Hello! from Dublin, Killarney and Paris!

At a park in dublin..And YES i was hard at work... conference, and being NERDYAt eiffel tower!Off to budapest tmr. Cya all soon~~ (yes.. i'm still hard at work here =P)

5 hours and 10 minutes more..

and i'd be on the plane, on my way to Ireland! Been some time since i flew a plane. In fact, this is the first time this year! and there are new travel buddies this time round, so it'd be exciting! Another 1 mth trip after my london trip.. but that was alone, while this is with many people! yay~ I haven't had the time to upload Ipoh and diving trip pics. well.. maybe next month? or maybe never.. since i'd be busy with europe photos then. hahaha. anyway, everybody take care!! don't melt! =P

sunday dinners at home ^_^

My mum cooked mee siam today!! yumyumyum~

So many tries later, i finally got to eat icecream at daily scoop again. i think i'm the most unfortunate, to go there without my wallet, then forget that they're closed for a few days, then went there to have lunch and felt too full for any icecream! argh. but yes, good things are worth pursuing. i finally FINALLY got to eat my icecream! and sure enough it was goooooooood

Yes, the bestest combination i ever tried. Peach bum with hot hot brownie. it's sourish, complements perfectly with the chocolatey brownie. oooooooohh


and the other one, plain crispy waffle topped with berry brandy! whoa.. the brandy was so strong, as compared to the other alcoholic flavors! nice nice.. ^_^

and i never really stopped by to take a look. the view was so beautiful, especially at that time of the day. wish i had a better camera with me though.

even the kids knew where to get the best view. and i think it's better to go as a kid. it's actually quite high, and i got quite scared. yes, my friends always luff at me being an acrophobic, considering that i'm not that short. >.<

proof that it's high! see? someone was there all strapped up!!

i really must make a trip there again, hopefully before i leave for europe. bah, so many things to do before i leave! but i can hear the berry brandy calling me.. mmmmm =P

Awesome Cinematics!

Go view HOME by Yann Arthus Bertrand. The cinematic will take your breath away! ^_^ (don't know why i cannot embed it.. so.. be hardworking and visit the website lah! hehe)

First post-exam activity

Pumpkin cake! ^_^


Is a gift, for a dear friend who's leaving. So, we decided to make it for her, since she's been requesting it for sometime but i've just been too lazy to do it.

Almost done, before putting it to steam.


The final product, after the garnishing! so pretty! and smells so good, tastes even better! ^_^


I hope she likes it. And thanks for helping. tho i am so very upset at the biasedness of my mum during the entire process. grr.

THANKS TO ALL!!

for your prayers! and encouragement! and everything you have done. It has been a really tough month, but i'm through with it now! yes, i've passed! "it was a perfect presentation" "wendy passed with flying colors", as i quote my supervisor. ^_^

really, i couldn't have done this without the support of everyone. the understanding of my bad tempers; the daily jokes to keep me happy; the encouragement to keep my morale up; the 'pretend nothing happened and let's have fun' to let me forget abt it sometimes and maintain my sanity; the prayers you included me in; the bearing with me ignoring you guys when you come around and have a chat coz i'm studying hard; the accomodating xb for her copilot.. all in all, THANKS! my next exam is in 2 yrs' time. til then.. life is great! hehe~

we have new friends from Finland! ^_^

This is Helmi and Rudolf from Finland! ^_^


so coincidentally, all our toys so far are winter animals. ^_^

thanks

to friends who happen to be there when i need them. 'twas such a weird ending to a happy day out at lunch. so rare to have time to have everyone go out together. ok, maybe weird is not the word to describe it, but rather unexpected. truly. i was fighting my emotions all the way on the bus ride back. whoaa.. think i almost suffocated trying to suppress everything. still had my 3:30pm meeting to think about. back at my desk, i was trying so hard to cram some last minute reading into my head. but i obviously couldn't. thanks for the offer... and so sorry, the moment u asked me what happened, i really couldn't keep it in anymore. thanks for taking time off the busy first day back, just to comfort me. so useless of me.. the only one who took it so hard. >.< and so sorry that i caught you off guard that we didn't bring money along with us. hahaha. but it wasn't a wasted trip! tho i was 5minutes late for the meeting, i was actually in a better condition than ever before, and was actually able to get thru the meeting all fine! so the day ended on the right note. ^_^ just 2 more meetings to go! then yes... now i have even more things to do after june 5th. will need some inspiration then...

and life seems to be back to normal again. things seem good. at least, until 3:30pm today. At 10pm yesterday, he called for a meeting today. Yes, yesterday was sunday night. And yes, i did check my email and reply at 1am. And even more amazingly, he acknowledged my reply at 5am. Are we not expected to sleep?

I really hope the meeting at 3:30pm would go well. coz last week's meeting and presentation brought me back to square one. as though all my work and reading up was just wasted. went terribly. just wanted to dig a hole and jump in. wish i was never born.

Found this on my desk today by chance, while waiting for xb. ^_^ it was a note that brought me through university days. It's simple, but meaningful.

When you're down and troubled,
When you're sad and blue.
Just leave it to GOD
for GOD holds our tomorrow,
and He holds our hands.

^_^

yes, He holds my tomorrow, He holds my future. And I know He'd hold my hands as i go for meeting today, wednesday, and the final exam on friday :)

missing IPOH.. and more =(

Ok, we didn't just go ipoh to jump. haha. but no time to upload so many pictures now lah. next friday, after my BIG BIG exam, i will upload all ipoh pictures and tioman diving pictures! ^_^ meanwhile, just uploading this coz i miss those carefree times, tho it was just a week ago. it's been a big rush since i came back. tmr is my 3rd mock presentation.. with 20-strength audience. geez.

The last, and most synchronized jump shot :)

would seriously appreciate it if people would stop using vulgarities everywhere they go. so glad that many of my friends don't use them, and some others know about how much i dislike foul words, so they do make an effort to avoid using it when i'm around. but i don't usually bother informing other people around me if they don't know, coz though i dislike hearing it, i have no right in dictating what comes out of their mouths. so i just close one ear and pretend i didn't hear anything. just don't be surprised if i suddenly lose my smile and turn silent.

don't understand why people need to use those words. doesn't help the situation more when you use vulgarities you know. it doesn't turn the rain to sunshine. it doesn't stop drivers from cutting into your lane. it doesn't stop people from arrowing you to do work. it doesn't remove the stink of dog poo from your shoe. so why make it even worse by using such unpleasant sounding words? >.<

counting down... with distractions

The exam is just around the corner, and i am working extremely hard for it. for other reasons too, of course. but at the same time, my next weekends are full of distractions, with Ipoh and Tioman trips taking up my weekends! Can't wait.. haven't traveled with the FSC in ages. In fact, i've never traveled with 3 out of the 5 of us going to ipoh! whoaahaha.. the FSC is really going to the next level. we're going to conquer food out of singapore's borders! i'm sure it'd be a good trip. Thanks wyee for agreeing to bringing us home. ^_^

And that's not all. amidst exam preparations, i am preparing for other major activities too! amongst it includes the europe trip. FINALLY, tickets have been booked. at almost half the rates that i was quoted a month ago! Thanks to the flu, as well as the capability of the other 2 going on the trip. Thank God for them! now for the decision of where in Europe to travel after tt. =P there're other things i am planning for too.. really exciting things.. things i have had wanted to do ages ago but found noone to do it with. Now i have found companion! but... it cannot be done unless if i pass the exam. So... i will not announce it til i pass. hehe.

back to the topic of exam. if not for the distractions, i think i'd be so stressed. maybe overly stressed. if not for friends who're around to support me and give me encouragement every moment of the day, i may have collapsed. Lin asked me to watch 'Facing the Giants', and i did. 3 times in 2 days, in fact. truly enough, it touched me. right smack. And the scene on the death crawl (embedded film), really felt like i am doing it now. and i will only be able to do it with the encouragement and support of all around me. Thank you Lord, for sending these people into my life. =)

Space, the final frontier...

For a non Star-Trek fan, this was really good! Had half expected to be totally lost during the movie, despite friend's assurances. Plus, i was not as hardworking as fangers to go do any reading up before we all went for the movie! But it wasn't what I had expected. It was not-so-geeky, it was humorous, and quite easy to understand! (yes, save for 'red matter'... bleah) But yes, it's highly recommended to all! doesn't matter if you've ever watched or even heard of previous star trek films/shows. You can still watch this blockbuster! ^_^


And yes, he's quite cute. reminds me of a friend. who's not in town currently.

And the seats at grand cathay are nice, big and comfy. i like :)

Thanks

for the chat, the counsel, the encouragement. haven't felt so terrible in a long time, and i really appreciate the timely comforting words.

i tried so hard, to keep the tears at bay when you came in person today. put on a strong smile, i told myself. and indeed, it helps. no more of crying in front of everybody. first time because he left, second time because of the meaningful present. I think that is enough. i have a reputation to uphold. may i pick myself up again, and win the next showdown! =)

Passage of the Day

This passage was brought to attention when i was talking to a friend today. It's a very popular story, and i've read it many times. But each time, it just gives extreme comfort to know that He's always there, no matter how many times I have wanted (oh have) turned my back to Him. Thank you Father, for your agape (unconditional) love. =)

The Parable of the Lost Son

¹¹Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.

¹³"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' ²⁰So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.^a]">[a]'

²²"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

²⁵"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'

²⁸"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

³¹" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

Luke 15:11-32

and i don't understand the discrepancy. Am i blind or totally insensitive or what?

i'm asked to be more competitive. fight it out. yeah.. if it were a few yrs back, i wouldn't even need to be told to do so. I was so convicted to prove everyone wrong if they looked down on me. i was ready to fight back every professor's demeaning words, every obstacle anyone placed my way. but i have changed since then. I don't want to be so competitive anymore. But is it wrong? It seems like i was more ready then than now to do a phD, to compete with people and to fight my way into "the elite club". I don't want to bother about all these. I just want to do my research. I am not here to compete, i am not here to be on the right side of favouritism, not be here to prove i am the best. But yet, it seems like it is all part and parcel of the game. either you do it all, or do nothing at all. sigh. maybe it's time to go back to the old days? or is there some other way i can find a balance? i really don't feel like living tt kind of life anymore..

This is amazing! Wonder if my bro will ever be able to do that.. haha

Evolution vs Creation

Was preparing all these for my lesson last sunday. Was quite intrigued by how nature really speaks for creationism itself. Had been quite convicted all along, but this only adds to it. ^_^

Assumptions in the evolution theory


Evolutionary Assumptions - Celebrity bloopers here

How the simple Chicken Egg defies evolution!


Scientific Discoveries : Incredible Creatures That Defy Evol - Click here for more home videos

Find more from "Incredible Creatures that defy Evolution"! ^_^

Thank you for all your prayers!

I also don't know why i was so stressed about the meeting. Just another meeting, ain't it? But i guess it was the 'warning' i received the previous week, that got me all jittery. There was nothing much i could do because it was sunday and i had no intentions to come back to work on a sunday. Hence, i went ahead with the meeting, able to only submit it all to the Lord. Vivi sent me an sms a couple of hours before, quoting Psalm 34:9 "Fear the Lord you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing". Thanks girl, for the encouragement you always give, be it sms or emails. ^_^

Thankfully, it went fine in the end. Of course i appeared really dumb and lacked all knowledge, but i was already prepared for the worst. Yeah, it's been so many years since i thought my life would be a big mess. gosh, the stress that made me all nauseous, which didn't help with the stench of the tumors i was working with in the morning before the meeting. The smell was still there after the meeting, but i felt alright! was even hungry due to the lunch i had skipped. Shows that the nauseousness was not from the stench, but anxiety! whoahaha... so old ler still stressed until like that. haha. well, i'm glad it's over. one month to piah now! >.<

Philly Cheese Steak!

Yes, i finally had Philly Cheese Steak in singapore! haha... had loved the ones in Philly, but never tried any in singapore because i was almost sure it would be totally wrong and spoil my wonderful memories of Philly cheesesteak in philly. But, today was special. I met steph and harry, in NewyorkNewyork! We all knew each other in Philly, and had traveled to NYC together then. So i decided to finally choose philly cheesesteak. I didn't expect it to be like the true philly cheesesteak of course, but rather treated it as another burger with the name only. So it wasn't disppointing, coz it was totally unlike the authentic one. haha. not the least bit like it. zero resemblance. I bet the creator had never even been to philly, let alone tried the real philly cheesesteak! even the bun is wrong. the cheese wrong. the shrooms wrong. gosh. what was right? maybe the name (oh no, the name wasn't. it was called philly cheese steak sandwich. nooo... it's not a sandwich... it's just philly cheesesteak!). and yes, it was beef inside. haha.

manz, i really miss philly. miss US. miss exchange. i wish i could go back there again, study there again, live there again. Why are we always never contented? hmm. i wonder if i would get to go there for my post doc?

Am I ready?

On one hand, i really want to get it over and done with. On the other, I question myself if I am really ready for such a big test. Some people tell me it's hard to fail. Others tell me most people fail the first time round. And I don't have much of a choice, for I die die have to pass the exam by august. To add on, The Big One is starting to be a little doubtful of my project again. yes, A-G-A-I-N. It gets frustrating sometimes, when I cannot merely focus on doing my research, but at the same time have to think of ways to convince people around me that it is a worthwhile commitment. Yes, I know that's part of research work. Think about the people who need to write grants for fundings. But... It's really a very promising project, can't you people see it!? I'm just a little slower in producing ground-breaking findings, not because i am lazy and don't do any work, but because I only have 2 hands, 24hrs a day, and not too much luck. And to add on, who on earth produces exhilarating results every other week? Give me a break... I'll show you what I can do. Just pass me and let me carry on with my pipetting... I promise you I wouldn't disappoint you.

Coincidence? Really?

I would never have thought that someone would share so many similarities as me. Not referring to looks or genetics (coz i am sure my sister would beat anybody to that!), but rather interests and thinking. It's nice, really, to talk to someone on the same wavelength. Many of my closer friends do share the same wavelength, agree on many things. But seldom on SO MANY things. It's a little unbelievable. Yet pleasant at the same time.

it JUST has to happen together. WHY?

If only life were simpler. No decisions to make, no choices to make. That'd be so nice. Sometimes, we complain that we have no choice. Then, we complain when there're too many choices. haiz. I keep wondering if this is good or bad, that i have choices. If there were only 1 option, then no need to wreck my simple brain to choose. Then again, who doesn't like choices? Especially when offered all at the same time, then can take your pick. Choose the best one. BUT... then comes the worry that we might make the wrong choice, and regret later. HAIYOH. What contradictory creatures we all are. >.<

***

Geez. i so need a break from all my activities. So tired out. All of a sudden, everyone's meeting up and organizing activities. Not that i'm complaining. I LOVE going out with my friends, and i love it when everyone is so spontaneous and we can easily spend time together without going through much hassle of planning. But, i think i am taking on too much. meeting too many different groups of friends, doing too many different things, picking up too many skills, making too many commitments. Need a break. gosh. but no opportunity to. howhowhow. can't wait for dive trip at the end of may, then europe 2 weeks later! noone will be able to ask me out then, and i can enjoy life at its simplest, and maybe slowest. ^_^

Had wanted to watch with S and Wyee.. but we were unable to find a common time to go! How upsetting. Had to give up the idea of watching it. =(

Then.. TH suddenly mentioned that he also wanted to watch the musical! hahaha.. so wyee and i went to search for a new date to go... and did find one! and this time we managed to get student price summore! woohoo~ so much cheaper!

So, finally, after so much hassle, i finally watched Cats last night! ^_^ 4 months after the last musical in London... oh how i missed watching musicals. The moment the music started, i felt like i was in London again, watching my nightly musical, enjoying every moment of it. Can't wait for the next one to come to singapore!

The truth about cancer research..

This comic says it all... (taken from phdcomics.com)

Porridge steamboat!

ever heard of that? steamboat with PORRIDGE BASE. no soup, only porridge! cook ur food in the porridge! hehe.. ok maybe i am very suaku, but i only heard of it recently, and got to try it! good recommendation. it's yummy! the porridge gets yummier as u cook, coz more food then more flavour. i think one of the tricks is to add the salted egg right from the beginning! =) as usual, i forgot the name of the place ler... but it's at bugis. opposite the dessert place. haha. fine whoever wants to go jio me! i know the way. haha. and i mean it! (don't laugh. i know i'm always getting lost. but when i say i know the way, i don't bluff.)

and since i didn't take pictures yet again, i got this from sparklette.net. :)

GEYLANG!

finally made it back there again after almost 3 yrs. (oh yes, i've been in this lab that long! it was my first outing with the lab pple, for durian. 3 yrs later, we're back again, and my status has progressed from undergrad to grad! =P) This time round, instead of having durian first then dimsum, we had it the proper way. dimsum first, then durian, then rochor's beancurd! yummy. The dimsum was of course great. the chee cheong fun was nice! good recommendation by the snake-head, fangers. durian.. we had 2 different types. one cheapo and one expensive. just to see the difference. whoa.. what a great difference it was! maybe also coz the cheapo one was the sweet type, and i don't have much liking for sweet durians. Well at least one person liked the cheapo one.. haha.. so easy to please. He's a jap guy, and he says that durians make his fingers smell like sashimi+soy sauce+wasabi. Hmm. Fangers agreed that she could imagine the soy sauce. but i'm totally unable to link durians to jap food! I think they just miss jap food too much. =P

after the food, came a different highlight of the day. tour de geylang! woot! finally FINALLY got to walk around the red light district! thanks to friend who knows the way. hahahahaha. it was a wee bit early though, so we didn't see many girls. but i saw the houses. whoa, even have themes! and all pink/purple/red lights. i wonder if that really helps. hmm.

thank God for drivers, coz we got into the car (my first friend who owns a VW. and first person to choose a white car. but it's a beautiful car, i must say! wonder why noone else thinks of buying it) and went back for a drive through! it was later in the night by then, and yes, we saw many more people on the streets! all nationalities, all ages... Lor 10, 14, 16, 18, 20... yes, we did miss out 12. but it was abit messy driving thru tt area with all the guys desperate to get there. ah... there were many groups of NSmen! gosh.. with their meagerly pay still can.. and one even brought a guitar around. i wonder if it was an excuse to stay out late. then i saw something very funny. someone was zipping his pants in the middle of the streets! hahah.. we all figured he probably got a call from his wife and rushed out, forgetting to zip up his pants in the hurry. hehehehehe~

planning trips are fun~

it ain't nice to repeat the same thing everyday, hoping one day it works, but it never does.
it isn't wonderful to plan things together and someone just drops the aeroplane (backs out)
and it sure sucks to be ignored.

FORTUNATELY, there's so many more things to be happy about

• traveling is always more fun when there're more people. cheers to the new travel buddy addition!
  
• it'd be fun staying in a villa rather than the usual boring hotel.
• europe's definitely good when there's more time to travel. what's more, it's my first time there! (excluding a wee bit of UK last yr lah)
• 2 scoops of icecream to myself over lunch
• 6 bars of kinder bueno in a single afternoon
• durian outing@geylang tomorrow!

wheeeee~ so life's good. heck whatever else happened. ^_^

dreamt that i was back in tioman, together with vivi and yw. They're taking the open water course this time round (like in real life!) but i was with them in the dream. just joining them for fun. haha. and i wasn't bored at all, going through all that again! finning around in the very clear and clean pool, under the sun.. well, the pool in my dream was obviously much larger and cleaner than the one in tioman! haha.. but it was a nice dream. :)

hmm on 2nd thought maybe it was because i got ma PADI card last night. hehe~

craving..

a sudden craving today for the green tea cake from breadtalk. oh yumz. had it for the first time when we celebrated april babies' birthdays at the penang buffet. the buffet was good, we were all full, but the cake was so nice we still finished it all up. thanks to yn who bought the cake, for if i were the one who'd gone to buy the cake, i'd definitely have chosen a chocolate cake. then i wouldn't have had a chance to try this cake! oh what a loss it'd have been. so nice! yumyumyum


and talking about others making the decisions, i suddenly thought of what my sis blogged about lately. she'd mentioned it's nice to have other pple make the decisions at times. i totally agree with her. i know we live in a democratic society, and we like to open up the choices and let people have the opportunity to choose. but when choices get too vast, or when we don't even know what choices there are, it gets frustating. and when everyone around is so easy-going, no decisions are made. so it's always nice to have friends who say "ok we're doing xxx at yyy place at zzz time". fullstop. save me the trouble of thinking of what to do, where to go. coz honestly, my whole life is about planning and organizing things, i really appreciate it when i am given a break from all these, and someone else picks up the ball and makes the call. a big thank you to all who've made my life so much easier! ^_^

He is risen today! Yay! =)

Just a short note of what i heard today, which did set me thinking. It was about why people tend to doubt more readily than they believe?

1. Doubting is contagious. yeah.. we are creatures that follow our peers so easily.
   
2. Doubting is passive. don't have to do anything to doubt. so easy. (but then again, does it take much to believe?)
3. Doubting satisfies our tendency towards self-protection. I think this is so very true. We seldom choose a path that we're unsure of whether we'd be harmed in the process. When risk assessment is not available, we just play safe. this is survival's instinct.
4. Doubters are easier to find than friends of faith. I tribute this to the above 3 points.

If only believing was easier than doubting. can't we all have more faith and trust in the things around us? =)

Good Friday is so called for a reason..

From what i heard from Pastor Young's podcast, GCC, Philadelphia.

• God is always ready to show his grace and love for us. But more often than not, we're the ones not ready to receive His grace and love for us.
• God did not buy you with gold or silver (the more valuable things in this world), but with something more precious than all things. More precious than a man's reputation or power or money. He bought you and I with the blood of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
  
• God sent His Son to die for our sins. A father would rather die, than to send his son to die. But God did not do that. He could have laid down all in the world for us, he could have laid down his own life for us. But to demonstrate His tremendous love for us, He chose to lay down what He loved the most, to sacrifice what mattered to Him the most--His Son, His most valuable possession. How great is this love that we are experiencing from God?
  
• Jesus suffered all wrong accusations, all sarcasms, ridicules, spits and slaps from people, but he beared with it all. He did not call on his legion of angels that he could have done so. He just beared with it all. Because He loved us. He became the object of sin, took all the sin in the world upon himself, upon the lamb without blemish, so that he may save us from the wrath of God because of our sins. In Gethsemane, Jesus had said that if He asked His Father, more than twelve legions of angels would be at His disposal. The power to escape this dark hour was available to Him. But Jesus would not come down--He could not come down. Love held Him to the cross.
• Following Jesus, means following the way of the cross. If we are to call ourselves Christians, will we be able to live a life of love like Jesus did? When Jesus went to the cross, He suffered, but he went to it in joy. Is there self denial in our lives? When there is something we really don't want to do, do we still do it for God? Are we sacrificing anything for Jesus? When there is a sacrifice, we need the grace. May us receive the grace of God, so that we may empty the grace for others around!
  

camera dysfunction

haiz. for once, i was hardworking enough to whip out my camera to take a picture of what i was eating... but before i could take the photo, the battery went FLAT! the battery sensor had been having some weird problems, indicating low batt even when fully charged. so i retried. but really cannot turn on ler. truly flat battery. bah! so no pics again. hahaha. but i just wanted to take a picture of the gong gongs that i ate yesterday. grow so big, first time eat gong gongs. haha. after taking hepB jabs as a child, i never took anymore while in school. in JC, when my antibody levels were tested below acceptable levels, the nurse til told me no need to take booster, coz if anything happens the immune system would still be triggered and then i'd be fine. so i didn't take... until i had to go london last yr. then had to take. so until last yr, i didn't dare to take much shell-food, just in case. yes, according to facebook, i'm 100% singaporean. kiasu kiasi kia everything. bleah. but at least i've finally tried it! haha... very fun trying to get the body out... challenge wor!

and yesterday friend told me there was a new shopping centre opposite bugis, directly opposite fish n co. then i thought... isn't tt where qi2 hui4 (SWA) used to be? not like i go there anymore, but those years of visiting that place regularly were quite fond memories. geeky but fun. hehehe. just like in the comic qi2 ling2 wang2. woot~ BUT that's besides the point. the new shopping centre, whatever it is called (illuma? like illumina... hahaha) is not there lah. it's beside it. mum and i were still wondering what that new building was. ha! new shopping mall! quite big... and spacious.. nice.. but alot of shops not open. and a little bit waste of space. but it's nice having new shopping malls around. i like! hehe. can't wait for orchard central and ion to open later this year. cannot afford to buy also will be nice walking around window shopping~

despite sleeping late, my body clock made me wake up so early this morning. bleah. but good as well, coz i got to talk to my dad! and complain to him about the loss of a very important gym! that's one thing i dislike abt the management. always make funny decision without asking for the opinions of the end users. why guess everything, when they can just open their mouths and ask? survey very hard to do meh? i hope something gets done about it. brenner is a good choice! oh please... may Synapse be revived... >.<

Divas

We always hang out at Chinatown during CNY. but i've never met the divas at chinatown when it's not CNY! well, thanks to the craving for green tea shaved ice (which was out of stock during CNY), we decided to make a trip back even though it wasn't cny. And sure it was worth the trip! plus they came up with many new flavours so we just had to try some of them! =P

April Fool's, Arzhou's bdae, and a farewell

It was a not-so-common choice of dinner place, to meet at Tiong Bahru Plaza. But it's good that we seldom go there, so there's new food choices! So we tried the Indonesian-Chinese Rajah inn's buffet. Since it was a weekday, it was only about $20 per person! yummy~ and it's not just steamboat, they serve some cooked food too! and it's not too bad.. really.

My favourite chestnutties. 3 years on, and i still think they rock. ^_^

The next top model and the sexiest man alive! (ok, runner-up)
Those 2 roomies. bicker about milk and puke each time they meet, but they love each other more than anyone else. =PIt was Arzhou's bdae the next day, so we bought him a FULL cake from Bengawan Solo. We left it in the restaurant's fridge, and when we asked the waitor to bring out the cake, this is what we got:


What the?!?!!? All cut up and one tiny plate of it left!! hahahahahha tt was like the greatest joke of the day. We were having choc fondue (with fruits and cakes) before tt, so the waiter had thought we wanted more cake! The waiter was so embarrassed... hehehe

So here's Arzhou, with his real bdae cake, and the 3 gals. A picture to bless him with luck to find a rich gal in connecticut. hehehe. Arzhou jiayou!! =)

It may be another year before we meet again, given that arzhou's away across the globe. so sad. There goes my Fish&Co/clementi/sexy buddy. XD Take care dude~~

too lazy for pictures...

but Edogawa Japanese buffet was good! It's located at Central@Clarke Quay, level4. Never knew its existence because that part of the building has not many shops... so i don't usually venture there on my shopping trips. haha. Since we were early, we were seated near the windows, which gave a really great view of Clarke Quay and the Singapore river. Was even more beautiful as it got dark! =) the crowd didn't really come in til quite late, so being the only (few) customers at that time, the chefs were really quick in serving our food and the waitresses were very efficient too. The sashimi was yummy! I'm so glad i learnt to appreciate sashimi a couple of years back, but this is the first time i tried so many different varieties! The sweet shrimp and the..err.. ark shell was quite unique but absolutely delicious! We had lots of those. like... lots. hahah. The other stuff were quite nice too though a little too salty. But that didn't stop me from getting my fill of shishamo. haha. haven't had it in some time coz for some reason, the people that i go for jap food nowadays don't dare to eat shisamo. hmm. and i didn't have chawanmushi for the first time! egg overdose ler.. need to stay away for abit! Ah.. the restaruant didn't serve tempura icecream either. That's one thing i'd really have loved to have if they did. maybe tonnes of it. hehehe.

so we ate from 630pm all the way til the restaurant was ready to close. whoaaahaha. too bad for their business to have customers like us. Since the weather was good, we went up to the helipad. ah... yes, the weather was good. no stars, but no rain. haha.... the last time elly and i wanted to a make a trip up there, it poured til we were drenched. bleah.

more buffets coming up! but in the meanwhile... time for my tummy to rest. =)

Penang Laksa...

First time having penang buffet here in Singapore, and sure it was GOOOOOOOOOD! recommended by dearest YN from penang herself, so i was looking forward to some authentic penang cuisine. And true enough it was! Oh manz... so good that we all forgot to take pictures of the food. =P No words can do justice to it... now amongst my top buffet lists, it's a must try! Princess cafe at Copthorne King's Hotel, Havelock Road. it's about $36++ per pax. yummy~~

i like birthday celebrations

especially at home. coz it's a time to get together. =) and of course, there's cake. =P

Thank God

for all the things that are happening right now. In a matter of a week, i've embarked/completed 3 tasks i've wanted to do in ages, some as long as a decade ago. In the process, i've made lots of friends, met up with many old friends, and found back my 'life' together with them. I truly hope that the enthusiasm we have is not temporary, but would continue to last for as long as possible. I really need all these happening people. Heck the boring life that other people lead. Indeed, the downside of all these is that I have been spending less time at home, and i know my mum is not too happy about it. Well, i do not intend to stop all these, for i am elated with what's been happening. Always wanted to do it all, but I let my research take priority. I have to learn to juggle it all, for i cannot wait for research to end. it never will (or at least, not in the near future). i'll just take a couple of evenings off and be at home next week. be the good, little gal who lazes around the tv. hahaha

more photos! =)

The actual group of people.. the 6 OWCers and the many many leisure divers Pool session..
entertaining ourselves on the ferry back home..
some were really tired out
With my 2 fantastic instructors, Louis and Grace! =)
Best Buddy! =)
Most fun OWCers~

Certified!! =)

exactly 10 years after i first set my heart to learn to dive, i've finally done it. SO HAPPY!! A dream fulfilled, in just one weekend. Thanks to Marcus and qiaoling for organizing, kunshan for wanting to learn with me, all the TH peeps who made it oh-so-fun, and the very trustable instructors who made me feel so at ease so that i could learn to dive without any fears. Of course, a great thanks to God for the wonderful weather, and for keeping us safe throughout the trip. (and yes, roy and rose who made it possible for me to leave singapore without any worries~)

Actually, it started only with ks and i wanting to learn diving. ql offered to get us in contact with marcus, and she promised to follow. i didn't know that i'd end up learning with 4 other people, who were from TH too! that made it all so fun. The long F1 race to Mersing, the ferry trip with cockroaches, the motion sickness on the dive boat, the splitting of work while doing the exam coz we wanted to sleep earlier.. =)

Let's see what i sighted on my first dive trip: lots of corals and fish! starfish, trigger fish, moray eel, blue-spotted ray, turtle, cuttlefish.. and i got to play with nemo! =P pity i didn't get to see the dolphins, the sharks, the sea slugs and the cuttlefish mating! but i'm satisfied already. so many more trips to come, i will definitely see them once! hehe. So when's the next trip? anyone? ^_^

bah. used my cam for only 1 photo during the trip, coz there were many avid photographers there. save the trouble =) so here're just a few from facebook...