Colour WeiShi Green...

CNY 2012!

2012-01-26T22:41:00.001+08:00

How was your CNY?

Hope the year of the dragon started well for everyone! =)

I didn't Huat though I bought toto.. Haha! Hoping to dio the 7 million and travel the world =p

Enjoyed the yearly visiting session~ emphasis is not on receiving how much ang pow money anymore.. Haha! But the quality time spent with family and relatives =) I think as one gets older, perspectives change, and we tend to appreciate things we don't really bother with in the past.. Amazing isn't it? How growing up changed us, or is it only me =p

I had a great CNY!! But it was just too short.. Haiz =p why can't we stop work for the 15 days of CNY? Haha.. I wish I wish~~

Here's to a wonderful start for the year ahead! Jiayou everyone~ let's achieve greater things this year =)

Year of the Dragon...

2012-01-22T23:40:00.001+08:00

The year of the rabbit is coming to an end soon~ I'm always looking forward to CNY, where everyone gathers and gets busy spring cleaning, buying new clothes and new year goodies.. Such a happy occasion!!

In another few moments' time, we will usher in the year of the dragon.. And wish that everyone will be bestowed with good health, fortune, blessings, and everything good! =) and most importantly, a little more courage for me~~

Happy lunar new year everyone!!

Prawning at Hai Bin

2012-01-19T22:03:00.001+08:00

There's a new Prawning pool at punggol and Mr Koh and I decided to go try our luck at Prawning =)

Punggol's slowly developing itself into a trendy and self contained estate.. Haha! Possibly due to the sprouting of countless BTOs~ I'm expecting the punggol and seng kang areas to be densely populated and full of young couples in a few years' time.. Which also means that in 40 years' time, this same area will be a senior citizens' village.. Haha! Jokes aside, back to Prawning =p

We spent 18 bucks for the Prawning rod, and in an hour, we caught 2 prawns!!! Haha.. Only one word to describe my feelings then~ ecstatic! Coz I was such a noob and it was such a great achievement catching them.. Haha! But it was Mr Koh who caught them~ =)

Piercing satay sticks through them alive was cruel, but a passer by did it for us =p BBQ-ing the skewered prawns was cruel too, but I managed to do it myself! Haha.. Cheers to our catch~~ next time shall do more Prawning again.. 3 hrs got more discount leh!!! Hee.....

CNY at Chinatown!!

2012-01-15T00:47:00.001+08:00

It's the time of the year where the narrow streets of Chinatown scream 'happy lunar new year' haha..

Not to be missed annual activity- soaking ourselves in the CNY mood! Haha.. Knowing that it will be super packed as CNY draws near, Mr Koh and I went last week~ haha..

It's nearly impossible not to feel the joyous mood amidst the elbowing and jostling through the crowded lanes.. Haha! What's CNY without the crowds? =p

Beautiful sights, colourful dragon decorations, catchy CNY songs, delicious frog porridge dinner, cheap thrills-tasting free food samples, etc..

Though work back at office is piling, with deadlines closing in.. I'm still looking forward to spending a good and happy CNY with all my dear ones! =)

All things red, orange and yellow!

2012-01-10T22:55:00.001+08:00

You know CNY is coming when you see bags of bak kwas, bottles and boxes of new year goodies, and all things red, orange and yellow!

Have you started packing your home yet? Do make way for Mr. Dragon's grand arrival.. Haha..

CNY is just less than 2 weeks away!

First dinner of 2012!

2012-01-08T22:27:00.001+08:00

Met up with Mr and Mrs Ye (yes, it's official) for dinner! Haha.. And before I forget, congrats to Weiting (Mr Ye) and huixian!! We all know your bear love story proposal =) hee! Many more decades of beary love to you both~

First dinner of 2012 was at an ah tiong steamboat place at Liang Seah.. Which I felt food was average but pretty overpriced! Haha.. Mr Koh totally has nothing gd to say abt that place.. But the company that night was great =)

It was followed by a lazy chillout session at the nearby TCC.. Lovely ambience, decent beverage~ how nice!

How I love my long weekends~
But why are they always soooo short?? *booo*

Cheers to a good start!

2012-01-02T22:19:00.001+08:00

How did you spend your new year so far? It was definitely not enough for me =p making me dread work a lot tomorrow *sigh* (I shouldn't sigh too much when the year just started)

Haha.. Well well, at least I enjoyed myself and had a gd rest! =) let the worries at work come later~

NYE was spent with Mr Koh, at our usual countdown venue.. Marina bay area~ our 4th countdown together, back at our familiar spot! How time flies...

Splendid fireworks to welcome the new year.. Was totally mesmerised! =) *smile*

Happy new year everyone!
2012 will be a great year~~

Bye bye 2011!

2011-12-31T21:29:00.001+08:00

Dear 2011, you've been kind to me this year.. Have a safe journey back to history~

I hope that your good friend '2012', will be even better and wonderful! =)
(as I slowly countdown: 2.5 hrs)

Happy New Year everyone!!! *fireworks*

Happy Wedding Anniversary!!

2011-12-29T22:51:00.001+08:00

Not to me.. But my dearest parents! =)

Their wedding anni celebration was not at some posh restaurants, but at the very touristy satay club at Lau pa sat! Haha.. Coz daddy was craving for satays, hence we decided to visit the satay club =p

Been a very long time since I've eaten there.. 10 years? Haha.. Maybe~ well, we ordered an array of BBQ dishes.. There were satays, prawns, stingray.. And some side dishes =)

After dinner, the gang (meaning my parents, their 3 lil pigs, and the pigs' partners) took a nice cooling stroll along the marina promenade.. I'm glad my parents enjoyed the slow walk and scenery~ there were chatters and laughter along the way =) lots of pictures taken too..

It's true.. Singapore's facade did change quite dramatically~ in a matter of a 2-3 years?, marina bay transformed! Mr Koh and I witnessed it =p of coz it's for the better~ it's pretty romantic at night.. Heh!

Erm.. That's not the point, think I'm drifting away from the purpose of the post.. Haha!

Wanna wish my parents a happy wedding anni.. Without them, I wouldn't step foot into this beautiful world~ and I'm very fortunate to be part of the happy Lim family.. Hee! (turning emotional =p)

Cheers to many more decades of marital bliss and good health~~

Happy Boxing Day!

2011-12-26T11:57:00.001+08:00

Not sure what the significance of this day is, but nonetheless here's wishing everyone a very happy boxing day!

Go on, give everyone a big box! Haha.. =p before the new year arrives, let me just finish blogging all my Xmas celebrations~ it's all about food food and more food! Of course that's not the most important~

I'm most grateful for the lovely and dearest people in my life! Life is beautiful because of you, you, you, and you =)

Merry Christmas everyone!

2011-12-25T23:03:00.001+08:00

Have a merry happy Christmas dear all! Share the love, spread the joy~ =)

Cokty+ Christmas Party

2011-12-24T13:57:00.001+08:00

This year, we celebrated xmas at Jingyi's place! Haha.. It was raining all day, but that did not dampen our moods for the home party and feast..

This time round, the girls cooked and prepared a 'feast' for everyone.. Haha! We aren't great cooks (with the exception of Jingyi), but we managed to feed 8 of us, sufficiently.. Hahaha!

So it was a cosy affair~ with home cooked food, simple fun and games.. It was an enjoyable gathering with good friends~ cheers to many decades of friendship ahead! =)

As Christmas slowly creeps in

2011-12-22T20:44:00.001+08:00

I shall slowly blog about how I welcome Christmas' arrival =)

First up~ decided to check out city square mall coz we've seen too much of the town decorations.. Haha! Pretty nice to just stroll ard, enjoying the carolling, surrounding ourselves with the Xmas cheer in a slow and cosy fashion~~

I look forward to Christmas every year! Other than reminding me that the year is ending, it just warms my heart.. It's a season of love, giving, receiving and feasting! =)

I am AF-ed

2011-12-15T22:19:00.001+08:00

Haha! Was walking to the mrt station after a tiring work plan retreat on Tuesday~ and was very pleasantly surprised!!

A long stretch of beefcakes lined neatly along the busy streets of Orchard... They are not to be eaten, but to pose with!! Haha.. I almost thought I wouldn't have the chance to pose with one =p

Until missy Shiyou slapped my shoulder! It was such a coincidence, to see her and Delia there! Haha.. without hesitation, we went for our buffet spread =p

Haha! Tadah.. My collection of A&F boys~ got vanilla and choc flavoured ones! Hahaha.. I think I like dark haired ang mohs =p

And I think the pic of me and sy is very funny!!! We totally covered the model's photoshopped-abs~~~~ haha.. What were we thinking? =p

Go go curry!

2011-12-11T14:26:00.001+08:00

I love to eat~~~ and try new cafes/restaurants! Haha.. So we went to try out this fairly new jap curry chain in Singapore - Go go curry! At parco marina =)

They don't serve the conventional jap curry, but instead theirs has a slightly darker tint of brown.. And abit of black pepper flavour infused within.. It's still nice though, refreshing change =)

I'm not a food blogger, so pls pardon my boring description of food.. Haha! But it was a happy and satisfying dinner~ we had 30% off total bill too! Shiok.. Haha~

Cheers to a happy Saturday! My happiest day of the week =)

My god brother and his beautiful bride!

2011-12-05T11:00:00.001+08:00

It's my gan ge ge's wedding yesterday~ and he's my real gan ge ge.. Not those 'gan ge ge's some people find in Internet chat rooms.. Haha.. =p

It's been some time since I was so involved in a wedding~ not that I'm a jie mei or anything, but I was involved from the gate crashing in the morning, till wedding dinner at night.. Haha! Ok, i went home to nap in the afternoon.. It was quite eventful I must say~ a very different Sunday morning =)

After all, it's a blissful Sunday.. Haha! Weddings are always joyful occasions~ a beautiful bride, elated groom, happy relatives and friends!

I shall let the picture collages do the talking~ wishing my gan ge and his wife a blissful marriage! =)

Another month to Christmas!

2011-11-27T12:39:00.001+08:00

It's time again to welcome the Xmas cheer~ as shopping malls and streets begin decorating and lighting up..

It's such a beautiful sight! And never fails to warm my heart =)

Time to do some Xmas shopping! Haha..

p.s. The Xmas tree at home is up too! Awaiting our annual gift exchange.. Hee!

I am still around!!!!

2011-11-18T16:52:00.003+08:00

If you think that I'm considering leaving my blog in the lurch or am intending to close it down, you are absolutely wrong! Hahaha.. Apologies for the long absence.. My dearest blog has always been on my mind but work at the new dept has totally drained me =p im zombified at the end of each day and work has been nothing but challenging and stressful~ seriously..

Well, I hope I'll keep my engine going~ and ward off/conquer all evil forces that come my way =p

Of course, I know I'm getting older when I'm depending on coffee/tea to keep me awake at mid day.. Goodness~ signs of accelerated aging!

Haha.. Better still, I've a weird penchant for local coffee/tea instead of ang moh ones like Starbucks or coffee bean.. Haha! They just don't pack enough 'oomph', right?

Cheers to the weekend, with kopi or teh! Haha..

My birthday celebrations

2011-10-23T18:44:00.001+08:00

I look forward to my birthday every year!

Not solely because of the presents and wishes I'll receive, but more so because of the gatherings and meet ups with my friends and family! =) This is the period where I'm reminded of how lucky I am, and to count my blessings, knowing that I'm surrounded by so many awesome people around! *hugs*

I'll shall dedicate another post on my celebration with Mr Koh =)

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-10-15T10:25:00.001+08:00

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me~~
Happy Birthday to me!!

One year older, hopefully one year wiser! =)

My first Groupon purchase!

2011-10-09T00:04:00.001+08:00

Finally decided to give Groupon a try and bought a food deal! It was really pretty cheap =) My first buy was given to Manhattan Fish Market.. Haha!

Got this seafood platter for 2 at a pretty decent price.. I paid $25 for this platter (usual price: $50).. I look fwd to more great food deals.. Haha!

Woots! Dig in~~~~

My super long weekend!

2011-10-04T16:20:00.001+08:00

The title says it all.. I had a great long long weekend filled with good food, good company, fun and entertainment =)

Haha! Doing things I absolutely love and enjoy~ how nice if life is like that for a longer period *dreams*

And I finally found time to watch the 2010 concert DVD of my idol~ Mr Awesome Jay Chou! Haha.. It's been 10 years, I've been a fan of his for that long.. Hee! It's like falling in love all over again =p I grew up with his songs, and it all started with his '龙卷风' *swoons*

Huiling turns 25!

2011-10-03T10:46:00.001+08:00

Gathered for huiling's 25th birthday celebration and small get together with the girls at 313's oriole some weeks back =)

Nice food, ambience and catching up~
Happy 25th birthday Huiling!!

Starstruck

2011-09-24T15:49:00.001+08:00

More so for my Dad.. haha! Coz he had specifically asked me to help take pictures for him..

Hee.. Though we are not from Aljunied GRC (in fact, we are just one road from that area, i vaguely remembered being part of Aljunied some time back) it's nice meeting the man, and his team =)

We were having our breakfast one weekend morning while they were making their rounds, shaking hands and interacting with people in the neighbourhood.. I shook hands with them! Kinda warms my heart~ haha..

WP, WP, WP......!

Acceptance

2011-09-22T00:19:00.001+08:00

The fact that you are willing to say, "I do not understand, and it is fine," is the greatest understanding you could exhibit.

- Wayne Dyer

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All things small and cute

2011-09-20T15:25:00.001+08:00

To continue my fascination with all things small and cute.. May I present to you, these lovely wooden toilet bowl, bathtub and dressing table (with a tap) =)

Spent an hr fixing these little miniature bathroom essentials with Mr Koh at a mc cafe.. Haha! With curious eyes peering at what we're doing =p

They come in flat planks of wood, where you have to assemble the little pieces embedded within together to form the end product!

Oh yes, other than these, I bought another big wooden carousel, which is still lying in one corner, waiting to be fixed~ how whimsical!! Shall be patient and await the day we finish fixing and painting the carousel =)

There's a part in me that will never grow up.. Haha!

Ma maison!

2011-09-17T00:21:00.001+08:00

Heard much about this Japanese fusion restaurant, and almost went in to try on a few occasions.. Haha!

We finally did.. After another busy, challenging, stressful and tiring week at work, I deserve a good n nice meal =)

To recharge for another heavy week ahead =p

Anyways, pleasantly surprised with the cosy and country decor.. Feels like I'm dining somewhere not in Singapore~

Food wise, it's decent and freshness guaranteed.. Price wise, I find it reasonable.. I'd go again! =)

I'll let the pictures do the talking.. Haha! Have a gd weekend everyone~

Night Festival 2011 and Zoo!

2011-09-15T21:40:00.001+08:00

Back-dated post!

Went museum hopping during the past few weeks coz our local arts scene seems to be brimming with activities... free entry to museums, the annual festival, art installations, etc.. for a moment, I considered applying to work at NHB.. Hee! =P of course that thought was banished from my brain, gradually..

Well, I took the more conservative career path, but trying out something different in a way.. I shall talk about that at a later date~ haha..

First up: Asian Civilisation Museum

The Terracotta has come to town! *imagine grey clay figures*

The chinese were amazing (in terms of handicraft).. I don't know how much time they spent doing thousands of such figures, maybe millions, i'm not sure.. But it's definitely impressive....... I can imagine how much spare time they had then to do such things.. haha! =P

eat, slp, do handicraft, eat, slp, do handicraft, and it goes on and on~~~

It was Night Festival 3 weeks ago, and Mr Koh and I headed over to stamford road to see what's in store this year.. Nothing spectacular, but it was definitely lively..

We discovered a new exhibit gallery (not explored by us previously) in the National Museum and were very well entertained.. haha..

That he fell asleep on the makeshift bed.. inside a coolies' den? haha..

Acting artisitc =P but honestly, I thought the water colour paintings were nice.. vivid illustrations of the former KTM railway at Tanjong Pagar, which seem to bring back some memories of that place..

The highlight of the night.. which we were looking fwd to, and praying that the rain would hold.. coz the skies looked threatening.. haha..

It was quite boring.. haha.. coz I cannot understand much spanish (I vow to master it soon =P), and it has been about the same every year.. flying dancers, lights, fireworks.. maybe it's time for something different? =P

These were the arty activities we went to recently... Now, for the more outdoorsy activities...

It's Zoo time again! haha.. thanks to my corporate pass =)

Asked Aijia and her beau along..

Not our first time there.. but still, the animals miss us.. haha.. they've grown up by alot too! =P

I like this shot! See the 2 giraffes behind? hahaha.. super like this =)

This is a tadpole slowly growing legs to become a frog!!!!! amazing....

My lovely frog................... such a darling right? haha.. the way it smiles so widely and looks at you.. feel like giving it a peck =P *gross*

Gigantic Tarantula... Amazing how my iphone 3 can take such clear shots? hahaha..

Baby Baboon at the primate kingdom... Mr Koh's favourite place in the zoo.. haha..

With dearie Aijia with the white tigers......... hear us roar!

Happy mooncake festival!

2011-09-12T21:04:00.001+08:00

It's mooncake festival today! As i affectionately call it.. Haha.. coz i can't relate to 'mid autumn festival', especially in sunny Singapore, with summer all year round.. Haha! What autumn? =p

Spent most of the day hard at work.. But as I walked home, seeing big smiles and jubilant kids strolling about the neighbourhood with colourful lanterns in hand reminds me of my younger days =)

I grew up with paper lanterns and enjoyed lighting the colourful candles, feeling the heat emitted from the opening as I happily carried it around the neighbourhood with mummy by my side during mooncake festival =) haha! Occasionally burning my lantern unintentionally.. Playing with unused candles at the playground, making melted wax stains on the ground =p yes, i contributed to the 'graffiti'.. those were the days~~ hee..

I hope kids now enjoy it as much as I did then.. Sadly I hardly see them carrying the traditional paper lanterns now~ =p I hope the paper lanterns continue to stay.. Where's the joy in battery operated ones? Haha.. I'll buy paper ones for my kids next time =p so that I can join in the fun!

A trivial joke: I told mummy excitedly that I saw kids walking around with lanterns earlier.. And she asked me "so do you want carry lanterns too, I can accompany you" hahaha..

The night was spent eating mooncakes bought by Mr Koh, with my family while sipping hot chinese tea.. Too bad the moon was hiding somewhere =p must be skiving.. Haha!

So how did you spend your mooncake festival?

Sometimes When We Touch

2011-09-04T23:00:00.000+08:00

Happened to catch this old tune on radio, and had never given much thought and paid attention to the lyrics until recently...

Sometimes When We Touch by Dan Hill is probably one of the most misunderstood songs of all time, in my humble opinion..

Many people thought it was a romantic, sweet and lovey dovey love song.. But if you sit down and really listen to it attentively, you'll understand the lyrics and words and meaning behind the song.. I had a total shift of perspective when I did! To think that many couples actually played this song at their weddings or anniversaries, not sure if they really understand the song.. The song is filled with bitter and pain but it's gentle and honest~

I searched for the lyrics and this was what I gathered...

This song is about a man(or woman) struggling with his feelings for a woman.. He faced a moral battle between his heart and his mind, but has deep, truthful and hidden love that wants to be shared, felt and received..

He wants to say he loves her but he knows that will only hurt her because he would be lying. At times he thinks they can be just friends but when they are close the romantic feeling flares again. He is afraid but yet he wishes to be with her forever.

Lyrics:
You ask me if I love you
And I choke on my reply
I'd rather hurt you honestly
Than mislead you with a lie
And who am I to judge you
On what you say or do?
I'm only just beginning to see the real you

And sometimes when we touch
The honesty's too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you til I die
Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you till the fear in me subsides

Romance and all its strategy
Leaves me battling with my pride
But through the insecurity
Some tenderness survives
I'm just another writer
Still trapped within my truth
A hesitant prize fighter
Still trapped within my youth

And sometimes when we touch
The honesty's too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you til I die
Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you till the fear in me subsides

At times I'd like to break you
And drive you to your knees
At times I'd like to break through
And hold you endlessly

At times I understand you
And I know how hard you've tried
I've watched while love commands you
And I've watched love pass you by

At times I think we're drifters
Still searching for a friend
A brother or a sister
But then the passion flares again
And sometimes when we touch
The honesty's too much
And I have to close my eyes and hide
I wanna hold you til I die
Til we both break down and cry
I wanna hold you till the fear in me subsides

Deja Vu

2011-08-27T01:35:00.001+08:00

Can't believe that it's still happening to me when I'm 25.. Haha! Come to think of it, it's pretty amusing~ I feel flattered =p

On a separate note, saw my neighbour who used to be my schoolmate in Cedar, holding hands while strolling in the park with a guy.. It was pretty late at night and I think I must have surprised her (hope I didn't scare her) haha!
The guy looked pretty decent and seems like a good man~
I feel happy for her! =)

Random Amusement

2011-08-23T22:00:00.000+08:00

It's amusing how someone can parallel park like that, and leave it as that! right in front of a building entrance =P I dare say I can do it better than him/her.. haha..

Luckily the car is small..

But all thanks to this car, I was tickled the moment I stepped out of office.. haha!

Movie under the stars~

2011-08-17T21:00:00.002+08:00

Few Saturdays ago, we headed over to Fort Canning Park for an evening of movies under the stars... It's supposedly an annual event for Class 95, where they will organise a public movie screening at the park~ It was my first time there and I was surprised to see every (almost) inch of green grass covered when we reached.. Friends and families gathered for a night of movies - Despicable Me and Iron Man 2 (both which we already watched some time back).. haha!

I agree that it's also due to us being late.. haha.. that's why it was very difficult to find a good and spacious spot to sit on throughout the night =P

Nonetheless, we managed to manoeuvre our way through the crowds, with the occassional 'tsk's from the ppl (already seated down) when we meandered through them in search of a spot to rest our legs.. haha.. I understand and forgive their 'tsk's.. haha.. coz I might have added some sand into their pre-packed dinner/snacks they brought along to picnic when we walked past them.. =P

And this was our spot! with us sitting comfortably on a piece of trash bag I found from home, as our picnic mat =) how creative! finish using can throw ma~ haha.. The Class 95 organisers thoughtfully provided us with plastic fans to keep us cool at night~ We bought snacks from carrefour too! well-prepared to enjoy a night of movies under the stars.......

Our view for a few hrs that evening~ not bad I think, conisdering our view was virtually unblocked! =)

Mr Koh bought this hot dog bun coz he said "like that then got watch-movie-and-picnic atmosphere ma".. haha.. It costs 6 bucks! which I thought was pretty expensive, but I'll let it go coz the hotdog is very long.. and tastes expensive.. hahaha..

Class 95 tent, where all the DJs were seated under during the screening of the movies.. I saw Jean Danker and Glenn Ong! haha.. But had to control and suppress my starstruck emotions and expressions.. I'm an adult ok, cannot embarrass myself this way.. =P

But it was nice seeing them.. coz Radio had been an important part of my life during my growing up years~ accompanying me when I do my homework/study for exams at home (I listened to 98.7 then).. Then gradually I switched to Class 95 coz the songs I used to listened to then at 98.7 when I was in school was 'upgraded' to a more mature channel - Class 95.. haha.. So it was a natural progression~

Come to think of it, I actually followed Jean and Glenn from 98.7 FM to Class 95.. feels like they grew up with me =P Awww...........

Anyways, during movie break time.. I caught these 2 boys playing and fooling ard.. haha..

Us before the start of the second movie~ =) This is when Iphone 3G failed me.. poor light conditions and shaky hands resulted in such lousy quality pictures =P
On National Day~ We courageously headed down to Marina Bay Area to join in the crowds and of course more importantly, the highlight - fireworks!

Even though we caught the fireworks almost every week they had rehearsals, we decided to head down to catch the fireworks on the actual day.. again! =)

And because it's National Day, to show our love for Singapore, we wore red!

I dug out my reddest top in my wardrobe and wore it with pride that day~ haha..

We were joined by friends.. specifically CY+ (code name for Mr and Mrs Chen Pin Han, Mr and Mrs Ye Wei Ting) that day.. haha! who obviously weren't as patriotic as us.. haha!

Happy Birthday Singapore!!

I still love you~

In the month of July...

2011-08-04T00:11:00.001+08:00

July went past discreetly and suddenly August comes knocking on my door.. reminding me that September is coming next =P (sounds like the song 'Friday' by Rebecca Black).. I know what I said earlier is just stating the obvious.. haha! Pardon me~

Anyway, July went by with....

newly-discovered-manicurist-me doing my own nails =) I found my 'talent' in nail art~ Pretty decent work I must say.. I know what I can do when I retire in future.. hee.. I'll charge cheaply =P

July is also the month where my beloved Lions fought bravely against the Tigers... How can I miss this highly anticipated causeway derby? Well done Lions~ We are very proud of you!
As the saying goes, there's always a Tiger behind every Lion.. You need to have watched Singapore soccer / soccer fan to know what I'm talking about.. haha..

Mr Koh and I in red (I'm almost red) in support of our Lions! haha.. We were at the grounds of PA, located beside Jalan Besar stadium to catch the live screening of the match =)

July is also a month where we embraced healthy living!.. injecting some nature/exercise element into our routine "shopping malls-weekends".. haha..

and so, we headed over to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve to work those muscles~

Don't be deceived by the pictures.. The slopes are surprisingly and shockingly steep.. I'm not kidding.. I felt inappropriately dressed for that day, coz I wore flip flops there.. I tortured my poor soles and legs while climbing up the hill.. haha.. I'd always remember to wear proper shoes next time~ at least Mr Koh wore something decent =P

After some strenuous climbing and hiking, we reached the summit!! My muscles never felt so toned before, after strolling through other nature reserves in Singapore previously.. This is by far, one of the more challenging one.. haha! but I like~ bring it on =) Could be due to the extra strain I exerted on my legs coz of the slippers that I wore.. haha..

We went downhill after that.. and crossed over to the nearby Bukit Timah railway track.. I've been wanting to go there since some time back coz friends/cols have been talking abt the closed railway station and tracks.. Seen many friends post pictures on FB too.. so we decided to leave our footprints there, before they remove all the tracks =)

This is my favourite shot of the tracks.. Not easy to capture such a shot on a weekend especially, where families and groups of friends will come and have a stroll there.. A picture says a thousand words, and this picture seems to tell me to stride forward.. come what may~

As you can tell from the pictures above, it was a hot day.. haha.. Our eyes instantly became smaller with the glare from the sun~

Posing with one of the signpost.. I'm as white as a sheet.. almost like the twillight-vampires.. haha..

And Mr Koh is clever enough to stay in the shade.. looking dark, tall and almost mysterious like.. perhaps like a Dracula? haha..

Besides that, I also took a day off on Monday, to lenghten my weekend, and brought my folks around town~ haha..

Me and Ah Qi.. at 313 basement..

Dearest Daddy and Mummy~

And this is my dinner that day.. haha.. some cheap sushi set~ Not very nice though, just passable..

My July was wrapped up with lovely fireworks display from the weekly NDP rehearsals.. Mr Koh and I religiously went to catch the fireworks from different locations every Saturday.. We missed one session though, coz we're busy rooting for the Lions that night =P haha..

It's magical~ to bask under the brilliant showers of colours and sparks.. Mr Koh and I made ourselves comfy and enjoyed the 5-10 mins of magic in the skies =)

Beautiful isn't it? haha.. of course it must be nice, I paid my taxes dutifully =P I'm just making sure I 'reap' the benefits and that my taxes are put to good use (buy nicer fireworks).. =P

May August shine as brightly too! =)

愛情和激情

2011-07-11T19:00:00.000+08:00

愛情和激情是不一樣的。
因為激情會消失，意亂情迷也只是一時的。
而愛情本身沒有輸贏，只有原諒或放下。

Our Bangkok Getaway~

2011-07-05T23:36:00.000+08:00

At Terminal 3 before heading over to the Budget Terminal

It was a pretty impromptu decision to head over to Bangkok for a short getaway.. haha.. it was definitely welcoming~ since it had been almost a year since I stepped foot into the transit area of my dearest Changi Airport =)

With less than a month to the proposed dates of the trip, we swiftly did a price comparison of all budget airlines available to come up with the most afforable air tickets package (round trip).. Price came up to be around $250 per pax, pretty decent considering that it was a last minute trip.. haha.. It was decided that we would fly there by Tiger Airways and come back by AirAsia.. 2 airlines that we've never tried before and what's more, we get to depart from the Budget Terminal!

At this point, I was warned by security not to take pictures, coz apparently photo taking is prohibited =P But too bad, photo was already taken then.. haha..

Not the most glamorous of all terminals, but hey, how often do you get to climb up the plane yourself? haha.. I feel like a diva (cheapskate) sashaying my way up the plane - with a huge backpack =P.. haha! With that, we set off for a 4-day trip to bangkok~~ our grad trip to bangkok 3 yrs back seemed like yesterday.. honestly, time flies!

I can pretty much sum up the trip with a few words: Shopping frenzy, walkathon, eye-opener..

and in one word: Wonderful~~ =)

Shopping frenzy, walkathon, eye-opener!

Itinerary of our trip goes like this..

Day 1: Reach Bkk in late afternoon - After checking in, headed to MBK for dinner and shopping.. stroll down Siam paragon, Siam Centre, Central World, then back to Pratunam Night Market (such a mouthful, my fingers are tired after typing these).. haha! Kudos to us..... I'm not sure how much we've walked, but it was definitely a feat.. =P

A familiar scene for us.. taken at the MRT station near our hotel - Baiyoke Boutique. The MRT station is affectionately known as Ratchaprarop =)

Dinner! It's so cheap.. One bowl of ramen costs ard 2/3 bucks only! haha.. dinner for 2 in a decent Jap restaurant in MBK costs us $9.40........ cheap cheap~

This is my favourite bag shop in MBK! cheap cheap 199 baht bags.... it's only $8 =) sadly, i bought 3 bags only.. I swear I could have bought more if I have the strength and space to lug it back to Singapore! =P

Posing with MBK! =) Though a tad blur~ You get the idea.. haha..

winding through the night markets along the roadside.. it was packed! with locals and tourists.. we were sticky and smelly after a long day.. haha.. but the clothes on sale at the night markets are nice I must say =P but I withheld all purchases coz we're heading to Chatuchak the next day!! haha.. I've high expectations of that place =P

Our shop! =P K and I.. haha.. and it was hotel sweet hotel after a long walk back.. we went to bed at ard 1/2 am Singapore time =P

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Day 2: Chatuchuk, back to hotel to deposit loot, out to platinum mall for dinner, pratunam night market, thai massage!

Sleepy head still looking sleepy during breakfast.. haha.. we wanted to try some exotic local fares, but seriously, the decent eateries weren't opened yet.. and the food court that we found was pretty empty, and don't really smell good.. =P so Macs was the best!

and off we go~~ to Chatuchak by train! =) During our previous trip 3 yrs ago, we went over by cab.. everywhere we went was by cab.. so this time round, we decided to try their public transport more.. and by our 4th day, Mr Koh was a master of thai language.. He can even buy train tickets from the machine that reads thai without changing the language to english! =P haha..

very empty train station.. I like~

There weren't many pictures of us shopping at Chatuckak (on Saturday), coz our hands were full.. haha..

Lunch at Chester's! We're back at Chester's 3 yrs later =)

Not sure how much it costs.. but definitely cheap! less than 10 bucks for the both of us..

We headed back to the steamy lanes at Chatuchak after filling up our stomachs.. fueled up for the remaining afternoon! =)

trying on the different hats.. I kinda like the one I'm wearning in the picture.. but sadly, I didn't buy it.. coz it's simply too big to fit into my bag =P haha..

Here's our loot after 1 afternoon at Chatuchak.. It's definitely not enough.. haha.. and Mr Koh surprisingly bought quite a number of things =) He's infected with my shopping bug~

Dinner was at the food court at Platinum mall~ and look! our dinner costs 7 bucks~~~~ CHEAP! =P

Night time was thai massage time~ which is also his favourite and most looked forward activity while we were in bkk.. his eyes will light up with every mention of 'massage'.. haha.. too bad, there were no pics of us at the massage parlour =P 1hr for 200 baht!! cheap cheap..

End of Day 2

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Day 3: Chatuchak, MBK, thai massage!

On day 3, we started our morning trying the bfast at our hotel.. Our stay didn't inc breakfast, so this had to be paid separately.. but it was cheap, approx 4 bucks per person..

Sleepy head still looked very sleepy.. haha..

Right outside our hotel, there's a daytime street market.. and I stopped to buy some hair rubber bands =)

We took train to Chatuchak again.. but stopped at a station to find a toilet~ =P and while roaming in search of a toilet, we spotted a lao pok train making its way across the railway.. had to snap it!

finally at Chatuchak and I bought this colourful choc dipped frozen banana~ think it costs 30 baht.. $1.20?

Lunch was at JJ Mall again (the previous day was at Chester's).. we had some decent thai food and fruit smoothie! yummy~

Back to Chatuchak, final moments of shopping before heading back to MBK.. haha..

Bye bye Chatuchak~ =)

National Stadium stop~ next to this sports complex is MBK! we headed over with bags and bags of clothes~ haha..

He always manages to find a shop with his name everywhere.. haha.. There was another KKK shop at Taiwan's xi men ding too!

Dinner at a Japanese restaurant! too hungry to take pics of the food when they arrived..

rewarded ourselves with Dairy queen's sundae.. each costs less than $1.50!

stopped at Central World (an atas shopping mall) to quench our thirst and rest those weary backs and legs.. haha.. This is by far our most expensive beverage in bkk.. costs 4 bucks each but packs lots of fibre, vitamins and nutrients =)

Posed with the mini dottie car in the mall~ haha..

Ended that day with last but not least.. his favourite activity~ Thai massage.. at the same parlour! haha..

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Day 4: Platinum mall, Baiyoke Sky buffet dinner + drinks

breakfast at KFC! i had green curry chiken rice.. he had some thai style chicken rice.. it's surprisingly refreshing~ i like! total bill.. $8.50 =)

A picture says a thousand words.. haha.. Poor Mr Koh! I know it's tough on him.. A grown up man being defeated by shopping.. hee! *massage*

I'm still going on strong.. hohoho~

Back at hotel for a quick shower and change of clothes before we head over to Baiyoke Sky for a nice buffet dinner.. Time to indulge and pamper ourselves =)

Up up we go~ to the 80th level.. *zoom*

breath-taking!

Hee! they built this mini hot air baloon for ppl to pose for pictures =)

Our dinner venue~ how loft and atas! haha..

One of my favourite shot =) hee!

We went up to the revolving tower (open air) at the top of the building.... It was at that moment, that I wished time would stop~ it's beautiful...

Us at the top~ It was fenced up for safety purposes though...

Look who we spotted!

Ended the lovely night with a glass of wine, baileys and a basket of complimentary popcorn =)

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Day 5: Breakfast, check out, Home sweet home!

Went back to Baiyoke sky for their breakfast buffet.. =)

Our final moments dining like king and queen, overlooking the skyline of bkk~

We both arrived at bkk with only a backpack.. we each left with an additional bag.. haha!

checking out.. posing at the lobby~

Waiting for train to head to the airport.. Posed with the Jason Mraz hat I got for Ah Qi.. haha!

Bye bye bkk! It has been a wonderful short getaway =) haha..

and we're home! =)

haha.. finally, showcasing my 'trophies' from bkk! hahaha.. I think I can set up my own shop =P

Special thanks to Mr Koh.. to accompany me on this wonderful shopping frenzy, walkathon and eye-opening trip! Let's go back again soon.. hee..

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone

2011-06-15T15:43:00.000+08:00

Chanced upon this graduation speech (unorthodox as you may call it) few years back and now it's still in email circulation... Simply shows how this particular speech stands out amongst the other typical "congrats, well done, you've graduated, time for new beginnings, etc" convocation speeches. We've heard enough of those, don't we? haha..

Reading it once more gives me new insights to life, once again~

Do take some time off to read this inspiring piece and digest these little nuggets of wisdom =)
_______________________________________________________________

Written by Adrian Tan, author of The Teenage Textbook (1988), was the guest-of-honour at a recent NTU convocation ceremony.This was his speech to the graduating class of 2008.

I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practicing at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.

What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armor against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.

The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energize you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.

I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.

The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.

You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone

Before May ends...

2011-05-30T23:13:00.127+08:00

As the month of May comes to a close, it's a gentle reminder to me that we've almost reached mid year... Another month of events amidst the usual procrastination, hesitation, etc.. haha..

Congrats to friends who have entered quarter-life crisis =P and friends who have long passed that phase.. haha.. I'm not gloating, as it'll be my turn soon.. I seek solace in knowing that I have friends not knowing what they want in life even as they approach 30.. HAHA! so I have an excuse for my bewilderment while I wander around..

Ok, this month... We visited the Mint Toy Museum =) Much talked about, always wanted to visit, and we finally did..

Mr Koh with the toys~

Bear bear with eyebrows!

I was a convent girl once =) Simple in virture, steadfast in duty..

Can you spot the tube of Darlie toothpaste amongst the darkie items? Darlie used to be called Darkie =)

Me with the toys~

Attraction checked!

I think my parents might be able to relate to the vintage toys better? I could only vaguely remember some of them.. haha.. but it's a nice short tour around the premises.. entrance tickets are not cheap though, but worth a visit =)

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A nice cup of cappuccino brightened up my day immediately..

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It was International Museum Day last Sunday~ and we visited the Coins and Notes Museum, which is nicely hidden along the stretch of shop houses at Chinatown.. it was so well camouflaged that I almost wanted to ask for directions.. like a suagu tourist..

Banana Notes, used during the Japanese occupation days..

Posing with a gigantic stone... which was used as a coin in the olden days.. Not sure how much it's worth though.. haha..

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Food glorious food...........

Yummy Shabu Shabu buffet!! I was very well fed that day.. haha~ I could have eaten more.. I wanted to, but age has slowly caught up and I realised I'm no longer 15 =P

When I was 15, I had this!

The traditional cake slices that I love since young~ I'm delighted that they are still around~ Can't seem to find them easily nowadays, since the emergence of modern cafes and classy bakeries..

Simple pleasures in life.. Not fancyful, not pricey, but loads of joy =)

On the pricier end.....

This is just as yummy.. haha =P

Somewhere over the rainbow

2011-05-18T12:00:00.002+08:00

"As a rule, one's apprehension causes more trauma than the event..."

Blum, Donald

Walk forth bravely under the rainbow umbrella~~

Huiling's ROM

2011-05-11T22:37:00.056+08:00

It's Huiling's 'Big Day' last Saturday.. Coincidentally, it's polling day too =P

The lovely bride and us.. Too bad Shiyou and Weili couldn't join us that day~

The swing was too pretty to let go, and therefore we took turns to take pictures with it.. along with the beautiful flowers twinned around it =)

Mr Koh and I...

Feli and Ong Heng...

All in~ with the props prepared for the guests to use during photoshoots.. haha!

Witchy me with retro diamante white specs!

Listening to the couple making their marriage vows during the ceremony almost brought me to tears.. Marriage vows are more than just romantic poems or words, it's a promise made to each other to honour the vows..

As they embark on the next chapter in their lives, I'd like to wish Eric and Huiling 早生贵子!

要幸福喔 =)

End of my super long weekend

2011-05-04T23:44:00.022+08:00

Apr/May are such fabulous months! =)

With public holidays so strategically spaced out.. taking 2 days leave from work during the labour day weekend meant that I get to rest for 5 days straight! honestly, this is beneficial for my overall well-being (meaning I get enough rest, enjoy doing things and going places), but extremely detrimental to my work drive.. haha..

My final moments of luxury before I head back to my little dungeon cell in a few hours time =P I can only sigh in despair, and look back fondly at my soon-to-be-over super long weekend.. will upload some pics of my lovely 'holiday' once I transfer them over to my lappie =)

Bought a Botegga veneta inspired cabat bag to end of my wonderful break =) It was such a steal! and it's proudly sitting inside my cupboard winking at me.. hee!

Quick check at the next public holiday..... Vesak Day! 17 May: Tuesday........ another 2 weeks' time.. start counting down everyone.. haha!

下一站，幸福

2011-04-19T00:09:00.001+08:00

Am embarrassingly back-dated with my dramas.. haha! started watching 下一站，幸福 (a taiwanese drama by Vaness wu) some time back in 2010.. and stopped for a while, and now I'm determined to finish it~

Not a fan of such dramas, but do watch some occasionally =) Heard positive comments about this one, hence decided to set aside some time to catch it religiously..

Honestly, I feel that in order to come up with a good script, the scriptwriter is key (common sense right?) anyway, what I wanted to say is, I'm impressed how the storylines are able to capture our hearts and it's as though we are part of it.. I'm convinced that they had gone through much in their lives to write such heart-warming/wrenching storylines =P

We share their happiness, woes, sadness, hurt, etc, and it's as though I'm consumed by the drama.. Escapism, seeking solace, support, joy, etc~ Suddenly my nights are filled.. It's like a date with something that understands and seduces (I mean the storyline) you =)

Haha.. well, it's obvious I'm drifting and rattling away now~ back to reality... There's work tomorrow, and my bed's calling out for me..

Gd night world! while I 'escape' to my perfect world - in my dreams =)

Beauty and the Beast

2011-04-01T10:21:00.001+08:00

Remember the times when disney fairytales used to be such a hit? fairytales after fairytales~ beautiful and everlasting love stories... Wonder why they stopped making such fairytales now, and if they really did stop the production, it would have been such a pity =(

Honestly.. I'd really love to re-watch all of these fairytales again.. coz I grew up watching these, loving every bit of the Disney Princesses.. always portrayed as strong, beautiful, intelligent, kind hearted women =) How can girls not love them? haha.. *daydream* I personally adore them!!

Cinderella, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Under the Sea, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty... Disney's Princesses~

Anyway, talking about fairytales, I do have a personal favourite! Not hard to guess I think (or maybe it is, coz I hardly mention it to anyone).. haha..

Yes, it's Beauty and the Beast........ Exceptionally beautiful love story~ And as the title suggests, it's a love story between a poor princess who has a heart of gold, and a beast (who eventually turned into a charming prince)... haha.. Such a happily ever after~ *continues to daydream*

Vivid memories of this film, I watched it in school, at home, in the theatres, and I remembered me being so amused and thrilled with the little tea cups, tea pot, candle, clock, etc that could talk! hahaha.. how can I not giggle and laugh along? =P

Enchanting love story.. I'm amazed with my level of intelligence then (think I sort of understood more than 50% of the film).. haha.. Poor peasant girl (Belle) found her way to a deserted and dilapidated castle hidden within the woods one day, and fate has it that she met this ferocious beast which was staying inside.. The beast (under a spell) was touched by Belle's heart of gold, while Belle saw the good in the Beast.. and both fell in love and one day, the beast's spell was broken and he turned into a handsome young man *Awwww*

Can I be Belle for a day? Just a day?~

Beautiful Belle~ gorgeous yellow gown that looks perfect on her.. Full of Poise, with heart of gold and strong willed.. She's my favourite Disney princess! =)

I wish my daughter grows up to be like her.. haha! =P

and they lived happily ever after~ =)

I'm sure if I were to re-watch the movie again, I might have a deeper understanding of it..

Let me end this post off with the beautiful lyrics of the soundtrack.. Beauty and the Beast~ (coincidentally sang by one of my favourite singer - Celine Dion)
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Than somebody bends
Unexpectedly

Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the beast

Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
And ever just as sure
As the sun will rise

Tale as old as time
Tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange
Finding you can change
Learning you were wrong

Certain as the sun
Rising in the east
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the beast

Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Beauty and the beast
Beauty and the beast
___________________________________

The month of March~

2011-03-23T11:56:00.001+08:00

Had almost left my little blog here rot away this month.. haha..

I'm finally back.. lifting my little fingers on my keyboard.. typing away, not for work emails/submission.. but my personal little space =)

The month of March had been especially uplifting, seems like I'm finally breathing in renewed air~ seeking things that I truly enjoy doing, seeing what's truly important in life, taking on challenges as they come my way.. Loving myself even more~ Oblivious to this in the past, but slowly discovering and can't emphasise this enough now! haha..

As the month slowly comes to a close.. Just a recap of events and some random shots.. haha!

Had a great dinner at Wild Honey with Mr Koh on Valentine's Day... Delicious food, warm and cosy ambience.. A nice and simple dinner, spending quality time together.. Happy Anniversay my dear~

It was Daddy's birthday few weeks ago... Treated him to pu tien and i'm glad my folks liked the food =) The dearest people in my life from the day I caught my first breath! and I know they will always be there for me.. showering me with unconditional love~

Happy Birthday Papa!!

Went drinking and dinner with colleagues after a hectic day at work at Orgo, Esplanade rooftop =) Breath-taking night view of Singapore's CBD at night.. Cool view, nice wine, delicious food, good company, what's more, we were given very good seats - inside an air conditioned 'fish tank'.. perfect~ =) too bad there's work the next day..

We all need some intoxication in life~ what's yours?

Finally met Gingy on the streets of Orchard! and he's shy *pinch*

And I can't help but notice a gangster staring at me from behind.. creepy! =P

I wish I was born in the 60's

2011-03-01T00:10:00.002+08:00

Recently had this discussion with my colleague, about wishing we were born in the 60's.... which left me pondering hard~ and as the random thoughts accumulate, I felt that it would be interesting to pen down whatever that crossed my mind.. to see if my thoughts make any sense at all~

Why the 60's? Simply because things were simpler then.... Without the forces of technology, the evolution of IT.. I really think that I'm born in the wrong era, and that I belonged to a much older and simpler world.. call me old fashioned, but that's they way I am and how I like it to be...

Take music for example, I'm thankful that I was introduced to music that belonged to my Dad's era, at a tender age.. the likes of the eagles, chicago, bread, etc... Those are what I would really call songs.. Never heard of them before? I won't blame you.. Times have changed... What makes a song? To me, it's the Lyrics~ Whether it touches your heart and if you are able to relate to it.. and of course the soulful voice that accompanies the music..

Gone were the days where singers will sing their hearts out.. and that you can actually feel the sincerity in their voices.. honest lyrics! In my opinion, modern songs are crap... electronically edited voices, lousy melodies, trashy lyrics.. that's about all? of coz I cannot deny that albeit some tunes are pretty catchy, the rest are more or less meaningless.. Perhaps I'm indeed an ambassador of the past~ but I honestly am disappointed with the songs now..

Cause of the 'demise'? I can only attribute this to the advancement of technology.. The world is changing too fast, times have changed, attitudes change, people change, morals change... moral degradation they call it.. and this is evident in our everyday life now~ I'm questioning the existence of humanity, integrity and faith.. Technology brought along with it joys and woes.. Which brings me to an article which I read not too long ago~

It was a true love story about a British soldier who came to Singapore for training during wartime, and met a beautiful Singaporean lady at the campsite's canteen.. she was a helper at the canteen.. both fell deeply in love, and began writing letters to each other, even when he went back to UK.. They communicated through letters, as there was no such thing as sms, emails, tango, viber, etc.. Years passed, and fate has it that they were eventually not meant to be together.. But this British man (in his 60's now), didnt give up hope.. he is still searching for the lady he fell in love with decades ago, but had sadly lost contact with..

It was unbelievable, and it definitely touched my heart.. such steadfast faith and love.. built solely on a promise, strengthened by merely writing letters to each other.. Simple as that~

However, with all the distractions (or convenience) brought about by technology, communication becomes easier, but much of humanity gets lost in transit.. World becomes convoluted through media, people get busy and distracted, almost forgotten the primary essence of communication..

It's a pity.. that over the years, along with the hustle and bustle brought about by technology, the once much treasured and guarded values and morals gradually lost its meaning.. and perhaps became worthless or even a joke to some~

I can rattle on and on.. but well, I shall just stop here... For now, I really hope that I can go back in time, back the 60's, lead a simple yet enriching life~ perhaps in my dreams tonight..

Goodnight world!

All in a typical day~

2011-02-24T20:41:00.002+08:00

A good friend told me something which I really didn't want to know...
It made dejected... =(

My big boss approved my paper which I spent few months working on within 2 hrs after submission...
I was elated! I felt 5 kg lighter, maybe 10kg~~ =)

Joking with my colleagues over lunch and giving silly English names to those with only Chinese names...
Made me laugh my lungs out and be amazed at how creative policy-writers can be... =P

Knowing that colleagues left a mini magnum (though I would prefer other flavours) at my desk after I came back from a discussion...
Made me feel loved and not forgotten... Brightened up my day! ^-^

Took the train back to Serangoon Station with a colleague who used to be from my department....
She made me realise that time really flies.... What have i achieved and what do I want moving forward? Confused...

While walking home, I overheard a family at storey 2 shouting and screaming at one another..
I felt sorry for them, and fortunate at the same time... That I have a wonderful and loving family =)

I saw a stranger playing hide-and-seek with his dog at the void deck, the poor little dog looked lost and forlorn while searching.. I pointed the dog to the direction in which its owner was hiding, and eventually it was back into the owner's embrace...
I felt amused... that I was actually part of the hide-and-seek~ and touched coz the little doggy found its owner =)

These little and simple events in a day actually felt so real and precious~
Amidst the multitude of emotions experienced in a simple day, I secretly wish for something else...

Intoxicate me now~

Finding yourself

2011-02-18T09:20:00.001+08:00

By looking inward to what is there

Not knowing if at all you can bare
What is hiding in the corners of your soul
If it is right or even whole

That which dwells inward, take care of what you see
Take care of all that is, or ever will be
Seeing everything up close no one else can
finding yourself is when you truly win

You must take all the good with the bad
Do not shy away or be sad
You must look on with clear mind
To see yourself and what you will find

Be brave, bold, and truthful too
Hold your head high and look deep within you

__________________________________

12 years ago, Cedar Girls Secondary School taught me 3 values which I hold dearly within me... Honesty, Perseverance and Honesty.....

Today, I've taught myself another 3 values which I believe will bring me further in life...

Courage, Integrity and Faith.... 3 simple words with immense significance~

Today, let's all take a step back, take things slow.. and embark on this magical journey of finding yourself =)

Our Home~

2011-01-24T23:31:00.000+08:00

Finally, on our 6th try~ we've got a number =)

#145 was our magic number to select......

a home in Anchorvale Drive, Sengkang.....

and our unit? haha...

I've drew a red oval to indicate our unit! Our unit number: #16-334

Chose the unit on the highest level, getting ready to be swept off our feets~ haha..

Taking a peek into the interior....

and finally the cosy neighbourhood where we will reside.........

not shown on model: on the left of the estate is the Sengkang sports hub, and to the right, will be a school, which will be just beside our block..

and this will be our home in approximately 4 years' time =)

Kids grow up~ =)

2011-01-16T01:05:00.000+08:00

Been a long time since I last saw Jonas, my little cousin who is already 10 years old! (wait, or is it 9? hahaha =P) Time flies, and it felt like yesterday since I last saw him... this bundle of joy, never fails to make me laugh, or want to 'disturb' him.. I derive joy in irritating him (hahhaa.. I know I sound perverted!)

Anyway, met this little cousin of mine few weeks ago at Beh Beh yi's place, and boy was I shocked.. haha! kids really grow up very quickly... seriously, or should I say they are so well fed now (compared to my time), that their growth rate seems to be exponential!

I almost couldnt recognise my little cousin.. haha.. but of coz he's still charming in his own way.. grew up to be more talkative, more knowledgable, coz he taught me how to play the game beyblade, the functions of the various kinds of beyblades (honestly, I think they are just tots to me)... HAHA!

See how big he is now =) he told me he's in the bball team now... haha! and was full of pride when he told me that.. I guess it's most boys' dream to be in a 'macho' eca such as bball, soccer, athletics.. or at least that's how I feel... haha..

He used to listen to me then, and did what I asked him to do... haha.. like posing nicely for a picture.... But now.. look how growing up changed him =P HAHA!

He gave me a blur look with half closed eyes.. trying to be funny right? haha...

I asked for another shot again... haha.. and as expected....

He stuck out his tongue... Noticed how I maintained the same smile and 'twist'... HAHA! it's hilarious.. =P

Too bad Jiaxin wasn't there when I visited, and I really miss her..... been such a looonnnngggg time since I last saw her... It either a case of she's there when I wasn't, or she's not there when I visited.. HAHA! but I hope I can see her during CNY =) I hope she remembers me................ =P

Anyway, managed to dig out some old photos I used to take with the little ones (not so little now)..... Seeing them grow up, really reminds me that I'm getting older =P

Now I really understand how the adults felt then, when they commented the same about us when we slowly grew up! haha... It's true~ Well...... since that's inevitable, everyone's gotta grow up and old someday... I'm just gonna embrace growing up (I hope I still am, and not starting to grow old =P) and live my life to the fullest =) haha...

Thankfully, I still have these precious pictures and memories to remind me of those happy moments together when we all were younger... haha! 10 years down the road, let's go back to the old photos and see how we have changed/grown..

They say nothing lasts forever.. well, I beg to differ~ coz a photograph embalms time and is memory in the raw =)

Walking down memory lane (playing the song 'The young ones" in my head)................

Memories = Priceless! =)

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-11T00:21:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year!!! =)

Long overdue post, coz I've been pretty caught up with work... ever since the new year started.. so much so that I would be drained off all energy to even switch on my computer to blog.. haha... Work is zapping my energy (can zap my fats too! haha.. I don't mind)... I don't even have energy to jog.. this is bad =P

Anyway, things can only get better from here.. haha!

Back to NYE =) haha... Counted down to the new year with dearest Mr Koh! haha.. went for a nice dinner at Ding Tai Fung.. at Marina Bay link... the usually quiet and deserted underground linkway was suddenly packed with hordes of people, all carrying smiles on their faces.. it's a happy sight! so infectious that it's hard being gloomy that night.. haha..

We ordered xiao long bao, siew mai and noodles... haha.. yummy~

Me with the weird looking siew mai... which tastes like xiao long bao! hahaha...

We found a good spot (or so we thought) at the Marina Bay Promenade.. and settled for the night, all the way to countdown.. =) haha.. started camping at ard 10pm and chatted and ppl-watched till the end of 2010... haha...

Our view for the last 2 hrs of 2010 =) Singapore has become more and more beautiful over the years... don't you think so?

Our last picture together in 2010... waiting excitedly to welcome 2011!

The clock struck 12........ HAPPY NEW YEAR! ppl cheered as the fireworks exploded in the dark sky.. It's exceptionally beautiful to view the fireworks with the cbd skyline as the backdrop...

Breath-taking.. for the first 3 minutes.. haha.. coz the wind gradually blew the smoke towards our direction.. and covered the fireworks... so all we saw for the last few mins was smoke.. with flashes of colourful light peeping from the gaps of the smoke... HAHA!

On new year's day~ Mr Koh and I had a date with the Philatelic Museum....... haha.. coz all Museums offered free entry for all on New Year's Day! =) yay....

Mr Koh posing with the old letter box... from UK? haha..

We explored the Musuem and it was nice to understand a little bit more about something which had almost become non-existent in today's world - stamps...

How many of you still keep your stamp album? or have ever kept one? haha... sadly I lost mine =p

We loitered around, and chanced upon this area with lots of colourful pictures and drawings.. think it was some contest with various schools and organisations taking part in..

Him acting silly again.. haha..

And me getting cosy with a UK letter box.. it's nice right? so old school...

Went to the 2nd level.. and saw this heritage exhibition..... they decorated the place to look 60's/70's... it's nice! haha.. can't help but to take more pictures.. and to fool ard~

See the clogs and liang teh stall? haha...

Tikam tikam~ and can I get this magazine pls? haha.......

Happy New Year dear all~ haha.. hope your 2011 started off well =)

And the X'mas celebrations continued....

2010-12-31T00:59:00.000+08:00

It was dong zhi during the week of x'mas and so, mummy decided that we should all go for a nice family dinner (to celebrate xmas in advance too!).. haha... and we went to this fish head steamboat restaurant just opposite our place.. haha.. =) actually it's just the level above Sheng Siong.. my place is so convenient.. I love supermarkets.. =P

Back to the steamboat... Heard ah qi said that this restaurant is a franchise of a famous fish head steamboat chain.. haha.. I've no idea if that is true.. =P

But since we have always wanted to try it out.. so here we are!

Pipping hot steamboat.. we ordered red promfret steamboat.. no fish head, just the meat =) and ordered a few other side dishes too... yummy~~

Time to dig in!

Delicious soup base, lotsa fish meat, leafy vege, toufu, etc... it's a pretty big pot.. And since the weather's been a little chilly lately, steamboat is defnitely a great idea! =)

Their chicken wings.. surprisingly nice! my dad has finally met a worthy competitor.. that makes almost-the-same-standard of ckn wings.. haha... (side track: I'm actually quite impressed with this shot, iphone camera can focus pretty well.. if you put your heart to it) HAHA!

Pork ribs too!

eat and eat and eat... =)

See that smile? haha.. told you the food was good! hee...

On x'mas eve itself, we had a mini celebration in office =) It was a half day, how welcoming~ I love no-work days... haha..

Now our tree's got little pressies =) Guess which I got eventually? haha... see that pink bag right at the back? haha.. yes~ I got that during the gift exchange..

Everyone gathered for the feast! haha.. there was alot of food.... and wine.. HAHA!

Making me hungry now~

That's danny, the chicken rice seller.. haha...

Our pretty ice cream log cake from swensens... I'm really hungry now =P haha!

After all the foodies, we played games, drank wine and fooled ard... till it was time to go off! yippeee........ Went off to meet Mr Koh to get all the last minute xmas gifts.. hahha.. I love xmas shopping! but the malls were seriously packed.. I think ppl were all like me, shopping away for last min gifts...

There are sales everywhere!!!! it's tormenting.. to know that I can't get everything I see and want.. HAHA! Soon it was time to meet Huixian, Weiting, Jasmine and Pin Han for our xmas eve dinner~ haha.. stomachs were growling already =P

Huixian and Weiting.. we were at the basement of orchard central.. I love the serenity and deco of the place.. nice~

Mr Koh and I! Hahaha... with our xmas hats from daiso... =) Ho Ho Ho~~~~~

Dinner was at Brotzeit @ 313, but as surroundings were dimly lit, the pictures taken were pretty grainy and dark.. haha..

With the ladies at spinelli.... =) As the theme of our gift exchange was 'playful', Mr Koh and I got games/board games for the lucky ppl who got our gifts.. hee! Jasmine and Pinhan got our gifts again.. same as last yr! haha...

so at least we have some games to entertain ourselves with while we waited for the clock to strike 12 =)

The clock struck 12... and cars on the roads were all sounding their horns in unison.. hahaha.. everyone whipped out their cams.. Merry Xmas!!! =)

Our view was good... haha.. we were above ground level and could see/hear what everyone was doing below.. not as chaotic as I expected.. though there were a few gps of youngsters spraying foam at each other.. heng i'm quite far away from them =P

Haha.. next morning........ It was gift exchange with my family! =) hahaha.. I love this annual family exchange! love to buy gifts for my dearest loved ones...

Look! hahaha.. we've got the tree, the sparkling juice.. and the numerous gifts on the table =) hahaha... We each bought gifts for the person we're supposed to buy for.. and I'll always get every one something too, even though I didnt pick them.. hee... Mummy and Daddy will get an extra gift for their 3 little pigs too =)

This year, Daddy picked me... and got me a car!!!! A green murcielago =) woohoo~~~ zoom zoom... another car to add on to my collection of lambo cars.. haha...

Mummy and Daddy got me sushi small food and a instant noodles coin box... hahaha! I love them all.... From the gifts I received, one could easily tell that food and cars are my greatest loves! =P

Went for a movie + scrumptious pasta dinner with Mr Koh on xmas day... haha...

Coz it was xmas, I ordered something which I always wanted to order, but didnt coz I find it too extravagant to have at pasta mania.. haha.. =P Crayfish pasta!!! but then... it was disappointing... hahaha...

Boxing day dinner was much much much better................ yum yum.. sushi teh *woots* hahaha!

Counting down to 2011.... Goodness, time flies! hahaha... 2010 had been a great year for me... let's hope that the coming year will be even better! *cheers my friends*

X'mas dinner with my 18/03 babes!

2010-12-30T00:24:00.000+08:00

Another X'mas dinner with my dearest 18/03 babes! =) haha.. this time round, we met at this Italian restaurant at triple one @ somerset.. haha.. if i remember the name correctly, it's called Italiannies =)

This interior of the restaurant pretty much resembles the restaurant that I went to with Aijia, Fanny and Angie some time back.. it's called wild honey by the way.. haha.. Dim lights, wooden tables and chairs.. nice~ hidden away from the hustle and bustle of the main orchard road.. it's nicely tucked in a corner, perfect for a cosy gathering with my girlies =)

I had this super yummy red apple fruit shake =) it's super nice! with all the apple goodness blended in.. it doesnt contain any milk products (though it's called a shake), and every sip is like a bite into an apple! i'm not kidding, I give it 4 out of 5 stars! haha..

Qian ru, Li ying and Lifang~

While we waited for the food to arrive, we started to take some pictures.. haha.. to remember our little girlie gatherings.. =) talking abt work, new places to eat, life, and everything under the sun.... except studies.. haha.. schooling life really seemed quite far away already.. HAHA! off our radar...

Me, Huijun and Seetoh

After a really long wait (we seriously are not happy with the waiting time).. haha.. but well, it was compensated with the delicious food that was served... or maybe it tasted good coz we were famished! =P

My classic cabonara... creamy~ haha.. but nice! =) Sprinkled with generous bits of salty bacon.. I know this will require rounds of jogs to burn off.. HAHA!

Ended our dinner with this complimentary choc indulgence dessert.. haha.. sinfully delicious!!!! another 10 rounds to go... =P but all worth it..

After food, it's time for the gift exchange! =)

me with all the pressies... haha! wondering which is mine...

Which in the end, I got seetoh's gift! =) a lovely agnes b bracelet... haha.. I love it~ Thanks babe!!

We slowly made our way back after dinner + gift exchange... and realised we forgot to take a group shot! haha.. so we bothered a passer-by to help us with the picture...

which made me wonder why he took this shot for us.. must be he don't know how to use the camera function.. HAHA! anyhow clicked the shutter =P

Finally, a more decent picture...

Merry X'mas my dear girls! *hugs*

Aijia & Fanny Birthday celebration + X'mas exchange!

2010-12-27T11:44:00.001+08:00

I know I'm very back dated in blogging, but first and foremost, I would like to wish everyone a Merry X'mas! =) haha.. Hope it had been a wonderful xmas for everyone.. and of coz it's gonna be the end of 2010 soon, and it's time to welcome the new year!

Let me try to finish all my xmas posts - gatherings with my lovely babes before the new year creeps in.. HAHA!

First, I met Fanny, Aijia and Angie for a nice and cosy brunch at Wild Honey~ It's located at the very high class mandarin gallery (yes, I got lost while trying to find this restaurant).. HAHA! it's such a pretty place I must say... and I'm such a suagu.. my girlfriends seem to know so many nice restaurants... I've been in the cave for too long =P

We 4 girls met for a nice brunch to:

1) celebrate Aijia's birthday (belated one)

2) celebrate Fanny's birthday (advanced one)

3) xmas exchange! hahaha...

Pretty aijia with the pretty birthday gift..... hee! I'm beginning to like cath kidston man... I foresee it will soon become another 'Le Sportsac Tokidoki addiction' for me... hahaha! I hope not...

Next, we present Fanny with her lovely Guess Necklace.. goes perfect with her dressing that day.. totally ready for xmas! haha..

A picture of us, minus Aijia.. haha.. Cheers to many years of friendship! and the impending xmas... hee =)

Yes, that's my order! grilled chicken sandwich.. hahaha.. with the unbelivably hard bread.. hahaha.. not for the teethless and ppl with brittle teeth... HAHA! I almost broke a few (just kidding).. but you get the idea.. haha.. but the filling was nice~ =)

I look like I'm inside an oven.. such orangey lighting.. haha.. toast me pls!

Aijia with her order... Wild Honey serves mainly brunch items and the portions are soo huge and generous~ You can come with an empty stomach and eat your fill =P

Fanny with her pancakes.. which I kapo alot from.. hahaha... they are so fluffy!!!

After food, we started our gift exchange~ hahaha... We drew lots before xmas and no one knew who would be receiving pressies from who.. haha..

and so, the mystery was revealed... haha.. Fanny gave Aijia a purple bag organiser.. haha.. Aijia's fav colour too! While Aijia bought a gift (still in transhipment then) for Fanny... hahaha.. Fanny had to pose with the vouchers we gave Aijia for the time being.. =P

Angie bought some yummy body lotion from Victoria's secret for me! =) yippee... smells super yummy too! good enough to eat...

And that's Angie, holding on to the 2011 planner I got for her... I realised I like to buy friends planners... =P It's a practical gift, but I'm sure they will be reminded of me when they whip out their planners to make notes... HAHA!

I shall not buy planners for friends next yr *secret vow*.. haha..

Babes, I've not forgotten about our badminton session... HAHA! let's do it soon, maybe some day in 2011... =P

Celebrating Weili's birthday + Polished Divas...

2010-12-21T23:21:00.001+08:00

Met the girls 2 Saturdays ago to celebrate Weili's birthday! hahaha.. and it was a party fit for princesses.. coz we were treated to 3 hrs of nail polishing goodness, food, drinks, movie + loads of fun.. haha...

We went to this nail parlour called Polished Divas at Bugis street =)

We all got treated to both manicure and pedicure.. haha.. such a girly activity to indulge in on a Saturday.. not forgetting it was total madness at work the day/night before... So, it was a good chance to relax and recharge~

We got food prepared for us too! =) see Shiling sneaking ard like a mouse.. haha..

We've got free flow juices, crackers, and choc fondue~ haha..

The birthday girl given the royal treatment... haha..

Feli's turn~

and Shiyou... who loves to hide away from the camera lens.. HAHA!

Went for a late dinner after our nails (polish) were almost dry... and headed for the birthday girl's preferred choice: Manhattan Fish Market.. *yummy*

All in... I chose baby pink instead of something loud, coz I had to meet bosses the following Monday.. haiz.. waste money lo.. If I were still in school, I will ask for the most eye catching colour! haha.. but anyways, I got my toe nails painted silver+pink glitters... whee~ haha.. coz I wear covered shoes to work, I can choose the wildest colour.. =) Since they are tucked away nicely.. haha..

We were extra careful and dainty that night, as we were afraid that our lovely nails would be 'destroyed' if we happen to scratch the nails against something.. I swear we would scream immediately.. esp when it was so nicely done already (and we paid quite abit for it).. haha..

and also, X'mas is coming soon! we need to make sure the paint stays nicely till the 25th dec... =p

Food came.. and Shiyou cleverly demostrated the art of squeezing lemons.. hands/fingers free! well done *applause*

Shiyou, you'd make a good housewife! haha..

Still squeezing the lemon skillfully, while Shiling looked on.. it was amusing.. haha!

Tadah! our feast that night... we ordered the crabby platter (in the middle) and another main dish to share... I don't know why, we didnt order alot, but we can't seem to finish the food.. haha.. If Mr Koh was here, I think we can easily clear the food.. HAHA! maybe girls just don't have a big stomach...

We surrendered and decided to just leave the food and got the bill.. haha.. and to our horror, we realised we werent served the ice cream that was included in the crabby platter promo after walking out of the restaurant! forgetful us.... tsk tsk..

my nails are still doing well now, except for that careless scratch few days ago =P... OPI nail polish is really good.. lasts so much longer than my face shop or other usual brands' nail polish.. haha.. quality comes with a price!

The Lim Family's X'mas tree!

2010-12-14T23:39:00.001+08:00

Seeing my dept's x'mas tree so nicely decorated with lovely and colourful decorations, makes me wanna get one for my own home too! haha... It's been a long time since the Lim family had decorated a x'mas tree.. my folks told me we used to have a tree when I was young, but I think I was really too young to remember..

Haha.. what happened to the old tree we used to have? It was thrown away =P when we moved hse... aww...

So this year~ I went to get a tree for my family! =) I painstakingly lugged it back home from carrefour.. ignoring curious stares from strangers on the train/bus.. haha..

from carrefour.. Not doing an advertisement for them here, but their trees are pretty decent.. and affordable too... This 1.5m tree costs $10.90 only! Cheap~~

So after dinner one night, we all got down to setting up the tree! The Lim's tree.. haha..

all hard at work! haha.. It was really fun~

Whipping out whatever decorations we could find at home.. be it whether they were bought last yr, yrs before.. all could be put to use.. HAHA! oh ya, daiso sells awesome looking deco too~ value for money!

Within an hour, the Lim's x'mas tree is up! isnt it lovely? hahaha.. not the usual huge and flamboyant xmas trees you find in shopping malls, hotels, etc.. just a simple xmas tree decorated by yours truly and the folks at home =)

I love my x'mas tree!

*jingle bells jingle bells*

Meet up with the girlies~

2010-12-05T01:05:00.001+08:00

This will be a very 'dark' post... haha.. coz the pictures taken by my phone were pretty dark.. blame it on it's incapacity to take good pictures in dark settings.. haha...

Met angie, aijia and fanny last week after work for a nice dinner and gathering! haha... Fanny joined us slightly later though, due to her work commitments.. earning big bucks already.. haha!

Met angie and aijia at this restaurant cafe at somerset 313 called Oriole =)

Pretty nice settings.. but reminds me of many other similar cafes with such decos sprouting out ever so frequently... haha! but a nice cafe to just unwind with a bunch of great friends after a hard day at work.. haha..

angie loves her wine.. she ordered pasta with beef... haha!

While I had my fish and chips! =) Food wise, I think it's pretty normal.. For the price I paid, I would have prefered nicer food presentation and perhaps adding another side or two? haha..

Aijia joined us a little later.. and ordered the same dish as me.. =)

Posing pretty.. hee..

All in! =) too bad the picture is abit dark...

We ended our dinner with a nice rich choc cake topped with a scoop of yummy vanilla ice cream! mama mia~ *slurp* my hair was so hungry that it went for a dip in the choc syrup too.. =P

hahaha... Met fanny later that night.. and chatted the night away at toast box till it was time to go home.. =) Enjoyed dinner and catching up with the babes (though I do meet aijia every now and then for lunch too).. haha! A good mid-week dinner to chase away the blues at work... =)

Dept's x'mas tree!

2010-11-28T02:04:00.000+08:00

With less than a month to X'mas, everyone in office is naturally excited, and how can a dept not have a X'mas tree? HAHA! It's a time for decorating and doing all things joyful! =)

hahaha... and the lot of us, went out during lunch in search of X'mas tree decorations at Daiso.. Thankfully Chika helped us buy the X'mas tree before hand.. X'mas trees nowadays are cheap! Amazingly... haha.. For less than 20 bucks, one could get a decent looking 1.5m tall tree..

The proud ladies with our masterpiece.. We had a quick lunch and came back office to do up the tree.. our very own tree! haha.. From left: Eileen, Chika, Me and Lee Peng =)

Presenting the tree that cost us less than 40 bucks altogether: $12.90 (tree) + $24 deco = $36.90 *beams*

Isn't it beautiful? haha... Truth to be told, this is the first time, in my 24 yrs on earth that I get to decorate a X'mas tree! haha...it was great fun! Everyone chipped in, helped to set up the tree and spread the branches, hang lovely bells and decos~ It was great fun and bonding with my cols! haha.. of coz there were numerous funny moments when we decorated the tree.. =P

It felt good to see cols from other depts eyeing our tree with envy.. and some even commended us! haha..

Counting down to X'mas!

Mr Koh's Birthday Celebration! - part 2

2010-11-21T01:16:00.001+08:00

Continued from Day 1... haha.. after a good night's rest (we really slept like we were at home, took our own sweet time to brush up and get ready for breakfast).. =) Living like kings and queens.. no need to make the bed =P

The birthday boy's first meal of the day.. hahaha.. had yummy bfast to start the day! =)

We had so much food (or maybe it was just me, coz I like to have and try many many kinds of food).. haha...

Had our bfast and we headed back to our room to get ready to check out.. haha... how sad, we weren't able to check out late =P if not we might go for another swim again.. haha..

view from our building's corridor =)

We checked out soon after (leaving our bags at the counter =P), and started loitering ard again.. haha..

I sneaked into one of the ground floor sea facing terraces' balcony and made myself comfortable.. HAHA.. not sure if there were anyone inside the room, but well, I did it quietly and sneakily...

Then, we proceeded to the beach! =) hahaha... We didnt really venture much around the beach the day before, and decided to hit the waters (well, not literally) before we depart...

Wow~ The stretch of beach is never-ending.. haha.. the sand is extremely soft and white too =) imagine gold coast? haha.. about there...

We spotted some really nicely built sandcastles by the corner.. haha.. think someone could have built it in the morning as there was a thunderstorm the night before, it would be quite impossible to build anything in that kind of weather.. haha..

flap my arms... hahaha.. I own the beach.. "welcome my friends" (like the carlsberg advertisement).. HAHA =P

He was happily kicking the waves.. haha.. like some MTV... reminds me of the project video that we and other gp mates made when we were in uni.. HAHA! Time flies...

Nice weather, beautiful beach, soft sand.. perfect!

we spotted hermit crabs too! I was surprised to know that all the shells found on the beach had little hermit crabs in them... hahahha.. how cute!

Me with the little shell.. with the little hermit crab inside.. *say hello*.. haha!

We found a baybed to rest on the beach, and also coz Mr Koh's bag strap tore.. haha.. time to get a new bag lo~

Drew on the sand.. hahaha.. to remember his birthday spent at bintan.. haha...

3,2,1 smile.... hahaha.. with our masterpiece.. =)

We left the beach and went back to the recreation centre for some light activities in the afternoon...

Introducing the pool king and queen... HAHA! =P I have to admit, I'm loving this game man! haha.. I'm afterall an ah lian (at heart)~ hee...

We finished the game and went for a nice lunch by the poolside before we head back to the resort lobby to catch the shuttle bus that will bring us back to the ferry terminal..

We ordered the very refreshing passionfruit smoothie~ and it was nice to dine by the poolside, such a nice view.. such a laidback experience.. I like!

Our lunch! I ordered chicken kebabs and he ordered a hotdog bun... haha.. yums!

We finished our meal and took our time to stroll around the resort for one last time before we bid goodbye... *sobz*

While waiting for the shuttle bus, we were informed by the resort staff that we are entitled to this resort customers' privilege card that entitles us to redeem discounts at participating restaurants and cafes (that includes the atas '3 degree' restaurant we patronised the night before.. so late then tell us =P).. haha!

But nevertheless, we were still able to enjoy some last minute privileges... which is~

Yes! Ice cream........... woohoo! It came just in time as we had wanted to spend our shillings on ice cream before we leave too... haha.. now we get free ice cream!

A 'birthday treat' from the resort to the birthday boy.. haha!

Yummy~ I added so much rainbow toppings... =)

With that, we hopped onto the shuttle bus with our ice cream, slowly savouring it on our way to the ferry terminal... Bye bye Bintan Lagoon Resort~ it's amazing that we didnt leave the resort during our 2 days there... haha..

Last picture at bintan.. with the little shell that I picked on the beach earlier that day... I'd wanted to bring some hermit crabs back.. haha.. but didn't know how to contain them.. =P

In our cosy ferry... which we felt asleep soundly in, during our journey back.. we were both tired.. HAHA! I remembered that the ferry was rocking left and right, up and down on the sea coz the weather was pretty bad.. there was a thunderstorm again I think.. but we were both undisturbed by the rocking.. haha!

After an hour or so... we finally arrived back in Singapore~ =) It was a relaxing and short getaway to bintan.. but I conclude, batam is better than bintan.. HAHA.. coz things are cheaper and there are more things to do.. or maybe we havent explore bintan well enough..

Nevertheless.... we're both bintan-fied after the trip.. and found exorbitant food charges in Singapore normal?.. haha.. just kidding..

Anyway, though Mr Koh's birthday had already passed... I still want to wish him (and I know you are reading this.. haha!): Happy Birthday my dear~

I hope you enjoyed the getaway as much as I did! =)

Mr Koh's Birthday Celebration! - part 1

2010-11-17T00:54:00.001+08:00

Mr Koh's birthday coincidentally falls on the Deepavali Long weekend this year =) hahaha.. Good news for him, as the whole Indian community is celebrating his birthday with him.. hee!

So this time round, we ventured out of Singapore and went over to Bintan for a short getaway / celebration.. haha.. a first time for both of us! Naturally, we were excited.. haha.. Coz we are going to get our passports stamped again!

We woke up real early to catch the ferry at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.. haha.. We woke up when the sky was still dark.. haha.. reminds me of my schooling days..

and had paus and tea for breakfast.. haha! while we filled up the departure cards... it was a nice wait outside the ferry terminal.. enjoying the morning breeze and admiring the birds chirping.. =)

This is dearest Mr Koh, all ready for a fantabulous weekend getaway... haha.. with his small bag (I'm truly amazed)

This is me, inside the waiting area.. behind me, as you can see, were gps of families, and alot of AMs... goodness.. I didnt know we have so many of them in Singapore.. all heading to bintan too.. perhaps for some golf sessions.. =P

Us inside the comfy ferry... much more spacious and comfortable than the ferries to batam.. haha.. Behold, we are heading to the 'tok-tourists-until-siao' island.. HAHA!

This is their arrival hall... and just a simple stroll around the shops, I got a taste of how much things will cost here.. We got ourselves prepared.. Thankfully I got my card with me =P Not enough cash can swipe swipe swipe... haha... Things there are similar to the prices in Singapore, if not even pricier.. HAHA!

Posing with the shuttle buses.. haha.. Ours was the white bus on my left! =)

We reached in about 15 mins of bus ride..

We were welcomed with some traditional dance.. I must say the dancers had very wide and nice smiles.. haha.. The lobby was pretty spacious too =)

We had a welcome drink too! Bintan is a land of AMs... hahaha... We were easily outnumberd by them... We knew check-in time was 3pm, but was just trying our luck to see if there were any available rooms for us to just unload our barangs.. haha..

No luck on that! haha.. so in order not to waste time waiting for 3pm to come.. we walked around the resort to see what we could do for the day, and the next day too =)

This is the swimming pool! =) Lush greenery.. coconut trees, palm trees.. huts, blue waters... how beautiful! I can't wait to just dive in and play / wade in the water.. haha..

Skies still looking good! =)

snap snap pictures of the terraces facing the sea.. haha... how I wish we could have gotten one of those rooms.. =P

Self timer shot of us.. =)

Slowly, we appraoched the seaside.. to enjoy the sea breeze and lovely sunshine =) What's a resort getaway without Mr Sun? haha...

This is one of the nicer looking restaurants in the resort.. haha.. sea-facing, open concept, loft layout... pretty cool.. appealed to the AMs alot.. haha.. reminds me of cafe del mar in Sentosa.. =P I'm sure the charges are exorbitant too..

We didnt spend too much time at the beach, but instead just walked around the resort =) exploring and snapping pics along the way..

Other than the usual rooms, the resort has villas to accommodate larger groups of tourists, be it families, large groups of friends, etc... Cool! imagine a whole house to yourself.. haha.. fully equipped with a kitchen, living room, a private pool, etc...

We sneaked into a vacant house.. hee!

See the private little pool behind him? haha.. far cry from the bigger pools nestled by the resort rooms.. and see the can of 100 plus in his hand? That silly can costs $3... If we hadn't felt super thirsty, we wouldnt have entered the 'convenience' store in the resort to buy this.. haha.. our first 'tok' of the day =P

We continued with our exploration and stopped by a pool when we saw these 2 little angels... =)

Red baby says to Pink baby: "Stop running, I'm coming after you..." haha.. so cute!! *pinch their cheeks*

Enough of wandering round the resort, we succumbbed to the evil growls of hunger.. We were so hungry we could devour a cow! haha.. Initially we wanted to go for the lunch buffet, going for $22++ per person (I think so.. haha!), but thinking that we would be going for a nice dinner in the evening, we decided to opt for ala carte instead...

We were at Kopi-O cafe.. haha.. the same place where we would have our breakfast the very next morning..

His lamb burger with fries.. haha.. He's very into burgers..

Can't figure out what I'm having? haha.. It's chicken fillet coated with egg... drizzled with tomato paste with vegetables..

Lunch was not too bad... enough to fuel us till evening.. haha..

Still no luck with the rooms, we decided to walk to the recreation centre.. and see if we could play/try any games.. haha..

We chanced upon his favourite darts... haha! and I picked up a thing or two abt this game.. haha.. accuracy and good mental calculation is all you need.. I think I did averagely well... haha.. for a beginner =)

Tried our hands at carom too.. this game made my fingers hurt.. haha! must be the way I hit the chips.. =P

Finally, we got to check in! =)

Nice interior decor.. clean, and modern looking.. no complains... haha..

only disappointment we had was the balcony view.. hahaha.. tell me what view is this? =P reminds me of some halls' window view in NTU... quite pathetic~ haha..

We went for a swim in the afternoon and hopped from one pool to another.. haha.. We played with our favourite hoops game.. trying to perfect our shooting skills in water.. haha! We went to try out the water slides too... and again, I need to emphasize.. again, that I slipped and fell... HAHA! =P Thankfully, it was just a harmless slip when I was at the start of the water slide... maybe just a small baluku on my head and butt =P

Skies started to turn grey.. and we were able to spot lighting and hear thunder after an hr or so of water fun.. =P boo~ such a wet blanket *pun intended* We decided to head back to the room to rest and clean ourselves up before dinner! =)

Dinner was at this cafe del mar-like restaurant called 3 Degrees.. Weather was pretty bad coz the rain didnt seem to stop.. since evening time =P and we just had to carry our brolly along coz we were too hungry to wait for the rain to stop.. haha..

As we didnt make prior reservations, we were given outside seating, and it was a hair raising experience, more so for me.. haha!

As it was super windy... my hair was flying about everywhere... HAHA! I really mean everywhere.. and it lasted for quite some time throughout our dinner.. until I had to borrow a rubber band from the waiter to keep my hair in place.. at least together.. =P

Seafood tempation - succulent king scallops, big prawns, mussles, and fried mashed potatoes.. $36++

BBQ chicken with garlic rice and vegetables.. $33++

We ordered drinks to go along with our meals.. haha.. how often do we get to splurge like that? But it was Mr Koh's pre-birthday dinner.. it was all worth it =) Food was nice too!

Yay! A nice picture of us to remember the dinner that night =)

Not feeling very full from the dinner earlier, we went in search of some light snacks after that... haha!

posing with the lobby again, different atmosphere at night... Felt very balinese...

The birthday boy striking a handsome pose..

Our cheese platter... with an international selection of cheese, I'm not good with the names, but I know there's blue cheese... haha.. my fav part of the dish - the grapes! hahaha... next the crackers.. =P

We went back to our room few moments before the clock struck 12 midnight... haha... I whipped out the Jacob's creek bought from the tanah merah ferry terminal and a little muffin I prepared earlier.. hee! Forgetful me forgot to bring a candle + lighter (how could I?).. but I brought along the candle stand.. How silly! =P haha..

Birthday celebration in a simple fashion... See the invisible candle? haha...

Another fruitful year has passed... It had been a good year for us =)

Happy Birthday my dear!

Desmond's Wedding~

2010-11-08T23:13:00.001+08:00

Attended Desmond's Wedding some time back, and it's nice to meet some of my Yokogawa colleagues at the dinner =) Haha.. Another member of the gawa-mates getting married~ Not counting Fayn (coz she was already married when we met her.. haha!), then we have pretty Jean who got married 2 yrs ago, who thereafter gave birth to a lovely boy named Ethan recently...

Now, Desmond's getting married.. haha.. really glad that one by one, I see the Yokogawa buddies whom I went overseas with, getting married! =) Next up, I foresee attending Cam's wedding soon~ haha.. Cam if you are reading this, pls overtake that Leon.. haha~

Anyway, it was Desmond's night that evening... Congrats Desmond!

As usual, like all Chinese weddings, his wedding started a little late too... haha.. so I had time to take some pictures of the menu and door gift, which is a nice glass coaster~ =)

Food glorious food~

Caught up with Cam and Fayn who were at the same table with me.. Chatted and chatted.. haha.. until it was time for the newly wed's march in =)

There, can you spot the couple? haha.. We were seated 'strategically' in a corner =P and I was skillful enough to snap a picture of the couple from our table.. haha.. through the gap..

The 3 flowers from Finance.. haha... Fayn still as pretty~ She's a mother already by the way..

As the couple gets ready to toast on stage.. Oh ya, we shared the table with the brothers too! haha.. hearing their stories from the morning when they went to visit the bride, the 'torture' they had to go through.. haha.. I think they were quite lucky, coz the games the jie meis thought about seemed mild.. hahaha =P

Together with the Finance team then.. some of them had already left the company, but we still have fond memories of the times there.. haha! seems like a good company to work for.. some of them have been working there for 20 over yrs already I think.. =)

A change of gown and a change of lighting~ The newly weds walked down the aisle once more...

Pretty bride in a lovely blue gown.. It's a nice gown~ Lovely in blue!

Finally a group shot with the bride and groom... with the brothers too.. haha! and 3 strangers who were quite quiet throughout.. =P

Grabbed them for a shot... actually our table was their last stop... That's why Desmond's taking a break at our table.. Can see how exhuasted he was.. But I'm sure he's beaming inside =) haha!

Garnered his strength for another shot with us, the 3 flowers from finance.. then... HAHA!

Desmond finally surrendered... haha! With his good 'brother' Minghui giving him a nice shoulder massage~ while Desmond's wife Huixin looked on with amusement.. haha!

Congrats Desmond and Huixin! =) I wish you both a happy and blissful marriage.. hurry make some babies soon! haha..

Birthday celebrations with the girls~

2010-11-05T15:42:00.001+08:00

Went for a KTV session with PPG and gang few weeks ago.. haha.. belting out tunes that were always so close to our hearts.. though we do try to keep up with times and learn some new songs.. HAHA!

yay! finally took a secret shot of the girls.. hee hee *victory sign*

Yet another shot! hahaha.. I'm such a sneaky photographer.. hee.. Enjoyed the few hrs of singing with them.. Thanks for the gifts too.. now I have another new bag to add to my collection.. time to keep away the old and tattered ones.. hee! =P

Met up with my JC clique one weekday for dinner too..... It's nice to meet up with the babes, during midweek, to laugh and joke away, and to chase the work blues away.. haha! This time round, we went for Skinny Pizza!! =)

New restaurant, but I seem to have seen similar dishes at this restaurant at House@dempsy which I've visited before.. Strikingly similar, even how the food was presented was the same, the desserts menu/magazine.. maybe they are linked? HAHA...

Anyway, they have special names for their pizzas.. this is called english breakfast.. haha! see that sunny side up in the middle? doesnt it reminds you of a typical english breakfast =) sweet! are you drooling now? haha..

This is some blueberry turkey ham pizza... I forgot the name.. haha.. blueberry jam and ham combination? surprisingly pleasant! =) haha..

We ordered other dishes like pasta too, but these 2 were the more interesting ones we ordered...

Qian Ru and Lifang~ Looking pretty with the food.. haha..

Me with pretty lily~ haha.. who's a tuition teacher now.. =) we worry for the kids.. HAHA!

Huijun and Seetoh who joined us later.. haha.. busy with work =P tsk tsk...

We went to MOF for some sweet desserts...and finally posed for a gp shot before we part.... pretty all in~ HAHA!

Thank you ladies for celebrating my birthday with me =) Enjoyed the company with the babes... Cheers to many years of friendship.. and counting! *big hug!!*

--------------------------

As part of my birthday week additions.. haha... Mr Koh and I visited I Light Marina Bay.... =)

Those who are interested in Light installations, or would like to find some free yet interesting things to do, do head down to Marina bay area for this event =) it ends on 7th Nov I think...

Beautiful Light installations are planted along Marina Bay area.. stretches all the way from Marina Bay Promenade area to the Clifford pier to fullerton to esplanade to MBS.. in short, it's actually the perimeter of the beautiful Marina Bay~

Saw this light 'garden' at the promenade field... one of the more beautiful installations there =) maybe coz it's designed like flowers.. thus, making everything look more colourful amidst the dark background..

There's a pink tree too! =)

Pink showers.. how nice~ This effect was not intentional.. haha.. it's caused by some limitations of my camera phone.. hahhaa.. imperfectly perfect~ =) I like.. haha..

Now that I'm officially a year older... I hope time will just crawl so that I don't grow old so quickly.. haha..

A simple note to myself: Happy Birthday wor........ hee...

My birthday celebration at Universal Studios! (Part 2)

2010-10-26T23:59:00.001+08:00

As continued from the adventures at USS - Part 1 =)

We slowly exited the Sci-Fi city and entered the beautiful streets of New York... (song ringing in my head: "in new york, concrete jungle where dreams are made of... there's nothing you can't do...) =P haha..

All I did was 'wow wow and more wows'........ enthralled by what's before my eyes.. I felt like I'm in some Ang Moh country... HAHA! It felt completely out-of-Singapore!

I think most of the pictures in my camera contained pictures that were taken at 'New York'.. haha.. the shop fronts (just the facades) were soooo cute, and english or should I say American (since it's called New York).. I love every shop... I wished I lived just above the shops....... hee...

Hailing a yellow cab~ =)

Posing in front of a theatre... can you see the yellow cab peeping from the side? haha.. Ppl were just furiously snapping away.. adults, kids, grandparents.. they all love this place.. haha.. although there were so many pictures that we wanted to take, we had to succumb to the evil rumblings of our tummies... hee!

It's lunch time!! =) *so hungry that I can eat him up*... haha..

Without further ado, we headed straight inside the restaurant and made our orders...... and chose outside seating instead coz the al fresco dining was too tempting.. Made us feel like we were in New York... =) cheap thrill!

our pizza and spaghetti... hidden from view... can you spot the yellow cab again? hahaha...

After lunch, it was back to some manual work again~ haha...

For me, it's snapping more pics.. while he drilled more holes... haha!

How cute!! Where else in Singapore can you find this parking ticket machine? hahaha.. except from my little black box at home?

We continued walking along the streets of New York and chanced upon an old friend.......... Charlie!!

How can we not pose for a pic with the infamous Charlie Chaplin =)

another few steps forward and we saw another close friend of ours... Betty Boop!

What's with the hair Betty? hahaha..

We walked along... and discovered a burst underground pipe... someone call the plumber pls... haha..

Ohhh~ especially cooling on sucha hot day~ hee!

Introducing my fav shop!! The fruit and vegetables store =)...... hahaha.. the fake foodies totally made me happy and light up immediately.. I can almost imagine me doing grocery shopping at this shop everyday if this is real and I live along the street.. HAHA... so cute....

Decided to avoid the main New York street and ventured into the small hidden lanes... Indeed, we discovered a lovely and tranquil backlane...... with other smaller shops and houses.. =) Walking through the lanes felt so surreal.. almost dreamlike! haha.. never would I imagine myself strolling along such lanes.. perhaps in future? =P

So much so that I started posing silly with a lampost which was ridiculously thick.. haha =P I don't want to leave this place~

While Mr Koh had to pose with his yatch at the Wharf~ haha..

Reluctant, we left New York and headed to 'Hollywood'.. to find Frankenstein's Monster~

How dare you strangle Mr Koh! hands off you dirty monster.. haha..

With that, we pretty much covered the whole USS... and of coz covering USS once meant nothing.. we had to make our money's and memories' worth... we went another round again.. to catch the attraction rides that we had earlier missed.. HAHA!

Took a picture with Marty, Alex, Gloria and Melman!

We even went to enjoy a simple carousel ride with the lovely animals from Madagascar.. My personal favourite would definitely be~ Marty! =)

just like a kid... 20 yrs back.. haha..

We walked to Far Far Away land again........ and decided to spend the vouchers given to us.. it's free btw.. it comes along with the entrance tix bought.. we were each given $5 food voucher and $5 retail voucher..

we bought a humungous roasted turkey leg!!.. don't be deceived by the picture.. it's enormous, the length is about the distance from my wrist to my elbow.. go imagine that! hahaha.. of coz, it's proportionate to price.. this leg along with a pack of chips and a large drink costs $12.80 or so...

See Gingy in the picture too? =) I love gingy~ secretly find them very adorable... hahaha...

After filling our stomachs with the leg, we walked along to Sci Fi City again... and took a picture with I don't know who.. haha..

Sure looks like something Lady Gaga would wear... haha...

Walked past the streets of New York and stopped at this shop selling hats and accessories..

Yes, this huge hat makes my head looks small... for once =P

And this small hat made Mr Koh's head look even smaller.. hahahaha..

How relaxed~

Skies grew darker... and my heart became sullen.. knowing that night is nearing =p meaning it's time to go home soon.... =(

The castle looks exceptionally beautiful at night too... with the changing lights around the castle =)

Soon, it was time for dinner.... sadly we were only left with this fast food joint as the other restaurants were located at sections that were cordoned off after 7pm =P boohoo~ hence, this fast food joint became the only haunt to find food... haha.. and it's crowedd!

Foodie time! =)

We headed out of the restaurant after dinner and quickly settled for a nice spot near the central 'lake' area... to wait for the fireworks display =)

Who hates fireworks? hahaha...

Haha.. beautiful display of sparks and lights~ =) to celebrate my birthday!! hee...

Not willing to leave USS though crowds were slowly dispersing and leaving, we walked through each and every souvenir shop in USS.. haha.. shopping around like tourists =)

Fooling around again.. haha..

Betty Boop-head me! =)

I really didn't want to leave =P haha.. like a spoilt little brat.. I dragged Mr Koh back to the streets of New York with me... just to enjoy the final moments in USS... as the closing time was near =P haha!

For more pictures with Gingy and a lollipop! =)

Finally, sadly, reluctantly and wearily............... we surrendered and were one of the last few to leave USS... haha! time check.. we spent a good 13 hrs inside.. how amazing.. not sure how we did that, but I guess... it still wasn't enough for us... =P

Thank you Mr Koh for celebrating my birthday with me at USS... It really felt like going overseas and I became a young girl all over again =) hee! (though I am still quite young =P)

Totally enjoyed ourselves that day.. and glad that we took more than 900+ photos.. haha!

Till we meet again.. Bye bye USS! *waves*

My birthday celebration at Universal Studios! (Part 1)

2010-10-24T01:20:00.001+08:00

It's my 24th birthday... and I'm officially labelled a 24 yr-old =P When the clock struck 12 midnight, I had a teeny weeny tinge of sadness... HAHA! coz it dawned onto me that I'm one year older.. hahaha.. older's the word... gone were the days where I would anticipate the arrival of my birthday excitedly, and happily replying smses from friends and loved ones wishing me 'Happy Birthday'... =P of coz, I still beam with happiness and reply smses happily with heartfelt gratitude =)

Just that I'm no longer a xiao mei mei... one of my birthday wish this yr is that there will be no kids calling me 'auntie'.. HAHA.. WeiShi jie jie is still very much appreciated.. haha!

So, on my birthday~ Mr Koh brought me to the Universal Studios!!! =) Yay~ Feels like going overseas... haha.. Woke up bright and early.. and headed over to harbourfront for Mc Donald's bfast!

Having a hearty bfast before charging for the day...

We arrived at the entrance soon... and very excited to enter! hahaha... but had to pose with a picture with this 'in your face' cheapo entrance ticket which says THIS IS YOUR TICKET...

Radiant and excited... finally we stepped foot inside the premise of USS... haha.. in the past, we used to peep from outside.. haha.. super envious of ppl roaming the streets inside.. now we're in!! =)

Posed with everything... Even the popcorn truck.. haha.. we took ard 900+ shots that day.. many memories for keepsake.. haha..

So much to see, so much to do.. without further ado, we turned left, and headed to Madagascar Land, our first stop! haha...

It was very hot that day.......... see the brollies in the background? haha.. thankfully, the weather was nice and dry! =) Better than rain anytime.. haha..

There was a dance performance by the animal mascots too! haha.. cute penguins..

With most of Madagascar's attraction still under construction, we headed over to Far Far Away land... to find Shrek and Fiona!

but we saw Puss in Boots first! haahaha.. gotta grab him for a shot! =)

The Far Far Away Land castle has a nice fountain at the entrance.. =)

See the castle? Say Wahhh................. haha...

Our first ride was the family roller coaster called the 'Enchanted Airways'.. haha.. which was not scary at all... haha.. but good enough for a start =)

Next we went over to another attraction in Shrek land... 4D adventure~

See the queue? It was a Friday, and yet we were surrounded by quite a number of ppl.. haha.. I can't imagine the weekend crowd =P

Snakey queue to get in...

My 3D goggles... the attraction was nice~ =) very entertaining show in a 'cinema' too, with occassional spurts of water on everyone's faces, light breezes, tickling of feet, shaking chairs.. hahaha.. go and try and you'll know what I mean..

We were strategically led to the souvenir shop after exiting the 'cinema'.. with fond memories of the lovable characters in the show earlier.. I bet kids will be begging mummies and daddies to buy shrek/fiona/donkey, etc for them.. HAHA!

Donkey~

I think donkey and I share the same smile.. HAHA!

Posing with Fairy Godmother's huge poster..

With that, we left Far Far away land.. and moved on to the next 'land'... haha.. but we know we will come back to the castle again later in the day =P

Beware! We have arrived at the Lost World.........

We took our first ride there.. which is the'canopy flyer' which essentially looks like a chairlift that brought us around the 'land' of dinos... and a moderate speed.. no heights, no speed.. not much thrills.. HAHA..

This was what I've taken of Mr Koh while on the ride.......... Haha.. =P this ride made me giddy... tsk tsk!

We walked ard the dino land and took pictures with figures everywhere.. our hands simply never left our cameras.. haha..

We have hatched! =) *roar*

Our next challenge: Rapids Adventure... and the sign at the entrance reads 'You might get wet, possibly soaked' I laughed to myself... I shouldnt be so unlucky.. haha...

well~ Never did I expect that I would be treated to an early bath... =P

totally excited.. and never thinking what I would be heading towards.. HAHA!

After minutes of turning and jerking in an ultra huge float that could fit 9 adults, along the man made river........................

We got soaked........... Really soaked.. =P not an inch of our bodies were dry.. haha..

Of course, curious stares from passer bys along the way were inevitable.. haha.. we were just glad the sun was hot enough to help dry our clothes asap.. =P

Having conquered all the exciting attractions in the lost world (we skipped the kiddy ride), we proceeded to the Mummies' Land........

Impressive Egyptian structures welcomed us... haha.. Seemed like I was at Egypt.. =)

Giant Figures at the entrance of the most exciting ride in the whole of USS i feel.. haha.. it's an indoor coaster.. that made me scream quite abit.. there's speed, a little height, and alot of queueing... haha..

We met a mummy too........... Look at those abs~ HAHA! Honestly, I didn't intentionally look up at the mummy's abs/arm pit.. hahhaa.. it was just candid =P but it's very funny...

We went over to the Sci-Fi land... and took a picture with 'Battlestar Galatica' ride which was under construction... so sad... heard this is the most exciting ride at USS... =P

It's okay though.. A picture with it would suffice.. hahaha.. to pretend that we have conquered that. =P

Welcome to Sci-Fi city.. but with battlestar closed, there was nothing much to see/try out there.. except for the spinning UFO ride.. (imagine tea cup ride).. HAHA... I would be crazy to try that, knowing that I hate dizzy rides... haha... undesirable consequences expected =P

We moved over to 'New York City' soon after.. and stay tuned to Part 2 of our USS adventure! =)

Birthday Dinner with Family =)

2010-10-18T23:25:00.001+08:00

Had a lovely dinner with my family (minus my brother coz he had a prior appt =P) at this newly opened Thai restaurant near our place.. We've always passed by the restaurant every now and then, but nv found the occassion or urge to go in and try.. haha.. partly coz my folks are not big fans of Thai food.. only ME! =P

So, on my birthday.. they decided to bring me there.. =) hee... so nice of them, even though they do not find Thai food especially easy on their palate..

I'm Princess Lim that day... haha.. correction, that week!

Posing together.. the best parents in the world =)

Haha... My mirror image - Ah qi~ =P

My lust - Tom Yum Soup! It's spicy man.. haha... Do not belittle this little pot of harmless looking soup.. It packs a punch and never fail to numb ur tongue and throat for that first few secs, with every sip =P I like!

We ordered pandan chicken and stuffed chicken wings too..

We ordered alot of food that night.. haha.. such as this Thai fried Kway Teow.. pretty similar to Phad Thai, just that the noodle is fatter.. haha..

It was an eye opener for Daddy and Mummy, coz that was the first time they tried authentic Thai food.. see the stalk of flower in the background (try to spot.. haha!).. hee... my lovely colleague bought it for me.. =)

Yummy!

Now I'm drooling...............

It was a nice dinner with my family, and we ended that evening with a slow stroll back to our cozy little home few streets away.. hee!

Colour *WeiShi* Green...