shoppa-FCUK-aholic

Report on My New Resale Flat Pte Ltd

2009-08-25T10:00:00.001+08:00

By Raine

Introduction:

In March, we made a big decision. TO BUY was the answer and so we did, placing our option to purchase. A few weeks later, we exercised this option and another month later, we visited HDB for our first appointment. Yet another month later on May 29th, we closed the deal at the second appointment. And the fun begun!

Part I – The renovations:

Faster than we expected, it was completed in just slightly more than 1 week. We removed old cupboards, levelled the wall, repainted the entire flat, built new cupboards for the kitchen, changed all electrical points and plugs, and toilet fixtures, built in new air-conditioners and the highlight of it all, installing the beautiful lights we bought at Balestier.

Highlight: Round ones, square ones, fan with lights, hanging chandeliers and dangling bulbs…what a joy it was to have full control over the visibility in the flat.

“Low”light: The lights with fans gave us the most problems. But luckily, as the shop nicely pointed out, the fans’ after-sale-service proved to be good and the repair man knew immediately what was wrong with the fan: “Oh, the fans are just missing a part here.” YES! It was a common problem and the result was a manufacture mal-function where the fans were all missing one part. *Roll eyes and faint*

Part II – $hopping for Furniture:

...Doesn’t come cheap…lesson learnt.

Or perhaps we should say that EK and I had expensive taste, which we sought to fulfil diligently.

We visited The Furniture Mall at beach road - bought quite a bit:
- The full-leather sofa was a quick buy as the price was right.
- EK and I were into our carpets so we had to accessorise the living room.
- The beds were an expensive but worthwhile affair.

We walked IMM – bought only a little bit:
- Stove and chimney hood were bought from 2 separate brands, we weren’t too bothered as we only rarely cook instant mee.
- We bought bathroom mirrors that we thought were cheap, but we found cheaper ones later.

We made several trips to Courts – and finally bought some electricals:
- We searched around for better deals on the washing machine we wanted, but ended up returning to the first place we saw it at because of its exclusivity and the price was right.
- Microwave and standing fans were quick buys that didn’t require loads of decision making skills.

We also went all the way to the International Furniture Centre - and bought the rest of the big furniture:
- The dining table, tv console and coffee table came from the same shop, which had outlets everywhere. But with each outlet we visited, the price got lower and lower (depreciation?) until finally, we bought it at the IFC.
- We also bought a beautiful ottoman and tall mirror to complete our ‘Anna Sui’ corner.
- And we also bought an 8ft long cupboard, meant for the masterbedroom.

And made many trips to IKEA for the little things in life: more carpets, chairs, desk, plates, pots, storage boxes, etc.

Of course, there were purchases made all over Singapore:
- Curtains from Woodlands for the bedrooms and living room – and we thought he was cheap.
- Curtains from Toa Payoh for the ‘Anna Sui’ corner – but in the end, this was cheaper (we only discovered both were from the same company different branch after we made our purchase). Initially, we wanted nicer curtains with more details, but after our exhaustive search (spotlight had the design, but didn’t have sufficient cloth), we settled for solid black.
- TV from Marina Square Gain City Promotion
- We saw far too many fridges and ended up purchasing a similar (newer) model to the very first fridge we laid our eyes on (finally resolved that it could fit into the designated space). And this was ordered over the phone because we already knew who had the cheapest of them all.

Part III – Lessons on Delivery:

But the most important lesson we learnt from the delivery process of our furniture is to ANTICIPATE DELAYS SO BUY IN ADVANCE! We learnt many lessons when it came to our deliveries:

(1) IKEA and COURTS deliver within 3 days of purchase, so these can wait. BUT if you wait too long, they could run out of stock. When we finally returned to Courts to purchase our washing machine, we were told they were out of stock and had to wait 3 weeks for its next shipment. We were lucky that EK’s rental at his old place ended 2 days before the delivery of our washing machine last week, so we only had 2 days of stinky laundry to put up with.

(2) Always anticipate delays. Delays are usually 1-2 hours off the scheduled times, but it could drag on to 2 whole weeks. Read on…

(3) Our beds’ delivery was chaotic. I was only informed it would arrive between 10 – 12noon. I was NOT informed that only the bed frame was arriving at that allocated slot, and it arrived 1 hour late at 1pm. There was no sign of the mattress or free pillows and bolsters, so we rang up the company and guess what? “The mattresses will be delivered between 3-5pm. Why don’t you have your lunch and our delivery persons will call you when they are arriving?” Said the sales lady who answered my call. The mattresses finally came in the evening, but there was no sign of the free pillows or bolsters. This time, EK rang them to complain that he doesn’t have thing to sleep as he assumed it would arrive. They said they would get back to us. We waited till 7pm for them. No word. So we left for dinner and shopping at IKEA. When we returned at 11pm, I found 2 missed calls at 10.20pm that night, and a note slipped through our door saying she came by our place with the pillows but we weren’t around and to ring her back. The next day, she rang back to inform us that they had left the pillows and bolsters with our neighbours (neighbours we didn’t even know)!

(4) Another lesson I learnt is sometimes, it pays to be nice. 1 week before the delivery of our ottoman, the sales staff called to inform me that they had received shipment that was short of stock and the next delivery would be 3 weeks later (for me in the distribution industry, I knew that these were common). I was most pleasant and told him to try his best to deliver as scheduled. So five minutes later, he rang back saying that they will deliver as per scheduled (to another customer’s misfortune – but that wasn’t my business). So sometimes, it pays to be nice.

(5) Never assume and sometimes, big is not often good. When our 8ft by 8ft cupboard arrived, we directed them to the masterbedroom to set it up. “Er, sorry miss, it won’t fit.” The delivery person told us. “What do you mean? There’s sufficient length.” All the delivery person had to do was point to the ceiling. We didn’t have enough height because of a protruding beam that interrupted the long wall. Lesson learnt. We only concentrated on the length of the cupboard, thinking the wall length in our masterbedroom had ample length. We forgot to look up. We had bought a cupboard too tall. So where did the beautiful cupboard go? It couldn’t even fit into EK’s room either. Thankfully, we had a spare bedroom which had sufficient length and height. What would we do without that spare room?! It is a waste to put the beautiful cupboard in a room no one uses, and that’s a lesson we have to put up with.

(6) Are we reaching the end of our problems? Think again. The delivery of the dining table, tv console and coffee table was another nightmare. A day prior to the delivery, the store called to confirm the date and time of the delivery. Plus 10 points. On the day itself, they arrived late. Minus 5 points. The only delivered the dining table. Minus 10 points. They didn’t inform us they were only delivering 1 item and that the other 2 were delayed in shipment. Minus 20 points. When we called them (they met the wrath of EK), they explained most apologetically (plus 5 points) that the shipment was split into 2 and the second shipment was delayed till Thursday, they could only delivery Friday. Friday came, and they delivered the tv console because when they opened the packaging for the coffee table, the glass was broken. Minus 10 points. But they rectified it quickly and within 3 hours, they returned with the new piece of coffee table (with a very tiny tiny scratch but we accepted it). Plus 8 points.

(7) We’d like to think we made a sales person quit. But of course, we didn’t. We were just being customers asking about the delivery of our purchases – the last nightmare – our 42” TV. We purchased our TV at a road show in the Marina Square atrium on 5th July. They didn’t have stock and said it was arriving 17th July. Very well. The sales person booked our delivery on the 18th. 1 week after the purchase, he rang back saying the delivery is delayed and they do not know when it would be arriving – estimated 20-something of July – so he had to cancel the delivery on the 18th and rebook when they have the confirmed dates. 20-something of July came and I was about to ring the sales person when he rang me, saying that there is a delay and will let me know asap. Then, the sales person made a grave mistake of ringing EK instead of me (we gave 2 numbers). He told EK delivery is delayed for another 2 weeks. This means, it will be delivered sometime early August. The reason? The stocks are in, but because of this huge success of the promotion, the delivery persons were fully booked till 2 weeks later. WHAT THE! We bought early July, the stocks are in their warehouse, but they didn’t have the manpower to deliver it? EK wouldn’t have it. If you have a promo, you jolly well get sufficient manpower to deal with the delivery. EK told him he knew it wasn’t the sales person’s fault, so he demanded for his supervisor’s contact. The sales person said he’ll try to solve the problem and get back to us. The next day, he got back to EK, saying delivery is the following Thurs. Then, he rang again and changed to Sunday delivery. This time EK threatened them that if they don’t deliver on Sunday, we would demand for refund. The sales person agreed. We’ve been waiting for almost a month. Especially in the case of technology, prices drop exponentially with time and the longer we wait, the lower prices go. So EK wasn’t worried that we couldn’t find another deal. But I was reluctantly. What if we meet the same problem of stock shortage all over again. I just wanted to get it over and done with. Thankfully, the TV was finally delivered last Sunday.

AMEN TO DELIVERIES – SUNDAY MARKED THE COMPLETION OF OUR FLAT!

Part IV - The Vicious Blame Cycle:

Sometime after the beds arrived but before the last of the furniture was delivered, EK moved in. Having moved in, he tested all fixtures…but, we faced a different set of problems that came alongside the delivery delays.

The sinks became our problem. We had a drainage issue, not due to the pipings, but due to the sinks’ built. Water would not completely drain away as the tilt of the sink did not encourage the water to flow back down the drain pipe. We rang the supplier and they sent someone down. This someone blamed my contractor. We called my contractor and they sent someone down. This other someone blamed the supplier. I didn’t care whose fault it was, I just wanted it fixed. So I called my contractor, who blamed it on “China products”, but he was also willing to fix it for us. But we were fighters, so I rang the supplier and they agreed to send someone else down. Someone else arrived and finally agreed it was their sink’s problem.

And so justice was served, and I got my sink done.

Part V – CONCLUSION:

It has been a 2 month rollercoaster for both EK and myself, ending last Sunday 2nd August at 6pm. Though it was a painful process, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves for most parts of it. It was a valuable experience which tested our interior design skills, our eye for quality versus price, and also our patience and preservation. With EK’s never give up spirit, his eye for perfection, and his brilliant bargaining and complaining skills, we managed to save mum plenty of $$$ - of which was spent on better quality furniture, and we saved on unnecessary further delays because we fought for what was right.

Would I do it again? Not unless I’m moving again...

Now, you've been too patient in reading through my whole report, so I shall reward you with a tour of the new flat:

Living Before Time:

Living With Furniture:

Our Cozy Corner/ EK's Studio/ Make-up Corner/ Chill-lax Area:
(people have given it too many names)

Too beautiful to eat...

Open concept for those who only cook instant mee...

Our Electrolux:

Master-room, without furniture...

Master-room, without our new 8ft cupboard...

EK's technological hub:

The spare-room...

With our beautiful 8ft cupboard...what a waste!

End of Report

A Warm Fuzzy Feeling

2009-08-05T16:40:00.004+08:00

I've got a warm fuzzy feeling...
And it's not from the coffee buzz...Well, partly anyway.

I don't remember why my uni lecturer talked about him...
And I don't even remember who that lecturer was...
But I remember being blown very far away.

Today, his paintings popped into my mind...
I didn't know his name, I didn't even know if he was a he or a she...
But all I knew was his cozy cottages on dreamy streets...
So 'English' I presumed he was.

Off to trusty google, I typed "paintings of cottages english painter"...
Scrolling down the page of images, random cottages appeared.
But only one caught my eye, Thomas Kinkade's his name.
And very American he corrected me.

And as a warm fuzzy feeling filled my heart...
I was whisked off into his wonderfully beautiful world...

Request for Leave

2009-07-05T16:18:00.001+08:00

Name: Raine
Organisation: My New Resale Flat Pte Ltd
Type of Leave: Part-time Leave
Period: May – July 2009
Reason: To renovate, furnish, and decorate My New Resale Flat
Status: APPROVED

What is Marketing?

2009-07-02T09:08:00.002+08:00

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, 'I am very rich. Marry me!'
That's Direct Marketing

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl.
One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says, 'He's very rich. Marry him.'
That's Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day you call and say, 'Hi, I'm very rich. Marry me.'
That's Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
You get up and straighten your tie; you walk up to her and pour her a drink.
You open the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a ride, and then say, 'By the way, I'm very rich 'Will you marry me?'
That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
She walks up to you and says, 'You are very rich, I want to marry you.'
That's Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say, 'I'm rich. Marry me'
She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.
That's Customer Feedback

"Hi, I'm a Marketing Executive. Will you marry me?"

Autobots, Roll Out!

2009-06-29T10:28:00.002+08:00

Never thought I was into Transformers, especially when the cartoons weren't my generation (nor was it something a little girl would watch)... But when the movie was released in 2007, I fell absolutely in love with it! Just don't ask me how many times I've re-watched this movie coz it's beyond my fingers...

Just last Wednesday, the second movie was released. What an ordeal to book a good seat!!! But finally, EK and I watched it last evening. Though I thought the fighting scenes were a little too messy, but it was - despite what critics say - FANTASTIC as expected!! There were scenes you would never expect that added comedy to the serious fights, and many new characters that brought colour to the scenes.

However, as I have not watched the movie many times over yet (EK and I will be making another trip to the movies), I shall leave you with my favourite quote from the first movie...

"LEFT CHEEK! LEFT CHEEK! LEFT CHEEK!!!"

A conflict of emotions

2009-06-29T09:50:00.003+08:00

I've never had such a range of emotions when reading any story book...but the Twilight series was so well done, that it had me crying, hating, laughing, screaming, smiling, wishing, grinning, cringing, etc. And this array of emotions could be just from reading one of the books in the series!

Last Friday, I read finish the last book, and it was perfect...so I'm passing this great recommendation from my best friend (thanks babe!) on to others who hasn't read the series. GO READ...

WARNING: I'm currently struggling to find another young adult romance novel as captivating as this! Everything else just doesn't seem as interesting, especially when I've read "Enchanted, Inc." (another 4 book series about magical stuff), followed by this "Twilight" series...

I absolutely love book series for silly reasons such as the story seems to last longer, and the impressions left by each character is therefore more lasting and more deeply edged into my mind.

Here are my favourites (in this order):
1) TWILIGHT series by Stephanie Meyer
- Twilight
- New Moon
- Eclipse
- Breaking Dawn
2) SHOPAHOLIC series by Sophie Kinsella
- Confessions Of A Shopaholic
- Shopaholic Abroad
- Shopaholic Ties the Knot
- Shopaholic & Sister
- Shopaholic & Baby
3) ENCHANTED series by Shanna Swendson
- Enchanted, Inc.
- Once Upon Stilettos
- Damsel Under Stress
- Don't Hex With Texas
4) O'FALLON series by Dianne Castell
- Till There Was U
- The Way U Look Tonight
- I'll Be Seeing U
5) CHOCOLATE LOVERS series by Carole Matthews
- The Chocolate Lovers' Club
- The Chocolate Lovers' Diet

Are you BOOKWORMED yet?

BOOKWORMED

2009-06-23T09:45:00.005+08:00

Title: Twlight series

Author: Stephanie Meyer

Category: Young Adult Romance Novel

About: A clumsy huiman girl named Bella who stumbles upon The Cullens, a family of vegetarian vampires and falls in love with the most beautiful and perfect vampire, Edward. The pair falls in love, she discovers she's a magnet for all things deadly...he saves her...blah blah blah.

Ratings: 10/10

Character Reviews:

"Edward is the absolute perfect gentleman cum boyfriend you could ever wish for...apart from the part where he's a bloodsucking vampire." - The Perfect Edward Fan Club

"Bella Bella Bella...how can you be so fickle-minded, clumsy and utterly foolish? And yet Edward still loves you soooooo dearly..." - The Jealous-of-Bella Fan Club

"You rock, Alice!! The coolest sister and bbf a girl could wish for..." - The I-Love-Alice-Cullen Club

"Urgh. Stay away from her, dog. Stop confusing the already confused and fickled Bella..." - The Jacob Hate Club.

FOOTNOTE: My above feelings and opinions were formed by the end of the 3rd book. For what comes in the 4th book, I do not know. So forgive my continued M-I-A status as I plunge back to the story...

Enchanted by Swendson

2009-06-02T13:27:00.002+08:00

In the past month or so, I have been enchanted by Swendson, Shanna Swendson.

Imagine living in a world where magic really exists, a world full of magical creatures, but not knowing it. The simple girl at a bus-stop could be a fairy with wings, and the only reason we don't know it is because they have veiled themselves from us.

In Shanna Swendson's 4 book ENCHANTED series, Katie Chandler is so ordinary, she's immune to magic! Being an immune, she can't do magic, neither can magic be used on her. She sees magical creatures as the really are, like that gargoyle perched on the church steeple.

Having discovered her immunity, MSI, Inc (short of Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc.) recruits Katie to help in their battle of good against evil.

Of course, in all bimbotic novels I read, there will also be a love interest. Who better suited for Katie than the gorgeously attractive and most powerful magic man since Merlin!

The Enchanted series is a cross between Harry Potter and Magical Fairy Tales, and I'm totally enchanted!

Did I just see a gargoyle fly past my window? No...it must have been a bird.

The Start of TFWA...

2009-05-11T17:53:00.002+08:00

Marks the start of The Fearful Week Ahead for me!

This happens twice a year, one in October at Cannes, and the other in Singapore this week!

Guess which one keeps me on my toes?

Duh. It's where everyone gathers at Suntec and I don't see daylight. This year, I'm fortunate we do not have a booth, but instead, we've booked a suite at the Conrad to hold our business meetings. This doesn't mean I need to prepare any less than usual.

It's still the usual last minute coordination of products to be delivered...
It's still the usual rush to buy food and beverages so that we can feed our guests...
It's still the usual madness of printing presentation booklets 2 days before the event...
It's still the usual need to decorate our 'suite', but at least this is just a simple 3 posters totalling $600 instead of the 6m x 6m booth that cost us a whooping $40k last year!

So why does the RUSH still get to me? I wonder too...

Fear Factor

2009-05-05T16:23:00.009+08:00

In a fear factor episode on Sunday, the contestant called Raine was elimated in the first round.

It was a battle of love as the host, EK, challenged the contestant to drink half a glass of milk in declaration of her love towards him. The claim was that milk was good for the contestant in terms of calcium intake, with added long term benefits when the contestant becomes old...

After being coaxed out from under the bed covers, contestant Raine took her seat at the table.

For a whole 5 minutes, contestant Raine stared at the half-filled glass of milk in front of her. To aid her along, EK handed the contestant a spoon and a cup of plain water to ease it down.

"One spoonful at a time" he persuaded.

With shaking hands, contestant Raine brought the spoonful of milk towards her mouth.

Da den da den da den daden dadendaden...

Milk - Glup.

Water - GLUP GLUP GLUP.

Spit.

Puke.

Contestant Raine spat the spoonful of milk into the glass of remaining plain water, but compelled with fear, she ran to the sink and puked out whatever was stuck in her throat. Thankfully, it was only milk and water. Nevertheless, tears ran down her cheeks as she cried over the horrid taste of the milk and puke.

As she took the walk of shame, the reflected:

I don't know which I fear more. Milk or the fear of puking after drinking milk. I am hopeless when I puke and I cry a lot because I absolutely cannot stand the horrid feeling that runs from my stomach up to my throat. Perhaps that's what scares me. Maybe it's pscyological as well. I am so afraid of puking and I think if I drink milk I'll puke. So when I do drink milk, I scare myself to think I'll puke and I try to coax myself not to puke but I end up thinking about puke and doing the deed, leaving me crying like a baby. Or perhaps my body really can't stand the taste of puke. I don't know.

Quarter of a Century

2009-04-22T14:21:00.005+08:00

That’s me! Last Saturday, I turned a quarter of a century old.

To commemorate this ground breaking event, the days that led up to Saturday, as well as the birthday weekend were eventful!

The 16th

Last Thursday, EK received an invitation to the launch of (Playboy) VIP Magazine in Singapore. The event, held at Oosh @ Dempsey, had invited several VIPs from all walks of life – there were playgirls from Playboy Mansions all over the world, mediacorp artists, banking professionals, photographers, tourism development personnel, other publications, AXN representatives, etc…

Initially, having heard it was a playboy event, I was prepared to wear a bright pink corset and black shorts, but after being told it was going to be a cocktail event with champagne and wine, I decided to go elegantly sexy in a deep V black dress - a very wise choice which won me several compliments that made me GLOW...Heee

Check out the playboy bunnies below!!!

Did you know it costs USD 500 for the custom made original playboy bunny outfit?!

The 17th

On Friday, I went to another event. This time round, it was organised by Puma to promote their new L.I.F.T. shoes. It was a complete 180 degree change, from elegant to casual, champagne to beer, classy Oosh to party Zouk.

This is the second time in a row I spent my birthday at Zouk. Last year I was there for a fashion event on my actual birthday, while this year, I was there for another fashion event the night before I turned 25. What will I be doing next year?

The big 18th

A beautiful start to a beautiful day!

Early in the morning that Saturday, I went with EK to Dome for a classic BIG BREAKFAST – 2 sunny side ups, 2 chicken sausages, 2 bacon strips, 2 slices of multi-grain toast, 1 hash brown, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. YUM YUM!!!!!!!

Following that, we headed to Tampines to check out the new mall called Tampines ONE. DUH! Once a shopaholic, always a shopaholic…did you think I’ll spend my birthday without the S word?

In the evening, I went over to my aunt’s place for popiah dinner and YUMMY awfully chocolate cake!! A beautiful close to a beautiful day!!

The day after

On Sunday after church, I went for my appointment…and the outcome…

A beautiful change to complete the big celebration of turning a quarter of a century old! My birthday surprise to you!

2009-04-08T13:04:00.004+08:00

DYE College

COLOUR EXAM
May 2009
Level 1Results
-----------------------------

FAIL! DISASTER!

Comments: Jane decided to DIY but halfway through the process, she found it very hard to colour her own WAIST LONG hair and her hair became entangled. She ended up rushing to the shower to wash off everything.

Equations

2009-04-07T15:53:00.004+08:00

DYE College

COLOUR EXAM
May 2009
Level 1

Topic: Problem Solving using Equations

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

Problem

Jane has not coloured her hair in 8 months. Her regrowth is 2 inches long and she needs to decide immediately whether she should go to a professional salon to colour it, or DIY herself.

(1) Time constraints:
1.1 Jane is leaving for Penang tomorrow night = IMPORTANT
1.2 She is going Japan for holiday end May = VERY IMPORTANT

(2) Other constraints:
2.1 If Jane does goes to a professional salon to colour her hair, it will cost her $150 (promotional price for the month of April) = EXPENSIVE
2.2 If Jane colours her own hair at home, it will cost her $25 for the dyes = LESS EXPENSIVE

(3) Uncertainties:
3.1 Jane is an amature at DIY hair colouring = DISASTER
3.2 Jane's hair has 2 colours = UGLY
3.2.1 Her roots are black-brown
3.2.2 Her previously coloured hair are light brown

If Jane recently spent $700 at FJ Benjamin sales (= POOR), what should she do?

SOLUTION A

Penang: IMPORTANT = MUST COLOUR
Professional = $150 = EXPENSIVE
POOR + MUST COLOUR + EXPENSIVE = BROKE + PRETTY IN PENANG + VERY PRETTY IN JAPAN

SOLUTION B

Penang: IMPORTANT = MUST COLOUR
DIY = $25 = LESS EXPENSIVE
Amature at DIY = DISASTER
Jane already has 2 colours in her hair = UGLY
UGLY + DISASTER = UNSIGHTFUL IN PENANG
Japan: VERY IMPORTANT = MUST COLOUR BETTER
Professional = $150 = EXPENSIVE = VERY PRETTY IN JAPAN

Jane recently spent $700 at FJ Benjamin sales = POOR
POOR + $25 + $150 = VERY BROKE + UNSIGHTFUL IN PENANG + VERY PRETTY IN JAPAN

SOLUTION C

Jane recently spent $700 at FJ Benjamin sales = POOR = MUST SAVE

MUST COLOUR + MUST SAVE = DIY = LESS EXPENSIVE = DISASTER = UNSIGHTFUL IN PENANG

But…

Jane already has 2 colours in her hair = ALREADY UNSIGHTFUL

Scenario 1:
POOR + ALREADY UNSIGHTFUL + DISASTER = POORER BUT NOT BROKE + STILL UNSIGHTFUL

Scenario 2:
POOR + ALREADY UNSIGHTFUL – DISASTER = POOR + REMAIN UNSIGHTFUL

Conclusion?

Why go through the DISASTER, OR BECOME BROKE? Remain at Status Quo. URGH! What a WASTE OF MY TIME!

A STANDING OVATION!

2009-04-07T10:04:00.006+08:00

...And the award of BEST KOREAN DRAMA OF THE CENTURY goes to '꽃보다 남자' also known as 'Boys over Flowers'.

Last week, the 25 episode drama came to an end. Unlike Korea's famous melodramas plots, 꽃보다 남자 finished on a brilliantly happy note that brought its audience to a standing ovation. The team behind the story did a fantastic job, from script writers who brought out the personality of each character, music which touched the hearts of all fans, to talented actors who cried on cue! Which leads us to our next award...

And the BEST LEAD ACTOR OF THE CENTURY goes to 'Lee Min Ho' playing Goo Joon Pyo, the leader of F4 and also the DREAM MAN OF THE CENTURY!

Needless to say, the BEST LEAD ACTRESS OF THE CENTURY goes to 'Koo Hye Sun' as Geum Jan Di, the girl who dared to stand up to Goo Joon Pyo and became the love of his life!

THE BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR(S) award goes to the remaining F3 'Kim Hyun Joong' as Yoon Ji Hoo - Jan di's emergency bell, 'Kim Bum' as So Yi Jung - Mr Casanova, and 'Kim Joon' as Song Woo Bin - the heart of F4!

And of course, the BEST ON-SCREEN COUPLE OF THE CENTURY naturally goes to Goo Joon Pyo and Geum Jan Di, who made fans all over the world cry, worry and laugh!

This drama has also been awarded for BEST DIRECTING, BEST COSTUME DESIGN, and BEST MUSIC OF THE CENTURY!

On the international level, among the nominees from Taiwan, Japan and Korea, this Korean foursome has emerged victorious, clinching the title for BEST F4 GROUP OF THE CENTURY!

Last but not least, the international award we've all been waiting for, 꽃보다 남자 has clinched the title for BEST HANA YORI DANGO DRAMA OF THE CENTURY, with nominees 流星花園 (Taiwan) and HANA YORI DANGO (Japan) trailing far behind.

Source: The Raine Globe Awards

Confessions of a shoppa-FCUK-aholic

2009-04-06T11:34:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, I finally watched the movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic” and I absolutely loved it! Though I do not like the actress playing Becky (she’s not as pretty as her best friend Suze or rival Alicia-Bitch-Long-Legs), nor did the movie keep strictly to the sequence of happenings according to the original novel, but it was a refreshing and enjoyable movie that kept me laughing throughout.

However, some parts were so scarily déjà vu, especially with my recent trips – note the plural – to the FJ Benjamin sales!!

1) The queue before the doors even open!
According to my colleague who went to queue on Saturday, she got there half an hour before the doors opened and there were already 100+ people in front of her! I got there at 10am on Saturday and the queue already flooded to the floor below!

2) The race to the doors
It is all true! Apart from the long queues, the moment the doors open, people literally rush forward and scramble to their desired sections – in my case was the Guess handbag section. Learning from past experiences, I have become an expert and did not carry my handbag to this recent FJ Benjamin sale so that I do not need to queue for bag deposit.

3) Becky catfights for the pair of boots
On Friday evening when I returned to the sales, a large crowd of women ambushed staff in the Guess handbag and luggage sections – everyone eager to snatch any new stocks that was released. It was major catfight! The moment a staff took out one trolley luggage, masses of women pressed forward to snatch it from them! It was an accident waiting to happen – until a point where the boss had decided to stop handing out Guess bags.

I didn’t have my eyes on the Guess luggages, but I had my eyes on a Guess handbag which I’ve always wanted since it got to stores with a price tag of $159.90. Even when it went on sale price at $100, I still thought it was expensive and didn’t allow EK to buy for me. To my delight, I spotted it at this sale! But before the handbags could reach the sale table, it was snatched up by everyone else. I was dishearted, but my desire for the bag took over and I approached a stranger, asking if she wanted to trade it with me for any other handbags I had. She was nice and was willing to give me the bag. YAY!

4) The regret after the purchase
In Becky’s case, as she stared at the bags and bags of purchases she got at the sale, $$$ calculations were running through her head. In my case, though part of my brain was scolding me for the $$$ I had spent, the other side of my brain was chiding me for not getting more because the deals were tooooooo gooooooood to be true! Especially when I found out my sister also likes the bags I got for myself, I regretted not buying more!

Having done the above similarity comparison, I’m not like Becky. I don’t chock up $160,000 in credit card bills. I know whatever I charge I can make payment for… and I only shop wisely for good bargains. I have a voice of reason – EK – who tells me what’s good to buy and what not to buy…so I don’t think I’m a shopaholic...

Agreed?

Batam Revisted.

2009-04-03T14:10:00.005+08:00

Apparently…
I have been to Batam before, according to my parents. I remember the part where I got to drive the golf buggy for the first time as I went with Dad around the golf course. Everything else is a blur. Mum recalled that my sister and I didn’t enjoy it, with the many flies and dirty streets.

With a 2 night complimentary stay voucher…
EK and I took the opportunity and booked ourselves into Batam View Beach Resort over the Friday plus weekend (22 - 22 March). We have been saying that we should visit Batam, perhaps on some weekend where we got really bored of Singapore and wanted out! And so we did.

Researching on google…
We weren’t impressed with the resort or facilities, neither with the sights or the attractions. Wondering what we were going to do there over the 3 days, we packed with reservation.

Upon arrival…
We were pleasantly surprised. We were well guided by the staff in yellow who collected us from the checkpoint, showed us to the bus and then took to the resort. The staff at the reception were friendly, allowing us to check in 2 hours earlier than specified.

Superior standard…
Our rooms were of the cheapest offered at the resort, but it was still clean, spacious and comfortable for the two of us.

Touring the resort…
We ticked off our checklist. Restaurant, swimming pool, table tennis, tennis, badminton, beach volley, jet ski, snorkelling, canoeing, kayaking, karaoke, bar, etc. Check! Check! Check! Some were free, but others not. Everything was in Singapore prices and hence, not cheap.

Town exploration…
We grabbed a cab and went into town. The cab fare to Nagoya was $20, but it was quite a distance so it was reasonable. Lunch was priority and we had a safe lunch at A&W before shopping around Nagoya Hills – considered to be one of their largest mall. Sizewise, it was big but shops wise, not my kind of shopping. You could find fake LV everything, or Gucci and the lot. Guess came real or fake, so did watches. Upon closer scrutiny, EK noted that even a cheap product such as a Sony battery charger was fake! But supermarket shopping was fun fun fun because things were cheap cheap cheap. Potato chips at $1, orange juice at $0.50, and Heineken at $1.50 a can.

The confusing ZEROS…
Payment was mind-boggling! Exchanging S$100, we almost became millionaires! What’s with all the zeros! I had so much difficulty counting the notes! The joke of the day: EK decided to split some cash with me, so that if I got lost, I wouldn’t be penniless. So he handed me several RP 1000 notes. I graciously accepted but after a brief calculation, informed him, “It’s not even $1”. GAH! It was impossible to deal with the large numbers of pointless zeros, which made payment cumbersome and slow (for us visitors). It’s such a waste of money. Why does the government print RP 1000 notes worth only 12 singapore cents?! I fancied a pair of shorts costing RP 130,000, and only after whipping out my handphone calculator and realising it meant $16, I finally agreed to part with the cash.

Relaxing Massage…
With $24 each, we scored ourselves a good 2 hour long massage! You can’t compare it to Singapore’s or Penang’s expensive but amazing massages, but theirs was quality at price. We couldn’t complain. After the massage and some Chinese dinner, we headed back to the resort – after a thrilling and scary taxi ride – imagine TAXI (the French movie) but at night.

Sports galore…
After a filling buffet breakfast, EK and I spent the morning doing sports such as table tennis and tennis. By noon, the sun was far too unbearable and we retreated indoors to play some pool. After 2 games where I emerged the loser, we went back to our room. Not long after, rain came down and locked us in. So we entertained ourselves, me as the model and EK as the photographer. I’ve got some great shots I can’t wait to share – but first, the DI master needs to do his photoshop magic before I share them with you. Heee.

Chilling out…
Armed with the bread and snacks from our supermarket trip, we kept our tummies occupied till dinner. After sharing a cup noodles in the room, we went down to the restaurant to share a main course for dinner. After dinner, we went to check out the outdoor kelong restaurant which serves seafood, took a stroll along the docks before heading back to rest.

Surprising myself…
I never thought I could play table tennis that well. On Sunday morning after breakfast, EK and I went to play a round of table tennis – that was a warm-up. Just as I was getting into it, we realised there was badminton and we changed games, only to discover it wasn’t as fun as table tennis. And so, we returned to the table and played 9 sets of exciting table tennis. And I emerged the winner – ok, perhaps EK gave in to me and didn’t use all he got, but I was surprised with myself because I never liked table tennis – not even when we played it during physical education in school.

Checking out…
After the good game of table tennis, we returned to our rooms to pack up and check out. While waiting for the bus to pick us up and take us to the ferry terminal, we lounged in the hall and entertained ourselves with cheap magnum ice cream…YUM YUM.

Batam revisited…
We boarded the ferry and headed back to Singapore, arriving home around 5pm. The conclusion was that it was a good and relaxing trip, better than we had expected. We enjoyed ourselves, but we won’t go again unless we are offered another complimentary stay… It’s fun, but not fantastic, so we wouldn’t pay to visit again.

Confessions of a Shopaholic (NOT THE MOVIE)

2009-04-02T17:42:00.003+08:00

Prologue:
”Hi, I’m Raine and I’m a Shopaholic.” Raine introduced herself at the SS* convention held at the Grand Hyatt.

“Hi, Raine.” The other members greeted and continued with their activities.

Chapter 1: The Calling
“Le-Long, Le-Long, FJB sale ! FJB sale ! HURRY HURRY, DON’T MISS OUT! GET YOUR FRIENDS TOGETHER AND SAVE MORE AH!!” The sales men called and the shopaholics flocked in masses down to the Grand Hyatt for the annual SS convention held by FJ Benjamin.

Translation:

Raine was among the shopaholics. Along with 2 other colleagues of hers, they joined the queue to enter the ballroom during their lunch hour.

Upon entering, Raine was neither deterred by the masses, nor was she deterred by the mess. Being a well-trained SS member, especially with limited time on her hands, Raine went straight to conquer her top priority – LA SENZA LINGERIE!

Chapter 2: First Stop
“COME! COME AND SEE! Seduce your partners with these sexy lingeries! Or sleep in beautiful bliss with our comfy pyjamas! 1 piece for $25, but don’t stop at 1, BUY 3 FOR $45!”

Raine dived into the pile, shouting “Gimmie 3!”

When she emerged, she found she had 4. No, 5 pieces! No, 4…but the offer is 3 for $45! Before she could decide, her colleague called.

Chapter 3: Plan of attack!
“Have you seen the queue to pay?! It’s super long. We need a plan of attack. Let’s take turns to queue! I’ll go queue first, 10 minutes later, you come over, OK?” Her colleague discussed.

“Great plan!” Raine ended the call and returned her attention to her lingeries.

After a grueling elimination process among the lingeries, she decided time was precious and stuffed the final selected 4 pieces into her TBP** bag before proceeding to take her turn at the payment queue.

“I’ll decide which 3 pieces I want when I’m in the queue.” She strategized and headed over to find her colleague.

She was not swayed by the other sales men who were vying for her attention, “Miss, bras are only $18 each, or if you purchase 2, it’s only $30, but since you’re so pretty, if you buy 3, I’ll give it to you at $36 only! That means it’s only $12 each leh! VERY GOOD BUY!”

“I know, I know. I’ll come back later if I have time.” If I really want it.

Chapter 4: The queue!
The queue was indeed long! While she was deciding which 3 lingeries to pick, her other colleague came over to relief her of her duties. TING*** Raine quickly recommended the lingeries to her.

“Go and see, I’ve got 4 pieces so if you find anything else you want, we can combine and get cheaper prices.”

It was a good move and her colleague returned with 2 more lingeries in hand and Shopaholic Raine didn’t need to eliminate any one of her buy!

Raine exchanged shift with her colleague and proceeded to overcome the next challenge!

Chapter 5: Only at the Hyatt!
Her eyes twinkled as she approached the sales bins.

“You, ma’am!” A salesman called.

“Me?”

“Yes, you, ma’am. Come and check out our lovely Guess bags! It’s selling for 1 for $45, 3 for $120, or better yet, 6 for $180!!! Tell me where in Singapore can you find such good bargains?”

“Only at the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt?”

“Bingo! Only $30 a bag if you purchase 6 bags. Buy a few for yourself, for your mother, for your sister, for your aunty lah! It’s very good buy leh!”

Raine thought to herself, “If I could I would have bought a truckload – it was daylight ~~robbery~~ savings!”

She did her mental calculations. Usually, the prices of guess bags are $180, or at minimum $100 during department store sales. At $30 a bag, that’s savings of $70 per bag (as compared to standard sales). TING!

“Give me 6!!!!”

Chapter 6: Better than Pasar Malam!
She returned back to the queue to relief her colleagues and to recollect herself. She had 8 handbags in her hands. She only wanted 6, but she only liked 5. What should she do?

Not long after, her colleague came over to take over and she hurriedly returned the 2 least favourite handbags. The payment queue was getting shorter by the minute and it was now a race against time.

She chucked the 2 handbags and rushed over to the LA SENZA section again because her sister wanted bras!

The sales men hit the right notes, “…and La Senza bras going for 1 for $18 or 3 for $36. Panties at 5 for $10!!! It’s insane, isn’t it! You can’t even find 5 panties for $10 bargains at pasar malams, but you can find it here at the Grand Hyatt!

“I’ll take 3 bras!!”

Chapter 7: Just in time!
Raine rejoined her colleagues just in time as they headed into the payment section (separate room where the queue continued on).

She stood in line to reorganize her buy. Her other colleague, seeing the many handbags Raine had in her hand was tempted and hopped out of the queue quickly to check out the handbags. Her colleague returned with one handbag and Raine had another TING moment.

5 bags for Raine + 1 bag for her colleague = 6 bags at $180!

So Raine settled her additional bag problem and made payment.

Chapter 7: To go or not to go!
It was a very fruitful shopping trip, even though Raine didn’t even make it to the other sections such as clothes and shoes.

As she talked with her colleagues, she learnt more about the other brands on sale:
- RAOUL - $50 or less for men’s shirts
- GAP - 1 tshirt for $10, 3 for a lot cheaper
- GUESS - 3 pairs of shoes for $99 and more for cheaper!!!
- BANANA REPUBLIC - $25 for a dress

There were also Guess watches, wallets, Raoul accessories, etc....all on crazy sale but she didn't have time to look…so the NEXT big question is, will she return in the next couple of days?

To be continued…

* SS – Shopping Shopaholics
** TBP – To Be Purchased
*** TING – Lightbulb moment
Note: All dialogues are fictitious, but sale & prices are FOR REAL!

Mourning before it has passed...

2009-03-30T10:51:00.004+08:00

My colleague and I are mourning over Boys Over Flowers (korean), even before it has passed.

Today and tomorrow, Korea will be airing the last 2 episodes to the Boys Over Flowers drama. Along with millions of fans worldwide, we cannot bear to part with the tear jerking and emotional scenes, the sweet and envious precious moments,the dreamy storyline, and last but not least, the 4 handsome guys.

Throughout the past couple of months, we have been looking forward to Mondays and Tuesdays...Monday blues are a thing of the past as we yearn for the weekend to pass quickly so that we can watch the next episodes.

But as it draws to a close, the inevitable feeling of loss creaps up on us. How will the ending be? With Korea's unpredictable and melodramatic tendencies, we are left wondering if the pair will be together or not. As saying goes, all good things must come to an end...

Will there be another drama as good as this?

If only women could be simplified so easily...

2009-03-27T16:51:00.002+08:00

Men are solution seekers…they have to rationalise everything. Clearly, the following diagrams are from MEN, but can we be simplified so easily with these diagrams? Or are we the sum of all diagrams? I think the latter.

We add baggage, are unpredictable and hazardous, argumentative, complicated, meticulous and more!

Not like men who are so boring…YAWN.

School uniforms in fashion?

2009-03-26T17:08:00.006+08:00

I absolutely love the school uniforms in Boys over Flowers! Sexy, preppy and full of class!

So...Will you wear your school uniforms on the street, on weekends, to the city and on dates?

HELL YA!

I just visited one of my favourite Taiwan brand Knightsbridge's website and it appears school uniform designs are in fashion! Especially white shirts with plaid skirts!

Don't they look absolutely fun and adorable! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Well...anything's definitely better than the Nanyang school uniform!! Can't imagine I lived with it for 10 years!

Tired but HIGH!

2009-03-25T13:13:00.003+08:00

I’m so tired, and yet so HIGH. Is that possible? YES, if you’re into the k-drama craze, specifically 꽃보다 남자 (Kgotboda Namja), or aka Boys Over Flowers!!

Last night, I watched the long due episodes from last Monday/Tuesday (I couldn’t find the time throughout the week to watch it)…and it was soooooo good.

Jandi’s maid’s outfit – SOOOOOOOO ADORABLE!

Ohhh, and the part when she was formally introduced as Jun Pyo’s personal assistant…AWWWWW. He was so shocked, it was SOOOOOOOOO CUTE.

And then he calls her to his room and asks her to cook ramen for him, demanding to eat it in the cooking pot (as commoners do), and then subtly asks her to sit on his comfy lazy boy in order to let her rest, and then he discovers she falls asleep and he puts a blanket over her…and and and…he watches her with those sweet loving eyes – AHHHHHHHHHHHH. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

And and and…another time when he lures her to his room to accompany him to watch a horror movie and there’s typical ‘I’m scared so I grab on to the person next to me’ scene * GRIN *

And when she wants to leave his room but spots his fiancé coming in, she hides in his closet and ends up falling asleep…and he so gently carries her back to her bed – Everyone go ‘AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW’!

And when he begs the fiancé not to go through the wedding coz he only loves Jandi and will never love another – TEAR!

OK, I think I’ve spoilt it for those who intend to watch it but have not…SORRY…HAD TO OOOOHHHH and AWWWWWW.

I’m dying, itching, pining, yearning to watch the day before yesterday and yesterday’s episode!

URGH…scratch scratch!

Little Miss Fickle went full circle...

2009-03-16T13:09:00.003+08:00

As the story goes, Little Miss Fickle was about to sign the contract on the fourth apartment she saw. When she turned up at the owner’s place all ready to place yet another option to purchase fee, she faced yet another hurdle. The owner wanted to sell the apartment to her, but didn’t want to sign the papers until they have prayed to their God’s and most auspicious date to sign the contract…so Little Miss Fickle, irritated by the owner’s own fickleness, left for home to report back to her parents.

She decided to be a little bit more patient and wait for the owners to sign, so Little Miss Fickle decided to call Mr Agent to inform him that she wishes to forfeit the third apartment and deposit fee, but after a good half an hour conversation, Mr Agent managed to convince Little Miss Fickle otherwise.

So to cut the story short, Little Miss Fickle decided to stick to her first instinct and finalized the contract on the third apartment, which was older, but corner, larger and more spacious. She went one full circle, but she was glad she made this final decision…

Today, Little Miss Fickle faces other decisions…
How should she decorate the place?
What furniture to buy?
What colours to paint the apartment? What theme to go with?

Though many decisions await Little Miss Fickle, she looks forward to tackling them because it’s finally starting to get fun! That is…if budget allows.

Little Miss Fickle

2009-03-03T17:06:00.002+08:00

Little Miss Fickle went to town…
Little Miss Fickle bought a house.
Little Miss Fickle went back home…
Little Miss Fickle thought ‘OH NO’.

Once upon a time in Fickle World, Little Miss Fickle went to view apartments.

On her first viewing, Little Miss Fickle saw a small and run-down apartment. It was old and the apartment needed 100% renovations. But the selling price was reasonable. Disheartened, Little Miss Fickle went back home. She thought to herself, “Is this what all apartments in Fickle World would look like? Old and in need of major renovations?” Little Miss Fickle liked the idea of renovations because that meant she could have a brand new interior, so Little Miss Fickle considered that option.

But the next day, she received a call saying that apartment had already been sold. So Little Miss Fickle viewed another two apartments.

The second apartment was old with weird angled rooms, but more spacious than the first. However, the price was a little high for something that needed to be renovated. Little Miss Fickle thought more about the first apartment which was already sold.

The third apartment she saw was slightly noisy as it was along the main road, but it was also very spacious, had a beautiful kitchen and nice toilets. Little Miss Fickle’s spirits brightened up. She liked this apartment and thought it was a rare find, especially when she had started to believe that all apartments in Fickle World was going to be old and run-down. Under the influential speech given by Mr Agent, Little Miss Fickle felt compelled to make a decision. But she went home and thought about it. Little Miss Fickle discussed it with her parents, as well as her boyfriend Mr Photographer, who all encouraged her to make the decision based on what she felt.

So Little Miss Fickle decided to put down an offer for the apartment.

On the same day Little Miss Fickle was going to pay the deposit, Little Miss Another-Agent called to ask if she was interested in viewing another apartment. So Little Miss Fickle and Mr Photographer went down to view this fourth apartment.

It was newer, younger, but smaller and along the corridor. Though Little Miss Fickle and Mr Photographer liked it, but she thought the corridor issue was a big problem of privacy and decided against it. So they met Mr Agent and paid the deposit for the option to purchase the third apartment they viewed.

Or should she have not? When Little Miss Fickle got home, all she could think about was the fourth apartment instead. Suddenly, more and more reasons NOT to purchase the third apartment surfaced. Little Miss Fickle thought ‘OH NO, I made the wrong choice’.

Though Little Miss Fickle was relieved that she had 2 weeks to consider her offer on the third apartment and it would only result in losing the minimal deposit, she couldn’t make the decision. So her parents and Mr Photographer decided for her.

Little Miss Fickle rang Little Miss Another-Agent to schedule the second viewing of fourth apartment. After the second viewing, both Little Miss Fickle and Mr Photographer liked the apartment and offered to purchase the apartment.

Currently, they are waiting for Little Miss Another-Agent to return call and arrange a date for the signing of documents and making of the deposit. Little Miss Fickle has also viewed two more apartments in Fickle World, but her decision still sways to the fourth apartment she viewed.

What if the deal for the fouth apartment falls through? What if the owner decides he doesn’t want to sell? Little Miss Fickle worries incessantly. At least Little Miss Fickle still holds the offer for the third apartment…but does she want something bigger yet older, or something newer yet smaller?

To be continued…

INCONSIDERATE!

2009-03-03T09:57:00.000+08:00

Time: Yesterday afternoon at work…

Colleague [reading from the internet]: A final-year student jumped from a campus block after stabbing a professor .
Me [in a perky tone]: Oh? Is this in America?
Colleague: No. NTU.

I thought only such things would happen in America. I never expected any campus cases as such in Singapore. Not only was the student ‘first class honours material’, he was also in his final year!

The student entered the professor’s office, stabbed him in the back leaving him injured, then slit his wrists and jumped off a five-storey building. There was bloody trail from the office, and blood splatter where the student was found.

It must have been traumatic for students who witnessed the suicide! And a professor injured? At this point in time, no one knows the reason for the stabbing.

Regardless, I believe that it was very inconsiderate of the student to commit suicide in that fashion. And I absolute detest those who commit suicide without thinking of the consequences!

There are family to consider (the student was from Indonesia and his parents must have paid plenty for his education in Singapore), then the bystanders who are left with the shock and trauma of witnessing the suicide, and to bring down someone else with your plight? INCONSIDERATE!

- Especially those who jump in front of oncoming traffic – the poor driver who was on the wrong lane at the wrong time.
- Especially those who jump off buildings, worse in public areas – poor bystanders who’s day have been ruined by such a sighting.
- Especially those who shoots everyone else before shooting himself/herself – ever thought about the other families that will mourn for ages?

INCONSIDERATE.

Buckets of Raine

2009-02-20T23:16:00.004+08:00

It's been such a long time since I've balled my eyes out! I don't know how korean's do it, but they just do their melodramatic scenes so well! Especially episode 13 and 14! My tears came down in buckets!

Hana Yori Dango (Korean) is hands down the best version I've seen! The guys are sooooooo yummy, I take back what I said at the start about them not looking the part because they do!

Sorry for those who have absolutely no clue what I'm ranting about, just LET ME RANT. Episode 13 and 14 is the breakup scene that broke all our hearts! To the point where I even wanted Rui to come and put her out of her misery, make her feel better. That was the point I realised how good this Korean version was...that though I wanted Rui to come and save the day (usually I don't like it coz I'm pro Makino and Domyoji), and when he did to my relief, they played it out so well that you didn't find yourself siding with Rui, and instead still rooting for the leads to end up together. That's how well balanced the script was.

When you want them young and mischevious, they do it so well, then you want them handsome and act as heir to huge fortunes and they play the part so well too.

It's impossible to complain, except that I can't wait for Monday and Tuesday to quickly come so that I can watch the next 2 episodes...and the following Monday and Tuesday to quickly come so that I can watch the next next 2 episodes...etc, etc, and etc.

I apologise that you'll have to put up with such posts till the end of the drama because that's probably when I'll stop ranting...

Did I tell you I'm re-reading the comics again? I'm addicted!

Naive & me...

2009-02-20T14:12:00.004+08:00

I live in my own naïve world…in a world inside a television.

How could I have such a skewed perspective of what a hospital room look like?

Comfortable beds; 1 patient per room, no sharing; Nice sofas for visitors. Courtesy of Meteor Garden (Taiwan), and Boys Before Flowers (Korea), and one NZ hospital I visited someone before.

Today, I went with a colleague to visit another colleague who had been admitted into the hospital because of Dengue. Though the hospital was ‘happening’ – the first word that came to my mind – with lots of people walking around, shops selling bags, accessories, gifts etc, cafes and foodcourts, etc, but when we got to the hospital ward, it was very gloomy and sad.

It wasn’t how I pictured it to be…her room had 5 other patients sharing the space. Around her, the other patients were either sick or old or lonely. There was no air-con, I felt there was no ventilation. The beds were yucky with plastic barriers. You could see what was happening all around you to other patients, basically no privacy. And the smell…like they say “hospital smell”…it was rather claustrophobic. It’s no surprise if patients develop hospital phobia.

I felt weird being there, I felt exposed. I couldn’t imagine how she would be feeling. She moved here from India (first time being away from her parents) and she was alone in the hospital. She told us she felt rather lonely and was very happy to see us. She said this place made her feel even more sick and I could totally understand. I wasn’t a patient and I didn’t like the place at all!

Here’s a picture of the room, taken from the Singapore General Hospital website.

This picture doesn’t look as bad as I make it sound. Definitely the work of photoshop. Coz in reality, the room was not so bright, not so colourful, and not so neat.

Why does it have to be so gloomy? Why does it have to be so sad and make you feel even worse?

But having said this, I understand space is limited (she had to wait 5 hours to have a bed), and quality comes with price. Her’s was classed B2, second cheapest of what was offered. But there are still things you can do to make the place prettier and happier, like a new coat of paint/wallpaper? I don’t know.

I just didn’t like it. How is anyone suppose to get well in such a gloomy place? Especially when you don’t have family with you and you’re all alone?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BLOG!

2009-02-19T14:11:00.000+08:00

Belated...Oops.

YOU SUCK!

2009-02-11T09:52:00.001+08:00

To Made-in-China products, YOU SUCK! You’re cheap and disappointing! Don’t you ever have QC? Don’t you have a sense of ethics? Don’t you want to be the best? URGH!

I’ve lost sleep because of you! I paid USD 2 each for 500pcs of compact mirrors for work, and I expected the quality to be much better! URGH, now, not only am I worried our clients will complain about your quality, I’m worried that my boss is disappointed in me!

URGH! Does it hurt to be of better quality? Does it hurt to be of higher perceived value? Your website looks so good, your pictures look so pretty, EVERYTHING IS DECEIVING!!

YOU SUCK!

Re: I love 꽃보다 남자

2009-02-02T11:28:00.001+08:00

Dear Director Jun Ki Sang and Screenwriter Yoon Ji Ryun,

I’m a huge fan of Hana Yori Dango, and I’ve read the Japanese comics, watched the Japanese animation, fell in love with the Taiwanese drama followed by the Japanese drama. I was recently told there the Korean drama is currently airing in Korea (only 8 out of 24 episodes have been aired) and I couldn’t give it a miss!

As I live in Singapore, I can only watch it online. Last Saturday night, I was so addicted to your drama that I watched all 8 episodes straight, from 11.30pm till 7am on Sunday morning.

I would like to commend you on your fantastic choice of locations! Korea is so beautiful in winter! I absolutely love the fact that you captured the wealth of the Tsukasa group! I found the Taiwanese and Japanese drama did not do justice to realise the extent of wealth this group of F4 possesses! Your drama blew me away, especially with the entrance of Domyoji in a helicopter, the majestic school and amazing classroom of the F4, complete with well-crafted desks, laptops, etc. LOVE!

As for the actors, good choice! Initially I thought they looked a little older, definitely not high school age. But as I watched your drama, I slowly disregarded the age difference as I fell in love with them!

I absolutely love Domyoji or as you named him Goo Joon Pyo! Initially, I thought he was rather mature looking, and his permed hair was rather hilarious. But he acted fantastically and brought out the childlike nature of Domyoji, yet with his mature actions of protective love!

I also applaud you for your choice of the actor playing the role of Hanazawa Rui. He was very charming and when he smiled, it melted hearts. However, I’m a die-hard Domyoji fan so I didn’t like the parts where Makino Tsukushi was with Rui because it was all too sweet! It got me wincing and pining for Makino to return to Domyoji, which seemed like forever!

As for Makino aka Jan Di, I think her character was portrayed a little weak. The actress didn’t look tough or strong enough to battle Domyoji, unlike the comic book Domyoji, who was a little rougher around the edges. I find Jan Di too fair and sweet in appearance to play the determined weed!

The actors who played Soujirou and Akira did a great job too! Their smiles are definitely playboy worthy!

And your choice of supporting actors – one word – BRILLANCE! The beautiful first love of Rui, played by actress cum model Han Chae Young lived up to her beautiful reputation! Jan Di’s best friend was as cute as portrayed in the comics and Jan Di’s younger brother is sooooooooo adorable!

I can’t wait to watch the rest of the episodes and buy the DVD when it’s finally released!!!

Love,
Raine

HANA YORI DANGO!!!

2009-01-30T17:04:00.018+08:00

October 1992 marked the start of of Hana Yori Dango the comic book.

Following that in September of 1996, the Japanese animation was released.

Then, in April 2001, Taiwan released their own TV drama based on the comics, calling it “Meteor Garden”, followed by “Meteor Garden II” in November 2002.

In October 2005, Japan got their act together and released their own TV drama, with part 2 following in January 2007. They also proceeded to film a movie, released in June 2008.

And when you thought it all was coming to an end…Korea brought it all back to life in January 2009, releasing their own TV drama series.

I love the comics where your imagination could run wild and the most outrageous things happened. I love the Taiwanese TV drama series, which brought the comics to life! I fell for the Japan TV drama series, because afterall, Japan was where it all started. I’ve currently started watching the Korean TV drama series as it is still airing in Korea, so I’m unable to come to a conclusion yet, but GOODNESS, the Korean version pushed the boundaries of EXPENSIVE LUXURY to proportions that the other versions didn't or couldn't!

Though every version is slightly different from each other and from the original comics, but one thing remains the same...the poor girl Makino Tsukushi who finds herself entangled in the group of 4 handsomely rich boys who call themselves the F4.

Introducing Tsukushi Makino in her many appearances across Asia...

Holding firm on Makino's character as a tough and independent girl who stands up to her rights, I award Japan's Makino with best actress. She's small but tough, cute but not exceptionally beautiful, and young. The Taiwanese and Korean actresses didn't make my age cut...

And now, introducing the famous F4!!! Which group do you think looks the best together?

From the anime (left to right): Akira Mimasaka, Rui Hanazawa, Tsukasa Doumyouji, Soujirou Nishikado

From Taiwan (left to right): Soujirou Nishikado, Tsukasa Doumyouji, Akira Mimasaka, Rui Hanazawa

From Japan (left to right): Soujirou Nishikado, Rui Hanazawa, Tsukasa Doumyouji, Akira Mimasaka

From Korea (left to right): Soujirou Nishikado, Akira Mimasaka, Tsukasa Doumyouji, Rui Hanazawa

To me, the anime F4 are a little to skinny to my liking, the most muscular are the Taiwanese group, though in terms of looks, the fall behind the sauve Japanese F4, but the Koreans simple look too old to be college students, though their uniforms are to die for!

So, now let's dig deeper and analyse each F4 character, starting with...DUH...Tsukasa Doumyouji, the leader of F4...

My favourite Doumyouji is still Taiwan's (though Japan's comes close too). He's got the look, the muscles and the style! And check out Korea's (bottom right), what's up with his maggie mee hairdo!! GROSS!

As for the quiet but sophisticated Rui Hanazawa...

Japan is the winner! He's moody, but totally cute! And has that can't care look that is soooo Rui! And as usual, I'd like to diss Korea's one...too feminine for F4, though, there's a reason the 'F' stands for 'Flower' - as pretty as 'Flowers'!!!

And last but not least, the duo Soujirou Nishikado & Akira Mimasaka...

I like Taiwan's Akira for his supportive yet playful personality, and in terms of looks, Korea's Soujirou, though I haven't seen him in action yet so I don't know how well he plays that character.

So having said all this, I would like to wrap up with my dream team!

What are your takes?

'BOUT TIME!

2009-01-29T17:55:00.000+08:00

I have finally uploaded my Taiwan photos! To view, click on September 2008 in the links on the left to access my Taiwan posts!!! ENJOY!

Just like old times...but different

2009-01-29T16:42:00.002+08:00

When I was younger and our family was still living in Singapore, I thoroughly enjoyed Chinese New Year!

I remember shopping with mummy for new clothes and shoes (usually matching new clothes with my lil sis)…
But as we grew older, we had our own say on what we wore…and after moving to NZ, Chinese New Year was not even a public holiday, so we didn’t bother with this tradition anymore.

I remember every Chinese New Year eve, we would gather as a family for the traditional reunion dinner steamboat…
But after I returned to Singapore on my own and joined my grandparents, uncles and their families, it became a banquet of random dishes. Not as fun an event as the traditional reunion dinner steamboat. Perhaps steamboat was too troublesome?

I remember lying on my parent’s bed on the night of the eve, helping mummy pack money into the ang pows for distribution…
But as we grew older, and moved to NZ, there just wasn’t so many ang pows to pack anymore.

I remember being squashed between my uncle and my dadad as we made our way through the streets of Chinatown on the night of the eve, fascinated by my surroundings.
But as we grew older, we couldn’t be bothered going to Chinatown as it became too crowded. Perhaps it wasn’t so fascinating anymore?

I remember carrying a cute little pouch around with me, especially to contain the ang pows I received…
But as we grew older, the little pouch turned into an adult handbag, filled with my own things such as my wallet, keys, cards, etc. And of course, the odd ang pow we received.

I remember the excitement of secretly peeking into each ang pow given to see how much I had ‘earned’…
But as we grew older and moved to NZ, the ang pows grew fewer and we could estimate the amount anyways, there was no need to peek.

And I also remember the joy of eating lots and lots of ba kua at people’s places, just because it was yummy and the only time we could have ba kua…
But then we grew older and found ba kua fatty, and the availability of ba kua in Singapore meant that any time of the year I could have ba kua, it wasn’t as special anymore…

I was just about to think this year was going to the same as the previous few years…when I was pleasantly surprised.

1 week before Chinese New Year, mum asked, “Have you bought any new clothes for the new year?”
Suddenly, it seemed like I should have bought something new to wear. And so that day, I shopped. And the day after, I shopped. And up until the weekend leading to CNY, I shopped. It felt good again to plan what to wear on the eve for reunion dinner, what to wear on the first day to receive guests to grandpa’s house and what to wear on day 2 when I went visiting. It felt like old times…

“Let’s go Chinatown,” suggested EK…
With EK and his parents celebrating Chinese New Year for the first time in their lives in Singapore, EK thought of bringing his parents to Chinatown. But they said they had been there, so we almost didn’t make it! Afterall, it was far from the top of our list of things to do. It was an impromptu decision, after discovering Clarke Quay was not happening enough, we decided to walk over and to check it out again. And I’m glad we did. It certainly brought back childhood memories and seeing the people, the lights and the REDS revived the spirit of Chinese New Year in me.
While we're on the topic of Chinese New Year events...
Annually, Singapore always organised this event called 'Chun Dao He Pan' and for the first time in my life, we went to this event on the second day of Chinese New Year. The beautiful lanterns, all red and glowy...it can't get any more Chinese New Year than this!!

But the fun of reunion dinner lies in the first word, not the act of dining…
Perhaps I’ve grown more mature, but I discovered it was a reunion with cousins I haven’t chatted with in ages…

“Ok…time to prepare the ang pows,” said Grandpa as he retired to his room after the reunion dinner…
And I smiled, remembering the old times. I too went to my room to prepare the ang pows…some things never change, I’m still helping mummy pack money into the ang pows for my grandparents…

But there’s one thing that I used to do when I was little but not anymore…
Pig out on ba kua…

Shoes on Purpose

2009-01-23T14:15:00.001+08:00

Early this week, I purchased two pairs of shoes, and yesterday, another three. Each one with its purpose!

Call me sentimental, but I simply refuse to throw out my shoes just because it’s broken or worn out. No siree! Not before I find a replacement. When I purchased shoe #1 from Americaya on Tuesday 20 January 2009, it had a purpose. The black heels with a simple gold buckle were purchased purposefully to replace another pair of black heels that broke on 1 December 2008 – God rest its sole! And about time. I have been at a loss without a good sturdy black pair of heels that would match almost every other outfit I have…

Though I’m a woman and loves my heels, when my legs are tired, and the blisters are screaming, heels just don’t look so fantastic on me. I’m walking with a limp, wincing with every step I take, and struggling to make my way home. That definitely does not give others the impression of confidence and ego elevation that heels are supposed to achieve. So after that one comment from my dearest, I decided I was going to stick to flats (well…more frequently, that is). So on that same day, I purchased a pair of black flat shoes that was on sale. Purpose fulfilled.

But that one pair of flats cannot can never satisfy any woman who has a wardrobe full of all sorts of clothes. So yesterday, I had to buy more. Dragging my dearest along with me, we found her decked in shiny black with a bow on the front. When I saw her, I knew she would be perfect for my second day of Chinese New Year outfit. This was also going to replace my beloved pair of flats who, after continuous wears, finally broke down and gave up. But this new pair cannot entirely replace her because they are of entirely different class. The new pair on the block is shiny and elegant with her bow, while my old and comfortable pair is sparkly in her own funky black & white, shoe-laced self. Though she has begun speaking (soles are coming apart), and she is falling into pieces, but I do wonder if a little fix-me-upper would work on her…afterall, you can’t pronounce a person dead until she is really gone...

The second new pair of flats is virgin white, casual and sweetly unique. And in a way, I also see her replacing my beloved flats. Casual in her own way, she can match my black & white outfits as did my old comfy pair, which is what I’ll be wearing on the eve of Chinese New Year too! Together, my two new pairs of flats are to serve the purpose of replacing my one old comfy pair…yes, I’ve put my old pair on a high pedestal, but to any stranger coming along, they will never understand.

The last pair of heels is simply perfect to fulfil the upcoming event of the month – first day of Chinese New Year. Last week, I took a risk in investing in a purple blouse with white frills, without any heels to match it, but luck was just round the corner. There she was, hidden under piles of shoes. It was a blessing in disguise that I rescued her – the last of her lot – out of the mess or she would have been bullied silly by the next customer who was eying her up – she was a size 8.5, wanting to buy her, a size 7! Preposterous!

So that leaves me here, deliriously happy with 5 new pairs of shoes to walk over this new year to come!

Good Music in da House

2009-01-19T10:58:00.005+08:00

I'm usually not into English music as much as Korean, but call me enlightened.

In our recent trip to HMV, EK and I spent a long time there.

We discovered the cool Ting Tings, funny name but awesome hit "THAT'S NOT MY NAME" (what you're hearing now)...

And I also rediscovered my liking towards Britney Spears. Yes, you heard correctly.

"Womanizer, woman-womanizer, you're a womanizer..."

But I also like her other song from the Circus album "Out from Under", a beautiful britney ballard. Brings back memories of her first album when she sang "Dear Diary"...took the words out of my mouth.

We also discovered some nice chill music by Ministry of Sound: Housexy. Good for a nice relaxing day on the couch, or while you're reading magazines in a nice elegant cafe...

But perhaps my sudden shift to English music is coz I've bought all my favourite Korean CDs already...haha

eBay mayDay

2009-01-17T11:00:00.005+08:00

[narrator]

When I saw her, I knew I had to have her. That long, blonde hair. Those heavily lined eyes. That drop-dead glam gown. Waltzing in with an alluring sleeveless taupe gown with a long hip hugging bodice of laced taupe ribbon and screaming with sex appeal, it was love at first sight.

I went around the world (wide web) in search for her, to the United States (the glorious land of Mattel), United Kingdom (the magnificent weight of the pound), and even to some parts of Europe (ooooi...the barriers of language)...

The journey a gruelling test of patience, a search for quality, a conquest around barriers and a challenge of confidence and trust...One I lived to tell the tale...

[the picture glows and blurs out to the next scene]

A long time ago - a few days ago - I decided to google the beautiful lady I’ve come to admire. The results were unanimous.

"VERY RARE" reported craigslist.

"As close to perfect as possible..." eBay commented.

Collectibles today marked it as a "MUST HAVE".

So I went straight to the one place I knew I could find her...eBay.

[Seller #1]
Buy it now: USD100
MINT Condition from my personal collection
Payment by PAYPAL
Ships only to USA
Offer ends in 1 day

I met my first problem. PAYPAL. Many ebay sellers prefer payment by PAYPAL...so after registering with http://www.ebay.com.sg/, I got directed to set up my PAYPAL account. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to getting my own credit cards, so the ones I had were either NZ credit cards, or Singapore supplementary cards under my parents, whose billing address is obviously in NZ. And the catch with eBay Singapore is the linking PAYPAL account will automatically direct you to PAYPAL Singapore, which doesn't allow you to verify a credit card with a billing address outside of Singapore! Double URGH!

Thinking hard, I had to work around this. So I signed up to the http://www.ebay.com/ (the general one), location still Singapore, but this time around with PAYPAL, I could verify the NZ billing address, and everything finally worked out...

You'd think!

One security measure with PAYPAL was that you had to confirm your credit card with a code that will be sent to your credit card statement. And processing this could take between to 2 to 4 days.

Seller #1's offer expired.

So I waited for another good offer to come along, right price and all.

[Seller #2]
Buy it now: USD 120
Bid from: USD 100'
MINT Condition
Payment by PAYPAL
Ships only to USA
Offer ends in 1 days

There was one other problem as Seller #2 so kindly replied my question, "I'm sorry but I do not ship internationally, shipping costs are too high."

So, asking around, I found out SingPost has this service called vpost where I can get a virtual US address where goods can be delivered and then SingPost will send it back to Singapore...so I signed up for that one, however with a skeptical mindset as to whether it'll work...

Seller #2's offer expired over the weekend as I contemplated. Sold at buy it now price of USD 120.

[Seller #3]
Buy it now: USD 150
Bid from: USD 75
MINT Condition
Payment by PAYPAL
Ships only to USA
Offer ends in 1 days

I didn't want to buy it now for USD 150, so I bidded for it...I input my maximum bid as USD 100 and left it overnight. As US operates at opposite times from us, when the offer expired, I was happily asleep so I didn't hear the bad news that I was outbidded by an offer of USD 100.99.

[Seller #4]
Buy it now: USD 225
MINT Condition with small crease on the box
Payment by PAYPAL
Ships abroad, ask seller for shipping cost
Offer ends in 2 days

USD225!!! That's very expensive, especially when the exchange rate was 1.5 to SGD, it was way above USD 300 and I didn't feel it was worth it. There was also shipment costs. Moreover, the seller's box had tiny crease but she so kindly confirmed that "the crease is very small on the lower left corner of the box. It is less than 1/4 of an inch. Shipping will be $37.00."

It was not worth it so I moved on...

[Seller #5]
Buy it now: £120 (SGD 260)
MINT Condition
Payment by PAYPAL
Ships worldwide, ships to Singapore at £8
Offer ends in 3 days

SGD 260 was very much cheaper than the previous seller, no shipping hassles as she ships overseas...

[Click: BUY IT NOW!]

Nightmares Tonight

2009-01-05T16:16:00.003+08:00

I just know it!

I know that I'll definitely have nightmares tonight...and I can guess what it'll be about...

INSECTS!

Urgh.

I don't know what's so sweet at work that's attracting all the ants to my desk! It's irritating, but thank goodness small black ants are the only insects I can tolerate because I can kill them with my handy fingers (yes, I'm not insect-friendly). BUT WHY! My colleague jokes coz I'm too sweet...awww shucks, thanks...

But the ants are even attacking my water! It's like every so often I have to check my mug to make sure no ants have crawled into it - and there were already a few incidents today that I had to wash my mug because of it! URGH URGH URGH!

Then, I'm blog surfing for famous singapore bloggers who might be suitable and interested in doing product reviews for our body care products and I visited the famous singapore blog XIAXUE and to my horror, there was another post about her MAGGOT INFESTED FRIDGE!

Yuck yuck yuck!

She went away for 22 days to the US for a holiday, and stupidly shutting off all electical switches including the fridge and when she got back, her whole flat STUNK and her fridge was infested with MAGGOTS! What did she do? Well, she took photos for her blog, but her nice live-in boyfriend hosed down the fridge and they got rid of the maggots...but after they thought it was safe again, they opened the fridge and found one more maggot crawling - YUCK, there was eggs and maggots in the rubber sealing as well. GROSS GROSS GROSS!!!

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? The first thing I would have done if I was in that situation is...

TO GET FAR FAR FAR AWAY FROM THE MAGGOTS AND CALL AN EXTERMINATOR TO...not only KILL THOSE YUCKY MAGGOTS, BUT TO KILL THE ENTIRE FRIDGE! THROW IT AWAY!!!!!!

Urgh urgh urgh...I just know I'm going to get nightmares tonight!

The Cinderella Story

2009-01-02T17:05:00.005+08:00

As the clock stroke twelve, Cinderella rushed out of the palace towards her waiting carriage. Her glass slipper, as its name suggests, slipped off her feet during her decent. As the strikes continued to chime, there wasn’t enough time to return to collect her slipper. She leaped into the carriage, not knowing what the future had in store for her, but having gained the memories of a beautiful night.

I do not know what 2009 has in stall for me, but call me optimistic but I believe it’ll be another awesome year! And not because I know what’s going to happen, but for the very fact that I’m going to embrace life and make the fullest of my 2009 – blogging, travelling, sewing, exercising – I’ve made some resolutions of my own… Despite what everyone says about New Years Resolutions, and also despite my previous broken resolutions…I’m feeling optimistic!

Thinking back to 2008, I’m ashamed to announce that I fulfilled…drumroll…1 resolution and broken the other 9...BUT no one said a New Years Resolution cannot be carried forward to the next. If 1 a year is the trend, then in 9 more years, I’d have fulfilled all 10 resolutions of 2008! Like I said, I’m being optimistic this year.

Though I only managed to fulfil my resolution of saving my face (thanks for medical advances), 2008 has been a fulfilling year of joy and tears, fun and bores, and love.

2008 started out with friends of many years, meeting my prince, baking with my best friend, then I visited New Zealand and saw my family and close friends. Then I played a softball game and managed to pitch well too, surprising myself! I coordinated and managed our company’s booth at a trade show, from planning till breakdown. And I visited Taiwan with EK (ooops, photos!)…Experienced the first ever Singapore Grand Prix (which I was too lazy to blog about), and HOTEL 81 check-in. In the midst of the world economy crisis, I got a promotion…and finally bought my very first and most probably very last Vera Wang wedding gown!

2008 has been splendid…and I have no doubt about 2009.

I intend to write a lot more because I enjoy it.
I intend to exercise a lot more because I…will try to want to…
I intend to sew a bit of things because I miss it.
I intend to travel a bit to see more of the world…
I intend to achieve better for myself!

OCD

2008-12-15T15:53:00.004+08:00

WIKIPEDIA says:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder most commonly characterized by intrusive, repetitive thoughts resulting in compulsive behaviors and mental acts that the person feels driven to perform, according to rules that must be applied rigidly, aimed at preventing some imagined dreaded event. In severe cases, it affects a person's ability to function in every day activities. The disorder is often debilitating to the sufferer's quality of life. Also, the psychological self-awareness of the irrationality of the disorder can be painful. For people with severe OCD, it may take several hours a day to carry out the compulsive acts.

MY CONFESSION:
I think I have OCD. I have a mental disorder most commonly characterized by intrusive, repetitive thoughts [about BARBIES...this time around, it's VERSACE BARBIE] resulting in compulsive behaviors [to purchase them or look for them on AMAZON/eBAY] and mental acts [thinking about it day and night] that the person [me] feels driven to perform [to buy the BARBIES], according to rules that must be applied rigidly [Platinum edition is 'PERFECT', Gold is 'GOOD ENOUGH', Silver is 'OK', Pink only when I have to], aimed at preventing some imagined dreaded event [that the BARBIE will be sold to someone else and I will miss out on the opportunity, especially when the VERSACE BARBIE is a 2004 edition, no longer available for sale and I haven't seen in Singapore]. In severe cases, it affects a person's ability to function in every day activities [I'm supposed to be at work, doing work right now...but here I am...talking, thinking, dreaming about it]. The disorder is often debilitating to the sufferer's quality of life [BARBIE = less savings = poorer quality of life]. Also, the psychological self-awareness of the irrationality of the disorder can be painful [~~$$$$$$~~...sob]. For people with severe OCD, it may take several hours a day to carry out the compulsive acts [1.5 hours last Thursday].

IN SUMMARY:
My next aim is the Versace Barbie 2004 edition, no longer available in stores, but I saw a few on eBay, in hopes that the people who have them sells it at reasonable prices, in good conditions and TO OVERSEAS DESTINATIONS!!!

MY VERY OWN VERA WANG WEDDING GOWN!

2008-12-12T15:24:00.006+08:00

NARRATOR:

After a most grueling court hearing of Shopaholic vs Voice of Reason that took place over two days, 10 and 11 December 2008, the jury verdict has been passed and the Shopaholic has been declared ‘NOT GUILTY’.

The verdict was passed on 11 December 2008 @ 14.45, based on the following claims made by both parties involved:

Shopaholic:
It is a tradition that whenever I’m at Takashimaya, I’d check out the Barbie collectibles that are on display in the showcase cupboard in the children’s toy section, just to keep myself informed on the latest Barbie collectibles available. On the evening of the 10th at 8.30pm, I spotted a new entry to the cupboard – a beautiful Barbie doll in a white wedding gown. I wanted to know what collection she was from and more importantly, how much she cost.

The sales assistant opened the cupboard and handed her to me.

Voice of Reason:
The price on the box said $249.90!! That’s even more expensive than your Gorgio Armani doll! It must be some doll!

I slowly turned over the box and read the printed label:
VERA WANG BRIDES, The Romanticists

Shopaholic:
Precisely, VERA WANG. I was staring at a Vera Wang dress, a Vera Wang Barbie doll. Emotions of eager and excitement fluttered throughout my body.

Voice of Reason:
I know it’s a VERA WANG. But did you see that price! $249.90!

Shopaholic:
Kill joy.

Voice of Reason:
She was pretty, but her orangey lipstick colour is a little bit contrasting and not that nice. Plus, she had no jewelry, no necklace or earrings to compliment the dress. The other dolls I have are so much prettier and dolled up more than her.

Shopaholic:
But the dress was fantastic. Every detail was beautiful; the lace at the bottom was gorgeous; and the brand… the thought of owning a Vera Wang…I rest my case.

Voice of Reason:
But it was expensive, so I listened to EK and decided to go over to the other toy shop at Wheelock, who reasoned that it could be cheaper there.

Shopaholic:
It was already past 9pm and I was so worried that by the time we went over to Wheelock, and if the doll is more expensive at Wheelock (which I wouldn’t be surprised), I would not be able to purchase it that night. Then, I would have to go back to Taka the next day after work to buy it and who knows, it could be sold out by then.

Voice of Reason:
If it was meant to be, it was meant to be.

Shopaholic:
Meant-Schmeant.

When we got to the shop at Wheelock, it was already closed. I was so disappointed, all night long and all morning the next day at work, all I could think about was her.

I went online the next morning and researched on her. There was a platinum edition and gold edition. The platinum version had blonde hair as Barbie, while the gold edition had brown hair as Teresa. Platinum means there’s only A THOUSAND PIECES in the world, while Gold meant twenty-five thousand. I was so sure that the one I saw last night was a platinum edition and I couldn’t believe I had let it slip by me…$249.90 was such a good price for a one-in-a-thousand-piece doll! I had to get it, so during my lunch break, I sped down to Orchard.

Voice of Reason:
I thought making Wheelock our first stop at Orchard was wise because at least we got to see what the retail price at the other shop was in order to make a sound decision.

I entered the shop and headed straight to the cupboard at the back which kept the Barbie collectibles. And there they were, the gold and platinum edition. I looked right past the gold edition and stared at the platinum edition.

$499.90!!!!!

THAT’S INSANE! IT’S HALF PRICE AT TAKA!

Shopaholic:
So I rushed back to Taka, excited that I would finally be able to make my purchase, and at such a discount, I bet even my Voice of Reason thought it was a good price! But when I got to Taka and took a closer look at her, I realized I had been wrong all along. She was the gold edition and therefore she only cost $249.90. She’s only the gold edition. She’s not as exclusive.

Voice of Reason:
It was a toy for goodness sake. So I decided to call EK for his opinion. I knew he’d be able to advise me, and so he did. He told me to buy the gold edition, just as I had reasoned. It was a toy afterall. Paying $499.90 for a doll is not worth it as well. $499.90 is a very high price! 3 platinum edition dolls can buy a laptop! So it was decided that I would get the gold edition. However, I forgot to check out the price of the gold edition at Wheelock. I totally overlooked her. So I decided to go back to the shop at Wheelock to check out its price. I must make the most just decision. The cost of $249.90 calls for good consideration.

Shopaholic:
The price of the gold edition at Wheelock was also $249.90.

But at the end of the day, it’s not as exclusive as the platinum edition. I was thinking that the shop at Wheelock probably marked up the price of the platinum edition and was having some promotions, after all it’s Christmas, so I asked the sales lady if there was further discount.

Voice of Reason:
But there wasn’t any further discount, so I decided to get the gold edition. I went up to the counter to make payment.

Shopaholic:
I couldn’t go through with the transaction, asking the sales lady to STOP just as she was about to bag it. I stood at the counter, one hand holding the Gold edition, one hand holding the Platinum. It was clear where my heart laid. Also, the Platinum doll with blonde hair looked much better and her lipstick was not as orangey. Though it’s only a difference in hair colour and lip colour, but it made a difference too. Also, it was about the edition label too. If I had gotten the Gold edition, knowing that I was so close to having the Platinum, knowing that I could be one in a thousand in the world who had this doll but I gave that up…I would forever regret it. Standing there, I could not come to a decision. The sales lady saw my predicament and went to check with her lady boss, coming back to tell me the good news. She said, “Our best price is $450.”

Only $450!! 10% discount! YAY. Some discount was better than no discount! It was a one in a thousand purchase!!!!

Voice of Reason:
But still, to pay $450 for a toy. It was silly, crazy, insane. It seemed like I had lost all sense of value at the mention of the brand name. Even the sales lady said the difference was only in the hair colour, everything else was the same.

Shopaholic:
“But I KNOW you’ll regret it if you go through with the Gold edition”, I told my Voice of Reason.

“I’ll take this.” I smiled at the sales lady and she wrapped up my very own Vera Wang doll, platinum edition.

In this time of recession...

2008-12-12T10:32:00.003+08:00

Date & Time of phone call: 7 December 2008, Sunday around 3pm
Place: Home

[extract]

Mum: Are you saving money?
Me: Yes, I am. I went to a SALE on Friday with my colleague and bought 2 tops for only $10 each!

[I rest my case.]

What's going on?!

2008-11-18T17:50:00.003+08:00

First, ragging gone wild at ACJC, next a cleaner's suicide leaves white tigers traumatised...what is happening?

I am very disturbed by the ragging that has happened to an ACJC female student on her birthday (someone even posted the 10 minute video on youtube and tagged her as a 'loser'). She was carried by "friends" out of the canteen and then tied to a chin-up bar by her wrists. Following that, her "friends" stuffed cake down her shirt and poured milk all over her. The college said they were aware of it and that the birthday girl was prepared for that sort of "celebration", so they did not consider it bullying. If this was the truth, I find it quite disturbing for the following reasons:
1) Why would a birthday girl agree to be 'ragged' on her birthday? I would never want to be treated this way - at all!
2) She was tied up!! That in itself is a disturbing act. Ragging in common, that I understand, but not when the other party is blind folded, and tied up. She can't even protest.
3) I haven't seen the video (don't even want to!), but according to others, she was not enjoying herself. She was crying and screaming. Is that still considered a celebration?
4) Someone tried to untie her and got pushed away for trying. Other stood at the side, laughing while she screamed.
5) Her so-called friends were all females too, from an elite college...call me old-fashion but I just can't picture it.
6) A teacher stopped the ragging, not because he felt the girl was being bullied/humilated, but because they were messing up the place!! WHAT THE?!

The second incident was disturbing as well. A zoo cleaner, carrying a yellow bucket and a broom, climbed over the barrier of the white tiger enclosure, crossed the water moat that separates the fence from the enclosure, entered the tiger's territory and started waving his broom around, deliberatly provocating the white tigers. As a natural instinct, the white tigers were threatened and mauled the cleaner, who curled up in a ball with the bucket over his face. The onlookers first thought it was a show but when they discovered it wasn't, started screaming and throwing things at the white tigers to get their attention away from the man. Eventually, the white tigers left as their feeding cages were open, but all was too late.

I find it so irresponsible of that zoo cleaner. Call me insensitive over a man's death, but if you really must commit suicide, make sure you don't hurt others in the process:
1) Don't give visitors at the zoo a bad memory of their trip to the zoo! There were children there too.
2) Don't traumatise the tigers (they are also innocent parties!)
3) Don't have others clean up after your death.
4) Don't leave your loved ones without an answer!

So thats my rantings for today...

Lorraine Z. Collection

2008-11-11T13:41:00.006+08:00

It's not often you chance upon a website

http://www.sookee.com.sg/bridal/lorrainez.htm

that features your name + surname...

Though my name is a region in France, and I'm as edible as Quiche Lorraine,

but to discover that there's a jewellry designer and collection with the same name
plus the initial of my surname...

its a 1 in a million chance and I have to shout it out to the world!

Check out one of my creations!

THIS RING HAS MY NAME WRITTEN ALL OVER IT (LITERALLY)!!!

SuperWeekend of Shoes, Sales, Shooting and Sun!

2008-11-10T14:48:00.003+08:00

As the subject title suggests, I had a SUPER-FANTASTIC WEEKEND!

And it started on Friday night, when I met EK at Queensway to buy a new pair of sports shoes. I ruined my exercising sports shoes when I played softball a while ago (a useful excuse not to exercise) but I really needed a replacement coz I really want to go running.

So after walking around Queensway for an hour, I finally found my sports shoes! You see, my requirements are quite hard to fulfil – I wanted a dark pair with minimal white at the base because the tendency of my sports shoes getting mud all over it is very high (especially after a session of softball). And as you know, sports shoes (especially for females) are white white and more white. But finally, I found that pair. And it’s not old stock – it’s new stock which you can find in Adidas stores right now! It’s has some microbounce technology which is some super interesting suspension technology especially for running! Mine is the grey/purple version so it is less prone to getting dirty…and he gave me a discount of 30% off the retail price!!

The next morning, EK and I woke up at 8am and raced down to City Hall, where we had a quick breakfast and rushed over to the F1 pit building for the CLUB 21 BAZAAR SALE! Doors were opening at 10am but when we arrived at 9.40am, there was already a queue! We joined the queue of shoppers, not too far from the front. By the time the doors opened at 10am, the queue stretched all the way to the carpark!!

I came dressed for the sale too! Knowing that there were not going to be fitting rooms, I wore slippers & a short flare skirt, with a bikini bottom underneath so that I could easily slip on pants, and the thinnest spaghetti strap singlet I could find so that I could wear tops and make sure it fits me! And another important note for next time: bring a friend along who knows their fashion because there are no mirrors around so you need to trust on them for their opinion. Thankfully, I always have my stylist EK for this purpose.

EK and I spent 2.5 hours there!! Though the sale was not as good as last year’s, but I still ended up spending $230 on 6 items, while EK bought 2 items for himself and another 2 items for me!!! Heee.

My buys:
1) D&G singlet $20
2) CK white+gold skirt $20
3) Armani Exchange dress $30
4) Armani Exchange white+gold zip pants $30
5) Emporio Armani top $50
6) Dolce & Gabbana denim pink skirt $80 (this was exactly the same line as the Dolce & Gabanna pants I got last year for $250, and at that time I really wanted to skirt too, but I thought I wouldn’t wear it as often, so I didn’t buy it. I’m glad I waited it out because I got it at an event better price slash!)

EK buys:
1) D&G super cute bra $20 – FOR ME
2) DKNY green/brown handbag $70 – FOR ME
3) CK Black Leather Jacket $100 ONLY
4) CK Shirt $20

We were very satisfied shoppers. I saw other items that I absolutely LOVED, but didn’t buy:
- A CK long gold leather jacket for only $100
- A gorgeous Dolce & Gabbana sexy dress top for $720 (usual price was $4500)
- A gorgeous Dolce & Gabbana black sexy dress for $400
- John Galliano evening handbag at $400 – SO PRETTY

After the sale, we grabbed a cab back to EK’s place, put down our bags of bargains, before rushing out again to EK’s photoshoot. He’s had arranged a test shoot with a model at Fort Canning park, and asked if I could assist him. We spent the entire afternoon there and I finally got to see EK at work. He was ‘hands-and-feet-on’! Lying flat on the ground to get that unique angle, crouching in a corner, leaning over the banister, kneeling on the ground, etc. He was everywhere, leaving a trail of perspiration after him…YUCK.

That night, we rewarded ourselves to a satisfying curry fish head dinner. On Sunday after church, I met EK at Sentosa (he’d just done another test shoot that morning), and we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at Café del Moar. We got one of those beds and had a lovely lunch plus drinks under the sun. It was a beautiful close to our Sunday.

Clinic 81

2008-11-04T11:06:00.004+08:00

On Saturday, I had my first HOTEL 81 experience...

NOT IN THAT KINDA WAY...WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? *Tsk Tsk

EK was doing a photoshoot for another model and decided to take the photos at Hotel 81 Chinatown (recommended by another photographer friend). So at 2pm on Sunday, we arrived at the check-in desk. The place was happening...

The reception was rather grand looking, with gold and white decor and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There were 1 or 2 tourists, many foreign couples (errrrk...), and us standing around.

EK went up to the counter to register (just like visiting a clinic) where you have to handover your IC for registration. They only take walk-in customers, no reservations (just like a clinic).

The Nurse: IC please.
(The Conceirge: IC please.)

EK: What is the consultant fee?
(EK: What is the room rate for 2 hours?)

The Nurse: $40.
(The Conceirge: $40)

EK: My friend told me it's $30.
(EK: My friend told me it's $30.)

The Nurse: That's follow-up check-up fee. Your next visit will be $30.
(The Conceirge: That is member's rate. Your next visit will be $30.)

*EK paid the $40 and the nurse returned his IC to him.

The Nurse: Take a seat and wait. The doctor will be ready to see you in 15 mins.
(The Conceirge: Take a seat and wait. The room will be ready in 15 mins.)

*15 mins later

The Nurse: Yap
(The Conceirge: Yap)

*EK went up to the counter and was passed a room key

The Nurse: Room 209.
(The Conceirge: Room 209)

When we went to the room, EK complained about its smallness. He expected something bigger and was wondering how he was going to setup all his equipment. All it had was a queen size bed (nice white bedsheets), and a bathroom (small and simple but clean). But it also had other items such as an electic kettle, coffee cups with instant 3in1 coffee mix or milo and 2in1 toothbrush (the first I've ever seen - toothbrush with toothpaste already in it). There were also windows that allowed natural light to brighten up the room.

I didn't stay for long, leaving him to set up his 'studio' (check out his pictures on www.flickr.com/ekyap) while I went Chinatown to shop for materials to make my trinkets.

Er...Now?

2008-10-24T14:01:00.002+08:00

Yesterday when it was close to 5.15pm and I was all ready to pack up and wait for my ride to come and pick me up at 5.30pm, my bosses came into our office room and asked, "May, Lorraine, can you do us a favour?"

"OK" we agreed.

"As you know we have our regional colleagues here in the office today, and we have quite a few new staff, so I would like to get 2 or 3 bottles of champagne to celebrate. Can both of you help us get these bottles of champagne?"

"Sure, no problem. When do you want the champagne?" We asked.

Sleepless Nights of Flights and War…

2008-10-15T10:34:00.000+08:00

Last night, I owned a shop of my own (however, I can’t remember what I sold). Then I also met a few of my softball seniors – Andrea, Hui Jing, etc – who were having coffee at the café beside my new shop.

I proceeded on to participate in a game of war – real people, real explosions, real strategies, not sure if it was really a game or an actual game of survival. It was a little like the game risk, there were 4 different teams playing in a sand field, all colour coded. My team, if I remember correctly, was in yellow. The other team was in blue, another in red and I can’t remember what colour the last team was in. Each team had about 20-30 soldiers, and one king – I was King of the yellow team.

So here we were, all of us in the sand field and the game had started. We needed to attack or strategise, and while I was strategising to team up with red team to attack the rest and then play out red team, blue team got blown up (landmine beneath them or something) and disappeared into the sand. And when I turned to look at red team, I saw only about 5 scrambling soldiers, running for their lives.

Then, I don’t know what happened, but I needed to take a break from the game so I excused myself to use the toilet. Along with blue team’s king, we took the army truck back to the headquarters to use their lavatory which was beneath ground level and we had to take the lift down to access it. Blue team’s king and myself got into the separate lifts and descended. Scheming me decided to run, hiding behind the pillars as blue team’s king looked around for me. Not finding me anywhere, he got back onto the army truck and returned to the war field. I, on the other hand, went back to the war field on my own (not sure what I was scheming but I definitely had some sort of plan of attack in my dream).

Strange, I know. And that was last night.

The previous night, I was in some sort of new tech flight simulator, totally new and advanced, very interesting aerodynamics and totally futuristic! Maybe it wasn’t even a simulator. More like an actual prototype and we were testing it out. Manoeuvring it to spin, dive, accelerate, etc. It was quite an exciting dream, but it got boring after a while as all we did in the dream was fly and fly and fly. HAHAHA.

Yes, me, my terribly innovative imagination and my sleepness nights.

Tarantulas....Eeeeeeeeeeeee

2008-10-10T09:21:00.002+08:00

2 nights ago, it was Tarantula spiders. Last night, it was a terrible copy of the shot-over jet.

My dreams are haunting my sleep!

2 nights ago, I woke up screaming because I thought a tarantula was on my back. I was on an open-top scenic tram ride and as we passed this tram-rail-side market selling all sorts of fruits, there were large tarantula spiders on each and every fruit that was on the table, and also on the fruits that were hanging above our heads. The tarantula spiders were covered with wasabi-green powder/cream and there were hundreds of them all around us. I curled up in my seat hoping that none of them would fall on me. And that's when I though I felt something on my back. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! I screamed.

Last night, I hoped for a pleasant dreamless night, but I was fed with a terrible copy of the shot-over jet experience. We were at a resort and the main activity was riding the boogie board. Firstly, we had to slide down this steep slide - totally awesome experience as I plunged into the pool beneath! Then, we rode on the boogie board as a float, and followed our tour guide along the trail. Each one of us had a boogie board and it still baffles me how our tour guide could control our boogie boards to do spins when we approached walls, etc. Guess in a dream, anything's possible, but I was disappointed. There was only 1 or 2 exciting close-shaves and the rest of it was a scenic tour. BORING.

But urgh...I'm so tired now, I just wanna sleep on the job!

Taiwan Photo Uploading Status...

2008-09-25T09:30:00.005+08:00

Explanation: FINALLY!!!

My First Tour...

2008-09-19T00:22:00.000+08:00

Taiwan…

At first I thought it was OK.

Then I though it wasn’t that great.

But it turned out FANTASTIC!

READ ON...

Day 1, Saturday 16 Aug

2008-09-19T00:21:00.004+08:00

Arriving in Taoyuan Airport on the 16th of August at 3+pm, I was disappointed. Well, anyone would agree that if you’ve been to Singapore’s airport, the other airports that are not top 10 on the list would be a let down. So I’d have to say I wasn’t surprised.

The tour guide was waiting for us at the arrival gates so it wasn’t too hard spotting her. We waited for the others to arrive.

>> Dum di dum...

Once everyone was present, our 8 days tour of Taiwan started. We boarded the tour bus with large comfy seats and headed to our first stop – a Fruit Farm in Tao Yuan.

>> Our first sights of Taiwan

Unfortunately, most fruits weren’t in season, so we ended up visiting a tomato farm, which had a nice grocery shop selling Taiwan snacks. It was there I fell in love with tomato juice. I’ve never liked tomato juice from the carton…a very weird tomato sauce taste made into a drink…YUCK.

But this! This tomato juice was different. It was just like drinking pure tomatoes! It was heaven. You could taste the fresh tomatoes, feel the crushed seeds, and drink the sweetest juice ever! YUM!

>> Taiwan products galore...

We also walked the farm – tomato-less farm. They were not fruiting yet. But apart from tomatoes, there was some weird other fruits...bittergourd?? Not sure.

>>Ouch ouch ouch

>> Where's the toms?

>> Bittergourd vs Tomato Juice

After finishing that delicious tomato juice, we couldn’t resist buying the large tom toms (my lingo, aka cherry tomatoes).

>> Buying tom toms

We then proceeded to Taoyuan Night Market for dinner, where I experienced my first many things! My first night market experience was…interesting. Clothes shops mixed with food shops, smelly food beside yummy ones…

>> My First Night Market

I tried my first actual Taiwan sausage 香腸 in Taiwan. Not that I’ve never eaten a Taiwan sausage before, but I’ve never eaten the actual one in Taiwan. It was YUMMMMMM as I had anticipated.

>> Authentic...

It started raining so we bought our first Taiwan umbrella, and then we ran for shelter in a food stall. I wanted to try the famous stir-fried cuttlefish 生炒花枝 but it ended up coming in a weird tasting soup form. Everyone else (the locals) drank their soup till the bowl was empty, while we struggled swallowing the thick tasteless/ weird tasting soup. We thought their oyster omelette 蚵仔煎 would be YUM as everyone said it would be, but we found the weird pink sauce they drench over the omelette to be a little off-putting.

>> Totally weird with a capital H

We continued walking around in the slight drizzle, looking but not buying the clothes or shoes. Our aim was to eat. We bought fried chicken with mango mayo which was quite good (apart from the mango mayo as I’m not a fan of mayo in the first place). And we also ate some desserts…well EK bought 2 bowls, being ambitious, but it wasn’t really fantastic. He just wanted to try their bean curd with peanut soup and the other was jelly with bean curd. We didn’t finish it. Of course, EK bought his favourite yam milk tea. Technically I bought it for him, but I just assumed all Taiwan drinks came with pearls! Turned out his drink was without pearls. Oh well, he isn’t crazy over pearls so it was good. It was good he says. I bought a lemon honey drink (no pearls too – NEVER ASSUME), which turned out good too. Not fantastic, but good.

>> Chicken, no pearls...

And we didn’t let the stinky tofu 臭豆腐 off the hook. We had to give it a go…though I wish we didn’t. We bought it on our way out of the night market, and ate it at the assembly point as we waited for the others to gather at 7pm. I could hardly swallow my first bite! I had to gulp down almost the whole cup of my drink in order to swallow it. EK on the other hand managed to eat 2 of the 5 pieces of tofu before he threw the rest away! Well done to us!

>> It's not called stinky for nothing!

Next, we set off to Tashee Resort 大溪别馆 in Tao Yuan to spend our first night in Taiwan. It’s a 5 star resort, with many guest facilities, such as heated pools, spa, gym, games room, golf course, etc. That night, we got dressed in our bathing suit, but didn’t end up getting into the pools because we felt absolutely bloated. Instead, we explored the resort, visiting the gym to take a look at the facilities, followed by the arcade, and ended up sitting on a couch reading newspaper and eating this really milky ice cream. I only took a couple of licks while EK polished it off.

>> Relax and Indulge...

That marked our first day in Taiwan...

Day 2, Sunday 17 Aug

2008-09-19T00:20:00.002+08:00

Bright and early, we ate our first breakfast in Taiwan. The resort prepared a good breakfast buffet spread for us, with Western and Asian choices.

>> Our first breakfast...

After breakfast, we took the opportunity to get a picture with our hotel and our tour bus, before returning to our rooms to prepare to check out.

>> Hot toes and bums...

We boarded the bus for Chuifen 九份 , a former gold mining town located on the northeast coast of Taiwan.

>> Wheels on the bus goes round and round...

Our tour bus could only take us up to the mountain so far, so we had to board a public bus to take us up this steep and winding road, till we finally reached the town of Chuifen.

>> My first Taiwan public bus experience

I love Chuifen and its little winding streets that seemed to go on forever. With food and snack shops located on both sides, walking through Chuifen’s street was an experience that was fun and interesting!

Our first stop was a local snacks shop, where we shopped for endless snacks to bring back to our friends and family in Singapore.

>> Shopaholic strikes!

After that, we broke off from the group in exploration. Our first stop – FISHBALLS! We were told that the fishballs at Chuifen is YUM, so we had to try a bowl of fishball soup and their dry noodles.

>> YUMMMM!

We also spotted malt candy lollipops for NT$20. YUM. Greedy me grabbed a “Xiao Ding Dang” shaped lollipop!

>> Lollipop lollipop oh lolly lolly lolly…

Next, another shop caught our attention. They were selling ice cream topped with peanuts wrapped in popiah skin! It was amazing! We loved it, especially on a hot day walking along the crowded streets of Chuifen, an ice cream was most welcomed.

>> Noble award to the person who came up with popiah + ice cream!

Along the way, we saw people eating these interesting spiral thingys on a stick, which looked so amazingly delicious, I was determined to find it! We finally did and I bought 1 stick. It was basically a potato sliced in a continuous spiral, deep fried like potato chips, and flavoured with spices of curry, garlic, chicken, chives. IT WAS SOOOOO GOOOD!

>> EK wanted seconds…

We grew thirsty and bought ourselves fresh watermelon juice! Their juices are just so amazing! Juicy and delicious, just like eating the fruit itself! I’ve never tasted anything like that before!

We approached a nice opening and took in the scenery that was around us. We were so high up on a mountain, you’d never imagine a street like this exists in such a place!

>> Smile for the camera...

Turning around and about to leave the designated look-out, we spotted yummy fried quail eggs on a stick! Being greedy and in need of a cholesterol boost, we bought a stick to share, and balanced the guilt by buying a box of sweet pink guava from the shop beside it!

>> Cholesterol, bring it on!

Time was running out so we didn’t explore any further, but the street further down looked a little too quiet, so we decided we wouldn’t miss much and turned back. We wanted to take another route back, but the street looked uninteresting to us, basically not much shops, so we decided to go back the same way we came.

>> The street we skipped

Along the way, we met this cute old man (I think he was Japanese). He noticed EK’s big camera, and he seemed like another camera fanatic. With minimum English, he asked us if he could take a photo of us, with his camera, and we agreed. EK then asked if we could take a photo of him with his camera, and he went along as well. I was informed later on that his camera was Leica…apparently another very expensive SLR on the market.

>> I think he should be quite handsome when he's younger...

On our way back, we bought cuttlefish, deep fried mushrooms and another bowl of fishball soup at another seemingly popular shop with pictures of famous Taiwan celebrities visiting this store. However, I felt the fishballs were not as nice as the one we had earlier.

>>Shrooms and balls!

We met up with the already waiting group and when the remaining 4 arrived, we left Chuifen for Ilan 宜蘭.

Heading towards Ilan, we went through Hsueshan Tunnel 雪山隧道.

>> The longest tunnel in Taiwan

At Ilan, we visited the National Centre for Traditional Arts 国立传统艺术中心. As it was a Sunday and school holidays were around the corner, there were many families (dogs included – Taiwanese are such dog lovers). We watched a wedding performance (the cast were dressed in animal outfits), but soon grew bored and decided to explore the shops.

The shops were interesting, all the stuff were hand crafted, from amazing leather formed animals to handmade Chinese calligraphy brushes. There were also experts on set, demonstrating the crafting of these products. There were also hands on projects, where families could do their own artwork, such as mosaic photo frames, or engraving on leather.

>> The National Centre for Traditional Arts in summary

We left at around 3+pm to the train station to catch a scenic train-ride to Hualien 花蓮. We had to give the bus driver a headstart as he was ferrying our luggages to our next destination, while we took the faster mode of transport – a train.

>> At the station

Given about 45 minutes waiting time before our train departed, we explored the town of Ilan. They didn’t have many shops to browse (a scooter rental shop, mini-marts, Taiwan tourist snacks and souvenir shops, lingerie shop, McDonalds), but EK had a very yummy bubble milk tea at a franchise store by the name Ching Shin Fu Chuan Tea Station 清心福全冷饮站. He said the texture was so much smoother than Singapore’s milk tea as they blended it very well. Also, it was more milky. YUCK!

>> Bubble

>> Tea

The train ride to Hualien was nice. The sea was on my left, and the sun was setting. We were sitting in a different cabin from the rest of the group. SNAP SNAP SNAP went EK’s camera as we documented our first train ride in Taiwan.

>> Before Boarding...snap snap snap

>> On board...snap snap snap

We arrived in Hualien to find our bus waiting for us at around 6+pm in the evening. It was completely dark! The sun in Taiwan sets really early! We headed back to the hotel for dinner catered by Chan Brothers and we discovered all about tour food and Taiwanese culture.

They love bringing all the plates of food at once, even if the table is full, they will find a place to put the plate (i.e. stack on top), which we found disgusting. The first plate was egg omelet. Goodness, we didn’t come all this way to have an omelet! The food wasn’t great at all. Also, by looks of the hotel restaurant, we were skeptical about the room’s condition.

However, we were pleasantly surprised that the rooms were nice and clean, better than what we had expected. We didn’t stay in the room long as the night was young. With the advice of the concierge, we grabbed a cab and headed into town. The cab driver was very friendly, eager to introduce us to Hualien.

>> Our first sights of Hualien

After alighting, we walked around the lighted streets of shops and food. We browsed through clothes shops. I saw this cool clothes shop called Knight’s Bridge. It’s a Taiwan brand, but the clothes had a very British prep-school style, loads of plaits, and the logo, similar to a school crest was found on most outfits. Though I loved the clothes, but I didn’t think I would wear them and they weren’t cheap!

>> Shopaholic at work

We also shopped at other stores, where I bought a demin vest and a black mini skirt dungaree.

EK also bought bubble tea again, making friends with the store person after chatting about his camera.

>> Our friend behind the counter

>> Evidence of my work

We continued to walk around, and found the ice shavings shop that the cab driver told us about, but we didn’t feel like queuing so we gave it a miss. We hunted for the xiao long pau shop but couldn’t find it and miraculously found ourselves back at the bubble tea shop. We asked for directions and proceeded to hunt down the xiao long pau store. After asking a couple more people along the way, we spotted the queue. We jumped into the queue and lined up obediently.

>> What Singaporeans do best...queuing

Little did we know that if we were eating there, we didn’t need to queue!!! BAH. After queuing for 10 minutes, we finally had the sense to ask! We bought 10 xiao long paus for only NT$5 each and 1 basket of zhen jiaos (which they said was nice too).

>> CHEAP!!

The xiao long paus were not what we expected, different from Singapore’s and not that soupy, but it was yum nevertheless. The zhen jiaos were also different! Pau like and huge, but tasty. We struggled to finish it, but of course we did. It was good.

>> Greedy Gluttons!

After a filling supper, the shops were closing (11pm) and we rushed to browse those that were still open. I only ended up buying a belt, but that was good for me. We also heard about another night market in Hualien, which mainly sold food, so on our way back to our hotel, we told the cab driver to take a detour to that night market to take a look at the scene. But we were so full, we decided not to alight and headed back to the hotel for our much needed sleep.

Day 3, Monday 18 Aug

2008-09-19T00:19:00.000+08:00

Our sleep didn’t last for long. At 4.45am in the morning, we woke to our alarm, calling us up to watch the sunrise. In 15 minutes, we dashed out of the hotel and walked towards the waterfront just in time to catch the sun peeking out from beyond the horizon. It was beautiful and totally worth it.

>> A thousand words...

>>Mmmmm, a well deserved breakfast.

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and headed towards Tarako Gorge 太魯閣 to take in the amazing sights of the craggy cliff & cave in swallow caves燕子口 and then we took a very long stroll through Nine turn grotto九曲洞.

Not as impressive as many scenic spots in New Zealand, Tarako Gorge was still a magnificent sight and one of the best scenic sights in my Taiwan trip.

Just before leaving Tarako Gorge, our bus made a toilet stop and we got to admire the Eternal Spring Shrine 長春祠 from far.

>> Spot the Shrine

Following that, we proceeded on to our next stop. It was a Jade Museum, but to be honest, it was one of those places tour guides bring tourists to learn about Jade in hopes to earn commission out of us during the hard sell session that usually follows the tutorial. EK and I didn’t buy into it and hanged outside the museum, taking photos will silly stone/jade statues.

When the rest of the group had heard enough hard sell and bought enough Taiwan jade, we proceeded for lunch at this horrible restaurant (basically a massive warehouse turn restaurant) filled with many tour groups, it was clearly a commission earning restaurant. Our first dish once again, was egg omelette. EK and I didn’t eat much, saying we’d diet for the better food at the night market.

Our next destination was Taitung台東. We were staying at a relaxing hot spring & spa resort called the Luminous Hot Spring Resort & Spa. However, on our way there, we stopped by a petrol station and stocked up on amo...

Then, we pulled over to see a significant landmark of the world. The World's Tenth Landmark of Tropic of Cancer was built in Taiwan, located at the intersection between Boai road and Shixian road in Chiayi. Basically, this means that the point we are standing on is along the Tropic of Cancer. If you studied Geography, and I’m trying to remember this off the top of my head, it is a line that circles the Northern Hemisphere of the globe. This line crosses certain countries, and one of them being Taiwan.

>> Our driver...

We arrived at the resort around 4pm, and was greeted by a welcome song sang by a Taiwanese aborigines, or a descendant of a Taiwanese aborigines.

After checking in to our room and going “WOW…AHHHH…WOW” as we took in the specialness of our room with its own hot spring tub, we went to check out the facilities of the resort. One of them being the free rental of bicycles. We were lucky to find a free bicycle tour was leaving at 5pm, so after selecting our bicycle, we joined the exploratory tour, which took us to admire the nearby farms, to see the amazing natural landscape, and to learn a little bit about volcanic rocks.

The tour was slightly less than hour, getting us back to the resort just in time to join our group for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Dinner, once again, wasn’t great. These catered dinners were edible, I wasn’t complaining, but wasn’t fantastic either. You’d eat so you wouldn’t starve, but you wouldn’t find any of us stuffing ourselves.

After dinner, we returned to the resort for a quick shower (all yucky from the bicycle trip), then continued to explore the rest of the resort. We visited the gym and swimming pool, went to the reading room which provided free internet as well, and looked around the gift shop. Then, at around 9pm, we joined everyone at the field for an aborigine song and dance performance.

After the song and dance performance, there were other planned activities, such as archery where EK took a shot at it, and we went swimming too (but not for long). We ended up soaking in the hot spring tub in our own room, enjoying a nice cup of coffee while we were at it.

Day 4, Tuesday 19 Aug

2008-09-19T00:18:00.000+08:00

The next day, I woke up feeling not so well. cold yet warm, it was clearly a case of slight fever. I down a glass of Eu Yan Sang Fever Relief power I had brought along, and went for breakfast. Feeling weak, I didn’t eat too much.

My fever got a lot worse on the bus, and I took the opportunity of the long bus ride to rest. I deduced that it was a combination of factors that brought upon the fever…lack of sleep, warm weather (Taiwan was very warm & humid), unhealthy food, etc. The fever was unstable. One minute I thought I was recovering, and the next, I was back to having the fever.

Along the way, we came by a roadside fruit store and upon everyone’s request, we pulled over. MANGOS! My eyes lit up. Despite my face doctor telling me I shouldn’t eat mangos, and my fever screaming at me, I had to try a few bites. I was very obedient…not really eating but tasting. There’s a difference. EK bought a mango which the shop owners helpfully sliced for us, and a cup of mango ice shavings. Both were GOOOOOOODDDDDD!!!!!

>> DROOL...it was so sweeeeeet!

After more sleeping on the bus, we arrived in Gao Xiong, the second busy city of Taiwan, where we stopped to have lunch – a very good lunch indeed. It was in a very nice restaurant, and it was ala carte buffet with a wide selection, ranging from sliced abalone to yam desserts. I felt bummed I was unwell. I would have eaten a lot more if I had the appetite! Our tour guide noticed my sickly symptoms and offered to help me get some medicine. The restaurant manager kindly drove my tour guide to the pharmacy to get the medicine. Everyone’s so nice!

>> A Bit of Gao Xiong

>> The appetite of a sick girl

Our tour guide came back with medicine for me, reporting that my fever, as she had expected, was due to weather changes and heatiness. Nothing to be worried about.

After lunch, we went to a pearl culture centre (another tour-guide-commission place). They specialised in edible pearl powder, which they claimed could cure a whole load of symptoms. For me, being a sceptic after trying so many face products, did not believe them when they claimed how good the powder worked on zits.

After a good rest on the bus, I felt a lot better and my fever had disappeared. We arrived at Fo Kuang Shan 佛光山, aka Light of the Buddha mountain. It’s named that for a reason.

We didn’t stay there for long as it started to pour. We proceeded on to discover our next Taiwan experience, riding the bullet train! Known for travelling a speeds of 300km/h, it is a proud establishment of Taiwan.

We had an hour to kill at the train station, which looked like a real airport compared to the actual Tao Yuan airport we landed in. Passing time, we browsed magazines and bought snacks as I was getting hungry – a good sign of recovery.

>> Egg rolls...YUMMERS!

The bullet train we took headed to Tainan 台南. It was only a 15 minutes ride and it really didn’t feel like it was travelling at speeds of 300km/h. That’s usually the case when you’re the one travelling on it, but we got a taste of how fast it was going when we departed at Tainan, as another bullet train sped past the train station without stopping.

The sun was setting as we our tour bus left Tainan train station for our place of stay for the night, Nanyuan Leisure Farm 南元休閒農場.

>> And the rain came down...

I was so excited because the itinerary said there was a possibility of setting heavenly lanterns off into the sky, but we were told that it wasn’t advised anymore due to the many injuries and cases of these lanterns falling back down and setting people’s houses on fire. So after the not-so-great dinner which we had expected, we set off fireworks instead. That would be exciting for Singaporeans who have never had the luxury of playing with fireworks, but coming from New Zealand, and Malaysia in EK’s case, we’ve been there, done that. Nevertheless, it was still fun.

Our bedrooms were on floating platforms by the lake, and our beds were specially imported from Japan, of tatami-like hardness. To recover fully, we didn’t go out to enjoy the night life (that is, golfing into the lake). We slept early that night, recuperating from the lack of sleep of the previous nights.

Day 5, Wednesday 20 Aug

2008-09-19T00:17:00.000+08:00

>>Our Room

>>Around the Farm.

The next morning after breakfast, we boarded a boat and had a cruise around the small lake, followed by a tour of the farm. Do not be mistaken by the word ‘farm’. There were no cows to milk (but there were buffalos chained to a small floating island), there were no chickens or roosters (but there were a couple of turkeys going gobble gobble gobble, also stuck on a small floating island) and there were no pigs to feed (but there were monkeys who swung and sang).

>>Boat Ride

>>Before & After: Scary Fishes!!

>>Singing Monkeys

>>Ants attack! A flower on your right ear means you're engaged/married, a flower on the left says you're swinging single...or was it the other way around? Oh well.

After that mini tour of the so-called farm, we left for Alishan 阿里山, getting there in time for another ok-only lunching experience. Following that, we took a stroll in the reserve, and saw the Sisters Pond姊妹潭, just 2 ponds which happened to be side by side to each other. We saw a Lover’s Tree (with branches shaping a heart), Alishan Sacred Tree 神木, and Three Generations Trees三代木 of giant cypress, crowned by a baby tree that grew out of a mommy tree that in turn grew from a horizontal grandma tree which is still alive and kicking after a 1000 year. We also took a photo of Shouzhen Temple 受鎮宮, the largest temple in Alishan.

>>Welcome to Alishan...

>>Big Sister Pond

>>Lover's Tree, can you spot the heart?

>>One, Two, THREE Generations!

>>Sacred OLD Tree

On our journey down the mountain, we stopped by this couple of trees named the Fuci Tree夫妻樹(Couple Tree), two old cypress trees that are the remains of a forest fire in 1963, so-named because they resemble a couple standing proudly by the road.

We spent the next couple of hours on the bus headed to Sun Moon Lake 日月潭. After a good in comparison dinner at a restaurant which our tour guide claimed only took business by appointment, we proceeded to our hotel.

>>I've never been greeted like this before!

It was too early for bed, so EK and I took a walk around the nearby shops, and admired the lake at night before returning to our hotel to soak in the public spa pool. Unfortunately, it was single gender, so he soaked in the spa pool in the men’s room while I soaked in the female’s. It was so boring being all alone, we didn’t last for long and went back to our rooms for our well needed rest.

>>The hotel's very own Jetty

>>Sun Moon Lake at night...

Day 6, Thursday 21 Aug

2008-09-19T00:16:00.002+08:00

At the break of dawn, EK and I borrowed the hotel’s bicycles and cycled to the pier to catch the morning sights of Sun Moon Lake. It was apparently said to be beautiful, but we found it ok only. Nothing fantastic as the sun rise was blocked by the mountains so it was practically bright when we finally saw the sun.

>>Bubble Tea...Anyone?

After breakfast and a relaxing cup of coffee on the hotel’s private jetty, we met the tour group for a walk around the town and to visit a place selling all sorts of health supplements – Ling Zi (some rare mushroom), deer penis, royal jelly, etc. When all of us finally got out of this commission trap, we set off for our journey towards Taipei!

>>Pure Bliss

Of course we made several stops along the way, with the first being wenwu temple 文武廟.

>>See the cute little animals on the corners of their roof? SO CUTE!!!

Then, we visited Formasa Aboriginal Culture Village 九族文化村 for a morning of fun. It not only had an Aboriginal Culture Village introducing the 9 tribes of Taiwan and their living environment, they had amusement park rides as well.

>>The Entrance Pic...

First stop, we visited the beautiful garden, which reminded me of Swiss/Austria or somewhere european...definitely a non-asian impression.

>>All Aboard!

>>Who...Who...

>>Crab Fight!

>>The Peacock Dance

EK, not being into these rides left me to experience the only ride I really wanted to experience: Space Mountain. I have heard the ‘Space Mountain’ in Disneyland is one you can’t miss, and I assumed this was probably a copy of it. I was pleasantly disappointed, and I’m sure the much appraised ‘Space Mountain’ is far better than this! Unless of course I’ve outgrown these rides and they no longer have exciting factor.

>>The only ride EK takes...

EK and I proceeded to explore the nine villages, taking the cable car up the mountain and making our way slowly down.

When we finally visited all 9 villages (nothing really fantastic), we saw this awesome water ride! Surprisingly, EK wanted to ride it too. He said water-rides were not as life threatening. What the?!

Unfortunately, we were out of time as we had to catch the cable car back up the mountain to catch a tribal song and dance performance, which we enjoyed and found entertaining.

Making our way down the hill the second time, we were so tempted to try that water-ride, but our deadline was up and we had to gather. So obediently, we met the group. There’s this old couple in our group and they are forever the last with the old man’s walking difficulties. So here we were, the group of us, waiting for these 2 again. EK and I felt more bummed that we didn’t go for our ride.

When everyone gathered, up we went on the bus and headed to TAIPEI!

Upon entering Taipei, it was already dark.

>>The warm welcome of Taipei Traffic

Our first stop was dinner at Hai Pa Wang Restaurant 海霸王. After a good meal, we headed on to Xi Men Ding西門町for SHOPPING. First stop was to a Taiwan snack shop, but we didn’t buy anything from there. EK and I couldn’t wait to start shopping. We finally broke away from the group and walked Xi Men Ding. I loved Xi Men Ding. The clothes were young and nice, not too expensive either. The atmosphere was lively, and the place buzzed with people.

>>Welcome to Xi Men Ding!

We didn’t buy too many things on our first trip as we were coming back to stay at a hotel in Xi Men Ding on our extension of 3 days. EK bought a nice work shirt, and I bought a pair of pink sneakers from a funky teenage shop. The salesgirl was very friendly, answering our many questions about where to find good food and the places for clubbing. Before rejoining the rest of the group, we had mango ice shavings 芒果冰. I thought it was going to be YUM and something I’d love, but turns out, the ice was frozen milk shavings…which put me off since I don’t like milk. Nevertheless, I ate several spoonfuls of it and am proud of it. EK loved it terribly though, but then again, he loves milk.

>>Yucky yucky milky!

That night, after checking in to our hotel, EK and I decided to explore the area around the hotel. Shops were closing, but we just wanted to make use of our time in Taiwan and see as much as we could. We saw cars, traffic lights, mini-marts, 3 seven-elevens on that short span of a few roads, video rental shops, 24 hour massage parlors, etc.

We got back to the hotel around 1am in the morning and hit the sacks.

Day 7, Friday 22 Aug

2008-09-19T00:15:00.012+08:00

We departed our hotel at 8.30am. Initially, the first stop was Yang Ming Shan National Park 陽明山國家公園 to admire flowers and greenery, but there weren’t any flowers during this season, so we collectively gave that a skip, in exchange for a shopping excursion to Miramar Entertainment Centre.

Obviously, shops weren’t open that early, so we headed to Tamshui to see the famous Fisherman’s Wharf 漁人碼頭, a filming site in Meteor Garden. Honestly, I couldn’t recall which part of Meteor Garden was filmed on this bridge, but nevertheless, it was a pretty bridge. We proceeded on to Tamshui old streets 淡水老街 to walk the shops.

>>Now where exactly was Meteor Garden filmed?

We bought a small packet of the famous "Iron eggs" – black eggs which have been stewed in a mix of herbs and spices until pickled. It’s a very weird and chewy texture…definitely doesn’t make me crave for it to eat seconds.

>>Super chewy things...

As we left, EK bought his milk tea while I bought Ah Gei (crystal noodles stuffed in fried bean curd, served with a mild hot sauce). I couldn’t leave Tamshui without tasting the famous Ah Gei, but I really don’t understand why it is famous. The pinkish sauce was just plain weird, and it was rather blend. I took one bite and threw the rest away.

>>The weird things Taiwanese appreciates

Upon boarding the bus, I discovered I was given a very memorable souvenir of Taiwan – sandfly bites!!! SO MANY OF THEM! I don’t know if it was at Fisherman’s wharf or was it at Tamshui old streets, but it was at one of these places I got bitten and possibly scarred for life! 68 bites on my left leg and 60 on my right, enough to scare any person away!!! URGH! And to think, just that morning, EK was commenting on how smooth and nice my legs were. And now this!!!

>>My legs!!! RUINED!!! Can you count the bites?!

So that made me all upset and I gave the next stop a miss while EK went down to tour the temple. A few others also remained on the bus and gave the temple a miss.

>>It was actually quite pretty...

Following that, we headed back towards the city for lunch at one of the themed restaurants in Taiwan called Five Cent Driftwood Restaurant 五角船板. The outside looked like remains of a shipwreck cum a tribal house. The inside had weathered pieces of driftwood, Chinese stone sculptures, antiques, welded metal, and chunky, rough wooden tables and chairs. It was truly a unique experience and our cameras, like many others, were going off like a dog let off its leash.

After lunch, our tour guide took us to another 2 commission earning places. The first stop a feng shui house to have our feng shui predicted. Practically the whole tour group ended up buying a bit of feng shui back, EK and myself included. We were first shocked at the lady’s ability of reading our personalities just from our names and birthdates, and then later impressed when she could pin-point stuff so true about ourselves. We pondered very very long and hard whether to get that piece of jade. I argued with myself that we didn’t need a piece of dragon-shaped jade to change our fate. We just need to work hard in order to achieve our goals in life. EK on the other hand fell in love with the dragon. He’s been looking for a pretty dragon-shaped jade and never seemed to find one as nice or pretty. When he was showed this black piece of jade, he liked it, but the price was also very pretty. My white dragon-shaped jade was about half the size of EK’s, and also half the price. We deliberated for a very long time, until the salesgirl was about to give-up, and I could see a look of jealousy when her colleagues were making sales (our tour group seems to be a very rich bunch). After thinking and thinking and thinking over it, EK finally bought his and was successfully persuaded by the salesgirl to buy one for me and the salesgirl did her ritual of cleaning the jade with a leaf and some “feng shui” water. “Thankfully my saliva didn’t go to waste,” thought the salesgirl.

The second stop was a tea house. Where we sat quietly like students, and listened to her talk about how special their tea was, which really tasted like normal tea. I think this was the first place no one from the tour group bought anything. Perhaps it was partly due to the fact that our wallets bore holes from the feng shui experience.

Finally, we could proceed on with the actual Taiwan sightseeing/shopping, depends how you see it, and we visited first the promised Miramar Entertainment Park 美麗華百樂園. This was the filming site for a Taiwanese drama called Why Why Love, staring one of EK’s favourite Taiwanese celebrity, Rainie Yang. So the first thing we did was to take a picture of us in front of the mall, to leave our mark!

>>Same place!

Following that, we raced up to the top floor to ride the ferris wheel! We wanted to take the completely transparent carriage, so we waited in line while empty carriages spun past. We figured since we’re here, might as well wait for the rare transparent carriage, there were only 2 transparent carriages in the entire wheel.

After the ride, we weren’t left with much time to shop around. We asked the salesgirls which shop Rainie worked in in the drama but no one knew! Weird! Seems like it was just another show to them, no one took notice. However, we did find another filming spot and took photos there before assembling.

>>Rainie was here, riding this escalator...

>>Ooops...same building, different escalator...

>>And she got her heart broken here...

>>Ooops again...same building, opposite bridge!

>>And they met here...

>>Almost...same steps, different angle! Hahaha

We proceeded to Taipei 101 (101大樓), arriving close to sunset. EK and I didn’t go up to the viewing gallery as the others in our group, but instead, we walked the branded shops: LV, D&G, Gucci, Vivien Westwood, Prada, Dior, etc. As we weren’t after any branded goods, we ended up finding Taipei 101 boring.

After Taipei 101, we proceeded for dinner at another simple restaurant before heading to Shihlin Night Market士林夜市, where we shopped and ate somemore. Shopping wasn’t great coz I found Shihlin a big mess and it was tough job searching through the different clothes hanging on the racks in every store to find something I like. After a while, I got real bored with searching. But the food made up for it, with the yummy fried and juicy chicken cutlet, the sweet and can’t get any sweeter fruits, bubble tea and so on. We left Shihlin at 11pm and returned to our hotel room to pack our luggages till 1+am in the morning. We were changing hotel the next morning and embarking on our 3 day free-and-easy tour of Taiwan!

>>The most memorable part of Shihlin...Hao Da Ji Pa!

Day 8, Saturday 23 Aug

2008-09-19T00:14:00.000+08:00

Bright and early the next morning, we checked out, got a cab and proceeded to our new hotel to check in and leave our luggage with the concierge.

Then, we headed to Xi Men station to catch the metro across town to Shihlin station, and then caught a public bus to visit the National Palace Museum故宮博物院.
>>Buying our tickets, how independent of me!

>>Figuring out which train to take...

>>Waiting for the train...
The museum was nice and interesting. EK and I forgot about the time and walked every single floor, and every single exhibition room. We didn’t notice until it was 2+pm and our tummies were getting hungry. We decided to have a light snack at the café before continuing on with the rest of the exhibition.

>>The only pics we were allowed to take coz the museum did not allow cameras inside...sigh
To our horror, it was pouring cats and dogs outside. So we ended up taking a long tea break. When we had finished the entire museum and walked several rounds around the large museum shop, we realized that the rain wasn’t going to stop, so ever-so-brilliant me suggested we catch a cab to New York New York 紐約紐約 and shop till the rain stops. At least were indoors and also visiting a place that was on my places-to-go list. Why? It was mentioned in Meteor Garden, when San Cai went on her first date with Hua Ze Lei, they went New York New York. DUH!
>>The paper bag says all!
So shopping we went and I absolutely LOVE New York New York!!! Especially during sale season when they are trying to clear their summer collection!! United Colours of Benetton was going at 90% discount – I bought 1 top and 1 pants and had to find reasons not to buy the other 2 tops I wanted to get. Other shops were going at 50% and 70% discount! It was AMAZING. New York New York is like a large 6 or was it 7 storey department store, with little individual shops inside selling young fashion labels from all around. EK bought a shirt at 50% off while I fell head over heels for this patent leather bag going at 20% off for new arrivals, but it was still too expensive for me to afford. SIGH.

We moved on to the next big shopping mall or should I say mallS!!!! Thanks to the genius who thought of sheltered passes which connected New York New York to ShinKong Mitsukoshi新光三越, we didn’t need to get wet and found another shopping paradise. ShinKong Mitsukoshi – I LOVED it more than New York New York!! Made up of 4 massive malls side by side to each other, each mall was special in its own way. There was one building only for high fashion, with individual stores carrying brands such as Boss, BCBG Max Azria, Versace, etc. We gave this one a quick browse before heading to the other building, carrying the kind of fashion labels more suited to our tastes and income bracket such as MNG, T-Touch, Ralph Lauren, DKNY (oh, I fell in love with a gold bag going at 50% off – sob, it was still $300 after discount…). There were other local brands with awesome designs. I fell in love with a young fashion label called Poupine – designed in France, made in Taiwan (http://www.poupine.com.tw/). The clothes were cute, funky, young and had bold colours – just the kind of style I like. I ended up buying 1 pair of jeans and 1 high-waisted shorts for work.

We didn’t realize the time until the shops were closing! With 2 more malls of ShinKong Mitsukoshi to cover, we rushed over to one which was more of a department store concept, but we only had 10 minutes to browse before fatigue overcame us and the shops were closing. We grabbed a cab back to our hotel and caught a nap. Our night was not over but we were too tired, we needed to recharge.

At around midnight, we left our hotel and grabbed a cab back to the vicinity of New York New York. We were going to a club called Room 18, located at the basement of Neo 19, a building just one block away from New York New York. The club was okay, I’m not into the clubbing scene, but EK said that those who could dance danced a lot better than those in Singapore, but there was also a relatively large group who bobbed along to the music as well. It was a good experience, and we only left the club close to 4am in the morning.

Day 9, Sunday 24 Aug

2008-09-19T00:13:00.002+08:00

The next morning, we woke up at 8.30am, rushing for breakfast. Both of us were hungry. We didn’t go back to sleep after breakfast as we wanted to make full use of our trip. Freshening up after breakfast, we went back to ShinKong Mitsukoshi to finish browsing the remaining 2 malls we didn’t manage to cover. We also had lunch at the basement foodcourt of one of their malls. The food they sell in their food courts are so much better compared to the food sold at our food courts. I say this in terms of quality, taste and also price.

>>I also had to take a photo with my New York New York during the day!
Following that, we proceeded to conquere the next mall that was nearby called Eslite Xinyi Store 誠品信義旗艦店. While we were there, it started to rain. Thankfully, there was a huge bookstore Eslite Bookstore 誠品書店, so that kept us busy till the rain disappeared and the sun came out to play.

We made our way over to the world’s tallest building, Taipei 101, paid for our tickets and took the world’s fastest elevator up from the 5th floor to the 89th floor in 37 seconds. The ride was okay, felt like a normal elevator ride. The scenery from the 89th observatory deck and the 91st outdoor viewing gallery was okay too…similar feel as Korea’s Nam San tower looking down on Seoul, and New Zealand’s sky tower looking down to Auckland City, or Sydney Tower to the city beneath. I’ve seen my fair share of towers, but it was the fact that Taipei 101 was iconic to Taipei and hence we had to visit it.
>>Purchasing the tix to 101

We stayed for a couple of hours at the observatory, watching the sun set and as darkness fell upon Taipei. We also visited the wind damper, named Damper Baby – HA, “BABY” INDEED! It was a massive steel ball. I had no clue how it worked, and no where in 101 helped me understand further. We also went to the open deck observatory, but it was so caged up, we couldn’t really see the sights.

>>At the outdoor observatory...
>>The "baby damper"...does it look like a baby to you?
Finally, we got bored and left. We visited PageOne book store in Taipei 101, and that’s where I found the last book to Hana Youri Dango! I thought my comic book set ended with book 36, but they made an epilogue!
>>Documenting 101
>>Documenting my loot from ShinKong Mitsukoshi!!
That night, we returned to Xi Men Ding for a couple of hours. That’s when we tried the famous Ah Zhong Mian Xian…
>>Definitely the BEFORE!
I was already a little skeptical when I learnt it was made from pigs intestines when I was researching about Taiwai, and I didn’t know how to tell EK. He hates intestines or any internal organ of any animal. However, he seemed so set on trying it, I kept mum. If he liked it, I wouldn’t tell him it’s pigs intestines. If he didn’t like it…which he obviously didn’t, I didn’t dare tell him I knew it was pigs intestines. EK actually thought it was Oyster Mee Sua, so he was chewing on this piece of intestine when he asked what it was since it clearly wasn’t oyster. I told a little white lie, saying I thought it was something related to pigs…not sure which part. The moment I told him about the pigs, he spat it out immediately. I took a couple more mouth fulls before putting my feet down and saying “that’s it for me.” EK, who didn’t want to waste food ate a little more before throwing the rest away. We can only blame ourselves as we bought the large bowl, assuming that since everyone liked it, we would most probably like it too. We deserved our 55NT lesson and a chewy experience on EK’s part.
>>DUH! After!
We walked the main streets of Xi Men Ding, having Mango Ice Shavings and a little bit of shopping. EK found a magazine store and we spent the rest of the night there, till they closed at 10.30pm. We went back to our hotel and crashed after a long day.

Day 10, Monday 25 Aug

2008-09-19T00:11:00.001+08:00

We left to catch the metro to Zhongxiao Dunhua中孝敦化. It was another shopping district with Sogo department stores. We knew we were early, but though we’d just visit PageOne bookstore to kill our time before shops opened. Unfortunately, the bookstore was inside the mall itself so we ended up walking the streets like wanderers for an hour or so. 11am finally came and we went shopping again. Sogo was okay, similar to ShinKong Mitsukoshi, but not as fantastic.

>>>On one of EK's fav bubble tea break!
>>>FOOD!!
The highlight of our trip was eating at Ding Tai Feng. The queue was long, but we spent the 45 minutes wait browsing books and magazines at PageOne.

Upon entering PageOne, I had a horrible realization. IT WAS EK’S BIRTHDAY!!!!! GOODNESS, I had no sense of date and time since we started our holiday, so I totally forgot about his birthday. I frantically wished him a “Happy Birthday” and he admitted last night as the clock struck midnight, he had checked to see if I remembered and obviously, I didn’t! Arrrrrrgggghhhhh, I felt so bad!!! I kept apologizing and wishing him.

To make it up to him, I said the Ding Tai Feng lunch was on me, since I’ve already given him a big birthday prezzie a month ago. The menu had a much larger selection than compared to Singapore. We ordered the standard xiao long paus and also the Crab meat xiao long paus. IT WAS YUMMMMMMM!!!!! The skin was so much thinner than Singapore’s. For Singapore, you can hardly taste the crabs in the crab meat xiao long paus, but the ones in Taiwan, oooooohhhhh! You could taste the crabs!!! I was happy coz EK was happy, and we even ordered another basket of it because EK liked it so much. Anything to make up for my horrible horrible memory!

After our late lunch and a little bit more browsing, we decided to return Shihlin Night Market for our last visit. We had to have one more of that famous gigantic chicken cutlet. It was late in the afternoon and the night market was just beginning to start business. It wasn’t as crowded as the first time, so shopping was much more pleasurable. I ended up buying plenty of tank tops and a couple of blouses. I take back whatever I said above about not liking the shopping at Shihlin. It turned out fantastic.

Around evening, we returned to Xi Men Ding and shopped till the shops closed. I thought we had covered most of Xi Men Ding in our shopping trips, but I was gladly mistaken. There were so many side alleys with small shops, small but amazing shops, EK and I got carried away walking side alley after side alley…I was in shopping haven…getting poorer by the minute, but totally worth it. What’s a holiday without shopping?!
>>>A fruitful shopping trip!!
At 10.30pm when most shops were closed, we refused to go back to the hotel. We found another shop that was still open and rushed in. The shop was owned by teens around our age, with cool and funky clothes for men. At first, we were just browsing, but the shop assistants got so carried away with chatting to EK, first about his costly camera, then about his job, then they started showing us more and more clothes. EK liked a shirt, but they didn’t have it in his size, so the owner rang up another friend of his who has another shop in Xi Men Ding. Unfortunately, his friend had already closed shop, but for our sake, he went back to his shop to check for the size. We felt so bad and really didn’t want to trouble them. We ended up trying a different top in another size but EK didn’t really find the cutting that good for him, so we quickly told them to tell the friend not to bother. We felt absolutely terrible for leaving the shop empty handed, so EK chose a belt to buy. It was a nice white belt, simple but not so much EK’s style. Nevertheless, it was the nicest of the lot so we bought it, said our goodbyes and was about to leave when I spotted another cooler belt in the store window. We swapped it then and there and finally left for our hotel…

We didn’t sleep immediately as I was busy admiring my new clothes and shoes and accessories. Then, I decided I would pack my luggage so I wouldn’t have to rush that the next day, and EK followed suit.
>>>AHHHH! We got burgled?!
We ended up sleeping around 2am in the morning!

Day 11, Tuesday 26 Aug

2008-09-19T00:02:00.016+08:00

Our last morning in Taiwan was not let off the hook. After breakfast, we visited Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall 中正紀念堂. I thought we’d better do a little bit more sightseeing before leaving Taiwan…and also coz the shops weren’t open yet. We’re pathetic, aren’t we! So we spent a couple of hours at the memorial hall, and it turned out really nice. The exhibition, the gallery, the statue…I’ll have to say it was a good choice to visit it.
>>>The last historical visit...

>>>Mr Chiang Kai-Shek himself

>>>In rememberance of him...

We returned to Xi Men Ding at 10.30am and some shops were beginning to open. We spent out last hour in Xi Men Ding, doing our last minute shopping.

"My name is Lorraine, and I’m a shopaholic."

At 11.30am, we rushed back to our hotel for a quick shower before checking out at noon to catch our bus to the airport.
>>>On the way to the airport...
>>>With all our baggage...

WAIT…that’s not all.

As shopaholics we had to live up to our reputations, so the most obvious thing to do when we got to the Taiwan airport was to…the 4 letter word starting with the letter ‘s’.

We walked from one terminal to another and then to another, killing time. The shops weren’t fantastic, but what can I say…we love to browse. After a couple of purchases, we returned to our boarding gates, where our Taiwan holiday official came to an end.
THE END...

Congratulations, you have come to the end of this entry and have read through 8,578 words. Give yourself a HUGE pat on your backs!

Departing

2008-08-16T08:33:00.002+08:00

Welcome to Taiwan!!

The shopaholic's diaries to Taiwan begins today as she embarks on her journey to Taiwan.

Not a smooth start, her airlines was delayed by 1 hour 45 minutes, and there was a minor crisis when she couldn't find her passport last night (it was still in the luggage she had brought to her trip to Penang several weeks ago).

But apart from that, after a free breakfast from the airlines for the delay, she's ready to go!

See ya!

8 August vs 9 August

2008-08-11T12:54:00.000+08:00

After watching the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony on 8 August, our Singapore National Day Parade on 9 August seemed so…what’s the word…miniscule/ insignificant/ pathetic/ dull…

But of course, who couldn’t do wonders with a $40million budget, as opposed to a cut off our taxpayers money.

And you’re also talking about selecting cream of the crop performers from 1.3 billion people, as opposed to selecting from 4 million people, with performances by students, social clubs, etc.

The difference in the quality of performance is inevitable. China had 7 years to prepare for this once in 4 years event, while Singapore had less than a year to prepare for this yearly event.

Therefore, as a Singaporean, I am proud of its efforts. Perhaps I’ve outgrown it. I’m not sure if one can outgrow the national day spirit, but these past few years, I’ve taken less interest in it. It wasn’t such a big hoohah as it was years ago when I was a little girl. You won’t find me religiously watching the parade from start to finish, and I’m not as excited about the fireworks. Perhaps it’s the result of seeing the same old thing year after year. There’s the procession of armed forces, the entry of the PAP followed by the president, the shouting of commands, the firing of the cannons/ rifles, then the performances and the songs (which seem similar to the year before’s), the closing fireworks followed by the leaving of the president.

It’s always the same old routine that it seems dull, but on the other hand, it is also about familiarity and tradition. Isn’t everything?

080808 @ 8:08

2008-08-08T17:41:00.000+08:00

What’s up with that d8?!

Chinese and their 8s.

China has been anticip8ing for this day since who knows when!

Nurses and Gynaecologists will celebr8 the hospital rush.

This d8 will mark the anniversary of many newly-weds.

It’s another gr8 trick for advertisers, event companies, etc.

And though I told myself not to make a big deal out of it, I fell into its b8.

Amidst the Busyness…

2008-08-07T16:52:00.000+08:00

With the launch of one new line of fragrance to organise, and another launch of a new perfume, I’ve been busy planning, organising, and executing. This is my first launches and I finally understand the amount of effort that needs to be put in for a successful launch! THE COORDINATION!

And my boss suddenly decides that we should also manufacture vials instead of buying it from the brand, so for the past few weeks, we’ve been sourcing for quotations, and just today, the production run has started. The coordination of this project is extensive, due to the production chain. It involves the manufacture of the empty glass vials (China), the production of the vial cardholders, the delivery of the glass vials to the filling company (Malaysia) at exactly the same time the delivery of the bulk fragrance is sent to the filling company, as well as the same time the printing of the vial cardholders are sent to the filling company. Then filling & packing occurs, before having to send it back to our warehouse (Singapore) for distribution purposes. I can’t wait to see the final product, but somehow, I doubt it’ll arrive on time. Oh well.

On top of this busy couple of months to come, I have taken an 8 days tour + 3 days extension holiday, effective next Saturday, to Taiwan. This means major planning, not only at work to ensure everything goes smoothly while I’m away, but also major planning for the last 3 days of our trip, to make full use of this extension. It’s going to be my last holiday for the year – whoohoo! I’ve exhausted all my leave till 31st December!

However, during this chaotic time, I still managed to put on a horrible tummy. Yes, a little bulge that no matter how much I suck in, it still remains there. A horrible little tummy, visible to me. So what do I do? I try to exercise. The operative word being “try”. And yes, admist the busyness, this one, I can proudly say, I fail terribly at.

So, I’ve started eating healthy again. It’s back to salads for me. This means having to buy ingredients for my salads, having grumbling tummies in the late afternoon when my tummy has digested all the greens I had consumed. Then I drink a nice glass of milo and put the calories back on. BAH.

And amidst this busyness, I tell myself I must try not to take chocolates (the comfort food that I crave for 24-7), and and and COFFEE!!! COFFEE or CHOCOLATES? I don’t know…it’s a tough choice, but MOCHA has both doesn’t it? YUMMMMMM…

So…? The moral of the story is…amidst the busyness, I’m still alive. And better still, I have the time to write this entry. This goes to show…

Learning.

2008-06-26T10:52:00.002+08:00

No wonder they say you never stop learning. We are constantly learning new things about ourselves and the people around us.

Tummies. Never go to sleep on a bloated stomach - however, I'd really like to argue I didn't eat that much! My family have arrived in Singapore and we've been invited to countless dinners by friends and relatives. The other night, I learnt my lesson of indigestion the HARD way. We had Korean bbq at a friend's place and the portions were little, with intervals inbetween when the chef prepared the next dish, so we just ate and ate as each dish came along. I didn't think it was much at that time, but thats what I thought. A little bit at a time really did it for me. At 3am that night, I woke up with a very uncomfortable and bloated tummy. It was unbearable and I had to throw up. And if you know me, I'll always choose another way if I had a choice of not throwing up. The next night, I made sure to watch my stomach that dinner and we had healthy chinese food, but once again, I threw up again. Indigestion, a symptom I never knew I could have.

Emos. My sis' friends are here and they've taught me a new word. Perhaps I'm slow, but I never knew what Emos were...or rather who emos are. Until they said there's plenty of Emos in Singapore and started describing these so-called persons. Emos are Emotional. I've just always assumed they were Goth or weird people trying to scare the shit out of strangers on the street with their ghastly attire, I'm-tired-of-life attitude and makeup. No. Different from Goths as they have colours in their life. They are Emos. And I'm englightened.

Bintan = Indonesia. I blame myself for my ignorance on this subject - I blame it on holidays to further away countries and living overseas at a young age so I've never really travelled around Asia as much. It was only a few days ago that I discovered Bintan is not an island of Singapore, but in fact, it belongs to Indonesia and I'll need my passport for our family trip to Bintan next Monday. What a laugh! So once again, I've grown smarter by a bit.

Fatness, mi Goodness!

2008-06-20T09:29:00.002+08:00

Every women, especially those stick thin models, complain their fat. And I’m guilty as charge – obviously not the part about being stick thin coz I’m not that at all.

I'd also like to justify my reasons for my complains. We females tend to tsk at others who comlpain about their fats, especially when they are clearly not as big in comparison, but I've got a valid reason. I need to compete against those stick thin models. The media industry is vicious and it's that same industry my boyfriend is working in. Working around models and pretty ladies, he has an benchmark for thinness. He likes me as I am, of course, but with all the competition around me, I can't slack. Hey, I'm still a women afterall and we're always competitive whenever it comes to weight, fashion and accessories. I'm not tall either so the only way is to go smaller sideways. Wish it works the other way around. I’ve tried countless of dieting techniques:

1) Eat less in general

A very terrible decision but I’m stuck now with a warped metabolism. Girls, don’t try it at home. But then again, low metabolism comes with age…I just shortened the process.

2) Eat less carbo / No carbo

GAWD, how is that possible with all the yummy donuts & cakes & chocs & & & basically EVERYTHING! And how much salad can a girl eat – though it is my favourite food, but favourite doesn’t mean having it for all 3 meals of the day. I don’t eat chocolates whole day long, though I would love to, but I don’t and it’s still my fav, second fav, no fav dessert -it should not even be counted a dessert but that’s another argument for another day. What am I talking about!

3) Healthiest of the healthiest diets

The worst of the diets. No one keeps to it. A simple coffee can spoil it all. Even salads aren’t healthy enough if dressings are added. So what’s a healthy diet? Fruits? (Did you know that the carbo content in watermelons are high?) Celery sticks? (They get awfully bitter after the second stick since dips aren’t allowed.) Carrot sticks? (Same story as Mr Celery.) Steak? (Preferably not grilled but have you heard of boiled steaks?) I rest my case.

4) Exercise more

Running, kick-boxing, pilates, yoga, blah-di-da! What you really mean is discipline, not “exercise more” coz that’s the easy part once you’ve found the discipline to wake up at the wee hours of the morning for a fat burning workout or once you’ve sacrificed the scarce after-work social/shopping hours to visit the gym. And what’s the right exercise for you? One says this is good, the other says that is good. WELL WHICH ONE IS IT? Instead of slimming down, you may be building bulky disgusting muscles which will still turn into stubborn fats unless you keep it up at age 70. I did that at age 16 when I stopped playing softball which meant no more trainings twice a week – BLISS – and welcomed stubborn fatness galore.

So the moral of the story…we’ll, I don’t even know if there’s one coz none of them had worked for me.

And the worst thing is…

Women have more fats (especially in the tummy areas) than the bloody men who criticise that we are fat. Also women tend to have more cravings too, especially for all the sinful delicacies. Every other day, I crave for chocolate. Strike that. EVERY DAY I crave for chocolates. And not only once a day. Chocolates in every form – mud cakes, brownies, chocolate filled donuts, chocolate bars, chocolate ice cream…YUMMMERRRZZZZ. Add coffee onto that list too. I’d die for a rich mochaccino. I crave for fried or barbequed chicken wings (but never boiled), curry in all its forms, laksa (Penang mostly), Korean food (unfortunately high in carbo). Oh GAWD, I need to stop this list. I’ve only just had breakfast and my mouth is getting itchy for a bitey.

Gulp. Plain water really doesn’t do the trick.

Profitable...definitely worth it!

2008-06-16T17:22:00.003+08:00

Saturday was a very profitable day. It couldn't get any better than that.

Bright and early, my boyfriend and I went to a Denmark family's house as they had hired EK's services to take photos of their 6 month old daughter. I was his assistant and helped to distract the baby in order for that beautiful smile while she looked at the camera, a very hard thing to achieve. After an hour and a half, she was tired and so were we. We called it a fruitful session and pocketed $200 for his services.

That afternoon, I went for my appointment with Ina Harmoni. I was getting a free body treatment and I chose a slimming package. The machine sent little tiny electric shots in my upper thigh, tummy and arms. It was interesting but slightly painful. Every electric shot felt as if a grip was tightened around my body and my body reacted to it, tensing up with every shot. I lost 2cm around my tummy and 3 from both thighs, but the results didn't impress me. I bet if I drank a little bit of water, the 2cm or 3cm would go straight back on. So I didn't sign up for any package, but it was still a free treatment afterall.

Then EK called me to ask if I was interested in attending a Seventeen Magazine event at Cafe del Moar, Sentosa and with a "yes", I rushed off to meet him and his friends. While we were there, not only did we get a usual goody bag with magazines, make-up, a CD and some vouchers, we also got free soft drinks and juices to keep our tummies occupied as we watched the hunks and babes parade on stage.

After the event, we zipped off for a quick pasta dinner before rushing to another event at Bugis. This was for the fashion brand Tweety Bird. The clothes were refreshing, with a style to everyone. There was casual wear to work outfits, punk to class. But the best was the goody bag we each got: 2 tee-shirts (unfortunately 2 sizes too large for me), 1 cap, and it could only get better, with a media voucher of $300 to spend on tweety apparel. $300 for me, another $300 for EK (but obviously he couldn't wear female tweety fasgion) so...it was a shopaholic's dream to get $600 FREE to shop shop shop! And so she did. After the fashion show and a bit of socialising, we went to the shop and spent an hour shopping. The shopaholic walked out 2 pants, 1 limited edition tee-shirt, 1 pair of shoes and 1 necklace richer! And all she needed was to invest in the excess $21 that came out of the bill.

BLISS.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital Medical Records

2008-06-16T16:55:00.002+08:00

Hospital: Tan Tock Seng
Department: ENT

Patient: Female, Single, aged 24

Medical History: Loves visiting A&E at odd times of the day

Medical Condition:
4th June @ 8pm - acknowledged that she swallowed Mackerel fish bone of about 1cm long during dinner
5th June - felt like she had sore throat
7th June @ 4.30pm - visited a GP before being referred to ENT department
7th June @ 10pm - felt distinct discomfort when swallowing, like there was a bone in the throat
7th June @ 10.30pm - arrived at Tan Tock Seng Hospital but the queue was too long so she prolongued her discomfort and went to Mt Alvernia Hospital but was advised of absorbident charges and therefore returned to Tan Tock Seng Hospital
8th June @ 12.30am - took X-ray
8th June @ 1am - doctor could not see bone from x-ray so ENT specialist was called down
8th June @ 2am - ENT specialist poked the throat and declared that there was an ulcer in the throat, could be caused by bone scratching it as it went down, or the bone is beneath the ulcer, he cannot be sure as yet
if there's bone, bone should resurface, otherwise, it's just ulcer causing discomfort
8th June @3.30am - collected medication of lozenges and 1 day medical certificate for absence of work & patient left

Medical Followup:
12th June @ 9.30am - patient arrived at hospital for followup checkup
12th June @ 10.15am - ENT specialist noted that ulcer had grown bigger to 7-8mm and had to be burst to ensure bone is not beneath
local anesthesia was sprayed in throat and specialist poked the ulcer several times
bone was not found
12th June @ 11am - collected medication of more lozenges and anticeptic mouth wash and 2 hours medical certificate for absence of work that morning
patient returned to work after that.

16th June @ 2pm - patient rang to cancel followup checkup on 19th June as she felt that her throat was healing and felt much better

Diago Velazquez Who?

2008-06-06T09:24:00.002+08:00

I swear, Google is getting weirder by the minute!

Bites of my life

2008-06-05T13:30:00.004+08:00

Renovations and Missing Bosses

My company is undergoing yet another round of renovations. We are always expanding, which is a good thing, except my eyes are constantly irritated by the dust floating around, and the constant drilling is taking its toll on my ears. Also, we've suddenly been receiving so many samples at our office, our tables are swamped with boxes and boxes of stuff, it's turning into a warehouse. I've got to pack it up soon!

Just as well my bosses have all left on business trips overseas...it's so quiet in the office...I just feel like reading my story book or disappearing!

Family... THE ENTIRE DO

As my grandfather is turning 80 this year, we're holding a massive celebration and everyone is returning from overseas for this party. Can't wait to see my family! This means, in the first time in ages, the entire family (my grandfather + children + grandchildren) will be in Singapore at the same time...we'll, not the entire family will be there for the party, but for about 12 hours (or less!), the entire family will be in Singapore. Why is there only 12 hours? Coz the last family from overseas arrives on the 25th of June while one leaves on a mission trip in the early hours of the 26th of June, so in this span of 12 hours, we need to take a family photo. How likely will it be that all 23 people can make it? We'll have to wait and see.

Chocolates!

I'm currently reading this novel, and just by the title, I feel like this book was meant for me! It's called "The Chocolate Lovers' Club" by Carole Matthews. The amazing thing is she's even got a continuation called "The Chocolate Lovers' Diet". The 4 ladies in the novel I've just started reading are choc addicts and it's amazing, the amount of chocolates they eat! In summary, these 4 ladies formed a select group known as The Chocolate Lovers' Club. Whenever there's a crisis, they meet in their sanctuary, a cafe called Chocolate Heaven, where they seek encouragement, advice and support from the others while savouring (sometimes wolfing down) chocolates, lots and lots of CHOCOLATES.

Here's an abstract:

Frankly, I'm a recent convert to the delights of pure plantation chocolate. I
adore chocolate in all its many forms, but my current passion is couture
chocolates made with the select beans from single plantations all around the
world - Trinidad, Tobago, Eucador, Venezuela, New Guinea. Exotic locations, all
of them. They are - out and out - the best type of chocolate. In my humble
opinion. The Jummy Choos of the chocolate world. Though truffles are a fierce
competitor. (Strictly speaking, truffles are confectionery as opposed to
chocolates, but I feel that's making me sound like a chocolate anorak.) So as
not to appear a chocolate snob, I also shove in Mars Bars, Snickers and Double
Deckers as if they're going out of fashion. Like the best, I was brought up on a
diet of Cadburys and Nestle, with Milky Bars and Curly Wurlys being particular
favourites - and both of which I'm sure have grown considerably smaller with the
passing of the years. Walnut Whips are a bit of a disappointment these days too.
They're not like they used to be. Doesn't stop me from eating them, of course -
call it product research.

Vouchers

Lately, I've been getting a lot of vouchers, wasting them as the expire before I notice I had them...and sometimes loosing them in the process. Because there's far to many vouchers, I often misplace them.

Just 1 month ago, I got a call from a spa & beauty place, saying that they just bought over this spa place I visited once (also on a complimentary voucher), and they would like to offer me another complimentary treatment to try out their services, so I gladly took it on, arranging a date and time for the appointment. The funny thing was, I remembered the date and time of the appointment, but I forgot the place or the name of the spa. So this week, I was panicking coz the appointment is this Saturday and I'm busy on that day. But this morning, I received a call from them to remind me of the appointment, and I rescheduled - this time remembering to take down their address!

And this week, I've been hunting high and low for my Robinsons voucher - $20!!! SOB. Where is it?! I left it in my wallet because I knew I wanted to use it someday, but it's no longer in my wallet. I must have moved it somewhere when I changed wallets. But I can't find it or remember where I left it. SOB.This week, I've been hunting high and low for my Robinsons voucher - $20!!! SOB. Where is it?! I left it in my wallet because I knew I wanted to use it someday, but it's no longer in my wallet. I must have moved it somewhere when I changed wallets. But I can't find it or remember where I left it. SOB.

I was given another spa voucher, sent from G2000, but 1 month later, I discovered it was for first timers and I had already been there last year when I got my birthday vouchers from G2000 as well. Sob. But at least I could pass it on to a friend so it wouldn't go to waste.

That's all the updates for now...

My boyfriend dumps me on a Friday night…

2008-05-30T12:34:00.003+08:00

…to go out with out with another male friend of his to a FHM Girl Next Door event, and I have no backup plans!

Of course, I was never first priority tonight because afterall, it is an FHM Girl Next Door event, the pub/club would be raging with testerones. It’s a guy guy event. He had casually invited me yesterday because he got invitations and his colleague had to go back in to camp for reservist, so he asked if I was interested in accompanying him. Then just 5 minutes ago, I received a call from him, saying that he’ll be going with another good friend of his tonight, so he won’t be meeting me. So much for dressing up...

So…here I am, on Friday, without a date, and without a plan.

Plan #1:
- Bead shopping
- Late home-cooked dinner
- Jewellery making
- Pros: $$$ cha-ching $$$
- Cons: Alone on a Friday night : (

Plan #2:
- Home-cooked dinner
- Watch DVDs till I fall asleep
- Pros: Relaxing : )
- Cons: Alone on a Friday night : (

Plan #3:
- Home-cooked dinner
- Clean my room
- Fix a few of my clothes (fallen buttons, tiny holes, etc)
- Wash & iron clothes
- Pros: Clean room, clothes finally fixed, washed, ironed!
- Cons: BORING! Still alone on a Friday night!

Plan #4:
- Home-cooked dinner
- Swimming/ Treadmill
- Pros: Keeping fit…
- Cons: No cons…just plain laziness, really!

Plan #5:
- Home-cooked dinner
- Finish studying my Korean textbook
- Pros: Educational…Finally doing something I've been procrastinating for 2 years!
- Cons: Hope I still can remember how to read!

Plan #6
- Grocery shopping
- Borrow library books to read
- Late home-cooked dinner
- Bake scones or muffins or something
- Read till I fall asleep
- Pros: Making use of the oven, & stories are always entertaining.
- Cons: Fattening, and I never know if they turn out a success!

Plan #7:
- Bead shopping + Quick bite
- Jewellery making
- Late night swim/ exercise
- Study Korean
- Clean room
- Watch DVDs
- Pros: A bit of everything
- Cons: A bit of nothing AND completely exhausted!

Plan #8:
- Find another friend to go out with at this last minute (God bless the person who is free)
- Pros: Out on a Friday night
- Cons: Negative $$$ cha-ching $$$

Actually, I do have a lot of things that I've been meaning to do and have been putting it off...who cares if its a Friday night or a Monday night. It's a night I'm free to catch up on my own things and I should cherish it. Friday nights aren't just about having plans with others, going out and spending money. I could have plans with myself, doing the things that I really want to do!

So cheers to ALONE ON FRIDAYS!

Love.

2008-05-29T10:14:00.000+08:00

Love.

Love…

Love.

Ever Thine. Ever Mine. Ever Ours.

Last night, I caught Sex and the City at the movies and I WEPT, LAUGHED, TEARED, AND LOVED IT. It’s like an episode of their drama, except much longer – filled with familiar voices, lots of talking and laughing (in the movie), and of course, some sexual scenes – it remained true to the drama series, revolving around these 4 fascinating women.

It was about love. It was about relationships. And especially, it was about friendship. The strong friendship these 4 amazing yet different girls have with each other. I almost forgot how strong their friendship was in the drama series because it ended too long ago, but watching the movie revived it for me.

And the fashion! There was a good dose of fashion in the movie: Dior, Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Vera Wang, Vivien Westwood (to name a few) and how can we forget our star’s favourite Manolo Blahniks.

I shan’t let on too much. Ahhh. I can’t wait to rewatch the drama series from Season 1 to 7. Hurry Amazon, send me my parcel!

Red Skies, Penang

2008-05-26T14:47:00.003+08:00

It is the moment the clouds part for the sun to make its last appearance.

It is that moment when the sun says its goodnight for the day.

It is the moment just before night consumes day.

It is all in the click of one man’s moment.

Photographer: ek yap

Larger than normal

2008-05-23T12:03:00.000+08:00

Ferocious alligators, massive and dangerous, roamed the streets. They were larger than normal, mutated perhaps, and would tear apart anything that got in its way, leaving a trail of blood and flesh. People panicked and feared.

It was a gloomy evening, the streets were almost empty, and the town was weeping. Screams could be heard as some alligator took another victim. Professor G (fictitious name) hurried on his way across town. Distracted by a gruesome sight, Prof G stepped right onto an alligator’s tail. As the alligator made its attack, Prof G struggled to defend himself. The world went black.

When Prof G regained his consciousness, he discovered himself in bandages in an unfamiliar place. He was in a strange transportation system.

“You’re awake.” Prof G’s assistant, a beautiful and attractive woman, approached him.

“Where am I?”

“Welcome to my special submarine.” Appeared an acquaintance of Prof G, we shall name him X. In their conversation, Prof G discovered that the alligators that rampage the town were dosed on pure oxygen. Where did the alligators get it from? Prof G could not answer, but it was the same pure oxygen that he had discovered in one of his travels under the sea. X wanted to find the source of pure oxygen, and like Prof G, he wanted to take it away in oxygen tanks.

The submarine entered a dark hole and it began to fall sharply, hitting against the walls of the cave. You could see the deep dark hole from inside the submarine, beyond its many glass windows. It bounced against sharp protruding corals, and repelled against the rough walls. At the bottom of the dark hole was a large sunken ship. The submarine entered the ship and docked itself in its ballroom, with glass windows all around.

The doors of the submarine opened. No water poured in. The submarine floated on the surface of the water inside the ballroom. There was trapped air in the ballroom. Oxygen for them to breath. They cautiously stepped out of the submarine, and into the cold waters, treading to stay afloat. In a distance, they saw a potion of the water surface bubbling as if there was air being released from beneath. Prof X pointed in that direction and they moved carefully towards the bubbling waters, clinging on to the edge of the ballroom window ledges for additional support.

When they approached the bubbling surface, they felt more alive. The pure oxygen was intoxicating. Once they found the source, Prof G and his assistant retreated to a safe distance. Too much pure oxygen may cause adverse effects. X joined them shortly. Prof G wanted to return to land. While X still needed more time. Suddenly, beyond the glass windows of the ballroom, they spotted a larger than normal shark swimming around the outside of the ship. X panicked. He pulled out a knife and cut Prof G on the arm. Blood seeped out.

“I don’t want that shark near me! You can be his meal!” X shouted. Prof G calmly told his worried assistant to retreat back to the submarine, to get her out of harms way…

Myself and 5 other friends briefly spotted a larger than normal dolphin, about the length of 80 meters, near an abandoned harbour. We were shocked and mesmerised by this discovery. Being explorers, we decided to go in search of the dolphin the next day. There was already a crowd of people at the long harbour who had seen the dolphin and was cheering for us in our expedition.

The 6 of us climbed into the row boat, but the boat couldn’t take our weight and it started to sink. My friends leaped out of the boat and clung on to the edge of the harbour, pulling themselves onto the platform. I was at the head of the boat, which had came afloat again, but I was too far from the harbour. I was about to jump into the water when a large fin surfaced beside me. The fin was about 2 to 3 times the size of the boat. Then we saw the creature. A great white shark was swimming around my boat. A great white shark of about 100 meters in length! Screams were heard. I was afraid but everyone told me to stay still. As the shark circled, the boat spun round and round. It was as if it was assessing if I was prey. Finally, it swam away. As his fin disappeared beneath the surface, my friend’s hurriedly pulled me onto the harbour.

Others who were on a floating platform opposite the harbour took a chance and jumped onto a boat in order to get across to the harbour.

Suddenly, the shark returned, his large fin emerging, charging at the boat that was between the harbour and the floating platform. People screamed and evacuated the boat and back onto the platform. But a little boy was left on the boat. The shark nudged at the boat, then retreated. We rescued the boy and everyone didn’t dare enter the waters.

The shark returned for the third time. It seemed to be searching for something. His food perhaps, but we were not it. It must have been after the dolphin. Only the dolphin of that size would satisfy a shark of that size. Humans would not have been comparable. We were probably not even considered snack size for the shark. The shark, finding nothing, made a turn and dived beneath sea level and went out of sight.

After that third time, we were confident the shark would not return again and hurriedly helped those on the floating platform over to the harbour.

What an adventure! What dreams! No wonder I’m in need of coffee this morning!

Slow Me Down

2008-04-25T10:39:00.002+08:00

I Love This Song by Emmy Rossum, titled SLOW ME DOWN...

Rushing and racing and running in circles
Moving so fast I'm forgetting my purpose
Blur of the traffic is sending me spinning
Getting nowhere

My head and my heart are colliding chaotic
Pace of the world I just wish I could stop it
Try to appear like I've got it together
I'm falling apart

Save me
Somebody take my hand and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
Cause I'm ready to fall

Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flies by
I need you to slow me down

Sometimes I fear that I might disappear
In the blur of fast forward I falter again
Forgetting to breathe
I need to sleep
I'm getting nowhere

All that I've missed I see in the reflection
Pass me while I wasn't paying attention
Tired of rushing, racing and running
I'm falling apart

Tell me
Oh won't you take my hand and lead me
Slow me down
Don't let love pass me by
Just show me how
Cause I'm ready to fall

Slow me down
Don't let me live a lie
Before my life flies by
I need you to slow me down

Just show me
I need you to slow me down
Slow me down
Slow me down

The noise of the world is getting me caught up
Chasing the clock and I wish I could stop it
Just need to breathe
Somebody please
Slow me down

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME continued...

2008-04-25T10:28:00.002+08:00

The Birthday Weekend:

I just realised I’ve forgotten to complete the update on my birthday, and a week has already passed.

What did I end up doing on my birthday? I had a yummy lunch, made by moi: Black Pepper Tuna Salad. YUMMERS! That evening, I met EK at Weelock and had Japanese food. I wanted to have buffet but the place in Vivo was fully booked so I settled with ala carte. It was hard, changing the mindset of having buffet, unlimited sashimi and unagi, to only 1 place of sashimi (5 pieces) and 1 bowl of unagi don (with limited pieces of unagi). It wasn’t as satisfying, since I’ve prepared myself for a feast, but nonetheless, it was a good meal so I’m happy. At least I didn’t overeat!

After dinner, we went to Zouk for a fashion show as our friend was doing make-up backstage and managed to get us VIP passes. So we had free flow alcoholic drinks and candies. The show was quite good, but I love the free casual bag they distributed…I don’t need to get myself a beach bag now! After the fashion show, we met with our friend and headed to the nearby hotel lounge and continued chatting till 2am, over red wine and snacks.

On Saturday, we woke up late and went swimming instead – a healthy start to 24, but that effort was quickly ruined in one night of seafood. We met EK’s bro and family for seafood at Eng Seng Seafood Restaurant. When we got there at 5pm, there was a short queue which quickly built up as we waited. We finally got seated and waited another hour for our crabs but the wait was worth it! It was devine!!! The black pepper crabs especially. We ate to our hearts content.
On Saturday, we also found out there was a Club 21 sale over the weekend (EK and I love Club 21 sales), but we were too busy on Saturday so we made a trip there on Sunday. There weren’t many stuff left, the good stuff would have been sold on Saturday, but I managed to find 1 gorgeous pink Dolce and Gabbana ¾ pants going at 90% discount! The others that I loved were unfortunately on 70% discount, but even after 70% discount, there were at least $400, so I didn’t get them. That one bargain was good enough to make my day! Happy birthday from me to me!

Then, we went Sentosa for some sun baking and Frisbee action. In the evening, I decided to ‘treat’ my face to another facial. The place was nice, the brand is well established, but the results from the facial was so-so. Other facial places I’ve been to had better results…so I’m back to square one again on my Save-my-face campaign.

And with this update, I end this documentation of my birthday weekend. I had a good time and I do feel 24 after all that glorious celebration activities. Can’t describe it, just that I thought I did heaps to celebrate my birthday, hence I feel 24. As compared to if I had stayed home and just celebrated with a good meal, I probably wouldn’t feel as 24 since you can have a good meal anytime anyway. Get me?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

2008-04-18T12:00:00.001+08:00

The Build-up:

It's been 12 hours into my 24th birthday, and it has been going GREAT! I don't know why I had been so excited about this birthday - I mean, what's another birthday? Weirdly, I've been feeling rather high since Sunday, high with excitment, high with anticipation, high with expectations.

I even discussed what I wanted to do with EK...a good Jap buffet lunch (coz its cheaper during lunch), then parhaps Sentosa in the afternoon.

Somewhere in the middle of the week, my feelings went down down down. I fell into a depression pothole...upset about my flaw-ful face. It's been getting worse, and it was the last straw when EK said I should not go to work in make-up coz maybe that's what agitating it. But I've been using this since 1 year ago! This happened on Tuesday night. His said that with or without make-up, at the end of the day when my make-up fades away (it happens all the time), it looks the same without make-up, so my colleagues would have already seen it anyway. My Confidence crumbled. No difference? THERE WAS A HUGE DIFFERENCE. I COULD TELL! No make-up? How was I supposed to face the world? I know, I apply sparingly and my make-up (specially for sensitive zitty faces) does not provide much coverage, BUT THERE WAS A DIFFERENCE! So...I crumbled and cried. It wasn't about what he said. I noticed it too and I was concerned myself, but I just tried to block it out. But in full honesty, my face is getting worse. I've stopped going to facial after spending nearly 2k over 1 year on it and not seeing it get better, but then maybe I should have stuck on with it. At least it wasn't getting any worse. Now, my condition has worsen dramatically and even I'm put off by my own face. I know there are more important things in life than looks, but what if it affects my self-confidenc? Then my personality is afffected. It's only a matter of time.

Yesterday, my emotions were lifted slightly - the day before my birthday, who wouldn't feel a tad bit better! Of course, that face issue is still niggling at the back of my mind, but I decided that it'll be a present from me to me this birthday. I will fix my face! By hook or by crook, my savings or by debt, BUT somehow, I'll get it done this year.

Last night, I didn't meet EK and came straight home to make trinkets for a customer's order. While doing so, I watched one of my all-time favourite movie 'Notting Hill'. It was good! Not only did making trinkets made me feel good about myself, the comfort of an all-time favourite romance movie was amazing.

At 11.45pm, I decided to wrap up and head for bed. I went out into the hall to use the common bathroom, but I heard some plastic bag sounds from outside our apartment door.

"Someone's stealing our shoes" was my first thought as I peered through the peephole. And there he was, waiting. It clicked. But I couldn't possibly let him wait outside for another 10 minutes till the clock struck midnight and pretend I was surprised right? I hurriedly open the door and surprised the "shoe burgler" instead. He was disappointed at his failure...failure of a surprise and failure of being any sort of burgler. But I was happy he wanted to spend the first minute of my birthday with me and of course I would choose to spend an additional 10 minutes with him instead of separated by a door, NOT FORGETTING the Awefully Chocolate Chocolate Banana Cake that was waiting patiently for us to devour!

This morning, he suggested I could put on make-up if I wanted to, and I more than obediently leaped up to the opportunity. Work hasn't been too bad either...these few days have been a little less stressful. Seems like no one in my office knows its my birthday today, apart from the HR personnel who had given me a tiny prezzie yesterday. But I don't mind. I'm just counting down the hours till 6pm where I'll run off and meet him for a sumptuous dinner and maybe, hopefully, wishfully, drinks with some friends.

X MAN - 당연하지

2008-04-10T11:16:00.005+08:00

I'm in love with this x-ed Korean game show called X MAN! It's so awesome!!!

There are many different parts of it, and one of my favourite is called 'OF COURSE' (당연하지 ,DANG-YUN-HA-JI), where there will be 2 representatives from each group, and they will battle it out with words aimed at each other, trying to make each other gag until they aren't able to admit 'OF COURSE' to that statement made at them.

Here's a clip of 2 members of my 2 favourite korean boybands, Min Woo from Shinhwa and Kangta from H.O.T., battling it out...old stories emerges...

And of course, there were battles between members of the same group: Tony vs Kangta

Another of my favourite parts is the couple battles...especially between the lovers Eun Hye (the lead female from Goong and Coffee Prince) and Jong Kook...

But WAIT, there were MANY MORE complications...

Enters Haha and Eun Bi...

And soon, others followed...

And another love triangle develops when Eric of Shinhwa comes onto the scene...

Hope you're as hooked as I am!!!!!

Picture Me Pitching

2008-03-28T01:18:00.002+08:00

BUT WAIT...
We can't forget the famous pitch!

Going for a Job Interview

2008-03-27T10:26:00.004+08:00

"Are you going for a job interview?" was the first question my immediate superior asked when he saw me yesterday, followed by a compliment, "Chic outfit."

Chic?

Blouse - Black sleeveless blouse (Joop) with ruffles at the front and thin belt (MNG) around the waist
Skirt - Black pencil skirt (G2000)
Jacket - Normal black blazer (G2000).
*I always have a blazer at work, just in case I feel cold. In yesterday's case, I was falling sick and wanted to keep warm.

Another boss who heads the Bangladesh office added, "Yes, whenever my staff comes to work well dressed, I'd tell them 'Good luck for your interview'."

If wearing a simple office outfit gives them a potential interview impression, then can you imagine how slack we are with our work attire?

So today, I'm wearing a simple puff-sleeved gold blouse, tucked out at the back, and pants that end just above the knee.

No potential interview impression, no compliments.

DJ Raine

2008-03-17T13:33:00.004+08:00

I just got a call from a HR personnel from a Radio Station I had applied to. Apparently, there's a job opening for the Advertising and Promotions Executive position at the station and asked if I was interested.

Silly me, I told them I'm currently engaged with a job (which is true), and so I wasn't interested. BUT!!!!!!! That's with a Radio Station! HOW MANY SUCH OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU GET?

However, I'm deducing from that job title that my job scope isn't as glam as it sounds:
1) I manage on-air advertisements and promotions
2) Maybe I write advertising copy as well
3) As for a DJ, maybe I will be on-air to read out the advertisements, or at those mall promotional events?

EK always reckons that I should go for interviews, find out more about the job, etc. But I'm personally not like that. If I'm commited to one job and I enjoy what I'm doing, why should I confuse myself with another? Then again, here I am all confused...

Have I convinced myself that I've made the right choice by turning down this opportunity? Arggghhhhhh.

The Becky Bloomwood in Us

2008-03-12T16:11:00.004+08:00

Currently, I'm stuck on Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series. I'm on to my 4th book 'Shopaholic and Sister', and I'm hooked. But I am also utterly appalled at Becky Bloomwood's ability to shop!

On one hand, I love Sophie Kinsella's ability to capture so vividly a shopaholic's mind, and translate it into an easy joyful read. But on the other, I find myself absolutely horrified at Becky Bloomwood's disregard for money, her excuses for purchases and her endless shopping trips. IS SHE FOR REAL? Sometimes, while reading these bits, I get so agitated that I want to shelf the book away. It is a real bimbotic read and perhaps I do feel comforted that I'm not such an extreme shopaholic, but I simply can't imagine such a woman exists. I've asked myself what I'm doing, wasting my time with this series, but yet, I can't put it down. I'm hooked.

How does the Financial Journalist Becky Bloomwood afford all the things she has?
How does Becky Bloomwood recover from Bankruptcy, and still get the guy?
How does Becky Bloomwood, with 2 weddings scheduled on the same day, turn it all around in 2 weeks? Without cancelling either! (She has a hell of a brain, that girl!)

Every book of this Shopaholic series has a major twist at the end, and you don't see it coming. In every book, Becky Bloomwood falls into her own shopaholic trap all over again and emerges triumphant, and you think she'd learn from it! But no matter how much I claim these books are 'bimbotic' and there's no one like Becky Bloomwood, in every book, there are not only shopping tips, but life tips for everyone.

1) You can't be bankrupt unless you've sold all your assets, and by assets, we also mean Denny & George scarves.
2) Every purchase is an investment. Buying 40 mugs while on a holiday means you'll never need to buy mugs for the rest of your life!
3) Always keep an emergency credit card glued to the back of your compact powder case. Your boyfriend/ husband will never find it! It's better to replace your compact powder case, than to miss the opportunity to own a rare 2000 Euros Angel Bag.
4) Always think entrepreneurial. Who says horse saddles need to be hard. If Becky Bloomwood was a horse-saddle designer, she'd make them soft, comfy, with furry cushions and drink holders.
5) Don't be narrow-minded. You can look smart wearing a cosarge, even if they are meant for horses.
6) Don't ever worry about having not enough luggage space. You can always Fedex!

There are plenty more where those came from! I'm inspired to learn a little from Becky Bloomwood. Are you?

Let's talk about Singapore

2008-03-04T10:31:00.004+08:00

Did you know that Singapore won the location to host the first ever Youth Olympic Games, held in 2010?

Perhaps you knew that, but did you know that there was a countdown to the announcement? On Thursday, 21st February, a party of 5000 youths, Singapore Idols/ Project Superstars celebrities gathered at the Padang in anticipation of the announcement. I wonder if the organisers/government knew beforehand that we were going to win the bid over Moscow, and hence the party. If Singapore organised the party but didn't win the bid, what would the news headline be? "Disappointed youths leave Padang after loss to Moscow"

Did you know that Singapore will host a race in this year's Formula One Grand Prix?

I'm sure you knew that, it was major news to all sports fans and Singaporeans. But of course, we had to do it differently. Why should we just host a race? Why don't we make it the first street race in Asia? Why don't it be one of three races in the 2008 F1 calendar to run anticlockwise? Even better, why don't the first Formula One Grand Prix in Singapore be Formula One's first ever night race? Singapore and their endless pursuit to break boundaries...it has always got to be the first!

But the biggest news at the moment to hit Singapore is...

Did you know that there had been a security lapse at the Whitley Road Detention Centre, and Singapore's Most Wanted detainee, Mas Selamat bin Katsari, had escaped?

If you didn't, I'm sure the 54,000 'Wanted' posters and leaflets placed in buses, trains, stations, shopping malls, housing estates, customs and other areas would have been sufficient. Many ask: How did that happen? Fingers have been pointing everywhere, Singapore citizens want someone to blame. I am among the naived many who were proud of Singapore's tight security.

He plotted to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, planned an attack on the US Embassy, the American Club and the Singapore American School. But the authorities took 4 hours to inform the public of the escape on 27 February because "there was no imminent danger to the public".

Today, there is a nationwide manhunt, with more than 1,000 police, soldiers, and elite Nepalese Gurkhas searching for him, dogs treking through the forests, posters with his famous face at every corner of Singapore, mobile phone operators send out messages with his picture, and a red alert has been issued, allowing any law enforcement officer among the international police network to arrest him on the spot.

And Deputy Assistant Commissioner Raymond Yeo, who leads the police Special Operations Command (SOC), is worried: "What is more damaging than his escape from the detention centre would be if he managed to escape out of Singapore and issued a victory statement."

Is that all we should be worried about?

Finding Passion

2008-02-20T15:54:00.001+08:00

You read about them in the newspapers and see their faces in magazines: "From Junior Executive to CEO". And you think to yourself, "Lucky bugger."

I look at the people around me...

A creative director who constantly asks, "What's next for me?"
A peer my age and already co-partner of a company handling $50,000 projects.
A friend who will be entering medical school soon - to become a neurosurgeon.
Budding doctors, corporate lawyers...the list goes on.

And then there's me.

What went wrong for me? Where's my drive to the top? Where's my passion?

I thought I had a sizzle, perhaps a little flame of desire burning inside me. I had my fair share of dreams, but then one day, it all vanished. It's like I had lost one side of my earrings, misplaced a passion somewhere, or subconsciously watered out my flame.

Autopilot.

I've come to settle for what I've got. I don't put my extra effort in, and I cruise on in life without an aim. I'm happy collecting my monthly salary, not asking for anything more. I do wonder what's next for me, but I don't do anything to change it.

I guess I'm learning, but I'm just not taking an active approach to it. I could be asking more questions, reading up on some past presentations, analysing some market figures, or just doing more. Everything is at my disposal, I have access to endless information, but here I am sitting at my desk, writing blog entries, surfing the net, checking emails and everything else except work.

Laziness.

I'm being dishonest if I try to argue I'm not. I can foresee my future. I'm just a girl in the office, carrying out my daily work routine. The clock chimes 6pm and I'm out of the door. I'm still at the same position as I was today, perhaps a $100 pay rise for staying on so long, but I'm still an executive. I'm still doing the same things, not anything more.

I tell myself I'll work harder. Just yesterday, I reminded myself to strive. If you strive, you'll be noticed, and if you slack, you'll also be noticed. At least when a job opportunity comes along or a pay rise is involved, I'd feel like I earned it. If I do not strive and sit here at my desk everyday, not making a difference to the company, I wouldn't expect any raise or promotion.

But life goes on.

It's true. Life goes on. I'll probably have a job, just not a great job. I'll be able to afford my neccessities and the occassional splurge, but nothing luxurious. I'll have a life - I'll be alive.

Stop.

Let's return to my resolve my problem, or the lack of it. Where o where can I find my passion?

Mathematics - Goodness, can I still do those sec 4 trig questions? And then what?
Architecture - Gave up on that before I even attempted it.
Advertising - Tried that and over that.
Marketing - Is it really where my passion lies? If so, shouldn't I be actively learning instead of feeling so empty?

What do they say about a person without passion?

He has "no more value than a candle without a flame or fire without light." (Chuck Gallozzi)

Thanks Chuck! That's awefully comforting!

Can a person without passion ever find passion?

"Passion can be created. Even for things you don’t currently enjoy. By tweaking the activities and pursuits you engage in, you can find a passion for anything.

All it takes is a bit of patience and an open mind." (Scott Young)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T18:31:00.003+08:00

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Shoppa-Fcuk-Aholic!!

Goodness, it's been 3 years since I've kept a blog? That's such an accomplishment!

As

suggests...

"May we grow old together!"

Family Time

2008-02-14T17:11:00.015+08:00

Over the Chinese New Year period while everyone was busy with shopping for new clothes, spring cleaning, reunion dinner preparations and so on...where have I been?

I was busy shopping for new clothes, shoes, etc - not for me, but for my family in NZ. While everyone was spring cleaning, I was busy packing my 25kg luggage + 4kg fragile luggage + 5kg handcarry packed with Chinese New Year goodies. While everyone returned to Singapore for reunion dinner, I was fleaing out of the country for my reunion dinner in NZ.

The real holiday started on Friday, 1st February. The whole time at work, my chest literally felt like it was bursting with excitment. I felt like my heart could not contain the anticipation and I actually found it hard to breath.

At 10 minutes to 6pm, I dashed out of the office and grabbed a cab home. It was 6.40pm when I arrived him, my flight was at 9.05pm, meaning I should have been at the airport around 7.05pm for check-in. I leaped into the shower and back out in 5 minutes and did my last bit of packing before speeding off to the airport, arriving at 7.15pm.

My flight to NZ was fantastic. I think the guy at the check-in counter at Singapore airport was really nice to me as both flights from Singapore to Brisbane and then Brisbane to Auckland, I had the entire row to myself.

When I arrived in NZ, my family exchanged big welcome hugs and we headed home - our new home.

The first word that came to my mouth while touring the beautiful new house - WOW.

I think I said 'WOW' about 20 times while I was showed around, from the living room, to the kitchen, to the bedrooms. I LOVED IT.

After the tour, it was presents time. We gathered in the living room and I distributed all the goodies to my family members. I'd have to say out of everything I bought them, only 1 pair of heels for my sis didn't fit.

That evening, Aunty Mary came by and we went out for Vietnamese dinner.

On Sunday after church, we left on our roadtrip. 1st stop was Rotorua. The main idea was to patronise the spa pools, but we ended up finding a motel with sizeable jacuzzi spa in our unit and we settled for that. The next morning, we headed to Matamata to visit Hobbiton...

And after the tour, we moved on to Tauranga for the night. On Tuesday, we took a detour to a lavender farm and then PANCAKES. However, pancakes were a disappointment as they must have changed management/ cook. The pancake base was thick and it wasn't as appetising as it was last time. Such a waste.

That Tuesday evening, I met my usual uni group of friends for dinner. It was nice catching up with them. We retreated to my place for more hanging out.

On Wednesday, Chinese New Year eve and also Waitangi Day in NZ (meaning it's a public holiday), we didn't go far. In the morning, we went shopping for ingredients for our steamboat, and went shopping after that. In the afternoon, we came home to prepare for our yummy yummy steamboat. Once again, we bought too many ingredients and had plenty of leftovers...

Thursday morning, we took a short drive in the morning up North to the Honey Centre, where we had delicious pies and bought honey products. Then, we did a little shopping at another new mall that has been built in Auckland, before returning home to prepare for our feast. Mum had invited 8 of her colleagues over to our place for a homecooked asian dinner. That late afternoon, Laura and I made delicious and very successful nutella cupcakes!

And mum cooked up a storm to serve her colleagues from different nationalities. We had Singaporeans (us), Philippino, South Africans, Kiwi, French, and Indians!!! We served curry chicken, marinated grilled chicken wings, mix vegetables with tofu, satay and pork balls.

On Friday morning, we went west to a black-sand beach, pitched a mini-tent and had fish and chips. Though the sand was far far too hot (especially when it's black) and the noon sun was scorching, it was a beautiful day to be out by the beach. Out of all the short trips we did this holiday, I loved this the most.

That afternoon, we came home and soaked in the nice jacuzzi in our gorgeous master-bathroom.

On Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of bed to meet dad and mum at the church's barn sale. Instead of helping around, I went for breakfast and a nice wake-up mochaccino. Then, we did more grocery shopping - I was throwing a bbq that evening with my friends.

After lunch, dad and I went to the driving range for a short while and in the evening, I busied myself with preparation for the bbq. The turnout wasn't as big as we had expected, but the boys were big eaters so we didn't end up with too much leftovers.

On Sunday after church, we had lunch at The Coffee Club (NZ version), a little bit of shopping, and lazed around at home that day.

In the evening, I met Soon Yi, my korean friend who used to teach me Korean, for dinner.

Monday came around. For lunch, we had yummy pizzas and for dinner, mongolian bbq buffet. It was a very full day! We spent the rest of the day shopping and the night packing my luggage till past midnight.

Tuesday was the last day of my holiday. In the morning, we went out to the bank to get our pins on our new cards, before rushing home to do the last bit of packing of my 27kg luggage.

By 2.30pm, I was on the plane and by 10pm, I had arrived in Singapore, greeted by my grandparents and my honey!!!

TONIGHT

2008-02-01T09:18:00.000+08:00

Tonight is the night I'm off to NZ.

I wouldn't say, "time flies coz just yesterday I was complaining it was still 3 more weeks."

The fact is, I have been counting down since 3 weeks ago and I have emails, blogs and a boyfriend to be my witness.

Nevertheless, I am glad the day is there!! I do hope I can keep awake today during work coz I'm so tired, having slept at 2am early this morning. Perhaps I'll have a good night's sleep on the plane. But then think about the movies onair?

I can't wait to see my parents, I can't wait to see my sister, I can wait to see my new house, I can't wait for New Zealand - it seems like the last time I said this was when my whole family was running away aka migrating from Singapore to NZ.

"I'll be back!"