when mr lim walked past..

when mr lim walked past, HC, mich & me were having peanut pancakes at pearlyn's table. the moment i heard and saw him, HC and me ducked behind the cubicle partition wall and kept the pancake in its box. this immediate action left mich wondering what was happening and our secretary just could not stop laughing.

boy, just imagine the impact it had, when mr lim walked past..

china-szechuan earthquake 2008

who would have thought that something this terrible will happen.. i mean, china had her fair share of misfortune since the start of the year, with sandstorms to cold drifts to riots in tibets, to unsuccessful pre-olympics activities.. and right after myanmar got hit by a cyclone, szechuan got hit by an earthquake and i was totally clueless of it, till i got home late on monday evening..

at that instant, i was just lost for words.. i mean, it was a place, which i have visited twice in a period of 6 months and now, the whole place is in ruins.. it's just pretty shocking and unbelievable.. i was just lost for words..


this is perhaps the one and only shot i've got of wenchuan county during my trip in november, whereby everything was still in place.. with its buildings and even a well and safe dam.. but now some of the buildings are gone and there are hayline cracks in the dam wall..

i finally understood what sean meant, when he said that it wrenched your heart to see the buildings, that you were once familiar with, go down in ruins.. and to see the lives of the ppl living in the affected areas seriously changed..

even as the rescuers race against time to search for survivors and occassionally, with stories of hope and love surfacing up in the news, the question that remains after everything is.. what's next? what about those left behind?

it really wrenches me to see the photos on the newspapers and on online news pages.. but somehow i don't exactly feel the same way towards myanmar, though it needs equal, if not more help and attention.. maybe it's because i've never been to myanmar?? maybe it's because i do not know anyone there?? maybe it's just not a place where my heart is directed to??

with each natural disaster striking many countries, the number of closet dreams i have grow as well.. but like pearlyn said, i will most probably give all those ard me a heart attack, if i do truly embark on anyone of them.. but if i really do embark on one, there will be so much planning required and so much to prepare for..

the only thing that we can do now, is to pray for both nations.. there are so much uncertainty and so much pain, that perhaps, time can't even heal any of it.. but we can only pray that the Lord works in this time and He is the only one that can give hope and peace to all affected.. perhaps it's easy for me to say this now, coz it's not affecting me directly.. but when all else fails, God is still the one constant and He is the only one that can save..

the bucket list..

not been watching much movies, although i watched horton hears a who and the leap years, but it was the bucket list, which i really wanted to watch.. what's more? throw in 2 top-notch actors playing counterparts to each other, although they are 100% straight.. but it's just so nice.. and man, it makes you realised that with money, you can do all things too.. and man, seeing all those places they went to, in order to fulfill the 'bucket list', it made me wanna go travel even more..

anyway, the bucket list actually talks about the last years of a person.. and this statement narrated by morgan freeman stayed with me.. quoting almost correctly.. of all the ppl in the world, 95% of them do not wish to know when they will leave this earth, while 5% wish to know.. i belonged to the 5%, however after knowing how much time i've got left in this world, i finally understood why ppl do not want to know.. it just caught me right there..


and then, this will lead on to the rest of my post.. and i never meant for the picture to be this happy, coz when i was thinking about how to phrase this post.. it was never exactly meant to be happy..

when i saw morgan freeman writing on the yellow notepad paper, it reminded me at once, of those papers that we used to pass ard in class in our senior year, whereby you write one good sentence about the person, who's name is on the paper..

honestly, how will each of our lives match up at the end of the day.. do we look back and mark more ticks on our bucket list as we proceed on in life? or to realise that there are minimal or no ticks on the list.. and what do we invest in as well?? trying to earn more out of the financial market or to invest in tangible things, without any monetary tag placed on them?

lately been hearing and seeing things, which i honestly wished that i can be oblivious to and pretend that they do not exist.. if everything is cyclical, is this time really my turn.. it has come to a point, whereby escapism is honestly no longer the way out, coz what is really happening is that i want to cheat time..

if you are thinking that i've gone sick, in every aspect of the word, i haven't.. see, you all can't get rid of me yet!! hahahaha!! but rather just thinking of the 'what-ifs'.. so what do i want my 'bucket list' to be? a list full of long-term investments.. tiring and i may not even live to see their returns.. a long list with many places to travel to.. a long list of food to eat and try!!

at the end of the day, i want my 'bucket list' to be filled with many ticks and zero undone items.. at the end of the day, i want to be as happy as the picture above, whereby i can look in to the bucket and see it completely empty, coz i have completed all that i wanted to do.. and it will be a list worth living it out for..

what makes up a food critique..

so what makes up a food critique?? some established name of a food critic.. some nice restaurant/ cafe.. and a list of criteria for the place to be rated against.. and the criteria which i am listing below is actually taken from hungrygowhere.com..

honestly, if i could and i can, i am really interested in being a free-lancing part-time food critic.. even if i have to do it for free, coz let's put it this way, just like all my friends said, i live to eat and not eat to live..

so the one and most necessary thing that has to be critiqued upon is the quality and quantity of the food.. having read minimal serious food reviews, i would like to write it my own style.. if possible, i would mention about the possible ingredients that were used.. the smells that were brought out.. the tastes that were left after consumption.. and in times like these, i really do wish that i know how to cook and the smells of each additive..

the next criteria is ambience.. and look who's kidding who!! without the perfect ambience, it can make or break a situation.. be it a business gathering or a romantic first date.. alfresco/ waterfront dining will definitely help to create the perfect setting required for a first date.. people-watching or noisy/vibrant atmospheres can be given a miss.. but if there is ever a need to rate a starbucks cafe, people-watching will definitely be a must for me..

value.. a huge factor esp when trying to decide if you will want to return to the eating place again.. is the food/ ambience worth the money you have invested in?? there will be moments whereby one's experience is totally not worth the price paid, either due to the variety of food served or perhaps, the environment and surroundings which the whole outing was done under..

lastly, it's all about service.. and this is the only criteria, whereby human-touch is all important.. terrible service will leave patrons a bad impression and there goes another unhappy customer.. excellent service brings about a good impression and may even be the saving grace for a restaurant as well!! and nowadays, when everything speaks about personal touch, this is the only aspect of the whole eating experience, whereby personal touch can be injected into.. this is esp. so for sunny singapore, for the govt is promoting the 'Going the Extra Mile' campaign..

i sound like a professional but am actually far from it.. ppl who do food critiques, have their woes of this lifestyle as well.. but then again, the grass is perpetually greener on the other side.. when you can't have it, that's when something is most desirable.. but when you actually have it, it may beg to differ.. similarly, the same principle is applied to food.. =)

yet another year..

and it's yet another year.. when it seemed not too long ago that the year 2007 had just started.. so a quick recall of the year gone past..

sometime back, i was prancing around in lab trying to finish up my fyp in january, taking care of my fish tank.. then it suddenly zoomed to march, towards the poster presentation/ marketing project/ HR pull-hair sessions.. exams suddenly came in april, in the midst of planning for my graduation trip to china.. and lo and behold, i was standing on the great wall of china in may.. followed by a hat-throwing session in july.. attended the 1st wedding of folks from my jc bunch of friends.. returned to china in nov, just to lose stuff on the trip =(.. and finally, hitting the end of 2007..

hmm.. feeling a little weird on how to conclude 2007, coz to me, life just goes on.. year after year, day after day.. i didn't cross into 2008 the way i wanted it to be, but it was just quiet and boring.. which may be needed for the upcoming busy weekend, which concluded yesterday evening.. but anyway, i still need my conclusion for 2007..

i learnt that i'm hyperactive and required to be on a continual move at all times.. at least during my waking hours and this may or may not be a good thing.. i learnt that i'm really bad with my technical knowledge and i don't bother questioning 'why', unless i'm really stuck.. i learnt that perhaps i value my friends more than the things that truly mattered to me.. and one sentence that perhaps sums me up, i am more of the world than storing up treasures that last..

2007 was definitely not a contented year.. for both a worldly scale, as well as a godly scale.. i saw many things that i wanted to have, wanted to achieve but the year ended with little achievements and with many things still sitting in the pits.. and most of the time, i just spent it eating and making merry..

so how will this affect me in the new year? will i just continue on with my present lifestyle and let myself just move along with the flow of events? or will i take courage and jump out of the box and do something about the whole situation? but before i can even jump out, there is something that i need to right, which is something that i told myself year after year that i'll right.. but i never did..

and after reading all that i've written, it seemed like i'm quite a goner with no future.. but this little thing that lurking in the background called 'HOPE', really gave me a mini-boost for the new year.. that no matter how bad situations can get, no matter how badly murphy tries to get one down.. there is still hope and that things will pick up.. it's a test of how much FAITH one has as well.. to last it through or to throw in the towel.. GRACE is there to give continual chances and i should just stop exploiting this grace but do something.. and start doing something.. and not to let what i've learnt over the weekend to be put to waste as well..

so life goes on.. it definitely looks like an endless tunnel to me now.. but i'm gonna put this down into words here and say, i will and gonna try to make things work.. and investing in the right things.. easy to say, difficult to achieve but i must make something out of year 2008..

so no fixed resolutions but i just want to accomplish as much as possible in this year.. period.. =)

a case of lost memories..

i'm tired of explaining.. of having to complain my guts out and whining to the whole world, like there's no end.. man, i'm seriously wondering how old i actually am.. perhaps i should just sit in the foyer, in front of the television and watch kids central from 8.30am to 6pm instead.. terrible kid here..

well, i got pickpocketed on the shopping street in chengdu.. stupid move and lousy behaviour but it happened.. i reacted.. i cried, i bawled.. i was in a state of helplessness.. i didn't know what to do, for i lost my memories.. it was more than just lost memory cards for me.. it was my memories of ppl and places i love.. yes, unfortunately, i love and loved.. perhaps i've some emotions left in me afterall.. but anyway, photos of my new and old trips, with everything in there..

i would have just stood there crying, if mum didn't come and pull me up.. i just felt lost and murphy's law was just a continual repetition within my head.. everyone was trying to cheer me up, telling me that it could have been worse.. it seriously could have been.. so i should honestly count my blessings instead.. and seriously, photos are physical evidences of memories but then again, memories are what we all hold dear, within us and in our heads, captured with a different camera len, of greater field of vision..

yet at the same time, i felt so much love poured into the situation.. well, the adults would definitely launch into a mini-lecture, yet there were some words, which didn't make the situation better, but it made me feel doted as well.. perhaps i'm truly still a kid, who seriously has never grown up..

a case of lost memories, but it was filled with many blessings and love as well..

departures..

eventful few weeks.. october is already over and november is here.. green day's song is long not applicable anymore!! till next september comes actually..

anyway, there has been pretty much departure of late.. keve went back to muenchen to study and hasn't been heard of since then.. tayo left for work in dubai!!! boohoo!!! if you wanna know why i miss him, go read my commencement post.. but guess what?? tayo called us all in church this afternoon!!! oh my gosh, we all truly miss him man!!

and another departure was for denise.. hmm, she has left for the dark (or light) side.. well, go figure.. and will miss all the eating sessions, though singapore is that small.. and not to mention that she's my mahjong teacher!! though i have 2 part-time teachers as well.. so here's one photo which we coaxed her into taking.. the guys insisted that they were camera-shy folks..



but anyway, we'll miss you!! and we have started the 'superseded' club on facebook for our own entertainment.. well, call it exclusive coz it's by invitation only!! =P

when i lose control, it drives me nuts.. and it reminds me of the million and one 'what if's.. what if.. eventually.. i didn't achieve what i gave up a lot of other stuff for.. what if..

if music was ever used to express phases of life, it fitted perfectly into mine..

just that it has been my msn nick for almost a week, so decided to just pen it into words on my blog.. but anyway, boon says that i'm living my life on facebook, which is not a good thing!! it's addiction..

so, music and me.. songs and me.. different times, different settings, but once in a while, the same song goes in circles and come back to me, or other new songs may pop up and surprise me.. but just that there are few songs which stood out at me during these times.. pardon me for liking the really old songs and seriously, if you read the sing lyrics, they would have absolutely no connection with what i was going through, but shoot me man, i just found that song and it just got stuck with me..

i remembered back in secondary school, i was obsessed with this japanese instrumental group known as SENS, which has really beautiful soothing music, blending piano with nature.. but it puts one to sleep.. i even went to the stage of getting hold of the music scores.. but then everything stopped there, when i moved on to junior college..

nothing exactly stayed during the years in acjc, except all the insane mass dance songs that we danced to.. flip fantasia, cantaloop etc.. and drops of jupiter became my seniors' nite theme..

subsequently, no songs or music groups actually drove me nuts over.. but there are just a few songs that stayed on, although the lyrics make absolutely no sense in terms of anything to me.. but it's just the situation the songs were 'found' and how much they have journeyed with me..

chayanne - yo te amo was one of the many songs in the taiwanese version of meteor garden 2 and it was played while the actors and actresses traveled through the beauty of barcelona.. and little did i know that 6 months after, i actually visited europe but not to barcelona.. this songs made its impression during the 3-hour train ride from freiburg to konstanz.. and we actually went through schwarzwald.. through the valleys and mountains.. it just made the song looked so perfect..

k-maro - femme like you was a really weird find.. it was 'found' coz my mp3 player so happened to be out of batt at that particular instant, so i ended up plugging into live radio on einslive.de.. and viola!! there was this song being played for that particular moment.. a totally irrelevant song, with pretty explicit expressions.. and what more, it's french, which i have absolutely no understanding of.. but this song sat me through the hours in my room during exchange.. when i had to do stupid reports etc.. and more so, it sat me through the train ride from hamburg to muenchen.. when i was waiting for the train at 5am in the cold, and through the ride of waking up occassionally to catch the white landscape passing beside me..

lifehouse - blind was a steal from keve's notebook.. once again, it had no relevant to anything but rather it sat me through the return train ride from muenchen to hamburg.. keeping me awake while having to umsteig 3 times through the night.. you must be wondering, why i did not just take the nachtzug.. but once in a while, when i do visit the song lyrics again, it just kind of remind me of my love-hate relationship with a place, location..

anyway, there are definitely stray songs that somehow made an impression somewhere.. pussycat dolls - don't cha or buttons.. madonna's cover of abba's hit.. xavier naidoo - dieser weg, which subsequently went on to become the german team's world cup theme song.. and there were plenty of others.. and how the world did i end up hearing these songs?? thanks to radek for blasting his radio in our not-so-big house..

it seemed that much of the music which i have heard of, came during my time on exchange.. but then again, blame me for not having a radio in my room.. it's true.. it 'blew' up in sec. 4 and after that, i no longer have a radio..

perhaps through this, it's possible to read me, know my thoughts etc.. but music kind of walked us through life.. well, of course there are nonsense music around too.. but sometimes they may serve as therapy, theme songs to life moments etc.. so admit it, music is part of our lives..

and so i declare this in public!! =) and admit it, bruce springsteen - secret garden is an evergreen..

many wonderful moments & a woe..

it was a great and lazy saturday.. well, at least for me.. considering the hour which i woke up at and the blowing up of all other plans into pieces.. it was truly lazy and.. LAZY!! BUT i was there.. i made it to denise's place for potluck!!! =)


this photo was taken during the project bbq session at east coast park some time in july.. there's sharon, michelle, denise, fanny & boquan.. jeffrey was in the other photo taken at raffles marina, but i left that photo on my desktop at work.. so anyway, here makes up the lunch party at work!! coz we have only that much chinese folks around..

anyway, our potluck session at denise's place finally materialised this weekend!!! michelle & keith cooked us bolognese spaghetti.. denise made awesome curry chicken.. boquan & xiulan got us sambal sting-ray & fried chicken wings.. fanny deep-fried smiley potatoes & chicken nuggets.. jeffrey cooked up a storm of pineapple rice.. and me?? mum made mango pudding on my behalf.. coz it's a well-known fact that if i do attempt to cook, either the kitchen will end up in flames or everyone will need to consume charcoal pills to put a stop to diarrhoea...

and what's better?? we got to play mahjong.. and my aim for today, was to learn how to play mahjong.. well, i'll learn about how to win the game (with more money) another time.. my teacher was none other than denise.. while jeffrey & keith served as part-time teachers.. =) one commenting note was how jeffrey somehow never won a single round.. which got him into the state of playing-mahjong-while-trying-to-cut-and-cook-pineapple-rice.. let's all give a hand to the expert here.. psst.. i can see jeffrey armed with a parang and gonna come after me for writing all that down.. but anyway, it's mahjong.. it's all about luck and.. luck.. but hey, everything was done in the name of fun!! =)

we had too much food but we told ourselves that we would not resort to having to play some silly game to clear up the food.. however, we did have the silly idea of using them as rewards for anyone who won any round.. erm.. and then mahjong would become the hardest game around to play.. coz somehow nobody would like to win the game anymore.. hahaha..

thanks for all the fun everyone!! i really love my colleagues.. =)

but to mention a woe, it will be as follows.. a non-work relevant email was received one afternoon, which ended with a moral stating that in any situation, do not neglect any changes, for one never knows when that change may affect himself and others ard as well.. and as such, we were just discussing that PAN 89 should be reissued, with corrected consumptions.. otherwise, many will be greatly affected..

on a side-note: keve is back!!! my gummibears & ritter sport chocolates came home as well!! well, that should not be the main point.. but just glad to see keve after a period of almost 2 years?? yeah, so welcome back.. but that stupid friend will be gone on the coming friday again.. so go back and study hard!! =)

visit to the singapore zoo!!!

whee!! what a perfect chance to relive childhood, but to visit places which i was last there back in primary school.. so how long was it?? say almost coming to 20 years??

anyway, this visit was done after so many years with my dearest chickadees!! *muackz*.. eunice, who has been to the zoo 4 times since the year began.. we were wondering if she should have become a friend of the zoo.. huiran, my other twin.. suren & samuel, whom we had to convince to go late for pottery class, so they could come along too.. =)

we started the whole trip by running to the giraffe enclosure, so that we could catch the feeding session.. gosh!! the giraffe's tongue is really long.. and looked really slimy too.. the zebras shifted house, coz their old home was closed for renovation.. the king of the jungle looked so relaxed in its original position, it actually resembled a stone.. opps!! did i just say that too loudly?? =P

and then there was the splash show, whereby the sealions, penguins and manatees were swimming around and showing off their nature.. we were really appalled at the behaviour of the pelican, which was sticking its head into the water and biting at the passing manatee!!! horrid behaviour!!

the komodo dragons moved house as well.. and we never found out where they disappeared to.. however, we found ourselves looking at giant tortoises, which were lumbering along.. wait, correction.. inching along from one point to another.. we were wondering, what if one ended up on us, would we be crushed instead..

suren & samuel left early, while the 3 of us decided to make our money worth every cent, we performed an 'amazing race' session round the zoo, that left us tired and sweaty..

we went for the elephant show and even got around feeding the elephants.. not for free, of course, but 5 bucks for 4 baby bananas & 1 carrot.. talk about expensive!! we visited the polar bear enclosure and saw it biting on a huge piece of ice!!! oh, we watched the entire splash show again!! and we figured that the zoo helpers kind of pick more foreigners as volunteers for the show than locals.. well, what can we say to free publicity??

finaly stop was the fragile forest, which reminded me so much of the tropical enclosure in mainau, konstanz.. humid, with butterflies fluttering around.. however, in this one that we visited, the butterflies somehow all went into hiding.. oh, the grossest thing of all, was this particular glass enclosure which we went passed.. hissing cockroaches from madagascar!!! i didn't even dare to go near the enclosure.. but a distant look to it appeared to me that the entire enclosure was fillled up!! enough said that.. i'm grossed out enough..

oh, and we did a really cheapo thing.. instead of purchasing the photos which were taken by the zoo photographers for an exorbitant prices, we went back and posed in front of the same setting and took our own photo!! =P



thank you girls for coming with me and making this trip all the different for me as well!! muackz!! anyway, apparently the cheetah enclosure is closed for renovations as well, and we said that we will return to the zoo next june, when the enclosure is done.. so till then!! =)

rhys's wedding!!

anyway, just a quick post to say all my thanks a brilliant group of ppl out there..

to ben, szemin, cherie, koksoon, andrew, lloyd, shanli, michelle wong & all the folks who helped out.. thanks for putting up with all my nonsense and all the bossing around on sunday afternoon.. thanks for all the help that you all put in to help made the whole location and event as it had been..

to emily, aunty swee khim, eunice, aunty jean... thanks for all the inputs of the ideas and for helping me with all the packing of the decor stuff.. i hope i didn't destroy any of the stuff borrowed.. =P

to fanny, denise, sharon, michelle lin, boquan, jeffrey... thanks for letting me whine, complain and vomit my guts out.. figuratively and literally..

on a side-note: i'm gonna go attend a make-up class conducted by chanel!!! let me update you all on its content at the end of the session.. oh, i succumbed to facebook.. crap..

hmm, to make the story more complete.. i shall explain the purpose of this post.. well, rhys is married!! woohoo!! erm, ain't sure if we'll even fulfill that part of the deal but that aside, rhys is happily married!!


here's all of us with the happy man himself.. and there's the best man too i.e. ben.. our in-house fashion designer i.e. szemin.. and unfortunately, the coolie party as well.. of which, i'm the bossy fellow in it..

well, you must be wondering why i was 'complaining' so much abt the whole situation.. but honestly, i have never learnt or tried doing decorations for a chalet wedding.. really.. so it was actually a pretty stressful outing for me.. perhaps, it's all to do with my obsession with perfection.. but without it, there won't be achievement on my end.. and i'm a procrastinator.. i work with a sudden rush of adrenaline.. so i put off work till the last minute, which places a limit on producing quality work..

then there's also the element of uncertainty involved on the actual situation as well.. the inability to control the situation drove me nuts.. delays in schedule.. people attacking the buffet spread before the start of the ceremony.. food cleared even way before we were done eating.. sudden drizzles and downpours, which were not that detrimental and devastating as they were made out to be.. etc. etc. etc.. oh wells, i can only say that i wasn't that prepared for all these to happen..

so yeah.. as i said, i bossed everyone around.. so i'm not sure how confident i am to be able to do another decor for any other wedding... no connection but just a random thought..


and here's to girlfriends.. thanks loads!!

and rhys & ping ping, CONGRATULATIONS!!

my mountain-turtle visit to MY HUMBLE HOUSE!!

i've heard so much about this place, prior to my visit just this very evening... almost all reviews seem to read, totally un-humble and totally expensive.. well, either coz my parents went for relatively cheap and normal dishes from the a la carte menu, or just that we ain't big fans of devouring food, which are delicacies but scarily priced..

so this is MY HUMBLE HOUSE!! i can always remember that 'walk', which i took with cherie many years ago, just to have a look at the place and having no intentions of eating in there..





here are the interiors of the restaurant.. which had those really tall chairs, which i thought was lining the entire restaurant, but rather they were used only for tables, catering for long massive groups, i.e. company/ family get-togethers..

i really wanted the table by the waterfront, but it was apparently reserved.. unfortunately for a table for 2, though it had 4 seats.. and my family had to settle for a weird table for 3.. but anyway, i really enjoyed the experience..

it was kind of a 1st time experience for my parents into fine dining, so i was a little worried that they are not used to the fact, that perhaps food doesn't fill up that easily.. but the slightly long wait between dishes did the trick.. and everything settled in nicely.. but i always welcome more food.. =)

on a side-note, i am 'hanging' out more at hungrygowhere.com nowadays, rather than my own blog.. it's a really cool website, where all foodie nutties congregate together.. well, i do not deny that i'm part of the circle too.. if you want reviews about my humble house, check me out at hungrygowhere.com.. there are other reviews which i did too.. and go check out the website in general, for eating advices!!

on a side-note no. 2, here's a look of what i wore on my foot today!! it's bronze but it has this really cute red ribbon on it.. a little too cutsie for me but i love it loads!!


they just kind of remind me of the silver shoes, which dorothy owns in the wizard of oz.. but of course, they are not silver... but i just love them too.. can't wait to buy a truly red pair of shoes..

okay, i'll keep my pockets and here goes to shopping on 29th sept!! meanwhile, control is very much required..

amore women's workout day 2007..

it all started with a temptation over the wonderful goodies within the goodie bag.. such as a plain white gym bag, mph vouchers, kimage vouchers, wallet shop vouchers etc.. and then it became a session of convincing friends to go along and go have fun.. and viola!! huiran went, so did jiating too!!

it was hilarous!! at least for me, coz you are talking someone who has yet to lift a finger to exercise since leaving the school grounds of acjc.. go figure how many years that has been..

and so, dragging myself up at an unearthly hour, eventually having to make 2 trips home coz i forgot my number tag.. so i was late.. but that was besides the point.. i made it!! i was in time!! but then, the fun began..

and all the muscle-aching sessions began!!! oh my gosh!! i could feel the tense muscles being flexed after eons and soon, i was getting all sweaty and tired.. goodness gracious!! i have never sweated that much for so long!! even through crazy orientation camps, i've never ever sweated that much!!! it was simply insane..

well, as you can gauge how wonderful my physical level is, i picked the session, which was the shortest and most beginner of all... experience fitness, which was a 1-hour mini-aerobics challenge cum a free bellyblitz® trial.. and i almost died at the mini-aerobics session!! you can now see how UNFIT i have been and still am... =) but i kind of enjoyed the bellyblitz® session better, coz it just reminded me of how those crazy, insane mass dance days... more of back in acjc than in nus, coz we just kept dancing non-stop to master the steps.. teaching each other.. helping each other improve and get better etc.. or just to simply have crazy fun.. and i could remember losing weight over mass dances..

jiating and me hung around and caught snippets of the next session i.e. aerobics challenge, which was a 3-hour marathon!!!! jiating was suggesting that we should come back next year for this session, since we have already braved through the beginners' session... well, for that to be possible, i need to spend the next 1 year training up, otherwise, there is no way, whereby i can survive serious kickboxing cum all those activities, that require me to be on the balls of my feet the whole time!!!

oh sheesh, inspiring and motivational but i lack the pushing factor for anything to be done.. crazily lazy ain't i?? but for the meanwhile, i am pretty interested in learning some sort of workout dance.. jiating and me, or rather me, decided to embark on adopting some workout session after work in the very near future.. well, i'll update everyone on the status of my attempt, if it ever materialises!!

now, back to aching muscles.. i'm doomed!!

no more wii parties!!

this is suicidal!!! wii parties are insane.. they drive me nuts coz of my poor psycho-motor skills.. and they drive my arm-muscles nuts too!! i'm serious!! they are seriously aching at this very moment.. not to mention muscle cramps as well.. from wii.. oh gosh!!


this is wii.. looks exactly like that of the mio router from singnet.. but much cooler.. and how did i end up playing wii? it was jasline's birthday party and daniel brought this along to the bbq.. enough said.. so much insanities were done and i was like, did i really just do that with the controller??


this was exactly how we looked like.. we hooked up 4 controller sets and viola!! 4 different players.. and i must say, the wii sensor is pretty effective.. any slight movement and one is kicked out of the game!! and as mentioned, i realised how bad my psychomotor skills were!! terrible!!

i was telling huiling, what if, we all individually own a wii set.. it will be disastrous.. imagine coming home each day, just to play wii till the wee hours of the night and then going off to work with aching arms.. and i so do not believe that somehow my muscles will be toned after that.. just imagine the pain!! it's enough to drive me nuts..

so.. no more wii parties!!!

practical work solutions..

here's a practical solution to having bought excess lengths of pipes..

(a) construct a gas line, starting off at jurong island and ending off at your own doorstep.. but see, this is a dangerous solution, coz excess of certain gases leads to dangerous and often, fatal accidents...

(b) organise a weightlifting competition.. and this is the best solution, coz you work off the excess fats and tone up your body.. so viola!!

this is definitely one of the best books which i have read of late.. it all came as a recommendation from anu over tea-break and a coincidental stumble-upon during the terribly disappointing harris bookfair.. but seriously, it's worth the read, even though it was written back in the 1980s.. but it was a book that i could not put it down over.. i just kept reading and reading.. and even broken the basic house rule of 'no reading while walking'.. but who cares, i watch where i go.. usually.. but seriously, go check this book out.. especially since i am not a jeffrey archer fan.. but seriously, this is one good read..

seriously!! highly recommended!!! now i'm gonna go find the sequel..

nus commencement 2007

commencement 2007.. and i can finally say that i have commenced!! oh yeah, i've finally graduated from nus and now am a certified engineer!! whoohoo!! 4 years of crap and it amounted up to this day and this is it.. it's all over..


commencement was tiring actually.. it was so tiring, i felt as though i went through my own wedding ceremony cum reception etc. and guess what, before i even knew it, it was all over and i was like, did it all just happen??

anyway, commencement was very much different from what i expected it to be.. well, of course, there's the photo taking with bits and pieces of my class and of course, with my friends.. i even made new friends during commencement itself.. talking with ppl whom i've seen ard but never spoken to, or even finding out who they are for 4 whole years.. but what made it all different, was perhaps the non-chem eng ppl that were at this commencement..

first, there is of course my own parents.. so who do i resemble more?


and there is of course, all the friends who dropped by.. chiuweng, yongkai, boon leong.. and not forgetting uncle jeam & aunty mary!! it's so nice to have them there and to have photos taken with them.. let's see, chiuweng commenced the day after mine in electrical engineering.. yongkai is gonna commenced with computer engineering next week at ntu, before whisking off to the land of british royals to do a master!! of course, boon!!! our teacher-to-be who graduated from mit!!! *clap clap clap*.. i had this silly photo taken with boon in front of the singapore-mit alliance office.. and of course, aunty mary & uncle jeam.. it was just so nice.. and oh, if i were to paste everyone's photos here, this blog may take a long long time to load!!

and lastly, one of the people who helped me survived my final year, yet at all times was very much like a big brother to me.. and of course, my brother-in-christ as well!! hmm, still can remember when i accidentally played a 'trick' on his daughter.. so embarrassing!! and here's tayo, who graduated with a master in safety, health & environment!! hmm, the very module which i have absolutely no idea about.. opps!! anyway, we are missing ini & ite here, coz they are already on their way to a phd in uk!! but oh wells.. =)


congratulations to the class of 2007.. to min, cherie, my entire cn6, joanne, winnie, tayo, chiuweng, yingjie, chinchoong, justin, yongkai, adeline, charmaine, genie folks, calyd folks, all my friends from chem eng and wherever else in nus... even to steph and deborah soon, who will join us at the end of this year..

to all who made these 4 years sane and possible for me, thanks loads.. and even as we start off another phase in life, hang in there folks.. if we are lucky enough, we will each have approximately 43 years or less till retirement!! whoohoo!! to that target and beyond..

i sound nuts.. okay, i've graduated!!!

a willing victim of consumerism

yeah, that's me!! i've fallen prey to consumerism.. well, actually i've always been a willing victim of consumerism.. let's see how it happened this afternoon...

went with winnie to get a haircut at kimage, which was priced at SGD40 for a cut by the disciple hair-stylist.. well, that aside.. somehow all that i have learnt in marketing just seemed to surface up during the whole process... i can't help but wonder about what the professor mentioned during the lecture..

there was of course the professional service of the hair-stylist, but rather, it was what he said throughout the whole haircut that got me thinking.. quoting him, but not completely..

"seriously, your hair is not that straight so before you attempt to do any steps in your hair, you should do a soft rebond.."

"essentially, for a woman's hair, there are 3 products which you will need: shampoo, conditioner & serum for your hair-roots, then we can say that the whole treatment process is complete..."

"you should seriously consider a soft rebond, then there's no need for you to worry about losing the shape of your hair after each wash..."

well, it's pretty obvious that there's a whole service package on sale here.. seriously, from the moment one walks in, till the latest copy of female magazine is placed on the dresser, coupled with red tea and mentos.. to the pre-cut hairwash and finally to the hair-stylist at work... to the exhibit of the final product on one's head.. well, if there's anything else to complain about the cut, one has to unfortunately wait till the next visit before damage control can be performed once again..

and i'm a willing victim of consumerism... enough said.. =P

long overdued post..

welcome to the 300th post of my blog.. this is actually a long overdued post but anyway, here's a quick recap...


one good steamboat-bbq dinner with my class before jetsetting off to china and transiting between malaysia and singapore.. one gathering where many ppl came but missing many as well.. but it was good.. really gonna miss these folks much.. there's those who are gonna work overseas and liu ping's our phd docter-to-be!! of course, with some in petrochemicals, semi-conductors, design firms, pharmaceuticals.. but whatever it is, thanks for all the fun throughout these 4 years!! love you folks loads!!


caught spiderman 3 with rosanah before jetsetting off to china and happened to meet xingyi, kelvin li & kelvin su at the theatre as well.. so well, it was alright.. not exactly fantastic as there were too many stories dealt with in one installment.. so enough said..

well, next stop: my graduation trip to china with angelin, siong gim, kah sum & enkai..


here we were, in front of the beijing olympics 2008 countdown clock.. well, we were trying to signify 2008 but see, the figure of 8 was really tough and i'm not a ballet dancer!! enough said there.. =P


this photo looked a little lobe-sided as i did some editing to remove some supporting cast members... and here we were, finally arriving at jiuzhaigou, after braving through a freezer hotel, terrible food, bus ride & tour guide.. so here we were, in front of the nuorilang waterfall..


here is huangshan!! we were at the edge of one of the many cliffs.. a place where i gave everyone else heart-attacks for trying to perform stunts.. one place of numerous jokes, including an episode, whereby a korean lady 'stole' my toilet paper in the toilet cubicles.. a place whereby the tour guide was surprised at our fitness level.. and where we were somewhat 'inspired' to climb the slope angled at ~80 degrees..


i seriously was burnt after all the climbing and walking done on the great wall, qianling, jiuzhaigou, huangshan etc!!! anyway, suzhou was a trip on a personal agenda, visiting a friend whom i dearly missed.. so here's chen yi & me having dinner.. in the presence of good food and good company, who can ask for more?? though i missed out on prohibited doings but it was all good.. =)


hangzhou was all about slacking and we did exactly just that!! who can ask for more? sitting by the west lake, taking in the sunset and the breeze.. with the willows rustling in the winds.. so here's an artistic shot!! =)

well, in short, we went from beijing to xi'an, jiuzhaigou-huanglong, huangshan, suzhou, hangzhou and shanghai.. we had excellent and extremely cheap food to terrible and horribly expensive food.. but who can forget quanjuede roast duck, especially when it reappeared in the freezer hotel on the way to jiuzhaigou?? and of course, of all the crazy moments, jumping from one spot to another.. kah sum and his crazy facial-physical expressions during each shot.. everyone's personalised 'jiefang' mannerisms.. thanks loads for all the fun!! i really enjoyed myself and these are moments, which i will miss and look back at!! =)

and so after that, i packed my bags and left for lcor church camp 2007 at genting highlands.. well, not totally up in the clouds.. and i totally forgot that the camp was held in genting so the clever me, went to genting completely in shorts and board-shorts.. round of applause for the smart me.. time of catching up with many ppl, yet eye-opening at the same time.. not just pertaining to me but to the ppl ard me as well.. seriously, need to learn to fast and pray.. and ask for plentiful of grace and mercy.. there's loads to say abt this camp but enough said..


ocean's 13.. a movie which we almost watched on genting, if it wasn't for its horribly mismatched timeslot!! intelligent movie, which never fail to entertain me every time.. and not to mention, an evergreen george clooney on the set.. well, go watch it yourself to find out then.. btw, pirates of the caribbean: at world's end failed to hold my attention.. and so i shall 'pretend' to be a pirate to make the movie more interesting.. go figure.. =P

actually i do feel much laziness and reluctance in updating this blog.. especially since i've left it literally dead even before my last paper on 30th april.. but i figured if i do not start updating somewhere, everyone's gonna conclude that i'm in some serious trouble.. but thanks be to God, things have somewhat been sorted out, though new issues definitely surfaced up and more prayers will be required..

and btw, i've unofficially graduated and am expected to join the rat-race real soon.. to sum it all up, i've got 42 years to go, before i can execute my retirement plans.. so till that day comes, welcome to the real world.. it's a jungle out there...