JaYNe Rules... The ToiLEt.

~ Alec & Patrick the Starfish - An Intimate Moment ~

2008-06-01T13:06:00.008+08:00

I was reading my blog last week and I couldn't help laughing. Like the words don't belong to me and I was seeing them for the first time.

It finally dawned on me that I haven't been blogging for centuries.

Anyway, what really got me blogging again was this:

I thought this photo was so damn funny, I MUST share it with somebody!!! Hee Hee. It was taken at California Seaworld and Patrick the Starfish's face was photoshopped by Alec Ong himself. Super FUNNY!!! We were both tearing when we did the photoshop.

~ Vietnam Hanoi Training Trip Part 3 ~

2007-01-14T23:39:00.000+08:00

Dearest Diary,

Poor Alec is on guard duty today so I finally have the time to wake up late, sweep the floor, tidy my desk, and blog!

OK. Where was I. Oh yes, Vietnam Trip. That happened in Oct. Oh Shit. I can't believe I'm still blogging about things that happened 3 months back. Better buck up.

The Training

Wow, the Vietnamese participants were like super-absorbent sponges. Unlike Singaporeans (especially Public Officers) who are often overtrained, the Vietnamese were really really appreciative of all the training that we gave. They were thirsty for knowledge and participated seriously and actively in every single activity and discussion, and were surprisingly open and candid in sharing about their own administration system in Vietnam. They religiously took down notes, asked for slides, thought through what we shared and were proactive in discussing about how they would translate our reforms and apply onto theirs. They loved all the insights and constantly thanked us for all the sharing. Gosh, I felt so appreciated, I was on the verge of tears.

Here they are! They made me a lovely Ao Dai, a traditional Vietnamese Dress, as farewell gift. Everyone agreed I looked like a Vietnamese girl and one even suggested that I marry a Vietnamese man so our Vietnamese kid will become a future leader who is good at public admin reforms. LOL.Anyway, I wouldn't want to wear a Ao Dai for life. I guess I did look remotely like an hour-glass in my Ao Dai, but really, I was horribly suffocating in it. The dress was made to fit me exact exactly so much so I couldn't sit down without bursting the buttons. And I had to loosen the zip on my pants after eating a tiny sandwich for lunch. Really squeezed all the fats out of me. I felt like a Ba Zang unfortunately wrapped in 2 pieces of banana leaves that are too small to house all the meaty fillings and chestnuts inside. Eeeks.

The Shopping

And so you thought there wasn't any shopping for me to do in Hanoi, didn't u? Well, u can't be more wrong! Hohoho. My favourite buy was this cutesy pinky mao1 mao1 bag and pouch. They're really cheap! The pouch is about $2 and the bag is only $4.50. Four dollars and Fifty Cents. The bag is retailing at a bloody $39.90 in those push carts! I love it loads. I have a serious impulse to visit Vietnam again just to lug all the mao1 mao1 stuff home.

The Adidas cylindrical shoe bag is really practical! The colour combi is nice and Alec said the www.adidas.cn stitching at the corner looks really cool. $6 nia. Cheap dao siao! I've been lugging all my gym barang in it for 3 months and it still looks as good as new!

Pretty dragonflies and handphone pouches! All the flowers on the pink pouch have already fallen off. Sniff. Alec managed to retrieve one of the many flowers, and it is still carefully placed on the dashboard in front of the speedometer in his car. He hands me that tiny flower whenever I ask for flowers. Wails. The scarf and pashmina are really lovely! Logen wanted to pay for that brown pashmina but I refused to let him. I told him I didn't think it would be good idea that I'd be be reminded of him whenever I put my pashmina on. Don't ask me why I'm still one of Logen's favourite girls in office. Hahahaha.

The really nice lady who went shopping with me is called Chung, the one in purple Ao Dai in one of the photos above. We took neoprints for remembrance! You should have seen how her eyes were popping out when she saw the way I shopped!

The Food in Hanoi
Like how the Chinese can't live without rice, Pho (pronounced as 'fur') is the traditional Vietnamese Noodle that the Vietnamese eat almost everyday. Pho is similar to very very fine kway teow and soup base tastes of tasty thick beef broth. The Vietnamese take loads of beef and seafood like fish and prawns were really rare.

We found this really nice and surprisingly cheap Al fresco dining area that was near our hotel on the third day. It's something like Marche but it's semi open air. Can't remember the name but I think it sounded like Nonh or something. So that was where all the locals hang out! You can get noodles, fried tofu, chee cheong fun, you tiao, and drinks, all for less than $4 per person. The chee cheong fun look-a-like thingy was stuffed with chicken, mushroom and dried shrimps. I think it was $1.80 per plate. Yummy Yummy.

The Sight-seeing

Our participants brought us around on their bikes, which was again, very very kind of them! The Puppet Show was really cool but I don't have any photos of them cos the theatre was too dark.

Old Quarters
Here's where all the shopping are!

Vietnam's First University

I almost didn't want to come home... ...!

~ Nintendo DS Lite in PINK! ~

2007-01-08T00:15:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy birthday to MEEEE,
Happy Birthday to ME!!!

TA DA!!!

That's (part of) my be-early birthday pressie from my oh-so-handsome-and-cute-and-sweet-and-damn-he's-going-to-be-so-penniless-next-month-when-his-credit-card-bill-comes Alec!!! It's totally Pink! Blends well with my blog theme. And it's totally Me. *smirk*

SUPER MARIO!!! Is the most handsome man in the world. He's short, fat, cute, and keeps a sexy moustache. See that hideous man in yellow? He's called Wario. Alec insisted it's pronounced as Wah-rio and I was sure it's War-io. Well, we did agree that we used to call Luigi "Lugi" which sounded so much better.

Haven't been updating my blog cos I've been really occupied with Vietnam Trip, China Trip, Phuket Trip, Our 5 yrs Anni, Alec's birthday, Christmas, New Year, Rebonding Blues, and now MY BIRTHDAY which is happening in let's see... 9 days time!!! I can't wait to find out the plans that my ISFP (Alec's MBTI Profile - characterised as being artistic, aloof and indifferent) have in store for me! (I can't wait to see if he has ANY to begin with. *snort*)

~ X) Half Marathon and Full House! ~

2006-12-04T21:34:00.000+08:00

Dearest Diary,

Last year, I blogged about how my disgustingly sweet Alec waited for me to complete my 10km race. How patient of him! This year, he was running right next to me as we ran the half marathon. 21 KILOMETERS. Is damn bloody far.

Pre-race- we were getting a bit annoyed as we tried to loosen the chip which alec had tied too tightly around my wrist. Then I squealed and made him tie it at my shoes.

As the race started - Wow EVERYONE is RUNNING! We intended to walk but got motivated to run really fast!

At the 3km mark - We've ran for a REALLY LONG time. I thought we passed 3km just now? 18km more to go. Oh mi gosh.

5km - I was really really tired. "Shall we walk?" I asked, exasperated. Alec said no.

8km - "We're here to recee the 21km race this year! Let's do the real thing next year!" I proposed. Err no comments from Alec.

10km - "I think next year we pei mummy run 10km ok?" Alec suggested.

11km - Alec had blisters in his toes. We started to walk...

12km - Wow BANANAS!!!!! What a pleasant surprise! =) With a bottle of mineral water safely tugged under our arms, a cup of 100 plus on one hand, and a banana on the other hand, we did look a bit yao gui but we were beginning to enjoy every minute of it! The ground looked really dangerous though - it was wet with banana skins, bottles and cups littered all over. I think Alec cracked a joke about runners slipping over banana skins and somehow, I started breaking into uncontrollable laughing fits. I just couldn't stop and my banana started to spill out of my mouth onto my trustee white hanky, which I must hold every time I run. And when Alec said something about hallucination, it got really out of hand. Then I used my white hanky (the same one that was smeared with banana) to wipe away my tears.

13km - I started to motivate myself by looking forward to the next 100 plus station. 8km to go. 21 km is really really long.

15km - We were half running and walking. Alec's toes were really painful. I promise we would have recorded a much better timing if not for those blisters!

18 km - 3 km more! And Alec's toes got really bad. He couldn't even walk properly. I persuaded him to put on my plasters (which he had carefully hidden in his secret pocket inside his shorts). The ungrateful guy then complained that it made the pain worse cos the plaster was too thick. "You scold meee!" I squealed. Then he said he felt a bit better after he got used to the plaster.

20km - "Swee! Let's run the last 1km!!!" Alec exclaimed. Then he sped off and kept looking behind, giving me the come-on-u-can-do-it-it's-the-last-km! look. What happened to his painful toes?! Where did all the new energy come from?! Because of his painful toe, I slowed down and waited for him for like 8km, and now he's pushing me way beyond my limit at the final 1km?! I felt so... so... TIRED!!! My hands were getting numb and my legs didn't feel like they belonged to me anymore. Ouch!

As we reach the ending point - I see it I see it! I signalled to Alec to ask him to dash right ahead. Just go! Without me! But he didn't. This time, he gave me the come-on-u-can-do-it-it's-the-last-20m! look. I think Alec came in 1 second faster than me. WE DID IT!!! I can't believe it. The sense of accomplishment was just so overwhelming.

At the de-chip station - We were swelling with pride as we collected our medals! We saw the full marathoners collecting their exclusive black sports tee. Damn jealous. "Next year, we come and take the tee ok?" Alec smiled. What?! I thought he said he wanted to do 10km next year?

After the race - We met his mum and 2 bros at marina square. All of them completed the 10km race! His mum's knees were painful and his bros were energetic. No sweat for the boys man. Then we went to Sakae Sushi for a well-deserved lunch!

The rest of the day - Went to Alec's house after lunch. Alec slept for like 7 hrs and I watched 9 episodes of Full House. Full House was awww so so so nice and sweet, I didn't want to sleep at all! I was really hungry but I really didn't want to part with my Full House. And so comes the real sweet part...

Alec's very own Eggy Shrooms Noodles! It's honestly really really yummy!!!

~ Vietnam Hanoi Training Trip Part 2 ~

2006-12-02T13:35:00.000+08:00

*pants* I finally have the time to continue from where I left off!

dtgtasdjklofeif98f7fjioefio8r733r09!!!!

Opps I was slamming my keyboard, bursting with laughter.

Alec's pics are damn funny can! I made him make all sorts of faces so I can refer to his pics for his respective reactions whatever mood I'm in when he's not around. My favourite is the ke lian look, which I seek solace in whenever i'm suffering from bloody constipation or menstrual cramp. Can u guess which pic it is?

eoowfiofioeu9eerqjkff LOLz. My poor keyboard.

Anyway, I was taking an SQ flight for the first time! I was really looking forward to my Super Mario World but I was rather disappointed that they can't save my progress. =( Then I realised they had movies and I watched The Devil Wears Prada on the departure flight and Lake House on my flight back. Lake House was really good! But I think my Full House is still better ;p

It was a 3.5hrs flight and I arrived at Hanoi at 3 plus (1 hr time difference). Checked in at Guoman Hanoi Hotel and I was beginning to appreciate the privacy I'll be enjoying! No I didn't knock on the door and neither did I check if the bible was open or closed. I just threw my luggage on the floor and started watching movies on tv. Then I got a little paranoid and fished out my book and mp3 player and my handphone, and tried to cramp all my entertainment at one time. I'm addicted to fatigue.

After a good rest, Logen and I went to recee the area to find out where the Singapore-Hanoi Training Centre was and the time required to walk there. The traffic was terrible! 90% of the vehicles were motorbikes and it's quite unthinkable for anyone above 16 yrs of age not to have a bike license. There was virtually no traffic rule, and all vehicles continued to move when the light turned red. It was as though all the traffic lights were not working. It's perfectly normal for you to be stranded in the middle of the road as you're making a right turn at a big junction. Of course nobody bothered to stop when we were helplessly waiting to cross at all pedestrian crossings.

We had dinner at Saigon Hotel and the food was so-so. Bought some peaches and went back to hotel to prepare for Day 1 of training!

The omelette at Guoman was really yummy which gave a good start to Day 1! We were only given the biodata of the participants when we arrived at the training centre in the morning. There were 20 participants and their designations ranged from Executives to Lecturers, Managers and Vice Director. LECTURERS AND VICE DIRECTOR. My eyes almost popped out. They must have had a wealth of experience in training and work. I was hoping desperately that they would like (or at least believe?) the things that a sweet little 24-yr-old had to offer. The first secretary from MFA popped by to give an official opening to the program, which did I mention? is called the Public Administration Program. Well basically, we were sharing with them stories of how Singapore transformed from a sleepy fishing village to a modern city that we're living in today.

I started Day 1 with a standard ice-breaker activity and I must say the Vietnamese participants are very different from Singaporeans in many many ways. Initally, they were very reserved and appeared apprehensive when they were told to move around to get to know their fellow colleagues from other ministries. As they opened up to the trainers and made friends with the other participants, they were extremely warm and very open in sharing about their experience in Vietnam and how they would apply what they've learnt. They were really appreciative, attentive and omg, patriotic! Being public officers is really their way of serving the country and I don't think they really mind if the job pays well. It's perfectly normal and legal to moonlight after work, to supplement your income. And can I add that their working hrs are from 730am to 4pm, with a 2-hr lunch break in between? They need a long break because some of them go back home to cook lunch for their kids, and most of them catch a nap during lunch. No wonder they have good complexion.

To be continued...

Full House - I think I.. Awww...

2006-12-02T12:48:00.000+08:00

I think I...

~ Vietnam Hanoi Training Trip ~

2006-10-29T01:00:00.000+08:00

Dearest Diary,

Haven't had the chance to blog at all cos I've been swamped by work, tuition, spa, movies, jogging and... gosh the list goes on and on. Well let's just take today for instance. Went to Touche with Jie for a 2hr plus rejuvenating spa session, and then met Alec to catch The Prestige! I was so looking forward to The Prestige and I had to delibrately make time for it cos my schedule is horribly packed from 8:30am to 9:00pm all the way till Thurs! And guess what's happening on Friday? I'm leaving for Jiu Zhai Gou!

My mum calls the place Jiu Cai Gou and Alec calls it Jiu Sai Gou. -_-" Damn funny.

I'm so looking forward to the scenery, snow, taking photos in winter wear (which Aunt Amy has very generously lent me), and please please, I really hope they'll throw in some shopping! I'm bloody deprived. On the other hand, I'm really not looking forward to the 3-6 hr bus rides, toilet cubicles without doors and with shit all over the floor, and the tipping culture - it makes me feel so.... illegal.

Anyway, I was going to elaborate more about The Prestige. It was really good! Good enough for me to blog about which means it's worth a watch definitely. I will give it a 4.5/5. Enjoyable, engaging and clever. Clever in the sense that the plot was cleverly crafted (and The Smart Alec was clever enough to see through it). That impressed me a liiittle. But then again, if you're really that clever to see through the clever plot right from the start, then you wouldn't think that the plot was clever afterall, and probably wouldn't find the show enjoyable.

Let me tell you ALL ABOUT MY Vietnam Trip!!!

Day 1
Alec and Logen met for the first time at the airport. Alec thought it was quite safe to leave me in Logen's care for the week cos (he said) Logen looked like a harmless Mama shop uncle (can someone pls not tell Logen that? And guess what, Logen gave me some Deepavali crackers and wrapped them like kachamputeh the other day. I was trying real hard not to laugh. The crackers were yummy by the way).

OK, on top of the excitement and anticipation, I have to admit that I was quite worried and scared. This is afterall my very first time travelling alone. No Alec to carry my shopping bags. No parents to constantly remind me to drink loads of water. No Stephy to tell me whether I look fat in a dress. Gosh it's scary, isn't it?

And to make matters worse, I was staying in a single room. All by myself. Damn scared. Scared of strange encounters. Scared of bad guys. Scared of insects. Scared of boredom (no cable tv how?!). Told a couple of colleagues about my fears and here's a summary of what they proposed (they were only keen to provide advice on the strange encounters part):
- knock on the door 3 times before you enter - the rationale: always assume 'someone' is living in there, on a permanent basis
- once you're safely in there, talk to yourself silently "Sorry to disturb, but I borrow your room for a few days ok...."
- check to see if the bible is closed. if it's open, request for a change of room
- open all drawers and cabinets

Just blogging about it makes my hair stand. Can you imagine how freaked out I'll be at the end of it all?

I managed to convince Alec of the importance of having an interesting book in case I feel bored on the plane or in the hotel. So we bought this at the airport!

To be continued...

Photos can be found HERE!

Goodbye Grandma...

2006-10-04T17:23:00.000+08:00

Dearest Diary,

Sniffs... Grandma passed away last Thursday. All of us went to Layang Layang to pay her our last respect. It has been donkey years since my last visit. Couldn't recognise most of my cousins and almost forgot all about the dog, Lucky, whom Alec says looks exactly like Scooby Doo.

Dad reminded us to bring the camera, which made sis and I really uncomfortable. For what, right?! For memories he said. OK, that we will never understand. Or so we thought. When we arrived, all my aunties and uncles were equipped with cameras and camera phones. Totally Shocked. Everyone was really taking shots of almost all the funeral processions. I think sis and I were the only beings who thought that was totally weird. We kept asking each other - would they seriously look back at the photos and reminisce about it? What will they talk about when they're doing that? We kept giving each other the Duh and totally bewildered look.

But of course we joined in nevertheless.

This is the kitchen I want to remember. Very old and dirty but I like the kampung flavour.

It was Saturday evening. Everyone crowded around the porch to look at some highly skilled men build 2 sand-dragons. Very very impressed. Who would have thought building sand castles can translate into a promising job opportunity in Malaysia? The 2 dragons actually came to live at night. The undertakers and my cousins played out an act - there was a script and dialogue, and the actors ran around and across the dragons to overcome hurdles. There were even dangerous scenes where the dragon body burst into flames as the undertaker jumped across it. Everyone had that on video. Then came a part when all of us had to search for the coins in the sand. There was RM$150 worth of coins up for grabs. Mom said the act was meant to signify a story where a daughter saved her mother - the coins symbolised the mother's remains I guess.

Even the rooster is loyal. It is allowed to roam freely and somehow, always returns at the end of the day.

Things I remember about my grandma... How she would hold and smell my hand when she says goodbye... Dried Coco... Chicken Drumstick... Her flowery tops... Her smelly hair spray... How she calls me jian2 jian1... She'll always remain in our hearts.. =`)

2006-09-26T22:31:00.000+08:00

Dearest Diary,

The Second Pig
Guess what? I bought a SECOND PIG!!! LOLz.

OK. It's getting a bit out of hand here.

I was chatting with Alec on MSN that night and after professing all my love for the wonderful pig, I asked Alec how much he was willing to pay for that beautiful pig.

I think he said $50 on the first try.

And when I explained further that the pig is really exclusive with supernatural powers, he upped it to $100.

He had no idea that my sis bought it for $19.90.

Hahahahhaa!!!!

The new Sony Ericsson K800i
I was so very happy with my pigs, I decided it was a good day to buy my phone. I bought a Sony Ericsson K800i! Totally happy with it man! The cyber shot is GOOOOD. I like RADIIO. And the notes on standby function is great for senile persons like meee.

S2006
Helped out at the Istana dinner! Our legs were really aching like mad at the end of the day. Here's my new pretty and caring friend, Li Lin! Met many other girls like her throughout the S2006 stint. Totally enjoyed myself. Every single one of the girls there have the same profile- super outgoing and all of us hit it off like old friends from Day 1. Amazing!

Vietnam Trip
I'm leaving for Vietnam on the 8th! That's like less than 2 weeks from now. So exciiiting! Went for my vaccination on Saturday and since the vaccination was paid for, I took all the jabs that the doctor recommended. After 3 painful thyphoid, Hep A and Influenza Jabs, and after buying the Malaria pills, she told me about the SIDE EFFECTS. Depression, forgetfulness, confusion, anxiety, vivid dreams, nightmares, giddiness, pus at the wound, mood swings, headache, vomitting, convulsions, hallucinations, and so on....

??!!!??!!!!

~My Lovely Samsoon - Featuring San Shi the Piggy!!!~

2006-09-14T22:19:00.000+08:00

EEEEKKKKSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dearest Diary,

I'm so so so obsessed with the piggy in My Lovely Samsoon! His name is San Shi. And he's seated on the SOFA IN MY HOUSE!!!

See the angel wings on his chest? He can really make all your wishes come true! Just have to remember to talk to him often and promise him good food. Oh and it helps if you sometimes take the effort to kick him around, abuse him and dump him in the rubbish chute.

Here's how he looks like when he is all serious and gets down to business. He has politely borrowed my specs and my mum's chopsticks.

I love San Shi!!!

My Lovely Sam Soon / SLO S2006 !!!

2006-09-08T21:11:00.000+08:00

Dearest Diary,

Right, I've decided on a different approach towards writing my blog because I haven't been writing my physical diary for almost a year. My poor diary.

There was a point in time during secondary school when I got so absorbed into the Diary of Anne Frank, I started to call my diary Kelly - a spinoff from Kitty. And then eventually, I kinda forgot and called my diary the conventional name again.

Anyways, it has been a really really long time since I've written to you, Diary, cos life has been really really happening. You know, the usual ups and downs. Let me start with the DOWNs. Bloody bloody hell. I think I need to practise more yoga and meditate more. I've been getting really short-tempered these days. Even my dad has started to attempt to counsel me. But you seriously will emphatise with me after hearing about my plight.

OK I've got to start with one UP first cos that leads to the DOWNs.

UP no. 1 - Yay! I've got my singnet broadband.
Finally!!! Yippeee! I've been living under the rocks using the stupid dialup connection.

Down no. 1 - I love my computer.
It almost died in my arms. You'll never know how much you appreciated something until you lose it.

Couldn't install the stupid broadband modem. I don't have a LAN port. Grr. Went to exchange for a modem with USB port. End up dad forgot to bring the cd-rom (despite him reminding himself ten times the day before) so there was more delay. Brought home the USB modem and still couldn't work. When it finally worked, my comp kena virus. In my fit of anger, i reinstalled windows. The whole OS started becoming very unstable and refused to start up. Took out the hard disk and the cable snapped. Well done. Went to Sim Lim, bought new cable and (might as well) bought a new hard disk and dvd burner. Really grateful to Alec's buddy, Jingyao, who helped me fix everything. The comp was finally working! - at Jingyao's place. When I started it at home, it started hanging again. I dieded for 10 whole seconds. Then after like 20 startups, it started working on and off. *fingers crossed*

Up no. 2 - Sony Ericsson M600i!

Ta DA!!! My all new phone. Alec bought it for ME!!! Like I said, he could have been really wealthy if he hadn't met me. But then again, he is already the richest man in the world - his girl looks a million dollars. *smirks* Anyways, the phone is really really pretty! It was love at first sight when we saw the phone at Bangkok back in June. Damn chio! I love pure white phones. And the layout is really cool and neat. The best thing is, the aqua blue matches my specs perfectly. Aww. But the phone has got NO camera. That's unthinkable for a blogger. Probably one of the reasons for the lack of updates too. I can't really blog without pictures. Which is why I'm contemplating between a K800i and an N73 now. Poor Alec - literally.

Down no. 2 - A day later, the LCD screen of my favourite K750i CRACKED
My K750i got so mad at me for my sudden change of heart, he decided to take it upon himself and disfigured his pretty face. Sobz. Brought it to Sony Ericsson and we got really really pissed with the old and ugly Indian CSO. She was horribly sarcastic and rude. And I cannot stand her irritating tone when she called me Ma'aaaam. I filed my angry feedback. Hmpf. Alec's advice - never offend a woman. Jane's add-on - especially a seemingly pretty and demure looking one.

Down no. 3 - One week later, my home cordless phone SPOILT.
No sound at all. Grr grr grr.

Up no. 3 - I've got a brand new source of MOTIVATION

My Lovely Samsoon!!!

The show is aww sooo sweeeeet!!! Really hilarious too. It has replaced Long Vacation to be my favourite favourite show of all times! Not because of the guy lar. I think I still prefer Kimura Takuya in Long Vacation and Zhang He in Bright Girl's Success. Though the guy in Samsoon is quite cute.. the girl really outshines the guy in this show! The best takeaway from this story is that you can be fat, old, average-looking and san ba , and you can still get a handsome, young, cute and loving prince-charming who is horribly in love with you! There is hope ladies. There is hope! Oh yes, and the show emphasises on being honest. True to yourself. And well, if you love someone, just go for it. Why complicate matters. Alec has taught me a similar lesson before.

Speaking of Alec, gosh. I feel like crying. I left my fruits and Sam Soon vcds at his mum's place on Wed. I forgot to bring them home and started squealing and sulked all the way home cos I wanted to watch my lovely sam soon so badly. It was 1045pm. Then I walked ard the hse, talked to my mum and did yoga. Charged my fainted phone and then it rang at 1145pm. It was Alec. In his sweetest sweetest voice, he asked me what I was doing. My room was dark and my phone wasn't on, so he thought I was bathing. He had been waiting outside my door all this while. He had gone back to his mum's place to take my vcds! Gosh I felt so guilty. Then I asked him if he waited for long. Apparantly, he waited for quite a while but he quickly flashed a wide smile and said it was ok cos he was sitting at the stairs reading my "wo bao" chinese papers which was in the bag of fruits and vcds. Sniff. OK, his mum's place is only 3 mins drive + 5 mins walk away but which guy will do that for me after knowing me inside out for 5 years? I am still his precious precious gem after 5 whole years. How can I learn to love him like the way he loves me???

Up no. 4 - S2006 is happening next week!

I've ~~been~~ volunteered to be a Spouse Liaison Officer. Which means I'll be accompanying the Spouse of a Finance Minister or Central Bank Governer. I'm both excited and apprehensive! I hope I get a really nice and pleasant spouse. We've been attending loads of training, briefings and loaded with food and more good food. We were brought around Esplanade, Chinatown, Arab Street and Little Indian. And we had an exercise prelude at the Istana and Airport. The Airport simulation was particularly funny because there were real passengers walking though the aerobridge and they looked pleasantly bewildered with so many of us welcoming them. Haha!

Up no. 5 - I'm going to Vietnam next month!

It's a working trip really - To conduct training on Public Admin Reforms. That is, to share with the Vietnamese Public Officers about Singapore's public sector initaitives, reforms, commitment towards service excellence, innovation, WITs and so on. Yup, diary, training will definitely be quite stressful but I'll make it fun! I hope there are enough shops to keep me occupied! Heh

Up no. 6 - I'm going to China!

It's a holiday with my parents to Jiu Zhai Gou for 10 days in November! Yah will be the scenic scenic kind. And there'll be lots of uncles and aunties. But it's a good break and it's freaking cheap! $700 plus inclusive of all meals, lodging, airfare and taxes! Silkair sumore. Slurpz. I read up a bit lately and now I'm really looking forward to the breath taking views at the legendary fairyland where the waters are said to be really colourful like rainbows...!

~ My All New COACH BAG!!! ~

2006-08-23T18:27:00.000+08:00

OH MY GOD.

I walked into the Coach Boutique @ Raffles City yesterday evening, fell horribly IN LOVE with a Coach Bag and bought it.
I BOUGHT IT.

$905.

Oh mi gosh. It's so pretty... I feel like crying! =`)

~ Sentosa Revisted! ~

2006-08-05T00:00:00.000+08:00

Can you believe it? I actually took one day leave to go to Sentosa last Thursday. Not that the destination warrant my leave but rather, the person whom I went with was worth every minute of my time =))

Alec and I went to Teck Whye to have our favourite prawn noodles before we finally reached Sentosa at 2pm. We were planning to go cycling! It was BLOODY BLOODY SCORCHING HOT.

AND that guy refused to carry an umbrella. I knew it. HE DON'T LOVE ME ANYMORE. I tried to explain that it'll juust take 5 mins of sun to destroy my 5 years worth of whitening efforts. But he wasn't convinced and told me we would be a laughing stock if we were seen carrying an umbrella in SENTOSA. Since when did the opinion of others matter?! And when I pointed out some aunties who were carrying umbrellas, he (correctly) rebutted that they were from China. What can I say. Fortunately, I slapped on layers of makeup on my face. They've got really good SPF but my pimples kind of multiplied at the end of the day. Stupid Alec. Grr.

We took the sky ride and I'll say it was rather nice, though not challenging at all. Alec decided to give the Luge Ride a miss because he refused to wear the stinky helmets. Well, if you think about the hot sun and all the sweaty gooey hair, you can probably understand why.

Scenic View coupled with Flawless complexion.

And because that guy is anti-umbrella, I am in the mood to SABO him.

Dirty spots of moustache and ugly match-maker pimple. Which gf will waste so much time to photoshop away their bf's flaws u tell me. I love him MORE. Wails.

After the sky ride, we went for a romantic walk along the beach. And that was when I spotted THE MAN OF MY DREAMS!!! A handsome lifeguard with firm abs, perfect set of teeth and stylo milo hair. I made alec take a picture of us!

And the ice cream man who looked so down-to-earth. Simply irresistable!!!

~ Shoes Unlimited! ~

2006-07-10T21:05:00.000+08:00

I just bought a new Cabinet to house all my SHOES!!!

I did a count of the numerous pairs of shoes (only the active ones) I own...

and it amounts to...

30+ pairs of heels and around 10 pairs of slippers and sports wear.

What?! Just 40 in total??! Quite disappointing... According to my dad, I own an impressive collection of them. But how can 40 pairs amount to a collection? I need at least 100 right? Oh dear. I smell the need to return to BKK for the 4th time this year.

~ My Driving Licence!!! ~

2006-07-09T00:07:00.000+08:00

I cannot believe I am a licensed driver. And neither can Alec. Nor can my Dad (initially). Or Alec's mum. Or anyone who has or has not seen me driving. That's probably the reason why I took so long to blog about me
PASSING MY DRIVING TEST!!!

I am absolutely overjoyed. I no longer have to listen to my instructor's nagging and scolding (though i sometimes miss them cos I'm totally lost without a guiding voice), waste precious leisure time on driving lessons, spend exorbidant sums of money on driving lessons and test, drain myself physically, emotionally and mentally just to prepare for the stupid test.

And I mean really really stupid. I seriously don't understand why the poles are placed at the lots in the circuits when they are never around to guide u in real life?? What's the use of the practical test when it's not practical? Now I have to relearn all my parking and subject myself to Alec's scolding and eyes-rolling. AND I have to pretend to be damn demure, or we'll end up pulling each other's hair. And it's not as if we have lots of hair to begin with. Da bian.

Anyway, can u see the tears welling up my eyes in the photo? Oh man this is so embarrasing. *evil laugh*

After Waraku restaurant last night, we went to Kbox @ Marina Square and sang from 12am - 4am! This is seriously the latest or earliest Ktv i've been to so far! Quite an experience. Just 4 of us but we were given this humongous VIP room, probably cos I'm a semi-VIP @ Kbox! I think it will take a person about 10 minutes to roll all over, and cover every inch of the room. It's That HUGE!

At 4 am, I drove Alec home. I DROVE. At 4am. It was my very first attempt at driving on the expressway. And I had to do it at 4am. Damn FUUUUN!!! I love driving! Alec went drinking with his friends and he was all groggy and sleepy. But he was so nervous abt his beloved car and the clumsy driver beside him, he didn't even dare blink throughout the entire car ride. So cute. I gave Alec a super booster when I said his drunk judgement is even better than my normal judgement.

Oh and I've got to blog about my VERY FIRST experience driving Alec's car! Super happening. I drove from yishun to hougang via the small winding road after yishun dam near Seletar airport. It's like those Initial D kind of road! I was travelling at about 40km/h and because it's a long single lane road, 4-5 cars were tail-gating me. Never mind. Steady eh.

Then I reached this critical sharp left turn that is on a terribly steep slope. Breathe. Alec told me to engage first gear. Then I started to fumble. And horror of all horrors, the engine stalled in the middle of the slope. Yes, with all 4-5 cars still tail-gating behind me. And to make matters worse, I was going way too fast for the sharp turn and I ended up making an ultra wide turn and my car was right smack in the middle of 2 to-and-fro lanes. Which means I was blocking the traffic from the opposite direction too. I looked up and to my horror, there was a never-ending stretch of vehicles waiting for me and that included some long vehicles, a queer-looking biker and of course many many cars, just to mention a few. In a heroic fashion, Alec pulled the handbrake and asked me not to panic. Then he asked me if I knew what I should do. I replied a loud 'YES!!' confidently! I quickly recalled what my instructor taught me, I carefully released a bit of the clutch, stepped on the accelerator, and released the brake. Then the engine stalled for a SECOND Time. OK.. Not very steady already. Again, in a heroic fashion, Alec pulled up the handbrake. He looked exasperated. And his face was discolourised. In short, he didn't look very healthy at that point in time. Thankfully, the car moved off on the third try! There was a minor minor glitch though- I stepped too hard on the accelerator and the wheels were spinning wildly before the whole car flew up the slope. *beams* As Alec would have put it, that was a lot of experience points I gained there. LEvel UP!!

~ Play dough or Wasabi??? ~

2006-07-08T23:45:00.000+08:00

Play dough!!! That's my latest craze of the month! I should have discovered such a cool avenue to showcase my creativity earlier. Poor little Ebenezer, I was hoarding the whole set of stuff for hours. If you still can't make out what the above delicacies are, then I'll be really heart broken cos you'd have wasted my many hours of hard work! I'm seriously swelling with pride now.

Top (From Left): Tamago sushi, prawn sushi, triangular whatever-you-call-it sushi, salmon sushi
Bottom: Fish egg sushi and Squid sushi
Right: Wasabi in the shape of a leaf! & a super tiny pair of chopsticks!

Have u ever ever seen wasabi in the shape of a leaf?! That's so thoughtful, so jap! Oh man this is making me hungry.

Went to the Waraku Japanese Restaurant for dinner with my colleagues yesterday. The food is really nice! And the ambience is great and cosy. My colleague asked for Wasabi and TO MY HORROR,

This is REAL WASABI. I aboslutely cannot believe this is happening. Anyway, it's SoooOOO CUUUTTTEEE!!! I was admiring it the entire night!

~MY VERY OWN Coach Bumblebee Hobo!!!~

2006-07-04T22:12:00.000+08:00

TA DA!!!

Now this is THE legendary Coach Bag I've been drooling over!!! YIPPPPIIIIIEEEEEE!!! It's so damn PRETTY!!! The fabric is a pure creamy luscious white, the Cs are all bright and reflective, the bumblebee is disgustingly cute and unique, I love the details they put into the plastic wings of the bee, and the diamond on the bee's head is oh so elegant and and... oh oh gosh I'm going to hyperventilate. It's PERFECT!

OK Except for the size. I was expecting it to be a liiiiittle more roomy.. And maybe the receipt. I would have preferred a receipt to be 101% sure of it's authenticity... But other than that, it's PERFECT!!!

Judging from the way things are going, my boss is like damn right. The Gucci wallet marked the BEGINNING. Of a never-ending money squandering spell. On well-marketed, ostentatious and seemingly harmless looking goods. Priced at out-of-this-world exorbidant prices.

But it's still a bloody good buy and it has to be true cos even The MEN say so!?!

DAD: where's the bag? Har?! The box so beeeg and the bag is so small?! Erm... hmmm nice! this design not sold in Singapore? So u're the only person in Singapore who carries this? Woah good! Unique what.

Alec: You're carrying the bumblebeeee baaaag!!! Err.. so small only? Yes! The diamond is nice! Yes I see the serial number. Eeeks yes the plastic wings are damn cuuute!

Mum: ONE ENOUGH OK?

Sis: Woah I'll never spend so much money on a white bag but I must say it's really nice. Agree. I've never exactly seen a designer bag that is so cute!!!

I was sooo soo excited, I carried the bag to an Indian wedding the very next day!!! I was really worried it might be stained with curry. Speaking about Indian weddings, it was the very first time I attended one so it was Double the EXcitement! It is compulsory to carry out a comprehensive research every time I step into unknown territory and this was no exception. Here's a documentation of what I gathered.

Token / Ang Pow range from $30-50 per pax, depending on venue
It's acceptable to place the money in a chinese red packet
There's no need to dress up really formally. Jeans is fine.
It's usually a buffet spread
But there is a stipulated start time for the buffet (unlike Muslim weddings)
The buffet started 1 hour later than the time that was stated (which was great cos being chinese, we were late for 50 mins)
80% of the food was spicy
Tamil song performance really did help to literally spice things up

BangKoK Photo FEAST!!! - The Loot!!!

2006-06-23T23:35:00.000+08:00

TA DA!!!

All my Loot from the LATEST BKK Trip! Yes yes, you heard me right! This is the 3rd BKK trip in 6 months and I'm still lugging loads and loads of stuff back from that are-u-sure-it's-THAT-fun(?!?!) place.

First up- 2 white watches! White is IN. I'm going to start wearing sports watch and it's going to be in too. Because JayNe is wearing it. And she is the trend setter. The clips there look a lot like those sold in Chomel and I LOVE them!!! They're not very cheap you know. Range from $2-4.

I bought a total of 5 tops if you look carefully enough! Oh yah, I bought more than 10 pieces of very very pretty seamless and lacy underwear but I forgot to take pictures of them. I wonder if I can steal the pictures from Stephy's blog.

Steph> Didn't take pictures. The underwear is not mei. It looks mei underneath our clothes. Lolz.

I buy a suit every time I visit Bangkok. The suits are really neat and they are dirt cheap! Less than $30 for a whole set. Gosh it's disgusting.

Princessy shorts! I love all the colours! Alec chose the green and brown one cos it reminded him of mint chocolate. My fave is the black one and it's the only one that I can't fit in!!! Damn hurt can?! A size S in Singapore is a size L in BKK.

I bought 3 pairs of shoes, but I can't find the 3rd one which I just wore today. Have the roaches changed their hiding place again?! Bloody hell.

Earrings and clips! Everyone MUST go SAmPeng market in Chinatown. It's a mysterious place. It's a really really long stretch of street selling loads of accessries at 12 pairs for 100THB. I've been there 3 times but I always encounter a lot of difficulties finding this street. But once you're there, you wonder why you could have missed it. It's THAT mysterious.

They're not plasters. They are not book marks. They are paper clips who are all dressed up! So cuuute!!!!

This clock is damn cool! Can change colour, and it reflects the date, time, day and TEMPERATURE!??!!! We bought a total of 6 clocks altogether. So unique!!! Or so I thought -_- until Alec told me his CSM bought a similar clock at $10 in Singapore. We bought at $8. Errr... on hindsight, not a lot of savings there.

Bags!!! I bought 6 bags and 1 one them is not in the pic cos my mum kapoed it. You see the white lacy one in the middle? It's worth $40!!! Stephy bought another $40 bag from the same shop. We just couldn't resist the pretty bags!!! The other bags were more reasonably priced - $6-$10 each.

BangKoK Photo FEAST!!!

2006-06-22T23:55:00.000+08:00

I'm too tired to blog properly... Let's feast on the photos first!

** Stephy> I took these photos at MBK near the theatres after u left. heh heh. We were so bored without u, we had to amuse ourselves with the figurines. Lolz

BANGKOK! Here I Come Yet AGAIN!!!

2006-06-14T19:04:00.000+08:00

OK. I can do this. Breathe. Breathe. I've rehearsed this umpteen times before the mirror. I just have to be natural. Remember. Chin up. Chirpy tone.

I'm going Bangkok!! TomorrOW!

What?! AGain???

Erm Yup! AgaIN!

But this is like the 3rd time you're there in like what.. 6 mths?!?!!

Err Yes! Isn't it great!?!! I'm so excited!!!

Aren't u sick of that place? Is it really that fun?

Why should I be sick........ It's fun!!! =)

OK seriously seriously. I'm really excited! Despite this being the 3rd trip in 6 mths. First trip in Jan was in a cool hotel. The hotel was the main highlight and the shopping was just like a warmup really. The second trip happened during the Songkra Festival when many shops were closed so it was only a prelude to this trip. So this is it. THIS IS IT.

NO SongKra, no fanciful hotels. Shopping. Full-time. Steph will make sure we spend every minute of the trip wisely. On Shopping. and Eating. And Shopping. And eating.

Gosh. I want to be there. Like NOW!!!

~ Cry for me. I'm losing my (anal) Virginity - The Act~

2006-05-26T23:35:00.000+08:00

730am
2 slices of white bread with jam
2 laxative pills

8am - 1030am
Hell. I was supposed to drink 2 packets of powdery laxative dissolved in 2 litres of water within 2 hrs. That was the most horrible, grossest and gosh, most voluminous thingy I've ever drank all my life. Alec said it smelt like blood. Mum said it tasted salty and sweet. I thought it tasted like plastic and rubbery water, mixed with salt and sugar. And I had to gulp 2 whole litres of it. I swept the floor to distract myself. Then I started to lao sai for more than 20 times. After the tenth time or so, I started to pee through my anus. As in everything that gushed out was yellowish water. It was a weird feeling.

1030 am
Alec finally arrived. He was late!!! I was already down to my last half a cup by then which means that he wasn't around to offer me emotional support when I was drowning in the first 1.8litres of plastic water. I was almost in tears. But then again, it wasn't his fault that I'm perpetually constipating so I let him off. Just this once okai.

1035 am
I finished sweeping the floor. There wasn't much to do except to lao sai and read the papers. Alec ate fried bee hoon with his fave sunny-side-up and chicken wings. OK. Plastic water vs. yummy fried bee hoon. What is this man. He eats all the carbo and protein and hardly any veges and fruits. While I'm the health-freak who takes at least 4 servings of fruits and veges everyday. Plus I lug my water bottle wherever I go. And what happens? He's perpetually diarrhoaing and I'm perpetually constipating. Do theory and practice really have such vast discrepancy??!

11am
We watched the recorded Korean drama 18-yr-old Bride. So cute and sweet!

145pm
Set off to TTSH. *Nervous*

230pm
At TTSH. I lao saied another 3 times before I the act. The nurse told me it would take about 3 hrs so I told alec to go shopping. But he didn't and hung around the area. What a sweetie. Again, I must have been a benevolent merchant in my previous life. Amitabha.

3pm
In the theatre. There were about 6-7 doctors and nurses. All of them did what they had to do simultaneously and they succeeded in getting me confused. One of them cliped on the blood pressure machine onto my arms, another was setting up the machine and was plugging in this huge long thing which I believe was Mr. Endoscope, which was to be poked into my anus and would be cruising through my intestines. One of the doctors pushed the oxygen tubes into my nostrils. Damn pain can. Felt like very cold aircon blowing right into the upper part of the nostrils. Ouch. Then the lead doctor applied some alcohol on my right hand, gave me a jab, and within seconds, my world turned into darkness.

4 plus
What a good sleep. I needed that. Ouch my anus hurts. Ouch my stomache hurts. Argh I need to pee. And maybe shit. I called for the nurse but I wasn't allowed to get out of bed. So she gave me the tub. Did she expect me to pee and shit in that? Lying on the bed? I tried with all my might but I just couldn't.

5pm
Milo and wheat biscuits never tasted so good. I rushed to the toilet. And when I returned, Alec appeared! Gosh I was afraid I would suffer from amnesia and forget him. Come to think of it, I should have happily walked past him and pretended not to know him. See how he react. Ha! The nurse gave me the report on the spot. My colon is ok! Yay!!!! But did ligation so have to rest and for the first time in my life, I'm given 5 days MC. I can't mention that I drooled in case my boss reads my blog.

510pm
Went to collect medicine and the pharmacist kept staring at me as I gobbled the tuna pancake. I was hungry can. Then I started to lao sai indefinitely. Like the minute I walk out of the toilet, I needed to go back again. It was bad. My knees were soft. My anus hurt and my stomache hurt. That's it. I was permanently going to reside in the toilet at TTSH. Alec looked really helpless and after 3 times, he tried to persuade me to go to the toilet at B3. At least we could start inching towards the car. I asked if he minded if I lao saied in his car. He said he didn't. See? The power of love.

515pm
We hobbled to the foodcourt. Alec shamelessly asked the auntie from the drinks stall to help fill up my bottle with hot water. The power of love at work again. I recipocrated by wailing that the water was too hot. Alec then started to blow into the bottle. =) Now you see what I like about him? Sooo cute! But of course at that moment, I wasn't in the bestest of moods so I snapped at him and rolled my eyes and gave him the as -if-that-was-going-to-bloody-help look. I gulped down all the pills.

6pm
Fell asleep in the car. First thing I said when I woke up "I love painkillers". And alec's reply - "You don't love me anymore. You love painkillers." Aww.

730pm
Potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, vege, pork ribs and porridge. Yummy.

Did I mention that I'm still lao saiing indefinitely? Ouch.

~ Cry for me. I'm losing my (anal) Virginity today ~

2006-05-26T00:07:00.000+08:00

Gosh. Pls. Mr. Endoscope, will u pls be gentle with me? Pl.. Pleease???

Oh dear. I can't do this.

My goose bumps refuse to go down.

My heart is thumping wildly.

Even my facial hairs are perpetually erect.

Oh gosh I'm hyperventilating. I'm so stressed up. I think my bowels might just refuse to budge. I won't empty my intestines regardless of the piles of laxatives given. And who knows, the doctor might be so pissed with all the shit still in my intestines, he'll bar me from colonoscopy.

I suspect there is all likelihood that that would happen. Afterall, it has been 4 hrs since I took the laxative pills. And I don't feel a thing.

Gosh. How how how.

I was so so worried, I googled to find out exactly what the doctor would be doing to me tomorrow. On hindsight, I think I'm too smart for my own good. I found colonoscope.org and technically, that was when I started to hyperventilate.

You see that evil-looking doctor in the picture? He's not even opening his eyes! He's doing what they call Sedation.

" This is done by giving you medications through an IV, which will make you drowsy and decrease any pain. You may even fall asleep, but don't expect this. Often patients don't recall having the procedure at all. This effect is known as short term amnesia, and may result from some of the medications that are used. "

I'm about to be sodemised by an Endoscope, and I probably won't recall much after the ordeal?!!? Sounds scandalous!!! And if you look at the picture carefully enough, that evil-looking doctor only has 3 fingers! And the patient has got what, 3-4 fingers?!?! Are they sure colonoscopy is for ME? A 5-fingered human being???

"Once you are sedated, assistants will closely monitor you and record your vital signs. They will also assist the doctor and give medications to make you comfortable. Your colonoscopy will be accomplished using specialized instruments. A colonoscope is a long, flexible tube with a light and lens at the tip.

You will lay comfortably on your left side facing away from the doctor as the examination begins. A brief rectal examination will be done, then the scope will be placed into your anus and moved carefully around your entire colon."

OUCH.

And why lay on my left? Why not right?! Why???!! This is not making sense.

"Sometimes it's necessary to have you change position to help the scope pass easily. You may be asked to slowly roll to one side or on to your back. Occasionally an assistant will need to apply pressure with their hands on your abdomen to help the endoscope move forward. These are normal maneuvers."

Help the endoscope MOVE FORWARD? What does that mean?!!!?! Gosh I can almost feel the endoscope knocking against the walls of my intestines.

*FAINTS*

~ our ROM Wedding ~

2006-05-25T22:07:00.000+08:00

See that oval thingy?

Well, that's where I got my title from.

Ha! I mean seriously anyone, anyone including a group of guys, can gather around the ROM area and still it doesn't have to imply anything.

We took loads of pictures with the bride and groom but I didn't manage to catch them on my camera phone. Anyway, Congratz to Ah Kian and Christine!

Soft Rebonding @ Magnitude and 6-hr coloring @ Pure Hair Salon.

~ Love or Lust? ~

2006-05-15T08:15:00.000+08:00

*DROOLS!!!*

Coach Bumblebee Hobo

~ Systems Thinking & Me ~

2006-05-12T10:26:00.000+08:00

Oh Gosh. I haven't had the chance to get into the swing of things in Singapore and here I am planning for my next Bangkok trip again.

Again.

In Systems Thinking, this is known as the vicious cycle. To effectively analyse the root cause of the problem, I applied the 5 Whys as follows:

1. Why do I frequent Bangkok? Cos I've been cursed with the Sawadiko Spell.
2. Why am I on the Sawadiko Spell? A prince has yet to save me and take me somewhere far far away.
3. Why hasn't a prince appear? I am not thin enough.
4. Why am I not thin enough? I eat more than I burn.
5. Why do I eat more than I burn? I'm greedy and I don't do enough exercise.

And so the link looks like this

Exercise & Diet --> Calories --> Weight ---> Prince ---> Bangkok

You may of course challenge the link between Weight and Prince. Surely not all princes are that weight conscious?! Well, you're wrong apparantly. I've been asking guy friends if they would prefer a 2-D girl with the figure of a washing board, or a terribly fleshy 3-D girl with a tummy and some grab-able boobs. All but one guy responded that they would prefer the former to the latter. So guys, especially Singaporean guys, have a thing for skinny girls. If you're wondering who that exceptional man is, well he is my dear Alec. And it's not difficult to understand why he chose the fleshy and tummilicious girl - he wanted to demonstrate consistency in his choice and his preference. Wails.

Anywayz, an effective solution shoiuld address the high leverage point and in the case, that's Exercise & Diet. People in general find this area a challenge due to a variety of reasons. These reasons can be analysed by using the MARS tool.

M for Motivation
Do I see any benefit in exercise and restricting food intake? Yes.
But why am I not doing so? Inertia. Lack of incentive. Plain laziness. I love to eat.
Solution: Buy new sports bra, new sports shoes, weight, caps, socks, and top, work out with engaging friends e.g. Alec's mum, avoid working out with friends who will psycho u to stop and tell u that u deserve a sumptous breakfast e.g. Alec. Ha!

Ability
Are you physically fit? Do you have the ability to resist the temptation of good food?
Fitness wise, I'm quite average. But no! Can't resist good food.
Solution: Think Big, Start Small! Start by brisk walking, then slow jog, and then increase your pace and distance gradually. The important thing is to be consistent. With regards to the intake of food, take fruits and vege before carbo and proteins. Eat small portions and chew well.

Role
Do you see exercise and diet as important responsibilities of a human being?
Errr... yes?

After the rigorous analysis, I arrived at my Blanket Solution - to restart my exercise and diet regime by putting on my prettiest sporting gear as a form of motivation, exercise with people who are highly engaging and distract you from fatigue, start eating fruits before my meals and learn to chew my food really slowly.

Just went for a 5km jog with Alec's mum and it is then that I realise I'm trapped in another vicious cycle.

The more I eat, the more weight I gain. The more weight I gain, the more I should exercise. The more I exercise, the hungrier I am. The hungrier I am, the more I eat. And the more I eat, the more weight I gain...

Bloody Hell.

~ That's My McDonald's! ~

2006-04-26T22:40:00.000+08:00

A pack of piping hot irresistably delicious french fries on a rainy day. Alec actually refrained from gobbling the entire pack and left half of it for me while waiting in the car. It was still warm. Yummilicious! I knew it. He still loves me!

Confessions of a Bangkok Shopaholic April 2006

2006-04-25T00:33:00.000+08:00

I'm BACK!!!

Back on the blogosphere, and back from Bangkok.

Back from BANGKOK. From BangKOK.

BANGKOK?!!!?!!!

Ermmm....... YUP! I'm starting to feel a bit shy about this but can I also confess that I'll be there again in June? That's like 3 Bangkok trips in 6 months.

Gosh, wouldn't I be sick of that bloody place? You bet. But if only, if only I can help it. *exasparated*

Ever since the budget airlines pandemic broke out in Singapore, I've been cursed with the fatal Sawadikoo Spell and the only way to break out of it is for a handsome prince to take my hand and bring me (pay for the trip and all expenses) to a far away place. For example, England.

Or other parts of Europe. Maldives would be lovely. I wouldn't mind Japan, Egypt, USA, Hawaii and anywhere along those lines. Somedaaay my prince will come....

On a more realistic note, soomedaaay my Alec will strike lottery... toto... or big sweep. *beams*

Anyway, the recent trip was full sponsered, and that included the airfare, accomodation, food and cabfare, so I only paid for my shopping! Spent a miserable $350 in total because it was the Songkra Festival and many shops were closed. =( You bet I was ultra dismayed cos that will also mean I'll need to save even more for my next trip in June.

Songkra's definitely not the best time for shopping but if you're arty-farty kind, this is a good time to experience the rich thai culture and tradition. Simliar to the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Thais celebrate the eve of Songkra, and the first and second days, which are declared public hols. Everyone was armed with bottles, pails and water guns all ready and happy to soak you with water, and powder, as a form of blessing. We were reminded to place our mobile phones and watches in zip-lock bags to prevent them from drowning. Some really serious Thais were travelling on motor bikes and lorries, armed with water guns, with a sole mission to have a shot at everyone on the roads. What a sight!

My favourite Mango Sticky Rice @ MBK Foodcourt

Can someone tell me the name of this kueh? It's so chewy!! I love the texture! It's CUTE. The texture is cute. I'm serious.

The birdnest I've been craving for all my life! @ Nam Sing restaurant.

Only 3 pairs of shoes this time round

Ear rings and new ear ring stand

New ear rings and old ear ring stand

Lovely clothes mostly from CTC

My favourite favourite suit! It's a beautiful dark grey but turns out to be black on the pic. Not photogenic apparantly.

Right I've got to agree that the food looks a 100 times more yummy than my loot this time round. But that's because more than 50% of pratunam was closed, and there are actually more shirts, berms, and shorts that I bought, but I'm just too tired to take pictures of. =p

Anyway, there is a more depressing reason why I've been out of action for a long long time. I sank into a dark dark hole since I failed my first driving test. I retreated into my dark lonely corner, hugged my Qoo cushion day in day out, refused to speak and eat, and lost the sparkle in my eye....

And then I went to Bangkok. And rediscovered that there is so much more to life than atrociously difficult driving tests and circuits. More meaningful stuff. Like eating. And shopping. And eating. And shopping. And eating... and Shopping......

~ Girls in White Top and Blue Jeans ~

2006-04-01T00:09:00.000+08:00

Lovely Girls in white tank top and blue jeans.

How often do you see 3 of a kind appearing at the same time? In a bu yue er tong fashion? And all 3 names starting with the letter J?

I think LL did mention that he had a soft spot for such girls. That's precisely why we decided to take a picture of the amazing phenomenon - so we could show LL what he missed out at the T&D course when he was on reservist on Tues. Awww....

But I must say the photos are a bit deceptive, cos we're now 20% fatter than what is seen in the picture. The reason being, this photo was taken before we each ate 2 huge bowls of the all-famous rich, creamy, heavenly durian puree at the Swissotel Merchant Court. Gosh I really felt like an almighty King. It was as though we were all given unlimited servings of the fillings from durian puffs, without the puffs. The flesh of the durian were still intact. The puree was sweet, bitter, creamy, fragrant, and awww... like Jialing had put it, all our propellers were charged up and we were flying all over the place uncontrollably.

Can someone please buy me a gigantic tub of durian puree...? Pleeese lar...... Pleeeaaseeeee...........

How can you tell that he doesn't love you anymore???

2006-03-17T22:46:00.000+08:00

He stops reading your blog.

And barely remembers the url.

Book Review - The curious incident of the dog in the night time

2006-03-17T21:00:00.000+08:00

This book is disturbing enough to warrant a review.

When I asked LL what he thought of the book when he lent it to me, he said, "I'll just say... you'll get to understand how an autistic person feels."

And as I read further, that statement kept flashing across my mind. I thought it was very appropriate and it really just about summarises the main takeaway from the book.

Common Characteristics of an autistic person

He cringes when anyone touches him. And that applies to members of the family.
He has practically no emotions and cannot tell emotions. E.g. He knows that you're angry only if you go red in the face and starts screaming. He cannot tell complex emotions like jealousy, frustrated, irritated, excited, etc.
He loses control of himself when provoked. And his threshold is readily reached.
He is obsessively particular. E.g. He doesn't like brown so he doesn't wear anything that's brown or eat anything brown, and that includes bread. ?!
He is obsessively observant. He stores and processes every single detail he sees. E.g. he can remember the exact shape and location of all the black patches on every cow and every time he draws a cow, he will ask you which cow you're referring to and will draw the exact cow with the exact patches. ?!
And because he stores and processes many many details, his brain is often overwhelmed by an overload of information. His brain is really like a microprocessor- The processing speed is just not fast enough to process the large amount of instructions flooding his brain all at once and when that happens, the computer hangs, and he groans to shut off all information and pukes. All over the bed, all over the wall, and all over himself.

Which is really disturbing. And that brings me to my next point. The emotions.

The Emotions
The author has this absurd ability to make you feel like acting a bit autistic too. I started to observe all the signs at the mrt station. I counted all the yellow and red cars that appeared in a row. I scrutinised everyone I saw - I started analysing people's moustaches, nose hair, shoes, bag and of cos manicure and makeup, if any. I was overwhelmed by all the people breathing down my neck on the mrt as I was reading the book. And then my head started spinning wildly when I read the part where he took the train. And I honestly felt like puking too.

But I made a conscious effort to look up from the book periodically and constantly reminded myself of who I am to keep myself in check. Just in case. I was like struggling not to kena brainwashed by the stupid autistic guy.

I was significantly more depressed and quiet for a few days.

The Language
Not only was the story distressing, the language was disconcerting too. The whole story was written in the first person's view and it was really very first person cos almost all the sentences began with an 'I'. So much so I had to conscientuously recall how one can vary sentence structures to make a story interesting. The book would have gotten a fat zero for language if a Singaporean teacher were to mark it.

The Story
I like the ending. My goosebumps were all standing when I came to the ending. Which is a good thing.

My Recommendation
I'll highly recommend it! Cos it's interesting. It's unique. It's different. And I love things that are different. And I love to learn and gain new insights. But it may not be the best read if you're feeling depressed or stressed up. You'll start puking. Seriously. Though you might just feel a lot better after a good puke!

~ Bird Nest Soup with Ginko ~

2006-03-12T17:01:00.000+08:00

Bird Nest and Ginko.

I've got rather pricey cravings, don't I?

Been craving for the 200 baht Bird Nest soup at Nam Xing restaurant since Jan and I just can't figure out why there isn't any reasonably-priced Bird Nest with Ginko in Singapore?! That has got to be a huge market that everyone happened to miss out. But I can always prepare a huge pot of it at home! I mean how difficult can it be? Just dump everything and boil, right? I can even make it more healthy by adding less sugar. So I decided to DIY and bought a huge pack of Ginko and managed to psycho my mum into giving up 3 pieces of her precious bird nest.

500g of Ginko nuts $3.10
3 pieces of Bird Nest $54
Total Cost $57.10

Break Ginko Nuts 5 hrs (?!!?!)
Wash Bird Nest 0.5 hrs
Soak Bird Nest 4 hrs
Cook Bird Nest 2 hrs
Cook Ginko 1 hr
Total Time 12.5 hrs

And here's the fruit of our labour

...

TADAAA!

Er... no lar. Got this pic from google. Didn't take a picture of it cos I forgot. And why did I forget? It was damn bloody BITTER. 10 times more bitter than those tiny mega-bitter bittergourd. I figured it must have been due to the 1/2 a kg of ginko. I was too greedy! Ha!

But did I pick out those bitter thingy in the ginko nut?
Of cos I did lar! But the whole soup was still damn bitter. Really really bitter.

Lesson learnt. Cook the ginko and bird nest separately, and I cannot be too generous with the Ginko!

Will attempt again!!!

~ Angel, Reappeared ! ~

2006-03-01T00:08:00.000+08:00

Miss Taaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!!!!!

Stefane Tan. That's the name of My Angel that I've been searching high and low for, for the past 15 years.

Helped out with the registration and facilitation at the Organisational Learning Conference at Raffles City Convention Centre for the past 2 days. Damn tired!!! Woke up at 5plus in the morning and had to force my contact lens -Bausch and Lomb Soflens.... shit. Die. - into my eyes. I looked really comical with my eye bags popping out of their sockets the entire day, like those lame cartoon characters.

Was busy with all the registrations and in the midst of my frenzy, I spotted her!!! She really stood out from among the crowd cos like every angel, she has this glowy thingy all around her. I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her from a distance.

"Hey that's my primary school teacher!" I said out loud. Then I simply stood rooted at the spot for a long long while...... Before it dawned on me that it might take me another 15 years before I see her again. Gosh that's unthinkable! Sobz!!! I wiped off the tear on my cheek, dumped all my duties, and ran and ran after her!

And I caught up with her!!!

"Are you Ms Stefane Tan?"
"Er... Yes?"
"Hi Ms TaaaN!! I was your ex student! In Huamin Pri School! I'm Jane. I don't think you remember me though...."
"Gosh this is so embarrassing!! Ya... I can't really recall... maybe you could help me out? Who else were in your class?"
"Erm Shilun, Luojia, Kenji, Hafiz,..."
"OK..."
"Are you still teaching?"
"Yes I'm in Meridien Primary now!"
"Really? I remember you very clearly cos you were my favourite teacher!!"

But she just couldn't remember me. =( Handed her my namecard and she promised to pass hers to me the next day. And then we parted.

Ten mins later, she reappeared!
"I was trying to recall for the past couple of minutes and I finally remember you! Jane! You were very quiet right? You were fat too. And a bit grouchy!"

Grouchy. -_-"

Yes I'm certain she truly remembers me cos if you haven't seen the fatty little Jane, you'll never have imagined that the Jane today was little Fatty when she was in Pri 3. And as for quiet and grouchy... that leads to another tragic story to be told. I mean how rara and Happy do you expect a Fatty to be? I could only maintain a low profile, keep my head hanging low and hope and pray that nobody notices that humongous piece of flab seated at the corner of the classroom.

But Ms Stefane Tan saw beyond the fats and grouchiness. She saw an angel in me, all waiting to be nurtured. I was a fat angel who thought she was too heavy to fly and so was destined to be rooted to the ground. But she gave me wings and gently taught me how to fly. And when times were tough, she was the wind beneath my wings and brought me to greater heights.

Awww... how touching! =)

She was really my favourite teacher cos I could feel the honest love she had for me. She was totally sincere and honestly cared for every single one of us. She was patient, selfless, kind, motherly and can be firm when there was a need to. She had this amazing quality in her that made all the kids respect her, without having to raise her voice at all. It's like voodoo! Since then, every time I felt like shouting at the kids when I was relief teaching at Huamin Pri School, I would look to her as my inspiration and attempt to keep my cool and tell myself to be very very patient.

I still have vivid recollections of some of her lessons! One of which was music lesson when she played a Carpenters song. Then she told us how talented Karen Carpenter was but sadly, she died of anemia at a very young age. On her death bed, she was still lamenting how fat she was even though she was down to a pack of bones. Ms Tan was really upset while she was telling the story (she probably idolized the Carpenters then) and started to tear a bit. Sniffs.

And of course I remember all the little gifts she gave me for being a clever and obedient girl! A straw handbag, memo pad, stationery... You know how these small presents can mean a lot to a fat pri 3 kid! She even made me a Prefect, together with Shilun. Well, I think that contributed largely to the rumours about Shilun and I later on cos we were the only 2 prefects in the class… Ha! And yes, that's another long memorable story altogether!

Anyway, Ms Tan got transferred out of Huamin Primary School when I was in Primary 6 and I didn't manage to find out where she went to... But on a Sunday morning in year 2002, I saw her being featured on the papers! She was awarded the President's Award for Teachers in 2002! Of course I wasn't the only soul she has managed to touch!

And that was the last I heard of her... Before the meeting yesterday of course! After telling me how cheerful I now look, we moved on to attend the conference. She later smsed me during tea break and this was what she wrote:

"Dear Jane, m so happy 2 meet u. time really flies. When things get tough, angels appear. U are my angel today. U have grown into a beautiful lady. When I finally recalled who u were, I can't help but notice how bright-eyed n cheerful u have become! M tickled when u said I was one of your favourite! - Stefane"

Yes! Time really flies! But Ms Tan hasn't aged at all! It's scary. I seriously am thinking if I should go into teaching, just to preserve my youth. Angels. Me? An angel? That's so sweeet! And angel sounds very pretty. But I totally dun deserve that. She has given me so much guidance, but me. What have I done for her?! Like nothing? I was just quietly being my own fat, obedient and grouchy prefect. SHE has got to be MY angel instead! That's indisputable. As for beautiful, well I've lost quite a bit of weight thankfully! Skinny is beautiful. That's a sad fact. And bright-eyed? Yay! My expensive Ettusias Mascara, Mac eye-liner and Shu Uemura's all-famous lash-curler are working! And cheerful wise, yes I'm rather happy with my life now! =)

Ms Tan came looking for me this morning and she was holding this

She had this motherly look and said, "Jane, can u read this word?"
"Oh yes, it's 'le' as in kuai le, Chinese for happy"
"I passed by this shop selling accessories at Suntec yesterday and I bought this for myself." She said, pointing to a jade necklace she was wearing. Then she added, "And I saw this necklace and decided to get it for you cos I want you to know that meeting you yesterday has really brought me happiness."

Oh mi gosh. Oh mi gosh.
Can I cry?
Please?

Oh yes, on a different note, I was seated beside Paul in the Ballroom yesterday morning.

"I see a pretty face in one of the icons on the screen." Paul told me. Hee hee. I blushed a little, looked away, gave a shy smile and replied with a gracious thank you.

AND THEN, bloody Paul nudged the participant seated beside him, and pointed to the same picture of me on the cover page of the conference workbook. "You see this beautiful lady in the picture? That's her." He smirked wryly to the participant and pointed at me.

-_-" Qi si wo le. But Ha! It was fun so I played along, closed my eyes, took a deep breath and tilted my head upwards.

"Oh yes, that's her!" The participant exclaimed.

And he flashed me a wide grin and said a big big Hello to me when we bumped into each other the second day. What a cool way to make friends.

A Surprise Handsome Monster has swallowed my Alec

2006-02-22T22:59:00.000+08:00

My poor Alec has been swallowed by a Surprise Monster who happens to be quite handsome.

And I'm quite pleased with it.

Alec has to stay in camp throughout the week cos he is on standby during the Asian Aerospace. Sobz. I've been aimless since Monday. Went for driving lessons today and was dragging my feet to the MRT and all of a sudden, Alec appeared right before me! Apparantly, he was allowed to leave today and was planning to give me a surprise pickup from YCK mrt! I've known the real Alec for 4 yrs and he has never ever succeeded in surprising me, not once. And now he has given me 2 surprises within 2 wks.

Gosh I love the imposter.

~ NJC Class Outing!!! I miss School..!!!~

2006-02-21T22:37:00.000+08:00

A Class Outing last Thurs consisting of 4 people! Not a fantastic turnout but it was still a great time to catch up nonetheless. =)

Spent the entire dinner giving updates of one anothers' lives, reminiscing the past, and eating cakes. Xiaochong, the guy in purplish blue, is doing Industrial Attachment and takes photos as a professional hobby. He kept psychoing Steph and I to get married so that he can help us take wedding photos. But of cos Stephy and I weren't psychoed cos there isn't anyone whom we're dying to marry except to each other, if that's socially acceptable. I did however volunteer myself and Steph to be his guinea pigs for makeover shots! Next to him is of course Stephy - who is probably the only friend I've got. And beside Stephy is probably the only friend Stephy has got too - and that's ME!

Calvin, the guy on the extreme right, has just completed studfies in Michigan and will be earning like Huge Huge bucks in US. I was drooling all over him that night.... cos I want him to help me buy Victoria's Secret BRAS!!!!! He shared about his interview at Microsoft which was quite an experience really! The interview lasted 3 days and included a free 5*hotel stay with free flight, free transport and free food all thrown into the interview package! Mr. Calvin is looking for a beautiful, fair, demure, submissive wife who cooks and maintains her figure. Sounds a bit like me mah, but then again, not that I'm dying to qualify and anyway, we agreed that a Vietnamese wife would fit the bill.

The night ended on a high note with Mango Mousse Cake and Chewy Aunt Amy Chocolate Fudge Cake.

Awww... How I miss the days back in NJC. Xiaochong and I sleeping in GP class, and me attempting to draw a tortoise on his arm while he's fast asleep. My crush seated with his gang of liverpool supporters at the back of the class. My 10 other crushes in school. Calvin canoeing and training everyday. Stephy sleeping in all classes, including her dad's class. Jillian, Steph, Ling, Jasmine, Anna and I talking perpetually. Ling and how we'll bite each other. The Ba Zhang and her mumbling of the course notes. Computing project and super kind Jeffrey whom I'm eternally grateful to. Tianyao the irritance (Can u believe I miss him a liiittle too?! =)). Ker Wee- my favourite guy, who was really sweet. Gave me a lovely jar and jelly beans and called me his favourite girl too. Chong Meng and the nasi brani that he insisted on feeding me. My 2 handsome angel and mortal from the junior class. They showered me with loads of letters and handmade gifts - I kept them all! Everyone was so jealous cos they were the 2 cutest guys in the whole junior class. Someday, I'm going to go on 'Super Sunday' show and search for them. Mr Chan and his overflowing nose hair, and how he confessed that he thought of me the first thing when he saw his reflection in the mirror the next morning. Smelly Almond Pudding and how I puked bubbly saliva into Xiaochong's plastic spoon. Dye-ing hair @ Jillian's place. And the western food uncle who was damn crappy. I love his lamb chop.

I miss school. Girls and boys, everyone misses school. Treasure your school days horkay?!?!!

~ My Valentine's Day Present!!! Excuse me, Will the real Alec please stand up??~

2006-02-21T22:03:00.000+08:00

3 Reasons Why I think the Alec I met on Valentine's Day was an IMPOSTER
1. He made the above cheesecake all by himself
2. He told a (white) lie and gave me a surprise, claiming that he didn't have time to prepare a gift for me.
3. He improvised on the strawberry cheesecake recipe I gave him and made it an oreo and grapes cheesecake instead

Gosh.
The real Alec has never cooked a single dish all his life. (Let's exclude instant noodles and eggs) And it tasted a 100 times more yummy than the walnut oatmeal raisin cookies I baked for him.
He has been professionally trained never to lie or leave me sulking for more than a minute.
He will never improvise on anything, just like a block of wood.

Will the real Alec Please... PLEASE STAND UP?!!?!

~ Valentine's Day celebration @ Swissotel The Stamford!! ~

2006-02-13T12:26:00.000+08:00

Sunday, 12 Feb

2pm
Alec forgot to bring his mei mei shoes and hair wax! Grr. Went back to CCK to take them...

315pm
Check-in the 72-storey Swissotel The Stamford! So Exciting!!! Stayed at the Harbourview room on the 36th Floor, Rm3658. The view was simply breathtaking! Really have to thank Alec's amazing mum for helping us book this room. She has this AMEX privilege voucher so the room costed $80+++ with a free upgrade to the Harbourview room. Woo hoo! And she said it was a Valentine's Day for us! OMG. Where to find such a mum u tell me?!!?!

316pm
Gatecrashers Group 1! Members: Stephy and her Ngiap.

While Alec went to the Reception area to bring Gatecrashers Group 2 up, I was having a whole hell of a time taking photos with Gatecrashers Group 1! We all agreed that the photos looked superimposed cos the background looked unrealistically tiny and our heads and makeup looked damn fake. But we were Honestly standing at the balcony on the 36th storey! Oh My Gawd.

320pm
Gatecrashers Group 2! Members: Mummy, Uncle Alex and Ebenezer
Little Ebenezer came in a hip-hop outfit perfected with a bandana over his head. He looked sooo cute, I felt like biting his arm. (Did I mention Alec once bit Ebenezer's juicy leg and the latter wailed loudly, and then complained to mummy that evening?) We ate Burger King and sipped coke while we sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the paranomic view! Awwww....

330pm
Gatecrashers Group 1 left.

430pm
Gatecrashers Group 2 left.

430pm-530pm
Alec and I alone in the room... Finally! *evil laugh*

530pm
Swimming @ the Pool! It was the first time I wore a bikini to a swimming pool and fortunately, there were like 1001 ang mors floating around so it made me feel really skinny. Was rather excited cos it was the very first time I attempt to swim in a 1.8m pool and I made it! Alive! I ONLY almost drowned ONCE cos Alec stopped in the middle of the pool, made me confused, I realised my legs couldn't reach the ground, I didn't know how to tread water, attempted to move away but panicked and screamed, the more I panicked, the more I sank and the more I screamed, was gaining the momentum finally but Alec grabbed me, I remained stuck in the middle but later reached the shallow side eventually. Ermmm, it was damn exciting! *sweat*

700pm
Sunset @ the Balcony!

730pm
Dinner @ La Cave at Chijmes! The food was normal, service was good and ambience was alright.

9pm
Surprise! Alec surprised me with a bouquet of roses which was already in the room when we came back from Dinner! It was done with the help of his mum (again!). Sometimes, I too wonder who I am dating - mum or the son...? Keke.

905pm
Alec was standing at the balcony looking at River Hongbao and all of a sudden, BOOM!

FIREWORKS!!!

Oh Mi Gosh! We totally forgot it was yuan xiao last night and didn't expect to see fireworks! Like my dad would have put it, it felt like pang sai kio dio kim as in 'you go shit and then you found gold in the toilet'. In other words, it was a real Bonus! So happy!!!! And we took a 7 mins video of the fireworks. Awww so memorable. Definitely a fabulous start for the year!!!

11pm
Alec and I drank Blackcurrent Hooch and Magarita as we enjoyed the night view.

Monday, 13 Feb

9am
Checked out of the hotel really early cos Alec has to report back to work. What a turn-off! Had breakfast @ Ya Kun. Felt really good to see all the executives rushing for work and I'm actually on leave! The carpark costed a whopping $18.50 and I went back to the Recept to take a complimentary ticket but they didn't have any!?!! !!$^&#^*!~@%^

Happy Chinese Wang Wang Yr!

2006-02-03T23:29:00.000+08:00

This year, Chinese New Year means (to me)... ...

1. Meat balls, meat balls and more meat balls
2. 16 points from Black Jack
3. Midnight cny shopping @ Chong Pang. We bought a handful of parsley and a loaf of bread. It was fun.
3. Flying Salmon, colourful veges and bloated crackers darting furiously in all directions landing haphazardly on the poor table
4. Christmas Tree
5. Loads of accessories - I was dressed in them. I looked like a well-decorated Christmas Tree
6. Mahjong Demo followed by Lecture
8. Almond, cornflake and cashew nut cookies
9. Toto $10million Ang Pow draw (I bought a toto ticket! The second in my entire life! I feel lucky lucky lucky *rubs hands and smirks wryly*)
10. Crysanthemum tea and lemon barley
11. MAC Glitter Turquoise Eyeliner

Reunion Dinner 2006
Everyone agreed this year's reunion dinner was the most delicious one throughout the family's history. Check this out baby.

Menu
1. Broccolli stewed with fresh abalone and scallops
2. Prawn Omelette lightly fried with finely diced onion
3. Herbal Ginseng Chicken Soup
4. Sharks' Fins
5. Steamed Ngor He with Sesame Oil (Threadfin! I finally know the English term for it!)

All 5 dishes were MY very own ideas! And I prepared them all with the help of my wonderful mummy! She insisted that I did most of the work because "Zen zen (my nickname) cook one nobody dare to complain but mummy cook one everyone will criticise"

Which is true really. Everyone in my family almost always give the thumbs and toes up for my cooking cos they understand me really well- that I'll probably never have the heart to cook again if I hear a seemingly ugly comment about my cooking. I mean I spent almost 5 hrs preparing all the food and I eat less than a quarter of it. I'm really going the extra mile cos I love them all! Every bite that they're savouring is the fruit of my blood and sweat okai. As the chinese saying goes, "wo mei you gong lao ye you ku lao"!!

But of cos it helps that my cooking is yummilicious and there isn't much anyone can pick on anywayz. *smirks*

Retreat and Recipes
The retreat @ Legends and Sunrice just before new year was really cool! Took a walk at the Fort Canning Spice Garden, drank lemongrass tea and learnt to cook the following dishes. And 2 of them happen to be my all-time-faves!

Healthy Popiah- our competition item

Sambal Sting Ray - My #1 Fave Local Food

Laksa - My #2 Fave Local Food

Chinese New Year

Bai Nian on New Year Day 1

Inside Daddy's van on New Yr Day 2

~ A Tale of a Clumsy Da Fan Shu ~

2006-01-22T22:06:00.000+08:00

It was a fine day. The sun was sunny, birds were chirpy and flowers happy.

Somewhere in the small town of Yishun, a beautiful Da Fan Shu was on her way to Yoga Lesson at the Yishun Park.

"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed to her pretty self. "I'm running late and I must hurry!" And so she skippity skipped quickly to the park.

Suddenly, the Da Fan Shu began to fly. Before she could manage a scream, her huge body was rolling heavily all over the floor.

The pretty Da Fan Shu had a bloody ugly fall. She suffered bruises on

Her Hands

Her Arms

And Her Knees.

It was (and still is) very painful.
BLOODY CURB.

The End

~ Confessions of a Bangkok Shopaholic Part II ~

2006-01-21T23:43:00.000+08:00

The Story

Day 1

Air Asia was lousy because:
1. The seats could only be inclined max 10-20 degrees.
2. The plane had funny smells of old leather and leaking petrol
3. There were mosquitoes
4. The bus ride was squeezy and stuffy
5. The Air Asia belt is at the other end of the world at both Changi and Bangkok airport.

The experience was totally different when I took Tiger the last time round. The only difference between Tiger and normal airlines was there wasn't any frills like food, drinks, blanket and ear phones, which was totally within expectations. And everything else was excellent.

Arrived at the very very unique and super pretty Reflections Hotel at 2 plus! Alec and I stayed in the Princess Room for the first 2 nights while the rest stayed in the Disco Room. The rooms really did look like the pictures on the Reflections website! Every single decorative piece was well-thought-of and fitted perfectly well with the theme of the room! Amazing! The balconys were cozy and staff very friendly!

Pluses of Reflections Hotel
- Every room is unique, very pretty and cool
- It feels really like a beautiful well-decorated home
- The restaurant food is good and famous
- You get a free heart-shaped carpet if you spend more than 1000THB per meal
- The spa is good and reasonably-priced
- Staff is very friendly
- Balconys (for smokers?!)
- There is a cheap dvd/vcd rental shop just opposite the hotel
- There are 2 7-11s near the hotel
- There's a stall selling yummy sweet freshly squeezed orange juice at 35THB per big bottle near the hotel
- Great for the one-time extraordinary experience!

Minuses of Reflections Hotel
- There are mosquitoes cos there are loads of plants and open balconys
- The location is not central (near Chatuchak) but taxi ride to anywhere costs at most 80THB
- It's quite pricey (similar to that of Novotel but can't match the price of Asia Hotel)
- Some of the rooms (esp the Princess Room) are quite dark. Feels kind of sleepy and groggy whenever we step into the dim room. =p
- Some of the floors in the rooms look slightly old
- Swimming pool is small
- Most of the beds have not-very-friendly wooden sides sticking out of them and all of us bumped our knees at least once in every room.

Our first destination was Pratunam! I was determined to go to the right area this time round. Followed Steph's instructions and zuan into any small alley along Pratunam and voila! We finally found the humongous Pratunam Market and all the shopping centres in the area! Like what Stephy said, I totally don't see why we could miss it the last time! Pratunam is THE place to shop for clothes clothes and more clothes!!!

Day 2

9am- Chatuchak! Anything under the sun can be bought at CTC! But we only had time to explore less than half of the clothing area. =(

Day 3

Chinatown- Sampeng/Yaowarat Market! Bought loads and loads of earrings (12 pairs for $4?!!?!), accessories, nail art, hair accessories and pouches! And not forgetting my bird's nest, shark's fin, pork floss and cashew nuts!

The Mango sticky rice at MBK food court is super duper yummy!!!

Alec and I went to Patpong and Suan Lum that night. Damn funny can. We totally forgot that Suan Lum closed at midnight and we headed to Patpong first. After strolling Patpong, we decided to - for the very first time- try the Bangkok MRT! Went to the BTS control station and told the lady we wanted to go to Lumpini Park. And she said, "This is the BTS. Lumpini Park is on the other MRT line. You have exactly 7 mins to run to the MRT station before the last train leaves for Lumpini Park."

So there's a difference between MRT and BTS. Think there's still much to learn before I can successfully qualify for a Bangkok PR.

And so Alec and I ran and ran and ran and ran. We finally reached the very underground MRT station, bought the ticket (which was this black plastic coin) and rushed to board the train. The escalators were not working anymore cos the stations were abt to close. We finally were about to hop on the train when we realised we went to the wrong platform! Bloody hell. So we climbed like 4 flights of stairs to the correct platform. And dashed into the train which closed immediately behind us! Phew! I looked at Alec and giggled non-stop. The first thing Alec said was " You run very slow leh!" -_-"

Day 4

Pratunam and MBK again!!! More clothes, shoes and bags!

Day 5

Massage at Reflections and Home!!!

The Haul

Confessions of a Bangkok Shopaholic Part I

2006-01-21T00:46:00.000+08:00

The People

Chill Out Area

The frowning green man @ the Hotel's Mini Internet Cafe

Everyone

Posers.com. How will ANYONE ever believe that my Gucci wallet is authentic?

I want to lie on it but I scared fall down!?!!

Shy Hairy Balls beneath the boxers

Alec and the single-eyed Orange Man.

Ben and the wooden antique cheena door

The Princess Bed

Orgasmic SeXXx

Sun literally shining on my butt

Cozy Princessy Balcony

The Nails

The Legendary Reflections Hotel

The very popular restaurant @ Reflections Hotel. The food was really quite good (we ate there everyday!) and the entire place was packed with rich and well-groomed expatriates and locals almost every single night!

Inside The Restaurant

The Disco Room

The Shower Area @ the Lazy Day Room

The toilet @ the Post-industrial room

~ The (final?) COUNTdown!!! ~

2006-01-12T00:23:00.000+08:00

1 day to my Bangkok All-shopping-and-bingeing Trip!!!
5 days to My 24th Birthday!!!
17 days to Chinese New Year!
33 days to Valentine's Day!
86 days to my Driving Test.
154 days to my Next Bangkok Trip!!?!?!

~ Cookies @ Phoon Huat, Durians @ Geylang, BBQ and Risk @ Changi Chalet! ~

2006-01-10T17:27:00.000+08:00

The title just about summarises all that I did throughout the week! A happening happening week- As usual! *beams*

Reflection is definitely an integral part towards nirvana. Which is why I've been reflecting quite a bit these days and I came up with an analysis of myself. I need constant excitement in my life. I need something NEW and ALTERNATIVE to look forward to all the time. I am addicted to exploration, discovery and the euphoria that comes with it.

And my analysis has got to be true cos I can't come up with any other explanation as to why I pack my schedule with:
- tuitions
- hip-hop dancing
- sensual dancing
- weight lifting @ home
- dice-stacking
- yoga in the office gym
- jogging in the office gym
- yoga @ home
- jogging around yishun ring road
- yoga in yishun park
- kick-boxing @ sports council
- swimming @ safra
- baking pastries and cakes @ phoon huat
- blogging
- writing diary
- cross stitch
- reading (I just bought another 2 bks from auction)
- (about to organise a committee to learn) Pilates in the office
- driving lessons
- BBQs, chalets and sweet potatoes
- Frequent holidays to Bangkok (!!! Yes! I'm going to BKK yet again! On Friday! OMG I can't wait!!!)

And I do most of them on a weekly/daily basis.

I think it's getting kinda worrying now that the matter is getting a bit out of hand, as in literally- I cannot control my hands at all! I promised Alec I'll only learn belly dancing after I've passed my driving but there's nothing I can do but to just stare helplessly at my hands as they move swiftly on their own and type 'belly dancing classes' on google.

Yeah, I know, it's that bad.

So as I was saying, to satisfy my thirst for learning, I went to Phoon Huat again on Wed and this time round, to learn to bake 3 types of new yr cookies:
1. Pineapple Roll
2. Almond and Cashew Cookies
3. Almond Cookies

They taste absolutely heavenly. The golden buttery crust of the pineapple roll melts readily in the mouth... the pineapple filling is chewy, not too sweet and is made from the finest pineapples. The almond and cashew cookie is very very crunchy and every single bite is filled healthy nuts roasted to perfection. The almond cookie is the most deceiving with its pale and harmless outlook... The outer crust is soft, powdery and meltish, while the inner part is crunchy and nuttilicious!

My only regret is I don't have an oven @ home to bake more of them. *wails and bolds 'Oven' in my wishlist*

Friday marked my first experience eating Durians @ Geylang! I always wanted to do that cos that seems so Singaporean and exciting! I managed to persuade Alec (who was totally not in a durian mood) to bring me there after shopping at Toa Payoh. The big big D24 durian costed a whopping 20 bucks and the flesh was the pale yellow bitter kind with the alcoholic taste, which wasn't really my favourite but the experience was priceless! (My favourite is still the humongous durian that my dad happened to pick at Yishun Park last year)

Last night or rather this morning was BBQ at the Changi Chalet. Reached home at 530am and woke up @ 9 plus to give tuition! Yeah I'm really pushing my eye bags and dark circles to the limit. Anyway, BBQ was good with cheese hotdogs and of cos sweet potatoes! The BBQ started only at 10pm and Alec and I were famished by then so we went to eat the all famous Changi Nasi Lemak before that. I like the sweet Chilli with crispy Ikan Bilis! We were also really amused by unique way the way the shopkeeper packed the rice.

My first attempt at RISK! My army was dressed in Blue and I had conquered Europe and half of Asia when I left. My strategy- Act ke lian whenever someone attacks you and keep a really low profile as you patiently build up a strong massive troop while others stage wars against one another. As LL would have put it- Jian4. *smirks*

~Going @ $4/G. Anyone???~

2006-01-10T17:19:00.000+08:00

Results of the final count:
12 Gs per row X 15 rows = 180Gs
$720 / 180 Gs = $4 per G.

And that's right smack in the middle of the $3 and $5 that Steph and I respectively placed our bets on.

Actually, if I think in terms of buying 180Gs @ $4 each, it actually sounds a bit more resonable than thinking in terms of $720 for one Gucci wallet.

~ THE Legendary Gucci Wallet!!!! ~

2006-01-05T23:25:00.000+08:00

Oh my Gawd.

OH MY GAWD.

That is THE elegant, classy, gorgeous and heavenly legendary Gucci Black Eclipse Long Wallet that has been sitting patiently on the top of my wish list for months. And it costs an earth-shattering $720.

SEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS.

Gosh. That's a grossly obscene amount of money there. No I still can't believe it. And my goose bumps still get all erected at the mention of Gucci or $720.

I mean u dun get to see a $720 wallet everyday do u? I'm sure I'm not over-reacting here and you have to admit that was exactly how you reacted too when you first got a branded (as in really designer brand kind of branded) article!!!

And if you've known me well enough, you'll have long suspected that I couldn't have bought the immensely elegant and pricey wallet with my own hard-earned cash. I mean I'll happily spend $72 on 10 items anytime but to part with $720 at one shot?!!!?!!!
Gosh that's as difficult as telling me to do a cartwheel.

It's just not in me.

But it's so Alec.

Yes, not only did he buy a $720 Gucci bag for me, he very happily bought a Fendi bag for him mummy during the same shopping trip. $999. =) I actually think the present for his mum is way overdue- as in he has been his mum's son for the past 24 yrs and hasn't bought anything decent for her at all. It's high time. But a $720 pressie for my insignificant 24th birthday? For the gf who takes him for granted, is unreasonable, likes to dig her nose and stick the pi sai on his face, pulls his nipple hair and leg hair.......

OMG... Am I worth it?

FAQ
1. Is my boyfriend like freaking rich?!?!!
A: He could have been prior that fateful shopping trip.

2. Does this mean I am obliged to marry him?
A: Gosh, that question sprang up in my head right after the 'how much is it?!' qtn. I blurted it out and Alec's reply was- "no need lar... =()" He kinda smiled and frowned at the same time. I thought he looked really cute and his reply was rather sweet.

3. What am I going to get him for his next birthday?! Surely I can't be that off his standards right?
A: Alec's answer was- no need lar. anything lor! =))

4. How many Gs are there on the wallet?
A: I'll have to count and blog about it in my next entry. Stephy is betting on 240 Gs which makes each G $3. I'm placing my bets on $5 per G. We'll see.

~ JaYNe goes PUBLIC!!! ~

2005-12-28T21:23:00.000+08:00

One of the pluses of working at CSC- You get to find out how photogenic you are on print!

Or rather, I found out how NOT photogenic I am on print. Especially the one for the LO conference. My hair looks damn fake can!!!?!! It was REALLY MY OWN! Even the sky that was superimposed looks more natural than my hair. -_-"

That triggers the horrifying emergency alarm to spend another bomb to straighten and colour my hair. It's way overdue in fact but I'm trying to put it off till I finish my swimming lessons cos the chlorine will make the hair dye run and I'll need to tie my hair when I'm swimming. But it's damn frustrating- even my Director and several aunties at my workplace have attempted to remind me (in an unnaturally deliberate sensitive tone) to touch up my roots. And my sister tells me EVERY MORNING that my hair looks seriously more frizzy than hers.

I need rebonding. REAL BADLY.

But to think of it, I actually tie up my hair whenever I exercise. But you're not supposed to tie your hair when it's rebonded.

But surely it looks damn silly for anyone not to tie their long staright silky hair when they kickbox, dance, jog, swim, do yoga and lift weights? Especially jogging. Wouldn't your hair fly all over the place and stick on to your oily sweaty face? Does that mean girls with straight hair don't exercise? Or girls who exercise cannot have rebonded hair?

How do those mei mei and fit girls do it?!?!!

Oh man I don't get it.

Seasons' Greetings! Say Hi to MY LOGCAKE!!!

2005-12-22T23:10:00.000+08:00

Just came home from my second swimming lesson at Yishun Safra! Was raining the entire day but I still went for my lesson cos I've been so looking forward to it for the whole week! Every inch that I move stirs a sense of pride within me. *smirks*

I've got to express many thanks to Jeff for introducing me his friend and of course my instructor!! Oh what can I say... He's such a patient guy. (Or maybe he's patient cos I'm a fast and enthusiastic learner?!) Everyone's been asking me how much I'm paying for 1-to-1 lesson and seriously, I'll like to know too! Which was why I smsed my instructor at least 3 times prior the first meeting to ask him how much it'll cost. And he happily (and I think purposely) ignored all my queries about the fees. Maybe he had a hunch that I'll turn out to be decently chio. Right, if he's reading my blog, I bet he'll be rolling his eyes like 10 times and then demand that I pay an obscene amount at the end of the day. I mean anyone who has seen the stretch marks on my butt is bound to deduct at least 50 points from the how-chio-is-jayne score. And any girl who scores less than 50 points for chioness deserves to pay obscene amounts for swimming lessons- to compensate for the lack of incentives on the instructor's part.

Anyway, I think he's by large a really kind-hearted guy. He told me I wasn't fat even after he saw me in my swimsuit. And he even attempted to give an absurd look as if I'm way way short of being fat. For a moment I thought he sounded really convincing. =`)

What has a log cake got to do with swimming?

Well it hasn't. I'm just putting up this photo of a log cake cos I'm moving on to a new topic- It's CHRISTMAS!!! One of my favourite holidays of the year! And ladies and gentlemen, (oh gosh I think I'm sounding a bit like my colleague, Paul) this is not A LOG CAKE. This is THE LOG CAKE that was made by...
MEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No!!! I can't believe it either!!! I couldn't have made this complicated-looking log cake all by myself, could I?!!?! I mean it's so pretty, it doesn't even look remotely edible.

OK, it wasn't exactly done all by myself. Some of it was group work and some of the ingredients were prepared before-hand by the chef. But everything else was done by me!!! I mixed the stuff, baked the sponge cake layer, spread the cream and fruits, and decorated it! Oh I'm so so proud of myself. I just ate a slice and awww awww awww... I think I can moan non-stop for the entire night.

Hey guys, can you not deduct that 50 points on the account that I can bake a really pretty logcake? Can? Pleeaase...?

I just made a new pair of specs last week and I promised the boss that I'll recommend the shop to all my friends if he quotes me a really reasonable price. So here goes! I got this really irresistably pretty, flashy, trendy, designer-style, slightly auntish, really cunning-looking specs from the shop called Daniel's Vision at Yishun Block 900+, near the famous Laksa stall. And it costs only $120! If you've seen me this week, you'll notice that I've been wearing blue, green and turquoise everyday just to match my specs! Perhaps, I should buy more turquoise outfits to match my specs! Or I could buy more specs to match my outfits!

~ Alec's Birthday BBQ at Yishun Dam ~

2005-12-08T22:44:00.000+08:00

Oei. Stop rubbing your eyes. There's no typo in the title.

Yes, there is a DAM right here in Singapore. In YISHUN! And it's right at my doorstep! OK it's actually 3km from my house, but to a girl who has just completed 10km in 1 hr 14mins, 3km is like.. negligible?!?! *snorts*

I totally understand if you haven't heard of the Yishun Dam all your life if you don't stay in Yishun or if you're not a car lover. But if you love to zng your car and you haven't heard of Yishun Dam, Damn! I don't know where you've been man! It is THE place where car lovers hang out, talk all about cars, and bio around to see whose car is the most tiong one around! Ha!

Oh there was one particular car which caught our attention. Loads of colourful 80s style disco-like bulbs all over the car's bonnet and sound system (the bonnet lid was lifted) and the lights were dancing to the deafening music! Totally entertaining! Lol.

Anyway, it was 25th Nov- my dear alec's birthday, and we had a really fun BBQ there! The idea of having a BBQ was actually my suggestion *smirks* but all wouldn't have been possible without Alec's totally fabulous and efficient MUMMY! Alec smsed her the night before and everything was ready (from the disposable pit to the crayfish, fried bee hoon and juicy chicken wings and not forgetting jap sweet potatoes) the next day! Wow that was impressive man.

The sunset when we just arrived.

Alec and family

Alec the hawker and Jane the-girl-with-the-oily-face

And why was my face oily? Cos i was bbqing half of the time! I kinda like cooking so it wasn't exactly dreadful or anything. Just oily. But no complains cos if you see it in the more positive light as in literally, my face actually looked smooth and glossy. Anyway Alec said something I found rather amusing as I was bbqing. "You guai guai bbq k? I need to go ying chou -_-"

Oh yes. Presents. How can I forget to mention presents. Obviously I couldn't finish that bloody tedious cross-stitch (we've negotiated and i shall give it to him for christmas but it's still not even half done *panic*) so I got really guilty and bought him loads of pressies. A Transformers Honda Integrar Police Car (limited edition), permanent markers (to zng his car models and the mask figurines) and not forgetting the personal bowling ball (alec i still owe u $50 i know)! No wonder he loves me to bits.

Alec and loads and loads of friends

More photos HERE!

~ Carebear Cousins and Pretty Nails! ~

2005-12-08T22:08:00.000+08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have the honour to introduce to you...

The CAREBEAR Cousins!

From Left: Proud Heart Cat, Playful Heart Monkey, Lotsa Heart Elephant, Cozy Heart Penguin, Brave Heart Lion and Loyal Heart Dog!

Absent with apologies (but I will track them down, wherever they are!): Bright Heart Raccoon, Gentle Heart Lamb and Swift Heart Rabbit.

I just couldn't resist them! Totally irresistably cuuuute!!! Especially that tut tut penguin. Yes there he is! The one in the middle! Ha! But the only penguin Alec and I managed to find initially was utterly damaged with all its internal organs spilling out. =( We hanged around the area at Carrefour for like half an hour trying to reach the new box of carebear cousins at the highest shelf! At last we approached the staff and they took a ladder to retrieve the new box. But they didn't have the full set of carebear cousins in the new box either so we only managed to buy these!

Stephy just came back from Shanghai and did the most pretty manicure I've ever seen all my life! I was drooling all over her nails on Saturday. So I got totally motivated and this is what I did...!

Am I artistic or what?!!?! I drew the pedicure flowers with my free hands okai! I'm a natural!!!

~ Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2005 - I made it?? ALIVE!!!~

2005-12-06T22:38:00.000+08:00

Gosh. Can you believe this? That's MY NAME on the Standard Chartered Website. I MADE IT!!! ALIIIVE!!!

10 FULL KM. Of non-stop Running.

And we're talking about JANE who crawled for 18min 30sec for her 2.4km run in JC. The race was equivalent to more than FOUR 2.4km runs at one go! I performed an amazing stunt and I'm so so so damn proud of my super accomplishment!!!

OK it was just 10km. Nothing if you compare my accomplishment to those who completed the full 42km run. In fact, that was exactly what Alec meant. He was waiting for me at the finishing line and told me (smirking) that he almost burst out laughing when he saw people waving their hands triumphantly as they approached the finishing line. Ha! As if 10km was really a feat or something.

=( Can I say that I truly felt triumphant when I finished?

And he added that he took less than 30 minutes additional to complete more than twice the distance I covered. He completed last year's Army half marathon in 1 hr 37mins.

Right I think my boyfriend has a bit of an ego problem there. But I still love him, even more in fact cos he was sooo sweet!!! I hate to boast but I've got to do him justice! This guy actually woke up at an obscene hour of 515am, drove me to the Esplanade Bridge, parked at the nearest possible parking lot, walked me to the starting point, strolled (happily) around the city hall area for almost 2 hours, and stood right before me with a huge heart-melting warm smile spread across his face the minute I exited the medal queue after I completed the race. Not a tinge of restlessness, impatience or annoyance at all. He just smiled gleefully and told me he was now very familiar with all the underpasses in the area. I almost cried. Seriously. I must have been a benevolent merchant in my previous life.

Talking about ego problem, I think LL suffers from that too. The first thing he did when he saw me after the race was to ask for my timing. Apparantly I took 5 more minutes to complete the race but I did better than him in terms of placing in Gender and Division okai! Ha! LL, does that mean I don't have to eat your shorts afterall? Er.. pl... Please???

Anyway, my timing was an impressive (based on my standards) 1 hr 14 mins (the chip time is the accurate one! everyone was stuck behind when the gun fired).

Oh and the placing. I actually did better than 50%, 37% and 34% okai cos those percentages are based on the totally inaccurate gun time! I'm only doing this ONCE. Gosh how can they do this to me.

The TRUE Placing Figures

3324/(3400+3446)*100% = 48.6% (instead of 50%!)

1064/(1149+1972)*100% = 34% (instead of 37%!)

808/(870+1655)*100% = 32% (instead of 35%!)

~ D&D at Grand Hyatt ~

2005-11-28T23:32:00.000+08:00

I finally have the time to post pictures of the D&D at Grand Hyatt on 18 Nov! It was actually a PMO D&D. Though I didn't know like 80% of the people from our parent ministry, I thought the D&D was very well done! The organising kept to the 'travel' theme throughout and the entire D&D revolved round the concept of travelling on A380 and off to different parts of the world. The flying dutchman kept the night alive and the food was quite nice too. *beams*

I was actually in a mad crisis for the whole week cos I realised I didn't have enough glam makeup to go with my gown! Sobz! My glitter liner from MAC is in emerald green and I just couldn't bring myself to wear it with a purplish gown though Steph told me it'll look fine like 101 times. So I ended up sticking to the same old very safe purple eye shadow instead. I badly NEED glam makeup in various shades!!!

I think I spy curves at my arms. Good choice at buying a heavier camera.

No more curves.

~ I'm SOrrY Auntie!!! I left you in the lurch when you needed me most =`( ~

2005-11-28T22:28:00.000+08:00

How could I leave her in the lurch when she needed me most???

Gosh I'm plagued with GUILT now. =((

The Standard Chartered Marathon is happening this Sunday *panic* and I went jogging at the canal with my colleagues. I actually ran 8km without stopping. I must have been possessed. Anyway, I saw this grossly unfortunate girl in a bright pink jogging suit with bloody enormous boops, so gigantic, she can suffocate a cow with them. To quote LL, she was like carry 2 medicine balls while she ran. Oh gosh. Her back must have hurt like mad. I'm suddenly learning to appreciate my cute tits.

Took the train home and I saw this Auntie sitting at the Buona Vista Station. She was clutching her heart and head and was sobbing uncontrollably. So poor thing! So I went up to her and asked if she was alright. She was apparantly feeling really giddy. I was at a total lost and the first thing that came to my mind was to deep breathe- yoga style. I told her exactly that but she obviously ignored me. Ha! OK then a sensible idea finally dawned on me and I asked if she wanted to call her family to pick her up. She nodded, handed me her hp and I helped her call her son, Andrew, who sounded rather cute over the phone, but I changed my mind after she started talking to him in Hokkien. Keke. All of a sudden, she started coughing really badly and looked like she was about to puke all over the floor. (In fact, she really did cos I saw some puke lying on the floor as I parted) Wild thoughts ran through my head and I contemplated for a long while, wondering if I should hand her my old yellow plastic bag which I've kept my running shoes in for the past 6 months. I reckon it's not very nice since that might make her puke even more. I rummaged through my 3 bags and voila! I found a red plastic bag which I've kept my sweaty towel in. Sweaty towel was of cos a more fragrant choice than smelly shoes so I happily gave up my plastic bag. Then my train came and I left.

I left. i actually LEFT.

Leaving her PUKING MADLY into the RED plastic bag with LINGERING SWEATY TOWEL SMELL.

I left her in the lurch cos MY TRAIN ARRIVED.

I didn't have the heart to wait for her HANDSOME SON WHO CAN SPEAK HOKKIEN to turn up.

I hesitated and wanted to cross the platform and turn back. But I DIDN'T.

*wails* HOW COULD I?!!?!!!!

~ My very FIRST DRIVING LESSON!!! ~

2005-11-24T00:14:00.000+08:00

Just took my very very first driving lesson and it was

SUPER DUPER FUN!!!

To think that I was having cold feet for the past few weeks.
It's not much different from playing daytona at the arcade or playing NFS on PS2. It's easier in fact cos I was travelling at less than 20km/h.

20km/h?!!?!! Yupz I was literally crawling. It's my FIRST lesson you know. I've never handled a car all my life! What did u expect?! At least it's faster than my running speed of 8-10km/h.

Right on a more honest note, I think it takes lots of concentration having to carefully hold your right leg at the right position to control the accelerator, press the clutch and release gradually with your left foot, switch gear with your left hand, signal with your right hand, control the steering wheel with both hands and watch where you're going - all at the same time! ??!!! Damn busy.

I was telling myself the entire day to keep my cool and imagine myself to be Jay Chou as in Initial D. But my legs are a little short and the instructor told me to place both hands on the steering wheel. So there was no way I could sit back and rest my right elbow near the window. =( Sianz. Like that the sey already cut by half.

But I shall wait patiently and do exactly that when I drive my very own white Honda fit with full FAT body kit, a nice subtle spoiler, cool sleek black stickers at my door (like the zooming pass kinda stickers), and an ultra pink and legally blonde interior! *drools* I'll consider pasting a teng yuan tofu dian sticker at one side too. I might even get an invitation to join the grossly prestigious ORMO CLUB!!!

My dream pui pui Honda Fit.

Who says you can't be Fat and Fit at the same time?

~ Happening HappeningS! ~

2005-11-21T20:04:00.000+08:00

Gosh. Where should I start.

Okie decided. I shall back-date all my posts. Ha!

~ The Most Gorgeous most Elegant Purple Rose Ring ~

2005-11-17T23:26:00.000+08:00

I'm attached.

As in officially attached to Mr. Alec Ong. =)

OK guys. That's enough. Nobody died. There's really no need to cry and create a big din here. And stop lamenting that all the good girls are taken or get snatched up real fast. You will find a fabulous girl one day! Engage yourself in more activities, be comfortable with yourself, and keep your eyes open! You'll find one soon enough. Just remember not to pounce on one when you find her ok. Intimidating guys are a total turn-off. Ha!

Went to Crustacean at Holland V to celebrate our 4+- yrs together!

Great ambience

Yummy Black Cod

Seafood Pasta Aglio Olio Style, whatever that means

Warm chocolate cake - really heart-warming... awww...

Warm chocolate cake with OOzing chocolate fudge.. OooOOooo...

The invaluable Rose Ring

The Happy Girl

And the Lucky Guy!!?! =))

~ My MUM's Bangkok Loot - ExpoSed! ~

2005-11-16T22:31:00.000+08:00

I am the daughter of THE ultimate Shopping Queen.

My parents just came back from Bangkok and my mum actually bought more clothes than I did when i went there in Sept!??!??! She also bought 4 bags for me and shoes for my sister! They're a real steal and awww... aren't they lovely?!! She must have been quite disappointed to be shopping for office wear cos I told her not to buy sexy tops. She bought like 3 halters for me the last time! Well I'll elaborate more on how liberal my mum is when I've got the time.

Clothes and shoes were going at 50THB each and bags ranged from 160-199THB. Gosh i still have loads to learn from her.

They stayed at First Bangkok Hotel which was in the Pratunam area. My mum was hopping up and down when she came back and told me there were at least 6 shopping malls in that area. There were lots of pretty bags, clothes and accessories!!! They're even better than MBK! Damn. I think I seriously didn't explore Pratunam properly the last time. I only went to the Pratunam Market and Pratunam Centre but didn't explore further into the Baiyoke Sky area. Arghz! I want to go back there again!!!!!! Okie. I shall go back there in January! I don't care if it doesn't make sense given that we've just been there 4 four months ago. We're going to explore new territories and stay in my dream Reflections Hotel and take loads of photos in the vintage Post-industrial room! Yay!

And this time round, I shall remember that I am not a size S based on Thai standards. The Thais are freaking small-sized!?!! That Chatuchak stall-holder might even allow me to exchange that size S purple fishman's pants I bought the last time! *beams*

~ The Istana ~

2005-11-14T22:13:00.000+08:00

Visited the Istana for the first time ever! The decorations are reminiscent of the British Colonial days. Which makes it kind of classy and grand. We happened to see the President himself as we approached the stairs. LL asked me, "What's the expected protocol when you see the President approaching? Are we supposed to stop and allow him to pass?" I thought that sounded really King-ish. =))

~ What can you find in a Hawaiin BBQ? ~

2005-11-13T21:17:00.000+08:00

You've tried Hawaiin Pizza. But what else do Hawaiins eat?

Went to ECP to try the Hawaiin BBQ Buffet on Sunday. The food was unfortunately quite disgusting. The chicken wings had fur still stuck on them, pasta was cold, fish was bland, and the prawns had this drain or cupboard smell. Eeeew. I was really starving so I ate loads of stuff nevertheless. Bad move. It was only towards the end that we found out that the best part was the fruits. Gosh the BBQ pineapples was super sweet and juicy, the bananas were heavenly and melted readily in the mouth, and the honey BBQ apples were crunchy and yummy.... Awww......

Hairy chicken wings and heavenly bananas. Alec, what's the brand of the bananas again? We've got to bbq bananas ourselves!

The prawns with cupboard/drain smell.

~ Metro Sale and Cold Storage Jelita ~

2005-11-12T22:12:00.000+08:00

Steph and I spent over an hour playing with makeup at Metro Paragon. There was storewide 20% off and all the girls were grabbing every item they could lay their hands on!

I am never good with lots of choices cos I always ALWAYS end up contemplating forever and end up buying much less than I should. That was what happened in Bangkok. There were soooo sooo many accessories, I couldn't decide which ones to buy. And so I bought less than 10. Wasted man! And the same scenario happened at Metro that day. I was so in love with the Ettusias dual pencil and the green eye shadow. But I ended up buying only the eye contour concealer (which is really good. it's not cakey at all! thanks steph for psychoing me to get it!) and I'm now craving for the dual pencil and green eyeshadow. Everyday. Grr.

I think I should seriously consider marrying my lovely Stephy. She knows me so very well and recommended me a new dish- Fish Bee Hoon DRY at Far East. Like Hor Fun style. The fish was yummy and there were loads of vege! A very balanced diet indeed with foods from all 3 tiers of the food pyramid.

Steph checking on her Ngiap.

The legendary Ettusias green eyeshadow.

Took a bus to Cold Storage Jelita after dinner to buy Paula's Choice products. That sales person kept telling stephy- 'she has really really GREEAT skin! Don't u think so?!!'

He was referring to ME. -_-"

No he wasn't lying just to por us cos he kept saying that we have really good skin and he wasn't going to recommend us anything new at all. Apparantly the reverse psychology worked well and we bought more than $80 worth of products. =p We took the opportunity to explore Cold Storage Jelita and discovered that was the place where all the rich expatriates hang out on weekends. I bought among other stuff, a pack of wholemeal spaghetti cos it sounds really healthy. Gosh the spaghetti is damn stubborn and refused to cook when we tried it last week. But Alec, my sis and I swallowed the dry floury sitck-like thingy nonetheless. How delicious did u expect healthy food to be?

~ Total Defence- Have you played YOUR part? Stock up on Food TODAY! ~

2005-11-11T22:55:00.000+08:00

My colleagues gave a rating ranging from 7.5-9 out of 10 for my OREO Triple Indulgence Cheesecake!!! Oh dear it's bad. That leaves me so little room for improvement! *evil laugh* This deserves a little DANCE!

Like I said, CSC has a very nice culture. My colleagues are such kind and generous people. =))

Went down to EXPO for a site visit for my Covey event in the afternoon and seized the opportunity to visit the FOOD FARE! I spent a whopping $50 on food. Allow me to repeat. ON FOOD. Gosh. I'm on a strict diet leh. I think I'm suffering from one of those eating disorders. You know, those scronny girls who stuff themselves with loads of food and throw up everything after that, are termed as suffering from Bulimia. Surely there must be a medical term somewhere that defines people who are on a strict diet, and have the uncontrolled tendency to stock up on piles of food, but seriously have no idea when they can finish them??

OK maybe it's not an eating disorder. Maybe I just can't seem to get this story out of my head- I remember reading somewhere that there's this guy who survived an earthquake even though the rescue team found him only 2-3 wks later, cos he happened to be somewhere near his personal fridge when the tragedy happened and he managed to dig out some snacks while he was trapped in the rubble. I mean, you never know when a natural disaster might fall upon you, and it's always good to be prepared, isn't it? It's part of total defence.

Which reminds me of another guy whom everyone knows, swallowed a couple of televisions, computers, telephones, refridgerators and... yah I think you get the picture. He appeared on the Guinness book of record. Unless you're such a person who can feed on electronics or furniture, I think everyone should play their part in total defence by stocking up adequate food in the house and in the office.

I bought these:

Right. I placed this bag of stuff on the MRT floor and it does look like a suspicious-looking item. But on a serious note, I bought
- 5 Grains Oatmilk (for my mum)
- Cheese Fish Finger
- Dodo Fuzhou Fishballs (I've only tried 1 fuzhou fishball all my life. Oh god where have I been?!???!)
- Crispy Oyster Mushroom
- Crispy Fruit Snack (100% apples, bananas, mangos and pineapple)
- 2 teriyaki chicken paos
- 1 nutrisoy organic brown rice soyamilk
- Peanuts with corn coating
- 1 packet of tomatoes with herbs tuna
- 1 packet of lemon and dill salmon
- 1 packet of tomatoes with capsicum salmon with gravy (for pasta)

There was a stupid train fault on my way back from EXPO. Train was stuck for like 20-30 mins and I look 1 hr 40mins to reach home! But fret not, while everyone was looking exasperated, I made full use of the time and happily examined the labels and nutritional value of every single item I bought.

That bloody train still refused to move after I completed every single word on the packagings. -_-" But that's not the point. I actually enjoy reading food labels. They don't call me a health freak for nothing okai.

Oh yes, an interesting sight that my colleagues and I spotted during lunch time.

It's a kitten! Taking cover from the sun! So you see, I am not the only creature on this planet who is on a strict whitening regime.

512MB Memory Stick

2005-11-08T23:07:00.000+08:00

Yay! I bought a new 512MB SanDisk memory stick for just $60! Can strike it off my wish list now. Thanks LL for the lobang =) and thank you daveth from hardwarezone. Now I can take even more photos and store more mp3s on my K750i. *beams*

~ OREO Cheesecake ~

2005-11-06T15:39:00.000+08:00

Took leave on Friday so it was a 4 day looong weekend for me! *beams* But Monday is looming near and I've got to work tomorrow! *wails*

Not that work is dreadful anyway =) (I think my boss reads my blog).

Started having this really awful one-sided sore throat on Wednesday. Gosh it was damn pain. I was in the mood for TCM that day and marched bravely to the Medical Hall at Holland Drive, got myself this black ugly-looking drink with 24 different kinds of herbs, and gulped the whole bottle down together with a bottle of aloe-honey. God knows how many beetles , bees and roaches went into that drink. Tasted Horrendous. And it it wasn't of any help at all!

Having failed at the first attempt, I decided to try something less conventional - the use-poison-attack-poison (yi du gong du) method. So I pinned all my hopes on the BBQ on Thursday.

BBQ AGAIN? Haven't I already blogged about TWO BBQs?! YES. YET Another one. With another group of pple. Oh gosh it has become kinda like a weekly thingy for me. And steph just psychoed me to go to a Hawaiin BBQ Buffet @ ECP next Sunday. *explodes with oil squirting all over the place* Anyway, the food was simply irresistable. Japanese sweet potatoes, sambal prawns, sambal stingray, chilli sotong, otah, satay- all tasted juicy and heavenly! Even a harmless crabstick tasted Juicy! Unbelievable right?! On second thoughts, I think it's oily not juicy. Eeeks. Oh yes and the chin chow with longans was fabulous. One of the kind aunties told me she bought the big tub of chin chow from Sheng Siong. It even comes along with a big pack of honey. I must get it!!!

My throat was still really bad that night.

But it got better the next morning. And completely fine by Saturday! Yay! BBQ food rocks ok.

Went bowling on Friday morning at 9 plus. The place was almost full at that obscene hour???!Totally grossed up. Did I mention the cafe at Victor's bowl serves the best Orange Juice in the world??? Loads and loads of pulp. Played 5 games that day. My score was quite average for my standards. My score is stagnating already. Maybe I should really get a pretty pink personal ball! And pink bowling shoes! I'll be hyper motivated when I'm properly geared! Should I add them to my wish list??

Off to Carrefour and Sheng Siong in the afternoon. Bought ingredients to bake Oreo Cheesecake and not forgetting my chin chow and longans. The chin chow and longans was a success (how bad can it get right) but the cake was... erm....

I'll just say I give a 7/10 for taste and 2/10 for appearance. *wails* OK I've made up my mind not to bake a cake for my colleagues' birthday. I think I should really get myself an oven to perfect my skills. I want an OVEN!!

Spent almost 5 hours on the cross stitch yesterday.

Am I slow or what?!!?!!

~ Japanese Lingerie! ~

2005-11-01T14:37:00.000+08:00

I bought Japanese Lingerie! They're really fanciful and to quote my mum 'like what dance hostesses will wear'. Ha! The bras will be really upset if I don't flash them. So here goes!

Steph and I initially agreed that we should just buy 1 or 2 such impractical lingerie just for fun and laughter. But as you can see, I actually bought 5 in total. Gosh I suspect this has got something to do with the emptiness and insecurity within us again. *tragic music* But they're all so pretty and irresistible! Every piece is like an exclusive art by itself! We girls feel good and confident when we wear something really pretty inside, whether or not it's revealed on the outside. As usual, the men don't get it!

Alec's birthday is coming in 25 days. I've already bought him a personal bowling ball. (OK OK Alec, I know I still owe u $100.) But I still wanna do something memorable. And this is it!

Yes... cross stitch. The good old cross stitch. Eeew. I've got a love-hate relationship not only with literature but with cross stitch as well. I love the whole idea of it being nice, sweet, pretty and that it shows that you’ve put in effort and you've got patience. But I dread the last 2 points about effort and patience especially when I have sweaty palms. The needle slips, the fabric gets stained, the threads become sweaty and fray. Oh gosh the very thought of it makes me break out into cold sweat. Am I going to succeed? Can I meet the 25 days deadline? Will Alec burst out in tears when he sees the fruit of my hard work? (He definitely won't get a surprise though cos he reads my blog and I'm going to do it when he's around anyway or there's no way I'm going to finish that bloody thing by the 25th. Hey maybe I can coach him to do cross stitch. He was a great assistant when I baked my cheesecake last week. In fact, he did half of the work. I'm sure he's meticulous enough to do some good and dry stitching?). Tune in again for the latest update..... only on pinkpoos.blogspot.com!

~ Ettusias Makeover Workshop Part 2 ~

2005-11-01T14:12:00.000+08:00

Oh man I feel so thin.

Just went for the free yoga lesson @ Yishun Park. Heh heh. That must be the best thing that's happening in my neighbourhood. Free fun effective yoga lessons daily from 830am-10am! OK the only drawback is, you do it in the park. Which means that it's sunny and of cos there'll be like loads of ants and other kakas crawling onto your mat. Eeeks! But other than that, it's wonderful! Even the crowd is great- all aunties. You know how caring and helpful aunties are. Though they are all ten times more flexible than I am, they're never yaya about it. That's so nice. I always feel at ease among aunties. Awwww.

Eh I think I'm really exhibiting symptoms of pre-mature auntish behavior.
- I carry an umbrella when it’s sunny
- I hang my bag on my bent elbow
- I join aunties for free yoga lessons
- I like to draw a tail at the tip of my eyeliner
- NTUC, Shop n Save, Carrefour and Giant are my favourite shopping destinations
- I attend baking classes at Community Centres

Gosh it sounds bad huh.

Right as promised, I've got to blog about my makeup workshop on Saturday! Before I dwell into that, I actually went for my breakfast at the 24 hr coffeeshop @ Khatib BLK800 plus. The Ban Mian there is yummy! And they also have this famous fried bee hoon. Wah that fried bee hoon really brings back fond memories of Euro96 and World Cup 98 cos that was what my dad, jie and I would have for supper! Of course that happened a very long time ago when I didn't have to worry about my bloody fats.

Then I rushed down to SSDCL to apply for my PDL license. Oh dear I feel like bursting into laughter already. You know what happened. Good old dear Alec volunteered to help me apply for the PDL license last week. So he took my basic theory slip and IC, then skippity skipped to Traffic Police Booth. He filled in the form, and happily handed over the documents. That was when the counter staff told him to look into the machine and asked him to read out alphabets and letters. And Alec actually obliged and blur blur took the eye test! Haha! The counter staff entered my IC number into the system and was about to issue the license… then it suddenly dawned on her that Alec obviously didn't look Jane-ish!
"Why you use someone else's IC?!" She snapped.
"I'm helping my friend apply…" Alec murmured.
"Cannot lar!"

LOL. But Alec got a free eye test. Now he knows he's still not color blind.

Stephy, Jie and I then went for the makeover workshop. We were supposed to learn how to achieve the trendiest looks this fall. Well, at the end of it, our consensus was that we didn't learn anything new at all. Ettusias makeup is more of the smooth and natural kind so their colours are really nude and limited. So even though they gave you the choice between glamour, ah girl and natural look, you basically look very much the same anyways. The only difference is the intensity of your eyeshadow. Haha! But I love their foundation- it's smooth and gives a healthy glow. They have this new separate mascara with a special comb brush which is good for separating lashes and preventing the clumpy spidery kind of lashes. And because the $20 fee was redeemable for purchase of Ettusias makeup, my jie and I spent a whopping $191 on Ettusias makeup! Oh Gosh. We fell right for their marketing gimmick. Maybe Steph is right. We women spend tones of money on makeup in an attempt to momentarily fill the emptiness in our hearts and to suppress the insecurity about our looks. Sounds damn pathetic. But on a positive note, I'd prefer xiaxue's argument- if you are blessed with a skill to enhance your looks, why not? Or would you choose to be naturally ugly?

The makeup workshop was apparently way too subtle for viva glams like Steph and I. After all the restrain, we were spurred into buying more bold makeup from M.A.C! The all new glittery eye liner is so glamorous! The glitter actually sticks on better than a similar eye liner from The Makeup Shop.

And I finally bought my white pleated skirt! My jie said it looked like school uniform. *hurt* =( It's supposed to be neat with a tinge of sweetie-pie look okai. Oh yes the speaker from Ettusias mentioned that Emerald Green and Royal Purple are the must haves this season. Steph and I got all excited whenever we saw any green or purple clothing. I ended up buying a retro off-shoulder royal purple top with polka dots trimmings from the HoneyBee shop @ FarEast. The sales assistant was notably thin and boopy. Quite worth checking out. =p

Went Victor’s Bowl @ Marina South for bowling with Alec after the shopping. I haven’t played for ages and I seemed to have improved! So fun so fun. My highest score was a whopping 115 which is considered near excellent by my standards (but only a just pass by Alec's standards. But who cares about his standards anyway?). I was very yaya about it for the rest of the day. I suspect all my weight-lifting paid off! Used the 10 pounds ball quite effortlessly and managed a little swing too. I even carried the 24-can coke carton at the BBQ after that. *smirks*

Yes u heard me right. I went for a BBQ that very same day. Gosh that's quite a lot of things accomplished within a day isn't it? Breakfast @Khatib, SSDCL, Makeup workshop, shopping, bowling, BBQ. Oh yes and before BBQ, there was grocery shopping @ Carrefour. BBQ was fabulous. I am a simple girl. Just feed me with heaps of sweet potatoes and I'm over the top. This time round, Alec reminded me to take a photo of my sweet potato. =)

Erm it looks Black. But that's not the point. It's healthy food.

~ Ettusias Makeover Workshop Part 1 ~

2005-10-30T23:49:00.000+08:00

Ettusias Makeover Workshop! (Photos only. Will blog about the contents in the next post. I've got to work tml!)

~ I bought a new DIGICAM!!! ~

2005-10-28T23:02:00.000+08:00

Yay! So happieee. I finally bought a new digicam! I've been soo looking forward to it for so long. It has been like... 1 week? since my Olympus camera was pronounced dead. Gosh it's dreadful not having a digital camera. For ONE WHOLE WEEK. Can u imagine? Just allowing your life to creep by without capturing absolutely nothing at all. What a waste. All these talks about humans becoming more and more dependent on technology- they are all so true! That is precisely the reason why I've given up on my most absurd dream of retreating to the subhurbs at the age of 40 and well, maybe just grow apple trees or rear some cows or something. I'll have a loving husband who'll milk the cows and my children will pluck apples or even strawberries. I'll stand right at the doorstep in my white dress and apron, looking at all the greenery (they're gd for the eyes. i might not even need Lasik then!) and there'll be tears dwelling in my eyes cos we'll be ever so blissful.

That's minus the INSECTS, the COW DUNG, no INTERNET ACCESS, no MOBILE PHONES, and oh yah, we'll need a dog. I'm afraid of dogs. So I've chucked that dream aside. Maybe one day, one very fine day, when I'm not afraid of dogs and insects, when I can bear with the smell of cow dung, when I get so jaded, I dun want to be connected to the rest of the world- when that day arrives, then I'll seriously consider retreating to the farms. And of cos I would have gained enlightenment by then.

Yes I was going to elaborate more on the digicam I bought- CASIO EXILIM EX-Z110.

Right I can see that you want to say something about CASIO. I thought Casio only produces watches? Heh no lar. In fact, according to unverified sources from Sim Lim, CASIO is one of the pioneers who came up with digital cameras. Erm was he implying that if u've done something longer than everyone else, chances are u'll do it better? Ha I certainly hope so. But of course that wasn't the main reason why I bought this camera.

OK, I think I've got to elaborate on how I ended up choosing this model. I started out wanting to look at a Canon IXUS. Anything that's 5Megapixel, reasonably priced and decent for normal family use. So i went to this shop. And he showed me IXUS 50 and 55, and another chio sleek one tt was 2.4 times zoon. One of it was cheaper by $50 cos it was an older (and according to another shopkeeper, obsolete) version with just about the same features as the new IXUS. That guy quoted me 550-600+ for the cameras. Wah that was quite ex for my standards. And then he showed me Olympus. Cool.. and nice. Only 450! I was about to buy already.. and then I decided to be Auntish, tell the shopkeeper I got to ask my dad first (which I really did) and went to another shop for their price. And guess what, it got cheaper and cheaper as we walked around! Like from $450 to $420 and then to $400 or something. So I walked down to the first level just to look look see see, thinking that the cameras at the first level must be more expensive since their rent is probably higher. Of cos I was wrong! It was even cheaper second storey. I entered this rather huge shop and asked about Olympus. And he told me the picture quality for Olympus is drastically more inferior compared to Canon. He substantiated his point with a comparison printout from the 2 cameras. Gosh the Olympus one looked really pixel-ated. Quite gross. And the canon one was of cos smooth and sleek. And then irritating as I was, I asked the shopkeep at least 3 times whether he was sure he didn't use a lousy printer to print the Olympus printout. He was patient and kind enough to give me a polite no no answer. I was still skeptical though cos I had a rather good experience with my old Olympus camera, which I guess really spoilt because it's time was up.

I decided not to take chances and elminate Olympus. Then I was down to the Canon models. The shop also quoted me $600 plus which was really still ex and somehow I still have something against Canon cos my first Canon Bubblejet printer spoilt an obscene no. of times just within days after its purchase. Then the guy suddenly sprang up and asked me if I wanted Exilim. "Huh? xfilm?"
"No... Exilim. From Casio."
"Oh ya! I almost forgot. My friend had this casio digicam that he was full of raves about"

And so I bought it because
- It was 1 megapixel more than all other cameras I was considering. It was 6.0 megapixel
- There's anti-shake. Yes! I've been longing for that feature man. As you know, I suffer from all sorts of geriatric diseases (old people sickness) including the one that makes your hands shake uncontrollably (what's the medical term for that again?).
- It uses AA batt. What?! Everyone's using lithium and I have to go for AA batt. The camera is going to be so thick lor. Ya... that's the sad thing. It's like twice as thick as the lithium batt one. But I was thinking in terms of practicality. I don't want to be held hostage by one unique batt and face the embarrassing situation of camera low-batt at the most crucial moments and there's no substitute batt for it. And of cos I dun mind the camera being a bit bulky and heavy. I'll just treat it as good exercise for the arms! Positive thinking ya? =))
- And... It's cheap! The camera is $399 and the 512MB card cost $51 after discount.

You know, as I was choosing the shop from which to buy my camera from. I was thinking it perfectly relates to choosing a good husband. As you move from shop to shop, in many cases, the price just gets more and more competitve. But then you will have to eventually come back to that one shop that offers the most attractive price. So you wouldn't want to antagonize any shopkeeper by letting him know that you're 'looking around'. And u'll have to say a polite lie or story just to retain goodwill. As you walk further and further, you wonder when you should stop cos it kind of gets better along the way. It wasn't possible for me to visit every single shop cos the shops were closing already. And if I finally return to the shop with the most attractive price, the shopkeeper will probably not keep to his word and will charge me more since he knows that he has offered the best price.

Choosing a husband really has very much got the same agonizing dilemmas. There are of cos better guys out there who are way better than your existing boyfriend. So you move on. As you move on, you meet more and more people and the guys will be better and better. So you continue shopping around but know that you'll want to settle with one final one so u wouldn't want to antagonise any. And then you tell a story (maybe abt now being ready for commitment or something but seriously, u just want to wait and see if a better person comes along) and tries to retain goodwill and keep the person at bay. Of cos it's not possible to meet every single person in the world so it's not possible to get the best person ever. And you've got to reach a decision as you age (just like I couldn't visit all the shops cos they were about to close). And when you finally decide on the best among those you manage to meet, the person might have already been long taken by someone else.

What a cool analogy!

Oh yes and I must highly recommend Ban Mian Dry and Tom Yam Ban Mian @ the Sim Lim Foodcourt @B1. I mean take just10 seconds to seriously give this some thought ok. You have tried Bee Hoon Mee dry. Fish Ball noodle dry. Ba Chor Mee dry. But Ban Mian DRY? Would you rest in peace not having tried DRY Ban Mian in your entire yrs of existence? I don't think so.

ReLAUNCH!

2005-10-24T23:48:00.000+08:00

Major Revamp! *sweat* Chio bo?

~ Wild Plums on MY HAIR ~

2005-10-16T23:06:00.000+08:00

Wild plums
WILD PLUMS! That's a very pretty name for my NEW and Very Vibrant hair colour! I've also gotten a nice slanted fringe - the super Jap, wide-eyed girl girl look! AND from now on, everyone will know me as the-jane-with-the-shiny-and-stylish-hair. * SMIRKS and DROOLS*

Right enough of crap.

Here's the honest story.

Turns out that the colour I did at Chapter 2 less than 3 months ago was exactly the kind that I didn't want- the brown and yellow tones.

Like you know, sunlight-deprived grass. Or maybe a stack of hay fits the description too.

OK, this picture was taken on a really good hair day so my hair doesn't look that much like a seasoned broom, which it is totally capable of doing on a regular bad hair day. Bloody chapter 2. I still remember that fatal day when I entered the shop with a dull yellowish coloured hair and specifically told the hairdresser at C2 I hated my yellowish tones and wanted a honey brown and orangey technical colour.

And so I ended up having more yellowish hair than ever.

WTH.

The hairdresser then patched everything up with copper red. Looked alright initially but finally after like 2 months,

I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!

It was still very very YELLOW.

I mean what worse can happen really. Very dry, yellow hair coupled with yellow-based skin tone. Gosh I look damn sick can. As in ill lar.

So off to Kimage @ Funan I went last Friday and met Erwin, a highly recommended stylist at cozycot . He was confident yet meticulous. Every stroke was firm yet gentle. Aww... Haha.. sounds like quite a tough act that he put up. The jap and girlgirl slanted fringe was seriously unplanned for. Erwin and I were trying desperately to cover a balding spot that had sprouted where my hair parting was. And to quote myself, I told him to 'Sui bian. As long as my balding spot is well-hidden, I'm a happy girl.'

So I went to office the next day putting on my best wide-eyed jap girl look. As if the new jap look was all intended. Maybe I was meant to have a jap girl look. Cos at least 10 people said that my hair looked really good and they wanted to do a similar colour as well! Well, except for a negative comment or two commenting that I looked like an elf. But well, that can't be considered an entirely negative comment, can it? And the comment was 50% based on the green elf-y cardingan I was wearing that day.

I am (by large) a happy girl.

!!!

~ Why am I on a whitening regime? Why am I on a strict diet? Why do I swear by rebonding? A series of historical illustrated answers to the WHYS ~

2005-10-13T22:19:00.000+08:00

Q1. Why am I on a WHITENING REGIME?

A: Cos I look like a Malay when I'm not on one.

Q2: Why do I swear By REBONDING???

A: Cos my hair is really CURLY WURLY.

Q3: Why do I insist on a strict diet regime when I'm barely FAT?

A: Cos I am very capable of being FAT.

NOT THE CUTE kind of FAT.

But the FAT AND Irritating Kind

And the REALLY REALLY FAT kind. HORROR.

~ The tragedy behind every diet plan ~

2005-10-04T22:52:00.000+08:00

There's always a sad story behind every diet plan and I shall now let you into mine.

*Whistles!!*

"Alright, Boys and Girls, get into groups of 5-6 people. You are to pick the bean bags at the other end of the court and run back. Understand?"

*Boys and Girls scurry about. But there was ONE girl... her head was hanging low...*

"Jane, why are you not in a group?! Go join the group with 4 people. Go"

*Jane walks towards the group and quietly squats at the back. Meanwhile, group members look at one another disapprovingly and whisper "Aiyeh... not fair. She so fat. She join our group, we sure lose already."

*THUNDER AND LIGHTNING*
*TRAGIC MUSIC*

I've been branded with names like curly fries, big sweet potato, neck (hokkiens like to associate it with no neck or multiple chin) and of course pig (as in fei zhu). The girls would always change outside the cubicles after PE cos recess time is very short. While I'll always wait for the cubicles and not have enough time for recess cos I'm afraid they'll all drown at the sight of the oil that I was oozing. Imagine all this hurt that was inflicted on that poor 7 yr old child. Trust me, it stays with the person for the rest of her life.

~ The Tree Top Walk ~

2005-10-01T23:53:00.000+08:00

I've been looking forward to Saturday for the entire week! Had a very meaningful and wonderfully planned schedule- went back to Hong Lim to savour my favourite hawker food and checked out the Tree Top Walk at MacRitchie! I've been longing to do these 2 things for a really long time.

Lunching at Hong Lim market really brings back fond memories of the times (or rather the lunchtimes?) when I worked at Chan Brothers Travel during school holidays. The food there is soooo yummilicious! It houses the best Ipoh Hor Fun, Curry Chicken Noodle, Sliced Fish Soup, Rojak, Prawn Mee, Bah Chor Mee, Curry Puffs, Fried Kway Teow and Soya Bean Milk with Grass Jelly! It's truly a food paradise! *drools* I used to tell everyone I'll give up anything to buy one of the apartments above the market. Yes, I shall- when my weight is 38kg. And not forgetting my Sakae Sushi Buffet when my weight falls to 40kg. As promised, right Steph? ;p

Off to the TTW after lunch. It was then that I realised I had no idea where the trail started. It was about 10km away from the usual MacRitchie entrance which was way too absurd. I remember my dad telling me to enter from some country club. Gave my dad a call and voila! My angel and I parked the car safely at Singapore Island Country club and started our expedition!

Calling it an expedition is NOT KUA ZHANG okai! Though I already expected a 6-7km walk there and back, the actual trekking through the jungle is not funny at all man. Especially not so for my angel who had to withstand the exhaustion plus the embarrassment of carrying an umbrella to shield me from the sun. He's so angelic, I'm sure he understands my determination in not putting my whitening efforts to a waste. We ended up singing the chorus of "A little Umbrella (in hokkien)" throughout the trail, which took our minds off our tired feet and made the journey seem much shorter.

Squirrel!

Bloody Eyebags

But all the singing did not prove useful when it came to the STAIRS.

HORROR.

We walked DOWN. Thankfully.

Angel: This is a blank. It's a fake bullet!

~ French Manicure - DIY Just for StephY! ~

2005-09-26T22:12:00.000+08:00

Caught up with Bernard on Sunday. It has been 2 whole yrs since we last met! Bernard was my fellow intern back in EDB. Our main difference was - he was a scholar while I wasn't. Bleh! Anyway, here's Bernard:

** Bernard, if u're reading this, pls send me the rest of the photos we took that day!

Bernard is 23 yrs old.

@#$%^&

*stamps foot on the floor ten times*

-_- He hasn't aged a single bit since the beginning of time. This is freaking irritating man!!! He happily admits that he can pass off as a JC student, any time.

I got a HUGE SHOCK when he first spoke to me on Sunday. He spoke in Chinese. The very perfect, well-enunciated CHINESE. Eh this guy just came back from London leh! He hasn't aged, and he hasn't adopted a new PosERic accent. Oh gosh. He must have been living under the rocks in London.

We had a late lunch at Sushi Tei (remember the horrific entry about how I gained tonnes of weight in a week?). The salmon belly soup was so heavenly! The raw stuff were all so fresh! The peach sorbet was smooth and... and awww.. what a wonderful world.

Meanwhile, Stephy was prancing up and down in her house waiting to have her nails nicely manicured.

I spent almost an hour on Stephy's nails okai! I think it looks really pretty given that I only used my free hand throughout! Having a sumptuous meal really helps to keep your hands steady. =)

Do not examine the cuticles at the sides.

~ A FranTIC Search for the pANIC bUttON ~

2005-09-25T00:10:00.000+08:00

45 KG.

NoooOOOOOOOO!!!

*lifts up a quivery finger and takes forever to press the pANIC bUTTOn

Har nar!!! I belong to that category of very irritating girls who are NOT EVEN PLUMP but keeps lamenting about fats and embark on rigorous diet regimes.

But that's not the point.

I've gained weight just by feasting on Crystal Jade, Fosters, Pepper Lunch, Sushi Tei and Katong Laksa for the week!!!

OK, that was quite a lot of food demolished in one week.

So I carefully set aside Saturday as my crash diet day.

1. Yoga in the morning

2. Cereals for breakfast

3. Pomelo, grapes, prunes and cranberries for lunch

4. 5km jog in the evening, and

5. What's for dinner........

A whole HEAP of GREENS.

43.4 KG

That very night. YaaaaYYY!!!

~ (A Vampiric?) LoveSong ~

2005-09-22T23:30:00.000+08:00

He loved her and she loved him.
His kisses sucked out her whole past and future or tried to
He had no other appetite
She bit him she gnawed him she sucked
She wanted him complete inside her
Safe and sure forever and ever
Their little cries fluttered into the curtains

Her eyes wanted nothing to get away
Her looks nailed down his hands his wrists his elbows
He gripped her hard so that life
Should not drag her from that moment
He wanted all future to cease
He wanted to topple with his arms round her
Off that moment's brink and into nothing
Or everlasting or whatever there was

Her embrace was an immense press
To print him into her bones
His smiles were the garrets of a fairy palace
Where the real world would never come
Her smiles were spider bites
So he would lie still till she felt hungry
His words were occupying armies
Her laughs were an assassin's attempts
His looks were bullets daggers of revenge
His glances were ghosts in the corner with horrible secrets
His whispers were whips and jackboots
Her kisses were lawyers steadily writing
His caresses were the last hooks of a castaway
Her love-tricks were the grinding of locks
And their deep cries crawled over the floors
Like an animal dragging a great trap
His promises were the surgeon's gag
Her promises took the top off his skull
She would get a brooch made of it
His vows pulled out all her sinews
He showed her how to make a love-knot
Her vows put his eyes in formalin
At the back of her secret drawer
Their screams stuck in the wall

Their heads fell apart into sleep like the two halves
Of a lopped melon, but love is hard to stop

In their entwined sleep they exchanged arms and legs
In their dreams their brains took each other hostage

In the morning they wore each other's face

Ted Hughes

I HAVE A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH LITERATURE.

I LOVE the text.
I HATE it as a tested Subject.

I mean everyone should be free to form unique opinions of all literary works. Who are those E-Lit teachers to put a numerical score to my very original and personal views??? I think that's utterly rude.

Now that I'm finally freed from all judgment(yay!!!) I feel the nagging obligation to piece a nice literary work of my own- this time, in the form of my very own continuation to the very vampirically beautiful poem above.

... ... continued (by Jane)
In the morning they wore each other's face
He stared at her and she stared back in amaze
Her hair was spilling just like a willow
His cheek was hollow - remember the skin that she swallowed?

Exposed their souls are as the dawn sheds light
Nothing could stop the fire within that was still burning bright

Passion holds true - apparent by their acts so full of hunger
I yearn for such love that never lacks luster.

~ A health-freak's guide to Sweet Potatoes! ~

2005-09-18T20:40:00.000+08:00

I haven't been blogging for days cos life's way too happening. I don't even have the time to talk to myself!

Friday was BBQ at Pasir Ris Park. *Slurpz* Quite a traumatic experience cos Pasir Ris is a glowing hot spot for dengue! Eeeks. No we were NOT PARANOID! Reliable sources say that the number of dengue cases has already amounted to more than 8000 from Jan-Sept. At the rate these mosquitoes are multiplying, there'll be more than 12,000 people who would have caught the fever by the end of this year! That's 12,000/4.5mil = 0.27% probability that YOU will be down with dengue! And if you live in the hot spot areas, I bet the figure will triple or something. And experts suspect that these mosquitoes have found new breeding grounds like trees and shrubs. Gosh. We’ve got to do something before they mutate and start conquering the earth!

OK, so where does the SWEET POTATOES part come into the picture?

Well the environment wasn't that conducive but there was ONE delicacy that was worth dying for

SWEET POTATOES!

NOOO!!! Stop thinking of PEASANTS whenever you see that poor sweet potato!!!
You’ve been watching too many Channel 8 drama serials!! (those that depict how our forefathers struggled during pre-independence times)

=( Sniff. It's tragic. That’s when I made up my mind to do this food some justice by sharing its wealth of benefits.

So I did my research on Google....

And tears started dwelling in my eyes…….

Commissions for

SWEET POTATOES???

There actually exist commissions for SWEET POTATOES.
They even have a board of directors.
Their mission? To promote the consumption of SWEET POTATOES.

I am utterly amused and HAPPY!!! =)) Yaaay!! It’s heart-warming to know that I am Not alone in this effort to promote greater awareness of my favourite health food. And then I started thinking- If we form a commission for every single food in the world, wouldn’t that create loads of jobs for the people? Woo hoo. I’m seeing the big picture! Now you can’t say that my Economic theories cannot be put into practice.

And so I collated and summarised my research findings:

Health Benefits of Sweet Potatoes:

* Rated the most nutritious of all vegetables
* Rich source of anti-oxidants for protection against heart disease, stroke, cancer, and delaying the progression of Alzheimer's disease
* Among the top 3 food sources of potassium
* Low glycemic index for maintaining steady blood glucose levels
* Fat and cholesterol free
* High in fiber

Saturday was YOGA and loads of SHOPPING!!!

Shopping with StephY!

And then came Sunday....

the ENORMOUS BRINJAL DAY.

*faints*

~ I’m an Ultimate Health Freak! ~

2005-09-13T23:03:00.000+08:00

I’ve often been questioned whether there still is a meaning to living if I’ve got to consciously lead a healthy lifestyle. Probably it’s less difficult to understand my freakish behavior if you witness the illnesses that my parents suffer from. Sometimes, you’ve really got to experience some very tough times before you finally learn to appreciate the blissful present. I’ve since understood that I’ll need to have a really healthy body to effectively work towards my wildest dreams! =)

Which is why I’ve embarked on a healthy regime for almost a year and I totally feel the difference!

Exercises that I do weekly:
- Hip-hop dancing
- Kickboxing
- Yoga
- Jogging
- Aerobics
- Weight-lifting
- Massage Services (exclusive to a few people only =p)

Foods that I eat:
- Many portions of fruits and vegetables
- Whole meal and multigrains
- Vitamin C
- Healthy nuts
- Green tea
- Carrot Juice
- Bird nest (heh told ya I’m rich)

=) of exercising:
- Weight loss
- Better complexion
- Regular bowel movements
- Better immunity against common colds and coughs
- A healthy glow
- Better figure
- Increased confidence
- Higher likelihood of passing a job interview due to increased confidence and better looks. Ha!
- Happier mood cos of the increased level of endorphins
- More friends because you’re in a happier mood and you’ve got a good job
- Sparkle in the eye
- Exercise is a good conversation starter
- You’ll be seen as a less boring person
- Stress relief
- Reduced PMS symptoms and menstrual cramps for women

Does Health Promotion Board need a female healthy lifestyle ambassador to complement Taufik? =Þ...

My favourite quote of the day...

As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.

--- Leonardo Da Vinci

~ Angels... I see them! ~

2005-09-12T23:49:00.000+08:00

Everytime I am stranded in the midst of heavy rain, an Angel will appear right before me!

And they actually live in MY BLOCK!

Was waiting for bus 806 when it started pouring cows and pigs all of a sudden! Tmd, wth. I was already disappointed that I can't go jogging in the drizzle and lao tian had to even stop me from going home. Holding on to the faith that my guardian angels will never forsake me, I anticipated anxiously for a familiar face to emerge on the bus. And VoiLA! Heh heh. My neighbour appeared and flashed me a quick smile before moving to the back of the bus. I noticed she was carrying a sling bag - the kind that looks like an umbrella is contained in it- and then I started smirking. :)))

As the bus came to a halt at our stop, she got off in a huff and puff and braved the rain without an umbrella! i was totally devastated. What's going to happen to my new suit and new bag?! damn. I was about to dig for my hp and cry out to my mum for help... when I heard an angelic voice.

"I can share my umbrella with you..."

I paused and looked up. There she was with an endearing smile and a light glowing all around her. Thank you so much Eileen, for extending a warm hand in my times of desperation! Awww... =)

Xiang dang nian...

That was way back in sec4- the age when you'll never want to be seen carrying an umbrella for fear of being labelled as displaying auntish behavior. The rain was pouring madly and I was feeling totally cold, hungry and lonely. There was no way I could run home without getting my stuff drenched. I wanted to go home sooo badly... =(( and Angel No. 1 appeared! Her name is Rashida and she offered to shelter me home. So so kind of her! We have been friends ever since and her cousins later on became my students when I was relief-teaching in Huamin. What a wonderful world!

I'm definitely an advocate of confucius but I sometimes feel that Angels have been faithfully watching over me! Are these angels only exclusive to me? Have you ever felt that way too?

That actually happened as I was returning home after the Tony Buzan Seminar today. Was the emcee for the event and had to read a long long script of Buzan's credentials- that only confirmed the massive amount of money he's earning. I mean he has travelled to over 72 countries and written 92 books! I don't think I can even recite any 72 countries in the world and doubt if I've ever read 92 books all my life. I am totally inspired to invent an original idea, then travel all around the world to pass on my learnings! Hmm... like what can i invent?

I've been wrenching my brain and not a single idea surfaced. Buzan's right. A child scores an average of 92/100 for creativity whereas an average adult scores less than 10.

My favourite riddle of the day...

"If a frog falls down a fifty-foot well and has to climb his way out, making three feet of progress every day, but slipping back two feet every night, in how many days will he escape?"

--- Adapted from The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

I thought it sounded really familiar and juvenile. But I got it totally wrong.
Post your answers in the comments section! =)

~ Wedding Bells are Ringing... But not for me pls! Eeeks~

2005-09-09T23:50:00.000+08:00

Wedding Bells were ringing last night for Francis and Christine! Awww... So blissful. Their eyes were both sparkling with happiness. The bride looked stunning in her white gown and ultra glamourous diamond necklace. The couple changed into their evening wear after solemnisation and for once, I thought the guy really stole the limelight! He looked dashing in his made-to-fit Gucci suit. Didn't manage to catch the couple on camera but we took several photos at our table =))

* Friends animatedly discuss about weddings… and SUDDENLY

Friend: Hey Jane, when is it your turn?
Me: Huh?
Angel: Yah, when do you want to get married? Heh
Me: Er… HUH?

Do they really think that I can pull through? How long did they think I can survive without my mum’s home-cooked food? What makes them think that I am capable of staying alone in the house? What if I got attacked by a beetle and my husband’s not back yet? And let’s say I want to call my friend to gossip about my husband. I can’t do it in the house, can I? And if I suddenly want to experience the i-miss-him-terribly-cos-we-haven’t-seen-each-other-for-days kind of feeling? It’ll no longer be possible. Right?

Gosh it’s unthinkable.

Me: I adore the Gucci suit.

Angel: I cannot afford the diamond necklace.

=))

Checkout the Auntie behind us! She was so motherly.. Aww...

Winnie (my favourite consultant at the face shop!) and Ah Hon

A Shanghai-tan wanna-be. "They told me not to smile but I can't help grinning. -_-"

My favourite quote of the day...

" Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

--- Mark Twain

~ My Blog Counter ~

2005-09-07T18:04:00.000+08:00

Yaaay! My counter looks good residing at the right hand column of the pg. So satisfied with it. =)) Was selecting the options at the settings section and I suddenly remember I can actually set the starting number for my counter! *evil laugh* So I decided to be an honest girl,

and set the starting number to 20. =)

My favourite quote of the day...
"To live is like to love--all reason is against it, and all healthy instinct for it"
--- Samuel Butler

~ My Bangkok Loot- EXPOSED! ~

2005-09-06T23:05:00.000+08:00

Bangkok was a true shopping haven and I've yet to get over my Haul! I went absolutely OUT of Control and grabbed LOADS of STUFF! Alec was aghast beyond words but refrained from reacting at all cos I looked totally HIGH! hehe

Accessories! The earrings were going for like $0.50? or $0.80? so I grabbed 7 pairs! (In case u've diligently counted 4 in the pic and wonder where the rest are, I've given them away!=)) Bracelets ranged from $2-6! And the elastic band was almost free! 5 for 40cents! Gosh. Is this really happening?

Virtually all the bags were selling at 199THB irregardless of shapes and sizes! The bag sellers kept screaming 199 with a thai accent and we started to sing a 199 song. The song was absolutely irritating but nevertheless, we sang it every time we saw a 199 price tag throughout the trip .

I stared at all the shoes, dumbfounded for almost 10 seconds before coming back to life. 199 for any pair of shoes, again!! IRRegardless of shapes and sizes!!! They are really really pretty pumps! Tears were already dwelling in my eyes....... But I managed to get a hold of myself and ONLY GRABBED 3!

Little Dinga was brought home to reunite with his long lost dad, who is currently residing in Alec's car. That pretty pink pouch at the bottom is a lovely makeup pouch! The insides look damn pro.

Gosh you guessed as much! Office-wear was also going at 199! Save me! (I had to sing the 199 song again)

Pretty Casual Wear!

Lovely ROXY style Bikini! Woo hoo!!!!

~ The Fun Fit Challenge Semis! ~

2005-09-06T18:27:00.000+08:00

The CSC Babes took part in the Fun Fit Challenge-- We got into the semi-finals! It was totally awesome. Or rather, we were fully awe-struck because NoONE Expected Us to pull through!! Unbelievable. It was 100% FUN though not all of us were FIT! Our team had one of the best team dynamics cos we were wonderfully mixed in all shapes and sizes.

The Prelim Round!

The Semi-Finals!

$5K for the Top Team! *Drools*

Mike (judge): Good job! Your moves are more uniform this time round.

Sly (guest judge): I like your outfit. =)

You're wrong Mike! Our moves were NOT uniform! The main culprit was evidently.. myself X(

Watch our Jab Jab!!!

Although we didn't pull through to the finals and attain the $5k that we've been drooling over for weeks, it's indisputable that it was ABSOLUTELY EXCITING! hen hao hen hao wan... =`) I am sincerely grateful to all our colleagues and friends who went down to Millenia Walk to give us their full support on that day. In fact, I felt kind of empty after the event. The fun is over. There's nothing else to look forward to anymore......

And then... there was Carl's Burger at Marina. Gosh. The burger is truly for grown-ups, not me.

Image excerpt provided by Clipland

It was freakishly HUMONGOUS!¡
Stephy placed the burger in front of my face and she couldn't see all my features! Gosh. Not that my features are all concentrated in the centre -_- but the burger was clearly huge! (The actual burger is not as tall as the one shown in the picture but the width is... OMG WIDE. I can imagine beach hunks happily playing frisbee with the bread)

Naturally, the next qtn will be- Did we FINISH that HUGE Frisbee with Loads of Meat PAtty thingy? I'm afraid the answer is a POSITIVE. Yes. Stephy, Myself, Alec and Gang. Everyone of us.

Our stomaches must be bottomless pits.

I'll be posting photos of the LOOT I LUGGED from Bangkok tomorrow! *drools*

My favourite quote of the day: " Happiness depends upon ourselves" --- Aristotle

~ Wow wee. My first post EVER! ~

2005-09-05T16:39:00.000+08:00

I've been keeping a personal diary since I was 8 and it has never occured to me that I should ever publish my personal thoughts and make them known to the world. Isn't your diary a means to keep your evil/negative/wild/lovely thoughts to yourself?

Here's a common question I have for bloggers:
Do you keep a personal Diary?

The replies vary. Most of them lament that they're way too lazy to pen down their lives and they prefer to blog instead. Then my next question will be:
What if you have a secret crush on this guy and you wouldn't want him to find out? What if you have evil lesbianic thoughts about your best friend and you're dying to tell nobody about it? =))

My favourite quote of the day:
" My classmate says she wants to be a doctor. But she writes really SLOW ah! Like that how to be a doctor... Chey!" --- Thaddaeus Lim, My 9 yr old neighbour!