Tokyo Trip - Kinugawa Onsen - Part 1

OK, OK, I know many of you have been asking me why no updates. There are quite a few reasons. Number 1, I've been really busy with work. Number 2, I've been travelling. Number 3, a lot of events and things have taken place, and happened. At this point of blogging, I'm in one of the worst of moods, very stressed and extremely tired. In short, BURNT OUT.

But since I'm waiting for my Nissin cup noodles to "cook", I'll put up some pics of one of my trips in February (during the CNY period). Yep, I know. it's now May. But anyway, now I'm blogging again...

Another biz trip to Tokyo with all the good food, great sights, and catching up with old friends again. This time, we travelled went to Kinugawa, 2 hours north of Tokyo. Kinugawa or 鬼怒川 literally means Angry Demon River, was actually a very popular place for hotsprings/onsen. But apparently in the 1990s, the economic recession forced the entire town to go bust.

Me in the A380 - upper deck

My seat had side cabinets to keep my barang

Happy Vincent's 1st time in the A380

And yes, after supper, 1 movie and it's time to catch up on the much needed sleep! Good night!

Anyway, after flying 6.5hours on the A380, we arrived in a very cold Narita airport on Wednesday morning. It was only abt 5 deg cel I think. We took the airport limousine to to Tokyo City Air Terminal in Hakozaki. Bus ride was abt 1 hour. From there, Charlie picked us up, and we headed to the office to drop off our bags, and then have breakfast.

Skyline of Tokyo @ 8am

We walked onto this bridge...

... and realised it was so nice. There were ducks swimming in it too!

I was quite tempted to walk in and ask how many million yen it would costs for a SL63AMG. Pity they weren't open yet...

Such pretty flowers outside the car showroom

See, pretty right?

Car's fall sick in Tokyo?

Breakfast was at Denny's Restaurant (yes, I know. An American restaurant in Tokyo, but we were just hungry and Denny's was easy. Mich took us there). And after a nice hot bowl of Ramen (and yes, they served Ramen in Denny's, but not nice!) we headed back to the office to work.

Time passed really fast over there. Stanley arrived later in the morning, and made his way to the office too. We were all happily chatting when he declared he was hungry, then we realised it was lunch time! But none of the rest of us were really hungry yet because we had our Ramen not too long ago, hahaha. So Stanley waited another hour or so before we all head out for Tonkatsu.

よしの (Yoshino) The place where we had our とんかつ(pork cutlet rice)

Still in preparation apparently, but they were ready to serve us.

A quaint little place...

The menu...

My pork cutlet rice. おいしいね。。。

Mich was paying for our lunch

Walking along the back alley to the office

Tiny shop in the corner of an alley...

The apartments are soooo tiny. You'd be lucky is it's any more than 30sqm each!

Wanna guess what these are? Nope not letter boxes... They're locker boxes for office keys. So that there's no need to make so many keys for each staff

Later that afternoon, Kevin arrived. Then followed by Wannong & Haiyan. At about 4pm, we packed up and made our way to Kinugawa. The 2 hour bus ride!

Ever seen me in speckys? Nope, I've perfect eye-sight. These fake speckys belong to Mich. Good for hiding my eye bags!

Haiyan was tickled pink to see me in speckys

Peach flavoured beer. Tasted quite good!

So strange to see the guys sitting like that in a row. Hehehe, I have funny thoughts!

Eiko & Yoko. 2 very sweet ladies who took very good care of me during the trip. I was quite sick that time. Flu, sore throat, cough etc etc... Like what a doctor might say, Full Package!

And irritating Charlie won't let ppl sleep in peace. He goes around taking pics of anyone who dozes off!

Finally, we stopped for a toilet break. Somewhere very very very cold!

This place has a supermarket and lots and lots and lots of vending machines!

That's Mich trying to buy something hot to keep himself awake

Are these ciggies expensive? I don't smoke, so I have no clue. But 320 yen is approx SGD 5.30 for a pack. Sounds cheap to me!

The Kinugawa Royal Hotel was actually pretty old. Looked quite forlorn in fact. But I have to say it was still considered very clean. Mich checked us all in, and there were a mixture of modern rooms with beds, and traditional ryokan rooms with tatami. I went for the ryokan rooms of course! Something different since I'm all the way in Japan...

Views of the exterior of the hotel

Views from my ryokan

Inside my ryokan

And every evening, there'll be a fresh set of sweets & hot green tea waiting for me in my room

We had very little time to freshen up before dinner, but I managed to take a quick shower, and then head downstairs for a very sumptious dinner. There were so much food to eat! Like one of those scenes you'd see from the TV program "Japan Hour"! Steamed crabs, grilled fish, seafood stew, a pot of rice cooking in the traditional "tetsugama" cast iron rice pot, sushi, sashimi (lots and lots of), and a lot of other little side dishes which were very interesting. I can't remember what they all were, but I think tofu, pickles, seaweed and such... Of course we had a lot of beer & sake. The rice was very very delicious. Very nice plump and fluffy grains, which were very fragrant too. I don't normally eat a lot of rice, but when I was there, I ate a lot! Which explains how fat I am now lah (-_-")

Look at all the food... There's more that can't fit on the tray!

The sashimi platter

Yours truly here with Eiko

Haiyan & me

That evening after dinner, I went to the onsen. It was in the hotel, and had both indoors and outdoors. And NO, it was NOT mixed bath. Males had their own onsen and females had our own. SEPERATED, in case some of u sickos are thinking otherwise. And it was really relaxing to just soak in the hot water. Relaxed all the muscles, took away the tension, strain and anxiety from all the pre-travel prep-work, the travelling time itself, and revitalised my tired and dehydrated skin quite a bit. I also found that I slept better that night. Did I mention that I was sick just days before I left for Japan? Caught a nasty throat infection, and didn't have time to see the doc. So when I was there, I was literally croaking and coughing away.

OK, I should pause here for now, and post somemore pics in part 2 of my Tokyo trip!

Off to Japan

Firstly...

恭
喜
发
财
!!

Since it's still the Chinese New Year period, let me wish everyone of you:

祝你在牛年里：
事业如日中天，
心情阳光灿烂，
工资地覆天翻，
未来风光无限，
爱情浪漫依然，
快乐游戏人间。
牛年吉祥！

I'll be off to Japan tonight. Gonna meet up with lots of friends again. And gonna eat my fav Japanese food again. Sushi & sashimi @ Tsukiji mkt is a must. And let's see if Charlie will take me to what he always says, "the best tonkatsu" in the world. Actually, I'm also looking forward to meet Rumiko & Meiling 姐姐 if time permits.

Well, unfortunately the forex rates are so unfavourable this time. Plus, I'm super broke. So I guess, there'll be absolutely no shopping at all allowed for me. So sad. Also, I just checked the weather forecast for this week, and it says between 3 - 12 degrees celcius from now till Sunday, and mostly cloudy. Guess I'll be shivering quite a bit!

Alright, I'm a bit pressed for time today, so I'm back to my ultra dynamic work now. I'm a bit short-handed today so I gotta keep my fingers and toes crossed. Hopefully everything runs like clock-work.

Let's see how my schedules have been planned once I'm there. I try to burst my camera memory card with loads of beautiful pics of Japan in Spring :) But the challenge would be to find time to post them! Hahaha... I'll try.

OK, 日本、私は来る！私は東京に行くのよ。。。

Gala Premiere - 幸福万岁 Love Matters

Was invited to the gala premiere of yet another movie by Jack Neo. 幸福万岁 Love Matters, as it is titled.

My invite

This movie evolves around 3 men, middle-aged Tan Bo Seng (played by Henry Thia, his teenage son Benny (played by Alex Leong) and Bo Seng's adopted brother Jeremy (played by Jack Lim). It depicts how they embark on their journey looking for love & happiness.

While Bo Seng tries very hard to revive the love life & re-ignite the passion with his wife Jia Li (played by Yeo Yann Yann), things take a peculiar turn when Bo Seng is suspected of impotency. Jia Li had a brief encounter with Xiao Han, a gigolo (played by Mark Lee) while Bo Seng gets to know a girl from the local hawker centre.

Benny on the other hand has no life other than school, his computer & porn. However, he does have a crush on his classmate's girlfriend, Jennifer (played by Natali). And from there, he gets into trouble.

Jeremy, who leads a flamboyant lifestyle, with an unwillingness to commit, meets Benny's school teacher Ms Wong (played by Cheryl Lee). And from there, everything starts looking different.

Like many of Jack Neo's previous productions, there will always be lots of comical situations and jokes that leave you in stitches. I like the way this movie was presented, showcasing how different people deal with affairs of the heart. And of course, not forgetting to mention Henry Thia, and his super corny expression. After so many years in the industry, he finally gets his break and takes the lead this time. However, Henry not only was the butt of jokes, he also proved his acting skills in many scenes later in the movie where scenes required him to shed tears and show a lot more emotion. 有感情戏哦！ There are a few points in the movie that will trigger off some thoughts. I find it very meaning.

It's a very interesting movie. I totally enjoyed it. Do catch it with your loved ones this lunar new year. Have a good laugh. Opens in theaters 22.1.2009.

Here's one of the teasers that reminds you to turn of your mobile phone in the cinema:


And the official trailer of 幸福万岁 Love Matters:


And random pics of friends, old and new we met at the gala:

Finally got a pic with Boris!

Me, Ben & his wife Verooda

Richard Liu & me

Apple, me & Michelle. Apple so sweet, see her dress is in my fav pink. Michelle so cute, check out her specs lor

Henry Thia & me. He's utterly comical

Henry Thia & Tweetie

Me, Apple & Tweetie

Apple, me & Director Neo, but he's the producer this time

Me & Aunty Lai Meng, she's sooooo friendly. 很慈祥的阿姨

Me & Tweetie in the cinema just before the show started

OK, that's all for now. I think there are more pics in Tweetie's camera. Once she sends them to me, I'll upload more.

Biz trip to Qingdao, China last November

OK, this is another one loooooong overdue post that should have been written & posted waaaaay before Christmas. I know, my fault. I was either busy or lazy. Legitimate excuses though! Hahahaha. But here you are, I finally completed writing this, pics & all, so don't complain ;P

Last November, I went on a biz trip to Qingdao, in China. I've never been there before. That was my first time. It was quite a pleasant trip. I took an overnight flight to Seoul, and transited in Incheon for a couple of hours, then caught another 1 hr flight to Qingdao. Both flights weren't full, but I didn't like the domestic plane to China. Too bumpy, and I'd say, dirty.

Upon arrival in Qingdao, I was welcomed by a cool 12 deg celcius weather. Actually, it was cold, especially when the wind blew. I found my way to the taxi-stand (which was quite a long walk from the arrival terminal) and headed straight to the hotel.

I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. No idea how many stars it was, but I was given "VIP" treatment, hehehe. My room was on the 18th floor, but it wasn't ready. So I was ushered to the lounge and offered a nice brew of Chinese tea. The front office lady offered to prepare my check-ins while I sipped my tea, and promised to have my room ready in under 20 mins. Very good service I must say.

View of the lobby from upstairs

Me & Jeslyn @ the lobby

Shortly after I was done with my hot tea, I proceeded to collect my room key and headed to my room for a hot shower.

View from my room - Sea view, in fact!

I walked around a bit in the afternoon, exploring the streets and shopping around my hotel. I didn't buy anything and neither did I eat anything. I wasn't too sure how the hygiene standards were like at that point, and was also worried after the series of food scares from China already. So after roaming around for about 2 hours, I headed back to the hotel, ordered room service and logged on the check my emails.

Me on the streets of Qingdao

Dumpling shop with a cute name 小倩倩馄饨

I managed to log on to Blogger and was writing this blog post halfway when a whole series of phone calls got me very distracted. And after that, I was too lazy to write anything. But, I must say again, that I could access Blogger/Blogspot from China with no problems.

Like the last trip to China, there was always a lot of fantastic food to eat. Some were very nice. Others were very exotic. Most of the time, it seemed very much like luxury. Someone once commented how disgusting we were, to be wining and dinning like that. 1 dinner might have cost some poor guy a whole year's salary! I can't deny that, but in comparison to the price we paid there vs what we'd pay if we ate the same equivalent in Singapore, food in China was cheap. See what we ate on the first night at the 良友名都 restaurant (I hope I got the name correct!)...

Jellyfish cold dish

Giant bean sprouts

Steamed Prawns

Salted goose eggs. Notice they all have double yolks??!! And they are bloody salty!!!

Some kind of mushroom dish

Sweet sour meat, either chicken or pork

Meat again... Ate too much to remember!

Fried leek

Deep fried shrimps

Bamboo shoots

Clams

My 佛跳墙... Buddha-Jumps-Over-The-Wall!!!

Check out the ABALONE!

My messy plate

Golden pomfret in sweet sauce

Sweet sour pork strips - tasted strange

Steamed dumplings - Staple food in China

Mitch & Joel shld never sit next to each other

Because this is what happens! Such a handful!!!

Happy Jeslyn & Vincent

And a very well-fed & satisfied Stanley

2nd day of the trip was of course meetings. Lots of presentations to do and look at. I think many of use were probably yawning away or almost nodding off during the rather intense meeting. But it was very informative and good to have. At least we knew what was happening in the other parts of the world, how everyone else was doing, how they were coping, and at least catch up a bit on gossips! Hahaha...

Later that evening, dinner was served at 东莱顺 Hot Pot restaurant. A lot of meat involved this time. Mutton & beef mainly. And I can't stand the smell of the mutton!

Traditional looking hot pot

Baby Joel trying to look cute

OK, OK, he's cute... (-_-")

And Mitch just has to do it... I was hoping the octopus sucks all 8 tentacles over his mouth! Hahahahaha... I is bad!

A plate of live clams...

... which ends up being tortured by Joel!

See, Joel spread chili to it. CRUEL!!!

I think this was dessert. Deep fried sesami ball, with Joel's finger on it. Grrr....

Me & Kevin (who's always trying to look cool

A bunch of happy people after dinner

After dinner that night, we went to the nite club on the 4th floor of the hotel. We pratically chased out all the other customers and literally booked the whole place to ourselves. Initially, there was a bit of confusion over the room & the hall. But after that, the whole place pratically belonged to us. Hehehe....

Me, Jeslyn, Haiyan

Fruit platters like this one were served no matter which corner we moved to!

Alcohol makes everyone happy!

Next day, we all woke up very early to have breakfast, and then proceeded to the exhibition hall. It was a nice and sunny day with cool breeze. I think it was abt 12 deg cel that day...

All of us in a mini bus that we booked, on our way to the exhibition hall

Forever cheeky Kevin with Joohee next to him

Stanley & me at the exhibition booth

Just before the show opened, we had fun snapping photos, arguing abt the placements of the tables, laughing at how our display had melted overnight and figuring out how our showgirls can lie so badly abt their height/weight/measurements & qualification without so much batting an eyelid when confronted. Mitch also repeatedly reminded me how the girls never shaved their underarms! I was not only horrified but mortified when they were dressed in halter bareback sleeveless dresses and raising their arms out to distribute leaflets, and everyone would be staring at that bush under their arms! One of them didn't even need to raise her arms and I can already see strands peeking out! Eeeeks!!! OK, I'm just not used to see armpit fur displayed in that manner in public.

Anyway, a few of us got quite bored at the booth and started to wonder off looking at other people's exhibits. Some were pathetic, others were impressive.

They call this Moonfish

No idea what the fish this was

Halibut & Kingcrab

Hungry crowd at our booth sampling sashimi for free. One lady grabbed 4 plates!

Some visitors playing with a live Boston Lobster. I was hoping the lobster snapped at someone :D

Various crustceans

And look who came? Brede the open-minded one. This was the old team. Notice there aren't any other females here!!

After the first day of the show ended. Our company hosted a dinner reception. We invited the Norwegian Minister for fisheries and Coastal Affairs and quite a few other Chinese Ministers as VIP for the night. All our customers & business partners who went to the show were also invited. It was a good catch up session we had with everyone, including old friends and colleagues from Hong Kong.

Very nice ballroom set up for the dinner reception

Sunny, me & Jeslyn

Stanley & me

We were all starving...

Me & the boss

On our 3rd day in Qingdao, we went to this huge seafood restaurant with a huge hall filled with huge tanks and huge amounts of live seafood swimming all over. As the last trip, we had fun picking what we wanted to eat there. The chefs would prepare it, and then serve it to us in the huge VIP room upstairs.

See this HUGE hall? It's actually the seafood restaurant's "live market"!

That's me amazed by the massive amount of live seafood that's going into my tummy later :D

Boss telling the waitress how we like our clams done

See the rows of tanks? Very classy "market" isn't it?!

See how huge this room is? It had a sofa set with coffee table and a full karaoke system complete with surround speakers & sub woofers in tow on the other side of the room!

OK, I think that was it. Pics and the trip. Now I've got to go sort out some more pics of other dinners and lunches and parties etc and then post them up here. OK, I'm slow, I know. lots of backlog, but I'm getting there. Have patience with me, OK? Come back soon!

Some nagging, and then .... Dinner with Peter G @ Lei Garden Chjimes

Terribly sorry abt the lack of posts. Firstly, I had been pretty tied up since 2 months ago. With work, work & work (some of you have said that my boss is very demanding, and although I don't disagree, I have to say it's the nature of the job itself that contributed). And then there were a lot more other stuffs & people that contributed to my major headaches for the past few weeks/months. Working with people with a selfish mindset, very matured adults with childish behavioural problems, pre-menopausal people (I think), and people who simply can't be bothered what goes on around them, have also been very challenging to add on. However, even with all these in tow, the sun still rises, the earth still rotates, life still goes on. Busy as I had been, I still found some time to party in between! Hehehe...

And then after that came some pre-biz trip prep work, the biz trip travel itself, and the post trip mess-clean-ups. Work just piled. But, I managed to survive. So then came a point where I was chased around to clear my annual leaves etc etc. Well, not that I don't wanna clear them earlier, but situation & time & people don't permit. When everyone was able to happily plan to go on vacations during long weekends and peak holiday periods, which happened to be busiest for me, all I could do was just sulk, shut-up and finish my work. Then I had to also consider work hand overs, rotation of staff/boss, and if anyone would drop dead if something went wrong and I wasn't there to try and fix the problem. And by the time it was off peak and I had all the time in the world to go on a vacation, no one else was free to go with me anywhere. Sigh... So last month, I got chased around to clear my leave, finally. They didn't wanna pay me the accumulation, neither was I allowed to bring that many days forward to the next year (cos it might never end!) So I just looked in the chart and started filling out all the dates that were not taken. Initially, I just didn't want to care and know who was in or not in. I just wanted to write everything I wanted and force to go on leave. But, the saint in me (kns) made me re-look at everything all over again (sigh) and plan whatever I could (which still didn't quite please certain people, but then how to please everyone when some snatches the 1st opportunities to go on leave, the other goes away from when to when but won't say until almost the last minute, and the other sulks & grumbles half the time when not permitted to go on leave). But having said that, I'm also sulking & nagging, hahahahaha!!!

In the end, I got my leaves approved. And I was just happily "not working" during that period. 2 solid weeks. but my mobile phone didn't stop ringing. And I still answered most of the calls. Not all, but most. I did lots during my 2 week break. A lot to catch up on. Family, friends, house, car, cooking, baking etc etc etc. Yes people, I cook, and bake. Earlier posts already proved it, and many have already tasted my culinary skills (may not be very very good, but good enough to make you ask for more), so don't doubt.

I'm now back at work, final Christmas week rush. And down with a flu, bad throat, body aches and mild fever at this point. Won't die, but just very grouchy. And I'm trying to respond a lot of emails and PMs on FB asking me what happened to my blog. Well, nothing happened to it. I was first very busy, then quite lazy. Then busy again. Now, I have a little bit of spare time on hand, so I'm gonna re-start my blogging. I have a lot of pics to post here, so I'll have to try and find the time to do that. How about a new post every day? Too much? Every 2 days? or 3? Hahaha... OK, BT will say "Talking many" if I just say and don't do. Hehehe...

Picture time. A week after we said our goodbyes to Roly, Peter came by to Singapore to say his goodbye to us. Well, in his case, the grass was greener on the other side of the river. So it wasn't exactly that bad after all. Any how, we went thru the same ritual of fantastic food, wine, and party. These were taken on 8th October.

Lei Garden @ Chjimes had to be it. The quality of food they served had never once failed me. Always delicious and erm, very expensive. But then again, I didn't pay for it, so I'm not complaining, hehehehe.....

Let me show you guys what we had that night, and what we all did that night!

Me & Michelle

Yummy Roast Pork

All time fav - Lobster Sashimi!

Double-boiled Sea Treasures Soup

Deep Fried Sea Cucumber stuffed with abalone & Shrimp paste

Steamed Red Garoupa - Very nice

Peking Duck - Very very very yummy

Charlie & the duck!

Charlie, Michelle & the duck!

Braised Veg with Silver Mushrooms & Tomatoes

Fried Duck meat in fresh lettuce leaves

Peter & Michelle loved lots of condiments in their Lobster Porridge

Michelle peeling the shell off the lobster legs for the very spoilt me!

Peter showing off his Mont Blanc fountain pen gift

Deep Fried Glutinous Rice Balls with black sesame filling - Shiok!

Some blah-tasting Chinese Pastry

Bird's Nest in Pumpkin Puree!!!

After that beautiful dinner, Charlie was very determined to drown Peter. So we adjourned to Charlie's all time fav watering hole. Cyclone, AGAIN!

My attempt to stick the Macallen bottle into Vincent's nose!

Some dice game that I never quite understand...

A bunch of half-drunk animals singing & cam-whoring

Vincent, Peter & Charlie hogging the pool table the whole night

Look at Vincent & Michelle! My goodness...

Charlie & Peter trying to negotiate on something special I think. See Charlie's hand-sign???!!!

2 men posing ala-Titanic, not impressive, hahaha

Michelle can sing very well!

Why fight over 1 bottle of Macallen? Can't these boys just open another one?

Peter just had to have the last drop

We all run when Charlie sings. Hehehe...

It's empty Michelle. No need to act cute!

Now we know who finished it that night!

See the ghost behind the 3 of us?

Charlie's gotten into serious negotiations it seems!

OK, that's it for now. I'm gonna have to sort thru the tons of pics I have in my camera & mobile phone and attempt to write another post soon. Come back tmr! Till then, Happy Hump Day!

I'm on my way to China...

In the transit lounge in T3 now, waiting for my overnight flight to China... Will have to fly 6.5 hrs first to Seoul, then transit for a couple of hours before the next flight to Qingdao. Actually, I'm so tired. Physically tired. And I'm still aching all over, and my fever hasn't really subsided yet.

Right now, I'm praying that I get to sleep well on the plane, at least for half the journey. And I'm also praying hard that I don't get a noisy neighbour. Good thing SQ has almost always given me priority for seats at the emergency exit. So I have that extra leg room for my long pair of legs. Hehehe...

This time round, I'll be away for approx 4 days. And I hope I can get access to blogger/blogspot when I'm there. I managed to get access to blogger/blogspot during my last trip to Dalian. So if this time, I get access, I'll post up some nice pics.

OK, boarding call. Gotta go. Bye for now peeps!!!

Update: At 8.10am Korean Time/7.10am Singapore Time, I'm now yawing away whilst sitting in the transit lounge in Incheon, Seoul!

Roly's Farewell @ SG Flyer & Seafood Paradise

Apologies for the lack of blog updates. I have been super busy. Lots of errands to run and prep work & presentations to do before I fly tmr. Plus, the last 2 days, I had been down with a persistent fever & body aches that won't go away. Now I'm praying hard that my fever subsides well by tmr, so that I can make it up on board the plane.

Anyway, earlier this month on the 2nd of October, we bade farewell to Roly. Another one good guy gone. So sad. It's been a really long & draggy affair. Laying off ppl since months ago. Roly's the last one to go. He's been shuttling between Singapore & Australia for the last few years. Always appearing out of the blue every now & then. He wasn't really one of those whom I'd get surprised that they turn up at my office and then leave after a few days. To me, Roly was just a part of us (as in I consider him a local already). He's always low profile, glides in, stays a few days, then quietly flies off. And then some 3 weeks later, he appears again. He knows where to go, what to buy, where to eat, which numbers to ring for his own taxi. Cool guy.

So anyway, as always, farewells were more like an occasion there we all just sit down and pig-out. And of course quite frequently drink (read as sip very good quality wine). This wasn't an exception. But, after persistent nagging and persuading, we got ourselves a free ride on the Singapore Flyer as well!

So to Seafood Paradise, we went. But before that, we just had to eat the biscuits @ Popeye, and walk around the shops @ SG Flyer before we took flight.

Roly & the biscuits!

Me & the biscuits!

Michelle always so cute!

We walked past Kenko and saw some Caucasians trying out the fish spa. We were tempted, but 1st, we didn't have the time, 2nd, I'm very afraid the fishes bite or tickle. BTW, the fishes were BIG hor!


Part of the F1 street circuit around the SG Flyer, & the skyline of Singapore as dusk approaches.

My ticket to the flyer

And up, up and away we went! Our 7pm flight allowed us to see the lights change from dusk to night. The sunlight faded and the city lights came on as we went higher and higher. It was a very beautiful sight.

See the devil behind Michelle & me?

Jessica & me

Construction under-way for the IR

Pretty in PINK lights!

Frankly, after the ride went 3/4 way round and we were on the way back down, we started to get very bored. Apart from chatting n laughing amongst ourselves, and enjoying the scenery (again) there wasn't really much to do. Maybe it would be different if you went up there with yr other half (ah... romantic!!!)

We just had to do a group shot

Erm... No comments... (-_-")

OK, finally after the ride was over, we were starving. Very very very hungry. Headed for Seafood Paradise, and jumped straight into the food! Oh yes, and of course wine. LOTS OF WINE!!! I can't remember how many bottles we had. But it was a lot!

Pre-selected menu (But we added a lot more after that!)

Lobster Sashimi! My fav, and what I must have at almost every such dinners! Hehehe

And of course we had some wine

The Paradise Appetiser Platter

Double-boiled soup

Steamed Tiger Grouper

Baked Lobster with Salted Egg

Fragrant Crispy Duck with Teochew Spices

Braised Abalone & Honshimeji Mushrooms & Broccoli

Imperial Pork Ribs with Honey Pepper Sauce

Creamy Butter Crab (Looks like it's humping the other one below! Wahahaha)

Roly was checking to see if the crabs were really mating!

Ee-Fu noodles & lobster head porridge

Cream of Mango with Pomelo & Sago

See how happy Khim & Mei Chin were when they saw the lobster!

Happy Roly & his farewell gift vouchers

And a very happy us with a whole table full of food!

It was a fun-filled night, with a lot of laughter & memories to bring home. Lots of good food that kept us very full. And we are all very thankful. But we'll miss you Roly. Do keep in touch, always. And if you do come back to Singapore, just scream. We'll be more than happy to meet up again for some fun, food & laughter!

Take care. All the best!

Prata Therapy

After a relatively long and very bad Tuesday, I was feeling extremely out of colour, sitting in the office alone at abt 11pm. Was pouring outside as I was preparing to go home when Tweetie popped a message on my MSN. She was suddenly craving for prata, and I haven't had dinner. So we both decided to meet up, dragging Jeffery along since he was also online.

It all started when Tweetie & me were struggling to get a taxi. I was like trying to call for almost 20 mins and all I got was engaged tone to practically all the taxi hotlines we knew of. Tweetie finally managed to get me a cab from her end, and subsequently another one for herself. Then we both headed separately towards Jalan Kayu for our comfort food.

Tweetie was wondering what to tell the taxi driver, and I told her to simply say, "Jalan Kayu Roti Prata"!!! Hahahaha... No taxi driver will say they don't know how go! Hehehe.

OK, so at our prata joint, Tweetie & me arrived first, followed by Jeff some minutes later. We ordered our dinner (actually supper already to be politically correct). And boy did we order A LOT! Imagine this, 3 ppl, 1 very big plate of Mee Goreng, 5 plain, 1 egg & onion (wrongly ordered by Jeff), 1 onion, 3 glasses of Teh Halia, and then as if not enough, Tweetie ordered another bomb much later, and 1 Lychee drink, 1 Teh Ice for me & I dunno what Jeff had... And remember, only the 3 of us, arriving close to midnight, and dinner/supper ended past 2am! How to not grow fat, you tell me???

Best part was, all throughout our prata therapy session, Jeff & Tweetie were happily TCSS-ing all the way, and I was laughing so uncontrollably. I swear the next table (or rather, customers @ the entire prata shop + the servers) must have thought that the 3 of us were escapees from the mental institute not too far away! Honestly, I cannot remember what were joked abt, or what was so funny, (except Tweetie & Jeff's lighter/car-remote comedy). But I swear, I laughed till I cramped up and nearly died. Not only me, but all 3 of us.

So much fun, really. That session really wiped the wrinkles off my forehead (but maybe put back the smile wrinkles round the corners of my mouth and eyes). Definitely took away the intense stress I had earlier. It's a pity we didn't take any photos that evening. Probably because we were really very tired, and didn't think of it. I think we should really do more such gatherings. Nice way to maintain good friendships/relationships. And always good to catch up on each others' well-being, as well as share the fun times.

P/S: Oh, thks to Jeff for sending me home after that. And also thks to Jeff again & Tweetie for walking me to my door step (they were afraid I would get kidnapped!).

P/P/S: I'm looking forward to our next Prata Therapy!

Alonso wins 1st F1 Street Night Race in Singapore!

The 1st Grand Prix F1 Night race Singapore held over the weekend proved to be a tremendous success. I was watching in amazement the qualifying race on Saturday night, and then the finals on Sunday night.



Alonso's technical problem with his car forced him out into 15th place during the qualifying rounds. That was such a disappointment. However, during the finals race, Alonso's final positioning also gave him the opportunity to use all his planned strategy, moving up from last to first.



During the 61-lap race, there were 3 crashes and a couple of freaky pit-stop accidents. I think during the 15th lap, Piquet's Renault crashed. Then Massa's Ferrari got into trouble in the pit-stop, moving off at the green lights but with the fuel line still attached. One of his pit crew was seen flying and probably a few others injured. Massa got slapped with a 50km/h drive-thru penalty, tearing him from 1st position to last!









Interestingly, Coulthard in his Red Bull committed the same mistake made by Massa, moving off with the fuel hose intact. He also knocked off one of his pit-crew, who had to be stretchered off. And then in lap 49, Massa's Ferrari spun and narrowly missing the barrier, but Sutil in a Force India crashed as he tried to avoid Massa. That was so drama... ...





And when the race went into the last 4 laps, Ferrari's other team-mate Raikkonen, skipped the curb, lost control of his car, and crashed straight into the barrier. That declared game over for team Ferrari. ( And I was happy! Muahahaha!)

Twice during the race, the safety car had to be dispatched by Race Control. That safety car is the Mercedes SL 63 AMG, and it is ultimate chio-ness. It's specially modified in weight, engine and brakes to be able to take the F1 race and maintain a specific speed and comfortable pace for the F1 machines so that they can resume the race without dropping too much speed. And, the sight of the SL63 AMG leading a pack of monster machines behind thru the track is simply very awesome and smart. I am sooooooo in love with that car!




So after a whole serious of adrenalin pumping action last night, Alonso in his Renault took the 1st place at the inaugural F1 Night Street Race hosted in Singapore! Rosberg in the Williams Toyota took the 2nd place, and Hamilton in the Maclaren Mercedes (my fav and I was hoping he'd win)came in 3rd place.





Not too bad. It was quite a dramatic race, 61 laps with a distance of more than 309km and 24 corners/turns. The roads were bumpy, sparks flew and the monstrous machines flew thru the corners at more than 100km/h and then almost 300km/h on the few straight stretches. I was so so so impressed! Now I feel like I also wanna drive my "race car" and tear down the highway at 260km/h! Wheeeeeeee........

P/S: I didn't wanna mention this, but, our Grid Girls were... ... Sigh... Forget it!

A Spicy & Alcoholic gathering

We've missed the good old days where Hubby & his "pig & dog" friends can sit and chat for hours and hours. Used to do that a lot in the past, especially when we had a chalet,BBQ or met up for dinners and drinks. So this time round, hubby suggested Jeff & Mic to come over to our place. Which is very very rare, because we normally don't have "open house" one lor.

So I was given a very very important mission. To cook for the very important guests. Although only 2 of them, but I had to make sure they were well-fed with good food and enough alcohol to drown a whole hall of people!

And hubby suggested I cook LAKSA! OK, must be spicy, full flavour and overflowing with prawns & tau-pok! And I did lor. Successfully cooked. And very spicy too, hehehe... Spent Saturday afternoon preparing the ingredients for the Laksa. Made some fresh Butterhead & Purple Friss salad too. Selected the Red Wine (had Spanish that day) and had Sake in mind also. Then of course the "micro bar" with my micro collection of liquor were available too. Jeff was only told to bring the mixers.

Anyway, they came around 7pm, and we jumped straight into the food. Jeff initially asked when my restaurant would be opening. 'Cos apparently, my Laksa tasted very nice. (Of course lah, I used solid prawn soup leh!!!). But after awhile, Jeff said I better not open the restaurant. Because there were too much "liao" (prawns/tau pok/fish cake/egg). Hahaha... He was worried my restaurant won't make it! Then the 3 men started to go into debate over whether I shld start the restaurant or not and how much "liao" I shld put in there, how much I shld price each bowl etc etc! Hehehe, it was such a funny sight!

After dinner, the fun chats continued. Michael spoke abt his wife-to-be and their plans and preferred ROM dates. Jeff spoke abt his job. The we spoke a bit abt cars, and the men chat more abt their old army days. Could see that they were very sentimental ppl who valued the friendship-bond. Taking the conversation from the dinning room table, to the coffee table in the living room. More liquor, beer, left over wine, sake, and peanuts to chips. We joked, we laughed. Such fun.

We shld try and plan another one of such gathering again. I guess friendships like these are invaluable. While making friends is easy, maintaining the friendship is not... And we all know, that we do treasure our friendship (that includes Pilot Michael)!

Pls lock toilet doors properly!

Just minutes ago, I got an SMS. And I laughed. A certain someone said I won't believe it if he told me he saw a naked woman. So I replied, Where, When?

Well, the story was, this guy had to use the toilet. So as what he usually does, goes to the toilet, pushes open the door. But in a flash, he saw a naked lady standing in front of the mirror, and then she shouted "Oi!" and gave him a shock. So he quickly apologised and closed the door. But he was think WTF! She was the one who didn't lock the door properly leh. Not his fault lor. And normally no one would go knock on the door to check if anyone inside one lor... No it's not a public toilet if you guys are asking me.

First prize, he said. I teased him that he must be bleeding from ears and nose. But I couldn't contain my laughter. I just laughed and laughed. Almost dying of laughter now. And even as I type this, I'm still giggling, with tears at the corner of my eyes! Hahahahahahahaha......

Morale of the story. Pls lock the toilet door properly!

P/S: Some of you are asking who the lucky (or perhaps unlucky) chap is and where it took place. But sorry, names/identities & location will not be revealed to protect the innocent ( and the not so innocent)!

P/P/S: Eh, pity the guy lah... It's the start of a brand new week lor. Fancy seeing a naked lady on a Monday, and that's it, the entire week could be ruined leh! Buy 4D/Toto also don't have so "zhun" lor!

P/P/P/S: And yes, it is really damn funny lah!!! Laugh until drop!

12 Lotus 十二莲花

Was supposed to post this entry last month. But didn't have time to complete writing the entry.

I watched 12 Lotus 十二莲花 with anticipation. Because when Roystan Tan made 881, it was something new to the local movie industry. There wasn't a locally produced movie about Getais. And a movie like 881 clearly reflected this group of very talented artistes whom never had much publicity.

Following the success of 881, Roystan went on to make 12 Lotus 十二莲花. It's a good production with many touching scenes and a good storyline. However, I felt that the excitement lasted only thru the 1st half of the movie. Towards the middle and the end of the movie, everything sort of became draggy and somewhat slow. I did like the direction of the movie. It has a very Roystan feel to it. Sort of like his trademark artistic direction. And like 881, the costumes very very exaggerated & colourful. The many songs throughout the movie was good entertainment. After all, 12 Lotus 十二莲花 was meant to be a musical-movie.

I would say it's worth watching 12 Lotus 十二莲花, but I wouldn't be expecting Roystan to make another similar movie.

Monday... The start of my nightmare!

OK, I'm back at work today. After a week away from the office (and I refused to check my emails while on leave) I came back to an exploding inbox. I was (still am) desperately filtering my emails to read the more urgent ones first, and at the same time catching up a bit on what had happened last week. One email in particular pissed me off quite a bit. A sarcastic 2-liner. It's contents sounded more like a mark of territory and a reminder of some sorts. But... Fine... I can tolerate.

Then came an SMS. And I realised that I had forgotten to inform someone of last week's joyous occasion. OK, my fault on that one. But I really forgot. I apologised. Unfortunately, someone wasn't too pleased. I got chided for it. And some earth got dug out from beneath the carpet as well. Oh boy... I was thinking of how I shld reply next. I ididn't have any excuse at all. And I have to admit that it was truly a slip of my mind. But the other party wasn't buying my story at all... I started to dial back, but I thought of how the other party's temper was gonna be like, so just before the tone got thru, I hung up... Procrastinated for a long while before I replied on the SMS instead. Sigh... Maybe I shld have just called back... I guess she must be fuming mad at my reply :(

Not a very good start to my week eh?

Anyway, this week will be a very rough week ahead. I see many challenges coming up, not gonna be an easy ride. And probably no matter how hard I strive, it'll still not be good enough to some. But, it's still part of my job here. Don't shout at me, people, because I'm also on the firing line and at the receiving end of a lot of shit.

Lunch time now. Christine just came by with her niece. So cute... At least that put a smile on my face for a while. But soon after, I started wearing my frown again. I think if I get cast in a movie now, I'll sure win Best Actress award! Because I can smile, frown and cry almost in split seconds. The "dynamic" environment here helps! OK, yes, I know, I'm in KNS mode... But it's true, I can cry almost instantly!

OK. I'm still not having lunch. Guess I'll skip lunch today. No time. I'm allowed max 15 mins to type this blog post, and then I'll have to get back to work. There may be spies here... Back to work, back to work! WORK!!!!!

P/S: Customer just called... Think something went wrong. So now I have to clean up some dung left behind and start some damage control... Oh boy... Some one tell me about MONDAY BLUES!

P/P/S: SORRY MOMMY!

A little newborn niece who shares my birthday!

Joyful joyful! 双喜临门！It was my royal birthday yesterday. All was quiet for the whole day, did some shopping, had a quick dinner, headed home, did some housework, and then came a call. A little baby girl was born!

My sis-in-law, Joey,went into labour early yesterday morning. But baby didn't pop until late at night. Apparently, there were some complications with the positioning of baby (turn down but facing the wrong way, and an umbilical cord around the neck). So instead of natural birth (which Joey had wanted), she had to go thru a cesarean. 20 mins and baby was wailing away... (Imagine contractions since late morning till like 12 hours later! Gosh...)

Anyway, we visited baby this afternoon after lunch. Prince A & Princess Z were also there and happy to greet a new play-partner. Less talk for now. Picture time!

A Reunion - TNS 21 years later!

I'm really excited as I write this post. I just had a reunion on Thursday. After more than 2 decades (sounds like a damn long time, but it's true!), I met up with people from my primary school days! Gosh,.... We found each other on facebook, chatted a bit, and the next thing we know, we were all sitting in the same restaurant having a reunion dinner!

That evening was completely exciting and super fun. We were scrambling thru our brains trying so very hard to remember who he was, who she was, which class they belonged to and what we ever did. It was really hilarious when I told a few classmates I remember their faces, I know them, but cannot remember their names! Hahahaha... Oh my goodness, such fun and those memories...

Anyway, dinner was @ Yellow Light Thai Food, 95 East Coast Road. Food was fantastic, setting was a nice cosy place. We had the entire 2nd floor to ourselves. And it was really great. Oh yes, and Bernard brought a Tiramisu cake and everyone celebrated my birthday too! Hahaha.... So sweet, very memorable and I am very very touched. I was almost in tears when everyone sang me the birthday song. Ooooh...
OK, picture time. This set was taken by Kirby.

A Silver medal for Singapore!

After 48 years, we finally got another medal. A silver! At the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Thanks to the women's' table-tennis team. It was a game well played. I watched in excitement and awe as the game was in progress. I never followed table-tennis. I'd rather watch swimming or gymnastics or even 100m sprints. But this time round, everyone was talking abt table-tennis. And it just got me all hyped up. Had to watch it. And I did. Over dinner.

I have to say the Chinese team was very very strong. They seem to be able to pre-empt every move the Singapore team was gonna make. And goodness, there was a close-up slow-motion shot where Wang Nan (China) attacked with a backhand, and the ping pong ball actually can spin! Feng Tian Wei (Singapore) defended and the ball just spun off into the air... Gosh, it was a very powerful shot. Well, they are after all, world number 1.

Still it was a game well-played, so congrats to Li Jia Wei, Feng Tian Wei, Wang Yue Gu and the rest of the Singapore team on their tremendous effort in bringing home the silver medal! WOOHOO...

Here are the results:

Match 1
Wang Nan vs Feng Tian Wei ~ (3-1)
9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-6

Match 2
Zhang Yi Ning vs Li Jia Wei ~ (3-1)
9-11, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7

Match 3
Guo Yue/Zhang Yi Ning vs Wang Yue Gu/Li Jia Wei ~ (3-0)
11-8, 11-5, 11-6

Who's gonna be my 10,000th reader?

Didn't realise the hit counter is already 9951 now. Wah... So happy!

OK, I would like the 10,00th reader to pls write a comment to identify yourself. Sorry no prizes frm me. I can't afford, hehehe...

Journey to the centre of the earth

The centre of the earth... And I always thought the centre of the earth was a boiling pool of lava crusted by a solid magnetic field.

But this adventure-packed movie tell more than hot lava and magnetic plates. You'll see man-eating plants, dinosaurs (yes, they're supposed to be extinct but they do exist down there!), luminous birds, piranha-like fish, gigantic mushrooms & diamonds/rubies/emerald. I'm so impressed with the 3-D animation, and the non-stop thrills.

Scientist Trevor and his nephew came across Max's (Trevor's brother whom had gone missing) fav book. They then went on an adventure trip looking for clues written in that by Max, depicting the existence of another world in the centre of the earth. Along the way, they be-friend Hannah, who's father was the one other scientist who also believed in the same existence. All 3 of them embarked on an accidental journey that brings surprises from start to end.

Fantastic movie. Go watch it!

Tweetie's farewell @ Prego, New Asia Bar & Crazy Hours

08.8.08 Such an auspicious date. But we weren't really in a big celebration. It was a long overdue farewell dinner for Tweetie. More than a month after she left and then came the farewell dinner & party. Reason? Well, because ... everyone's busy and... The boss was away. But, finally, we did get together, all of us. Erm... OK, almost all of us. We were ubber happy the pest couldn't join us :D

Anyway, dinner was at Prego. As usual, a lot of food was involved. A lot of wine was involved. Food was good, wine was good. And the desserts was even better! Pics to prove!

As usual chirpy Michelle

Yummy-licious Fried Calamari

Mei Chin adding lemon juice to the calamari

Charlie & Tweetie attempting to show off some cleavage!

Pizza Proscuitto... I think!

Pizza Calzone

Charlie's Beef Carpacio

Shiauwen's Parmigiana (Baked Eggplant with Parmesan Cheese)

Roly's Caprese (Mozzarella,Tomato & Rocket Salad)

My Parma Ham... Drool...

Roly & Shiauwen had Agnello (Lamb Rack)

Michelle's Spinach Gnocchi

Bin Hong's Merluzzo (Cod Fish)

Mei Chin ordered Maiale (Grilled Pork)

And my Tenderloin Steak with black pepper sauce

Charlie & Tweetie ordered Zuccotto (Ice Cream Cake)

I think this was Jeslyn's Ricotta Cake (Cheese Cake)

Ooohh... TIRAMISU!!!

Michelle & her ice cream

Jessica's Cheese Platter

I stole Jessica's pretzel stick, hehe

Views from New Asia Bar

We got tired of NAB quite soon, and since Vincent was going to meet his friends, we figured that we would just "gate-crash". OK, no, we didn't gate-crash. We just followed him there and continued our own party. Location, Crazy Hours (Sounds like my watch) @ Keong Saik Street.

Charlie's fav. MACALLAN

OK, no more pics to post from here. Rest of the pics were taken with Tweetie's & Michelle's camera. I became too lazy after that!

Life is like ... ...

In English, we say...

Life is like a box of chocolates

We never know what we're gonna get

In Chinese, we say...

人生就像大便

一旦沖走了就不會再回來

人生就像大便

怎麼拉就是那模樣

但每次又不太一樣

人生就像大便

有時候拉的很爽

有時候卻拉的很難過

人生就像大便

你永遠不知道會拉出個什麼東東

人生就像大便

想要怎麼結果

就要先怎麼栽

人生就像大便

隨時都可能突然地想．．嗯嗯

人生就像大便

往往努力了半天卻只迸出幾個屁

人生就像大便

就算點綴得再漂亮

其本質還是一樣

人生就像大便

只有自己默默的勇敢面對

人生就像大便

有青才大聲

所以，就像大家常說的──「你去吃大便啦！！」

→其實，他的本意『你要認真融入自己的生活。』

I've got CROCS... Pink CROCS...

Crocs... I don't know what to say about these rubbery thingy. My 1st impression was, they look wierd. But on kids, they are very cute.

I never really thought of putting a pair of Crocs on my feet. I wouldn't pay for these rubbery shoes! Hahaha... But yesterday, someone agreed to "sponsor" some Crocs (Yey!!! Free stuff again... Hahahaha) So earlier, went to choose which pair of rubber shoes I fancied. And now, they're sitting on the floor next to me. I haven't put my feet in them yet. It's dark pink, with light pink straps. And I chose 2 cutesy Superman embellishments to go with my Crocs.

While the whole set looks very cute, I'm wondering if I'll look, er... cute, in them as well! Hehehe... Hmm....

P/S: Some brainless idiot from a neighbouring office unit decided to eat durians today. In their office. In the air-conditioned office building! Eh, Hello, it's an AIR-CONDITIONED building! CENTRAL AIR-CONDITIONING! Don't these people know how will stink the whole place? Not everybody like durians lor... And I DON'T LIKE DURIANS.

Now the entire building with the central air-conditioning stinks. I wonder how the hundreds of Caucasians in the other parts of the building is taking it! Our Roly ran as fast as his legs could carry him the moment the smell hit him. Poor guy.

Curse the selfish idiot who brought & ate durians in here!

Gala Premiere - Money No Enough 2 钱不够用 2

Just came back home from the Gala Premiere of Director Jack Neo's Money No Enough 2. It was @ GV Vivo City. And as usual, very very star-studded. So many Mediacorp Celebs, JTeam artistes & I met Benjamin there also lor!!! Goodness, just as we keep poking each other on facebook and leaving messages back and forth, it was such a co-incident that we met at the gala. Hehehe...

Well, I have to say again, MNE2 is really worth the watch. During the show, there were even rounds of applause for the fantastic jokes and also sobs for quite a few touching scenes. And of course practically everyone burst out laughing throughout, very uncontrollably because Henry Thia (Hui-Ge) is really very very comical. I applaud Auntie Lai Meng for her impressive display of acting skills. It seems she might have a chance at the next Golden Horse Awards!

And 10 years ago, Money No Enough premiered on only 12 screens. 10 years later, Money No Enough 2 will premiere on 59 screens! WOW... Also, 10 years ago, the story about Money No Enough was typically about not having enough money. 10 years later, Money No Enough 2 reflected more than not having enough money. OK, can't reveal anymore.... Just go book your tickets and watch the movie. Confirm laugh till you drop! And, erm... if there are any parts of the dialogue you don't understand hor, pls feel free to read the subtitles below hor. Spent a lot of time and effort doing it one lor... :D

Anyway, I didn't take much pictures, because I was very busy sipping my red wine & ogling at very nice people. But still, managed to have a pic taken with the very handsome 715 Qi YuWu.

My invitation & a stack of "Money"

Pretty Angie & Me

Me & the very handsome 715 Qi YuWu

Me & Michelle

Money No Enough 2 钱不够用 2

Finally, after months of post production, Money No Enough 2 is finally hitting the screens here. It'll be officially screened on 31st July 2008 in local cinemas. But, tonight, yours truly will be going to attend the gala premiere @ Vivo City, and watch it first, together with cast & crew.

Happy because I'll get to see my friends again. And happy because I'll get to see my little bit of "work" up on the screen. My maiden piece of work in a movie! Well, it's only a very small bit of behind the scenes work to complete the whole movie. But it's also very important. Almost everyone I know who watches a movie (or even a TV drama) will from time to time look below the screen at those bits of words... That's what I did. Yep... Teeny-weeny contribution. Very time-consuming, and challenging. But fun. I enjoyed. I'm looking forward to doing more of such work for movies.

Watch this trailer of Money No Enough 2, 10 years after Director Neo's first movie Money No Enough. This new movie is filled with loads of unexpected laughter, as well as a different view of what being poor is.

So, have you guys booked your tickets already?

Another new toy - Samsung Omnia

I've got another new toy. It's the Samsung Omnia SGH-i900. And it's FREE!!!

Absolutely sleek, touch screen, PDA phone that looks similar to the Apple iPhone (which I also want). It's super-chio, and very easy to use. Actually, works just like my HTC Tytn II. I've not fully explored it yet, but I'll definitely check it out when I've the time. Tired by now, and I'm gonna head to bed.

Oh, baked a banana cake earlier, hehehe.... Gonna bring some to the office to feed Michelle!

Virtual shopping - My shoes

I had been let loose on a uncontrolled shopping spree lately. You know how scary it can be when a woman is given the opportunity to go shopping (either physical or virtual)!

I've just bought some stuff to add to my exploding "shoe-store" and dresser. I already have many many many many pairs of shoes all either stashed in the shoe drawer or in the storeroom, and many still in boxes, yet to be worn. And I'm still buying! And the best part of it all, I wear only that same few pairs everyday! So why the hell am I still buying new ones? Because I am a woman! No, wait.... Correction...Because I AM THE PRINCESS! Muahahahaha.....

Anyway, these are what I have bought so far...







I just super love the PINK one (of course, it's PINK!) And the GOLD wedge is more for casual occasions like... going to the supermarket?! And the BLACK one (which I already wore to the office the other day) is just classy. And then the GOLD strappy one is just GLAM! And, to shock you all further, there are all 5 inches high! (Erm... I am already quite tall myself, so these make me tower over quite a lot of ppl...) Wahahahahahaha... OK, so I now have to be very careful when I wear them out, so that I don't fall and break the heels or sprain my ankles or something. And you people out there, if you do see me in those killer-heels, pls be kind, give way to me, and don't ever dare attempt to bump into me just to make me fall. I might just knock yr head with the so-sharp stilettos!

P/S: These weren't the only stuff I bought online. There are also some lovely clothes as well as some ultra sweet cosmetics. I'll post when I have time.

P/P/S: Don't ask me how much I spent... Can't bear to look in my bank account now...

P/P/P/S: I actually showed Michelle & Mei Chin the shoes, and "wickedly" tempted them to buy too. But hey, they will benefit with beautiful shoes too you know!

A lot of changes... And a new head (I mean hairstyle...)

Since we adopted a new management, things have seen many changes. Gradually, but a lot. Many changes were quite shocking to all of us. But since like people says, these are decisions of the company, no one dares to voice them out. Everyone out there just grumbles about it amongst themselves, and it also becomes a lunch break/tea break topic.

Whilst some changes appear to be good, they also pose a fair bit of inconveniences. Some changes on the other hand are very questionable, but of course no one dares to question (who would since most peolpe either are too afraid to speak up, afraid to lose their jobs, or simply, can't be bothered). I used to be very opinionated. I would always voice out what I feel. I never had any trouble talking about what I thought or what others thought. I never had qualms defending good ideas, and was also keen to express alternatives for things that didn't appeal.

But these days, I felt that speaking up is difficult. Sometimes, a single opinion or suggestion would face violent objections, and at times, people don't even bother since they already made up their mind to go in a certain direction. Perhaps if I tell them I feel otherwise about their decision, I would be deemed as just simply not complying.

Maybe with the new management/new system/new whatever, the way people behave around here must also change. Traditionally, for most companies, if not all (I think), when mergers occur, they keep the old culture, but add on new ideas. Here, they change the culture and add the ideas. Cuture shock I feel. But nothing much we can do. Someone said, Go with the flow... But others commented, Eagles don't see as well as horses do.

Anyway, I've been pretty stressed out at work for quite a while. Many factors involved. Since the re-structuring, other than the changes, I've also seen many people leaving (and some coming). Last 2 years, many good people whom I've worked with had either willingly, or unwillingly left us. Just recently, the whole office in Japan had been affected. And with that, another group of people left. Shoji, a big brother who's taken care of me really well, always there to teach patiently, and never selfish to impart skills and knowledge, has also decided to leave. Over in Korea, EunJin, who's been really sweet, always there to make me smile, has also decided to seek greener pastures. While back here in Singapore, Tweetie, who hit it off with me almost instantly since her 1st day of work, who had been like a big sister, who always made me burst out laughing, whom I fought with and drank with, had been unwillingly let go of... ...

Apart from that, the usual flow of very difficult customers and some colleagues I have to deal with everyday, as well as the usual & unusual challenges I've been facing at work, have taken a toll on me. I was joking just the other day, that I think I'm suffering from depression. I've been suffering from breakouts, I'm still recovering from my seafood poisoning (which had been really really really bad this time), and I just told Jessica the other day, I think I look like a 54 year old lady! Hahahaha... Hmmm I think I should start spraying SKII miracle water during the day rather than the Evian facial spray!

But, I did something over the weekend in an attempt to take some stress off. I cut my hair. Short. Not very short, but just short. Alan had been quite reluctant to cut my hair short. He'd always be putting my long hair in curls, and changing the colour of my hair. But I guess since I haven't had time to take care of my hair properly (I think the ends actually looked like sun-dried hay!), I made Alan cut it off. Hubby suggested the style, and Alan just did it! And the moment he snipped most of it off, I felt instantly lighter. The perpetual neck/shoulder aches I've been having were just gone at that instant. It was like a relieve... ... I'm still not quite used to it yet. When I woke up this morning, I still reached out to my hair clip as usual, but realised there was nothing to clip! Hahahaha... And earlier, when I walked into the office, Mei Chin & Michelle exclaimed at how short my hair was. I think I must have shocked them, hehehe...

Well, something different for a change. 所谓三千烦恼丝，希望这一剪，可以把所有的烦恼剪掉。。。
So, how do I look?

Wind & water discussion

So I wrote an interesting entry with my thoughts and opinion abt the wind & water. And that caught some attention, together with some very interesting feedback in the comments page. Of course by the way the comments were written, more or less I can guess who left the comment(s) (as in people that I know personally).

But it's interesting to see & hear everyone air their views, agreement/disagreement on a certain topic. It really shows that not everyone can agree with certain things that is being done, or plan to do. And whilst some may agree, they have different perspective as well.

But someone commented "it is a prejudiced view if we distinguish the sender's country by traditional or simplified character, coz all could be manipulated by software." But I beg to differ (though not 100%). I said I think. It's only a thought. And as far as to my knowledge, that is how it is. Or perhaps I'm not knowledgeable enough. Come to think of it, maybe old people write in traditional Chinese characters too. As for manipulation by software, yes, that may be possible. But that would also require the person who wrote the comments to be also know how the traditional character of that character looks like. Else, whatever you type in there may not make sense with all the wrong characters. But on the other hand, why would a person intentionally manipulate their comment entry? To hide their identity (which some people are already doing by way of posting anonymously or signing off with a pseudonym, but nothing wrong with that)? Hmmm... Perhaps I'm thinking too much. Maybe he/she has only either traditional or simplified Chinese character entry on his/her computer.

I still maintain that I won't and can't believe in this wind & water thingy 100%. My theory, just like supernatural-ism. Do you believe that there are Gods and ghosts in this world? Some say YES, some say NO. Those people who say YES, because they have seen it, but there are some who say YES only because their parents/grandparents/great-grandparents told them Gods & ghosts exist. Traditionally/culturally it's been like that. As for the group of people who say NO, simply because they have never seen ghosts, and they don't believe in the existence of God, or it just don't make logical/scientific sense. But of course there is also a group of in-between YES & NO.

So now, do such things exist only because people make believe their existence, thereby offering self-assurance and self-comfort? Is the 5 elements & 8 trigrams really something that will changes people's lives? Frankly, I did know of some people (including an ex-colleague and 1 other a "geomancy master") who so believed in the wind and water. The ex-colleague would be seen placing certain "auspicious things around the office/workspace. Shifting files and trays and changing computer direction. Even opting to sit, facing in a particular direction which was deemed very good for the career. But in the end, unfortunately, the career came to an unintended end. Apparently, the wind & water didn't work here. The sad part of it all, was health and other personal factors didn't go smoothly for this ex-colleague either. As for the "geomancy master" I knew. He was always offering advice to us, saying we must do this, we can't do that, we have to change the colour of this and replace that etc etc. But no matter what people did, according to his advise, nothing changed. Life was just the same. I ever asked, that if this so-called wind & water was really powerful, had it changed his life? Did his career/health/whatever improve? He proudly claimed YES. But some years down the road, I read in the papers that he went bankrupt! Maybe some of you might just comment that he's lousy or bogus. Whatever. But, I believe that in order to make things work, one must depend on himself/herself. Believe in oneself, and with knowledge, you can make the world go round.

P/S. A colleague (as well as myself) is thinking of putting small but beautiful/colourful cacti terrarium in the office (in my room/in her work station). I'm waiting to see if anyone will jump and strongly object due to ... ... wind & water?

P/P/S. if you choose to believe in it, it will be there. If you choose not to believe in it, then it won't be there. But does it really exist in the world, and not just in your mind?

Giant Moth!

Earlier this evening, I saw this HUGE thing fluttering around. I was trying to avoid it but it just kept flying towards me. I was almost on the brink of screaming cos I didn't quite like the idea of a moth ribbon on my head. But after awhile, it just landed on the steps (prob figured out that I didn't quite like it!)

A very "brave" me inched a wee bit closer to have a look at it. And mind you, it is really huge. with it's wings wide-spread like that, it's even bigger than my palm (from base to finger tip)! Not joking. Really big. So funny, the last time I saw giant snail. Now it's giant moth. What's next?

My Monday... Ironically filled with 99% Bitter Chocolates & Strawberries....

It's been quite a while since I last ate bitter chocolates. Always liked it because you could taste the real cocoa rather than sugar and milk. And the high concentration of chocolate acts as a stimuli to pump more blood to my brainz (if there's still any left by now). Basically, it wakes up me and enables me to think better.

Initially, the girls bought 65% cocoa. Then 75%. Then slowly, it went up to 85%. And suddenly, the last grocery shopping trip, I found 99%. Oh well, I need that. Super bitter I must say. And many of the girls had very wrinkled faces when they tried this. But I felt that it gave me the kick I needed when I faced the challenges everyday.


Last week, I was eating almost nothing but this 99%, almost pure chocolate. It was so bitter. Of course I made a nice hot cup of hot chocolate if I ate it in the morning. But still, this chocolate was so bitter, I swear my blood pressure would dip to zero if I didn't have the hot chocolate.

Anyway, challenges are always there. But the level of difficulty and the amount of understanding and sympathy, coupled with my co-workers' support (if any at all!) was what mattered. I'm almost to the edge now. Last week, I was told to clear some leave. And that was almost perfect timing. I had a good opportunity knock on my door. But thanks to someone, I had to let that opportunity slip by. I was fuming about it. I still am. And I wasn't able to clear my leave in time so I had to ask for an extension, which was granted, thank goodness. So now, I must, by hook or by crook, clear it before end of next month (and more to clear before end this year!). But, the question is, HOW??? That, I'll have to figure out very quickly.

Anyway, today, we had a "celebration" in the office. We celebrated the completion (or near completion) of renovation and a sparkling brand new office. (-_-) We popped champagne, cut a cake, and ate strawberries. I was only interested in the strawberries! And I still have the balance now on my desk!!! I confiscated them after the boss made a speech!


Moving forward, this week will be another very challenging week. I have a deadline to meet latest before Wednesday 9th (which means I must complete by tmr when some ppl replied my email on Friday past 10pm!) Sigh... Challenges. Really tough one this time. And of course tmr is the busiest day of the week, as always. And I have some other matters to attend to. And I need to figure out when to clear my leave (and make sure they get approved!)

Tmr, I'll be starting my day with a whole load of meetings/tele-conferences, whatever you call those. And then I'll be super-duper busy. So, anyone of you looking for me, pls pardon me if I don't sound cheery/normal/friendly/sweet/lovely/what-ever-you-would-like-me-to-sound! Cos I am on super high stress levels!

Till, then, have a good Monday (yr Monday can't be blue-er than mine!)

A "bright" new office

After 2 weeks (I thought someone said it'll be over in 3 to 5 days) of renovations, we came back to work yesterday to a very messy, dusty, disorganised office. There were still contractors running around and I was completely thrown off balance when I saw the work-station Michelle & Jessica were allocated. It had RED partition panels! I remember we were give 3 colours to choose from, GREEN, BLUE & RED. I told Michelle & Jessica to choose since they were the ones sitting there, so they settled on BLUE. But somehow, when I came back yesterday, it was RED (not my idea!!!) I wasn't prepared for it, but then again, I wasn't surprised. People change their minds really fast around here, and probably too fast to send the info round. Either that, or the earlier asking part was probably just a topic to talk about. I'm not sure. I'm just assuming.

Colours aside, my room (new room) was... well... weird. I can't describe it in words. Just looks strange, and feels... weird. It's smaller than my old room. But still has a sea view. Although from a slightly different angle. And the room's quite dark. They already added an additional set of lights in here, but still dark. (Dark office rooms no good according to the books of wind & water, I was told). There's a water sprinkler directly over my head (probably they think I'm too hot-headed, so they position me under the water to put out some flames (probably some wind & water theory, I don't know). But I'm not allowed to complain. It's supposed to be a nice room (according to someone). And it's a decision from somewhere-up-there that I move. So here I am. Moved. To the new office room. I'm not used to it. Yet. And I'm having a bad headache & dizzy spells today (wonder if it's anything to do with the wind & water?)

But I must say that the pale beige wall-paper with a tinge on gold is pretty nice. Reflects light well to make the whole office brighter. The carpets have been replace with laminated wood flooring so we won't be breathing in dust all the time. And the ceiling boards have been changed too. All the big partitions have been torn down, leaving the office look very... open. Not much privacy left unfortunately for the girls out there, but it's supposed to be a friendlier environment. So now, this office looks 99.9% like the office in Hjelmeland! Duke O, Prince H, if you do come by (again), you'll feel like you're at home... To those others who've never been to Norway, just think Ikea colours!

Oh, did I mention that I'm not allowed to walk around in my stilettos anymore? It makes loud clacking noises on the floor. It might be too irritating for the others as I tend to strut around the office quite a lot. To the pantry for a lot of water, to the photocopier, to the toilet etc. I might piss the hell out of some people if I run around in my 3.5 inch heels too. Oh, I might scratch the flooring! So I have to put on rubber soled sandals. Hmm... I wonder...

Anyway, there are more additions and add-ons yet to be complete in here. So over the next few days, or week, I might be further surprised/shocked/astonished by whatever that might change/add-on. Till then...

Oh, I just realised, my room door faces directly into the storeroom/server-room door. Is that good in wind & water? Anyone out there to advice?

P/S. I'm not a staunch believer in this wind & water thingy. Most things are fated & happen for a reason. So it's not gonna help much to force a change on things to get them going in your direction. But of course, everyone for themselves. It's only normal that people change certain things for the better, or to compliment their direction. But it may not suit the rest of everyone. In my opinion, as long as things are not strangely out of place or shockingly mis-matched colours used, it don't bother me. But if everything has to be a wind & water reason, then it's probably too over-board. At least I feel that way. I heard a couple of girls feeling the same way too.

P/P/S. It's been a very challenging day today, with some people testing my patience. Wind & water again? Hahahaha.....I'm mocking it, can't you see?

P/P/P/S. OK, I'm just being mean.

P/P/P/P/S. Shall I post pics of the office here? Hmmm...

犬と私の１０の約束 - 10 PROMISES TO MY DOG

Caught this very touching movie @ GV Vivo City earlier. Melted me on the spot & made me cry. I have a soft spot for animals. Especially dogs. I have a dog myself. So this beautiful story made me sit up and think. But of course, there was more than just keeping promises to your dog. It's also about responsibility to your family.

Go watch this one. But, remember to bring a box of tissue. Everyone was crying in the cinema! Yes, EVERYONE!!!


The 10 promises are:
1) Give me time to understand what you want of me.
2) Place your trust in me. It's crucial to my well-being.
3) Be aware that however you treat me, I'll never forget it.
4) Before you scold me for being lazy, ask yourself if something might be bothering me.
5) Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don't understand your words, I do understand the voice when it's speaking to me.
6) Remember before you hit me, I have teeth that could hurt you, but I choose not to bite you.
7) Take care of me when I get old.
8) You have your work, your entertainment, and your friends. I have only you.
9) My life is likely yo last 10 years. Any separation from you will be painful to me.
10) Go with me on difficult journeys. Everything is easier for me if you are there. Remember I love you...

I'll name it YODA!

You won't believe how fast it grows. Only 20 days old and it's like big. Big, fluffy and furry, and super cute! Nibbles on my fingers from time to time. And always giving me that super act-cute look. Melts me...

See how cute it is!

Even butt-view looks cute!

It's acting cute!

And yes, I've decided to name it YODA. I have no idea why, but it's head is so round. Eyes are so round. Looks like Yoda. So from now, it'll be known as YODA! Muahahahaha.....

Very Romantic Sand Art

Such a lovely piece of art and very soothing music too...

What to do when your mobile phone or ipod drops into the water

Hubby sent me an email with this attachment. Not sure if it works, but at least we now know what we can try (touch wood) if the accident happens.

ひやしちゅか Hiyashi Chuka for lunch

Had a major headache today. So many things on my shoulders. Also wondering how to balance next week as Michelle needs to take days off to look after her sis who fell and fractured her ankle. Plus next week, accounts will be rushing for their closing. So I guess next week I'll be working till I go completely flat, again. Oh! I forgot to inform Michelle that she can go on leave (-_-) Oops! Better tell her tmr...

Anyway, with my major headache, I didn't quite have any appetite to eat. Plus the warm weather wasn't exactly helping. So since I had veg in my fridge, plus my fav cha soba noodles (yep, I used cha soba instead of ramen or soumen), I decided to make a quick, healthy and refreshing lunch. A simple dish that took me only 10 mins to prepare. I chucked it in the freezer to super chill it down quickly too! And it was super yummy and very healthy! No fat and almost no oil... おいしい！！！I'm so proud of myself, hehehe...

So colourful v(^o^)v

I am a piece of art!

See, my pics have made it to a museum. I'm a piece of art! Wahahahaha.....

MISSING 深海寻人

Went to watch Tsui Hark's MISSING 深海寻人 at Downtown East earlier.

I felt that it was more of a psychological thriller than a horror flick. In fact there were so many twists to the plot, and so many so-called endings to which the movie never quite ended. And that put even more question marks into my mind.

From a hopelessly romantic story start, an eerie horror twist, then psychologically challenging endings. But, the way the movie was shot, the direction was not typical of Tsui Hark. Something was different. Sadly, the storyline was not as good as the TV trailer. But at least the underwater scenes was interesting enough, although it would be better if they filmed the Yonoguni Island ruins. Computer special effects was also interesting. Fiery ghosts... hmmm...

Anyway, after the movie, we ended up at Carl's Jr Playground @ Big Splash for supper. That place was quite happening. Quite crowded. I think maybe next time if we need to take people out for seafood and drinks, we'll go there.

P/S: I love the theme song of MISSING. Sung by Li Xin Jie.

It's Friday!

Woohoo! It's Friday!!!

Yep, end of the week. Not much of a planned party this weekend. But at least it's the weekend where I can relax and not worry so much abt work. I think I've been thinking abt work too much. So much to an extend I've kind of lost touch with civilisation, really...

Last Sunday, Joey arranged for us to meet up with Karen. Supposed to be a girly-talk weekend. But I was more than happy to see that Jimi joined as well. Ah... It's been eons since I last saw any one of them. They were my old classmates. And that meeting actually brought back a lot of nice and fun memories. Although everyone's moved on and leading their own lives now, but at least there was a part of us that we had in common. Memories of the old school days.

I enjoyed the meet up session. And I'm looking forward to catching up with them again more frequently. Of course there are many others, somewhere around, which we found on facebook, but haven't had the right time & opportunity to catch up with yet.

Let's try and set aside some time. We should have an old friends gathering really soon.

Actually, last week ended with a horrid Friday the 13th. Having been shoved around at work was bad enough. Getting railed at by assumptious customers who think that they were being very smart themselves just got me started. Then came the argument abt some non-work-related issues in the office, and horribly cold-blooded emails from the big one. That was like drenched by a bucket of ice water in winter. And the last straw was when I was asked a question which I had never expected. That lead to THE big fight. Urrghhhhhh...

Someone asked if I should apologise. But no. I shouldn't. I won't. I had every right be angry. I was. Very angry. Very upset. Very disappointed in fact. At that time though. But anger subsided after a few days. War over.

Anyway, it's been pissing hot these couple of days. The stupid weather was one of the most unpredictable I've ever come across. The sky had been unbelievably overcast grey. Not much winds, but there was just lightning all over. It was like that for abt 3 days this week. But, not a single drop of rain, can you imagine? It was so freaking hot and humid. But no rain!!!

I know it rained elsewhere. But nope, not the slightest droplet detected in my area. Damn... Probably too hot and the rain evaporated even before it reached the ground!

Anyway, thks to the hot weather, my orchid plant blossomed. Very nicely in fact. Added colour to my green plants. Made my day (since some other people wasn't interested in making anybody's day).


OK. It's a wrap for today. I'm gonna try and catch a movie later. I need a break...

Any name suggestions for my 10 day old ND?

Last Saturday, my Soot gave birth to a super cute baby bunny. Today, baby bunny is 10 days old. And it's HUGE!!! I let Michelle have a preview and she commented it was soooooooo cuteeeeeeeeee! Hehehe, yes, it's really adorable. Very cuddly. The feet is so big and looks so clumsy....



I haven't given it a name yet... Can't tell if it's a boy or girl yet. Shall I call it, Velvet? Furball? Big Foot? Hahahaha..... No, I can't come up with nicer names. Any suggestions???

A new addition to the family

Good news!!! 家有喜事!!! My Black ND Soot, had given birth to a baby!

Soot on the right, baby on the left

Close up of baby hiding behind the food bowl

Soot was struggling in labour on Saturday morning. I noticed she was quite traumatised since a few days before. She was just acting really weird, pulling hay and newspapers and tucking them in a corner of the playpen. And she was also very aggressive towards Snowy. And finally, in the wee hours of Saturday 7th June, at about 3.30am, she gave birth!

I haven't decided what to name it yet

See, so cute, and so tiny!

It was a pair of twins, but only 1 survived. The other was still born :( I'm not sure if it's a boy of a girl yet. But it sure does look very strong to me. Let's hope you grow up to be a healthy baby bunny!

A speechless post full of rant

I was very tempted to post a blank entry here. After all, I am speechless.

I was hoping for someone to make my day. But the tables turned and I'm asked to make someone else's day.

I really prefer to keep things the way they are. But I understand it is not always possible. However, I am also not expecting a very rude tell-you-what-you-must-do-and-you-will-do instruction. Which I did. I highlighted in a feedback, but got a "professional tick-off" instead. Perhaps the stick insect is more precious that I thought.

I don't need sympathy, but just some form of recognition for the time I spent in here. Which I didn't get, yet. When will it come? I have no idea. People out there are moving things upwards in their favour. Perhaps I have to start changing. And where do I start? From the wind element? Or the water element? I must be able to professionally cover it as upgrading maybe... hmm... Hang a HUGE mirror somewhere. Put a BIG pot of plant in a particular corner. Hang something pointing in a particular direction. Or maybe change the colours of everything in my room to PINK by force! Yes, it might work, or I might get fired! Hahaha....

OK, Michelle just told me she's craving for 猪肚汤! And I'm thinking of... ... Criss-cut fries and Onion Rings from Carl's Jr AGAIN! But, I have to slog late today. Sigh...

Ooops! I'm also thinking of Tako-yaki (the ones I ate in Tokyo were awesome!) and Char Siew Ramen (again, that bowl I had in Tokyo can never be found here in Singapore).

In a nut shell for this post, things suck, big time this week. And it's only Tuesday.

And, to that particular person happens to read this post, pls, these are my thoughts coming out of my brainz. You are not required to comment. I never invited you to read this right from the very begining anyway, though I knew you did so even before you confessed. Anyway, I never told you to read it. I'd like to say here that I can respect that decision. But I'm definitely not happy with the unprofessional way it was handled. I'll never mention that last sentence to you, because I know you'll never see it the way it's meant to be. Neither do I want to be accused of being unprofessional and not following certain "rules".

Kung Fu Panda

I was so tickled pink yesterday when I went to watch this animated movie @ Bugis. The cute fat panda was absolutely hilarious. The entire cinema was almost full, and not only were there lots of kids, there were also lots of young adults. Every few scenes, everyone would burst out laughing uncontrollably. And those kids... Their giggles and laughter... So contagious! Once the kids start laughing, they can't stop. And when you finally manage to contain your giggle, the next scene comes up and you burst out laughing again. It was really damn funny.

But actually 1 question went thru my head as I watched this flick. Why was Po's father a duck? It's so hilariously strange. But I like the parts where frames freezed of went into slow motion. The expressions on the character's faces simply sent me bursting into fits of laughter.

It's a good movie to catch this summer. Bring the kids, and don't forget the popcorn!

陋室铭 - A Tang Poetry

山不在高，有仙则名

水不在深，有龙则灵

斯是陋室，惟吾德馨

苔痕上阶绿，草色入帘青

谈笑有鸿儒，往来无白丁

可以调素琴，阅金经

无丝竹之乱耳，无案牍之劳形

南阳诸葛庐，西蜀子云亭

孔子云：“何陋之有？”

Jackie Chan recited this Tang poetry in one his earlier movies. I was only a teeny weeny little kid at that time. Chinese was definitely not my forte then. But somehow, this verse manage to remain etched in my brains until I heard someone recite this again recently.

And indeed, a mountain need not be high, as long as a saint appeared there, it'll be well-known...

Sichuan Earthquake

The past couple of weeks, the only headlines on local papers and news on TV was about the earthquake in Sichuan province in China. The fateful 8.0 quake that hit China on 12 May 2008, had taken more than 68,500 lives as of today. That had reportedly been the strongest quake to hit China since 1976.

Each time I flipped the papers, sad images of the aftermath fill my eyes and bring on tears. It just hurts to see so many people suffering, so many innocent lives taken away, so many children dead due to "tofu" school buildings.

I cried when I saw this picture

It must have been horrifying for the children

"Tofu" Buildings

One lucky survivor

This lady fainted after she learned that her daughter had died in the quake

Those that didn't make it

A butterfly mourning for the dead girl

School bags waiting for their owners to claim

Even as I write this post, my eyes still well up in tears... ... To all survivors, pls be strong. To all victims, pls bless yr loved ones... ...

Travelling again

I'm now at the airport. Flying off today. Another biz trip. Short one. Will be off to Bangkok in just a while. Have some meetings. And then hop back onto the plane and will be back in Singapore.


See, I told you, it'll be a short trip. Haiz....


Was super hungry this morning. So now, I'm gobbling my breakfast @ Burger King. Then get fed again later on the plane. And I'm desperately trying to slim down. Haiz....


Oh NOOOOOO........ Last call! I hear my name over the intercom. "Last call for passenger Miss Carol Lee... ... ... ..." Yikes! I have to run. Bye!!! Be back in approx 15 hrs!

Working behind the scenes

I've recently gotten a small "project". To do some "work" on a movie. No, not in front of the scene (maybe because I might cause the camera to crack). But behind the scenes instead.

It's something I've never done before. Something new, and very interesting. It's also a challenge (very tedious work & very little time allocated). But it seems to have been quite fun so far. I have previewed the new movie already, and will continually be watching it, over and over until the job's complete.

No details will be revealed. But I have to say that I'm enjoying it. Once the movie is completed, and ready for publicity, then I could probably talk more abt it.

Meanwhile, I'll be fussing over my usual work, and rushing the "project" on the side.

2008 My Lovely Mum Pageant - Photos

OK, I'm sorry but I have been super busy with work. Everything seems to have gone wrong all at the same time. However, I must say that it's not my fault. I'm on the receiving end of all the crap. Have been putting out bush fires, but the flame just seems to spread non-stop. I thought I was seriously going bonkers.

Anyway, below are photos from the pageant. I won't write anything to it. Just photos in this particular entry. Drool people, drool... Too bad, we're all taken! Muahahaha....

Semi-Finals 03 may 2008 Saturday

Finals 04 May 2008 Sunday

Even though I wasn't crowned the winner, I felt that I had already won. It was a very big deal for me, to have made it into the finals of this pageant. After all, I did want to assure myself and prove that I was still able to strut the runway, and look beautiful & glamorous.

At the end of the day, I'm still Princess Carol!

P/S: Those diamonds I wore that day was the most expensive set. It cost abt $250K!!!

2008 My Lovely Mum Pageant - update

Well, I didn't manage to get crowned. But at least, I finished off as this year's finalist.

It was a real eye-opener. I learnt a lot of things in the pageant industry. It's not as plain and simple as most people might think it is. A lot more things go on behind the scenes.

I had good fun, and made quite a few friends. Congrats to Jasmin for winning the Lovely Mum title, congrats also to Jenny & LiYan for coming in 2nd and 3rd place.

I have some more pics on hand, but I don't have time to post yet. So do come back again. Once I am free, I'll upload them. And you guys out there can ogle at all the pretty mums.

My Lovely Mom 2008 Pageant

Just a quick update, I took part in My Lovely Mom 2008 Pageant, organised by CapitaLand Retail. And YES! I made it to the Top 25 SEMI-FINALS! 看。。。我还是有两把刷子吧？！哈哈。。。

Semi-finals will be on Saturday 3rd May, and finals will be on Sunday 4th May. The winner will be sent to Shenzhen, China to represent Singapore to compete with the winners from Japan, China & Malaysia in the CapitaLand International Grand Finals on Saturday 10th May.

I think it's gonna very fun, and a real eye opener.

And today, we went thru a round of rehearsals. Audrey Quek, last year's winner was the consultant and stylist for us, and Mervyn, was our catwalk trainer and choreographer. We had loads of laughter over his jokes. But having stood the supermodel pose for more than 2 hours, practising our smile, turns, posture and all was really tiring. Well, it's been quite a while since I've done that. So now my feet hurts. Urgh....

OK, I'm getting sleepy now. Need my beauty sleep.

From tmr, I have to go on a diet! No oil, no fat, no carbo, tons of vegetables and truckloads of fruits. And absolutely NO SUPPER! Which also means, NO prata allowed. **sob sob**

Biz trip to BKK

Yeah, was in BKK for 5 days middle of last month. There was a HoReCa show there, which we participated in. Quite tiring, but fun. The Princess of Thailand visited the show too. Pity we weren't allowed to take pics of her :-(

During those 5 days, I didn't have a lot of time to shop around. Only 1 or 2 hrs to dash out to buy something before my boss buzzed me on my phone asking me where I was, and get ready to meet up. But I was treated, as always, to really fantastic dinners.

Stayed at the Novotel Lotus Hotel. It was conveniently located on Soi 33 along Sukhumvit Road. The BTS was 5 mins walk away, and there were small shops, food outlets like Subway, and cafes, along the main Sukhumvit Road itself.

View from my room

There's also a pool on the 9th flr if I looked down from my room window

Well-stocked mini-bar

The quiet corridor outside my room on the 24th flr

Lotus pond at the hotel lobby. So nice!

After I checked in, took a shower and sort of settled down, I went out for a short walk around. There were so many mobile food stalls (or illegal hawkers) just outside of the hotel, peddling all sorts of food. The aroma was very tempting, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to risk getting sick on my first day there. I was just starting to get hungry when Charlie rang and said to meet up at the hotel lobby for a "welcome drink" before we headed out to dinner. How timely...

Dinner was at L' Opera, on Soi 39. But Charlie forgot the address and as we hopped into a taxi, he told the taxi driver Soi 29. and we went around looking for the restaurant. Got very lost there (which was really very funny), and had to call up a customer to ask where it was! Hahaha. Ended up, it was Soi 39, not 29, and Charlie remarked humorously he missed by 10 Soi! Hahahaha....

L' Opera is an Italian restaurant. Ambience was rustic, dim lights, and it looked very warm and cosy. We were warmly welcomed and seated in a nice little corner. Charlie asked for the chef, whom he knew and was familiar with. Chef recommended a few dishes and some nice wine.

A beautiful assorted platter - Parma Ham, Spanish Ham, Special Sausages, Salami etc.

Pickled vegetables to go with the ham

Charlie's Mozzarella Cheese Salad

My Traditional Italian Funghi Soup (Mushroom Soup)

We also had a small serving of Risotto to share (I forgot to take a pic of it cos I was too hungry, and it looked too delicious to wait!). Then came the entree. I had an Angus steak with Foie Gras (oooohhhh), and Charlie ordered a Turbot.

My Angus Steak, medium rare, topped with Foie Gras & mushroom sauce

Charlie's Turbot

And of course we had beautiful wine (Red & Dry) to compliment the dinner

Dinner was really good. But we finished quite late. Went back to my hotel room after that to check my emails, and an early sleep. Had to prepare to visit customers and set up the show booth the next day...

Next morning, Charlie sent me a message, to meet at the hotel lobby at 11am, with Rachel (our intern who was posted to BKK for market research). So I woke up early, went to walk around, have some breakfast outside and see if I was lucky enough to do some shopping.

Almost all the shops were still closed, so I ventured further and tried some food along the roadside stalls. Half the time I was very afraid I would fall sick, hehehe....

As it was almost 11am, I headed back to the hotel slowly, and was probably 25 steps from the hotel when Charlie SMSed again to say change of plans, to meet up around 3pm instead. But I went back to the hotel anyhow, checked my emails, settled some work and then decided to take the BTS to MBK for a quick walk around.

Managed to walk (very quickly) thru Siam Discovery, Siam Paragon, Siam Centre and MBK. Picked up a birthday present for Prince A, and a pair of shoes for myself before Charlie SMSed asking where I was and I had to rush back to the hotel already.

Went back, showered and dressed ready to meet but got another SMS from Charlie saying another hour delay! Grrrrrr....... Ended up checking my emails again and napping another 20 mins.

Anyway, we did meet up with Rachel and make our way to the exhibition hall very late that evening. Most of the booth was already set up, and we just had to fill in the products to display.

Some products we put on display. There were lots more, but the pics didn't turn out nice enough to post here! Hahaha...

Of course in between we walked around the halls and saw the other booths set up as well. Some very massive, some were tiny and boring.

Nostalgic

This was on display at one of the booths. So cute!

That evening, we were all hot and sticky (cos they didn't turn on the air conditioning in the halls) and smelt like fish. Charlie suggested we grabbed a cab and headed back to Sukhumvit area for dinner. And behold! We got stuck in the infamous BKK traffic jam!!! Up on the highway, for approx 45 mins, almost complete standstill. We were very tired, and super hungry. I was contemplating abandoning the taxi and walking the rest of the way down, and Charlie & Rachel was also getting impatient and starting to curse. But of course with 3 ppl in the cab, conversation did make the stuck in the jam easier to bear.

As soon as we got off the highway and into the familiar city, we got stuck in another jam. This time, we just told the taxi driver to drop us off around the corner, 1 BTS station away from our hotel and we crossed the road into a seafood restaurant I spotted. Sat ourselves down and ordered dinner.

I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it was something seafood market! There was a little "market" in the back of the restaurant, with tanks and tanks of live seafood. Similar to the ones in China. Charlie and Rachel went to pick our dinner from there.

All those live seafood waiting to be eaten by me...
Muahahaha!

There was a cultural dance going on while we were waiting for our food

A live oyster prepared and eaten, Thai-style

It was still swimming 5 mins ago... Now it's on my dinner plate!

And yes, Royalties like me eat vegetables too...

Steamed Red Grouper

(It was also still swimming happily when Charlie decided to serve it to the hungry princess)

Ditto to the swimming crabs, oops!

Next day was the start of the exhibition. Rise and shine at 5am, showered, changed and ready in the lobby by 6am. I figured that we didn't want to waste time fighting with the taxi drivers with my limited ability to speak Thai on where we wanted to go, so I got one of the front office ladies at the hotel to write the name of the exhibition hall in Thai script. Was very handy when we showed the taxi driver. Hehehe, so smart of me!!!


The Princess of Thailand was there to grace the official opening. Then in the afternoon, the crowd started coming in. And boy we were busy. Rachel, Charlie & me were on our feet most of the time. Tired, but fun.

Cute Mascots & Pretty Thai girls were everywhere at the exhibition

Hungry crowd at the booth waiting to sample delicious smoked salmon

A trout put up for auction, starting @ 500BHT, increasing by 100BHT each call

Dinner that evening was even more interesting than the first 2 days. We were actually very very tired, and after the exhibition ended at abt 6.30pm, plus the 1.5 hrs traffic jam back to the hotel, we just settled for Japanese food opposite our hotel. Charlie said the teppanyaki was quite good, so we gave it a try. And see what we ended up eating...

Hiramasa Sashimi

Baby Squid Sashimi

Bacon of WHALE!!!

HORSE belly Sashimi!!!

Yummy Beef

I had this mixed with my green tea. Very nice!

Our chef for the evening

This miso soup had lots of mushroom!

HUGE strawberry for dessert

Hehehe, OK, how many of you guys are salivating buckets already? I know, always good food. Sorry lah, can't help it. I really enjoy eating good stuff. Anyway, on the last day of the exhibition, the crowd was really good. We had good sales on that day. And lots of fun too.

Our super funny DJ

Rachel sampling some shark's fin

And I was craving for Dunkin Donuts

Pity I had to rush to the airport at abt 2pm to catch my 6.30pm plane back home. It was a very long drive from the exhibition hall to the airport, and I was also very afraid the bad traffic jams would cause me to miss my flight. So I had to leave the team there while I left early.

We I finally arrived at the airport, I had to stand in a looooooong queue to clear immigration. They actually took a photo of all incoming people, and now going out, a photo had to be taken as well. So that took a lot of time. I was really getting very tired and hungry by then.

So after I cleared immigration, I went to have some food.

Harmless looking papaya salad which was freaking spicy!

Delicious Beef Bee Hoon

After the food, I had a little bit of time to walk around, pick up some souvenirs and cosmetics from duty free. The walked abt 20 mins to the gate, sat there for abt 10 mins, before I was on my 2 hr ride home to Sunny Singapore...

Pepsi is now home

Thks for all well wishes. Pepsi is now back home. He is still struggling a bit and very very traumatised from the operation and all. As at this evening, he was still quited disorientated. But at least he was eating and drinking well.

He still has a silly looking Elizabethan collar over his head to prevent him from licking his wound. He doesn't like it, but better to keep it there for now.

Pepsi will need to go back on Friday for a review. Hopefully he recovers well and fast....

Get well soon Pepsi

Went to see Pepsi earlier this evening. He was still sedated. Was barely awake, but he could hear my voice. I called his name, and suddenly he was crying. Yes, crying. Pepsi never cried like this before. But today, I heard him cry so loud. I knew how much it hurt... Poor thing, I stroked his head and kept speaking to him. But he couldn't move. He was just lying down in a heap and looked very pathetic. I wanted to give him a hug, but was so afraid to touch him and hurt him.

Pepsi couldn't move yet

Still sedated

Docs says they did the op on him in the afternoon, that's why he was still quite sedated. But Pepsi's an old boy, and the risk is higher, that's why I'm so worried...

Apparently, they've taken out 3 stones, which have been sent to the US for lab tests. Might need to change his diet. But in the meantime, I just need him to get well fast. Hurts me and worries me to bits...

Precious Pepsi-boy is hospitalised

I'm so sad. My precious Pepsi is sick. He has a stone in his bladder. Daddy & Mommy said he couldn't urinate for a whole day. Poor thing... So today, brought him to Mt Pleasant Animal Hospital, East Coast branch.

The vet did an x-ray on him and saw that his bladder was very full and there was a stone in the urinary tract. So the vet explained that they would run some blood tests on him, and if the results are ok, they'll do an operation on him tmr morning to remove the stone. But in the meanwhile, they had to insert a tube up, through his penis and push the stone back into the bladder so that he can pass out some urine and relieve the bladder. Poor thing!!! That must have hurt him like hell!

I went out to the reception to get admission papers signed, and then waited a while for them to do the procedure. After that, went back in to see him. He had a drip on the front right leg, and another tube draining his urine from his penis. He was locked up in a metal cage, his eyes were all wet and looked very scared.

I was very sad too. I could see from his expression how much pain he was in. Tmr morning, they are going to do the op on him, and hopefully it goes well. And then he can be discharged by Tuesday.

Pepsi looked so scared

I can also feel how painful it was for him

You'll be alright boy, you'll be alright. Doc says it's a minor op. I know it hurts, but it'll just hurt this once, but you'll be back to normal after this...

Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

Went to Orchard Cineleisure to catch Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon today.



To be honest, I never completed reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Neither was I attracted to the online game. But at the very least, I did have an idea of what the story was about.

This movie was solely about Zhao Zi Long (Andy Lau) and his achievements and contributions. I know it's probably not easy to squeeze the whole load of story into a 106 mins movie. Therefore, this Daniel Lee's attempt should be applauded no matter what.

I felt that some scenes were unnecessary, and many scenes were "rushed thru". But the superb acting skills of the cast did compensate in a way. Luo Ping An (Sammo Hung, did this character really exist?) played an elder brother and the narrator. Under exposed in the beginning of the movie, didn't quite show up during the movie, but played very well towards the end. Cao Ying (Maggie Q, I thought this character was supposed to be male?!) appeared only towards the end of the movie. I felt she looked too "Ang Moh" to fit in anywhere. But still, acting was commendable. As for Andy Lau, I still think he looks damn good after all these years. In fact better as he ages!

War scenes were quite interesting. Some parts left me sitting at the edge of my seat. But certain actions looked quite awkward. I liked the scene where Zhao Zi Long went out to rescue Liu Bei's son. And also quite enjoyed the final battle between Zhao Zi Long and Cao Ying. Sammo Hung had choreographed the action scenes himself. I'd like to say quite well done.

Overall, it's quite interesting... watchable... And btw, getting quite expensive to watch movies these days. $10.00 per ticket, geez...

Dim Sum @ Crystal Jade Vivo

Had lunch with Tweetie & Michelle @ Crystal Jade, Vivo City today. I enjoy the company of these 2 creatures! Both enjoy good food, just like me, and both are not afraid to try new things. Tweetie was in the mood for Dim Sum (after staring at Michelle's MSN profile pic). So we ended up in Crystal Jade. We ordered very sparingly today (Under normal circumstances, we'd order so much food, we would need 2 tables to "Display" them!).

Roast Pork

Look at her \/(^o^)\/

Egg Tarts (Very nice!)

Tweetie looking tweet as usual

Rest of the food

(Had to order 2 baskets of Chicken Feet else we'll end up fighting)

Pan Fried Carrot Cake

Chicken Feet... Collagen!!!

Char Siew Bao!

See how terrible these ladies are! I'm trying to take a pic but they are too hungry to wait...

Tweetie's fav, Glutinous Rice in Lotus leaf

Always nice to have company for fun lunch sometimes... Simple food, hot Pu'er tea, and juicy gossips to laugh abt. Brightens anyone's day I guess.

Farewell dinner & party for Pooh Bear & Marta Part 2 @ Post Bar & BOne

And as a continuation to my last post, after dinner @ St Julien, we adjourned for drinks @ Post Bar, Fullerton Hotel. I liked the ambience there. It was pretty cool to hang out. We sat near the entrance, and Marta ordered a round of Caipirinha for us. Pooh Bear, Marta, Shiau Wen, Tweetie & Michelle were all just chit-chatting and gossiping (and cam-whoring of course!).

That's our Caipriniha

Me, Shiau Wen & Pooh Bear making a toast

Marta & Me

Under the influence of alcohol...

Michelle & Marta still holding up well

Tweetie was already on the other side of the globe

Aren't these 2 yummy? Sugar, I mean sugar!!!

Michelle's gone...

Similar pose as abv, but both Tweetie & Michelle are gone!

Pretty?

I think Michelle prettier!

Michelle & Tweetie's BJ!

Tweetie said Michelle likes the fabric of Charlie's shirt

But somehow, her expression... hmm...

After a couple of drinks, Marta suggested we club-hop to Marriott Hotel's BOne. The live band there was quite good. Music was great.

I remember they played Final Countdown, I like!!!

Oooh... Pooh Bear & Shiau Wen

Pooh Bear on the move!

Erm... Titanic???

Tweetie, what do you think you were doing?

LOL, this is really hilarious lah!

I think Tweetie has a habit of humping everyone she fancies! hehe,,,

But in my opinion, she's really sweet & a lot of fun

So is Michelle, really adorable

Overall, I think we had a great night that day. Food @ St Julien was great, the party after was also good fun. Although Marta shed tears as we parted and went separate ways after the party, but I'm sure we all wished her and Pooh all the best in their future endeavours. I hope we would have a chance to meet again in future, even if it's just a simple dinner and some drinks.

Best of luck guys!

Farewell Dinner for Pooh Bear & Marta part 1 @ St Julien

People come, people go. Changes in the organisation saw yet another set of people leaving us. This time, we had to say our goodbyes to Pooh & Marta.

Dinner was at a chic French restaurant called St Julien @ The Waterboat House, Fullerton. The place was quite packed. Quality of food was good. Selection of wines were also commendable. Ambience was not too bad. And the price was... Well, I didn't pay for it, hehehehe....

The 3 of us are always cam-whoring all over the place

Pre-Dinner cocktails

Setting for the dinner table

Nice colourful stones

I just had to do this to my mobile phone... NICE!!!

Wine dispenser!

Assortment of bread to start us off

Followed by Lobster Bisque

I had Wagyu Beef, Medium Rare

Michelle had Duck Confit

Ice Cream for dessert

Pastries & Chocolates to go with Coffee or Tea

The wines we had that night

Marta & her Cuppacino

Michelle loves her dessert

Crepe in Grand Marnier!

That us, Pooh was the photographer!

And Pooh made us all do a Panama after dinner!

Group shot

Me & Tweetie outside St Julien

More pics to follow when I have time again! Gotta go catch some sleep now... So tired!!!

Sawadeeka! Princess Carol is in Bangkok!

Yep! I am currently in the land of a thousand smiles. Will be here for 5 days till Sunday. Temperature here is a freaking 34 degrees celcius. HOT!

And well, I'm not sure if I have the time to go shopping... But still if anyone of you out there has tips on where to go, what to buy, pls drop me a line... I know someone has told me to go buy shoes (very cheap), and underwear (Triumph Bras....very very cheap)... clothes... fake designer stuff... and donuts! Anymore ideas? Hehehe....

OK, I'm starving, so I'm going out to have some nice dinn