Why I can't compete

I have no answer to that seriously, but I just fear competition. I work best through alienation, which means you put me in a corner and I just put in my best. Working WITH people to determine who's the best always jeopardize my position. Not too sure if it's the stress, but probably I thought I lost even before the race/competition starts.

Came across this little read today.

We're all running a race. 

But it isn't what you might imagine.

We don't have the same starting line.

The same distance to go. 

The same steps to take. 

Our finish lines are even in different places.

You see, my friend, we're not running on a track--

we're each running on a one-lane path.

In the Kingdom, there's no such thing as competition.

It's impossible.

Because no one else ever has or ever will run your race.

So go for it, my friend, be strong, brave, beautiful YOU all the way to the end. 

{Psst, here's a secret: You've already won.}

Funny how the phrases in blue spoke to me.

I just came back from a Cranberries concert. Few things that got me today:

1) Why would such a cool band call themselves "cranberries"?

2) The moment I said I was going to a cranberries concert, I somehow divulged my age
3) Dolores O'Riordan is 40 this year!
4) I actually remembered most of the songs from their album "No need to argue"
5) It is a MUST to stand up and jive to the music at a concert, sitting will just put you in an awkward position while you jive, it's like a half-fucked grooving.


Next up! Paramore concert. WY's favourite! It'll be a standing "seat"!

If I die young

This song has been playing incessantly on 987 recently. Somehow the lyrics caught my attention. Never before have I heard a song that specifically described death. Maybe somehow I felt connected to this song, especially the video. Somehow my interpretation was that the lady didn't die, but somehow resurrected. It's not real death, but death of a life that brings about a new beginning.

I supposed the song was inspired by Tennyson's poem, The Lady of Shalott, where the lady took a boat out after she was cursed. Before her death, she saw great things with her own eyes and not just from the mirror where she saw the sights that she weaved on her tapestry. I believed she truly lived only in that short boat ride.

When were we truly living?

I would love to have the song played on my wake =) 

Enjoy!

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song


Lord make me a rainbow, I'll shine down on my mother
She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors, oh and
Life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no
Ain't even grey, but she buries her baby

The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had, just enough time

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had, just enough time

And I'll be wearing white, when I come into your kingdom
I'm as green as the ring on my little, cold finger, I've
Never known the lovin' of a man
But it sure felt nice when he was holding my hand, there's a
Boy here in town who says he'll love me forever,
Who would have thought forever could be severed by
The sharp knife of a short life, well,
I've had, just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls
What I never did is done

A penny for my thoughts, oh no, I'll sell them for a dollar
They're worth so much more after I'm a goner
And maybe then you'll hear the words I been singin'
Funny when you're dead how people start listenin'

If I die young, bury me in satin
Lay me down on a, bed of roses
Sink me in the river, at dawn
Send me away with the words of a love song

Uh oh (uh, oh)
The ballad of a dove (uh, oh)
Go with peace and love
Gather up your tears, keep 'em in your pocket
Save them for a time when you're really gonna need them, oh

The sharp knife of a short life, well
I've had, just enough time

So put on your best boys and I'll wear my pearls 

The road less traveled

I remembered the title as an essay topic for one of my examinations during my Junior College days. I didn't even attempted that question, because I had nothing to write on that topic. This less traveled road seemed to me like a road fit for a ranger, for a challenger, for someone who is looking for something bigger in life, someone who is comfortable not fitting into social norms, mainly because their search is something which cannot be fulfilled in the material world we know today. He/she is always someone who is courageous to chase after what seemed to be impractical in life, or rather a pursue for an ideal, a state, rather than a physical outcome. I couldn't write that essay because I was a norm. I was everyone, the safer one, the rule-abiding one, and the unsure one, who thought it's best to follow the rules of society until I got things figured out.

This figuring out took a toll on me. It took my creativity, my imagination, my happiness, and even my dignity, the main basis of what made me human. I became a machine, working round the clock, just doing my best until I got things figured out.

Eventually, I didn't get anything figured out. The one thing I figured was an answer that was right in front of me. I knew I didn't like the lifestyle I was leading but I just kept on with it. It struck me strong when I looked around at the older everyones and I realized majority of them didn't get things figured out in the end. They simply followed a rite of passage that is common to everyone.

I jumped, and I made a big jump. It was then when the road less traveled made sense. In this road, you have nothing to prepare you for what's ahead. In fact, once you chose the road less traveled, it's never one single road like everyone else. It's a legion of roads, never traveled by others because it's a road made by a person who chose this path. Most of the time, these roads were never built to perfection, instead of just traveling on the road, you have to be the person to build the road just so you can travel on it.

In this road less traveled, there's no easy way out. In this journey, you need to pack the necessary - a bottle of fighting spirit, a badge of independence, the ability to take no as an answer, an attitude of nothing is impossible, an antidote for disappointments, superhuman strength, accepting that people around you would never understand what you are going through, a humility for support from others, pills for loneliness, and most importantly, a big bag of hope.

On my road, I'm constantly plagued with situations which I avoided in my entire life as an everyone. This clash between my need for order and stability, coupled with my need for freedom, created a road which constantly meanders and yet, constantly reminds you the reason you started on this journey in the first place.

Maybe, I didn't prepare myself for this road. Maybe I thought I was prepared for this road. Yet, there's never a perfect plan for the road, because if that happens, it would be a road suited for everyone. At times, this road less traveled seemed to hurt the people you loved, because of the obligation to support you on this road they were never prepared to take, hence the misunderstandings and the notion that they can never understand the emotional roller coaster you're in. At first glance, they envied the new found freedom you have, but little do they know, this freedom comes at a cost of many downwards emotional spirals that they could never experience or understand in their everyones' path.

My road is self-built, and may not be the best. This process of building, however, simply shows the unrelenting fight for an avoidance to succumb, to be like an everyone who eventually only figured out they should have spent their lives doing what they love, instead of staying safe. It is a road to fulfillment, where at the end of the travel, even if I found nothing, I'm fulfilled just at the fact that I searched.

The road less traveled is a journey with no end, it's not a guided path with a destination. Being a path less traveled, do expect a road of loneliness and independence. Pessimist you might say, but it's about acknowledging what this new road brings. To this alternative life traveler, this road may just be the beginning of  a life worth living.

Hope

Everyone needs a bit of hope once in a while, at least that's what I thought so.

I was thinking of how my savior machine comes up each time a hopeless situation presents itself to someone close, or someone loved. Perhaps that's why I kept to that machine, because somehow  it's something I feel I have to hold on dearly. This hope is like a calling, a representation to what my life could become, or becoming.

Looking back at the many things I ventured into in the past few years, and even more so after TCC - attempting to change a culture in my department back at Eurekahedge, switching to banking, jumping to fashion, diving into Leadership, slowing maneuvering my way to Coaching, and now managing Twenty2Seven. These changes represent a hope, a hope for people to believe that there could be something more in life, something real that can be achieved. In fact, my TCC journey for me was all about hope. I saw hope that night. Amazingly, this hope was awakened that night, and it was in me ever since I was a child.

I remembered wanting to be a doctor when I saw the hopeless look on my grandpa's face when my aunt was on her deathbed. I wanted to let him know I could help his loved ones, even if he can't. Grandpa had always been resilient, and that was what I admired him for. He gave me hope when he wiped away his tears and entered her room. He showed me hope even to the day he passed.

Tonight, I saw the look on the face of a great friend whom I thought would be successful one day. He said he didn't feel he could be successful. He dabbled with the choices he had on his plate, a dish of uncertainty and resignation, choosing between eating what he likes and what he thinks is good for him. The dish has been untouched for quite sometime, and doesn't look like it will be consumed anytime soon.

The look reminded me that I should keep moving, keep inspiring, keep forwarding towards my goal. That look reminded me how when one gets stuck in life, he will need hope to inspire, to let him know things can be changed, only if one believed in that hope. Sometimes I need that hope too.

The mentor might say this place is for dreamers, but a dreamer I may be, I am still a realist. Because when I dream, I make it real, and I dream other things again. The key is to translate those dreams to reality, and that makes inspiration, and cause others to dream. To me, that is hope. I wouldn't understand why else would God give people the ability to dream, and let us do nothing about it.

The only way to lead people is to show them a future: a leader is a dealer in hope. 
                -- Napoleon Bonaparte


And of course, a dealer who believes and makes his way to realize the hope. My mantra, it shall be.

Four-squared

Sudden thought of the day: Isn't it oxymoronic that when we were young, we hated parents or people asking us relentlessly where we were when now we are the people who are constantly using four square?

I wished!

Today marks the second last lesson of my Creative Writing class with Bukit View Primary School. I'm really proud to say I had a great time in class today. To be honest, I would enter the class apprehensively every time I have lessons with them. Why? Because the form teacher would be sitting at the back - marking her books, frowning here and there, looking up at me, giving a confused look etc etc. Important point was she was never smiling. I can't imagine going to work with that upset look all the time. How's that going to inspire learning? This, I will never understand.

Nonetheless, could be because the set up was good, could be because the students were just surprised to see me (last week I told them there was no lesson this week, which the staff eventually pushed forward but didn't inform the students...), or could be because my prayers were answered, (HAHA), the class was pretty spontaneous today. We threw out loads of ideas to the writing, which was what I really loved. That meant I did a great job as a trainer aka facilitator. (note: NOT TEACHER!)

Midway through the class, I heard drums and all sorts of percussion going on, and couldn't help but ask what's the commotion about. Seemed like some students were having choreographed percussion for music class! (You know where they use whatever they can find to make music, like stomp?) I was caught by surprise. The din (they were not very choreographed unfortunately) was really bad for my class, but I can't help but smile at the activities the school engaged the students in.

I looked out of the window next, and instead of the usual mass PE of just moving limps for the sake of exercising, the students were clad in guards and helmets of what looked like they were learning inline skating on feet! Boy! Was I amazed. I wished my primary school was this fun! Really felt this school was really engaging the students in a more wholesome aspect. Even made me think perhaps this is the school that I should be sending my kids to!

The teacher in class may be strict and unsmiley, but I guess they are really putting people where they should be. Fun activities with fun teachers, and solemn learning with erm...unsmiling teachers. I checked with a friend who's a teacher in another school and found out from him that different schools have different activities depending on the staff and direction of the curriculum. I'm starting to love the principal already. The head really makes a difference! And we are talking about a difference in learning, a difference in the ATTITUDE towards learning and school. That's a good thing to teach!

I feel enlightened and hopeful! (probably thought the MOE education sucked based on so many schools I went to so far, but this one's totally different!) To think I woke up at 530am this morning! Totally worth the experience!

The simplicity of satisfaction

Had a dream about grandma the other day, realised I haven't been visiting her in a long while. Somehow felt that dream was an omen after a discussion with Wenyao, and thought it was time I spend sometime with her, something I used to do when I was younger. She is the one who basically brought me up. In fact, she's like a real mother to me.

Called her and offered to buy her lunch, and she said she wanted Nasi Lemak. Went to a nearby place where it sells good Nasi Lemak only to find that it was sold out. Headed out to another market and found a stall selling Nasi Lemak. Was a little apprehensive because it was in chinese style, because she loved the small fried fish of the local cuisine and they don't sell it.

Still, bought a packet and headed down to her place. Somehow realized she has aged a lot. She's close to 90, and just passed her 87th birthday (if I remember correctly). She didn't talk as much as we used to, and I realised she had difficulty eating the fried foods that came with the Nasi Lemak. Felt a little guilty for not paying attention to her needs. It has been a year since I really spent quality time with her. Somehow my fear of separation made relationship with her an avoidance. I really loved her and that was why I was afraid to be near her.

My grandma ate the rice bit by bit. Amazingly, she finished the whole packet of rice. She commented the rice was really good and actually finished it up. Even the maid says she usually never eat much rice. I felt really satisfied she enjoyed her lunch. I guess it's the thinking where a small action like this could make her feel joyful about a normal lunch. The memory of her eating that meal was etched in my mind. I felt contented just looking at her enjoying a simple meal.

I guess it's the simplicity of life where the joy begins.

Jessie J - Who You Are

Met up with Zhangyi for dinner after so many months. It's funny because in the beginning we were just chatting about what we have been up to. I felt a little awkward initially because we haven't seen each other for so so long, unlike last year, where I see him almost every day.

At one moment, he turned and just blatantly declared that he really missed me. I was almost moved to tears. Don't get me wrong, it's not the love you are thinking about. Rather, it's sort of a brotherly-sisterly love, a pact that can only be formed while working with him constantly in LP. Hah. It was funny, and I told him it actually sounded like him declaring his love for me. We laughed about it after and I realised he's not the only one I missed dearly but I miss the entire wave too. Such a family, nowhere to be found. At the BBQ last Sunday, Emma was just declaring that we are a family and that we have to share things together. Hah. That statement resonated in me. I wonder if we were a real family related by blood, how would the hierarchy looked like. That would have been one hell of a family.

We caught up with what we were doing, and had a little chat about our LP journey, about how some of us are struggling and yet not giving up. We talked about books and learnings about our own journey after LP. It was nice yet nostalgic. Gave me a little more energy and knowledge.

On the way home a song was playing in my iphone. It's funny how God speaks to you in so many different ways. I've listened to this song for so many times, and never a time like this, it resonated so much. Pretty much about what Zhangyi and I talked about, and about how I'm personally feeling and going through right now.

Jessie J sang this at the subway station. Amazing voice she has. Even amazing lyrics.

Don't lose who you are in the blur of the stars.
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing,
It's okay not to be okay.
Sometimes it's hard to follow your heart.
Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising,
Just be true to who you are.

Enjoy =)

Poet with the cutsey bob

Finally started a blog with my poems. Realized I wrote quite a bit over the years in my first ever moleskin notebook. Shall post them up one by one.

Introducing poet with the cutesy bob at rattlematter.blogspot.com.Visit the site to tease some brain cells. (Sometimes I write in circles!) (To Emma, BOB does not mean Bobina, it means my hairdo! I wrote that phrase in one of my earlier poems too! Seems like I have a affinity with BOB already. Heh.)

Finally completed uploading the pictures for the online shop. The rest is up to Dickson to handle. Can't wait!

My business is getting worse! (-_-''') Lowest ever, and I better make it well. I NEED SOME IDEAS!

Secretly, I think Nic is worried. He's asking to meet to view the samples! As the mentor, I think he is more urgent than me. Appreciate that though =))

Woot!

I changed my blogskin! Been sometime since I figured out the settings of blogger and realized they have loads of new functions.

I read through my entire blog yesterday. Pretty much summed up my entire life in 3 hours. I realized there were many mentions of me wanting to go back to being young. It's weird because I think I did inquire about consciousness ever since I started writing. Amazing.

Anywayz, found a white hair this morning! It just sprang out of nowhere while I was blow-drying my hair. Maybe it's a hint to acknowledge that I am indeed getting older, and that I should simply embrace what I have now and what I might be having in the near future. =) Who says future can't be better than the past? Look forward!

Had to submit some baby photos for the upcoming Nation Pride event, a collaboration where all local designers submit a tee shirt design for our dear young nation. I scouted out so many photographs. Hah. I must admit, I'm really ugly as a kid. Freaking ugly. My parents were not even joking when they said they thought they took the wrong kid home. Where did the comparison come from? From my brother! He's dashing! So people do wonder you know.

Thank God, he kept working on my face after my birth! Hah. See the changes below!

See this baby? It's me! I was shocked when I saw this. But the resemblance is uncanny. Hah!

Can you recognize the downward bending lips? Realized I didn't have much hair when I was younger. See! Someone is still working on me!

I knew I was a prodigy. My dad said I was playing Beethoven's Fur Elise when this picture was taken.

Growing up! The cuteness is starting to show... Phew!

My favourite series. The favourite pics are all in this attire. See the hair then, and now? Great fashion sense start young, no wonder I'm attracted to this photo.

Needless to say, just one word. Cute!

Was so tempted to give this photo for Nation Pride. See the symbolic Merlion behind. A pity my face can't be seen properly. I'm in white and pink again.

Loved this pic, so ugly but adorable.

Check out the hair! I remembered this hairstyle! It was a horrifying time.

Take a second look at this! You'll never see Zee so confident in a swimsuit. Hah. Yet, the  geeky hair remains.

I'm in my Kindergarten uniform. Here's my cousin Zheng Kuang. My daily companion when I grew up!

I remember this! I was K2! My hair was so short that I cried when this style was cut. I even took the initiative to wear a hat to hide the hair. I'm out with a bunch of school kids from the kindergarten my aunt owned. Guess which one I am. Very easy. Choose the cutest one.

In primary school! Finally the eyes are enlarging!

Primary 2! At my aunt's other day care centre. I loved the top. It had a sexy back! Hahahaha. The longest hair I ever grown btw. With my cousin, the girl who's the model for Twenty2Seven's online shop.

Went back to the ugly hair after. Used a hood to cover it. Muhahahaha. Check out my mum's outfit. Maybe can inspire the next collection. =)

And finally!

A picture taken during a family vacation when I was 12 years old. Check out the Supermodel stare!

So here it goes. All the pictures I rummaged. A walk down memory lane. Could feel my parents' nostalgia as I flip them through. But well, it's up to me to make the life of the girls in these pictures fantastic!

Hello Planeteers!

This is a post to welcome the planteers sisters! I don't believe anyone else is reading this so it's ok to post this message.

Yes, you are on the right blog. Nice layout eh? Haven't changed it since donkey years.

Take a tour and have a look, put this blog as a favourite link, because it is coming alive!

Muacks,
Zee

Beautiful me!

Initially wanted to post this on Twenty2Seven's blog, but thought it was too personal. Hahaha.

Twenty2seven will be releasing a new dress at the end of May just for the Great Singapore Sale. This GSS special is limited in quantity and I'm super excited to have it on our racks! There have been different views on the dress, but still, I think it's nicely done, and hopefully our customers feel so too!

Got the sample done up last week and was sashaying with it while doing the fit, when I stood on the weighing machine. I have been procrastinating weighing myself ever since god knows when. And that began an interesting conversation between WY and I.

Zee: Oh gross, I'm 54KG.
WY: Is that good or bad?
Zee: What do you think?
WY: Seems light, I'm 20KG heavier.
Zee: Let's just put it this way. I'm 54KG 6 months into our marriage, I was 51KG when I married you, and 32KG when I met you!

That realization struck me deep! (with respect to how much weight I gained!!!) And the funny thing is, WY still saw me as the 15 year old I was ever since we knew we had feelings for each other. So mushy I know, but yet, rather endearing. Hahahaha. And that was perhaps why I didn't feel motivated to change myself, because I'm OK with who I am, and the important person in my life is perfectly OK with how I look!

Haa,and that is what is meant by Selena Gomez's "I'm no Beauty Queen, I'm just Beautiful Me"!

52nd week to the 1st week!

So what have I done between this period! Here's the update!

30 Dec - I woke up late! And gathered myself within 20 mins and headed down to Raffles Place (in a cab!) to meet ex-colleagues from Eurekahedge for lunch. Was really glad the turnout was great. There were like 8 including me, and that's like 3/4 of the team. Haha. Anyway, it was a farewell lunch for Sofie as well. The ladies are gonna miss her. She's so vibrant and fun and the best part, she's a super responsible employee, and people like to work with her. Well, new pastures bring new opportunities!

Headed down to Chinatown to collect my clothes and the auntie forgot to alter it. And the lady was telling me the date isn't due, it was to be on the 30th. I was like today is the 30th. Hello!!! (-_-''') Made me come down all the way!

Met with Daji who helped me carry all the stuff from Bukit Batok to Senja! Lucky he was around, so many things to take. The moment we got there, started cleaning up. Sihui and Guobin helped as well. It was hilarious to see them clean, they were shouting like dunno what. It's the way they work. Funny.

Walked all the way down to BPP to get the rest of the stuff. Poor Daji carried so many bottles of drinks and I felt so paiseh after. The weight of the drinks is OK, it's the stretching of the plastic bags on the palms that's hurting. THANK YOU DAJI! Decorated the place and met SC, ZM at IMM, for last min ideas quenching. The meet up was good. By the time I got home, I was feeling pukish, and I thought I had a long day, who's to know it was trying to tell me everything would go wrong!

31 Dec - Woke up and started calling people who could help with the aircon. Sihui called the previous night/morning and said that the aircon is not working at all! I quickly dialed a few people and requested for speedy maintenance. Managed to find one and the appointment was fixed at 3pm. Went to Raffles City to do my last minute beautifying brows routine, and because I got up late, I took a cab again! This time the uncle took me such a big round I had to pay 4 bucks more! Was feeling a little queasy cos my auntie visited, you know the time of the month! Went to Ikea next and got the last minute stuff. Took a cab back to Senja because I was carrying so many things! Realised there's a short cut to go back.

Once I got back, started buying the ice-cream and the games stuff from the NTUC near the new house. Came back and I realised I'd forgotten to get toilet paper and went down a second round to get it. Then Alex called and said he wasn't coming, which was 2 persons down at the last minute for a buffet already paid. Next time I shall collect the money first! Then when the repairmen came, they confirmed that the aircon couldn't be fix today because the compressor was spoilt. You know the gadget that changes the normal air into chilled air. And even if they were to fix it, like the next day, I had to pay SGD650! OMG. It's an old aircon... I was so upset because 20 plus people would be disastrous in a non-aircon environment. Added to that, I'm not too sure why the house is so dusty even though I cleaned it upteen times! Called my parents and asked for help and thank goodness they came with 2 vintage fans (they said vintage goes with retro..haha) and the place was a little cooler. And guess what.. my retro gear was long sleeved. Peng.

Well all in all, whatever suay thing that happened got fixed. So it wasn't that bad after all. And how was the party?! Party was fantastic!!! Lots of people said they had fun and I'm really really glad. Shall post the pics the next time! The day ended at 4am the next day for me, after Sihui puked all over and the rest are talking jibberish and half-drunk. Man.. it was a funny start to the year.

1 Jan - Brother's birthday! Woke up early and went with family and Gin to JPot at Vivo for his birthday lunch. The meal was not too bad but came back and I diarrhea-ed everything. Sad. Rest of the day was spent watching shows and talking to WY. Hahaha. Very quiet and boring New Year.

2 Jan - Went tennis with DX early in the morning. And I only slept like a few hours I think. Tennis session was rather short cos we were late. Haha. Had prata for breakfast at IMM before heading back home to rest. I met Daji, DX and SC for guitar hero at Senja after. The main point was to collect our stuff back and we ended up playing and SC decided to leave the stuff there. Hah. We played from like 330pm to 9pm then headed out for dinner! Wanted to get the Beatles game so we headed to Clementi, end up there was no stock. Had dinner at Ke3 Ai4 Ji1. The place where they sell chicken chop and all. How I missed it! Used to eat it so much back in NUS. After yakking for like almost 2 hours, (and realising DX's fav toy was an AK47 back when she was in kindergarten..haha), SC suggested we KTV and so we did! Reached home at 4am! Long day of fun!

3 Jan - This was tv day. I woke up at like 12pm and started watching shows all the way! OMG. Watched Hotel for Dogs, Wild Child, All About Steve and The Ugly Truth. OMG.. movie buff. I didn't do anything except watch. But it was good....

4 Jan - This is the day of many things! Wanted to run in the morning and it rained. So running was out as yet! I changed the bedsheets, washed the bedsheets, did a load of laundry, cleaned the room and revised 2 lessons of japanese! After that, I went for a jog of 11km! Didn't expect to run this far but I did! It was drizzling when I started, but I didn't want to stop because of the rain. The drizzle was manageable so I kept running. I started the run from Bukit Batok Road and met Daji at the junction of Brickland Road. So went down and up that road, and ran past my granny's then to Daji's place. Original plan was to stop there but I continued on my own after bidding farewell with Daji. Told myself if I finished running all the way back home I'll get the job at the fashion place and guess what! I ran home and checked my email and there was the coordinator telling me about the updates! She even mentioned I had to start some trainings in NUS and the starting date for work is tentatively next week. I do hope this is true though. And I had a piece of work from the designer - to do up a press release and which I did and completed and sent through. I hope it's good enough though. Well, it's been a day of ALOT OF HARD WORK! And I shall rest by watching a movie. Hahahaha.

So it's 346am on a Wednesday morning...

and I decided to blog what I had missed! Been sleeping LP timing (6am this morning for yesterday's sleep) but sleeping 8 hours (not so LP-encouraged)! Reason I slept so late yesterday was because I wanted to complete this photo album which I was doing for the wedding in September. I wanted to make it into a professional album, and thought the masterpiece was out at 6am in the morning of Tuesday, but turned out, I needed to do more edits! And thus, I am still awake till now. Want to make sure everything is OK before I zip it to WY for his comments. The Zipping takes forever! And in the midst, I'm just doing some deco stuff for the NYE Countdown RETRO Party this THURSDAY!

So to update...

27 Dec, Sun - The day was spent watching some shows! I'm so thankful for PPLive! So many shows it's amazing. And the streaming is so damn fast. Only downside is that you can only search in chinese characters, but that's easy really. Just google-CN-ed for it. Anyway, I caught G Force while doing my uRobic! The guinea pigs are sooooo cute! Met Yuyin for dinner at Don's for some sinful Crab Bee Hoon. Nice, and I really missed it so much! Sihui and Guobin joined us as well. Had the Koi Bubble tea, this time tried the passion fruit flavor, not bad. And brought Lim Chee Guan's Bak Kwa! Reminds me of WY everytime. He loves it so much. Well, buy for my dad. He loves to munch while watching teevo. Will be many months before I see YY next. She's heading back home to Malacca then KL to work. She's such a great friend and I will miss her so much! Can't wait to visit her too!

28 Dec, Mon - Met Gin for a movie at JP. Yup, chipmunks her favourite. We got there like 45 mins early and was told they only had single tickets, with front row seats! So I sat on first row, and Gin, directly behind me on the second. Lucky the distance was still endurable. The show, like all chipmunks show, is OK. But I thought the first episode was slightly better. The Squeakuel was of course, as expected, with lots of squeaking.

Met Andrew and passed him the Symbols book at Bt Gombak MRT after. WY was so embarrassed to lend the book to him because he included some sweet nothings (Oh...) on the first page before sending it back to me to read. And the sweet nothings included spoilers too, which sort of don't make it a priority now. Haha. Anyway, so sweet of him. =*

Went to Granny's house after and went for a run. Been a month since I last ran and was a little stretched after the 4km run. I should seriously run more. Been eyeing this nike chip thing, shall consider it after I've chalked up my miles. If not, a waste of money. Had dinner at Granny's and heard her complain for about 1.5 hrs non-stop. Hai, sometimes I really wonder what's the best solution for her. After hearing what my aunt said, I guess they are in the process of making some arrangements again. It's really hard to manage when understandings cannot be achieved. Well, well.. maybe she just needed someone to listen, or maybe she should just honestly say what she feels. I think she's holding back and at the same time assuming people would just know how she feels. Isn't this the same with everyone around, regardless of age. We are often holding back what we feel because we do not want to look bad by voicing out, but at the same time, we hope people will just get it, because you get it. It's funny isn't it. Who's the best person to understand? You of course. How can you expect another person who is not you to wholly understand what you feel or do? Maybe in some situations, but definitely not all. And it's in these loopholes that the person with the expectations get discouraged. Weird world. It's all one big circle. Alright.. I digressed.

And this is the day I was busying myself with the photoalbum making program from just1book.com.sg and slept at 6am on Tuesday while making the wedding album! (I completed and I'm so proud of myself!) WY and I officially have a new hobby! But we'll keep it to one album per year. Hah.

29 Dec, Tue - And I woke up at 1pm! Scary. Had to call Soon to update him and was so embarrassed when he exclaimed that I just woke up. Wait! What do I have to be embarrassed about???!!! Anyway, he set some homework for me to do which is 80% completed. Met with SC, Daji and Zm for costume shopping after. Ate at Benten at Iluma and they have these huge mugs of ice-cream. Shall go try it when WY comes back! Not too sure if he can finish the SGD38.80 sundae!

Walked around Bugis street for costumes for the guys. Realised their stuff are damn cheap and styles are rather up to date. In the next year of diminishing income, I shall shop there instead! Daji shopped! He shopped so much he wanted to incorporate more gear! I always thought he was joking when he said he liked pink. And guess what, he LOVES pink. Hah. He will be wearing a super loud costume that day! Shall take pics and upload!

So now it's 411am and I've finished sending all the stuff and the required for today. So I shall go and let my body take a rest. I hope the fat will dissipate during the sleep too. Haha.

Fast week!

It has been a long and fast week! I spent so much time outside I don't remember coming home early. Hah.

21 Dec - Woke up with a super backache! (What a way to start the week, and it is still pain! I don't understand how the comfortable bed can do that??) Went amore for a massage and like all days when I go, they tried to psycho me again. This time, a better deal, but still, no $$$ already. Went to do some grocery shopping for WY, this time bought snacks, and I bought quite abit. Haha. Then went to his place for the soup that his mum cooked, which was supposed to warm my "ah hem". Nice of his mum to do that, but I had to finish an entire pot of soup. It's a little too much. Met JX for dinner at West Mall's KFC. Had the black pepper chicken! So nice!!!! Spicy and good! Lucky don't taste like black pepper at all. Highly recommended! Want to try it again though, but yesterday ZM said he tried it and had diarrhea. Funny.

22 Dec - 冬至today! (Think I got the chinese character wrong, but it sounds the same can liao). And I didn't have any 汤圆! So sad. The MCW assisting finished so early today, but when I came back, my parents were asleep already. So it's another year of no 汤圆. Come to think of it, how many years have I not eat 汤圆 already?! I haven't grow!!! No wonder always look so young. Hahaha. I bought this enormous box of roundtree candies from NTUC today, and was so hooked to it that I was distracted during assisting! Bad! But the candies are nice. Haha. But think I should refrain from getting it. I munch on it non-stop! And candies make my sugar level go haywire. Wouldn't want an episode of hunger fainting again. Had the kidney soup at Bt Merah Hawker Centre again! So unhealthy and sinful!!! (Some of you might really find it yucky, haha)

23 Dec - Ran quite abit of errands before meeting possum today! Finally returned the library book, which I totally forgot! Went to Chinatown to alter my clothes, and met Possum (on time!) at Orchard MRT! We went for our High Tea Tai Tai session at Royal Coppenhagen. Hahaha. Ordered so much that we couldn't finish! The christmas set was quite good, just that the pasta is a little je lat. Shopped a little with Possum and got a gift for Yuqin's MCW Graduation Party later, which the theme was black. (And I'm glad the only pic of me that ppl posted in FB looked nice. It's always scary when ppl just post and tag. Hai. And worse, it's always pics that looked really tired and forlorn.) Party was OK but the food was fantastic! Kelvin Yeo got this mee goreng from dunno where and it was so good I had double portions! Yuqin drove me to her place after and collected my Christmas present from WY. A precious moment gift! Limited edition too! 5000 worldwide.

Nice right... =D
I took the car next and drove Gin back to my home. Baking for tomorrow and we want to have an early start! And guess what, I went to have a car wash and it rained the next morning! Bummer!

24 Dec - The eve!!! Headed very early to the NTUC at JP and got the grocery for baking. Had KFC breakfast before that, not too fantastic. Decided to return the car back to WY's sis, cos I realised the parking is gonna cost, and I have no idea how to drive to Jeanette's party! This time we baked brownie, with the recipe provided by Aunt Sharon, and the cookie recipe I found on the web. I really wanted to personalised the cookies with the names of the people attending the party, ended up the first batch was badly burnt and the icing didn't look that nice after all. So it was just cookies with chocolate piping. But the reviews were great! Plus, our brownie was fantastic too! Hahaha. Jeanette's sis started this new business where she sold glamorous dresses, and I had a chance to try a few. So nice! But no occasion to wear also. Shall go find an occasion to wear. Hahaha. We had some fun playing rabids on Wii and taboo. Quite a good time spending christmas eve. And guess what, Qijia gave me the Billy Joel's CD. Hahahaha. All thanks to WY =*

25 Dec - Christmas day! But today was different, cos WY is not here. It's our 9th Anniversary too. Wah, it's been a long time! Went IMM with my parents for chicken rice, bought quite abit of hair products. Haha. Then met Sihui at Vivo for dinner at Jpot! Nice. The ingredients are so much fresher than Xian De Lai, but somehow the feeling is different. Not as warm. Got my presents, the BLP books I had to read for the next 3 months. =X and Sihui said my birthday present would be the further 3 books for the next next 3 months. Peng. Had fun shopping around! Bought YY's gift too - some mask where you can do up to the chin! I got some for myself too. And bought this ultra big Eeyore from Mini Toons! So cheap SGD29.90! Msged if WY could get it for me and he said OK! (Anyway I got the toy even before he said OK...haha, but at least someone buys a soft toy for you. It's a little weird to buy for yourself! Ok.. other than Yao Zai) Bought some lingerie too, so spent a bomb! Oops. It is entirely a spending christmas!

26 Dec - Met YY & ZM for lunch at Sushi Tei @ Taka! Realised I've been ordering a lot of food lately. Oh wait, I don't mean just ordering, eating as well. Tsk Tsk. Then we walked around and shopped for some stuff. YY prefers to shop in SG than Malaysia, she says more stuff. Been about 3 months since she's left Singapore. Hope she comes back soon! Supposed to head to a BBQ that was organized by Doris & Huifen, ended up Doris said it's raining heavily and the BBQ was cancelled, and so we made other plans. Then about 2 hrs later, she msged and said BBQ to proceed, and we sort of rejected, cos was already planning to watch a (horrible) movie. Went Bugis and looked for stuff for the party. YY wanted to get a mask for her company's D&D, and I was basically just looking around. Ended up, like usual, only I got stuff. Bad! Got a wig for the retro party! Which is so damn cool I shall not divulge until the pics come out! We went for the fish steamboat and headed for movie with ZM after, who joined us after meeting his friends, also at Bugis. And the movie sucked BIG TIME! No PLOT! At all! We were still trying to figure out what was really happening. It's like they took solo shots here and there and sort of trash them all together and call it a movie! CHEAP!!! Not good. And what's the movie? It stars one of my favourite singer (which is OK btw) and a supermodel from Taiwan, something about a treasure hunt. OMG.. the supermodel act like in advertisement like that. I was laughing at some parts, and literally rolling my eyes at the other parts. So was the same for ZM and YY. SO DON'T WATCH!

So now it's Sunday! And I have no plans, and I'm still waiting for plans to come up. Haha. Shall see.

The procrastinating weeks!

This is bad, it doesn't mean I have been procrastinating doing things for these past 3 weeks..but well, maybe a little procrastination. But, I was really lagging on updating the blog, which I've set out to update daily. So I shall sum them all up in a gist!

2 Dec - Went to the afternoon jap class. Rather weird, cos the whole class were women! Which I later reckoned to be Tai Tais. Only there are free enough for afternoon class. Haha. And WY said I was training to be a Tai Tai. Which perhaps I just might! Met DX for dinner after, went Ootoya again. This time we didn't order this much!

3 Dec - Watched Mulan that day with my parents. The show that made me cried so much! Gross. I was seriously crying alot. The show was OK, but somehow I cried...ALOT! Came back and started doing WY's present, of which I spent close to 9 hrs with my bum on the hard floor. Seriously hard work! And I'm glad he received it and loved it as much as I do! Oh! And Daddy got me this electric candle light burner. He said I would find it useful since I sleep with night light! So nice!

4 Dec - Think I did nothing much for this day. Headed down for the POS Creation meeting, and before that supposed to go for the MCW Meeting and I didn't turn up! Anyway, had a nice supper with Sihui @ Thai Express after, and we headed to Club Chinois @ Clark Quay for drinks after. It was a long night!

5 Dec - Cousin Andrew's Wedding! Woke up at 730am and headed for his place after. He only held a church wedding, but it was the most touching wedding I went. It was sweet and especially tearful when Andrew said his thanks to his dad (my uncle in law) who had been waiting for him to get married. And his dad was only recently discharged from the hospital from a 3rd stroke I think! And all went well, thanks to God Almighty, that Uncle in law had the health to attend his son's wedding! I swore everyone in the church cried! Headed down for curry party at SC. Well, it was only a party of 4, and the curry was good! Serving was super huge. Haha. Had some guitar hero session, and this is the earliest it ended! 11pm. WOW.

6 Dec - JX came to view the new house today. Diana came along too. Had a good discussion about how the house is gonna be like, and I'm so excited to view the mood pics, which I presume will come out in Feb! Went to WY's place and dump his presents, the grocery he wanted (and it includes RICE! Yes 5kg of RICE and I lugged it to his place along with many other things!) Met PF @ Bukit Panjang Plaza and had some dinner and damn good follow up!

7 Dec - I don't remember what I did today. But I did something!

8 Dec - Watched Beauty & the Beast with DX!!! First time watching theatre without WY. It was quite a kiddy production I think, but well, not too bad!

9 Dec - This was a bz day! Met Doris for lunch at Raffles Place, had a good time catching up! Had a not so nice Vietnamese lunch and then I'm off to Chinatown for the auntie that alter my clothes! Collected my clothes and headed down to Vivo to get some stuff. Walked around (and of course shopped!) for about 2 hrs before heading down to JOO CHIAT for MCW assisting! I can't believe it's Joo Chiat and I made my way down myself! For the first time!!! Haha. And guess what.. the assisting ended at 3am!!! Luckily Shihua drove me back after. Nice!

10 Dec - Met Gin early in the morn and set out for Orchard. It was quite a fun and unexpected day. Unexpected in the sense it was funner than usual. Haha. Went Taka and had lunch at KFC, went Cold Storage and shopped for some Meiji choc stuff (for Gin!) Valene met us after and we started towards 313@Somerset for the Uniqlo sale! Then after we went UrbanWrite and got some really great scrapbooking stuff! Not too many varieties but the stuff's cheaper! Had starbucks before Valene met Nathan for movie and Gin and I headed down to Wisma to shop abit before going down IKEA! And it was a super long day, and super stressing on the pockets!

11 Dec - Went for POS helpout and it lasted the whole entire day! Took the bus to Henderson on my own!!! Hahahaha. Now I know how to get there on my own by public transport! Erm.. besides the cab.

12 Dec - Visited Cui's house today!! So nicely done. And saw XiuXiu! The dog is simply so nice. She has that sad doled eye which made it so irresistible! Going to her house was a little out of the blue. Initially, I was asking directions to go to Ryan's house (which is located at Buangkok) and was asking Cui if there was any bus that goes that. And she said her new place is just next to the condo Ryan is staying so I went up to have a look! Went to Ryan's place for the TCC BBQ and the turnout was like only 6 of us - Ryan, Ava, Ava's Sis (who has freaking long legs btw), Lorraine, Lorraine's husband and Zee (which is me btw). But it was great catching up! Had a peek at Ryan's place and it was immaculate! I really mean immaculate, and this was freaking me out. This guy is so NEAT!

13 Dec - Went church for the first time in many months! Realised the old church changed alot! Headed down to the Akira Sale with Gin and got this hand held blender at a cheap price of SGD19.90. Hah!Met up with my SAJC Classmates (for the first time in many years!) @ taka in the evening. Decided to drive there, and I was glad I did! (My parents left for Genting and I pretty much had the car to myself for the next few days!!!) There were only about 10 people there, and finally all of them left except for Zhichao, Junjie and John. People whom I was really close to when I was in JC. Drove Zhichao and John home and had a really good chat with Zhichao as he was the last to drop off. It was really nice! This lockermate of mine never fail to make conversation great!

14 Dec - Drove to Citihall and had lunch with Brandon! He saw me and exclaimed I look younger! (Doris mentioned that when I met her too btw..hehehe) He said he should quit his job and I looked radiant. HOHOHOHO. Anyway, had a good lunch with him at Soup Spoon. He finally tried something else other than Tokyo Stew. Haha. Then I shopped for the ingredients for the cake before heading down to Granny place to bake! The cake was horrible!!!! Somehow it just didn't cooked properly. Was so upset. Lucky we baked pineapple cookies as well. Headed down to meet Chee Hoe to clear up some stuff about BLP and got him some cookies (which were mainly baked by Gin). Haha, tasted good actually. I initially thought the day was bad because of my spoilt cake, but guess what, not too bad after all!

15 Dec - Decided to try to bake the cake again! This time met Gin and head for Orchard to buy some Christmas stuff before heading back to her home to bake. We concluded the cake from the day before was spoilt because of the oven at my granny's house. Guess what, this time the cake was fantastic!!!! HAHAHA. I'm so proud of myself! Had dinner cooked by Gin's dad (my uncle) and it was great! So nice to have a stay home dad (who can cook! I must emphasize this!)

16 Dec - Went IKEA with my family and had lunch over there. Had the chicken curry that I liked but somehow it tasted a little different. Meaning not as nice. Hah. Met PF for a short dinner. First time heading down to Bt Merah Hawker Centre and the food is really not bad! Assisted for MCW after and lasted a little earlier than previous. Hah.

17 Dec - Went for Mani Pedi in the morning and colored my nails purplish blue! Then met Zhiyuan for a quick lunch before meeting my parents for Bodyguards & Assassins (the movie). The show is a little slow, but so many great casts! Met my mom's maternal family for dinner at Sakura @ Jurong Stadium after. It was to celebrate Uncle Jack's birthday so he treated. He's going Las Vegas for holiday with his wife tomorrow! So nostalgic. I wanna go back too!!!! Went to do some Christmas Deco assisting that night and had super late supper with PF and Huimin. And PF was dozing off at the table. Haha.

18 Dec - Went shopping with my mom!!! Got some clothes from G2000. They have some sale or something. Went for some sure-win lucky dip and I got 5 audio technical earphones out of 9. Peng. Anyway heard they were pretty cheap (my bro checked it's like 20 bucks each!) and I had wanted to win the TV for the new house. HAHAHA. Bought this super red laptop bag too. It's really red! Went for BLP briefing after and went back home to zzz. I'm so proud I've been driving alot!!! And my Dad's Camry. Haha.

19 Dec - Went for Jap class. It's the final jap class for the part 2 of part 1 beginners' level. And I'm so disappointed with myself that I don't seem to learn alot. I haven't been revising and shall use these next 2 weeks to catch up before the next lesson starts! Met with DX and walked around Bugis the whole day after that! Shopped for the party stuff and I got this slinky blue glamorous dress which will showcase my tummy (HAI!) and this retro lighting which is so 70s show. Hahaha. I'm so excited about it!

20 Dec - Christmas party at Granny's! And the food was fantastic! The present I got from the exchange was Loccitane. This is the good part. The bad part is, the product is for men. =( Gin, Vivienne, Sheann (all my cousins) and my uncle in law Say Heng joined me for Avatar after. Before that we had our share of quirky new prints which are so much cheaper than the ones I took with Gin before! 4 bucks cheaper!!! Avatar was good!!! The graphics was fantastic! I don't think the tv screen will get that much hype you know. The only downside, my bum was hurting. Haha.

And here I am typing down what I did for about 20 days! So much procrastination. This coming week will be different as well. And I'm rather excited about it! 5 days more to 9th year anniversary! And I can't wait for the surprises!!!!

Vietnam Part 2

27 Nov (Day 3) - This day was spent mostly on the coach, which isn't too bad. I had my fair bit of sleep in Vietnam, although a little too much. Hah. First destination was a 3-hr drive away from Ho Chi Minh City! We went to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a strategic fort used by the Viet Cong Guerillas during the Vietnam War. We tried getting into the tunnels ourselves and the amazing part is, the tunnels have already been expanded so tourists could fit in. Before that, they were really really tiny. It's crazy that the Viet Congs were really people with slim built, plus food was scarce during that time and they had to fight! The tunnels were a little claustrophoby though. Not for the faint hearted. You could only see the person's ass in front of you if you brought a torch along, and you have to duck walk all the time throughout.

We had lunch at this nice garden after, where there were lots of soon-to-be newly weds taking pictures. It's crazy. It's like there are so many people getting married and the garden was filled with photo-taking brides and grooms. Guess this is the only place nice for taking pictures. Hah. Looks like chinese garden really, nothing fantastic.

We proceeded on another long journey to Vung Tau after, a coastal fishing village which is really nice. At least the miserable traffic was a plus point. Hah. We were driven in trishaws and had a mini tour around the area. The guide got us to a fruit stall and we got some longans and they were fantastic. Quite a recommended place to go. I think the best part of the trip was here. Sort of reminded me a little of Kending in Taiwan. Had some seafood dinner (tiny seafood) and headed for a night market, which erm.. is not really any market. It's quite dead..

Headed to our hotel after, and it was a horrible hotel! We thought the one in the city was not too good but this was worse. Well anyway, just for one nite. At least there's cable tv. Hah.

28 Nov (Day 4) - Woke up at 530am and headed down to the beach (right across the hotel) and watched the sunrise. There were quite a bit of people at the beach and was a really peaceful morning. The only regret - in the midst of rushing down for the sunrise, I forgot to bring the camera. The air was cold and the sand was really fine. Walked into the water and I just remembered the times I had in Santa Monica, carefree and nice. Really want to go back to LA. =) *hint hint*

We had a quick breakfast and went to Jesus Monument Mountain, which is at close proximity to the hotel. This is the best part of the trip! At least I get to exercise a bit plus I get to see a really great view from the top of the mountain! (a hill actually) haha. It was really amazing! Recommended place to go. I was perspiring when I reached the top, but it was quite an achievement and I enjoyed every minute of it. Next we headed to a guanyin temple, a summer palace of the previous emperor, which surprisingly looked a little lacklustre, and a whale temple where there were carcasses of whales!!!

We check back to the hotel to collect our belongings and headed for lunch, and thereafter, towards the city. Went to a furniture shop (boring!) and then to the "Orchard Road" of Ho Chi Minh, where we saw a parliament house turned theatre, the Ho Chi Minh monument. We went to the night market as well where I supposedly tried the best spring roll in Ho Chi Minh. Had pho as well.. not bad. Lastly, headed for dinner and the funny thing was, there is this company dinner at the restaurant we were eating and the employees were singing! Including the boss! They kind of went up and sang along. Haha. Vietnamese can really sing!!! We had our share of laughter. Not too bad to end the trip.

29 Nov (Day 5) - Had breakfast and we headed to the airport. I didn't realised this when I touch down but the airport looks really clean and slate. And it's really quite nice it's architecture. So, will I go there Vietnam again? I should think not, but well.. hard to say.

Vietnam Part 1

I've always had a dislike for packaged tours mainly because I'm a free person. I don't like to be controlled unless there's a need. And when fun and travel comes in, it's definitely not good to be restricted in my opinion. But, since it's a family trip, it would really be better with a packaged tour. So no squabbling and arguing where to go you see. Everything is fixed by someone else. Hah!

25 Nov (Day 1) - A maxi cab came for us for departure at Budget terminal. It was the first time I'm there and it's really budget. Kind of like the feeling of walking down the strip directly. Haha. What I'm apprehensive was, smaller planes tend to jerk harder in times of turbulence, but I'm REALLY GLAD that Tiger Airways had really good pilots. The pilot is hilarious the way he made his introduction. Somehow it made me relaxed a little. I've always had this fear about flight ever since the trip to Taiwan on China Airlines when the plane dropped for that few seconds! Gross.

Reached Ho Chi Minh at about 5pm their time. The sky was getting dark already. Time is 1 hr behind Singapore's. The streets were full of motorbikes. It's really scary. I don't think I would ever dare to cross the street alone because it is just not possible. To cross the road, think people actually biked it across! No one heeds the traffic lights, and they just squirm in and out as they like and sometimes against traffic too! Amazing. With that amount of traffic, of course it's polluted!

We were taken to a water puppet show, which was in Vietnamese. I was almost dozing off. Didn't think it was interesting enough to capture my attention but the concept was interesting in a sense. Puppets playing on water. Not an easy task.

Our dinner was on board a ship and there were vietnamese singing cantonese, chinese, korean songs. I guess the ship is more for tourists. I must say koreans are very enthu people. They danced and sing along and it was hilarious. Had the first of authentic vietnamese food. Not too bad except there's alot of friend stuff and I really didn't expect to see the snort and ears of the suckling pig presented to us for consumption. (Usually restaurants will remove them and just leave the meat around the body area.) The singers were constantly looking for guests to join them in the singing. Gin was asking me what song they were singing so I explained to her by singing along. Imagine my horror when the singer started advancing towards me. I quickly turned away. Gross. We finished our dinner and was waiting to head back to the coach and guess what, the ship started moving!! So we were kind of stuck with the crooning...

26 Nov (Day 2) - First destination was some temple. Then we took on a long drive to Mekong Delta. First we took a bigger boat in a group to a little island, where we were shown how coconut candies were made. Interesting. The people were fast! Then they try to psycho us to buy some tea which tasted weird in my opinion. We walked down the little street with makeshift stalls and I got a nice hot pink hammock. Hopefully can integrate into my new home! We were treated to fruits and I realised Vietnamese loves salt! And salt goes with everything. Best part, the salt is spicy.. Nice! We then take a mini boat ride. By mini it means 4 person max to a boat. Our captain (the front rower) was a granny looking lady and she was super fast and strong. She even caught up with the boat in front of us. I really admire her strength! Both physical and mental man... The boat ride was interesting. We went through narrow rivers with mangrove at the side. Along places which looked like crocs invested. Haha. Then the tiny river opened up to the sea where we came from. And we got on the bigger boat and headed back to the shore we came from.

Lunch was some elephant fish which was a delicacy. There's this meat which they served and tasted really good. I was happily eating when my bro said perhaps it's dog meat. I got a scare and puke out the whole thing. The worse part was at the restaurant, I actually saw dogs in cages and they looked half dead. I asked the tour guide if we were served dog meat and he said it can't be. Said dog meat was super expensive. To play safe, I didn't dare to eat any other meat during the trip. I really got scared. With Tasha's death, the incident somehow affected me more. Hai.

We headed to the presidential palace next, which really didn't look too fantastic. I am rather surprised it's not as grand as it should be. It looked rather retro and outdated, probably because they only had like 2 presidents before and that was a long time ago. The tour guide talked about the president with much dislike. Mentioning how corrupted they are.. well well. We visited a laquer making factory as well. Most of the employees there are handicapped. I'm shocked to find it's so much work to do up at art piece! Of cos Bangkok sells it cheaper but still, it's a really labour intensive job. Some had to be done using duck egg shells and they crushed it according to the art piece they are working on. So it's really time consuming.

We visited Notre Dame Cathedral and Old Saigon Post Office before heading for a dinner which served Hue Imperial Delicacies. It is a nice dinner actually, especially the last dish. This simple soup noodles. Once the chilli and lime were added, the taste was impressive! Thinking about it made my mouth water. Haha. The chilli was so spicy a drop of it would be more than sufficient. It's pretty scary stuff. But nonetheless, delicious!

Some of us went for massage after. I was shocked when the masseuse came. They were dressed in super short skirts at first glance then I realised there are tights beneath. But still, it looked sleazy to me. My session is more of a pinching session than massaging. I came back to the hotel feeling worse than ever. (Not forgetting my legs were still in pain so I went to check my ck levels!)

The missing days Part 1 - 22 to 25 Nov

So I haven't been updating my daily activities as promised. I shall try to recap the dates that were lost!

22 Nov - I have no idea what I did. It was a Sunday and that's as much as I know it!

23 Nov - This was a busy day. I went for a movie with my parents. Watch 2012 at JP and my dad fell asleep at the beginning. Thought the whole show was really scary. The effects are devastating and the imagery is certainly not what I was expecting. Imagine the world ending this way in 3 years. That would be horrifying. It's a little like looking at the 911 incident. Helplessness. Nonetheless, it's a rather good show to watch I must say.

Went to Chee Hoe for a urine test after. Realised my legs have been rather sore for days, such that I couldn't even bend. I had ran a few times, but it's taking too long to heal. Initially wanted to take both blood test (for my ck levels) and urine test (just in case my kidneys are really damaged), but I got there late and blood samples cannot be taken. So took just for kidneys and I am glad to know that they are in proper care.

Headed down to WY's place for soup. His mum was nice enough to cook soup for me. For you know..women soup to assist in bb-making. Hahaha. Then headed down to Jap class. I had missed a week's of class and went down half an hour earlier for speedy make up. And the actual class after. Monday night is not my usual lesson and this teacher is really intensive! I have never spoken that much in my entire course with Nagai Sensei (saturday class)! It's kind of stressful but it's good in a sense. By the time I completed the class I was overwhelmed. It was like 2 lessons in 3 hrs. Peng.

24 Nov - Went brunch with my parents at West Mall. Usual hangout place Mayim. Then met JJ at 1pm at Sakae. It's scary cos I was really gorging myself. Haha. Food after food. Had a nice chat with her. Been quite long since we talked like this. Wanted to head down to the clinic to take blood and I realised I was too late again. The despatch left and blood samples cannot be kept! Wasted. So went down to collect the camera from ZM's place and I saw his twin nieces! Damn cute!!!!! I am so inspired to have twins. They are so adorable.. lucky ZM. Now he has 3 nieces to take care of. Hahaha. Now I shall go find out how to get twins... maybe there's some way or something to customized them. Hohoho.

Headed down to WY's place for a short while before going down to Cityhall to meet Cui. Before that I got her gift from Swarovski. Haha. Nice I think. We had quite a long talk. Had a better idea on her marriage and I'm looking forward to her house-warming! She said it's arty farty and I have no doubt it's gonna be fantastic!

25 Nov - The Primary School called and requested that I head down for a short interview at 845am today. I mentioned I would be flying off for Vietnam but the lady sort of insisted. She said I could come early so I can start on time. Gin followed along since she was staying with me on Thursday. We reached at 830am, imagine my shock when I saw the principal driving off. Next I was told that in the principal's absence, the vice-principal (who is holding the interview) has to attend a meeting she was supposed to go. So I waited...and waited.. and finally.. got my interview 1 hr 15 mins later. Gross. And before that I told the coordinator I was in a hurry and she said if I was busy, I could just skip the interview. Peng! Interview lasted less than 10 mins. At that point I was thinking, if the management couldn't deal with this, how would the children learn since no effective examples were set. Guobin was the third interviewee and he mentioned they could have called to ask him to come a little later. But well, judging from the speed of the interview, it really shouldn't take long. Tsk Tsk. Had to take a cab down to really take the blood test next. Waste of money and time! And CH was nice enough to make the process a painless one. Hah. Vietnam next!