for i am the freckled one

so my birthday came and left..

2012-02-02T02:59:00.000+08:00

gonna blog about the Cancun trip some other time.. but i was terribly tird when i finally landed in SG on friday early morning. jet-lagged on friday, though i still managed to drag my ass into office for the latter halfday. saturday was spent cny-visiting at kelly's, then to town for some winter-wear shopping.

was terribly tired and jet-lagged on sunday, which was my birthday. only got out for dinner with the moonies, but it was sorta marred by a serious domestic issue of 2 certain moonies. and another 2 moonies opted to stay home to catch the australian open.

i'm not one to really care much nor crave for attention, but sometimes, just sometimes, i would like to be in the spotlight for once.

after the meal, we adourned to mccafe at isetan scotts to lohei. fancy a group of 8 in their 30s lohei-ng in the open. pretty funny, and fun. if only the lohei taste a little bit better.

totally uncalled-for, but i felt lousy in the middle of the nite, and started to cry. aiyoh.. but after that, all's well again.

was treated to a surprise cake-cutting affair in the office on monday. was called back to the boss' room and afterwhich i stepped into the conference room to see a cake on the table. nice. i'm rarely surprised, coz i will always expect something to happen. but this is a really sweet surprise.

maybe as i grow older, i become needier? not good.

2012-02-02T02:12:00.000+08:00

我想有些游戏，我还是玩不起。

it's already over..

2012-01-30T02:30:00.001+08:00

so.. happy belated birthday to me.

:)

juggling fruits in my bag

2012-01-14T18:14:00.002+08:00

The 'love affair' with Starhub never ends. After 8 calls to their hotline, I'm now seating at their customer service centre at PS waiting for my number to be called. Need to get my multi-sim cards and sort out my BB entreprise plan. Is therr any telco that will not give me any grief?

All needs to be done before Friday. And by then I will be reachable 24/7. FML.

welcome to APAC travel

2012-01-14T17:43:00.004+08:00

Yesterday I made my first daytrip. 9:25am flight to KL, and return on 6:50pm. Juz to lunch with the MYS partner. Sounds a bit boliao and extravagant rite? It's either that or a formal presentation meeting, which will bore the shit outta everyone on a Friday afternoon.

The lunch was ok, but there's certainly a lot of room for improvement on my end. I wasn't happy with my performance at all.

I was glad to fly back alone actually. I was exhausted, and juz wanted to vegetate. The flight was as uneventful as it can be. But as the plane came to a halt, someone opened the overhead compartment above my seat, and sent some of the contents flying down. A binded copy hit my head in the process. Idiot. The person who put in the bag could have positioned it better. And the auntie could be more careful when opening the cover ya. What precaution could I take then? Cover my head with my hands?

And this is the first of many flights for me. Next week will be off to Cancun on the long and boring flight. Then first week of Feb will be to lund via Copenhagen. After that will be more flights to the other APAC countries. Time to scout for a proper passport holder.

RIP Barney: 2003-2012

2012-01-12T21:02:00.004+08:00

It has finally happened. Dear Barney has left us and crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

Am I surprised? A bit. It's apparent that he has been getting weaker lately. Some days restless and listless, others juz lying around, and drooling even, like he has no control of his body. Thinking back now, I wonder of he even suffered any strokes. But I didn't expect him to leave so fast, so sudden.

So after lunch on Monday, I got a call from the mother, saying that Barney seems to be having some trouble breathing and might leave any minute. So I called the brother and told him to go home immediately. After a while, the mother called again to say that Barney's not breathing anymore, and his body is cold. I told her to wait for the brother to get home, assess the situation and update me. Not long after, the brother called to ask if I am on my way home, and to tell me that he has left us. And I remembered that I did not kiss him goodbye in the morning.

Went back in the evening to a Barney-less house. So the mother and brother brought Barney to a vet near home, where he was pronounced dead. Left his body there for a postmortem, and cremation. The mother and brother were bawling their eyes out. And I remembered how painful it was when Porky left us years ago.

I also wonder if we have been bad owners. We see him deteriorating and yet did not do anything. I dunno. But I do know that we love him regardless of his state and smell, and gave him the best we can offer.

Back home, the brother went online and read that Barney's breed has a common heart ailment. The symptoms are very similar to what he was having prior. High chance it was a heart failure, but of course we gotta wait for the postmortem results.

We gave Barney's leftover food to a neighbour's dog. The mother threw away his bed. But the brother kept one of his bone treats and left it on the floor. And me, I keep him in my heart.

Bye bye Barney, we love you. xoxo.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T03:53:00.000+08:00

So 2011 is over. And thankfully so.

Stayed home on Dec 31 catching the Taipei year-end concert on telly. At 12midnite, the mother and I toasted to the new year with our glasses of choya. At the void deck, the karang guni ah peks were lighting off sparkles. :)

Caught my first movie of 2012 today: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Never liked Daniel Craig, but this movie might just change my impression of him. The accents were all over the place, and I lost the plot a few times. The lack of subtitles certainly didn't help, but I actually preferred not to have them. No clutter on the screen. Anyway, the beginning was a bit slow and draggy, and Lisbeth and Mikael got together way too soon. The Swedish version's supposedly better, so I need to get my hands on that version, plus the trilogy books.

Mona, The Woos and I then headed to Yishun dam. The last time we were all there, there were 10 of us, and we were celebrating Mona, Sean and my birthday. Now we have dwindled to 4. But it's cosier this way ya? And I perform better in smaller numbers, haha!

Got home early for a holiday, and started to work on my Paris Album I. And I'm happy to announce that I finally posted it! Loading them onto fb is easy, it's adding the captions that's tedious. Now, I just have 4 more albums to go.. But it's a good start to the year rite? ;)

Tick tock tick tock..

2011-12-31T14:54:00.001+08:00

Here I am, sitting at Starhub at nex, waiting for my number to be called. Need to port my line over, get a Blackberry, plus multi-sim cards. And of course, true to Lauren's standards, I left it till the very last minute.

Spent the last hour waiting, and there is no inkling how mug longer I will have to wait. What started out as a simple journey to the central to get the. Phone stuff done, plus grab a quick lunch at the hawker centre, then head home to keep Barney company changed to a journey to Serangoon. And of course I'm bare-faced and messy-haired.

And I am so hungry.. :(

My 2011

2011-12-29T02:12:00.001+08:00

This needs to be a serious post, which means I must spell out the full words, and use the correct punctuation. And why is this a serious post? Because I'm attempting a recap of my 2011, which we all know has not been great, at all.

Read through my entries for the year, and realised that I had actually missed out blogging for the entire month of August. It was my CA era, days of getting to work early, and leaving late at night, and sometimes continuing to work at home. That has got to be the most important event of the year.

It is so not me to quit after 2.5 months in a company, and especially without a job. But circumstances do not allow me to stay on. Or perhaps my pride and stubborn-ness prevented me instead. No regrets. I would have made the same choice anyhow if I go back in time. I suppose the only good thing that came out of this is that I left my Oracle comfort zone. I'm too young to laze in the company further. The longer I stay, the more difficult it would be for me to leave. And now with my new job, it's a new role as well, so it will be a good training ground for me. I hope for the best...

Lovelife is still as sucky, as non-existent. I still can't talk to people upon first meetings. Will this situation change with the appearance of my 2 galloping horses, I don't know. Let's wait and see.

Had the chance to vote twice this year; for the Government and new President. While the results were not as satisfactory as they could be, the elections brought out a strong discontentment from the people. This is a good sign. Next election will definitely be very interesting and exciting to watch.

One thing to note this year, is that Barney's health is failing. I think he has lost most of his sight, and maybe can't hear very well too. He has been stumbling around and knocking into things. And he doesn't want to walk anymore, the mother had to carry him up and down the stairs. I don't know when the inevitable will come, but I'm getting ready.

I made no resolutions for 2011, and I am not going to make any for 2012 as well. 2011 has not been a good year for some of my friends too. I can only hope 2012 will be better.

I have no plans to head out on New Year's eve. Rae asked to join her at Sentosa, but I think of the traffic and I shudder. Maybe this year, I'll just stay home and catch the Taiwan New Year concerts live on cable. A slow end to a bad year, with just me, myself and I. Maybe..

2. twice. again.

2011-12-25T04:25:00.000+08:00

it could be purely coincidental. or as usual, i think too much and insist on some kind of relationship existing. but things seem to happen in 2s this year.

- worked in 2 different companies in the year, and subsequently tendered my resignation twice. also meant that this is my 2nd time being jobless ever since i started my working life.

- went on my 2nd europe trip, last year was spain, this year paris & london. on oct 16, 2010, i caught the barcelona vs valencia match with mona; oct 16, 2011, i was in the emirates stadium watching arsenal fight it out with sunderland. both matches ended in 2-1, in favour of the home team. and i was wearing the same outfit too!

- voted twice in the year, which majority of singaporeans did, for the new govt and president. and which both my choices were not elected.

- on the entertainment front, i caught jacky cheung's 1/2 century concert twice in the year, aug in SG and dec, KL. and last year, also in dec, i was in melbourne watching U2.

- 2 of my best buddies are going to be parents next year, at the same time! how exciting is that!

m pretty sure i can find more such situations if i think harder. but u get my point. so i'm gonna stop here and head to dreamland.

seasons greetings!

2011-12-25T03:58:00.001+08:00

got a bit lazy and neglected to do up my xmas photo-card this year. as usual, a bit is an understatement. didn't manage to find a nice photo of meself overseas. eithr i look horrid in photos, or the photog sucks. haha.

so here goes.. have a merry christmas and a happy new year.

:)

2012: i fear for my liver

2011-12-24T17:00:00.000+08:00

wednesday saw me participating in my soon-to-join company's 2012 planning meeting.

agenda for the day
AM: Planning Meeting
Lunch @ Melt, Mandarin Oriental
PM: Teambuilding Activity - Bowling
Dinner @ Carnivore, Marina Bay Sands
Night revelry @ Kudeta, Marina Bay Sands

was only informed 2 days prior that i needed to give a 10-15mins presentation on the new partner program. initially i was told to attend and get to know the team, sit in and listen to them. thankfully it was just an overview. just need to chill and slow down. plenty of presenting opportunities ahead in the new year. *gulp*

we were split up into 4 different teams for the bowling competition. was in the team with the boss's boss, fortunately or otherwise. and he is a rather competitive chap. my fellow team-mate and i were busy rolling eyes at each other thruout the game. but well, at the end of the game, WE WON! and got a x-mini speaker, which was a pleasant surprise coz i've always wanted to get the hello kitty one. tho the ones i got was the normal speaker in green, but better than nuthin rite?

caught up with the team again for dinner at MBS. when the bosses arrived, so did the night's poison - champagne. then to kudeta for more partying. didn't take long for me to start dancing, thank you verve. then the shots came fast and furious.

not long after, the urge to puke hit me, and did a merlion in the toilet. had to sneak off with the other newbie, thankfully she stayed near me, and drives, haha! puked again back home, literally hugged the toilet bowl. in my high-state, i recalled myself lying down on the toilet floor (in my house). oh-o-thankful i was already at home by then.

am warned that this is a precursor to our Cancun week - early morning meetings, ending with drunken nites. scary shit will happen.

need to sleep. need to sleep.

2011-12-19T03:10:00.000+08:00

am scheduled to be in the office later at 10am. and i'm still up. as usual.

need to start sleeping early, otherwise it will be hell when i start work on the 3rd. esp when i need to be in by latest 9:15am. argh!!!!!!

still a lot of things to be done in the remaining days in december 2011. and to prepare for my new workplace, my new desk. stationary! my own mug! stuff to personalise my territory! so trivial, yet oh-so-important! but i'm gonna stop short of bringing my flower pillow over..

and IF i'm gonna be given an ipad, i'll need a new bag that can fit one in! oh my!

movies in 2011

2011-12-18T02:59:00.009+08:00

1) the tourist
2) love & other drugs
3) the fighter
4) black swan
5) the rebound
6) it's a great great world
7) the king's speech
8) the kids are alright
9) no strings attached
10) 127 hours
11) i am number four
12) unknown
13) morning glory
14) the lincoln lawyer
15) rio
16) limitless
17) thor
18) biutiful
19) kingfu panda 2
20) x-men: first class
21) hangover 2
22) something borrowed
23) green lantern
24) transformers dark of the moon
25) your highness
26) monte carlo
27) harry potter & the deathly hallows pt II
28) 武侠
29) hannah
30) captain america
31) bridesmaids
32) horrible bosses
33) rise of the planet of the apes
34) crazy stupid love
35) the smurfs
36) contagion
37) abduction
38) fright night
39) the help
40) 那些年，我们一起追的女孩
41) the ides of march
42) drive
43) immortals
44) twilight: breaking dawn
45) puss in boots
46) 50/50
47) new year's eve
48) the muppets show
49) sherlock holmes: a game of shadows
50) mission impossible ghost protocol
51) the artist
52)

yes, i am anal like that. anal enough to keep a record of all the movies i have watched during the year. I save them in my iphone calendar. Keeping movie stubs are so passe. 51 movies in 52 weeks, one more and I'll hit 1 movie per week. Alas, it's not fated. Well I didn't include those which I watched online or on the plane, which will come up to lots more movies. I was trying my best to squeeze in one more on the last day of the year, but things didn't work out.

Judging by my current work schedule, I dun see myself challenging this record in 2012. Probably I can record the no of hours I spend flying and the movies I'll be able to catch!

my frens tell me to be a different me

2011-12-18T02:26:00.000+08:00

so you guys know i dun like people to purposely set up a meeting for me to meet their guy frens. i go for the more 'coincidental' kind of meetups. so back in april/may, one of my colleagues (mr B) had this guy fren whom he, and other colleagues, wanted to introduce to me. so happened that mr B was leaving, so we will all meet up for his departure karaoke session, and he would ask his fren along. no reason for me to say no right?

so we all went. and when the fren came into the room, well, honestly, i wasn't interested. so i just said hi, shook his hand, and that's about it. well, thruout the nite, i think someone said something, and i joined in the conversation with him for a short while. that sorta situation. but there was minimal interaction. and it was a working day so i didn't join them for after-karaoke drinks.

it was only recently then did i find out that mr B was upset with me then, for ignoring his fren. i dunno if he was pissed, or the person who told me exaggerated. of course i felt bad hearing that. i would never want to upset my frens on purpose, i just wasn't interested in that guy and u guys will know how much i 'interact' at first-time meetings.

so i was talking to the person who told me this last nite. she brought this up again, and said i can't do this to my frens. that i need to change. that 2012 i should behave differently. another one chimed in, and said to pretend i am talking to my partners, just making casual talk.

if that is the case, can i choose not to go for such meetups? then i will not need to change myself?

i know the drinks last nite meant trouble..

2011-12-18T01:02:00.000+08:00

everytime i drink, i can't sleep in till late. this morning was no exception. i had 2 weird dreams.

in the first, i woke in some hospital/institution-like place. from what i can still remember, i was alone. woke up lost and confused, i managed to drag myself outta bed, and then decide to leave. the walkway from the bed to the lift landing was a long one. and after finally reaching the lifts, i realised i'd forgotten something and decided to walk back to my bed to retrieve it. as i walked back, i see other patients making their way towards the lifts. the number of patients brushing past me gradually increased, and they looked increasingly scary as well. i start to get scared, and look down as i rushed back to my bed. and then i woke up.

the next dream is even weirder. i was rushing to a fren's wedding. see, even in my dreams i don't get married. anyway, what's odd is that the mother's invited too, and she's not sitting on the same table as me. as i was making my way to my seat, i slipped. not sure if i fell, at that moment, a man from my past appeared and helped me. and he, in a low voice, said 'i am here.'

after the dinner, i was looking for the mother to go home together. but i couldn't find her anywhere. i searched high and low for her, it was at this point then i realised i was at swissotel coz i remember seeing the same shops in my dream. i think she didn't bring her phone with her, otherwise i would have tried that route rite? so, i got home and found her already back. she blamed me for hanging out with my frens, and hence she made her way back on her own. and i woke up.

funny? weird? scary much?

Thursday nite..

2011-12-15T20:14:00.001+08:00

Spotted at the void deck, little rhino wishes u a good day!

jacky cheung: come and gone..

2011-12-15T01:58:00.000+08:00

so, the weekend saw rae & i in kl to catch the jacky cheung 1/2 century concert, again.

went up on a (not!) luxury coach which stopped right at our hotel's doorstep. finally met up with fellow-concert-mates ron & wifey, courtesy of rae, and off to the concert! the stadium was bustling with activity; with booths selling concert merchandise, lightsticks, product demos/sampling, departmental store (sogo) promos etc. definitely a stark contrast from our indoor stadium.

jacky was nursing a flu then, apparently feeling uncomfortable in the afternoon at rehearsals. before the concert started, he came out to greet the audience and to personally address us that he will not be performing at his best, and that he might not be able to finish the whole concert even. first time i witness a performer giving a disclaimer, haha.

and he gave us a FINE performance. of course his voice gave way in some songs, but he gave his best, and we got a fantastic show! definitely more cantonese songs, and he addressed the audience in cantonese as well, duh. and of course i had to activate rae to translate, haha, sorry babe! he was visibly happier here than during the SG concert. i would be too coz the kl crowd is definitely more appreciative. the crowd ohh-ed and ahh-ed at every action jacky made, i felt so old and jaded for not feeling the same way.

and i bumped into uncle danny, my ex-concert-ticket-supplier, haha! was trying to wriggle free tix for the sunday concert, to no avail. we even bought lightsticks, which will make a comeback at the mayday SG concert in feb!

checked out the sky bar at trader hotel, which had an awesome view. crowd was a bit poser-ish, i thot. well all the happening peeps were over at siloso beach for zoukout, so.. .. anyway, we drank and danced and took snaps, heading back at around 3.

and we were stoned the next day! we didn't dance the whole nite, neither did we drink much either. so, we are OLD. caught up with ron & serene for lunch, then split ways to our shopping and their journey back home. so rae & i pretty much stoned our way thru sungei wang, her nail session, dinner and foot massage. came alive only at the 5-hr karaoke session where we partied to jacky, eason, grasshoppers & mayday. definitely one of my most high times, haha. and the both of us just kept quiet and listened to the audio track when 李香兰 came on. i *heart* 李香兰.

going back was a bit of an adventure, coz it wasn't clear where to catch the bus, and there was no one in charge around. luckily a SG family bought their tix thru the same website and they called and managed to sort it all out. thank god.

am still in the jacky mood now, been listening to his songs on the phone these days.

will it be too much to catch a third concert on the jacky cheung 1/2 century tour?

the search has ended

2011-12-08T02:43:00.000+08:00

before i left for my paris+london trip, i met up with some ex-O colleagues and told them of my intention to leave my previous employment.

about a week after i got back, i got a call from one of them, saying he has a role which i might fit. so we had a chat, and before i know it, he was fixing me up for a 2nd interview with the biggies. i've never been interviewed by a caucasian before, tho i've worked for countless angmohs. and for this 2nd interview, i will be meeting 2 of the biggies. so i was panicking deep down. but i guess i fared well enuff, to get the job. :)

so i've signed the papers and emailed them over to the HR, and dropped by the office on Tuesday to meet the folks and get on a call. another workday next week, then the pre-planning meeting and xmas dinner the week after. official work commences in jan.

so yah, that's what's gonna happen. hopefully this job will work out well for me. it's an apac role, and will involves meeting up and dealing with partners. something new to me, which is both stressful, yet exciting at the same time. will also need to brush up on my drinking. err...

so i need to get a xmas gift for the party, and a blackberry before i start work. it's time to spend some money!

time for some cleanup..

2011-11-30T03:22:00.000+08:00

aim is to clear as much crap as possible by the end of the year.

sounds achievable esp since i'm just shaking me legs at home these days. but procrastination's always something i'm battling. and i never know what clothes to throw out! rule-of-thumb is whatever i have not worn for the past 6 months, out they go. sounds reasonable. but did i mention that i'm sorta a hoarder? gah!

there's always something which i might need in the near future. or when, perhaps, i've slimmed down? like that's gonna happen..

but, things still need to be done over here. before i start work in 2012, and have no time to do this anymore.

last trip of the year

2011-11-28T13:19:00.000+08:00

concert tix: checked
roundtrip coach to KL: checked
hotel accommodation: checked
travel companion: checked

i am so looking forward to seeing the cantopop god of songs again! :D

updates

2011-11-28T12:59:00.000+08:00

this blog has been seriously neglected.

the clean clothes are piling up, waiting to be folded nicely and put inside the wardrobe in its rightful locations. crap on the table has been increasing too, i've been wanting to clear them as well.

then what the hell have i been doing?

nuthin much. out meeting the ex-O colleagues for lunches/birthday drinks etc, movies, exhibitions etc. for a unemployed and broke person, i certainly go out a lot. haha. but life still goes on right? in 2006, i sorta withdrew myself for 6 months, when i was unemployed then. well of course there was the stupid complicated r/s with the mat back then which screwed me up bigtime as well. anyway, that's in the past.

i've also started to read. tho it's just chicklit and young adults' fiction, but hey! at least i'm reading right? at least i bother to go to the library, spend some time to pick out books and read at home. am so proud of myself, haha! need to arm meself with good books to last thru dec. with all the festivities coming up and celebrations, i really need to spend wisely.

on the job-front, something's brewing. but until my name's scribbled on the dotted line, nuthin's 100% confirmed, right? if all goes well, it sounds fun and promising. no longer a marketing role, will require me to go and talk to people, be it on the phone or face-to-face. well, it's time for a change yeah? and i will be back at my playground - suntec. if that's the place for me, then why not?

Invasion of the movies

2011-11-13T14:06:00.001+08:00

Being an avid movie fan, I always thot I'll dream about some movie sequence. Maybe I did in the past, but never really had a deep impression.

This morning's dream was a combination of a few movies, 2 actually, and some childhood memories.

A primary schoolmate, one whom I'm not close to anymore appears in my home. There apparently will be some parade/gathering/drill happening later at the parade ground of my old primary school, which by now is no longer around.

She is waiting/rushing me to head for the parade square; it's juz across the road by the way. Then I realise there's a weird lady in another room in my house. And she's in a state of shock.

I asks my fren what's the deal with this weird lady and she tells me she's in this state of shock coz she saw something terrifying, which is exactly like a plot from some horror movie. And my reply to her is that I thot it's because of another movie plot. Dun ask me what movies, I forgot which ones are being referenced.

Then before I know it, my fren and I are already heading for the school. Best of all, my father's still at home and I'm getting increasingly worried. So I am in the midst of calling home to warn him, and I woke up.

Weird eh? And what kind of daughter am I? Only calling to warn the father after I've left home?

11.11.11

2011-11-12T01:41:00.002+08:00

so this is supposed to be a really special day. once in a lifetime. duh. so does 10.11.11. or 12.11.11. on just about everyday in the calendar. christmas comes every 25th day of december. but it only comes once in a lifetime in that year.

anyway, i'm digressing. on this special day, couples all over the world are getting married. in singapore, about 500 couples are doing so. that works out to 1,000 people. and i dunno any of this 1,000 people. this means 2 things: 1. i dun know enuff people, or 2. all the people i know are married. i prefer to go with the latter option. and of course in perspective, 1,000 people out of the 5mil people in singapore seems like a small portion.

so what did i do today? i went with my mother to the temple. to pray for luck, and more luck. of course if i can pray for more money i would. it sucks not being able to go shopping and buy things. what's the point of going window-shopping when it will only make me feel absolutely lousy for not being able to buy? even if nuthin caught my eye, at least i can entertain the thought of buying something. might as well stay at home, which is exactly what i'm doing these days. if i go out, i will pack activities for the day, so as to maximise my ez-link deductions. so forgive me if i dun wanna go out as often, or the first thing that comes out of me is 'let's go cheap.'if i can show you my bankbook, i would. but that day will never come.

had an invite to check out Pak Bert's new office in the evening, it's their official open house. but i have no company. dun wanna go there alone and ppl will ask where i'm working at. then i tell them i'm in-between jobs. to be fair, there's a chance there could be a role for someone like me, but i'm sitting here typing away so let's leave it at that.

i just want to rant. i know some of you will say i'm not doing enuff, blah blah blah. and to a certain extent, that's true. but just leave it at that. u know i dun take the cruel brutal truth well. if i wanna wallow in self-pity, allow me to. but actually, i'm not. well, not as often as expected. what bothers me the most is the lack of funds to do what i want. dun ask me where my money went to. matter-of-fact is, i'm sorta kindda broke.

i'm optimistic that things will get better. i just wanna know when. money is not everything, but it can buy me self-worth.

these days, i dun talk about my innermost feelings anymore. so i dunno what i typing these shit out. i feel like a teenager full of angst. i can't say i'm lost coz i'm thirty-freaking-two. and i'm often the sensible and rational one. my foot.

but yah, it's out now. on the world wide web. (fuck this really reads like some teenage post.) savour this, coz this will be one of the few posts of such content. i'm rarely this honest with myself. i wish i'm back in paris. so that i'll still be at the start of my long holiday, where everyday i just think of where to go and how to get there. and it's time to get back to my shows.

thank you torrent.

ps: what did you do today?

Today

2011-10-30T11:08:00.001+08:00

I just feel like lying in bed and wither away. Of all the days I don't want to sleep in, today is not it.

sleep, the lack of it

2011-10-25T12:25:00.001+08:00

it's been 5 days since i got back from europe, and my sleeping pattern's not looking to revert to the current timezone anytime soon. not to say i did not make the effort to go lie down, i just ended up tossing and turning in bed.

last saturday i gave up and went jogging at 7+ in the morning instead. went without sleep and ended up dozing off during The Help, and inside zirca while waiting for Dita von Teese to appear on stage. totally non-lauren behaviour. i remember taking the bus back home and falling asleep the moment i got comfortable in the seat, and waking up only just 1 stop before. i wondered if i snored. shite. got home, showered, went online while lying on my bed, and you guessed it, fell asleep. woke up to turn off the lights and promptly went back to dreamland. well not exactly since i did not dream at all. the next thing i knew, it was time to get up. that night, i slept for 15 hours.

amazing, i have not slept for such long hours for a long long time. what am i making up for? lack of sleep from the trip? or from my CA days? doesn't help when i have no reason to wake up early these days. weekdays, weekends, holidays, they're all the same to me. why shouldn't they be?

for the past 2 nites, i've been surviving on 4-5 hours of sleep each. that's acceptable, if i were working and needed to wake up early. but obviously i'm not. and hence that's not normal. i should be sleeping my ass off. even before i got back, i knew the weather would be a bitch. and it certainly was. lying in bed sweating it out is an uncomfortable as can be. not a great look, or feel.

need to get my life back in order soon..

Oct 18: Till we meet again London!

2011-10-25T06:02:00.001+08:00

- Woke up and got reedy to meet Ting for lunch at Canary Wharf.
- Pam went first and I took my time to walk to the meeting point.
- I thought the weather was ok and contemplated waving my jacket and scarf behind. Thank god I didn't. The winds blowing were terribly cold and I was all buttoned up as I walked along the familiar riverside.
- While waiting for Ting, we saw endless stream of office staff. I looked at them, and then at myself. I bet no one would have guessed we're 31, haha! And it's also my reminder yo start my job search when I get back.
- Ting brought us to Byron Burger for lunch. One last burger then I'll be back to my home-cooked food.
- The burger was big, and yummy! We ordered chips and macaroni + cheese to share, plus a shake for meself. Needless to say, I was again stuffed at the end of the meal.
- Ting brought us to Boots and headed back to work. Pam headed back shortly after while I took quick look at some of the shops, then went back.
- Took a slow walk and snapped away, enjoying the cold winds and the wharf view. I will do miss it. And of course stopping by at the nearby Tesco to grab a bottle of Coke for Ting.
- Back at home, did dome last minute packing, sent some emails, and our airport transfer's arrived.
- Ivan was a sweetheart and helped us carry our heavy luggages down the flights of stairs. We bade him farewell and off we went!
- Along the way we passed by a lot of tourist landmarks: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Tower of London etc. Then I slowly drifted to sleep.
- The journey was about 1hr 30mins.
- Upon arrival at T4, we quickly made our way to the tax refund counter and joined the slow queue.
- Similar to Spain, we had to lay our receipts nicely on the counter for the officer. But unlike Spain, we were not told to show any of our purchases, and the counter staff will submit our refund slips directly; we do not need to mail them in ourselves. Good eh?
- Once done, I throw some stuff frm the handcarry into the hardcase and we checked in. Pam was lucky the officer allowed her to check in both her cases. I had to handcarry my 7kg gucci bag around.
- Pampered by Changi Airport, I was expecting trolleys inside the airport. Fat chance! I ended up lugging the bag frm one of the terminal to the other!
- The London-Doha flight was as uneventful as can be. It was a smaller aircraft and facilities not as new as the bigger planes. Only limited movies were showing. But hey we managed to catch out connecting flight!
- The Doha-London flight was on a bigger plane, and there were lesser passengers. Pam and I took the first row seats.
- I only caught 1 movie: Midnight in Paris. I took the entire 7-hr flight to finish it as I was drifting in and out of sleep. But the opening sequence of the movie brought back so many memories of Paris and I find myself smiling.
- Touchdown at Changi, I threw a fit when I found out that the bro wasn't picking me up. Not that I'm spooky, but I would appreciate if he can SMS me earlier so that I will read his msg when I turn on my phone. Not that I need to call him after getting out of the luggage carousel to find out about that.
- Luckily Tam came to pick Pam up, so I joined them for dinner, then to Loyang Tua Pekong, then they sent me home.
- Missed home, parents, brother and Barney tremendously!! Unpacked and made a mess in the living room.
- Had a late dinner, showered, went online, and finally slept on my own bed.
- Home Sweet Home. And that's the end of my Paris & London Adventure.
- Next year, Italy awaits.

Oct 17: Shopping!!

2011-10-25T05:16:00.003+08:00

- Last full day in London was dedicated to shopping.
- Not expecting to go on a shopping spree, more to check out the famous stores like Selfridges, Debenhams, Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser etc. Unfortunately, we only made it to 1 - Selfridges & Co.
- Zipped in and outta shops, and before we knew it, it was time for dinner, and then off to catch Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre!
- The theatre's older than the Wicked one, and our seats were at the highest level, tho first row in the section. There were really steep seats, not for those with problems with heights.
- It totally slipped my mind that the premise's set in the 80s in the English town. The accent proved to be a challenge for us both.
- At the intermission, I got meself an ice-cream and ate it inside the theatre. For time eating while a play went on, cheap thrill.
- After that was another mad rush to get home at 11-ish. Ivan & Ting were waiting for us and we took turns to quickly shower and sort out our departure the next day
- After they headed for bed, Pam and I opened our luggages and started Operation Packing. And also to fill in our tax refund forms and record the amounts.
- Finally slept at 4+, the trip's about to end.

Oct 16: Go Gunners!!

2011-10-25T05:16:00.001+08:00

- Today is THE Day! Finally catching an Arsenal match live!
- On the train to Highbury & Islington station, I see fellow Arsenal fans in the red scarves, and I'm so excited!!
- Followed the Gunners towards Emirates and the excitement is unbearable!
- Slowly the image of the Gunners backs appeared into sight. I headed straight into the armory to find out the opening hours. Luckily it will still open after the match for an hour. That's where I'll be!
- We have good seats, even better than the Barca vs Seville ones! Closer to the pitch, tho away from the manger's bench, so I can't see
Arsene. :(
- I was juz ecstatic and soaking in the atmosphere. I later learn that the section on my right are the away fans, in this case Sunderland.
- Very soon, the players got onto the field and the game started shortly.
- The lack of commentary was a bit weird, but it was easily replaced by the constant singing by the fans. Diagonally in front of me sat a teenage lad, passionate fan who was constantly in cheering amd jeering wars with the Sunderland fans. Yes, 1 against many. There were the arsenal songs which were easy to sing along to, it was so carnival-ish, so much fun!
- At the very early minutes, Van Persie scored and the stadium erupted into thunderous cheers! I was screaming and shouting non-stop! The young lad was busy taunting the Sunderland fans and creating much amusement for all of us.
- The Sunderland equalizer silenced us for a while, then we went into halftime break. As usual I went down to the pitch to take photos. Amaze-balls!
- During the 2nd half, Arsenal didn't play that well and Sunderland attacked more. The fans were taunting the young lad and got him really fired up. He was shouting back and on the verge of losing his voice. He was so agitated I was seriously
worried he might go mad if Arsenal lost.
- But of course my worry was unfounded. Coz Arsenal scored again and the match ended 2-1.
- Coincidentally on the same day last year, I was wearing the same purple mango knit top to catch Barcelona vs Seville, and the score was the same, to Barca's favor!
- We slowly made our way to The Armoury for some shopping. Pam's not an Arsenal fan so she waited outside while I spent the full 1hr inside. Wanted to grab a jacket or sweater, but the sizes were not to my favor. In the end, I got a very un-Arsenal ladies tee.
- Took more shots of the stadium as we slowly left and I can officially die happy.
- Took the train to Tate Modern, crossed the Millennium Bridge and over to St Paul's Cathedral for photo opps. Nice weather it was. There was a mini demonstration outside the cathedral, which we later found out to be the Occupy-movement.
- We made our way back to Chinatown and to the other Four Seasons branch for roast duck again, hehe. Yes it is THAT good. Due to the minimum £10/pax expenditure, we ordered a half-duck, 2 soup servings, kailan and rice. After the £21.45 meal, we were both stuffed beyond words!!
- Had to walk it out before heading home. We ended up at Ripley's Believe It or Not, coz that's one of the few establishment that was still open and we paid the admission and went in. Not something I would normally go for, for good to while time away.
- It was after 11 when we got back. Ivan's bro + gf were already asleep in the living room, while Ivan and Ting were ready for bed. We left bad making them wait for us to shower so we gave it a miss. We'll shower the next day before we head out la!

Oct 15: Museum of Brands, Portobello Market, Roast Duck!

2011-10-25T04:50:00.001+08:00

- Ivan's brothers and 1 gf have arrived by then. So the house's kindda crowded . But it's nice to see some family bonding.
- Pam and I started the day at the Museum of Brands at Nottinghill. Nottinghill is the place of the same-named movie starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. There apparently are tours to bring you to the locations where the movie was filmed, but of course we didn't go for that.
- The Museum of Brands is a small museum of cabinets showcasing a variety of household brands, how their branding have evolved with the times and their packaging changed and updated along the way. Saw a lot of familiar brands that's for sure. We were happily snapping away when one of their staff appeared and told Pam that photography is not allowed. Funny since we did not see any signs indicating so. At the entrance I was also taking photos in front of the cashier and she did not mention anything.
- After the Museum of Brands, we headed to the Portobello Market for some look-see.
- Nottinghill is definitely an upmarket area. The houses are bigger and prettier, and the cars parked outside are definitely more expensive. The rows of houses really does look like those in the same-titled movie. :)
- Portobello Market is a long stretch of stalls lined up along the road selling frm antiques to food, clothes, CDs etc. The antiques and household items are wide and many; cutlery, crockery, door knobs, watches, and many more. If I have moved into my new place, I would have bought shitloads of stuff!!
- My aim was to buy those twist-and-rotate kindda musical decor for the mother, so i thot that would be the place. NOT!!!
- Finally had a meal at the gourmet burger kitchen, and the burger was good!
- We also succumbed to fruits and bought grapes and raspberries to munch on.
- We got to the end of the street and headed all the way back to take the train back to the city.
- Finally, we got to Chinatown and Pam got her chance to try her luck in the casino. Unfortunately luck wasn't on her side.
- Dinner was at the Four Seasons Restaurant, where their roast duck is famous. Ivan's brothers + gf and ex-colleague joined us as well. The 8 of us ordered a roast duck, veg, meat, brinjal and tofu. The duck gravy was to die for, just plain rice with the gravy is yummy enuff to keep me full.
- After dinner, we walked to get bubble tea for the brothers at a shop called bubbology. Cute name with window display of chemistry flasks akin to science experiments.
- Then we walked to the train station and headed home. The guest toilet was leaking so all 7 of us had to take turns to shower in Ting's ensuite bathroom.

Oct 14: Tower of London & Wicked!

2011-10-25T04:32:00.001+08:00

- Plan is to explore the South of River Thames today: Tower of London, Tate Modern & St Paul's Cathedral.
- First, we travelled to Buckingham Palace, hoping to catch the change of guards. There were at least 4 tour coaches waiting outside, and as we entered the gates we saw hoards of people hanging at the gate. We can see jackshit. Lingering for a while, we figured there's no point staying, and we left.
- Tower of London we go! There were queues of people buying admission tix, luckily we have bought ours online. Grabbed a quick lunch at Eat first, then went in.
- Tower of London was a castle in the heydays. From then, its grounds have been used as a prison & torture chamber, execution ground, mint and zoo.
- We tried to join in as many of the free guided tours as possible, but still missed out on the 'Beefeater' one, damn!
- Figured we had not enuff time to check out the other sights and arrive at the theatre on time, we gave them a miss and had a leisurely dinner, then headed to the Apollo Victoria Theatre for Wicked!
- We arrived early and were soaking in the atmosphere. We got the dress circle seats, which were 1 level above the ground seats. Supposed to have a good view until the guys sitting in front arrived and blocked us. So we had to lean forward to see better. Thankfully for me, I could lean back and enjoy.
- The play's been around for years, and it's still performing to a fullhouse tonite. Amazing.
- Luved the play! Thot I might had problems making out the accent, but it ain't that bad. Now if I can get free tix to catch it in SG.....

Oct 13: Daytour to Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon, Cotswold & Oxford

2011-10-17T16:33:00.001+08:00

- Today's tour meetup was earlier. Getting up was tougher, haha.
- Smaller group of 28pax, more than half are the silver-haired folks.
- Guide's a middle-aged guy called Alan. He preferred us to call him Handsome, Duke of Handsome, Mr Handsome, Professor Handsome, you get the drift. Very humorous chap.
- We made our way to the furthest destination - Warwick Castle, then back towards Central London
- Warwick Castle is a medieval castle which is really like those Robin Hood-kindda castle. There were lots of schoolkids on excursion so we had to squeeze a bit with them around.
- Standing atop the tower, taking in the gorgeous view of the nearby town and landscape
- Next is to Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of The Bard. Visited the small little cottage where he lived in. Just stepped into a piece of history.
- Also a nice little town with some festival happening a few days later, saw the street banner around
- Got separated with Pam and she gave me a missed call to remind me of the meetup time back at the coach. Juz then the guide saw me and reminded me that my cousin's looking for me and to call her back. And I got a little annoyed. Gah!
- Then lunch at a small restaurant in a nearby small small town. Fish & chips finally. We shared the table with an elderly couple frm Florida and they were excellent company.
- Then we headed for our last stop: Oxford. Oxford is where the famous Oxford university is, and also a lot of other unis as well. Christ Church is our highlight. Checked out the Great Hall which was the inspiration for the dining hall in the Harry Potter movies.
- Do you know that Alice in Wonderland was conceived in a field in front of Christ Church too?
- Walked thru the campus of various unis as well, and I remember seeing a Bridge of Sighs.
- We were given some free time to muck around and get souvenirs and we didn't get any, haha.
- Back in central London, we got off at Cumberland Hotel and headed to Primark @ Oxford St for some shopping!! Thankfully the shop, being their flagship outlet, opened till 9, so there we were!
- Dinner was at the nearby Pret A Manger. It's either that, Mac or KFC, the choice is clear.

Oct 12: Daytour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge & Bath

2011-10-17T16:31:00.001+08:00

- Pam got full-blown sick by now, coughing incessantly. Her mood definitely got affected as well.
- Woke up early as we had to leave early to report for the tour by 8:45am. The place is approx 1hr away frm Ting's place, plus walking time. Morning peak hour crowd is crazy, we gotten outselves right smack in the middle of the crowd.
- We mistook the Victoria Rail Stn for our meetup point and grabbed food before getting into the station. Couldn't find our gate, asked ard and realized we were at the wrong station! Thankfully the coach station wasn't too far away.
- The tour was huge, so we had to be split onboard 2 buses. Guide is an old man with a tummy called Paddy.
- The entire tour is approx 11 hours, and we will spend almost half on the road. Madness. We both fell asleep when on the roads, so not all wasted afterall. But that also means we missed out on the scenery.
- First stop to Windsor Castle. Still a functioning castle, the queen goes there over the weekends for sleepovers. Think the flag will be hoisted half-mast when she's not in. She's due for a visit this weekend.
- It looks pretty similar to the hoer castles we've seen, all the carpets and tapestries, paintings in the walls, ornate decor and expensive porcelain and cutlery etc
- Due to the limited time we have, a lot of the elaboration of the sights were done on the coach while on the road, and I got lost often.
- Next to Stonehenge. In the middle of nowhere, there were a pile of stones laid out in a particular way where the olden guys can use their shadows to calculate time etc. Yup that's what I get. Looks nice and mysterious upon the first few looks. After that, it's a pile of stones. The winds were blowing and I had to gulp down my hot chocolate before boarding the bus.
- Last stop of the day: Bath. Beautiful town which houses the Roman Baths. We were given 1-half hours there and only sufficient to checkout the Roman Baths and Museum. Pity tho. If we didn't have the tour the next day, I might consider leaving the tour and stay back to explore the town further. That's what some of the tourists on my group did.
- It was close to 7when we got back to Central London. Pam and i split ways going back. She was feeling unwell so she headed back first while I checked out Harrods.
- A few other tourists on my coach also went for Harrods and I chatted up a Filipino lady and we hung out for that short while. She's heading to Singapore in Nov and we exchanged contacts and perhaps will meet up again!

Oct 11: Bicester Villlage

2011-10-16T16:59:00.001+08:00

- Booked tix for 9am pickup at Cumberland Hotel
- Got there early, was asking the concierge about the bus when I got a called from a blocked number. I thot it was from Bicester Village verifying the transport and answered the call. It's actually an agency calling about a contract job. Told him I'll be back in a week's time and will contact him then.
- The Bicester Village bus was a luxury coach with nice leather seats and a sunroof. Had tv screens showing testimonials from happy Bicester Village customers. We were also given a VIP card which entitles us to an additional 10% discount at most shops. So aim is to spend at least £230 so as to cover the Coach cost
- Bicester Village setup is similar to the Premium outlet in NY. White shophouses in clusters
- We had previously identified the shops we wanted to check out, and went according to that
- I have lost my ability to shop. Or the money situation was way too tight to allow me to shop freely. Every item I chose, I had to think if I really needed it. Didn't end up buying much. Got 2 pairs of jeans frm G-Star, but the waist were a lil loose. Nothin a belt can't fix, hopefully. In the end, I couldn't earn back the coach fare :(
- Grabbed lunch at Pret, our first time, yay
- Left Bicester Village on the 4:15pm coach back to London. Got home, met up with Ting and went down to Cafe Rouge for a nice dinner with the Lians.

Oct 10: Greenwich & Stratford

2011-10-16T16:21:00.001+08:00

- Original plan: Royal Observatory, Burberry Factory Outlet, Stratford Westfield
- Greenwich is a beautiful town in London. There is a university there, hence a lot of students
- Took a slow walk thru Greenwich park to get to our destination. The park was so green, so beautiful, luved it! The weather wasn't that cold, so it was a lovely walk
- Arrived at the Royal Observatory. Needed to pay to get in to view the GMT line. I didn't wanna pay, so Pam went in alone. I hung around outside and took photos.
- Heard someone saying there's part of the GMT line outside so I went along and snapped some shots
- Checked out the free exhibits as well. Was chatting with an Aussie couple when Pam gave me a missed call
- Met up with her and brought her to view the free exhibits, and checked out the other buildings
- Walked another route thru the park again to get out, and got a little lost, haha
- Decided to skip the Burberry outlet and head for Stratford Westfield instead
- Big shopping mall, juz like in Aussie. Was checking prices for Bicester Village shopping the next day. Only got a pair of jeans frm Pull & Bear
- It was getting cold at nite. Stayed back for dinner at Mexican restaurant and headed back in the cold

Oct 9: Tourist in London

2011-10-15T17:08:00.001+08:00

- It was a Sunday, and Ting was very nice to volunteer to bring us sightseeing
- Stepped out and put my Oyster card at my jacket pocket. Walked to Canary Wharf and find it missing. Retraced our steps to back home to no avail. In the end we wet back upstairs and Ting lent me her spare card. Luckily I only topped up £20 the night before. Bummer, ruined my mood for the day
- Went to Big Ben, House of Parliament & London Eye. There was a demonstration on the bridge as well
- Walked on to Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square - National Gallery & Portrait Gallery, Chinatown, Leicester Square, Covent Garden
- Lunch at a cheap Japanese restaurant, had udon and luved the hot soup!
- Was tired and moody, so wasn't really in the best mood. Poof.
- Dinner was back home. Ivan cooked and another yummy meal. :)

Oct 8: Pompidou - Notre Dame Cathedral - London Calling!!

2011-10-15T17:07:00.001+08:00

- Also no-nonsense, got up and ready and left the apartment promptly. It's our last few hours in Paris and time to make it count!
- Walked to the Pompidou Centre, there's a Edvard Munch exhibition going on
- Then to lunch! To a little French restaurant Le Coude Fou. We were early and the staff were still getting ready for operations. We took a seat by the window and waited, while the staff kept coming back to tell us they are getting ready and will be done in a minute. But hey, we're not rushing!
- The food was good! We shared beef and fish, and yummy!
- Then in search of ice cream! It's a pretty popular place with endless stream of customers in the cold weather. Or maybe it's not cold to them.
- Then we walk to Notre Dame church. Magnificent church I must say. We walked 1 round, then joined the free tour frm the Cathedral.
- The female guide's a volunteer frm the US with a wicked sense of humor. She added in her own opinions and those were some funny shit. :) Best tour, and it's free!
- It was cold, and drizzling and we had to stand outside to see the cathedral carvings. Brrr...
- Moved on to the nearby Saint Chapelle to see the oldest stained glass art in Paris, or the world?
- Then to next door La Conciergerie, which was an old prison which housed Marie Antoinette till her execution
- Then we headed back to our apartment to prepare for our departure. Pam was falling sick too
- We got back with time to spare so she took some med and fell asleep
- At 7, we made our way to the Eurostar station. Les Halles was getting pretty crowded on a Sat nite, a pity we only got to witness it when we were leaving
- Getting to our train was fairly easy. The Eurostar has 2 fixed cabins to sell snacks and drinks, pretty cool. Took a walk to take a look and stretch my legs
- Upon arrival at London, topped-up our Oyster cards and took the train as per Ting's advice to get to her place. Only problem is not all transfers have lifts, so we had to carry our luggages around. God!!
- It was a relief to see Ting and Ivan. The sweet couple met us at South Quay DLR stn and walked to their apartment
- Nice cosy apt for 2, plus a spare guest room for us! And we get our own toilet too! :)
- Dumped our clothes to wash, and sat down to chit chat with Ting, updating her with all things. It was a late nite, I slept past 1.

Oct 7: Mont Saint Michel

2011-10-15T17:06:00.001+08:00

- Extremely early start, no nua-ing and left the apartment at 6:45am
- We had to walked about 21mins, according to Google map, to get to the tour station to go on our Mont Saint Michel tour
- The sky was still dark and it was cold. Brr..
- Our tour bus was a double-decker and we had to take the lower seats as we were late :(
- I was dozing off along the journey and before long, it started to rain. Apparently Normandy, where MSM is in, rains about 200 out of 365 days. So it's normal. It was raining like a tap; on, off, on, off etc
- We had a 30min stopover at a town in Normandy. Grabbed coffee and a pastry for the road.
- It was still raining and almost everyone in the tour were in windbreakers, waterproof jackets. Pam and I were in fabric jackets and shoes. Silly us.
- More bus traveling, then we arrived at our lunch destination. It was a 3-course meal at a restaurant in a hotel facing the MSM. Pretty ok food, not expecting much from a tour foodstop.
- Then we headed to MSM, and it was still raining. MSM is an abbey ordered to build by Archbishop Saint Michel. It was momentarily used as a prison, then back to a place of worship. Currently a handful of nuns and monks still live there.
- There is a small bazaar area leading up to the entrance of the abbey. It reminds us of 九份 in 台湾 actually.
- The abbey was rather uneventful honestly. I think I've seen more awe-inspiring ones in Spain. :p Followed the tour up and down the stairs and listened to the commentary by the guide, who wasn't that great by the way.
- The employee welfare here is really good in France. The bus journey is less than 10 hours in total, with 4 stops along the way. And there are 2 drivers assigned to this tour and they rotate every 3 hours? Back home we have 1 driver from SG to KL.
- So we headed back to Paris, with a stop at a petrol kiosk. It's a popular stopover as it was packed with people, as well as equipped with many vending machines.
- Turning into Paris, we managed to see the Eiffel Tower sparkling from a distance. It was a beautiful sight. :)
- It was already after 9 by the time we reached the dropoff point.
- Chatelet Less Halles area is quite a lively area at night. It was bustling with activity by the time we got back, and we finally settled for kebab dinner nearby. It was cheap, and yummy!!
- Back at home, we proceeded to start packing for the 2nd part OD our tour: To the land of the Union Jack. :D

Oct 6: More shopping..

2011-10-08T08:28:00.001+08:00

- Woke up to drizzling weather
- Out to snap shots of the exterior of the opera house, then across the street to the Fragonard museum, famous perfumery from France
- What luck! A SG tour group arrived shortly after us and we joined them in the quick tour of the perfume-making process.
- Managed to get perfume for the father, one gift down! :)
- Next is to Galeries Lafayette and Printemps. Managed to taste some famous Laduree macarons at the cafe at Printemps. They were sweet beyond words.
- Just as we were about to leave Printemps, Pam saw a lady carrying the Givenchy Pandora bag. I brought her to the counter and we both fell in luv with it. It was sg1,800, and I was SO VERY tempted to buy it. IF ONLY I had not bought my LV. The money situation was too tight and I had to give this up, and Pam bought it. Gah! :(
- Got too moody after that. Had initially decided to get the Ferragamo platform peep-toes, but I lost all interest in shopping
- Grabbed dinner at Quick burger. After we were done, a young girl
came up to me asking for money. We turned her away and she asked if she could have my remaining fries. Why not?
- After dinner, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe for the nite view. It was getting chilly and we were battling the cold to snap shots ASAP and go off in search of warmth.
- This was an early nite as we wanted to start packing our stuff (Pam actually since she bought the most stuffs) and also to sleep early as we had to wake up early for the tour tomorrow.

Oct 5: Of Mona Lisa and Louis Vuitton

2011-10-08T08:25:00.001+08:00

- Today we have a date with a famous lady - Mona Lisa.
- Made our way thru the many rues to get to the Louvre, we find it surrounded by a building.
- There is some event going on, probably Paris Fashion Week or similar as there were some fashionistas and photogs snapping away. Quite exciting actually, hehe..
- Again, all thanks to the Museum pass, we managed to get in pretty quick.
- So, the Louvre is damn big and packed with truckloads of tourists. We only managed to get to the Denon section. It was displaying the Italian paintings, and where the lady sits.
- I didn't get the audioguide as it wasn't in our plan to stay for long. We made the long way, and fought the massive crowds to get to the front to see Mona Lisa, and of course snap a quick shot of her. After that, we slowed down our pace to appreciate the surrounding art pieces.
- We went off to see more Italian paintings, featuring brighter colours
- After a while, we got tired jostling with the crowds, and it was getting warm inside the museum, so we decided to leave. After about 3 hours and barely covered 1/4 of the entire museum. Now I fully understand why some people say to dedicate at least 1 full day to explore the Louvre. The museum closes at 10pm on Wed nites, so we decided we could return later in the night to check out more.
- Shopping time!!! Champ Élysées is waiting for us!
- First impression, it was like any other street, and the big brands are not exactly located along this street
- Queued to enter LV, one of the rare times actually. Prior to that, we were approached by a PRC lady a few streets down to help her buy a LV bag. FAT CHANCE!!
- LV was packed! Finally managed to get a sales assistant to help. While getting our orders down, Pam & I were jostled by a PRC lady who was scrambling to get a better look at the bags on the shelf. The male sales assistant got pissed off and told her off: Ma'am, chill, be cool. He actually repeated a few times and I couldn't stop laffing!
- After that we made our way to Chanel (Pam bought a wallet) and then to Ferragamo (where else??) Got meself a pair of flats. Was SO VERY tempted to get another pair of platform peep-toes, but bearing in mind my current financial situation, it's better not to.. Took ages for me to come to this decision, heck the heels were already in the box at the cashier and I had to tell him to put that pair away
- Were supposed to check out a recommended restaurant for dinner, but was advised against so by the Ferragamo sales assistant. He mentioned that it had become too touristy and suggested another restaurant. Chez Andre was juz diagonally across from our initially-planned restaurant. There was a dog wandering around, not sure if it is the restaurant pet coz the staff all seemed to know it pretty well. Thankfully I couldn't finish my half- chicken, and guess who helped me with the leftovers? ;)
- It was already after 9 when we were done with dinner. By the time we get home to drop our luggage then head to Louvre again, the museum wouldn't be open for any longer. So we gave it a miss and ended our night there.

Oct 4: Versailles Palace - Arc de Triomphe - Sacre Coeur - Moulin Rouge

2011-10-08T08:23:00.001+08:00

- Headed out for grocery shopping, stocked up on bread, milk, juice and wine, haha!
- 1st stop of the day: Versailles Palace. A huge palace with a vast garden and Marie-Antoinette's apartment compound. It was packed with snaking queues.
- The palace was made up of numerous rooms for different purposes. First row of rooms were decorated with different coloured wall fabrics, and with namy portraits, which you honestly OD-ed after a while
- Our museum pass didn't allow access into the garden. The Marie-Antoinette's apartment compound was a good 25-30mins walk away, so the choice is clear. We skipped it. And headed for a quick lunch and Starbucks coffee.
- Next stop: Arc de Triomphe. All hail museum pass! We managed to skip the long queue and climbed the 284 steps up to the top.
- As we were leaving, there was some kind of a ceremony about to happen, there were many older people dressed in some sort of uniform and carrying flags waiting in the area. Guess it's gotta do with the burning flame tribute for the unknown soldier. We didn't stay to find out.
- Next stop: Sacre Coeur @ Montmatre. The cathedral is located at the highest point in Paris and offers a pretty view of the city.
- There's a small merry-go-round at the base of the cathedral, it's so pretty!
- Rae had warned me about the touts outside attempting to tie 'friendship bands' around your wrist and asking for money for them. So we fought away some to get on our way.
- FYI I first heard about Sacre Coeur from the movie Monte Carlo, where the leads visited the cathedral
- Beautiful church with no photography allowed, bummer. The stained glass art was absolutely beautiful and very vivid. And also the artwork of Jesus at the main dome ceiling, gorgeous. Luved it!
- Beside the cathedral is a little touristy square called 'Place du Tertre', surrounded by many cafes and artists. Luved the atmosphere of the place, I could stay there and people watch tue whole night
- Then we walked down to check out Moulin Rouge, passing by the Erotic Museum along the way. A pity our museum pass couldn't get us in here, haha. Notably at the display window is a human size statue of a couple making out - the male burying his face in the female's breasts and te female with her head thrown back in ecstasy. Also in the display is a chair, where in the middle by the edge is a revolving mechanism with a flap-like thingy to stimulate the vagina. Kinky.
- Moulin Rouge was just, Moulin Rouge. It's a theater now with performances and there were people getting in to watch the shows. We just got there to take snaps of the building, and left.
- Today the weather turned slightly colder, but still bearable. It's time to
bring out the jackets and scarfs.

Oct 3: Churches, Museums and Eiffel Tower!

2011-10-08T07:54:00.001+08:00

- Finally arrived in Paris! Definitely familiar as Mona & I had to transit here for our flight to Madrid last year
- Struggled with our luggages around the terminals and train stations and finally got to our apartment
- Home for the next 5 days is a studio apartment in a rather accessible area. Walkin distance to a lot of the central sights. Owner is a young pretty French chick.
- First stop was to grab crepes at a small outlet Pamela read from somewhere. Reached there only to find it closed on Mondays. Ended up eating at another small outlet just a few shops down.
- Walked to Le Pantheon and St Sulpice church for snaps. St Sulpice church is famous for its Rose Line being mentioned inside The Da Vinci Code. We stupidly looked all over the courtyard when it's actually inside the church.
- Next to L'Hôtel national des Invalides, a complex housing a hotel, military museum and monuments. Most famous for being the burial site for Napoleon Bonaparte. A palace-like complex with a beautiful gold dome located in a roundabout.
- Next to musée du quai Branly to check out the vertical garden. A building with plants covering the entire building facade, hencethe name.
- Then to dinner at one of the restaurants Pam found. Luckily we were early as the little restaurant started to fill up shorty after.
- And it is here, after dinner where my nose started to bleed!! Fark!! It was quite a sight walking out with a tissue held up against my nostril. Definitely a first for me. But at least the tissue wasn't blood-soaked!
- Finally made our way to the Eiffel Tower. Booked to head up to the top at 9:30pm. The area was packed with fellow tourists and locals just sitting on the grass and chillin'.
- Finally got up to the Eiffel tower, and squeezed through the crowds to stick our faces by the railings to get better views of the Paris nite view. There is a little bar selling champagne in plastic glasses with luminous lights for visitors. A bit tacky, but hey travelling's all about being tacky and cliché eh?
- It was a pretty warm day. A thin scarf was enuff to keep me warm at nite, and we were sweating it out in the afternoon with all the walking. But our feet suffered the most. We were both complaining non-stop and it was bliss to get home, sit down and remove our shoes.
- Best of all, we had to struggle with opening the door. Thank god we managed to access the internet and Pam called the apartment owner on Skype to find out to open it. Otherwise we could be stuck outside for god knows how long.

Oct 2: SG - Doha - Paris

2011-10-06T07:04:00.001+08:00

- Bro and Mother saw me off at the airport, first time since I went overseas for my studies that the mother sent me off for my trip
- Feeling very different. Waited so long for this trip, and yet I'm so cash-strapped now, at the back of my mind I keep on thinking of how much I am allowed to spend
- Qatar Airways ain't that great. The cabin's sorta warm. We got a 3-seater, so more space between us
- Doha airport was a whirlwind, needed to take the shuttle frm the plane to the terminal for customs check, then take another shuttle to the previous terminal to board the connection flight. I am seriously worried we might miss our connecting return flight
- It was a 14-half hours flight before we finally arrived in Paris

start spreading the news, i'm leaving this (fri)day..

2011-09-28T01:29:00.000+08:00

so yeah.. the boss announced my departure over the team call in the morning. honestly i can't be bothered much too. wanted to speak to the boss face-to-face but we were both busy.

the ex-colleagues were out in force to help me in my jobsearch: connect me to head-hunters, informed the O ex-boss, commented on my resume. a fren also called to inform me of a potential events role in a certain org. i feel so loved. i really do. and am so grateful to everyone. but still, i'm not gonna get conceited. still, i will soon be unemployed. so expenses still much be in check.

had my exit interview with the HR. also informed my neighbour and the IT guy in AU. also, was supposed to attend a colleague's wedding in dec, but we had a chat and decided that i'll skip it, for the good of all mankind.

had a call with US in the evening to hand over the vegas event to the colleagues. and i actually felt a bit guilty for being able to shut off so fast. but deep down, i am really glad for not having to care anymore. contradicting, i am.

now, i need to move on and polish up my resume. i hate to do this.

so, i've done it again..

2011-09-27T00:51:00.000+08:00

twice in 3 months. that has gotta be a record.

yes, i've tendered my resignation. 2-half months into my new job. if it's within my control, i won't leave without a job. but things have gone beyond bearable and i had to do this.

started spreading the news over the weekend. one of the response was 'how can anyone not like lauren lee?' and that's good enuff for me. :)

the previous week was difficult for me. extremely difficult. tears flowed, and i felt like shit. but now that i've made up my mind, it all becomes easier. and i feel lighter.

so i emailed my resignation to the boss today. she called, we discussed. my mind is set, so nuthin more said. this fri shall be my last day. all thanks to the probation period.

now i can go on my holiday in peace. with a nagging feeling to look for a job as soon as possible once i return.

oh what a night!

2011-09-12T01:21:00.003+08:00

Last Friday. As a pre-cursor to the big event the next week, a few of us headed out for dinner and drinks. Ended up at palm beach seafood at 1 Fullerton for dinner, and the view was awesome. I could just sit there the whole night and take in the view. Black pepper crab. Chili crab. The kiwi luved them. Should introduce him to crab beehoon sometime. If the time ever comes.

Part 2 of the night was at pump room, where the 4 of us downed 120 shots of sex on the beach. We started off by the dozens, then moved on to 2 dozens, so that we don't waste time and receipts. And that led me to the dancefloor, I had to dance away the alcohol in my bloodstream. In the end, 2 of them left first. We stayed at the dancefloor for a while. Then there came the waterworks. Which resulted in me calling up her hubby at 4 in the morning to get him to wait for her while I drop her off at the place.

Was so tired I couldn't even recall if I showered before I slept. Until I went to the toilet and saw that I was wearing a another panty. Haha!

This was certainly a first; 30 shots in a nite. And there were more shots on the table which miraculously disappeared by the time I got back to the table.

There's another session next fri, to celebrate the end of the event. I can't wait. For the event to be over. Not the drinking.

Sayonara.

2011-07-17T12:20:00.000+08:00

So I'm now officially an ex-Oracle-ian. Finally, after years of waiting.

Immediately after the EPF, I scheduled 2 working days of wrap up and handover, which was a total madness. There were so much to do, both handover and clearing my own things. Also had to squeeze in a quick trip to the Qatar office to collect my SIN-Paris-London-SIN airtix, whose origin warrants another entry by itself. There was my first farewell dinner with my marketing babes, plus the operations team. Yumy jap dinner with sake near the workplace, a nice affair which ended thankfully ended early enuff for me to rush down to raffles city to grab farewell gifts for my fav marketing gals. Monday went past juz like that and I still have to start packing my desk!!

Tuesday was THE Day. More handover meetings, plus lunch with doraemon and the girls. Then more admin stuff to clear for my departure. At 3:15pm, I started to clear the piles of crap on my desk. Naturally majority went straight into the trashbin. Slowly but surely, my Sundown bag was packed. I still have my 2 jackets, flower pillow and supervisor bear to pack. Scary how much shit I have in the office. Rushed for my exit interview, returned my pass with a heavy heart, handed my lappie to Ah Lian, and then it's all over.

Farewell dinner with my fav people was at an old bungalow-turned-seafood-restaurant place at upper east coast. Awesome food at reasonable prices. We had chili and black pepper crabs. For once, I had more than 2 claws at a dinner and yet not feel guilty, haha! The black pepper crab was juz incredible. All stuffed, most of us adjourned to Udders for some sweets. Isman joined us there too.

Got home, lay down on my bed and checked my O-mails for the last time on my mobile. And saw the reply from the SVP. And started tearing.

More excitement awaits me in the SAME week at the new company. Details will come later..

The reply

2011-07-17T02:46:00.000+08:00

From: SVP
Date: July 13, 2011 0:12:20 GMT+08:00
To: Lauren Lee
Subject: RE: Thank You

Hi Lauren,

Thanks for the photo.

It’s disappointing to hear that you are leaving Oracle but I nonetheless wish you all the best.

Look forward to our paths crossing again soon.

Please note my mobile +xxx-xxxxxxxx.

Best of luck!

SVP

** **

luckily i managed to read this in my mailbox before my account was terminated for good.

:)

The jitters

2011-07-12T01:48:00.000+08:00

As I prepare for bed, I'm reminded that when I wake up, it will be my last day in Oracle, the place I've been for the past 5 years & 2 months. Maybe I'm appearing a bit too drama over my departure. But all these while I've been here in the company, watchig as my colleagues leave, and I question myself all the time when my turn will come. And not to mention some of my frens have changed jobs along the way. The 2 moves I've made are from level 12 to 13, then to the current 15. I will so miss my colleagues, my comfort zone. What if I can't deliver and perform to expectations in the new company? Getting recommended comes with certain pressure. And I am feeling it now.

Over the weekend I got an email from the new HR guy, informing me that my reporting time on Wed is at 9:30am. Shiok!! At least it's a good start. I also saw online that the new company has a huge partner-customer event in Vegas in November. Will I get to go? *shrugs shoulders*

It's gonna be a busy day later. Need to send out my farewell announcement, handover the remaining tasks, close up the event, save my files, follow up on my claims etc. And all gotta be done before my exit interview at 4:30pm.

It seemed like I juz tendered yesterday. The time is now.

*butterflies in stomach*

it's farewell, very soon

2011-07-12T00:38:00.000+08:00

so, EPF's over. and i'm less than 24hours away from being an ex-oracle-ian.

last week was spent at MBS, the venue for my 7th and last EPF. the working team got rooms there, so we got to stay in. thank god for that. i can't imagine dragging myself home after the late hours and having to report for work early the next day. on the gala nite, i mixed my poisons for the nite and fell asleep the moment i hit the bed. it's a miracle i managed to wake up at 7am the next day, and set my alarm to wake up later. can't imagine sleeping in and missed the event, on the very last day!

when running events, i dun need public recognition. last year, i was asked to go onstage and given a montblanc pen as a token of appreciation. no such thing this year. what i got was more than enuff. at the plenary i bumped into SAY at the door. again he found me familiar and we had a quick chat. i reminded him that the last time we met was during jul 5-7, this year jul 6-8. exactly a year apart. then during the gala dinner, i was at the door taking photo with ah lian when SAY walked past. he saw us and promptly jumped in and joined us in the photo. then i proceeded to tell him about my departure and he wanted another to take another photo together.

The SVP, APAC & I

today i got an email from my SVP, A&C. a short note on his appreciation for my efforts
for the event, and that i stayed back to see the end of it. i actually served 1.5months notice so that i can finish the event. now i'm gonna start work at the new company the next day coz they have events the next week. i have no time for a breather.

i'm just happy enuff that they recognise my hard work. keep in touch, mark signed off.

just had my farewell dinner with my marketing and ops team. and my boss never failed to remind me that her offer is never closed. she was joking for me to pack my stuff and keep in the store, since i'll be back after 1 year.

i'm glad that the boss(es) want to entertain the thought of having me back. that's good enuff for me. my 5 years in Oracle have not been in vain.

Bite me

2011-06-10T09:46:00.003+08:00

It's 9:47am now, and I'm still on the Circle Line to work. Some people will say at least I still turn up for work, haha. Speaking from previous experiences ya.. Others say it's very good that at least I extend my stay till after the event. Think I scored quite some points here, hehe. Yesterday the new boss was chatting with us and the topic of coming into the office came up. Well obviously I have been coming in later and later these days. The rest too, but I'm the latest. Given my current situation, coming in on time is no longer applicable to me. But I still do feel a bit paiseh to be the last to sashay into the office past-10am. But honestly, do I care enuff to change my habits? No.

Enjoy while I can. Come July 13, it's 9-fxckin-am.

1 month to go..

2011-06-10T01:38:00.000+08:00

from now till mid-july will see 2 departures in my LOB, mine inclusive. bumped into a colleague during lunch. we used to be cubicle-neighbours, separated by a partition. we spent many late nights in the office together; she talking to partners, me rushing emails on the event, then we bitch to each other.

so today she was asking when will my farewell celebration be, and insisted that she will be there. very nice to hear that.

news are slowly spreading, and people have been coming up to me. m so gonna miss my colleagues..

my last quarter has passed..

2011-06-01T00:50:00.005+08:00

i will no longer sit though another quarter in oracle. and it seems this FY will see the most drastic changes throughout my stint here. new announcements aplenty to be out later in the office. heard insider news which made me wonder how i would fare if i hadn't thrown in my letter. but alas, i need to leave my comfort zone. i had to.

halfway mark of the day..

2011-05-20T16:24:00.000+08:00

the letter was ready in the envelope, just waiting to be put into action. but the manager has to rush off early to attend to family matters. so i escorted her to the lift lobby and passed her the offending envelope.

'what happened?'
'i have a better offer'

her first reaction was when my last day will be, and if i can see out EPF. of course i will. managed to work out with the new employer for me to stay here and finish it. even added in 2 days post-event to wrap up everything. that's the best i can work out. she had to leave, so it was a quick chat, with a promise to follow up on monday.

then she smsed me, asking what i'll be doing, and if i'll be reporting to the ex-boss. and what she can do to make me change my mind. going 5 years here, and an increment which i believe the current cannot match. that's reason enough.

so now, i wait for her to pass the news to her manager. whether if it will result in a face-to-face with the latter, i dunno. it's already 4+, and there are no signs. maybe it's gonna be a 2-against-1? dunno, maybe i'm exaggerating too.

nevertheless, part of the load's off my back now. let's see what entails next week.

i've embarked on the journey..

2011-05-20T01:50:00.000+08:00

to leave..

today (thursday), i signed the offer letter from my new employer. finally, i get my chance to throw in the letter. not literally of course. actually even when the ex-boss was serving his notice, he had already hinted me on my interest in moving on. few months back, there was an offer, rather a plan was put together. alas the headcount didn't come thru. that gave me hopes, and threw me down for a while. then recently, a call came from a familiar voice. secret meetings were planned while looking out for familiar faces amongst the crowds. hushed phonecalls became frequent. hopes were high again. then the offer letter came. smiles aplenty.

so.. the incumbent had to leave to take care of her ailing mother. the other contract staff couldn't commit to the role fully due to personal reasons. the boss then remembered me. so we met, and we chatted. things just fall into place. i'm very blessed, and thankful for that.

it's funny how i was just thinking of the journey from the new abode to work next yr: walk to bradell, NS to bishan, circle to promenade. i'm only missing a feeder bus ride, then it will be similar to my current journey. with this new happening, they are currently in the next tower. come oct, we will relocate to raffles place. 2012, i'll just have to ns my way to raffles place direct. brilliant. and this will be my first time working in the cbd. once again, thing just fall into place.

have started informing the closer colleagues on the impending departure. cheers and congratulations flowed in, but also with a tinge of sadness. we sat thru 2 managers, had our quarrel and made up, bitched and laffed our way thru the past 4 years. she wasn't the first to know, but i broke the news to her before i face the manager tomorrow. she came back with smses on how much she will miss me. and i will miss her too.

so it's gonna be the day of reckoning. gonna speak to the manager, who will then inform her manager. will i get questioned by her? i dunno. thankfully i got the support of the new employer and have decided to stay on and finish up the event. can't bring myself to leave it in their hands. 1 a newbie, the other just complicate matters. i might not be able to help much, but still is another pair of hands. hope the process tmr will be a smooth one..

Post-GE 2011 (part I)

2011-05-15T23:59:00.002+08:00

so the once every 5 years singapore general election has come, and gone. it was an exciting period for me, and emotional too. throughout the 8 days of rallies, i've been to 7 - Workers' Party, People's Action Party, Singapore Democratic Party, Reform Party & Singapore People's Party. the only day i skipped a rally was when they were all very far, like bukit panjang, chua chu kang etc. i felt like i was chasing after my idol, everyday checking where the various parties are having their rallies and arranging to go with my cousin. i also bought a whistle and lightsticks (they come in a pack) at one of the rally and the whistle came in handy at the subsequent rallies. also had to think of what to wear, hoping to match the party colours if possible - blue for WP, red for SDP, yellow for RP and red/blue for SPP. not forgetting to pack slippers to change into later. no way am i gonna last standing 3 hours in my heels, in sometimes muddy grounds.

at the rallies, the atmosphere was electric. well most of it at least. at the WP rallies, you get to raise our voice together at the candidates, and still eavesdrop on the odd stories being told by the old ones to the people around him. 小人物的心声吧.

to me, the WP rallies seem to be a bit more hyped up. the presence of sylvia lim and low thia khiang - the old birds - definitely upped their popularity this GE and they sure delivered with their First World Parliament slogan and the co-driver slapping the driver analogy. honestly i still am not too sure of what first world parliament means, haha. the SDP was a surprise to me. they were the only one whose speeches i really paid attention to, and i was impressed by what i heard. they manage to lay out plans on what they want to do and achieve, though not all were feasible, to me that is, and required more thought. the SPP was more on the emotion, the togetherness feeling. seeing chiam see tong, so weak and frail and yet still insisting to stand on the stage and fight for a GRC already is a sight that tug at the heartstrings. he is like a hero, an idol. the moment he arrived, everyone started chanting his name and looked on as he made his way slowly up the stairs, to the front of the stage to greet the supporters and then to his seat. due to his health, he is not able to raise his voice, nor speak long and loud, hence whenever he's at the podium, the crowd will go silent. “I’m not a brave man. But I love Singapore. I love Singaporeans.” one of the classic quotes to come from chiam see tong at SPP's first few rallies. after suffering from 2 strokes, chiam see tong could have just retired and rest. but he chose to soldier on and formed a team of 5 to fight wong-cant'-see for bishan-toa payoh. all in the name of democracy. R.E.S.P.E.C.T!!

it was a very very hot polling day. the short walk to mayflower primary school, which was just 5 mins away from home, made me sweat buckets. i remembered also making my way there last GE, which i crossed the same box too. had the nike 5k goddess run to attend to in the late afternoon. when i reached the venue, i saw the staff there managing the logistics and my first thought was how wonderful it would be if the staff could be deployed to help out at the voting stations, esp when the night before some parties were still calling out for volunteers to help as polling agents. if i were available, i would have volunteered.

arranged to catch the GE results at the cousin's place at bishan. managed to grab a quick light dinner at home and psychoed the father to drop me at the place. armed with jakob and my SPP flag, i set up my 'media-hub' at the dining table, with a good view of the television.

from 11pm, the twitter-verse and fb were rife with rumours of the SMC & GRC results. but we had to wait for some time before the official news broke on the national media. first good news was the hougang SMC win by WP. yaw shin leong was a candidate in the AMK team in the previous GE, and i'm very happy that he won. he managed to hold on to LTK's legacy. first heartbreak was the loss of holland-bukit timah. i really hoped SDP will win, coz i hate VB-YOG, and VW charmed me. haha, superficial eh? but what broke me was the loss of bishan-toa payoh. SPP, under chiam see tong's lead, lost by 15,190 votes. that's when the floodgates opened. i started tearing. non-stop. last hopes on potong pasir were trashed when they were last to be announced that it has gone to PAP - sitoh yipin. chiam see tong's 27years opposition fight in parliament has ended. and yes, i started tearing again.

to be continued..

how do you measure?

2011-04-04T11:52:00.000+08:00

during a chat in the morning, a fren announced that she just bought a iphone4. but because it cannot be jailbreak, she's not using it yet. she jailbroke (is there such a word?) her previous iphone 3gs and got all the apps free. here's our conversation:

*Fren* says:
anyway since cnt JB, I nva use
moreover I cnt use watsapps n bitesms
no theme oso
sianz
LMF says:
bitesms how much?
whatsapp only $0.99, dun make me slap u
*Fren* says:
bitesms I tink is 2.99
yes I know....I almost wanted to buy but my ang stopped me
he asked me dun be so boh liao
ask me to wait for 4.3 JB
LMF says:
well, to me, it's only 0.99. but if u want to wait till 4.3 comes out, up to u also la
*Fren* says:
I can wait....just scare my phone cnt wait...

so she's still using her iphone3 now due to the existing apps, and is worried that the longer she uses it, the more the resale value will drop.

i'm not saying that i earn a lot and can afford to buy apps at my whims and fancies. but not to use a phone due to the need to pay for apps?

some things i will never understand.

money matters

2011-04-04T02:42:00.000+08:00

the bro started his hdb search since march, and to-date has seen quite a number of units near my future new home. today the mother and i accompanied him to another viewing. in total, he has made offers to 3 units, so now we wait and see which will take the bait.

just now we had a mini conference in his room to talk about each of the units, their pros and cons, and corresponding value. and of course it hit me once again exactly how important money is in this equation.

he's gonna take a loan to pay for his place. so when we sell our current place, part of it will be used to help his loan, and also the loan for my place, then majority into cpf to pay off part of the new place first. not forgetting a small part will go into the mother's cpf, i dunno how much there will be left. guess it's looking towards the road of a reno loan too..

i've already withdrawn all my investments to pay for the deposit. now i think of the tiny stash i have in the bank, it's pathetic. hardly enuff to cause a ripple in this enormous pool. and i start to panic.

yes, money is not omnipotent. but you need it to survive. i dun want things to end up in future where the parents and i get chased outta of our home because i might not be commanding a salary similar to my current one, and hence not able to pay the monthly instalments. mine is a 30-year loan. who can guarantee that i will be getting (at the very least) the same pay for the next 30 years?

and now i still have not really thought of the decor elements for the new place. argh!!

the thought of the cashflow is weighing in my head so much so that i am thinking if the sept trip is a sensible one.

why can't i have my new home and go travelling at the same time?!?!?!?!

learn to be contented..

2011-03-24T01:25:00.000+08:00

the grandparents used to have 4 daughters. but since young, one of the daughter just couldn't get along with the boys, and was given to a fren. her childhood was tough. now she's married with a son and a daughter.

the mother was just sharing their recent news with me. she's obviously quite old now, and is working as a dishwasher. previously i heard from the mother that she has been complaining of backaches, made worse from the sitting down and bending over while working. so apparently, her son just got one of his legs amputated. he hurt his leg due to some silly matter, and he let the pain fester. his diabetic history worsen the condition, and led to the situation today.

they are a low-income family. the parents are working in low-paying jobs, and the son held odd-jobs. the daughter's married with 2 kids, and is not working, hence she can't help the family. the son previously married a china slut and true to the name, swindled them off a huge amount of money, which is all that they had.

as it is, they are barely making ends meet. now they need money for a prosthetic leg. not forgetting their daily expenses too.

my heart aches upon hearing this. i've shook my head so many times my neck hurts. looking at barney eating bread beside me, i can safely say barney's had a better life than them.

really, i am speechless. and i feel so guilty now for moping over my own insecurities.

it's a sucky sucky day

2011-03-20T02:38:00.000+08:00

you know how someday u wake up and feel like shit for no reason? today happens to be one of them. well actually not just today. it's been around for a while. today just hit rock-bottom.

i know it's just another passing phase. as i get older, such phases hit me more often. same old issues, and more each time. i need to get outta this mess. soon.

dunno how long it will take this time.

RIP Wander

2011-03-05T12:08:00.001+08:00

A Dogs Soul
Every dog must have a soul
Somewhere deep inside
Where all her hurts and grievances
Are buried with her pride.

Where she decides the good and bad,
The wrong way from the right,
And where her judgement carefully
Is hidden from our sight.

A dog must have a secret place
Where every thought abides,
A sort of close acquaintance that
She trusts in and confides.

And when accused unjustly for
Herself, she cannot speak,
Rebuked, she finds within her soul
The comfort she must seek.

She'll love, tho' she is unloved,
And she'll serve tho'badly used,
And one kind word will wipe away
The times when she's abused.

Altho' her heart may break in two
Her love will still be whole,
Because God gave to every dog
An understanding Soul!

Author Unknown
Source: Mdm Wong's Shelter FB page

~~ ~~

dear wander, i have not met you, and i never will. you may be a stray, but you are loved by all of us. we are aghast at the pathetic being that did what he did to you, and sorry that we are not able to give you the justice you deserved. now we let you go, free you from the pain and suffering we humans have inflicted upon you. rest in peace and go, may i see you in heaven.. ..

magic pineapple!

2011-02-28T16:12:00.000+08:00

my menses are more than a month late. nope, no action for a long time, so THAT possibility is so-very-definitely ruled out. so the mother fed me with some pineapple last nite. and voila! guess who came an hour later.. ..

be strong

2011-02-22T10:59:00.002+08:00

rae's cousin-in-law (wife) is in induced labour now. 7months into pregnancy, found out last nite that the mother's womb shifted, hence putting the baby girl in danger.

got to know the couple during the taiwan Lee-Tang family trip last year. the wifey's a nice lady, very sweet and polite. can see she's very filial too. the hubby's a funny character tho, later evident from his fb activities, haha.

from rae's tweets, seems that mother & baby girl are still in the operating theatre. family have been standing vigil in the hospital for the past 11 hours. rae's mother is teaching the cousin (hubby) what to do if the unfortunate really happens.

a close colleague went thru the same situation last year. except the baby was less than 3months. it doesn't make the pain any lesser. what's important is that the couple are healthy, they can always try again. and guess what, the wife is pregnant now.

be strong xiu, hang in there. we are praying for you.

Me

2011-01-28T23:36:00.000+08:00

I'm less than 30mins away from turning 31. And I am at home. There are days when I dun mind hanging out on my own. There are days when I want things planned. Especially today. I dun wanna wander around aimlessly alone. Not today. I was considering moping away at home. Then I realized all these while I've actually been training for this day. Being alone.

Happy Birthday. To me. From me.

this is supply chain..

2011-01-24T15:07:00.001+08:00

From: Dr V
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2011 11:49 PM
To: Freckles
Subject: Greetings from Philly :-)

Hi Freckles….

1361 – box opened
1362 – took out the contents…
1363 – contents moved into a plastic bag…

In Supply Chain terminology…this is called, (1) Receiving, (2) unpack, (3) breaking bulk, (4) repack, and now comes the next 3 steps……(5) accompany merchandise to destination, (6) temporary custody at destination from 29th to 30th Jan, and finally….drums rolling….(7) handing over ceremony on the Thirty First day of the month of January in the year of our lord Two Thousand and Eleven AD….”exact” time and place within Suntec for the handing over to be determined based on the dynamics of the Almanac on the Thirty First day of the month of January in the year of our lord Two Thousand and Eleven AD :)

Have a wonderful Sunday evening dear…it’s Sunday morning….

and of course..

2011-01-21T01:19:00.001+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONA!
STAY AWESOME ALWAYS!!

another one..

2011-01-21T01:13:00.000+08:00

another colleague tendered today.

so from the start of the year to end-feb, we would have lost 6 people, 3 of them in my marketing team. and i am starting to get worried. come mar/apr, we will need to start preparation for the epf. the manager used to be the one to manage the stakeholders, controlling their content and numbers. and i am not able to do that. i dunno the business well enuff, and neither am i firm enuff too. by then i have no one to go to for help. and i seriously doubt that we can find a replacement by then. of course, i could be wrong. prove me wrong.

travel 2011

2011-01-13T12:32:00.000+08:00

am updating my right menu links now.. and realised that i made 11 trips in 2010. which means almost 1 trip per month on average. this year, things will be different. my calendar is still empty this year, and i think will likely look pretty much the same.

it's time to save up for TYP2012. and the travelling will be compromised. currently i only have enuff for 1 king mattress, ha! how to renovate my new place liddat? settle for a seahorse mattress maybe and buy beanbags?

targeting:
maybe - bali in feb
hopefully - london/paris in sep

now with the boss leaving, dunno when the replacement will come in.. then will i get to go to US in oct?

End of another era..

2011-01-11T02:09:00.000+08:00

So the boss came back to the office after his 3 week's vacation in South America. And he also tendered. Serving his 1 month notice, his last day will be the end of the month. The minah's leaving this Friday, and madam Chanel early-feb. All of a sudden I dun really look forward to my birthday anymore.

After 4 years and countless departures here in the company, I still have not learnt anything. I still get greatly affected whenever someone leaves. Of course especially a close and dear one. I won't say the boss' announcement is a surprise, afterall we're all sorta waiting for the day to come. But now that it has arrived, it still caught us offguard. And the lost and helpless feeling is back again. Now I'll have to take over some of his and N's responsibilities. N's our e-marketing guy, and is also leaving at end of the month. So wow, when's my turn?

The gang is organizing dinner and drinks this Friday after work. I din wanna go, I need to get ready for KT's wedding the next day. Need to arrive at her place at 6:30am and that's no joke. I dun like to leave a party when everyone's still having fun, but I need to ensure that I'm awake for the next day. It's gonna be a long day, not forgetting the announcer role at nite. Gah!

What a Monday it's been so far.....

sick chicken

2011-01-06T00:19:00.002+08:00

7th day into the new year, and i am already sick. literally. the pantry area in the office is overflowing with snacks form the colleagues' overseas trips and i can't eat any of them!! grr........

anyway, came back home today, had dinner, then drove off with the mother to collect my cheongsam. luckily it turned out well after the alterations. the initial dress was too big at the hips and i really looked FAT in it. so all's well. and the mother liked it too, so phew..

tomorrow's friday, the boss will be arriving in singapore by then. come monday, things will be back to normal with me seeing his face everytime i look up from my lappie. oh well, i will definitely hear him first before i see him..

now i need to get back to filing my bills. need to clear up the piles before cny. at least i'm finally starting to do something abt it.. :P

From me, to me..

2011-01-05T11:16:00.000+08:00

my birthday presents arrived on monday. first working day of the new year!

the pretty pretty packaging form net-a-porter.com

been tracking the shipment since the day i ordered them, and they apparently landed on jan 1. monday i got a call from the recep to collect it and i was grinning. left the parcel in the office on mon coz it was too big for me to carry home, din fancy the idea of cabbing back. besides, i wanted to hit town and do some shopping. drove to office yesterday just so that i can bring it home.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Sophie

been eyeing this bag since it was launched. looked like a normal schoolbag, and that's exactly what i like about it. it was retailing for $840 in the local stores, and i got it at a sizeable discount, even with shipping charges. yippee!

Miu Miu

another treat to myself. bye bye rabeanco, hello miu miu!

a very sweet xmas card

2011-01-03T17:14:00.000+08:00

just saw this xmas card from trixie mama, and it's so sweet, accompanied with the photos.. gosh.. can't post it here, so you gotta click on the link to view it.. :)

arts & craft lesson

2011-01-02T23:53:00.000+08:00

fresh into 2011, i caught up with the daisies today, in preparation for kt's impending wedding. agenda for the day:

1) collect dresses
2) customise our 阿莲 tees
3) put together the sabo materials

the dresses turned out surprisingly well, the tailor managed to 'grabbed' the material in the best way to showcase the prints. tho i looked like a block of wood with no waist. dun think the mother liked what she saw from the photo. but the focus' not on me. the bride looked really pretty in her dress, that's all that mattered. saw her wedding shots, and they were not as bad as she had made them out to be! oh well, we are always more critical of our own photos..

then we tested our tailoring, or dress-making, skills by cutting up our 阿莲 tees. rae was the most courageous one and proceeded to snip her's into a racerback. we chose the more conservative cuts.

that's our masterpiece for one of the sabo tricks for the groom. get ready for some fun, hahaha! he doesn't read my blog so i can load the pics here with no worry. ;)

then we headed to amk central to grab materials for the gatecrashing, and for our hen's nite dinner. wahahaha, a simple zi char dinner actually.

seems just like yesterday that she just met ah beng, that ah beng just sought our help for the proposal, that we witnessed the proposal at bishan park. and now they're getting married. aaawwwwwwww...........

moving into the new year..

2010-12-31T00:46:00.002+08:00

what's there to recap this year?

- taiwan 2010
1 week, 5 families, 17 people. finally brought my parents on an overseas trip, which they are still bugging me to put together an album of. at the end of the day, the parents had a great time. that's all that matters.

- my espanol love story
first step into europe, first time to spain. luved the place and the men. should have shopped more, but oh well.. seville was unforgettable. once again, thanks mona for getting me there. how i miss eating under the orange trees and sitting facing the giralda tower and stuffing myself with gelato.

- turning 30
ain't that bad afterall. the bestie from aussie gave me a LV keychain, muahahaha! not forgetting catching my first live soccer match, a power-packed match between Barcelona and Seville, the then-top-of-the-table clash, and the awesome U2 concert in melbourne. what can top that??

- pay raise and bonus
having missed them 2 years in a row, this is a blessing. and the montblanc pen from the company as a token of their appreciation. it is still in the box and sitting on my table, but thanks anyway.

- sweating it out!
completed 2 10km runs this year, with one being an absolute killer. have already signed up for one more in 2011, needed this to motivate me to get running, and hopefully lose a lotta weight!

- men, or the lack of
'nuff said.

- timtam
i've been neglecting you. record low 76 entries this year, including this. i'm sorry. maybe i should move to a new blog, new fengshui, and maybe i will start to pay you more attention. *thinking*

so in 2011.. kt's getting married. yay! ting's flying back to attend. yay! my travel calendar's waiting to be filled, and i SERIOUSLY NEED TO START SAVING FOR TPY 2012!

have a fun-filled dec 31 people, a great 2011 awaits all of us.
happy new year my dear frens!

sometimes..

2010-12-19T23:16:00.001+08:00

Source: www.postsecret.com

the aftermath

2010-12-06T19:10:00.000+08:00

did a pathetic 1:30:31 for the standard chartered 10km run. sun was scorching hot, had only 4 mini bananas for brekkie plus wedding dinner food from the nite before, no training prior, blah blah blah. all excuses. bottom line is, i did not fare as well as sundown.

gorged on prata @ jln kayu after the run, went home and vegetated in front of jakob, caught rapunzel with mona, then met the woos for dinner at fatboys. despite waking up real early yesterday, i wasn't that sleepy. only problem was the aching body.

the aches made their point this morning upon waking up. mind and body were functioning at half its usual speed and i had to pack for my BJ event. blardy hell. just wasn't feeling right today. now i need to pack the x60, head to uniqlo to grab some stuffs for the trip, then home for dinner. not forgetting, more work back home.

i really really am not looking forward to the BJ trip.

oh shoot! it's the much-dreaded 9am call tomorrow!!

D-day has arrived..

2010-12-05T01:58:00.000+08:00

in a few hours' time, i'll be starting on the 2nd 10km run in 2010 - the standard chartered 10km run. i used to run every sunday late afternoon, but i have not done so since i left for my spain trip. laziness and the rain got into the way. so i'm so gonna be dead meat later. i cannot force myself to run much just to save face, coz i dun think i have the stamina. so i'm just gonna walk. haha, sad but true. i can always try again next year. or walk again.

ok i oughta be asleep by now. good luck to me, and fellow standchart-ers.

see you at the finishing line.

cocktail of emotions

2010-11-28T12:53:00.002+08:00

got real upset tonite. i realised that i'm not even worth basic respect.

FUCK TWAT. DOUCHEBAG. JERK. ASSHOLE.

then, i caught the latest ep of glee. and it lifted my spirits immediately. mostly because of this:

which lead to this..
Lauren says:
i can't choreograph, but for your wedding, i WILL dance
Juliette says:
yes please
for urs i choreograph and will go all rachel berry on everyone

i actually teared when watching the wedding dance-in. it was so fun, so sweet, so endearing.

what a night.

air-bound, again

2010-11-26T17:40:00.000+08:00

very soon, i will sit my ass on a plane again. this time to melbourne, to visit sean and celebrate his be-lated birthday, and also to catch the U2 concert on dec 1. it's supposed to be a fun trip, but marred by the piles of work waiting.

yesterday the boss asked me if i will be working in melbourne. is that a trick question? of course i said yes, but only at nite when i'm back home from my shopping and touring. well, i'm prepared to work during this trip, so no surprises.

back to the trip. first time on emirates, hopefully it will be a good one. should i sleep thru? or watch movies? only issue is i'm in the window seat, it's gonna be a challenge to get to the toilet.

the cousin's coming later to pick me up, plus another fren, off to ikea tampines for dinner, then to the airport. till later folks!

nowhere in sight

2010-11-18T01:50:00.000+08:00

the pix from spain are still in the folders. between mona and i were 1 panasonic cam, 1 sony cam, 1 iphone 4 and 1 motorola dext, and that means a bloody lot of photos. mostly from me actually, hehe.. it's a hassle to select the proper ones, upload and do up a storyboard and add in the captions. will do it soon. i hope.

meanwhile in gossip-land, eva longoria and tony parker has filed for divorce. so, surprised? i dunno. i guess a little. there's been so many divorces/separations lately that i guess i'm immune to all these news. what happened to marriages these days? why are so many couples taking this path? issit because the women, as they become more educated, no longer tolerate any shit from their hubbies, and hence rather divorce than suffer in silence, or give their relationship another try?

it is really disheartening to see so many marriages ending. and for many others out there, so many hubbies go out weekly to niteclubs for the women and then head home to their wives. do their wives know, and choose to turn a blind eye to that? or are they so clueless? when is the last straw where enuff is enuff? why are the wives turning a blind eye to those activities? why can't the hubbies NOT GO to such places in the first place?

having said all these, i still want get married some day. guess i need to get marrie to a jerk who will hurt me horribly then i will learn and decide not to get married anymore. but of course, the jerk must want to marry me first. ;)

2010-11-16T19:33:00.000+08:00

i was waiting for a cab at the raffles city taxi stand yesterday nite when the gal behind me tapped me on my shoulder.

gal: hi, can i ask where you got your iphone cover from?
me: oh my bro got it from china
gal: oh, it's very nice..
me: *smiles*

so i asked for her mobile number. took photos of the covers i have, and posted them on a blogsite and sent to her to look at.

now, if only it's a cute single guy..

updates updates!

2010-11-01T18:26:00.000+08:00

i thot i had gone 1 month without blogging.

anyway, spain came, and left. the trip was a blast, who could have got over the live match experience? esp it's barcelona vs valencia we're talking about? could have done some stuffs better, and visited others, maybe even throw in some clubbing. colleagues were shocked that we din visit a tapas bar. oh well, can't have them all rite? and i certainly din buy enuff! i have blogged my trip on a daily basis, just waiting for me to sit down and edit them, and attach photos. and that, will happen, god-knows-when.

last sat, caught up with a few colleagues to celebrate halloween. well, sorta like a hen's party too. due to some inconsistent organisation skills, and lateness (entirely me!), we ended up at beermarket @ clarke quay. the crowd only made us feel old, or rather, just me. we turned cougars and chatted up the young boys next to us. 25-year-olds. fml.

woke up at 3.30pm on sunday. long time since i last slept in. and went for my first run in 3 weeks. timing's like shit but well, at least i started. feels good to sweat it out tho. gives me the false impression that i'm sweating my fats away, keke.

email's down, so can't do shit. am going off for social network at cine. 8am call tmr. gah!

it's time..

2010-10-08T16:45:00.001+08:00

finally, after years of talk, i will step into europe.

camera batt charger, iphone charger, travel adaptor, scarves, plasters, itinerary, passport copies, brolly, all inside their respective bags. dropped by a colleague's place last nite to borrow his foldable duffel bag. hopefully it will come in handy.

my mini luggage is pretty much packed to the brim. yes, i'm so not a budget nor backpacker. i think i have overpacked. no branded stuff with me, i'm using my old and dirty braun buffel wallet, and not bringing along my LV keychain.

almost EVERYONE whom i told i'm going to spain has advised me to be careful of pickpockets. it's a bit worrying.

anyhow, drama already happened even before the trip started. i confirmed all our accommodations on wed aftn, and on thurs early morning, i got an email from the hostal we were supposed to be staying in madrid. apparently there was a pipe burst and our room got wet. so they booked us in another hostal at a cheaper rate. the problem is, i can't seem to find any photos or reviews of this new hostal. u know how anal i am with hotel accom. so we'll just have to see for ourselves when we get there and rock and roll.

anyway, safe travels. already bought my travel insurance. if i dun come back safe and sound, i luv you all. :)

(this entry was supposed to be published at 4:44pm, but i purposely delayed for 1 more minute. a bit like final destination, no?)

countdown

2010-09-26T17:11:00.000+08:00

it's sep 26, 12 more days to my first whiff of european air. of course i'm excited!
1 can't wait to get away honestly.

things have changed since the new FY. lost a few colleagues, to other companies and/or other depts. and we moved 2 floors up to #15 just last week.

ok, i dunno what's my point of this entry. just wanted to update something i guess. or till i find my point.

the difference between s & c

2010-09-17T00:06:00.001+08:00

Freckles says: (AM 12:02:15)
how do i transfer a photo from iphone to my hard dick?
Freckles says: (AM 12:02:20)
hard disk
The Brother says: (AM 12:02:25)
ha
The Brother says: (AM 12:02:28)
give me a shock
Freckles says: (AM 12:02:33)
haha, typo la

RIP

2010-09-14T01:39:00.001+08:00

a fren lost her baby today. less than 2 months old. the doc found no heartbeat. i was just sms-joking with her over the weekend. i can only imagine the sadness her hubby and her must be feeling right now.

i wanna tell her that they are still young, they have lots of chances to get preggers again. i smsed her that. but i know it does not mean anything to them at this time.

~~

you will be dearly missed, my little fren.

~~

time flies, whether you are enjoying it or not

2010-09-02T11:00:00.000+08:00

it's already september. what have i achieved so far?

The XLN strikes

2010-09-01T11:29:00.000+08:00

I was on the feeder bus yesterday AM, stoning away. Suddenly I heard a loud woman's voice, directed at the bus captain. Apparently she was running towards the bus from the back, and I think the bus captain did not see her and closed the door, right when she just reached it. And I think either her foot or elbow got caught.

She's an adult. And anyone who has taken a bus before knows that the door ain't some heavyduty piece of metal which can decapitate a limb. But being a XLN, the woman started to raise her voice at the bus captain, saying she's such a big object how can the latter not see her and close the door yada yada yada. And of course, threatening to take down the bus plate number and complain about him. Se said all that while seated right behind the bus captain. I guess that scared him and he turned back to explain he really din see her and din close the door on her intentionally. (Tho I certainly wish it was on purpose.) The bus captain, who wasn't very articulate, asked if she needed him to call an ambulance. The poor thing couldn't understand him. He repeated himself and the XLN accused him of being insincere blah blah blah.

Her shrill irritating voice shattered the drone monotony onboard the bus. The commotion went on for quite a while and I was rather tempted to go up to them and ask the XLN to shut the fuck up. Or maybe a tight slap across the face would have just ended it all. I'm sorry she got caught by the door. No, I'm sorry she din get hurt.

I dun hate them that much, just dun disturb my mornings.

Cambodia: Bits & Pieces

2010-09-01T11:25:00.002+08:00

oops, missed this wrapup entry...

~~

I'm thankful for these travelmates. They are slackers like me, and hence we spent our days as they go. I think I was the kancheong one, I wanted to have a itinerary, so that I know what's happenin everyday. JQ drove me nuts sometimes during the planning session, the other 2 just follow.

Top 5 Moments frm the trip:

1) Me forgetting my camera charger
I was crushed. I dd not charge my cam before I left SG, and I had previously used it at the Mayday concert, can imagine how much batt is left.. Tried looking for a charger in their photo shops, also left a note at the lodging noticeboard to appeal for help, but to no avail. Luckily I still have my nokia n95. The camera's surprisingly good, the only problem being the slow startup time. And luckily I remembered to bring along my mobile charger.

2) Xiaodi & The Mysterious angmoh
On our first nite at Siem Reap, we were inside Angkor What? and gatecrashed an angmoh's table. He was sitting alone. Xiaodi was our unofficial spokesperson and they both started chatting. The next nite, we were standing in the street party at Banana Leaf, and that angmoh, among the crowd, happened to be standing juz next to us. What a coincidence! So Xiaodi was busy talking to him and making new frens all nite. They arranged to meet again same place same time on the third nite, but unfortunately we did not see him.
We asked Xiaodi what his name was, but he could not recall, only know it's a common name. He was wrecking his brain cells trying to recall. It was only after we failed to see him on our last nite and were walking back frm Pub Str then did he remember the name. Steven, Dr Steven frm Iceland.

3) Angkor Wat tee - front and back
The guys both bought the same tee with the same Angkor Wat print, or so they thought. It was supposed to be a big print motif at the front chest. But they were wrong. Turns out Xiaodi's tee had a small print on the left chest that was supposed to be in front, the big motif at the back. JQ's was just a big print in front. Like the Cambodian movie, they are same same, but different.

4) Stripes aplenty at Angkor Wat
We were at Angkor Wat, and the gals and guys split. Luckily I managed to spot Xiaodi, who was wearing a striped polo, frm across the court and shouted out to him. When we all caught up, we were talking about how I managed to spot Xiaodi when CP-jie said it's coz I identified the striped polo, that there were very few people wearing stripes in Siem Reap. That very moment, a horde of tourists walked past us, a handful of them in striped polos. We burst out laffing.

5) Tuk-tuk 'tour' on the last nite
Last nite of the trip, after our body massage in Phnom Penh, we had drinks at a bar overlooking the Tonle Sap river. When we left the bar, a tuk-tuk driver approached us. But he had no idea where our hotel was. Seeing that, another tuk-tuk driver beside stepped up and said he knew our lodging. The first driver then felt 'threatened' and said yes he remembered where it was. Since he came to us first, we hopped on his tuk-tuk then.

True to our suspicions, he had no idea where to go. We gave him the lane number but saw him drive further and further away. What got me a bit annoyed is that while the guys realised that, they made no attempt to correct the driver. Only after I told them to. *sigh*

We were all laffing our heads off at this 'adventure' on our very last tuk-tuk tuk on the very last nite and thot of this as an impromptu tour. We went past an area which housed a lot of the embassies and cheered when we spotted the singapore embassy, I even saluted as we went past! That was how silly we were then.

We finally spotted our lane entrance and got back safe and sound. The driver was smiling sheepishly at us, but it was all fun. What a way to end the trip.

These incidents seems normal here, but they were such pivotal moments when they happened. Whole lot of fun. Esp us looking for wifi everywhere we went. Good thing about Siem Reap and Phnom Penh is that they have wifi available almost everywhere; all their cafes are wifi-available with passwords like 1234567890 or AAAaaa1234 etc. Everywhere we stop, we will whip out 2 iPhones, 1 itouch and 1 htc and go online. If only Angkor Wat has wifi....

My only pity was not buying any of the local products in Siem Reap. Because we were coaching from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, I din wanna carry too many things with me, hence thot of buying them in Phnom Penh. But they dun have them in Phnom Penh!! Well actually they do, but the Russian Market was so packed and hot with the lanes so small you had sticky bodies touching each other. The stall owners were definitely not as friendly as their compatriots in Siem Reap. I lost all mood to shop. Speaking of which, the Russian Market was a disappointment. There was nuthin special about that place, given the name, blah.

I would love to go back to Siem Reap again, go out to the waterfall and try their 'happy' pizza. Then chill to us$1 beer at Pub St, just a weekend will do. I like Siem Reap. :)

Cambodia posts - All up!

2010-08-29T19:44:00.000+08:00

yup, i finally posted them all! all entries blogged on my then first-gen itouch, thank god i remembered to bring along the charger. then i finally sat down and completed attaching all the photos in the text.

so that is down. coming up in a few months' time, espanol!

May 4: Home Sweet Home

2010-08-29T19:43:00.000+08:00

Our flight departs at 9:10am. We arrived at the airport by 6.55am. Luckily we had pack brekkie frm the hotel. We were all so tired and slept thru the flight, again. Arriving at changi, we were all famished and headed straight to BK for lunch.

That, my frens, is the end of my Cambodia trip.

May 3: Phnom Penh

2010-08-29T19:42:00.000+08:00

Today is tour day. The tuk-tuk we booked for the tour was waiting for us outside at 8.30am.

First stop: Cheung Ek Killing Fields. It used to be a Chinese cemetery and was where the Khmer Rouge brought their captives to kill and bury.

Did I mention how dusty the streets of Phnom Penh was? The moment we got on the tuk-tuk, we had to put on our shades to prevent the dust from flying into our eyes. If we had those face masks, we would use them too.

It was quite a long rise to our destination, and bumpy roads too. After a while, we arrived at the Killing Fields with pain in our butts.

At first sight, it seemed just like any other cemetery. You walk in and the first thing you see is the 'stupah', a memorial tower containing the remains of some of the deceased. 17 levels in total: bottom level contains clothes, 2-9 levels skulls, and the rest bones frm other parts of the bodies. We had a guide bring us around and tell us what happened in those 'holes' in the ground. And of course he pointed out some of the bones we were stepping on. A pity we missed the screening time for their movie.

Next we brave the bumpy ad dusty road back to the city to the Tuol Sleng Museum, aka S21. There is a small hostel directly opposite the Museum and we had a very good lunch there.

S21 used to be a high school. When the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia, they changed the school to be a torture prison. They divided some of the classrooms into small cells with bricks to keep their captives. In some rooms, you see rusty bed frames with some equally rusty instruments. On the walls hung pictures of the terrible state of the dead captives when they were found. Dried blood stains can be seen on the floors too. There were also photos of the victims on display, taken when they first arrived in the prison. Looking at those faces, I find it so hard to imagine the pain they had to go through. I'd rather be dead than go through all that suffering.

At 3pm, we went into a room to catch a movie based on victim. It was damn uncomfortable; not because of the movie content, but because the room was extremely stuffy and hot and you put 20+ sweating bodies inside the room, yucks.

bats on the walls, adds to the creepiness of the place
There was a freaky man outside the prison begging for money. Freaky because his face was disfigured, burnt I think. He had no lips, and eyes were not normal too. At first he approached us for money, then he took off his cap and I had a better look at his face and was startled. Now I am still spooked.

It was the end of the tour. We headed back to the hotel to shower and packed our bags. Then we walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It's run by an org that rescues kids off the streets and teaches them skills to support themselves. It seemed like a popular place as we saw a steady stream of patrons.

Next was the body massage. Not as shook as the foot massage the night before, but no complains. Had ice cream at a riverfront bar and called it a nite.

May 2: Phnom Penh

2010-08-29T19:41:00.000+08:00

At 7am, we tuk-tuk-ed to the bus terminus to catch our 6hr coach frm SR to PP. It def wasn't as good as our standard SG-KL coach, but it was bearable. We were all too tired and fell asleep the moment we got on. The passengers were a mix of tourists and locals, which meant it was rather noisy at some point with all the chattering.

cute local boy on our bus

We arrived at PP at 12+ noon. A tuk-tuk came to us and sent us to our hotel - Blue Lime - for us$3, which was way expensive as it was so near!

The hotel was inside an alley. At the brown wooden main gate, similar to the website, displayed the sign - sex travellers are not welcome. Stepped in revealed a small garden, then the reception, then the pool. The whole decor was pretty simple; concrete walls with occasional splashes of colours. The pool looked very inviting definitely.

Our rooms were 14 & 31. The gals took the latter, and I thot our rooms will be in the 1st and 3rd floor respectively. We had to climb up 4 storeys to get to our room, the last flight of steps were exceptionally high. Turns out our rooms were next to each other, and mine is actually room 13, but they flipped the numbers over. Chey.. And did I mention that the hotel front desk wasn't very frenly? He seemed more concerned with giving us the necessary info and then shoo us off. A stark contrast frm the service in SR. I miss SR already. :(

The room was nice, looked just like in the hotel website. Concrete walls ad platform where 2 single mattresses lay. A simple wall rack for clothes and access to a small balcony. The bathroom's pretty neat too. The only problem is the disappointing water pressure, which we found out later in the nite.

Unpacked, took snaps of the room and off we went, in search of lunch. We had no brekkie and were famished! Again, we were a few streets away from the riverfront, where most of the eateries were.

First impressions of PP: Terribly dusty, and evidently busier. The buildings seemed more haphazardly planted, giving a messier feel. Def did not see that many buildings in PP. And there were more (child) beggars around. In SR, we only saw them in the outskirts, eg Angkor Wat. Here, beggars are everywhere.

We settled for a cafe and waited for ages for our food to be served. In the meantime, countless kids came up to us peddling their books for sale. The long wait was worth it; my steak and cheddar cheese baguette was yummy. JQ had some fries left on his plate. A boy came to us to peddle his books. After we rejected him, he asked and got JQ's fries. His face lit up and flashed a smile of pure joy.

After lunch, we wandered around the area, I was prepared to go shopping and buy some souvenirs. Went past their local market and one of the tourist site in the middle of the city area.

Both their tourist markets - old market & Russian market - close at 5pm, so we had to give them a miss today. Went to sit along the Tonle Sap river and chilled. The riverfront was a center of activity; badminton, sepak takraw, group aerobics etc. Speaking of badminton, we witnessed 2 guys playing the game and one of the guy had such big movements it seemed like badminton martial arts!

After a long long day of walking in the dusty land, it was nightfall. Their night market was catered more for the locals, guess the tourist markets are really only the old and Russian markets then.

Our feet were aching. We went into a nice-looking spa or foot massage for us12. And it was the most well-spent money ever! The massage was so good our feet get light as feather after! It was so good that I made up my mind to come back for full body massage the next nite. It was also hilarious to see all 4 of us sitting in a row getting our feet massaged while, yet again, tapping away furiously on our mobile devices going online. Think the masseurs must be wondering what's wrong with us.

It was soccer nite - chelsea and man u playing against some other teams. We managed to find a table in a cafe showing the matches and settled there for dinner. Big mistake. We were all starving by then, and a lot of items we wanted to order were not available. And then, they took AGES to arrive. And the food were not good. Sigh. Totally ruined the happy experience we derived from the foot massage earlier.

CP-jie and I were very tired after the meal. The guys saw and decided to head back to the hotel. All showered and freshened, we caught Ugly Betty in my room, then called it a night.

May 1: Siem Reap

2010-08-29T19:40:00.000+08:00

Breakfast at the hotel, then off to Angkor Wat. Afraid of getting sunburnt, I actually wore a thin long-sleeve top with the big summon-lady hat. Quite a sight.

We headed off in 2 tuk-tuks. Till now, all our travels were with the 2 tuk-tuks which picked us up frm the airport. Our driver seems more of the honest and simple-minded type while the guys' was more the businessman. He was the one who was aggressively pitching to the guys to book them for our tours. I like my driver. :)

our driver & us

Angkor Wat is made up of a cluster of temples situated in the same area, and Angkor Wat is actually the name of the main temple. First stop was at Ta Prohm, the temple which had the tree roots growing into to the walls. The heat was already getting into me, not forgetting jostling with the hordes of tourists.

2nd stop - Bayon temple. Apparently the biggest temple among all. It was a very long walk from one end to the other, along the way seeing pools and a long catwalk.

One notable incident was a small girl hugging her brother while sitting at a corner. When I first walked past her, she was wiping tears away frm her face. Then I heard her pinching ad slapping her brother too, probably hoping to make him cry so that the tourists will take pity and give them money. Then I while standing on top of the wall, tried to take a snap of them, she saw me, looked at me fiercely and demanded one dollar. I had a shock and walked off.

We went brought to a nearby stall for lunch. There was in particular, a very smart little girl. She was asking us where we were from and guessed the city, which she said Singapore do not have a city. The she rattled off the cities of other countries and asked us to guess for one of the countries. If we got it right, she will leave us alone. If not, we'll have to buy something frm her. WHAT??? Of course we din guess rite, checking online is cheating. After much fun, xiaodi finally bought a magnet frm her.

Final stop of the day - Angkor Wat. We were there the day before to catch the sunset. But the temple was huge and required lots of walking and climbing.

We were queuing to get up to the highest point of Angkor Wat when it started to rain. Hence we were an hour late to get back to our tuk-tuk. Poor driver had to wait in the rain. Tipped him usd2 at the end of the day.

Got back, showered and headed for Pub Street again. Afterall there's nowhere else except that place. It was a Saturday, you would have expected the place to be happening. And besides, xiaodi was supposed to meet his new frens there too. We got there and the street was full with tourists. But the partying the night before was nowhere in sight. Slowly but surely, the crowd died away and the street quietened. This nite, our last nite in Siem Reap, we definitely went away disappointed.

Apr 30: Siem Reap

2010-08-29T19:39:00.000+08:00

Woke up slightly later and headed to the city again, still hoping to find any shop which MIGHT have my charger for sale, but to no avail. :( Lunched at a roadside stall and headed back to our hotel.

lunch amongst coke propaganda

We were joined by 3 other Caucasians on our Tonle Sap tour - 2 male aussies, 1 English lady. And we seriously suspect the 2 guys are partners. Anyway, we had a stopover at the fish sauce 'factory'. My initial impression was that even Cambodia has such gimmicks and collaboration with the tour agents to earn commission. But it turned out to be just a dilapidated place that contains a walled area full of headless fishes. They are left there for days before fished out and processed into fish sauce. The smell was sickening tho.

hordes of headless fishes

Tonle Sap, at this time of the year, is a very shallow river. Our boat had its propeller stuck a few times thruout our journey. It was also hot and stuffy, and the dirty water looked like teh peng. No, make that teh. It was a long and narrow stretch, then at the end the river merged with the sea, where u really see the people who live in the boats on the river.

kids working on the boat, a common sight actually

It is a community on its own. It had its own school, church, mama shop, and pigsty/chicken coop even!

church

pigsty

i waited till i'm 29 to drive myself to work. they row themselves to sch since young. i dun wanna be in their shoes tho.

We made a stop at one of the boats for drinks and to catch the full view of the river people. Then, it was time to head back.

the sun was amazingly hot

We rushed back to our lodging to catch our transfer to Angkor Wat. Plan was to purchase our tic for tomorrow and take snaps of the sunset. I was quite amused to see that we had to take photo at the ticket booth and our photo was printed on the ticket.

at least the instant shot doesn't look all-too-bad

Angkor Wat is a beautiful place. We managed to take a quick tour of Angkor Wat before we were chased out. Our search for the so-called best spot to take snaps of the sunset was futile.

Headed back to hotel, grabbed a quick dinner at the hotel, then off to Pub Street again. Wanted to buy some tees and souvenirs, but decided to buy in Phnom Penh instead, dun wanna carry so many things onboard the bus. Fulham vs West Ham were playing and the guys wanna catch it. CP-jie and I then went off and got a foot massage. Unfortunately we were the last customers and the masseurs gave us a rather hurried job.

Reunited with the guys at Temple Club, whose rojak mix of music was giving me nuthin but headaches. Stepped out and partook in the 'street party' at Banana Leaf. BL is situated on a narrow strip of space and they have a live band on fri nites, the crowd took to standing on the road beside and started dancing there. Hence the 'street party'.

in front of the 'burger screen' is the live band

It was a mish-mash of nationalities in the crowd: locals vs tourists frm different countries. The Dutch kept on doing the conga line and they were hard to miss in their orange tops. And so happens that the angmoh xiaodi chatted up the nite before at Angkor What? was standing right beside him in the crowd. Frens meet again, and this time the latter intro-ed a lot more frens. Anthony - young French-Cambodian mix Casanova, cute.

It was a very fun nite and we left only when the place closed. An early start awaits the next day for our trip to Angkor Wat.

Apr 29: Siem Reap

2010-08-29T19:38:00.001+08:00

Flight at 0600hrs, the guys picked me up at 0400hrs; obviously no sleep for me prior. And I knocked out the moment the flight took off.

A short 2hr 5mins later, we touched down at Siem Reap International Airport. It is a rather new airport with clean and modern design. We stepped out and tuk-tuk-ed our way to our hotel - The Villa Siem Reap.

me and my hotel tuk-tuk pickup

It was also during the ride where I realised I forgot to bring along my camera battery charger. *bang balls*

It was a long straight road, turn right then left, and we arrived at our lodging. It's a cosy little building partially covered by trees. Business must be pretty good coz there were a few people waiting to check in too when we arrived. Room was clean and big, not the posh 5-star standards, but good enuff for usd30/nite. In fact i think it's a very good room for that value.

supposed to insert shots of the room here, but for some godforsaken reason, i forgot to take photos of the room!

Still tired, we unpacked, caught some shuteye in our rooms, then had lunch downstairs. I know food from the hotel is bound to be expensive, but we were too hungry by then and couldn't be bothered.

lunch

We headed out to explore the place.

Before that, I left a note on the noticeboard calling out to anyway who can lend me their panasonic charger, if they have one that is.. (mayne i'll have better luck asking for a canon charger..)

This is a cinema-or-sorts 2 shops away
5 tvs showing all different channels with rows and rows of chairs. Only the volume of the show on the center big screen can be heard.

We walked to the Old and Central Markets, past the rows of shops, plonked ourselves in Blue Pumpkin for some aircon & ice-cream (the heat was impossible) and fell asleep in the process, then went next door to Bodia for a usd20 foot massage, which wasn't good. :(

Nice but salty dinner by the roadside

Hung out at banana leaf, then to Angkor What?, where jason didi chatted up an angmoh whose table we gatecrashed.

It was a slack day where we walked around aimlessly with neither stress nor agenda. The streets of Siem Reap are easy to navigate, and I feel safe. The people are friendly too. I like Siem Reap already. :)

3rd move in 4 years

2010-08-24T15:39:00.000+08:00

come september, i will need to move my seat again. from 13th to the 15th. if there ever is an emergency and the lifts dun work, god help me.

right now, i'm comfortably seated in my desk in a corner outside the pantry, and facing conrad hotel. i have a spacious seat with high partitions, and my neighbour on the other side of the partition is not always around. tho she is rather loud, her absence makes up for it. and she's also my companion when i work late. i have soft toys and photos at my table, and piles of papers all over. all these are gonna change come september.

we will all be on the 15th floor, when the partitions are low, and i will sit directly opposite my boss. wah!!! *it's time to dig out my 小虎队 and paste it up to cover his face.* what's worse, the bosses will all be seating in the vicinity and that means... I CANNOT COME IN LATE ANYMORE!!!!! what can be worse than that?!?!?!? not to mention, the tons of things i will need to move up as well..

it's time to clear the desk, gotta say bye to my little bears, yellow ducky and turtle. and my little comfortable corner.

:(

it all started with an email about some webinars..

2010-08-19T11:02:00.000+08:00

it was sent to a mailing list, which i did NOT receive. someone in the mailing list replied that she is not available to attend and for some reason still kept on receiving such notifications. due to some unknown forces in the universe, i got said email.

as i just checked my mails an hour ago when i started my outlook, i have 153 new emails. holy blardy farking cow! among which, almost 90% were from people from all over the world writing to unsubscribe to the mailing list. apparently i wasn't the only one who got the email, so it seems. and you see the different reactions people have; some got pissed off, others taking it in their stride, a lady even sent a photo of a dog and wished everyone a happy day!

some of the responses, in order of receipt:
- Can we stop with the "reply all"? I for one have no interest in someone else's issues with this dlist.
- CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY I AM GETTING THESE EMAILS !!! I am very sure that I am not part of . (Don't even know what that is ). > actually neither do i!
- Funny...If you are asking to stop doing a Reply All, why are YOU doing a Reply All? If you are so tempted to do a Reply All, at least what you could do is move the mailing list to BCC instead of CC field.
- [picture of a labrador] Well, while we are Replying All, may as well wish everyone to have a wonderful day!
- I know one more reply all (please spare me your curses – I am just trying to help), I feel we are just getting jittery over something very minor over here. But at the same time I would request every one having an issue with this Distribution List to please direct their concerns to the sender of these communications alone (and not include the whole group).. ..
- I liked the picture of the dog…
- The way to get removed from a distribution list is to go to the [application name] and go to the Access and Mailing List Tab. From here, you can select the action of Remove Privileges then select the mailing list you are trying to remove yourself from. Sending a note this way will not accomplish the removal... > note: after this email, there are still sibeh many emails of people replying to the mailing list asking to unsubscribe!
- awwww-- he (she?)'s so sweet! Thanks for that.
- You know for a Software company, it is amazing how something like this seems to wrestle everyone to the ground. > one of my favorites..
- This has been the funniest spam chain I have seen and we are heading towards a record!!!:0 sorry for the reply all again!!:-)
- For all who tried this approach – it didn’t work – it just went to the group again. More spam! I think the recommendation was to use [distribution list]. Amazing how this started from one email that was sent in June…’delete’ works fine for me.
- dang !! and we are a software company !! guys you are forgetting the -admin part of the address !!! ... assuming and hoping that actually works ... ... but thank you for removing the (nice) dog pic and the 20MB of email thread - that's what I call progress ;-)
- CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME TOO, WHY I AM GETTING THESE EMAILS !!! I'm [name], [title] from [country]...., I don't have to receive this mail. Please remove me from this list!
- Come on... It was said to send this unsubscribe mail to [email id]... Not [email org] There's a subtle difference on both addresses...
- Please pay attention when reading emails, its a pre-requisite for a successful career. > the other personal fav
- Can someone disable this DL? This is becoming extremely frustrating – I have received 100s of messages this morning!
- You do NOT unsubscribe by hitting reply-all to the Dist LIST !!!! If you want to unsubscribe, pay attention to the folks who told you how, and send an email.
- Guys! I would rather have an e-mail from once in a while than getting e-mails from each one of you asking to ‘unsubscribe’! Could everyone please stop this nonsense! > totally right!

so next time people, pls read your emails properly so that you dun spam people from all over the world.

an email consists of the subject and message text

2010-08-05T15:56:00.000+08:00

~~

From: [ex-boss]
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 6:27 AM
To: [freckles]
Subject: RE: [ex-boss], do you have record of my EPF registration, what date do I register to check-in as I may only check in on Tues morning, thks for checking........../[plonker]

Lol – you are turning into me

Regards
[ex-boss]

From: [freckles]
Sent: Wednesday, 30 June 2010 2:46 AM
To: [ex-boss]
Subject: RE: [ex-boss], do you have record of my EPF registration, what date do I register to check-in as I may only check in on Tues morning, thks for checking........../[plonker]

in case more plonkers ask, the checkin time is at 3pm, checkout at 11am.

I dun understand why he must state his question in the email subject title.

From: [ex-boss]
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 7:58 PM
To: [plonker]
Cc: Lauren Lee
Subject: RE: [ex-boss], do you have record of my EPF registration, what date do I register to check-in as I may only check in on Tues morning, thks for checking........../[plonker]

Hi [plonker]

Your current registration has check in date of 5th July and check out date of 7th July.

Check in time is generally mid afternoon, we can change your check in to 6th July however you will not be able to access your accommodation until later that day.

Pls confirm if you want the change made or to remain as is.

Regards
[ex-boss]

From: [plonker]
Sent: Tuesday, 29 June 2010 8:45 PM
To: [ex-boss]
Subject: [ex-boss], do you have record of my EPF registration, what date do I register to check-in as I may only check in on Tues morning, thks for checking........../[plonker]

~~

sorry, i have no patience for this.

ohhh, so important.. ..

2010-08-05T15:29:00.000+08:00

while we were preparing for my partner event early last month, i got the below email from the ex-boss:

~~

From: [ex-boss]
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2010 12:40 PM
To: [freckles]
Subject: Very Important Question

As I sit here stuffing a tim tam in my face I was wondering whether you wanted me to bring any packets with me.

Regards
[ex-boss]

~~