Lifestory

I still miss you.

2011-03-25T02:03:00.000+08:00

And it hurts.

I'm Back!

2010-01-28T21:25:00.000+08:00

I'm back!

Back on blogger and back in Singapore. For awhile, at least.

So, what's going on so far (below is inspired by an article highlighted by L on "what have you done / where are you at 26 years of age":

1. I'm pregnant! Am at 30 weeks, 6 days and counting. And its going to be a boy. We are naming him Caleb.

2. Have spent about a year and a half living and working for about a year. Interesting work, good project, but can be quite frustrating at times. My mandarin has definitely improved though. :)

3. Celebrated my 1 year anniversary with Kenneth (aka PNG). The first year definitely wasn't easy. We had our fair share of arguments and disagreements but we are beginning to understand each other much, and learning lots about tolerance, patience and compromise.

Having said/written the above, I must give thanks and credit to God, for without whom, life probably wouldn't have been as awesome as it has been so far.

In the past 2.5 years, PNG and I have realised that many things have just happened to us with perfect timing and plans have been executed without much effort that it can't just be pure coincidence. Its divine intervention.

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And its on to Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy!

2009-06-23T14:37:00.003+08:00

I've finally succumbed to watching the 5th season of Grey's Anatomy (yes, I know it's done airing) after I vowed not to watch it after season 4 when the storyline started getting old: big accident in the hospital, nurse sleeping with doctors, doctors sleeping with doctors, doctors sleeping with interns, people falling in love, people falling out of love, people falling back in love....

The list goes on.

However I must say I do like the thought of Derek and Meredith getting married (I know Derek's supposed to propose to Meredith in season 5 but I don't know if they do get married eventually because I've yet to watch it and I'll boink you on the head if you spoil it for me...) and I sincerely hope they do because it'll make it less emotionally tiring for me when watching the show knowing that at least one relationship finally knows where its going...

Another Day At Home

2009-06-23T11:45:00.002+08:00

I was so sick yesterday I had to come back home one hour after going to work. All I wanted to do was to curl up in bed and sleep but my body wouldn't let me. I was fluctuating between feeling hot and cold, my joints were aching and my body couldn't tell if it wanted to puke or poop or do both at the same time. All I could do was whimper miserably in bed until PNG came home.

Thank God for husbands. On his way back from work, the sweet guy went out of the way to get me cornflakes at the imported foods store because that's all my stomach could take. Then he aired the room, wiped me with a cool towel and cooked his own dinner.

So now I'm feeling really bored and wishing I'm at work but its a good thing I'm not because I think the fever's coming back. I just had someone deliver 3 boxes of fruit juice to my house (yes, you can do that in China!) now waiting for it to cool in the fridge. That's what I love about China... you can get drinks, groceries, take-outs all delivered to your door step. =)

2009-06-14T22:30:00.003+08:00

3 more days before the new iphone software is out! Whoopee!

I'll finally be able to cut, copy and paste, send out mms and more *grinz*

---------
I baked cheesecake again this week and it was YUM. That's the good thing about having my own kitchen. I get to stock it however I want to and cook whatever I want to. So far, I make pretty darn good cheesecake, cinnamon rolls, banana bread, fried beehoon, chicken curry and hae mee (prawn noodles).

If you're in Tianjin and looking to throw a simple party for max 15 people, you may contact me and I'll be happy to cater for your party =)

Menu includes:

Salad
BBQ Wings
Fried Beehoon
Bak Ku Teh
Honey Pork Ribs
Dessert

You may also order the cheesecake, banana bread and cinnamon rolls ala carte. For cinnamon rolls, the minimum order is a dozen.

I'm Back!

2009-06-14T12:36:00.003+08:00

I'm back! I'm back! For how long? I don't know but I'm back!

The past 10 months have been crazily busy hence the abandoned blog but I'm saying it again, I'm back!

Let me do a recollection of the things that happened the past 10 months:

Got married
Moved to Tianjin
Found an apartment (after looking at 50 apartments)
Flew back to SG at least 4 times to fulfill visa requirements
Threw the mandatory wedding dinner and had the "traditional wedding celebrations" (which caused me tons of anguish)
Visited Beijing numerous times to get out of Tianjin
Visited Shanghai 2 times to get out of Tianjin and Beijing
Work, work and work
Families came to visit
Learnt to cook and bake a few new dishes

Despite the busy schedule, I'm still feeling unfulfilled. I'm feeling that there's more to life and there's something else that I need to accomplish, achieve or do - and they all have nothing to do with work. Hence, I'm back.

I'm hoping this will help me with my on my journey to discover what I'd like to do, to find what I'm trying to find, and to reflect on what I've achieved.

(But this doesn't mean I won't abandon this blog again when I'm busy!)

9 August 2008

2008-08-09T23:51:00.001+08:00

Today, we celebrated with the nation and took a leap of faith, starting our journey together as man and wife...

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Going Going Gone

2008-07-24T22:43:00.001+08:00

HR just informed me that my target date of posting is 14th August... 10 days after I come back from my next trip to China. And I don't get posting leave so I have to use my annual leave. Great.

Looks like I have to take no pay leave for my honeymoon.

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21 days

2008-07-19T01:04:00.001+08:00

Have been extremely busy so kinda stopped blogging. Plus it was hard to update in China where all access to blogger, wordtype, typepad, myspace, so on and so forth, is zilch.

Anyway the news is: I'm getting married in 21 days! Way faster than expected (3 mths and 19 days earlier, in fact) because my parents wanted us to be legally married first.

So in 21 days time, I'll be officially, Mrs. Lim. So cool to be able to keep my name but will have to get used to the "Mrs." part. I did consider Lim-Lim but it's slightly weird. Maybe I'll just stick to Ms. Lim.

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Happy Birthday to Me!

2008-06-04T13:46:00.001+08:00

To those who have wished me happy birthday via sms, e-mail, facebook, msn, etc., thanks guys! And to those who are going "oh yeah.. I was just about to wish you happy birthday", thanks in advance.

I'm currently at home on 2-day MC. Down with the flu.

So. The past week I was in TJ on business and then I spent the weekend in Shanghai to meet PNG for an early birthday celebration. We had quite a lot of fun and lots of good food. He brought me to the Grand Hyatt Hotel or the Jin Mao Building because I kept insisting on going to the place where they filmed 大城小事 (Loving Me, Leaving You) featuring Leon Lai and Faye Wong. I loved they filmed the different scenes of Shanghai in that show. I definitely had a wonderful time there and it was great the PNG knew the place well. I can't wait to go back again.

And did I mention that I have the sweetest husband to be? When I got home from the airport, I found a package waiting for me on my desk from him. He prepared my birthday present before going to Shanghai. I didn't expect it from him because I thought the taking me around Shanghai was a present on it's own. And today, he got his bro-in-law and niece to deliver a bouquet of flowers to me.

I love the surprise after surprise even though I claim to hate surprises. I just hate it when people tell me there's a surprise and keep me in suspense. But PNG surprises me by not telling me that I should be expecting something. Hm.. I guess that's why they call it a surprise right?

Anyway, Shanghai pics:

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Wedding Gown

2008-05-24T18:09:00.001+08:00

We were at Arab Street with PNG's mum who wanted to buy some cloth before we went to Shanghai so she could make her Cheongsam there when we walked past a store which had wedding planners and tailored wedding dresses. We went in to grab a name card because we may not have enough time to plan the wedding ourselves. The wedding planner that the people she were sharing the same store space as were having a sale for their dresses and she encouraged us to take a look, so we did.

So i just picked out a gown which looked nice to enquire about the price which was VERY reasonable. Tried it on, loved it. We tried others but none were as beautiful as this one. It was clean, simple, elegant.

PNG talked to the designer and he was moved by her sincerity and her passion for making/designing her gowns. So he gave the nod and we bought the very first gown I tried on! Talk about love at first sight!

Gown from Martini G

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Ah doi...

2008-05-22T11:06:00.001+08:00

I told PNG that I knew who won AI7 and he said: "let me guess.. David?"

...

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Bintan Trip (May 2008)

2008-05-20T15:32:00.001+08:00

Photos (taken by PNG and myself) of our Bintan Trip.

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2008-04-27T22:32:00.002+08:00

I was watching Rouge on Mediacorp's Channel 5 and wondering why it seemed so dull when compared to The Ellen Degeneres Show, The Tyra Banks Show or Oprah.

And it hit me: Overenthusiastic host and underenthusiastic studio guests make a very bad combination.

Oops

2008-04-24T09:32:00.000+08:00

Clarine can be such a hoot which makes her a hundred times more adorable than she already is.

The whole family was out shopping on Tuesday evening. She and PNG were playing together in a store when I, being irritated that they were playing and stuck in one store whilst the rest of the family were moving on, barked at them to get going. Clarine then muttered, "Da jie don't know anything one".

I turned around, glared at her and without missing a beat she said, "oops! I said something wrong.." and scuttled out of the store.

PNG and I couldn't stop laughing. Funny little one she is.

One month later

2008-04-23T16:14:00.001+08:00

Oh man... I realised it's been a months since I blogged! So here's a quick summary of what I've done in the last month:

1. Flying to China and back
2. Working
3. Spending time with the fabulous fiance of mine
4. Caught up with the girls (esp Lou!)
5. Trying to split our time between the family and future in-laws
6. Eating and getting fat
7. Shopping
8. Got bangs
9. Moving on with life

Yeah so that kinda sums it up for last month. Doesn't seem like much but trust me, it was much.

Notice "planning for the wedding" wasn't in the list of things I did? For those of you who keep asking how the plans are... well, the plans haven't exactly progressed much since we found our perfect venue. We did identify some people who could assist us during the wedding but we've yet to inform those people so I guess that doesn't count for progress. Darn.

A friend has offered to hand make the corsages. It was quite amazing how it happened. She approached me during one of our weekly work-related meetings and told me that she made corsages for her friend's wedding a few weeks ago and had some left over material, and she would gladly make corsages for me as well. And as it turns out, her left over materials were of the exact colours I was looking for! Wonderful, isn't it?

But i'm currently torn between the perfect shade of green: grass green, pistachio green, olive green, apple green, sage green.. and the list goes on. I mean like how many shades of green can there be right? Apparently, many, many! But one thing I do know: I want Ivory as one of my colours. Not only is it my namesake, it's a pretty colour and I bet there is only one shade of Ivory.

So that's it for now. Will update soon (say, in a month's time?).

Hi! 你好！

2008-03-25T07:14:00.002+08:00

下了飞机而刚到家。。。觉得很累但还要准备去上工。一会儿PNG就会来我家接我，所以我还能在车上睡。不错吧？

这次去中国做工，去了上海，苏州，与天津，也买了许多东西列入鞋子，包包，手表，等。全部都很便宜应为能讨价。

Ok. That's about how much I can stand writing in Mandarin. Shopping was EXCELLENT which is bad because I couldn't stop myself. I loved the thrill of being able to bargain on everything. I managed to get a watch which was supposed to have cost be RMB380 for RMB50. The woman who sold me the watch said she was impressed at my bargaining skills, but I think that meant that I could've pressed the price down more! Argh!

I need to stop shopping!! Will post photos soon.

Shopping Spree

2008-03-17T16:59:00.001+08:00

Argh I've been on a shopping spree lately but the buys were so freaking good I couldn't resist.

White lace top: $35
White tunic: $15
White shoes: $12.90
Beige Linen Mandarin Embroidered blouse (after 81% discount!): $13
Gold thai-silk-looking-material blouse: $23 (after discount and bargaining)

Total damage: $98.90

I love terrific bargains. Even Kenneth admits kowtows at my amazing ability to get such things at such prices

Career Objectives

2008-03-17T16:04:00.001+08:00

I'm supposed to state my short and long term career objectives and I have no idea what to write.

I wonder how's:

"I'm piled neck-high with work that all I really care about now is getting things done, and doing it to the best of my ability. I hope to get a pay increment and a promotion, say in 1 to 2 years time. I leave my career development plans in the trusty hands of my HR managers. I have full faith in you guys."

Sigh.. I really don't know what my career objectives should be. I've been programmed to "get a job and do it well". Pretty sad, eh?

Monday, Monday

2008-03-10T13:30:00.001+08:00

It's a Monday and I'm already POOFED. My schedule is booked for the next 30 odd days with meetings, seminars, training sessions, and 2 trips to Shanghai, Suzhou and Tianjin.

Need.. to.. breathe..

Not too sure how to plan for wedding. Things just seem to be moving along but there's no real planning or doing after we booked the hotel, and each time I fly off and come back, we seem to be one month closer to the wedding day.

I have no dress, no ring, no photographer and no idea how my decor and my pastor are going be settled. Ah well. But I do have an emcee a colour scheme...*beams*. See! I'm getting somewhere =)

A Woman's Worth

2008-03-08T23:21:00.002+08:00

My worth is measured in oranges, dinner tables, cakes, gold and dowry money...

Confirmed!

2008-03-07T00:00:00.001+08:00

My probation is over and I'm confirmed! I survived and am happy. Very happy.

Grey's Anatomy

2008-03-01T19:18:00.001+08:00

I love Grey's Anatomy but man, it's so screwed up!

Over the Moon..

2008-02-29T16:42:00.001+08:00

We're heading out to watch a sappy, romantic movie, The Leap Years, because I happen to love local movies (except for Jack Neo's because his storyline is getting stale) and it's like watching Channel 5 but on a huge screen with surround sound.

According to Wikipedia (the internet encyclopedia which makes me feel tons smarter each time I wiki something), the English tradition is that women may only propose marriage on a leap year. Some say women can only propose on the day itself, Feb 29th. However, it is supposedly bad luck to get married during a leap year. So question: what happens if the Chinese believe that it is good luck to get married on a certain leap year? Good Luck + Bad Luck = No Luck?

See why I hate certain traditions and superstitions? They make absolutely no sense (practical or logical) especially if a person is of mixed descent or raised in a half-half environment and one tradition is contradicts the other.

Anyway, PNG dropped me an e-mail proposing that we go on a night picnic complete with wine and sandwiches. So sweet and romantic until can die lor! How can I possibly say no to that? *Swoon*

TEDA, Tianjin Photos

2008-02-29T00:21:00.001+08:00

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Counting Down..

2008-02-28T10:21:00.001+08:00

Exactly 9 more months to go. We're thinking of throwing a post-event party on the night itself. Can't wait!

My New Specs

2008-02-27T15:35:00.001+08:00

I bought this:

in this colour:

That Look

2008-02-25T20:38:00.003+08:00

"You're giving me that look again", he said.

"And what look is that?", she replied.

"That look which says I'm the best."

What to do? He is the best! *Silly grin*

Back from China

2008-02-25T17:29:00.001+08:00

Its my first day back in office and I get a new office! We've shifted from the 14th storey to the 6th storey. I've a spanking brand new workstation and a huge window view again. Not a very good view though. I can't see the city now but I do get a view of Raffles Hospital and HDB flats. I'm not complaining though because I love having natural light. I thrive in it. Also, I don't feel anymore tremors from the earthquakes in Sumatra.

So the last few days were spent in Tianjin but not in the city itself. We were staying in the suburbs but China's idea of "suburbs" is quite different from the "suburbs" I'm used to in Singapore, Australia or America.The suburb we were staying at was 40sqkm in size! Imagine that! It is 10 times the size of Tampines and approximately the size of all the suburbs in South Canberra added up, less Red Hill. Crazy, I tell you!

Will post up photos of the trip soon. Couldn't do it when I was there because they blocked access to Blogger (and LiveJournal, Wordpress, Reuters, Wikipedia, etc). I think I will probably die from the lack of outside world information if I stayed there long term. I did meet some pretty cool people on my trip there though - a lady who helps develop Subway's franchises in China and a Scotsman who was going to participate on the Qingdao-Hawaii leg of the Clipper Round the World Yatch Race. His boat is currently 4th in the race. Uniquely Singapore is 7th. Not too bad I guess.

Met the girls yesterday for mahjong, Moussaka and pizza made by K's mum with live entertainment (it's even funnier than watching Simpsons) provided by K's wonderful family. Got to see X's new puppy who's name I can't remember right now (Babe! I've got "Rufus" stuck in my head!) and I actually touched it.

Wedding plans are going great. We've got our venue, we've got our emcee, we've got people who are very willing to be our slaves and we're getting our pastor. Now if only my friends from Canberra will come and attend... *Hint, guys, Hint*. Please don't all of you turn me down!

Belated V Day

2008-02-15T00:21:00.002+08:00

Spent my valentine's day on the plane to Beijing and on a coach to Tianjin..

Happy belated Valentine's Day to all who were able to celebrate it.

New CNY Questions.

2008-02-10T00:14:00.000+08:00

So this year I'm spared from the standard CNY "when are you getting married?" question from friends and relatives. However this doesn't mean that they get less irritating. Now the questions are "how long did you know each other?", "what do you want for your wedding [dowry]?", "what are your [chinese] horoscopes?" or "what is the age difference?".

Let me warn you now, if you think that your ever-busybody friends/relative woes are over after you announce your wedding date, you are so so wrong. A leopard will never change its spots and busybodies will never stop being busybodies.

I'm getting tired of the "How-long-did-you-know-each-other-what?!-so-short?" questions/phrase. What can you do if I say I'm getting married to someone after knowing him for two weeks? If I'm adamant about marrying so-and-so, you can talk till the cows come home and till pigs learn how to fly, I'm still not going to change my mind. So really, is there any point asking how long we know each other and instead get to know my other half better?

Also, why do people want to know what I want for my wedding or my dowry? To be honest, I have no material items that I want or need from my husband-to-be. All I ask is that he respects me and treats me well. I don't see how a $10k red packet, 10-15 dinner tables, 12 cows, 11 ducks, 10 chickens, 9 pigs, 8 sacks of grain, 7 cakes, 6 boxes of sweets, 5 cartons of oranges and 4 pieces of yellow gold demonstrates his overflowing love and sincerity for wanting to marry me. Seriously. I'm not up for barter trading.

I think my future son-in-law will seriously have to thank his lucky stars because I'm so against giving the "Raising Daughter Fee (养女儿费)" angpow. I don't see why my son-in-law or his family will need to give such a "fee" when I'm not selling a maid/daughter to the family. I'm wondering if this happens only to Chinese brides.

Some people have also expressed their opinions about wanting to do away with certain chinese/normal wedding traditions like the combing of hair, the roast pig, the "yam sengs" and studio shoots. My point is if there is no good reason for something to be done, then it does not need to be done at all. If you can't tell me why I absolutely must have a roast pig for the wedding, I am definitely not going to get roast pig just because "everyone has one!".

There are also people who like to give more then their two-cents worth on how I should conduct my wedding. And these are the people whom I make sure not to ask for their opinions on how to conduct my wedding because I know that they'll want to tell (not suggest) me what to do. When they start talking, it's not "have you considered this option?" but "you should do this and you must do that". Again, my famous phrase: "my wedding or yours"?

And today a relative asked about our chinese horoscopes today. My chinese horoscope's a pig and his is a rat. A relative said "got head, got tail". I stared at her blankly wondering what the hell that meant. Then it hit. The pig is the last animal in the chinese zodiac and the rat is the first. But what she said made me go "OKAAAAAAYY..." So what happens to the other people whose horoscope fall under the other animals of the zodiac? No head, no tail? Can't marry? No good? What happens if we're born in different time zones during the new year? Which zodiac do we fall under then?

But throughout this whole ordeal of me being irritated by people and people irritating me, PNG is the ever calm and diplomatic one telling me not to get worked up and that things will turn out fine. I'm seriously glad he's around.

Chicks Dig Foreign Accent

2008-02-05T15:22:00.001+08:00

Simply Beautiful

2008-02-04T09:08:00.001+08:00

I played "I'm Held By Your Love". He sang it beautifully. It was very nice and we couldn't stop singing it the whole night.

I'm Held By Your Love

2008-02-03T18:15:00.000+08:00

I’m held by Your love,
upheld by Your strength;
On Your shoulders You bore me,
by Your faith I stand;
Cherished by You, Lord,
treasured in Your sight;
So close to Your heart,
held firm in Your hands.

Not by my wisdom,
not by my strength;
Gently You guide me,
lead me by Your hand;
Total surrender,
Jesus, I am Yours;
Now and forever,
in Christ I now stand.

So awesome is Your love,
so mighty is Your hand;
On eagle’s wings You carry me;
Your grace shall be my strength;
So perfect is Your love,
You sacrificed Your Son;
Amazing love reached out to me;
With joy to You I come.

We (I) love it!

2008-02-03T00:23:00.001+08:00

We (I) love it!

Randomness

2008-02-01T14:11:00.001+08:00

Went to lunch at Food For Thought today (yes, I try to go there at least once a week) after having not gone for about 2-3 weeks or so. The place was full to the brim! No seats! Even the counter seats were taken so I decided to share a table with a girl doing her quiet time. It turned out to be a great idea. Made a new friend and had my tummy filled with good food.

Very satisfying.

We're viewing Merchant Court tonight. I really hope that it works out.

First Date

2008-01-30T16:19:00.001+08:00

I was talking to PNG about our first dinner date. How it happened was quite funny, really. He didn't exactly ask me out on a date although he claimed he did try asking me out to watch Transformers and I rejected him by saying that I wouldn't be caught dead watching that show.

We were having lunch with my parents after church and I mentioned that I wanted to go visit the Library at the Esplanade to browse through some piano scores. He offered to give me a lift. However instead of the browsing through the music collection at the Esplanade library, we ended up at looking at the houses in Sentosa. When we reminisce about it, Mum always says: "Don't know how from Esplanade can end up at Sentosa..".

We spent the remainder of the afternoon and the early evening at Sentosa discussing over two glasses of ice-cold lemon tea, our love for pizza, his Dubai experience, our Australia experience and celebrating my recent decision to quit my job.

Time flew and we decided to continue our conversation over dinner. I wanted to introduce him to Pontinis which I thought served the best pizzas in Singapore. However as luck would have it, it was closed. He suggested sushi at Raffles City Shopping Center. At Inagiku (and I thought he meant Sakae or Sushi Tei!).

So we were there taking a look at the menu and I was frantically thinking how I could tell him that this place was way above my budget. I love sashimi but I'm not going to pay $300 for fish! But after some contemplation, I decided I deserved a good treat. A resignation present from me to myself. Anyway if we're going dutch it'll be $150++. Not too bad. So when the bill came, I was well prepared to pay for my portion but he protested saying he'll pay for dinner. Feeling really bad about him paying for such an expensive meal, I told him the least I could do was to buy him coffee and dessert. He agreed.

That was our first date.

I confessed to him a few months later that the first dinner was quite uncomfortable for me because $300 for a dinner date was too extravagant. He said that he wanted to make it a really memorable experience for me. Apparently his dad brought his mum out for an expensive dinner on their first date and his mum can still remember it till today. He just wanted to do the same for me (altogether now.. "AWWW..").

It's weird that sometimes I look at PNG and I can't believe that I'm getting ready to marry thim. And I don't mean it in a bad way. It's just looking at him and thinking about all the little things that he does for me. Like I think I'll probably drive myself crazy if I dated or married me. But this guy tries his best to make me happy. He knows exactly how to calm me down when I'm my crazy anal self and he reasons with me when I need logic, common sense and maturity bashed into my head.

About 2 weeks back, he told me to walk from Orchard MRT to Lido. Being tired, stressed, in high heels and thinking Lido was at Sommerset, I lost my temper for the first time. I told him that he should've just told me to meet him at Sommerset instead of Orchard and I refused to walk the distance because of his mistake. He could just meet me at Wisma Atria. He arrived, gave me a kiss and said, "Isn't Lido across the road from Orchard MRT?". Oops.

That's how unbelievably sweet he is to me and I don't think I can ask for more. Oh. And I found out a few months after our first date that he's really not into coffee and desserts.

Annoyed

2008-01-28T17:43:00.001+08:00

I think it sucks that wedding dates have to be determined by the availability of the ideal hotel and that it's best held on a weekend. We have a date but no ideal hotel and choice ones are tentatively booked on the ideal date. How annoying.

It's best if it's done on a Saturday because guests will have to take leave on Fridays and who really feels like partying on Sundays when there's work to do on Monday?

Best months would be November/December to accommodate students and friends who are studying overseas. It's also good for friends working overseas who will most probably come back to spend time with their family during the holiday season.

Who'd ever thought there would be so many considerations and constraints to plan one bloody event?

Crap. I'm tired.

2008-01-28T13:24:00.001+08:00

What I really want to do now is:

settle on the wedding venue by end Jan (which is this week) or before Chinese New Year.
use my aroma therapy burner
mess up a kitchen by doing cooking experiments

I'm feeling so shagged after the weekend. I can't believe how we haven't exactly rested (by which I mean sleep the whole afternoon away) during any of the weekends since Christmas. We, or rather I, manage to jam pack our weekend schedules with to dos and PNG goes along with the flow. Although we do side-track sometimes with having to fetch his mum for activities, sneak in a little rest-time where we just doze off cos we're so bloody tired, have some coffee and of course shopping. We hardly ever shop anyway.

We were at Taka (shopping centre, not jewelery shop) when he saw an electronic airfresher thing. The type which you add in water and some concentrated aroma-detergent like thing, plug the machine in and it swirls the mixture and releases the scent which supposedly "cleans" the surrounding air. Anyway he asked if he should get one for his room and I said, " Wait, don't buy. I've got aroma therapy burners. Wait till I move in".

Kinda weird having to think twice before buying new household related items. Do we see what kinda items we both have first? When do we combine the "assets"? When do we buy new items? And the questions never end..

Photos

2008-01-25T07:12:00.001+08:00

Photos from my recent trip to Beijing and desserts we had at Giraffe when Magnus came to town.

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Swamped

2008-01-23T10:47:00.001+08:00

Argh! I'm going nuts. I'm swamped trying to coordinate a thousand and one things this whole morning.

I can feel my head starting to throb and burst soon. Kaboom.

Busy Bee

2008-01-22T22:54:00.000+08:00

OMG it's been just busy busy busy. Work's busy, planning's busy, spending time with people also busy.

The papers and files on my desk have been piling up and I've been meaning to file and put everything in their place. I now have to make do with working at a messy desk which really irks me. I like everything neat and clean when I work. Like when I had to do serious studying or essay writing in uni, I would make sure that my desk and floor had to be clean and free of all mess before I started working because once I started working on my assignment, the books and papers would start piling up all over. Which was another reason why I preferred studying outside of my room.

But seriously, sometimes I don't know what I'm doing at work. I mean I know what I'm doing at work - to earn my moolah, duh.. but I don't exactly know what I spend my time doing. It's like there are things to "fire fight" all over the place. PNG was looking at my head over the weekend and he said "you got white hair". I didn't believe it at first because my hair looked pretty darn black/brown to me. White? No way! I'm only 24! Ok fine.. 24 going on 25... but i'm STILL officially 24 years of age. But he plucked out one strand and it was half red, half white. Haha. Should've kept it.

Wedding plans are moving along all thanks to Kim and Shelly who are helping me source for venues and giving me ideas, support, etc, etc, etc. Thank God for girlfriends. I'll be roping more of you in to help soon!

Off to work again!

Wanted: Au Naturale Heating

2008-01-11T11:17:00.001+08:00

Swedish commuters' body heat to warm office

Wonder if employees will complain about the strange scent that will permeate their office...

Ulcers

2008-01-09T14:47:00.001+08:00

I've been suffering from lesions of my oral mucosa. Simply put, I'm suffering from oral ulcers. No, they're not cold sores and it's not STDs

I've been getting a new one almost daily since last Friday. I'm not sure if it's due to allergies from my new Sensodyne toothpaste or my new toothbrush rubbing against my lip causing abrasions. Couldn't stand the pain and the irritation so I went to the pharmacist at Watsons to get some cream for relief. Pharmacist said it could be due to stress or the lack of vitamin B (aka. fruits and vegetables). I think it's a combination of both.

Funny. I seem to be suffering from lots of stress / "heatiness" related symptoms - blocked year due to some sort of inflammation, pimples, heaty throat feeling and now ulcers. And work's not that stressful, really. I mean I'm enjoying it so it can't be stressful, can it?

Anyway, can't wait for my whole mouth to start hurting. Argh!

;)

2008-01-08T21:31:00.001+08:00

We told the family!

2008 - A year full of weddings

2008-01-05T19:31:00.001+08:00

Seems like everyone's getting married this year!

I've just been invited to attend my first wedding celebration of the year in India during April. My Toaddie hallmate's getting married!

Gotta start planning my leave dates carefully..

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Work E-mail Addict

2008-01-03T21:11:00.001+08:00

I think the people I work with are either born-workaholics, love their work to bits or they have no choice. They seem to be working 24/7, checking e-mails and replying them on public holidays and during ungodly hours. And I'm be coming one of them... Check e-mail when I reach the office, check e-mail during the day, check e-mail before I leave office, check e-mail when I get home, check e-mail before I sleep. The scariest thing is, I actually derive satisfaction from clearing my work e-mails!! I feel as if I've acheived something, that I'm a productive worker.

*shudder*

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New Year, New Day

2008-01-02T18:01:00.001+08:00

It's the second day into the new year and...

1. I spent 2.5 hrs in the office and the rest of the time out meeting people.
2. Both my office and handphone has been ringing off the hook since the afternoon
3. Feeling really, really happy for no good reason.

Almost New Year!

2007-12-31T00:51:00.001+08:00

Jan's just less than a day away. I'm kinda excited and feeling slightly overwhelmed.

We (PNG and my family) went to visit grandma today, which means we're on schedule with the plan. Grandma seemed positive and the family's prepped for end next year. Mom keeps nudging us when the church announced "church marriage policy". So we've checked that out but there's this long list of requirements to fulfill: marriage prep seminar, membership class and possibly having to go through water baptism on my part.

Ok, maybe it's not sooo long, but there seems to be lots of things to do in-between and getting everything to fit my ideal timeline. I'm kinda anal about making plans and would like everything to fall within a certain period of time or follow a certain schedule and it irritates me if it doesn't. But I guess this is a good habit to cultivate for project management? PNG, on the other hand, is very cool and calm about such stuff. He always reminds me that plans can be changed and there are other ways to go about doing things. So we'll see how things go.

Mom's starting to get on my nerves again. Few days back she said: "I don't care. I know you want outdoors and simple but I want you to have a church wedding and a dinner in a hotel". Those were her exact words. Her reason: "Daddy and I raise you until so big, send you overseas to study and spend so much on you and your piano. You're the eldest in the family and the first girl on your dad's side". "If you want simple, outdoors... why not study in Singapore?"

How does that link?! And again, is this my wedding?

Oh and her reason for not wanting an outdoor wedding is because "make up how? Later sweat then make up how?"...

Again: My wedding. Her make up. Link?????

Sometimes it's so frustrating to talk to my mum about it. I mean of all people! I thought mums usually help their daughters plan their dream weddings. Not mine, apparently. Mine wants me to plan/live her dream wedding. Half of me is kinda afraid that if I give in to my mum, I'll turn into her when it comes to my kid's wedding - forcing them have something I couldn't have. But in my parent's (according to mum, this is dad's idea too) case, I suspect it's a mix of what she couldn't have and how she wants and how they want to "show" other people how well (or not) their daughter's marrying. As they would say, " wayang wayang, zor he" (acting acting, make show) for everyone to see. How annoying. I think I'll be better off eloping. Hmm. (Note to self: Must consider eloping as an option)

Anyway, grandma was so funny today. She gave me 2 cans of abalone as a christmas/new year gift. I found it so funny I couldn't help laughing. This is the first time my grandma gave me abalone as gifts. Usually it'll be red packets or nothing (which doesn't matter) but this time it was abalone!! I don't know why she decided to give that to me. It was so out of the blue but nonetheless, very sweet of her. Mum thought I was laughing in delight because she thought grandma gave me gold....

*roll eyeballs".

Six Degrees of Separation?

2007-12-26T16:31:00.001+08:00

This Christmas was definitely weird. The whole day, PNG and I ran into people we knew from way back.

The weirdest was probably running into Jack and Vin's ex-classmate who happened to be PNG's distant nephew. Is Singapore way too small or are we just way too popular? Heh.

Let's call friend/nephew, D.

When I saw D at PNG's family gathering, it was a "OMG! What are you doing here and how are you related to all these people" moment. Pleasant surprise? Not exactly. It's weird finding out that an old acquaintance who's a good friend of my good friends is the nephew of the boyfriend. I mean having to adjust to being called "Aunty" is bad enough but being called "Aunty" by someone your age is just.. much much weirder.

Ah well. 2 days of Christmas down... 10 more days of partying to go!

I WANT (II)

2007-12-20T11:18:00.001+08:00

I got myself a messenger bag from Zinc. It reminded me of the GAP one that I fell in love with and it costs only $25! It can also withstand the weight of my laptop!

Just 2 main gripes after buying in:

1. I should've gotten the larger version with side pockets.. Though it looked humongous on me and I didn't really like the front part, it had shoulder pads and would've been better for travelling.

2. I can't hang it on my trolley bag... Ah well... but not a big problem cos i can carry it everywhere with me and dont need to carry an extra handbag.

5 more days to xmas!

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I WANT....

2007-12-18T16:36:00.001+08:00

Dear Reader,

it's that time of year again - Christmas time!

I love Christmas. I [heart] Christmas. 我最喜欢的是圣诞节. But what makes Christmas 10 100 1000 1,000,000 times better is that I get the presents that I actually want. Come to think about it, it's been ages since that has happened. Still, it's not too late for it to happen again.

If you are intending to get muah a gift for Christmas I would really really really really really really like a black/grey/brown messenger bag which can fit a 14.1 - 15 inch laptop. Mine just ripped during my trip to Tianjin.

I have been asking for such a bag for years but I have yet to received one. I fell in love with a nylon messenger bag that was selling at Gap about 4-5 years back. Too bad Gap wasn't in town then. Now that Gap's here, all their bags seem crappy. Then I've asked for a Uuchi Messenger bag, which by the way is still being sold, but I've yet to receive one.

This Christmas, I would like either:
1. An Uuchi Messenger Bag (does anyone know where I can get one in Singapore?)
2. A Tucano Horizontal Limit Bag.
3. I don't mind a Coach Legacy Messenger Bag.....

But if no one gets me either one for Christmas, I will have to get one for myself. Sigh.

Quote Machine

2007-12-18T09:34:00.001+08:00

I feel like a quote churning machine..

Yesterday, I received an two e-mails: one from TP asking if I could provide a few lines on my TP/BIT experience for the school's alumni website and another from my company to provide some thoughts/quote/wishes/aspirations for the new year for the company's newsletter.

Man... the last time I said that I should start charging a fee for public speaking. Maybe I should do the same for churning out quotes.

Tianjin Photos

2007-12-13T10:36:00.001+08:00

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Helloo from China

2007-12-10T00:39:00.001+08:00

I've just arrived in PEK and the weather is awesome. Nice cool weather, not too cold. Still bearable.

However can smell the smoke and throat not feeling too great.

Off to bed now before heading off to Tianjin early in the morning!

PatPat* Yiyi's Back

2007-12-07T09:06:00.000+08:00

Compared my notes with my colleague's notes.. Not too bad. About the same except his was more detailed on the technical side of things. My excuse is that he spent 2 years in China and I didn't =)

I think I deserve a pat on the back.

*pat*pat*

Yiyi Mandarin Sucky

2007-12-06T23:35:00.001+08:00

Good thing about today: Got into the office at 4+pm.

Bad thing about today: Was sitting in on meeting which was conducted mainly in Mandarin.

Thing that was on my mind: How did I get myself into this?

My mandarin is the pits and I really do mean the pits. I failed every single chinese paper in secondary school with the exception of my O levels (and I was probably the 2nd worst in my cohort). And there I was today, sitting in on a meeting conducted mainly in Mandarin. Was struggling so hard to understand what the people were saying even when technical details weren't mentioned. I so need Chinese tution.

Funny thing was this China lady asked if I studied Mandarin in Singapore or in China...... that was before I started spluttering and grasping chinese vocab from the air in order to communicate with her.

Sigh.. k. For Christmas, I want Mandarin lessons / a mandarin teacher.

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I [Heart] Christmas.

2007-12-05T00:20:00.001+08:00

I Y Christmas.

I really, really do. Everything from the decorations, the songs, the scent and the food gets me so excited. The only thing that gives me a headache is the shopping for presents - who to buy for, what to buy, finding time to buy, etc.

But what's making this December much more exciting is... WINTER!

This kangtang [potato] is going to Tianjin on a biz trip this Sunday. Finally! My first chilly, "winter coat required" kinda December in a decade. My colleague and boss said it may even be snowing. Looking forward to the cold and my winter clothes (boy, do I miss you!) but not the snow.... oh and the having to speak Mandarin part too. I don't know how I'm going to survive the trip which will probably be the first of many more to come.

And after coming back, will have so many people to meet up with. Everyone's coming home or to visit for the holidays... Sean, Angeline, Roy (you too right?), Magnus.... Raymond's back and leaving and so is Michelle....

Gosh, I do miss everybody.
--------------

Moving on to a totally different issue: Emilia was so wrong when she sang "I'm a big big girl in a big big world" because this world is just too small (thanks to Facebook).

I recieved an e-mail from PNG asking me if I knew a certain friend of his and to "See photo" (which I assumed was a photo of said friend). Imagine my shock when I saw a photo of myself, Uncle Ricky and Miriam. I actually had goosebumps rising and chills going down my spine at the same time.

WHO was said friend? HOW did said friend get the picture? WHY does said friend know how I look?

Said friend happened to be an old friend of Rick's, found picture on Facebook and recognised me because PNG previously showed said friend a pic with me in it as well.

*Whew*

But what are the odds man... considering I knew Rick in Australia, PNG knew friend in Dubai, Uncle Rick knew friend in Singapore and me meeting PNG in Singapore.

How I came to know Ricky is also another story itself.... oh man.. all the stories to tell and all the people linked to these stories...

Like I probably wouldn't know Rick if I didn't stay in Toad Hall.
And I probably wouldn't have stayed in Toad Hall if it wasn't for Russel.
And I probably wouldn't know Russ if he didn't message me on the school downloading network.
And I probably wouldn't have the network program and set up if it wasn't for GC
And I probably wouldn't know GC and wouldn't have gone to Canberra / ANU if it weren't for Jackie
And I probably wouldn't have known Jackie if it weren't for Vin
And I probably wouldn't have known Vin if I hadn't decide on going to TP
And I probably wouldn't have gone to TP if I didn't go to RGS (or if i actually did well there)
And I probably wouldn't have gone to RGS if I didn't study in the states (because most of my pri school classmates went to Dunman High or Anglican High).

AND

I probably wouldn't know PNG if I didn't know his extended family
And I probably wouldn't know his extended family if I didn't live in this current estate
And I probably wouldn't have moved to this current estate if we didn't move to the states...

Hmmm... maybe moving to the states is the key to everything...or maybe my brain's just too tired to think about anything else except for nonsensical stuff.

Off to bed! Tomorrow's another day.

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Yiyi's STILL pissed off.

2007-12-01T22:39:00.001+08:00

People... please.... it's only a PLAN.

-----------------------------------

Something I so badly want to blurt it out with a person who's been getting on my nerves:

If the whole world is against you, does the problem lie with you or everyone else?

Not a Huge Nokia Fan

2007-11-30T10:21:00.001+08:00

I recently bought a 2nd hand Nokia e65 because I desperately needed a smartphone / pda phone, and now I'm reminded why I always switch back to using a Sony Ericsson.

Despite it's the e65's wonderful features, somewhat user friendliness and aesthetically pleasing design, it does not charge via data cable! How is that possible?! I've been charging my SE via data cable since my k700i. Now what am I supposed to do? Put a charger in the office and buy another one to put at home?

And a 2mp picture on an SE phone looks so much better on my e65 than a 2mp picture taken by the e65 itself.

And.. and.. and... what's with the teeny weeny picture caller ID? Might as well not show picture at all!

*Disgusted look*

Eschk... =p.

My Starbucks Tumbler

2007-11-28T17:54:00.001+08:00

I bought a Starbucks tumbler today and it wasn't because I'm a huge Starbucks coffee fan (puhleeeaaaaase...) but I was swayed by three things:

Environmental friendliness
Discount if you bring your own tumbler
Pure laziness - they'll wash my coffee tumbler for me.

This eco/environmentally friendly project I'm working on is rubbing off on me. Not that I wasn't practicing certain environmentally friendly habits previously but it has certainly made me more conscious about "going green".

Somehow in the midst of doing my work, trying madly to stay awake and craving for a Christmas-flavoured coffee, I was reminded of how customers in the cafe I used to work at in Canberra, would bring their own mugs and enjoy a discount of 50cents. It's a brilliant idea and I wasn't too sure which coffee joint in Singapore actually does such a thing.

I'm an avid coffee drinker - at least 1 cuppa a day - although I am cutting it down to about 2-3 cups a week. Sometimes I make my own coffee in the office using a styrofoam cup and sometimes I get it from McCafe or Food for Thought and it comes in a paper cup. And it's not like I don't have my own mug. It's just that I hate my water mug smelling of coffee and I don't trust the dodgy looking sponge that the whole office uses to wash cups.

So after working here for about 2-3 months, I'm starting to wonder how many trees and how much of the ozone layer I've depleted in order to enjoy my nice cup of caffeine. So I decided to pop into Starbucks to grab a Toffee Nut Latte and check out their holiday mugs at the same time.

There I met Alfons (or is it Alphons?) who helped me pick out my spanking new Starbucks Hope Tumbler. I like it because it didn't look too Christmassy so I can use it anytime and it says "Hope" which I thought was a much nicer word that "Wish". Kinda reminded me of "Faith, hope and love" albeit love being the greatest of the three.

Then Alfons said something which made getting the tumbler so much more worth it. If I work around the area, I could leave my tumbler in Starbucks. They'll label it, wash it, leave the tumbler there and have them fill it up for me whenever I wanted coffee. Even if it was going to be a once-a-week affair.

Wow.

But the only thing that's keeping me from leaving my tumbler there is that Starbucks coffee is overpriced and I guess there's the issue of hygiene. I don't want someone drinking out of my tumbler by accident.

I think I shall get my tumbler filled at Food for Thought next because the coffee there is soooo deliciously good. I wonder if they'll wash my tumbler though....

Cotton On

2007-11-26T13:51:00.001+08:00

There's a Cotton On in Singapore!
There's a Cotton On in Singapore!
Say woot!
WOOT!

One at Wisma and one at Plaza Singapura... must head there soon!

Weekend @ Sentosa and Why Yiyi's Been Pissed

2007-11-25T23:40:00.000+08:00

The weekend always flies by so quickly. There's never enough "weekend time" and we're always so bloody busy during the weekday.

This weekend we had a "Ballota Park" gathering at Sentosa which consisted of my family, Ken's family and a few other close neighbours. What was funny was that ALL of us, with the exception of Ken's bil and one other family, had the same last name - "Lim". I counted five Mr. Lim's on Saturday.

The kids had a hoot walking on the suspension bridge, taking the luge and swimming at the resort's "spring water" pool. There was even an excursion song which went something like this:

Everywhere we go..
People want to know..
Where we come from
Who we are...
So we tell them..
We are from Ballota Park!

Woot!

-----------

It seems like everyone is preparing themselves (psychologically, at least) for a wedding next year. They're just waiting for the official announcement.

The word "wedding" seemed to be popping up quite often over the weekend and I'm just feeling slightly stressed out by it. It's like everyone has an opinion about everything.

It seems like Asian weddings involves the whole bloody world - the family, the extended family, the church, neighbours, friends... you name it!

Everyone has an opinion about when we should get married, how the wedding should be like, who should be invited, what we should do, etc. What ever happened to what the couple getting married wants?!

And what amuses me most is that some people constantly ask when the wedding will be and when we say we're probably looking at next year, they will put on a slightly worried expression and say: "Oh! That's fast! Are you sure?", "Have you thought it through?", "In my opinion, I don't think you should rush things".

I'm always so tempted to ask them: "then why do you keep bloody asking when?" and "do we look like idiots to you?"

Everyone has a bloody opinion about everything. That's why I keep saying: if it happens, it happens!

And of course we've thought it through! It's a bloody freaking lifetime commitment and the ones who should be worrying about such things first is us. And trust me, we definitely worried about it way before anyone else did. It was the first thing that we both asked ourselves first even before we decided to start dating. We both decided, individually, that it wasn't worth wasting the time and effort on building a relationship if it wouldn't last or did not have any potential.

Yes, I am pissed. Can't you tell?

Tonight everyone was discussing, or as Ken (a.k.a. Poor-Nice-Guy or PNG) puts it - "Brainstorming", about who should be invited for the solemnisation in church, who should be invited for dinner, how many tables we should have, etc. NOBODY asked us what we wanted. EVERYONE assumed that we wanted the traditional HUGE dinner and such.

I mean I'm okay with throwing a dinner but I just want something simple. Simple, elegant and classy. That's all I'm asking for. I just want close family and friends and not the whole bloody freaking Kampung Singapura. But who cares about what I want or what I think right? I mean as long as my parents (especially my mum) is happy right?

Bloody, bloody pissed.

I'm just thankful that Ken's really understanding about everything. He knew I was boiling mad tonight at mum which led to a semi-argument about why she bothers about what other people will think or are thinking (i.e. about getting married early (and she's the one that talks about a wedding next year!) and who we should invite, etc). He stood up for me and said nicely to my mum: "it's our life".

*Beams*

I'm so proud of him =)

Yes, he fits the list. Prayer definitely works.

PNG busy re-designing the current flat in preparation for next year.

Cheap and Good Shopping Spree

2007-11-12T11:07:00.001+08:00

I kinda went on a shopping spree last week. Maybe it was the holiday mood or maybe it was because boss was out of town but even K had to admit I got extremely good buys:

Dresses (x2) on sale @ John Little Marina Square: $14.00 + $19.00 = $32.00
The Essentials of Baking on sale @ Borders: $15.90
Red Gerberas (x2) and beige porcelain cup @ Ikea: ($0.70 x 2) + $0.35 = $1.75

Total number of items: 6
Total expenditure: $50.15

I'm goood, uh huh.. I'm goooood..

Justifications for my spending:

The dresses were just too cheap not to buy. Furthermore.. they look awesome on me. Heck.. I make everything look great!
The baking book was yummy. It had everything from focaccias to ciabattas, creme brulee to creme caramel, pizza margherita to various pies, sourdough bread to dinner rolls, cheese cakes to sponge cakes, cookies to cupcakes and you get the idea. How to resist? Even if i don't bake anything in the end, it's still a nice to drool over.
Red Gerberas!! I LOVE them. For weeks I've been meaning to get fake red gerberas to put on my work desk and was hunting high and low for them. Finally found the exact ones that I wanted at Ikea. They now sit in my see-through Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino milk-bottle-shaped glass bottle. Got myself a beige porcelain cup to put my stationery in (was previously using a styrofoam cup).

IMAP

2007-11-06T18:24:00.001+08:00

I've been waiting for ages for Gmail to go IMAP and it's finally reached that stage... but now I'm wondering why I want IMAP access in the first place....

2007-11-06T09:30:00.001+08:00

I feel sad seeing the lady who sits near me, walk into her cubicle every morning with her back hunched and her head hanging down.

I, on the other hand, try to keep my place bright, cheery and somewhat colour coordinated. Lots of red, green, black and some yellow and pink. I could stay here the whole day!

=)

Displaced

2007-10-30T21:49:00.000+08:00

I sorted the photos which appear on my Google screen saver, removed your pictures and placed them in a folder which I renamed "Displaced" - where you and they belong.

Plans and more Plans

2007-10-30T15:45:00.001+08:00

Lately I feel like I've so much to be thankful for - family, friends and a job which I'm excited about. I kid you not when I say that I'm happy almost every minute of the day despite the stress to meet datelines, needing to absorb and process information quickly, needing to properly manage time for family, work and friends, and having some personal space to myself. Despite all that, I feel fulfilled.

There has been so much planning going on lately both at work and at home. Plans for the project, plans for work travel, plans for family travel, plans to buy a place, plans to move. So far it's all talk and waiting for the real action to take place. Trying to take things one step at a time - sometimes baby steps and sometimes big ones - in preparation for next year. I can sense it's going to be an exciting 2008 (and we're not even done with 2007)!

-------

I just did away with 2 paragraphs of words that I wrote. Decided it was too private and a little cheesy.

-------

I bought myself a NIV women's devotional bible today. Looking forward to reading it.

Men Are More Effective

2007-10-29T09:58:00.001+08:00

My eyes and brain are going wonky. I saw a sign which reads:

MRIs are more effective than mammograms at detecting breast cancer - true or false...

What I thought I read:

MEN are more effective than mammograms at detecting breast cancer - true or false?

Tired.

2007-10-22T16:16:00.001+08:00

So nice... someone sent me an e-card of yellow gerberas today (btw, I've not seen purple gerberas).
Sat in on a crazily long meeting today and just got into the office. Thank goodness I crashed early last nite. Been so tired the whole weekend I couldn't help but doze off in church yesterday. And the person next to me was even nicer to lend me a shoulder to sleep on.
I can't wait to knock off to zzzz.

Feeling the Heat

2007-10-19T16:04:00.001+08:00

Seriously feeling the heat now. So many things to do and so little time to do it. Feeling as if I'm all over the place.

I know I can do better at work and manage my time after work properly but I'm just so tired and can't be bothered going about and making changes. Argh.... must be resolute. Can't go on like this!

Left side of the head throbbing like mad now. I feel an MC coming....

Want nice, colourful gerberas to cheer me up.

My whole post is so incoherent.

In My Dreams

2007-10-13T10:44:00.000+08:00

I love the chorus for this song. Reminds me of the good times in Toad

Influx of Emails

2007-10-11T09:51:00.001+08:00

Checked my email this morning and got quite a few replies from friends who recieved my email about Food for Thought and they:

wanted to book an appointment to go there together;
raved about their experience there;
recommended other nice places serving yummy fare.

Think I should do this more often - send out emails telling people about good places to eat. I'm considering heading down there again for soup and coffee.

As for now, I shall busy myself with doing a site (land) selection comparison and decide if I want to cut my hair or grow it out.

Food For Thought: Good Things Are Meant To Be Shared

2007-10-10T15:14:00.001+08:00

As I was walking along North Bridge Road yesterday when running an errand, I just discovered this nice little cafe which served Lychee Sage Freeze. It being a hot day and me missing the Lychee Frappe from Gus' Cafe in Canberra, I decided to pop in to order one to go.

The first thing which caught my attention when I stepped into the little joint was the wonderful aroma of the Shitake Mushroom Fennel soup and I couldn't stop thinking about it the whole night. I was determined to have some for lunch the next day.

Armed with my book, I left my office slightly earlier so that I can chope a seat. The place looked kinda small to me the day before and I wanted to go there badly today to relax, eat and enjoy my book.

There were still some tables for two left when I arrived but the bigger tables were all taken up. I ordered a House Set where I could pick any two combinations - house soup / house salad / regular sandwich - for $7.90. I chose the soup ( Shitake Mushroom Fennel) and the sandwich (Slow Roasted Pulled-Pork as recommended by the Chef), with a latte to go.

I relaxed, I ate, I read and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

This nice, cosy little place called Food For Thought, serves tasty food and very yummy latte (I'm quite particular about my coffee) at very affordable prices. Staff there are very friendly, young, good looking, full of smiles and they seem to be so happy to be working there.

What's even better is that part of Food for Thought's profits go to funding social causes that the owners champion - Clean Water, Education, International Development, Environment and People.

I absolutely love the concept so much that the first thing I did after coming back to the office was to send an email out to friends in Singapore telling them about this place I just discovered. I was even contemplating quitting my job to work in or even run such a place.

Am looking froward to going back there again (maybe tomorrow.. hmmm...) to try out their Mama Heng's Braised Pork Sandwich, Basil Pesto Chicken Sandwich and their Red Velvet / Durian Cake.

Check them out at: www.foodforthought.com.sg

Hope you'll like it as much as I do!

Lunch @ Blue Ginger

2007-09-29T22:33:00.000+08:00

Photos from last weekend's lunch @ Blue Ginger:

I Want My Own Kitchen

2007-09-29T09:02:00.000+08:00

I love Saturday morning TV. Waking up to "Opening Soon", "Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul" and "Bill's Food" - awesome. I just love the way they cook. Every detail is taken into account - the flavour, the presentation, the colour, the aroma and even the ambiance. When will I ever be able to cook like this?

Kinda makes me miss Aussie food and the B2 Kitchen in Toad Hall. Hmm..

I was thinking of a great salad: Arugula, goat's cheese, cherry tomatoes and onions, topped with pan-fried dory with herbs and an eggs (sunny-side up),and drizzled with an olive oil - lemon juice mixture. Finally, sprinkling freshly ground black pepper.

Yum.

I would really love having my own kitchen one day where I can experiment and improve on my cooking and baking, etc. Then I can throw dinner parties, have MWLK over and we can indulge in finger foods and drinks. Sounds good?

Finally An Update

2007-09-25T20:41:00.000+08:00

Been quite busy that's why the blog is being neglected. I forsee fewer posts ahead.

Life has been pretty good so far - both at work and at home. God has been good and I'm counting my blessings.

I'm learning so much at work and there isn't time for procrastination. I've got a great window seat with a beautiful view of the city - both Raffles City and Shenton Way - which I hope I don't have to give up anytime soon. It's definitely more challenging where I am and I'm lucky to have colleagues who are willing to help even though their not in my unit.

I do miss Merv, Gary and the trainers though. And I haven't watched my anime in WEEKS!! Argh! Too much to catch up on, too little time.

Busy Busy

2007-09-21T23:40:00.001+08:00

It's been a busy, busy week at work with lots of reading and absorbing to do. I'm working for a developer so everything's pretty new to me. Been learning heaps about urban planning. It's like Geography lesson all over again. The first few days were hard trying to understand the concepts and the terminology but I'm getting the hang of it now.

Will update when I'm less tired.

Weight Loss!

2007-09-15T17:50:00.000+08:00

Woohoo! I lost some weight although it doesn't really show on the scales.

I tried on my old pair of white Lee jeans today (the kind that goes up to your waist) and they looked awesome. I used to have to jump around and squeeze myself into them and they just fit nicely around my curves but today I was able to slip them on easily and I even had room to spare. No need to hold my breathe, suck in the tummy and tuck in the fats.

Happy. =)

Now only if I could button them up....

Button corroded lah.

Update

2007-09-14T09:42:00.000+08:00

Mum's going for her friend's retro-themed birthday party tonight and she so hyped up about it. We've settled her clothes and accessories and she wants me to advise on the makeup... sheesh.

Anyway, I'm starting work on Monday! Wish me luck!

Can't wait!

2007-09-11T19:02:00.000+08:00

Three posts in one day. Quite a feat I must say, considering that ever since coming back to Singapore, my blogging has been quite inconsistent.

Over the past few weeks, I've been introduced to the exciting architectural and city planning developments of Singapore. It's been quite an adventure and a wonderful learning experience. Me. A Singaporean learning about how my own little city state is growing.

Last Saturday I went to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) where I got a bird's eye view of the city area as well as the whole island. I must say that I'm quite excited to be part of and witness the growing changes that Singapore will be going through in the years to come.

Imagine: Tall, iconic buildings. The city filled with glass, flowers, greenery, water and lights. So much life and vibrancy. Breathtaking views at every corner.

This, will be home and I can't wait!

Sian-ified

2007-09-11T17:34:00.000+08:00

Feeling miserable and bored.

Saw my GP twice and was diagnosed with sore throat, the cough and sandfly bites. I'm hacking, itching and sleeping my day away.. how very unproductive.

I've slept so much and my body's still tired and aching. My tongue feels numb and taste buds aren't really working. I want to get well soon. Craving for steak and grilled seafood.

Rudd Speaks Mandarin!

2007-09-11T10:22:00.000+08:00

I saw this and my mouth dropped slightly...

Good job! I could actually understand what you're saying!

The One

2007-09-08T01:43:00.001+08:00

For those of you who have found "the one" or thought you've found "the one" but in fact "the one" turned out to be "the wrong one" I've got a few questions here that I would appreciate if you could help shed some light on.

What were you looking for in "the one"?
Why did you think he/she was "the one"?
How did you realise he/she was (or was not) "the one"?
How long did it take for you to realise that he/she was "the one"?
Is there such a thing as "the one"?

Something Happened Today

2007-09-06T00:33:00.000+08:00

Something happened today and it was probably one of the toughest and most awkward situations I've ever experienced, leaving me both emotionally and mentally drained. But on hindsight, I think I handled it pretty well. I kinda anticipated it anyway and prayed really hard for wisdom and the ability to properly handle the delicate situation.

Kinda reminds me of a quote off the comedy, Evan Almighty (I know, I know... of all shows):

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

~God
Evan Almighty(2007)

Photos on Schmap??

2007-09-05T10:35:00.000+08:00

I just received a message on my Flickr page saying that my old Oktoberfest photos have been shortlisted for inclusion in the Schmap Canberra Guide. I have no idea what that is and why they want such ugly photos. I have so many other nicer photos of Canberra...

No Pimples, Please!

2007-09-04T09:47:00.000+08:00

Clarine came into my room and we had our early morning conversation in bed:

Me: How old are you now?

Clarine: 4!

Me: How old will you be?

Clarine: 5!

Me: Do you like growing older?

Clarine: Yah. I like to grow big..... but I don't want pimples!

Wake Up Call

2007-08-30T10:04:00.000+08:00

Nothing beats waking up to a highly energetic song. Bobbing my head now to Diana King's "I Say A Little Prayer For You".

Mum's not too happy abt the noise....

我的心真的受伤了

2007-08-30T06:12:00.001+08:00

Wireless@SG

2007-08-29T12:22:00.000+08:00

I'm loving this thing they call Wireless@SG. There are wireless hotspots in almost every shopping mall and building in Singapore which enables me to work and be extremely mobile.

I'm feel like an insurance/property agent these days - been working at Macs, libraries and Starbucks!

Not a "Reading Girls for Dummies" guidebook

2007-08-27T19:49:00.000+08:00

I caught up with an old friend today and we had quite an interesting discussion. He wanted to understand the female mind so that he can "try to find someone". And since I am a female, who better to ask?

I shall post up some common questions I get from guys and my opinion on the matter. But please do not take this post as a 100% fool-proof "Reading Girls for Dummies" guide.

1. What are girls looking for?

Guys, we're like you... each girl is unique and we look for different qualities. It also depends on what stage in life the girl's at. If she's looking for a life partner, she'll look for someone who can provide some sort of maturity and stability. But that, too, doesn't apply for every girl. To some girls, having a partner who's fun-loving is more important than stability.

I look for chemistry (ability to communicate and bounce off ideas), similar interests, religion, stability and how the person gets along with his family and other people.

I've got friends who also look at the other person's family background, social status, spoken language and level of education. It may seem superficial but I have to agree with him that the more similar the both of you are in this aspect, the easier it is to get along.

2. Are looks important?

Yes and no.

I'm not looking for a Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. As long as I can envision waking up next to a person without having a heart attack just seeing him, I'm fine with it. Oh and he must look presentable when we head out.

3. How do I know if she likes me?

Sigh. Just ask her! Is it really that hard?

But if you don't have the guts, you'll have to rely on gut feel... but then you don't have guts. Hmm... You get what I mean. Learn to trust your sixth sense.

4. So does it mean she really likes me if she says yes to the second date?

Yes, no, maybe.

She may really like you or she may just see it as going out again with a friend or she thought that the first date went well and just want to explore more.

It does not mean that she has fallen head over heels over you. Chill, boy!

5. How do I know what she likes?

Again, ASK her.

By asking her, you're letting her know that you want to get to know her better (either as a friend or more than that) and you'll get a straight answer from her. Better than asking a friend of a friend of a friend of her's right?

6. But if I ask her so much, she'll know I like her!

DUH! Like isn't that a good thing? Isn't that what you want to do?

But let me remind you: friends do ask their friends about their interests, likes and dislikes as well so there's no harm in asking a friend.

Remember:

If you're nervous or if you lack confidence, it shows in your speech and mannerisms. Play it cool. Don't think too far ahead (e.g. will this work out? does she like me?). Enjoy your time out with a friend and all will be just swell.

=)
-------

Someone recently googled for my blog. Don't think I don't know who you are. I have pretty good (80:20; right:wrong) sixth sense.

Get a Free Car

2007-08-27T12:33:00.000+08:00

Wanna know how to get a free Nissan 350z and 3 iPhones for free?

Easy! Just hack and unlock one iPhone.

But really, it's only worth the trouble if you like ugly cars.

--------

Vincent has just informed me about the ultimate trade: trading 1 red paper clip for a house.

What am I doing in SG?! I need to move to North America!

Again..

2007-08-25T23:56:00.001+08:00

Why, Jorge, Why?

2007-08-24T23:38:00.000+08:00

Hunky, funny Jorge Cham *swoon* of PhD. will be heading to ANU on Sept 11th 2007.

Oh why, oh why can't I be there too? Sigh.

Jorge, oh Jorge... will we ever meet?

Magnus please help me get an autograph if possible since he's at Caltech and, well, Jorge happens to be a Research Instructor there too. *Beams*

红苹果 (Red Apple)

2007-08-23T19:33:00.000+08:00

I was at VivoCity this afternoon and I saw this red leather-looking MacBook sleeve. I knew I just had to get it for Ping. My first splurge on her and she looks absolutely gorgeous in red.

My precious. *Beams*

No more worries about getting grimy fingerprint marks and scratches on this pretty thing.

-------

I discovered that Chomel sells pretty clothes for extremely reasonable prices. I bought a nice semi-glittery top which I can use for dinner, work or even casual wear for $39 and a black sleeved cape for $33.

Happy. Gonna shop there more often!

Now it's off to Marina Square to catch the local movie 881!

2007-08-22T23:59:00.000+08:00

Ping threw a tantrum today.

I was deleting 80 music files from GarageBand at one go and she hung. My MacBook actually hung! Ping refused to let me empty the trash or stop the delete function. And after I "force quit" Finder, Ping wouldn't re-launch the program so I had to reboot. And I thought Macs were infallible.

Slightly disappointed but we're working things out.

-----------

Oh I finally got the see-through glass teapot with tea-light warmer that I was eyeing at. "Poor-Nice-Guy", whom I shall henceforth call PNG (no relation to Ping or any graphic file extension), saw me eyeing it at my neighbour's house and bought one for me when he was in China.

How PNG found the teapot is also a very interesting story which I should clarify with him one day. Hmm...

The teapot's really pretty and it came with 2 small chinese teacups which I found quite adorable. Can't wait to use it. Just waiting for the right occasion...

苹

2007-08-16T22:33:00.000+08:00

As some of you already know, my desktop was giving out on me. The daily crashes, hanging spells and disk errors were extremely frustrating although speedwise it was performing in tip top condition. So I got a MacBook.

People, meet 苹 or Ping.

Since my old laptop was known as Lappy and my digital camera, a Nikkon S6, is known as Nikki6, I felt a need to name my latest gadget.

I didn't want to call it Mac, Mac-er, Apple or Apps because they sound too normal.

So I decided on Ping (苹) which is short for 苹果 (ping guo) or Apple in Mandarin.

I'm working on figuring her out - working out her moods, which buttons she likes to have pushed, getting to know her better and learning what she is able to do. So far we seem to get along fabulously and I'm starting to love her already. She's far more intuitive than PC and she even comes with her own remote control. This relationship is definitely gonna lead to something. She's gonna be my trusty sidekick for years to come =)

The One and Only

2007-08-13T22:04:00.000+08:00

I'm the one and only Ivory Lim on Facebook. How cool's that?

The Search for Employment

2007-08-08T11:27:00.001+08:00

So the search begins.

Monster.com, Jobstreet.com, Jobsdb.com and filling up employment application forms.

So tedious.

The forms are incredibly long and the questions asked are sometimes so irrelevant:

Name your family members
Tell us your marital status, your race, your religion, your dialect (Heck! why not include my blood group too?)
Give us a current photograph

Anyway, I thought employers aren't supposed to be asking such questions anymore.. Hm...

I'm Quitting!

2007-08-06T23:56:00.000+08:00

Oh I finally broke the news to my parents so I might as well tell the whole bloody world now.

I'm quitting! I'm quitting! I'm quitting my job!

Not sure what I'm gonna do next or where I'm gonna go but I do know I need a challenge and this is pretty darn exciting - joining the League of Professional Bummers. For awhile at least!

Like maybe a week or two... I hope.

Lifestory

I still miss you.

I'm Back!

And its on to Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy!

Another Day At Home

I'm Back!

9 August 2008

Going Going Gone

21 days

Happy Birthday to Me!

Wedding Gown

Ah doi...

Bintan Trip (May 2008)

Oops

One month later

Hi! 你好！

Shopping Spree

Career Objectives

Monday, Monday

A Woman's Worth

Confirmed!

Grey's Anatomy

Over the Moon..

TEDA, Tianjin Photos

Counting Down..

My New Specs

That Look

Back from China

Belated V Day

New CNY Questions.

Chicks Dig Foreign Accent

Simply Beautiful

I'm Held By Your Love

We (I) love it!

Randomness

First Date

Annoyed

Crap. I'm tired.

Photos

Swamped

Busy Bee

Wanted: Au Naturale Heating

Swedish commuters' body heat to warm office

Ulcers

;)

2008 - A year full of weddings

Work E-mail Addict

New Year, New Day

Almost New Year!

Six Degrees of Separation?

I WANT (II)

I WANT....

Quote Machine

Tianjin Photos

Helloo from China

*Pat*Pat* Yiyi's Back

Yiyi Mandarin Sucky

I [Heart] Christmas.

Yiyi's STILL pissed off.

Not a Huge Nokia Fan

My Starbucks Tumbler

Cotton On

Weekend @ Sentosa and Why Yiyi's Been Pissed

Cheap and Good Shopping Spree

IMAP

Displaced

Plans and more Plans

Men Are More Effective

Tired.

Feeling the Heat

In My Dreams

Influx of Emails

Food For Thought: Good Things Are Meant To Be Shared

Lunch @ Blue Ginger

I Want My Own Kitchen

Finally An Update

Busy Busy

Weight Loss!

Update

Can't wait!

PatPat* Yiyi's Back