Virginia is for LOVERSSS...

2009-06-30T00:45:00.004+08:00

I AM MOVING TO LIVEJOURNAL.

I've been a loyal fan of blogger all through the last few years of blogging, so never once had i thought of even switching to any other platform, no matter how much i hear friends rave about the other platforms like Livejournal, Wordpress and whatnots...

but then i'm starting to realise with blogger being so public and anonymous ppl leaving weird comments on my tagboard, be it good or bad, it disturbs me...

and as i was telling Lester, i think all these experience has sort of stifled my writing style, and now i find it supa hard to let emotions flow through to my entries, needless to say, blog about private stuff...

i know there are ppl here reading who are not supposed to be reading. By that i meant ppl who dont know me well, have never said hi to me before, and whom i dont know. i.e. strangers. and now there're another grp whom i dont wish to let known my personal life -> Colleagues. I have nothing against ppl reading my posts lar, in fact i'm more than happy to share holiday posts! haha... it's just that there are private stuff which i want to keep only within my friends.

SOOO! comes the transition from blogger to Livejournal. Because livejournal can lock up certain entries. which means i can continue to show off beautiful photos of my travels (haha!) while still blog abt very private stuff.

And also Livejournal can load entire album at the same time, which really saves ALOT of hassle. and i do mean, ALOT.

So here goes...

http://nitecloud.livejournal.com

Of course if there are private entries, i'll still lock them up with a password, but as long as u're a friend of mine, ask me for the password and i'll definitely give =)

But here, i'm trusting that all my friends will not spread whatever password i decided to put to lock up my entries. All through the last 5 years, i've moved across 3 different blog addresses. this is my 4th, and i really dun wish to move again!

so cya at Livejournal! =D

2009-06-24T23:51:00.002+08:00

Today is great, i love impromptu leave =))

I'm so exhausted from work the last few days and last few weeks, because of Year End Closing and the New Fiscal Year starting... things have been crazy and hectic and rushed at work. I always seemed to be rushing... rushing my work to meet deadlines, rushing to go to meetings, rushing my lunch so that i can get back to work quickly, rushing submission of stuff, rushing to the train platform coz the train is coming in 1 min and i wanna go home asap, rushing home to eat dinner coz it's already 9pm...

i know my work in comparison to many others is a breeze, and seriously when i see how torturous work is for my accountancy friends, i know i should shut up, but still, i hate this kinda life.

when it boils down to job scope, i really love what i'm doing. I really love it. I love churning out financials for marketing plan, i love being able to make decisions on my own even when it involves millions and millions of dollars, and i love seeing the results of my work.

but then again working life is not as simple as only your jobscope or what you do... there's always colleagues you have to handle, there's your boss, there's politics, there's deadlines which make u so stressed up and frustrated, and there's competition.

i once told myself "welcome to the corporate world, you want good pay? this is the place you have to stay".

but then at the same time, there's this nagging feeling at the back of my mind, telling me this is not the place for me... i'm in such a dilemna =( and it has only been a year or so...
and the worst is, i actually love what i'm doing... i just dont like the environment and the corporate world, as u call it... i'm telling myself, 2 years. 2 years is the limit before i really sit down and decide wat i wanna do next... or if there's a "next" to talk abt..

anyway back to today. i woke up with a headache and feeling totally exhausted fr all the work, so i took leave =)

Les came over with pasta ingredients and a sunflower for me =)
so we spent the entire day cooking the Italian pasta i bought fr Rome, chatting, playing Wii =)
and it ended up with a movie at Lot 1 (Transformers YAY!!!!!) and dinner at home with my family, and more Wii...

he cracks me up... seriously... esp when he plays Wii haha... not only me, my mom and sis couldnt stop laughing haha...

i think aft i started work, i'm more aware of what's really important to me in life... there's only a few things which will stay constant no matter how much obstacles i'm facing, no matter what shit life throws my way, and that's friends, family and Lester.

when you've to go through ups and downs in life, you'll realise how impt these things are...

You made my day today =) and i love the sunflower!!!!

2009-06-24T00:16:00.000+08:00

Boracay Day 1 (23rd Apr 09)

I've been on a hiatus for so long when it comes to blogging abt my Boracay trip... not because the trip is bad (on the contrary, in fact)... i was just LAZZZYYYYYYY...

but then again, the trip has been so wonderful and fantastic, i have to boast about it here... hahaha... although, pls dun go there too often, because then u'll make it too commercialized, and then it'll become another Redang...

no just kidding haha... go there as much as u wan, i can let u guys noe which resort is good and which clubbing spot is the BEST! =P

so anyway we took Cebu Pacific fr Manila to Boracay...

We thought we saved alot of money by taking a budget internal flight. but alas, this money saved is NOT worth it at all. it's a pain and torture to take this airline.

and trust me, halfway through the flight, i really thought i was goin to die. No like seriously, i was scared stiff (and i'm not phobic of flying at all) and i even started to pray... except not to anyone up there in particular, seeing how i'm a free thinker. but i was really really scared. and my fren beside me was praying too... my god... the plane was shaking so much, so so much ok... it's easily the worst flight i've ever taken.

and there and then, i told myself, since i'm working already, never ever will i save on this kinda money. EVER. it's just not worth it.

and because the flight was so lousy, it couldnt get through a small rain, and had to land at the nearby airport (2hrs bus ride from where we're supposed to alight)...

Kalibo airport

dont think u can see my face in that photo, but i was all pale and sickly looking, because stoopid plane not only made me scared stiff, it made me puke like crazy...

And after 2 hrs of bus ride fr Kalibo, we finally reached Caticlan!

most common mode of transport there

us on the trishaw

not exactly a trishaw though, it's just covered seats attached to a motorbike.

at the harbour in Caticlan

photowhoring while waiting for the boat to take us to Boracay

Okay just to let u know the travelling fr Singapore to Boracay:
1) International flight fr Spore to Manila -> 4hours
2) Internal flight fr Manila to Caticlan -> 2hours
3) Boat ride fr Caticlan to Boracay -> 10mins

so anyway, even fr the harbour, we could catch a slight glimpse of Boracay, which got us all excited already!

And our boat fr Waling Waling is here! it's like our private charter... shioks.

All the boats there have those weird things flanking out fr their sides, it's supposed to help the boat balance in water... i guess coz the middle body is so narrow and thin...

the ppl fr Waling Waling were so nice!!! they gave us warm thick towels, a necklace each and a drink...

and the guy was so nice and good looking! ahhaha... he kept asking us wat happened to our flights (we were supposed to reach 1 day earlier, sighs long story)...

Jess :: Chalene and I

It's amazing how well and fast the 3 of us clicked within a few months of knowing each other in the company... and we're not even working on the same floor. i guess this is the power of being Singaporean among all the foreigners around u. there's this unexplainable cosiness u feel everytime u see a Singaporean in my company hahah... it's true!

Look at those waters!!!!!!! omg, they're beautifully clear and the bluest BLUE i've ever seen! and we're not even close to Boracay yet! we're just between Caticlan and Boracay... it's so beautiful seriously. we looked down, and we can see every detail of the seabed and the coral reefs at the bottom of the sea. in fact, it's soooooo clear, u'll think the waters are very shallow, but it's not.

Upon arrival at our beach resort room...

and our room...

I love the beds man! they're so huge and bouncy and warm...

And i think this package that we took is wonderful! it includes:
1) personal boat to/fro caticlan and boracay (i saw the public boats, they're crowded and dirty)
2) A welcome drink (cocktail!)
3) A necklace
4) Free airport transfer to/fro
5) Free booking of verandahs all day (not sure if they're called verandahs, but they're these small little huts along the beach and they're PERFECT for relaxing!)
6) A free massage
7) A free dinner meal by the beach

and get this...

8) A free pair of Havaiians EACH! and they're reaaaaaalllllll!!!!

So anyway once we settled in, we went down to the reception to find out abt all the activities, and to start exploring the beautiful beach which everyone has already raved to us before we even flew there...

it was kinda cloudy on our first day, which really surprised me, because this is their summer period and supposed to be the hottest...

ta-dah! clear waters!

and then as we walked down the beach, the first thing we headed for was this little eatery called "Jonah's Fruit Juice" because the fruit juices there (esp their avocado banana) are supposed to be legendary...

Jonah's Fruit Juice

and our view of the beach...

and here they are, the legendary fruit juices...

All of us ordered avocado banana juice of coz, and they are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good! it's unbeatable and unbelievable... the best i've ever tasted... and i've tasted many avocado juices before...

Seeee, we're all happy =))

We ordered food too... didnt realise how hungry we were until we saw the table next to us chomping away haha...

but anyway the burgers above are the signature burgers on the island... there's a name for it, obviously i cant rem, it's 2 months ago haha... but basically it's like their version of Ramly burgers...

and then as we walked further down, we saw rows and rows of really cool shops... shops selling little handmade stuff, nice exquisite souvenirs, beach wear... and then now and then, a really nice restaurant or pub pops up...

I really love this row of shops, it totally has the very beach-y kinda feeling... some of the shops dont even pave concrete floor for their inside... so basically even when u walk into the shops, u're still standing on soft white sand...

and yes! their sand is really soft and really white... and everyone is walking around in bikinis, regardless of what they're doing... they enter shops in bikinis... they sit down in atas restaurants in bikinis...

i love love love love it! this is my life...

okay to get back... we walked past this place that was doing glitter tattoo, and in an impulse, chalene and i decided to do it...

bad choice. it's so ugly.

lucky for us, it will drop off in 3 days or so... and by the 2nd and a half day, we cant stand the ugliness anymore, and so we were scrubbing at it like crazy haha...

and then it starts to rain -_-'''
haix, serves us right, must be punishing us for getting those ugly things on our bodies...

and still, the beach looks beautiful... haha...

at night, we decided to claim our free dinner meal at Waling, to make up for the rainy afternoon we had...

the place they set up for dinner is so beautiful and romantic... and those are the verandahs i was talking about...

'
love this lamp... though i'll never put something so oriental-looking in my hse

Table all set for US!

and while waiting for Jess to go back to the room to change, Chalene and I were lazing around and playing with the camera...

i was feeling so cold in that get-up...
but refused to change, because we will be heading down to the beach aft dinner, and i'm too nua to bath before dinner, and then bath again before i slp...

i dont even noe why i explained the above -_-'''

and our food! when they said free dinner, i didnt realise it's a full course meal!

we had salad, soup, appetizers, main courses... and then pina coladas!!!
and of coz infamous Filipino desserts!

if any of u have ever tried filipino desserts, they're sooooo sweet it's unbelievable...
and i love it! but it's one of those kinda food which u'll have to share, because too much of it will just make u wanna swear off it forever...

aft dinner, we headed down to the beach again haha...

see! 2nd part that i love... even late at night, the entire beach is still bustling with life!

and we spotted the famous sandcastles that were always around Boracay! i saw it on the website before i came, and i told myself i have to find them...

this is just one of them...

isnt it nice?!?!
i wonder how they make it... but apparently it must be really easy for them, because these elaborate sandcastles are everywhere, some even larger and more intricate than this...

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Boracay Day 2 (24th Apr 09)

Okay Day 2 - I woke up feeling damn excited... you know how sometimes u're on holiday and you wake up finding yourself in an unfamiliar place, and for a moment you just feel disoriented and lost wondering where you are... and then suddenly it hits you! "i'm in XXX!!!! on holiday!!!"

yea exactly what happened to me... =)

anyway i suspect the below photos are fr Day 1 instead, the day it rained. but anyhoos, too lazy to shift the photos up haha...

after lazing on the beach for awhile and absorbing the beautiful waters and sand that lie before us, we took off for the start of our water sports!

we took the motor-trishaw (or whatever that's called), to the jetty where all the sailing boats and yachts are parked...

we had signed up for a day island hopping, so there will be a boat catered just to us! yes all to us, no squeezing with a large grp of noisy tourists haha... AND the boatman has bought us fresh food (according to the shopping list we gave him of coz), so that we can bbq on one of the islands later for lunch... how shioks is that!

i love bbqs wahahha...

and THIS! is one of the nice yachts that we were supposed to rent on our last nite!

it costs around S$400 to rent this yacht for 3-4hrs, and the best thing is u can bring food and alcohol up and the crew there will bbq the food for you! and the best timing to book this is during sunset, so that you can sail out to watch the sunset.

of coz there were only 3 of us, but we were approached by another grp of 4 americans/filipinos to rent the yacht tgt and hold a party on it. i was so damn excited over this lar, but we decided too late, and the yachts were all fully booked =((

next time i go Boracay, i MUST do this!

and sailing out to the sea...

supadupa beautiful! look at the photo on the bottom right. how blue is those waters! i love love it!

and snorkeling baby!

believe it or not, my first time doing it!
when i told my friends i've nvr snorkelled before, no one really believed me, coz according to them, i LOOK like someone who has done it. whatever that means haha...

but i totally love it lar... it's damn fun... and becoz the waters there is sooo clear, even on the surface, you can see the corals to every single detail. and we had tons of bread with us, so when i threw it around me, all the fishes just sped towards me and started nibbling around me haha...

and one of the islands we reached aft snorkelling, "Crystal Cove - The Dream Island"... wat a name right haha...

the island is beautiful, i have to admit...
the sand is white, the waters is blue... and even though u get that on Boracay, but this island is less populated so on the whole, it gives a cleaner and more natural feel to it.

the 2 bulls and 3 cows :: chalene and i

and exploration of the first cave!

the place is so clean, i'm actually surprised... i expected at least some litter lying around. but nope, not a single scrap of paper at all...

we climbed to the top of the stairs and had a magnificent view of the seas...

chalene, me and jess :: me and the guide/boatman

the boatman is really nice and friendly... and he talks in such a gentle and soothing tone haha... everytime we wanted to camwhore, he'll offer to carry all our bags with him while juggling the 3 cameras in his hand and taking photo of us with each one.

and finally, we came to the entrance of cave #1.

look at how freaking narrow that is. i never tot possible that anyone will be able to squeeze through that.

and in the cave itself...

unlike the other dirty and musty and stuffy caves i've been to (not many though haha), this is really beautiful. the moment we reached the bottom, we were greeted by crystal clear waters, glistening rocks and small fishes darting here and there. the waters are so nice, i can just stay inside all day lar.

aft tat, we made our way to the 2nd cave...

and i supa heart this photo!

looks like i'm in the midst of paradise or something haha...

and while me and chalene were camwhoring with the above scenery, jess went away to buy 3 bottles of iced sprite for us...

for the entire trip, she just feels like an elder sis to us lar, and it's really nice, coz going on a hol with her, u really feel like u're being taken very good care of =)

Cave 2 :: waters in cave 2

Cave 2 isnt as nice as Cave 1, it looks very normal. and also there was this guy who has slapped on probably 5cm thick of sunblock lotion on his body, and swimming in the water. i can see waves of white foam behind him when he swims. it's utterly disgusting yucks.

it says baywatch on the wall haha

after walking for another 5-10mins or so, we finally reached the scenic place where we're supposed to have our bbq lunch... and tis is the view fr our table...

i dunno abt u, but i've nvr seen waters so blue and clear as this. i know i've repeated this many times, but seriously! these photos do not do justice to the actual beauty! =)

and our bbqed lunch!

Giant prawns, bbqed squid and pork chop :: filipino corn

tat's only a small portion of what we actually ate. and omg, the squid is heavenly lar!
i didnt try the corn too, it looks kinda mushy to me, even though the guide insisted that that's how filipino home-grown corn looks like when it's cooked.

more camwhoring and lazing around the beach before we went back to Boracay to wash up. On the way back to our room, we passed by this minimart and decided to go in to buy some groceries and what do we see but our very own company's products!

we did abit of self market research there ourselves haha! will not say which is which, but one of the shelf above belonged to my company, and the other to the competitor...

and you know when i saw the prices on my brand being reflected on the shelf, and the product itself, and the promotions that come with it, the thought that ran through my mind was "i churned these financials... i was involved in the approval of this marketing plan" and the after-feeling was undescribable... it kinda reminds me why i love what i'm doing... you can actually see the result in your daily life (i.e. going to the supermarket).

okay work aside haha, we dressed up and proceeded out to the die-die-must-try restaurant that our filipino colleagues have recommended to us...

"CYMA"! A greek restaurant...

the place looked really humble and small, but the service is seriously A-rated... the ppl there are so nice and friendly... and we ordered sooooooo much food!

and EVERYTHING was so good, i'm not kidding.
in Singapore, i'll never think abt eating at a Greek restaurant... but after this meal, i'm CRAZY abt greek food! it's THAT good okay.

and the chocolate brownie is heavenly...
it was a small bdae cake that me and Chalene ordered for Jess, coz it happened to be her bdae on that day!

A humongous hug for the bdae ger!

and more intricate sandcastles we found on the beach...

i have no idea how they made those man... but these are apparently the signatures of Boracay...
On the way back, we passed by this Henna tattoo place, and on impulse, we decided to go for it!

Jess and her Henna tattooist

and Chalene and i both getting leg tattoos!

i love the anklet one... i'm so tempted to get one now lar! its so damn nice! and plus it's small and sweet and not that obvious...

after letting the tattoos dry for awhile, we went out getting ready to PARTTTAYYYYY!
there were 2 clubs near our place which are the best and most popular among both locals and tourists, and they sound so happening! we can hear the music all the way fr our room...

Jess and I :: us toasting a drink

i forgot what drink that is, but it's horrible. -_-''
the music is a blast though, every single song got us high, or at least me high haha...

then there were 2 perverted filipino guys who kept trying to get close to us, damn irritating... they're supa touchy and they kept sticking to us...

we took all the photos above to chase them away because they kept pestering us to take photos, and we only took on one condition - that we used our own cameras haha...

becoming high towards the end of the night :: chalene trying to get fresh with me wahhaha

we proceeded to another club after that, to escape fr the 2 perverted guys haha...
the other club was playing more of techno songs i think, but most of the ppl were dancing on the beach, in the waters! how cool is that!

it's like the best combination that can ever have! beach + clubbing hee...

all of us took off our footwear and danced in the waters too... and when u walk deeper into the sea, there will be this part there which has no water at all, it's only sand... i have no idea how to explain this here, but it's amazing... something to do with their shoreline or something...

i was feeling kinda pukey after the first club... but i think the sea breeze kinda clear that up abit... haha... i love it lar, i can rem how happy and high we were standing in the sea, looking at everyone around us dance and shake to the music, listening to the amazing music blasting into the night... and the entire beach was alive...

i wanna go back again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

then there were these 2 boyish looking cute guys who approached us haha...

sorry, i forgot to add... crazy guys at that too... haha... they're the funniest duo i've ever met... every single sentence that comes out fr their mouth is damn lame!

ermmm cant rem their names haha... but they're 18 and they thought we were 19! haha good for us! =)

after clubbing till like 3am, the guys walked us back to our beach resort and we sat on the sand outside and chatted till 5am... it's really nice to meet guys who really have the intention of being friends and getting to know you better... never once during the night were they touchy with us...

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Boracay Day 3 (25th Apr 09)

after slping at 5am the night before, we woke up groggily today at lunch haha...
and guess where we had lunch at? CYMA! i know, again! but the food there is so good!

my stoopid frens say i look 12 year old here. like SERIOUSLY?!?!?! so kua zhang haha...
and the weather is sooooooo freaking hot that day we were walkin around in our bikinis and eating lunch in bikinis...

the manager there personally served us coz he recognised us from the dinner the nite before haha... see! A-rated service!
and he even gave me alcohol swap to remove the ugly glitter tattoo haha...

and the food we ordered...

actually we came back mainly for the mussels coz it's their signature but it was all sold out the night before... and also we ordered beef skewers again! look at the bottom right photo, yes that's the beef, it's damn tender and cooked to perfection lar! damn nice!

all swept clean

and another signature dish of Cyma, their flaming mango dessert!

it's basically baked mango coated in caramel sauce on sizzling hot plate with vanilla ice-cream... so before they served u, they'll put the mango on fire in front of you (similar to manhattan fish market's seafood platter)...

aft lunch we took the motor-trishaw to the locals' market to buy some of the local food back...

us on the motor trishaw

and the famous local products market "d* talipapa"!

we went there mainly to buy the preserved mango, which Philippines is really famous for...
aft placing all our barang barangs back in our beach resort, the activities officer (yes, the resort has an activities officer who will advise you on what activities to do and get the best lobangs for u!) accompanied us to the place to take ATVs...

us on the ATVs!!!

it's damn fun okay!!!!! and we rode the ATVs all the way to the top of this nearby hill, where we'll be able to see the whole of Boracay fr there...

it's supa easy to drive the ATVs actually, it's kinda like a jetski... there's only brakes and accelerator...

and at the top of Mount Luho, we parked our ATVs and climbed up higher because the view fr the top is apparently pretty amazing...

Mt Luho :: Boracay's slogan

i love their slogan, it's the nicest i've ever seen... esp "Leave nothing but footprints" =)

us at one of Mt Luho's viewpoints

and there were alot of displays of animals' dead corpses, like this one in particular...

and it was right next to us when we took the photo above... my frens nearly freaked out, i think i was the only one who dared to go so close to take this photo haha...

and our trek higher up...

and finally we reached the highest viewpoint!

you can see White Beach (which is the most happening stretch of beach) behind us...
and more nicer views fr the top...

one of the staff working at the ATV place brought us around the area, coz it's kinda like a mini farm too...

the bottom 2 photos are of a huge cobra and monkeys...
and look at the black puppy! damn cute lar, i feel like bringing him home haha...

Drove the ATVs back to the White Beach after that...

and there was this small section of the beach covered in soft dried algae... and it's really soft and clean, not like those kind you see on Tanjong Beach haha... according to the locals there, these algae get washed up on the shore once in awhile, where they'll dry up and become white sand over time...

which is why Boracay's sand is always so clean and white and soft... not sure how true that is, but that's what all the locals told us haha...

and we booked a sailing boat for sunset! it's damn cheap! i think we paid S$8 each or something...

getting ready for the sail towards sunset!

the most unique thing about these sailboats is they have nets on both sides of the boat which u can lie in while the water splashed against ur butt and u sail towards the sunset! it's damn nice, and plus when u looked down fr the net, u can see so clearly to the bottom of the seabed coz u're so near to the surface of the waters...

jess :: chalene and i

and the sunset which we were sailing towards!

there's much nicer photos of the sunset, but i only got them after i posted all these, so they're all on facebook!

dinner at night was at this atas place by the beach called "Atria"...
they have tables and cushions on the beach itself... so basically, u sit on the cushions on the beach facing the sea, and enjoy candlelight dinner... damn romantic lar! =)

Boracay's own Waikiki :: Atria

and the food we ordered...

the pizza has cured ham on it! that's how i fell in love with cured ham, never heard of it before in Singapore... but it's damn nice! tastes kinda like smoked ham but nicer i think...

and in the middle of dinner, the owners of the restaurant performed some fire act for us...

Chalene cant stop commenting how hot they looked while doing the act haha... but they look kinda like transvestites...

hmmm actually i'm pretty sure they are ahha... oh wells...

bought beer back to the room at night to have a chilling night, just the 3 of us =))

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Boracay Day 4 (26th Apr 09)

Last day of Boracay - it feels like 4 days is not enough lar! i wouldnt be bored even if i go for 5 or 6 days! just lazing ard the beach makes me happy also lar!

one final look of the beautiful beach...

and transiting at Manila airport back to Singapore...

i was wide awake throughout the entire flight coz the view fr the window is so beautiful...

look at the sunset reflection on the waters, damn nice lar...

and shopping at the airport store...

us, tired but satisfied after the trip :: Chalene and Jess trying to imitate my smile -_-'''

and the loot i brought back with me! hee...

souvenirs for all my frens :: luggage tags for my Europe trip frens!

mine! :: and for les, supa apt for him lor haha

the top left photo is the free havaiians that the resort gave us, pretty decent huh! and i supa love the bikini lar! it's better than ripcurl quality but much cheaper...

and all the food i managed to smuggle back! wahahah...

Filipino local products :: Krispy Kreme donuts

and of coz, one of the nicest things i brought back with me...

my Henna tattoo!

one liner summary for my Boracay trip:
I TOTALLY LOVE IT, AND I'M SO GONNA GO BACK NEXT YEAR! =D

2009-06-05T00:36:00.004+08:00

While i'm waiting for my Boracay photos to be loaded onto Facebook, let me just blog a little about my Europe trip!

Firstly, I'm so glad i went on it. really.
the 3 weeks leading up to it, is basically one of the worst periods in my life. there were just so many things happening, i can't even begin to describe.

there were lotsa issues at work, so many things happening i just wanna hide in one corner and cry.
i came down with fever as high as 39.7 degrees and this was the temperature i had to live with for almost a week (read: 7 days!)... i tot i was going to die, i have never been so sick before. the only thing stopping the doctor from sending me to the hospital is the fact that i've never been to any countries affected with swine flu.
my mom was at my throat the entire 3 weeks, she couldnt stop naggin about my europe trip and the swine flu, she even threatened to call the airline and cancel my flight.

i wasn't in the holiday mood AT ALL. i ALMOST wanted to back out, even a week before the day i'm supposed to fly, i was still thinking of cancelling...

but somehow, God or whichever almighty figure is up there, decided that i deserve something better, and made EVERYTHING go away 5 days before my flight. and i do mean everything. the issues at work got resolved and everything was good. my fever went down to 37 degrees the day after it hit a high of 39.7. my mom miraculously stop nagging and decided that maybe she shd just let me go ahead.

when i planned the itinery with les, and met up with the rest of the gang to decide wat to bring, wat time to meet at the airport etc, i was at a high... e excitement and anticipation is unbelievable.

Europe is a very different place from all the countries i've been to before. it's very strong and influential in culture, arts, history, geography and architecture. it's unbelievably beautiful, esp Venice. oh my gosh, that HAS to be the most beautiful city i've been to so far (more gushing will come later, when i actually blog abt it).

this 15 days trip revived my passion for crepes (yea crepes! =DD) and for history.
I remembered, as a student, i was very intrigued and engrossed by all the history i've studied. but wells, studying it for exams is another story. to read and know new facts otherwise unknown to u, is exciting. to read over and over again and to memorise every single date and name, is pure torture. but anyway, i've always preferred studying history to geography. it's so much more interesting to study about people, and their actions, events and their consequences; than to study about rocks and clouds and rivers blah...

but of coz i'm sure alot of ppl have differing views from me, esp the Geo students haha... in my opinion though, the beauty of nature lies in the fact that you have no idea how it comes about. a shooting star is much more beautiful if u dunno how it came about. Northern lights is much more miraculous if u dunno how they are formed.

so anyway, the 4 cities i've visited on this trip (since EVERYONE is asking me) is:
Paris, France -> Berlin, Germany -> Venice, Italy -> Rome, Italy -> Vatican City, Italy

okay, make that 5 cities haha... and in my opinion, in terms of overall package this is how i'll rank those cities:

1) Venice, Italy (beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful... )
2) Paris, France
3) Berlin, Germany
4) Rome/Vatican City, Italy

Will blog about the trip soon! after my boracay!

**Created by Lester =)

I'm so gonna go back to Europe next year, i even have the cities planned out already:
1) Prague, Czech Replublic
2) Barcelona, Spain
3) Amsterdam
4) Selzburg/Vienna, Austria

the above 4 are supposedly the most beautiful cities in Europe, as ascertained by my frens who have been there.
i cant wait i cant wait i cant wait!!!!!!!!!

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Going back to work after a 2 weeks plus hiatus is easier than i tot... prob coz the pace in office is slower during this period, and also coz there're so many things to look forward to this weekend!!

Fri night: Teppanyaki at my house with the Rolex ppl + poker + exchanging of Europe photos
Sat afternoon: Potluck at Orchard Scotts Residences with my Finance team
Sat late afternoon: coffee with Work and Travel ppl
Sat evening: shopping with Les
Sat night: Clubbing at Double O/Butter Factory with the RV peeps
Sunday: Sentosa

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

2009-05-11T01:33:00.019+08:00

Okay, to neutralise the depressing and emo entry i posted earlier, i'll post something happy and fun! hopefully, it'll look fun to u guys... haha...

first up, JASON MRAZ concert!!!!

I'm not exactly a concert person, unless the celebrity is someone who can really really dance, i.e. Justin Timberlake. otherwise usually i'm satisfied with just my ipod.

but at the same time, i never turn down anything that involves playing or going out hahah...
So when Les asked if i wanna watch Jason Mraz, i didnt mind. after all, his songs are nice and he's cute! haha...

i wanted to crop that ger's head away but i forgot. i thin she spoilt my picture =(
the merchandise outside the concert...

Some of his tshirts were pretty nice, but as usual overpriced. i think it costs like freaking $40 or $50. in my opinion, not worth it. u could have gotten something similar at pasam malam.

Jason Mraz :: les and i

i looked bloody tired lar!
this is wat happens when u have a long day at work, and still u insist on going for a concert at night. thank god, i took leave the next day wahhaha...

and Mr MRAZ himself!!

the best thing about his concert (besides his songs) is how funny he is, and how interactive he is with everyone there. he says and does the cutest things. and the things he can do with his voice?!? amazing la...

he's naturally talented... haix ppl liddat, they deserve the few millions they earned each year.

i remembered there was this group of irritating ppl just sitting 2 rows in front of us. u noe how during a concert, sometimes u stand up and dance because the songs are so catchy and so clubbish, and how sometimes u sit down and just listened because it's a slow emo song?!?!

well this group of ppl stand up and dance to EVERY SINGLE SONG, even when it's damn slow and damn emo and EVERYONE is sitting down, including those BEHIND them. So obviously ppl started to get irritated coz they're obviously blocking everyone's views. the row sitting just behind them wanted to kick them. i know because i saw the guy lifting his leg but changing his mind last minute. hahahha...

and the throngs of ppl there that night...

the concert was damn goooood! i was sad when it ended lar.
he's supa amazing, and supa funny as i mentioned just now.

the boyfren

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Settlers with Rolex

We initially wanted to go prawning at bottletree park. something that i always wanted to do, because well, it sounds fun, and les always tell me how much he enjoys it.

BUTTT of all days, it has to rain this day. and it's not a light drizzle, it was a thunderstorm. dammit. why does the bloody weather always have to spoil my plans!
arghhhhhhhhh!

so in the end, because we were all prepared to go out, we decided to go settlers instead.

the frog that played games with us

okay to give that day some credit, it was actually damn fun. come to think of it, everytime i go settlers, it is never boring even though sometimes u end up playing games that u've already played before.

the gers :: the guys

all of us

we ended up going for supper after that, and chatting till wee hours of 2am.
i love spending time like this with frens. just sitting down having good food and chatting. sometimes simple things liddat in life make me very happy =D

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BeerFest 2009!

Les was very mean. he bought tickets to Vertical Horizon at Beerfest without asking if i wanna go. =(
his excuse?!?! i was in boracay. mind you, it wasnt like i didnt have a phone. he was smsing me throughout the days when i was there.

okay, i think it's not very nice of me to complain abt my bf on my blog, so i sure stop here. he doesnt read what i write most of the time anyway.

so beerfest! not wat i expected, at least in terms of location. i tot it'll be something more ermmm concrete, not under a huge tent. haha...

alot of expats, alot of foreigners there.
i feel like i was in my company. -_-'''

but the atmosphere there was pretty good, albeit underneath a tent haha... clubbing music was blasting, ppl were cheering and shouting, chio beer gers were walking around. and beer was CHEAP CHEAP CHEAPPPPPPPPPP!

i know how alot of gers are not that into beer. but i love it. i love beer and i love hard liquor and i love whiskey shots the most. and i think i havent drank for a damn long time, so now my tolerance is like really low. =(

us at beerfest

and the numerous beer brands that were there...

the top right photo is Singapore Sling. which tasted damn freaking nice!!!! much nicer than what they sell outside. i dunno why that's so, but it is! and it comes in a damn nice hot red bottle. i was nearly tempted into buying it.

the beer that les got - hole hearted (whatever that means)

his frens joined us aft tat. and they came with a bucketful of beer haha...

it tasted horrible by the way. and i'm not the only one who thinks so haha... but somehow shaking to the music and walking around the place and chatting with them, i unknowingly finished the entire bottle of horrid beer.

if i didnt rem wrongly, this beer brand comes from France, which is not known for beer. that explains the horrid taste. hahah... it's worse than tiger beer, which is really bad.

and THIS guy! is damn funny!

he was walking around, dressed like that, with a pillow and a pair of bunny ears in his hands.
he came to les and me, and told me if i want, he will lend lester his pair of bunny ears for les to wear, and then he'll teach les how to massage for me on my shoulders. and all we have to do is pay him S$10.

like wtf right?!!??!?!
who the hell will do that?!?!
it's like the most not-worth-it $10 u'll ever spend. i couldnt believe that was wat he said to me, seriously. i had to ask and reconfirm. why would anyone even think that a business liddat will be profitable?!

anyway this beer bong guy was walking around with his hugeass blue bong, trying to get ppl to pay and drink from it. it was damn fun!

i mean, i didnt do it, but it was fun seeing ppl do it and gurgle down all those beer hahah.
lester did it. wahhaha. my brave boy.

according to him, the beer comes down in a rush, and he nearly choked. i can just totally imagine. it's like a freaking vertical tube lar.

but as i watched the guy go from table to table, and diff ppl trying out the beer bong and sucking beer out of that same tube... i think it's kinda disgusting. no, they dun wash it, neither do they change the tube. with that same tube, they were goin around all the tables at the fest.

if i had realised that earlier, i wouldnt have allowed les to kiss me aft he beer-bonged. hahahha...

then later in the night, there was this competition where all the beer gers fr diff beer brands had to go on stage and dance and the hottest girl will win.

it's like, beer and gers MUST always go together. hahah...

besides the beer gers, there were also gers fr FHM. and surprisingly, they were not good at all.
their dancing was, ermmm... kua kua.

and me, drinking that horrible beer...

we went outside the tent after that, to look for his frens, who had in the midst of everything disappeared haha... and to look for fooood!

those are all the tents selling food. their food there is of exorbitant prices. really.
one sausage is $4 plus. tell me that's not exorbitant.

it's so expensive, despite how freaking hungry i was, i refused to pay that price for the food.
but anyway, we finally found his frens aft tat, and apparently they had bought tons of food haha...

the half-finished food :: pork knuckles

the pork knuckles looked kinda disgusting eh...

and this...

is a lump of fat

which his frens offered to pay another fren $2 each, if he eats it.

and he did! for $2... hahhaha...

although it was so dark then, i didnt really see how gross the lump of fats is.

les and his frens :: us drowning in beeeeer...

see how red i am!
dammit, i look like a lobster. as always -_-'''

all in all, beerfest was damnnnn freaking fun. i had a really rough day at work that day, and it was a good break. i realised i dun need alcohol to drown my sorrows, loud music and clubbish atmosphere is enough to make me happy =)

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Pre-Europe Meetup

Met up with the rolex ppl to discuss our itinery for Europe, what we should bring, and the swine flu situation there haha...

but anyway before that, one of the nights when les and i went for mexican feast!

i love mexican food, they're damn nice. esp the guacamole!!! how can something that looks so greenishly gross taste sooooo nice! haha...

anyway if u love the mexican food in spore, u'll think the mexican food in USA is to die for. it's really good over there. i was never a big fan of mexican food, until i went to USA for Work and travel.

sooo, as we were spending a few hours sitting there and discussing Europe, at the same time they were playing with the auto-smile shutter function on my camera.

this function, when u point your camera at someone, and he/she smiles, the camera will automatically take a shot, without u having to press anything at all. when i first got the camera and found out abt this function, i was both amazed and amused.

amused, only when my frens use it to do stoopid things like the below.

hahahah...
how happy everyone looks!

anyway we nearly cancelled our europe trip coz of the stoopid swine flu thingy. and coz Singapore media over-exaggerated, over-broadcasted the entire situation, throwing all the parents into a frenzy and a paranoid state.

at the very initial stages, i was kinda worried too. but when i did more research and googled more, i realised how harmless swine flu is. okay, not exactly totally harmless, after all it's still a virus, but it's more or less like your normal influenza. the only difference is, it spreads faster than normal. other than that, there's no real death threat.

so luckily we didnt cancel the trip, and so i'm flying TOMORROW NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lalalalal... and i'm so freaking excited!

i cant imagine how i'll be feeling now, if we had cancelled and i'm sitting here alone in the room in the middle of the night, thinking how the next night i should be on the flight to Europe and yet i'm not coz i had cancelled.

so THANK GOD, we didnt cancel. hahah...

i'll be flying over with Yew Lee, Ching and Jun. and meeting Chang and Les in Paris. they flew to Europe 4 days ago.

so on our 3 years and 10 months anniversary (18th May), i'll be meeting Les in Paris. how romantic... hahahah...

i cant wait to see the Eiffel tower in Paris, and to eat baguettes and to stare Mona Lisa in the face.
i cant wait to drink all the cheap beer in berlin, and to walk down the streets not with a bottle of water in my hands, but with a bottle of beer, and to enter the Holocaust concentration camps and remember all i've studied in sec sch history.
i cant wait to take the water boat ride in the Grand Canal of Venice and to live on the nice-looking campsite (yes! we are staying on a campsite in Venice), and to absorb in all the great magnificent architecture there.
i cant wait to go to Vatican City in Rome, to see what all the big fuss is about, and to enter the beautiful Rome cathedrals, and to visit the small island of Burano which many ppl have been raving about.

i cant wait to go for my 2 weeks vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)
will be back 1st week of June! ta-da!

and oh! i will blog about my wonderous happening trip in Boracay after i'm back. the photos are damn nice, the place is damn beautiful and i definitely wanna go back there again. you guys will love it. will blog when i'm back!

2009-05-01T20:26:00.003+08:00

I'm feeling so frustrated and so upset now, and yet there's nothing i can do to help the situation except to wait for the outcome to arrive.

this feeling of helplessness makes me wanna scream.
there are times when i'm in a better emotional state and i tell myself, what's the worse that can happen? there are worse things that can happen in life than this, and everything will be fine.

but then, there are times when i'm at my lowest ever, and this negative feeling just engulfs me, and i'm thinking, no matter what the outcome is, things will definitely be different from now on.

Just when i thought my life is going really great for me, someone up there decides to throw down a bomb at me, that's too huge and too destructive for me to handle.

I'm feeling so down now, i don't even wanna talk about this. I don't need any words of consolation or any sympathetic looks, i just wanna bury my head under the pillow and wait for the storm to pass.

2009-04-13T23:29:00.002+08:00

As the Europe trip gets nearer and nearer, i'm starting to fantasize about all the other cool places that i'll have to visit before i die...

i'm usually very excited everytime i'm about to go on vacation, be it a short nearby one, or a long far far away one... but the last i've been THIS excited was for USA. and now europe. shioks!

I've always believed that money earned is meant to be spent. Of coz, putting aside a sum for the necessary practical purposes such as marriage, house, kids etc... but aside from those, the rest are meant to be spent.

I don't think i'm a spendthrift. In fact, i'm definitely not one, and close frens of mine can testify to that haha... i think the most expensive thing i owned (aside fr electronic gadgets such as laptop, camera etc) is a pair of levis jeans which i bought on sale in bangkok for less than S$100 and a guess bag which i bought in USA for less than S$100 too. Not too bad, for a working ger eh... hahhaha....

BUT, as long as it's for vacation or travelling, i'll be willing to fork out any amount. I think experiences are invaluable, esp after i went for 3 months Work & Travel in USA, i even more hold true to this stand of mine. And to pay $1000 or $2000 (or even $3000) for such an experience is so totally worth it.

SOOO!!!! Here is a list of places i'll LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEEEE to visit!!!
And i have a plan, which i've started since i started working. Every month, i take out $300 from my pay to deposit into this separate bank account, which will fund all my vacations! so in a year, i will have $3600 which is more than enough to go places! And then there's still the bonuses heehee...

So every year, i want to visit 2 places. 1 long holiday at some far far away exotic place, and 1 short holiday at a nearby place.

For long holidays...

1) USA -> Florida, Miami, Niagara Falls, Mexico
2) Egypt
3) Turkey
4) Brazil
5) Japan -> during the sakura period!
6) Europe -> Spain, Amsterdam
7) Europe -> Greece, Russia, Prague
8) Puerto Rico / Costa Rica
9) Carribean Islands
10) Holland/Norway -> to look at Northern lights!!!!

and short holidays...

1) Boracay (yes i know i'm going in Apr, but i'll love to go that place again with Les =P)
2) New Zealand
3) Australia -> Sydney
4) Maldives
5) Hong Kong
6) Vietnam/Cambodia

See... the above will prob take me like 7 or 8 years to complete... but looking at them gets me excited. Believe it or not, making this list and thinking about it and looking at all the photos on the internet, makes me excited about the years to come and more motivated to work harder too.
Because if i lose my job (*TOUCH WOOD), all these will go to dust.

So anyway, i was googling all the above places, and omg they're alllllll sooooooooo amazingly beautiful! So beautiful okay. And i know there are alot of beach spots in my list, i love the beach! and i so love beach vacations!

I saw photos of Maldives. it's unbelievably beautiful. Maybe i should put this list on FB, then frens who are planning to go will ask me along hahahha... i'm sooo soooooo glad that my dearest boyfren is as playful as me, and as into travelling as me =))

2009-04-05T17:07:00.005+08:00

Friday Night

Had a small gathering with the JC peeps, it was actually supposed to be bdae surprise celeb for one of my frens there...

we ate at Cafe Iguanas!!! because me and Cai loves mexican food alot, and it's usually one of us (well, more often her than me haha) who organises the outings haha...

i love the decor! in fact, i tink most of the restaurants and pubs along Clarke Quay have really nice quaint decor.

Cai on the phone

while waiting for the rest of the gers to arrive, we were talking about marriage and how so many ppl around us (who are our age, mind you) seemed to be proposing to their gfs/getting engaged/queueing for a house etc.

it's so scary. and so unreal.
because i still can't imagine myself or ppl around my age getting married! and where did they get all the money?!!?!??!

at the rate i'm spending money on vacations, i think i'll only have enough money to get married like 10 years later or something hahaha...

me and lin run :: the bdae ger and her bf

we ordered a strawberry margarita jug to share, and their magaritas are really nice, and cheap too! because it was happy hour, there was a 40% discount.

and you'll be so spoilt for flavors! they have like the weirdest flavors ever! like blueberry -_-'''
anyway i've never been a fan of margaritas, but theirs is really nice, not too strong but still you can taste a tinge of alcohol there.

strawberry margarita :: sizzling steak fajitas

lin run and i shared a steak fajiata and a plate of calamaris!
the waiters were carrying these sizzling platters and serving other tables, and the smell of it is just too amazing to ignore.

but it's pretty ex, and plus the serving is soooo huge! so we decided to share! and god, i love the guacamole. =D

part of the s5g gang

all in all, a supa dupa filling meal.
but it's so much fun! coz we were talking about vacations and the different places to go etc...

it got me supa excited about my upcoming boracay trip and Europe trip!
and they kept asking me about USA and which places are good to go etc...

i really miss that place!
as i was telling Les, next year we have to go back there, because i'm DYING to go back to USA and also i want to visit Florida and Niagara Falls.

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Saturday Afternoon

Met up with Les late afternoon in town.
Usually i'll stay over in his hall on friday nights.

but he has been so busy and swarmed with FYP reports and work and Command stuff =((
Like i always tell him, hall is always taking him away from me. Argh!

anyway! we went on a shopping spree!!!!!!
wahahhaha, or at least i went on a shopping spree. okay, more on that later haha...

we went to this Chinese restaurant for dinner. it's at the top level of Heeren, and surprisingly i was craving for chinese food.
When it comes to food, i'm very much a westerner. i love fast food and potatos and pasta and steaks and fish&chips etc etc. But anyway, the restaurant looks really good from the outside, so we decided to give it a try.

I think it's pretty new...

the new orangy lanterns hanging from the ceilings

the place looks damn atas, more atas than it actually is.
Their prices are actually cheaper than Crystal Jade.
Sometimes, i think Crystal Jade is pretty much over-rated. oh wells.

The happy Chinese Man

he loves loves LOVES chinese food by the way, i always tell him he's a China Ah Pek at heart. hahahah...

and the food!!!!

Hainanese Chicken at S$1!!!!! :: Siew Mai
Grilled mushrooms wrapped in cabbage :: Bee hoon with roasted duck and egg

The food is sooooooooooooo good okay! it's damn satisfying.
and the bee hoon, omg, the best ever!
the soup is damnnnnnnnnnnnn freaking nice! and it's so huge, it's more than enough for 2.

Anyway we went back to his house after that for the night.
he showed me his hall command videos of his dances.

Yes, he's dancing! and it's damnnnnn hilarious. i couldnt stop laughing lar. i HAVE to get a copy of those videos from him next week, it's going to keep me happy for weeks to come hahaha...

and he even gave me a live performance of his dances. Needless to say, i was damn entertained.
=P

Anyway i bought him this small soft toy to cheer him up, coz i know writing FYP report is really tiring him out.

Damn cute right!!!!! he's like how chilled out on that humongous drink can. hahaha...

Anyway my shopping spree!!! or half of it, i'm too lazy to take photos of the rest coz it's really too many.

and THESE are courtesy of my company. wahhahaha. THANK YOU! you made my day! =P

that's a guess handbag! my current handbag has been with me, for like what, 4 years?!?!?!?
so time to change =)

i'm not those kinda ger who'll spend alot on handbags, or buy one every month or so, so everytime i really do buy one, it really makes me very happy =)))

anyway i had $160 worth of Taka voucher given to me by my company, so the above costs me $0. i even had remaining voucher left, need to spend them on a new pair of heels.
This is the best kind of shopping spree ever hahahhaha...

Every Dec, my company will give $160 worth of Taka voucher to each employee, as part of the holiday gift. So i was thinking, every year i can buy a new handbag at $0!!!!!! how cool is that hahahah. OR OR OR! i can accumulate 3 years worth of $160 vouchers and get a COACH bag for free! shioks lar, and the best thing is, there's no expiry dates on these vouchers.

Speaking of which, i cant believe tomorrow is Monday again..... zzzzzzz....

2009-04-04T21:59:00.002+08:00

I'm currently in love in love with this SONG!

JJ林俊杰／蔡卓妍 (阿SA) ~ 小酒窝
词：王雅君
曲：林俊杰

（JJ）我还在寻找一个依靠和一个拥抱
谁替我祈祷替我烦恼为我生气为我闹

（sa）幸福开始有预兆缘分让我们慢慢紧靠
然后孤单被吞没了无聊变得有话聊有变化了

（合）小酒窝长睫毛是你最美的记号
我每天睡不着想念你的微笑
你不知道你对我多么重要有了你生命完整的刚好

小酒窝长睫毛迷人得无可救药
我放慢了步调感觉像是喝醉了
终于找到心有灵犀的美好一辈子暖暖的好
我永远爱你到老

（sa）幸福开始有预兆缘分让我们慢慢紧靠
然后孤单被吞没了无聊变得有话聊有变化了

（合）小酒窝长睫毛是你最美的记号
我每天睡不着想念你的微笑
你不知道你对我多么重要有了你生整完成的刚好

小酒窝长睫毛迷人得无可救药
我放慢了步调感觉像是喝醉了
终于找到心有灵犀的美好一辈子暖暖的好
我永远爱你到老

小酒窝长睫毛迷人得无可救药
我放慢了步调感觉像是喝醉了
终于找到心有灵犀的美好一辈子暖暖的好
我永远爱你到老

The MV is damn sweet and cute. and the song is really catchy, and cheery.
In other words, this is what i call a HAPPY SONG! =)

And i think Charlene Choi is really really pretty. she has this sweet pretty girl-next-door look.
I always tot she's the prettier one in TWINS, but no one seemed to share the same view as me... =(

though i'm wondering why they didnt get a female singer with dimples to sing this song hahah...

okie gtg, gotta wake the pig (aka Lester) up so that he can watch his soccer match at 10 -_-'''

2009-03-29T17:59:00.008+08:00

13th Mar 09

One of the relaxing weekends when Les and I just walked around in town, have dinner... and we went for drinks after that!!!

it was this place in Somerset. I think it's called Alleybar or something. i've never been to that stretch of pubs before, because it usually looks very un-happening hahah...

i mean if i was to go pubbing, i'll rather go Clarke Quay area. But we were in a lazy mood that day, and couldnt be bothered to travel...

the live band playing :: our cocktails!

the band was not bad. At least the male singer is quite cute, albeit the fact that he kept making really lame jokes haha... by the way, the guy on the left is from the audience, but his singing was really not bad either =)

us =)

As much as i always have fun going out, i'm starting to feel like Singapore's really really small and boring. there's just so little things u can really do here... and i'm getting sick sick sick of town already!

i need to find new things to do ahhhhhhhh!!
my colleague (she's a foreigner by the way) just told me in underwater world, u can put on gear and go down underwater to swim with the sharks and stingrays etc.... but it's freaking $90! but i wanna do it!

and dolphin lagoon u can choose to swim together with the dolphins, but i bet it's damn ex tooooo! but i wanna do it!

and supperclub is apparently damn nice and fun, and it's very different from ur usual clubs. and it's freaking $60++++, and will come up to about $90. but i wanna do it toooo!!!

so see, there are stuff to do around singapore, but they're all expensive. arghhhhhhh.

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21st Mar 09

met up with Kelchoo, and he brought me to Goodwood Park for dinner!
we ate buffet dinner with dessert buffet too, and it's damnnnnnnnnnnnnn nice!!!!!!!
i havent had such an atas dinner for soooo long. haha...

and their durian crepes are like awesome awesome AWESOME lar! it's the best durian dessert i've ever eaten. no wonder everyone goes gaga over it. and it's not expensive! it's only $10 lor.

i must force Lester to start eating durians. hahahahah...
anyway we met up with Swee Yong for drinks after that at Clarke Quay.

it was at this new place called "Mama's Carribean Bar".
the drinks are nice and the place is not bad. but the band singing there, omg, epitomy of horrid.

anyway the staff there is so funny. they go around offering to take group photos for u, but everytime they take, they make sure that the photo captures their pub name (i.e. see right photo above).

kelchoo

i look so sleepy in this photo omg.

anyway i so wanna try Goodwood Park's dim sum buffet next time!
yays to good food! =)

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28th Mar 09 - Beach Fiesta

i joined NUS Arts' Beach Fiesta yesterday!

we put together a japalang team and took part in captains ball! hahah
so exciting lar.

and guess wat!!!!?!?!?!??!?!?
it didnt rain a single drop!

quite the opposite, it was BLAZING hot. and i'm serious when i said blazing. i've never been so burnt before lor.

some of my team mates...

Yongxiang
Chie Hui :: Xueping

i love beach carnivals lar.
it's the best kinda events ever. although bashes come a close second hahaha...

and the gers...

Cai Lin and I :: Me, cai, Xueping

the singlets they gave out were damn nice.
i love the material and the soft baby blue colour.
it's so much better than the one i got from Waikiki last year lar. that one was not much better than a pasam malam tshirt lor.

the gers and Eric

for the first group round, we played a total of 4 matches, each 8 mins.
it sounded do-able.

but with the blazing sun, and your opponent teams running here and there vigorously. omg the 8 mins seemed forever and it's actually exhausting. especially with the blazing sun.

and because it's a rule to have at least 3 gers playing, and we only have 3 gers.
the gers played the full 8 mins for every single match.

but still.
it's damn freaking FUNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!

during the breaks between matches, we played frisbee on the road. it was so shioks can, even though running around on tarmac road is a sure killer for my poor soles. haha...

and some random photos i took when we were resting and listening to the live band. yes there was a live band, and they're horrible too. but still, a source of entertainment =)

our overheated bags and yx's vball :: my poor sunburnt feet

at the end of the day, we were all burnt like lobsters.
seriously, i've never been so red and so hot and burnt before.

my entire arms my shoulders my thighs my face are all supa red now. i hope they dun peel, pls pls pls dun peel. i've slapped on dozens of aloevera lotion already!

and yay the "Underdogs"!!!

llallalla... i'm so glad we could all click, even though some of us dont know each other before this. and i really love the material of the singlets!

Yays! another beach carnival conquered! =))

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after beach carnival, we went to vivo to eat KFC!
haha of all things right?!?! but i was damn gian fried chicken, because there was this lingering smell of fried chicken when we were at the beach haha...

we hung around vivo for like a few hours, before i went town to meet ching and jun for an all-girls catch-up session!

and by the way, it was earth hour from 830 to 930pm!

that's Wisma Atria during earth hour haha

i think it's a supa cool event to have, and whoever thought of it is a genius.

we came out from Wisma after our dinner, to see Orchard darker but still bustling with ppl cheering, because there were performances carried out to celebrate Earth hour.

haha how cool is that. save electricity, and give ppl an excuse to party. but luckily we're in Singapore, because if i was in any other country, and there'll be an hour where the roads will not be as bright as usual, i'll be rather scared to leave my house.

anyway aft dinner we went to Candele for desserts!
and i realise all 3 of us love the desserts there haha... they have the best ever lar...

Ching, jun and me

see how red my face is. and the photo doesnt really depict 100% of how red it actually is lor.

i cant stop thinking abt how amazing my april and may will be, with Boracay and Europe! wahahhaha... lalala...

2009-03-26T00:08:00.003+08:00

As much as i'm bored with life recently, and i'm starting to realise what a routine working life is, and i really miss school heck of a lot especially during times when i meet up with frens who are still schooling...

BUT (i bet u saw this coming haha...)

i'm still pretty satisfied with life in general. because there're soooooooo many things that i'm looking forward to in the next few months!!!!! Just thinking about it make me high.

Firstly... there's Beach Fiesta!!!!! on 28th Mar!

"Life's a Beach"
So cliche, but i totally love it. it shall be my life motto. hahahha...

and no matter which way u look at it, pun or no pun, it's still true =)

Anyway last year i took part in Waikiki Vball with my sec sch frens, but this year most of the gang are overseas for exchange. so i'm taking part with random frens (random because they're all from different groups of frens that i have) that i pulled together to form a team hahhaha...

we're taking part in captain ball!
for fun lar, i dun expect to win. we didnt even practise lor. some of the ppl in my team dun even noe each other... haha...

but i love love beach carnival lar! it's damn shioks.
pls pls plsssssssssssssssssssssssss PLS dun rain!
plsssss dun rainnnnnnnnn!

speaking of which, i think the tan on my skin has integrated to become part of my natural skin tone already.

yea of coz i'm talking cock, but it does seem like it. i haven been to tanning or the beach for like weeks already (i actually think this is the longest record so far), but i'm still the same tan colour. not that i'm complaining though. =)

And then next there's a trip to Boracay Islands with the gers!!!!! this is end April!

of coz this is not confirmed yet. will be going with the gers at work if it is. i'm still thinking if i should. because i seemed to be taking heck of alot of leave during these few months. =(

but look at that! how can u resist that man!
and according to my filipino colleague, april in boracay is like their hottest season ever!

i was actually going to give up the idea already, and probably go later in the year or something, BUT my itchy hands went to google boracay photos, and OMG. they never fail to tempt me.

sighs. i love the beach. i wish i can stay there for life.

And the most exciting of all! Europe trip baby!!!! 17th May to 1st June! dig that!

Paris, France :: Rome, Italy

this trip will be totally absolutely kick-ass. i know it and i can feel it.
we've booked every single thing already. from international flight to internal flights to all our hostels.

and Les is gonna start planning the itinery soon! the best thing about going for a holiday with him is 1) he loves planning, and he'll come up with the best itinery u can ever find, complete with must-go places, must-eat food. he'll even plan the routes and everything. All in all, I just need to pack my bags and follow him hahahha... 2) he is super street-wise... 3) he makes the trip damn fun... 4) it's just nice going on a holiday with my boyfren hahaha...

i've decided. every year, i'm gonna go on a huge long kick-ass holiday. every year.
next year, it'll either be egypt or USA lalallala...

And finally YMCA Camp!!! yes again! in Mid june...

this will be another kick-ass experience.
I went for the Dec one, and it's soooo unforgettable, and so memorable.
It's a life-changing experience.

As I was telling Mark, there're so many reasons why i wanna go.

1) It's fun
2) It's outdoors
3) I get to do things like dragon boating and rock climbing etc...
4) I get to know tons of people
5) I can help the needy and it just feels damn great to see them laugh and have fun
6) It's by far the most fulfilling experience i've ever had in my life
7) It's a camp and i love camps

to which, Mark promptly replied "nice girl guide. go do the thing you do"

-_-'''

And again, i'm signing up on my own. Well not really, one of my frens from the previous Dec camp is actually signing up with me.
The reason i'm not jio-ing my frens is because ppl tend to give me really fu yan answers like, okay see how, oh i busy lar, i no time, dont feel like it lehz...

to which i think, busy?!?!?! i'm working and i have no more annual leave left, i'll prob have to take no-pay leave to attend this, and i'm doing it. so what other reasons can u have.

somehow ppl just dont seem to be convinced when i tell them this is the most fulfilling experience anyone can have. I did that for Dec Ycamp and the response from friends were not very good.

SOOOOO!!!!!
If you read this and you feel like going, let me know!!!!
I can send you the form to fill up. They really need more volunteers. =)

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That more or less sums up the major events for the next few months. Beyond June, i haven't plan yet hahahha...

times like this, i really love my life =)

2009-03-15T22:54:00.003+08:00

Okay finally i've posted all photos since months ago! yes la. i just need to post the YMCA camp photos and i'm done hee...

anyway, this is gonna be an absolutely RANDOM post.

i've always told Les how i cant believe we've been together for near 4 years and YET i've never ever seen him drive before, neither have i even sat in his car before with him as the driver.

coz usually his dad drives the car, and the only time he actually drives is when he drives back hall from home, den his dad will drive the car back home again. so really, i've had the chance of being driven around by him before.

i'm starting to suspect that maybe his driving license is fake (haha!) when one fine day (or evening to be precise), he drove the car to my office to pick me up for dinner! wahahha...

have i ever mentioned i like looking at guys when they drive?! hahah...

2 things that i think guys look absolutely at their best when they're doing:

1) Sports (any kind of sports as long as they're sweating it out hahaha)
2) Driving

hmmm maybe playing music too. but then again, only certain instruments make the guy look really good. namely guitar and drums. but ESPECIALLY drums. =)

and a photo of the boyfriend snoozing away...

i snapped this photo one of the mornings when he stayed over, because i'm wide awake already, and he just absolutely refused to wake up. and i have no idea why he's grabbing his handphone for dear life even in his sleep. hahaha...

but poor guy, he always ends up slping on the floor whenever he comes over to my hse hahah...

and 2 of my dearest female colleagues!

and a sneak preview of how my office roughly looks like. one day i shd take a photo of the pantries and the foosball and dartboard in my office.

yes, i have a foosball and dartboard (and even an OSIM chair) right smack in the middle of my office floor. every day u hear "pak! pak! pak!" and loud cheering noises coming from it. damn noisy lar haha...

anyway that photo is really old, like when i just started work i think. That's Chalene who works in SKII and Jesslyn who works in Gillette. all under P&G lar, in case you dont know. haha...

and THIS! is really beautiful =)

if u look at the top right photo, you can see the secondary rainbow on top of the primary one. =)
it's so nice... and i saw this when i crossed the highway bridge from the MRT station to my house, and it's spread like a huge arc across the entire sky.

I've never seen a larger and more obvious rainbow in my life than this.
and apparently everyone in Singapore saw it too.

sometimes, nature works wonders huh?! =)

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I saw a video just now that my friend posted and shared on Facebook, so I shared it on mine too. but somehow was unable to copy the video HTML over to blogger, so here's the link.

http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=600236319&share_id=57757769414&post_id=1025083&comments#s57757769414

it's such an inspiring and beautiful video. Watch it and you'll understand what i'm talking about. =)

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Last night, i walked past a funeral wake at one of the void decks near my house, and cries and sobs were filling the air.

It just made me wonder how my funeral will be next time. I'm sorry, this is pretty morbid, but i'm sure at some point everyone will wonder, how their funerals will be like, what will ppl say about them at the funeral...

My wake will be decorated in the brightest, cheeriest colours ever, and will remind everyone of the beach once they even go near it. Everyone who attends the wake will receive a sunflower, because sunflowers are my favorite and they're, in my opinion, the happiest flowers. There will be a powerpoint slide telling my life-story and showing photos of the significant moments and the significant people in my life. Loved ones will go up and talk about their fondest memories of me, and how my presence had changed their lives. No one will cry, everyone will leave with a smile on their faces, because they know i will always live on in their hearts.

Of course, this will happen when i'm really really old like 80 plus years old because i'm gonna live a healthy and blessed life hahah =)

there was once, a friend asked me, "Before you were born into this world, if you're standing up in Heaven and God asked you what kind of life you want to be born into, what will you say?"

Will you say, a life full of success and riches, a life where you'll end up with power and authority?
Will you say, a life that's simple and happy, that as long as you're surrounded by your loved ones, nothing else matters?
Will you say, a life where you can have the most positive impact on everyone else's lives?

When i think about the above, i know i can't stay in this corporate world for long. Of course, i liked my present job, i liked the challenges and how it simulates my brain when it comes to analysing. but i don't love it, i just like it that's all. And sometimes when you stand back and you look at everyone around you in the office, when you stand at a side and observe all the people on the MRT in their business attires, I cant help wondering there's no point in all these chasing of deadlines, desperately climbing up the corporate ladder, and trying hard to do the things that will make the higher management happy.

Some of my friends think i am (or will be) a high-flyer, simply because of my starting pay and the company i'm in right now. But i'm not ambitious at all, which is something i've never viewed as a flaw or weakness before. When i look at the higher management in my company, i think "I don't want to be like that". Sure, they're earning big bucks and they're successful, and don't get me wrong, they're really nice people. But still, i don't want to be like that.

When friends ask me what's my ultimate goal, i answer it'll either be in social work or related to outdoor activities. My dream job is a job where i'll feel inner satisfaction doing, where i'll meet different ppl and get to know their lives, where i can make an impact on their lives (i bet my insurance agent friends reading this, will say "then u shd join insurance", ahaha) but no, it'll have to be social work. Or outdoor activities, because i so damn love outdoor =)

But when u put a number to that dream job, suddenly it doesnt work anymore because this world is so realistic. So if you ask me where do i see myself in 5 years, i'll still say "stuck in this corporate world". But at least i have an ideal goal where i want to be, and for this, i'm gonna work freaking hard and earn lotsa money then quit and go into what i want. And of coz, also coz i have so many countries that i want to visit (meaning more $$$ pls!!!!)...

2009-03-15T00:42:00.013+08:00

14th Feb 2009 - Valentines' Day!

the day filled with love - Vday =)

I know how some ppl think that vday is overrated. It is never overrated. I love vday, i love how you walk on the streets and u see happy couples everywhere. I love how there are hearts and roses and pinkish reddish decorations everywhere. I love the anticipation of wondering what surprises Les has in store for me. I love the look on his face everytime i give him something that i've made or bought. And i love how all couples seemed to put all their differences aside to make this day as special as it can be for them.

so anyway this vday i decided to buy a fondue set for him... even though he kept insisting i'm buying it for myself actually, because by putting it in his room, technically i can use it anytime i want. hahahha...

so here it is! All the way from Taka. =)

complete with pink candle and "whatever those are called" decorated with hearts!

I think it's a nice gift lar! and i tot about it for very long ok!
made something small for him too...

sighs, if only my work wasnt so busy during the Feb period.
i love making elaborate gifts, and it irks me when time doesnt allow me to do so. =(

the happy man and his gifts

so anyway, this year he gave me roses too! as per the years before... but i'm more touched than ever to receive them this time...

2 days before vday, i went out to Brewerks at Clark Quay with my colleagues and we talked about Vday. Or rather, they talked and i listened with interest haha...

All the guys were complaining about how sometimes vday is overrated, and they kinda dread this day because they think buying flowers is a total waste of money and they cant be bothered to buy them. And how "anyway they'll just wither and die". which is TRUE.

BUT! guys being guys, they can never get the meaning of "it's the thought that counts".

So some of my female colleagues tried to persuade and convince them that sometimes "it's the thought that counts". and it doesnt hurt to just get a bouquet on vday. BUT! guys being guys, they were so stubborn they stood by their opinions. it even degraded to a point where one of my female colleagues said:

"okay. why don't you just buy 1 stalk of rose? JUST 1 stalk. and i bet she'll still be happy..."

-_-'''

so when Les handed me the roses, i was more thrilled than i ever could be. and PLUS, after last year's vday i did mention to him not to buy flowers for me for vday, we could always use that money and put it into a better dinner.

But according to him, he feels that on vday, the guy should always buy red roses for the ger, and it doesnt even matter that they might wilt and die, it's how the ger actually feels when she receives it and when she walks down the streets with the bouquet in her hands.

i think.

THAT is so adoringly sweet. =)

this is why i love you... muaks!

so anyway, the rest of my gifts!

Nike sportsbra
the keychain he handmade

i think the keychain is damn nice lar!!! esp the heart! and he painstakingly pasted every single white and red petals onto the heart.

it's now hanging from the calendar that he made for me previous year. hahah...

anyway we went to town for a late night movie on Fri night (Vday is Sat) and we bought the ingredients to make the fondue!

those Korean strawberries are the best shit ever!!!!

seriously!

When i went to the strawberries section, every single box of strawberries are freaking ex! they cost like $10 or even $12. i never knew strawberries are premium fruits lor.

so anyway i saw this box sitting at the corner of the shelf, and it was heart-shaped and it costs only $3 so i bought it. Thinking, okay this must be tasting horrible which is why it has such nice packaging but still cost only $3, BUT nvm, with chocolate it'll still taste good.

BUT! they turned out to be the BEST strawberries i've ever eaten in my entire life. it's juicy and very very very sweet! ask Lester.

so anyway we brought those ingredients back and started making fondue!

look at the thick gooey Cadbury chocolate! it's sooooo sinfully NICE!
and the strawberries. my god. heavenly.
Should have bought bananas too, though.

The boyfriend cooking :: saccharine sweet Vday =)

Les is damnnnnnnn patient lar! i dunno how he does it. he just kept stirring and adding chocolates and stirring and stirring. And relighting the candle everytime the wind blows it out.

i'm so useless. while he's doing all these, i'm doing the below.

playing Facebook Poker.

guilty as charged, hahah...

but the fondue was GOOOOD la. though i prob have to gym 2 extra hours to make up for it. but heck. cooking fondue on vday is prob the best idea i've ever had for vday hahah...

next year, we can do the same again! =)

so Sat afternoon, which is Vday itself, we went into Sentosa!!!

i think i might have an obsession with taking photos of feet. hahha...

and inside Sentosa...

you know, when you're in air-conditioned office for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, it always feel supa fantastic to be out under the hot hot sun.

den Les started fiddling with my camera...

i like the photo on the left! you can see the beach reflected in my shades... =)

we tanned for awhile, chatted for awhile, played frisbee and ran around on the sand.
my fitness level seemed to have gone down vs previous. time to hit the gym again aiyoh...

went to Coffee Bean to chill after that...

i realised, maybe when i smile really really hard, i can conjure up dimples on my cheeks. hahaha...

anyway it feels damnnnn good to be all sweaty and hot and burning, and then just take an ice cold shower. haha... we went to Vivo for dinner after that. at this supa atas place called "The Queen & Mangosteen"...

the table the waiter gave us was awesome lar...

we can see Sentosaaaa...

and we ordered beer. their beer menu looked exactly like the ones in Brewerks...

and our food!!!

Steak in mushroom sauce, with potato-cut fries and mixed vegetables

the steak is mine, and the portion is so huge lar! usually when i order steak, they just give one circular small chunk. this is like really huge. and the mushroom sauce is so good can!

crayfish with fried shallots and potato-cut fries

the crayfish Les ordered is damn cute lar... i expected it to come as one huge chunk. but the meat is really really fresh.

superb lar the food, the serving is huge and quality is really not bad...

and the best of all, the view we had during the sunset...

damn nice right! perfect for vday dinner =)

and lastly, we ordered dessert, because it looks like it's one of their signature dishes there...

burnt Cambridge cream

or otherwise known as creme brulee... damn nice! it's like custard but nicer... =)

and so despite our busy schedules and hectic days, we managed to take out 2 full days to celebrate vday. it was perfect lar =)

you're the best boyfren baby, muaksss!
i love how u always go all out to make me happy... =)

Happy Valentines' Day!!!

2009-03-08T23:17:00.002+08:00

7th Feb 09 - The Long Road to Mount Faber

One of the many many things i wanted to do is to go for Henderson Waves with Les. yes again. But then again, going with my lil cousin and going with my boyfren is different you see. haha...

And so finally we managed to set to aside one afternoon to walk the Waves!

Miss Chatterbox and Mr Bump are going on a hike!!! =)

see how excited those 2 are. they even don caps as part of their hiking gear. wahhaha..
made our way to VivoCity to have a quick dinner first. there's 2 entrances to henderson Waves, one from Vivo (though this is more popularly known as the exit because most ppl end up at Vivo as the final point, but we the weird ppl decided to start here -_-''') and one from Kent Ridge Park.

I have no idea what he was tryin to do.

After walking around Vivo for what seemed hours, and contemplating whether to get the free ice cream (yes they were giving out free ice cream and the queue is eff-ing long), we finally started on the long walk.

Mount Faber Park!!!

because we went out the previous nite, i was totally in shopping attire. and i think my slippers actually broke after this.

feet.

anyway for those who havent been there before, this is damn easy to walk. it's even easier than Bukit Timah Hill. seriously. one thing Spore is really lacking is a good trekking spot.

the "bumpiest" part of the walk is prob at the start with the rocky muddy road and multiple stairs. after that it's like breezing through the mall -_-'''

and some of the random photos we took while walking up...

my hair color was horrendous, with streaks and patches of bright colored against black hair. thank god, i re-dyed it.

and then i showed Les this secluded humongous house buried deep amongst the bushes and trees. seriously u'll only be able to catch a glimpse of it if u actually look hard enough into the trees when u're climbing the stairs...

it's huge okay. complete with a large pool and picnic table and almost 3 bungalows put together.
i spent a long time trying to figure out how the ppl living inside actually managed to walk to their house everyday. because there is no road at all leading to the house.

then we reach the park area which was nicely paved. see what i mean when i said this is no kick.

Les: "Imagine sliding down those slopes... damn shioks right!"

i used to do that when i was young. and my mom always smack me on the butt when she finds out. but seriously it's damn fun. i think i still continue doing it even in uni. esp during all the camps when u have the canvas lining the slopes. wahahhah...

prob the highest point of the park

and against the Sentosa cablecars...

i bet when the Sentosa IR is up, and u come here at night, my god the night lights are going to be damn nice.

we stayed awhile or so at the top because it was breezy and we were both damn sticky. and we were just taking random photos here and there. but thank god, we stayed because we caught abit of the sunset.

cant really see the sunset, but still, the sky is orangy and bluish at the same time. and it's beautiful =)

there was this restaurant up there that was damn atas looking. i wanted to go take a look at the menus, but everyone standing there looked damn well-dressed (think dress and long-sleeved shirts). and we were both looking damn lok kok. so oh wells.

The Jewel Box

Dearest Les wanted to book this place for Vday (after i exclaimed how nice it'll be to take a walk up here and have dinner at this posh place hahahha... how sweet right) but it was fully booked and too ex.

after the park, we made our way to Henderson Waves.

See the top right photo?! Les says he has never seen a signboard buried under so much leaves before, so he took out his camera and snapped a photo of it. -_-'''

and finally! Henderson Waves!!!!

we set the camera precariously on some rock stand just to take this photo.
and the scenery from Henderson waves...

not much of a scenery lar, but still nice! hahha...

though it doesnt look much, but it's really nice to walk along the waves. and i thought we chose quite a good time to walk it, because it was evening and breezy and the sky hues were really nice...

superb place to have a picnic, as i've told Les, haha...
we'll do that the next time!

then we started taking stoopid photos. and there was this elderly couple sitting right there while we were fooling around. and they cant stop grinning at us... haha...

the monkey hahahhaa...

i love this photo lar! i look very high up haha...

we started to make our way down after that, because it seemed to be getting darker already...

the neverending bridge

this bridge will supposedly lead us to the bus-stop right outside the old SAJC compound, or the present RVHS compound! yay! i love my sec sch! hee...

somehow the photo on the right looked kinda obscene to me haha...
and then at the end of the seemingly never-ending bridge, we saw a "rainbow"!!!!!!!!

how freaking beautiful is that!!!!
and it changes colours!!!! it's very very very nice and very romantic!

i told Les we have to do this again, this time we'll start from Kent Ridge Park haha... and it'll be at night. i bet the lights at Henderson Waves will look really nice at night too.

okie next entry i'll blog abt my wonderous Vday!!! wahahha... =P

2009-03-07T00:29:00.004+08:00

1st Feb 09 - ECP cycling

I'm yearning to go for night cycling! but that's a chore to organise and not everyone's into cycling. so ended up going to ECP to cycle. i think ECP is one solid reason to actually live in the east. well, ECP and the food. =))

so anyway, me, siyong, wilson and kev headed down to ECP on sunny Sunday afternoon to cycle.

the following photos were taken using my camera phone, while cycling with only one hand.

and the 3 musketeers haha...

i had to cycle with only my left hand, and using my right hand grope around my bag for the damn phone, and then while balancing, try to take the above photos. i nearly fell so many times lor -_-'''

anyway we cycled towards Changi Airport! shioks...

we wanted to cycle towards Changi V to eat there... but after looking at how long the road ahead is, we all grew lazy and stopped by the roadside haha...

and the planes!

i cant wait to go Europe!!!! lalaallala...

i was damn out of practice la... after cycling for 2 hours, my legs were numb and crampy...

me and ah tham

yays! i love cycling!
we should do this again! complete with bak kut teh at the end! hahah... =)

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Today, took the #1 spot on "the worst moments of my life".

2009-03-01T22:26:00.007+08:00

9th Jan 09 - CNY with Rolex

As usual, my blog entries are pretty retarded. so anyway here you go, one of my CNY gatherings.

Every year since we got to know each other, the Rolex ppl will gather at my house for CNY steamboat/teppanyaki, and then Wilson's bdae celebration and then gambling.

haha it's a routine that i so loved! and i loved eating teppanyaki together with them lar, we always buy alot of good food, and it's nice to gather around eating steamboat together =)

the greedy guys eagerly awaiting the food

and everytime we have teppanyaki/steamboat, i ALWAYS forgot to take photos! arghhh, because once we start cooking, the food is so good, taking photos is last on my mind. hahah.

BUT this time! i remembered! even though it was towards the end. but still.

mind you, that's only HALF of what we had. haha...

and all of us, minus Ching who came late!

and Ah Tham, who so nicely took a cab all the way down. haha... he ALWAYS wears red (even when it's not CNY) when he comes to my hse -_-'''

and more random photos...

after we finished all the food, we did the usual cheese+mushrooms dish which always come last. basically u just barbeque the mushrooms together with butter, and then add cheese on top to melt it.

i tell u, it's supadupa NICE! but it HAS to go with portobello mushrooms. not the normal kind, which will turn out quite bitter.

so here's Malie the Chef. haha...

doesnt it look supadupa appetizing!?!?!??!?!?
but this is not the best we've had lar, coz the mushrooms were wrong.

Next time, we'll buy the expensive Portobello mushrooms to go.

see how everyone tucks into the cheese mushrooms.

Anyway after Ching arrived, we started on the gambling session!
started with poker! though we played BlackJack and in-between too. so fun lar, i love gambling. hahaha...

anyway halfway through the poker session, Ching and I went to the kitchen to prepare Wilson's bdae cake. it was a surprise lar, dun think he expected it, coz there was still 1 week to his bdae... hahha...

the bdae boy!!!

i chose the cake! it's damn nice lar... hahah...

anyway when i bought the cake, the person asked if i needed candles.

Salesgirl: Do you need candles?

Me: Yes pls.

Salesgirl: How many do you need?

Me: erm, he's 26 years old.

Salesgirl: Oh i'm sorry, we don't give out so many candles for such a small cake. We only give out more candles if you buy the larger cake.

Me: oh. okay, then just give me 1 candle then.

you know what this shows?!?!?!

1) That bakery is damn stingy.
2) Wilson, you're too old man!

hahahaha... i know lar, i'll reach that age sooner or later. but no matter how old i am, you'll always be OLDER. that's my point. haha lalala...

so the bdae boy with all of us...

with all the girls :: with all the guys

we bought him an entire set of working essentials, namely a tie, cuff links, and a namecard holder.

and all of us!

then the gambling resumes.

i won $30 that night! yays. not as much as Lester though, that gambler. haha...
damn fun lar. my fav is still Poker. I lost terribly at Blackjack. =(

and classic photo of that day.

2009-02-17T00:15:00.003+08:00

3rd Jan 09 - Drinking with YMCA peeps

After the crazy 5hours at settlers, i met up with my YMCA camp grp! or rather, a small grp of them hahah...

seriously, after playing board games and crazy shouting for 5hrs non-stop, i was feeling a tad stoned, without even any alcohol taken in yet.

so anyway we were loitering outside Zouk wondering whether to go in or not. you know, sometimes the human mind works in a really fascinating way.

Zouk is usually packed to the brim on Saturday nights. and even if you wanna get in, you have to start queueing at bloody 10pm, which is like damn early in clubbing hours. So anyway that night we went to Zouk, stood outside the entrance and there was not a single soul in line. NOT A SINGLE SOUL.

It was a normal Sat night by the way, with normal cover charges at a very normal time of 11pm. and nope, no queue.
And we were thinking, haix must be not happening inside that's why no queue. So we decided to cab down to Clarke Quay instead. -_-'''
And to think, i'm always complaining how freaking crowded Zouk always is... haha...

okay, cut to the chase. we went into this pub called "Crazy Elephant" (i think). which Melvin intro-ed.

they have this huge flashboard there that flashes stoopid dirty racist sexist jokes now and then. i'm sure you'll know which pub i'm actually talking about.

and so the three other crazy ppl i went with...

Ah Dick!

no i'm not trying to be mean. that is his name. or rather, that's what he asked everyone to call him by. haha... =P

Melvin! forever trying to act cool in that cap of his haha...

And Dior! she's supa crazy about shisha (or however u spell that damn word). we're actually supposed to go smoke it together haha...

and me!

yes i know. my face is eff-ing red. i dont even know why it's so bloody red. i didnt drink THAT much that night.

i think.

seriously, i looked like an overburnt lobster lar!!! arghhhhhhhh!

and i love this photo!!! dickson was fooling around with my camera and anyhow snapping away at all our tad glam moments. but this, i must say is a piece of genius among all the trashy photos he took in my camera. hahaha...

so cool right the poses?!?!!? and so unintentional somemore! okay lar, i dun exactly look cool, i look weird actually -_-'''
but the poses are very nice! and we're both wearing white! haha...

i wanna do this again! sianz, everyone's so busy recently. what's up with SMU and their crazy deadlines and over-muggerish students! i'm working and i feel like a total slacker next to these ppl haha...

cant wait to see ALL my YMCA frens again! cant wait for the next YMCA camp!!! yayssS!

2009-02-15T23:46:00.002+08:00

So far, 2009 has been treating me really well.

Or maybe, it's because somehow after I started work, i seemed to have become a tad more optimistic than previously.

Or maybe, it's because sometimes with money, comes the fulfillment of all the things that u've always wanted to do, but were so much restricted by money constraints last time.

hmmm i dunno, but the year has started off on a good note, and hopefully will last throughout this way =)

anyway! so far in this short 2 months of 2009, i've been
1) hitting the dance floors
2) hitting the beach
3) gone for 3 New Year Parties
4) Cycling at ECP
5) Meeting up with friends
6) collected many many ang baos
7) Went to Henderson Waves twice already
8) Watched the best movie so far of the year - Curious Case of Benjamin Button!
9) Had a really wonderous Vday Celebration

And there's sooo many things i'm supa looking forward to in the next few months!
1) Jason Mraz concert on 5th Mar! yes la!
2) JB Trip on 6th Mar
3) YMCA camp in June

and best of all...

4) my Europe trip in May!!!!

YAYS! we've booked the air tickets already. so it's official!
lalalalla...

Les and Chang will be going for one week in London and Spain, and me, Ching, Jun and yew lee will be joining them for the 2nd and 3rd week.
Tentatively, we'll be visiting
1) Paris, France
2) Lille, France (to visit Sim Zhilin!!!!)
3) Berlin, Germany
4) Venice, Italy
5) Rome, Italy

Might stop by a few places here and there la... but then again, because of time constraints maybe not. I'm sooooooooooooooooo excited!

lalallalala...

anyway, on a separate note! my most recent crazy craving.

Instax Mini Polaroid Camera!!!!!

omg, doesnt it look supadupawupa nice and chic?!?!?!
and it's a polaroid camera! something useless and not that practical, but something i always wanted!

it's by Fujifilm by the way and costs around S$150 i think.
it's so nice and cute lar! and i wanna get this pink onez!

because it looks bimbotic and cute and pretty.

WHY! cannot arhz! i'm entitled to have bimbotic cravings now and then.
hahaha...

but anyway, i might get the chocolate-coloured (above) one lar... coz i think the colour looks quite nice also...
lucky for me, the govt money is coming in sooooooonnnnnnn.... =)))

oh by the way! i wanna go SupperClub!!!!
it's this amazing expensive place that all my expat frens are crazy over.
they're always talking and raving about it.

i'm goin to jio my frens. hahah...

2009-02-15T22:54:00.007+08:00

3rd Jan 2009 - Chang's Bdae Celeb cum New Year!!

Met up with the Rolex ppl to celebrate Chang's bdae and New year!!

We celebrated Chang's 24th bday 1 year late -_-'''
haha, no lar... in effect, only about 4 days later

so here it is! the guy and his bdae cake!

the guys around me are getting so old, that now, everytime i buy bdae cakes for them, i just ask for 1 candle instead of the MANY MANY candles they need hahaha...

Bleah! i know you all are going to say, one day i'll reach that age.
BUT! fact is no matter how old i am, i'll still be younger than you all 1983/1984 guys.
lalalala... hahahah...

and the NUM slippers we bought him! so that he'll look chic and cool haha...
you cant do that with the ah-pek slippers he's always wearing haha...

and the guys with the cake...

Yew lee and chang looked drunk in the right photo... -_-'''
there's no alchohol in that cake, by the way. haha...

and the guys again...

dun ask me why, but they love camwhoring so much i cant even stop them.
i gave them the camera, asking them to take a photo for me and ching, and they started camwhoring and taking the above 4 photos. -_-'''

and somehow they look damn freaking high in those photos.

we were at Settlers by the way, and we HAVE NOT even started playing any game at this point of time. haha...

me and ching!

and then we started playing this card game that is damn freaking fun... it belongs to the same category as games like saboteur, but i think it's more fun than saboteur!

anyway, the staff member made the wrong choice by giving lester this toy hammer below...

because he couldnt stop hitting our heads with that damn hammer.

anyway when we made our reservations there, we only booked it for 2 hours. but we ended up extending and extending till we were playing for freaking 5 hours.

yes, it's THAT fun! i love settlers lar, superb.

and we ended off the 5 hours gaming spree with this stoopid ridiculous hilarious EGG GAME!
so how this game goes is, we're given a dice and a carton of 8 rubbery bouncy eggs.

so on each face of the dice there's a picture that means different things. so everyone takes turns to throw the dice, and according to whichever picture is facing up, you have to do that action and the person who does it the fastest can take an egg from the carton and chose whoever he/she wants his/her victim to be, and get that victim to put the egg at different parts of the body.

and the victim has to hold that egg at that part until he manages to do one of the actions the fastest then he can choose his victim and pass that egg to that person.

TRUST ME, it's FREAKING hilarious!

so anyway, chang got it the worse, because once he has a few eggs under his name, everyone cant stop targetting him. coz seriously the more eggs u have, the more ppl wanna see u trying to balance even more eggs. i dunno if i'm making sense, but it's just too-damn-funny.

chang with one egg

and two eggs now

and 3 eggs

and finally...

with 4 eggs, he surrenders

hahhahaha...
i kept thinking about stoopid lester's thunderous loud "CLUCK" and how he manages to win every single time that bloody action comes out. until once, chang with 4 eggs and looking like the above CLUCKED really loud to be able to get rid of one egg. hahah...

sorry, inside joke. the rolex ppl will understand haha...

and the rest of the victims...

Yew Lee

Ching

Me and Les

we didnt have it that bad lar... most of the time we were just laughing at the rest... hahaha...

the guys acting all retarded :: Les and his victorious empty carton

and more stoopid photos, because after the egg game, we were incredibly high.

Les and ching acting stoopid :: Yew Lee looking all stoned after the highness haha

and all of us (except Jun!!!!! you shd have came! haha)

Les and Yew lee looked damn stoopid in that photo.

Anyway, we went to eat this superbly good bak kut teh, that my RV frens intro-ed to me last time.
It's in Chinatown by the way, and i love love it lar!!!
it's one of the best i've ever eaten... and i never knew you tiao is supposed to go with bak kut teh.

oh wells, sua ku ness i know. ah siyong! you're supposed to go eat with me again. hahaha...

2009-02-15T00:00:00.006+08:00

2nd Jan 09 - New Year with RV peeps

okay, really retarded and slow, i know. it's now 1 and a half months later.
ppl busy lar!!!!!! =P

and kinda lazy to blog. so this time, more photos, less words =)

so anyway!! it's a new year celebration cum farewell for dearest liyang who's leaving for NOC in USA for 1 full year!!! lucky lucky him, and leaving all of us here in boring singapore... -_-'''

i would have killed to go back there again lor, and for 1 year somemore.

liyang's condo

we catered barbeque food and set up at the bbq pit at his condo pool...

setting up the fire

the rest came late, so kudos to liyang and vic for setting up the fire and having most of the food cooked already... haha... the bad thing about bbq is, while you're waiting for everything to be done, u get so hungry that u'll just snack on something else first... but still, i heart bbqs alot!

and Mark the cam-whore...

notice how he manages to squeeze himself into every photo... -_-''

and all our food!

it was so much, and so good, i tell you.
and the best is the sambal stingray and sambal sotongs. omg, they were heavenly. luckily we ordered so much of those haha..

i look damn plump in those photos lar.
yes, that's the xmas-new year period where i put on bloody 5kg in freaking 2 months.

luckily i lost them already. and i'm back to my old figure! yays!

and the star of the night... =)

anyway there was this short period of time when the fire went off, and the food is cooking real real slow... so liyang had to blow at the redhot charcoals to make the flames ignite again. and he was doing such a good job that everyone was impressed.

SO! dearest mark decided to prove that he's as good at it as well...

he looked damn stoopid blowing lar...

okay, i'm sorry, that sounded DAMN wrong.
haha...

the ones who got our food cooking again =)

after that, it was booze-time!!!
well actually not booze exactly, to be exact, it's baileys.
but booze time sounds so much cooler than saying baileys time. haha...

and i was playing with my camera. so i forced mark to do the xi-nu-ai-le thing.

totally dun look like CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
he looked SOOOOO happy in every single frame up there -_-'''

half of the gang =)

i love this grp of ppl, they're so fun and humorous and interesting, and always up for all these random impromptu stuff... haha...

okay, i'll blog about my other new year outings soooooon! =P

2009-01-27T00:52:00.006+08:00

31st Dec 08 - New Year's Eve

I cant believe on CNY, i'm still blogging about New Year's eve (the english one, i.e. on 31st Dec -_-''')

anyway i had 3 parties on the same night, so i had to only choose one. and tryin to be fair and unbiased, i chose the one that asked me first. i hate doing this by the way, i hate it when i had to choose one gathering and forego other gatherings =(

anyway, we had a bbq at PGP!!! yea, i noe. what a place to celebrate eve right...
BUT! it was better than i tot! the bbq pit was not too shabby, and the surroundings was pretty nice actually.

started off with a little dessert, that les's fren made.

tiramisu!!!!

it was really good i thought! i know how to make too!

speaking of which, i havent baked cakes or made desserts for a long long time already =(
i used to bake alot of cheesecakes... but it's pretty time-consuming, considering the fact that i'm working already. prob i'll do it again on Vday! hee...

starting the fire...

everytime i go for bbqs, i'm always asked to start the fire because "you're from guides ma! guides always start fires onez"

-_-'''

so ridiculous. haha...
i mean, true in a certain sense, but seriously, it's not like we do that every sat of our 4 years.

anyway! i'm so glad this time i dun have to do anything of such haha...

and a myraid of lester's exaggerated expressions...

exaggerated expression #1 and #2

him acting all-stoopid with a bottle of wine...

and XI-NU-AI-LE!!!

cant help but noticed that his expression stands out the most coz it's sooo freaking exaggerated haha...

we then drove to near vivocity to catch the fireworks!
i never fail to miss fireworks every single year for new year's eve (at least since i was 16).
and i really do mean every single year.

i think it's really nice and refreshing to start a new year with fireworks. it's like celebrating the good year that passed (or if it's bad, then it's celebrating that the bad year HAS passed haha), and welcoming the new year and hoping fervently that it'll be even better.

and the fireworks!

after that we loiter for damn long in the carpark before deciding to go to les's fren's house. we dropped by hall to pick up his wii and stuff...

his classic wii-expression

anyway! wii is a fantastic social game. seriously.
it's like everytime u have a gathering and you have wii. that's it. people will be willing to stay overnight, everyone will have something to do for the entire night, and everyone will be happy.

his fren has a dog that was so freaking adorable and cute and huggable!
i played with him for like hours... n he's so full of energy. he stayed up with us for the entire nite hahaha...

sooooo adorable right!!!

he's actually damn heavy.

he's an adorable plump dog haha...

i wanna have a dog too, next time when i have my own place. i DEFINITELY wan a dog =)

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.
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anyway i just realised that i didnt make any 2009 resolutions so here goes.

1) To be much better at my job, than i ever could imagine myself capable of.
2) To hold onto whatever i have now (i.e. my family, my bf and all my frens out there =D) and treasure them even more.
3) To do more volunteer work (preferably with YMCA, but i might consider looking at other organisations)

i wanted to add "europe trip" as one of the resolutions. but then again, it's not exactly a resolution too, so oh wells. resolutions are more like things you wanna change from the previous year, in your new year right... =)

2009-01-22T22:39:00.004+08:00

28th Dec 08 - Henderson Waves with de Cousins

Visited the all-famous Henderson waves that almost all singaporeans seemed to have visited. or at least, it seemed that way. coz every blog i visited seemed to have an entry on Henderson Waves haha...

anyway the first time i saw photos of it, i assumed it was the MacRitchie bridge, so i dragged les and his lazy bum to walk 2 hrs to it. -_-'''

so here it is! bright sunny sunday spent with my cousins... =)

Justin, my cute cousin hailed from Australia

isnt he soooooooo extremely adorable! and those are my shades by the way hahah...
i only get to see him like once or twice a year, when he comes back to singapore fr australia...

and he was sticking himself to me all the way for the entire day, which is really nice... =)

anyway! we started at the old SAJC school site, and walked towards VivoCity.
on the way to Henderson Waves...

and the Henderson waves!

it looks really nice in the evening... i'm not sure abt night too... might be too dark to see the path up...

him the Aussie surfer-dude... or wannabe haha =)

after walking for about an hr or so, we reached the peak of the path. and the view from here is so much nicer and worth-the-walk than the stoopid HSBC MacRitchie treetop bridge... -_-'''

we grabbed dinner at the hawkercenter at Harbourfront after we came down... there were about 9 of us by the way. the reason why only he's in the photos is coz i'm the one holding the camera and he's just so adorable hahaha...

we went up to look at the Vivo Xmas tree after that...

true to hearsay, it's humongous lar... and really nice =)

and this nightview is amazing... i've never really been up here late late at night...

so romantic la! i wanna come here with les one day hee =P

my sis with Justin

i took this photo by mistake, but thought it turned out looking pretty cool...

my aunt, sis and Justin

i cant wait to see him and his little brother for CNY gathering!!!!
because aft tat, they're going back to Australia again =(

i dont get what's up with all this migration. seriously.
to me, it just looks more like a hassle to have to take flights to and fro your homeland to visit your relatives. and it's a pain when your relatives miss you and cant just take a 20min bus/train down the road to visit u.

anyway! my new year (new year as in 1st Jan haha) photos up next!!!!!

2009-01-20T22:47:00.003+08:00

27th Dec 09 - Sentosa with RV peeps

In the midst of all the xmas celebrations, i was fully aware of how sunny and great the weather is every single day. which is more than fantastic, because, u noe, dec is supposed to be a wet month... so i really didnt expect to find myself at sunny sunny Sentosa!

got the RV peeps and frens along...
we frequent there so often, that everytime we go, some of us will bring along our other frens... and we have seen everyone at Sentosa before...

it's like, u walk past a grp of ppl there, and you go "hey we've played with those guys before"... and then they'll smile at us (actually only Mark i think, coz he's supa an over-enthusiast when it comes to vball hahaha) in acknowledgement.

and speaking of the devil...

Mark camwhoring as ah lian

what typical ah lian shots those are... hahah...

and random photos of guys who happened to be just nua-ing there when i'm bored and playing with my cam...

ah chew :: and chie hui the gym over-enthusiast (haa!)

part of the RV peeps

and i brought my good fren along for Sentosa! actually he came for all the previous Sentosa outings lar... it's just that this is one of the rare times i took out my camera haha... and one of the rare times we took a photo together...

come to think of it, we've known each other for 4 years and we go out frequently but the number of photos we have together is like... hmmm... less than 20?!? -_-'''

me and Yongxiang!

i'm fat!!!! arghhhhhhhh!
i need to lose those bloody weight.

actually i've been joggin... but i think i've been eating more than jogging.
so 3 weeks ago, i decided to regain my usual exercise regime (usual as in what i've been doing in uni) - to jog every single day.

and so i did. and i didnt cut down on my eating habits (i couldnt la. i love food and i heart fast food even more haha).
and in this 3 weeks, i lost 3 kg!!!!! YES la!

though i think i've to continue with this for quite some time before i'll actually feel FIT and HEALTHY, given that i sit at the office desk every single day.

2009-01-18T22:56:00.006+08:00

24th Dec 08 - Xmas Eve with Les & Friends

I cant believe i'm still blogging abt xmas, like one month later... -_-''

yes i noe, very slow. but what to do. i've been busy. and when i'm not busy, i'm going out. hahaha...

so anyway xmas eve! i like xmas eve, it's like one of those rare occasions when les will finally wear shirt and jeans instead of his usual lok kok tshirt and berms hahaha...

in his hall getting ready

that dress is one of my bdae presents from my frens, by the way! =)

we met up with his frens for dinner at this korean bbq place near NUS. just opposite haw par villa in fact...

because there were alot of us, we managed to get the room all to ourselves, complete with the zhen zhong korean way of eating dinner... sitting on the floor! which is more special la, than the normal tables and chairs they have outside.

and the food!

you think the above looks a lot?!?! wait till u see the whole deal...

crazy lot of food

but truthfully speaking, as much as this is one of the most authentic korean food i've ever tasted, it's totally not worth it.

it's not exactly very filling, and i feel like we're paying mostly for kimchi. the meat takes up a pathetically small amount of the total food we ordered. oh wells.

and so much speculation about wat the above is. marshmallows is the famous choice. stoopid les told me it's something that they're goin to throw into the stove and start a fire with to barbeque the meat... -_-''

turns out the waitress poured warm water onto it, and immediately they expand to become wet towels...

and fruits at the end of the meal!

heart-shaped watermelons :: i heart you!

my hair looks amazingly black in that photo... -_-'''
by the way, i wanna do something to it. i'm bored of it. haha...

all of us

we went to this ulu pub near NUS after that, called cicada. seriously, without a car, it's almost impossible to reach this place.

nice place, but kinda lacking in the xmas ambience coz it's too quiet...

apparently this place sells really solid desserts and i think everyone's still hungry aft the korean meal so we ordered 4 desserts to share.

okay i cant rem what is what. it's freaking 1 month ago!
but i do rem the chocolate cake (bottom right photo) is the best of the night.

everyone was fighting to get more bites out of it hahahha...
the tiramisu is not bad too.

Les and his gift exchange :: him, who tries to steal my bf haha

we ordered 2 bottles of wine, 1 red 1 white.
i can never get how ppl can love red wine. it's so bitter and so yuckingly disgusting.
white wine is superb though, i totally love it. =)

and i never knew they use different kinds of glasses to fill red and white wine.
the glass used for red wine is usually bigger, never knew that!

thanks for a wonderful xmas again, baby.
i love it when the clock strikes midnight, and you plant a kiss on my lips.
what will i do, without you... =)

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i just finished reading Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper". and kudos to her, for yet another amazing heartfelt book she has written.

she's an amazing writer, i seldom feel like crying after reading books and she managed to do that to me.

this is like the 5th or 6th of her books i've read, and i cant get enough of her.
And this is my favorite part of the entire book...

"If there was a religion of Annaism, and I had to tell you how humans made their way to Earth, it would go like this: in the beginning, there was nothing at all but the moon and the sun. And the moon wanted to come out during the day, but there was something so much brighter that seemed to fill up all those hours. The moon grew hungry, thinner and thinner, until she was just a slice of herself, and her tips were as sharp as a knife. By accident, because that is the way most things happen, she poked a hole in the night and out spilled a million stars, like a fountain of tears.

Horrified, the moon tried to swallow them up. And sometimes this worked, because she got fatter and rounder. But mostly it didn't, because there were just so many. The stars kept coming, until they made the sky so bright that the Sun got jealous. He invited the stars to his side of the world, where it was always bright. What he didn't tell them, though, was that in the daytime, they'd never be seen. So the stupid ones leaped from the sky to the ground, and they froze under the weight of their own foolishness.

The moon did her best. She carved each of these blocks of sorrow into a man or a woman. She spent the rest of her time watching out so that her other stars wouldn't fall. She spent the rest of her time holding on to whatever scraps she had left."

- Anna, "Her Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult