BUT WAIT...
We can't forget the famous pitch!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Going for a Job Interview
"Are you going for a job interview?" was the first question my immediate superior asked when he saw me yesterday, followed by a compliment, "Chic outfit."
Chic?
Blouse - Black sleeveless blouse (Joop) with ruffles at the front and thin belt (MNG) around the waist
Skirt - Black pencil skirt (G2000)
Jacket - Normal black blazer (G2000).
*I always have a blazer at work, just in case I feel cold. In yesterday's case, I was falling sick and wanted to keep warm.
Another boss who heads the Bangladesh office added, "Yes, whenever my staff comes to work well dressed, I'd tell them 'Good luck for your interview'."
If wearing a simple office outfit gives them a potential interview impression, then can you imagine how slack we are with our work attire?
So today, I'm wearing a simple puff-sleeved gold blouse, tucked out at the back, and pants that end just above the knee.
No potential interview impression, no compliments.
Chic?
Blouse - Black sleeveless blouse (Joop) with ruffles at the front and thin belt (MNG) around the waist
Skirt - Black pencil skirt (G2000)
Jacket - Normal black blazer (G2000).
*I always have a blazer at work, just in case I feel cold. In yesterday's case, I was falling sick and wanted to keep warm.
Another boss who heads the Bangladesh office added, "Yes, whenever my staff comes to work well dressed, I'd tell them 'Good luck for your interview'."
If wearing a simple office outfit gives them a potential interview impression, then can you imagine how slack we are with our work attire?
So today, I'm wearing a simple puff-sleeved gold blouse, tucked out at the back, and pants that end just above the knee.
No potential interview impression, no compliments.
Monday, March 17, 2008
DJ Raine
I just got a call from a HR personnel from a Radio Station I had applied to. Apparently, there's a job opening for the Advertising and Promotions Executive position at the station and asked if I was interested.
Silly me, I told them I'm currently engaged with a job (which is true), and so I wasn't interested. BUT!!!!!!! That's with a Radio Station! HOW MANY SUCH OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU GET?
However, I'm deducing from that job title that my job scope isn't as glam as it sounds:
1) I manage on-air advertisements and promotions
2) Maybe I write advertising copy as well
3) As for a DJ, maybe I will be on-air to read out the advertisements, or at those mall promotional events?
EK always reckons that I should go for interviews, find out more about the job, etc. But I'm personally not like that. If I'm commited to one job and I enjoy what I'm doing, why should I confuse myself with another? Then again, here I am all confused...
Have I convinced myself that I've made the right choice by turning down this opportunity? Arggghhhhhh.
Silly me, I told them I'm currently engaged with a job (which is true), and so I wasn't interested. BUT!!!!!!! That's with a Radio Station! HOW MANY SUCH OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU GET?
However, I'm deducing from that job title that my job scope isn't as glam as it sounds:
1) I manage on-air advertisements and promotions
2) Maybe I write advertising copy as well
3) As for a DJ, maybe I will be on-air to read out the advertisements, or at those mall promotional events?
EK always reckons that I should go for interviews, find out more about the job, etc. But I'm personally not like that. If I'm commited to one job and I enjoy what I'm doing, why should I confuse myself with another? Then again, here I am all confused...
Have I convinced myself that I've made the right choice by turning down this opportunity? Arggghhhhhh.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
The Becky Bloomwood in Us
Currently, I'm stuck on Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series. I'm on to my 4th book 'Shopaholic and Sister', and I'm hooked. But I am also utterly appalled at Becky Bloomwood's ability to shop!
On one hand, I love Sophie Kinsella's ability to capture so vividly a shopaholic's mind, and translate it into an easy joyful read. But on the other, I find myself absolutely horrified at Becky Bloomwood's disregard for money, her excuses for purchases and her endless shopping trips. IS SHE FOR REAL? Sometimes, while reading these bits, I get so agitated that I want to shelf the book away. It is a real bimbotic read and perhaps I do feel comforted that I'm not such an extreme shopaholic, but I simply can't imagine such a woman exists. I've asked myself what I'm doing, wasting my time with this series, but yet, I can't put it down. I'm hooked.
How does the Financial Journalist Becky Bloomwood afford all the things she has?
How does Becky Bloomwood recover from Bankruptcy, and still get the guy?
How does Becky Bloomwood, with 2 weddings scheduled on the same day, turn it all around in 2 weeks? Without cancelling either! (She has a hell of a brain, that girl!)
Every book of this Shopaholic series has a major twist at the end, and you don't see it coming. In every book, Becky Bloomwood falls into her own shopaholic trap all over again and emerges triumphant, and you think she'd learn from it! But no matter how much I claim these books are 'bimbotic' and there's no one like Becky Bloomwood, in every book, there are not only shopping tips, but life tips for everyone.
1) You can't be bankrupt unless you've sold all your assets, and by assets, we also mean Denny & George scarves.
2) Every purchase is an investment. Buying 40 mugs while on a holiday means you'll never need to buy mugs for the rest of your life!
3) Always keep an emergency credit card glued to the back of your compact powder case. Your boyfriend/ husband will never find it! It's better to replace your compact powder case, than to miss the opportunity to own a rare 2000 Euros Angel Bag.
4) Always think entrepreneurial. Who says horse saddles need to be hard. If Becky Bloomwood was a horse-saddle designer, she'd make them soft, comfy, with furry cushions and drink holders.
5) Don't be narrow-minded. You can look smart wearing a cosarge, even if they are meant for horses.
6) Don't ever worry about having not enough luggage space. You can always Fedex!
There are plenty more where those came from! I'm inspired to learn a little from Becky Bloomwood. Are you?
On one hand, I love Sophie Kinsella's ability to capture so vividly a shopaholic's mind, and translate it into an easy joyful read. But on the other, I find myself absolutely horrified at Becky Bloomwood's disregard for money, her excuses for purchases and her endless shopping trips. IS SHE FOR REAL? Sometimes, while reading these bits, I get so agitated that I want to shelf the book away. It is a real bimbotic read and perhaps I do feel comforted that I'm not such an extreme shopaholic, but I simply can't imagine such a woman exists. I've asked myself what I'm doing, wasting my time with this series, but yet, I can't put it down. I'm hooked.
How does the Financial Journalist Becky Bloomwood afford all the things she has?
How does Becky Bloomwood recover from Bankruptcy, and still get the guy?
How does Becky Bloomwood, with 2 weddings scheduled on the same day, turn it all around in 2 weeks? Without cancelling either! (She has a hell of a brain, that girl!)
Every book of this Shopaholic series has a major twist at the end, and you don't see it coming. In every book, Becky Bloomwood falls into her own shopaholic trap all over again and emerges triumphant, and you think she'd learn from it! But no matter how much I claim these books are 'bimbotic' and there's no one like Becky Bloomwood, in every book, there are not only shopping tips, but life tips for everyone.
1) You can't be bankrupt unless you've sold all your assets, and by assets, we also mean Denny & George scarves.
2) Every purchase is an investment. Buying 40 mugs while on a holiday means you'll never need to buy mugs for the rest of your life!
3) Always keep an emergency credit card glued to the back of your compact powder case. Your boyfriend/ husband will never find it! It's better to replace your compact powder case, than to miss the opportunity to own a rare 2000 Euros Angel Bag.
4) Always think entrepreneurial. Who says horse saddles need to be hard. If Becky Bloomwood was a horse-saddle designer, she'd make them soft, comfy, with furry cushions and drink holders.
5) Don't be narrow-minded. You can look smart wearing a cosarge, even if they are meant for horses.
6) Don't ever worry about having not enough luggage space. You can always Fedex!
There are plenty more where those came from! I'm inspired to learn a little from Becky Bloomwood. Are you?
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Let's talk about Singapore
Did you know that Singapore won the location to host the first ever Youth Olympic Games, held in 2010?
Perhaps you knew that, but did you know that there was a countdown to the announcement? On Thursday, 21st February, a party of 5000 youths, Singapore Idols/ Project Superstars celebrities gathered at the Padang in anticipation of the announcement. I wonder if the organisers/government knew beforehand that we were going to win the bid over Moscow, and hence the party. If Singapore organised the party but didn't win the bid, what would the news headline be? "Disappointed youths leave Padang after loss to Moscow"
Did you know that Singapore will host a race in this year's Formula One Grand Prix?
I'm sure you knew that, it was major news to all sports fans and Singaporeans. But of course, we had to do it differently. Why should we just host a race? Why don't we make it the first street race in Asia? Why don't it be one of three races in the 2008 F1 calendar to run anticlockwise? Even better, why don't the first Formula One Grand Prix in Singapore be Formula One's first ever night race? Singapore and their endless pursuit to break boundaries...it has always got to be the first!
But the biggest news at the moment to hit Singapore is...
Did you know that there had been a security lapse at the Whitley Road Detention Centre, and Singapore's Most Wanted detainee, Mas Selamat bin Katsari, had escaped?
If you didn't, I'm sure the 54,000 'Wanted' posters and leaflets placed in buses, trains, stations, shopping malls, housing estates, customs and other areas would have been sufficient. Many ask: How did that happen? Fingers have been pointing everywhere, Singapore citizens want someone to blame. I am among the naived many who were proud of Singapore's tight security.
He plotted to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, planned an attack on the US Embassy, the American Club and the Singapore American School. But the authorities took 4 hours to inform the public of the escape on 27 February because "there was no imminent danger to the public".
Today, there is a nationwide manhunt, with more than 1,000 police, soldiers, and elite Nepalese Gurkhas searching for him, dogs treking through the forests, posters with his famous face at every corner of Singapore, mobile phone operators send out messages with his picture, and a red alert has been issued, allowing any law enforcement officer among the international police network to arrest him on the spot.
And Deputy Assistant Commissioner Raymond Yeo, who leads the police Special Operations Command (SOC), is worried: "What is more damaging than his escape from the detention centre would be if he managed to escape out of Singapore and issued a victory statement."
Is that all we should be worried about?
Perhaps you knew that, but did you know that there was a countdown to the announcement? On Thursday, 21st February, a party of 5000 youths, Singapore Idols/ Project Superstars celebrities gathered at the Padang in anticipation of the announcement. I wonder if the organisers/government knew beforehand that we were going to win the bid over Moscow, and hence the party. If Singapore organised the party but didn't win the bid, what would the news headline be? "Disappointed youths leave Padang after loss to Moscow"
Did you know that Singapore will host a race in this year's Formula One Grand Prix?
I'm sure you knew that, it was major news to all sports fans and Singaporeans. But of course, we had to do it differently. Why should we just host a race? Why don't we make it the first street race in Asia? Why don't it be one of three races in the 2008 F1 calendar to run anticlockwise? Even better, why don't the first Formula One Grand Prix in Singapore be Formula One's first ever night race? Singapore and their endless pursuit to break boundaries...it has always got to be the first!
But the biggest news at the moment to hit Singapore is...
Did you know that there had been a security lapse at the Whitley Road Detention Centre, and Singapore's Most Wanted detainee, Mas Selamat bin Katsari, had escaped?
If you didn't, I'm sure the 54,000 'Wanted' posters and leaflets placed in buses, trains, stations, shopping malls, housing estates, customs and other areas would have been sufficient. Many ask: How did that happen? Fingers have been pointing everywhere, Singapore citizens want someone to blame. I am among the naived many who were proud of Singapore's tight security.
He plotted to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, planned an attack on the US Embassy, the American Club and the Singapore American School. But the authorities took 4 hours to inform the public of the escape on 27 February because "there was no imminent danger to the public".
Today, there is a nationwide manhunt, with more than 1,000 police, soldiers, and elite Nepalese Gurkhas searching for him, dogs treking through the forests, posters with his famous face at every corner of Singapore, mobile phone operators send out messages with his picture, and a red alert has been issued, allowing any law enforcement officer among the international police network to arrest him on the spot.
And Deputy Assistant Commissioner Raymond Yeo, who leads the police Special Operations Command (SOC), is worried: "What is more damaging than his escape from the detention centre would be if he managed to escape out of Singapore and issued a victory statement."
Is that all we should be worried about?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Finding Passion
You read about them in the newspapers and see their faces in magazines: "From Junior Executive to CEO". And you think to yourself, "Lucky bugger."
I look at the people around me...
A creative director who constantly asks, "What's next for me?"
A peer my age and already co-partner of a company handling $50,000 projects.
A friend who will be entering medical school soon - to become a neurosurgeon.
Budding doctors, corporate lawyers...the list goes on.
And then there's me.
What went wrong for me? Where's my drive to the top? Where's my passion?
I thought I had a sizzle, perhaps a little flame of desire burning inside me. I had my fair share of dreams, but then one day, it all vanished. It's like I had lost one side of my earrings, misplaced a passion somewhere, or subconsciously watered out my flame.
Autopilot.
I've come to settle for what I've got. I don't put my extra effort in, and I cruise on in life without an aim. I'm happy collecting my monthly salary, not asking for anything more. I do wonder what's next for me, but I don't do anything to change it.
I guess I'm learning, but I'm just not taking an active approach to it. I could be asking more questions, reading up on some past presentations, analysing some market figures, or just doing more. Everything is at my disposal, I have access to endless information, but here I am sitting at my desk, writing blog entries, surfing the net, checking emails and everything else except work.
Laziness.
I'm being dishonest if I try to argue I'm not. I can foresee my future. I'm just a girl in the office, carrying out my daily work routine. The clock chimes 6pm and I'm out of the door. I'm still at the same position as I was today, perhaps a $100 pay rise for staying on so long, but I'm still an executive. I'm still doing the same things, not anything more.
I tell myself I'll work harder. Just yesterday, I reminded myself to strive. If you strive, you'll be noticed, and if you slack, you'll also be noticed. At least when a job opportunity comes along or a pay rise is involved, I'd feel like I earned it. If I do not strive and sit here at my desk everyday, not making a difference to the company, I wouldn't expect any raise or promotion.
But life goes on.
It's true. Life goes on. I'll probably have a job, just not a great job. I'll be able to afford my neccessities and the occassional splurge, but nothing luxurious. I'll have a life - I'll be alive.
Stop.
Let's return to my resolve my problem, or the lack of it. Where o where can I find my passion?
Mathematics - Goodness, can I still do those sec 4 trig questions? And then what?
Architecture - Gave up on that before I even attempted it.
Advertising - Tried that and over that.
Marketing - Is it really where my passion lies? If so, shouldn't I be actively learning instead of feeling so empty?
What do they say about a person without passion?
He has "no more value than a candle without a flame or fire without light." (Chuck Gallozzi)
Thanks Chuck! That's awefully comforting!
Can a person without passion ever find passion?
"Passion can be created. Even for things you don’t currently enjoy. By tweaking the activities and pursuits you engage in, you can find a passion for anything.
All it takes is a bit of patience and an open mind." (Scott Young)
I look at the people around me...
A creative director who constantly asks, "What's next for me?"
A peer my age and already co-partner of a company handling $50,000 projects.
A friend who will be entering medical school soon - to become a neurosurgeon.
Budding doctors, corporate lawyers...the list goes on.
And then there's me.
What went wrong for me? Where's my drive to the top? Where's my passion?
I thought I had a sizzle, perhaps a little flame of desire burning inside me. I had my fair share of dreams, but then one day, it all vanished. It's like I had lost one side of my earrings, misplaced a passion somewhere, or subconsciously watered out my flame.
Autopilot.
I've come to settle for what I've got. I don't put my extra effort in, and I cruise on in life without an aim. I'm happy collecting my monthly salary, not asking for anything more. I do wonder what's next for me, but I don't do anything to change it.
I guess I'm learning, but I'm just not taking an active approach to it. I could be asking more questions, reading up on some past presentations, analysing some market figures, or just doing more. Everything is at my disposal, I have access to endless information, but here I am sitting at my desk, writing blog entries, surfing the net, checking emails and everything else except work.
Laziness.
I'm being dishonest if I try to argue I'm not. I can foresee my future. I'm just a girl in the office, carrying out my daily work routine. The clock chimes 6pm and I'm out of the door. I'm still at the same position as I was today, perhaps a $100 pay rise for staying on so long, but I'm still an executive. I'm still doing the same things, not anything more.
I tell myself I'll work harder. Just yesterday, I reminded myself to strive. If you strive, you'll be noticed, and if you slack, you'll also be noticed. At least when a job opportunity comes along or a pay rise is involved, I'd feel like I earned it. If I do not strive and sit here at my desk everyday, not making a difference to the company, I wouldn't expect any raise or promotion.
But life goes on.
It's true. Life goes on. I'll probably have a job, just not a great job. I'll be able to afford my neccessities and the occassional splurge, but nothing luxurious. I'll have a life - I'll be alive.
Stop.
Let's return to my resolve my problem, or the lack of it. Where o where can I find my passion?
Mathematics - Goodness, can I still do those sec 4 trig questions? And then what?
Architecture - Gave up on that before I even attempted it.
Advertising - Tried that and over that.
Marketing - Is it really where my passion lies? If so, shouldn't I be actively learning instead of feeling so empty?
What do they say about a person without passion?
He has "no more value than a candle without a flame or fire without light." (Chuck Gallozzi)
Thanks Chuck! That's awefully comforting!
Can a person without passion ever find passion?
"Passion can be created. Even for things you don’t currently enjoy. By tweaking the activities and pursuits you engage in, you can find a passion for anything.
All it takes is a bit of patience and an open mind." (Scott Young)
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day!
Happy Valentine's Day
&
Happy 3rd Anniversary, Shoppa-Fcuk-Aholic!!
Goodness, it's been 3 years since I've kept a blog? That's such an accomplishment!
As
Goodness, it's been 3 years since I've kept a blog? That's such an accomplishment!
As
suggests..."May we grow old together!"
Family Time
Over the Chinese New Year period while everyone was busy with shopping for new clothes, spring cleaning, reunion dinner preparations and so on...where have I been?
I was busy shopping for new clothes, shoes, etc - not for me, but for my family in NZ. While everyone was spring cleaning, I was busy packing my 25kg luggage + 4kg fragile luggage + 5kg handcarry packed with Chinese New Year goodies. While everyone returned to Singapore for reunion dinner, I was fleaing out of the country for my reunion dinner in NZ.
The real holiday started on Friday, 1st February. The whole time at work, my chest literally felt like it was bursting with excitment. I felt like my heart could not contain the anticipation and I actually found it hard to breath.
At 10 minutes to 6pm, I dashed out of the office and grabbed a cab home. It was 6.40pm when I arrived him, my flight was at 9.05pm, meaning I should have been at the airport around 7.05pm for check-in. I leaped into the shower and back out in 5 minutes and did my last bit of packing before speeding off to the airport, arriving at 7.15pm.
My flight to NZ was fantastic. I think the guy at the check-in counter at Singapore airport was really nice to me as both flights from Singapore to Brisbane and then Brisbane to Auckland, I had the entire row to myself.
When I arrived in NZ, my family exchanged big welcome hugs and we headed home - our new home.
The first word that came to my mouth while touring the beautiful new house - WOW.
I think I said 'WOW' about 20 times while I was showed around, from the living room, to the kitchen, to the bedrooms. I LOVED IT.
After the tour, it was presents time. We gathered in the living room and I distributed all the goodies to my family members. I'd have to say out of everything I bought them, only 1 pair of heels for my sis didn't fit.
That evening, Aunty Mary came by and we went out for Vietnamese dinner.
On Sunday after church, we left on our roadtrip. 1st stop was Rotorua. The main idea was to patronise the spa pools, but we ended up finding a motel with sizeable jacuzzi spa in our unit and we settled for that. The next morning, we headed to Matamata to visit Hobbiton...
And after the tour, we moved on to Tauranga for the night. On Tuesday, we took a detour to a lavender farm and then PANCAKES. However, pancakes were a disappointment as they must have changed management/ cook. The pancake base was thick and it wasn't as appetising as it was last time. Such a waste.
That Tuesday evening, I met my usual uni group of friends for dinner. It was nice catching up with them. We retreated to my place for more hanging out.
On Wednesday, Chinese New Year eve and also Waitangi Day in NZ (meaning it's a public holiday), we didn't go far. In the morning, we went shopping for ingredients for our steamboat, and went shopping after that. In the afternoon, we came home to prepare for our yummy yummy steamboat. Once again, we bought too many ingredients and had plenty of leftovers...
Thursday morning, we took a short drive in the morning up North to the Honey Centre, where we had delicious pies and bought honey products. Then, we did a little shopping at another new mall that has been built in Auckland, before returning home to prepare for our feast. Mum had invited 8 of her colleagues over to our place for a homecooked asian dinner. That late afternoon, Laura and I made delicious and very successful nutella cupcakes!
And mum cooked up a storm to serve her colleagues from different nationalities. We had Singaporeans (us), Philippino, South Africans, Kiwi, French, and Indians!!! We served curry chicken, marinated grilled chicken wings, mix vegetables with tofu, satay and pork balls.
On Friday morning, we went west to a black-sand beach, pitched a mini-tent and had fish and chips. Though the sand was far far too hot (especially when it's black) and the noon sun was scorching, it was a beautiful day to be out by the beach. Out of all the short trips we did this holiday, I loved this the most.
That afternoon, we came home and soaked in the nice jacuzzi in our gorgeous master-bathroom.
On Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of bed to meet dad and mum at the church's barn sale. Instead of helping around, I went for breakfast and a nice wake-up mochaccino. Then, we did more grocery shopping - I was throwing a bbq that evening with my friends.
After lunch, dad and I went to the driving range for a short while and in the evening, I busied myself with preparation for the bbq. The turnout wasn't as big as we had expected, but the boys were big eaters so we didn't end up with too much leftovers.
On Sunday after church, we had lunch at The Coffee Club (NZ version), a little bit of shopping, and lazed around at home that day.
In the evening, I met Soon Yi, my korean friend who used to teach me Korean, for dinner.
Monday came around. For lunch, we had yummy pizzas and for dinner, mongolian bbq buffet. It was a very full day! We spent the rest of the day shopping and the night packing my luggage till past midnight.
Tuesday was the last day of my holiday. In the morning, we went out to the bank to get our pins on our new cards, before rushing home to do the last bit of packing of my 27kg luggage.
By 2.30pm, I was on the plane and by 10pm, I had arrived in Singapore, greeted by my grandparents and my honey!!!
I was busy shopping for new clothes, shoes, etc - not for me, but for my family in NZ. While everyone was spring cleaning, I was busy packing my 25kg luggage + 4kg fragile luggage + 5kg handcarry packed with Chinese New Year goodies. While everyone returned to Singapore for reunion dinner, I was fleaing out of the country for my reunion dinner in NZ.
The real holiday started on Friday, 1st February. The whole time at work, my chest literally felt like it was bursting with excitment. I felt like my heart could not contain the anticipation and I actually found it hard to breath.
At 10 minutes to 6pm, I dashed out of the office and grabbed a cab home. It was 6.40pm when I arrived him, my flight was at 9.05pm, meaning I should have been at the airport around 7.05pm for check-in. I leaped into the shower and back out in 5 minutes and did my last bit of packing before speeding off to the airport, arriving at 7.15pm.
My flight to NZ was fantastic. I think the guy at the check-in counter at Singapore airport was really nice to me as both flights from Singapore to Brisbane and then Brisbane to Auckland, I had the entire row to myself.
When I arrived in NZ, my family exchanged big welcome hugs and we headed home - our new home.
The first word that came to my mouth while touring the beautiful new house - WOW.
I think I said 'WOW' about 20 times while I was showed around, from the living room, to the kitchen, to the bedrooms. I LOVED IT.
After the tour, it was presents time. We gathered in the living room and I distributed all the goodies to my family members. I'd have to say out of everything I bought them, only 1 pair of heels for my sis didn't fit.
That evening, Aunty Mary came by and we went out for Vietnamese dinner.
On Sunday after church, we left on our roadtrip. 1st stop was Rotorua. The main idea was to patronise the spa pools, but we ended up finding a motel with sizeable jacuzzi spa in our unit and we settled for that. The next morning, we headed to Matamata to visit Hobbiton...
And after the tour, we moved on to Tauranga for the night. On Tuesday, we took a detour to a lavender farm and then PANCAKES. However, pancakes were a disappointment as they must have changed management/ cook. The pancake base was thick and it wasn't as appetising as it was last time. Such a waste.
That Tuesday evening, I met my usual uni group of friends for dinner. It was nice catching up with them. We retreated to my place for more hanging out.
On Wednesday, Chinese New Year eve and also Waitangi Day in NZ (meaning it's a public holiday), we didn't go far. In the morning, we went shopping for ingredients for our steamboat, and went shopping after that. In the afternoon, we came home to prepare for our yummy yummy steamboat. Once again, we bought too many ingredients and had plenty of leftovers...
Thursday morning, we took a short drive in the morning up North to the Honey Centre, where we had delicious pies and bought honey products. Then, we did a little shopping at another new mall that has been built in Auckland, before returning home to prepare for our feast. Mum had invited 8 of her colleagues over to our place for a homecooked asian dinner. That late afternoon, Laura and I made delicious and very successful nutella cupcakes!
And mum cooked up a storm to serve her colleagues from different nationalities. We had Singaporeans (us), Philippino, South Africans, Kiwi, French, and Indians!!! We served curry chicken, marinated grilled chicken wings, mix vegetables with tofu, satay and pork balls.
On Friday morning, we went west to a black-sand beach, pitched a mini-tent and had fish and chips. Though the sand was far far too hot (especially when it's black) and the noon sun was scorching, it was a beautiful day to be out by the beach. Out of all the short trips we did this holiday, I loved this the most.
That afternoon, we came home and soaked in the nice jacuzzi in our gorgeous master-bathroom.
On Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of bed to meet dad and mum at the church's barn sale. Instead of helping around, I went for breakfast and a nice wake-up mochaccino. Then, we did more grocery shopping - I was throwing a bbq that evening with my friends.
After lunch, dad and I went to the driving range for a short while and in the evening, I busied myself with preparation for the bbq. The turnout wasn't as big as we had expected, but the boys were big eaters so we didn't end up with too much leftovers.
On Sunday after church, we had lunch at The Coffee Club (NZ version), a little bit of shopping, and lazed around at home that day.
In the evening, I met Soon Yi, my korean friend who used to teach me Korean, for dinner.
Monday came around. For lunch, we had yummy pizzas and for dinner, mongolian bbq buffet. It was a very full day! We spent the rest of the day shopping and the night packing my luggage till past midnight.
Tuesday was the last day of my holiday. In the morning, we went out to the bank to get our pins on our new cards, before rushing home to do the last bit of packing of my 27kg luggage.
By 2.30pm, I was on the plane and by 10pm, I had arrived in Singapore, greeted by my grandparents and my honey!!!
Friday, February 01, 2008
TONIGHT
Tonight is the night I'm off to NZ.
I wouldn't say, "time flies coz just yesterday I was complaining it was still 3 more weeks."
The fact is, I have been counting down since 3 weeks ago and I have emails, blogs and a boyfriend to be my witness.
Nevertheless, I am glad the day is there!! I do hope I can keep awake today during work coz I'm so tired, having slept at 2am early this morning. Perhaps I'll have a good night's sleep on the plane. But then think about the movies onair?
I can't wait to see my parents, I can't wait to see my sister, I can wait to see my new house, I can't wait for New Zealand - it seems like the last time I said this was when my whole family was running away aka migrating from Singapore to NZ.
"I'll be back!"
I wouldn't say, "time flies coz just yesterday I was complaining it was still 3 more weeks."
The fact is, I have been counting down since 3 weeks ago and I have emails, blogs and a boyfriend to be my witness.
Nevertheless, I am glad the day is there!! I do hope I can keep awake today during work coz I'm so tired, having slept at 2am early this morning. Perhaps I'll have a good night's sleep on the plane. But then think about the movies onair?
I can't wait to see my parents, I can't wait to see my sister, I can wait to see my new house, I can't wait for New Zealand - it seems like the last time I said this was when my whole family was running away aka migrating from Singapore to NZ.
"I'll be back!"
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Duo Heats The Kitchen
- By Anonymous
After the famous spoilt radios Pear and Raine got together to bake Nutella Cupcakes and Chocolate Oreo Cheesecakes this past weekend, reviews have been flowing in.
The pair had spent the whole Saturday afternoon in Raine's kitchen, baking while sharing baking tips with each other. "If you like your cupcakes a little more moist, add a bit of milk. That'll do the trick." Pear, a genius chef herself, let us in on a secret.
Those who have tried the Nutella Cupcakes absolutely loved them. Reviews said the Nutella Cupcakes were delicious, one taster admitted to having four cupcakes at a go! Others commented that it was too sweet, but to Nutella lovers, you just couldn't get enough of it!
"Within a day, my Nutella Cupcakes were finished!" Pear announced to the press.
Reviews about the Oreo Cheesecake were diversed. Some found it too sweet with too much oreo bits, others said it was not cheesey enough.
"It may not have look presentable with the cracks on the slightly burnt crust, But I liked it." EK, creative director, supported the duo.
Despite the ravings, the pair humbly admitted that there is still room for improvement. Discussions have been ongoing and we may likely see the pair in baking action sometime soon. Our source tells us the next item on the menu would be something so sinfully chocolatey, it'll be 'Death by Chocolates'.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
A Date with My Prince
Last evening, I met my Prince at his Royal Ruby Palace, where he carries out his official duties as crown prince of Xile. We had earlier chanced upon the discovery that his Royal Ruby Palace was within close proximity to my humble Castle on Tannery, hence I decided to pay him a visit before our banquet.
My Prince settled his official business and together, upon my ingenious suggestion, we took his royal carriage to the new Terminal III of the Province of Changi.
Neither my Prince nor I had been to the new Terminal III since its grand opening on the 9th of January 2008. We were blown away immediately by its architectural design and lavished grandeur. The ceilings were high and allowed for the skylight to shine through. The glass elevators took you to whichever levels you wanted to visit. The concept of openness could be felt as we could see right through the glass panels to the gates of customs. A magnificent 5 storey high green wall towered above us, decorated with climbing plants, vines and serene waterfalls. It was a self-sufficient village, with grand restaurants, relaxing cafes, and shops of all varieties. It was an admirable dating place with its serenity and splendour.
We chose a nice restaurant serving Japanese Teppanyaki and had our feast. The spread of sizzling oysters, teriyaki chicken, black-pepper beef steak, marinated foie gras, salmon teriyaki, the softest tofu and chawamushi was commendable and delectable. We were satisfied customers. We proceeded to The Golden Theaters on The Bridge of the Red-Haired for a play on American Gangsters. There were not many plays on show at the moment and watching a display of American Gangsters were more appealing to me than watching a Body #19 or something about the Mist.
My prince dropped me off at my humble Castle of Florida where I only got to bed close to 1am. It was such a splendid evening and I could only look forward to visiting Terminal III again with the love of my life.
Footnote:
Royal Ruby Palace – Ruby Industrial Complex
Official duties – Work
Xile – My Prince's Company name
Castle on Tannery – Tannery House, building where I work
Royal carriage – Car
Terminal III of the Province of Changi – Changi Airport Terminal 3
The Golden Theaters – Golden Village Cinema
The Bridge of the Red-Haired – Ang Mo Kio
Castle of Florida – The Florida, Condo Apartments
My Prince settled his official business and together, upon my ingenious suggestion, we took his royal carriage to the new Terminal III of the Province of Changi.
Neither my Prince nor I had been to the new Terminal III since its grand opening on the 9th of January 2008. We were blown away immediately by its architectural design and lavished grandeur. The ceilings were high and allowed for the skylight to shine through. The glass elevators took you to whichever levels you wanted to visit. The concept of openness could be felt as we could see right through the glass panels to the gates of customs. A magnificent 5 storey high green wall towered above us, decorated with climbing plants, vines and serene waterfalls. It was a self-sufficient village, with grand restaurants, relaxing cafes, and shops of all varieties. It was an admirable dating place with its serenity and splendour.
We chose a nice restaurant serving Japanese Teppanyaki and had our feast. The spread of sizzling oysters, teriyaki chicken, black-pepper beef steak, marinated foie gras, salmon teriyaki, the softest tofu and chawamushi was commendable and delectable. We were satisfied customers. We proceeded to The Golden Theaters on The Bridge of the Red-Haired for a play on American Gangsters. There were not many plays on show at the moment and watching a display of American Gangsters were more appealing to me than watching a Body #19 or something about the Mist.
My prince dropped me off at my humble Castle of Florida where I only got to bed close to 1am. It was such a splendid evening and I could only look forward to visiting Terminal III again with the love of my life.
Footnote:
Royal Ruby Palace – Ruby Industrial Complex
Official duties – Work
Xile – My Prince's Company name
Castle on Tannery – Tannery House, building where I work
Royal carriage – Car
Terminal III of the Province of Changi – Changi Airport Terminal 3
The Golden Theaters – Golden Village Cinema
The Bridge of the Red-Haired – Ang Mo Kio
Castle of Florida – The Florida, Condo Apartments
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Dreamaholic at work!
I should honestly change the name of my blog to 'Tales of a Dreamaholic'!
Last night, I had yet another exciting dream/ movie (I like referring to my dreams as movies coz it seems like I’m watching a movie in my dream), but this time, the genre was fantasy. This dream was magical, similar to the movie ‘The Golden Compass’.
In the dream, every human being has a little ‘child’ fairy attached to them. They are inseparable from these fairies just like your conscience.
A group of us were stranded on a strange magical island. It was beautiful and yet dangerous at the same time. The magical island had abundant rainforests, waterfalls, and a city so amazing and colourful; it was too magical to be true. However, this magical island had been taken over by evil creatures and the village folks hid themselves in this big magical floating machine, like an air balloon or flying aircraft but cooler! However, this magical aircraft was no longer functional and it didn’t fly. It sat hidden among the green foliage. The aircraft was high up in the rainforest canopy, supported by the branches, and the evil creatures that roamed the ground beneath never noticed it.
So there we were in this strange land, exploring it and searching for the good village folks. We finally discovered this magical balloon with its inhabitants. They had no where to go and couldn’t escape the island. We realised the reason the magical aircraft couldn’t fly was because there was an imbalance of humans versus fairies on board. Only when the human count was the same as the fairy count, then the magical aircraft could fly. I can’t remember the specifics, but I think we discovered an extra fairy without a human boy. So the group of us went in search for this human boy. The boy’s parents also left their fairies on the aircraft to go in search of him.
We encountered an evil fairy who pretended to know where the boy was and wanted to trick us. We soon found out that she was the evil fairy of the forest and quickly abandoned her. At long last, we found the boy and raced back to the magical aircraft.
At this point, the aircraft had been discovered as one evil creature had accidentally fired a gun shot into the “sky” which ended up creating a hole in the floor. Thankfully, we were quite high up in the canopy and the evil creatures had trouble reaching us. We hurriedly got onto the aircraft and operated it to fly. After years of being inactive, it took a while for it to get started and everyone on board was in panic as the evil creatures were preparing for an attack. When we finally got the aircraft to float, we fell into a deep plunge as one little fairy had fallen through the hole, causing imbalance and the aircraft to shut down.
Thankfully, the fairies could fly and with the help of the other fairies, she was pulled back into our aircraft and just as we almost hit the ground and into the hands of the evil creatures beneath us, the aircraft started up and we zoomed off, through the rainforest, past the waterfalls, above the roof tops of the city, and escaped this island to freedom.
The end.
I think if this was cast into an animated movie, it would be totally cool!
Last night, I had yet another exciting dream/ movie (I like referring to my dreams as movies coz it seems like I’m watching a movie in my dream), but this time, the genre was fantasy. This dream was magical, similar to the movie ‘The Golden Compass’.
In the dream, every human being has a little ‘child’ fairy attached to them. They are inseparable from these fairies just like your conscience.
A group of us were stranded on a strange magical island. It was beautiful and yet dangerous at the same time. The magical island had abundant rainforests, waterfalls, and a city so amazing and colourful; it was too magical to be true. However, this magical island had been taken over by evil creatures and the village folks hid themselves in this big magical floating machine, like an air balloon or flying aircraft but cooler! However, this magical aircraft was no longer functional and it didn’t fly. It sat hidden among the green foliage. The aircraft was high up in the rainforest canopy, supported by the branches, and the evil creatures that roamed the ground beneath never noticed it.
So there we were in this strange land, exploring it and searching for the good village folks. We finally discovered this magical balloon with its inhabitants. They had no where to go and couldn’t escape the island. We realised the reason the magical aircraft couldn’t fly was because there was an imbalance of humans versus fairies on board. Only when the human count was the same as the fairy count, then the magical aircraft could fly. I can’t remember the specifics, but I think we discovered an extra fairy without a human boy. So the group of us went in search for this human boy. The boy’s parents also left their fairies on the aircraft to go in search of him.
We encountered an evil fairy who pretended to know where the boy was and wanted to trick us. We soon found out that she was the evil fairy of the forest and quickly abandoned her. At long last, we found the boy and raced back to the magical aircraft.
At this point, the aircraft had been discovered as one evil creature had accidentally fired a gun shot into the “sky” which ended up creating a hole in the floor. Thankfully, we were quite high up in the canopy and the evil creatures had trouble reaching us. We hurriedly got onto the aircraft and operated it to fly. After years of being inactive, it took a while for it to get started and everyone on board was in panic as the evil creatures were preparing for an attack. When we finally got the aircraft to float, we fell into a deep plunge as one little fairy had fallen through the hole, causing imbalance and the aircraft to shut down.
Thankfully, the fairies could fly and with the help of the other fairies, she was pulled back into our aircraft and just as we almost hit the ground and into the hands of the evil creatures beneath us, the aircraft started up and we zoomed off, through the rainforest, past the waterfalls, above the roof tops of the city, and escaped this island to freedom.
The end.
I think if this was cast into an animated movie, it would be totally cool!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
My Lazy Script Writer Bones
Why do I have such lazy bones?!?!
Last night, I went to bed early at 11.30pm, thinking I'd get a good 7 hours sleep and then wake up at 6.30am for a morning exercise before work.
But of course, my laziness got the better of me and I ended up postponing my alarm for 7.30am. However, I’d like to argue that I have a very valid reason for this.
I had another weird but exciting dream (or action movie in-the-making) that kept me “awake” all night.
And I woke up at 5.49am in the morning, exhausted from my dream but my blood was pumping with adrenalin from such an exciting adventure. I think I should seriously consider a change in career to become a movie script writer with all my absurd dreams, from romance to comedy to action.
So you see, after waking at 5.49am from my dream, I had to put myself back to sleep again and though at 6.30am when my alarm rang and I was feeling quite awake, I forced myself to go back for another hour of sleep because I thought I’d be exhausted from my dream – since I didn’t get my full 7 hours of sleep as I was disturbed at 5.49am. Then at 7.30am when my second alarm rang, I got up, more tired than I was at 6.30am in the morning.
The irony of it all.
Last night, I went to bed early at 11.30pm, thinking I'd get a good 7 hours sleep and then wake up at 6.30am for a morning exercise before work.
But of course, my laziness got the better of me and I ended up postponing my alarm for 7.30am. However, I’d like to argue that I have a very valid reason for this.
I had another weird but exciting dream (or action movie in-the-making) that kept me “awake” all night.
The Lead Characters:
- Me
- 1 good looking hunk (Forgot who he was)
Supporting Cast:
- Grandpa
- Laura
- Nai Nai (my grandmother)
- Rina (EK’s friend and make-up artist)
- Jensen Ackles (American Actor on Supernatural)
The Plot:
The first scene I can remember was Me, my good looking hunk, Rina/Laura (can’t remember who it was), Nai Nai, and Jensen Ackles touring one of those huge amusement park. Oh course with me and my good looking hunk, we were not dating, but there were obvious flirting and sparks flying around us as most movies begin. I was pushing Nai Nai on her wheelchair and I remember clearly having to steer slowly down a steep slope, sometimes steadying myself with my hand touching the ground of the steep slope. The guys were chatting behind me, they were good friends. We were all having such a lovely time. In the late afternoon, we departed the amusement park after Nai Nai bought heaps of souvenirs.
We split from Jensen Ackles, he said he had something to do and told us to get on with our journey. So the rest of us climbed on to the back of my hunk’s jeep/ big manly 4 wheel drive open-top van and started our journey home. As we were a good distance away from the amusement park, there was a loud explosion and saw the entire amusement park blow up in flames. At that moment, both myself and my hunk’s thoughts float to Jensen Ackles. We knew he was the one who set off the explosion. The scene cuts to Jensen Ackles driving away from the scene in his convertible jeep. Jensen’s character in the dream/movie is dense. He’s our best friend and yet also a hired assassin. During our journey around the amusement park, he had planted explosives and we didn’t even notice.
The scene cuts back as we were propelled by the force of the explosion. A truck behind us was coming fast at us, destroying everything in its path. My hunk rammed his accelerator and moved to the train tracks that were in the centre of the 2 lane road. We were trying to avoid the slow traffic in front of us and had to avoid the oncoming traffic. There was chaos as the train tracks ripped off and planks came hurling after us due to the destruction the truck caused.
At some point in time, I was flown out of the car and landed by the side of the road. A furious driver came storming over with a plank in his hand, ready to hit me (for some reason or other, I have forgotten). The drivers’ girlfriend was also furious, coming towards me. I fought them away in a losing battle, but just then, Jensen came to my rescue, throwing his jeep in front to stop the oncoming truck from our path. After a struggle, Jensen pushed the driver and his girlfriend into a ditch in the road that was caused by the explosion. The land was soft and the couple were struggling to climb out. Jensen and myself escaped to my hunk’s van which was pulled to the side of the street, and we sped off. We didn’t question Jensen on the explosives at the amusement park. His work was not our concern.
The scene cut to us driving up a steep one-lane slope, one side was slope the other side were houses. (This scene was like déjà vu for me in my dream. It seemed so familiar like I’ve travelled down this road before in reality, but right now, wide awake and thinking, I’ve never driven through such an estate before. I have no clue why I had this déjà vu feeling even while I was dreaming!! Weird huh!) We made sharp turns in the road, avoided oncoming traffic that was travelling at tremendous speeds towards us. We were travelling a little too fast when an oncoming car appeared round the bend. We made a hasty sharp turn to avoid a crash and found us tumbling out of the van that flipped a short distance down the slope. We checked to make sure we were alright. There was me, my hunk, Laura, Rina and Jensen (no clue where Nai Nai disappeared off to in my dreams).
Then suddenly, Laura took the van and drove away, leaving us behind. We were clueless and were in deep confusion why she would do that. Slowly, we made our way back to our house, stopping by a nearby public swimming club to rest. And it was at this swimming club that we met Grandpa, who asked where I’ve been as he was concerned for my disappearance. And Laura was there in her bikini and she whispered to me that she had told Grandpa she had taken the car for a short while, as it would be less suspicious. (The car? I thought the car belonged to my hunk – strange part of my dream I couldn’t figure out.) Laura stays home most of the time so when she told Grandpa she had taken the car, he would only think it was for a short while, as opposed to me, who would be blamed for taking it out the entire day as I’m mostly out, without permission.
And I woke up at 5.49am in the morning, exhausted from my dream but my blood was pumping with adrenalin from such an exciting adventure. I think I should seriously consider a change in career to become a movie script writer with all my absurd dreams, from romance to comedy to action.
So you see, after waking at 5.49am from my dream, I had to put myself back to sleep again and though at 6.30am when my alarm rang and I was feeling quite awake, I forced myself to go back for another hour of sleep because I thought I’d be exhausted from my dream – since I didn’t get my full 7 hours of sleep as I was disturbed at 5.49am. Then at 7.30am when my second alarm rang, I got up, more tired than I was at 6.30am in the morning.
The irony of it all.
Monday, January 21, 2008
I Do...
A beautiful beach wedding on one of those Caribbean islands with fine white sands and the bluest waters. A gorgeous white as snow Vera Wang dress, sitting so beautifully on the bride, with an exquisite train following behind. The bride and groom stands below the royal white arch dressed with the finest white lace, flowers and leaves so green, just like out of a dream, as they say their ‘I Do’s.
Or perhaps a classic wedding at a church with a steeple. The ends of every pew decorated with beautiful flowers and lace. The father of the bride gives away his daughter, his baby, to the man of her dreams.
Weddings. Every girl dreams of this big day, and I can’t pretend I haven’t. Especially when I’m getting closer to my desirable age of wed, and with friends around me declaring their vows, I can’t deny the fact that I’m dreaming for my big day too.
But the exquisite Vera Wang gown with the long train, the beautiful reception and the sumptuous dinner are the least of my concerns.
I met up with a friend of mine last week. He told me before that he never wants to get married, but he confessed that seeing friends our age get married one by one, he fears the day he becomes the only single around. “Perhaps I should find another girl now and make a ‘when we reach thirty and we’re still single pact’ so we don’t get left out,” he says. But he fears, and I sometimes wonder about it too, with divorce being widely practiced and becomingly accepted by our society, what will my future be? He comes from a family with problems, broken relationships, etc, and it’s understandable that his picture of a family is not as perfect as mine. But I have my own set of worries. My parents, so loving even after 25 years of marriage, makes me envious yet worried about my future. What if mine doesn’t turn out like theirs? They have set such a perfect example of a perfect family, and I want the family I have to be like what I had. But with divorce so widely practiced today, it makes it even scarier for me. As they say, the bigger the expectation, the bigger the disappointment. Am I ready to take this step of faith?
But one thing I’m thankful for is EK and his family values. He wants to settle down and wants a solid family with a happily ever after ending, like his parents. He wants kids too, but not so soon. He’s not commitment phobic – perhaps due to the fact that he’s 6 years older than me – “it’s about time” you know. And HE LOVES ME. Hee.
Am I too eager to get married? I find myself asking. I’m only turning 24 this year. I’m still young, so many remind me. But my grandfather says otherwise. He says I’m not young, that he got married when he was my age. Perhaps he’s eager for great grandchildren, with me being his oldest grandchild. This morning, he mentioned marriage again. He said that many people are getting married this year coz 2008 is a good year, and casually suggested I should get married as well – or just registered at ROM.
I have to admit, EK and myself have been talking about this. With this being our first (Obviously!), we have no clue how it’s to be done. EK asks me if it’s okay we get ROM first, invite close family and friends to dinner, and then the big shebang a year or two later. Is that the correct protocol? We do not know.
But he also knows that this day comes once in a lifetime and it’s every girl’s dream to wear the white dress and walk down the aisle. To complete it in TRADITION (as the father on ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ sings), there’s the tea ceremony and the big dinner. So he also wants to do it right. Though thinking about it, inviting people you don’t know or haven’t met in your entire life, or only perhaps exchanged 1 word or 2 with, it sounds ridiculous. But TRADITION!
Then comes the money issue. We live in a practical world. Often, money – or the lack of – holds us back. There’s the dress (in my case, the Vera Wang, though my friend says he should be able to buy me one of those as a wedding gift when he becomes a full fledge neurosurgeon – in 7 years time), the wedding invitations, the event, the dinner and the photographers. After that, there’s the house to think about.
Having said that, I’m glad those things don’t mean the world to me. I can give up on my Vera Wang dream – it’s how you wear it, not what you wear, I can accept the ROM first with a small dinner celebrated among family close friends – that would actually be more personal, and as long as I’m with EK, anywhere is fine.
But the one thing I will not compromise is the proposal. I’m still a traditional little girl with my dreams. I want my proposal. It doesn’t need to be a 1 carat diamond or an extravagant message in the sky “Will you marry me?”
It just needs to be EK, committing his future with me. Though I know it for a fact that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, he’s told me that many times before, but the proposal means a lot to me and I believe so for many other girls out there. Yes, we talk about getting married, about spending the rest of our lives together, about buying a house, but the true beauty lies in the one question that seals the commitment:
Will you spend the rest of your life with me?
Will you be my wife?
WILL YOU MARRY ME?
Or perhaps a classic wedding at a church with a steeple. The ends of every pew decorated with beautiful flowers and lace. The father of the bride gives away his daughter, his baby, to the man of her dreams.
Weddings. Every girl dreams of this big day, and I can’t pretend I haven’t. Especially when I’m getting closer to my desirable age of wed, and with friends around me declaring their vows, I can’t deny the fact that I’m dreaming for my big day too.
But the exquisite Vera Wang gown with the long train, the beautiful reception and the sumptuous dinner are the least of my concerns.
I met up with a friend of mine last week. He told me before that he never wants to get married, but he confessed that seeing friends our age get married one by one, he fears the day he becomes the only single around. “Perhaps I should find another girl now and make a ‘when we reach thirty and we’re still single pact’ so we don’t get left out,” he says. But he fears, and I sometimes wonder about it too, with divorce being widely practiced and becomingly accepted by our society, what will my future be? He comes from a family with problems, broken relationships, etc, and it’s understandable that his picture of a family is not as perfect as mine. But I have my own set of worries. My parents, so loving even after 25 years of marriage, makes me envious yet worried about my future. What if mine doesn’t turn out like theirs? They have set such a perfect example of a perfect family, and I want the family I have to be like what I had. But with divorce so widely practiced today, it makes it even scarier for me. As they say, the bigger the expectation, the bigger the disappointment. Am I ready to take this step of faith?
But one thing I’m thankful for is EK and his family values. He wants to settle down and wants a solid family with a happily ever after ending, like his parents. He wants kids too, but not so soon. He’s not commitment phobic – perhaps due to the fact that he’s 6 years older than me – “it’s about time” you know. And HE LOVES ME. Hee.
Am I too eager to get married? I find myself asking. I’m only turning 24 this year. I’m still young, so many remind me. But my grandfather says otherwise. He says I’m not young, that he got married when he was my age. Perhaps he’s eager for great grandchildren, with me being his oldest grandchild. This morning, he mentioned marriage again. He said that many people are getting married this year coz 2008 is a good year, and casually suggested I should get married as well – or just registered at ROM.
I have to admit, EK and myself have been talking about this. With this being our first (Obviously!), we have no clue how it’s to be done. EK asks me if it’s okay we get ROM first, invite close family and friends to dinner, and then the big shebang a year or two later. Is that the correct protocol? We do not know.
But he also knows that this day comes once in a lifetime and it’s every girl’s dream to wear the white dress and walk down the aisle. To complete it in TRADITION (as the father on ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ sings), there’s the tea ceremony and the big dinner. So he also wants to do it right. Though thinking about it, inviting people you don’t know or haven’t met in your entire life, or only perhaps exchanged 1 word or 2 with, it sounds ridiculous. But TRADITION!
Then comes the money issue. We live in a practical world. Often, money – or the lack of – holds us back. There’s the dress (in my case, the Vera Wang, though my friend says he should be able to buy me one of those as a wedding gift when he becomes a full fledge neurosurgeon – in 7 years time), the wedding invitations, the event, the dinner and the photographers. After that, there’s the house to think about.
Having said that, I’m glad those things don’t mean the world to me. I can give up on my Vera Wang dream – it’s how you wear it, not what you wear, I can accept the ROM first with a small dinner celebrated among family close friends – that would actually be more personal, and as long as I’m with EK, anywhere is fine.
But the one thing I will not compromise is the proposal. I’m still a traditional little girl with my dreams. I want my proposal. It doesn’t need to be a 1 carat diamond or an extravagant message in the sky “Will you marry me?”
It just needs to be EK, committing his future with me. Though I know it for a fact that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, he’s told me that many times before, but the proposal means a lot to me and I believe so for many other girls out there. Yes, we talk about getting married, about spending the rest of our lives together, about buying a house, but the true beauty lies in the one question that seals the commitment:
Will you spend the rest of your life with me?
Will you be my wife?
WILL YOU MARRY ME?
今天妳要嫁给我 Marry Me Today
By 陶喆 (David Tao) and 蔡依林 (Jolin Cai)
David:
春暖的花开带走冬天的感伤
Flowers blossoming in spring takes away the winter’s pain
微风吹来浪漫的气息
A light wind blows a breath of romance
每一首情歌忽然充满意义
Every love song suddenly is filled with meaning
我就在此刻突然见到你
At this point you suddenly appear before me
Jolin:
春暖的花香带走冬天的凄寒
Flowers blossoming in spring takes away the bitter cold of the winter
微风吹来意外的爱情
A light breeze blows unexpected love [our way]
鸟儿的高歌拉近我们距离
Birdsong draws us closer to each other
我就在此刻突然爱上你
At this point I suddenly fall in love with you
Together:
听我说 手牵手跟我一起走 创造幸福的生活
Listen to me, [let’s] hold hands, walk together, and create a happy life [together]
昨天你来不及 明天就会可惜 今天嫁给我好吗
Yesterday you were too late, it would be a shame tomorrow, so will me marry me today?
RAP:
[Lorraine] in the house
[E.K.] in the house
[Lorraine] in the house
[E.K.] in the house
[Lorraine] in the house
[E.K.] in the house
Our love in the house
David:
夏日的热情打动春天的懒散
Summer’s kindness shifts spring’s idleness
阳光照耀美满的家庭
The sunshine illuminates the beauty of the family
每一首情歌都会勾起回忆
Every love song will bring up memories
想当年我是怎麽认识你
[I] think about how I met you that year
Jolin:
冬天的忧伤接续秋天的孤单
Grief in winter finishes autumn’s loneliness
微风吹来枯了的思念
The breeze blows by withered yearning
鸟儿的高歌唱著不要别离
The birdsong makes me not want to leave
此刻我多麽想要拥抱你
I immediately desire your hug
Together:
听我说手牵手 跟我一起走 过著安定的生活
Listen to me, [let’s] hold hands, walk together with me, [let’s live] a peaceful life
昨天你来不及 明天就会可惜 今天你要嫁给我
Yesterday you were too late, it would be a shame tomorrow, so you shall marry me today
听我说手牵手 我们一起走 把你一生交给我
Listen to me, [let’s] hold hands and walk together, surrender yourself completely to me
昨天不要回头 明天要到白首 今天你要嫁给我
Yesterday do not look back, we’ll grow old [in the years to come], marry me today
RAP:
叮咚 听著礼堂的钟声 我们在上帝和亲友面前见證
Ding dong, listen to the church bells ring, god and our friends will all be here to witness us [get married]
这对男女现在就要结为夫妻
Men and women now should marry each other
不要忘了这一切是多麽的神圣
Do not forget just how sacred [marriage] is
你愿意生死苦乐永远和他在一起
You will for better for worse be with him together
爱惜他 尊重他 安慰他 保护著他
Love him, respect him, comfort him and protect him
两人同心建立起美满的家庭 你愿意这样做吗? Yes, I do
A couple together creates a happy family, are you willing to do this? Yes, I do
Together:
听我说手牵手 一路到尽头 把你一生交给我
Listen to me, [let’s] hold hands, together to the end, surrender yourself completely to me
昨天已是过去 明天更多回忆 今天你要嫁给我
Yesterday was the past, tomorrow will be full of memories, marry me today
今天你要嫁给我 今天你要嫁给我......
Marry me today, marry me today
David:
春暖的花开带走冬天的感伤
Flowers blossoming in spring takes away the winter’s pain
微风吹来浪漫的气息
A light wind blows a breath of romance
每一首情歌忽然充满意义
Every love song suddenly is filled with meaning
我就在此刻突然见到你
At this point you suddenly appear before me
Jolin:
春暖的花香带走冬天的凄寒
Flowers blossoming in spring takes away the bitter cold of the winter
微风吹来意外的爱情
A light breeze blows unexpected love [our way]
鸟儿的高歌拉近我们距离
Birdsong draws us closer to each other
我就在此刻突然爱上你
At this point I suddenly fall in love with you
Together:
听我说 手牵手跟我一起走 创造幸福的生活
Listen to me, [let’s] hold hands, walk together, and create a happy life [together]
昨天你来不及 明天就会可惜 今天嫁给我好吗
Yesterday you were too late, it would be a shame tomorrow, so will me marry me today?
RAP:
[Lorraine] in the house
[E.K.] in the house
[Lorraine] in the house
[E.K.] in the house
[Lorraine] in the house
[E.K.] in the house
Our love in the house
David:
夏日的热情打动春天的懒散
Summer’s kindness shifts spring’s idleness
阳光照耀美满的家庭
The sunshine illuminates the beauty of the family
每一首情歌都会勾起回忆
Every love song will bring up memories
想当年我是怎麽认识你
[I] think about how I met you that year
Jolin:
冬天的忧伤接续秋天的孤单
Grief in winter finishes autumn’s loneliness
微风吹来枯了的思念
The breeze blows by withered yearning
鸟儿的高歌唱著不要别离
The birdsong makes me not want to leave
此刻我多麽想要拥抱你
I immediately desire your hug
Together:
听我说手牵手 跟我一起走 过著安定的生活
Listen to me, [let’s] hold hands, walk together with me, [let’s live] a peaceful life
昨天你来不及 明天就会可惜 今天你要嫁给我
Yesterday you were too late, it would be a shame tomorrow, so you shall marry me today
听我说手牵手 我们一起走 把你一生交给我
Listen to me, [let’s] hold hands and walk together, surrender yourself completely to me
昨天不要回头 明天要到白首 今天你要嫁给我
Yesterday do not look back, we’ll grow old [in the years to come], marry me today
RAP:
叮咚 听著礼堂的钟声 我们在上帝和亲友面前见證
Ding dong, listen to the church bells ring, god and our friends will all be here to witness us [get married]
这对男女现在就要结为夫妻
Men and women now should marry each other
不要忘了这一切是多麽的神圣
Do not forget just how sacred [marriage] is
你愿意生死苦乐永远和他在一起
You will for better for worse be with him together
爱惜他 尊重他 安慰他 保护著他
Love him, respect him, comfort him and protect him
两人同心建立起美满的家庭 你愿意这样做吗? Yes, I do
A couple together creates a happy family, are you willing to do this? Yes, I do
Together:
听我说手牵手 一路到尽头 把你一生交给我
Listen to me, [let’s] hold hands, together to the end, surrender yourself completely to me
昨天已是过去 明天更多回忆 今天你要嫁给我
Yesterday was the past, tomorrow will be full of memories, marry me today
今天你要嫁给我 今天你要嫁给我......
Marry me today, marry me today
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
I gave birth to a baby boy
My dreams are very weird recently. My nights have been very restless with interesting dreams night after night after night.
Last night, I gave birth to a baby boy and yes, I was married (I hope so). The surprising thing was that my experience of the child birth wasn't painful. There I was squeezing the 'little' thing out of me and he came out after 4-5 pushes. And it was done, my tummy went back immediately to being as flat as it was before and I had no stretch marks!
The funny thing was, my baby who was just born was like a minature adult. He was a baby, wrapped in diapers and stuff, but he was like a mini adult coming to be about 1 meter tall. And he could stand, he could read and understand what we were talking about, and yes, he was only just born!
I tell you...I'm having seriously weird and disturbing dreams. But at least, child birth doesn't seem so scary afterall. HAHAHA.
Last night, I gave birth to a baby boy and yes, I was married (I hope so). The surprising thing was that my experience of the child birth wasn't painful. There I was squeezing the 'little' thing out of me and he came out after 4-5 pushes. And it was done, my tummy went back immediately to being as flat as it was before and I had no stretch marks!
The funny thing was, my baby who was just born was like a minature adult. He was a baby, wrapped in diapers and stuff, but he was like a mini adult coming to be about 1 meter tall. And he could stand, he could read and understand what we were talking about, and yes, he was only just born!
I tell you...I'm having seriously weird and disturbing dreams. But at least, child birth doesn't seem so scary afterall. HAHAHA.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
A New Change?
I came upon a friend's entry about her lovely summer days in New Zealand and it evoked many memories and emotions that I realised I missed. And it got me thinking...
I really missed the short weekend roadtrips to the countryside, stop by the roadside stalls selling the juciest produce at amazing prices. I miss the countryside cafes, where the coffee just seem so much better and the ambience is always a welcomed plus. You can't find those kind of cafes in the concrete jungle of Singapore.
I miss the relaxing evening walks, where the temperature is just right and the whole way, friendly smiles greet you. In Singapore, you can't escape the heavy traffic flow and the incessant beeping of horns. There aren't pretty beaches or unpolluted greenery for view, and everywhere you go, you see people, busy people rushing from place to place with serious expressions and no smiles. You almost forget to smile. Just the other day, I was in a happy mood when I was getting lunch and the cashier looked at me strangely, but smiled, asking why I was so happy. Was it so strange to be in a good mood?
Oh, and barbies with friends and families! I miss those. Perhaps it's the weather, or probably it's the richness in the food, but it almost seems more fun in New Zealand. You don't find yourself perspiring in front of the pit, or swamp in smoke.
And sitting on the deck - what deck!!! In singapore, most of us lives in apartments or flats with a small balcony big enough to fit 1 pot of plant. And even if we had a deck, the weather would be impossibly unwelcoming. One moment, it'll be raining, and the next, it'll be too hot that after 10 minutes and you'd be drenched in perspiration.
Picnics are rare, once again due to the weather and limited parks of nature. Beaches are either filthy or man-made. But I'm thankful that at least we do have beaches, and though man-made, it's still relaxing as long as you don't go into the polluted waters.
Blue skies are few and far between because it's either hidden behind the towering buildings or you get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to stop and look up to appreciate nature.
But can I picture myself doing all that with EK by my side? I have to admit I'm a city girl, and shopping malls are my recharge to life. Ek is a city boy as well, and shops are his lifeline, especially when he's in the design industry where creativity is fueled by inspiration from all things around.
How do we spend our evenings and weekends? We don't return home for homecook meals. Instead, we usually meet at either this mall or that for a quick dinner. Then, we will walk hand in hand among the shops, absorbing the latest fashion, checking out the latest sale, finding a good bargain or buying some useless item that we do not need.
Our weekends are mostly spent out. Only occassionally, do we find ourselves at home, sitting in the living room or lying on the bed, flipping magazines for the latest photoshoot or fashion trends, or reading the newspaper to update ourselves on the week's news. That's also they time we catch up on our household chores, like ironing, vacuuming, washing, etc. However, most weekends past very fast for the both of us. It is either an opportunity to catch up with friends for lunch/dinner, or we would hit the malls again, having coffee at the buzzing Coffee Bean or a nice Mud Pie at The Coffee Club. We do go Sentosa for some beach activities, but that is when the weather permits. Once a month, we'd go on a roadtrip to Penang, which is a good escape, but we mainly eat and shop in malls so it isn't much different from Singapore.
But when the money runs out, when fashion doesn't change from day to day, and when age creeps up on us, don't we all want an escape, find a relaxation haven, or a comfortable abode to retire from a hard day's work?
We do find ourselves bored of the malls sometimes, too much of a good thing is never advised. We do find ourselves looking elsewhere for inspiration. A new country? A new lifestyle?
A new change.
I wonder what this year has in store for us. Will it be any different from last year? And what about in the years to come? Have we thought about where we want to be? The answers to these questions, only HE can tell.
I really missed the short weekend roadtrips to the countryside, stop by the roadside stalls selling the juciest produce at amazing prices. I miss the countryside cafes, where the coffee just seem so much better and the ambience is always a welcomed plus. You can't find those kind of cafes in the concrete jungle of Singapore.
I miss the relaxing evening walks, where the temperature is just right and the whole way, friendly smiles greet you. In Singapore, you can't escape the heavy traffic flow and the incessant beeping of horns. There aren't pretty beaches or unpolluted greenery for view, and everywhere you go, you see people, busy people rushing from place to place with serious expressions and no smiles. You almost forget to smile. Just the other day, I was in a happy mood when I was getting lunch and the cashier looked at me strangely, but smiled, asking why I was so happy. Was it so strange to be in a good mood?
Oh, and barbies with friends and families! I miss those. Perhaps it's the weather, or probably it's the richness in the food, but it almost seems more fun in New Zealand. You don't find yourself perspiring in front of the pit, or swamp in smoke.
And sitting on the deck - what deck!!! In singapore, most of us lives in apartments or flats with a small balcony big enough to fit 1 pot of plant. And even if we had a deck, the weather would be impossibly unwelcoming. One moment, it'll be raining, and the next, it'll be too hot that after 10 minutes and you'd be drenched in perspiration.
Picnics are rare, once again due to the weather and limited parks of nature. Beaches are either filthy or man-made. But I'm thankful that at least we do have beaches, and though man-made, it's still relaxing as long as you don't go into the polluted waters.
Blue skies are few and far between because it's either hidden behind the towering buildings or you get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that you forget to stop and look up to appreciate nature.
But can I picture myself doing all that with EK by my side? I have to admit I'm a city girl, and shopping malls are my recharge to life. Ek is a city boy as well, and shops are his lifeline, especially when he's in the design industry where creativity is fueled by inspiration from all things around.
How do we spend our evenings and weekends? We don't return home for homecook meals. Instead, we usually meet at either this mall or that for a quick dinner. Then, we will walk hand in hand among the shops, absorbing the latest fashion, checking out the latest sale, finding a good bargain or buying some useless item that we do not need.
Our weekends are mostly spent out. Only occassionally, do we find ourselves at home, sitting in the living room or lying on the bed, flipping magazines for the latest photoshoot or fashion trends, or reading the newspaper to update ourselves on the week's news. That's also they time we catch up on our household chores, like ironing, vacuuming, washing, etc. However, most weekends past very fast for the both of us. It is either an opportunity to catch up with friends for lunch/dinner, or we would hit the malls again, having coffee at the buzzing Coffee Bean or a nice Mud Pie at The Coffee Club. We do go Sentosa for some beach activities, but that is when the weather permits. Once a month, we'd go on a roadtrip to Penang, which is a good escape, but we mainly eat and shop in malls so it isn't much different from Singapore.
But when the money runs out, when fashion doesn't change from day to day, and when age creeps up on us, don't we all want an escape, find a relaxation haven, or a comfortable abode to retire from a hard day's work?
We do find ourselves bored of the malls sometimes, too much of a good thing is never advised. We do find ourselves looking elsewhere for inspiration. A new country? A new lifestyle?
A new change.
I wonder what this year has in store for us. Will it be any different from last year? And what about in the years to come? Have we thought about where we want to be? The answers to these questions, only HE can tell.
Life's little pleasures
My boss just gave me a home-made cookie (of course my colleagues got one each as well), and I got myself ice coffee this morning (yum...yes yes, I know totally breaking my new year resolution) - BUT I feel so HAPPY.
A simple cookie and coffee can make me HAPPY...HAPPY...HAPPY!!
Life's made up of these small little pleasures. Collectively, life becomes very good!
At the moment, I've got many many small little pleasures going for me. The most important one, there's this insistent voice at the back of my head, screaming "New Zealand, New Zealand...Here I come!!" And then the countdown. Everyday is exciting coz it means one less day before I'm in NZ. Yesterday it was 15 working days (yes I count them in working days coz you can't count the lovely weekends!). And today, it became 14 working days!! You say 'big deal', it's only one day less, but it's a totally different number and if you work it out, yesterday, it was 15 working days = 3 weeks, but today, its only 14 working days = 2 weeks!!!! YAYAYAYAY. Yes yes, me and my warped theory, but life's interesting like that.
But of course, it's not NZ that I'm looking forward to. It's seeing my family and friends!! The very thought of that brings a smile across my face. It's been too long...8-9 months to be exact, but it's been too long. So many things have happened since, for example, a totally new house, birthday and special holidays I've missed, the faces, the smiles, the nagging, everything!! Ahhh, I can't wait!
And recently, I've been doing heaps of shopping for my family. Clothes, shoes, etc etc. Every shopping trip is a small little pleasure. Not just because I get to spend money - a shopaholic's favourite - but every single thought of whether they'd like this blouse, whether the colour is right, is the heels high enough, is the shirt the correct size...every single consideration is made of love, every single $ spent reminds me of them and yes, that makes shopping heaps more meaningful than buying anything for myself! I do hope 20kg baggage limit is sufficient!
Then comes work. I've been confirmed about 2-3 weeks ago and at first, I didn't think it was a big deal: just a letter handed to me by an admin staff who helped typed it out. But EK highlighted that it was different. It means they are satisfied with my work, they want to keep me as a permanent staff and I was confirmed before the 3 months was over. So that's another little happy happy that makes my world go round and round.
Even the thought that this weekend, I'll be baking with Pear - still haven't decided what to bake - but that's another little pleasure I'm looking forward to. Even the looking forward to becomes a pleasure. Every appointment or to-be appointments this week becomes a little pleasure as catching up with friends is such great fun, especially when it's good old friends whom you haven't met in yonks or friends you've only just met up a couple of weeks ago.
Receiving an E the moment I check my mail also puts a smile across my face.
So you see, if every morning you do a recollection of your little pleasures, your day will surely fly by!!
A simple cookie and coffee can make me HAPPY...HAPPY...HAPPY!!
Life's made up of these small little pleasures. Collectively, life becomes very good!
At the moment, I've got many many small little pleasures going for me. The most important one, there's this insistent voice at the back of my head, screaming "New Zealand, New Zealand...Here I come!!" And then the countdown. Everyday is exciting coz it means one less day before I'm in NZ. Yesterday it was 15 working days (yes I count them in working days coz you can't count the lovely weekends!). And today, it became 14 working days!! You say 'big deal', it's only one day less, but it's a totally different number and if you work it out, yesterday, it was 15 working days = 3 weeks, but today, its only 14 working days = 2 weeks!!!! YAYAYAYAY. Yes yes, me and my warped theory, but life's interesting like that.
But of course, it's not NZ that I'm looking forward to. It's seeing my family and friends!! The very thought of that brings a smile across my face. It's been too long...8-9 months to be exact, but it's been too long. So many things have happened since, for example, a totally new house, birthday and special holidays I've missed, the faces, the smiles, the nagging, everything!! Ahhh, I can't wait!
And recently, I've been doing heaps of shopping for my family. Clothes, shoes, etc etc. Every shopping trip is a small little pleasure. Not just because I get to spend money - a shopaholic's favourite - but every single thought of whether they'd like this blouse, whether the colour is right, is the heels high enough, is the shirt the correct size...every single consideration is made of love, every single $ spent reminds me of them and yes, that makes shopping heaps more meaningful than buying anything for myself! I do hope 20kg baggage limit is sufficient!
Then comes work. I've been confirmed about 2-3 weeks ago and at first, I didn't think it was a big deal: just a letter handed to me by an admin staff who helped typed it out. But EK highlighted that it was different. It means they are satisfied with my work, they want to keep me as a permanent staff and I was confirmed before the 3 months was over. So that's another little happy happy that makes my world go round and round.
Even the thought that this weekend, I'll be baking with Pear - still haven't decided what to bake - but that's another little pleasure I'm looking forward to. Even the looking forward to becomes a pleasure. Every appointment or to-be appointments this week becomes a little pleasure as catching up with friends is such great fun, especially when it's good old friends whom you haven't met in yonks or friends you've only just met up a couple of weeks ago.
Receiving an E the moment I check my mail also puts a smile across my face.
So you see, if every morning you do a recollection of your little pleasures, your day will surely fly by!!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sulking about Bulk
Went away to Penang this weekend,
And returned a good 2 kgs heavier.
It was definitely not in any of my plans,
And it didn't make me happier.
Despite the many malls I conquered,
And the mountain I had climbed,
Whatever I ate went straight to fats,
And I didn't let it mind.
Woe! The anguish and the disappointment,
I want to hide and sulk.
But consoled for I'm not the only one,
My honey put on 3kgs in bulk.
And returned a good 2 kgs heavier.
It was definitely not in any of my plans,
And it didn't make me happier.
Despite the many malls I conquered,
And the mountain I had climbed,
Whatever I ate went straight to fats,
And I didn't let it mind.
Woe! The anguish and the disappointment,
I want to hide and sulk.
But consoled for I'm not the only one,
My honey put on 3kgs in bulk.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Stressing my boss out!
I have stressed my boss out with my emails!! Oops!
But what can I do? France made a cock-up, our shipment is coming in late, and our client is chasing us for the shipment. Ahhhh...
Why is this happening?!
But what can I do? France made a cock-up, our shipment is coming in late, and our client is chasing us for the shipment. Ahhhh...
Why is this happening?!
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Reminiscing 2007, Resoluting 2008
Once again, we have come to the end of another year. It seems like just yesterday that I wrote a piece reminiscing the past year and here I am again. But I promise you this won't be too long.
2007...what about 2007?
To start off, it was another wonderful year with many adventures.
The first adventure was the love ride which involved me, EK and our relationship. The love ride can be compared to a roller coaster that you can't get enough of. Though there were ups and downs, the downs never lasted long. And as our relationship grew stronger, I confirmed he's the one for me! Every ride left you wanting for more. We wanted more time together, even if he was doing his own work and I was reading my book, as long as we were together, it was good. We wanted more adventures together, discovering the world bit by bit.
The second adventure was work. In this year alone, I've had three jobs. The first was the decision to leave the advertising agency which wasn't going well financially, to join the stable bank. But having a taste of the bank job and discovering that what 'was served wasn't what I ordered', I made another decision to leave without the back-up of another job. I selectively chose the jobs to apply for and applied for job after job after job. I even tried going into childcare. And finally, the call came. And that lands me in my current job, one I'm happy with because I'm finally doing proper marketing. My bosses are good, the work hours are conducive, and the job is fun. What more can I ask for?
Holidays were always an adventure on its own. It started with my first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix experience in Melbourne which left my ears yearning for more. Then there was my first trip back to New Zealand, accompanied with EK. I reunited with my family, caught up with good friends, showed EK my home for six years, toured the country and ate till my hearts content. I also celebrated my birthday with my family and friends over a pizza party. And every visit back to Penang, EK's hometown, was a delightful trip that kept me full from the shopping and eating.
Another thing I'd consider an adventure would be me and my ever-changing style. Influenced by people all around me, I slowly changed my appearance for the better. There was Pear who taught me the order of make-up so that I would look professional for work, Leonard Drake who (hopefully) did some helped to my skin, EK who styled me from simple to fashionable and from plain to accessorised. And there was Rina who gave me dramatic insights to make-up and fashion. There were many many others who had an influential effect on me, like the sales lady who taught me how to put on fake lashes, magazines with their insightful view on the ins and outs of fashion, or even the sales lady who recommended me to skinny jeans. I will continue to improve!
Therefore, 2007 was definitely a fruitfully adventurous year.
And what has 2008 have in store? There are still some areas of myself I need to improve on and so this year, my resolutions are as follows:
Get domesticated (Cooking, Ironing, Washing, Mopping, etc).
Oh well, I guess that'll just have to be in next year's list. Hee!
2007...what about 2007?
To start off, it was another wonderful year with many adventures.
The first adventure was the love ride which involved me, EK and our relationship. The love ride can be compared to a roller coaster that you can't get enough of. Though there were ups and downs, the downs never lasted long. And as our relationship grew stronger, I confirmed he's the one for me! Every ride left you wanting for more. We wanted more time together, even if he was doing his own work and I was reading my book, as long as we were together, it was good. We wanted more adventures together, discovering the world bit by bit.
The second adventure was work. In this year alone, I've had three jobs. The first was the decision to leave the advertising agency which wasn't going well financially, to join the stable bank. But having a taste of the bank job and discovering that what 'was served wasn't what I ordered', I made another decision to leave without the back-up of another job. I selectively chose the jobs to apply for and applied for job after job after job. I even tried going into childcare. And finally, the call came. And that lands me in my current job, one I'm happy with because I'm finally doing proper marketing. My bosses are good, the work hours are conducive, and the job is fun. What more can I ask for?
Holidays were always an adventure on its own. It started with my first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix experience in Melbourne which left my ears yearning for more. Then there was my first trip back to New Zealand, accompanied with EK. I reunited with my family, caught up with good friends, showed EK my home for six years, toured the country and ate till my hearts content. I also celebrated my birthday with my family and friends over a pizza party. And every visit back to Penang, EK's hometown, was a delightful trip that kept me full from the shopping and eating.
Another thing I'd consider an adventure would be me and my ever-changing style. Influenced by people all around me, I slowly changed my appearance for the better. There was Pear who taught me the order of make-up so that I would look professional for work, Leonard Drake who (hopefully) did some helped to my skin, EK who styled me from simple to fashionable and from plain to accessorised. And there was Rina who gave me dramatic insights to make-up and fashion. There were many many others who had an influential effect on me, like the sales lady who taught me how to put on fake lashes, magazines with their insightful view on the ins and outs of fashion, or even the sales lady who recommended me to skinny jeans. I will continue to improve!
Therefore, 2007 was definitely a fruitfully adventurous year.
And what has 2008 have in store? There are still some areas of myself I need to improve on and so this year, my resolutions are as follows:
- Get on track with God (I may have fallen off track, but I'll find my way back to the right path!)
- No biting of nails, of the skin around the nails, of my finger in general! (Well, I've kind of broken this resolution everyday for the first few days of 2008. Good luck to me!)
- Posture, Posture, Posture (Sit straight, stand straight, walk straight and walk tall!!)
- Read more fashion magazines (get educated)
- Save my face (Please find me a solution!!)
- Try not to slack/procrastinate so much (and this starts with sewing buttons that have fallen out weeks/months ago onto my tops)
- Save money for my future (This is a very persistant resolution that comes back to haunt us year after year after year)
- Eat healthy (Hopefully at a low cost as well. And it means no chocolates, no coffee - utterly no sinful cravings - okay, maybe not 'no' but 'cut down on'. Hey, cut me some slack - ah...just broken Resolution #6)
- Exercise, Exercise, Exercise (I need more determination on this. COME ON! Loose those aweful thighs, slim those flabby arms, tuck that tummy tight, and firm up that butt!!)
- Get a proposal (HAHAHAHA. When will he strike lotto??)
Get domesticated (Cooking, Ironing, Washing, Mopping, etc).
Oh well, I guess that'll just have to be in next year's list. Hee!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Weirded Out: X vs EK
What could it possibly mean? I woke up from my dream, my eyebrows frowning in deep ponder. I replayed the dream over again.
What does it mean? Why was I getting married to another guy friend of mine and why wasn't it EK? Why was EK my best friend in the dream?
The only conclusions I can draw from this dream is:
(1) I'm thinking of getting married!!
(2) I'm watching too many Korean dramas!!
Since we are on the topic of dreams, let me update you on yet another dream I had recently, which I still, surprisingly, remember. This dream was a lot weirder than the previous.
Goodness, why are my dreams so complex?
It was my big day - my wedding. Of course I had a best guy friend who was there for me all my life - who watched over me, took care of me, lent me his shoulder to cry on, been there for me through thick and thin, etc. But he wasn't the one. I was getting married to my boyfriend, let's name him X (he is a real person in my life and I wish for his name to be anonymous because I haven't figured this dream out yet).And that's when I was drawn back to reality.
We were having a beautiful beach side wedding and we had rented a house by the beach where the wedding preparations were going on. My parents, grandparents, relatives and unknown strangers were all there.
Cut to the next scene where I was running out of the house with tears streaming down my face, announcing to all the stunned relatives as I made my departure, "I'm not getting married to X!"
I ran down the path to the beach and threw myself onto the sand, sobbing. I had a massive quarrel with X and I didn't want to marry him. My mother and sister came after me, and after some persuasion and coaxing, I agreed to go through with the wedding and returned to the house.
I ignored all my relatives, who returned me a smile of understanding - pre-wedding jitters.
I went back to the room where I was supposed to be preparing. X was there too. I ignored him and went about doing my own things. I was still filled with anger (I'm not too sure what we had argued about as this part of the dream was kinda blurry).
Cut to another scene where I'm not there. It was just my relatives sitting around a table outside in the hall, talking. One of them said, "She should be getting married to EK (my best friend in this dream). He's the right one for her, not X. You'll see, this wedding won't be happening."
What does it mean? Why was I getting married to another guy friend of mine and why wasn't it EK? Why was EK my best friend in the dream?
The only conclusions I can draw from this dream is:
(1) I'm thinking of getting married!!
(2) I'm watching too many Korean dramas!!
Since we are on the topic of dreams, let me update you on yet another dream I had recently, which I still, surprisingly, remember. This dream was a lot weirder than the previous.
My friends and I were on a road trip. At that time, my current boyfriend was X (strangely enough, it was the same X from the dream above - why does he always play the boyfriend?).That's as much as I can remember today. This dream was about a week ago so I can't quite remember the details as well as the one above, but yet again, this dream had X as my boyfriend, and EK was the third party - but this time around, he was the evil snake!!
The group of us stopped by this old house for a rest. Then, a large evil snake who lived in the house appeared and sealed us from leaving. The snake held us captive. The snake, with magical powers, transformed itself into a human being. This human being was EK. He held us captive.
Cut to the next scene where we were let out, but still under the snake's watch. The snake human kept me near him, wanting to know more about me because he liked me. I tried to play along with him, not wanting to get into the bad books of the snake for fears of being eaten up.
Cut to the next scene where I was released for a while and I went to find my boyfriend X who was with my girl friends. He was chatting and enjoying himself and I was so angry with him because he seemed like he had totally forgotten about me.
Goodness, why are my dreams so complex?
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Breakouts...Breakdown
What is the use of spending almost two thousand dollars on facial for a whole year when the reaction I get from other facial centres is 'you just did facial last week'?
It's depressing, dejecting, dispiriting, discouraging, disheartening, discomposing, melancholic, miserable, tear-jerking, upsetting and what more do I need to say for you to get how I feel?
LIKE IT WAS AN UTTER WASTE OF MONEY!! I could have spent it on another LV wallet and got something back in return. I could have spent it on medication and seen faster results. I could have saved the money for my future!!!
But then would I do otherwise? I don't know. Beauty comes at a price, no?
Yesterday, I went to check out yet another facial centre. The plan I've signed on to at my current facial centre is finishing in about 1 month's time. (Yes, I signed on to it last April so you do the math and work out if it has even been a year!) So I was sourcing for other alternatives since it's far too expensive for me to afford another year at this place.
As the lady working at this facial centre explained the types of facials available to me, and introduced a trial facial for $38 (original facial price is $280 per facial!!!), I agreed and said I wouldn't book for a slot this weekend as I had just done facial on Sunday.
She turned and looked at me, staring closer to my face as if she was shocked. She commented that it didn't look like I had done facial just a couple of days ago and asked me about my breakouts and so on and so forth, as if asking me why I was still going to this facial centre.
I felt utterly horrid. My skin is flawed, I admit to that. I have zits on my cheeks, above my upper lip, at the side of my mouth, on my chin, and on my forehead (that practically covers my whole face). If you'd ask me to count, I'd say right now I have about 10 visible zits living on my face. I have scars from my previous breakouts, red and blotchy, which never seem to heal or lighten dispite the many treatments I've gone to which claimed to lighten scars.
But the facial centre I currently go to is reputable. Their services and equipments are professional and they have outlets in major malls. They wouldn't be entirely useless, I try to convince myself.
The above isn't the only example. I went to another centre to try out their services and my face had so much clogs that the specialist was compelled to ask what my current facial centre was doing? Were they even extracting these deep clogs? When I confronted my current facial specialist, she said there are some you cannot extract because it is so deep. They do not want to cause further scaring. It takes time to clear the face of impurities.
But it's hard to stay positive when you receive these comments like people don't believe you had just been to facial a couple of days ago. What does this tell about my facial treatments? It's lousy or your face is beyond hope.
I don't know which is better. I've spent so much money on my face this last year, I hardly want to admit that it was all for nothing. I want to know that if I hadn't gone for any treatment, my face would have been worse off. I want to know that the facials I've paid hundreds for each time was worth it. At least I had some results. But I'll never know, and I'm scared to find out which is true. Is it true that my face would have been worse if I didn't do facial? (I can stop facial and find out in a couple of month's time - and if it is true, I'll have to start treatment all over again to get it back to what it was before.) If it is not true and my face remains what it is today? (I've spent about two thousand dollars this year, just fixing my face, and you tell me that it's just that and I can't do anything about these breakouts? That what about all the other facial specialists who tell their customers that they must clear their skin of clogs - is that all a lie?)
I don't know what to do right now. So many ladies go for facial, that must say something about facial being good for your skin. But I'm frustrated with my face. I'm so frustrated with the money I've spent, just to receive such comments in return. With one comment, my hopes, my optimism, my aspirations that one day I may have clear skin - all that came crashing down.
How can a person be confident if she's so frustrated with her complexion? Make-up only does what is short-term - for that couple of hours. Make-up may be magical for the hours it's on, it may transform a plain jane into a super model, but once make-up is removed, all your flaws are revealed once again, and it could even be worse. It's a vicious cycle which I'm sure I've mentioned before. A person uses make-up to conseal the zits, more zits breakout because of the clogged pores, and more make-up goes on in order to cover the additional zits. I call this the beautiful zits lifecycle.
So how can one achieve confidence in her appearance? The answer lies in the money.
With money, you can go for weekly facials and gold treatments.
With money, you can go for lazer - the quick option to get rid of zits.
With money, you can hire a specialist to take care of your dietary needs.
With money, you don't need to work, you can attempt to sleep early almost every night.
With money, I wouldn't be writing this entry about the money I've wasted for this past 1 year and the depressing results I've achieved from it.
It's depressing, dejecting, dispiriting, discouraging, disheartening, discomposing, melancholic, miserable, tear-jerking, upsetting and what more do I need to say for you to get how I feel?
LIKE IT WAS AN UTTER WASTE OF MONEY!! I could have spent it on another LV wallet and got something back in return. I could have spent it on medication and seen faster results. I could have saved the money for my future!!!
But then would I do otherwise? I don't know. Beauty comes at a price, no?
Yesterday, I went to check out yet another facial centre. The plan I've signed on to at my current facial centre is finishing in about 1 month's time. (Yes, I signed on to it last April so you do the math and work out if it has even been a year!) So I was sourcing for other alternatives since it's far too expensive for me to afford another year at this place.
As the lady working at this facial centre explained the types of facials available to me, and introduced a trial facial for $38 (original facial price is $280 per facial!!!), I agreed and said I wouldn't book for a slot this weekend as I had just done facial on Sunday.
She turned and looked at me, staring closer to my face as if she was shocked. She commented that it didn't look like I had done facial just a couple of days ago and asked me about my breakouts and so on and so forth, as if asking me why I was still going to this facial centre.
I felt utterly horrid. My skin is flawed, I admit to that. I have zits on my cheeks, above my upper lip, at the side of my mouth, on my chin, and on my forehead (that practically covers my whole face). If you'd ask me to count, I'd say right now I have about 10 visible zits living on my face. I have scars from my previous breakouts, red and blotchy, which never seem to heal or lighten dispite the many treatments I've gone to which claimed to lighten scars.
But the facial centre I currently go to is reputable. Their services and equipments are professional and they have outlets in major malls. They wouldn't be entirely useless, I try to convince myself.
The above isn't the only example. I went to another centre to try out their services and my face had so much clogs that the specialist was compelled to ask what my current facial centre was doing? Were they even extracting these deep clogs? When I confronted my current facial specialist, she said there are some you cannot extract because it is so deep. They do not want to cause further scaring. It takes time to clear the face of impurities.
But it's hard to stay positive when you receive these comments like people don't believe you had just been to facial a couple of days ago. What does this tell about my facial treatments? It's lousy or your face is beyond hope.
I don't know which is better. I've spent so much money on my face this last year, I hardly want to admit that it was all for nothing. I want to know that if I hadn't gone for any treatment, my face would have been worse off. I want to know that the facials I've paid hundreds for each time was worth it. At least I had some results. But I'll never know, and I'm scared to find out which is true. Is it true that my face would have been worse if I didn't do facial? (I can stop facial and find out in a couple of month's time - and if it is true, I'll have to start treatment all over again to get it back to what it was before.) If it is not true and my face remains what it is today? (I've spent about two thousand dollars this year, just fixing my face, and you tell me that it's just that and I can't do anything about these breakouts? That what about all the other facial specialists who tell their customers that they must clear their skin of clogs - is that all a lie?)
I don't know what to do right now. So many ladies go for facial, that must say something about facial being good for your skin. But I'm frustrated with my face. I'm so frustrated with the money I've spent, just to receive such comments in return. With one comment, my hopes, my optimism, my aspirations that one day I may have clear skin - all that came crashing down.
How can a person be confident if she's so frustrated with her complexion? Make-up only does what is short-term - for that couple of hours. Make-up may be magical for the hours it's on, it may transform a plain jane into a super model, but once make-up is removed, all your flaws are revealed once again, and it could even be worse. It's a vicious cycle which I'm sure I've mentioned before. A person uses make-up to conseal the zits, more zits breakout because of the clogged pores, and more make-up goes on in order to cover the additional zits. I call this the beautiful zits lifecycle.
So how can one achieve confidence in her appearance? The answer lies in the money.
With money, you can go for weekly facials and gold treatments.
With money, you can go for lazer - the quick option to get rid of zits.
With money, you can hire a specialist to take care of your dietary needs.
With money, you don't need to work, you can attempt to sleep early almost every night.
With money, I wouldn't be writing this entry about the money I've wasted for this past 1 year and the depressing results I've achieved from it.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
GOOGLE Christmas to one and all!!!
I never understood why EK loves going to Yahoo,
or why there are search engines like DogPile!
I only seek one answer from the world wide web, and that's Google!
Google is always there to share!
When the winter olympics was happening, Google celebrated it from the start...
...and to the end...
And this Christmas, Google didn't miss a heartbeat. It started with a ribbon...
And then added some paint...
And they threw in more decorations...
And they sprinkled some sparkles...
And 'WALLAH'...A Google Christmas masterpiece!!
(P.S. I feel like a spokesperson for Google.
For more information, please visit http://www.google.com/)
or why there are search engines like DogPile!
I only seek one answer from the world wide web, and that's Google!
Google is always there to share!
When the winter olympics was happening, Google celebrated it from the start...
...and to the end...
And this Christmas, Google didn't miss a heartbeat. It started with a ribbon...
And then added some paint...
And they threw in more decorations...
And they sprinkled some sparkles...
And 'WALLAH'...A Google Christmas masterpiece!!
(P.S. I feel like a spokesperson for Google.
For more information, please visit http://www.google.com/)
Monday, December 24, 2007
The Eve
Christmas is tomorrow!!!
I love Christmas. It's my most favourite time of the year, and I think it is especially so for many christians around the world. Christmas is not only about presents and dinners. It's more than that. It's about the coming of Jesus Christ, the spirit of giving, the warmth of family and the joy of love.
That's why I love Christmas. Having grown up in a christian family, christmas has always been an important day for us to gather as a family to celebrate. I love the Christmas dinners, the church celebrations, even the carols are so much more meaningful than 'Santa Claus is coming to town' or 'Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells'.
That's why Christmas means so much to me. But of course, in an influential world, the practices like putting up a Christmas tree, buying presents for loved ones, watching lovely Christmas movies about Santa Clauses, elves, and Reindeers are also some of my favourite ways of celebrating Christmas.
Take for example my last two days, the last weekend before Christmas. I met up with old friends, went shopping, watched many Christmas movies (even ones I've seen countless of times before), watched a Christmas Performance at Church, heard the word of God with fellow Christians, shared a Christmas dinner with relatives and sang beautiful carols to the strum of the guitar.
It was such a joy and I'm thankful to get the best of both worlds.
I love Christmas. It's my most favourite time of the year, and I think it is especially so for many christians around the world. Christmas is not only about presents and dinners. It's more than that. It's about the coming of Jesus Christ, the spirit of giving, the warmth of family and the joy of love.
That's why I love Christmas. Having grown up in a christian family, christmas has always been an important day for us to gather as a family to celebrate. I love the Christmas dinners, the church celebrations, even the carols are so much more meaningful than 'Santa Claus is coming to town' or 'Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells'.
That's why Christmas means so much to me. But of course, in an influential world, the practices like putting up a Christmas tree, buying presents for loved ones, watching lovely Christmas movies about Santa Clauses, elves, and Reindeers are also some of my favourite ways of celebrating Christmas.
Take for example my last two days, the last weekend before Christmas. I met up with old friends, went shopping, watched many Christmas movies (even ones I've seen countless of times before), watched a Christmas Performance at Church, heard the word of God with fellow Christians, shared a Christmas dinner with relatives and sang beautiful carols to the strum of the guitar.
It was such a joy and I'm thankful to get the best of both worlds.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Surfing the BBB
I love blog surfing!! It can be such a joy and yet also such a downer.
Joy:
It's always nice to catch up with friends' lives...
Know what they've been up to...
Get to know who they've been with...
Share in their happiness...
And hear about their disappointments...
It's nice to see pictures...
Whether they've grown thinner...
And even prettier...
See the universe through their eyes (or pictures)...
And experience a taste of their world...
But sometimes...it's also a downer:
You wish you could be there...
And experience it first-hand...
You wonder what else they've done...
And whether they've missed you...
You realise time's slipping by...
And you're slowly losing touch...
But most of all...
You discover that you have your own lives to live...
And it is this path you have chosen...
So you have the make the most of it...
But you'll know where you can find them...
An email or a text message away, a sea or a sky apart...
A link on the www, or a surf on the bbb...
But the one place that lasts forever...
And that is in YOUR HEART!
Joy:
It's always nice to catch up with friends' lives...
Know what they've been up to...
Get to know who they've been with...
Share in their happiness...
And hear about their disappointments...
It's nice to see pictures...
Whether they've grown thinner...
And even prettier...
See the universe through their eyes (or pictures)...
And experience a taste of their world...
But sometimes...it's also a downer:
You wish you could be there...
And experience it first-hand...
You wonder what else they've done...
And whether they've missed you...
You realise time's slipping by...
And you're slowly losing touch...
But most of all...
You discover that you have your own lives to live...
And it is this path you have chosen...
So you have the make the most of it...
But you'll know where you can find them...
An email or a text message away, a sea or a sky apart...
A link on the www, or a surf on the bbb...
But the one place that lasts forever...
And that is in YOUR HEART!
Friday, December 14, 2007
CHRISTMAS FRANTIC!
This year, Christmas has crept in so silently, I'm quite shocked. I haven't even started my countdown and it's already less than 2 weeks till Christmas!
This fact just dawned on me today when my colleague came in giving chocolate presents, saying she'll be away till the 1st of January. Next week, my bosses are going back to France for their Christmas holidays. Christmas is coming!!
How could I not feel it?! How did I miss all the signs? I knew of talk about Christmas holidays when I went for lunch with colleagues, I saw the Christmas lights at Orchard Road (but they always put it up way early anyway) and Grandpa was talking about getting tickets to the church Christmas dinner, but they always advertise so very early.
But it's not early! it's only 11 days till Christmas! Christmas is coming and I'm not yet in the Christmasy mood! THAT'S A MAJOR CRISIS!
I need to get into the Christmas mood. Christmas is my most favourite time of the year! It's when beautiful Christmas carols are shared and the spirit of giving is all around. But I have not even shopped for Christmas prezzies! What was I doing? Daydreaming? I feel like Christmas isn't till next month!
Gosh, Christmas is practically next week!
Next weekend would be the the 22nd and 23rd of December, then 24th is Christmas Eve and goodness gracious me, it'll be the 25th before I know it!
And I haven't even started blasting Christmas songs!!! AHHHHHH.
So it is done. It shall start as of today!!
This fact just dawned on me today when my colleague came in giving chocolate presents, saying she'll be away till the 1st of January. Next week, my bosses are going back to France for their Christmas holidays. Christmas is coming!!
How could I not feel it?! How did I miss all the signs? I knew of talk about Christmas holidays when I went for lunch with colleagues, I saw the Christmas lights at Orchard Road (but they always put it up way early anyway) and Grandpa was talking about getting tickets to the church Christmas dinner, but they always advertise so very early.
But it's not early! it's only 11 days till Christmas! Christmas is coming and I'm not yet in the Christmasy mood! THAT'S A MAJOR CRISIS!
I need to get into the Christmas mood. Christmas is my most favourite time of the year! It's when beautiful Christmas carols are shared and the spirit of giving is all around. But I have not even shopped for Christmas prezzies! What was I doing? Daydreaming? I feel like Christmas isn't till next month!
Gosh, Christmas is practically next week!
Next weekend would be the the 22nd and 23rd of December, then 24th is Christmas Eve and goodness gracious me, it'll be the 25th before I know it!
And I haven't even started blasting Christmas songs!!! AHHHHHH.
So it is done. It shall start as of today!!
Drive Me Crazy
I'm insanely bored. I've even signed on to facebook and left a message to a long lost primary school classmate of mine! It's crazy!! There's nothing to do...AHHH. Why am I even at work?! And I even went in search of a childhood friend of mine! CRAZY I tell you.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Happy Happy Weekended
The weekended (past-tense: weekend that has just ended) was HAPPY HAPPY.
So MANY MANY HAPPPY HAPPY things happened. Maybe not so MANY MANY, but HAPPY HAPPY enough (I seem to be running out of vocab).
What did I do?
Then I soaked, washed and scrubbed seven other pairs of shoes! I even did some minor repairs to a pair of shoes I only wore twice! The strap had broke off so I did some sewing and it served me well on Sunday!
It's like I gained nine new pairs of shoes over the weekend!
Mum, can you check if I have my pink pair of low boots in NZ? And how's its condition? I'd like to claim it when I return to NZ. Do you remember which one I'm talking about?
LOVE LOVE LOVE. I immediately played it and watched it with EK - just the first disc though and we didn't get through it coz it was already so late. But it was FANTASTIC!!! I really miss the show! Can't wait to continue watching it tonight!
So on the 8th of December 2007, Saturday, I dragged EK and we went to visit M1 at Paragon. I showed him the Sony Ericsson I had been eyeing. There were 2 of them. The W610i was going at $98 with a new 24 month contract, and W880i was at $198 with a 24 month contract. Obviously, the W880i phone was a lot more special than the cheaper one - AND NEWER! EK loved the colour of the W880i! So EK and myself immediately ruled out the W610i and found another $198 phone to compare the W880i with.
At first I wasn't sure if I should spend $200 on a new phone, especially when my first phone cost me nothing, but then again, my first phone was rather lousy. Not even 3G! The only plus point was coz it was a flip phone, which I was crazy over then.
After some comparison between the 2 phones that cost $198, I went with my first choice, the W880i. It was an easy decision. Most of the functions were the same as the other $198 phone: 1GB memory, 3G, video calling, 2.0 mega pixel camera, etc. Both were walkman phones...though one had better speakers for music, I'm not a particular over my sounds so this wasn't a point worth comparing. The next was radio function. The W880i did not have radio while the other had, but neither do I listen to radio, so it was a simple decision. I went with the one that looks the most elegant, class and stylish...
What do you think? Here are your choices:
1) Totally AWESOME!
2) Sooo COOL!
3) GOLD CHIC!
4) LOVE IT!
(And along with this purchase, I got a free BREE computer laptop bag worth $179, and redeemed my M1 sun perk points for a free prepaid card with $18 value - I didn't even know I had sun perk points and could redeem stuff but thankfully, I found out before the points expired on 18 December 2007!)
So MANY MANY HAPPPY HAPPY things happened. Maybe not so MANY MANY, but HAPPY HAPPY enough (I seem to be running out of vocab).
What did I do?
HAPPY HAPPY (1) - SHOES, SHOES, GLORIOUS SHOES!
On Thursday, EK finally saw my shoe cupboard and agreed I needed new pretty shoes, so on Friday evening after work, we did some serious shoe shopping. This is a great shopaholic treat! I decided against the expensive pair of sandles from Guess which cost $118 after discount, and went with the cheaper alternative - Charles and Keith. I figured I could buy more with less than $100! And so I did. I've now got 2 new pairs of pretty sandles for work!!! And they are comfortable too coz it's neither 3 inches high, nor pointy toes. Feeling recharged on Saturday morning, a good dose of shoes really helps, I did major cleaning out of my shoe cupboard! I threw away 2 disgustingly rotten shoes - don't know why I still kept them (one had started flaking and cracking, the other had scratches and unreparable tears)!Then I soaked, washed and scrubbed seven other pairs of shoes! I even did some minor repairs to a pair of shoes I only wore twice! The strap had broke off so I did some sewing and it served me well on Sunday!
It's like I gained nine new pairs of shoes over the weekend!
Mum, can you check if I have my pink pair of low boots in NZ? And how's its condition? I'd like to claim it when I return to NZ. Do you remember which one I'm talking about?
HAPPY HAPPY (2) - FANTAGHIRO MY HERO
My Christmas Prezzie from my daddy and mummy arrived when I got home on Friday late night or should I say Saturday early morning! MY CAVE OF THE GOLDEN ROSE, a.k.a. PRINCESS FANTAGHIRO!LOVE LOVE LOVE. I immediately played it and watched it with EK - just the first disc though and we didn't get through it coz it was already so late. But it was FANTASTIC!!! I really miss the show! Can't wait to continue watching it tonight!
HAPPY HAPPY (3) - CALL ME TEXT ME JUST CONTACT ME!
It's been two years since I've been in Singapore!!! And this means, my phone plan is finally over. When I signed on to my first Singapore cell phone plan in Dec 2005, the phone cost $0 and the plan was the cheapest at $25 per month over a 24 month contract. Finally 24 months later, with my phone plan expiring in 4 days, I decided to treat myself to a new phone!!So on the 8th of December 2007, Saturday, I dragged EK and we went to visit M1 at Paragon. I showed him the Sony Ericsson I had been eyeing. There were 2 of them. The W610i was going at $98 with a new 24 month contract, and W880i was at $198 with a 24 month contract. Obviously, the W880i phone was a lot more special than the cheaper one - AND NEWER! EK loved the colour of the W880i! So EK and myself immediately ruled out the W610i and found another $198 phone to compare the W880i with.
At first I wasn't sure if I should spend $200 on a new phone, especially when my first phone cost me nothing, but then again, my first phone was rather lousy. Not even 3G! The only plus point was coz it was a flip phone, which I was crazy over then.
After some comparison between the 2 phones that cost $198, I went with my first choice, the W880i. It was an easy decision. Most of the functions were the same as the other $198 phone: 1GB memory, 3G, video calling, 2.0 mega pixel camera, etc. Both were walkman phones...though one had better speakers for music, I'm not a particular over my sounds so this wasn't a point worth comparing. The next was radio function. The W880i did not have radio while the other had, but neither do I listen to radio, so it was a simple decision. I went with the one that looks the most elegant, class and stylish...
What do you think? Here are your choices:
1) Totally AWESOME!
2) Sooo COOL!
3) GOLD CHIC!
4) LOVE IT!
(And along with this purchase, I got a free BREE computer laptop bag worth $179, and redeemed my M1 sun perk points for a free prepaid card with $18 value - I didn't even know I had sun perk points and could redeem stuff but thankfully, I found out before the points expired on 18 December 2007!)
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