My World... My Thots... My Life...

买东西, 吃东西... 买东西, 吃东西... Here I Come...

2008-12-05T16:25:00.003+08:00

This is so exciting. 12 more days and I am going Hong Kong with my family. This is a long planned trip for us. We had wanted to go last year but due to some reason, we had to postpone it to a year later.

Seems like my sister and I are the most excited... Hahaha... cos we were preparing everyone in the family for this trip. As the weather is going to be quite cold in Hong Kong when we are there, we started buying clothes to keep us warm there. Not so much for me but more for some of the family members who are afraid of cold...

1) I started buying scarfs for my sis and myself when I went Genting in October. Also bought a couple pairs of gloves for Jayden from Genting.

2) Sis bought scarf for mum in T3.

3) I brought back a company fleece jacket for dad.

4) I bought a winter cap for Jayden.

5) Went Jakarta and bought a thick jacket for Jayden.

Last weekend, we continued our shopping for the trip...

5) We bought long johns for dad and Jayden.

6) Then we went to Winter Times at Vivocity and bought gloves for sis, bro-in-law and myself.

7) Went Marks & Spencer after that and saw really nice and comfortable scarf there and sis and myself were so tempted to buy but we already got 1 each... In the end, mummy dearest bought it for us as advanced X'mas pressies... So nice... : )

Will be collecting air tickets this week and buy some extra travel insurance...

I had also kind of worked out our itinerary. There were a couple of places that we knew we definitely want to go when we are in Hong Kong. My friends had also gave me some very good suggestions on where to go for shopping and food.

Am so looking forward to this trip with my family... Let's hope it's we are so going to enjoy it... : )

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town...

2008-10-22T16:04:00.003+08:00

The Christmas season is here again which explains why I change my blogskin again... Hahaha...

Time to spend a lot of money to buy a lot of gifts for my love ones... I love buying gifts, especially if it's for people I love. Tiring but worthwhile... : )

Shanghai Planning Meeting

2008-10-16T21:30:00.008+08:00

Just outside Pudong Airport, Shanghai

View from my room in the morning

It looks quite similar to Singapore, doesn't it?

I had been back from Shanghai for almost a week and I decided to upload the pictures in only because I don't know what other sites to surf... :P

8 Oct, Wed

Reached Changi Airport T3 at around 11am. I had a really sweet, lovely time at the airport... :) The flight from Singapore to Shanghai is about 5 hours. I absolutely do not like flight longer than 3 hours cos' after a while, I can't think of anything to kill time. I ended up watching Hancock (nice show btw), Guess 3, played Super Mario and listen to the music.

When I reached Pudong Airport, it was 6pm but when I got out of the Airport, the sky was dark. It's just like our 8pm here. Couldn't get used to that initially. Took the hotel pick-up to Portman Ritz Carlton. I only realized when I am leaving the hotel on the last day that the one-way hotel transfer cost RMB 820 which is almost SGD 170!!! Luckily the company is paying for it or my heart will be bleeding boi... One advantage of traveling on business trip is that you get to stay in nice hotels and all the costs are bear by the company. I had stayed in nothing less than Hilton, Hyatt and Ritz Carlton so far... All cost SGD 200 - 300 per night.

When I got of the plane, I was having quite a bad sinus so by the time I reached the hotel, I just wanted to rest. Ordered a club sandwich from room service for dinner. After dinner, I just rest for the night.

9 Oct, Thurs

Early in the morning, woke up for breakfast then went to the Shanghai office. First thing I commented to my colleauge when I stepped out of the hotel was... 'Is this the outdoor temperature or is this cool air coming out from the hotel?' The air was really cool. It felt just like our aircon in the malls. My colleague told me that this is actually the outdoor temperature as Shanghai is in the midst of changing season (to winter).

My Japan-based and India colleagues

All listening attentively... or not...

By the time the meeting ended, it was about 6pm (and the sky is dark again). Went back to the room to freshen up, then my colleague bought us to this Wujiang Street which sells a lot of cheap nice food. I had the most delicious 生煎包 at Wujiang Street. I was very tempted to vacuum packed it back for my mum cos I know she will definitely love it. The only thing that stopped me from doing that is worrying that I can't get it through custom. : (

Food stalls at Wujiang Street

Succulent Pork Slice Burger (Spicy)

The Best 生煎包 I had tasted!!

After the yummylicious dinner, went back to the hotel to ran through my preso one more time to make sure that I did not miss anything out.

10 Oct, Fri

My preso was the 2nd last of the whole meeting and I got a little nervous after lunch. Come to think of it, that may be part of the reason why I had a indigestion that day... Or maybe it could be due to the EXAGGERATING big amount of food ordered for lunch. It was ordered by our Shanghai colleague and food for a table of 10 can actually feed 30 people!!!

After my preso, it was a sigh of relief for me. Though it's not the 1st time that I am presenting but each time I had to do it, I still get nervous. :P

As my colleague and I were supposed to fly out at midnight, we didn't have much time to travel too far so we just walked a couple of streets away from the hotel to look look see see... Perhaps because of where we are, the things are not exactly cheap. I'm sure if I have a chance to explore further, there are places to shop... Actually with that kind of weather in Shanghai, it would be very nice to sit in the outdoor, having a cuppa and chatting with friends. For me, I just did not have enough time and not with the right clique. :P

Leaving Shanghai for Home Sweet Home

Headed for the Airport at 9pm for my red-eye flight. I absolutely hate red-eye flight. Can't sleep properly and too sleepy to stay awake to watch a movie or do anything... Haiz... I hope I do not need to take another red-eye flight.

I Am Lazy And I Just Have To Admit It

2008-10-02T21:23:00.004+08:00

I am just so lazy to update and even though I know I should be writing something, I just refused to start... Grrr...

5 more days to Shanghai... Am only looking forward to its night view and cool cool weather...

The Good & The Bad

2008-09-12T19:56:00.003+08:00

Highlight of the week... Sept 11... I finally got my iPhone 3G!!! Had been waiting for it since it's announcement last year... and finally it's here in Singapore and I got it FOR FREE!!! Lovely company... :P

To be honest, it's not a superb phone actually. For one, you can't forward the sms. There is no video conference, nor is there bluetooth for file transferring but heck... I shouldn't be complaining too much since it's free and many people are paying to get their hands on this little gadget.

On a sadder note, I am sick. Like I was telling my cousin, Diana, I think I got the virus from her last weekend but somehow the virus stayed dormant for a few days and finally erupted yesterday.

I woke up with a sore throat and immediately I knew it's bad news. Continued to go to work cos was a busy day at work yesterday. By lunch time, the flu bug attacked and I was having running and blocked nose all at the same time. Endured myself till end of the day and when I reached home, I was running a fever. It was still not too high, just fever. Though I was sick, I could not resist playing with my iPhone 3G for a few hours before I head for my bed.

Woke up at 6am with a terrible feeling in my throat and feeling really feverish. Drowned myself with a lot of water, hoping that I will feel better when I woke up for work. But because I drank water before heading back to sleep, I was waken to go to the toilet an hour later with the same bad throat and fever.

I was contemplating to go to work or not but I had 2 meetings today so I forced myself to step out of the house, even though my temperature was 37.7 on one ear and 38.1 on the other ear. Throughout the day, my temperature hovers around 37.6. It came down to below 37 when I reached home. Now I'm feeling a little feverish again. Am going to take my temperature again. Hopefully, the temperature did not go up... *crosses my fingers*

Not Easily Contented? Too Ambitious? I Don't Think So...

2008-08-28T11:37:00.003+08:00

Hmmm... Have you ever had the feeling like things are not going smoothly as you had wanted? Or you are suddenly quite tired of what you are doing? You question yourself why are you working so hard for? Does anyone even know what had been going on?

I am having this feeling at work recently. It's a very difficult to explain, very contradicting feelings. I am happy but not entirely. I like what i'm doing but there are so many uncooperative factors. I like most of my colleagues but I hate my cubicle neighbour. My boss consents of my work but I feel not as appreciated for what I had done...

Maybe I'm not a easily contented person. Maybe I am too ambitious. Maybe I am expecting too much... but how can I be, compared to 5 - 8 years ago. I had learned to live within my means and capacity. I had mellowed a ton. I just want to have a job that I enjoy. Darn!! I still sound contradicting, don't I?

This phase will pass. It's just part and parcel of life. Sometimes you are up, sometimes you are down. No one will always be on their up. I will be moving up soon. A consolation in my life now is going home at the end of a day and see my darling boy and my day will be better. : )

On a happier note, I am getting my iPhone really soon. It will be the 8GB one but it's better than nothing, right? What's more, it's FREE!! I shan't complain too much.. :P

Oh... am going Club Med, Bintan, for my company team-building from 23 - 25 September. Not bad, yeah... It would be my first time to a Club Med. Just hope that it won't rain and rain and rain like what's happening here now... : (

Will be going Shanghai for training and meeting from 6 - 10 October too... There will be quite a bit of traveling for the rest of the year... Think there will be another company Sales Conference in Bangkok some time in October or November...

Happy or not? I don't know...

What A Weekend - Part 1

2008-08-23T17:03:00.006+08:00

I know, I know... This post is a week too late but what to do... I rather spend my time in FB, SL, reading other people's blog and watching Friends than updating my blogs. I admit I am a terrible blogger. I had been and am still is... *sighs*

Actually if it's not because of the exciting that happened last week, I wouldn't need to update. Don't take me wrong, I am not blaming for what had happened. How could I? It was so so so fun.

Once again, I had a very fun-filled weekends and I can confidently said that on behalf of the others that were there... :P

The fun begins.........

15 August 2008, Friday

Culprits: Mum, 四姨, 舅妈, Diana, Janet, Nicole, Doreen, Eve, Darius and of course myself

I like to call this night 'Nine Yakkety-Yak Women and One Little Boy'. A pity Sandy and Jayden couldn't join us as it was really late when we met and being the ghost month, Jayden's Daddy wouldn't have like it.

The initial plan was Diana and myself wanted to 'jio kakis' for mj but it turned out to be one of those days that all the kakis just went into hiding but I must say that lucky that they all went into hiding though. How would I have such good time otherwise? Since no 'kaki' right, Diana suggested watching a movie instead and she being the 叮叮叮老板娘, couldn't meet early cos she will have to settle her work first. Yes... her work starts when most of us knock off and we being the understanding ones, will always accommodate her timing... Hahaha... 叮叮叮老板娘, now can give privilege card liao or not??

Btw, accommodating her time means that our events, meetings or whatever we want to do happen after midnight so for the movie, we met up at about 1am at Plaza Singapura. The moment that we congregate, there will be lots of noises and laughters. It will always be like what the elders want... the little boys are okie... what do you want to eat... how much... don't sum pat la... later you pay... I don't want to go out with you next time... We went over to the GV food counter and started ordering like everything is free.

1 Popcorn Combo, 1 Hotdog Combo, 2 Nacho Combo, 3 Mash Potato Combo, 12 Cheesy Dogs... Sounds like we are feeding a platoon!!! Went into the cinema and there's still some noise from us cos we were yakking about where are our seats. Did we have the right seats? Did the Aunties have their food? Did we have the correct drinks? Is dear Darius comfortable?

Finally we settled down, watch the movie... Okie, I must say the movie is a little disappointing and I personally feel that luckily the movie wasn't the highlight for the night. Once the movie ended, we came out of the cinema and the yakkety-yak starts again... Who wants to go ladies? Change diaper for Darius? Hungry? Want to go eat? Eat where? You following who's car? All these will go on for about 10 mins if we are lucky. Hahaha... Oh, I forgot to tell you at that point what time was it... It was 4am!!!

Finally, it was decided that we will go to the Hong Kong 茶餐厅 at Marina Square. Another round of yakkety-yak begins... 四姑, 你要吃什么? 五姑, 你呢? 随便? 有什么好吃? This goes on for another 10 - 15 mins. Finally we had ordered all our food. Curry Chicken with Bread, Roti-Prata, Minestrone Soup, Butter and Kaya Toast, Pineapple Bun, Cube French Toast, Papaya in Almond Soup x 3, Tung Yuan in Almond Soup, Muah Chee, Mango Ice and a lot of drinks.

Mind you... that was 4am and we had quite a bit of food at the cinema... but heck, so long as everyone is happy!! While eating, we started gossiping about ghost stories at the chalet. Hahaha... the courage that we have. In the middle of the night, all girls, ghost month and we talked about GHOSTS!!! The best part of it all was that 舅妈 was supposed to pray for Hungry Ghost Festival on Saturday but with all the fun and stories, waking up early in the morning to prepare for the prayers was at the back of our mind. Hahaha...

When we decided to go home for the day, it was past 5am. Nic kindly sent my Mum and me back home. When we reached my place, Dad was already at the coffeeshop drinking his morning coffee, waiting to go to work. :P

Well... that's the end of my Part 1. You can see the Part 2 in my darling's blog http://baby-jayden.blogspot.com

One More Thing To My Splurge List...

2008-07-19T20:55:00.001+08:00

*Swooning*

I fell in love with this bag when I saw it at its website... I am going to get my hands on them... so white and so waiting to be hung on my elbow...

One Shot, One Kill Updates

2008-07-16T12:08:00.003+08:00

Happy 1 month anniversary... for not updating!!!

Lovely... I had purposely waited till today to write the above here... :P

Done so many things but always too lazy to write them down... Duh!! Procrastinating, my utmost enemy of all times!!

Let me try to recall what I had done or happened so far...

1. Brought darling for his first movie experience, Kung Fu Panda. He was scared when the advertisements were going on. Think they were too loud for him but he got used to them after a while. Not sure if he had enjoyed himself cos he was quite expressionless and he took a nap in the midst of the movie. -_-"

2. Brought darling for his first swim. We brought him and Darius to Mount Faber Safra swimming pool one Saturday afternoon. He absolutely loves playing with the water. Wanted to stay in the pool so much and splashing the water... Cute!!

3. Brought darling out for many shopping trips... Ikea, Anchorpoint, Tiong Bahru Plaza, Vivocity, Jurong Point, Forum, IMM, etc...

4. I went on a business trip to Vietnam to train our partners. Nice place. Personally feel it's safer than a lot of our neighboring countries. Nice food as well. Absolutely suit our local taste-buds.

5. Running some channel programs for our partners in South-Asia now. At the same time, am managing training that will be done across South-Asia for this quarter... Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, etc...

6. Was informed by my boss yesterday that I might be going to Shanghai on the 1st week of September for some training and training-related meeting. If I go, it will be the first time I'm going so am a little excited. Let's hope that I will be going after-all.

7. Had another planned business trip to Philippines in mid September actually but I might not want to go for this trip. Will see how...

8. Looking forward to the National Day week to have a break from work.

9. Lots of weddings coming up... Colleague's in September, Cousin's in December, Friend's in January & another Cousin's next December. Congrats congrats... : )

10. My best buddy, Xiaobai, has given birth to a 4kg boy... Welcome, little Sebastian. Can't wait to see you... You are sure going to be one cute little boy. How not to when you have such a pretty, kind-hearted mummy...

Hmmm... I think that's enough updates for one day... Hopefully, I'll be back for more soon... :P

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.

2008-06-16T22:25:00.004+08:00

Hihihi... I'm in Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chih Minh City...

I had wanted to rest after clearing my work emails, read some blogs and net-surfing but my 2 young cousins inspired me to write this.

As all might know, it was Father's Day yesterday. Some of you might agree with me that we tend to emphasize more on Mother's Day than Father's Day. I remember when I was younger, there will be a lot of different medias telling us that Mother's Day is coming and what are the gifts that we can buy for our Mum but the same kind of publicity is not done for Father's Day. A lot of times, we tend to take our Dads for granted more than our Mums. In my opinion, maybe Mums are more sensitive to this kind of thing and will be upset if we forget about THE day but Dads are more the 'bo-chup' kind. Most of them will not be so particular whether you celebrate THE day for them or not. I think they are more concerned on whether the family is living well and comfortable.

I remembered that when we were young, we used to squeeze our brain-juice dry thinking what gift we can get for my Mum each year and we will get her different gifts every year. You won't believe what we bought for my Dad... My sister and I used to buy my Dad a comb for THE day when we were still schooling. It's the orange plastic comb that cost less than $1 and we bought him that every year!!! At one point of time, he had like 3 - 4 such new combs in his drawer. He wouldn't complain that he still had many and it's the same gift year-in-year-out. Looking back now, I think that's real funny and thoughtless of us!!!

My Dad has always been a responsible husband and father to my family and now a doting grand-dad to Jayden boy. He has worked hard all his life to provide for this family without complaints (maybe a little... hahaha...). He is a well-known husband / dad among my relatives who does the housework at home. I am guilty as charged to say that most of the housework at home are done by him. There's no denying that he can be unreasonable at times but I think it all boils down to old age and wanting our attention on him. We tend to take for granted that he's there and it's just menopause. I do think to myself sometimes (especially with life's unpredictability) that I would be devastated if that 'day' is to come.

It's very common for children to take their parents for granted all the times and only come to realize their importance in our lives during their birthdays and parents' days. Again, I am guilty as charged. I know that I will not be a saint from now on but like all children, we try to be the filial children to our parents. I know I should and I will try my very best.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy... I love you.

I Am Bad But Till Then...

2008-05-14T20:50:00.003+08:00

I'm bad... I'm really bad...

For the past 2 weeks, I swear that I have many many times want to update my blog but each time, I put it off to the next day. Very soon... the next day became 2 days, 3 days, then 1 week, 2 weeks and eventually became 16 days. I think I'm not just bad... I am TERRIBLE cos even now, I am still putting off updating what I wanted to post... *sighs*

Then why am I here, you might ask... Well, I am here cos I feel that I have neglected my blog for quite a while and felt a little guilty so thot maybe I will just write something on it till I am in the mood to write a long long long post. Till then...

2 Consecutive Nights Of Little Sleep Yawns

2008-04-28T20:29:00.004+08:00

I know... I know... You must be thinking that I am starting to slack in my updating. I had been wanting to update since last Friday but I admit that I was always overcome by tiredness almost every night. I played mahjong with my friends and cousins till 5am on Friday and Saturday night respectively. By the time I got home and washed up, it's almost 6am!!

After Sat night mahjong, I continued to watch 'Single Dad In Love' online till 1pm just so I can finish up the whole series. Hahaha... What's 'sum paat' about me is that I was crying like crazy watching the series. I cried so hard and so much that my eyes were all swollen after the show. 'Sum paat', right?? I also said. Hahaha...

After finishing the show, I had my first meal of the day then went to sleep sleep sleep and sleep all the way till this morning. It's the Monday morning today again but luckily this Thursday is a public holiday!!! Yahooooo...

19 Hours More...

2008-04-23T20:28:00.003+08:00

I completed my preso slides in office just before I left office. My boss vetted through the slides and is okie with them. Whoosh... Luckily he said okie. If not, I'll probably die!!!

Another 19 hours and the preso will be over. Can't wait for that to happen. I sincerely pray that it will go through smoothly. For now, I am going to bed and rest early tonight... *yawnz*

Digress a little before I go... :P

Started watching 'Single Dad in Love' on the internet and I soooooo love the show. It makes me cry so much last night until my eyes were swollen this morning. Hahaha... Lest you think it is some sorrowful drama, let me assure you it's not or at least until episode 8, it's not. In fact, it's sometimes funny and heart-warming. I am waiting anxiously for episode 9 to be uploaded so that I can watch. Waiting... waiting... waiting... *sighs*

Busy... Busy... Busy!!!

2008-04-22T20:24:00.005+08:00

Busy... Busy... Busy!!!

Didn't bring my laptop home yesterday cos I wanted to catch up on my sleep. My bad habit is whenever I bring home my laptop, I will end up surfing the net till late and will sleep late. True enough, I managed to sleep early last night and wake up early to take a bus to work this morning. :P

Boss told me yesterday that I need to do a presentation on Thursday's South Asia Quarterly Meeting. Stressed!!! Like the previous SA Meeting, I will need to present my training plan, program and schedule for this quarter in front of the MD, my boss, country GMs and the channel managers.

I wasn't feeling so stressed yesterday as I had more or less done up the slides and since this will be the 2nd time I will be presenting, I had had some experience but........ this afternoon, my boss wants me to include an update of a program done previously which means I will have to gather some information by tomorrow to put them into the slides and the program hasn't received very good response so I am not very comfortable putting it into my presentation. Haiz... will see how. Will be showing the slides to my boss 1 more time before the presentation. Hopefully, he will say to scrap that portion. Heehee...

Am going to relax a bit now cos tomorrow will be spending the whole day to finish up the preso slides.

Busy... Busy... Busy!!!

Haiz... What A Way To Start My 31st Year In Life!

2008-04-20T02:53:00.003+08:00

I was playing mahjong last night and tonight. I think I should have just watched my many series that are still waiting for me. Over the 2 nights, I lost $200+!!! I would be lying if I said I do not feel any heart-pain. $200+ can actually be my daily expenses for more than a week but this is mahjong. You win on some days and lose on other days. This is just part and parcel of mahjong. i just have to take it positively that I will win back the money some other day though I am not sure when that day will come. Hahaha...

Meanwhile, I will be living on bread and water for the next 10 days. No more taxi through and fro office. No more fried beehoon for breakfast. Maybe no lunch too... Hmmm... maybe this is a good chance for me to go on diet. Then again... If you know me, you know I am probably just ranting for this moment. Hahaha...

A Very Happy 31st Birthday... Thank You All!!

2008-04-18T10:14:00.014+08:00

*Updated. Finally able to upload pictures onto the post!*

Okie... I am officially 31 years and 1 day ooold. I am really happy with this year's birthday. There wasn't any big celebration but it was still good. As I was on leave, I just slept and woke up around noon. Then I went to Bukit Panjang to collect my bro-in-law's car from his dad.

After collecting the car, I had lunch with my mum and Jayden at Bukit Panjang Plaza. Shop a little after lunch and head back home as I need to get ready to meet Xiaobai and Joeie for dinner. Went to pick up Xiaobai from her place and headed down to UE Square for dinner.

Went to this Japanese BBQ Restaurant, Gyu-Kaku, for dinner. Joeie was already there when we reached... :P 3 of us ordered the Botan Set for 2. There were quite a few items in the set and it fed 3 of us nicely. The wagyu beef was really good. Tender even when it's well-done. I would recommend it if you are a beef lover. Price is on a slightly higher side though. ; ) I had Xiaobai to thank for buying me the lovely dinner. Thanks, Xiaobai... : )

After dinner, we went to Boulevard @ red dot traffic for a drink. Not too bad a place. Very cooling and not crowded. I am always happy to meet this group of friends. Have dinner, drinks and sit down for a chit chat session. Next thing I know it's time to go home. Time passed real fast when one is enjoying oneself. : ) Am targeting to meet in May. Let's hope we can all make it.

Wanna thank all the people who remembered my birthday yesterday and sent me their well-wishes. They are...

1) Daniel (who was the 1st on 11:49pm on 16 April. A little early but thanks nonetheless)

2) Huixian (who purposely login to ichat to wish me Happy Birthday on 12am sharp. Thanks, gal.)

3) Diana, Klive, Doreen & Godson Darius (for sending me a Happy Birthday song sung by them thru MMS. That was really sweet. Thank you.)
http://www.box.net/shared/bx65xkco4w

4) Beloved Sis Sandy (who will never fail to sms me every year even though she's a sleeping beauty who needs to sleep early.)

5) Niece Cynthia and Cousin Shirley (Thanks for remembering.)

6) Joey (Thanks for the nail care set. Must let me win mahjong tonight, k?)

7) Funhua (Thank you. Must try to meet us the next round.)

8) My dearest friend, Xiaobai (Ever so understanding and always there for me. Thanks for the lovely bag. I love it. Also thanks for changing the plan to meet a day earlier the moment you know my 'date' on my birthday was cancelled. Love ya. *Hugz*)

9) Brother Terence (for the 'special' greeting.)

10) Jesmin, Jeff & Sharon (Thanks for your well-wishes.)

11) Cousin-in-law Ivy (Thanks for the 'cliche' wishes but to me, it's the thought that counts. ; ))

12) Yongtai (Thanks much. You made it at the last hour on my Birthday)

13) Cousin Eileen (who wishes me on my Lunar Birthday. Thank you.)

14) Cousin Nicole (for the lovely wristlet. Just what I need. *featured in previous post*)

15) Cousin D.D.D. family (for the valuable little snake on ingot. Thanks. *featured in previous post*)

16) 二姨 (for the very pretty watch and coming down all the way to give it to me. Thank you. *featured in previous post*)

17) Lynette (for the belated birthday wish. Like we always say "it's better late than never". Thank you.)

Also wanna thank my Daddy, Mummy, Bro-in-law Delsen & Sis Sandy for the nice pressie, a Baby-G watch. Thanks load. I love it very very much.

Looking at the list above plus the few more people who had given me pressies as posted previously, I know I am being loved by many people. Heehee...

Thank you everyone for making this day such a memorable one. Muackz... : )

A Longer Than Expected Post

2008-04-15T23:02:00.006+08:00

I was supposed to ride the Singapore Flyer on Thursday but due to unforeseen circumstances, the Singapore Flyer ride has been postponed to 22 May. *Sighs*

The ride will be replaced by meeting with Xiaobai & gang which actually makes me looking more forward to. It has been months since I met them and I can't wait to meet them. Come to think of it... I had know Xiaobai & gang for close to 10 years. Wow... I did not realize till I made a count a while ago. I really treasure the friendship I have with this bunch of friends, especially Xiaobai.

In the 10 years, we had done quite a lot of things together and seen the changes that each of us had gone through. Let's do some recollections. Heehee...

1) We had gone on trips.

2) We clubbed.

3) I had stayed over at a couple of their places.

4) They had seen me dead / real drunk.

5) They had seen me cried like crazy.

6) I had seen them switch status from single to married.

7) We had had many many dinner and drinks.

8) I am going to see a dear friend with a 'tummy'.

There are a lot more things that I had done with them but given that it's 10 years worth of memories, I need more time to recollect. Hahaha... but I know for a fact that Xiaobai & gang are dear friends to me. They will be there unconditionally for me in times of need and I will gladly do the same thing for them if needed.

We had gone from meeting up a couple of times a week when we first clicked to meeting once every few months now but it still feels like 10 years ago when I meet up with them. There will always be rounds of updating from everyone and talking nonsense, making fun of each other.

We might not be meeting as often now since we are all busy with our own family, work and life but I know that these are the friends I will have for life. I am blessed by these friends. : )

Heehee... I swear that before I started typing this post, my intention was only to write that I am not taking the Singapore Flyer ride and instead going to meet Xiaobai & gang on Thursday but somehow when I started typing, thoughts juz came to my mind and it became a much longer post than expected. Hahaha...

Oh... I received another Birthday pressie from my 二姨 this evening. Think she came all the way to my place to pass it to me le... So touched and shy... :P

A Solvil Watch from my 二姨. Thank you, 二姨... : )

A Tiring Weekend

2008-04-13T22:20:00.013+08:00

Went 'tomb-sweeping' for my maternal grandparents on Saturday. This is a yearly event for me and my families. We will always decide on 1 day and the whole gang will go to my 阿公 and 阿嬷 cemeteries to pay our respects to them. In recent years, it has became quite 'exaggerating' such that there were 3 SUV and 1 Saloon cars setting off. Hahaha...

It's always the same routine through the years but we cousins will always be there without fail, unless we are busy. We will go to my 阿公's tomb first. Climb down the mini slope, stand on the limited leg space available, be careful not to disturb the other neighbours of my 阿公. Wait for our parents to clean the tomb, prepare the offerings that we brought there for 阿公. Then do our prayers to 阿公. After burning the incense papers, we will proceed to 阿嬷's tomb which is a stone throw away. 阿嬷's tomb is located at condominium equivalent estate so moving about is definitely much easier.

After the 'tomb-sweeping', we proceed to my Ah-Khim's place to eat, gather and had a couple rounds of mahjong. Finished quite early. Then my sis and Jayden home and U-turn back for midnight mahjong. By the time we finished, it was about 4am but I think I only managed to sleep at 5am.

Woke up at 11am today as I need to go back to my sis's place to pick her and Jayden up to send Jayden to visit his Granny. After dropping Jayden off, my sis and I went to CCK Lot 1 for lunch and some shopping. Bought a pair of shoes which I really like, especially the heels, and the best thing is it's cheap... like $29.90!!

Picked Jayden up at 3pm and went over to my 四姨's place for a few hours. Din stay too long cos was really tired. Went home with my sis and Jayden at about 6pm. Both of us was juggling 6 big bags plus Jayden between us. I'm so impressed of both of us. Hahaha...

Oh... so happy also. I received 2 birthday pressies from my cousins, Diana and Nicole. I love both pressies loads. Show you and you will know why... :P

A snake with ingot gold pendant from Cousin Diana. Look at the snake... Isn't it cute? I wouldn't know how to appreciate this last time but as one gets older, you start to appreciate the snake which symbolises me (since I'm born in the year of Snake) and the ingot which to me shall symbolise wealth. Heehee... Love it!! Thanks, Diana. Can't thank you more for the pressie. : )

___________________________________________________________________

A CK wristlet from Cousin Nicole. How can anyone not like this? It comes just at the right time as I was looking for a wristlet for quite some time. Thanks, Nic. Totally love the pressie and can always trust your taste. ; )

A Gathering Turns Surprise!

2008-04-12T01:00:00.003+08:00

*Yawns*

Just came back from my colleague's place. Am very tired but my hair is wet so will have to wait for it to dry so might as well update my blog.

Had a gathering at my colleague's place this evening. It was just a normal gathering for our usual clique. Jeff (the owner of the place) bought Nana's curry which was really good and he fried some finger food to go along with the curry and loti. There's a lot of wine and alcohol but I drank really little as I was driving. We were playing his Wii. This is the first time I am playing Wii. It is quite fun actually. Am quite tempted to ask my colleague to buy for me from the States but must think think a bit more first...

I think it is really good exercise boi... Just a couple of rounds and I can feel my arms muscles strain. Quite amazing! Some of the games were quite lame but I guess one should juz take it as some family / frens fun.

My colleagues surprised me with a birthday cake from Bakerzin. I mentioned to Huixian that I was wishing for a Strawberry Shortcake from Bakerzin last year but I did not get it in the end. She remembered and told Sharon to get that from Bakerzin for me. Sharon did not manage to get it as the last one was bought by the guy before her so she bought me a Strawberry-flavoured cake for me instead. Though I did not get my Strawberry Shortcake but I am still very touched that they went through the trouble to try to buy my 'wish' cake and celebrating it for me in advance cos most of them will be traveling for work next week.

Will be taking leave on my birthday and the day after... *Yippee* Someone is bringing me to the Singapore Flyer on my birthday. *Double Yippee* I will also be meeting Xiaobai on Friday. *Triple Yippee* It's been quite a while since I last saw her. I must must must at least see her once with her tummy before she gives birth... :P

Okie... my hair is about dry and my eyes can hardly be kept opened so am going to sleep...

Dragonfly, Drinking, Drunk?

2008-04-10T12:44:00.005+08:00

Went Dragonfly and Mono with a bunch of my colleagues last night. My Managing Director and a couple of GMs were there too. Initial plan was juz a little drinking session between a few of my usual drinking colleagues but I was informed in the afternoon that the whole gang was coming as well, after their country planning meeting.

Was contemplating not to go but had already promised my colleagues that I will be going so LL went. It is still not too bad overall but with the bosses around, cannot be too crazy. More so because juz heard from another GM during lunch that the MD doesn't like pple to drink uncontrollably and 'act' crazy. I ' ' act cos I always feel that those who gone crazy after drinks are to an extent still sober. I drink myself so I know. You can drink, get a little high and enjoy the company that you are with but if you start acting gung-ho, be very loud (so that the whole world looks at u) and create trouble, then that (to me) is off limit.

I remember walking down Clarke Quay on a Saturday night and I saw this girl who was dead drunk. She had a gal fren and 2 guys frens with her but they juz left her lying on the ground. They were juz sitting around her. One of them was even puking right next to her!! The drunk girl should have known better than to get herself dead drunk. As for the frens, they should have juz sent the drunk fren home instead of letting her lying on the ground. This is BAD, VERY BAD!!!

I am not so innocent myself. I was almost dead drunk 4 times (out of which 3 times was my birthday :P) since I started clubbing 12 years ago. I was lucky. Each time, I have trusted frens and families to make sure that I arrived home in one piece. I have since stopped celebrating my birthday in such a 'big' scale (old liao ma, dun need to celebrate liao) and I have cut down my drinking so much that I admit that I am a lousy drinker now.

I wouldn't dare say that I will not get drunk again but I can boldly say that I will not be lying on the floor like the drunk girl cos I have trusted and caring pple around me. : )

It Is Time For Some Changes

2008-04-09T14:30:00.007+08:00

I started my blog almost 3 years ago (33 mths to be exact). I admit that I am not a vy diligent blogger. I dun do updates regularly. Maybe it boils down to me having a boring life. I prefer to update my nephew's blog than my own. *sighs* Afterall it seems like his life if far more exciting than mine.

Did a little revamp to my blog... Why now? Perhaps it's the month of the year where I do my usual round of thinking back what have I done and what am I going to do, now that I am going to be 1 year older... *big sighs*

1) Change my blogskin

When you are old like me, you will start to yearn for things which are more 'act cute' which explains why my blogskin is so 'act cute' now... -_-"

2) Change my blog address

If you reading this post now, it only shows that either you are vy dear to me (cos I inform you of the change) or you are such a connoisseur to be reading this blog. Hahaha...

3) Revision to previous posts

I had done some housekeeping to my previous posts. Those that you still see here are things that are closed to my heart. The rest is not worth mentioning but I was quite glad to realise that I only deleted a few posts which means that most of the time if I write something, they are meant to be kept as memories for me.

With the 'revamp', I am going to put in my thots more regularly or at least as often as I can. Hmph... even as I was typing the previous sentence, I have doubt in myself. Hahaha... but we'll see. Let's not put myself down too much on this congratulatory day of moi.

Congratulations on my revamp. *a pat on my own shoulder* Good job! Muahahaha...

What My Name Means... Quite Accurate...

2008-02-21T23:36:00.000+08:00

What Adelyn Seow Means

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.

You have the classic "Type A" personality.

You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row.

You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace.

People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.

You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.

You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.

You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.

You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.

You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.

You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.

You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.

At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are very charming... dangerously so. You have the potential to break a lot of hearts.

You know how what you want, how to get it, and that you will get it.

You have the power to rule the world. Let's hope you're a benevolent dictator!

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Happy Lunar New Year!!!

2008-02-06T23:52:00.000+08:00

Gong Xi Gong Xi!!!

It's the Lunar New Year again. This day of the year seems to be coming faster as the year passes. Every year is the same thing for me. 1st day, we will have to visit 3 elders and end with MJ mostly. For the next few days, it's more of a gathering at different uncle or auntie's place for 1 full day to eat, drink and play MJ.

This year will be a bit different. Seems to have more activities this year, apart from the usual visitings. We have a little nephew who is turning 1 month old on 10 February. He will be celebrating this special day at a chalet so we will be going down to celebrate this day with him. : )

The following weekend, my brother is going to celebrate his birthday at a chalet too... Yippee!! It's chalet time again.. BBQ, having fun... I likeee... and after the chalet, I might be going Philippines for business trip so it's really quite a busy February for me... Stressful at times but they are good stress... : )

Dedicated To My Beloved Brother

2007-12-12T23:06:00.000+08:00

I was born into a small family, immediate family that is... I do not suggest that we start on extended family now. Let's just say that if I was to draw a family tree, it will be so congested with branches and leaves that hardly any sunlight can shines through. I am not complaining cos I love them no less. It's just that this post is dedicated to my immediate family, especially my siblings - my brother to be specific.

I am the eldest in the family with a younger sister, S, and brother, T, who are 1 year and 7 years younger respectively. S and myself have always been very closed to each other. Since young, we play, go school, eat, sleep, study together. We talk to each other about anything and everything... well, almost... :P Just when I was entering Primary School, Mum gave birth to my brother, T. S and me, being the big sisters, took care of T when Mum is busy. T was a very easy to take care baby. He was a cute, little baby boy and was seldom grouchy.

When he started schooling, my sister, S, and myself had started working. During his birthday and christmas, we will buy him gifts that we knew that he had wanted then. We like to pamper him during these occasions cos I personally felt that I was at his age before and I totally understand how he felt if he doesn't have what he wished for. S and myself being financially independent, will spoil him with the gifts that teenagers his age will wish for.

I must say that we do not really have to worry about T mixing with the wrong group of friends during school time. He was matured enough to know the right from wrong.

As he grows older, his characters become more visible. I hate to say this but I have to admit that his characters are quite similar to mine, so much so that it always get us ended up quarreling. We are both very stubborn and if both of us do not think we are at fault, we will not be the first to speak. One of our typical quarrel can last a month without talking to each other. Then again, siblings will be siblings. Over time, we will talk to each other again somehow or rather.. : )

T has started working since last year after his NS. He is still at a stage where he is searching for the job which will give him the satisfaction one needs to get from working. T just started on a new job that he thinks might be the one but it being his first few months so far, he is fighting really hard for his sales quota. Me, being his sister, believes that he can do it. Should there be an unfortunate scenario that he does not make it in this job, I know for a fact that it is a matter of time before he makes it big.

Dear T,

We know that this is a tough time for you. We will be disappointed if it's not cos it only means that you did not put your heart and soul into it. I must say that I am really glad with the decision that you had made. Everyone who cares for you feels that you had made the right decision and believe that you can do it. We are all behind you in this and just let us know anytime that you need any help or support. You know very well who are the 'we' here. Don't even think like you are disturbing us or anything of that sort. Love ones do not abandon you when you are down. They do their utmost to support and help you move up.

I have very strong faith that you will make it someday. Why do I know? Cos' you are so like me. We do not get knock down easily. When we are knocked down, we are sad for a while cos' it's painful but before anyone can even ask if we need a plaster, we will be up and running for our next goal in life.

Luv,
Your Da Jie

My Newest Toy... iPod Touch!!!

2007-11-01T15:18:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was my company kick-off dinner for FY08. Yes, my company's financial year starts from October. It was held in Grand Hyatt. It was just a usual night of dinner and games but what made the night wonderful was that some of us was recognised for our effort for the past year with an iPod Touch! How cool is that!!

Started playing with it last night and it is lovely!! Am going to explore somemore soon. It is definitely going to be my latest toy for now... Maybe, I can use this as a practise tool till I get my iPhone. Heehee...

D-DAY!!!

2007-10-30T21:08:00.000+08:00

I had finally done it at 4:30pm this afternoon. What am I talking about? It was actually a presentation that I am to do for my added role and responsibility.

2 months ago, I was informed by my boss about the new role and responsibility. My boss promised me that if I can do it well, a promotion will happen in 6 months time. I am happy on one end but yet stressed up on the other cos' I do not want to disappoint my boss and also the expectation I have of myself.

The moment my boss told me about this, I knew that I will need to provide a plan for my boss for the Kick-off Meeting in October. At that time, I had bits and pieces of information here and there but I had problem piecing them together. I was stressed up over this for the longest time. True enough... one morning during end September, my boss internal chatted me to look for him as he intends to let me do a preso for the training program that I am doing in the end October Kick-off meeting. I almost flipped there and then. I mean I had done presentations before but this will be the first time I am giving a preso in this company and there will be half a hundred of attendees in the meeting, the MDs, the CGMs, FC, etc.

I was stressed to the ultimate!! The past one month I was swarmed with work, preparing the preso, product launch, training dates, existing duties, etc. I actually broke down in one of the nights but I felt better after crying it out. It has been a while since I felt so so tired. I was working non-stop on weekdays and for the past 2 weekends, I just spent them working on the preso. :( Finally, D-DAY came!! The Kick-off meeting was today and tomorrow and I was scheduled to present this afternoon.

Stressed! Stressed! Stressed! is all I can say. When I finished my presentation, the weight off me was amazing. The feedback wasn't too bad. I know what are the weaknesses I have and will definitely work on it. Am taking leave for the rest of the week after the Kick-off meeting ends tomorrow. I need a break and rest from work for a couple of days but somehow, I think I will still be checking my emails and working a bit here and there form home. :P

Irresponsible Blogger... Me!

2007-09-25T11:25:00.000+08:00

I am a bad blogger. I actually haven't updated my blog for 1 month. Not that I am not interested anymore because if you do know me, you will know that I do update my other blog. I have another blog which is dedicated to my little nephew, Baby Jayden. I will deligently update my nephew's blog with new contents but when it comes to my own blog, I got lazy. :P

Maybe my direction in life has shifted. My nephew has become the centre of my life. My world now revolves aound him. I used to arrange activities around my own schedule but not anymore. The usual stuff that I do at different days of the week has lessened or stopped for Baby Jayden. I want to spend as much time with him as possible, even if that means I have to forego certain things in my life. Everything in our family turn upside-down, inside-out just for this precious little gem of ours. : )

Local Production, 881

2007-08-23T15:54:00.000+08:00

My whole family watched the movie '881' with compliments from Delsen's company. Thank you... We watched it separately on 2 different days though. All because of my darling nephew.. We can't bring him along so someone has to take care of him. Me and my siblings + spouses went on Tuesday. The theatre was packed, so packed that we were sitting at the 2nd row from the screen... I still remembered the last time I sat so front watching 'Lords of the Ring' in KL. My neck almost broke. The screen was so big and with so much actions, my head was literally moving from left to right, right to left.

Back to '881', the movie is a good. I personally like it A LOT! If you listen to hokkien songs, you will love it even more cos you can associate with the songs. There are both laughters and tears in the show. Towards the end of the movie, I was quite moved by it. So much so that I was tearing uncontrollably. I think it's worth the money to watch it in cinema, much so than some other 'always the same storyline' local productions. I will never watch those in a cinema cos I refuse to pay money for that!!

After the show, I was raving to my mum that she is so going to love the movie when she watches it and probably cries buckets too.. Hahaha... (If I can cry, my mum can cry even more and my sis will be the champion!!) She doesn't believe me... and truth be told, she came back satisfied. She went on Wednesday with my dad and aunt (while we look after our baobei). They love it too!!

I told my mum that I am so going to get my hands on the songs in the movie. Thought that means by getting the OST but I realized that the OST only has 2 tracks.. :( Most of the songs in the movie are sung by this 2 sisters. Heard that they will be cutting an album soon so maybe that's why the songs are not in the OST.. Will have to wait then...

Lack of Posts Due To...

2007-08-14T21:44:00.000+08:00

I am so so so sorry if you are the few little kitties that come by my blog for my update. I had been kept quite busy by a few things for the past 2 weeks.

1) My Darling Nephew, Baby Jayden (D2 - Darling 2 cos' he's born later.)
Darling Jayden was discharged 2 weeks ago. He has kept our family really busy since his discharge. We were moving between my sis's place and my place for the past 2 weeks. Looking after a baby is still quite a new experience for my sis so she will either ask us to go up to her place or bring Baby Jayden down to my place so that she has helpers when needed. I am quite amazed at how much I love this little darling. I even forego a few mj sessions just because I know he is coming to my place or I need to go help look after him. :D

2) My Darling Godson, Darius', Birthday (D1 - Darling 1 cos' he's the eldest of the 2 darlings.)
Last Friday was Godson Darius' 1 Year Old Birthday. It was a day of fun for the kids. They have a goodies bag full of treats and the company of a life-size ELMO!!! It was quite fun actually, not that we played with Elmo but more seeing how chaotic the kids were when they were having fun. Imagine 20+ kids under 1 roof and they are not just babies and infants... There were kids ranging from 2 months old to 12 years old. It was quite a sight. Darius Darling has so much pressies at the end of the day. There were lots of clothes, musical toys and even a sports car that he can drive around. Darius was so busy checking out all his pressies. : ) When you love someone, you wouldn't mind spending more to get a gift for him / her. This is how I feel when I was shopping for Darius' gift...

-> Darius' Thomas-The-Train Birthday Cake

-> Devilish Darius

3) A Promotion Is On The Way...
I have been getting quite busy for the past month. I was given quite a few new duties and responsibilities to take over. Did not think much about it cos' I thought it is because all the SEs in my team are being transferred to another team so with less people to support in my team (not exactly true actually since I am still supporting them.), it is just right that I take on more job scopes. My boss has been telling me that he will be putting me in-charge of training from now on and he has been letting me handle or help out more events (I mentioned that that was my interest and he remembers.). Never think too much about it except am glad that I am getting more exposures.

Yesterday, I was informed by my boss that he is going to announce to my colleague that I will be the Training Prog Manager with immediate effect. I will be in-charge with everything involve in training. As my appraisal had just been completed last month and this is a totally new scope for me, I will not be getting the promotion increment yet. Instead I will be reviewed by my boss in 6 months time and if I can prove myself, I will get the official promotion with increment then. I know it is a bit prematured to be happy now but what I am happy about is that my boss remembers what I had said before and giving me the opportunity to be exposed to new areas. My boss is one that is known in the company for being a good boss who takes care of his subordinates and will bring himself down to learn from others but he is also one person whom I know I can learn a lot of things from. I am glad that I made a switch to his team instead of resigning then. For now, I am just crossing my fingers that everything will run smoothly in the next 6 months and the review will go well. Please pray for me... : )

Batam View Resort

2007-07-11T22:50:00.000+08:00

Were away for the past 2 days for my company Singapore Team quarterly off-site meeting. This quarter, it was held in Batam. Initial plan was to stay in Turi Beach Resort but it was fully booked. Hence, we stayed at Batam View Resort instead.

It was supposed to be a 3D/2N trip with only the 2nd day used for full day meeting and the 1st and 3rd day, free and easy but a pity I have a training going on in office tomorrow and the day after so I got to make my way back in the evening and thus miss the chance to have the kelong seafood dinner that was arranged for tonight.

My opinions on Batam and/or Batam View Resort...

1) Food at the resort sucks!!!
2) It is quite boring at the resort, unless you play golf or you go out of the resort but the journey to the nearest shopping area is 30mins. Arrange transport with your resort should you need to go out of the resort. Booked the driver for the whole stretch for him to follow you around. It is not very safe for a non-local to walk about on their own on the roads.
3) Do not take the last ferry (6:30pm - Batam time) back if you can cos' the ferry will be packed with 'senior' gamblers from a nearby casino ship and you will have to 'KS' with them to clear the Singapore custom clearance. If not, it is going to take you a while to clear the custom. Oh... and let's not forget the loooonnnnnggg taxi queue.

Before you think Batam is a place that you will not want to step foot into, let me tell you ONE thing that is GOOD there.

THE SPA!!! Specifically, Win's Spa!

My colleague recommended this spa place called Win's Spa which is good and cheap and I must say, she gave a good recommendation.

I took this package which include the following...
1. Revitalizing Massage
2. 15mins Steam Room
3. Body Scrub
4. Yogurt Mask on body
5. A soak in the bathtub
6. A charcoal 'steam' from bottom up, supposedly to clean your 'you-know-where'
1 - 5 are done to the whole body. They said it is a 2.5hrs session but all-in-all, it is about 3hrs. Guess how much they cost? It is 300,000 rupiah which is about S$50 ONLY!! We can never find that in Singapore unless you are a new customer and they are trying to sell their package to you. Even then, I don't think you can find such spa treatment at S$50.

We added another hair spa into our session and I must say... If you ever go to Win's Spa, you must try their hair spa. They massage your whole head, shoulders and neck. For people like me who always suffer from the neck and shoulders ache, it was heaven when they were massaging for me. The whole hair spa took about 1hr to complete and again guess how much they cost? 85,000 rupiah, convert to SGD, it is only about $14!!

I have only 2 words for the above Spa Treatment... DAMN SHIOK!!
All for S$65... Where to find? You tell me...
One thing though, they only do body spa for ladies. Sorry, guys.

My Free iPhone... :D

2007-07-01T00:53:00.000+08:00

I am a happy person now. Just received a really good news!

If truth be told, I will be receiving a FREE iPhone when it comes to Asia next year. Yippeeeeeee... When that happens, I will be so grateful to my 'sponsor'. Initially, I still thought I have to start saving money from now to get my hands on the iPhone. I estimated that it will be close to S$1,000 damage to my pocket. I most likely have to start starving myself to save that money. : ( Now with the news I received from my generous sponsor, I DON'T HAVE TO STARVE MYSELF ANYMORE.. Hahaha...

iPhone.. iPhone.. iPhone.. iPhone.. iPhone..

p.s. Regret to inform that I cannot reveal the identity of my generous sponsor.. : )

Happy Birthday, Jayden

2007-06-17T18:13:00.000+08:00

I had had 2 extreme feelings in the short period of 2 hours yesterday.

My sister, Sandy, had a check-up session with her gynae on Friday. The check-up was supposed to confirm if Baby Jayden will be born prematurely as he is too small for a baby of 32 weeks. At around noon, she called and informed that the doc is going to admit her into the hospital cos' her BP is way too high and Baby Jayden's heartbeat is weak. The admission is for the doc to monitor her BP for the next few days. She will be able to discharge if the BP goes down and stay normal or she will have to stay in the hospital until she delivers which will be 2 -3 weeks later.

After visiting her in the evening, I went to my cousin's place and play mj till morning. By the time I reached home to sleep, it was 7am. My plan was to sleep for abt 5 hours then go visit my sister again but fate was not to be so. I was woken up by my mum at 9:15am (2 hours after I knock out). She told me that my brother-in-law called and informed that my sister was being pushed into the labour ward and doc will be giving her the C-section to bring Baby Jayden out. It took me a while for the information to be registered into my mind. When I finally realized what is happening, I felt fear in me. My sister is only 8 months pregnant. Baby Jayden's heartbeat is weak and a bit small for a 32 weeks baby. All these information are not putting me at ease and in a positive spirit.

My mum and I were the first to arrive at the hospital. My sister was already in the operating theatre. At 10:35am, I received a call from my brother-in-law. My sister had given birth. Baby Jayden was born at 10:01am at 1.230kg. He is a prematured baby so he will have to stay in the incubator till he is 2kg which is estimated about 3 weeks later. The best news came when my brother-in-law said that the doc informed that both mother and child are safe and healthy.

Everyone was so relieved and happy to hear that both mum and baby are safe and healthy. After all the roller-coaster rides that we had been through, this was the best ending that we can have. For now, I just wished that Baby Jayden's weight will increase to 2kg soon cos' everyone is waiting to see him.

Before I end this post, I want to say a few thank you...
1) Thank you to my Ah Khim's familiy for rushing down the moment they heard that Sandy was to carry out C-section. The moral and mental support that they gave by doing that is tremendous. Whenever I feel lost, I know for sure I can turn to them for help. Thank you, gals (Ah Khim, Diana, Nicole, Doreen & Eve)...
2) Thank you to the Gods above for answering my prayers. For the GODs here, I meant Zai-Zai and Jesus (Catholic). When it comes to religion, I am still a lost soul... :P For reasons, I believe in Zai-Zai and I also believe the Lord. I am very thankful to have my prayers answered. Thank you.

A Weekend Filled With Sun, Sand and Sea

2007-06-08T11:02:00.000+08:00

This post should be done up days ago but I am just too lazy to get my a** off whatever it's on to type it out.. :P

Last weekend was one filled with a lot of sun, sand and sea. Our big family had a picnic at East Coast Park. We prepared quite a bit of food. Curry, fried beehoon and some finger food complimentary from my mum. Egg mayo, luncheon meat and fried egg sandwiches from Diana and Nicole. Sotong balls, nuggets and more finger food from Alvin's girlfriend. All theses were ferried to East Coast Park in 4 cars. By the time we reached there, it's about 2pm already.

Once we reached, we started with the lunch first. After one round of munchies, we went for cycling. It is actually quite cheap. One hour for one hour and I only paid $6 for the bike. After the biking session, everyone got hungry again and it's back to more mum mum... Went to the arcade after that and we had quite some fun at the arcade where we used to frequent when we were younger. Diana spent a lot of money there... so much that she was nagged at by lots of people after that.. Hahaha...

On Sunday, we went to Fort Siloso beach for my uncle's company's family day. It was a very hot that day. The sun was drilling though my skin but I was happy cos' I was finding an opportunity to even out the tan on my arms. Went to soak in the sea with my bro and cousins. It has been a while since we do that so it was actually great fun. After spending like 2 hours in the sea, we came out of it feeling totally exhausted. I sort of got the tan that I want. Hahaha...

Hope to have more opportunities of such in future..

Wanted to take some photos to put them up but clean forgotten about it... I will try to remember next time, k? : )

Canon in D

2007-05-30T10:24:00.000+08:00

I am so in love with the tune, Canon in D, now.

I have heard of this tune before and I already like it when I first heard the tune. I even had it in my handphone as a ringtone for a certain group of friends.

I chanced by this youtube video yesterday and IMMEDIATELY I was mesmerized by it... I like this version much better, especially the front part of it. It sounds a bit sad to me but I know there are people who use this as their wedding march-in song.

I look through the net to find this version but I can't seem to find anything close to it. : (

I am listening to it whole of last night, right till before I fell asleep... A thought came into my mind when I was listening to it before I fell asleep...

i would love for this song to be my wedding march-in song but I only want this version. There will be a piano and a pianist playing the tune when I walk in the aisle with my other half. How lovely it would be. Hmmm... but I guess I have to find the other half first in order for that to happen.

Here's the link to the tune, in case you would like to hear it as well...

Happy Birthday, Doreen

2007-05-21T13:23:00.000+08:00

We had a mini family birthday celebration for my dear cousin, Doreen, last Saturday. It is her 18th birthday. How sweet, isn't it, to be 18? It seems so long ago that I was that age. : (

Happy Birthday, pretty. Hope you had enjoyed yourself and like the pressie that we gave you.
Check out her birthday cake...

At midnight, we went for prawning again. Somehow whenever we are prawning, the 3 hours seem to past very fast. Like all the other times, we enjoyed the process of prawning. It was fun and will definitely do it again.

I thought I have more things to write but my migraine is affecting my thinking. I can't think properly now and feel like puking. Sorry...

Prawning Again

2007-05-02T16:28:00.000+08:00

It was Labour Day yesterday and I went prawning with my family and cousins. It was the 2nd time in the last 2 weeks that we went prawning. We are quite hooked to this new activity now as you can see (2 times in 2 weeks). Both times, we prawned for about 3 hours cos' buy 2 hours get 1 hour free. The price for the 3 hours range from $26 - $30 (peak / non-peak hours). It is not exactly cheap nor expensive (in my opinion). Of course if one is to weigh the value in relation to the amount of prawns that we caught, then I would say that it is expensive but I personally feel that it is not about how many prawns you catch but more the process of doing something different (from the usual activities) together as a family.

I had enjoyed it both times. I am sure I will be doing it again real soon. Might be going for a midnight prawning session since they open 24 hours...

Meanwhile, enjoy some pictures from yesterday's trip...

Cousin N persistent on catching a prawn (in whatever position) :P

Caught? Lost the prawn together with the bait?

Raw cockles... Yummy...

Nieces Shayne & Rae enjoying the prawning session

My Birthday Gifts From All My Love Ones.

2007-04-18T16:49:00.000+08:00

It was my birthday yesterday and I received many well-wishes from my dear families and friends. I received some very nice presents and bought some other gifts with the ang pows I received. The below pictures are the presents I received and bought... I am a happy person. : )

Puma Bag

SGH-D900

Espirit Watch

Oakley Sunglass

Flower Basket

There are still a pendant and a pair of shoes. I did not have the pictures with me now so cannot upload them. Will upload when I have the pictures with me.

I would like to thank all for their well-wishes and gifts. : )

I Am Blessed With The Best Relatives In The World.

2007-04-18T16:09:00.000+08:00

From the previous post, you would have read that my family and I had been through one of the worst month of our lives. It would have been worse if not for the relatives that I have. My auntie and cousins really helped us lots. Hundreds and thousands of thank you will not be enough to express our gratitudes for them.

My cousin, D, first came to know about it and immedately she went to find out from her gynae and doctor if there is any thing that can help my sister's condition. When thing seems to be getting worse, I had to talk to someone about it as I was slowly breaking down. Cousin N was who I talked to. It really helped that I let it out of me and cried it all out. Cousin N literally lent me a shoulder to cry on.

Immediately the next day, cousins D, K and N came all the way down to my house to keep my sister company. They continued to keep my sister company for the next couple of days (it was the long weekends). On one of those days, they got my sister to talk about how she was feeling and it helped much to get my sister to open up and let out what is inside her. I could sense that after that talk, she came to accept the news and was more prepared for the result.

When we found out that the baby might have down syndrome, cousins D and K immediately helped to make an appointment with her gynae for a 2nd opinion and rushed down to the hospital to accompany my sister for appointment. They continued to shower my sister with lots and lots of care and concerns throughout this ordeal. Cousin Do even fed my sister so much on 1 of the weekends. : )

They were equally anxious waiting for the result this morning and when they found out that they are going to have another healthy nephew, they were as ecstatic as me. I know that they are genuinely happy to hear the news from the little reactions that they individually has when they heard the news. It is really heartwarming and I am very touched by what they had done for my sister and my family. It is them that makes it easier for us throughout.

I thank them for going through all the troubles of arranging the appointments and sending / picking my sister up.
I thank them for sacrificing their personal time to accompany my sister.
I thank them for helping to talk to my sister to make her feel better.
I thank whoever is up there for blessing me with such good-hearted relatives who are always there for us when we need supports.

I can never ask for more when it comes to families (immediate or extended).

One more very important person I must thank in this whole episode. She will be my brother's girlfriend (soon-to-be wife), R. Without her, we might not have been able to connect to my sister when she went into seclusion.

Thank you, all my dears. I really treasure you gals a lot.

Tormenting 1 Month... But A Happy Ending...

2007-04-18T15:48:00.000+08:00

The past 3 weeks had been 1 of the top 10 worst time of my life.

Exactly 3 weeks ago, my sister, S, went for her routined pregnancy check-up. A scan is supposed to be done on that day to determine the gender of the baby. All of us were really excited and anticipating cos after 5 months, we can finally know if the baby is a 'He' or a 'She'. When we received the call from my sister, it was not to be so. The doctor had given her not so good news. It seems that the baby is not absorbing enough nutrients and the fluid where the baby stays in is not enough. Given the worst scenario, the baby might be prematured and to a certain extent, the baby will not be able to survive. It was a very tramatic news for us. Another scan was scheduled a week later to find out more.

Last week, my sister went for another scan and this time, a worse news was told to us. The gynae's suggestion to my sister is to abort the baby. He told my sister the chances of the baby surviving through the whole prenancy is almost 0 and even if the the baby can survive through the pregnancy, he / she will be born with problems. Why is this happening? Why does my sister have to make such a decision now? The baby is kicking in her stomach, how do you expect her to make a decision? Even I, supposedly the stonger one, could not accept it. How can my sister, the mother of the baby, deal with this?

The logical mind said to abort the baby (as suggested by the gynae) so as to protect the baby from further harms when he / she is born. The sentimental mind will never be able to do that. After a lot of thorough thoughts, my sister and husband decided to let the baby go. It was a painful decision for them and everyone around them.

When they went back to the hospital last week supposedly to tell the gynae their decision on whether to abort or keep the baby, they requested for a final scan before they abort the baby. Miraculously (or the hospital's mistake, I do not know), the gynae said there is some changes in the baby. He said the baby has developed tremendously (over the weekend). We were, of course, very happy to hear the news but what came after the good news had us worried. The gynae did yet another scan later that week and discovered white spots on the intestines of the baby. What it means is that it might be a down syndrome baby. Once again, we are put through the ordeal of worries. More test were done to find out if it will be a down syndrome baby. We were to go through another weekends of worrying.

Everyone in the families (immediate and extended) were praying very hard for my sister and the baby. We do not want anything more except for the baby to be healthy. Today is the day that I believe everyone will remember forever... 11am was the appointment with the gynae to know the result of the test. Everyone was anxiously waiting... The call from my sister came at 11:45am. It is the best time of my life. The result is negative. The baby is normal and healthy. Everything is looking good and the baby is a BOY! He is my nephew. I am so proud of him. He must be very persistent in wanting to join our families, just as we are anxiously anticipating his arrival.

I do not want anything more than having my nephew joins us in 16 weeks time... : )

Touching 'The 3'!

2007-03-22T13:34:00.000+08:00

*SCREAM!!!*

I will be 30 years old in 26 days time. What are my thoughts on that? Hmmm... Let's see...

I think time passes really fast. I do not regret what had happened in the last 30 years. Though if I have a choice on certain things, I will like to do it better. Good or bad things in the past , they had made me learn a lot of things out of them. I would not say that I am a matured person now (afterall, I am still learning everyday.) but definitely a grown person.

I am also at a stage which I feel that I should live a more healthy life. Have not reallly started on anything impressive.. but my colleague and I are going to start doing gym at her place twice a week before we start work. We are going to start next week. I know i know... You are probably going to ask 'zun bo'? Even I have the same question in my head. I guess we will know next week this time if we really start the gym. I really do hope that the plan will fall through. If it happens and we carry on throughout, I will be damn proud of myself.

My resolution for 2007 is to live healthy, I would really really want it to come true. I am not young anymore so must make sure that I stay healthy and not be a burden to anybody when i grow even older. ;P

So families and friends out there... wish me luck, okie? : )

It Is A Year To Be Jolly

2007-02-26T16:04:00.000+08:00

The Lunar New Year has just started and I have received so many good news... Yippee...

My Godson
I have had just the cutest baby in the world to be my godson around the CNY period. He will be 7 months old in less than 2 weeks time. He is one of the most adorable darlings that I have seen, super smiley and all. I always tell my sister to be jovial now so that she can have a smiley baby like my godson too...

Converting to Perm
I just received news from my boss that I will be converted to perm wef from 1st March. I will be getting all the benefits that everyone else is getting... : )

Taking on more Duties
My sales executive is leaving the company and my boss has asked me to take on some of her duties... I take it as a chance for me to be exposed to different areas and also to learn more things. I am going to treasure this opportunity and hopefully do it well and we will see what will proceed from there... :P

It is a good year for me and I wish that it will be a good year for all who know me and read my blog...
Gong Xi Fa Cai to all...

Happy Birthday, Da Jiu

2007-02-09T15:02:00.000+08:00

Da Jiu is my mum's eldest brother. My maternal granddad passed away when my mum and siblings are still very very young. When my granddad passed away, Da Jiu (being the eldest) sort of took over the role of being the father figure at home and took care of the family. He stopped schooling and started working to provide for the family and help bring up my mum and siblings. As he worked to provide for the family, he did not have time for relationship and as time passed, he remains single till now.

As a close-knitted family, me and all my cousins respect him for what he had done for our parents. Most of you (my generation or not) will agree with me that we will always try to celebrate our parents birthdays as best as we could. Then one day (sometime in November 06), out of nowhere, I started to think when is Da Jiu's birthday. He is supposed to be 62 years old this year and in the chinese custom, he is 'entitled' to a '大寿' birthday celebration. A call to my mum confirmed that his birthday fell on 5 Febuary.

A total of 10 calls to all my cousins were made. I suggested a '大寿' birthday celebration for Da Jiu on 4 Febuary (it being a Sunday) which the expenses will be splitted by all 11 cousins. I was really glad that all of them gave me a 'go ahead' immediately. We decided on a buffet catering at my Er Jiu's house eventually. Coordination for all my Da Jiu's siblings were made. I am very happy that all the siblings agree to come as there are a couple of aunts that we do not meet up so regularly.

With all the coordination completed, we are left with the actual day event...

Family members start filing in at 3pm. 1-by-1 everyone came and finally the '寿星公‘ reached. The moment Da Jiu reached, I know that all the 'trouble' put into coordinating the celebration is well worth it. The smile I saw on Da Jiu's face is priceless. You can see that he was very happy that we are doing the celebration for him. He was smiling non-stop. We sang birthday songs for him. We gave him our well-wishes through our ang-pows. We sabotaged him with whip cream on his face.

It was really a joyous celebration which also indirectly gave us an opportunity to have a family gathering. Everyone has a wonderful time catching up with each other and were basically having fun. It was really a very cozy atmosphere for me personally. I dare say that this is another occasion which will leave a very memorable impression in most our hearts. : )

Happy 1 Month, Jann

2007-02-07T16:57:00.000+08:00

Jann is the lastest member to join our happy families. Jann is Rae and Shayne's youngest sister. She turned 1 month old on 4 Febuary. We had a little celebration at my cousin's place on Saturday. I personally think that Jann looks like Shayne. She has such big eyes and eyeballs that almost cover her whole eye... so cute... : )

Will update more on Jann as she grows...

A Eventful Weekend

2007-02-07T16:42:00.000+08:00

It had been a eventful weekend. It was a long weekend for me as I took leave on Thursday and Friday. I took leave for only 1 reason... Xiaobai is back!!! In case you have forgotten, Xiaobai is my dearest friend. Come to think of it, I had known her for about 9 years. Not exactly long compared to other people but definitely long by my standard.

It had been more than 1 year since I last seen her. This time round, she is only back for 1 week (really short :() but she still managed to free 1 day out for me, her Xiaohei.. : ) It was not 1 of those exciting days that we had but I dare say that it was a very fulfilling catch-up session for both of us. For the past 1 year, we still contact via the internet or smses but nothing beats seeing each other and updating each other over coffee.

This might be just a short catch-up session but I am not complaining cos' I know she will be back in April and finally in July for at least 2 years. YIPPEE!!! It has been so long and I am looking forward to July...

Happy Birthday, Mummy

2007-01-31T16:40:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was my mummy's birthday. She is 52years old this year.

As per 'tradition', we will have a family dinner on her birthday. My sister, brother and myself will usually be the one paying for the dinner but this year, it's a bit different. Daddy is buying dinner this year cos' he just strike a little lottery on Sunday... : )

We (namely my sister & brother-in-law, brother & girlfriend and myself) bought a handphone for mum as a birthday gift. She was, of course, very happy with her gift.

We close the day with a durian birthday cake for her, complimentary from my sis. : )

P/S. My Xiaobai is in town for a week and I will be spending tomorrow with her... I am so happy... : )

A Good Year Thus Far

2007-01-25T12:31:00.000+08:00

It has been a good start for the new year for me so far. There have been a couple of good things happening to me. : )

My company gave me a MP3 (though it's its lowest range but still cost more than $100). It is a small reward to us staff for a wonderful last quarter. I must say that my company has been treating us good since I joined this company 1 year ago. Every quarter, there will be a dinner for the SA team at some nice restaurants. Last quarter, they gave us a complimentary trip to Phuket and a few of us even received a complimentary SPA session worth USD120 at the resort we stayed in in Phuket. It was quite an experience.

I joined the company as a contract staff with 6 months contract. My 1st contract was renewed after 6 months. 1 month into my 2nd contract, I transferred to my current team which allows me to get in touch with scopes that I am interested in. I received a 1 year contract with my current team which supercedes my 2nd contract. I am into the 5th month of my current contract now and I just received news from my boss on Monday that I will be converted to a permanent staff very soon... Yippee... For now, I am happy to have joined this company. I must say there are a lot of politics here but I guess I am too small a 'fly' to be affected by that.

I shall continue to enjoy myself here while it is still nice and peaceful at where I am.

Now you see what I mean... It is only January and I have quite a couple of good things happening to me... : )

I Want My Apple iPhone

2007-01-12T14:35:00.000+08:00

If there is anything that would make me save money for now, it has to be APPLE iPHONE!!!

The phone is so freaking cool!!!

I am going to start saving money for the phone. Thank god, I have 1 year to save up cos' the phone will only be shipped to Asia in 2008. 1 YEAR, 1 LONG YEAR!!! *sigh* To look at it positively... at least I still have 12 months to save for it...

iPhone is a mobile phone, a widescreen (3.5") iPod and a internet communication device. It runs on OS X and has a multi-touch display. It has 3 built-in advanced sensors (the accelerometer, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor). It also has 200+ technologies patented for the phone. Very technical, right? If you go to Apple's website and watch Steve Job's keynote, I bet you will fall in love with the iPhone (like I do).

For now, I can just drool over the picture...

A Wonderful 2006... A Better 2007!!!

2007-01-02T21:57:00.000+08:00

Looking back at 2006, it seems like a pretty good year for me... There seem to be more good / happy things than bad / sad things that happened.

2006 NOT SO HAPPY THING(S) THAT HAPPENED:
1. Val (D's dog) left us on 28th December. We are gonna miss you.

Funny... I can't think of any other extremely bad / sad thing that happened in 2006. I should think this is a good sign, isn't it? : )

2006 HAPPY THINGS THAT HAPPENED (Let's start in chronicle order):
1. I joined this MNC in January through a good friend's recommendation. Will always be grateful for that.
2. Our darling nephew was born to join our families in August. He has the most lovely smile that will make you give him everything he wants.
3. My sister went through her customary wedding in October. It was a tiring event but nonetheless, a lovely and memorable day for us.
4. We found out that my sister is pregnant!!! The best that happened in 2006!!! If you read my blog, you would have known how many weeks she is pregnant. : )

Now that we have stepped into 2007, I know this is definitely going to be a better year than last. Just knowing that 'our precious little one' is going to join us in August has already made 2007 a good year to be.

Here's wishing all that read my blog... A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! MAY YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL 2007 LIKE I DO! : )

This is for Val. We will miss you.

2006-12-28T11:19:00.000+08:00

I received the sms last night at 1:18am.

"Val Yang passed away peacefully on 28th December 2006, Thursday, 12:28am. May the lord be with her forever. Amen."

Those were the exact words from my cousin. The cousin that loves Val more than anyone of us.

Before I start, just let me inform that Val is a dog. A dog whom the families have grown very attached to. Val, to me, is a very special dog. My mum and auntie are especially afraid of dogs. When Val first joined our families, she was not allowed to come out of her cage when my mum and auntie were in the house. They were so afraid that the dog approached them. Yes, the dog is only trying to make friends but to them is 'NOPE, DON'T COME NEAR!'.

After a few months, Val managed to win them over. She will not walk near to my mum and auntie when they were around. She will not go and disturb them. There will be times when Val will 'manja' a bit by just lying down quietly near my mum.

I will always remember how she welcomed us at the door... wag her 'pig tail' when she saw us coming. I remember how she will come near me, waiting for me to 'sayang' her. After a few strokes, she will lie down on the floor for me to 'sayang' her all over. The last time I 'sayang' her was on X'mas eve. There will be no next time for her...

We love you, Val... You have grown to be part of the families and we are going to miss you...

Latest Addition to the Family

2006-10-09T11:40:00.000+08:00

Ain't he cute? I am so proud of my nephew... : )

Is This Healthy?

2006-08-01T15:26:00.000+08:00

Is this common? I think so...

I had been hearing so much about this so I think it is a very common problem going on now.

What I am talking about is about work. I remember there was a time that someone asked me what happened to me after I came back from my medical leave? My answer to her is that I am sick... sick of work. During that time, I was ultra stressed with work so the answer was as truthful as I felt then.

Since then, I have been hearing a lot of people telling me that they are sick... sick of work. What is wrong? Why are so many of us feeling like this? Is it really work or is it just us?

Personally, I have my up and down days at work.

On my up days, I am happy that I am working in this company, A. I am happy that I have nice colleague which I can get along with. I am glad that I have understanding colleague who will help share my burden and complains at work. These are the days that I can't wait to come to work.

On my down days, it can be a hair-pulling exprience for me. The severity of the down days can go from complaining -> cursing -> almost crying -> the urge to just throw in my resignation letter. On these days, I can't wait to get off work of even throw everything down and just leave. Then again, I do not have the luxury to do that cos' neither am I rich nor have a rich father / boyfriend who can support me.

Solution for me and people like me:
1) Are you really sick of your work or are you just complaining cos everyone is doing that?
2) If you are really sick of your work, what is the reason behind it?
3) Are you the cause of it or is your company the cause of it?
4) If you are the cause of it, then I guess it's soul-searching time.
5) If the company is the cause of it, then you have to decide if the problem can be rectify internally?
6) If there is no rectification, then I guess it's about time you look for a new job. There is no point working in a place that you will be unhappy about.

For myself, I know really well what is the problem (but I can't put it into my blog lest I got sued ;-))

Crazy... Yet Again

2006-04-19T17:12:00.000+08:00

I had done yet another crazy thing in my life... Hahaha... Is this healthy? I don't know but I guess one only lives once and shouldn't live to regret... I have no regrets whatsoever in what I had done. If I am given a choice again, I would have done the exact same thing.

Some might think I am too impulsive but I like to think that I am just following my heart, enjoying the spur of the moment feeling. I wouldn't say the outcome is not important. It is as important as the reason why I want to do it but whatever the outcome, I accept it cos everyone is entitled to how they feel... just like how i feel about this whole thing.

Sorry

2006-01-27T13:19:00.000+08:00

I am sorry for not blogging for the longest time... cos my computer is down... I was so handicapped for a while...

I am back in action but I won't be blogging much today... cos I am doing this during my lunch time. Will put in an entry soon...

Long Overdue

2005-11-16T16:16:00.000+08:00

I hereby apologize to my readers (that is if I have any :P) for not updating my blog. I know it has been a month. I'm really really really sorry. My mind had been so preoccupied lately with 'these things'... 'these things' that I cannot write here. I am very vexed by 'these things' but me being me, do not like show my unhappiness to my family unless necessary. I am so troubled by 'these things' that sometimes I just went into denial mode. I just pretend that 'these things' do not exist and continue to enjoy myself for whatever time I still have until the time bomb explodes.

'These things' had taught me many things and made me seen through and found out a lot of things. It is a lesson well-learned but nonetheless, it is a very expensive lesson.

To be very honest... I do feel very lonely sometimes. I cannot find someone to go out with me, sit down and listen to my problems. I know nobody owes me that but sometimes I just need to pour out what's vexing me, to get the load off me. I was very depressed by 'these things' at one point of time. It got so bad that lets just say that I was in a depression but now i have straighten my thoughts and decide to face 'these things' and am prepared to start from the scratch. My only consideration is the disappointment that is going to come from my parents when the bomb finally explodes. I just prayed for their understanding and support.

Trust me, nobody wants to commit this kind of mistake. I am no exception. My confidence had been badly pierced by this incident. I am hoping for a 2nd chance to build back my confidence again... I am still waiting...

Ain't She Cute

2005-10-14T02:38:00.000+08:00

We are counting down the days to my cousin, D's, wedding. From what I had gathered so far, many of my cousins are getting more and more excited as the day draws near. I had done most of what I should do as a planner. The final touch will be on Saturday where I will meet up with the bride as well as most of my cousins. I will be staying over at her place cos' we have a lot of things to prepare for the big day and we, as the sisters, have to wake up real early...

Hmmm... I know I am not the main lead on Sunday but I think out of respect for the bride and groom, I should make myself presentable and also feel good on that day. I have decided that I should pamper myself tomorrow. I will start by going for a facial and massage in the afternoon. I really need a massage badly... My shoulder and neck are killing me. In the evening, I will be going for a mani-pedi with my sister at Far East SC. What's best about this mani-pedi is that it is complimentary...

Woohoo... I would try to have an early night sleep tomorrow cos' it will be long day for the next couple of days but people who knows me will know how difficult it is to get me to sleep early. I am basically an owl. :P

My favourite niece, R, is going to be the flower girl... She is the most doted on niece by all cousins and pratically anyone who knows her... She is only 3.5 years old but she is the smartest little girl I had ever seen... Since young, she has been very intelligent and although she is very young but she is like a little adult. You can almost talk to her like an adult and she will understand it. She is the gem of the family...

First time ever, I am going to post a picture and she shall be the one to create the 'history' that a picture is posted on my blog...

My Favourite Niece, R

Wedding... Not Mine :P

2005-10-09T22:58:00.000+08:00

I know it has been some time since I update my blog... Okay, I admit. It is not some time, it is a long time. I am sorry...

I have been slightly busy recently. I am agressively looking for a job and also my cousin, D, wedding is coming up in a week's time. I happen to be e appointed unpaid wedding planner. Do not misunderstand me, I am not complaining. In fact, I feel very honoured that my cousin trusts me so much to entrust me with the task. I had actually been a unpaid wedding planner for another cousin, E, about 4 years ago and they were satisfied with the results so here I am again... ta da... the unpaid wedding planner who feels honoured being asked.

I came from a family where we cousins are very closed (my mum's side). We literally grow up seeing each other every week. We have a traditional weekly family gathering where we rotate between the 3 families (S, T and Y families). All cousins will try our best to meet up at the designated family home for the week. We will just talk, play mj and have dinner. It is basically a gathering for us to keep each other updated of what's happening in our lives.

Anyway, that aside for now. I will write more about our gatherings next time. : )

Back to D's wedding next sunday...

It is really not easy having a customary wedding. There are so many things to prepare. Waking up very early in the morning. Going to his family and her family. Going through all the customary and traditional procedures. All these will take up almost 3/4 of the day. Then there will be the dinner. Making it a memorable and enjoyable yet not so stressful day for the bride and groom is to me the utmost important.

We, cousins, had been meeting up for a few times to discuss all the details and prepare what are needed. It is not easy as all of us still have to work but there were no complains from anyone of us. We did it unconditionally for E. We are doing it unconditionally for D and are going to do it unconditionally for any of our cousins' weddings in the future.

It might be tiring for us but we enjoyed the process of it. I personally feel that all these 'big' events had made our relationships even stronger.

I love my family and my extended families, especially my cousins. Muackz...

p.s. I will try to update more of the wedding soon. Maybe, just maybe, I will post pictures of the wedding. : )

A New Me Is Born

2005-09-17T05:09:00.000+08:00

I was lying on the bed thinking, as usual, when this sudden thought came to me. I decided to write it down in case I turn back on my own words...

I had been thinking a lot recently and I really mean a lot. Good things, bad things, happy things, sad things, etc. Why am I thinking so much, u might ask... Mid-life crisis(how can 25yrs old *ahem* be considered mid-life)? Nothing better to do (how can that be? i can always use the time to play maplesea)? Wanted to give myself more grey hair so that I can start the trend of having ash grey colour for hair (and save money on colouring my hair... hmmm... that's not such a bad idea)?

I think the most possible reason is because a lot of things happened to me recently, mostly not so good things though. Things that I would not want to be reminded of in the years to come... When I was younger, I had many aspirations. I want to have a career. Drive my dream car at age 30. Have my own apartment when I am 35 years old. Get married at age 28 and have my 1st child at age 30. REALITY CHECKS... *ding, ding* I am nowhere near any of the above.

I do feel like a failure most of the time. Not just because I did not have or am near to accomplish any of the above. Let me assure you that I am not materialistic (people who knows me will know). I feel more like a failure because I cannot provide for my family. I am probably going to stay with my parents till they are gone. I don't want to be a burden to them. I want them to be a burden to me. I want them to be proud of me.

I had been in a self-denial/destruction, whatever you can name that makes me a pessimistic person, for a long time. It is time I get out of this mess. I am going to put the following behind me:

-$$$
Bad Relationship
Bad Friendships
Bad Career Choices
Whatever Bad Things That Had Happened To Me For The Past Years

I am going to start afresh as a new person (from scratch, zero, or whatever you call it). The negative Xiaohei (since that is the only nick I had given myself so far in the blog) that you had known is gone. A new Xiaohei is re-born... I need a favour from people who know me and do read my blog. Should you see the negative Xiaohei lurking around, please knock some sense into the new me and kick negative Xiaohei away. I would really appreciate it.

As for my aspirations, I probably got to add 10 years to them but it's ok. My utmost importance now is to be able to take care of my parents. They are not very old but they are not very young. They are at a age that most think they will still be around for another 2 decades or so but I do not want to take things for granted and leave to regret. Everything else is secondary.

My Buddies (Part 2) - Xiaobai

2005-08-04T17:19:00.000+08:00

Dear Xiaobai,

You are one of my favourite buddies. (not that I do not like the others, of course) I call you Xiaobai (小白)and you call me Xiaohei (小黑). I still remember how we came about these 'endearments' (heehee...) for both of us. I remembered I was very into Crayon Shinchan's cartoon and I love his pet dog in the cartoon which is called Xiaobai. You started calling me Xiaobai but I was always in black so I told you that I should be called Xiaohei instead. From then on, you are Xiaobai to me and I am Xiaohei to you...

I knew you from my second job in SXX company. I remembered that we joined at about the same time in 1997. We were in the different departments then. We were not so close initially. It was just a 'hi-bye' colleague thingey. Then we moved offices and both our departments are seated closely together, plus my department was supposed to support yours so we got more chance to talk to each other.

I personally feel that our friendship grew even stronger when we left the company. We make an effort to meet up and do things together. Our favourite pastimes are to watch movies, eat, eat, eat some more, gossiping over coffee, driving all the way to Jalan Kayu for pratas and teh tareks and driving around Singapore. When we meet, we will just chat non-stop till early hours of the day.

You are a very nice girl. You are pretty, gentle, attractive, ... There are a lot more nice things I can say about you but that will take up a lot of spaces. :P You are simply a very lovable girl. (Tell you a secret, you are such a nice person that my sister idolizes you.) You are always there for me when I needed to talk to someone or have a shoulder to cry on. You knew it when I am feeling down and I always felt better after talking to you.

I have not seen you for about 4 months cos you are in Germany now. We will still chat online to tell each other how we are getting on with our lives and we will meet up as often as possible to catch up for the lost time when you came back a couple of times every year.

Without you around, my life is not as colourful and exciting as before. I can't wait for you to be back the next time round so that we can do the things that we love to do together. We might not talk to each other as often as we would have loved to but I know deep down in my heart that you will always be my dear friend. Please take care of yourself in Germany, k?

I miss you so much... *hugz, hugz*

Luv forever,
Xiaohei

My 2 Missing Lovers

2005-08-02T23:31:00.000+08:00

Why do I have to suffer the same kind of fate in a short 3 months? Why do they have to treat me like this? Did I not treat them well that they have to leave me in such a way? They could have at least broke the news to me in a nicer way. I would have accepted it gracefully.

I met N6 in December 2004. When I first met N6, I do not think he is good looking nor do I fell in love with him immediately. I would say he is nice though. He was with me day and night... He will be there next to me when I sleep and wake up everyday. As the days went by, I slowly fell in love with him and could not bear to be apart with him at all. Then 1 day in April, a day after my birthday, he decided to leave me... No reason was given. He just left me...

I was very sad for the next couple of days. My sister decided to bring me out to cheer me up. She introduced me to N7. I fell in love with N7 immediately but I felt that I should at least mourn for N6 and not get too involved with N7 so soon... Unknowingly, N7 crawled his way to my heart. I was mesmerised by him. He slowly replaced N6 in my life. We were having the time of our lives. Then he left me this morning. Again no reason was given. He just left me...

Coincidentally, both N6 and N7 left themselves in a cab when they decided to leave me... If you have not guessed by now, N6 and N7 are my handphones. N6 and N7 are Nokia 6230 and Nokia 7260 respectively. I lost both of them in cabs within 4 months. It was terrible. N7 was a birthday gift given to me by my sister and had great sentimental value. Handsets aside, the contacts are very valuable to me too. Not to mention the photo gallery with all my love ones' pictures... The lovey dovey smses from him. *sigh*

Why can't people who found handphones return them to their owners? I would have done that. In fact, I had done that twice. I returned the handphones that I found to the owners. I really do not want to sound evil or bitchy but I cannot help it.. I have to curse the 2 person who picked up my handphones and refused to return them. I curse that they will lost my handphone and then lost their own handphone too. Grrr...

My Buddies (Part 1)

2005-07-15T17:07:00.000+08:00

To me, friends play a very important part in my life. A person does not need a lot of friends. All he/she needs is a couple of very good friends, whom you know will be there when you need some company.

I must say that I am very lucky to have a few very good friends in my life, 3 actually. I know they are my best friends cos' they accept me for who I am and will be there for me when I need them. Of course, I will do the same thing for them (In case, you think I am a sucker.). Although I knew them from different stages of my life but we had been 'bestest' of friends since then. I will blog about the first 2 buddies that I have in another blog in the near future. Today I would like to blog about the last girlfriend, F, which had become my buddy.

I knew F in March 2004. I just joined my second buddy, J's, company and J introduced me to F. We started to hang out together a lot cos' we had some common activity going on then. We were also hanging out more cos' at one point of time, she will come my place and wait for her boyfriend to come pick her up after his work. Our bond built up tremendously during that period. We will talk about everything and anything about our family, friends, work, relationship and pratically everything under the stars. We see each other during working hours and even off working hours. She became very closed to my family and relatives. F is that kind of girl that is easily likeable. She is like part of my family. There are many times where we will see each other 7 days a week and we always seems to have endless topics to talk about. I guess it is more so because our thinking are quite alike. I still remember the time when I was having some personal problems and was almost in a depression, she will always be there for me. We had a lot of memories together... We went swimming, chill out over coffee, drive around, gossiping at hotel, staying over at her place... Those were the days.

Then in April this year, something happened and we were not talking to each other. Everybody around me were very puzzled what happened to us cos' they always see us together and started asking me... I always put up a brave front and refused to tell them what happened cos' I do not want them to see how sad and affected I am by it. I know that people I know will take side (my side) if they can see how sad and affected I am but I do not want that to happen cos' somewhere in my heart, I am pinning on a hope that we will be like before again and if that happens, I do not want them to show F an attitude.

In fact F and I had briefly talked to each other on smses and we wanted to patch things up like before but we had not had the chance all along. I would be lying if I tell you that I have not been thinking about her all this while... after all, we do come a long way.

Last night, I received a call from F. Even though it was 12:15am, I readily agreed to go out for coffee with her. We were just drinking coffee and chatting like old times. We did not talk about what happened between us and I believe that both of us have a guarded feeling of 'putting' in our feelings this time round. I personally feel that it can be worked on cos' I believe both of us do not want this friendship to end. I guess we will have to see how things go and also how much we want this friendship to carry on... For me, a lot...

Thanks Dear, For The Pressies

2005-07-12T23:19:00.000+08:00

It had been 4 days/3 nights and she is finally back from Bangkok... I'm talking about my sister, of course.

She came back from Bangkok yesternight and she bought so many, many presents for us and I really mean many many... Everyone of us got at least 2 presents... my dad, my mum, my brother and her girlfriend, myself and not forgeting herself too. She came back with 2 big luggages, 1.5 for all the clothings/bags/shoes/accessories and the other 0.5 for the local goodies.

She bought me 3 bags, 2 pairs of sunglasses and a T-shirt. I love all the presents that she bought me, especially the 2 handbags and the 2 pairs of sunglasses. It is just what I need now... Thanks dear.

One thing though... I am curious how much she spent on this trip to Bangkok. I wonder...

Grandma/4th Uncle, We Will Always Love You...

2005-07-10T23:00:00.000+08:00

I did not intend to blog initially but I was watching a charity show for cancer patients and some thoughts came to me.

In the last 2 years, 4 very dear family members passed away and 2 of them passed away because of cancers. I was especially closed to my grandma and 1 of the uncles that passed away and there was a very deep impact on me and my families then cos' they both passed away within a month...

It was November 2003... My grandma had been hospitalised for almost 2 months. She was suffering from Pneumonia. She cannot really talk by then and food cannot be fed to her through her mouth. We can only feed her milk through her nose, meaning that a tube had to be inserted into her nose to go to her stomach. Although she cannot talk to us but we can tell that it was painful for her to have the tube inserted into her. It wrenched our hearts to see her suffer like this. During the last 2 weeks when thing was not looking very good, everyone in the family will try to visit her in the hospital everyday. We will just talked to her cos' we know that she can hear us... Then one evening, we received a call from my cousin to say that grandma might not make it through the night. Even though we had expected this day but we were still quite shocked by the news. We rushed down to the hospital immediately and when we reached there, the doctor was trying to save her one last time... 10 minutes later, the doctor came out to tell us that my grandma is gone. We ran into her ward to see her one last time and really cried our hearts out. I will always remember the times I had spent with my grandma like the steamboat buffet session together with my cousins, those chalet stays even though she was starting to suffer dementia, when me and my cousin help her to bath and the first time I fed her when she could not do so herself. I remembered I cried the first time I fed her cos' it hurt me to see her in the state...

A month later in December 2003, we were slowly 'recovering' from my grandma's death. My uncle was hospitalised. He was diagnosed with lung cancer, which had spreaded to the brain, in December 2002. After my grandma's death, my uncle's health deteriorated. He was one of the son-in-laws of my grandma so they are all from my mum's side of the family. It was quite traumatising for all of us at that time. Grandma just passed away not too long ago and now with my uncle getting weaker, we were all praying that it will not happened again. Then my uncle got hospitalised. The doctor told us 'to prepare for the worst', saying that my uncle might not make it through the weekend. He was in pain as the cancer cells had spreaded to other parts of his body but being man from our parents' era, they will not tell you that they are in pain. They will just suffer in silence. About 2 days before my uncle passed away, we received a call from his son at 4am in the morning. He told us that my uncle wanted to see me and my sister. My sister and me rushed down to the hospital cos' we do not want to disappoint him. He did not say anything in particular to us but that is not important cos' in our hearts, we know that he loves us as much. That is enough. For the next 2 days, we just spent our days in the hospital to accompany him. My uncle passed away end December. It was one of the darkest moments for my family (immediate and extended). Lucky for us, we are very closed as a family. We helped and supported each other through that period...

It has been 1.5 years since both my grandma and uncle passed away but it seems like just yesterday that all these happened. I know I can safely speak for all my families that 'We miss you both and we love you always...'

Yummyyyyy...

2005-07-10T01:10:00.000+08:00

Saturday is our weekly family (immediate and extended) gathering. Today, the gathering is at my place.

I woke up only in the afternoon cos' I only reached home at 4:30am last night. After I had my brunch with my aunts and cousins and nephews, I had 2 rounds of games with my mum and 2 aunts. By the time e 2 games were done, it was dinner time.

As per tradition, mum wil cook more on our gathering day. Today, she cooked one of her specialities, the Mee Hoon Kueh. Mum's Mee Hoon Kueh is well-liked by everybody that had eaten it before and if we haven't eaten it for a while, we will have cravings for it. 2 weeks ago, my godson's parents were just asking for mum's Mee Hoon Kueh. My cousin was also asking for it last Saturday too. Mum's Mee Hoon Kueh is so yummy that you will never catch me eating those selling in food centres cos' I personally feel that those cannot be compared to mum's.

Mum will fry all the things that goes into the Mee Hoon Kueh separately. There will be minced meat, lean meat, dried mushrooms, button mushrooms, ikan bilis and small onions. After you cook the bowl of kuehs, add in all the other ingredients. Pour the soup over it, add chilli and you will have a bowl of delicious Mee Hoon Kueh from my mum... Yummy!!

It is ridiculous but I cannot help it.

2005-07-07T23:40:00.000+08:00

My sister is going Bangkok tomorrow morning and will be back next Monday. She is staying at her house tonight. Her husband just came to pick her up. I know it sounds ridiculous but I am missing her already, especially when the thought of not seeing her for the next few days come to my mind. I can tell you, the feeling is mutual.

I am very closed to my sister. She is 1 year younger than me. Since young, we had been quite inseparable. When we were young, mum used to dress us up like twins except different colours. I am usually in pink and my sister in red cos' that was our favourite colour then. When we were in primary school, mum had a rule that we had to revise our school books twice a day. You know how boring that can be so my sister and I will exchange textbooks to read. Yes, I know I am the stupid one here... She is reading something new but I am reading something that I had studied a year ago. When we had our meals together, I am always the fast eater and my sister is the tortoise eater. She will always get scolding from mum for eating like a tortoise. After a while, she became smart and scooped some of her food to me and we will end up finishing the dinner at the same time. I really do not mind helping her finish her food. After all, I love her so much that I do not want to see her being scolded by my mum for eating her food sooooooo sloooooowwwww. One thing I regretted though... I think that is part of the reason why I got a rounder figure than her. Damn it...

My sister has turned into a lovely lady. She really cares for the family. Filial to my parents, caring for my bother and me and nice to everybody she knows. She is a lady that all men will wan to have as their other half. I am happy that she has found her other half. She had registered her marriage and we are all waiting for her to go through her customary marriage ceremony. I know that it will be a joyous occassion for all that who know her.

I want her to be happy and I will love her, always...

Why today?

2005-07-06T00:20:00.000+08:00

I actually had had this blog for a few months already. I even put up a couple of posts before but I thought they were too boring for people to read so I took them down. But now I have decided that I just want to put down my everyday's feeling. I now declare that frenzylove is my new found friend, one whom I can confide in on anything and everything. Thanks, dear...

I have very mixed feeling about my ex-boyfriend now... We were together for 8 years but we broke up in April this year. It has been almost 3 months now. Like every couple, we had our ups and downs in our 8 years together. Today he asked to reconcile our relationship but I am skeptical about it. I am worried that we will end up with the same problems again. He said he will 'comply to my needs'. Lest you think I am a demanding b*tch, let me assure you that I'm not. I just want to spend more time with him. When I said spend more time, I don't even mean everyday of the week. I am only saying about twice a week. He used to be so busy that I usually only meet him once a week. When have you seen a couple that only spend their time together once a week? I feel that he's taking me for granted after a while. I think I spent more time with my friends than him.

Now that he asked for a reconciliation, I am really tempted and happy. I admit that I still have feelings for him and he can still easily affect my mood but I am also scared at the same time. What am I to do now? I pray to god to give me some indication...

My World... My Thots... My Life...

买东西, 吃东西... 买东西, 吃东西... Here I Come...

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town...

Shanghai Planning Meeting

I Am Lazy And I Just Have To Admit It

The Good & The Bad

Not Easily Contented? Too Ambitious? I Don't Think So...

What A Weekend - Part 1

One More Thing To My Splurge List...

One Shot, One Kill Updates

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.

I Am Bad But Till Then...

2 Consecutive Nights Of Little Sleep *Yawns*

19 Hours More...

Busy... Busy... Busy!!!

Haiz... What A Way To Start My 31st Year In Life!

A Very Happy 31st Birthday... Thank You All!!

A Longer Than Expected Post

A Tiring Weekend

A Gathering Turns Surprise!

Dragonfly, Drinking, Drunk?

It Is Time For Some Changes

What My Name Means... Quite Accurate...

Happy Lunar New Year!!!

Dedicated To My Beloved Brother

My Newest Toy... iPod Touch!!!

D-DAY!!!

Irresponsible Blogger... Me!

Local Production, 881

Lack of Posts Due To...

Batam View Resort

My Free iPhone... :D

Happy Birthday, Jayden

A Weekend Filled With Sun, Sand and Sea

Canon in D

Happy Birthday, Doreen

Prawning Again

My Birthday Gifts From All My Love Ones.

I Am Blessed With The Best Relatives In The World.

Tormenting 1 Month... But A Happy Ending...

Touching 'The 3'!

It Is A Year To Be Jolly

Happy Birthday, Da Jiu

Happy 1 Month, Jann

A Eventful Weekend

Happy Birthday, Mummy

A Good Year Thus Far

I Want My Apple iPhone

A Wonderful 2006... A Better 2007!!!

This is for Val. We will miss you.

Latest Addition to the Family

Is This Healthy?

Crazy... Yet Again

Sorry

Long Overdue

Ain't She Cute

Wedding... Not Mine :P

A New Me Is Born

My Buddies (Part 2) - Xiaobai

My 2 Missing Lovers

My Buddies (Part 1)

Thanks Dear, For The Pressies

Grandma/4th Uncle, We Will Always Love You...

Yummyyyyy...

It is ridiculous but I cannot help it.

Why today?

2 Consecutive Nights Of Little Sleep Yawns