seeking for my pavilion

Summer in US The beginning

2009-05-23T10:02:00.008+08:00

It is suppose to be summer now, however the weather here is still flutuating. It is really frustrating as one moment it can be really sunny out and the next it could be at 3 degree. Luckily my motel room does have a heater and we are also given comforters. Some of you have been asking for pics of my room so here it is

A small Tv plus a coffee table

Our bed. There are 3 actually. The one with the white comfortor is mine

The surrounding area is quite nice except that it doesn't have much eatries and shopping. These places need at least half an hour walk from my motel. There is wifi in my room thank God or i will be typing this at the kitchen.

My work place is just a 15 min walk away from the motel. It is quite a huge themepark and till now i haven got the chance to really explore all parts of it. I am kind of stuck to my zone. The uniform provided for us is really hideous and it seems to attract lots of insects to it, making it quite an effective insect trap.

A group photo outside my work place ( see how bright the uniform is)

For now i am working 5 days a week and some days are really long hours. My off days are spend buying groceries, doing washing and going out so there isn't really much time for me to update here that often. But i will try to update asap. Next update will be my boston trip.

My time in New York

2009-05-18T12:45:00.003+08:00

Hey people, i want to really thank you for all the concerns given. I have reach New York safety and have more or less settle down at my housing. Work has started and since i am new and all, it is really quite challenging, but i guess it gets better as the days goes by. Anyway, some of you have been asking for pics but i really do not have the time to post it rite now however i promise i will post some asap. I will be heading out to boston from mon to tue so i don't think i am able to be online for these few days. Will update once i am back. This time i will give a more detailed information.

Desperate need of help

2009-04-17T23:10:00.003+08:00

My laptop is officially dead. Apparently, it is either the monitor or the hardware that is the problem. It of course didn't bore well on me since both require quite a large sum of money to repair or replace. My first thought is omg how am i going to survive without my computer. Thank goodness i am working now so at least i can use my com in the office but it just isn't the same having your own.

My next thought is ' is my com still under warranty?'. I called up the dell helpline and this very Indian accent voice says that i need to purchase a new warranty since mine have expired before he can assist me in any troubleshooting. So i said ok and ask him to send the quotation over. When i read the email that he send me i got a big shock. It turns out just 1 year of warranty would require me to pour out about 400 bucks and that is excluding GST. It is almost half the price of a new PC! So if anyone have any suggestion on what to do in this situation, please please tell me. oh in case you are there wondering how i manage to post this entry, it is because i am temporary using my dad's netbook but the small keyboard is killing me here. So can any kind soul help me out of this?

A new outlook

2009-04-07T23:14:00.004+08:00

There is nothing better than a new outlook for me to get started posting entries again. The old skin is getting too boring and yes that is one of the reasons why I stopped posting. The last couple of months seems to be like sort of “fill in” months for me while I anticipate my great getaway in May.

I have been taking up temp jobs to occupy my time as well as earn some extra income. My current temp job is as a telemarketer at a recruitment agency. I really praise the lord for giving me this job because at first I was actually offered a position that is around the mount faber area. Imagine how far it is going to be for me to travel. However at that time, I was really desperate for a job and I actually wanted to accept it. When I call back to the agency to give my answer, the consultant said that that is another job that she is intending to recommend me, which is working in their agency.

I was so happy because not only the location is at CBD area but also they are paying me at a rate that I am satisfied with. It is really only Him that can turn everything around to make it all good for us. The other upside about this job is that they are really flexible about my working period. If I want to leave earlier I just need to give them a few days notice. I have planned to set my last day to the end of the month that is if they do not terminate me on early notice. Haha.. so people there will be another celebration end of month. The celebration of Melissa’s last day at work!

Holiday events part 3

2009-01-21T18:21:00.003+08:00

Alright here’s another entry since I am so free today. This year Christmas, the poly side people had another fabulous theme. We are always talking about having a pyjamas party and finally we decided to go with it this year. To make it even more challenging, we are to wear our pyjamas to the host house which happens to be at Harry’s house again. Thanks goodness he didn’t put up the Halloween displays like last year. Haha..

I would like to thanks van for driving me there that day and so spare me the embarrassment of taking public transport. It is really quite funny seeing everyone wearing pyjamas. Our sus once again try to strive for attention by wearing her hot pink long pao. Van not to be outdone, changed two set of clothes that night.

The night is not all peaceful, for a period of time we thought that the police might be coming for us since there is a mad man that called the cops to complain about us being nuisance at the void deck. We weren’t really doing anything too, maybe a little shouting of Merry Christmas and running about, surely it doesn’t constitute to have a warrant on us. Anyway the police did not come in the end. For gift exchange this year, I pick Stella and got her a photo album and coincidentally, she picked me too and gave me a pair of billabong slippers.

Over at my secondary school friends, we had a dress theme, everyone is expected to come wearing a dress except for the guys of course. Mui’s dress top is the talk of the night for obvious reasons. Haha.. This year is by far the most scrumptious Christmas dinner that we had. There are so many foods that some of them have to da bao back.

Mz never fail to give us a surprise every Christmas gift exchange and this year is no different. For her face sake, I shall not reveal it here. I got a Guess wallet from her this year and I like it a lot since it is in a colour that I had never have before on a wallet- green. For me, I got mui a holiday hamper consisting of a shawl since she is about to go Hong kong at that time, an umbrella, luggage tag and a passport cover

Holiday events part 2

2009-01-21T17:14:00.004+08:00

It has been a while since I last updated, the last month had been a rush, with so many happening events such as Christmas and New Year. I almost can’t believe that one year had passed and I have officially graduated though I still have to wait till Aug for my ceremony. Since the last entry I ended that I will be flying off to Phuket so this entry shall focus on that trip.

Our flight to Phuket is by Tiger airway and since they only have two departures per day, our ks Singaporean spirit prompt us to choose the super early flight so that we can reach there early. It is also my first time taking a budget airline. Surprising it is still not too bad, the only complain I have is the seat makes me feel like sitting on a wooden bench. The journey took about one and a half hours. upon entering our hotel, although I wouldn’t call it a hotel, it feels more like a resort with their wooden crafting and open air lobby. In a way, this helps to add on to the feeling of holidaying by the beach.

For the next few days we tour around the island with the car that we rented. We visited the Phuket zoo, local street market and the various beaches situated along the island. It is pretty easy to find the places with the help of the map and we only got lost during our search for the street market as we do not have the exact location in the first place. Van’s family joined us on the last day when we went for elephant trekking. It is really fun and a great activity for the kids as well.

The seafood there is also real cheap but you have to know where to go. For us, we avoid the tourist areas as the restaurants there tends to jerk up the price. we ate at a café near the local street market and ordered about three bowls of crab cooked in different gravy, it cost about 3 bucks sing for each if I am not wrong. To sum it up, you can consider Phuket if you are looking for a short get away vacation especially true for beach lovers and bargain eaters.

The sandy beach and us
Elephant trekking
Entrance of Phuket zoo
Our transportation for the trip
our hotel lobby

Holiday events part 1

2008-12-08T22:35:00.003+08:00

The week after exams is a time where celebration begins. However in my case it is work work and work for 4 days straight, clocking in an average of more than 12 hours a day. it was so physically draining as I only have about 5 hours of sleep per day.

On the other hand, this job is possibly one of the best that I had ever done. Imagine having salmon, assorted hams and selection of deliciously fresh baked pastry for breakfast and best of all, it is free! Throughout the day, we are entitled to the buffet spread that is prepared by the hotel, which is my 2nd home for the 4 days. I make some new friends as well during the 4 days work stint and the experience is truly one of a kind.

After this tiring event, you suppose I will be spending my time recuperating from the madness but no.. I am scheduled to fly off to Phuket on the next following day. Haha.. the joy of being young!

Breakfast table

view from one of the rooms

The Poolside

The Lavatory

I really hate those people!

2008-10-25T01:06:00.000+08:00

Wow it has been quite a while since I last updated this blog, I almost forgotten about it. The exam had finally started and yesterday I had my first paper so 1 hurdle down with 2 more to go. Can’t wait to finish those papers and finally go on a well deserved holiday. Lately something terrible happened at my house. Well I supposed I should tell from the beginning so here goes…

The unit next to my house had been rented by quite a few people this year and it so happens that the previous tenant borrowed some money from the loansharks aka Ah Long and after renting the place for about 2 months they moved and new tenant moved in. soon after, the unit beside us got splash by paint and the unit number was being written all over the stairs, lifts and walls. They made several police report but nothing could be done.

After the several attempts of splashing paint, I guess the loansharks know that it is not workable and so decided to change their strategy by splashing on the neighbours unit which happen to be my house. Ya, my house thus become the victim of their money lending business. I was so mad as we are clearly innocent here. How can the loanshark do this? But from what I know, their strategy is to make us angry so that we will quarrel with our neighbour that is responsible for this. Although I am not sure how by doing this will help them recover their money. To me it is just so unethical but I suppose being who they are, it is expected of them.

For now I can only hope that this incident does not happen again. It is so hard to get rid of the paint and there are still stains on the door that I think would not be able to wash away. I really hope justice will be done to those people.

Nearing the end

2008-09-19T21:05:00.000+08:00

I am finally done with projects and assignments. Although I should feel nostalgic about this being my last semester and all but I just do not have that feeling. The reason could be there isn’t much emotional attachment to the school. Looking back to the previous semesters, my academic life would be pretty boring if not for Susan and Amy who are taking the same course as me. I am really glad for that.

Our finals would be taking place a month later and after that would be….enjoyment! (Provided that we pass of course) I really hate the feeling of so near and yet so far, it is like we are so near to freedom and yet we had to pass that darn exam. But like what people said only when you have taste bitterness then you would appreciate sweetness. Anyway I am already looking forward to all the plans for the holidays, it is still a bit early but a girl can dream isn’t it.

buffet at traders

2008-09-06T22:30:00.002+08:00

I have to admit that Trader’s hotel buffet is going straight in to my list of incredible buffet restaurant. me, mui, mz and her bf went there on last Sunday for their buffet dinner. The price is a bit steep for people like me, however there is some kind of credit card discount going on so we are able to take advantage of that.

group pic before eating

As we went hunting for our food, me and mui are amaze by the half lobster that are placed nicely on one of the counter. Of course being regular Singaporeans, the lobster is a must try for us.

Mui happy with her lobster

and me with mine

However my choice of the night is still the crab, I think it is called the Alaska crab or something similar. The meat is totally different from the regular crab that we had in zi char. The meat has a slight sweetness which makes you go for a second helping. However the sushi bar is a little disappointing, it taste almost similar to those that I brought from NTUC. Not forgetting the dessert bar, they have a 3 tier chocolate fondue and also tiny small cakes and puddings for those who want to try the flavour but are too full for a whole slice of cake. We stayed there for close to about 3 hours plus that is by far the longest time I had spent in buffets.

Satisfied with our meals

Compilation of events

2008-08-20T17:46:00.006+08:00

Activities had over flood me recently, which explains the lack of updates here. So this entry will be a consolidation of all the events that happen the past month.

Starting with van’s 22nd birthday celebration. This year we had an occupational theme. That one night, each of us transform into another character ranging from student, contractor, policeman, megastar and others. This year, Amy and I shared for her present and we brought for her a bikini since she does not mind collecting more bikini set. Here are some of the moments that were captured that night

The night before national day, the gang went on another dblo session again. And surprise surprise no one was terribly drunk that night. We even get to have our dim sum supper after that. This time we had a relatively huge group with van and yoke huey joining us. They also brought with them their Australia friend, sin. All in all, it was a great night.

Over at my sec school mates, we had Miss yap who will be leaving for Norway for exchange program. As a farewell for her, we arranged to meet at mz house on national day. Thanks to mz’s mum we had a sumptuous dinner comprising of bee hoon, spring rolls and curry chicken. After dinner, we catch the live telecast of national day parade, at that moment where everyone was sitting in front of the television; I suddenly had the kampong feeling. And our night ended with majong again, ps being the lucky star that night won again. I swear that girl will win at any kind of games or gamble she is in. Mui and I were hoping that we could win some taxi fares back but it seems like that night is against us.

A new school term

2008-08-02T17:31:00.000+08:00

School had started to show its ugly side. Yup, projects had started and this is the only time when I wish that I am back to my tiring yet slacking working life. I must admit that I had a love hate relationship with projects. The process of actually doing it is sickening however at the end of everything I will have that sense of accomplishment that I am finally done with it and this feeling of accomplishment is elevated even further when the results are release with a big DI besides it.

The beginning of the semester is always a period that I am most looking forward to as all my goals of getting great results are formulated and since no assignments are done yet. It seems to make my goals looks more attainable. But once assignment results start to release one by one, it often dampens my initial goals. Well I do not even know if I make any sense here but this is exactly what I am going through every semester; it almost seems like a routine.

As this is my final semester, I am hoping that I would break free of this routine and just enjoy the last few months of my study life. By enjoying I am not saying that I would neglect on my studies but what I am trying to mean is that to find fun in my studies and doing of assignments. So let’s hope that this thinking will not fade into oblivious when it is time for the attack of the projects horde. Till next time!

ps and hj bdae celebration at sakura buffet

2008-07-23T23:36:00.005+08:00

It seems like my diet plan was a failure after all. But honestly what can one expects to do when celebrating birthdays. The answer is simple and totally Singaporean, eat of course. And that is exactly what we did. We went to sakura buffet orchard outlet on Sunday and since it is the weekend and it is dinner, each person pays $30. For people like me who had limited budget, I went in with every intention of making it worthwhile.

The whole group

My usual grabs are salmon sashimi, prawns, clayfish, baked oysters and mussels. Luckily, my sec sch mates most of them are on the same wavelength as me that is making each dish count. Well except for our beloved hj who pays the $30 for chap cai peng and the worst thing is she did not even finish it all. What a waste for her to come buffet, even mui can last longer.

My sashimi

Ps and me

Mz, hj and me

After stuffing ourselves to the brim, it is time to give our presents to the 2 birthday girls. Ps birthday is already over, so this is a belated present for her but nonetheless, it is the thoughts that count right? For hj, her birthday is still a long way, but since that girl will be leaving for Norway soon we thought we should have a way advance birthday celebration for her. The one thing that surprises me that night was that ggy also receive her birthday gift even when her birthday is so far still. But thinking back, since she is starting her job soon, this gift will be useful to her and she will be able to put it to good use.

All the girls

Reaching home, I was so tired yet I am too full to sleep, I totally hate this feeling, it is like having after buffet hung over or something. It will be a long time before I will have another buffet again but one thing for sure is that, I would not be giving it up.

dramatic day

2008-07-17T22:25:00.000+08:00

Today I got the most dramatic morning wake-up call ever in my entire life. Not even waking up and realising I am late for school during my secondary school years can be compared to it. Seriously I am not exaggerating! I slept late the previous day at around 4am so it is imaginable that I most probably am still in dreamland at around 8am. However, I was awaken by some noise outside my corridor. Thinking that it must be some of my neighbours who were quarrelling again, I went back to sleep.

A few moments later, my frantic grandma comes bursting into my room shouting “there’s a fire, quick get up”. I was like “ huh’, and realizing that I can smell smoke outside of my room, I quickly get up to see what is going on. Several firemen could be seen rushing about my corridor and there are some police officers as well. Smoke could be seen coming up from the 10th floor staircase. Apparently, there is a madman on the 10th floor that set both his and his neighbour apartment on fire. And what is worst is that he is actually armed with knives. What a scary thought.

That is not all, before setting his apartment on fire, he actually pursued the 2 other girls who are renting his room with knives and all. Luckily, he did not manage to hurt them and so return to his apartment to begin his other ‘plans’. It was only about another hour later that one of our neighbours told us that the madman had been subdued by the police. After the incident ended, the aunties started to gossip about what happened, so there goes my much needed sleep yet again.

waxing @ strip

2008-07-13T17:35:00.001+08:00

I finally puck up my courage to experience hairless happiness on last Tuesday. Yup, I went for waxing for the very first time of my life and I would describe it as a hair rising moment for me. Van and me booked an appointment at strip last Tuesday and tried their full leg wax. For van, she had wax her arm before and she describe to me that the pain will be a ‘shiok’ pain.

Believing that, I entered the room with assurance that the pain will not be that bad. For those who had never done any waxing before this is how they do it. First, they will apply some lotion or power on the area that is to be wax, then they will apply a layer of hot wax on it and finally they will place a cloth over that area and zap.. there you have it, no more hair. Being a novice, I honestly thought that when they apply the hot wax, the hair is also in the process of being wax off. Ya, i sound like a total idiot now that I recall back. So the moment the cloth is being rip off, I am sure my face is frozen in place for a few second before I register pain and is not the ‘shiok’ pain that van told me. It is simply pain, unpleasant pain.

The person attending to me obviously thought that I am a regular as she asked me does my skin turn red after waxing during my previous experience? I was like ‘Huh, I thought I fill up the particulars for newcomers a while ago so why are you asking me that’. But of course I did not say that out to her. However, after awhile I become more accustom to the pain and finds that it is not really that bad too. The redness is also not that obvious for me, but van’s legs are like lobster color, maybe red shows up more on fair people. But I do like the feeling of hairless leg and so I do believe I will be going back again but well just not that soon.

Esplanade experience part 2

2008-07-13T16:54:00.003+08:00

Alright as promised, the photos of our 2nd part of esplanade experience are here. I had also added pictures of our post performance dinner. We went to Waraku pasta for our dinner and dessert and later on to shokudo at Raffles city basement for 2nd round of dessert. Needless to say for that day, we went home with a full stomach but with a more empty wallet too!

Van's welcome back dinner

2008-07-08T20:45:00.000+08:00

Seems like the good news just keep coming. Van is finally back for good from her uni studies in Melbourne. To my fashion adviser, a very warm welcome back. Haha. We organised a welcome back dinner with van on last Fri. That girl said that she wanted to go to this restaurant near Bugis called Indulge. I must admit that the ambience of the place was pretty good and being quite a small place, the decoration made it quite cosy. However, the food does not seem to match up to our expectation. So my advice to those who are going will be to go at your own risk. It could be because we ordered the wrong dishes; however, there were 7 of us and none of the 7 dishes that we ordered taste really that fantastic. So yup, we have given our consensus verdict that we will not be visiting that place anytime soon, at least not in the near future.

After dinner, we decided to find a place where we can chill out over some drinks and desserts, alas it is Friday and of course everywhere is swarming with people. In desperation, we moved out of town area and venture into the heartlands, not that I mind since the place we are going is to AMK hub. Finally we found a spot in the coffee bean and we chatted for quite sometime over our coffees. To me, it seems like everyone is really growing up and starting to plan for their future, and I am still at the crossroad of my life deciding where should I move on to. Sounds a bit sad, but I believe that God will make a way for me and I should place my faith on him. Well in any case, at least I am not the only lost soul in that group. Haha..

My first esplanade experience

2008-07-06T16:06:00.004+08:00

My student status has been reinstated. Yeah! Most importantly I am out of the prison that I called my office for the past 7 weeks. As a pre-celebration, I tried to plan a variety of activities for the last Sunday as my last working day is on Monday. My partner in crime on that day is none other than mz. We went for something quite unusual from our normal activities. The venue is at the esplanade theatre and yup we are watching a dance performance there. The both of us had been to quite a few dance performances before but not once it is held in esplanade so you can be pretty sure how excited the both of us were.

The dance performance that we are watching is B.Boyz & Ballerina. For those who do not know what does B-Boyz means, here is a simple definition. B-boy means’ a person that break dance’. The dance move original from hip hop and is popularly known as street dancing. The whole performance was done in a story telling manner using dance moves to unfold the storyline. The storyline is quite predictable however the dance moves had the whole audiences shouting ‘encore’ at the end of the show.

I had seen pictures of the esplanade theatre before on their website, but nothing could prepare me for the splendour and elegance of the theatre when I step inside. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take pictures inside the theatre so I can’t show you what I mean. However, we did take some monkeying pictures outside. Oh and after the show there was a 15 min photo taking session with the dance crew themselves. However, since mz had not passed me the pictures yet, so I will just leave that for another day. So here are some snapshots that we are alllowed to take.

The entrance to our seats

In the queue for our phototaking session with the crew

Satisfied customer

Mz 22nd birthday celebration at Ichiban sushi

2008-07-03T18:46:00.002+08:00

We celebrated mz’s belated birthday last Friday. Originally we are supposed to check out one of the café in bishan park, however we received some negative comments from ps regarding that place and after the last minute rush of reorganising the venue, we decided to go ichiban at amk hub. The queue outside the restaurant is so ridiculously long (Note to self: never underestimate the weekend crowds) and we ended up waiting for about an hour before we are being seated, I guess it is partly because we are waiting for a 6 seater table too.

I ordered the menu promotions since it looks so temping on the posters. It is a small hotpot with chicken in it and a soft shell crab on the side. The portion is really big and I only managed to finish it about 45min later.

Me and the birthday gal

And knowing us, we just can’t resist the desserts on the menu.

Our choice for the night
Tada, our dessert arrive!

For this year, we got mz a top from river island, that top is suppose to enhance her curve and I really like the design as well. It is smart causal combine a hint of rock chic style. Mz had tried the top before and it looks so good on her that of course being her friends, we just have to get that for her. We also got for her a espirt belt for her so that she would not have to wear that fashion disaster belt anymore. Haha.

The whole group and not forgetting the photographer alan

At the end of the night, everyone was so glad that we did not go to bishan park for dinner. The reason? Look at the receipt below to find out.

spot it yet?

Steamboat dinner at last!

2008-06-28T15:21:00.005+08:00

Had my long waited steamboat dinner on last Sunday. As usual the whole group had collectively agreed to hold it at my house and who am I to refuse them. Haha.. I initially thought of asking each person to bring along their preferred food for the steamboat, but knowing them better, it is best to meet up and buy the food together. As for all steamboat essentials, we got Mui’s favourite hotdogs, my cannot-live-without golden mushrooms, Ps’s settle-it-all grey prawns, Alan’s must have veggies and of course Hj’s Jack & Jill brand only potatoes chips. There are also many others stuff we brought but the one that we are most proud of is the discounted scallops, it is a whopping $4 off the original price. Thanks Ps for spotting it. It definitely bring in extra flavour for our steamboat. Ggy brought along her xian shui ya- she said that is a product of Nanjing delicacies.

Back to my house, we are being assigned wordlessly into our assigned roles. We had...

Mui as the chief cutter and alan as her assistant.

Ps and hj (above) being the ‘xiu jie’ decided to be our financial calculator and handle the money matters for our purchases for the dinner after which they self-entertain themselves along with ggy with the playstation. As for me, I become the runner literally, having to answer to both groups’ orders, poor me! Finally after an hour of preparation we finally can dig in.

Almost ready

During dinner, everyone was so busy eating that we forgot to take pictures of our 'Jie zhuo' :=(

But nevermind, there is always next round.

Treasure cove = Bishan Park

2008-06-27T10:05:00.002+08:00

Greetings. I am back to update again. The past week for me is both tiring and exciting. Lots of things happened, ok maybe as compared to some other people standard it may not be describe as lots but as compared to my dwindled social life, it definitely is considered a busy week. This is my last week here at attachment and it is finally down to the last 2 days. Yeah! It suddenly reminds me of the first time that I started this blog when I was in my first few weeks of my attachment, in a way looking back, time seems to pass rather fast. However, if you ask me if I feel any sentimental feelings for this place since I am about to leave and all, my answer will still be a big NO.

Ok enough of the office talk, last Friday mui and me decided to head for bishan park for a breeze walk, well I was intending to jog but mui complained about the shoes too small for her feet ( who ask her so niao take people’s 2nd hand shoe) so we settled for a walk around the park. It is a nice feeling to be surrounded by trees and not buildings for a change, there are no hot-tempered OL who “tsk” at the smallest things that irritates them and no crowd for you to push your way through. Best of all, we found some nice surprises along our walk. First surprise was the dog run in the park. i did read about it in the newspaper, however seeing it is different. This is the only place where you can let your pet run free without it being on leash.

As we walked on, mui pointed out the 2nd surprise. She was very excited about it as she goes on saying “ wah, cool”. The “wah cool” thing turns out to be a spa/salon/fitness concept center and it is smack right in the middle of the park, it really defines the concept “spa in a park”. After more walking, I spotted my 3rd surprise, that is the swing. Ya I know it sound childish here, but I have not been on the swing for so long and nowadays all the swing are made only for children so imagine my excitement when I found that the swing there could be used by adults. Mui of course started saying “ mel, how old are you already”, however she soon join in and started shouting “ so shiok”. This shows how conflicting a woman can be sometimes. Haha.. with that, we ended our exploration of Bishan Park and it is now officially included in our chill-out spot list.

First sports stadium gym experience

2008-06-20T14:42:00.000+08:00

After the whole week of indulging myself to the various glorious food, it is time to get off the couch, that is to say time for a gym session. I asked amy to join me as I know she frequent the gym quite regularly now and also it is good to have a companion with me when I am in a room surrounded with mean and bulky looking machines, with their high technology looking function buttons. We decided to meet after work at Khatib as we are heading for the Yishun sports stadium. This is my first time going to a public gym and so am quite looking forward to see how it is different from those gym clubs like California and fitness first.

I have to say that I am quite impressed about the gym. The toilet is surprising clean and the space feels just right. It almost felt like those gym in condominiums apartment. Being a newbie to that gym, the machines used are so foreign to me, i had a mental workout trying to decipher what those function buttons are for. The funny thing is amy who is supposedly a regular there also does not really seems to know how to use the machines. We work out for 1 hour before deciding to stop. If I were to choose between the gym at the sports stadium and those gym club, I will definitely be choosing the former, as it is more economically worthwhile over there.

Outing with the elusive sec sch mates

2008-06-17T20:42:00.005+08:00

Finally I get the chance to meet up with ggy and gang. Honestly, based on number of times that we met a year, you would think that we do not live in the same country. Ggy really surprised me that day, maybe is because I have not seen her for so long, but she is suddenly into make up and cosmetics. I am talking about someone who doesn’t even give a glance to the make up counter a few months back. Seems that the Chinese saying “nu da shi ba bian” is true, just that our ggy is no longer 18. Opps.. mui of course take this opportunity to dump all her haven’t been used cosmetics to ggy who I think is only too happy to receive. Using her new found knowledge and skills of make up ( at least this is what I thought), she displayed her masterpiece on poor ps. I must really say that ps is the bravest soul ever for daring to let ggy paint on her face.

Anyway, alan flashes us his newly brought camera and of course we couldn’t resist taking some pictures with it. Ggy left halfway to meet ying and so that leaves the 4 of us to decide on a major decision- the place for dinner.

We finally decided on Ajite at plaza sing for its mid range affordability dishes. The 4 of us ended up ordering the same food from the promotion menu and what is dinner without desserts. The main dish we ordered was the seafood don. It consist of fresh sashimi slices, crabmeat, scallops and prawn roe spread over Japanese steam rice. To end our day on a sweet note,we ordered soy sauce dango, green tea icecream with cornflakes and also a bowl of fresh fruits and jelly mix with red bean paste as our dessert.

our main course

Jelly, fruits and mochi served with red bean paste

soy sauce dango

Dim Sum at Crystal Jade

2008-06-16T22:40:00.006+08:00

A whole new week again and this time I am counting down to the last 2 weeks of my attachment when I can finally return to being the happy and complacent (except exam and projects period) student status. How I look forward to the day when I can finally wave goodbye to my work place for good. But for now, I can only look back to the weekends for any consolation that my life is not wholly dull. The last weekend was especially meaningful to me as it is the first father’s day meal that I had treated my Dad to. We together with my grandma went to Bishan crystal jade for our lunch and i finally get to savour my long time craving of dim sum dishes. We ordered quite a few “long” of dim sum. Here are some of what we had that day

starting dish "abalone" -actually it is a super huge fried wanton

BBQ pork cang feng

carrot cake

lotus leaf rice, pork rib and siew mai

Mushroom and cabbage dumplings

After lunch, we shop for a while in junction 8, I don’t exactly called it shopping as the things that we shop for is so entirely different from each other, it is more like taking a walk in the mall. to me it is a walk that I do not mind as the time I get to spend with my family members is so little and occasions that we could get together is one that I would treasure. (Although it would be even better if they would just pop over to the supermarket with me to get my favourite ice cream =P)

Ice skating and Adventure trail @ Kallang

2008-06-11T22:34:00.004+08:00

After a whole month of not seeing the chicken-pox covered Mz, we finally agreed to meet up yesterday for an ice skating session. Come to think of it, the last activity we had done is also ice skating as well. So ciao rite. We went to the kallang leisure park ice skating rink since it is near to my workplace and is easier for her too.

It is a weekday night so I expect it to be quite empty, turns out that it is not crowded but almost all the skaters are those figure skaters and the two of us look quite dumb struggling our way through the rink where the others just glide gracefully past us. Oh well, at least we didn’t fell or it will be even more embarrassing. It always amazes me that we can have such fun during ice skate, because strictly speaking we are just walking around in circles.

Figure skating?

The so heavy skates

Acting cute

Anyway, after the ice skate, we are supposed to catch the last shuttle bus out the place. However, for reasons that Mz do not want me to say out, we miss the last bus. We then decided to act smart and walk our way out to the kallang mrt station. It is the worst ever decision that we made. After half way out, it started to rain and moment after, it become a full blown thunderstorm. We are stuck half way along the road where there is not a vehicle or human in sight the only building we saw is the eerie looking kallang stadium. This is truly one of my top ten most scary moments.

Photo taking in the rain

However, in the end we still managed to walk our way out to the main road and I never been that glad to see a bus stop before. But thinking back, it is really quite an adventure but not one that I am looking forward to experiencing again.

double O and SATC

2008-06-09T11:25:00.001+08:00

It is Monday again, and I am back in the office after a very filling weekend. I tried doing some work just now however I end up dozing off in front of the computer screen. So obviously work is out for me today, and which is why I am here to blog about what I did last weekend. Since it is quite a hectic weekend so it is going to be a long entry but just bear with me please.

We (the poly gang) went clubbing on Friday night again and I think without me saying the venue, you should have already guessed where the place is. For those who are still in the dark or blur blur, we went to double o. It turns out that they are having an event that night and we were treated to some stunning dance moves by the participants of a dance competition.

As usual, sus starts off the drinking session and our dear hx, to her promise, treated us drinks. Thank you hx for helping me save some money that night, haha! By half way through, it is quite easy to see who the surviours of the night are and who are not. Those in the eliminated list of course include our residential champion Sus and runner up Harry. These two really provided some very hilarious moment for us. Really wanted to post some pictures of them up here but I am not that bad la. The night ended with the survivors eating instant noodles outside double o while waiting for them to sober up. Haiz, guess we have to wait next time for our dim sum supper already hx.

start of the night

can you spot who is the odd one out?

The survivors

Woke up the next day and get a panic attack thinking that I had overslept and missed work. Realizing it is a false alarm, I happily went back to sleep. I am meeting Mui that day for our movie outing again and this time our movie selection is none other than the long awaited Sex and the City. To be honest, I did not watch a single episode of the drama and am kind of worried that I will not understand what the story is talking about. Turns out that my worries is not necessary at all, the show started off with an introduction of the characters and also snippet of some scene from what I think is the drama serial.

The story follows the adventure of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda of their lives in Manhattan with each character facing some problems in their almost perfect life. What I like most about the movie is of course the humorous dialogues between the characters and also not forgetting the lots and lots of branded clothes and shoes that are featured in the show, last but not least the would-die-for walk in closet that Big had done for Carrie, talk about having your very own boutique! It is really quite an interesting movie that I had watched in a while and from the way Mui talks about it, I think she agrees with me too. Can’t wait for the next round of movie outing.

results day

2008-06-05T11:34:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a nerve wrecking day for me and I can’t seem to sit still for the whole day, which is quite a difficult task to achieve since I am partially stuck sitting by my desk. Throughout the whole day, I keep having people asking me to check my results. Yup, exam results are finally out yesterday. However, I am set on checking it only when I reach home. The reason is that I like to be in a familiar environment when I am experiencing nervous breakdown moments. After much difficulty of overcoming my anxiety and fear, I finally log in to see my results. Thank God, I passed every module. To me, this semester is a really difficult period to me with so many individual projects. And I really want to thank God for his blessing on me.

Jiesi's 23rd Birthday celebration

2008-06-05T10:07:00.003+08:00

It is our blur queen birthday celebration on Tuesday. As usual, we celebrated at this year birthday hotspot which is at Clarke quay except this time we went to a different restaurant. In consideration of Jiesi’s love for rice, we decided to choose the riverside restaurant for its free flow of rice. we are also not exactly sitting beside the river as the seats we booked are indoors.

Personally, I much prefer the outside seating, there is just something about atmosphere outdoors that can bring out the flavour of the food that we ordered. Perhaps the mixture of the river breeze and the smell of grill food really do goes well together. This year we got a Guess wallet for the birthday girl. It is suppose to be part of the summer collections but I am really puzzled by the colour of the wallet, which is in brown. Isn’t summer colours suppose to scream loud and bright? Weird. But I felt that it really suit Jiesi and that is what really matters.

The Present

Everything is going really well until when it is time to bring out the cake. That is when the restaurant demonstrated their ultimate customer service performance by just dumping the birthday cake on the table with the cake still in the box. I mean, can’t they at least take it out and put in on the plate for us, the cake is meant for us to eat there and not take away. Anyway the surprise is ruined, but well I guess it still achieved its objective of giving us a shock although not in a good way.

The birthday cake out of its 'packaging'

As usual, I miss out on the after dinner celebration as I have to work the next day. But at least I have Mandy and Rina to accompany me home this time. As for the rest of them, heard that they went on a drinking session again at Kandi bar this time. Wish I could join too…

My lunch box and thoughts

2008-06-03T12:21:00.000+08:00

On this partly cloudy Tuesday, it can almost be predicted that I will be eating my lunch in the office yet again. Not that I mind eating lunch alone and having some alone time, but since working in this company, the only companion I have is the dear laptop on my desk and it doesn’t exactly provide the same human contact that I want. Well to provide you with an insight of exactly how my typical break time is spend.

First 10 min: going down to the 2-store only cafeteria to ta bao my food.
Next 20 min: eating my lunch and at the same time reading the newspaper or the magazines
Next 15 min: continue reading whichever article that fascinate me at that moment
Last 15 min: sleeping my way till break ends or talking on the phone to whoever I feel like disturbing that day.

Like I said no human contact at all unless you count the cafeteria auntie who asks what I am ordering. In case you are wondering what about my colleagues, well all I can say is that they are the most extraordinary colleagues that I had ever had.

Movie choice for this week- Prince Caspian

2008-05-31T22:27:00.002+08:00

It’s Saturday night and I just watched The chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian with my movie buddy Mui. Ok I know that it is a show targeted at children and I should be watching SATC or something that is more suitable for my age. But I guess is the lure of the fantasy gene that makes me wanted to watch this show and of course the fact that I had watched the first movie of series provide a reasonable explanation.

The story although is a continuation from the first series, however I feel that it can be watch as a standalone. The story talks about how the Penvensie siblings returned back to Narnia and have to help Prince Caspian overthrow his Uncle who is after the throne. During the show, i can’t help thinking that actually Narnia is like a mixture of The lord of the ring and Harry Potter movie. And by that I don’t mean just the concept but also right down to the fantasy creatures and yes even their film set and costumes. Hmm.. seems like fantasy gene movies doesn’t leave much to fantasize about.

Stella 23rd birthday celebration

2008-05-27T21:40:00.007+08:00

It was Stella 23rd birthday celebration yesterday. The celebration was held at Brewerkz, which is also the place where I celebrated my birthday recently. Seems like our birthday trend for this year is to use recycled location. Perhaps for Jiesi birthday, we can go there as well, who knows we may even have discounts. For those who have not been there before, Brewerkz is a microbrewery restaurant that serves American-portion size food and handcrafted beers. Therefore my advice is to go on an empty stomach.

This year we brought Stella bikini as her birthday present. It is my first time buying a bikini for someone and at first I was thinking this should be quite easy since there are about a few dozen bikinis on display when you went in stores like Roxy. However, it turns out that buying a bikini is not as simple as it seems. Lucky we had our model Huixian to help us try out. Susan, of course got a separate present for her beloved Stella.

Present from Susan

Present from all of us in the pic

The super big cake and smelly beer

After a few rounds of the smelly and odd tasting wheat beer, okay I only had one glass actually and the super big mango cake, we decided to leave Brewekz. They of course had other programs planned since all of them do not have to work the next day except for me. At that moment I really hate that I am the odd one out. But no use complaining since I am the one who chose to have this attachment in the first place. So who else can I blame, except myself. Haiz….

movie screening and shopping at Vivo

2008-05-26T11:04:00.001+08:00

The weekends have come and gone and yes I am back in the same old boring office again, which is part of the reason why I am here posting another entry. Alright before I dwell myself in the symptoms of Monday blues, let me note down what I did for the weekend so that it can act as an inspiration for me to look forward to another weekend. (I wonder if that is all what a working adult looks forward to- the next weekend. What a sad life!)

Anyway, last Sunday I managed to watch the latest Indiana Jones movie and also did a bit of shopping at Vivo city. The movie tickets were free as they were part of the free movie screening organised by Mui’s company. As she has 4 tickets in all, and only the both of us can make it, we invited Amy and her friend, Marine to join us. The seats allocated are by balloting and we suay suay got not only the very first row but also the corner seats. Guess mui’s luck isn’t very good on that day. Haha.. The movie was quite alright until the ending, I mean why does a spaceship suddenly appear? I thought I was watching some sci-fic movie for a moment there. But the computer effects are fascinating to say the least and since I didn’t pay for the show, I shouldn’t complain much.

After the show, we had dinner at carl’s junior and since its GSS right now, we can’t resist all the cheap deals going on all around us. I managed to get a discounted top from Zara and Mui brought a top from espirit. Amy and Marine did not get anything and I think it’s because they are too busy with trying not to get lost in Vivo to get any real shopping done. (Haha, I think Amy is going to kill me) I learned 2 things from this day, 1st is to join a big company to enjoy benefits such as free movie and second is to ..well.. give Amy a map when in Vivo with her. Hahaha…

Dinner at carl's junior

my first ever post

2008-05-24T07:39:00.000+08:00

I think I am the least expected person who you will see having a blog. After years of saying how troublesome maintaining a blog is, it is really quite unbelievable why I am writing my first ever post.

Okay it is truly believable when you are stuck in my situation. I guess sitting in the office 5 days a week with nothing much to do really make people do things that they normally would not even consider doing.

I often wonder why would companies hire people even though they do not require the extra help. Are they really that desperate to throw away their money? So weird.. And I wonder how many blogs are created because people have nothing to do in the office. I know mine is included in the list for sure.

Talking about companies, I am currently working on what I imagine must be the hottest spot in Singapore. I am talking about the temperature by the way. Seriously the sun is scorching everyday here, even if it is raining, you can be sure that the sun will still be seen. Well enough with my complaints, or I think it will never stop. Looking at the bright side, I love the desk that I am provided during my time here in the office. ( I am only staying there till end June) I suppose the next time when I can get to have my own office room will be another 20 years later when I can become a manager or something. But from what I learned, companies nowadays are becoming more decentralised and they have open workspace, which means that everyone will be sitting in open space with no private workstation. Haha, so I assume this is the first and last time that I will be getting a private workspace to myself.

Well I am going to end here for now. Don’t want to bore you with too many details. Will be counting down till work ends now.