frustrating designing banners are? I think SNAP is probably pissed at me for the many many jobs I have put through, many of which have not even come out in our paper. Plus...the crucial element of this banner is still under discussion - "What title should we give this feature banner?" Without this title, I can't start designing anything! Even after settling on a banner title, the next part gives me nightmares!

I have to write instructions for SNAP and draw out a brief of the banner. However, SNAP might not have suitable pictures in their picture bank and this becomes a PAIN as the pictures they have do not suit out target audience's demographics and theme of the banner. You can't take pictures from anywhere online as well due to copyright restrictions. Then it boils down to me having to go out to take the photos myself - I'm not a pro cameraman, I don't have models at my disposal, and I have to ask permission if I ever need to take people or shops.

And even if the banner they designed looks alright-ishly nice to me, there's always gotta be someone in our advertising department who has something to say - or rather, diss - about it. So pleasing everyone is never ever possible.

So to wrap this up...I DISLIKE DESIGNING BANNERS. I quit as BANNER GIRL.

Can you spot the difference?

I've always liked this comic above because it really depicts the difference between the editorial and the advertising department. It is especially visible in a company like mine, involved in the print media industry, where advertising and editorial have to work hand in hand in the one environment.

Today, it was especially visible. After work, we had drinks at the local pub as a farewell to one of our colleagues from the editorial department who was leaving our company. As I sat there, surrounded by 5 others from editorial and only 1 backup from advertising, the difference was visible.

The jokes they cracked had a more intellectual twist to it. As I listened in to their chit chat, I just smiled at times when the rest of them laughed. Me and my fellow colleague from advertising remain silent in their conversation, smiling politely to the different type of humour.

It is even more visible in our office. In the editorial side, mostly silence is kept (apart from the occassional talking in low voices), and the only noise comes from their fingers clicking on the computer keyboard. However, at advertising, constant banter occurs. Phones are ringing (not only for work purposes, but just for fun, adding some music to the monotonous environment), jokes are cracked once in a while, cross office chats breaks out between colleagues sitting across the room and people are constantly moving in, out and around the office space.

Life happens at the creative end...and you'll see me there!

La la la

I'm bored. Just got back from work...don't know what to do, so here I am, sitting in front of the computer...singing along to my korean music...la la la...what should I do...I'm so bored.

Maybe I could redesign my blog layout. I was meaning to do that...hmz...but all that coding - AHHHH. It's not difficult...just a pain-stakingly slow process.

I'll just go watch TV instead.

The Mystifying Bat

I completely forgot to tell the world my opinion of Batman Begins. I went to watch it with dad last Tuesday and I felt it didn't quite meet my expectations. I'm not saying it sucked - it was a great movie - but it didn't meet up to all that hype and talk about it. Maybe I had too high expectations. I'm always setting myself up in these situations, expecting too much just coz one or two others said it was fantastic.

But I guess...it's not that I had too high expectations. I've always loved Batman and all those action heros shows and cartoons. Batman was always among one of the top coz of his mysterious background which made him appear even more enticing. However, with Batman Begins, his mysterious background is unravelled and you find out why he is who he is and I think that compromised his character as Batman. To me, he lost his mysterious touch just because we've gotten to know Batman even better.

It's sad, how we try to get define something - or someone in this case - in too much detail that it looses it's allure.

Lets just throw Boy Z into the equation as well while we are at it!

Do I have "ASK ME OUT FOR DINNER" written all over my face???

I don't understand...

What's this about? Today, Girl X got asked out again for dinner - but not my Boy Y...this time, it's Boy Z! HELP!

Let me give you the brief.

Today, I went to another car yard to take photos and after taking the photos, I went in to see the yard manager to enquire about the advertisement base. It was a strictly work conversation and then out of the blue, he said, "You've got a very beautiful smile."

Obviously I thanked him for that compliment. Once I got hold of the new base and was walking out the door, he asked if he's got my mobile number in case he ever needs to reschedule any appointments to take photos till later. I told him if he rang the office number, it would automatically transfer to my cell (that is, if I set my work phone to do that). And just as I was leaving, he threw this odd ball at me - never expected coz he's the manager, he's supposed to be professional - he asked me out for dinner (no date mentioned, but sometime was implied). No, WHY?!

WAIT...before you guys (yes, I'm talking to you Jas and Jacques) think I led him on, I replied - very tactfully I must add (unlike you guys and your hurtful 'no, I'm not interested') - "I'll think about that."

Vague and diplomatic.

And he replied that he hopes the answer will be good. I just smiled and went on my way. Mumbling under my breath, "Don't you ever dare ask me out for dinner again."

Why did I buy a Snow Princess and not a Dark Prince?

Today, I had it up to here with my Snow Princess. The moment I came home from work, I got so irritated, paraniod and frustrated...she was flithy dirty!! Why didn't I get myself a Dark Prince instead, one who looks good and yet did not need too much upkeeping? I know, I'm all to blame, afterall, I haven't given my Snow Princess a shower for quite a while now...I think the last time she had a good shower was 2 and a half weeks ago...far too long ago!

The hose did not help either! She was that dirty...and there were some stains that couldn't come off...dad reckons it's cement or something...GRRRRRRRRRRRR...after giving her a quick shower which seemed pointless, I had a tug-of-war with the hose while trying to keep it back onto the rack. This was not my day. I got even more frustrated and decided to vent my frustrations by eating the remaining Grain Waves I had in my cupboard.

And what followed next taught me a lesson. I should learn to cool down, not to be so quick to temper. Trying to open the packet of Grain Wave chips wider while filled with frustration and irritation will only make it worse. Not only did I feed half the packet of chips to the carpet, I now had to literally pick up the bigger pieces of chips from the floor and vacuum the rest of it up. While picking the pieces up, I learnt to cool down, to take deep breaths and not to get so heated with what I should have done on a weekly basis.

After the cleaning up, I was ready to take on Snow Princess again and this time, I was cool and faced her head on with a bucket full of water, soap, wax and a whole lot of arm power. I scrubbed her, showered her, scrubbed somemore and showered even more, till she looked relatively presentable. Washing my Snow Princess in the dark (it was around 6 to 7pm) - with the dim lit porch lights and the help of a torch, combined with the freezing cold water that was blasting everywhere and the occassional night breezes - made it a whole lot more difficult. Not to forget the stubborn stains that refused to budge, 'relative presentable' became acceptable. Usually, I'm one to only accept perfection, but today, I learnt to take things a step at a time.

Girl X and Boy Y

Hey guys, I need some help here.

You see, I've got this friend, lets call her Girl X and she works at this local surburban newspaper as a coordinator. Her responsibilities involve going out the client's place to take photos of pictures that are going into their ad. Most of her clients are car yards.

This morning, because of the rain, she had to reschedule her appointment at a car yard to take pictures. She rang up and this car yard sales man picked up the phone. Let's call him Boy Y. He is a very friendly guy and is always joking. When Girl X said she wanted to reschedule to around 12.30pm, Boy X decided to add in, "and after the photos, you can take me out for lunch." Girl X teased back that it should be the other way around, "...the guy always takes the girl out." They ended the conversation with a, "I'll see you at 12.30pm" and a very polite "thank you, bye." Girl X didn't think anything more, especially when they have casually joked about going for coffee and lunch several times before but nothing really conceptualised, so why should this be any different?

When Girl X got to the car yard - thankfully the rain had stopped - Boy Y teased her, "you do know how to make me wait for my lunch, don't you?"

They went off to take their photos, and chatted along the way. When everything was done, Boy Y asked again if Girl X was going to take him out for lunch. Girl X replied that it's the rule of life that the guys always do the asking. So Boy Y asked, "would you like to have lunch with me?"

Girl X, being the nice and sweet girl who doesn't really know how to say no, replied with a "yea."

And so, they walked to the nearby food court to have lunch. Boy Y paid for lunch and Girl X wished she had some spare change on her hands. Lunch was pleasant and the got along well.

Boy Y walked Girl X back to her car after lunch, and before she got in, he asked, "so now that we had lunch, can the girl ask the guy out for dinner?" Or something along that line...

Girl X, not really sure how to reply, smiled back, saying, "no...the guy always asks the girl out. It's a rule in life. Unless the girl is really bold."

"And are you?" Boy Y asked.

"No. I'm quite shy."

"Alright, fair enough. I would like to ask you out for dinner sometime." Boy Y asked.

Girl X smiled, not sure what to say, and I think she casually said, "yea...sometime."

And they exchanged business cards or contact numbers before Girl X drove back to the office.

Boy Y's cell phone was printed on his card; Girl X doesn't have her number printed.

The End.

Now that I have told you this story, my friend really needs some help. You see, she is in a dilemma. She doesn't know what this 'asking her out for dinner' means...and because Girl X is a very shy but nice girl who doesn't know how to say no...maybe it's just a casual dinner...nothing to it...but maybe it means like a date...so here comes her dilemma. She has kind of agreed to a dinner, but it's not confirmed since no date and time is finalised. What should she do? Though Boy Y is a really nice and friendly guy, Boy Y is not Girl X's type and Girl X is only looking to be friends here...is she thinking or worrying ahead? If he asks again, should she agree to dinner, for all you know he means as friends as well, or be mean and say no? Is it really mean to say no?

What should I - oops - I mean, Girl X do?

Toddler is to Kindergarden as Adult is to Work

Today, I discovered that there are some similarities to going to work and going to kindergarden!!

1) When I arrive, I greet my teachers (manager) and friends (colleagues).
2) I use my scissors to cut things (cutting the ads out).
3) I also have to glue things to my art paper (attaching pictures onto the copy).
4) I also use coloured pencils and markers to decorate my work.
5) I write simple sentences (writing simple instructions so that the people at production will understand what I mean).
6) I bring my lunch from home.
7) I have to clean up after I eat if not I will get told off.
8) When I need to go somewhere, I have to write in the book.
9) When I don't understand, I ask questions.
10) We share things with each other (the one computer among everyone in the advertising department).

Happening to quiet, in-dated to out-dated

It's so quiet!

It's such a change...for the past 3 weeks, our house has been noisy, with Laura back, along with 2 other friends who also stayed at our place, the house has been pretty happening till today...and hence this long outdated blog entry.

You see, with 3 more people in the house, Laura naturally took her own room, Chew Wen took the guest room and Nigel slept in the family room which is also the computer room. But then it's not as if I didn't have access to the computer. They didn't sleep early and so Nigel didn't mind if anyone used the computer, but because the family room had a television, a computer with internet access, a sofa and it was big, it became a hub where Laura and her friends (often plus 2 more - Laura's friend Sam and Chew Wen's friend Nac) would congregate, access to this computer to do my daily ritual of checking Es and blogging became harder. But having said that, I still enjoyed the company and the more happening house!

But today, they left. It's gone all quiet now, and I'm left with me and my parents.

And as for an update about my past life, well...think it's too out-dated so I'll see you guys in my next blog - when there's something more interesting and in-dated to share.

Sore + Bruises = The Price of Fun

As you can see, I'm back!!!

Back from snowboarding and well...basically, I'm SORE and BRUISED!!

It was great great fun, I had an awesome time and I know I have improved from the last time, but still, my technique is not correct and I really want to master it...I WILL KEEP PRACTICING!

Well, while trying and trying to correct my technique, I fell heaps of times, once even landing on my head with a loud THUMP which really scared me, thinking that I might have damaged my skull for that split second and I even thought that I could be bleeding. It was a nasty fall but nevertheless, all that worry disappeared after a minute and I was back on my board - no quits - and hitting the slopes, trying to get it right and falling hard again.

At the end of the day, I don't know if my efforts were all worth it. I still hadn't mastered the right way of turning on a snowboard (I switch my board an entire 180 degrees instead of just turning my waist - hard to describe)...and I was aching all over, bruised from all that falling on my bum and knees, and I got 'F'ed at when I crash landed in front of an approaching pro, who had to swiftly chnage his course.

But, that's the pessimistic view. On the positive side, I had heaps of fun, I improved and I'm more confident on the board. I even went up to the more advanced slopes - where I snowboarded 'with' the pros - and I learnt that I should never give up - fall and get up again.

I can't wait to snowboard again - maybe I shall go tryout that indoor ski field in the North Shore...improve my technique there so that when I hit the real slopes, I can confidently say I'm almost a pro!

The 'F's in Life

Friends, Fun, Fellowship, Fish, Fresh Faces and Family...these are just a few things that's been going on in my life.

Right now, I feel like an inspired writer (note the word 'feel' - purely a feeling, not vocab-wise), banging away furiously on a lap top in a moving car, as if once the moment has passed, there wouldn't be any inspiration left. Truth be told, I'm bored on our journey down to Mount Ruapehu and in order to satisfy and overcome my ADD (attention deficit down-syndrome), I have to occupy myself.

So what's the 'F's in Raine's life...lets start from the top - well...from Wednesday 2 weeks back that is.

Most of my Friends who are still studying finished their exams around that time and on Wednesday night, Elim church threw a movie night, showing a yet to be aired Luthur. The story revolves around Martin Luthur (minus the King) and tells of our Christianity roots. It was a good movie, though at some parts, I got myself confused with the actors (they all looked the same under those elaborate outfits). It was a fantastic night out with Friends, catching up with each other about our 'interesting' lives, which pretty much was 'studying' for them and 'working' for me. We hanged at Dennys after the movie (Thank God for a 24-hour restaurant) and chatted till almost midnight. We haven't done that in ages and for some, I haven't seen them in months, so catching up with Friends was a definite welcome.

Saturday came and a group of us met at my place at 1.30pm. The initial plan was pancakes, but sadly, the timing was wrong and speeding wasn't an option. We changed our destination and ended up taking a long drive in the rain (nevertheless shorter than the journey to pancakes) to the so-called best Fish and chips in NZ. We were enlightened that the award went to them only in 1990 and 1995, but nevertheless, it wasn't the Fish that made the trip worth-while (it was part of the reason for going) but it was the company and the Fun we had along the way that made it enjoyable.

After the Fish and chips, we had ice cream in the freaking cold Pokeno and headed back to my place to whip up dinner - Spaghetti Bolognaise, cooked by 4 fantastic award-winning chefs Joanna (most-experienced award), Jacques (busybody award), Amanda (fresh-face award) and me (organized-host award). Movies were the main item for our night entertainment: Battle Royale 2 - the cute Jap guys were just side-menu extras, followed by A Walk To Remember. I didn't get to bed till past 2, when everyone left.

Sunday was a fantastic day for Fellowship and I learnt that my interest in Advertising "only", combined with God is a formidable combination for my future. After church, the bunch of us had Dim Sum followed by shopping at Botany to kill time. It was another relaxing day with Friends, just chilling and killing time.

On Wednesday, we had the biggest turn-up to our cell group meeting at my place. Many Fresh Faces! It was a fantastic turn-up and we had an awesome time of Fellowship followed by mingling.

Lastly, our Family and Friends snowboard/ski trip down to Mount Ruapehu is going to be fantastic - I just know it. Update on the journey: We've passed the half-way point, slept the first half of the journey and it's starting to get very very cold. Bring on the SNOW!

Check-in in 3 days time!

Heya everyone...

Just dropping in a note telling everyone that I'm still alive and breathing. Sorry I haven't been updating much, but life hasn't been as exciting as it was 2 weeks ago.

I'm feeling heaps better now...sore throat all gone and perhaps, I have luckily scrapped through another saga of bad cough and cold...phew.

Tomorrow I'm off to the ski fields for a 3 days 2 nights short trip!! CAN'T WAIT to get on the board and fall on my bum MANY MANY TIMEs...see...Raine is staying optimistic.

Well...I'll drop an update once my life has picked up it's interesting pace.

Actually it's been pretty fun the past few days, with all my uni mates on break after slogging so hard for their exams and assignments, catching up as been fantastic! Spent last weekend just chilling and hanging out. I really enjoyed myself thoroughly so actually, my life hasn't been a boring tiny bleep on the radar. It's been pretty happening.

That's all from me today...better finish up this entry and let Nigel get to bed - Laura's friend who is bunking in the family/computer room tonight.

My Trusty Tumbler

I'm falling sick. I can feel it in my throat. It's sore and I know this is going to be the start of a pretty serious cold or cough (don't know which yet - wait till I get diagnosed, which is probably when I start sniffing or coughing). Right now, my throat is just very very sore and I am taking all precautions!!

I've taken active 15+ honey straight as it is (apparently it's suppose to be very good) and I've drunk tea to sooth the throat. I've taken one of those vitamin C efferversance tablets, the ones where you drop it in a glass of water and it starts fizzing up. And I've just taken 2 panodols. Yes, I took all of this in the course of ONE DAY (of course spread out through out the day - not going to suffer from drug overdose, not to worry). On top of all that, I started carrying around this large tumbler (the ones used when playing sports). I think it's about 2 litres, and it sticks around with me wherever I go so that I would keep drinking water.

And now, I'm going to sleep - yes, at 9.30pm. Hopefully I would wake up tomorrow with a much better throat, feeling all refreshed and healthy.

Kiasu? I reckon!

The Disappearing Act of Lorraine Houdini

I'M BACK!! Did anyone miss me whilst I was gone? Or did anyone even know I was gone? Anyway, the MIA Raine is BIA and along with this comes a long blog entry of her past one week. So sit tight and get comfortable (don't worry, there will be intermissions) and stay tunned because you are going to be in for a vivid description of Raine's mini-holiday.

Caution: This blog entry is VERY LONG - record breaking - so if you don't have patience or isn't a fast reader, just scroll on to see the pics.

Day 1, Saturday 11th June

It all started when my friend, James, from Singapore decided to visit me in NZ again. He's visited 4 years ago and he decided another visit was due. At 10.10am on Saturday morning, he arrived. At 10.12am, I rushed out of the house, speeding to the airport. Like the little white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, I was screaming "I'm late, I'm late!" I got to the airport, just in time to see the Singapore Airlines pilots and crew leave the airport. I thought to myself that I was on time, no worries since the crew is always the first to check out. But as time dragged on and on and still no sign of James, I started to worry. I started telling myself off for leaving late. He could be somewhere in the airport, waiting for me and my eyes were failing me, I couldn't see him. I started to think that maybe I couldn't recognise him after so long, maybe I had missed him coming through the gates coz he looked different from what I remembered. Finally, after about 45 minutes of waiting and worrying, he came out. I recognised him straight away, phew. He got randomly stopped and searched. Haha. You see, with this new terrorist threat around the world, airport security has picked up the pace and they randomly select people to be searched completely. James was just unlucky.

We headed off home, unpacked, relaxed a little before going off to mission bay for lunch. I got chauffeured!! Haha...it's always nice to have friends with drivers licenses, who doesn't mind driving and I definitely didn't mind being chauffeured! After lunch and a stroll along the beach, catching up, we headed home. My phone battery ran flat while we were in the middle of making dinner arrangements with another friend of ours who lives in NZ as well. Had to rush home to charge my phone up and we just relaxed the afternoon away. He ended up sleeping on the couch while I watched TV.

For dinner, we met up with this other friend, Zhiquan, and the 3 of us went for Japanese. They were secondary school mates from The Chinese High. After that, it was still early so we headed off to this pool place for an hour of pool. I am not good at pool, but I made several impressive shots, and I won a couple of games, because of the other's misfortune of hitting the black ball into the slots. After pool, we headed off home where James and I did some last minute planning of our Sunday activities.

Day 2, Sunday 12th June

At 9am in the morning, we woke to our alarm clocks. I wanted to sleep in more but we were catching the 11am ferry to Waiheke Island down at the city. I have never been to Waiheke before, I didn't think there was much civilisation there. I thought it was basically a tiny tiny island, with pretty beaches and some cafes. I didn't think it was a town with about 8000 people living there. I was impressed and I needed the tourist to introduce Waiheke to me! We rented a car and headed straight to Stony Ridge Vineyard for lunch. The guide books recommended that place and it was a devine lunch! Thumbs up! The scenery and ambience was gorgeous and as the sun shone down, it felt so warm, inviting and comfortable. We almost didn't want to move! We could have sat there all day if not for the fact that we are on a holiday and have not explored any part of Waiheke yet.


Picture: Stony Ridge Vineyard

We drove out to the other end of the island, to this place called Stony Batter. It was a World War II site, with guns pits and underground tunnel networks. However, NZ was never attacked so this site was never used. But nevertheless, we went in to explore, with a flashlight in hand, we explored the pitch black tunnels. It was kind of scary because we were the only ones there and it was completely black. Looking back down the tunnel at the way we came from was SCARY as it was utter darkness. I think I scared myself a little with my massive imagination. After a quick tour around, we headed back out, relieved to find that we weren't locked in, that the entrance door I left ajar was still as it is and some light shone in.

We continued on with our journey, visiting the gorgeous Onetangi Beach with long stretches of beautiful white sand, clear waters and blue skies and visited the town before heading back to catch the 5pm ferry back to Auckland.

Day 3, Monday 13th June

On Monday, I went to work because it is my busiest day in the week and I wouldn't have anyone else to take over my work as the other coordinator has a busy Monday schedule too. Plus, I know I would feel bad if I take Mondays off as well, on top of my TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY leave. Work was plain and boring, did as much as I could so that there would be minimal work for the other people and when I get back on Friday.

James treated my family for dinner that night because his dad would 'kill' him if he didn't (strict instructions that he had to thank my parents and me for our hospitality since he was staying with us). After a filling dinner, we headed over to Zhiquan's house as his parents had invited us over for desserts and tea. When James visited 4 years ago, he stayed at Zhiquan's.

That night, I had to pack my bags for the short 3-day trip we were going on. It was a pain to pack as I had to wreck my brain and think ahead to what I was going to wear for the next 3 days. "It's not a fashion show" James pointed out BUT to a girl, what's a holiday without a fashion show?! And the other worrying thing was we had not even planned our daily itinerary, and our accommodation as well. We knew what activities we wanted to do and the places to visit (Waitomo, Rotorua and Taupo), but we had not booked anything in advance and didn't know the times to each activity. We were so last minute and of course, motels and adventure tours don't have 24 hour phone lines so ringing up at midnight was out of the question. Thankfully, by 1am, I was in bed, packed - the hard part was over - and we decided to give them a ring tomorrow morning while on our way and plan from there.

~~ INTERMISSION (lunch time now, stay tuned for more after the break) ~~

Alrightie, we are back, live with BJ (Blog Jockey) Raine. Now everyone, get strapped in because the following 3 days are full on activities. Some of you might argue that Raine was possessed in these following 3 days and that the one doing all the activities wasn't really her but I'll let you be the judge of that.

Day 4, Tuesday 14th June

Punctually at 6am, my alarm went off. Hitting the snooze button, I lied in bed, too lazy to get up (completely Raine). Another alarm went off (sound travelling across the corridor from Jame's room), followed by a door opening and another door closing. That was James getting up. I lazed around for a while, getting adjusted to the breaking dawn. It was still quite dark outside. I headed upstairs for a tiny snack and water, boiled a flask of water to bring along and grabbed some quick snacks from the cupboard. I did some last minute packing of toiletries and we were all ready (to my surprise) by 7am!! We were on schedule. We rang up Waitomo Adventures (our first destination) and found out that the activity we wanted to do was starting at 10.30am! We made a booking and rushed on our way, stopping at Manukau MacDonalds for a quick breakfast. I drove the first stretch, till Hamilton, before James took over for the rest of the trip to Waitomo. Taking the Odyssey was a good move as we drove in comfort and for once, Raine didn't fall alseep. I was tempted, but I held on, being a sole navigator and I felt the responsibility to keep chatting to James so he wouldn't fall asleep on the wheel (first time ever in History - Raine always falls asleep on long trips).

This is the first sign of Raine not being Raine.

We arrived at Waitomo Adventures, with 20 minutes to spare. I have to admit, we kind of drove very fast. All I can say is that Singaporeans don't keep to the speed limit and sometimes, it was a worry for me, a cop-fearing and safety-fearing citizen. You see, in Singapore, no one really keeps to the speed limit. Sometimes, there's no speed limit to tell you what speed you are supposed to be travelling at. But here in NZ, they are pretty strict and I was constantly worrying that James might just get too comfortable with driving that he forgets he's in NZ...



Picture: My Chauffeur

Anyway...so what activity did we do? This is a completely NOT RAINE activity. James actually intended to do black water rafting. It's not like white water rafting, where you are in fast moving rapids on a raft. Black water rafting is a relaxing activity where you sit in a rubber tube and float along the river running through the caves. However, we ended up deciding on doing this other activity at Waitomo caves. It's called the 'ULTIMATE LOST WORLD'.

Here's a very brief description of this activity:

100-metre abseil
7-hour epic
Minimum age 15
WET

Here's the brochures' description:

Abseil 100m into Lost World THEN take the WET way out! This is the most dramatic abseil of its kind in the world. The descent takes around 10-15 minutes, it's truly awesome! Once down, lunch is served before heading off upstream, walking, swimming and climbing through cathedral-sized vaults. See waterfalls, fossil oysters and whalebones, as well as untold glow worms. Emerge several hours later and head back to Waitomo for a well-earned dinner (all included).

Duration: approx 7-8 hours (approx 4-5 hrs underground)
Times: Departs daily am only
You need: Swimwear, towel and attitude
RAMBO Rating: 8/10
Glowworm Rating: 10/10
Cost: NZ$355.00
Minimum Age: 15 years old

And now, here's my description. They apparently left out heaps on the brochure!!

We departed at 10.30am for a shack. There were 10 of us together, 2 professional guides plus 8 inexperienced people who have no clue what's in store for them for the next 7-8 hours! Out of the 8 of us, 2 blokes were from the UK, 5 Singaporeans (one was James while the other 4 of them, 2 girls 2 guys, were friends who just finished their Engineering Course at NTU and were on a graduation holiday - see, we got pretty cosy in that 7-8 hours of being stuck in each other's company) and ONE KIWI (me...haha...told them I have been living in Auckland for almost 5 years).

We got to this shack where we were told to get into our bare necessities - togs (swim wear). Then, we were given our wetsuits (cold and TIGHT). I had massive trouble squeezing myself into the wetsuit!! It made me feel so FAT! Then, us 3 girls, all small sizes, were given an extra long-sleeved shirt to wear under our wetsuits - not forgetting the fact that I was squashed under the TIGHT TIGHT WETSUIT - coz apparently we were too tiny that we would freeze in the cold. That was uncomfy and yickish coz the shirt was still a little damp. YUCK. Anyway, I guess I would sacrifice looking nice for being warm. Then we were taken to this other shack where we got geared up - harnesses and helmets with flashlights. And we were off. We had a crash course on keeping safe and we got to see a quick glimpse from the edge of a cliff into the cave we were going to spend the next 6 hours. It was a long long long long way down and the only way down was to abseil.

The start of the actual adventure involved a 100 metre abseil (Nikiyoko, don't kill me. Haha...bet you are screaming at me right now in jealousy).

You don't think a 100 metres is a big deal until you look down and see the depth. We couldn't see the end, our landing coz of the sheer depth and the thin layer of mist. Imagine this. A 100 metre running track, but vertical. That was how high up we were and how far down we had to go. But the scenery was breath-taking. We finally saw the cavern - the massive vaults of the LOST WORLD and it was spectacular! It was amazing. As I sat at the edge, depending only on the rope that held all my weight, I was nervous and also in awe at the vast greenery and beauty that awaited for me below. The descend was slow but it was relaxing. I got less afraid and admired the sight even more as the 4 of us plus 1 guide went down first.



Picture: My life is in this rope!

After a gruelling 15 minutes of descend (which seemed like forever as my butt started aching and my left arm - the useless one which could just be left dangling - ached from holding on too tightly), we finally touched ground. We waited for the other group to join us at the bottom. During this time, we all admired the greatness of nature around us. We were tiny, looking up at the towering cliffs that surrounded us. As I stared up at the gigantic caves, I just felt in awe, as if really in the Lost World. I could almost imagine a dinosaur appearing from those caves. We were just lacking that Lost World instrumental theme song playing in the background. Once the other group landed, we had a quick lunch - sandwiches and drinks - and then we were on our way, into the mighty caves.

We trekked a while in the caves until one point. There was a ladder upwards to a high opening. That apparently was the exit for those who took the DRY Lost World Tour. That point marked the start of our insane journey which to sum it up was WET WET and more WET! We gave daylight a silent wave and began the freezing 3-4 hour journey out the hard way.



Picture: Goodbye Daylight!! (Yuck, I look fat here.)

Water reached waist-high as we made our way through the caves on a 2km hike. It was insane. The fact that it was WINTER made it even more crazy. The water was FREEZING and the wetsuit didn't do a great job of keep the water out. The moment we got into water, cold chilling water seeped into our wetsuits, sending shivers down our entire bodies. But it was cool...I liked the feeling of being wet as opposed to the dry where I felt utterly uncomfortable squeezed in the tight as wetsuit.

We trudged on, walking against the current, sometimes swimming against the current with the help of the side walls as guidance to pull our bodies onwards. Our finger tips started getting numb and grabbing on to the rough walls became a painful process as the roughness of each tiny protruding sharp edge amplified.

At some points, we had to go through tiny waterfalls, which collapsed heavily on us as we made our way through it. The guides' voices "Reach here! Reach here!" drowned beneath the loud clashing of the water against the rocks.



Picture: Waterfalls Galore!

The other 2 girls could not swim as well, one couldn't swim at all, so the guides and friends had to assist them in getting across parts where swimming was required and for many activities, they sat out, waiting for us at the other end. These were the activities that made the tour worth every single penny I paid for!

We did several big jumps from a considerable height to the deep waters below. With the help of the guides, we climbed up some rock walls till we got to this platform and one after the other, on the count of three, we jumped down, plunging into the waters below. But the fun part was when the turned out the lights! You see, the guides reasoned that it was scarier with the lights on. Coz you can see how far below the water is and how big the jump is...so while counting, they would turn off all lights and it would be pitch black, you don't know when you are going to hit the water. It was so cool. When I did my first jump, when the lights went out, I wasn't prepared. It was so quick, I told the guide to count again. On the second count, I gave it my all and jumped into darkness, a second later, there was a big splash and I found myself swimming to the surface. It was so cool. Then the lights came on and I swam to join the others and waited for others to jump. There were several of these big jumps and I was the only girl among the guys. The other 2 girls sat out as the waited for us. The guides and the other English blokes called me the crazy kiwi!

They reasoned all New Zealanders are crazy! If you realise, NZ has all these crazy activities, like this caving experience, sky diving, bungee jumping and all that. It's high-risk galore, tempting death. And I was the crazy kiwi. One English guy applauded me for my strength and courage as he point out that it's not easy. At some point, he was struggling as well and maybe coz I'm a small sized girl, that made me even more daring.

It was a fantastic experience and to cut the story short - I can go on and on as you can see from above, but anyway, when we finally came out of the caves, it was getting dark and we hiked another 20 minutes on dry land back to our car. I felt so disgustingly dirty. When you are in the caves, doing all that activity in the water, you don't feel dirty, but the moment you get to dry land, the disgusting wetness, together with the squishing of water in our boots with every step we took made it yickish. I felt so dirty and who wouldn't, after 7-8 hours of trekking.

It was 6.30pm when we went back to the shack, where we showered and got freshen-up before heading back down for dinner. The steak was great, food was good...feeling clean and dry was even more fantastic - the sane Raine returned.

After dinner, James and I decided not to hang in Waitomo, deciding to drive on to Taupo straight, finding a hotel there and sleeping in the next day...so I rang up a few hotels and booked our accommodation. We travelled along the PITCH BLACK country roads - he drove of course, I'm not comfortable with driving at night while he likes driving at night - and only got to Taupo at 10pm.

Day 5, Wednesday 15th June

We woke up at 9.30am (slept in a little) and rushed to pack as we had to check out of the hotel at 10am. We headed over to the information centre to enquire about activities in Taupo and Rotorua. We actually wanted to do an activity (keeping it a secret for later) but because the sky wasn't looking too clear, we postponed that for Thursday and instead, we went to sit the Huka Jet. It was a half an hour speed boat ride and the boat did several 360 degree turns. It was heaps fun, but we came out all drenched and dripping wet. I wasn't too bad coz I wasn't at the edge, but James got drenched. He looked like he peed in his pants!



Picture: Huka Falls and Us

We also went to a thermal wonderland on our way up to Rotorua, apparently the most colourful thermal park in Rotorua. It was alright, but the sulphur smell was a straight turn off.



Picture: Stinky Sulphur!

We arrived in Rotorua, checked in to the Millenium Hotel (James is high-maintenance) and after resting for a while, we left for dinner. We were having Hangi for dinner. That's the Maori way of preparing food. It was a complete package, including a bus ride up to the Tamaki Maori Village, we had several performances, which included Maori singing and dancing before having our buffet dinner. It was a great and authentic experience. By 8.30pm, we were back at the hotel. James was tired and went off to bed after watching Lost at 9.30pm while I went for a spa and swim. I was aching from the previous day's LOST WORLD EPIC, I wanted to stretch my limbs so that I wouldn't ache so much. Also, I had not swum in ages, so it was real nice getting into a heated pool, having the pool to myself.

Last Day, Thursday 16th June

We woke up early, at around 8am that day after a nice comfortable sleep in a 5 star hotel, checked out, had breakfast at the big M and headed back to Taupo for our last exciting activity and also the most expensive one!

We got there just in time. This was one activity I have been looking forward to all my life and one that's on my death bed check-list.

What is it?? Let me answer with a question. What involves paying a lot of money to jump out of a plane?

Bingo!! I've always wanted to SKY DIVE. I was so looking forward to it. I wasn't scared at all. I was so PSYCHED!! We signed up for the 12,000 feet jump (there was 3 options: 9,000 feet, 12,000 feet, or 15,000 feet which is oxygen assisted in the plane). After watching the first group depart, we started thinking. James said that even if he has done the 12,000 feet, he'll still want to do the 15,000 feet in future, why not just do it all at once, so it was decided. 15,000 feet it is. The newest and highest sky dive height available. We were also the only ones in our flight group (6 in total) who were doing the 15,000 feet (everyone else did 12,000 feet) and having our own personal cameraman (of course you pay more for that, almost double coz you are paying for the cameraman as well but it's a once in a lifetime experience - so I thought - so totally worth it, got to capture it).

We got all dressed up in our red overalls and ready to go. I was so excited. I couldn't believe it either. I wasn't scared at all. Not that much nervous either. I was more PSYCHED. More excited. I was looking forward to this. I've always wanted to do this and I finally could. I wanted the pink parachute while James wanted the blue. I saw someone come down with a pink one so I knew there was one.



Picture: Red and Ready

Finally, it was almost our turn. My tandem professional diver, Glenn, came to greet me. He wasn't too bad looking...heehee. He was very friendly and nice. Then we all boarded the plane. It was so squeezy! Imagine, there were 6 of us sky diving, which means an additional 6 tandem professional divers, plus James' and my cameraman, that's 14 people squeezed in a tiny plane. It was so cram but that couldn't bother me. I was having fun, even on the plane ride up. The plane just went up and up and I was admiring the scenery of Lake Taupo beneath me, Mount Ruepahu in the distance and the little houses beneath. It was so cool. I was so stunned that I wasn't feeling too nervous.



Picture: There's no turning back from here on out!

We dropped off the 4 others at 12,000 feet, the doors shut and we continued flying up and up and up. This time, the cabin was almost empty except for us. I was jumping first, before James. Glenn and I inched forward to the doors. When we got to the right altitude, my cameraman, Brenty, had lifted up the draw doors. As Brenty climbed outside, I sat myself down at the door. Actually, I wasn't really sitting. My tandem diver was sitting by the door and I was dangling out, attached to him like a siamese.



Picture: Siamese twins - Raine and Glenn

I wasn't even thinking about the jump. The funny thing was, I was more concerned about how I was looking on camera. I was constantly looking at my cameraman! Haha. When you are attached to a professional, you don't have a chance to wimp out and cry and say NO, I want to go back. That was it, no turning back, except that that never occurred to me. I was too psyched to think about the height. I wanted to look good on camera, even when we FELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. It was so fantastic!!!!!!



Picture: FREE FALLINNNGGGGGGG

Glenn was so so so cool. The moment we leaped off the plane, he made us go on a spin. I was twirling upside-down. It was COOOOLLLLLLLLLLL!!! Then we levelled ourselves. The feeling was exhilarating!!! I was having so much fun and I wasn't screaming at all. I thought I would be screaming in fear, "OH MY GOSH, WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?!?!?!" But instead, I was screaming, "OH MY GOSH, THIS IS SO FANTASTIC!!!!" I was actually enjoying myself and my heart didn't feel like it was at my throat (you know like how some amusement park rides are). It was so COOL. The feeling was amazing but a little too short! Thank goodness we decided to go on the 15,000 feet dive, where the free fall is for 1 minute, as opposed to the 12,000 feet 45 second free fall. It wasn't enough.



Picture: WoooooohhHH!!

The moment the parachute came up, I wanted more. It was too short, though the lady down below said it would feel like forever. Nevertheless, the smooth descend (actually not very smooth - read on) was amazing. The scenery was breath-taking - so pretty. And of course, some parts were not so smooth coz Glenn decided to play around, spinning us round and round (using centrifugal force to spin us). It was so cool!!

The irony: I got the blue parachute, James got the pink. Poos!

The moment we touched down, I knew I would be doing it again!!! I LOVE IT!! I want to do it again and I know this won't be a once in a lifetime experience. Plus, it would be cheaper the next time around coz I won't need a cameraman. I can even do it 2 times with the money I spent this time around. The DVD turned out excellent and I had such a ball, that $414 spent on that short 1 minute free fall and 5 minute parachuting was completely worth it!!

I'm really happy with my first sky diving experience!! Anyone planning on going - don't forget to call me! Haha.

After the sky dive, we went back to Taupo to develop the photos. James developed his, I thought I would just wait till I get back up to Auckland to develop it. We had lunch and went to this Volcanic Activity Centre to kill time as we waited for the photos to be developed. After that, we headed back to Auckland, arriving home past 8pm at night. It's good to be home. Miss my lovely bed.

James left that Thursday, on a midnight flight. I've had a fantastic holiday with him, did things I never thought I would ever do (Lost World Epic) - Nic, I recommend this to you, you have to go with your friends, YOU'LL LOVE IT! And I did things I have ALWAYS wanted to do (SKY DIVE). It was an awesome break and on Friday back at work, I was feeling completely recharged!!!

Well...we have reached the end of this blog entry. I apologise for it being so long. Now you have a little taste of the emails Pear and I exchange. Hey babe, this long blog entry is dedicated to you!! Hope the pictures in-between have kept you all entertained.

Complain Queen (said in the Singapore Accent)

Complain 1:
It's so hot. It's so hot. It's so hot. AHH...IT'S SO DAMN COLD! How come reverse psychology doesn't work!! CRY. I'm FREEZING here. I need to go shopping for more long sleeve tops...and buy them in a few sizes so that one layer can be worn over the other loosly so it won't be uncomfortable. LAURA, return me my yellow Rip Curl pullover. I'm freezing here.

Complain 2:
I can only hit golf balls with ONE CLUB: my #7 driver. Just one!! Today, I went to the driving range after work and I started off with the #7 driver and that went well...but basically, I can't seem to get more than 110meters. FRUST! That's such a short distance. Cry...but yes, anyway, I was happy that at least I was hitting well, constant and straight-ish. And then I decided to attempt with the #5 driver. SUCKS. But, with some determination, I stuck to it and kept trying and I did manage to do a little better. Not as constant - which was frustrating at certain points - but it wasn't as bad as *drumroll* ANY OF MY WOODS. I suck at woods. SOB SOB SOB! Everytime I swing, there's this PAK sound (sound of club topping the ball). Normally if you hit it well, you would hear a gorgeous PINGGGGGG. But here's how I sound with my woods as I attempt to improve:

PAK.
PAK.
PAK.
SWOOSH (missing the ball totally).
PAK.
SWOOSH.
PI (a fairly good attempt that got the ball floating JUST above the ground for a distance of about 20 metres).
PAK.
PAK.
PA-SHH (sound of the ball being topped and then hitting the side net of my driving range cubicle).
PAK.
PAK.
PAK.

You get the picture. It's so FRUSTRATING! Every single PAK is one wasted ball. GRRRRR!

Complain 3:
This morning, it was freezing cold and driving is such a pain. Coz my windows are frosted and everytime you use the wiper to wipe it off, it slowly starts fogging up again. ANGRY. So scary as well! Finally, the heater managed to clear it entirely and here comes the next part. In one stretch along the way to work, there was FOG. Actual FOG. I couldn't see beyong 50 metres. At one point it was so bad, I couldn't see beyond 20 metres, which is around 3 cars' length from the traffic light. Can you imagine? You have to eye the front car to make sure you didn't fall back too much until you don't see it coz then you don't know when it brakes or something and you can't go too close either coz you have to be ready to stop anytime. TERRIBLE WEATHER! But, an upside...it was pretty. FOG - you can't see anything, it's like a layer of clouds and you are right in it.

Complain 4:
Well, the day's not over so you never know what other complains I might have.

Pretzels Poozels!!!

Sucks sucks sucks sucks sucks!! Yesterday I went on a mission to find the only pretzel shop in Auckland - yes, I have been eating heaps lately and don't get me started on my weight - today, my main aim is to CRAP about NZ and it's pretzels - or lack there of!

I don't believe it and I am sure you won't believe it too, but the entire Auckland has no pretzels!! Yes...no pretzels...and for you kiwis who think I'm talking about those pretzel biscuits you have with beer, well, that is no standard compared to the REAL PRETZELS! And yes, in the entire Auckland, I have yet to find a place that sells those yummy pretzels, and you'd think ang mohs would know and frequently make those pretzels. HA. This is completely a NZ thing as well because, look, our neighbour, our friendly competition, the Auzzies, they've got those YUMMY PRETZELS - isn't it time the kiwis buck up and do something about it?

Just a couple of days back, I surfed the NZ yellow pages online and guess what? There were two hits when I typed in pretzels (2 hits in the entire NZ, which is like MANY MANY MANY times the size of Singapore and yet Singapore is filled with many pretzel outlets) - one in Auckland and the other in Pauanui. JUST TWO. How pathetic. So what did I do? I followed up on the Auckland hit that sells pretzels: Pretzel Cafe and Restaurant at Blockhouse Bay. Yes, we drove out there to hunt down this pretzel shop and guess what? When we get there, the name of the place has been changed. No longer is it called the Pretzel Cafe and Restaurant, it's now called Jagz Cafe and Restaurant and of course, it no longer sells pretzels! POOH YOU! Hey NZ Yellow Pages...it's time to update your online site don't you think!! Leading people on like that and then *PHLAT*

AHHHHH. I want my pretzels!

Yesterday OT, Today UT...but most importantly...TOMORROW IS THE START TO THE LONG WEEKEND!!!

It's freezing!!! I've got my gloves on, my thick winter jacket, with my hood over my head, a blanket over myself and it's STILL FREAKING COLD!!! HELP!!!

Shivers...

Anyway, according to the LONG title above, yesterday I worked OT ('overtime' for those who don't live in Singapore to know this term)...but it's not coz I had heaps to do. I was helping my colleague out coz she had heaps to do due to the early deadlines and also coz she had to attend to some personal business for 2 hours during office hours. I only got home at 6.30pm, just in time for dinner.

Today, I worked UT (figure it out) just coz it's the long weekend coming up and my manager was being nice. Actually, I reckon it's coz he wanted to leave early. You see, when a long weekend comes up, we have early deadlines for our advertising copy, and on Fridays it kind of gets boring in the afternoon coz the mad rush is over...so basically, I had nothing to do, along with so many other colleagues. I was even sketching when my manager entered our room to inform me and Bish that we can go back if we have finished everything. Oopsy. Haha. It's good getting back a good hour earlier than usual.

Anyway...so now I'm home and in a GETSET-READY-GO mode to welcome the long weekend!! I CAN'T WAIT! This is a long overdue long weekend. I really need a break from my busy life...feeling all psyched up about doing NOTHING over the weekend. Ha...

And to start off this long weekend, I shall go off now and watch a movie right now (on vcd that is - haven't thought which one, but I'll find one) and tonight, I've invited friends to my place for a horror movie - JAPANESE VERSION of THE GRUDGE...hope the turn out will be great!