It's Boxing Day!

HAPPY BOXING DAY! It's just a day after Christmas day. Hope that everyone had fun & joy and had plentiful of presents! This year's X'mas eve was spent at a wedding banquet. It was an interesting one as it is a military wedding procession. Haha...I think the previous military wedding I attended was my cousin's which happened >10 years ago. For this wedding ceremony, the newly-weds have to undergo "obstacles" or you can just call it sabotage. Haha.... I think the groom is always the target for sabotage in every wedding. So poor thing. Having to go through all these to marry a wife. But then they should go through all these. Being a man to protect their wife, rite? Hee hee....

Anyway, back to X'mas, I was home just in time when the clock struck 12am. MERRY X'MAS!!! I was eager to receive my second X'mas present (I didn't even open up my 1st present until x'mas day although I've received it much earlier. Haha....) but I was told that I need to wait till X'Mas day.

Woke up early on X'mas day to prepare for a housewarming-cum-potluck-cum-x'mas party. We prepared konnyaku jellies, agar agar & potato salad. Improvements: Jellies were not sweet enough (be health conscious mah) while the potatoes were not soft enough. The party @ Pearlina's house was fun. Haha...especially when we have planned for a surprise segment. Wahahaha..... The day was ended with a movie, Warlords.

Today is Boxing day, & finally back to work after a 6-day rest. Yawn yawn.... Thank goodness that boss is still not back from Germany yet. So we created a havoc. Long long lunch from 11.30am to 3pm! Wahaha....all the way to Excelsior @ Cityhall for dim sum. After that was gift exchange & I got a cute mug & a couple keychain, with the chinese character, 'Happiness', on it. Thanks to Wai Ling then. =)

Tired day! Next PH is just a week away! I'm in NO MOOD to work!!!

My first Prawn Fishing Trip!

Ho ho ho..... My so-called x'mas break started on Thursday & it will last all the way to Tuesday. Yah, I took leave yesterday & on x'mas eve so that I can enjoy a long long weekend! Yeah!!

I was tasked to organise the activities for yesterday. Haha...so after some thoughts & research, I decided to plan for a prawn fishing trip. Given some advice from my "advisor", we decided to head for the prawning place @ Sin Ming instead of the one at the Bottle Tree Park. Situated just beside the Golf course @ Sin Ming, there's in fact 4 ponds from which you can fish the prawns! Interestingly, the bait used is actually small cubes of pig's liver. Yes, place the bait on the hook & you are ready for your catch!

One of the ponds

The Bait

After a good 2.5 hours of fishing, we finall caught.... 10 PRAWNS!!!! Wahaha....Compared to others it's not really a fruitful catch, but it was really fun & we both enjoyed it!

Our 10 LIVE prawns!!

With the 10 live prawns pcked in a plactic bag, we were clueless as to how to deal with them. Hmm....steam them? Grill them? Fry then?? But...first & foremost, how to kill them??? Best solution: Freeze them in the freezer!!!

A day later, I'm sure that they were definitely frozen to death (seems so ruthless hor?) & so I cooked them with margarine, garlic & black pepper. Yummy!! Here they are! From live to cooked! Poor prawns, but that's the fact of life!

My cooked prawns. Nice??

X'Mas Shopping!

My favourite festival of the year is here. Yes! It's Christmas!! Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way. La la la....

It's also time to get lots of presents, both for my good friends and for x'mas gift exchange. This year I got 5 exchanges! Oh manz..... broke broke..... December is my favourite month yet it's also my "brokest" month. Sigh....

Anyway, I finally managed to complete all my x'mas shopping! Haha...bought alot of cute little stuff for the exchanges as well as gifts which I hope my friends will like. Heez.... In the end, I also spent quite some time wrapping up all the presents on my own. Here they are!


Yah, all wrapped up in Taka wrapper but it doesn't mean that they are purchased from there, ok? Just that I have tonnes of that wrapper. Oppz...

I'm so looking forward to x'mas!! I want presents too!!

I'm now 25 years old already! :'(

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEeee! Another year older already. OMG!!

This year's birthday just come & passed, or in fact every year it did, rite? Oh yah... Well, this year's celebration started off with a spa treat @ The Rainforest Spa. Hmm...very special experience, relaxing. It's my 1st time doing it! Haha.... Ya, too stressed by work lately so someone knows that I need to destress & brought me there. We started off with jacuzzi & steam bath followed by a scrub then massage. To destress mah, so both my scrub & massage I picked the lavender fragrance one. Heez... After that was dinner at Halia Restaurant @ Botanical Garden. Nice ambience with soothing jazz music played by a trio. Just realised that the last time I went to Botanical Garden was when I was in sec sch! Haha....I'm so mountain tortise lor.

I was on leave today despite my busy work schedule. But then Bday more important than work mah, only once a year & to be 25 year old exactly it only happens once in a lifetime. Haha...so took a day off & watched The Golden Compass at GV Gold Class. The theatre was so classy & the seat was cozy. You can adjust the seat's height & inclination according to your preference. Haha... so comfortable that I fell asleep for a moment (yes, just for a moment coz I was being "barked at" for sleeping. haha). Dinner was then a nice home-prepared steamboat. Yes! I love steamboat!! This was already my 3rd steamboat in 3 weeks' time. Haha.....

I was happy with the celebration, all thanks for YOUR effort! Although I was looking for more (presents presents!!wahahaa). Yet somehow I also felt a little depressed & sad. Hmm....am I moaning over my always-increasing age (mid-20 now!)? Or I'm expecting too much? Or I'm just don't want to face reality to go back to work to solve the unsolved issues? Well, somehow just feel sian & I'm still feeling it now. Just no mood for anything, no excitement or what over my Bday. No feeling, numbed, feeling of emptiness. Dunno why also.

I just want a good break, can be a very relaxed one or an adventurous one. Adventure? Now I'm thinking of the reverse G-max bungy @ Clarke Quay. Anyone game for it???

Pirates Ah Hoi!

Pirates Ah Hoi! That's our annual D&D theme for this year which took place @ Hilton Hotel last nite. We were released from work 2hrs earlier yesterday so that we got time to dress up for the event. But instead, the bunch of us went Orchard to shop shop. Well, all gals so what else do you expect? We ended up buying a 'Little Miss' t-shirt each. Haha.... I'm now Little Miss Bad / Stubborn! Hee hee....

After shopping, we headed to Hilton for our dinner! But being lazy/boring/no mood/$0 budget, most of the colleagues (including me) from my unit did not dress up for the event. But we did some last min props (parang!) using cardboards (see picture). So damn cool, rite? Haha....

But we later saw more powerful "weapons" others have brought. Some brought "guns" (or rather toy guns). Haha....Anyway, it was an interesting piirates' gathering with most of us wearing the bandana. Although some looked like milk ladies instead. Ahaha...

Food wasn't very nice so didn't eat much. We played a couple of games & luckily or unluckily, I was picked to play a relay game. All I have to do was to burst a balloon & there I received a $10 Coffee Bean voucher. Wahaha.... However, I got no luck in the lucky draw this year. Hmm...it seemed like an alternate year winning for me. Won 3 years ago & last year. But anyway, we each got a $50 Takashimaya voucher as the door gift this year & on top of it my $100 voucher from last year is still unspent. So now $150 worth of Taka voucher! Who wanna go shopping with me??

Bombs? RED Bombs.

Lately I've received quite a number of red bombs pre-warnings. Oh mine! Friends of my age are getting married already! Congrats to Alni, Qing & Peiyee. Heez... Yah, that also reminds me that I'm not young already, will be turning 25 years old in a few days' time!

Sometimes I wonder what will make one feel that he/she is ready for marriage? Being in a relationship for many years already? Wanting to live with and see your loved one everyday? Reaching marriageable age? Sick & tired of present single life & want to have a change? Want to have kids? Want someone to wash & iron clothes for u?

If you asked me if I'm ready for marriage now, my answer is no. I think that there's still many things I wanna do and achieve before I will settle down. Furthermore, I still think that I'm a kid at heart leh, so how am I going to take care of another person?

Spinning Class!

I've finally tried out the spin class at PF today. Yes, finally I did it after procrastinating since I joined PF a year ago. All thanks to Grace for encouraging me to join her for the class. Heez....

Well well, I would say that it's a painful experience! Similar to cycling, I actually hate the triangular bicycle seats which always make my butt so painful. Maybe coz I got big butt?! :(

Other than that still ok lah, a little tiring during the class but felt quite ok after that. Heez.... But then, probably I've been too tired from work lately, I didn't have much motivation to cycle. The instructor is quite helpful and motivating and we simply have to follow the tempo of the music and the instructor's commands to cycle "uphill" or "downhill". I was too tired to visualise any "hills" then, so just cycle at my own pace. Ahaha.....

Probably I should try the class agian some day when I'm less tired & more motivated. Keke....

Suddenly I got this desire to go blading @ ECP. Wanna be in the sun, accelerate in my blades & let the wind slap on my face. SHIOK! I miss it!!

10km - Accomplished!

Hohoho!!! I've completed my 10km run & I'm still in one piece. Glad to say that I've clocked a timing of 1hr 17min & have been ranked in the top 38% runners. Keke.... Proud of myself!

For the remaining of the day after my 10km run was spent doing "sinful stuff". Wahaha!! After the run, we went over to Suntec for our roti prata breakfast (or should say 2nd round of breakfast for me). But I skipped lunch as I was too tired by afternoon & really need a good nap before meeting up with my JC bunch. Well, lack of sleep the previous night. Was a little excited plus I've been woke up by people who were more excited over the run. Poor me hor? My run started at 8am but I was already awakened at 5am!

In the evening, I've met up with the gals to celebrate Cat's belated birthday. Haha... Had fun eating mala steamboat and half-way through the dinner there was a blackout. But still, we had an enjoyable evening chatting & of course make plans for our coming X'mas celebration!


Yeah, it's now December! X'mas!!! PRESENTS!!!!

Tomorrow is the Marathon day!

Counting down to 08 00hr tomorrow morning. Just another 9hr 48mins more to that. Yes yes, I should be sleeping by now. But I'm getting a little excited and still gotta load my MP3 with songs to prepare for tomorrow. Yes yes. I'll be doing the Standard Chartered Marathon tomorrow. Just 10km I'm already getting excited. Haha... So what will happen if we proceed with the plan of 21km next year and a full marathon of 42km year after next? Hmm... No time to think so far now. Let me come back in one piece tomorrow 1st. Ahaha.... I'm sure we will! :)

Time to do some breathing exercise! Keke...

Gd nite!

Work work work!

It's been quite a while since I last mentioned about my work. So before you read on, be prepared to hear my sorrows.Haha...

Just two words to describe my present work. EXTREMELY BUSY!

Now I'm trying to finish up the synthesis of 11 compounds before I can happily go off to celebrate my bday then X'mas. Well, I'm done with 4 of them, 5 on their way but the remaining 2 still stuck somewhere. Yes, trying hard to push these 11 compounds through by next week. Meanwhile my lab notebook entries are accumulating, my Turkey conference report is waiting to be completed & also my APPRAISAL by 12th Dec. Haha.... Think I'm going bonkus soon. Lots of things to be done but so little time. So now I'm still considering if I should take leave on next next Mon. Hmm.....

Stressed & tired lately, so I might be more irritable lately. Please pardon me for that!

Holiday, holiday!! When can I go for a good break??

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!!! So why is the musical called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?? Well well, it's because of this magical car which can fly and swim besides going on roads. So the name of the musical actually came from the sound the car engine makes which sounds like 'chitty chitty chitty chitty' before it gives out 2 loud bangs. Haha... Interesting!

I've attended the musical last nite. It was really cool! I always find the orchestra in the background the most appealing part in musical. Probably it has got to do with me in school band back in my sec & JC days. Haha....yah, got to hear the trumpet again. Of course, on the stage, the performers have put up a really good show too. Their singing & dancing were fantastic. Now their theme song is still running in my head. Haha....

This is my 2nd musical for the year, where the previous one was The Phantom of the Opera. So what's up next? It gonna be Beauty World Musical in January. Can;t wait till then!

Nite out @ Brotzeit with Bossy

Last nite I had a great evening out with RH & Bossy. Yes! Our team of three! This time round, instead of treating us to lunch, Bossy decided to bring us out for dinner as he wishes to see how well we can hold alcohol. Well, Bossy loves to drink beer and he drinks it like water, which also explains why he has a beer belly (which he denies that it's a result of too much beer. Haha). I admit that I'm not such a good drinker. Just a 0.5l + 0.3l of German beer was sufficient to make me turn red like a lobster and make me feel sleepy. But then I wasn't drunk lo. Haha...

Yah, German beer + German food. We went to the Brotzeit German Bier Bar Restaurant @ Vivocity for our very first dinner outing. It's actually my 2nd time there already. Food was alrite but beer was great and a good sleep inducer for me. Haha... We had a nice chat about work, about life. Chatted till almost 11pm before Bossy left for his 2nd round of drinking session while RH & I headed home. Felt really sleepy then. Lousy me!

Come to think of it, we three have been in the same team for 3 years already! How many more 3 years will our group of trio continue to have? Hmmm...

It's Such a Small Small World!

Last Thursday was Deepavali. Happy Belated Deepavali to all!

I started off my day with a 2hr combat class at Great World City's PF. Well, 2hr combat class is already my routine on public holidays. Haha... Crazy 2hrs but definitely fun! But the most rewarding thing for my trip down to GWC yesterday was to bump into Grace at PF. We two were so excited to meet each other in the ladies. Very surprised too. I've been trying to meet her up for dinner ever since she's back from Australia but we never succeed in meeting up. Yet we met at PF's toilet! Haha... Anyway, what's more of a coincidence is that Grace is actually Oscar's vet! Unbelievable! Really can't believe that Singapore is that small for such coincidence! Like this friend knows that friend of mine, etc etc. Super Frienster! Oh well, for now it's probably more appropriate to call it Super Facebook! Haha...

Too bad, our catch up was really short. Hope we can meet up for more catching up some time really soon!

Today I was back in office with no "government" around. Yah, boss was away, so can have a relaxing day. Anyway, my arms are still aching from all the waving at A-Mei's concert last nite. Yah, aching not because of the gym but the concert. So you can imagine how high the concert got. Hee hee.... yah, it was really good!

Back to School!

This afternoon I went back to my alma mater, NUS. Not back to study la, just back there to submit a sample for elemental analysis. Hmm....although that's the main reason why I was there, but I think PT, RH & I spent more time looking for old friends, exploring the new canteens & went Co-op shop-shop. Haha....I suddenly felt so old in there. Afterall, I've already left NUS for nearly 3.5 years already. Time flies!

But it felt great to be back to school, an energetic & vibrant environment! Heez....kind of miss those schooling days. Miss lectures, tutorials, rushing assignments, preparing for tests & exams. I know I sound crazy now. Having to go through all the grueling work, burn midnight oil again, who wants? Haha...

Anyway, RH & I managed to get a copy of Clayden's organic chemistry textbook each for personal use. Yah, $70 for a book that's work-related yet we have to fork out from our own pocket. Crazy? Hardworking? Haha.... Well, to me I'm getting it for my own good la. Anyway, I've been wanting to get the book for quite some time already. Need to thank Cat too for getting the discount card for me. Hee hee....

After touring around Science faculty, we trios went over to Arts Canteen for lunch. It is now nicely renovated and it looks so much more spacious now. Back to school = back to cheap & decent food. I had vegetable rice with 2 veg + 1 meat which only costs me $1.80. I also ordered my all-time-favourite drink in the Arts canteen, strawberry-jackfruit juice. Yummy!! Still tastes as good, at only $1.30.

Felt so satisfied, not just my stomach. Happy to have my very own Clayden's organic chemistry book now!! Heez....

Why am I sick again??

Got up early in the morning & my stomach felt funny. But everything was ok until I transferred to the Pasir Ris bound train at Jurong East. There on the train, it was stuffy & I couldn't hold it any longer. I vomited. Luckily not onto anyone but almost. Then I quickly alighted at Clementi to puke everything out. Actually there's nothing but just the water I drank earlier in the morning. Since I was just 2 train stops away from my office, I went to work as usual, assuming that everything should be fine after puking. But then, I started to suffer from headache and was running a temperature of 39 deg. C. by the time I went to see the doc. Oh my god! Why am I sick again?? I've been so weak lately!!!

The doctor's diagnosis showed that my throat infection has yet fully recovered & has in fact worsened. To the stage that the virus goes to my stomach & attacks other parts of the body. Something like that la. But sounded scary. Didn't know that a throat infection can have so much complications!

Anyway, after taking the medicine & sleeping for the whole of yesterday, I'm feeling better today. Though still a little weak & lack of appetite. Hope I can get well soon!

My first 5km is accomplished!

Yes! I've accomplished my very first 5km run this morning at the Great Eastern 10km run!!! Well, to some people, it might be just chicken feet though but I'm really happy that I've completed the run. In fact, I didn't even train up for the run. I think my last run was a weeks ago, covering only like 2.4km. Haha...Yah, I admit I was lazy & not disciplined enough.

Well, during the run, there's times when I felt like stopping, trying to think of excuses for myself to rest & walk instead. But at the same time, I tell myself that I cannot stop & must complete the entire run no matter what. So I just push myself to go on running until the end point. It took me about 35mins to complete it. Hmm...I guess the timing is not too bad, rite? Heez... Though I'm really impressed by some of the 10km runners who took like 45mins to complete! Anyway, I'm so happy that BZ, PT & I completed the run! Haha....tired but happy. Not bad, at least we were not among the last ones. Heez.....

So coming up in less than 1.5 months' time is my Standard Chartered 10km run. Oppz! For this really need to TRAIN UP NOW!!! Time is running out!!!!

628 market is burnt!

If you do watch the news, you should have seen the report on a wet market at Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 being on fire last nite. Yah, exactly. It's the market located opposite my house.

I came to know about the market catching fire when Mum called me up last nite at 9+pm. By the time I reached home, all I could see was the market being engulfed by thick smoke. Along my way back, I saw a few fire engines coming into the area. It looked as if they are shooting some film. But what came before us was a REAL FIRE! Earlier on, the news did report on this accident. Basically all stalls were badly burnt. Everything was charred. It's really a sad thing. In just a one-hour fire, all the hawkers have lost everything. Many must be devastated.

Now there is plan to set up a temporary market at one of the carparks nearby. But it would also mean that the hawkers will need to fork out another sum of money to pay for the tempoary premise on top of the loses they are suffering now. Sigh... Hope more help will be rendered to them.

Now me & the residents here are going to miss the good food at the hawker centre as well. Sigh... Hope the businesses can resume soon!!!

Me & my lapop are sick!

I'm officially sick since yesterday and so is my laptop. :'(

No idea what happened. A few keys on the keyboard failed me since last night. All I could remember is that I last use it on Wednesday nite and bro did use it for a while on Friday nite. What happened? It's barely a year old only!!!!

So today, while I'm on MC, I intend to bring it down to Kallang for diagnosis. But...the sky is turning real dark & the medication is making me real sleepy now. HOW???

Why are we sick at the same time? Sigh... :(

Hari Raya Puasa

Selamat Hari Raya to all my Malay friends!

Yes, today I went to Noorul's place for visiting too! Heez... Warm & friendly hosts and of course, the food was great. Thanks for the invitation! I think this is the very 1st so-called official Hari Raya visiting I have so far. Coz most of the time I'll go to my Malay friend's house after Hari Raya to "clear" their new year goodies. Ahaha....I mean to enjoy, ok? =)

I've eaten quite abit of the cookies just now. Now I think my throat is going to sore soon. *cough cough* On top of that, I've eaten some chicken wings at Ikea after the visiting. Oppz....too much of a temptation. I'm falling sick soon!!!!

Relax Weekend!

Finally my presentation was over on last Wednesday! Can say that I'm quite pleased with my performance & boss was pleased too. Heez....

Since Wednesday, I've been sleeping alot. Well, for Wed, Thu & Fri nights I really sleep early & slept like a log since I've been quite deprived of sleep for the past week. Haha....so by Saturday, I was energetic enough to go for 4 rounds on the track plus bodypump then bodycombat & my day was rounded up with Cheer Chen's concert. Simple & nice though I wasn't very familiar with the songs. Heez...

Though my muscles are still aching, I still attended 2 gym classes today. Now my muscles are aching even more! I met up with my bunch of JC gfs after that to celebrate SM's belated birthday & Sze's upcoming birthday. Really had lots of fun chatting, eating, taking pics, shopping. It's been quite some time since the group of us met up. Really enjoyed the evening! Hope we can do it more often!! Yeah! A few plans coming up. KTV, cycling/blading, chill-outs. Haha...can't wait for the activities already!!! :)

Tiring weekend! But I've really enjoyed it. Tmr half day of work then shopping!!! Woohoo!!! =)