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!

The Price of Fashion: Unaffordably Painful

Today, I wore my pretty shocking-pink boots and right now, I'm suffering from the repercussions of it! OUCH! My entire feet aches, groans and moans in pain...owwwwwww!

stiletto heels + pointy shoes = mashed toes, sore soles, aching calves, tired legs and PAIN PAIN PAIN with every step taken

And all this just coz I wanted to wear this pair of PINK HEELS. Oh...not to mention the trouble of hunting through mum's closet for a matching top (I'm lacking in work tops...need more) and the picking out of a nice odd pair of earrings to match with the PINK. Yep...all for the sake of fashion...actually, all for the sake of this pair of boots - there was a reason why I haven't worn it for so long and NOW I KNOW.

Actually...it's not as bad as it sounds, I just like to exaggerate a little...makes life a little more interesting.

WINTER Recipe

1) Add many cups of RAIN to a bowl.

2) Stir, spicing the mixture up with several dashes of HAIL in 15 minute intervals.

3) Simultaneously, whip the mixture constantly with CHILLED WIND.

4) Add a couple drops of GLOOMY CLOUDS to darken the entire mixture.

5) To thicken the mixture, throw in a couple cubes of FOG (similar effect to dried ice).

Note: If successful, mixture turns into beautiful white soft bits like cotten candy. Otherwise, mixture remains a cold watery substance.

Why did I take up this job offer?!?!?!?!

I'M FREEZING MY ARSE OFF ON THIS JOB!! LITERALLY!!

In fact, I'm not only freezing my arse off, I'm freezing my fingers numb, my brain stale and my internal organs as well!!!

How did I end up with this job??? I couldn't just settle for an office job, I couldn't just end up with a job that requires me to be cooped up in front of the computer all day long, my arse on a nice warm chair in a nice heated environment. No...I had to take up a job that requires me to go in and out of the office (sometimes spending even more time outdoors than in the office)...taking photos of cars, boats, houses, everything!! IN WINTER. IN THE RAIN. IN THE HAIL. IN THE WIND. *See recipe above* Okay, you don't hear me complaining during summer coz when it's summer, it's so gorgeous outside, I can't wait to take a drive in my baby and get out of the office, but when winter comes - which I offically announce is TODAY - it becomes a PAIN IN MY ARSE!

It was just freezing freezing today and can you imagine poor little Lorraine, braving the rain and wind so that she can get all the pictures she needs...and trust me, it's not easy balancing an umbrella (which reminds me I need to buy myself a big PINK golf umbrelly) with a camera in the other...and throw in a couple of number fingers - not good at all!!!

SOB...poor me huh!! Well...now I'm comfy at home (my manager decided to give all of us an earlier day - to drive safely and slowly home), under my pink Playboy blanket, with my thick jacket on, my nice comfy track pants and GLOVES. Ahhhh...beautiful!

Oh...one more thing to put into perspective...Mondays are the busiest for me, with 3 or more car yards on average and many other places to go - BAD BAD BAD start to the week!!

God on my side!

Today, I went to work ON time (thought I would go in earlier but it isn't a morning if it's not rushed right?) and the computer screen was turned off. Still as it was the day before. I feared to turn it on and usually my assistant manager would turn it on, but somehow, she "sensed" my anxiety and dragged on, hanging in the kitchen making her coffee and just dragging time on and on. It was killing me coz I was dying to see if it's still frozen or it solved itself.

She turned it on.

Anticipation.

The screen was still frozen. I was dying of anticipation at this point, so Bish and I went out to see if the computer was okay - which is wasn't. Screen still frozen and mouse making funny sounds when it's moved. We told Julie that it was this way last night when we left. And so Julie pressed the reset button...









Thank you so much God.

Computers Hate Me

It's true, it's a fact of life...I should just resign to this fact and live with it...but I never ever learn my lesson. Each time the computer displays it's hate, I scream, kick up a big fuss, have a major arguement with it which kind of goes like "I HATE YOU, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE NICE TO ME" and the next day, we are back to square one, using the computer, in anticipation for it's next big fuss.

Today was one of THE DAYS. It was nearing the end of the day at work, I was using the work computer to view and save some pictures I had taken in the earlier part of the afternoon and just as I closed the program, I must have clicked one too many or something, I can't remember, but the entire screen froze on me, except for the mouse, which made this funny sound when moved. I don't know what happened and it scares me. It's work property and I'm afraid I'll get into trouble if something does go wrong. But then again, it's about time to change our computer. We have a new hard drive waiting to replace the current one and a new camera card reader as well, which will be changed tomorrow, but right now, I am just worried that the screen will be frozen come morn.

Bish, my colleague told me to just turn the monitor off and solve it tomorrow if the screen is frozen, which he thinks won't be. He thinks it'll all work itself out and be okay. I really hope that's the case! I am so worried. I knew it was about time a computer threw it's fit on me...I knew it but WHY TODAY, WHY AT WORK. If it was at home, even though I would be much more abusive to the computer, but at least I know that it's only money to replace it (last resort) and the only people I have to face is family - not as scary as having to face my managers and run the risk of having the whole hard drive erased - loads and loads of important stuff, though I have this feeling that everything is saved on a server anyway, not on the hard drive itself.

The whole way home, I prayed to God to help me solve my situation, to get me out of this fix...and I am supposed to pray as if I have received it, but it's hard. It's hard to think, to put my mind at ease, that everything will be okay come morning because God will help me solve it. Nevertheless, I am ever so thankful that at least I know I have, beside me, an almighty and powerful God who can do anything, who is taking care of me, watching over me 24/7, especially when I need a miracle (like this one) - I know I always blow things out of proportion, making them seem more serious that it is - especially with my computer troubles, But at least I have Him to depend upon and I know God will answer my prayers in His own special way.

Will keep you posted tomorrow about how I managed to wriggle my way out of this work situation.

My newest dream: become a Regional Bank Manager or...

Oh...I completely forgot to blog about my current, newest dream.

That is, to become a bank regional manager!!

Why? Well...on Sunday, we met this friend of a friend. She and her husband just moved over to NZ because her husband got posted to NZ (he’s a regional bank manager) and they'll be over here for about 3 years.

Why do I want to become a regional bank manager? Well…coz the lady we met (her husband had to go to Sydney for business - LUCKY), she told amazing stories of her life!!!

Where should I start? I don't know where to start...hmz...let's start with her husband's job, the regional bank manager!! They get to travel around the world!! It's so amazing and I think I would absolutely suit this life...travelling and experiencing the amazing different cultures. And everytime they live in a place, it's for a couple of years, or more...(oh, forgot to intro, she's an Indonesian and he's Irish, and they have a son who's 17 years old - MIXED) but anyway, back to the countries they've lived in. I am not sure how many different countries, but I think they have lived in the UK, I think at one point in time, LA was involved as well coz she mentioned something about teaching in LA to an American student (oh sorry for being so incoherent, but she's a hypnotist - is that how they spell it - and she specialises in teaching others how to become hypnotists or something along that lines - it's to do with health and getting into people's minds to solve their personal problems) and they have lived quite a few years in Singapore, where their son attended a local school...and then they moved to Hong Kong for several years (I would love to visit Hong Kong one day) and previously, they have been living in Japan for the past three years (Japan - JAPAN - need I say more!!), until now, New Zealand!! Amazing. She sold me on UK - classy life, Hong Kong - shopping life, and Japan - interesting and funky life. If Korea was involved, I would be SCREAMING for that job NOW!!!

Anyway...now that I have laid the foundation to the many many many countries they have lived in and I believe many more to come, I shall now go on to say why I would love this...I have always been interested in this sort of lifestyle...travelling around the world, living in a place for more than a year because anything shorter and you wouldn't really pick up any new language or feel any attachment, but if it's for more than a year, the experience would be different and I would love to live in many different countries and actually experience the culture and meet many different kinds of people from all the different walks of life. I really think it would be so cool. And I have always said I want my children to experience school in many different places because it's always been my dream to study in a Korean High School, mix with Japanese classmates, join the cheerleading squad in an American High and hang with jocks, attend an English school and learn french. I just think it would be such an eye opener and such an amazing experience (my personal feeling when I was still schooling) and as I reasoned, if I feel this way and dream of such an experience, my children would probably be the same as well...you think? But I know reality is different from dreams...afterall, when you get to a new place, you have to make friends all over again and it is really hard - take it from me who went straight to 7th Form, from Singapore to NZ - and your learning would be disrupted because when you get to a new country, you have to learn new things, get used to the education system and maybe even pick up a new language. It's not easy unless you are a very BRIGHT child - well, I wouldn't mind having a bright child, who wouldn't! Back to this couple...well, because of the amount of travelling that is required on the job, at the age of 11, when they moved to Hong Kong, their son was sent to a boarding school in UK...kind of sad, I know, but hey, with their salaries, their son travels to and fro during breaks and hols - LUCKY! They see each other about 6 to 8 times a year she informed.

Now on to the life of an expatriate...company perks - like a company car, accomodation provided - mostly gorgeous houses, a secured job - if done well, visiting many different countries - lifetime experience, and lastly, a BIG FAT SALARY - need I say more!!!

Wow...listening to her go on about her life in luxury is amazing. She isn't spoilt or like those classy rich people who put on aires, she appears to be like everyone of us, but her life...OOH. I have to go on. She always had servants waiting after her...in Hong Kong, in that small house (Hong Kong houses are not very big due to massive population in a small area), she had 2 servants, in Singapore as well and when she went over to Japan, she brought along her servant as well - LUCKY, I would love to go Japan!! But when she came over to NZ, her servant met someone and didn't want to come with her, so she has to look for someone to help around the house...and know what's her reasoning? She doesn't like to make her bed in the morning, she wants someone to do that for her -"that's like you," mum points to me - and she wants someone to cook for them...she says she likes cooking, but not everyday - ME ME ME...oh that reminds me, I need to start learning how to cook, me not getting any younger.

WOW...I would love to be a Regional Bank Manager and travel around the world - oh, or better - I would love to marry a Regional Bank Manager. Hee.

Update: Newest dream as of 11pm, 24th May 2005 - Marry a Regional Bank Manager.

Breezing Through, Keeping Up

Today, compared to Friday was such a breeze at work. I only had 2 car yards to visit and the workload wasn't overwhelming. It was nice to just be able to sit at my desk and twidle my thumbs...I even had time to sort of the copy envelops (kind of like filing or admin stuff which really isn't what my 3 year degree with double majors trained me for, but neither is my coordinator job, well, sort of not). Anyway, my point was, while I was sorting out the envelops, even though it was mundane stuff, nothing that requires brainworks, but compared to the hectic Friday, I prefered today. I'm suck a lazy person huh.

Anway, right now, I am just sitted in front of the television (body facing the television) trying to multitask. I have so many shows that I need to watch - got it all down on tape:

1) Charmed - last Tues (watching it halfway now)
2) Joey - last Wed
3) Scrubs - last Wed
4) Lost - last Wed
5) America's Next Top Model - last Fri
6) The OC - last Fri

That's a total of 5 hours...and well...I have to finish watching Charmed by tomorrow so I can be updated for tomorrow's episode, and the same for Joey, Scrubs and Lost for Wednesday and so on...BUSY BUSY BUSY.

Oh...adverts finished...back to the show (goes to show what an expert I am at multitasking).

**TADAH**

Haha...doesn't my new blog layout look pretty? (Ego glowing and growing)

I spent FOREVER on it...well...actually, I started hunting for a new template on Friday night. I had a rough idea of how I want my blog laid out, but I needed some help on coding so I thought I will just download some template and modify it from there...but Friday night was pretty unproductive...I hunted through the thousands of blogskins available for me to download and only managed to narrow it down to about 8 that would suit what I had in mind, but still, the perfect one wasn't among them. I gave up at around 3am on Saturday morning, heading off to bed. Oh, while I was surfing for blogskins, I was also chatting, which might have contributed to the delay.

Last night, I started designing my blog (actually doing something about it and now just looking and browsing the web) after watching 3 korean vcds at around 11.30pm. Oh did I mention, we have started watching a new korean drama serial - Stairway to Heaven - sounds tragic doesn't it? And I worked on it and chatted and worked on it till 3am again...and this time, it was almost done, except that I wanted to add a quote (see that quote at the top left hand corner of the blog). It took me forever to find a nice quote and I am still not satisfied with this quote...what I really want is to draw significance to the picture of me (yea, Jas, tsk tsk for not realising it was me), sitting there staring out into the horizon, and link it to memories and of course, I wanted it to be a credible quote or something sophisticated or pro-sounding. Not as easy as I thought...I don't believe there's no quote out there about the feeling of nostalgia or memories that links with the horizon or the beach...or something along those lines, but guess it's not so easy to find. I'll keep looking but this quote from Olivia will have to do for the time being, I guess.

Okay, time for another round of 2 korean drama episodes! Ta ta everyone!

The beauty of peace at the end of every day...

Today, I woke up thinking it would be a boring Friday. My Thursdays and Fridays at work are quite boring, but today, I was proven wrong...a quiet day turned out to be the busiest (maybe not the busiest coz I had time to eat my lunch unlike a couple of other days I've had).

This morning, I was supposed to go to a client's place at 9am to take some photos for a half page ad...but because they had not signed the booking form, nothing was confirmed, so I waited and finally at around 9.30pm, my sales rep to inform me that the ad was cancelled and I thought - well, that's it for me for the day since that was the only big thing I had scheduled for that day...

I was wrong...I was enlightened by the other sales coordinator that Mano wasn't coming in to work that day and we had to split his work between the both of us as she has quite a bit to do as well...so I gladly agreed to take on any job - didn't intend to spend my day sitting at my desk twirling my pen - not my style.

Bring it on!

King Kong Furniture - HELP!! Did I say bring it on? I meant bring on something else...but it was too late...at 10am, the client rang to ask if anyone was coming down to do the ad for Thursday's paper (that's for the 26th of May) and since I was given the responsibility of doing the King Kong Ad, I took the call and in 10 minutes, I met the client down at his shop.

History: I have done King Kong in the past (twice in fact to help Mano out) and for both times, it had been pretty stressful and I remember it was the days I had to do the King Kong Ad that I skipped lunch.

But I never expected today's curve ball. I spent 2 HOURS at my client's...he was disorganised!!! He had not planned ahead what he wanted to put into the ad and when I arrived, I stood around waiting for instructions while he flipped through his sale list and looked around the store as he mumbled "I have no clue what to put in the ad". THANK YOU VERY MUCH for all that preparation. I thought at least with him actually ringing up to ask if anyone was coming down, he would have been prepared - but no...on the contrary...but it had been like that for that past 2 times I went in...so I wasn't expecting anything more...

The thing was, I have never ever spent 2 hours at King Kong before...the most was an hour and a bit...but not 2 hours. We were just taking photos and getting details written down...I still had to return to the office and draft up the ad as well as write the instructions for production to make up the ad. I knew my afternoon wasn't look pleasant...but I was optimistic!

After King Kong, I popped into the nearest Big M for a nice choc sundae treat for my huge effort and headed back to office, arriving just after 12 noon, an hour later than I had expected. I had other stuff to do as well...just little pieces of work lying on my desk, needing to be done. It only took me 20 minutes to finish those and I got on to King Kong at around 1pm, thinking I can finish it in an hours time and I'll have a relaxing afternoon to help Ruby with the other work...but I was wrong. I underestimated the time taken for the King Kong Ad and by the time I had finished all the copy and instructions, it was nearly 3pm. I was relieved that it was done, in time for the 4pm courier man to arrive and pick it up to take it back to productions.

I had a quick lunch, knowing that I had other ad copies to do and photos to send. After the 15 minute break, I was back at my desk, writing out instructions for 2 other ads that I had to do (quick 10 minute copies)...that wasn't too bad...but then...*berampambish*

My manager informed me that because one client drew out (this was that client whose photos I had to take at 9am but got cancelled), there was a FULL PAGE space in the Tuesday's Manukau Courier (24th of May) and guess who decided to take up this flick ad opportunity? (Flick Ads are where the full page ads are priced cheaply because the space needs to be filled up.)

KING KONG!!! And this time, in FULL PROCESS COLOUR!!! So I had to ring up the client and find out details - hopefully convince him to use the same sale items in the Thursday's ad so I didn't need to write up more instructions, but I still had to write new instructions for colour.

COLOUR - the major complication. Why? Let me enlighten you in bullet points so that I don't confuse all of you who are reading - you are probably confused already with all these work terms and good on you if you are still hanging on here, won't be long now!

1) King Kong's past few ads are in black and white
2) Their last colour ad was in Nov '94 - VERY LONG AGO
3) Thursday's ad (the one I finished at 3pm this afternoon after a painstaking morning) is in black and white
4) Tuesday's ad (the one I was JUST informed about) is in COLOUR
5) Thursday's ad required some pictures of sale items to be lifted from a previous black and white ad - STILL OKAY coz Thursday's ad is black and white as well
6) Tuesday's ad had the same items as the Thursday's - but just IN COLOUR. The 27 pics I had taken this morning are okay since they are taken in colour, but for 6 pics that I had to lift from a previous ad which were saved as black and white - BIG PROBLEM!!!
7) Time check: 3.40pm then.
8) Last Courier man e.t.a: 4pm
9) COMPLICATION: Had to write up new COLOUR instructions in 20 minutes so that I could get this Tuesday's ad copy to production via the last courier pick up of the day.
10) PROBLEM: Had to go back to client's shop to take 6 more COLOURED pics of missing items.

Anyway, I managed to, with the help of a colleague and the patience of the courier man, get the ad copy and instructions done and cared off by 4.10pm. Then I rang the client to ask if I could come down and take more pics.

TWIST: Client credit failed. King Kong had outstanding owing amount of $8000 still haven't paid so Accounts declined this new ad for Tuesday. WONDERFUL ain't it? After all that hard work and rush, all washed down the drain - at least I don't need to go down to the shop and take more pics.

ADDED I.T. PROBLEMS at 4.30pm: As if my situation couldn't get any worse, Ruby was in the process of sending pictures from our computer to production's computer. And recently, we have been experiencing some problems with our camera card drive...after Ruby has used the camera card drive to load photos, when I insert my camera card after she has used it, the hard drive cannot be opened and my photos can't be found. The only way to go around this problem is to SHUT DOWN the computer and start it up again. NO CAN DO. She was transfering photos...I couldn't possibly shut down the computer...so I waited and waited and waited for her transfer process to finish. 4.45pm - TRANSFER COMPLETE.

SHUT DOWN.

START UP.

It was 4.50pm when I started sorting through the pictures I took this morning, opening each picture and saving each picture under it's unique identification number so that production would be able to insert them into the right positions. This is a relative tedious process as it involves:
1) Brightening the picture (if the picture is in poor light)
2) Saving the picture into the transfer file:
C:\>PHOTOS > PHOTOFILE folder >TRANS folder >photo identification number.
SAVED.
3) Repeat this saving process with the remaining 27 pics!

Bish, my colleague accompanied me coz he didn't want me working alone...I FINALLY finished at 5.10pm!! WORKED 10 MINUTES OVERTIME!!!

We hit the transfer button and turned off the monitor screen and headed home.

That was the end of my busy day...ABOUT TIME!! It was enough drama for the day I reckon...but the beauty of it? Yes, in all that mad rush and under that immense stress, there is still beauty...the beauty of peace when I leave my work place, not needing to bring anything home with me, being able to leave everything at work and come home to peace and quiet...not needing to worry about anything, and not having "homework", UNLIKE UNI and that's why, despite all that stress during the day, I still prefer working than studying...just simply because I have time to destress every evening, unlike studying, a definite 24-7 job.

I got married to someone I never expected!!

AHHHHH, I got married...




...in my dreams! Silly you if you actually believed me, but honestly, having MY wedding in a dream is just as real and I think, much more freaky then real life coz it gets you thinking deeper into what the dream could mean...

So lets drift into dreamland as I take you along to my wedding day.

It was a pretty day and the church wedding bells were ringing - okay okay...let's cut the crap and get straight to the point of who my future husband was...

You know in life (I'm getting there, BE PATIENT!), there are just some guys that you will never ever consider...as in, like...each person has a certain attraction to some type of person and to others, all they are to them are friends. You know what I mean? Like take for example you are walking along the street and (okay, this may sound solely on superficial appearances but) you walk by many different looking guys (or girls to you males out there) and some guy's just catch your attention and make you look twice, while others just drift by as a shadow walking by. What I am getting here is that there are certain friends of yours you will never ever consider as a possible 'husband-cy' candidate, let alone boyfriend. And that night when I had that dream (it was a couple of nights ago but I realised my blog needed serious juicing up so today, being not so lazy, I decided I would share with the world my good news), my husband turned out to be someone I knew or more like someone I ONCE knew more than 5 years ago in Singapore, someone who I have never ever considered, and someone I don't even talk to right now or even in Singapore, I don't think I have ever had a proper convo with him before because I just don't know him and he's not in my age group. Maybe a few 'hi's and 'how's it's but that's about it as far as our friendship goes. He's not even a someone I would think about from time to time - not even once in a blue moon (not once since I moved here to NZ 4 years ago, until just a few days ago) - unlike some other guys who would pop up in my memories once in a while, just wondering how they are doing in life. So yes, it was a massive shock when I discovered that he was my husband. Even in the dream, it felt weird.

You would think when you are in a dream, eveything feels real and events happen as it does...no weirdness...but the funny thing was, I was weirded-out (in my dream) when I found myself standing beside my husband on our wedding day. So the dream proceeds on as we walk down the aisle - ra ra ra (as it does) - and somehow, after all that, it cuts to the next scene (or rather I can only remember the next scene) where it's the evening event or something after the wedding service and exchanging of vows...he went off to mingle with his friends, and I went off to socialise with mine and after entertaining for a while, we found ourselves side by side. I look up at him (he's a real tall guy in real life and in my dream, he was 2 feet taller, towering over me) and he looked down at me and I gave a smile, thinking to myself, "this is my husband" (it's suppose to be romantic at that time coz it's our wedding day and we are newly weds and all that) and I slipped my arms around his waist as you would to the man that you love and - this feeling is actually from me, the bride, in my dream - I just looked up at this guy standing beside me, my husband and I had this sense of doubt like "I don't know him well at all (as it is in real life) and I'm married to him??" And it was just a very funny feeling...not a feeling you would get when you marry someone you love...it was more like a feeling from the real me, yet I was still in my dream if you get what I mean. It's like the real me felt the weirdness while the dreamland me was still dreaming about my wedding day. It's a little hard to describe, like the real me was in the dream for that split second, like I detached from reality and submerged into my dream for that second to realise the weirdness before the dream self too over and I think I woke up then...feeling all weird and laughing to myself at this hilarious dream.

Then the more I thought back to the dream, the more questions started to surface...what does this mean? Yes, it was a nice wedding, but my wedding? I'm thinking of getting married? And to him? Was there a reason behind this? Why him?

I realised - oh this dream was Friday night - that throughout the whole of Friday, while at work, I was wondering how much an entire wedding would cost...and how much I would have to save...you see, it all makes sense (except the 'him' part) coz on Thursday, Mason, a colleague of mine, came up with this money making scheme, where we were to put $50 away every week into a savings account with a 6% interest rate and leave the money, compounding the interest, and after 10 years, you would have around $40,000 and in 30 years, $400,000+...and also coz a couple days back, in read in one of our local courier papers, this lady had her wedding photos stolen and it cost her around $4000 for that album and she was pleading with the theives to return it...that was all she wanted and I just went "$4000!!!" Goodness, that's insane and that's when I took up an interest into how much my wedding would cost, looking like I didn't want to hire a dress but have mine tailor-made and the reception and all that and if a pro photo album costs around $4000 or more, plus a bridal gown - NOT CHEAP - yikes...I am staring at an over $10k figure and on Friday, it didn't help that I had nothing much to do and that's why I took up the wedding section of the Aucklander (a special feature) that was left on our common table to read...and I guess, after putting two and two together, I now realise why I dreamt about marriage that night...

But I'm still baffled as to "WHY HIM"? Please, if anyone out there can explain...please do!

P.S. Even if I tell you his name, all of you guys wouldn't have a clue who he is coz he's not someone I know well enough and really linked into my life for me to talk about.

Bored Bored Bored

I'm Bored Bored Bored...

Here I am, on a Sunday night and it's only 9.20pm...I'm SO BORED! Wish I could do something...meet someone...get out of this house...

Or maybe I could sleep - but it's so early!!

BORED!

Tears of Cheers to Mon Pere and Ma Mere

Beautiful photos for memories sake...

Loving parents who'd do anything for their daughters...

I'm very blessed.