Some days i feel like i'm invisible

Daralis

2010-03-26T16:08:00.001+08:00

I have had the above blog address since i was 18. So i've been blogging for 5 years. From those angsty (not so rebellious) teenage years to this young working adult. We kept telling each other that we don't wish to grow old but the truth is most of us are raring to move forward, no matter in terms of getting that promotion, buying a new house, having kids etc. Even that holiday in December makes you wish time would pass faster.

There's so much in life to look forward to, especially when you have so many wonderful people to share it with. That's the optimistic me speaking, by the way. I gotta admit that this should be the best part of my life now that i have considerable financial freedom and almost zero burden. When you are young you can't help but have this feeling that the world is your oyster and you can be whatever you want to be.

I've decided to move on to another blog. It's not a turning point of my life (although maybe in my own little digital world), i just thought that it would be a nice fresh start with a cleaner template. I'd also like to put up some of my handicrafts online if time permits.

I've moved all of my travel posts there to start off cos i thought it'll make it look more happening. It does!!

www.daralis.blogspot.com

Isn't daralis such a nice name? It means beloved, by the way.

Nagoya castle

2010-03-22T16:59:00.011+08:00

The last time i've been to Nagoya was November 08 and it was the first ever flight in my career. Wow. We decided to try the unagi that's so famous here.

Highly recommended by my Japanese colleague.

OMG look at the eel grilled to perfection. It is sweet thanks to the BBQ sauce yet does not lose its fresh eel flavour.

We ordered 2 different 'styles' to try. The truth is we can't bear to buy 2 expensive meals so we bought 1 less expensive one to share.

This is supposedly the trademark of the restaurant but the most expensive unagi meal i've ever tasted.... cost me almost 40SGD.

There's a special way of consuming it. First you split the rice into 4 parts. Scoop 1 part into a bowl and eat it as it is. Next, scoop the 2nd part and add the seasoning (wasabi, seaweed and chives). Add in their broth with the 3rd part. Lastly eat it your favourite way with the 4th serving!

Hurhur. We simply added all the seasonings in. Yummy! No broth cos it made it too wet.

A drawing of my meal. How cute!

Winter is ending and flowers are popping out along the streets.

We visited the Nagoya Castle.

First signs of Sakura!

The castle.

See the plane taking off. How poetic.

I never get sick of Japanese bakeries and confectioneries.

Poor prawns. Dead and stuck on a wrapper for decorative purpose!

So we basically wondered about in parks and shopping malls and rested ourselves with teas and cakes. SY says we'll make good tai tais and this picture is a good indication.

Finally, i can't rave enough about Japanese bread. In fact Taiwan has the same fluffy soft bread as well as China. I don't see why Singapore bread can't be the same. WHY!!!!!

2010-03-15T10:38:00.004+08:00

I'm having an ultimately stressful time planning my trip to japan. Don't tell me to relax and take it easy cos I can't. See I'm just this sort of uptight fussy bitch when it comes to this sort of thing. The schedule is so tight that the itinerary gets messed up as long as I miss one train.

By the way have you seen the train system?? It's a bloody maze and some maps don't print all the lines cos many of them are run privately so many a times u will read 'take the sain line to kinosaki station' and you stare at the map searching your eyeballs out among the ridiculous web of subway lines.

And then you sort of fall into the web and get tangled and the spider comes to gobble you up.

OR, you could try to find another map of the exact same location but looks completely different.

I dunno if it's this Virgo thing that if I plan something it has to be detailed and go exactly and perfectly as intended. Any stumbles stresses me up. At the same time the Leo in me likes to take control and be in control of the situation. And of the people too if possible.

But in the first place I'm not a planning enthuse. I'd like to be referred to for the final decision yet I'm indecisive.

I'm just a confused character!

wanna fly?

2010-03-13T12:12:00.004+08:00

Many of my friends have been asking me questions about flying and tips for the upcoming SIA cabin crew interview. And I'm always very eager to share cos it's their first step out to achieving what they want and let's admit it, it takes damn a lot of courage to tell others you aspire to be THE Singapore girl risking unwelcome mockery including the fact that you might not make it. Plus, you will be judged largely by the way you look stand walk talk behave even the smoothness of your skin.

Oh sorry you should also be kinda smart. We are not, like, bimbos, like, you know, toduhlay?

I'm telling you if I go for the interview now I might not make it.

Ok good luck!! Faster join! I could use more friends in here.

food + photography

2010-02-28T17:37:00.004+08:00

Hello i'm now in Zurich and i'm very bored and hungry while waiting for the restaurant to open so i shall post some photos.

Vday flowers :)

We had coffee and tiramisu by a random cafe along the streets. It feels nice to just sit around people watching with a warm cup of coffee in hand. And it seems like a good pastime that people in Europe like to do. We even saw people along the streets with flutes of champagnes munching on what looks like curly Porky. But we decided against paying 15 swiss franc for a flute of champagne :(

Starter bread at lunch.

Lou hei with chunks of abalone lol you will only see it in my house.

Xiang's birthday cake.

Apple crumble at a friend's restaurant in Adelaide.

dawson?

2010-02-27T15:08:00.007+08:00

Update update.

We managed to get a flat at Dawson recently (supersuper lucky thankyouthankyou) so i guess we'll be moving in if we get a good unit. There seem to be a lot of hype going on about Dawson, and i know at least 5 friends who applied for the same. Upon doing much research (ahem hardwarezone.com sexciting!!)

I discovered that (!!!!) most people who applied/successful in their ballots are courting couples in their mid-20s (like me although i refuse to admit) and some have not even graduated (like my 'FIANCE' hahahahha) and they are all excitedly buzzing around claiming to be chopping LOFT UNITS that cost at least 500k and i really wonder how people just KNOW that they can afford things.

I was super apprehensive about this whole 400k 83sqm thing because i did not want to be coughing out blood every month and continue to live a frugal life just to pay for the roof over our heads but don says we can pay by cpf but that's assuming i draw a much higher income in 5 years than what i have now plus he's earning a neat sum but HOW TO ASSUME THIS KIND OF THING???

That's like placing a bet that i will be rich in future.

Then they say it's a good investment blahblah can make a tidy sum after selling BUT DO YOU KNOW THAT you are buying this piece of tiny land at record price and again you are ASSUMING price will go up but what if the bubble bursts?????

Therefore don't buy JUST to speculate, but only if you foresee yourself living there for many years.

So i'm thinking if the worst happens eg. property prices dive/you can't find a job after graduation/your gf breaks up with you, within these 5 years as they are building your dream home (which is completely possible when you are only 24), you won't be able to move in anymore and i wonder what really happens after that. They will be at least 20k poorer or x2 if this is not their first home. WOW.

As you can see i'm being a funny negative person here but it's 20k helloooooooooo but i shall put my trust in all these people on hardwarezone.com and believe in my life being completely smooth sailing in years to come.

Of course plus some extra hard work :))))))) I guess in order to achieve something there has to be many sacrifices made.

HURRAH! I'm excited finally getting my own place although that's still a long time away.

nice visiting a new place

2010-02-18T19:49:00.001+08:00

Don and i visited a nice burger place called 'The Hand Burger' hahahahhahaa trying very hard to be cool. Anyway it's at the basement of Raffles City. Initially don kept emphasizing "HAND!!!" when he told me about this place but i heard "HAM" and he kept repeating "HAMBURGER HAMBURGER!!! HAHAHHAHA" and i was like what the hell is so funny.

Oh, HAND!

It has the best lychee mint freeze! With nice chewy lychee bits and not so minty taste i likeeeeeee.

I know it's trying to be one of those fusion foods, with things like mandarin oranges and herbal duck in its burgers. Pretty nice combination of ingredients.

The funniest thing on the menu. Split open the big tomato and it's coleslaw inside! Don says it looks like split belly with guts spilling out. Really weirrrrrrd but taste ok! Refreshing compliment to your burger which could be quite heavy.

Playing with the mint leaves.

I rarely visit new restaurants, i realize. So unadventurous.

2010-02-15T02:48:00.005+08:00

The number of surprises that u had planned for/ managed 2 surprise me are few n far in between but this time you did :) happy (belated) valentine's day!

blaming others

2010-02-14T00:49:00.008+08:00

I have a friend who has the most ridiculous friends.

Apparently, a friend, lets call her susan. Susan's dad had an incident and was admitted to the hospital. However she was on a full day standby for work duty. Being the only child susan had to tend to her dad so she called to apply for urgent leave. The genius on the other end offered her a dodgy suggestion: to just put her on standby for half day and promised not to call her. Since this is a ridiculous story you would have guessed that she was indeed activated for work. Who did she blame? Blah the company the management blahblah.

She also has this other friend, mary. Mary applied for a company sponsored 2-month course. After signing the agreement she later realized she has to be bonded to her company for a year. She accused the company of 'cheating' her and related her misfortune to her friends (which one of them is my friend. ok not complicated).

So what i'm trying to say is, it is so easy to point your finger and put the blame on others, or more so THE MANAGEMENT the government the big organizations out there guilty of capitalism and widening the rich-poor gap blahblahblah, that sometimes you fail to see your own shortcomings and what you could have done to prevent these altogether.

If susan choose to trust this dodgy guy who 'promised' not to activate her instead of insisting on taking the day off (dad in hospital!!!) can you blame her? DUH! Putting you on half a day standby would only REDUCE the chances of being activated. If he can promise not to activate you, it wouldn't matter being on half or full day standby. Thus either susan was lying or she is stupid.

Then how can mary not read the agreement before signing? Of course she insisted it was not stated on the agreement which is another DUH because if it wasn't then you are not obliged to fulfill the bond!

See??? It is so easy to point out others' mistakes but i'm sure i make many of those myself that i'm adamant on. And listening to stupid stories like this make me really agitated.

Think i'm gonna get myself a cold drink now.

lomolomo

2010-02-12T00:54:00.009+08:00

I'm hooked on this application on my phone called Morelomo! It's like this camera function that turns all your lousy quality iphone photos lomo-ish. Or lomography. I don't really know the right word to use i only know lomo means nice colours on your photos. Ok fine it means photos of high contrast with unusual saturation and colour (wikipedia is my good friend).

Teehee! Don found this somewhere.

His box that he had to move back when he got fired.

It made my boring mango strawberry drink look cool!

And this half eaten plate of satay beehoon...

...looks really artsy.

So do these HDB buildings. Just like those in eric khoo movies. Woohoo!

Go download Morelomo! It's absolutely free! Since iphone camera is such a lame ass might as well make the photos look artsy to cover up the lousy quality.

By the way i found this really nice and cosy little shop at Sunshine Plaza which sells a small range of lomo cameras. You can find fisheyes and polaroids and many different types of lenses etc. but i really wanna get this thing called Diana. But i guess i will just settle with my free application afterall. Or edit with my newly discovered Photshop.

Major geek post!

my iphone

2010-02-05T18:03:00.003+08:00

My iphone has not only become a liability, it is also a safety hazard.

I now feel an increasing urge to be constantly connected. No problem when i'm in the country with 12GB of data but when i'm overseas i often find myself whipping out my iphone to search for any form of wifi so that i can load new statuses on facebook or see if my friends are online on ebuddy or reply somebody's sms.

It's disgusting.

Then when i'm out ebuddying with one person or another i would be typing even as i am walking. I walked into a puddle of water today, stepped on a twig as it snapped and almost stabbed me in the foot.

We do not rule with technology, it rules us!

Oh and i'm now also Airbus330 trained. I'll be going Australia a lot. I still cannot decide whether it's good or bad.

photoshop whoosh!

2010-02-02T21:57:00.005+08:00

I finally decided to explore Photoshop Elements on my new Windows 7. I wasn't much interested in it cos i thought it would be one of those basic trial software which can never measure up to my previous Photoshop CS on my previous laptop.

But i was wrong. It has most of the same features and more!

Now how can i make my photos looks more SLR-ish? I know, i'm such a geek right.

2010-02-02T21:30:00.001+08:00

I think i have lost much zest towards life.

the cherry blossom girl

2010-02-02T00:31:00.006+08:00

I now have a new favourite blog!

Her photos are breathtakingly beautiful stunning. It helps that she dwells in such a beautiful city but if you dunno you'd think you're looking into fairytale land.

Plus it doesn't hurt that she's incredibly GORGEOUS. A typical french lady audrey tautou kinda demeanor.

Sigh. She's makes me feel so..... mortal.

And as though her pictures are not impressive enough, she pleasantly surprised me by taking pictures of my favourite bag!!! I'm so proud of my bag, it is 200% more beautiful in her pictures than in real life (sorry bag).

And also another bag i've set my heart on.

Have you wondered how fashion bloggers stage their photo shoots? Many of their photos are very photoshoot-ish but most of them are taken amidst their everyday life walking on the streets or just drinking coffee in a cafe as backdrops while showcasing their outfits. BUT do their have tripods or they just have a photographer following their asses everyday of their lives??? I scratch my scalp out wondering everyday while scrutinizing their photos.

How ah?? Can you tell me if you know?? I have 1 theory which is that since most of them are models they meet with their photographer friends once in a while to take pictures of numerous outfits, then post 1 outfit daily as if they took 1 each everyday. But then i dunno who gets paid what. Perhaps just a hobby (that takes a lot of painstaking hard work i'm sure).

So now you know i like blogs of beautiful chicks in foreign lands.

Victoria's secret very sexy wave

2010-01-26T19:58:00.003+08:00

I got this!!

It says 'very sexy' but i don't think it's that much sexy but it's SO comfortable! I also got some boring strapless thing.

And also their sweet body mists BUY 3 FOR $24 i SO got stirred into buying.

I LOVE SHOPPING IN THE US! It is so much more interesting and you really see clothes that people on TV (gossip girls!!) wear. Unlike in sg where you see the same clothes you see 5 years ago and the nice things are frequently way over-priced. Or maybe it's just the thrill of being overseas and spending foreign currency which somehow always doesn't feel like it's real money.

And then i saw macs and remembered how melody says macs in the US sucks which totally deterred me from buying.

I'm going back to Moscow later :(:(:(:( nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

2010-01-26T06:35:00.001+08:00

Someone says he'll pick me up from work! *jumps around in glee* :D:D:D:D:D

feeding myself

2010-01-24T17:32:00.002+08:00

It's 3.30am in Texas and i can't sleep.

I just found out (from facebook) that a colleague of mine is quitting. A few others have decided to quit and a few more are hesitant about staying. Now that my bond is almost up, i would expect to hear more of those around my batch quitting. If i knew i had gotten into the wrong job, i would too quit as soon as i can and 2 years doesn't seem soon enough.

Am i going to quit? Nahhhhhhhhhhhh until i can find a good enough job. Contrary to popular beliefs i don't think i have the best job in the world but i believe i could sustain enough happiness to last me till i can find a good job instead of 'i just want to get out of here' like so many others out there.

Then again thinking about a 'good enough' job i'm back to where i am again when graduation loomed near and 'i dunno what i wanna do with my life'. Seriously i still dunno. And staying in this job will always beg the question of 'where are we going'.

To make myself feel better here i'm sure most of the people out there do not know what they want to do/ what they're doing either. Most of us are simply just following the flow, graduate from college then find a cushy job which your parents like and related to your field of study then work till you die. That's life when you don't waste too much brain cells thinking about it.

I wonder if i would fall into that someday (sounds VERY probable).

OK enough pondering in the middle of the night. I'm going to eat pancakes in the morning WOOHOO CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-01-20T14:22:00.001+08:00

Airbus hereeeeeee i comeeeeeeee

I have it

2010-01-20T14:16:00.001+08:00

A little late but at least i got the better deal! :)

where is eveyone

2010-01-16T21:41:00.004+08:00

Sick and miserable and feeling pathetic. I often pity expats and foreigners who come here all alone without any friends nor family and i wonder what happens to them if they're sick or get into an accident. But here i am very sick but there's also no one around. Then when they grudgingly come to you they complain and make you feel bad. Wow even more sad right. FML.

Christmas 2009 in San Francisco

2010-01-16T13:04:00.006+08:00

We had a good ol' Christmas eve dinner @ Cheesecake Factory. I dunno what's with my colleagues' obsessions with Cheesecake factories but works for me cos i love cheesecakes *shrugs*.

Anyway the poor boys had to queue early in the late afternoon so that we could get a place in the evening. And we ended up getting an outdoor seat which is very romantic on days like these but on Christmas eve it was chilly and windy :(

View from our table. Nice :)

Gang of girls. So cold we were even wearing our coats throughout the course of the meal. I'd like to be warm and cozy while having my dinner but i have to say that we weren't :(

Pretty shopping mall window display! Why are the local ones so boring and predictable!

Hello Santa!

My Christmas eve outfit hahaha so girly but no choice, i didn't have anything semi-formal that can go with my winter get-up nor anything new to wear.

We had a little gift exchange ceremony hehe. I bought a little hand sanitizer. Useful what! In return i got some chocolates and a grumpy talking snowman. Opps i realized we never really took pictures with the guys.

Out in the streets on Christmas day. Almost all shops are closed but there are still quite a number of people walking around.

I'm ashamed to say that i did not venture beyond these few buildings on my first trip to San Francisco but it was Christmas day and all shops, attractions and eateries(except the asian ones and fast food chains which had asians) were closed. So i kinda spent my day walking around aimlessly then retreated back to my (warm!) room watching tv.

my laptop is jinxed

2010-01-12T23:16:00.002+08:00

Let me tell you a story of a girl who lost her laptop power adapter. One fine day she brought all her barang barang to a room in a hotel where you can use the internet for free. She plugged in her laptop, spent her day there then left the room without unplugging the adapter. She then went off to work and came back only to realize that she had left her adapter elsewhere. Maintaining faith in her colleagues' honesty and goodwill she went back to look for it but obviously it was gone.

"Who would want to take a random power adapter?!" her friend exclaims.

Anyone would if you knew an original SONY VAIO adapter like mine cost $199.

It was a sad sad day.

Thinking back, it was also silly of me to think that my colleagues would leave a perfectly good/new high end power adapter alone where no one is watching, considering they are dubious people who watch porn in front of me.

Enough said.

Don felt sorry for me and he bought me a new super zai Razer gamer mouse with 1800dpi whateverthatmeans. Wheeeeeee it's like so slippery can kill zombies faster :)

Loves!

Winter in Seoul

2010-01-11T20:25:00.011+08:00

I spent pre xmas and post xmas in Seoul.

It was freezing and there was snow everywhere but we decided to venture to Lotteworld!

One hour train journey from our hotel. At this point of time i realized one of my gloves were missing. Upon inspection of this particular picture i deduced that i must have dropped it before the picture was taken cos it showed i was holding only 1 glove. I managed to back track and found it. Am i Sherlock Holmes or what!

Outdoors.
At this point of time my face was already freaking numb from the cold and all these people can still take rides!! How!!!

Remember this show? "Stairway to heaven".

Lalalalala.

This is the spot where chengjun-ge frequently stands to spy on his girl.

My dinner: Andong Chim duk- stewed chicken with tang hoon that's chewy like rubber SO GOOD but so spicy till my mouth swollen like sausage. MUST TRY!!!! But make sure you have lotsa water if you don't have a steel stomach. They provide some kinda cool vegetable water to supposedly put out the fire but i don't think it helps much.

Hahahhahaha.

Pretty etude house.

Gu Jun Pyo!

I didn't manage to find a life size poster of the 4th guy too bad.

Fully equipped hahahhaha this is not being exaggerating. It was -10 degree Celsius on our way back.

That's it for my short trip to Seoul! Kamsahamnida.

i want to be normal

2010-01-05T23:14:00.004+08:00

There are many weird behaviours that are typically practiced among my colleagues. One of them is this: threatening to ask who your instructor is.

For example.

"Please try to learn as much as possible here. I want to see improvement. If i'm not happy with your performance i will ask you who is your instructor (who obviously dunno who i am among 1000000000000000 people he has taught) and i'm sure you don't want me to do that".

Seriously like fuck cares.

Then there's inquiring of seniority.

A: "This girl is just terrible. She told us to meet at this time and she comes late. Then she insisted that we come back to fetch her".
B+C+D+E: "Tsk tsk tsk. Wah lau eh so thick skin".
B: "Senior or not?"
A: "No loh only 22 something CAN!"
B+C+D+E: "WAH LAU EH!!! *in exclamation as though her crime is further aggravated by her youth in the company*"

If you're my colleague and you think the above is normal to you then good for you i'm glad for you.

But I need to hang out with noramler people to ensure my own sanity.

it's 2010

2010-01-04T01:14:00.013+08:00

I'm playing l4d2.

I've been playing don's copy of l4d for a long time and now i finally can't resist the temptation to get my own copy and at the same time fight zombies alongside my don (or blind him with my Boomer Bile).

So then i downloaded STEAM and purchased my very first game online. When i finally hit the 'confirm' button with much anticipation, the screen proceeded to tell me that the download time is 8hs and xxmins.

Whaaaaaatfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffnoooooooooooooooo.

It's amazing, just like the old times when you login to bitorrent.net or some other crap torrent sites. You grab a seed then leave your burning computer on the whole night to complete the download. Only difference is now i PAY.

So WOW it's 2010 and my first post is about zombies. It's also about new year's eve and how i watched fireworks. Never mind where cos i'd rather not divulge my very secret secret place where no one knows.

Heaven knows earth knows i know don knows.

Shhh! You dunno where this place is!

Special effects.

Ok here are some very amateur fireworks pics taken with my very amateur sony cybershot. Don't laugh ok.

Silly don. He's my new year's present :) His pillow case and bedsheets says 'young' 'free' 'single' and i scoffed. He said "it's not me. my bed is young free and single".

Actually i think your bed is super single.

It's January and don is going back to school :*( boohoohoo no more sticking around him for prolonged periods of time doing absolutely nothing (partly why i buy my own ld42).

Have a smashing 2010! :)

BYEBYE 2009

2009-12-31T12:54:00.003+08:00

It's the last day of 2009! Lishilee says she dreamt that we were shopping. It's gonna be a good new year!! :):):)

Glad to be home to celebrate the new year with family, friends and my don. Although i spent Christmas in wonderful San Francisco with a bunch of fun people but it sucks to be away from the ones you love.

What will you be doing to usher in the new year? Who will you be with? :)

Don asked me what i want for dinner i said CHILLI CRAB. I think he -_-'''

Wah lau men are hard to please. If i had said some posh restaurant you also not happy. I say food court you also not happy. I say Jap food you'll say we always eat jap food. Then whatuwant whatuwant WHATUWANT?????

Merry xmas 2009

2009-12-25T15:30:00.000+08:00

It's 3.30pm 25th December.

Merry Christmas from San Francisco!

$$$ aint it nice $$$

2009-12-20T01:42:00.000+08:00

It's always so nice to see a familiar face on board. I met jeremy again on my SYD flight. Knew him from our Moscow-Houston trip where i also met so many wonderful people :) Didn't even know he was on the plane until during the lull period when he started lurking around the cabin lol.

Finally there's someone out there in the company who agrees with me about the 'union' and what a union is supposed to be, unlike many out there. I shall not elaborate but, although it seems like the fate of 80% of the workforce is dependent on 20% who are the decision makers; 80% of the wealth are dominated by 20% of the population, i can only strive to be that 20%.

He asked me if i'm going to buy a house and in my surprise i blurted out "that's sooooooo far away for me...." and he looked disappointed haha.

BTW 'house' meaning a place to stay which i own, not really a HOUSE house.

Truth is i've always wanted to own my own space but after 1.5 years working maybe i can rent a shack. Damn either he forgot i only earn half of what he earns or he thinks i'm OLD enough :'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''(

During disembarkation i saw my NUS lecturer on his way out hahahhahahha i was in his WORLD RELIGION class but he was sitting in Y i was in J so didn't get to interact with him.

Aren't professors supposed to be rich???

new phone?

2009-12-19T13:06:00.014+08:00

It is now a good time to buy iphone!

I have been a Singtel user since day one but i haven't got one because when the iphone 3G first launched this is what you get.

iFlexi Value iFlexi Plus iFlexi Premium

Monthly fee	S$56	S$95	S$205
Price of 8GB iPhone 3G	S$138	Free	Free
Price of 16GB iPhone 3GS	S$288	Free	Free
Price of 32GB iPhone 3GS	S$438	S$138	Free
Bundled data (7.2Mbps)	1GB	2GB	3GB
Bundled outgoing minutes	200	500	1,500
Bundled SMS/MMS	500	500	1,500

Why would i pay a hefty $56 monthly on a bulky phone so that i could make use of its special broadband feature but only to get a stingy 1GB of data???

Then when the 3Gs came in you have a choice of a more economical plan.

iFlexi Lite

Monthly fee	S$39
Price of 8GB iPhone 3G	S$398
Price of 16GB iPhone 3GS	S$548
Price of 32GB iPhone 3GS	S$678
Bundled data (7.2Mbps)	500MB
Bundled outgoing minutes	100
Bundled SMS/MMS	500

OK cheaper BUT wtf only 500MB??? Enough for me to facebook on the MRT. Thanks ah.

Nowwwww...... drumrolls....

To be the better of its competitors, Singtel has increased its bundled data to 12GB across all plans other than the premium plan. At the same time the price of the handset has also dropped.

Goody! Should i get myself a xmas gift?

FYI.

<Low end price plans>

	Singtel	Starhub	M1
	iFlexiLite	3G SmartSurf 100	iPhone Value
Monthly Subscription	$39	$38	$36
Free Outgoing Minutes	100	100	100
SMS/MMS	500	500	500
Data	12GB	12GB	12GB
iPhone 3G 8GB	$388	$388	$398
iPhone 3G 16GB	$518	$538	$518
iPhone 3G 32GB	$658	$668	$658

<Mid end price plans>

	Singtel	Starhub	M1
	iFlexi Value	3G SmartSurf 300	iPhone Lite
Monthly Subscription	$56	$58	$56
Free Outgoing Minutes	200	300	300
SMS/MMS	500	500	500
Data	12GB	12GB	12GB
iPhone 3G 8GB	$98	$118	$98 or $0 with Take 3
iPhone 3G 16GB	$248	$268	$248
iPhone 3G 32GB	$398	$418	$398

	Singtel	Starhub	M1
	iFlexi Plus	3G SmartSurf 700	iPhone Extreme
Monthly Subscription	$98	$98	$98
Free Outgoing Minutes	500	700	700
SMS/MMS	500	500	500
Data	12GB	12GB	Unlimited
iPhone 3G 8GB	$0	$0	$0
iPhone 3G 16GB	$0	$0	$0
iPhone 3G 32GB	$98	$108	$98

<High end price plans>

	Singtel	Starhub	M1
	iFlexi Premium	3G SmartSurf Unlimited	iPhone Unlimited
Monthly Subscription	$205	$205	$198
Free Outgoing Minutes	1500	2000	Unlimited
SMS/MMS	1500	2000	Unlimited
Data	30GB	Unlimited	Unlimited
iPhone 3G 8GB	$0	$0	$0
iPhone 3G 16GB	$0	$0	$0
iPhone 3G 32GB	$0	$0	$0

Taken from http://community.mocca.com/articles/iphone-3gs-price-plans-comparisons?tribes=2171 with minor updates from the respective networks' websites.

Since they are still making adjustments in response to each others' adjustments (teehee) to gain an edge in the competition, should i wait out a little while more?

Isn't it good that we're now free from the monopoly :)

about birds

2009-12-15T15:38:00.004+08:00

All this while i have been thinking it's BIRDS OF THE SAME FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER but recently don says it's BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER. Doesn't it make more sense to say that the birds have the same feathers rather than having A feather? So sure was i that i googled and found that many people has the same misconception as me.

So from now on it's BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER don't get it wrong!

statement from a lazy girl.

2009-12-14T16:20:00.003+08:00

I am constantly plotting to take mc before HK turns or SSS1s.

Hiaks.

I'm ALMOST falling sick now. Nose is runny and a few nights ago don somehow managed to swing his shoulder to hit my ulcer on my lip, successfully aggravating the injury. So painful that i teared.

Wow.

Come to think of it i must have really scared him. He is now labeled as Indian Wife Beater.

BUTBUTBUT i don't want to be sick yet cos the HK flight is not here. I shall attempt to control the virus till after SYD. THEN let it multiply.

Bwahahahahahahahaha!

when i do nothing

2009-12-13T21:15:00.003+08:00

I can't help but think that i could be doing so much more with my life, given my flexible (kind of) work pattern and off days. I could be doing another degree, or even a masters. I could continue with my little handicraft business online. I could even be taking hobby lessons. I could even clean my room.

BUT.

When i come home from work all i wanna do is nua, watch tv and play games.

So well i deserve the rest right? I have yoga lessons which is a good step forward (even though the visits are getting less frequent). But i feel a little stagnant. The learning curve is almost flat and there's nothing much to stimulate my brain.

I think i gotta do something.

Keep thinking that and one day i hope i DO get to it.

A piece of heaven on earth

2009-12-09T19:53:00.006+08:00

Beautiful Maldives! Sky so blue, clouds so white and water so clear that you could distinctly see schools of fishes shuffling around. I even saw sharks and stingrays machiam underwater world!

My flight was 80% filled with couples on honeymoon teehee.

We stayed in one of the islands called Banados. I think. Or the resort is called Banados. It is so tiny it'll only take you less than half hour to walk one round the island. Felt SO private contrary to the crowded beaches we're so used to, evidence shown in the pictures where you literally see no one.

Anyhow, extremely expensive place to visit on a holiday. They accept USD (not rupees -_-). If you got no money like me just go to one of our neighbours' islands i'm pretty sure they are still some relatively secluded ones that are as beautiful :)

The stewards on my flight offloaded bread rolls for me cos i mentioned it was my first Male flight hehe so sweet. While some crew tried to con me into thinking there are malls and temples with shuttle buses >:(

台湾观光 part4

2009-12-06T18:03:00.002+08:00

Our room during the farm stay. All trees and crickets chirping outside the window.

Ahhhh fresh air! It was nice getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city once in a while.

Coziness.

Can someone tell me what is duo shi fei zhu.

A walk into the fruit farm where we can collect fruits straight from the trees for consumption :)

Enchanted garden feeeeeeel.

Apparently they thought they were being kind to let loose a caged squirrel but it expressed its gratitude by chewing away at their fruits -_-

After a nice soak at the natural hot springs :)

Jiufen. An old street.

Lunch- noodles with drunken chicken, beancurd, century egg, and many random little things i don't remember.

Handmade little flutes in various shapes.

VERY crowded.

Tau huay with chewy yam and sweet potato balls i swear it's delicious.

The museum.

Spreeeeeeeee.

Ah zong mee sua typical.

OMG the queue that is forming almost 2 freakin hours prior to opening -_- There was an anniversary sale...

This is phenomenal. Security literally had to stand guard for crowd control. Apparently every major shopping mall takes turn to hold its annual anniversary sale and it's hugely popular among people here so much so that they have stopped shopping on days without sale.

There was NO space to browse at all and we were literally inching our way around gahhhhhhh you have to know what you want before you come.

This concludes my posts on Taiwan!

Please return to

2009-12-03T16:18:00.004+08:00

Finally my own blue box!!!

Yayyyyy!! I've been lusting over this for some time. Found one with tax refund at Auckland. Been searching for this in Dubai cos it is supposedly cheaper and legend has it that you can bargain in the boutique in Deira City Center. BUT among the countless number of times i've been to Dubai it's always OUT OF STOCK grrrrrr. I've given up on debt laden Dubai and anyway the price is not far away in Auckland.

So happy :)

台湾观光 part3

2009-11-26T01:38:00.010+08:00

This is the corpse of Bambi's fetus. In events of an earthquake or tremors, mother Bambis abort their babies to run faster and this is one of the poor abandon kids.

An extremely valuable source of protein, calcium etc and you eat it like pork floss.

Gahhhhhh.

The poor guard at the war memorial.

Changing of guards.

National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 国立中正纪念堂 is a monument in memory of former president Chiang Kai Shek, but was then renamed National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall by the LAST former president and now the gateway still says Liberty Square 自由广场.

Heavy political agenda behind, go find out yourself.

Flanked by theater and concert hall

On our way to Yilan 宜兰. We're going to stay in a fruit farm!

Very kampong place.

Ducks waddling, following closely behind each other's butts.

Main admin building which is also the restaurant. Opps it's a farm. I mean kitchen.

Da tou wawa...

Ok let's make dumplings. Did you all wash your hands???

My lousy attempt at spinning the top.

放天灯 releasing lanterns is a very touristy thing to do here. Even in WELCOME2TAIWAN commercials you'll find this very familiar.

Fly me to the moon....

Bubble machine!!!

2009-11-22T01:46:00.001+08:00

You can't solve everything in the world by 2 words I'M SORRY. Much less I SAID I'M SORRY WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO.

Fucking kidding me.

I'm in HOUSTON!

2009-11-16T21:54:00.003+08:00

Hello!

I'm in Houston, Texas with a 14 hour time lag :S I feel screwed up cos i dunno what time to sleep and i wake up at unearthly times like 6am and start calculating the time in GMT +8, WHICH is a weirder time to wake up at. AND THEN i'm leaving tomorrow to go back to Moscow which is in another world altogether.

Rarrrr. I'm kinda exhausted.

I told myself i won't spend much for this Moscow-Houston trip but once you step into a mall here it's ahhhhhhhh hell break loose.

BUT i'm VERY under controlled (hoho) and only spent minimally on cosmetics (did you know MAC is cheaper here?), which is a perfectly legitimate NEED right?

OK i'm now getting ready to go to the factoryoutletsbyebye.

台湾观光part 2

2009-11-10T18:46:00.009+08:00

3rd day in Taiwan-Nantou county.
第三天来到了南投县。

Sun Moon Lake. Famous tourist destination. Also one of the places hit badly by the 921 earthquake back in 1999.
日月潭。

Wenwu temple.
文武庙。

On a balcony overlooking the scenic lake.
听说这阳台是当年蒋介石和宋美龄爱休闲吹吹风的好地方。

A rare breezy spot with abundance of fresh air!! *breathes deeply*
难得的新鲜空气。

My tour guide Raymond took this with his pro camera :) Me likeeee!
导游Raymond的宝贝相机拍的。嘿嘿！

We reached Puli winery. That's a display of the damage from the 921 earthquake. Mother nature can be so destructive :(
埔里酒厂。921地震的灾情惨重啊~~~~

Ice lolly of yam and... Shaoxing wine flavour -_- Doesn't taste so good...
绍兴酒+芋头冰棒。也不算很过瘾啦...

Purple flowers :p Couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures...

Chung Tai Chan Monastery. The biggest monastery i've ever seen. Ahem actually it's the first monastery i've ever seen, but i'm sure it's still one of the biggest around. I mean, it totally resembles a glamourous administrative building.
中台禅寺。

Overlooking trees and mountains.
看过去都是山和树木~~

One of the 4 big scary stautes which they call the 4 heavenly kings!!! o_o (Not Andylau that kind). I'm as tall as his err... maybe ankle.
四大天王之一！

We later ventured into a garden beside the monastry. Tiny me under a big tree with bright yellow flowers.... which i went on to discover, were infested with bees... I risked my life for this bloody photo!!!
附近的一个小公园...

Strange twisted trees....
...种植着许多奇特的树！

Donggggggggggg~~~~~~

台湾观光part 1

2009-11-08T21:07:00.012+08:00

After a trip to Taiwan and speaking pure mandarin for a week, i felt like my mandarin has improved. Hahahahha. ANYWAY i reckon my mandarin is not bad already, not like my friend who tells 大陆 pax 你要不要吃这个？errrr 很好吃的！

Some pictures! Somehow i like taking pictures of buildings, especially those unique to Singapore. Hmmm.

Lookie! Airbus 330-300! But China Airlines hahaha! Like what they said, the aisle is indeed very small -_- How will fat people walk through?

On my way from Taoyuan to Taipei
从桃园机场到台北的路上。

Fisherman's wharf in Danshui.
淡水鱼人码头的情人桥。

Street market in Danshui.
淡水老街。

Potato Chips???
这是薯片吗？

Some sweet preserved fruit thing we always see on period dramas.
古装剧里常听说的冰糖葫芦。

Grilled squid... salty with a subtle sweetness :)
烤鱿鱼。咸中带甜。

Wholesale ceramic market.
陶瓷。

Landscape outside the ceramic market.

I have no idea why there is a sculpture and what it represents but there it is.

An old household. VERY old.
这户人家住很久了吧。

Tofu Street. Very old and nostalgic street.
豆腐街。

Smelly tofu! I like it with cabbage :)
喜欢臭豆腐配泡菜吃。

Current tallest building in the world. Taipei 101.
世界最高大楼台北101。

Nothing much inside. Mostly high-end shopping.
里头都是高档货。

My bedroom in Taichung. Like nihon-jin desu!
台中的客房非常日本化。

back to reality

2009-11-08T18:09:00.004+08:00

Hello i'm back. Currently suffering from post holiday depression. Days of slacking and spending money are sooooo good. I couldn't even bear to remove my purple nail polish. Sigh. Time to earn back more money to spend. Will upload some photos when i feel better.

There was a pretty major earthquake in some areas especially Nantou where i visited earlier but thanks to my lucky stars i was already back in the city Taipei when it happened. Whew!

bye

2009-11-01T08:01:00.001+08:00

Bye! I'm going to Taiwan. No more internet for the next week!

comecome

2009-10-29T16:38:00.003+08:00

This may be slightly unbelievable but my company is recruiting. Our organization lost over S$300 million last quarter. They left some of their assets in the desert.

But only 'slightly' because the industry itself is volatile. And the attrition rate for my position is atrocious, much worse than all you out there complaining about your shitty job.

Come and be my colleague!

4 years...

2009-10-29T00:29:00.007+08:00

Wah! I've been attached for a whole 4 years since Oct 2009! This calls for a celebration. Don booked a place at an Indian restaurant. Clapclap for the novelty!

The Clay Oven @ Dempsey.

We sat outdoors on a picnic table heehee. Here's how it vaguely looked like. Dempsey used to contain army barracks and some of the buildings were preserved. It was dark and there were a lot of trees around... including banana trees and frangi pani in my imagination.

Mix tandoori grill! I learnt that tandoori is an oven. I always thought it was a sauce.

Sauces.

Mutton with rice yummmmmmmmmmmmms.

The spinach with cottage cheese thing. Palek Paneer?

Close up of the mutton.

Tough decision... Hmm....

Blur picture of happy us...

Hurhur. I told him to secretly take the picture of the guy working the tandoori.

Banana split at Ben and Jerry's!

The night ended with LEFT 4 DEAD at a seedy gaming place with sweaty underaged boys teehee I LOVE KILLING ZOMBIES.

I only learnt how to appreciate Indian food after i started going to the middle east, cos there was basically nothing else much i could get hold off other than that and fast food. My widened vocabulary includes 'bhindi', 'chicken tikka', 'mushroom masala' and many more :D Yay! I had a great evening but can't really comment much about the restaurant cos i dunno much about Indian food.

Happy (belated) 4th year anniversary!

i don't mind doing surveys but...

2009-10-25T22:01:00.007+08:00

I have a problem filling up application forms. I dunno which box to tick under 'occupation', thus i will usually tick 'others'. Then i came upon this website which says that cc is 'rank and file'.

rank and file

–noun

1.	the members of a group or organization apart from its leaders or officers.

Hmm. It is the plain truth, just that i haven't thought of it this way before. Plus it doesn't sound... very impressive. Then, i had another idea in my head. I have successfully jumped from a management job to a 'rank and file' job that pays more.

Hmm. Interesting.

In another story, i was waiting for don at habourfront mrt station. You know how it is always crawling with people making you do surveys in the pretense of selling you things. I was standing alone by myself in front of a Halloween poster, twiddling my thumbs, minding my own business.

Young chubby guy approaches.
YCG: Can you don't stand there, you look like a ghost. (In mandarin)
Me thinks fuck off.
Me: Hur.
YCG: HAHA. Just kidding. So are you studying or working.
Me: Erm. Working.
YCG: As?
Me thinks what has it got to do with you. Mumbles something.
YCG: Can you help me do a survey?
Proceeds to take out a crumpled piece of paper, each side containing multiple pages of surveys, folds down to a small, single page and passes it to Me.
YCG: (makes numerous attempts to create a decent conversation eg. which is your favourite country)
Me: (refuses to cooperate by responding with 'hur's and it's ok's)
Finally...
YCG: Have you heard of upgrade of medisave?
Me looks at her survey paper and sees only questions regarding her hobbies and favourite place to shop.
Phone rings. Don is here. Me walks away.

This salesman suck because
1) He is not well groomed nor well spoken.
2) His first sentence, supposedly an ice-breaker, was WRONG. He thought it was funny.
3) He started asking personal questions without breaking the ice, because of a very bad mistake which is no. 4
4) He did not sense that the ice was not broken.
5) Not at all professional. Survey forms were like salted vegetables, and did not introduce himself nor his company.
6) All in all, very low EQ.

Take note, would you buy something so important and life-changing like insurance from this guy????

On the contrary, the Singnet personnel who came knocking on my door this evening was much more impressive. She came with appropriate greetings, showed me her staff pass, introduced herself and asked how to address me.

I'm not a snob or anything, but these are the little things that can determine other's attitudes (+ve or -ve) towards yourself, be it conciously or not.

You may not be able to outrightly pin point the reasons why you would not buy insurance from YCG but you just know that you definitely would not.

One day more!

2009-10-22T22:15:00.005+08:00

One day more to complete my business class training.

So much to learn, so little time.

The service in J is so much more elaborate and personalized than Y. A comparison is like heaven and..... earth lah, not hell.

I can now make aircraft food

look like fine dining.

Bwahaha!

Paxing

2009-10-19T01:32:00.005+08:00

Friend commented on my facebook profile photo.

"You look like an actress."

Hahahahahhahaha i WISH.

Lookie! Photos! Plucked from paxing- which is when we deadhead on a flight.

During boarding. 10hours sitting on my butt watching TV rather than working.

Goooooooooooood......

about growing up. again.

2009-10-16T19:59:00.005+08:00

I've been reading my old blog. Like superrrrrrrr old from 2004. The entries make my hair stand (that's what you call growing up) but somehow they are much funnier. Not boringggggggg ramblings like now.

When i was younger, i used to put all my feelings out there. I would blog about exactly how i felt today, what i said, and what i think needs to be done. 敢爱敢恨. Now, i'd think about if my content was politically correct.

Going through the teensy years was like riding on an emotional rollercoaster. So much that you experienced were new; emotions raw. Every change that happened felt like a milestone in your life. Wow my posts were really emoooooooooo to the max.

I'm older. But i'm WISER (ya ok, laugh). And i'm glad to be over this angsty phase.

And i had really great friends. Here was what i blogged about on Monday, March 28 2005.

bra: don't cry le lah cry le also no one know.
me: i know loh. you know.
bra: wah then you cry for me to see ah. cannot liddat.
me: i cry is not for people to know one wat. hee. who will care. he also won't care. no one cares.
bra: the one who cares is here loh.

Thanx bra for caring =D

me: i'm a selfish girl.
mer: who says you are! i wanna scold that person.
mer: rah!

So heartwarming right. I don't think i have friends who'd say that anymore. We have all grown up.

我们都长大了。情绪化的日子也都过去了。

Sorry, just trying to blog some chinese like kelly miyuki lol.

Yen mag

2009-10-15T21:28:00.007+08:00

I enjoy the fact that i get to buy magazines overseas. Have to admit i find glossy fashion magazines irresistible. (Although mostly a quarter of the pages are filled with ads).

When i was in secondary school i went through a phase of buying i-weekly almost every week. Then there were teensy mags like "Lime" or "Teens" or "Teenage". When i got older, i became interested in fashion, so came "Cleo", "Elle" and what not.

But i'm no longer the girl who reads Cleo every month now cos i've got a new found fav! :):):)

Yen from Australia. Very obscure mag, apparently. We import a good and wide selection, really. You could find most of the well-known titles in major bookstores here like Kinokuniya or Borders, but i couldn't find my Yen. In fact, i couldn't even find it in aussie's supermarkets. They hide in only newstands or shops that soley sell magazines.

I think it's somewhat of an arty mag cos the books and films and artistes they discuss about are somewhat indie too.

But no matter. I still love pretty girls in pretty clothes and not only Yen features photoshoots that are interesting, mind-intriguing as much as they're beautiful...

They also deal with serious issues and discuss current affairs. Which is good for me cos i want to be SMART. Heehee.

And there are always travel stories!

A fashion magazine packed with general knowledge, geeky current affairs and interesting stories! Good for geeky bimbos! I'm well on my way to having more fashion awareness AND getting smarter at the SAME TIME!

Buy for me if you're in Aussie!

And then i also cut my hair into a sha gua tou again. I'm sick of having to plaster hair gel and hair spray into my already thinning fringe. I had my camera lying around and Ethan, my 1-year-old nephew, (we call him xiangxiang) came running in (:

He has curly hair like Domyoji! And small eyes. I think he looks like jay chou in his earlier days. Bwahaha!

wah, new blog ah

2009-10-14T03:27:00.005+08:00

Wah! New blog layout. Little known to many, i hated my last blog layout. It's beautiful, really. But i hated how i had to click n click to get to several pages. It gets on my nerves. And it felt like it had a very childish style. Thus due to my dislike of the layout, i lost my motivation to insert words in it.

Not like this is very mature, especially since i did it myself. Very amateur-ish still too. Hurhur. But i like it better.

Since it's the first post of a new layout i shall couple it with a nice photo of me and my don for auspiciousness.

Updated picture of don. He looks somewhat the same after knowing him for more than 6 years. I secretly fear he will still look the way he is after 10years, thus it has never been on my agenda to make him adopt a proper skincare regime. I am evil.

fan banner

2009-09-15T01:59:00.003+08:00

So i spent a whole good 3 hours (or more) arranging photos and making myself a banner to insert into a new blog layout. Upon completion i sat back and stared at it.

OMG SO AMATUER.

At least i'll post and remind myself how i wasted 3 hours.

goodbye, mango jeans

2009-09-06T01:41:00.003+08:00

I recently wore out my first pair of jeans.

By 'wore out', i meant i can no longer fit into them. I have finally reached one of the inevitable milestones of a woman's life.

They will forever be known as 'the jeans i could fit into when i was 20'.

Thinking i have shed the term 'skinny', i marched into River Island with my head held high, demanding for a pair of size 8 jeans.

They were still too loose.

I now defend a secret hope that i did not grow fat, the jeans had shrunk.

You think?

2009-09-02T13:48:00.000+08:00

Why would anyone name themselves sHARLOT?

2009-08-26T11:35:00.000+08:00

I feel so fake sometimes. Too many a times i want to say 'fuck you' but i end up saying 'thank you'. I can totally understand why people quit prematurely 'for the wrong reasons', as quoted from the management. They didn't quit for the wrong reason, they might have joined for the wrong reasons.

Also, it's my birthday! Woooooooo

losing life's enthusiasm

2009-08-21T00:38:00.004+08:00

So it's gonna be my birthday soon and i have absolutely no plans. I have an off day but i don't even know what i wanna do. Maybe i'm getting too old to anticipate my birthday. When i was younger i'd start to count down and plan for what flavour my birthday cake would be. In the next few years i'll start forgetting how old i am.

Is growing up an excuse to lose all childlike enthusiasm?

this is what i do - the cool factor

2009-08-06T16:13:00.009+08:00

I realized it's weird that i took pictures of myself in the hotel room instead of the sights and sounds of the bustling streets below. You see, i barely had sufficient time to savour my ah zong mee zua/XXXXXXXL hao da da ji pa/ning meng ai yu/zhen zhu nai cha etc. Do the people in our line really get to see the world? I did see many hotels. And probably just the essence of the world. For instance, we only travel to the major cities. We then only had time to get to the highlights of each city, provided it's within short travelling distance from the hotel.

I visited the pyramids in Egypt,
cuddled a lion and

fed a giraffe in South Africa,

marveled at the Blue mosque in Istanbul,

seen the Swiss Alps in Switzerland...

took a picture with the Sydney Opera House...

But that's almost as much as all i could do each visit. Unless if i visit repeatedly. Like....

I have a strong affinity with the middle east. Which basically just means that i get rostered there a lot.

Which gave me opportunities to

belly dance in the desert,

visit an old gold market and creek,

shop in the biggest mall in the world,

gawk at the world's 7-star hotel,

stare at the tallest building in the world.

Ok after posting all the photos i actually feel quite cool. Hahaha thick skin. But something that bugs me is that along with this job, i meet a lot of random people. And i tend to wonder if these random people are friendly to me cos of my status. (not that i have a high status duh of cos but people tend to think it's very glam. which is UNtrue). Now even when i meet old acquaintances they are extra friendly to me. Not that i do not enjoy this sudden surge of affection from people, only that it makes me feel fake. Or maybe they are not extra friendly, i think too much. You think?

But i guess i understand the natural reaction cos when Ian (the drunk one) told me he's now a film producer i was going all "WOW SO COOL do you get a lot of girls who want to sleep with you". He said he was gonna make our new safety video. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!

One night inTaipei

2009-08-05T23:51:00.005+08:00

Hello!

I came back from Santorini totally sunburnt.

Not totally. Just the shoulders and arms.

Face was fine cos i got myself a silly big hat with a ribbon on it.

I hope i'll get round to posting my beautiful pictures. But here are some dated pictures first. When i just rebonded my hair! So nice and smooth. But now it'sall in a mess again gah.

My outfit. Ready to roam the Shilin night market in Taipei.

Hair. So much neater. Face. Made up on a rare occasion.

Lookie me new bracelet!

Yay. So princessy.

Been a long time

2009-07-30T01:01:00.001+08:00

It's been a long time since i'm out on a sight-seeing trip.

It saves me a lot of money.

Oh well.

Superpowers

2009-07-23T01:07:00.005+08:00

Jinling has superpowers. She can polish off a whole casserole of "chicken and mushroom with buttered rice" within 5mins even though she was 'not hungry', gulping down a "banana nut crumble with vanilla sauce" along the way. This was despite the fact that she had already emptied a casserole of "omelette with veal sausage, harshbrowns and potatoes" approximately 3 hours before.

She also gained 5kg within a year.

2009-07-21T01:20:00.004+08:00

The ST forum's really funny. I was reading this post, and it really brings out a very well-known and typical nature of Singaporeans too familiar to anybody who has tried to sell anything to one.

Insist on minimum service standards for budget airlines

I WAS scheduled on Valuair flight VF 504 on July 12, leaving Jakarta at 5.05pm and reaching Singapore at 7.30pm.
I checked in at about 4pm and went to Gate D5. The gate was not open, and passengers (more than 100 of us) waited... and waited.
After almost an hour, there was an announcement that the flight was delayed to 8pm. We had to wait in the terminal with no food or drinks offered by the airline, despite complaints. I had to change more Singapore dollars to Indonesian rupiah to buy something to eat. When I complained, the reply was that Valuair was a budget airline and the terms were stated in the fare agreement.
When we returned at 8pm, we were directed to Gate D4 for boarding. Dinner was offered as the flight was further delayed. But some passengers were vegetarian and had to go hungry as there were no vegetarian meals. Again, it was a budget airline, so sorry, was the reply.
After waiting for two hours in the boarding gate area, with no information on when we would depart, the passengers got very cross. There was a total information blackout. I could accept flight delays, but not this. It was not until some passengers started screaming and yelling that an announcement was made at about 10.45pm. We were told that we were scheduled to leave Jakarta at 12.45am and reach Singapore at 2.30am.
After we boarded, there was a commotion about the number of passengers and the flight was further delayed, apparently because the cabin crew and ground crew could not count. It was downright unprofessional as they argued with each other with no regard for passengers who had already gone through so much.
After this was sorted out, we finally took off and landed in Singapore at 3.20am, another 50 minutes behind schedule. In total, the delay was almost eight hours.
No vouchers were offered for taxi fares. I felt that was the least the airline could do, considering what the passengers had gone through. After all, if the flight had been on time, we could have taken a bus or train home. My taxi fare (with midnight charges) was $37.80.
When I tried to complain to Valuair, I realised it was another ordeal. First, Valuair's Singapore office telephone number, according to its website, was not in use. I had to call 100 to obtain another number.
When I finally got to speak to a Valuair officer, I asked for an e-mail address so I could complain and claim reimbursement for my taxi fare, but I was told there was no e-mail address. Finally, I asked her if she would rather I write to the press and her reply implied 'Go ahead'.
Martin Goh

Are you kidding me Mr. Goh??????

1) you expect zero delays in budget airlines.
2) you expect a budget airline to provide you with food and drinks in an occasion of a delay.
3) you expect a budget airline to have vegetarian meal. you want low-fat meal, non-lactose meal and low carbo meal also?
4) you expect a budget airline to compensate you taxi fare after a delay??????
5) What more you want? Chio stewardesses? Free flow alcohol? Full flat bed? 15.4 inch LCD wide screen?

Insist on minimum service standards for budget airlines

I WAS scheduled on Cheapoair flight CP666 on July 12, leaving Jakarta at 5.05pm and reaching Singapore at 7.30pm.

Not only the flight was delayed. Non of the stewardess looked chio like those i saw on VS runway. I think the airline should maintain its own image by hiring stewardesses who are pleasing to the eye. Not only they were unpretty, they were also very unprofessional. When i asked for bourbon coke, the stewardess replied curtly that there were non. What happened to customer service?

Also, the menu onboard was disappointing. I was hoping to get a lobster meal onboard, yet we were only offered sandwiches? This was not helped by the fact that we were all hungry from the long delay. How can anyone have a satisfying meal with merely sandwiches?

I attempted to contact the Singapore office to complain, but later found out that a complaint department is non-existent!! This is preposterous! At least what they could do is to offer me a voucher to make up for the horrible in flight experience!

Mr. want cheap-and-good aka i ask for it

I will close my eyes and let august go by...

2009-07-13T00:11:00.003+08:00

The way my august roster is right now, i can't even begin to describe how fucked up it is. But one thing i gotta comment is thanks for letting me report at 0845 on 27th august after telling me i can apply for off day on my birthday because my friend had to report at 5am after his birthday.

I told bella i stepped onto shit recently that's why i'm having suck bad luck. Just hope that my flights don't crash or anything.

I'm suffering from post vacation depression.

But don's been really nice. He wanted to buy guitar hero for his house so that i can play. I know he doesn't even like the game and he knows he kinda suck at it.

Thank you for loving me :)

screwed up

2009-07-08T13:52:00.004+08:00

So i thought it was awesome that all my annual leave fall on school holidays - July August November December; i can finally spend more time with don! Go for a holiday trip overseas, or at least a mini 2day holiday on another island, or the very least spend more time holding hands going around town.

NO WAY IN HELL!

I need to stop wasting time hoping for things to happen. But how do i lower my expectations when it's already at the floor?

So how are you?

2009-07-07T22:58:00.004+08:00

I have a confession to make.

When people ask me how are you? Or how's life?, I don't really know what to say.

Especially when the same people ask them on a regular basis, like, once a week.

I usually go ok or good or same.

My life has been predominantly the same compared to last week. Or last month. Or last 6 months.

I'll only ask how are you? if i know something major has happened to one person, especially something bad. To create a conversation, I'd probably go how's school/work? or make a comment about his/her msn nick.

How are you? is kinda vague. And formal. Maybe it's just a formal way of saying wassup yo?

reflections about don

2009-07-07T04:07:00.004+08:00

I had another problem for don today and he couldn't fix it.

"You are not smart anymore. I'm gonna remove my blog post."

He became very stressed and came up with many possible solutions containing clever-sounding phrases like "region code" and "NTSC".

Ok i'll let my post stay.

Then i was thinking back about mentioning to my 2nd boyfriend, how don would never find out if i have another boyfriend (ya i know, a little confusing) cos he never bother about what i do and with whom in my free time.

Suddenly for the first time, i questioned this little assumption. Hmmmm.... is that right?

There probably has been a change of behaviour recently cos i recall the following events last weekend.

"Where are you?"
"Raffles city."
"What you doing in Raffles city."
"Drinking Ribena."
"??????? Why you come Raffles city to drink Ribena?"
"Cos Raffles City Ribena very nice to drink."
(I happened to be taking a mini shopping break in the foodcourt with batchmate bella.)
"????? With who?"
"With a chiobu."
"WHO???"
"Chiobu loh. Very chio one."
"Then you eating dinner outside ah."
"Ya."
"With chiobu?"
"No, with shuaige."
"......................"

"Who sms you?"
"Chiobu ask me out."
"WHOOOOOOO?"
"Very chio one."
"WHOOOOOOOOOOOO?"
"Jianning lah!"

I certainly won't be able to add to my boyfriend collection without at least making up half a story now. Gee.

So it seems like i've had plenty of time to make reflections about don recently. It also seems like we have many pointless and annoying conversations together.

IS THIS GOOD OR BAD???

Smart Don

2009-07-06T03:37:00.005+08:00

Don is so smart. I called him yesterday.

"Hi.... i got a problem"
"What."
"My free anti virus that came with my new laptop is asking me to verify subscription. But must pay."
"Then delete."
"Ya i did. Now i got no more anti virus."
"Go to this website .......... Free."
"Huh. Not trial also meh? Can protect meh?"
"No. It's full. Always will update itself."

"I want to buy guitar hero."
"Go to this website......... People selling cheap."
"Huh. Will it be old? I don't wanna play with old and spoilt instruments."
"NO. You can ask about the conditions and check when you receive it."
"Oh. Hey someone selling Street Fighter!"
"I know. It's a good buy cos outside selling $80plus and the game is only 2months old."
"Someone selling Dawn of War!"
"Ya, i know"

He's almost like a search engine!

"How come you know everything! Huh?huh?huh?huh?huh?"
"You're so irritaing."

:''''''''''''''''''''''''(

London

2009-06-28T17:13:00.018+08:00

Bra says he hadn't been reading my blog for weeks. I haven't been blogging for weeks either. Hehe. So let's blog something big that involves pictures: London!!

London was hot. I got a sunburn. I know, very unbelievable. But believe me, it's summer but i did not feel a drop of rain. So obviously the whole city was out.

We bought a day pass to ride on the topless hop on hop off bus :) Finally i get to visit the places that i've read in story books. Like Baker Street. Or Harrods. Lol.

On the bus. Here's Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes stayed at 221b :D

People on the bus.

Very busy Piccadilly Circus. I find the neon signs very un-london.

Random street lamp with a flower pot dangling! :)

Look at the crowd! See the glorious weather! We're at Trafalgar Square.

Artists scrawling on the pavements with chalk for money. I find this one particularly interesting. It totally looked like a painting..... he even drew a dish for you to lay your money in :)

Ok then we came to Buckingham palace. Interestingly i came to know of 'Beckingham' before Buckingham :p

Beautiful park en route to the palace. Peek at the Big Ben!

It was reeeeeally sunny. I put on double layers in view of the 20 degrees but.....

Here we are... See that the flag is up, which means the queen is at home!

It turned out to be the queen's birthday! Unfortunately we didn't come to know of it till we switched on the TV in the evening. But she had a procession in the morning, arriving in a carriage with marching and firing and stuff like that. Gahhhhhh wished i had been there!!!

This is the balcony where you always see the royal family standing and waving to the crowd on TV.

So this was the closest i ever got to the queen.

Nah i didn't post anything.

Yay Big Ben!

Westminster Abbey- very large Gothic church. It is a traditional coronation and burial site for the monarchs. I think Princess Diana was married and subsequently crowned here?

The entrance.

Palace of Westminster aka Parliament House. Magnificent structure.

The clock tower... and a peek of the London Eye.

Random protests. It was actually the first time i witness a live one.

On our way to the River Thames cruise.

An attempt at an artistic shot.

HAHA. I thought London Bridge was some incredible super old historic bridge. But it looked like some normal old bridge.

This was often mistaken for the London Bridge. But it is actually.......

Tower Bridge.Tower of London. Where those old twisted dark tales of English monarchy you read in books happened. This was where King Henry VIII chopped off Anne Boelyn's head. Hadn't had the chance to tour the inside though.

One of the gates.
There used to be a moat but it was filled.

Traitors' gate. So it was said that Anne Boelyn was brought in as a prisoner through here.

Haha! Harrods!

A touristy phone booth pic with my friend's irritaing finger.

I think this was somewhere near Hyde Park. Oh dear i can't really remember.

Random artistic shot of a rose...

Wahaha Primark!

The tube.

Nice little cafes by the streets.

Finally, i think this was some huge shopping mall? But i like the lights :) Reminds me of christmas :)

Generally we took less than a day to visit almost all major tourist attractions of London city. "Visit" as in touch-and-go, did not have the time to go into attractions like the museums or the rides eg. London eye. No even the churches. The attractions are actually very close to one another so if weather permits, walking is very ok. In fact we only took the bus to Trafalgar Square and walked all the way to river thames, took the boat, walked again, then took the bus home. Pardon me for being such a typical tourist lol but i only had ONE pathetic day there so had to make the best of it.

This was one of my most enjoyable tours! Probably cos i felt like i was going back to my childhood, actually witnessing places i read about as a child, and monopoly locations like MAYFAIR. Hahhaha. Would definitaly tour London at my own time in future.

1 point more

2009-05-29T00:54:00.001+08:00

So as i was saying, a passenger died onboard when i was working. We then received a commendation from the flight commander for a 'job well done'. As you know, i did not contribute much other than carrying out services as normally as i could. So the idea of getting a compliment, therefore a point added to my annual appraisal and service record, purely due to the fact that someone died, is pretty morbid. Would you call it bad luck, or good? Should i still wish for something drastic to happen on my flight in order to win the coveted point?

Longchamp craze. Only applies to foldable bags.

2009-05-26T17:54:00.004+08:00

What's up with Longchamp bags?

OK i know i have one, which i bought long ago. It's light, foldable and great to bring in my cabin bag. Design wise, so-so. Price wise, pretty low, thus affordable to any girls out there who are looking for some sort of a recognizable 'brand'.

But nowadays, i see an average of 2 Longchamp bags in town every 10mins. I'm talking about the foldable ones. I mean, it's still a great bag to bring out even if it's not to fit into your suitcase. But it reminds me of the time everyone had OP bags in JC. Or even fake LV neverfulls in trains. The fact that everyone had an LV neverfull (worse if fake) makes your own LV neverfull (nevermind if fake) less special :( Not that i have one.

But anyway i recently got a medium sized long handled light pink one for my mum for Mother's day. Something like this...

... in Zurich for only around SGD130. HAHA to you suckers who pay SGD 210 at Paragon!!!

Who lives in a pineapple under the tree?

2009-05-26T16:32:00.001+08:00

I ate pineapple rice outta Spongebob's house!

Socially Unaccepted Behaviours Onboard an airplane

2009-05-26T00:52:00.007+08:00

#1. Helping yourself to any random empty seat not assigned to you during boarding.

#2. Mocking the crew when asked to show boarding pass.

#3. Letting your child play with the attendant call button.

#4. Playing with the attendant call button.

#5. Intentionally handing a half drunk glass of water to the crew greeting goodbye to passengers at the door.

#6. Intentionally handing a bag of your own vomits to the crew.

#7. Intentionally handing your child's exposed soiled diaper to the crew.

*note: #5, 6, and 7 does not apply in a situation where you might have trouble understanding the exact meaning of the phrase 'garbage bin'.

Why it's important to take safety training seriously...

2009-05-16T00:56:00.003+08:00

When was the last time you saw someone die?

I did, at work, en route to Zurich. It was an old man with heart problems. The heart wrenching part was he did not pass away quietly in his seat. My colleagues watched as he gasped his breathe and collapsed, endured rounds of CPR, woke up to say a few words, then slipped away again.

And while all these was going on, i had to keep up the show and continue with the service, all the time catching glimpses of attempts of life-saving going on a couple of metres away.

So i've been wondering, how would it feel like to be performing almost an hour of CPR only to be told upon landing that the person you're trying to save is already gone?

The quote given was "damn fucked up".

We diverted to Vienna, which was quite exciting. But only stayed long enough for the body to be offloaded.

Finally, as how a primary 5 would conclude his essay, What an experience!

Nude shoes!

2009-05-05T23:32:00.006+08:00

Do you remember Carrie Bradshaw and her naked dress?

I was on a course today and i saw a girl with naked shoes. I think they call them nude shoes.
Christian Louboutin. Simple Pump 85. USD625. Hers was of patent leather, at least 4 inches high. Looks Aldo-ish. (Also, she has this perfect nose which is not only straight and high, it's cute. Talk to her, and she will seduce you with her long fluttery eye lashes like a pair of butterflies.)

Nude shoes are supposed to make your legs look longer. Like this!

I like! I'm now out to find the perfect nude shoes! Will they be anything less than 2 inches? Cos, you know, i can't walk in anything more than that.

Nina Ricci. Ruffle Peep-Toe Pump. USD725. My bimbotic instincts tell me i like these too. Why must all glam shoes be so tall?

am i... what if....

2009-05-04T05:21:00.005+08:00

I am recently in an identity crisis. I've been asking don the "am i...?" and "what if..." questions. He typically responds by informing me it's time for a shower, or interrupts my "am i..." question with the word "annoying".

Don says i am annoying. Am i annoying? Do i ask too many questions? Which part of my questions do you find annoying? How can ask them in a less annoying way?

I "i have nothing to look forward to anymore. why is nothing exciting?"

Don "cos the rest of the time it's not boring enough."

I "yes it is. i'm so bored"

Don "look forward to your travels?"

I "hmmm. but i don't. i'm like just going through a motion. go, take picture, come back."

Don "how come you haven't shower yet?"

I "i've been busy."

Don "with what????"

I "facebook stalking and comparing lives. i can't stop comparing whether i have better photos/job/boyfriend than other people. do you think i'm sick?"

Don "you.... are a woman."

I "really. do other people do that too? oh no do you think i'm mentally unsound? huh??"

Don "go and shower."

Apparently if i have to be annoying i might as well smell nice.

Ok ya i know the above statement totally makes no sense whadouwant it's almost 6am.

Amazing wardrobe

2009-04-28T22:30:00.011+08:00

I really don't mind going to India (among the moans and groans from my colleagues), other than the dust and frequent stares from the locals (men). Time seem to pass especially fast onboard ("viskey vater!"). Plus you only need to serve one meal, compared to Aussie where you get one more hour of flight time but gotta serve one more meal???? Bo hua!!!

The hotel is always grand, clean, and i always liked India Indian food. Even the triglyceride-choked food catered onboard is super shiok (lamb gholash with insert names of exotic spices and vegetables that i cannot pronounce).

This is the new Crowne Plaza at New Delhi. Be my judge!

This was taken outside the bathroom.

Tadaa! Watch TV while bathing!

OK in case you are not alone, use the remote control to let down the blinds.

Welcome to my room!

Do i see fruits??!

Even the toilet bowl has a room by itself.

You know how when you read Enid Blyton and you wish that one day when you open your wardrobe you'll step into wonderland?

This is my wardrobe.

Let's open up...

Push the back of the wardrobe... huh! There's light!

Wahwahweewah!

Enter the bathroom through the wardrobe! Cool shit!

Since i've been bluetoothing photos from my phone i might as well bluetooth the cutest marshmallows i've ever seen.

Looks like tang yuan!! So tiny and round and cute! QQ~~~~~~

I should stop watching tv but...

2009-04-25T23:25:00.004+08:00

So i woke up today and found that it was 6.29 on the clock.

PM.

OMIGOSH.

Not that i have anything to do. But still OMIGOSH.

Yup i did stay up the night before and went to bed only at day break. I would reasonably expect myself to wake up in the late afternoon but NOT THAT LATE. Omigosh i feel like damn messed up now.

So anyway i got up for dinner and the end of the day is near. Wow. I realize my life is indeed carefree. There's not much stress from my job, especially now that i'm near to clearing probation. On my off days i have absolutely nothing to do except to go out with friends/don or clean my room (which i never got to doing) or watch tv. This is how my brain is degenerating and i should be doing something about it. Hmmm.

*Stares into space as i sit back in my lounge chair with a potato chip in hand*

Anywayanyway as i was telling hotbabe, i'm currently watching this tragic love period drama online and it's inexplicably touchingly addictive. Picture a handsome intelligent young man from a wealthy influential family in the 1920s China. He returns from the west and had to marry a stranger for family glory. They ended up falling in love, yet their lives are bound with twists and turns... Complete with a 2nd uncle who plots after family asset and a 3rd party slut, don't you think this story is just so absolutely beautiful and.........

CLICHE??!?!?!?!??!

Why am i still watching this?? I gotta tell you, it must be due to the fact that it's directed by a female because they make love scenes so sweet and appealing for other females. And i honestly think it's breathtaking the way they film certain scenes.

(Call me cheena but) watch 凤穿牡丹！

I didn't know how marina barrage looked like

2009-04-20T02:00:00.005+08:00

Porkie complain say i never update my blog! Na! Now i kop your pictures to update!

So it was a sunny sunday and tina treated her bestest prettiest friends to dim sum since she has recently struck it rich. We then explored marina barrage! I love my Supre skirt from Perth! And my Ah lian bag + keychain from Japan! And my 2 for $20 shoes from Cotton On! And my $12 shades from Dubai! And my colourful bangle thing from NUS bazaar! I love how i remember exactly where i got my stuff from!

Nice picture.

Pear says this looks like the airport?

We couldn't decide where to look.

Emo-ness.

I was supposed to be pointing at Hougang but melfy never include it!

Wow! It's been a long time since an 'outing with friends' post. Goody!

Nobody!

2009-04-15T21:25:00.001+08:00

I genuinely like this song!

Lust of the moment

2009-04-06T00:52:00.001+08:00

I could really use a sugar daddy right now.

shopping for dondon

2009-04-06T00:14:00.005+08:00

After complaining about the book, i gotta say that i disliked the movie too. It's cheesy, even for a chick flick. Enough said. Watch for the feel good factor, but expect to cringe, a lot.

I do like one quote though.

(with gusto) When i shop, the world becomes better!

So it was don's birthday (he's 23!) but i wasn't around. Poor him said he was doing project. BUT i called him from Cairo (teehee!).

Cairo 6pm
Singapore 12am

Dials.

Don picks up. Halowwwww?

Me: Happy brithay to you! You are born in the zoo. With monkeys and elephants. You are just like one too!

Don: ............

But he's happy with his present. He promised he will love me more.

Me: I can't believe i bought such an expensive present for you. I should have saved up and buy myself an LV bag instead. Damn! Can we sell this on ebay?

Don: ...........

Anyway so i realize i've been delinquent on blogging about my travels (which is the main draw to my blog, i assume). I tell myself i will start soon but i don't and the pictures just build up until it's too much for me to even wanna start. Gee and i thought this feeling would stop after i say byebye to tutorials and term papers.

Shopaholic abroad

2009-03-26T19:01:00.006+08:00

Damn you Confessions of a Shopaholic!

The book is evil and teaches you the wrong values. Worse, it's not just a single book of misguided facts, it's a whole bloody (addictive) series of books.

Look, if you shop all day and fill your entire house with truckloads of useless crap, your bank account goes into red, the problem does not magically go away as you fling the bank statements under your bed. Unfortunately, Kinsella tells you it does, in the form of a charming rich British entrepreneur who marries you and moves you to Manhattan, a new job as a personal shopper in Barney's, therefore with more reasons to continue your disgusting wasteful habit.

I have not come close to Rebecca Bloomwood's standards (obviously cos i don't have her bank account which she shares with her millionaire husband). But as i walked through the malls today (or any other day, as a matter of fact), i could totally relate to her.

Oh look it's an espresso machine. SO pretty, it's pink! Oh but i don't drink expresso. Wait a min, one day i might! Or my boss who drinks espresso might one day pop by and be impressed by my machine. I might finally get the promotion i've always wanted. Heck, it's so pretty. *throws espresson machine into cart*

Before you know it i came home with bags and a depleted bank account, wondering what the hell have i bought. I did not buy an espresso machine, obviously. I'm totally not the kitchenware type. I just bought a DSLite. Even though i knew it was completely needless. So since i bought a console i needed games... and then i thought hey i really need to decorate it so i bought more things. And then i needed a pouch. And accessories.

So there you go. Except there won't be a prince charming to save me now. I'm SO glad i have a job (which i work really hard at ok!!!!!!!)

How do u meet someone who will always make u happy?

2009-03-26T00:29:00.004+08:00

I dunno whether i look forward to going home after every flight. For one i obviously want to rest and do nothing at home. On the other hand going home means facing these negative emotions. Again and again.

Besides, i could do nothing in the hotel rooms if i wanted to.

So sometimes i ask myself why do i have to insist on being unhappy. I am, on normal days, happy. I mean, i just came back from japan! But upon coming home, i'm faced with the same doubts as i did from my last trip back. And the last. And the last.

Maybe i just have too much time on my hands to be thinking of stuff. People like to ask me what i do on my off days cos i have irregular off days. My boyfriend is only part time. Plus, even as i'm often away, we are apparently still not spending enough time apart. Friends are either busy at work or fyp or serving coffee at the other end of the world. I don't like to go out when it's too sunny or rainy. So basically i sit on my butt most of the time. Gee.

I guess it's time to start shopping for a puppy.

At least he'll be here for me.

And make me happy again.

Omg i just realised how pathetic i sound.

crash at narita

2009-03-25T01:32:00.002+08:00

So i just came back from Narita and there was a plane crash.

If u could see, it landed on the rear, bounced on the nose, then flipped to the left and ka boom!

I was at the airport 2hours after the crash, on my way to Shinjuku. Totally unaware, i was tottering around the airport in glee imagining i'm some kinda tourist cos how often do i get to roam the airport in civilian right? Everything looked normal to me; there wasn't any large scale panic or grumpy delayed passengers sleeping on benches like those i see on TV. If only i had tilted my head up slightly to notice all the cancelled flights (which, unfortunately, non of them happened to be my return flight).

Yes, like any kaypo singaporean, i would have stuck my face at the glass window and stared.

Which was what some of my colleagues did, as a matter of fact. They saw the news and immediately took the 10min shuttle from the hotel.

I did manage to take a look at the area though, on my way back the next morning. Nothing spectacular.

My steward told me he thinks he heard the crash in the morning and proceeded to describe the sound in full detail (which sounded something like very strong wind, according to him). We then had a serious discussion about how we could have seen the crash itself from our windows.

That is just SO singaporean. Always wanting to be part of the action, but mind you not directly involved.

Anyway, it's scary. I wonder how i'd feel if i really did witness an air crash. Would i still have the guts to fly again? Apparently Narita is notorious for fogs and strong winds and i did witness that myself. Landing felt like a roller coaster.

So. Well. Glad it wasn't me. RIP fedex people.

Financial woes

2009-03-10T01:47:00.003+08:00

I bought myself a savings plan worth $300 per month! (estimated value)

Opps did i say that out loud was it supposed to be confidential.

So i was convinced that after putting aside $300 more i'm gonna be so much poorer. I told dondon 'no more luxuries. we gonna have to tighten our belts from now on'. I think he rolled his eyes.

So technically i save 1.3k with 1k of liquid per month. After paying rental to my dad and groceries fee to my mum, i realize i am left with little disposable income. That kinda depresses me. But you see if i think long term, i'm gonna be a rich woman when i grow old cos i would have accumulated 72k in my portfolio in 20years time. That's kinda cool but then i won't be buying pretty dresses and sparkling accessories when i am old would i? So this money could all go to my children's TUITION FEES and PIANO LESSONS. That sucks cos i kinda wanna learn to play the piano myself.

Whatever it is I HAVE ALREADY DECIDED so just stick to the plan damnit i dunno why i'm debating myself on my blog.

So then i decided to check out the IKEA catalouge to see how much furniture cost. I think a sofa already cost more than 1 month of savings. I want plasma TV and pancake machine that prints out Hello Kitty's face too!! Gee! I feel like i'm in The Sims where your simulated people start out with 500 Simoleons and all you can afford is PVC sofa, black and white TV and a foldable dining table.

i got a new job

2009-03-07T16:31:00.003+08:00

OK so i became a boy for the first time. Not literally but i was doing the job. (Right, for your info, the S.boy and S.girl have different job duties respectively. Typically in an (our) airplane you tend to see the kebaya more cos the boy [which happened to be me yesterday] stays in the galley to do sai kang). So incidentally it happened to be full load with two meals paired with a cockster boss. I dunno if i'm lucky or what.

So well it was kinda fun. Instead of having to serve i get to move heavy objects, clear the trash, prepare beverages, heat meals. I also get to move things around and laugh at people when they can't find them.

Then when i touched down, my bf and i discovered that after 3 years together, he doesn't know my chinese surname. Will any real friends who know my father's name please stand up??!

So all in all it was a fulfilling day of self-discovery.

this familiar feeling...

2009-02-17T20:40:00.003+08:00

This is one of those days where i feel all bored and lonely and wished i was working instead of moping around at home. I can't imagine how i'm gonna go through 23 feb - 9 mar and i'm glad to be going away on long flights after that.

I must be crazy.

I already have 2 boyfriends but i think i need one more.

i will be good!

2009-02-17T04:14:00.003+08:00

My roster is funny.

Check out the amount of standbys.

Aiwei said she is indian crew. I am standby crew!

But i am also japan crew cos checkitoutcheckitout i'm going Tokyo!! RAVESSSSSSS. One more stop and i conquer all of japan stations!

Damn excited! And for once there is no creepy india turn hahahhahaha. Hey i'm not being racist. Imagine working from 7pm all the way till 7am. Zzzzzz. That's usually how an india turn works. So stop judging me!

Amsterdam again but i love this place :) Especially now it's gonna be spring! Tulips yay!!!

And someone's screwing with my roster. I was suddenly 'released' from standby this evening. I don't even know why or how it works. But i'm not complaining.

From 'you need to improve your work' on my 2nd check to 'keep up the good work' on the 3rd to 'you are very good for a new crew' on my last flight. I'm getting increasingly more comfortable and confident in my job now so life is great, especially when i know my job is (pretty much) secure. HOHO!!!!

Halfway through to clearing probation! Gogo!

hello!

2009-02-08T22:04:00.003+08:00

I realized some of my readers come from all over the world, in particularly outstations with free internet hahahhahahha and most come from aiwei's blog! Luckily i don't say bad things about my colleagues hahaha.

I'm going to South Africa to see lions! So exciting! Yippee!

And somehow i'm always back at the right time like erm for valentine's day!

Waha too bad for dondon now he has to do something.

boring feb

2009-02-03T17:53:00.004+08:00

Damnit everyone is laughing at my stoooopid roster! You know who people always like to ask you where is your next flight or how's your roster blahblah to create conversation. I'm almost embarrassed to tell them mine cos their reaction will either be hahahhahaha or wah lau how can they do this to you. At least before cny i could counter react by saying i touch down at 7am on cny eve and i got cny first to third day off hor (although it ended up becoming first to fifth day off). You got ornot?? But now i don't have anything to save my grace. And i just flew with this irritating boy who's going to japan, paris, moscow and houston on the same month. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS HUH!!!!

dubai!

2009-01-30T01:11:00.008+08:00

Hello i'm back to blog again. Why am i so free ah? Cos it's my 5th off day in a row! Omgomg! Why is this happening. I had 3days off after my 8day flight, yesterday was on standby but NOT called up! Arghh! So i'm not working again. I dunno why i'm complaining, i should laugh to the sky that i get to slack at home. But you see no work equates to no pay = a poor me. And i'm bored too cos it's fabulous friday but everyone is either working or writing thesis. *jumps around in tantrum*

All of you should go traveling to help the economy. SQ is having many promotions. Go go!

Again, i dunno why i'm complaining.

I should make good use of my off days to take a break, reflect, search my soul and find myself back. *lost*

OK so i went to Dubai! Woots! Charles works there so i was granted a mini drive around and tour explanation plus some insights of an expat (well almost 90% of the people here are).

When i first saw the city, the initial impression was "sparkling". Lol cos my first view was from the plane as it was landing at night, and there were bright lights everywhere. The roads i saw looked straight, systematic and even had brillant lights distributed in equal distance (sounds familiar?). Although i'm sure what i saw was the most developed of the city, but wow i like sparkling! I almost thought i was going home.

By the way this was an 8day long flight. A singapore-dubai-istanbul-dubai-singapore 4 sector flight.

Clockwise from top left: Tallest building in the world.... still under construction. The Burj Dubai. I think it's gonna be sensational. We drove through the business area. Many buildings under construction! Dubai is going through major changes... fast! Keep your eyes peeled.

See the pinkish houses? I was told that for each wife a local man takes, he gets a (huge) sum of loan interest free, PLUS a house. So under the muslim law each man can take 4 wives right? Hmmmmm.......

No wonder the people i see working are either indians/indo/ang mo while local men stroll around the malls rubbing their big round tummies.... Not bad a system huh. The tiny pool of locals supported by foreign taxes and skyrocketing rents. Ok not to mention oil. And you can never be part of them if you're not arabian.

The mall of Emirates. A dip made of chick peas with a plate of sour vegetables, sour cream with olives, thin pita bread, raw vegetables as appetiser (hur?), mixed kebab with fries. That's my first meal in Dubai! Yummy yummm!!! Loved it. Was thinking of where i could get lebanese food again in Singapore haha i'm crazy.

So there's this puesdo skiing resort in the mall except that it looks real. With genuine slopes and chairlifts! But 80SGD for 2hours hurhur no thanks. And then my friend's Porche haha thanks ah for the ride.

World's tallest hotel! Wished i had the opportunity to visit the islandisland thingy i think they called it palm or something. Maybe next time.... sure will get dubai flight again! By then maybe they would have completed the world's tallest building haha!

We got a free drink coupon! Crew is typically yao gui one so of cos we went to redeem. We sat there for a good couple of hours enjoying the live music, free flow chips and that ONE free drink. Yao gui right!

Next day we had chinese steamboat hahaha! Don't gimme the you're-in-arab-what-are-you-doing-in-a-chinese-restaurant look cos we don't care and we lack no opportunity to taste middle eastern cuisine.

Their sauces are..... indescribable. 3DHS per plate and "don't waste"! The grand master gourmet chef (that would be me) created a potent sauce consisting of garlic sauce, peanut/seafood sauce and coriander leaves. Taadaa! Die die must try!

It's early renuion dinner! Heehee! Yuan yang guo rules!

Chocs and nuts is like THE crew joint. I dunno how it happened cos it is nowhere near the hotel. VERY popular now cos of CNY! Yayyyieeee. In fact cashew nuts, pistachio, chocolates and such are cny staples!

The legendary Angsana suites. Stayed here for the last leg of the flights.

Have you ever seen a kitchen in your hotel room??? So extravagant and utterly useless. Why would i wanna wash clothes or cook food on my one night stay huh! Just shiok to look at :)

Ordered food delivery alll the way cos seems like the hotel room was too nice for the rest of the crew to step out. Chicken kebab, naan, lassi, raw vegetables (popular appetiser, apparently), and some curry and chick pea sauces.

See the briyani on the left? It sucks!!!! Cos they left out the curry sauce. Rarrrrrr whatsthisman.

Relac.........

Take a bath! Wooooooooweeeeeeeeyayyyyyyy!!!!

Copenhagen, Denmark

2009-01-29T21:01:00.007+08:00

Haiyo!

I realized i forgot to post my Copenhagen pictures. Only trice weekly flight, might not be going there ever again.

But it was SO cold. SOSOSOSOSO cold, we gave up walking to see the mermaid :( The Tivoli was closed for winter too, and shops were closed for the new year. Hahhahaha ghost town! And there was no countdown or whatsoever nearby. I was in a sleepy place in Europe, nowhere near town. Haha! Zzzz... but i loved the fireworks :)

Fine dining at the hotel restaurant. We had a farewell dinner and new year's eve lunch there.

People.

At the mall.Streets at night. Top left hand corner is the town hall. Tivoli on the right - oldest amusement park in Europe. See the train station at the bottom left. We originally planned to take a train to Sweden but plans got distrupted due to company's new year lunch.

Which i could gladly go without. But. Oh well.

As i said, fireworks seem as though they were free.

More on my facebook page!

off days no more...

2009-01-29T00:56:00.005+08:00

Seems like only yesterday when i was looking forward to dong dong dong qiang! at home with 3 full days off. But now all is OVER!!! Wehhhhhhhhhhh. So fast.

Back to reality!

Reality is Prata House was packed on chu er night. Wei! Don't all of you have to work on chu san huh? Chinese new year is over go home and sleep!! I had to stand around waiting for a table at midnight! Outrageous!

Dondon had to clear our own table. Poor him.

My boyboy.

So we waited and waited and waited. All the while i was just blabbering some nonsense to him but i think he was too distracted trying to catch the attention of the ah bang. Finally he got up to the kitchen to order himself but they were only willing to take da bao orders so i said let's 'da bao' but eat at the table HAHA i thought i was being very smart but we realised we have no utensils -_-

So then the couple of ah bengs got very agitated like us and shouted 'knn! eat one prata must wait 2 hours! uncle we wait very long already leh!'

Uncle said 'your table only 2 people'.

Ah beng said '2 people also can order a lot what'.

Uncle then walked past our ignored tables without taking a single order.

Xian lah. Da bao-ing was a wise choice after all.

i fell ino a black square

2009-01-27T01:05:00.005+08:00

I'm home, like, finally! *throws arms up*

I came back from work one day and discovered that my bank account has doubled! Wahwahwheewah!

Ok it had a rather pathetic amount in first place. But STILL.

MORE! MORE!

My save-1k-per-month plan is still going strong! iamsoproud.

Yeah fine it has only been 2 months. But a good start is halfway to success woohoo!

So i think i am so rich, i went out to buy myself a psp game. After working so hard i deserve something good damnit!

DJ max Black Square. I knew it was a rhythm game, somewhat like guitar hero. But ohmyfgod it is the most difficult brainless game i've ever played. How much intelligence do you require just to press 4 buttons when the rectangles drop to the line right? BUT wah lau eh they are sibeh complicated and fast! Before you know it a blur of rectangles just flew by. Do they think i have 12 fingers??? Jeez!!! And THEN i realised this was supposed to be for 'hardcore' players. Wth! I bought it on impulse cos the girl on the cover was so chio. How deceiving pretty girls can be.

Anyway, if i play the 'beginner' levels frequent enough i might become a 'hardcore' too. Woosh! The graphics are fantastic in a japanese anime way. And at least the songs were nice! A range of hip hop/jazz/pop etc. i likeeeeeeeeeee. So even if i can't play the game well enough at least i would enjoy listening to the songs.

slacking in istanbul

2009-01-23T00:14:00.005+08:00

I'm so bored.

I've been away for work for the 5th day and i'm still here....

3 more days to go...

It's 6.18pm now and i'm waiting for dinner.

So i'm in Istanbul riding on stolen broadband (thank god for free broadband). I watched Twilight and the part of Madagascar-where-i-fell-asleep online and caught Stardust for the second time on tv. We went sightseeing and took the local tram to the Blue mosque, some bazaar and the spice market. I also crossed the bridge from the continent of Europe to Asia and back! Pretty exciting. I never knew Turkey rests on 2 continents- our hotel is on new Europe and the airport in Asia. Whee hee!

I miss dondon :( But he doesn't come online nor message me nor offer to fetch me back (boo). I think he's too busy (yes more so than me) to think about girlfriends and such.

Let's all hope i get long flights all the time! :)

New Delhi

2009-01-20T20:08:00.007+08:00

I went to India! New Delhi to be specific. Just an overnight stay but the hotel was so posh! I had to take pictures hehe.

Colourful paintings!

Detailed as well.

Whee a beautiful lotus quietly sitting in a bowl.

So i had this chicken thing which looks like curry but ain't exactly. I can't remember the name because i couldn't read it in the first place. To put it simply, chicken in some kinda sauce of black pepper and boutique spices with a texture like singaporean indian curry. Plus prata! Or they call it paratha there. It was so good love it! The spices are different from those in the curry i usually eat (at 24hr fong seng), though it got too salty towards the middle of the meal. And the paratha was crispy and flaky on the outside and soft/fluffy on the inside (not wet/limp like 24hour fong seng).

And then i had a huge sundae which was heavenly. Curry plus ice cream rocks.

So after a meal there was nothing to do but to watch tv and wait for work to start again. Room surprisely exceeded my expectations and most importantly it was CLEAN.

Yay sparkling bathroom.

Queen sized bed! What else could you ask for?

Foggy outside.

Make some tea!

Ok this entry's really kinda useless bahhhhhh. But this city's, or maybe india's in general, huge rich-poor gap is apparent when you get to visit. You see your hotel being so posh and all but right outside the window it's a completely different story.

But i don't dread indian night stops anymore cos at least i get nice hotel and the food is so goooooooood!

please lemme work!!!!

2009-01-14T00:43:00.003+08:00

AAAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh >0<

I'm only rostered a holy number of 4 flights next month, which one of them is a turn and one a overnight layover. AMAZINGLY UNBELIEVABLY JAW-DROPPINGLY SHITTYYYYYYyyyyyy...

The rest of the days i'll be on standbys.

With the economy now + people getting longer-than-usual off days, do you think i will get called up to go to work?

NOT LIKELY.

I hope i hit at least 3.5k (which may sound a lot but it's not for me cos this job is high maintenance thankyou) this month if not i will be deprived of going out.

Finally i can declare that mmmhmmm the recession does have an impact on my everyday living. Wow i sound like an adult.

Shop Shop!

2009-01-12T15:43:00.005+08:00

I am a happy girl.

Because i finally managed to get new year clothes. *whistles*

Perth is a good place to shop~! Their topshop/forever 21-like dresses cost me only about 20+ or 30+ SGD whereas those so-called 'young and hip' mass produced dresses will typically set you back by more than 40.

Ok i'm not talking about online shops. Most of them are really badly made, but good if you're on a budget.

Clockwise: Baileys chocolate hahahhahaha have never tried them before but the box is pweety. Sandals only AUD15! Turquoise dress with chunky bracelet and cheap-but-good leather bag. I discovered how great this bag is after using it for the first time. It has several small/medium compartments that allow me to find my keys/wallet/handphone in less than 30secs. So much practical than my expensive bimbo bag. Pink checkered dress and vest. Here's my favourite-layered skirt with a champagne bow :)

From this post you could tell how proud i am with my buys because i rarely shop so much in one single attempt (although that's not a lot to most of you bimbos out there!!). *nods nods*

These are the times when i find my job adorable.

tantrumish

2009-01-07T05:32:00.003+08:00

Ooooo someone found my site by googling my name. I feel like a celebrity~!

Which gives me a strange idea at 5.30am in the morning and i googled "brandon chen" that brings me to a site brandonchen.com which features nothing but a smooth pair of baby feet -_-

I'm heading to Perth soon.... hopefully back with new clothes for the lunar new year, if not i'll never get to them.

Sigh.

Sigh.

Sigh.

I feel rather sigh-ish these days. Like i'm gradually losing interest in life. I could spend my days sitting at home just watching tv and eating junk food and basically allowing my brain to rot. How could i do this to myself?????? But i just do. Rarrrrrrrr what's going on somebody saaaaaaaaaaaave meeeeeeeeeeee.