大红灯笼高高挂。。。

the first of the red lanterns i've seen for the 2008 CNY. so pretty!

~the heeren's~~pan pac's~

manhattan fish market

i had qualms about this place when i first heard abt it.. was told that it's cheaper and the food's better than fish & co.. not that fish & co was alrdy superb. but anyhows, i will go wherever the bday girl goes!

apparently, i hunted the internet for the no. to call to reserve. and i've read bad reviews in the meantime, abt how they got the fish on fire while trying to cook the prawn (right in front of you).

highly recommended!: if u like the green parsley stuffs, u will like the baked fish with garden herbs.. (re: the green green thing in the picture, dun see it may look gross, but it's nice!

anyway, happy birthday xindiku! hahhaa...

gOOd fOOd and fat-llOwship...

had our super-uber early CNY celebration over the weekend.. once again.. junk food time! 'junk' cos although it was a steamboat, i cant help but cook funny stuffs to eat. plus all my lovable members juz know i like tang hoon and cooked alot for me. so i ate maybe... 4 bowls of it?

btw, the bugis steamboat place increased their price! it used to be $15 inclusive of free flow of drinks... now it's $18!!! thank God we have ad the bargain queen! hahahha...

argh. cannot cannot. next time we do our own steamboat! *angry!*

~us!~

have decided to put all 4 pics into 1 collage, cos:
1. notice that extra one person in the first pic? she was trying to fit into every pic, although it seemed obvious i aint interested in snapping her... hehe.
2. the food on the table was indeed abit messy, and looked abit distasteful. collaged alrdy not so obvious.
3. save space, lah. duhz.

~the cool dudes!~

my first 2008 yusheng!

erm.. tis is the "after" of our very pretty yusheng.. all thanks to erm.. mr low.. dun see him gentle gentle.. he was the one who caused us to lose half a plate of yusheng to the table!!!!!

anyway didnt really take much photos.. but the appreciation dinner was superb! had 2 bowls of shark's fins, bee hoon, and orh-nee... maybe that's y i had a major tummy upset the next day..

~half the EW at table 79~

liyi is coming back!

yay! we miss you! will be at the airport with flowers (courtesy of cindykOO) to welcome u with open arms! yayyay!

i lurve bodyCombat... but i lurve li's bodyCombat even more! yay!

**********

which air tix should i get? hmmz.. SQ or air china... seems like i've gone thru this dilemma once too. haha.

2 days of break!

i am taking time off to smell the flowers...

~SOC vs LOTUS (both spotted in town!)~

~honda hybrid engine~

tink quite not worth it to get the hybrid... $89k for a petrol saving car.. oso not say will save alot.. i tink.

**********

toured some old-school neighborhood after dinner... pretty refreshing compared to the places dat i usually hang out. =)

~the lift (who has even seen such lift buttons!)~

trivia: wat does my birthdate mean?

Your Birthdate: November 25

You excel at anything difficult or high tech. In other words, you're a total (brilliant) geek. It's difficult for you to find people worth spending time with. Which is probably why you'll take over the world with your evil robots! Your strength: Your unfailing logic Your weakness: Loving machines more than people Your power color: Tan Your power symbol: Pi Your power month: July

infuriating incidents!

infuriating incident #1
the weather is uber-hot. period.

infuriating incident #2
realised that the class i want to go to is in orchard, and i dun have my shoes! ... in the end, have to lug my heavy self to bugis juz to open the locker to retrieve my shoes and den travel to orchard! argh.

infuriating incident #3
i chipped my nail! boohoo... they're uneven now!

infuriating incident #4
now the gym provides the all-in-one shampoo and body foam.. and i have to forget to bring my shampoo and conditioner and body foam and facial wash to the gym! do they know that the hair on my head needs different attention as the hair on other parts of the body!!!!

infuriating incident #5
decided to shop and buy shoes. but the shops have to run out of my size! alright i noe i am the "toa cah soh" (not the tangent-cosine-sine acronym) but still!!! grrr! in the end i managed to rummage and find one pair though. hahaha!

infuriating incident #6
some intellect fren (grammatical mistake intended) of mine bought 8 days. she got so excited abt the free mandarin orange holder that she threw away the free postcards of jay chou!!! i wan my jay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wat a way to end the day......... >:(

i ♥ jay!

~the jay chou poster courtesy of shirley...~

~the huge hand from the jay chou concert "koped" from her neighboring seat...~

the simple things in life that i get excited over, even though i aint at the concert... hehehe. =)

57,000 affected by 7-hour MRT service disruption

excerpted from CNA

*can you spot me? :p*

SINGAPORE: Some 57,000 MRT passengers in the eastern part of Singapore were affected on Monday morning.
one of them is me me me, yours truly! wat an adventurous way to start the day! and to think i woke up early and left home early, hoping that i will be early for work!!!! arghs~

Train services between Pasir Ris and Tanah Merah stations were disrupted for more than seven hours from 5.28am to 12.45pm. SMRT said this was due to a breakdown of maintenance works between Tampines and Simei stations.
??? *faint* maintenance works oso can fail. hmmz.

Besides apologizing for the inconvenience, there was no other explanation for the delay, leaving many commuters unhappy. One passenger said: “Very disappointed. What has happened? Should have explained right?”
pls la.. who is so free to listen to explanation, lah? everyone is either busy squeezing into the smrt shuttle buses, or flagging desperately for a cab. thank God we took the shuttle bus. the traffic from tamps all the way till ite simei was snail speed. imagine the numbers on the meter happily skipping every single min.. :S

Also probing Monday's disrupted services is the Land Transport Authority (LTA). And any penalty to be imposed on SMRT will depend on what LTA finds in its investigations.
you mean smrt will be fined??? oh btw, speaking of fines, smrt juz fined a fren of mine for eating on the platform! and the staff didnt even walk past her to notice she was eating! she was caught thru the security camera! $30.. liable up till $500.. hmmz. are they using these fines money to try to maintain the tracks?

jordan! yayyay!

jordan has arrived! yayyay! we have someone to fuss over now! shall loan ad to boss during our ldrs meeting soon!

~doesnt the tiger look like it's eating up the baby?!~

my rolling stones!

~Amplified Ultimate is an incredible new range which mixes the very best of Rock and Roll imagery with the luxury of Swarovski crystal for the ultimate Rock Star look.~

yay! my first rolling stones top! second one if u count the one i bought for weiwei the first. but anyhow i lurrrve my dragon! and the swarovski crystals! i can fit into an XS too! hahaha...

**********

today could not have been worse. woke up at 8.53am when mommy popped THE fateful question: 今天没有做工啊？took me around 5 min to scurry around the house and get ready!

got a cab in no time. (there goes my record of not taking cabs since the fare hike) surprisingly it cost only $6.75! the last time i took a cab to work (before the hike), i paid $7.50.. hmmz.. not too bad after all..

**********

i lurve surprises! nice ones though.. the kneecap injury was a blessing in disguise after all.. have been getting rides home from momoto cos my "knee pain!"

got a knee guard, pastel-pink wrapped chocs, and juz today a pain relieving spray from shirley! ai si ni!

yuan yuan!

little miss gossip...

My name is Gossip. I have no respect for justice
I maim without killing. I break hearts and ruin lives.
I am cunning and malicious and gather strength with age.
The more I am quoted the more I am believed.

My victims are helpless.
They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name and no face.
To trap me down is impossible.
The harder you try, the more elusive I become.

I am nobody’s friend.
Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same.
I topple governments and wreck marriages.
I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights, heartaches and indigestion.

I make innocent people cry in their pillows.
Even my name hisses. I am called Gossip.
I make headlines and headaches.
Before you repeat a story, ask yourself:

Is it true? Is it harmless? Is it necessary?

**********

struck me so suddenly as the truth was put plainly in my face. realised dat there are many things that people can do behind your back (and that same many u can do to others too).

so many a times, pple have been hurt by false things said agst them. relationships have been broken, and more often than not, they can never be restored to the previous state.

so, let's resolve to stay clear of gossip, fllippant speech and sedition. really, before we repeat a story, ask ourselves, is it true? is it harmless? is it necessary?

咖啡王子1号店, not.

it's juz mcdonald's. hahaha... i'm lovin' it!

stress management

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."

Stress is pretty much common to us all in today's pressure-cooker world. It is our responsibility, however, to do what we can to lessen the stress factors in our life wherever possible. To do this the following tips can help.

1. Write down all your cares and worries. Put them in order of priority and eliminate those that aren't important.
2. Know what your limit is and limit yourself to what you can handle.
3. With stress comes pent-up feelings. Learn how to express these creatively and get them off your chest.
4. Accept the fact that some things can't be changed.
5. Limit major life changes to as few as possible in any one year.
6. Resolve all resentments immediately.
7. Make time for rest and relaxation ... get sufficient sleep.
8. Watch your diet and eating habits.
9. Maintain a regular physical exercise program.
10. Ultimately, however, we need to learn to trust our life to God in all circumstances.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
-Phil 4:6-7-

i am injured!

either i've been over-zealous in class, or i simply cannot make it, lah. the first time i injured my knee was in (roger's) pump. and today, juz a class of combat (incidentally, roger's class too) and my knees are seriously gone.

decided to google abt causes, symptoms and cures for knee injury.. abit scary to read abt some stuffs! some common causes, i've read, include: arthritis ( i aint that old!), ligament injuries, cartilage tear, patellar tendonitis, chondromalacia, blah blah blah.. well, to me, causes of glad's failing knee include:
1. prolonged usage of extra-high heels
2. overzealous back to back gym classes
3. running (for buses, trains, to beat the traffic lights, to book seats, after sale items, etc) coupled with #1.

and to think i still want to go join some dragonboat thingy. according to dr lim (xiaowei), she says that dragonboating is very strenuous for the knees, and more so since i am so tall, hehe.

i need a new knee. *help!*

and speaking of dragonboat, some of my kids have enrolled themselves into dragonboat the cca. sounds fun, but i do hope that they are able to balance their schoolwork and cca. and to excel in both! of cos it'll be great if they can join us for cg everyweek too! *hint hint* =p

dr lim says RICE treatment is good. hahah. so here i am applying the ice pack on my failing knee now. (apparently it's supposed to help blood circulation. so i should recycle and use it on my dark eye rings too?)

glad's RICE treatment: rest by using ice to compress your elevated knee! 4-in-1! yay!

2007 in review

like many around the world, i too would like to take time at the beginning of the new year to look back at the one just passed, to toast its high points and to regret its lows, to take stock and to look forward to the possibilities and challenges that 2008 will present...

the massacre at virginia tech, the assassination of former pakistani prime minister, the continuing nuclear standoff with iran, unrest in myanmar, and the ongoing war in iraq were among the top stories that made headlines in 2007. the year also saw a deadly bridge collapse in minnesota, wildfires in california and greece, and the recall of millions of toys and other products made in china. (and dun you think i am a bimbo. haha.)

locally, the year saw headlines such as the escalation of property prices, the repeal of Section 377a, the renci probe, the ministerial salary increment, the compulsory annunity scheme, and the freak sad accident of the 5 dragon-boaters. oh, and how could we forget the taxi fare hike! (incidentally, most headlines involve money.)

PREVIOUSLY...
on a personal note, i skipped from the old job to the new at the start of the year. it was pretty much a big step of faith. i had to forgo the bonus that global had for me (not that it was alot to begin with). on top of that, 2007 also began with us being right smack in the middle of the __th building fund season, so many i cant remember which one it was. but God was good. somehow i always managed to emerge triumphant. =)

perper came sometime in june/july. consequently i grew a lil more lazy in terms of transporting myself from one place to another. thank God momoto is nice enough to fetch me, and sometimes my lazy frens too! nonetheless, i was at least disciplined in gymming. attended some 140+ classes, not alot but enough to keep me in shape despite all the late night suppers. haha.

went for a trip finally sometime in august. the trip was good, though i did encountered certain issues prior to going *heh* prolly will be going for another one in 2008 too, since i've decided that i worked my very best in the month of december and i deserve my break. hopefully tis time round i can enjoy my trip in peace. *keeping fingers crossed*

PROGRESSION...
as always, i look forward to progress. while this list is by no means comprehensive, there do exist some concrete thoughts at the back of my mind as always:
1. plan. to go confidently in the direction of my dreams, and to live the life i've imagined. and to celebrate all the good things, or those who will eventually turn out to be good, that are going to happen to me.
2. manage. manage expectations, time, and finances. time and time again i tell myself, people and events disappoint. whilst i do still whine and mope over my misfortunes, i do hope that tis coming year will see less of disappointments, and even if there are, more of expectation managements. after all, all things do work together for good for me, cos i love Him and i am the called. hehe.
3. grow. nope, not in terms of my size nor weight. but grow w378 both in quantity and quality. of cos that requires the jointed efforts of all my kids.. so kids, join me in tis adventure tis coming year!


it will be interesting to see how 2008 unfolds.

strange attraction

there seems to be a strange attraction of peter. to food. and the camera. =p

and yet again.

glad's resolution for 2008!

glad's resolution for 2008 shall be summarised by the 4F principle!

FOCUS

.

.

.

FORGIVENESS

.

.

.

FAITH

.

.

.

FORTITUDE

FOCUS.. on the things needed to be focused on, stuffs that are of eternal worth, people who are precious to me (and precious to God), relationships and friendships that are forged through thick and thin.

i shall be a laser beam tis year!

eh.. as for how do the other 3Fs apply to my resolutions, i hope to be enlightened soon in a couple of weeks' time too. stay tuned!

wat is your resolution for 2008 den?

minor op.

31 dec: bought for myself a matching heart-shaped earring so that i can have diff sized hearts on my ear.
31 dec - 6 jan: procrastinated changing outta my old and erm.. rusting earring.
6 jan: finally decide to take it out. but ALAS, it was stuck!

so, 3 top-notched surgeons decided to carry out a minor operation on my ear... i meant earring.

surgery tools: a pair of tiny scissors from carl's jr (prolly they use it to slice onions..)

took them some 15 min or so to snap the earring out. it felt like eternity to me. i almost lost my ear! ouch.

~the earring and my swollen ear...
note: the stud was transparent, the red thing is the blood. eeeek!~

cactus cactus.

cac·tus (kāk'təs)
n. pl. cac·ti (-tī') or cac·tus·es

1. Any of various succulent, spiny, usually leafless plants native mostly to arid regions of the New World, having variously colored, often showy flowers with numerous stamens and petals.
2. Any of several similar plants.

.
.
.
.
.

a striking resemblance? heh.

my purrrrfect weekend!

wat is my purrfect weekend? at tis moment, it'll be:

1.spending the whole morning in bed
2. yet in time for mcdonald's breakfast (at KAP)
3. spending time with my loved one
4. listening to class 95 all 80s weekend (my era!)
5. lazing the afternoon at the all-time fav coffeehouse
6. a nice dinner, at sakae?
7. and den to bed early!

now that's my purrfect weekend!

oh and did i mention that it'll be flawlessly perfect if the hp doesnt ring with unnecessary calls and smses too? hehheh.

i am excited. really!

finally, the trip we've long been waiting for is here. all thanks to weiwei who is gathering all her resources to plan!

the past few weeks saw many around us going on holidays..
1. kimmy and family were in bali (they even flew on SQ!!!),
2. siew went to KL (and hopefully she got me a nice pressie from KL too!)
3. even donny is in aussie
4. karen had on her msn nick "going to shanghai from 3-9 jan"
5. xinyan.. even worse, she squeezed her whole year's travel schedule in her msn nick!
6. yuzhen is in KL now.
7. reagan will be in HK..

that left us pretty much depressed. and so.. the game plan is tis. we'll take time off after easter (due to our occupational hazard) to go on a trip!

with weiwei the planner around, i tink i am going for sure! yayyay!

new year, new resolutions...

should we be starting a new year with some new resolutions for the year?

as we approached the new year, i did make some casual remarks on wat some of my resolutions could be. eating lesser, hitting the gym more, sleeping earlier, earning more, spending less.. haha.. generic stuffs i've come up with.. guess i have to spend more time seriously thinking about some really specific ones.. but for a start, i tink we need a holiday, right mornkey?

**********

on another note, i spent the new year's day resting. real good rest. woke up in the late afternoon and had fun with the wii!

learned something new today! (for all those out there wondering wat on earth is a nunchuk)

turned out that the "nunchuk" actually is the "nunchaku": 双節棍, sōsetsukon "Paired sections staff", i.e. a traditional weapon of the Kobudo weapons set and consists of two sticks connected at their ends with a short chain or rope.

thank you.. thank you .. thank you..

yay! here we go again! for yet another party! not that i am dreading parties, but december was really a BUSY month...

**********

as usual, we were pretty much jaded before the even.. dragging out feet all the way from expo to orchard and den to parkway.. we were neither dressed up, made up, nor excited.. however the series of events that followed turned out to be that of surprise, fun and laughter (lotsa them). =)

awards were given out, games were played, food were eaten, photos were taken..

~(clockwise from top)
unglam glad and glam cindy png (boohoo i am inferior!) * narcisstic eric * the papaya brothers! * 881 in the act ~

~(clockwise from top)
mimi & weiwei in the 'garden toilet' * half of EW * sengchoon sweesiang * EW again ~

~ the big family again~

~ EW ~

sAy cHeez...!

alrighty... dun scold me for plagarising your entry.. den again i made sure that the grammar mistakes are done away with before posting it into my blog! hahaha!

december the busy month.. kinda upset when everyone else is having hols while we stayed in singapore.. siew's in KL, kimmy and ad are in bali, even donny is in australia!

but then again i do have to thank God for grace... =)

yea, and so it was, my schedule for december went something like tis (apparently weiwei did miss out some events):

13th to 15th - Breakaway Youth Camp
16th - Gangsta Bling
20th - Prayer Meeting
21st to 25th - Christmas!!
29th - Pixel Gala 07
30th - WYZ Thanksgiving Dinner
31st - work ='(... and erm, due to some glitches on our part, tonight we kinda had to do some restitution work... =(

**********

PIXEL GALA

~the winning entry!~

WEIWEI - Preparing for pixel Gala was no easy feat, esp when everyone was pretty much maxed out after christmas. Burdens of the retention of frens, turn out of the party, enthusiasm of the members and the running of the Gala was pretty much what went through our minds for the past 2 weeks.

Throughout the period of preparation, we made several changes and made numerous decisions... but thank God we were flexible ( and so was boss.. haa)

Pixel Gala came, and everything fell into its place. There were new friends who came and hopefully they enjoyed themselves. Some members rose up to the occasion to stand in the gap. All in all, i believe God's hand was in this party... No technical faults, photos were uploaded quickly, the rain stopped and theweather became clear just as the party started, all the food came in time... to God be the glory..

There are a few ppl i want to thank for making the Gala successful.. (glad's comments in purple, she's too lazy to blog from scratch)

1) Xueli & Shihui - This is the first time you guys worked closely with us. Thank you for your humility to tahan our demanding standards. You guys availed yourself even in the midst of your busyness. to xueli, really appreciate that u focus during this crucial period of time. as for your heart's desire, the Man up there sees. He will decide. =)
to shihui, you've definitely grew alot since u came over from N179 and den went away again. but all in all, ur growth is superb!

2) SK - Thank you for making sure the projectors, the screen, the Nintendo Wii were all in working condition. You can certainly captivate the crowd. with the chicken dance. yea.

3) KengYip - Thank you for coming at 10am to practice non-stop. I knew your fingers were hurting like crazy because of the tough guitar strings, but you carried on. ooh.. and keng snapped 2 strings if i am not wrong!

4) JieXiang - Thank you for coming early to help out. You availed yourself when we needed help ( altho carl's junior came out in the midst of worship, i still believe in you.. haa) now i noe who to look for when i need chorus board help. hehehe.

5) Yuxian, Peixin & Xueting - Thank you for being faithful enough to help get the food and utensils. and being faithful to come up with the $ too.

5) Peter - You've designed the flyers numerous times.. and never once have you complained. You carried the amp and the guitar all the way from Sembawang to The Petals. Thank you for being a humble and great leader! we do have something for you.. but it's in pokpok.. will pass to u later..

6) DT - Little Miss Practical would keep the cost down, made sure the unnecessary chores were kept to the minimum.. Altho many a times i wanted to strangle her for always voicing her objections against my suggestions, but her objections were always too logical for me to reject.. grrr.. Thank you for digging another trench with me haa.. that's ME! hehehe.

To God be the glory... For the things He has done!!!!!!

surf and turf!

wat's your remedy to depression? so far, i've done shopping. spent o'er $100 on that fruit sale again. and on a club marc bag.

~forced smile~

now for eating, drinking and being merry. couldnt really decide wat to eat. so settled for surf and turf in the end (cos i am poor and i have discount vouchers!)

guess wat, cos i had a long face.. the kind waitress brightened up my day with a brownie! hehe~

i need a holiday.

Christmas 2007

christmas came and went.. tis year aint any freer den the rest of the years.. the load juz gets heavier.. wat a bittersweet experience..

christmas tis year is @chang's.. a pretty heartwarming musical.. i'm sure it had touched many new friends and members alike.. most of all, i remember the candlelights most.. for once, O Holy Night didnt appeal to me more than taking photos with my kids..

~wat a beautiful sight!~

~look how beautiful they've become.. =) ~
~diya and friends!~

~'staff' and supporters of our ballOOn biz!~

in the midst of everything, i guess we did take some time off to pamper ourselves.. with starbucks (as usual), photo-snapping, last min shopping (it's retail therapy), wrapping gifts, etc etc..

~me and mimi.. she bought the normal havaianas slippers..
i eyed this one *grin*~

~wat a brilliant idea to have figurines outside the shopping mall..
there we were happily taking photos.. ~

no countdowns for me tis year.. i did the very thing i am good at... counting money.. oh yea, by selling balloons. mr low... where is my profit share~? hehehe...

i do thank God for all the good things He's done for me and thru me.. and i thank God for the great company i have with me.. most of all, i thank God for God. =)

merry christmas to all!

to all at IBM... happy merry christmas!

POP!

venue: Home Team Academy
address: 501 OLD Choa Chu Kang Road...

whenever some road has OLD in it, it's not a good sign. either they are dark and ulu. in this case, it's both. the only place i know around that area is the QianHu Fish Farm. arghs~

anyway, i was there not for an excursion! went for the POP of ms wong! waited pretty long for the parade to start due to the rain. in the end, had it in the hall.. not as exciting, but still memorable nonetheless.

congrats tiffany!

setting my life on your living word!

watch it here!

screams out HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TIFFANY WONG TING TING........
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

yeaps! it's ting's bday... and she is only 16. *frown* neva mind.. give you a few more years, you can join my club 21. haha...

anyway, here's wishing you a happy and many blessings year ahead. grow strong gal!