Qi

2008-07-07T20:29:00.000+08:00

I feel loved when...

The Five Love Languages

My Primary Love Language is Quality Time

My Detailed Results:
Quality Time:	9
Physical Touch:	6
Receiving Gifts:	5
Words of Affirmation:	5
Acts of Service:	5

About this quiz

Unhappiness in relationships is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. It can be helpful to know what language you speak and what language those around you speak.

Tag 3 people so they can find out what their love language is.

Take the Quiz!
Check out the Book

TPJC Corporate Clip

2008-06-03T13:04:00.006+08:00

Ok... I did mention that I am not going to update this blog anymore cos I've gotten lazy. However, i stumbled upon this clip on Felix's blog today, and i really want to share it with you!

It's a clip on my jc.

Seriously, watching it gives me goosebumps. =P The school song that no one sang. School compound that I vaguely remember. haha....

Cute Ham Ham

2008-02-10T11:27:00.000+08:00

I thought this looks pretty cute! Enjoy!!!

23rd Birthday!

2008-02-01T00:40:00.000+08:00

Qi has turned 23!!!!

On my 23^rd birthday, I went on a feasting spree!

Good thing to note is that I did not eat all in one day. So shouldn’t be that sinful ba. Guess I just have to rely on my trusty metabolism to do the trick!

1. Thai Express (29 Jan)

I was at Raffles City thinking of what to eat for lunch. Suddenly, I remembered Jo mentioned that there was this nice tom yam steamboat from Thai Express. I went to B1 to look for it but they did not have it in their menu. Remembering that there was another outlet at citylink, I headed towards it. But to no avail again! I only managed to find it at the Marina Square outlet. #@%$&%*

My overall verdict: The soup based was delicious. Ingredients wise so-so. But I was too gian by the time I reach Marina Square, so the overall rating is extremely satisfying!

2. Prata at Simpang Bedok (30 Jan)

This is super sinful! After a heavy lunch at Thai Express, I got hungry at 12 midnight, and went to eat prata!!! =/

3. Chong Qing Hot Pot at Suntec Fountain of Wealth (31 Jan)

Greedy Qi was gaining the fried buns with condense milk that came along with this steamboat. Hence, I specially went to eat the steamboat just for the buns. Ha! Hard on the outside, soft on the inside. Dip a bit of condense milk and umph! Yum yum!It was quite alright since they had a lunch set for only $11.90++. =)

4. Sun with Moon Japanese Dining & Café (31 Jan)

I have finally visited Sun with Moon today despite it being there for quite some time. Pretty unusual as I remember people around me raving about it and I never managed to try it. It always never came into my mind when I had problems deciding what to eat at orchard. I must say their business is very good by judging the crowd on a weekday night. Many even made reservations. o_O

We ordered:

Sukiyaki

I remembered when I first ate sukiyaki, I did not like the sweet taste. Hence, I only order it from Sushi Tei as they had my favorite crab meat and beef. However, the one Sun with Moon serves is really good! It wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet and had a good mixture of saltiness too. Slrrrrrrrrrrup! I couldn’t stop drinking the soup! The beef was good… but we ordered something even better!

Shogayaki Steak

This US certified Black Angus Steak is a MUST TRY! Though it’s a bit pricey but it is really worth eating!!! The meat is soft, tender and chewy. Melts almost instantly in the mouth. Just thinking about it now makes me hungry!!! It’s the best steak I’ve ever tried so far!!!

Kiwi Mojito - A mix of mint, rum, sugar, soda and kiwi. I kinda like the aftertaste of sprite. Hahah!

Next, how can Qi survive without her dessert?

Tada~

5. Hilton Hotel’s Hazelnut Royaltine

Wahahaha… How can I live without my rocher-tasting cake!!! The choco-hazelnut is so rich and crunchy~!! Really love it to bits! 实在是有一种超幸福的感觉！

P/S: If you are wondering what the red ball is, it's white chocolate! When I first saw it, I was wondering if it can be eaten. So cute right!

Qian Hu Fish Farm

2008-01-20T02:42:00.001+08:00

This week, Qi goes to Qian Hu Fish Farm!!! Woot! You must be wondering why a girl like me would be doing at a fish farm. It all started with Jo saying that she wants to get her legs bitten by little fishes at Sentosa’s Underwater World. Then a chat with sis, I found out that Qian Hu also provide similar fish spa but at a much lower rate of - $10 per 30 minutes!

So how does the fish spa works?

All you need to do is to wash your feet and then place them into a pool filled with small little fishes.

The initial sensation was tingling.

It was as though there were little ants all over your legs. Not so bad once you get used to it. However, there were some fishes that were 10 times bigger than the usual ones. Their bites are as if they were sucking your skin. Super irritating!

Overall, it was a fun experience and it seems that my legs felt smoother. Perhaps it’ll really do my skin good after prolonged usage.

Other Interesting things that I saw in the farm

Yummy~

2008-01-18T00:21:00.000+08:00

School has officially started and I’m already missing the office already. Sigh… so many cold and unfamiliar faces. How I miss my operations classmates (though I never got the chance to know everyone in my OM modules). My OM classmates always seem much friendlier and less scheming. OM profs are also fun-loving despite the heavy theories, mathematical calculations and case analysis. Lessons have been far more boring than I expected. I’ve been stoning in class and looking at the time, waiting eagerly for them to end.

In preparation for CNY, I went for a haircut and hair dye today. The person was very rough when he was washing my hair. I felt as though my whole head was going to be scratched off. As for the hairstylist, she did not make much conversation. The haircut seemed so much faster than my previous haircut which took almost 2 hrs. The effect was… disappointing. Ping, who I bumped into at city hall, couldn’t spot any major differences except for my shortened fringed. =( Perhaps I should stick to my hairstylist at Shunji. At least he’s gentler with my hair and chattier.

Lastly, I want to introduce some desserts!!!

Alternative to Warm Choc Cake at Bakerzin

If you are a warm chocolate cake lover, you would be please to know that Miss Clarity café at bugis, offers something that tastes rather similar, and at a more affordable price. Although it does not look as pleasing as Bakerzin, it gave me the same tingling sensation! Very value for money! Yum!!!

CANELE

I think most of you would know what this shop sells. It’s this small little shop at Paragon basement opposite Starbucks. It specializes in cakes. My favourite is, of course, Strawberry Shortcake. Since 30 Jan is around the corner, I thought it would be good for me to try something else. Hence I ordered their crepes. OMG!!! Just when you thought that crepes are suppose to be something covering something inside, Canele does the opposite!!! The ingredients are all displayed outside giving me a “WAH~” when I saw it. Hahahaha…. So far, I’ve tried:

Chic Choc

Chocolate ice cream, warm chocolate sauce, chocolate meringue, chocolate crumble, chocolate shards, vanilla crème chantilly

This is the most chocolaty crepes they have. I love how the fudge, ice cream, crepes, cream and the biscuits taste when they all mixed together. Very 幸福 ~

Nougatine
Filled with Nutella, salty caramel, caramelized Filo, Nougatine ice cream, vanilla crème Chantilly.

If you noticed what chocolates I like, you would have realized that I am biased towards anything that has choco-halzelnut = rocher = yummy! Hehehe… But minus point is that, you really got to have a good mixed of everything – crepe with nutella, ice cream, cream and the caramel, so that it’ll taste nice. The crepe with caramel alone tastes weird because the caramel is a bit sour.

It would also be nice to have some hot tea to go with your crepes. So far I’ve tried:

Berry Black
Luscious strawberries and raspberries, are blended with hibiscus, rosehips, and golden-tipped Darjeeling.

I wanted to try something that was non-conventional; hence I ordered this flower tea. And… boy! It was so - - -! Hahah… concluded that I should just stick to my normal red tea.

Classic Breakfast
Taste like normal lipton tea.

Mystical Ceylon
A fancy grade of full tea from the mystical island of Sri Lanka. Fine scented with a full, citrusy, bold flavor. Truly the champagne of Ceylon teas.

Hmm… not bad but I still like…

Tippy Darjeeling!
The champagne of black teas with a lovely muscatel flavor. This first flush tea is full of golden tips which gives it a rounded and mild fruity profile.

It really gives me a very satisfied after taste. Hahah… not too light. Not too heavy. No weird flower taste too. =)

Club Honey Baked Ham
Toasted Pain de Mie (white toast bread), honey baked ham, omelette, mayonnaise, plump tomato, potato chips, fresh lettuce and side salad with house dressing.

- There’s no pic for this as I was too excited when the food came! Hahah… Sorry! -

I am never a bread person. I have always preferred rice over anything else. I MUST HAVE MY RICE! Hahaha… but again… being a glutton, I got enticed into trying their sandwiches after looking at the customers seating beside me was chomping on their crunchy sandwiches. The sound was just too tempting for me!!! ARH~~~~~ So today I finally decided to choose sandwich over my beloved rice and OMG!!! It was soooo nice!

Conclusion: Canele is really a great place to eat! So many nice cakes, crepes and sandwiches! They have also just opened a new branch at raffles city! Go try it!!!

To all my loyal readers

2008-01-07T14:15:00.000+08:00

To all my loyal readers!!! I’m back!!! Hahah…

Yes. Qi is back to penning down her thoughts on this long forgotten blog after the urge of her endearing supporters.

So let’s see….

There are many reasons why I stopped updating.

There was nothing interesting that happened in my life. I spend most of my time at work, shopping or simply slacking at home. What? Upload pics ar? Facebook has provided me with a more convenient option. I can just share my friend’s album or when they tagged me. No work done from my side. Hahaha….
The gloomy weather has made me feel lazy. Haha… ok. Don’t blame the weather. Qi is simply lazy.
I thought no one was reading this. So update for what? But I was wrong. Hahaha… there are still some souls that visits here. So if you are one of them, I guess you are pretty bored. Nothing to surf or shop online. =P

Speaking of shopping online, I guess I have managed to exercise some self-restrain. Woot! But seriously, it was actually more due to the fact that I cannot use my internet banking, which made online shopping quite inconvenient. Sigh… I doubt I can get the problem fixed especially when DBS staff are so inflexible. So while everyone moves into the age of internet banking, Qi will still be one of those historic people, visiting the atm to do my transactions. Sigh…

And as most people know, school has just started today! Hahah… my final sem at SMU. It has definitely been much awaited after 3.5 years of study. My grades have been slowly improving just like the tortoise trying to catch up with the hare. Except in my case, the tortoise never managed to out run the hare. Haha… Still, I’m 0.02 away from high merit (not that it makes much of a difference since it’s not cum laude) but it’s still better than nothing. In addition, I have also managed to consistently score B+ in majority of my modules. Ha! I wished they are A-s instead. Not too much to ask for right? =P

Lately, I have also been thinking of what I should do in the future? Should I really go into HR? Which is better: contract position in the banking industry or a permanent position in some other industry?

On a lighter note, I have also been thinking of going for a change in hairstyle. I doubt my hair is long enough to perm, so probably going to just cut and dye. But I can’t decide which salon to go to. Haha… Do you have any recommendations?

New Desktop!

2007-09-27T20:17:00.000+08:00

This is the old desktop that 3 of us took turns to use dutifully for the past few years. It only gets a chance to rest when we are all asleep.

This is my new desktop!

Gosh! I like this so much more! The screen is so BIG! I don’t even need to scroll up down left right! Woo hoo!!! In fact, I’ve gotten so used to it that I find it uncomfortable to look at my old monitor. Too bad it can’t be brought to school. Hopefully, bro uses the old desktop more so that I’ve got more chances to use the new one! =)

Mid Autumn Fest 2007

2007-09-16T22:52:00.000+08:00

Movies always say it is romantic to 雨中漫步. Well, I'd say it's true! Never mind having your shoulders and feet wet. Go and walk in the rain with your loved ones!!! =)

If you think travelling to Chinese Garden is long and troublesome, if you think paying $12 for entrance fee is expensive, let me offer you some FREE alternatives!

First, you can drop by Chinatown to see the cute 十二生肖.

Then walk your way to Clarke Quay as there's more to see!

Gosh... someone should really advise me on an easier method to post pics on blogger. It's so troublesome to drag the pics from the top to the place you want!

Lastly, if any of you have decided to visit Chinese Garden, let me know k? I'm still contemplating about it.

Retrenched!

2007-09-10T21:35:00.000+08:00

Guess what? Today I received news that I am retrenched! My last day is this Friday. They have hired a new intern, who is on her poly holidays; hence my service is no longer needed. Sad... That's how the world is. There is no person a company cannot do without. Companies can always hire someone new to take over a job. Jobs are constantly restructured. One day, it's there. The other day, it's gone. So there goes my income. =( And I was still thinking of using it to finance my trip to KL (it's for this module that I'm taking, NOT for holiday purposes). Hai...

Well, on a brighter side, at least I can now enjoy a long weekend, from Fri – Mon. =) Time to slack and rot at home!

(Answer to post on 5 Sep 2007)

Which of the following will Qi do to reverse this plight?

2) Get rid of my old bottoms and make space for newer ones!

Cook

2007-09-06T17:58:00.000+08:00

People wonder why I don't know how to cook.

Well, that's because my parents will be nagging at me when I'm doing it!!!!

Even for the simplest task such as frying an egg, they will also want to stand near the stove and insist of removing me and cook themselves!!!

ARGH!

Truth....

2007-09-05T22:41:00.000+08:00

The truth is always hard to accept.

I've been trying to convince myself that it's untrue...

That I am still whom I was last time...

But I was wrong...

Today, I have finally come with terms to the truth.

I no longer deceive myself of whom I was.

And the truth is...

I HAVE GROWN HORIZONTALLY BY APPROXIMATELY 1 INCHE (+0.5") !!!

To those who have helped to delude me and say that I am skinny,

Thanks hor...

But evidences have shown that I've grown fat. I find it hard to fit into the bottoms I bought at most 3 years ago.

Evidences have also shown that that I cannot fit into size 32 for MNG or Zara pants.

So here's a question for my dearest readers.

Which of the following will Qi do to reverse this plight?

1) Shop at m)phosis. Their sizing is larger, so mislead me into thinking that I’m skinny until I cannot fit into their smallest size.

2) Get rid of my old bottoms and make space for newer ones!

3) Go exercise and slim down! Yeah!

4) Eat less!!! NO chocs, NO processed food, no sumptuous dining with the girls!

5) Learn from the expert! Zhen is soooo slim! Grrr...

Personality Test~

2007-08-30T23:02:00.000+08:00

After reading Zhen's blog, I went to try the personality test. Here's my results... I think some are accurate.

Get to know yourself better

Your view on yourself:
You are intelligent, honest and sweet. You are friendly to everybody and don't like conflict. Because you're so cheerful and fun people are naturally attracted to you and like to talk to you.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:
You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:
You prefer to get to know a person very well before deciding whether you will commit to the relationship.

The seriousness of your love:
You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

Your views on education:
Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:
You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:
You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Who is your true self:
You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test82.aspx

Christian Names

2007-08-23T23:40:00.000+08:00

Most people if not all know me by the name "Shi Qi".

Some of you might know that I've got a history of christian names too.

From Stacy (given by my aunt), to Debbie (after I thought Stacy sounded very oldish) and finally to Valerie (after I thought Debbie sounds very uncool). I almost vowed not to give myself another christian name because I've got a problem of keeping to a name (other name the one given by my parents). However, my Chinese name just makes it hard for people to remember me. Although I don't really mind that, but I do not like it to be pronounced otherwise. It's definitely a teeth-gritting experience when non-Chinese nurses, staff or profs try to call me. I always fear that they would come up with some weird pronunciation and turn my name into a laughing stock.

After today's lesson with a Japanese Prof from the States, it set me thinking on giving myself a Christian name again. She hard some difficulty pronouncing "Hui Xin" and I'm sure it will be the same for me. So.... after giving some thought and of cos, Internet research, Jerry found this for me...

KYRA

(Kyra is of Greek origin, and its meaning is "lady". From the male name Kyros, meaning "lord", from the Persian and Egyptian word for "like Ra, the sun". A short form of Kyria, the Greek title of respect for a woman. May also be a Russian name meaning "beloved".)

So from now on... I am also known as Kyra Cheng... Let's see how long it'll last. Or even better, will I even respond when you call out that name. =p

School Begins!

2007-08-21T23:42:00.000+08:00

Today was my first day of school and I felt so out of place.

Perhaps it was my clothes.
(Not slack enough)

Perhaps I've been working for too long.
(4 months have passed)

Perhaps it is the bidding that frustrates me.
(The course that I thought it was easy turned out to be a nightmare. Now, I got to rebid again and I just missed it. It's going to be more ex next round.)

Perhaps I just missed the office.
(Sitting at my desk, checking emails, making calls and talking to my colleagues.)

Perhaps I just missed my last term's lessons.
(I could look forward to Fridays to see that special one.)

Jo & Sutee

2007-08-15T23:13:00.000+08:00

I am so happy for Jo and Sutee!!! Both of them have not only graduated but also found good jobs! =) Wish I'd be lucky enough to land on a well-paying job too!

Tioman!!! 3-5 Aug

2007-08-07T23:04:00.001+08:00

You won't BELIEVE what I did last weekend. The super duper weak ah Qi, who is lousy in all kinds of sports and does not know how to swim, went DIVING!!!

Yes... I went Tioman to dive. Organised by SMUX Diving team and Gilldivers, a group of us went diving over a weekend.

Actually, I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up for it. How can diving be easy? Intruding a world that you are unfamiliar. A world that you don't belong to. A world that is vastly different from above land.

Diving is dangerous too. There are so many things that can go wrong no matter how experience you are. To make matters worse, I don’t even know how to swim!!! I must be CRAZY!!!

It was really physically challenging for me.
1. The equipment is super heavy. I could barely walk with the tank on.
2. I did not have the strength to use the fins to kick. Hence, I have problems going back to the boat and descending. I nearly got injured during my 3rd dive as I descended to fast (couldn’t maintain the height by kicking) and this could cause serious injuries.

In fact, it was so tiring that whenever I just completed a dive, I would just seat at one corner to stone or sleep. It was such a common sight that the instructors were making fun of me.

However, during the 4th and 5th dive, I made some improvement. At least I managed to perform the right stroke, even though it was a strain to my legs. I've got at least 5 bruises on them. =(

Oh ya... here are the creatures I saw under the sea.

1. Cuttlefish

I have totally no idea how a cuttlefish looks like. The only cuttlefish I’ve seen so far was other than those you find on your dinner table. For the first time in my life, I saw this disgusting soft creature, with tentacles in front but yet the side of the head looks like a fish. Its body was like squids, with wings moving like a Kallang wave, up and down. I was scared that I did not dare to look at it for too long. It only when I asked in instructor onboard, then I know what it was...

2. Dolphines!!!
Yeap! The boat was lucky enough to swim pass these lovely mammals. But they swim and jump so fast that I couldn’t have a good look (especially when the boat was super shaky).

3. Stingrays
I saw 2 stingrays too. First I swam right pass us. It was so fast that I couldn't get a good look. Then, I saw it when I got stuck between two corals. Heh... I was trying to ascend from the seabed, but there were corals beside me and I was scared of touching anything there. Suddenly, I realized there was something resting under the corals. And yup... it was this...

4. Napoleon fish

I think I saw this fish too. But it was so big and ugly that I was too scared to take a closer look. I just can’t stand its big pouty lips. YUCKS!

5. Cushion starfish
This starfish is big, fat and hard.

And of cos… Nemos….

P/s: pics are all taken off the net.

I need to retake my open water again... hai... anyone interested in going Dayang on the first week of September with me? Maybe we'll see some sharks together. =)

Diving Lessons!

2007-07-29T21:13:00.000+08:00

Last Thursday, I went to Gilldivers for theory lesson cum exam of diving. The lesson was rather simple. Watch dvd and do a quiz at the end of each part. The instructor then went to with the mathematical part of diving, where we learnt to calculate the number of minutes we can stay in water. It was rather confusing. First, we have to decide on the depth to dive. Then look for duration stayed in water, and the time that you want to stay out of water. For repeated dives, you got to choose the depth base on the previous pressure group and decide how long you want to stay in water. At certain times, divers need to make a safety stop as they reached the limit. Fortunately, with technology, all these steps are simplified. PHEW! So we can just rely on the instructors’ electronic equipment. There were 50 MCQs for the exam. To pass, you can only afford to have 12 questions wrong. I, unfortunately, had to redo the exam as I guessed many answers. When I finally managed to pass, it was already over 1230pm. Sad…

For the practical part of diving, I spent the whole afternoon at Mount Faber Safra. I felt it was difficult to put on and remove the wet suits. The pool was extremely cold as it was raining. We were all shivering badly in water and sneezing away. But the worse thing was, I needed to pee badly but I just couldn’t relieve in the pool. It was so bad that I couldn’t concentrate and needed to rush to the toilet immediately. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one. My other classmates also faced the same problem. Heh….

I thought it would be pretty easy as Ping said she had so much fun during her diving sessions. However, I was wrong. The diving lesson was difficult. I had problems taking off my mask and putting it back under water. It somehow affected my breathing and I just couldn’t do it properly. I also faced major problems in performing the Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent (CESA) which is used when you are down to the last breath. I was unable to kick myself to the surface, breath and blow air into inflate my Buoyancy Controlled Device (BCD). I drank a lot of water today. So much that I was choking for hair and almost in distress. Luckily the dive master was there to pull me up. It was so bad that I started to have second thoughts about diving. In the end, I did managed to oral inflate my BCD. But I’m scared now. Why cam Ping even think of taking Advance Level? O_O” She is so courageous! She took up diving alone and even went on a few trips!

Now, I only hope that I’ll return safely on Sunday night. Pray for me please?

P/S: Does anyone have an underwater camera to lend me?

Clinics

2007-07-28T14:29:00.000+08:00

Good things in life are meant to be shared. So here are my reviews on the clinics.

Maple Clinic @ Tampines
Dr Ong is super popular among people facing skin problems. She is largely reviewed by many forums. There is always a long queue forming outside the clinic before operating hours. On the average, the visit to the doctor takes more than 3 hours. Yet patients are still not turned off by it at all. AMAZING! Recently, they also computerized their systems. An auto-generated sms will be sent to your mobile phone to inform about your turn. As for the medication, I think it works pretty ok for me. The tiny bumps on my forehead are gone and I only suffer from occasional pimples. =)

Alaxis Aesthetics @ International Building
I recently visited this clinic, run by Dr Donald, to remove the spots around my eyes. When I first visited this clinic, I felt that the doctor look a bit too young and inexperience (he's in his 30s). He was unusually friendly during the consultation and kept laughing at my spots. He found it rather amusing that the skin around my eye and forehead were in such terrible condition. To avoid being persuaded to sign up those pricey treatments, I put up an unfriendly me and asked him some difficult questions.

Qi: “What's so good about your cream that I should buy it instead of those over-the-counter products?”
Donald: “Well, I can't say that mine are definitely better than theirs.”

Qi: “What happens if I used your cream and it gave my skin problems?”
Donald: “I'll remove them for free.”
I was surprised and probed him further.
Qi: “How do you know whether it is caused by your cream or the other creams that I used?”
Donald: “It's all based on trust.”

Surprisingly, he was neither aggressive about getting me to buy his treatments nor was him pushing his products to me. I was a bit impressed but still could not come to a decision. I wanted a second opinion and went to another clinic located at parkway as it has free consultation. =P This time, the doctor was an Indian. He quoted me $400 and there was no there was no guarantee that the spots will be removed. Hence, I made up my mind and decided to leave my face to Dr Donald.

The procedure was simple but painful. The anesthesia injected around my eyes was so painful that tears couldn't stop flowing. Being nice, Dr Donald even sang a song to distract me. Want to make a guess on the song he sang?

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

Ans: Advertisement of POCKY biscuits…. OK! POCKY!
----------------------------------------------------

As I had too many tiny spots around my eyes, there bound to be some misses. I have been visiting Dr Donald for touch-up sessions and he still maintained his friendly composure and did not charge me anything extra. I really got to admit that he is one of the rare doctors that are friendly, not aggressive and cares for his patients. I will definitely go again for other treatments in the future.

National Dental Centre
This is the WORST place you can go for orthodontist treatments and here are the reasons:

1. The queue is horrendous.
2. It’s even worse if you missed your appointments.
3. It’s far and inconvenient.
4. It’s super expensive. I think I spent quite a few thousands on those visits. I had to pay per visit consultation fees on top of the standard down-payment for the braces.
5. The staff is unfriendly and inefficient. I called their Records Department several times yesterday but no one answered. Left my number but no one return my call.

As my last visit was in 2003, I was considered “discharged”. Hence if I were to go back to see the orthodontist, I had to pay private consultation fees, ranging from $71 to $94. OUTGRAGOUS!

Hence, I called up other clinics to check if I could visit them instead. But I was turned down as they state that it would be hard for them as they do not have my records. Just as I was losing hope, thinking that NDC is the only choice for me, emBrace clinic’s receptionist came to my help. She was not just an ordinary receptionist in charge of the administrative work. Her knowledge on braces was also excellent as she could identify the problem and even explain the likely solutions. Consultation fees are more reasonable too, $30 - $50. However, I heard from my colleague that the Orthodontist does not talk much but very quick at his fingers. I shall be seeing him on 6 August. Hope everything turns out well.

Mum's Kitchen

2007-07-27T21:22:00.000+08:00

After catering for various events organized by my department, I have almost tried all the dishes from Mum’s Kitchen. Although their Mum’s Signature Mee Siam and Mum’s Signature Laksa are award winning, many people do not enjoy them during buffets. They find it too messy and rather take other dishes that are not liquid. Pity. But personally I think their mee siam was really quite good. HOT and SOUR! YUM! The heater even managed to keep the gravy warm throughout the 2 hours.

However, my colleagues and I felt that the #1 dish should go to Vegetarian Bee Hoon! Although there’s not much ingredients, the bee hoon really taste good! It tastes even better with their chilli. SUPERB!

Other goodies include English Mixed Fruit Tarts, Chocolate E’claire, Volcano Hot Wings and Chicken/Mutton Satay! Those are the first to go in buffets.

OK… now for the food to avoid.

Avoid ordering their Cereal Prawns as they are cold by the time your guests eat them. The prawns are also unshelled, so it brings some inconvenience and many people avoid them. Their Steamed Chwee Kueh with Chai Poh may turn off some of you because the chwee kuehs at the bottom looked as though they are soaked in oil. Their Har Kow was not that fantastic but was one of the popular items. It wasn’t hot enough and the skin was soft and juicy.

Lastly, their sales personnel are very friendly. I can change as many dishes as I like and they’ll try to accommodate as much as possible. Most importantly, delivery is always on time.

Extension of Internship

2007-07-25T20:50:00.000+08:00

Hmmm... I don't know whether you consider this good news... but my internship just got extended till 28 December!!! Gosh! I wonder whether I can cope with the school, work and tuition. BUT life seems more fruitful at the moment. =)

Human Resources

2007-07-24T22:04:00.000+08:00

I always thought I love doing mundane work. Just go to work, repeat what you do everyday. Easy and stressless. But after working for 3 months, it's really getting more and more boring. Although I can't say that I've been doing the same things everyday, but the admin work is killing me. Dispatching, copying, scanning, filling, data entrying and making phone calls. I kinda miss the days that I can just go home after classes and slack off the day at home. It seems so luxurious now to even walk around Tampines during weekdays.

I'm also starting to doubt whether I really want to go into Human Resources. For entry level, there's not much requirement as you'll probably end up being hired as contract and do admin work. The pay isn't fantastic either. Between $1.8k -$2k. It's only when you have at least 5 years experience, then you'll have a chance of being offered a permanent position. Sounds demoralising.

In a lighter note, it's 3 more days till weekend and 18 days till end of internship. I'm really looking forward to the start of the new term!

2007-07-07T13:41:00.000+08:00

Just the other day, I recieved a disturbing sms from my friend. She told me that this person has been downloading my pics to his hp from joanna's and my friendster account. So pervert!!! I already told him I would NEVER like him years ago and ignored him till now. Never did I expect him to do such a thing.

So to friends who post photos of me in your friendster account, please block him!!! or at least don't post pics that have me in it. =(

p/s: I doubt I will be revealing his name here. So if you are reading this and are linked to my friendster account, please drop me a tag or something and I will sms/email you that person's name. Thanks!

Lost Camera

2007-06-14T21:02:00.000+08:00

I am devestated. I thought I brought my camera to the office for work purposes. However, I when I reached into my bag for it, it wasn't there. So I thought I probably remembered wrongly and the camera would probably be at home. Sadly, I CAN'T FIND IT!!! I don't know what happen to it. I don't even remember taking it out from my bag. =(

FT Meet up...

2007-06-03T17:45:00.001+08:00

I finally managed to catch up with my FT gang yesterday. These people are so popular that you got to book them in advance!

So here are more photo updates of my life....

I think my eye bags are getting from bad to worse. =( Does anyone have any good eye cream to recommend?

2007-05-27T15:15:00.000+08:00

WARNING!

The following pictures may be too hot to handle.

Charlie's Angels

Fantastic Four

We Love SMU!!!

2007-05-26T01:03:00.001+08:00

Introducing....

The Queen of Sun Tanning

The Queen of Sun Tanning says that to prevent yourself from being sunburned, always apply sunblock continuously on all areas especially your shoulders and the cheeks and nose.

The Queen of Sleep

I fell asleep even before I reached the customs. I was also the first and the last to wake up. I also fell asleep on the boat after the snorkeling trip and in the room while watching TV. While on coach, I could sleep within minutes and continue sleeping despite the driver driving recklessly while my friends look on to watch how he drives the coach. So they complained that I don't have any 危机意识.

The Queen of 自拍

Sutee is really good at taking photos... She can always squeeze us in and take a good pic with just one try. Super pro! Her record is taking photo with a group of 10 people!!!

And last but not least, the Queen of Twister!!!

As you can see from the pictures below, we faced great difficulty in this activity. But ping can always stretch from one point to another effortlessly, while I struggle to twist and stretch my body even though i'm resting on my butt. Sigh... Age is catching up on me...

Oh ya! The Twister mat is very comfortable! It is soft and smooth. But it's such a waste to use a $30 mat as a pinic mat or the bedsheet.

So I guess we have to stick to our conventional beds...

Redang

2007-05-26T00:15:00.000+08:00

The breathtaking beach....

The gorgeous sweeties...

Our holiday resort...

My #1 fav couple pic.

Ping and Sutee looks so happy and the background is soooo prefect! I can never get such nice shots in Singapore.

Up next... the #1 fav single pic...

I just can't get enough of showing off my Redang pics... haha.... There's more to come! Watch out!!!

Snorkeling

2007-05-24T23:36:00.000+08:00

This is my first trip to a beach resort, my first trip to Redang, my first 10 hours ride on coach and also my first time snorkelling!!!

Can you recognise which one is me?

Below the sea level was another world of their own. Deep and endless. Just like what you saw in Disney's Little Mermaid, with many fishes swimming freely except that there was no mermaids but 3 pretty girls. hehe...

Jo trying to catch a fish. So cute...

Ping with her megawatt smile.

The sea water was extremely saltish. I drank a couple of mouthful as it was my first time snorkeling. The good thing is, the more I drank, the less salty it taste. =S

Overall, I enjoyed snorkeling. It's feels so magical to see the fishes swimming past you. I guess Jo and I better save up to join Ping in DIVING!!!

Redang part 1

2007-05-24T22:55:00.000+08:00

19 May 2007, 4 young, pretty and energetic girls set forth on their journey to an island located in the South China Sea, off the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. They met as early as 5pm to do some last minute shopping, and even shopped the entire Suntec City with a Carrefour Trolley. It was definitely challenging to push the trolley throughout the malls as the lifts weren't as conveniently located as compared to the escalators. However, this also meant that the lifts are not fully utilized and hence there was no waiting or squeezing at all.

After 10 hours of torturous ride in the coach, we finally reached the jetty.

And after approximately 2 hours, we finally reached Redang!!! The scorching sun, soft white sand, glistering sea is soooooooo pretty!!!

This is the famous More More Tea Inn from the movie. I think I watched the movie for more than 4 times as it was the only show with chinese subs and it was showing continuously.

Anyway, I'm feeling lazy le so I guess I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Enjoy the pics of the 4 beauties!!! Heh...

Me trying to scare the fishes. heh...

The beauties feeding bread to fishes.

2007-05-04T18:13:00.003+08:00

How can we reach a stage of contentment? I remembered I once said that as long as I don't collect B-s, I'm happy. However, with a majority of B+s, I wished I had more A-s instead. =P

Anyway, I did pleasantly well this term. In fact, this was the best term out of my 3 years in SMU. Perhaps studying in school had worked well for me. Damn! I should have tried this method earlier. The good news is I have a chance to reach high merit. Although it's not cum laude, but it's still better than merit. But with my current standing, I need at least 3 A-s and maintain B+s for the rest of the modules. This is highly IMPOSSIBLE judging by my history. =(

Can someone give me some luck or tips on how to get A-s?

sick~

2007-05-04T10:32:00.000+08:00

I know I'm weak physically. But now I think my immune system is rather weak too. After being down with fever on exams week, I'm sick, yet again, with fever, 3 weeks later... o_O. Time to drink some herbal soup.

blood....

2007-05-02T23:52:00.000+08:00

Introducing... a prize for skating on May Day.

It was all good in the afternoon. I skated from Mac all the way to Bedok Jetty despite the slight drizzle. I took breaks in between. Still, I'm very proud of myself. In addition, I managed prevent myself from colliding into others despite the heavy traffic on the tracks. But I got to admit, the slopes were quite hard to handle. First, I have problems going up with my weak legs. Then I have problems going down with my wobbly legs. Ha. I was a tad scared as I was moving down at quite a fast speed.

But oh well... who would have guessed that I would fall down on the way home. I just lost balance all of a sudden. Furthermore, feeling lazy after dinner, I let my guard down by not wearing the elbow guards. sian. With this, I guess I'll be out of action for the next few weeks until it gets better. And I was still thinking of going ECP with jo and ping this friday evening... =(

P/S: another unlucky thing happened to me. My one and only desktop crashed. Can't watch my dramas at the moment... sob sob...

Events~

2007-04-20T21:44:00.000+08:00

Today, I've discovered something new about myself. I realised that I enjoy organising events.

I understand it is a highly stressful because no matter how prepared you are, you'll never know what will happen in the last minute. Hence, there's a need to be able to hold your composure so that you are ready to tackle any unexpected situations. It also requires a lot of patience as it is tedious to liaise between your boss and the external vendor. Even when the event is over, your work does not end as there ares still things that needs to be follow up.

However, the satisfaction of successfully organizing an event is very tangible and extremely rewarding. Every event is also different and this makes it even more exciting. Hee... Maybe this is another reason why I'm into HR. Ha! Or it could be another career path for me to consider. =P

Ben & Jerry's

2007-04-17T22:31:00.000+08:00

It's 2nd day of work... and I already starting to miss school. Rather unexpected because usually, I would enjoy working as I can look forward to my pay. But this time, all I feel is sianess... I dread waking up in the morning, squeeze in the mrt and stand all the way to cityhall. Only 2 days have passed. How am I going to hold on for 16 weeks and 3 days? =(

In a lighter note, I went to queue up for Ben & Jerry's free cone today during lunch break. =) BOY! Adults are crazy over ice creams. The queue was terribly long. It stretched from the middle of Suntec Atrium to a corner behind Starbucks. I think there were over 50 people waiting before me, but the queue was moving very fast. I only waited for approximately 30 minutes for one. Very efficient queuing system! It was a single queue with multiple servers. Maybe a M/M/4 system? But there were also another set of servers giving out ice cream for those waiting in the line. So the queue moved pretty fast. Maybe I will consider queuing for FOC goodies next time. =P

The Super Super Long Queue...

Blocking Carrefour's business...

Just when you finally see the servers...

The straight queue became a zigzag line behind Starbucks. =(

Start of Internship!

2007-04-16T21:07:00.000+08:00

While most SMU students are now happily enjoying their summer hols, I have already embarked on my 17 weeks long internship and it did not help when it coincides with my period. =(

As for my work environment, it was definitely fast-paced. Everyone seems to be in a hurry. There seems to be endless work to be done. I guess that's life in the banking sector, such a big difference as compared to my previous internship where people still have time to walk around and chit chat. However, this is really a great opportunity for me to gain exposure in HR so I will hang in there!!! Wish me luck! Hope I won't screw up anything. =X

Yesterday, I declared that I am starting to embrace sports. Today, I received an invitation to run on this coming Friday. 0_0!! Yes... run. I wanted to choose the one with the shortest distance but the slots were all taken up. Furthermore, being young and petite, my colleagues thought that I should be able to run quite a distance. Hence, I was arrowed to run 1.5km. This doesn't sound very bad right? But considering there were shorter distances such as 0.5km and 1.0km, so I rather run for those distances. =P In addition, I think we are supposed to run to and fro so this means that I have to run a total of 3km? Based on my JC 2.4km runs, I would usually take more than 20 minutes to complete. Hence, I'm praying that I won't be the last to reach. Haha... However, I think this event is still good. At least it makes me exercise. =) Something that I have been trying to do for years but lacked the determination to patronize the well-equipped gym of SMU. Such a waste.

P/S: Has anyone visited the swimming pool in Admin Building? I still can't seem to find it. =P

Volar!

2007-04-15T19:50:00.000+08:00

Today was supposed to be a busy day for me. I was supposed to have tuition now, but it cancelled on me last minute. Yay~ My last day of hols just extended by 2 hours. =)

So after my tuition in the morning, I headed to Bedok Interchange and took Bus Service 401 to SMUX Volar at East Coast Park. This service is pretty good. Although it arrives on specific timings only, it was timely and stops directly at ECP unlike Bus 31. So much more convenient! Too bad it is only available during weekends and public holidays. Guess it is not a very popular route as most people go ECP with their own transport. =(

Anyway, today I wrestled with kayaking, cycling and inline skating. (Too bad the queue for cable skiing was too long. If not it would have been a great experience too.) Surprised right? Din know that I actually went down to ECP, in a lazy Sunday afternoon, for sports right? Haha... especially when the weather was so hot today!!!

Round 1: Fight!
Kayaking was not bad... I slack most of the time because it was double. =P
Conclusion: Draw?

Round 2: Fight!
As for cycling, I've got to admit defeat. It's a pretty complicated relationship I have with the bicycle. I know how it feels to be on the bike. I know I got to push the bike, ride on the momentum, start peddling and then it will somehow automatically balance itself. I know I need to apply brakes when I'm going to lose balance to prevent the bike from crushing on me. BUT, no matter how hard I try, my left leg refuse to react fast enough to join my right leg in the peddling action, or vice versa. Hai... so in the end, it feels as though the bike was riding on me, instead of I'm riding on it. So sad right?
Conclusion: KO!

Round 3: Fight!
My final battle was with the skates. Thanks to my previous skating crash course by the SMU Sk8ters, I have already managed to overcome my fear of balancing on wheels (Isn't this ironic? Bicycles are also on wheels. =X ) I made far less noise today. No shrieks. Only occasional Ahs~. This was probably because I was lucky to have someone as my skating stick. Hee. So after today's short skating course, I managed to skate without clinging onto someone! So proud of myself. Haha...
Conclusion: I win!
My next target: Learn how to stop and turn. Any sk8ters free to teach me during summer?

So after a long battle with sports today, I can safely say that I enjoyed myself today and I think I am starting to embrace sports. =) Pretty good to do something different other than shopping and eating.

To all who is reading this, remember to ask me out for sports next time! Qi is more than willing to try. But do bear in mind that I'm still quite a sports idiot (after hating it for so many years), so please be patient with me. Heh.

Start of Summer

2007-04-15T00:23:00.000+08:00

I think this term, the module that leaves the biggest impression in me would be Performance Management and Compensation. First, though it was an open book exam, Prof did not say what he is going to test on. He did not even clarify which topics were tested and did not even state the format of the paper. So I screwed up the exam as I didn't write fast enough. Oh well... hopefully I can scrape off with a B-.

Performance Management and Compensation also marks the start and end of my summer holidays. This is because the exam falls on Sat, I've got 2 tuitions on Sun and my internship starts on Monday! Therefore, I have effectively 1 day to enjoy after my exams. =(

However, I believe this is going to be quite a fulfilling summer as I will be packed with tuitions, internships and outings with friends. Haha... Looking forward to spend 4 months away from the campus!

Station Kitchen~

2007-03-15T12:28:00.000+08:00

Finally, I went to try Station Kitchen at St James. My verdict: Beef fillets are great! Chuncky and Juicy. Their sauce and chicken soup is nice too (dunno whether there’s MSG not. =X). As for the rest, cod fish and pork were normal, mushroom was ok, but the marbled beef has so much fat that it can even cause the charcoal to be on fire. Ding Tai Fung’s braised beef noodle was normal too. I still prefer their 虾仁炒饭。But I think the kimchi in the bibinbap is quite nice.

As for the service, it was quite hard to get their attention, and they have different groups of people serving different sections of the restaurant. There were many entrances to Station Kitchen too. It was much easier for us to get a seat by waiting at the main entrance of Charcoal.

Ping, Jo & The Charcoal Burners.

Lastly, I think it's quite hot to sit with a charcoal burner in front of you. The heat is comparable to those steamers in the beauty palors.

funny videos!

2007-03-05T14:17:00.000+08:00

This video is a MUST watch. Super funny!!!

My belated birthday present!

2007-02-25T18:40:00.000+08:00

Last Friday's weather was terrible. It rained and stopped, rained and stopped. Luckily, it finally stopped, and we managed to go SENTOSA!!! The flower fest was really pretty! Too bad we didn't go early hence missed out on quite a lot of display. However, we still managed to take some good pics. =)

ENJOY!

Later at night, we met up with ping at Settlers to celebrate my birthday again! Haha... And they even bought me my favorite cake!!! I was so surprised and touched. Thanks girls!!!

And this is my much-awaited birthday present.

Tada! A Cinderella Snowglobe!

I think back in my secondary school days, I jokingly told the girls that I want a Disney Snowglobe for birthday. I never managed to receive it cos it was expensive and my friends are also poor students like me. However, this year, my dream finally came true!!! This musical globe will even auto swirl the snow when the melody is played!

Thank you Jo, Ping, Lena, Wendy & Shu Jun!!! I really love this present!

New Me!

2007-02-23T13:56:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone!

Hope ya doing fine! =)

I'm suppose to be doing my gene cell project but was thinking of slacking. And i haven't been updating lately cos I've been so busy!!! It is mid term break now and there's so many things to be done! Projects, assignments, tuitions and outings with friends. Finally... haha... It has been so long since I last met up with them. Really enjoyed their company. Thanks! Will try to find time and upload more pics of cute little me. haha.

Lastly, I want to thank all who were forced to listen to my crap. Haha... Sorry everyone. Made ya worried.

birthday~

2007-01-31T21:46:00.000+08:00

Last Monday, I met up with Peijun and Adrian for lunch @ Sakae and then proceeded to Ben and Jerry’s for desserts! Yum Yum... It was really nice to see them again especially when I see them around in campus. We had a couple of great laughs and kept suaning each other. Really miss those times when I lunch with friends after class. =(

Anyway, they surprised me with a birthday celebration. Orh...So sweet! Adrian got me a super huge candle to replace my 22 candles. (-_-)" getting old liao. hai.

My ice cream birthday cake!

Later in the evening, I met up with Hazel and Desmond for a birthday celebration. I think Wendy or her bf once thought that they were my parents. Poor thing. Haha! Probably because I look so much younger than them. =P

Many thanks to all your well wishes!

抓抓

2007-01-27T21:43:00.001+08:00

The TEAM dined at IKOI Japanese Restaurant in Miramar Hotel today. The restaurant is very popular, so you need to reserve in advance. After lunch, we went to Suntec to play 抓抓 (the catch toy game in arcade). Sutee was the central commander navigating the catcher and jo was her trusty sidekick dropping the coins in. Ping, the solider, was in charge of collecting cash from us and changing them to coins, while I was the guard, sitting on the bench, protecting our valuables. It was really a grueling, anxious, exciting, tired but satisfying game.We cracked our heads and tried to make the toy drop into the hole. There were times that we though of stopping as it seemed impossible to get it. But a nice auntie came and taught us how to do the trick. Hence we tried and tried and suddenly… we SCREAMED! Haha… yes… we screamed in public where everyone was looking us. So we managed to won one. What’s next? MORE!!! There was nothing stopping us. Money was like nothing to us. We just kept changing coins when we ran out of them, and keep dropping it into the machine as if they were nothing. So finally, here's our 战例品.

Want to guess how much we spend?

here's me and my cutesy pie.

A total of $101!

22nd birthday with SS6

2007-01-26T17:12:00.000+08:00

Last Wednesday, I met up with SS6 for my 22nd birthday celebration! Boy! I feel old.

So here are the pics!!!

#1: Met up with jo and ate dinner at Kim Gary.

The noodles are good and very filling.

#2: We proceeded to St James and settled on this very cute swing!

#3: Then, we went to Altivo to chill out.

Lastly, my favourite strawberry short cake was sold out hence here are my birthday cakes.

tarot card test

2007-01-21T13:52:00.000+08:00

I did this test after visiting Zhen's blog, but I don't think it's accurate at all. Anyway, here's my result.

You are The Empress
Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation.
The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful.
The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

My Master Piece

2006-12-31T14:54:00.000+08:00

Minna San!!! Happy New Year!

So... Want to know what I have been doing for this December? Well... Here it is...

This is my first time stitching something this big and on cloth. The last time I did cross stitch was probably when I was in primary school. The cross stitch I did then was on those round rattan thingy frame. It was relatively easier and so much smaller.

So why did I decide to make this? Initially, I started with something else. However as I stitched, I realized the color combinations weren't true to what was shown in the magazine. But I was stubborn and did not want to face the truth, so I continued once in a while, all the way to exams. The final blow came when my sis commented that it looks weird. So I thought, since exams are over, I have plenty of time, why not start on a new picture and do some stitching? Thus, I embarked on this project! It took be longer than expected. I've spent countless hours stitching and taking small pc breaks in between. (I think my bro and sis must have missed that period because it means more time for them to play wow!) In fact, I think I'm more hard working doing this than studying as I never stayed up late to study. Ha.

So here's the final product! Tada!

Impressive? I think so. Hee...

Reira - Truth

2006-12-15T10:42:00.000+08:00

Introducing....

Reira starring Yuna Ito in NANA 2 - TRUTH. Great song! But I still prefer endless story. heh...

Enjoy!

Ayu's CNN interview!!!

2006-12-13T18:21:00.000+08:00

OMG!!! Ayu was on CNN on 8th Dec. Watch her speak in English too!!!!

STORM sux!

2006-12-11T19:59:00.000+08:00

Today I attempt to cut my hair at STORM Tampines. Why attempt? Because it was not a success. For the first time in my life, I did not manage to cut my hair even though I was already sitting in the salon.

So here are the signs to look out for in this disgusting shop.

#1: I went into the salon when there was no customer. The hairdresser wanted to sell me this treatment for oily scalp. But all I wanted was a hair cut so I declined.

#2: She attempts to convince me into taking this "fringe rebonding" to close up the gap of my fringe and costs $50. My friend reminded me that I'm here for just a hair cut so I declined again.

#3: She was pissed. Hence, she went to EAT dinner!!! WTF!!! How can u make customer wait and go eat dinner? Why not ask some other person to cut for me? I'm not picky. Anyone will do. I just want to cut my hair. Is that so difficult? However, being nice, I thought well, she's pregnant, so cannot let the baby hungry.

#4: After waiting for some time, another woman came to wash me hair. I thought, well, finally some movement. BUT, all she did was to wet my hair, add shampoo and rinse. NO massage at all!!! Furthermore, she was more interested in selling me a shampoo than washing my hair. And she did not even dry my hair and let it wet, leaving their customer cold. WTF!!!

#5: The pregnant lady came, and ALMOST wanted to start cutting my hair. Then this young chap came by and say "hey, go cut her (the other customer) hair". That pregnant lady said you wait hor. I thought it was just some hair consultation. But I was wrong. I waited and waited. Maybe around 30 mins? What the hell.

#6: So I wanted to leave. But my friend say lets wait and see how. But the lady was taking her own sweet time. Soon, the salon became crowded, and those people who came later then me already had their hair cut. But what about me? I was sitting there with my hair all wet, looking like an idiot. That was the final straw. We left the salon.

Moral of the story? NEVER GO TO STORM TO DO YOUR HAIR!!! So what if it's open by one of the Top 10 male Artist of the Year – Mark Lee, the salon SUX!!!

Merry X'mas!

2006-12-09T23:57:00.000+08:00

This festive season. The TEAM scouts the best place to take pictures in Orchard Road!

#1: Cosy Christmas @ Wisma
Go to Wisma Level 1 and you'll find a very cute Christmassy Village complete with lamp posts, wishing upon the stars, snowy hut and of cos, a Christmas tree!

#2: The ever famous and iconic Taka Christmas Tree.
Every year, this tree is always surrounded by people. The best spot is to take at the side facing Dior as it is less crowded. Don't ask me why people like to crowd at the side facing Taka.

#3: Cute Reindeers at Taka.
You can find these Reindeers at the main entrance facing the road. They are pretty HOT too. (And I do mean literally hot) So be careful of the high voltage!

#4: Starry Starry Night @ Paragon
This gigantic tree is another popular place for photo taking.

#5: Icy Christmas @ Heeren.
There are 4 different colors namely, red, yellow, green & blue, at the junction outside Heeren. The TEAM votes for the blue one because it gives us an icy feeling and allows us to dream of snow.

#6: Magical Christmas to Wheelock Place
There's this pretty storybook that is a must take!!!

#7: Lucky Christmas @ Wheelock Place
Here's a different Christmas tree. It's not the usual cone shape but a normal rain tree- like tree. However, it is decorated with gold leaves! Be sure to touch them so that you can 旺 all the way to New Year!!!

#8: Quiet Christmas @ Wheelock Office Tower
At this point of time, you should have already taken most of the Christmas trees in Orchard and should have experience a lot of jostling among the crowded streets. Don't you want to take some pictures peacefully without any strangers in the frame? This is the best spot to enjoy a quiet Christmas as the tree is secluded at Wheelock's Office Tower.

I'm Back!!!

2006-12-06T11:33:00.000+08:00

Hello Dearies~

I'm back with more updates of my life... i hope... (-_-)" anyway, thanks for checking up on me... Stay tuned for more~

Love,
Qi

Mid Autumn Festival

2006-10-08T20:59:00.000+08:00

I was over at JB during the Mid Autumn Festival and guess what! I managed to catch fireworks after dinner!!! Aren't Malaysians lucky? They could fire fireworks freely!

NExt, here are 3 cute littles girls that dressed up for this special occassion! Ths one in the middle is a mooncake!!! Awww...........

Groovy Night!

2006-09-15T12:03:00.000+08:00

Here's the much awaited pics that we took on Groovy Night with school uniform theme!

The guys...

The pretty girls!!!

The lucky guy who was shared among 4 girls during our first beginner 1 class. =)

Special thanks to ralphy who came to see me in action. Hee.

Food Marathon

2006-09-03T18:33:00.000+08:00

Introducing…. THE TEAM.

Clockwise: Me, Jo, Ping & our part timer Sutee.

The TEAM went to the much awaited Hog's Breath café @ Chijmes for lunch last Friday. Currently, they have a promotion - buy 3 main course or set lunch and get 1 free!

For set lunch, you can choose to have either a beef soup or a chicken soup + a glass of drink.

Our verdict: Though it wasn't too thick nor bland, its taste was just not our liking. Furthermore, the chicken chunks were a bit tough. However, the carrot chunks were soft and sweet. =)

Here's the main course that I had - Hog's Breath Prime Rib. There is a variety of sides and sauces to choose from, e.g. curly fries or mash potato or baked potato & salad, traditional brown sauce or black pepper or mushroom sauce. As for the steak, it was soft and juicy but thin, probably because set lunches are cheaper.

Our journey did not stop here. Girls can really eat these days. After a short shopping session, we proceed to tcc for drinks and dinner at Sketches.

That's us entertaining ourselves with Ping's camera.

We ordered, Feeling Prawny -$10.90, Slippery Lobster - $15.90 & Jo's own creation - $10.90 (clockwise).

Our Verdict: Feeling Prawny was delicious. Although it was not served in the usual tomato sauce, the dry pasta turned out pretty good. It's very chewy and leaves a tinge of burning sensation as it was cooked with chilli. The Slippery Lobster was not very meaty, however, it was compensated with some prawns that were fresh and succulent. As for jo's own creation, the baby clams were so baby that we could not see nor taste it. =/

At night, we went to giraffe @ istana park for drinks. We almost couldn't ordered them because the waitress thought we were underage and asked for our IC. OMG! We don't even look 18! Jo took it happily as a compliment. Heh.

I can't remembered what the rest ordered but I had a glass of Blue Lagoon (far right). It was suppose to have the taste of rum, but all I could taste was the sweetness of 7-up. There wasn't any taste any alcohol in it. Another negative point about the place was the toilet. It uses tainted glass doors that leave a gap when you close the them with the metal ledge. As a result, I could see the lady inside the cubicle doing her business when I entered the toilet. (No, there's no picture for this because I did not bring my phone with me into the toilet. Even if I did, I was too shocked to do anything and I won't do such things either.) There was no privacy at all. :( Furthermore, the lighting of the toilet also allows you to see the actions of the person inside the cubicle. This is the worse toilet that I've ever went. I will not patronise this place in future.

Alright... That's it for the day. There's more to come!!!

Snails

2006-08-31T13:00:00.000+08:00

Ever wondered why snails appear after rain?

I have always been curious about it but never tried finding it out. My guess is that the rain cause those slimy creatures to crawl out of their hideouts as they can't breath in the flooded soil. Furthermore, during a sunny day, they probably just want to stay indoors so that they would not dehydrate.

Cool huh...

I never like snails. They are disgusting, gluey and slimy creatures. When I was in primary school, there was this narrow pavement which many primary school kids had to walk on to exit or enter the school. During a rainy day, this pavement is always filled with carcasses of snails as they were totally flatten out by the children feet. Obviously, no one looks on the floor while walking. But issn't it awful to feel that there's something squeeishy underneath your shoes?

We all know that snails crawl. But when was the last time did you see a snail crawl?

Well, ever since I saw those horrible creatures smashed on the floor, I always look at the floor while walking after a rain. My heart will almost stop when I see something brown on the floor. After taking a closer look, I would realise how silly I am to mistake a leaf for a shell of a snail. Anyway, that's besides the point. Yesterday, I indeed saw a snail gliding on the pavement, and I do mean gliding. Yes. It was fast. Was not as slow as what the teachers taught us long ago. I wanted to take a short clip of it too! But I just couldn't bear to see it in action. Hence, I settled with a pic of it.

Oh ya... this snail was huge. It's length is the size of my palm. Ewww....

ISTJ

2006-08-29T10:29:00.000+08:00

You Are An ISTJ

The Duty Fulfiller
You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done.You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings.Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you.Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy.
You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer.

What's" Your Personality Type?

Precious

2006-08-28T20:37:00.000+08:00

If you have read my earlier post, you would remember this pretty girl with a sweet voice called Yuna Ito?

Does it ring a bell?

People always ask me why I listen to Jpop without understanding the song. Well, cos I'm a BIMBO? haha... Listening to the music and voice is enough for me. However, I realised that there are people who really needs to understand the lyrics of the song in order to love the song. So, I went to search around and there you have it!

On the day I couldn’t seemy heart I felt insecure
The meaning of loving somebody it’s something I decide myself
truth can be found in everything

I promise you, I won’t wander off anymore
I’ll be strong...and prove myself to you
I won’t run away, I’ll turn around to face you
so I can see how you feel, to heart

*I will believe
so the two of us can be together in love
In order for my wish to reach the sky
I will look for you, and pray for the two of us
A pair of thoughts, now they can come
together and from a whole
Your precious love

When pain or bitterness pulls us
apart, we can hold each other
We’re no longer alone,
because everything is answered by true love

I will believe
so the two of us can be together in love
I’ll hold your hand forever, don’t let
go, let’s make a promise, the two of us
A pair of thoughts, now they can come
together and from a whole
Just the two of us

I believe that right now we can
strengthen this young and complacent love
There can be truth
A new beginning
I want to be one with you

I will believe
that we can come together
right now, right here, and love each other
So in order to light your light fill me
I hug you tightly
*Repeat

Isn't Internet a wonderful tool?

Gone are the days where we had to visit the library to do research for our projects.

Gone are the days where we fret that those books that we are looking for are not at the shelves where they are suppose to be.

Isn't life wonderful now?

Yeah right... now we even have to bring home work to do when we are on MC. PUI!

Error in Printing

2006-08-28T20:19:00.000+08:00

CORRECTION OF POSTING

ah-qi.blogspot.com would like to apologise for the post dated August 20, 2006 (Sunday), 9:31 PM. Jo's phone should be a Samsung D900,

instead of a D820.

Does this look like those ads that Straits Times prints when there's an error in their papers?

Not really huh.

Well, I tried my best. =)

Aerin's

2006-08-20T21:31:00.000+08:00

This Sunday, the team went to Aerin’s, located at the new Market Place of Raffles City, for “tea” today. Here’s the list of things we’ve ordered.

1. Beef Goulash, $7
This is a thick tomato soup with huge chunks of beef, soft carrots and potatoes. The carrots were yummy despite the fact that I dislike carrots. A bit ex for a soup. But the serving is very big! Enough to share among 3 people.

2. Prawn Fritters, $12
Wooh! These prawn fritters really scored! Hot and crispy and goes well with their specially made tartar sauce! Yum Yum!

Clockwise: Prawn fritters, Beef Goulashm & yes... it's plain water over there... your eyes did not play tricks on you.

3. Baked Apple Pie, $9
This is their most famous dish. Almost everyone orders it because the media has been “advertising” on it. I like the mixture of flavours: tinge of sweetness (ice cream) and sourness (apple). You’ll get to enjoy the softness (ice cream with baked bread top) & the crunchiness (apples) at the same time too. Refreshing.

4. Chocolate Pudding, $9
This chocolate pudding is similar to the one selling at Bakerzin where the chocolate oozes out where the brownie is attacked, except that this one does not have the hot chocolate. However, the brownie melts in your mouth almost instantly! Goes well with the ice cream too. Great for people with a sweet tooth. Hee.

Yummy Brownie!!!

5. Jasmine Green Tea, $5.50
Comes in a nice transparent pot, tastes like a normal tea.

6. Strawberry Lemonade, $6
Pink. My favourite color. Sour. Mouth-watering.

7. Hitch Fizzy, $6
Blue. Cool. Mixture of pineapples & lychee.

Clockwise: Strawberry lemonade, Hitch Fizzy & green tea.

Watch out for this space as the team goes onto other food splurges!

PS: Photos are courtesy of Ping's new Samsung E900,

And Jo's Samsung D820. =)

my new phone!!!

2006-08-18T15:55:00.000+08:00

This is the last week of the summer hols. So what have I been up to?

Ta da!!!!

I’ve finally bought a new handphone!!! Yay!

Yes… after months of contemplating on what phone to buy, from SE W800i --> Nokia --> Samsung E870, I’m back to a SE W810i! Quite unexpected because I was all set of buying E870. However, there was still a tinge of uncertainty about that phone because I’ve yet to see anyone use it. So when the day finally came, my brother suggested me to get a w810i. Next, I saw a guy using that phone while I was on my way to Starhub. It’s a sign!!! Haha… Furthermore, Starhub had this promotion of $88 off mobile phones for hubbers = I’m entitled!!! Yay~

So right now, I’ve been busy exploring my new phone. I was amazed by how the earpiece functioned. I was astonished that my phone supported conference call. I was excited and pleased by the new FREE themes that I downloaded today. Yes. Clearly, technology abandoned me 2.5 years ago. (-__-)"

Still, I'm a proud owner of a SE W810i!

updates of this wk

2006-08-13T20:44:00.000+08:00

Here’s the latest update of the world of ah qi.

#1: My internship is finally over! Woo hoo!
Enjoyed a week of free lunch courtesy of my dear colleagues! =P

#2: I went to watch Team Italy, Singapore & France’s fireworks display.
Boy! Was the place crowded! Below is a picture of me munching on a ice cream cone while waiting for the show to start. Lucky I had it to brave through the crowd and find a place to stand. Phew!

Anyway, here's the finale of Team France fireworks. Enjoy~

#3: Watch Umizaru 2!!!
I must say those Japanese are really good in filming these action-romance show. They make my heart skipped and even stop for a few seconds! Though the plot is quite predictable (similar to the other Japanese dramas that I’ve watched), but they are so touching! This movie is about how the rescuer (Hideaki Ito) persevered to save the lives of 2 passengers. The ship was almost sinking and other officials had already given up hope on them. Umizaru 2 also includes pretty good lines that will definitely melt your heart! Its definitely a MUST watch!!!

Here's the official site! http://www.umizaru.jp/

Here's the promotional poster (international version)!

The Japan Promo Poster.

Trying to escape.

The dashing Hideaki Ito.

PS: Guys! This is a great chance to get close to the girl you like!!! Remember to give them a hug when you lend your shoulders to let them cry on!

Precious by Yuna Ito (Umizaru 2 theme song)

Watch this to see to catch a glimpse of the movie!!!

Oh yes... i would like to introduce another song of hers - endless story (theme of NANA). Fell in love with this song after watching numerous performances of it last year.

NDP 2006

2006-07-30T22:12:00.000+08:00

Went to watch NDP preview on the 29 Jul with Ralphy. As we left the house rather late, we were stuck in a jam on the roads leading to the stadium. Ralph tried to cut his way through the madness, while I have a peek into the cars that were also trap in the jam. Most of them are packed with families in red. Ain’t Singaporeans sporty! Even though it was just a rehearsal, most people turned up in national colors. Even my mom tried to make me wear those bright red national t-shirts by giodano. (-_-)” Luckily, I managed to grab my bright pinkish-red top and changed quickly. Phew. Can’t imagine myself wearing that out man. Its so cork. Alright. Back to the journey there. After swooshing through the cars (I bet Ralph must be cursing away. He hates it when the weather is hot and he needs to make all the twist and turns to get out of the traffic.), we finally reach the stadium.

I began to think “yay~ finally here. Can just park and go in.”

But I was so wrong.

A soldier stopped us and asked for a car park coupon to enter the enclosed car park. Hence we had to choice but to drive off to find other place to park. However, there was no other car park that was free to park. Hence, we decided to park at the pavement. Then, another motorist joined us. He complained that he drove 3 rounds and couldn’t find a lot too. Isn’t it weird? So many people came by car but there was no place to park. Anyway, I was very uncertain about parking there because there were so many policemen. In fact, there were at least a dozens TP there. Peng. I began to think that watching NDP was not worth it cos the fine would be $80 = $40 per tickets!!! Furthermore, ralphy said that in severe cases, they may even tow the bike anyway. GOSh!

Since we are here, we decided to heck it and began to walk and find our way in. There were tones of Singaporean wearing red, some in white and others in other colors. The queue to enter was terrible. It was hot, stuffy and crowded. Lucky for us, we stumbled upon our entrance to the green sector by identifying the tickets in their hands. Hence, we stealthily jumped the queue and got into the stadium in no time.

So what’s inside the goodie bag? Junk food. Biscuits. Electric fan. Wet tissue. Program booklet. Coupons. Trash bags for you to enter a lucky draw. A cap by OISM with a national flag with beaming lights. Inflatable clap sticks that keep lou4 hong1. A Nokia handphone. Yes. They give each of us a stupid hp as a torch light. Its so hard to hold and wave at night!!! You even have to make it face outside so that the stadium would be lit up. So troublesome! I hate the torchlight most.

Ugly me with my clapsticks

Anyway, I was happily joining the crowded making noises and doing the Kallang wave. The hosts kept us entertained by playing a game of noise. Whoever makes the most noise wins. I think they treat us like idiots. Its not as though we don’t know they already rigged the game. Alternate wins of groups and then a tie. We all know that. Oh well. But since it’s the nation’s birthday, don’t complain so much la ya?

As usual, there were jets flying here and there. Commandos parachuting down. National song. March by SAF and other groups like NTUC. Firing of rifles. Various performances by the other groups and lastly, FIREWORKS!!!

Okay. I’m trying to put my AS into use. However, I think I lost touched. I never scored for that useless subject anyway. Only got a stupid B-. =(

So here it goes….

Men hate crowds.
Ladies hate crowds too.
Men avoid fireworks.
Therefore, Ladies avoid fireworks too!

However, for us, we love fireworks. Despite all the complains about being crowded, hot and stuffy. We, ladies, still insist or at least get excited about watching them! In fact, the men around me have been complaining that they can never understand why ladies want to watch fireworks when there are so many factors that we hate. Well, the men just don’t get it.

Fortunately, I managed to psycho Ralph into bringing me to the stadium (so nice of him). The parade was fantastic. Lots of fireworks here and there. It totally awed the audience. Those sitting on the top seats even had to use umbrellas to protect themselves.

But I felt a bit out of place. Why?

The people around me were all not enthu about participating the parade.

left – aunties
right – ralphy
front – couples with kids à the parents seem bored, the mom keep swaying her hair and hit ralphy’s leg
behind – a dad busying capturing the precious moments of his precious daughters watching the parade and singing along

As a result, I seem awkward beating my clapsticks away and swaying with the music. =(
Ralphy was just standing there, trying to look cool and making me feel like an idiot. BUT! Its ok. I know that he will be like that if he came. He never showed any interest on these things. So I really appreciate him to bring me there. (Btw, I met up with ping and she told me she went to the preview and was in the same sector with me too! Damn! If I had known, I could have sat together with her and won’t feel so out of place le. However, the place is so big and filled with so many people. It’ll be hard to meet her.)

We left and stadium early to avoid the human traffic. However, we were still caught in it. We tried to maneuver our way out to grasp some fresh air. We nearly lost our way and couldn’t find our bike (I’m exaggerating here. We merely made a wrong turn that’s all). When we were about to approach our bike, we saw a policeman directing the cars out.

In my heart, I was like “Oh shit! Is our bike still there? Got summon not?”

Fortunately, our bike was still intact. Phew! There was no summon too!!! Phew! Phew! Phew! Thus, we quickly got on and zoom off. It was great to leave the place via bike. I did not need to walk back to the station like I used to do. While people were still squeezing their way through and walking sianly, I was already on the expressway enjoying the cool breeze. Hee.

My take on the parade: I love the fireworks. So pretty and colorful. I love colorful things. Yes, I’ll always be a kid that will never grow up. =P

Anyone wants to go watch fireworks with me again?

Cabaret

2006-07-28T11:10:00.000+08:00

Last night, we went to NewYork NewYork, a new restaurant at CityLink for dinner. The deco was pleasing and not too squeezy. Basically, they specialize in burgers and sandwiches and they even have a take-away counter for people on the go. The menu is pretty interesting and refreshing (STOP if you think I’m referring to the variety of food there. Here, I’m referring to the menu itself. Ha. Shallow me). As for the food, we ordered a beef burger and a cream spaghetti with mushrooms and top with a pork chop. The former was a little bit salty whereas the latter was ok but not fantastic. I’ve scoped around and noticed that the serving rate was a tad inconsistent. For example, in other restaurants they usually serve your orders one after another in less than 5 minutes approx. However, for NewYork NewYork, you should go ahead and eat your food first. Please do not wait for all orders to arrive and eat together. Some of us (me and the people sitting around us) had our 2nd order only when we were almost finishing our first order. As for the drinks, they have quite a variety too. From root beer float to beer (and I think I saw volka too). Oh ya. The place is pretty crowded too for the Thursday. Went we left, there was a long queue waiting to be seated.

Still, I may revisit the place again. That is, if I happen to walk pass the place feeling hungry (for those who are unaware, I do not enjoy walking from Cityhall MRT station to Suntec or Marina Square via Citylink. The distance is way too long and the shops aren’t appealing to me).

After dinner, we went to the esplanade for watch Cabaret. The musical was not bad, but as we were sitting at the 3rd storey, we did not get to see their facial appearances. Judging by the response of the audience, the show is not bad. Many of them were laughing and applauding away. As for the dress code, some wore very formal clothes (shirts and dresses) while others were in their usual casual wear. My favorite part of the show? Guess it has to be Fei Xiang. He’s so tall and his performance was comical. The lead actress was not bad too. Overall, I enjoyed the show. =)

PS: this is the first musical that I’ve watched.

bored at work...

2006-07-27T16:35:00.000+08:00

Time now… 4:01PM. 1.5 hours more till I knock off from work. Life is getting boring at work day by day. I can’t believe that a few weeks ago, I still enjoyed going to work and chatting with my colleagues. But now, I hate it. Want to stay at home and slack. Want to hang out with ralphy and my friends. Want to start slacking now till school starts. I feel so bored at work. It is not as though I’ve got no work to do. I’m just feeling a little bit lazy. Hee. Lucky for me, today my GM is busy with lots of meetings. Hence, I have the chance to slack. Otherwise, I have to act busy by searching online (I wonder if he saw and think that I’m surfing for nonsense or work related data) or typing a word document. Oops… I think I’ve already said too much. What if they come across my blog?

The Line

2006-07-18T21:19:00.000+08:00

Yup... after the long wait, I've finally recieved all the pics at the Line from my friends. =)

So here are some to share!

Simply Six

Here comes the food!!!

Hk part 3

2006-07-16T22:32:00.000+08:00

10 July 2006 Monday
Disneyland is so fun!!! Took lots of pics until my camera batt went flat. Spend all my time queuing for rides, cartoon characters and souvenir shops that we did not have time for the 3D show. Sob sob...

So here are the pics at the home of Mickey!!!

The MTR train.

The Disneyland Train Station.

Mickey's Band.

Goofy~

The Mickey Cruise.

This reminds me of my company. =P

We queued about 1 hr for them under the hot sun. =(

Tigger's queue was short. Around 15 mins?

The Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Snow White with Prince Charming and a dwarf?

The Green Soldiers. So cute!

Toy Story

Little Mermaid

The all time favourites.

Minne with the Toy Story Gang.

Lilo & Stitch

Beauty & the Beast

Mickey's Fantasia Hat

To infinity and beyond!

The Finale

I LOVE DISNEYLAND!!!

11 July 2006 Tueday
Mongkok. Finally have the time to walk around the area where I’m staying. The weather was so hot that we decide to go back to the hotel to cool down and rest. IMPT: I managed to lug my luggage from the hotel to the bus stop!!! Haha. Not that weak after all. But! I did have some help from ralphy went walking in the underpass. Hee. Thanks! =)

Byebye Hongkong!!!

*I reached S’pore at 12 midnight. so tired~*

Hk part 2

2006-07-16T22:08:00.000+08:00

8 July 2006 Saturday
Shopping at Causeway Bay & Times Square!

Ate wanton mee for lunch for HKD 25. Still prefer our dry ones. The food in HK is so ex!!!

Me and my Schwapper.

Famous desserts from Xu Liu Shan.

9 July 2006 Sunday
Ocean Park! It was hot, humid, squeezy and filled with lots of Mainland Chinese! I think Ocean Park is too big. I reached around noon and did not even have the time to cover the lowland. The attractions are all spread out and require lots of walking. The Mainland Chinese were kinda rowdy. Once they look at something, they’ll crowd around and take photos at their own sweet time and refuse to leave the spot. The entrances of the attractions such as the shark aquarium are always blocked by them. And if you are taking photos, instead of shunning you, they’ll just walk pass the camera. So it really has to depend on your luck to get a good pic.

Mainland Chinese who won't budge.

Ride Pics

Our Protrait

Cute Seal.

Waiting for the show to start.

Cable car ride to low land of Ocean Park.

Plant Dolphin with evil eyes.

We left Ocean Park around 7 and went back to the hotel to get ourselves comfortable by… pampering ourselves with a nice cold shower!!! Then we proceed to Argle Centre at around 9 plus. Oh ya, a must try at HK is there takopachi!!! Try Gindaco’s. They were really good. Very generous with their mayo, cuttlefish and sauce. Yum yum.

Summer fan from Gindaco.

HK trip!!!

2006-07-16T21:06:00.000+08:00

Hello Everyone!!!

Its been a long time since I last blogged. Miss me? Hehe.

Busy with BOSS. Managed to get 4 out of 5 modules. But my timetable really sux and I’ve got 4 exams next term and 3 830 lessons. Sux. Sux.

Anyway, I just came back from Hk and boy, was it hot! The weather was hot and humid. Much worse the Singapore.

Here are the juicy details of my trip!

6 July 2006 Thursday
Took and evening flight to Hk via Jetstar Asia. It was the first time for me to leave the plane via stairs and transfer to bus then reach the main airport building. Nothing fantastic. In fact, there it requires lots of waiting. Waiting for people to go down the stairs slowly. Waiting for to the bus to be filled and drop us at the main building.

We finally reached the hotel between 9-10 pm. In my opinion, I think Stanford hotel is not very convenient. It’s quite a distance away from Mongkok MTR and A21 bus stop. We had to ask for lots of directions before we could find it. Coincidentally, my junior was staying in the same hotel too! Hence, we met up with her for supper and made her to show us around. Heh.

7 July 2006 Friday
Went to HK Cultural Centre for dimsum. It wasn’t fantastic. But the dim sum comes in cute shapes! Here’s one of them.

Mango Pudding

At our dim sum place, Serenade Chinese Restaurant.

The famous Bank of China building.

Me and Ralphy.

Next, we moved on to Habour City, Silvercord Centre, Espirit Factory Outlet and Granville Road. Harbour City is like Ngee Ann City. Huge, lots of shops. Their MNG and Zara are still neat during sales. They have the same tops as compared to Singapore and some are slightly cheaper. Most importantly, they even have my size during sales!!! Wahaha! Don’t even need to squeeze with the MNG fans in Singapore. Ha!

Silvercord Centre was a let down. Looks kinda old. EFO was not that fantastic either. Some of the clothes are really ugly. Nonetheless, most of their customers bought tones of clothes from them. As for me, I bought a couple of them too, not because I like them, but rather, they were cheap. Then we went to Granville Road for shopping. However, there was nothing much there and we went for a hair cut instead! It was definitely a right choice as we really needed a place to rest and cool down.

In the evening, we went to the Peak and visited Madame Tussauds. Some of them look pretty real!

The Peak.

Michelle Yeoh.

Andy Lau

Ayu!!!

Brad Pitt.

Kelly Chen

Slyvester Stallon

The Royal Family

President Ralph

Where's Wally?

Madame Tussaud

MM Lee

Li Kai Shing

Bae Yong Jun

Yao Ming

Tiger Woods

Twins

Sick & 25th Anniversary

2006-07-02T15:55:00.000+08:00

Sun – Tue: Down with fever.
I was nearly bored to death at home after being on mc for 2 days. Luckily I managed to get myself out of the house by Wed. phew~

Thu: Company’s 25th Anniversary @ China Club.
Although we had to work as receptionist after office hours (free labour! sob sob...), but I guess we still managed to had some fun by posing for the photographer. Haha... Really hope to see the rest of the pics from him soon... In the meantime, here are some to share... =)

Our Masterpiece.

My Colleagues.

The Ladies of Kontiki.

Sat: Shopping with the girls.

Rochester & the Line

2006-06-26T13:11:00.000+08:00

Last week, we visited One Rochester @ Rochester Park and The Line @ Shangri La.

One Rochester is located together with many other restaurants such as Min Jiang (famous for its roasted duck) at Rochester Park and it is situated nearest to the car park. However, the car park is usually full due to the lack of space. Furthermore, they have people guarding the car park and direct cars to valet parking. I had to argue with the valet parking women that a car was coming out before we could go in. (She kept insisting that there was no space and we had to move up the hill.)

One Rochester offers both indoor and alfresco chilling out experience. Its alfresco deco reminds me of Little Bali. Nice greenery with comfortable wooden chairs… Their drinks list is quite comprehensive. We ordered a Strawberry Capiroska, Rochester Sunset & my current favorite SNOWBALL!!! Jo ordered the Rochester Sunset cos she thought that drinks with the restaurant name usually taste good. Unfortunately, it sux. But I still managed to finish it. The food was normal and nothing special. We came to a conclusion that these chill-out bars does not serve delicious food.

Overall, One Rochester is over hyped. Our bill came up to $142 even though we did not order a lot. Lucky for us, we still had our cameras to entertain ourselves. Haha…

Cheese Platter, Strawberry Capiroska, Snowball and Rochester Sunset.

Fried tofu...

Me at One Rochester.

Bumped into my colleagues & their friends.

4 pretty girls~

Ladies in white...

The Ladies

As for the Line, it was an unexpected and last minute change of plans by us. Initially, we were supposed to go to Oasis @ Hyatt for a buffet dinner to celebrate ping and jo birthday. However, Oasis did not live up to our expectations. First, it was very hard to locate. We had to walked quite a distance and ask for directions before we find it. On top of that, they do not seem to have a wide selection despite being a buffet. The food that was on display did not seem to be appetizing. The area was solely alfresco, but its ambience loses out to Little Bali and One Rochester. All it has was the hotel swimming pool beside it, with no fans & no nice greenery. Above all, Oasis wasn’t crowded at all during dinner time. Hence, we decided to leave that unpopular place after sitting there for around 15 minutes. Then, I thought we could try Triple 3 at Meritus Mandarin. Heard raves of it online. Nevertheless, the place was so popular that it was fully booked. Thus, we felt relieved when the Line still had vacancies. The Line offers a wide range of food. The place was cozy and the service was good. Drinks except ice water were excluded from the buffet. Food was ok. You can even bring ya lobster to ask the chef to cook you a lobster spaghetti. =)

Note: pics at the Line to be uploaded soon...

Little Bali

2006-06-18T15:23:00.000+08:00

I had a great time with the girls at Little Bali on last Friday evening. It is a pretty nice place to chill out. Little Bali is divided into sections with lots of greenery. There is no air-conditioning but fans and if you are lucky, you can enjoy some mosquitoes free of charge too. =P We were seated in a hut with 2 cozy corners and 2 tables. As we went in rather early, there were no other customers in our section other than us. Hence we had 2 cute and young waiters all to ourselves. Hehe. . . The service was good. They made us feel like Queens. They were friendly and took the initiative to switch on all fans and pushed them to target our direction. Hence, it was rather cooling. (Btw, they earn $7 per hour.) Drinks were ok. Food was average and nothing fabulous. In fact, they took quite some time to serve the food. Hence we kept ourselves and the waiters busy by taking lots of pictures!! Most importantly, the company was great! We were full of laughter and were one of the noisiest and craziest customers. On our way home, we saw something red in the sky. It took us some time to realize that those were fireworks!!! We were screaming our hearts out in the car. It was totally unexpected. We would have missed it had we moved on the eat desserts.

(Note: Missing desserts was almost MI:4 given that we are such big fans of all sort of food that we are always thinking of places to eat. I bet I gained a few kilos with all these eating sessions during this summer.)

16 June 2006 is absolutely FANTASTIC!

Our cozy corner.

Champagne Cocktail, Strawberry Magarita, Long Island Tea & Snowball (from left to right).

The 4 pretty n cute girls...

Embarressed me.

Peek-a-boo!

Cozy cozy...

Finally managed to put my FT skills into use.

The Pretty Birthday Girls....

Me!!!

The Ladies...

Newsflash: Ayumi Hamasaki newest PV, Beautiful Fighters!!! She’s so pretty and cute in the video! Catch her new PV here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PbXoOSPfyk

I was born to love you...

2006-06-11T22:22:00.000+08:00

If you have been watching TV recently, you should have noticed that there is this commercial which background music is sung by a woman.

“I was born to love you…”

Sounds familiar?

If you are wondering if I sung it… of course…. Not.

But that commercial has definitely caught mine, my brother and sister attention. It’s not because the commercial have excellent storyline or casting or humorous. In fact, I don’t even remember what the commercial is selling. All I remembered is the song sung by Queen.

I was born to love you is definitely my all time favorite song. I’m currently looking for other Queen songs too. The famous ones such as We are the Champions, Too much Love will kill You, etc. Surprised that I even like English songs? Haha… Well, I heard this song from a Japanese drama of course… =P

This drama stars the handsome and super famous Takuya Kimura as Haru, the captain and the star player of a Japanese professional hockey team. It starts out as a game as his friends pick up Aki’s (Yūko Takeuchi) friends and he observes that she may be one of those rare, old-type Japanese girls who is not so quickly picked up or toyed with. This makes the game more enticing because that is the kind of woman he really wants. When Haru finds she is waiting for a long-gone boyfriend to return, he suggests they should just hang out together until he returns. Since neither wants to get serious, it will be safe for both of them. She sees through this line but agrees and the story continues….

Haru's signature move that will cause the whole stadium to be quiet and follow his actions.

This drama is great drama that is definitely entertaining. The exciting hockey scenes also bring back fond memories of Mighty Ducks. (Yes… I’m a fan of Disney’s Mighty Ducks)

Here’s an old MV of Queen. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbaM5v56p8Q

Here's a short clip of PRIDE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZugFRZGrekU

By the way, Yuko Takeuchi is famous for the movie Be with You and another hit drama, Mukodono! I love the latter because both Yuko and Nagase (from JE’s Tokio) are such a cute couple!!! Mukodono is also extremely touching and funny at the same time. Undeniably the type of show I love to watch. Hee.

The pretty and sweet Yuko... Too bad she is a mother now... Won't be any of her shows lately... :(

Note: Mukodono was such a success that they had another version, Mukodono 2004, but this time round the lead actress was replaced by Noriko Sakai.

Here's the link to watch Mukodono online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unbU2pOnkmE
It was showed in Channel 8 long ago...

BLUE BIRD

2006-06-11T16:14:00.000+08:00

Here's the latest Maxi Single release by the Queen of JPOP.

CD only:

Chirpy tune complete with pretty sun, sand and sea... As part of the usual Avex tactic, there will be 3 covers for fans to enjoy. Yay!

CD+DVD Version A:

CD+DVD Version B:

Wait... they look very similiar.

Well, at least there's free posters for the fans! :)

That is, if they collect all 3 covers... -_-"

Guess avex is really trying to squeeze all the milk out of her fans. =(

Watch her fantastic PV, BLUE BIRD at http://youtube.com/watch?v=4a4XR4F4zMQ&search=ayumi%20blue%20bird

Joke

2006-06-02T16:48:00.000+08:00

ok... here's something to share...

John invited his mother over for dinner. During the meal, his mother couldn't help noticing how beautiful John's roommate was. She had long been suspicious of a relationship between John and his roommate, and this only made her more curious.

Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between John and the roommate than meets the eye. Reading his mom's thoughts, John volunteered, "I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Julie and I are just roommates."

About a week later, Julie came to John and said, "Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don't suppose she took it, do you?"

John said, "Well, I doubt it, butI'll write her a letter just to be sure."

So he sat down and wrote "Dear Mother, I'm not saying you did take a gravyladle from my house, and I'm not saying you did not take a gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here fordinner."

Several days later, John received a letter from his mother which read:"Dear Son, I'm not saying that you do sleep with Julie, and I'm not saying that you do not sleep with Julie. But the fact remains that if she was sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now. Love,Mom."

Lesson of the day: Don't lie to your mother.

Cute bento!!!

2006-05-29T21:06:00.000+08:00

Look at these bentos!!! So cute that you won't want to eat them!!! awww....

Everyone would be touched to receive such a bento. So guys... what are you waiting for? Hee...

If you like to see more, leave me a tag. =)

Five surprising reasons men are happy in a relationship

2006-05-28T18:46:00.000+08:00

Five surprising reasons men are happy in a relationship
by Bonnie Yuill

Don't be fooled by the male ego. Men look for more in a relationship than an attractive women who will cook him a good meal and wash his clothes every once in a while. What he really needs is your admiration.

He needs to communicate with you
A lot of men need to be in a relationship more than women do. Surprising? Not really, when you think about it. Women usually have close relationships with their friends. They talk about health problems until they feel better. But men don't. As Helen Fielding's character, Bridget Jones, says, 'Women have emotions and men have football.' Men are competitive and so, in general, they rarely share their emotions or problems with each other, as they think it makes them look too weak. When he needs to open up and talk about his feelings, guess who he eventually shows his vulnerable side to? You!

He wants to be your hero
Knowing that he can make someone else happy makes him feel good inside, because he has the power to change things. And what bloke doesn't secretly want power of some sort? At least if he can't always be top dog at work, he can be a star at home. Instinctively, he aspires to be Spider-Man or Superman – to be your hero, to be able to make things right: to be appreciated, to be someone's knight in shining armour. So when you are disappointed or unhappy, he feels responsible. What matters is that you are happy and then he's got one less thing to worry about. Strange but true.

He strives to make you happy
The number one reason men leave relationships is because they feel as though they can't meet their partner's needs. This makes them feel inadequate, and it makes them feel as though there's no way their partner can feel respect for them.
For women, communication seems to be the top priority in keeping the relationship going – but, quite honestly, men don't understand this constant need to talk about things over and over.
For men, the relationship is a success if they feel respected and if they make their partner happy. This is why a new conquest is exactly that – he feels as though he is in charge – he is once again someone's knight in shining armour.

If you resent him because you feel overworked and under-appreciated, stop doing so much – you are probably destroying your relationship! He doesn't want to feel responsible for you rushing around, worn into the carpet, and most men really don't notice whether the housework has been done or not. What they want is respect and appreciation. 'All we really want from women,' a (male) friend recently told me, 'is for you to smile at us.' (And probably one other thing, if he thought about it for longer than a millisecond.)

S*x makes him feel loved
*** has the same effect on men as romance does on women. So the reverse is also true: no *** = no love, no approval, no acknowledgement. They get that same sad, unloved feeling that you get when you don't get flowers, your partner looks at other women or ignores you.

You are his (secret) reason for living
He needs you because you inspire him to do better – he has someone to do things for, goals to reach, a reason to go out and conquer the world. What's the point of being disgustingly rich and powerful if there's no one to share it with? What he needs is the gift of you.

So... Do you think it's true?

Yahoo! Games

2006-05-28T14:12:00.000+08:00

Nice Sunday rainy afternoon... Great for sleeping and slacking at home. Boy~ I miss Sundays...

Lately, I've been downloading games to play. All thanks to Mel. I saw her playing those Yahoo! Games after our bp meeting. Initially, I thought that Yahoo! Games are boring. Furthermore, you can only play for 60 mins than the trial is over. However, after playing one after another, I realised that they do contain entertainment value to a certain extent. Or at least, they help me to "waste" my time faster. What better things to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon?

So for the bored people out there, why not try these few games? These are my top favourites among the other games they have. =)

Mystery Case Files: Huntsville
http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=huntsville
The aim of this game is to find the clues i.e. objects to help solve a mystery.

Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects
http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=primesuspects
This is an even tougher version. I couldn't even complete the first stage!!! the objects were just too hard to spot!

Now, for less challenging and more repetitive ones:

Diner Dash 2

http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=dinerdash2

In this game, you have to seat customers, take orders, serve drinks, deliver food, and collect tips. Gets a little boring after a few games, but you get the satisfaction of upgrading your restaurants.

Yup... that's about it... if you got any pc games do recommend me k?

Busy Week

2006-05-24T12:52:00.000+08:00

This week is a busy week for me…

In fact, very very busy…

Nope, I don’t mean busy at work. I meant busy with meeting my friends!!! I’m so broke!!!

Here’s my schedule for the week:
Mon: watch Da Vinci Code with ping and jun
Tue: ktv with colleagues after work
Wed: rest at home after work =)
Thu: josce 21st birthday @ aranda [otanjobi omedeto!!!]
Fri: welcome dinner for jiayi
Sat: meet ping and jo
Sun: rest at home whole day

It would be nice if I can get a pay increment. Hehe… but I can only dream on.

Anyway, the Da Vinci Code was okay… Its not very exciting and seems more like a documentary to me. I’m more interested in Over the Hedge. The turtle looks soooooo cute!!!

As for ktv, it was definitely a high-energy consumption activity. Everyone was busy chatting with each other, that the whole room was extremely noisy and no one was paying attention to the singer. Furthermore, our package was supposed to be 6-10pm. But they stopped playing our requests at 950pm. So mean!

It’s super hard to flag a cab in orchard during a Tuesday night. I used to think that weekdays’ night orchard would be emptier and flagging a cab down would not pose a problem. But I was wrong… We were walking here and there, but all the cabs were either occupied or on call. So frustrating. In the end, we decided to travel by good old trusty mrt.

So here’s some pics I’ve took yesterday with my colleagues~

Last but no least... a tip for interns or those working in CBD area.

Though they look different here, but I swear that some blur people (like me) will make a mistake when buying them cos both of them are black. one is hei zhi ma, the other is hei nuo mi. Don't buy the wrong thing back and make a din in the office!!!

Dream - Nightmare

2006-05-21T17:35:00.000+08:00

There's only a fine line between dreams and nightmares. Dreams are often so enjoyable that you don't wish it to end and feel like sleeping longer. Nightmares, on the other hand, makes you so scared that you wake up suddenly but wished that you could have slept more to find out what happened in the end... So whichever it is, it is just another reason for lazy people like me to use as an excuse to sleep more!!!

I would like to share a dream of mine I had the other morning. I was trap with a lot of people in an old castle (I think). Together with me was a couple of friends - A,B & C (Note: The names have been changed to protect the identity of the people involved). I was lucky enough to be in the same group as A and B whereas C as held in another room with a group of strangers. In the room, we did nothing but stand and wait for further instructions.

To provide everyone with a clearer idea of what I'm talking about, I've added some visual effects. A (in green), B (in pink) and me (in yellow) were standing at the back on top of a step as shown in the pic on the top. [Due to time constraint, other people were not drawn, however do note that the room is cramp up to the max.] Then all of a sudden, everyone was shivering with fear. We did not know what hit us until we began to smell a stench coming from the whole near us... [note: the worm is suppose to be invisible first and its presence can only be detected by the foul smell unless it decides to become visible to us.]

In my mind, I know I'm doomed... It was so near me that my face could touched its gluey and soft skin. I wanted to escape, but the worm though long and thick, can move at an extremely fast speed. [note: the actual length of the worm is unknown as no one has yet to see its tail. the worm leaves a trail of gluey water-like trail.]Almost god-like! so the trick is to be calm and stay put or try to tiptoe and walk off while praying that it did not notice.

Ah... But the worm is far too intelligent. It managed to sense our movement and attacked the one of us in the room. It opened its disgusting mouth and swallowed one person in less than a min and then disappeared to where it came from.

The person-in-charge of the place is some old, ugly women. She investigated and blamed us for not closing the den of the worm with the lid. The lid was suppose to stop the worm from coming out of its den but to me it seems useless as it does not look hard and heavy enough. [The den is actually a pipe protruding from the floor and it is located in a dark room] After this incident, everyone was extremely frightened. A, B and I were worried for C's safety as she was held in a different room from ours. Furthermore, the castle was so big that we had no chance of bumping into her and there was no telecommunications available. Hence all we could do was to wait and hear from others.

Next, we found ourselves at the Grand Hall waiting. I think it was showering and toilet time. However, I remember that Z (who had gone through this bizzare experience and was one of the lucky survivor) told me that since the pipelines is the worm's den, the toilet will be an extremenly dangerous place to be at. Therefore, it is best to stay at the Grand Hall where it is spacious and has few pipes around. The worm is best known for attacking people when u least expected (the toilet bowl).

We finally returned to our room. However, by this time, almost half of us have already been eaten by the worm. So now, the rest of us are gathered in the centre of the room waiting for the worm to strike again... This time round, was in front of us again... we immediately tiptoed to the side which resulted the worm to glide towards us. All of the sudden, a puppy appeared. It was as though it wanted to help us distract the worm. Unfortunately, the puppy's owner couldn't bear her pup from being eaten by the worm. Hence, she ran towards her pup and hug it back. However, this became a tragic for her... The worm quickly sense her presence and attacked her from her legs...

Then... I woke up....

Attention Please!!!

2006-05-21T15:00:00.000+08:00

ATTENTION PLEASE is yet another light hearted drama by Aya Ueto/上戸彩 (famous for Ace wo Nerae / Aim for the ACE / エースをねらえ! - drama on tennis, HIGHLY recommended). She is sweet, cute, pretty and she is the same age as me!!! aww man... This drama is about how Misaki (Aya Ueto) a tomboy (she was raised by her 3 brothers) wants to become a air stewardess because the guy she like wonder how she would look like in the cabin crew uniforms. The story then goes on to how she blunders during training and how she starts to appreaciate an air stewardess job.

Also in this drama is Ryou Nishikido/錦戸亮 . I'm introducing him because he won my heart in 1 litre of tears. He may not look that attractive in both shows because of his hair (i dislike his hair) but his act in 1 litre of tears is definitely commendable. And... he is from Johnny's!!! OMG! I din know till now...Kinda disappointed cos I don't really like NEWS and he never catch my attention during Music Station performances. Will have to have a good look at him next time...

Here's some screencaps....

Cabin attendents are not high-class waitresses in the air...
Here's the trailer: http://youtube.com/watch?v=tHoaf4O3ohU&search=aya%20ueto
Official site (in jap): http://wwwz.fujitv.co.jp/AP/index.html

My LOVE for dramas!

2006-05-21T14:17:00.000+08:00

I love watching dramas! Other than those that are currently showing on tv, I'm currently watching Gal Circle and Attention Please. Both of them are this summer's Japanese Drama. =)

Here's a correlation chart of Gal Circle.

Basically the drama is about how Shinnosuke a cowboy from USA (Fujiki Naohito/ 藤木直人) help the Para-Para girls in Shibuya to solve their problems. The storyline is not exciting, but more of "educational". It teaches people to learn from their mistakes, treat friends geniunely, do not waste food just because you are trying to slim down and never use excuses to find your way out, etc.

The reason that I'm still watching this show is because of Fujiki Naohito (the man on the right). He is damn handsome! haha... I was charmed by him in Love Revolution (2001). A more recent drama which he acted in is Ichi Litre no Namida/1 litre of tears. Will talk about this tear jerker next time, definitely a must watch!

Hi there~

2006-05-20T22:09:00.000+08:00

Hello everyone...

Surprised that I started to blog? In fact, I still find it troublesome and lazy to blog. However, since someone complained that he has not enough blogs to read, I might as well start one.

So... watch out for this space!

Feel free to drop a line here or there... (I would prefer sweet comments please. haha...)