Oink's

There must be something good about it !

2012-01-20T22:59:00.003+08:00

It's the last working day before we enter into the year of dragon. I was at work and feeling far from being motivated to do anything. Guess I am still feeling lousy over the exam paper on Monday , which I might have done quite badly ( Read as : I am going to fail ). Even for the assignment , I ended up with the lowest score in class despite spending lots of time working on the assignment… Sitting at my work desk feeling bored , I took out my phone and started watching bubz’s video on “paint with me”. I must say that she have a talent for arts …. Be it painting on canvas or on her face, and she can speak to inspire people all over the world. The video was on chasing her dream for arts. And I asked myself do I even have a dream ? Seems like I don’t.

To make things worse, I felt that I sucked at almost everything I do, even though I did put in effort. Seriously. I can’t think of anything that I am good in. This is sad. I suddenly felt that I dun seems to get anything right. Then I open up words document starting typing furiously , ranting and pulling out all the stuffs I successfully screwed up in life .....

Then another colleague interrupted my self –demotivating act by chatting up with me. He was also not in the mood to work, We started to chat about rubbish. After chatting with him I looked at what I typed again .. Suddenly I wondered to myself . Why am I writing such boring stuffs to further demotivate myself ? How come I seem so good at picking at all the dumb things I have done?
I spent a lunch time with some time over lunch about this .... And I figured that can’t there is any good things about things happening around me .. There must be something good about everything right ? Then I decided that I will set this new resolution for myself.

I want to change at least 10 things that I have negative feeling about into something positive . Yes I may not achieve anything but at least I should be as positive about stuffs to at least makes things not so bad … The dragon year predicts a good year so let’s gambate see how I’ll fair for this resolution I have set !

Happy new year

Resolution 2011

2011-10-29T15:33:00.002+08:00

Late… late…. late ….I know I am super late in penning down my resolutions for 2011.

I swear that I do have a list at the beginning of the year, and I am also working on it over the months. I just find it incomplete and did not really pen it down.

Now I finally decided to stop procrastinating and PEN what ever I have in mind down. Personally I feel that actually penning down resolutions means more than just having the list in your head.

(1) Improve driving skills

(2) Sleep early

(3) Cook a dish each month

(4) Clear all my examination for 2011

(5) Read a Lee Kuan Yew Book

(6) Learn video editing

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I couldn’t really complete the list because for the rest areas of the improvements, as I do not know how to quantify for it …. So that is why the list never really got completed. Just for jotting down purposes those items includes things like

-Exercise more

-Love more

-Spend more time with parents

-Be more tolerant & patient

-Learn to listen more

-Take a little more care of my face instead of leaving it just like that cos I am a lazy pig (bad habit). I rather head straight into my pillow rather then caring for my skin.

- Stay more positive

- Take less cab to work!

12 Dishes

2011-10-28T15:28:00.000+08:00

One of my 2011 year resolution is to cook a dish every month, which translates into 12 dished to complete this year. I didn’t aim to cook a perfect dish, nor to cook everything from the scratch, just to cook an simple, edible dish.

Moving into the last 2 months of 2011, I feel that I should review the list of items cooked so far

(1) Bak Kut Teh
This is the very first dish of the year. I am ashamed to say that most chopping , cleaning was done my other half, who is definitely better than me in the kitchen. This explains why I am getting fat.

The spice was bought off the shelf. Pork ribs were put in together in a slow cooker and left to cook for an hour.

(2) Pasta
Bought the pasta and pasta sauce off the shelf again, cook them separately and mix.
I seems to have lost the photo of it .... :(

(3) Chee Chong Fun

I learnt this from my Mother in law. It is one of my favorite dish. It was after been shown many times to me before I finally could get it.

(4) Prawn Mee Soup – I got the recipe online here.
Getting all ingredients in place

Going to be ready soon

This is the final product!

(5) Gyoza

(6) Cheese Mushroom

One day I had a dinner at Plaza Sing with my friend and had this great tasting cheese mushroom for their finger food and taste heavenly. As I kept thinking about it , I decided that I must learn this

(7) Hawaiian Baked Rice
I used this Recipe
Before putting into the oven

Done !

(8) Watercress Pork Rib soup
Used this recipe

(9) Cereal Prawn
I just followed the instruction at the back of the packaging , but excluded curry leaves & chilli

(10) Old Yellow Cucumber Soup
This is my own recipe , throw all ingredients in and leave it to boil ....

(11) Niang Toufu ( MIL taught version )

(12) Pork Loin with aspargus - No recipe. I cook it just because I felt like eating pork & aspargus. And pork loin is one of my favourite parts

Of course , there are always failed experiments mainly due to my lousy skills, listed some here

(1) Minced pork salted egg with Toufu

(2) FIL one day cook a dish with mushroom , dark beans , and tofu + i also duuno what else.

It was damn nice and I tried to replicate but failed big time.. sad man !! I am still trying to steal his recipe ....

(3) Chicken wings

Was experimenting with different ways to cook chicken wings .. None of it turn out nice :(

Top :Some Japanese recipe Wings

Second on the right : Soya sauce wings

Left bottom : Coca Cola Wings

Right Bottom : Salt Wings

(4) I also realised that I do not know how to make steamed eggs !!!! I am still trying !

No photos cos it damn lousy

My Recent Passion ….is coloring

2011-09-30T11:37:00.016+08:00

I was never a good art student. I am boring and dull. I only manage to scrape through my artworks in school only. But being bad at it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it right ?

Was browsing through the videos in you tube. I usually look at video from Michelle Phan & BubzBeauty. These gals are as usual very inspiring; I get my 3 minute passion from these gals.

There was some recent videos of nail painting and I decided to do something about mine… The ideas and credit goes to them as all I did was to COPY. Haha …

This is the collection of my nail polish

Some humble nail art done by myself ..

(1 ) Bumble Bee

(2) White Hearts On Red

A lot people laugh at my white hearts... Saying that it looked like it was painted on with correction liquid :o/

And this photo looks blur because my iphone can no longer take decent focused photos .. :o(

(3) Yellow French

(4) Panda French

(5) Going Retro

Then my colleague passed me her black shatter to try ..

(6) Black on Red

(7) Black on Pastel Purple

(8) Black on Gold Glitters

(9) Black on Neon Pink and Orange

I am so falling in love with this Shatter thing

Till I get my hands on the other colours !

My Affair with Balls

2011-09-29T23:00:00.000+08:00

I started with it occasionally. It was half year back that it became twice a week affair, because I found someone super onz ..

What ball(s) ???

Yes You!

Out of fun, we assigned every single ball we have to someone we know, and took a group photo of them. I thought it will be interesting to intro the characters of our ball game.

PRINCE

Leading the pack is Prince aka "TaiZi Qiu" , named after a high flyer with super good potential to take our our company director. He just join us and takes lead in pissing every other people off by pushing others to do job for him. Cant blame him , that is what he is paid to do so. We are wondering if he would kill to get what he wants… The Throne..

ATP HEAD ( Second Row, left most)

This is our HEAD. aka "Cheng Xiang" aka Prime minister. Brought in by our director and linked to him as friend. We find it a pity that he came in a little later than prince, and we cannot just anyhow de-crown a prince, ( unless he is being assassinated ), so we got choice but to give him a title of a prime minister, welding more power than the prince.

Each time you try to bad mouth the director, he will jump to his defense. Typical of a prime minister. Super loyal.

Dunlop

We call this Old DOG. The guy, who pays and irritate us with his barking, The actually name comes by just because he is born in the year of DOG and he is OLD. Dunlop was assigned to him because that ball can’t bounce as well as the others.

Wilson Trainer (Second from the left)

We call this Lousy, who is good at rephrasing your problem statement and comment a lot of rubbish without giving a solution. The bosses love him for an obvious reason; he narrates the emails that the bosses never read and appears to be on top of everything.

Wilson 3 (right most)

Some pp call him Korean , some call him by his name. I prefer to call him FT. He does not seems to understand that respect is earned, instead keeps complaining that people is not giving him respect as he feels that he is a BIG F***. No one cares about him and I dislike his face. I hope he gets deported one day. Muahahaha …….

T1 , T4 & the un-named at the back

These are the all other monkeys, clowns and jokers.... Like me …

Just in case you are wondering to why I have got so many different brands of balls, it probably was being picked up from the court , or mixed with someone else , or due to separate purchase, I don’t stick to one brand .. I stick to the cheapest, as we are amateur players.

DISCLAIMER CLAUSE

This post is presented for entrainment and time wasting purposes. The characters in this post are entirely fabricated and no pride was hurt in the process. The writer disclaim any and all responsibility for any loss, injury, damage or expense directly or indirectly arising out of or relating to use or reliance on this presentation or the material contained in this presentation. Any similarity is simply a coincidence. The reader, is hereby notified that this post may not be copied in whole or in part . Any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. There is no need to even try to ask for written agreement as you are not going to get it.

Some Misc Posts

2011-09-28T23:04:00.002+08:00

The first few months of 2011 does not have much event enough to register a post, but trust me , my life still runs like mad.. I kinda hope this year will quickly pass so that I can get down with the last 3 subjects of my course. It's really sucking up load of my time and annual leve. Imagine living off with 4 days of leave while you are only 7 months into the year.

Anyway, the below's the nitty gritty stuffs

Payback time for bring a BIG UOB card user ! Actually is points of 3 different cards owners :)

Carried home a OSIM back & leg masseger with those vouchers

We also went to a seminar and got some discount coupon for Lawry's the Prime Pork Ribs

The place is beautiful .

This is the legendary pork rib served on their famous silver cart.
Their USDA Prime Rib comes in different cuts for those with smaller appetites, the SINGAPORE cut, (slightly smaller cut) , or the the CALIFORNIA cut, (even smaller one). For those with bigger appetite, there is the ENGLISH cut , LAWRY’S CUT and the "THE "DIAMOND JIM BRADY"CUT

The Prime Rib Cut with Idaho Mashed Potatoes

Verdict : 8/10 but the ambience of the place can compensate for the other 2 missing score. :)

Their chicken breast with ..errr... I forgot ... But well , dont bother to order it. The meat was too tough and dry for my liking..Not nice.

Yorkshire Pudding, this is nice ..

We caught some street parade on our window while having dinner

I dunno how often other couples does it , but we often go over to the construction site of my future home to look at the progress...
Oh my , I am so looking forward toward it .... Why can't they build faster ?!

I also got BIG scarrings from some MEGA Pimples that erupted right on my face!!

One of the weekend , we passed by the club my girlfriends and me went for my Hens party - Club Giorgio

During the general election , we also visited Potong Pasir- another place which I have never been to and we love the the place. Look how gorgeous the house is there.

Night out !

Valentine's 2011 @ Hotel Re!

2011-09-26T23:00:00.000+08:00

This year is out first V day after getting married. I got my Advanced V Day pressie Advanced. My very first LV cluth bag!

This is an expression of mad happiness ... OMG , wrinkles !

After signing off hugh bills for the past few months , we decided to have a more economic v day celebration.
A Search on google engine return with good results

$49 PER PAX for 6 course dinner at Hotel Re!

My must-have on V-Day

When we reach the hotel , the friendly staffs greetted and offered help take a photo for us

The place for diner was nicely decorated

The waiting time was however , quite long. Quite expected as it is V day and crowded everywhere.

Out of boredom , I took a picture of my own shadow with the spot light

Finally the food arrived !

Dish 1 - Endless Love

Escargot Bourguignonne, Scallop Mornay on Shell
Marinated Tuna with pink Grapefruit Salsa and Chilled Japanese Pasta

Dish 2 - Careless Whisper

Light Crab Bisque with Swiss Brown Mushroom
Scented with Chervil, served with Cheese Stick

Dish 3 -More Than Words
Oven- Baked Cod Fillet, Lobster Risotto Milanese
Lavished with Peppercorn Beurre Rouge Sauce
Brunoise of Vegetables

Dish 4 - Total Eclipse Of The Heart

Lychee Sorbet with Mixed Berries

Dish 5 - Sunshine of My Life

Roasted Rack of Lamb, Romanced with Raspberry Au Jus
Mushroom Fricassee, Chickpea Mash, Medley of Vegetables

Dish 6 - P.S I Love You

Tiramisu, Mango Custard, Chocolate Mint Ice-Cream
Selection of Coffee or Tea

I could not be bothered to take a photo of it as I was soooooo cheesed waiting for ages for a pathetic dessert which do not look anything like what it was promoted ....

http://sylistic.com/travel/2011/02/07/romantic-valentine-day-dining-hotel-re-singapore/

HAHAHAHAHA ....

Well, what do u expect for $49 ?

Was a little pissed not because the actual differs A LOT from what was promoted, but because of the LOOOONG waiting time for everything ... including billing.

It is my bad, as being patient was never one of my traits. (I'm still working on it though ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ )

Nevertheless , it was a good evening with good food and a good man !

Took photo with a Beautifully decorated buggy for the event

Finally home and happy, Yup I kapo-ed the ballon from the hotel .. Hee hee

AngBao River ( Year of the Rabbit )

2011-07-16T00:41:00.001+08:00

With all the on-going events , time passes really quickly and it's a brand new year again !

Finally there is some free time on hand and we decide to visit the Ang Bao river & the MBS which I didnt really have a chance to visit since its opening on 23 June 2010 ( MY Birthdate !)

Getting ready to immerse myself in the CNY festive season!!

Ribbon done by him before setting out

Saw a strech limo on the way out.... Itsn't it chio ? Chio-ness comes with a beautiful price as well $888

Considering the super expensive parking in MBS , we decided to take public transport there and I guess there are some benefit to taking public transport. I discovered YOG park in SG, I must have been really sotong to not even know that this park esists !

MBS from afar

Year Of the Rabbit ! This is cute !

The YOG Dragon carrying the message"Fighting the Devil within" .... Remember ?

CBD from afar ... I love the skies like mad !!

Bottled Marina Barrage

On helixon Bridge
Took tons of photos here cos I really really really love the CBD with the grey - yellow skies as the backdrop.

..........Again .... LOL

The fountain outside MBS, I am not sure is was designed to double up as a wishing well (read: to collect extra income) as well, but whenever u see things like this, you'll see pp throwing coins into it. People clapped each time a coin successfully plonked into the hole in the middle. Does this happen everywhere in the world ?

Not sure it it just me or are there people who think likewise. Each time I walked into a shop located at places like MBS, I feel like a potential "Chai Tao"walking in, waiting to be "Chop" ...

The foodcourt, was very crowded and we finally decided to have dinner else where.

The last photo before bidding goodbye to MBS.

Hong Kong (19 Dec 2010 to 25 Dec 2010)

2011-07-12T22:49:00.002+08:00

After visiting grandparents in Yuen Lang , We then set forth to our Hotel at Tsim sha zhui

Looking at the hotel website makes me feel so excited to stay in this hotel..

This is how their signage looks like

This is how our room look like

The door knob

Washing Basin

Daily snacks complimentary of the hotel

Leaving our luggage , we decided to go out for a walk. Took some photos at the lobby

Hong Kong’s version of Macdonalds Monopoly

Playing the “who-can-take-cuter-photo-with-Hongkong-MTR Sign + Octopus Card !”

This is how much iPad cost in HK

Tons of Dessert !!!

With fruits filled to the brim !!

Looks & taste super nice

I was too rough and not sure where I chipped the blings on my nails :(

Christmas deco by Pan pac hotel … Chio..

Flowers from ex-boyfriend

Another thing not to be missed in HK – Timsum!!!!!!!! Best !!!!!

Visitng the Swaokski Christmas Tree !

LOVE the Black – red deco in Mandarin Hotel

give me something to eat !! 给我一点吃的吧 !!

Never watch movie in HK, the tickets is expensive and you have to buy the 3D specs that doesn't even have a size for you to choose from ! Mine specs have the end sticking out so long that I can't even lie back to watch the darn movie.

Can't blame me for having a small head right ?

As usual, Macau is also another must-visit place

Friend Wanton and some bread+meat ( can’t rem what’s it called already)

Around Macau

Macau Tower

My Artsy shoot !!

The beautiful lights of Macau – CASINO !!

Design Changes !!

You can’t be missing the casino, could you?

Super Chio Deco !!!!!!

One Random picture of us

We also manage to spend our Christmas eve in Hong Kong
I then decided to have a hair cut on christmas eve !

Just look at the crowd on christmas eve

At 5pm

At 8pm

Visiting the World Of Hello Kitty

It a little hard to get these few pictures cos there is so many people there !

On Christmas , we ended our wonderful trip and headed back to Singapore .. ......

Me with specially request for kids headset which fit just nice!
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..........with a little damage done ( This is only food )

Grandparents

2011-07-10T21:25:00.000+08:00

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I started off this post with the intention to talk about my HK trip, but got carried away on the grandparents topic and decided to remane the post to "grandparents"

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After our wedding we flew HK for a short trip and most importantly to visit grandparents-in-law who couldnt travel to attend our wedding.

Mentioning about Grandparents, with exception for my grandmother ( Mother's mom) who passed away in ill health in 1993, I have no memories of the rest of them, not even a photo. My father parents lost to tuberculosis before he was married and mom's father went back to China during WWII and no one ever heard of him since. Guess times was really really hard then...

Sadly, for the only grandmother I had, I was never close to her, and I don't know why. Probably because of language barrier at that time. I remember once she was telling me about her story in WWII. It was a nice feeling even though I could hardly make out what was she saying. (Afterall, I sucked at my own dialect till today, and I can never teach me kids that. :( )

So the term 'grandparents' is something very distant to me all the while. Till the day when I fetch Oink's grandparents from Changi Airport when they came over to Singapore to visit us the year before. I remembered blurting something like "Oh , so this is how a 90 year old granny and grandpa is like ... " Just kinda found it amazing that I suddenly have grandparents-to-be (at that time)

Ok , back to visiting them, by the time we arrived at Grandparents house it was already almost 10 – 11pm .. Way past their sleeping time, but they still prepared food for us nevertheless.. It just so hard-warming.

Photo with grandparents the next morning after tea-ceremony

OUR BIG DAY !!!! FUSAW + JULIE 18 Dec 2010 ( Misc )

2011-07-07T10:58:00.001+08:00

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Regret for wasting time is more wasted time
- Mason Cooley

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Some unposted photos .....

Welcome greeting by the hotel

View from our balcony

Around the suite . I love the room!!

Chicken Rice for our dinner served at 4pm sharp. Super small portion so I have no choice but to go and buy my dinner from the food court downstairs

Hubby and Niece

ROM + Dinner

Untouched food kept in a warmer were sent to our room

The mess in our suite the next morning ..

6 jugs of beers cleared the night before ….

OUR BIG DAY !!!! FUSAW + JULIE 18 Dec 2010 ( Morning )

2011-04-04T10:57:00.000+08:00

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People who don't take risks generally make about 2 big mistakes a year. People who take risks generally make about 2 big mistakes a year. - Peter Drucker
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Yes I know , a quarter of 2011 have passed and I am still posting backdated stuffs.. Believe this will be the last bit on my wedding ...again .... Actual Day this time ! ... hee hee

Guess I have not really posted much on my AD , So here are the photos. Taken by Sam Lim ... Pretty Pro wor ....

Getting Ready In the Morning

Arrival of the Groom

Game Time

My blue-white theme flower

Arriving at Groom's place

Most of my candid shot sucks but I think Sam caught this one perfectly !! *loves*

Tea Time!!

Another Good Shot

Artistic

I love my wall colour ~~~

Its hard to get a photo of my grinning hubby ..... Well done !!

Me & S-I-L-s

Kinda Look fat in this .... Fault of the Kua ... Fault of the kua .......

Catch the flowers !

Oh yes ....... My very very cute Isaac whose birthday falls on the same day !! Looking intensely at his birthday cake.

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Obsession with kids ....

2011-04-01T00:56:00.000+08:00

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A parents job is to raise children that can function in the real world. Children are NOT the parents personal entertainment centers.

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I must admit that I am no kid lover and I thought I was the minority who finds it really irritating that my FB feeds is always flooded with picture of updates and photos of not your friend but their kid. (Guess partially it's my bad for not having a balanced mix of friends). New moms will keep posting photos / video / updates about their kids and those without kids will post photo they have with other people kids ... Many remove their OWN photo and replace it with their KIDS' , most of them just short of changing their own name to their kids' ..

Seriously la ..... At least to me , kids don't look any different from week to week. There's no need to post new photos every single week la. I am perfectly fine if they post the photos of their new born to share their joy , then maybe 1 month old , then 6 months then 1 year old .... But not every few days / week..

And if you look into the live feeds of these people you'll find that almost ALL their updates is about their precious kid.
Many times I wondered, where is the the friend I knew? I am now friend with the kid instead. So many times I feel like asking them, "Do you remember you have a life before u had kids ? where is that life now ?"

Sometimes I wonder if they knew that , in extreme cases, these co-dependency issues can get very unhealthy for the child themselves. If they have mothers that are so engossed in their lives. And the mother themselves may suffer separation anxiety and find ways to sabotage the child's natural and normal developmental stages.

I can understand that this is part and parcel of being a new mom and I really really hope they will stop at one stage.
For those who don't, I'm sorry that if you may lose a lot of friends ... If you give a serious thought it , I believe you will realise why.

* Spare us, and keep these updates to within those interested. *

At one point I was really really hoping that FB allows categorisation for free text status update so that I can easily filter off those post related to other people children...

Nowdays when I see feeds like this, I feel like replying .... " I dun give a heck to your kid .." Who knows, maybe the kids also wonder why their mother reports everything about them to everyone.

A Beautiful Story to Share

2011-03-08T21:19:00.000+08:00

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A preoccupation with the future not only prevents us from seeing the present as it is but often prompts us to rearrange the past - Eric Hoffer

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There was one story that was shared in the course which I was sent to , the certified service professional . Personally I think was really really good. it just gives a different perspective on giving ... Bottomline:
Treasure it while it lasts

Sam lives in a 4 room HDB flat with his 3 kids. They are generally a very happy family except that everyday after work , when Sam comes home , the entire living room and walkway is covered with the children toys. He always has to put the toys away before he can walk through the living room to reach his bedroom. He tried reminding , telling , scolding the kids, but it was no use.

One day . after a long tiring, long work day , Sam came home finding all the toys thrown all over the entire living room , blocking his path to the bedroom, again.. He was so angry with his kids that he forgot to close the door. He started to put the toys away and was so engrossed with it that he did not notice that his neighbor , Mr Tan had came in to help to pick up the toys.

Mr Tan youngest daughter had just got married a few weeks ago and had moved out of the house. He had not had a chance to see her after her wedding. When Sam realise that Mr Tan was picking up the toys after him, he was embarrassed and said :" I 'm sick and tired of cleaning up after these kids."

Mr Tan said :" I hope you do not mind me helping. I miss doing this now that my daughter has grown up and gone. You should enjoy it while it lasts. You children will be gone before you know it. They grow up so fast."

This was a very powerful and important lesson!! After that, Sam never got angry when there were toys thrown all over the living room. He was grateful when he saw the toys. "The kids are still kids and I have got more time to spend with them."

What change was not the problem , was Sam's mindset towards to problem. He learnt to re frame his mind and substituted gratefulness for anger and changed his attitude.

Seriously ... Many times , doing that little bit more actually does not hurt ... Even if the people Whom you have helped might not even thank you in your face or even appreciate it , you know that you have done contributed something in someone else life.

Somemore things on my wedding - 2

2011-03-01T23:08:00.001+08:00

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Winning is a habit. Unfortunately , so is losing - Vince Lombardi

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I have got a lot of photos and I probably am going to do these in a few post ...

** Continue from this post and this post

(6) Photo Album Layout

Though I got a lazy & lousy photographer , I was very lucky to get a damn good designer who could do photoshop well and also created the layout my beautiful photo album which I really really love MAX !

HR Helpdesk

2011-02-27T01:09:00.001+08:00

I have seen companies investing in softwares to allow staffs to access their own leave details , payslips etc ...
This is the first time I see HR implementing a "helpdesk" so that it help HR staffs to manage such inquiries..

Rochester Park

2011-02-22T18:44:00.000+08:00

Me & hubby make it a point to try to celebrate our love on every 6th of every month.

While most people go “Happy 5th Anniversary!” we go “Happy 60th month!”

Anyway, 6th Dec 2010 , being the last anniversary before our big day , I bugged him to bring me out somewhere to eat. And he brought me to this place called Rochester.

Seriously, I never heard of this place before but I know I should be in for something new !

Rochester is located about 15 mins walk from Bouna Vista MRT station.

The entrance

And it “keeps with the verdant hillside surroundings and colonial ambience of black-and white bungalows inherited from the era of the British regime. Inside the 1930’s Colonial Bungalow reveals a vast interior consisting of various rooms, each with its own unique character. It offers an oasis of calm with its pristine and enchanting garden ambience, replete with trickling water fountains.”

Well, though quoted from the website, it describes what I wanted to say in better English. Didn't take a lot of pictures of the place though..

Map of the place

In search of restaurants

Floor Lights

I dunno what am I doing ..

The sky is turning dark …..

We went to a restaurant called

Table Deco ..Ordering Food

I dunno what am I doing again …

I am finally normal …

Finger Food

Our Soup

It seems harder and harder to take pictures as the sky darkens

Main Dish

Entrance @ Night

We are playing the See-who-can-do-a-“cheese”-better game !

Somemore things on my wedding

2011-02-21T01:03:00.000+08:00

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It Is Indeed True. Practising Forebearance While Working Makes You Make Slow And Steady Yet Concrete Progress With Always An Eye For Details And Strong Results. Perhaps Delayed, Nevertheless Evolved And Well Founded

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I realise I have somemore things to talk about .. ha ha .....

(1) and (2) was something I came to realize ....

(1) Preparation for marriage is a time you will be surprised to realize that there are people whom you did not expect anything from them are the ones who actually help you the most.

(2) The whole wedding process is actually not a difficult BUT it somehow does have a certain degree of impact on the couple’s emotions. Which is what that makes everything becomes super sensitive and ultra difficult. A small thing which isn’t an issue in our day to day lives becomes super issues. Because it is to most people a once in a lifetime event and they do give a BIG BIG deal about it.

(3) Photos on my photoshot day !!

MAKE- UP In progress

First Outfit

I dunno why I like this blur picture ...

Second Outfit

His!!

Third Outfit

Taking picture of US !!

Good makeup !

Another Shot !

Fourth Outfit

Before we go for outdoor shoot

Well , there is a fifth outfit , but never take ...

(4) Bridal Photos !!

(5) Dresses that was never chosen ...

...... To be continued .......

陳慧琳《你讓我懂》

2011-02-11T00:11:00.001+08:00

I can't remember how I came to know this song ... But I am loving it so much that I requested for the singer of the 2 piece band to sing it on my wedding day ~ ~

陈慧琳 - 你让我懂

他的温热把我搂著
没说太多这感觉拥有
日出后日落都会牵手走过
那样的温柔 Woo Oh Ho

安定她是多麽享受
失去著我才有的念头
所以有时候在幸福的时候
会想泪流

你让我懂爱很像风
你让我懂爱会流动
风大到让我能飞上云朵
就代表也能够把我给摔落

你让我懂爱像唱歌
你让我懂爱要决择
我最爱听的未必是我能唱的
全适合的才能唱得动人深刻

安定她是多麽享受
失去著我才有的念头
所以有时候在幸福的时候
会想泪流

你让我懂爱很像风
你让我懂爱会流动
风大到让我能飞上云朵
就代表也能够把我给摔落

你让我懂爱像唱歌
你让我懂爱要决择
我最爱听的未必是我能唱的
全适合的才能唱得动人深刻

我终於明白了你并没有带走什麽
而是留下一个会帮我的挫折

你让我懂爱像唱歌
你让我懂爱要决择
我最爱听的未必是我能唱的
全适合的才能唱得动人深刻

10 things about my wedding

2011-02-10T00:10:00.003+08:00

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Winners have simply formed a habit of doing things losers don't like to do - Albert Gray

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I believe every married person have something to talk about their wedding .. So do I .... Here are the 10 items I will talk about when asked about my wedding preparations !!

(1) Getting the sisters and getting together

Getting the great sisters isn’t an easy feat, especially when you need sisters who are

- Active and fun

- Knows each other and have almost the same frequency

- Able to auto-pilot as many things as possible

- Have a tint of “evil” in them.. haha ..

Half of my sisters team were changed due to unforeseen circumstances. I managed to find my last sister less than 10 days before my wedding. I ended up with 4 sisters who actually didn’t know each other or not as close. But thanks to their active participation and support every one of them gave, every thing went in much better than I expected.

In fact , the participation and help from the brothers surprises me as well, and I am really grateful for their help.

(2) Game Time !

(A) Preparation for the modified jigsaw puzzle game ….

Plan plan plan … Design design design

Took many evenings plus one whole Saturday, with my colleague and friend, who went with me to look for ideas and materials.

Almost done … except for the touch ups ….

Next, I need a decent looking BOX frame with dimension 12” x 36” x 1” !!

Was quoted $116 to $200 at Bras Basah & Tradehub for a custom made one. In the end , I decided to buy materials (and get my dad ) to make my own frame!! Materials Costs me about $100 but I can make 2 out of those materials !

Size of the materials ….. Super bulky … I must be crazy to actually buy that and bring home..

My best craftsman ever , my daddy who made this frame for me to display my perfumes. I decided to ask him to help me again with this frame !!

Work in Progress

Done in a single day !!

The final product !

Question

Answer

We are more than READY !!

(3) Guest Lists

For one whole week , straight after work I will go home to my messy workstation, either I was on photoshop or looking at the guest list …. There are so many people who are not able to attend , people who do not want to sit with who and who and people who die die want to sit with who and who.

Trying very hard to fill up all Kalongs …. Down with 6 more!!!

3 person tops my list as the weirdest people, can’t help bitching about them – So sorry, if you so happen to read it.

(1) The peddler – She is the ex colleague of my and my hubby and she readily agreed to come when I invited whom I invited her. Then she started asking if I am interested to buy her handmade flower bouquets. After discussion with my hub, we decided not to take from her as we think the flowers that are already provided by the bridal studio & florist is enough. So I informed her of our decision. Thereafter I didn’t hear from her. Neither she nor her angbao was seen till the date I posted this…. By the way, she is a manager of a MNC…

(2) The over-enthu friend– This is an ex-colleague of mine again, She was very happy for me when she heard that was getting married and told me again and again that she wanted to attend my wedding. I promised to invite her but told her that she might be sitting with some people whom she may not know cos I am only inviting the few of our common colleagues. So …….2 months before my actual day , she went around the department inviting guest ( and arse-hole whom I totally detest ) on my behalf and 3 weeks before my wedding she listed down the names of those guest invited (by her) and told me she had done all the confirmation for me, all nicely can be seated in one table…. OMG …

(3) The worse case scenario - Another ex-colleague yet again.. Honestly I didn’t really wan to invite her but because she was part of one group of people in my invitation list, and I do not want people to start asking why I invited everyone except her. There is 3 main reasons why I do not really want to invite her.

Firstly, I was quite pissed off working with this immature person, imagine someone coming to work at noon time when she is suppose to start work at 8am, and went further to ask her other colleague to meet her for lunch outside before coming into the office. Reason provided is simply “She cannot wake up every morning and stays VERY FAR (Tiong bahru) from the office in which is in Jurong”. The actual fact is the she actually holds another part time job outside and she rejected all offers to give her a morning call. I was wondering if she would come to my wedding at 10pm. Or maybe she decides to march in with me at the second march in.

Secondly , she always claims that she is only a university student, should not be paying so much for this and that and whine that paying $80 bucks for a wedding dinner is too too too much for a “poor” student like her..

Thirdly, you can call it jealousy, or what ever you wan , Is her in-born capability is to act pitiful and our male boss pities her like hell… (*yucks*)

Back to the main story. Firstly she did not confirm her attendance till quite late. Then she started asking if she can bring her BF along whom I only seen once or twice. I declined nicely explaining to her that her that particular table is already full hence only got place for her. But if she insists , I can arrange for her BF to be at another table. And guess what… She say they dun mind sitting separate!!!!

Anyway , as expected. I couldn’t locate any angbao with her name. But I still give the benefit of doubt that maybe those $60 , $80 un-named angbao belongs to her till today. Oh… did I forget to mention that her BF family runs a food business??

(4) Photoshop

This is one thing I spent loads of time on, because I am damn particular on my photos on the montage and on the jigsaw puzzle game. Given my limited knowledge on photoshop , I spent a lot of time on youtube & exploring how to get what I want from photoshop.

I actually wanted to upload some of the photos I have done with my lousy skills .. BUT SERIOUSLY, I don’t seems to be able to find it… For some strange reasons, after my BIG day , there are many things I simply cannot locate where they are .. my files , folders , memory card , thumb-drive, etc etc…

(5) Manicure and Pedicure

These are things that cannot be missed, 3 weeks before the AD ( actual day ) , Grace planja me to a full set mani and Pedi @ BELLA NAILS in Jurong East central.

Tried out their Nail Art and it look fabulous!! Its $2 for the nail art done on each nails!! The nails with 2 silver lines are thrown in free

The day before my actual day, Grace went with me again the same shop and got my gel manicure with matching pedicures! Chio bo ?

One thing about this nail is that I have hell lot of problems getting my contacts lens out every single night ! But it is still worth it~~

Some portion of the nails chipped off after one week when I was in Hong Kong and I had to go back to the shop to get it fixed as the lady has guranteed for the blings to stay…

This is the first time I am having gel nails done and I can say that I am really really impressed it.

Still can tahan after one month... Blings Still shiny, but it gets harder and harder to use my iphone… almost impossible to touch the screen with the long nails

I would say that I will do it another time if I have the chance.

(6) Julie Hen’s night

In the midst of all the busy preparation , fun must always be injected. We went to giorgio’s club @ lavender st. Where there is plenty of male entertainers who will perform walks, singing , pole dancing , etc ...

I am not good at writing so I decided to steal other pp description of the place .. Quite close to what we see

" The exterior of this place appears very unassuming indeed. With the simple unpretentious logo on the outside, you will never imagine what goes on behind the doors.

With a pensive step through the heavy doors, you encounter greyish sofas and dark velvet.The feel is very deep, dark and exclusive. The stage is in the middle of the room, it is bright white with led lights. .... There is no band... only a singer belting out songs from the karaoke system. The bar is made of marble... lending a exclusive feel. The toilets are sparse with wood finishings. ........

The male PRs appears to be mostly from China and some locals. The singers are generally tall and appear to have a stylist dressing them as they appear very similar in vein. Golden sneakers, white belt, black shirt, black PVc jacket... styled Taiwanese hair... ........ They parade on stage and the flower call begins! "

Photography is not allowed. But we secretly took one photos of the guys on stage ..

Unbelievably we could spent $400 - $600 on the flower garlands.. It was just plainly for fun ...

(7) Getting enough sleep

I believe in getting a lot of sleep. But it is just so hard to go to bed early especially when I am so used to staying-up-late-and-doing-nothing. Even if I go to bed early , I will have problem falling asleep. So I decided to use a very fail safe method – Sleeping pills !!!!

It works like magic and I don’t feel tired at all the next day !!

(8) Tidying up my room

It was not an easy feat as I only started 2 days before the AD and I got shitloads of non sense…

Packing and throwing in progress…

After

As I was tidying up my full height cupboard, I thought that I could leave anything below the waist level in the cupboard, it will be blocked anyway I thought …. But I was totally wrong!!!!! Both photographer and videographer do take their angles from the lower angles and even from the floor …
See the mess ? Not obvious la though

(9) Deco around the house

I wanted to decorate my house with flower petals and did not really start looking for it till a day before the AD because I thought flower petals will wither if I bought it too early…. In the end , I realize I got no time to go buy flowers petals and I have no choice I asked my dad for help… So he took his bicycle , cycle around and found some flowers selling in Indian shop… It’s looks like a smaller type of rose, and sells at $5 for one whole big packet and translate into 2 big plastic bags of petals !!!!!!!

Woo hoo !!!! After you pluck off the petals and put into a bowl , it looks no different from normal flowers petals and the effect is the same on screen … You see ??

There is just too much petals for just $5 !!!!!!!!!!!

The ballon deco was done by my dad as well...

(10) The Wine thing

One thing I will remember really hard … I have heard this advice several times about giving specific instructions to the hotel about how to serve the wine but I did not really care because I thought that the hotel people should be professional enough to know what to do. But I am totally wrong again !

On our Actual Day dinner , we were being informed that we are left with only 4 bottles ( out of the 30 bottles we brought) and it was only the 4th dish! Hubby was furious when he notices that many glasses were filled to the almost the brim and no one was drinking them.

Back to office , my colleagues also feed backed that the wine were auto served and auto refilled even when no one orders it!! This confirms hubby suspicion that the hotel was actually wasting our wines!!!! Luckily the hotel waived the wine corkage’s last minute else we sure will be sitting down with the banquet manager… So so …… BIG FAT LESSON LEARNT !!

Why am I neglecting this blog

2011-02-08T23:48:00.000+08:00

(1) Preparing for My BIG Day

(2) Holiday-ing in Hong Kong

(3) Then my table became like this 2 weeks before my exam

(4) Celebrating CNY !!

Happy Lunar New Year !!!!!!!!

Halloween Horrors 2010

2011-02-07T02:41:00.000+08:00

Guess where I spent halloween 2010 ?

At Night Safari!!

Finally someone decided to do something to spice up the all time boring night safari where you pay a lot and see nothing.

Now , even their website looks interesting!

This Oct many will be going there, not to look at the animals, but for people in horrible looking outfits who are out to scare the shit out of themselves. Including me..

The tickets is not cheap by the way.. $49.50 per pax !!

Before the entrance was this section call "Memories of the Departed"

And at the haunted village , we were greeted by several ghosts ..

Why are u touching my face huh ?

The butcher ... For a moment I dunno whether to smile or ??

Train of Terror

Queuing

Finally on !

The scary part about this ride is that there is many "ghost" will creep up from behind and scare the people on the train

Another one ..

Even the cashier's dressed up

Caught one family of vampires just before we left ..

I dun seems to be able to locate my memory card from my camera .. Hence a lot of lost photos for this post....

Will post up if one fine day I finally found it....

Penang. EAT.SHOP.RELAX !

2010-10-17T12:03:00.007+08:00

One week before I finally say bye bye to my carefree life without job, I decided to go onto a short trip. Oink and myself scouted around Chinatown travel agency to find that all tickets to Bali , Phuket are already fully booked.. Mainly because our decision to go onto this short trip is so sudden.

In desperation, we asked if there is any place with a beach and the ticket and hotel is still available. The lady behind the counter searched and recommended us to go Penang.

I am too ashamed to say that I only came to know that Penang is actually an island.. *shame*

Sandwich served onboard

Some photos from the plane

My 'baby dinosaur' broke when we landed ...

It took us about 50 minutes from the airport to our hotel. As it is a beachside hotel located at Batu Ferringhi, on the north coast with white sandy beaches, luxurious hotels and restaurants. It is no doubt far far in. We stayed at Golden Sands , Shangri-la

Our room

There is so many pillows in the room. Super love the long sofa by the window..

The so call “hillview” from our Hillview deluxe room. Actually it is quite nice as you can see the clouds circling the mountains at certain time of the day…

Opposite the hotel are some eatery where ww had chicken & mixed rice for our lunch.

The map provided at the hotel and airport are not very helpful. Luckily for us , there were 2 person gave us a lot of help to get around Penang.

First was this trainee at the concierge who spent about 20 mins talking non-stop about Penang which I find it almost impossible to digest all the information given. One important information he told us is the bus , 101 , just outside the hotel that we can take go to most of the shopping and eating haven in Penang. This bus also goes to the bus terminal where we can take any bus to almost anywhere in Penang. Without this information, we will most probably end up with taking cab everywhere…

The second person was one kind old ah-ma who we met on bus 101. She stays in Penang all her life and speaks very fluent English. She saw us looking helplessly at the information scarce map and came forward to introduce us to Penang while the bus took is moving on..

Bus ticket

With her help we managed to get off correctly at the our target destination, Komtar.

Komtar itself has nothing. For some reasons , almost all the shops are closed in the building and the viewing tower is closed for renovation…the ah-ma told us we could see the whole Penang from there and it beautiful when u see the sunset from there .. So sad ;(

We then proceed to the shopping mall next door, Prangin Mall . This is where my main shopping takes place.

My greatest regret is that I should have came to Penang BEFORE my wedding photoshoot … There are so many shoes in Prangin Mall. One blink shoes cost max about RM100 and there is further 20% off which will translate to about less than SGD$40 !!! It much more blink and chio-er than the one I bought in Paragon for a hefty SGD$98…
I could have bought 2 pairs in Penang :/

I wanted so much to buy a of blink heels from one of the shop but grudgingly dropped the idea as I have already bought mine in SG and there’s no need for so many wedding shoes for me.

Nevertheless , under the cyco-ing of darling, I ended up buying another 3 pairs of shoes in Prangin Mall. And seriously there are very very comfy. All 3 shoes didn’t give me blister nor “bite” me…

Eating is something you cannot miss in Penang, so if you are on a diet, then dun visit Penang. In order to track the number of food/drinks we tried at Penang , I decide to put a number beside every food we had tried :)

(1) Chicken rice we took opposite the hotel ( Forget to take photo)

(2) Crispy Crepe the crepe @ Pragin Mall is gut …

There are so many variety and it cost RM3.90 for a nice , warm and super crispy choco banana crepe. They have wafer as well..

And the banana they use is the smaller kind, which is usually sweeter. See the amount of banana and choco … It’s one of the best crepe I had ..

After walking around , we decided to have some coffee

(3) Penang White Coffee is BEST !

Then we went over to Gurney, took some photos around Gurney before the sky turns dark

Eating @ Gurney ( and some other places ) is cheap , averaging about RM 3 to RM 8. The portion of the food there is actually quite small, which is good because we will then have more capacity to try out more food.

(4)

(4) Rojak tastes So So. Maybe it because I dun really like rojak

(5) Satay - tastes so so as well. Which I think we forgot to take a photo of it.

(6) Penang Char Koay Teow (炒馃条)

We spotted a shop with long queue for Chay Koay Teow and decided to join in the queue

8:09 pm

8:17 pm

Finally 8:25pm , we got our long awaited Chay Koay Teow. Verdict ? Too salty…

We passed by gurney plaza for a little air-con. Personally I wouldn't recommend Gurney Plaza for shopping as has almost identicial shops as what a standard singapore shopping would have. The only thing I would recommend will be the hospital theme cafe in there which we went on the 2nd day for supper

We then walked to further down ( recommended by ah-ma) in search for more food.

saw more seafood , Coffee house , Curry fish head..

Feeling tired from walking , we sat down to eat again ..

(7) Bak Ku Teh . This is the one of the exception. This tiny bowl of bak kut the costs us RM11. Not forgetting a cooling beer !

(8) BBQ chicken wings

Feeling bloated, we finally decided to go back to the hotel… Taxi back from gurney to out hotel is RM30. We then went to the Outdoor Pasar Malam (Night Market), just outside our hotel. It is open from 8pm to 12 am. The stretch is quite long , but the shops were selling almost the same things. Clothes , lightings , DVDs , photo albums , toys , etc ….

stole this photo from the internet, cos I forgot to take photo again ... haha

Another seafood restaurant

the inside

Finally we came across Sixty9ine Mansion, the pub which Oink is looking for. And we went in for a drink

Took the next photos off the internet cos I dunno how to take good pictures in the dark ..

The entrance looks dull

But it is different inside !

I love the water ..

Sidetrack: For the rest of the photos from this point of this post , it is taken with an iPhone 4, We decided test the quality of the camera . The next few photo is taken by my lousy skills

(9) My Burgundy Apple and Oink’s Heineken. Me trying to take something nice again …

The staffs uniform

Can watch soccer

Sixty9ine Mansion has a facebook page !
http://www.facebook.com/Sixty9ine?v=photos#!/Sixty9ine?v=photos

We finally decided to walk back to the hotel and rest for the day…

DAY 2

Next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel open-air cafe. It usually at the café you’ll find out what are the people who is staying in the same hotel as you. We realise that our are mainly Eurasian and interestingly a lot of Arabic ( I think so) and the ladies are all fully dressed in Black abaya.

See ?

After breakfast , we went to the newly built Hard Rock hotel to get their Hard Rock Shirt.

Outside the hotel ...

I like the entrance .. Looks like there's a campaign for breast cancer going on

Rooms with attached swimming pool

Performance ..that even wow the little kids

Outdoor swimming pool

Oink bought this shirt

Around the hotel

At the beach

Our cheeky photo on the long bus ride to Burma Road for late lunch
Used some special effect application on his iphone

Think we look ghostly

We stopped by Burma Road to take a look ..

(10) Laksa @ Burma road

(11) Lor Mee

(12) Wanton Noodle

Around the corner of the Lor Mee and Laksa shop , we saw a big signage advertising Ah-ma Wanton noodle and decided to try it

Their Menu

(13) Tang Yuan

A few shops down from the wantion noodle shop , I caught sight of this dessert shop which sells tang yua. Curious , we went in .

There is really a lot of variety to choose from !!

The shop is uniquely designed. I like it!

Colorful !

and contains chocolate in it ! I want this type of tangyuan for my wedding !

Before we left , I went to the toliet at level 2 and noticed that the level 2 is also very nicely decorated !!

Oink’s stress from eating non-stop

Went to shop around timessquare which has almost nothing inside .. Too new ..

Pls do not book hotel name “paris hotel” if you ever see it on the internet..

We then went to buy some tau sa pia to bring back to SG. This is the famous shop, Ghee Hiang

We then went back to Gurney drive and continue with the food galore

(14) Or Jian(Oyster Omelette) - GOOD !

(15) Popiah- Nice !

(16) Laksa again from Gurney this time, smells better , but the one at Burma road tastes better

(17) BBQSotong served in cute paper boat

(18) Prawn Noodle which I could only find HUGH prawn rice inside. Not recommended

Walked over to Gurney Plaza, which is beside the Gurney Drive Open hawker centre. Spotted this interesting hospital theme based café and we pop in for coffee.

The surgery room

Here comes missy nurse with the menu

Their menu

Boy eating from a kidney bowl

Entertained ..

Keeping me entertained with Tom & Jerry cartoon which I find it amusing.

(I would very much like to watch Jerry Yan also ... )

The patient's monitoring card at the side of the chair

The wall deco. There are no special effects made on these pictures. It's the color and lighting of the place

The surgeon's prized tools

(19) We ordered Penang Black and White Coffee

The evil doc

the trainee doc

After the foam is cleared , we can clearly see the difference ..

We wanted to continue eating by walking down the roadside but it was raining snoopies and garfields, so we took shelter at G Hotel, located beside gurney plaza.

Where’s g-spot ?

Seeing that snoopies and garfields are not going off, We have no choice but to go back to the hotel. Then, I was feeling hungry again and decided to order Room service before I fall asleep happily ( I know I am piggy..hahaha )

(20) Kids meal

DAY 3

On the last day, We only have half a day and we realise that we are out of the hotel most of the time and did not really utilise the facilities of the hotel . Hence, decided to stay in the hotel.

This is how the hotel lobby look like. Open air as well, Sometimes there live piano show.

I bought this hardrock café shirt

Around the hotel

The sheltered swimming pool

The very classic Shangri-la balcony

Special playground equipped with toys for the little one while the parents enjoy their food.

The hotel have a ‘cool lounge’ for guest who need to check in out early.

It provides sofa , internet, and access to their bathroom, which fully equipped with everything that is supposed to be in the hotel room bathroom. It is just like a replica of your hotel room bathroom , but a little grander. Beside the common washing basin ,each locker contains full set of soap , shampoo, conditioner , showercap, lotion, and towels.

This is how each of the individual bathroom looks like..

Quickly changed out of my clothes and went for the Whirl pool which I *loves max*, you can lock it from inside so that you have PRIVACY. The Whirl pool also has a on/off button for you to stop the Jacuzzi after use. So environmental friendly wor.

We then had lunch which is expect to be more expensive compared to what we had for the past 2 days ..

There are also hotel staffs who will walk around and give complimentary fruits and cool towel. Great service!!

With that, I left Penang on the plane 3 KG heavier, not on the luggage, but on my stomach...

An Amazing Experience ...

2010-09-28T13:09:00.001+08:00

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Heard an interesting discussion on the radio : Is the existence of "star tutor" due to kiasu Singaporean who consistently feel that they are not good enough OR it should be the school's responsibility to tech the students well but did not do so ?

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I know this post is late ... but at least I finally get it up .. Expect this to be a super super long post ....

I believe a most of the people who know me knew that I got involved in YOG thinggy. Despite so much complaints about the whole thing, honestly for me, though the duration was only about 6 weeks, the experience was amazingly wonderful.. By the way , found the job when I was surfing on the internet one day...

This is where I went for interview and training ....

I really have to sincerely thank God from the bottom of my heart for not only letting me get this job easily , I also got into the venue which I wanted to get into, out of the 20 venue ( at least ) , which means that I only have a 5% of getting the place I want.... Which is YOV , located 10 minutes free shuttle bus ride from my home!!!

YOV which also means Youth Olympic Village is located at NTU and NIE... where all the athletes and officials will stay during the olympic games...

Actually YOV is the most "siong" venue of all because we have to work through out the games time whereas other venue support will only be required when there's an event there. . Hence stress level is more of seasonal as compared to YOV...The user base is also the most at YOV. However , I do not regret. Mostly because of the colleagues working there. As most of us are under contract, there wasn't a much politics and nonsense around. Everyone just have a "have fun" attitude coming to work..

These are the passes needed for me to get to my office ..

This is where I work ... Opps !!! I am not in my uniform !!

In YOV , there is a section where little booths were set up at one area called the CEP ( Cultural Exchange Programme ) for the different countries to showcase the culture and introduce the country to the athletes from all over the world. The booths were updated weekly... This is how the CEP looks like just before the games...

The row of flags of all the participating countries

The CEP booths ... Starting off with BLUE

The information booth

The open stage

Nearer view of the open stage ...

Man, I love this photo

Moi turn ...

Directly across the stage, Audience seat I suppose it is ..

I came across this interesting boxing ring in one of the NTU halls...

And graduates climbing onto the ring to take photos

In fact we also went into NTU auditorium to take a peek just a day before the NTU graduation

CEP guring games times

We found out that all athletes were given 10 pins to go exchange with each other OR alrernatively , there is even a pin exchange center for them to do the exchange ...

We took some time to monkey around the CEP ....

Week One - BLUE

Week 2 - Green

Climb for friendship !!

Week 3 - Yellow

Nice ...

Australia ...

Penning down our names on Sydney Opera House ..

Ta dah !!!

Simple same of golf

Dance by Peru

"Good ! How long have you all been practising?"

Marshall Islands

i forgot which country is this ..

Cute gals from FIJI booth

TUVALU ... I never heard of this place ... Sounds like "TUA YOU"...

Tired gal ( first on the left) yawning ....

Nicaragua

As the games drew nearer to an end , more and more activities were up ...

Waiting for rehearsals

Waiting still ..

Dance under the sky, ( and rain ) into the night ...

Week 4 - RED

Playing "flying saucer"

Japan

Korea, I spread out the skirt wide to cover the guys unmatching jeans

India

Philippines

Playing Caron Board

Arrow Shooting... Never accurate one lorh .

Then I spotted someone around the booth ...

Roll the wheel ...

For some reason , I suddenly cannot remember what is this called...

Looking for something in the straw hat ...

Can u find it ?

Introducing the different spices

Around the CEP

Loot from the CEP Booths

Spotted the athletes having a games of football

Rehearsal

Yet Another Rehersal..

Besides CEP , there is also this internet cafe located just below my office which I like a lot....

24 hr shifts started during games time... And this is how night shift looks like ....

Too tired from monitoring the tickets ....

Those not sleeping will fool around those who sleep..

There were also angry times, over the food issue, where we saw a lot of food being poured away and yet we are not entitled to eat any of them..bacause we dont look purple ... ( remember the purple colour uniform of YOG staffs and volunteers?)

Actually I am also quite pissed over it.. It was the fasting month and there were so many unused meal vouchers that the other volunteer gave up.... So we people who do not look purple, who is working in the same place and office as those in purple.. cannot have any of the food even though have the same meal ticket. Imagine what happens to the food of these vouchers .....

Of cos, in the midst of working hard, we do not not forget to take some photos with the stars ...

Some of them are just super tall ......

After work , some of our colleague still went around to take photos with the athletes from all over the world

Scene on the YOG bus which I surprising never got a chance to board cos I have a free NTU shuttle bus service from home to NTU!!!!!

We people working there were also entitled to 2 tickets to watch the games.... And I got

Tennis !!

Free debit card cum ezlink cards were given together with the tickets. Which we tried but did not managed to get a free ride on the mrt cum bus during the games time .. Not sure what went wrong, but whatever , just keep it la ....

The tickets close up... How come my photo not as chio as others arh ..... ( See below )

Anyway , the whole tennis thing was about 3 hours and we did not managed to sit all the way to the end cos it is jus so hot ...

Some performance before the game

Parade around the court

China won....

Cute kid sleeping in his mother's arm..

On the last 2 days , we notice that there was another exchange taking place......... Exchange of T-shirts. The athletes were exchanging their shirt with athletes from another country and also the workforce .. I also joined in the fun and I was very lucky to exchange my shirt with the CDM of hunguary (chef de mesion who is suppose to be in charge of the youths) whom went back to his room to get a new piece for me !!!

Theirs ..

Initially when he keep insiting that he wanted my shirt, I was very curious , cos it is just way too small for him, So I asked him why. Then he told me that he wanted to give my shirt to his daughter, who is also an athlete and he told me that he is SO proud of her.. Wahha ... Can feel it in this talk ....

Anyway, this the new piece which he gave me which in the end I gave it to Oink cos it is just too big for me..

Mine !!!

Other enjoyment around YOV

It was quite late that I realised that there were OSIM u squeeze Pro just below my office ....

And I decided to try it .... Shiok !!!

Sauna some more ....

The last of YOV .....

I was on the last shift before the YOV was returned to NTU .... Really felt that I am gonna miss all the fun and laughter....

The main enterance the day before and the last day ..

tearing down..

This is where we "illegally" dine ..... Everyone have moved out .. ;(

The booth also being tear down... Even the sky is raining .... So emo ....

The empty alfresco dining place for the athletes

Lift corridor to my office which is at level 4 NIE library

The multimedia room with all computers removed ..

Our Office which have been tore down ... Super sad ... :(

This leads to the toilet..

Towards the last few days of August , there was quite a number of post YOG celebration ...

Phototaking @ Merlion Park

It took almost forever to get everyone settled and take this photo ... I nearly melted under the late afternoon sun ..

The Venue Managers

YOV Venue Managers ..

Marina Bay Sands ..

This is the first and also the last time I am wearing the pants ...

Then we proceed to Beer Market for dinner and partying

I am somewhere in this photo ....Find me if you can ...

The YOV-Atos Team also went to JB for shopping and Seafood

Expression of enjoyment ...

Yumz ...

My cute VTM ( Venue Tech Manager ) from Hong Kong who took good care of us ...

The next day , buffet treat at Sakura , then followed by drinking at Dempsey , some went for mahjong after that. I decided to go home and rest ...

After the YOG , I took a one month break... again ... Was surfing the net and hearing people rave about how cheap the things are at city plaza. So I decided to visit it, since I never set my foot in there before...

It took me about 2 hours to shop through the plaza ..The upper levels are undergoing some renovation which I think would end up looking like Bugis street level 2... One lady boss whom I bought a bag from lamented that business here is quite bad, which is obvious from the absence of human crowd in the shopping center. ( Not sure is it because it was a weekday afternoon)

My loot from city plaza, surprisingly , you can still bargain for discount in there.
Sandal on left cost $13 , on right $10, Bag cost $9

I would probably re-visit the place again, but it will not be as frequent as visiting Bugis Village, it is too out of the way and there is NO shelter from the MRT to the plaza....

Wedding Preps - lesson learnt

2010-09-23T17:57:00.005+08:00

Always hear that wedding preparations do have tons of fustrations ..... and I guess it is beginning to be true for me as well..

Seriously . there are a few lesson learnt which I have experienced myself

(1) HOT DATE..

Pls try to AVOID these date if possible, My 18 Dec 2010 is a HOT date ( actually god know what's so hot about it - I just feel that it is something that have been commericalised.) Everything on HOT date is HOT.... I booked my hotel more than a year in advance and most of the good bargains were already taken up. I also have problems with the videographer , photographer & JP because of the silly date.

So if you want lesser heartache, please try to do away with HOT dates if possible.

Another point is that you may want to note is to avoid year end weddings because many people will tend to travel during that time and everywhere is jam packed cos of the holiday season. Further more , chances of rainy days are higher. And most importantly, you cannot go Europe for honeymoon after the wedding cos it is freezing cold there.

One interesting thing about mine is that I noticed quite a number of people giving birth in december. So more people cant come to share my joy.

(2) Chosing of Photographer and MUA ( Makeup artist )

Seriously, insist on meeting the photographer & MUA before the actual photoshoot date, though most likely sales coorfinatior will tell you that there is no need to meet cos theirs are very professional.

BUT You need to at least know if you like their face a not. Seeing a face you dun like can really spoil your important day. Let alone if the person have irritating trait , mannerism that you dont like. It's gonna irritate the shit out of you. Especially if you are lack of sleep the night before and you'll feel more irritated easily.

On meeting the photographer, try to see if he has area of specialisation, mine seems to have an expertise in taking greenery. Whereas I like something more "old". Like old buildings , old chapel , bla bla ... If his area of expertise does not really match with yours. Change photographer. Of cos , you cannot directly ask him what is he good in. The photographer will definately hao lian to you saying he have years and years of expericence and there is nothing he never see before.

Maybe you can ask him to share with you what are the interesting place he went for photoshoot before.. If you find that his answers always revolve around the same concept, type , place .... Ah ha ...caught ya!!

Some examples of concept may be like
Greenery ( like my lazy photographer) , Old buildings, Candid shots one, journalist ( just learnt this word from my friend), playful one , comic strips one la ....

And you must know what you like eg Bridges , night scene , sunset , Seaside , hugh rocks, bla bla bla ...For some reason , my lousy photographer seems to avoid bridges , flyers , buildings ... Suspect he is not pro in this area ...

Also through communicating with the photographer you can detect if he is passionate about photography or photography is just another job which he wants to get over and done quickly (like mine- bo sim one , no wonder not popular at all).

Another important thing about a good photographer is that, besides having ideas , concepts , passionate, he/she must LISTEN.. Listen to what the person/customer wants and try to incorporate it with his ideas and concepts.. Unless he is those that take photos for advertisement and magazines... (Bridal photographer , pls keep in mind that the person you are taking photo for is also a CUSTOMER who pays for what he & she wants. Not a model who gets paid to let you take what YOU want. And must always keep what the customer want constantly in your mind !! )

Props ..... My friend brought me a pair of wedding Hello Kitty and I thought it would be a good idea to bring it to our photoshoot. So the first thing I did when I saw the photographer was to tell him that I have this softtoy which I would like to include in our photoshoot. He keep forgetting despite me reminding him after every outfit. Till the final one. I tell him straight in the face that I am disappointed over it. It was then he finally offered to go back to the studio to take photo of the softtoys. Comeon, by then , I am already tu lan ...

Sunset.... Please communicate and check what time does the photographer intend to take sunset photos. My brought us to take sundet photo at 5pm where whe sun rays shines till you cannot even open your eyes.

Seaside... Think this nonsense will only happen to me cos my photographer is bascially a moron. What happen is that we requested to go to seaside and asked for Changi. He counter recommended Larbrador Park which he told us "also got seaside & even got one read light house which is SOOOOO beautiful " When we reach there , I looked around and ask him "where the sand?". It was then he told me "OH .. This seaside no sand one .... "

And the RED lighthouse which he say is SOOOOOOO beautiful looks like this

FML ... I seriously suspect he is from another planet ....

The next important thing a photographer must posses is EXPLAIN. Seriously, if certain things cannot be done. Explain
No one will feel happy having their suggestion negelected or ignored without knowing why.

There is a many other things I can complain about my sucky photographer , including asking me to stand below a normal looking tree I ended up having BIGASS Red ants crawling up my dress and biting me and he dirtying my Hello Kitty but I am so tired writing up to here liaoz...

But bascially for MUA, it is still best to meet up and know from her what does she intend to do with you and whether you like it a not..

Here I will end a the post with a couple of my photo in the studio from the photoshoot day..

Before ...

After !!

Rediscovering Myself - Expressions

2010-09-14T02:20:00.005+08:00

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I promise myself that I WILL pen something down tonight. …

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Recently I am getting more and more displeased and unsatisfied with the way I express myself. Somehow I just feel that I have big difficulty expressing my thoughts in good language be it writing or talking. …. Hai … why do I keep using repetitive words ? Maybe my vocab is so damn lousy??

Sometimes when I do blog-walking , there seems to be so many people out there who could pen their thoughts down quickly , and in very simple , easy to digest manner….

How on earth did they manage to do that so easily and naturally?

Even in the exam today, I realized that even though I spent so much time studying and reading the whole god-damn text. ( 300 pages is a feat for me wor… ) When it comes to penning down the answers, I couldn’t. The information IS in my head, but I simply just cannot pen them down properly.

I discovered that my thoughts are very disorganized and unsystematic… There are so many things running through my head everyday but many time when I open up a new post in blogger, I just couldn’t write down how I was feeling…. There were so many events, pictures that I took but eventually was not managed to post up any entry, or the entry ended up half written. Even some of those entry which I post, what I wrote doesn’t seems to bring out what I actually feel. There were also many times, people around me don’t seems to understand my thoughts when I talk to them

Something is missing. I need to improve.

At times , I wondered how did I survived the UOL papers where for each question , we are required to write a 3 pages essay. And for almost every paper!

I pondered over it for sometime. I have read before that writing actually helps to organize your thoughts. Then I recalled that during my study time for the UOL papers, I was draining out pen after pen when I attempted the questions and tried to re-produce the essay. Besides reading, I practiced writing as well.

I reckon Stephen Covey (writer of 7 habits of effective people) is right - writing helps to organize your thoughts.

I hope I can continue writing irregardless whether people read it a not. I write for myself and not for others.

Wish me luck.

How time Flies .... 7 years already

2010-08-05T00:51:00.000+08:00

I was going through the photos on my external HDD to look for photos for my wedding montage when I noticed that quite a fair bit of photos with my dear friends from SIM and I decided to compile them...

2003 Sept - Genting

2003 November - Eric Birthday

2003 December - Chalet

2003 Christmas Eve @ Orchard

2004 Countdown

2005 June - @ KCL Chalet

2005 November - BBQ @ EastCoast

Best Photo I could get ...

2006 Jan - New Year Dinner @ Suntec

2006 July @ Plaza Sing

2006 Aug

2006 Sept - Jason Birthday @ Jack Place

2006 Oct - Thailand Trip

Remember who she is ?

And our shot with Fiona Xie on the budget plane..

She must be quite pissed to be disturbed by us...

2006 - Huiya Birthday

2006 Dec - Meet for dinner at one hotel ...

2007 Jan - Ladies Late night out

2007 Sept - Dinner @ Bosses

2007 Oct - Eric Birthday @ ECP

2008 April - The Unforgettable Graduation @ SIM

2008 Dec - Huiya birthday on the Singapore Flyer

2009 July - My birthday @ Marina Sq

2009 - July Leona's Wedding

Will try to add on if I find / receive more of the missing photos provided I have time ...

Why

2010-08-04T22:10:00.000+08:00

I was watching the first episode of Unriddle 最火搭档 on channel 8

.... and I have one burning question ...

Why does Rui En have so many (obvious ones) moles on her face ....

.... and is not doing anything about it ? I think its very distracting ...