Dearie and I were invited to my uncle's place for Christmas lunch and we were welcomed by his 2 doggies, Joy and Tiger. They really love to sleep!
My niece was initially afraid to touch them but after much coaxing, she started to play with them! Too bad my sister is so afraid of dogs otherwise she can keep one at home...
Gave my niece her Christmas pressie while she was here for dinner...
Niece: Thank you Yee Yee!
Me: Pass this pressie to your mummy.
Niece: Mummy, your Christmas pressie from Yee Yee!
Me: No... it's your mummy's birthday pressie not Christmas pressie.
Niece then came into my room...
Niece: How come you didn't give mummy a Christmas gift but you gave me one?
Me: .......
To make dearie's house feel a bit more festive into Christmas, I decided to DIY a Christmas tree on his plain wall.
How does it look?
I'm quite proud of it.
Somehow it just adds a nice holiday cheer to the house.
I had a shock when I opened dearie's fridge this morning and discovered a dead frozen lizard lying on the chicken stock box. I waited for a few seconds but the lizard didn't move at all so I guess it froze to death in the fridge.
I was contemplating whether to leave it lying there and get dearie to clear it when he's home. On second thoughts... I decided to give it a proper burial. It's better to clear it now. What if it relived and disappeared when dearie's back in the evening? Can't take the chance...
Brave me used 2 plastic bags to clear it away... I should applaud myself because I hate lizards! Dead or alive! They are my greatest nightmare!!!
Dearie's Christmas pressie finally arrived! Dearie saw this pair of sunnies at one of the departure hall stores while catching our flight to Maldives. After much struggle, he didn't buy it because it's obviously much cheaper to get it in the States.
Concidentally, my freelance designer went to the States for a two-week holiday so when I was back in town, I went online to purchase it and got it delivered to the hotel which she was putting up.
Can't wait to see dearie's expression when he opens his pressie :)
I was showing my niece some beautiful pictures which I have taken at Maldives and one of which was the deep blue sea!
Me: Look at the sea! So blue right?
Niece: But yee yee... water is not blue. It's white!
Me: *speechless*
My niece has grown to become more intelligent than I think she is.
Dearie and I were very fortunate to witness a wonderful sunrise from our room this morning! The sun rays came in at 5.30am and the sky was magnificent! The sun slowly rose at around 6.00am. I managed to capture the beauty of the sunrise on video... will upload it on my Flickr site soon. Stay tuned!
It's indeed an island of paradise! Enjoying the sun, the sea and the beach for the next 4 days!
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| Beautiful water villas at Sheraton Maldives Full Moon |
I never used to book a holiday 2-3 days before travel but of late this is the norm! Dearie and I managed to take 1 week off next week and we have just managed to book our flight and accommodation.
We are jetting off next Tuesday to...
a place we both have not been to.... a place called Paradise!
7 years is a long time. I guess it's time to move out of my comfort zone and embrace changes.
Dearie is right... I should focus on growth not just money, if not I will always be enslaved to it.
'God only puts us through as much as we can handle, so the people who struggle most, have been chosen by God to be the strongest ones.'
Dearie was able to apply a day's leave last Friday so we managed to steal a short yet blessed getaway to Penang for 3 days... well almost! Coincidentally, our Batu Batu trip last year was also dated 25-27 but in November.
It was good to walk around, trying their local popular dishes, looking at their preserved architectures, and we even took public buses to the places we want to explore!
I guess this may just be the place for our retirement.
I had my very first interview with a renowned brand firm today after 5 years of no-interview. I wasn't active in my job search for the past few years hence I was having jitters the night before.
It went okay in my opinion and it's a job I would love to have! But I will keep a 平常心 and if it's God's will to have this job, I will be very thankful. If it isn't, then I will just keep trying...
I haven't met my bff, Melissa and her husband, Stan for eons and wanting to give dearie some personal space on weekend, I visited them after my morning class today.
I was welcomed with a scrumptious lunch cooked by Stan and by their new and active 4-month old chihuahua, Jojo! I'm completely smitten with her, totally opposite from their first chihuahua, Momo which is so laid back and snobbish lol...
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| Awww... Jojo is adorable isn't she? |
Saw this calm sky of pink after evening mass... managed to capture it whilst dearie was driving at 80km/h!
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| A calm of sky pink! |
I'm currently on a lookout for new jobs. I have been in the same firm for almost 7 years and it seems I have reached a plateau in my career. During my appraisal in May, my boss could not promise a career progression so I guess it's time.
My resume photo was taken when I had short hair and I needed a current picture of myself with long hair... so I decided to go for a corporate makeover photo shoot last week. I was quite impressed with some of the photos taken, particularly those of me in suit. Do I look like one of the multi-million club financial planners? :D
Dearie and I visited the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall today, a colonial style villa which is now a museum commemorating Sun Yat Sen. It's quite eye opener as I was never good with Chinese revolutionary histories...
Worth a visit and it's FOC for all locals.
Kitty mooncakes given with ❤ by my niece Adrienne!
And they taste as good as they look ^^
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| Just can't bear to eat them! |
Meet my new bedtime huggie -- Bunnie Chloe! At least I'm looking forward to sleep every night from now on.
Today is dearie's company family day at USS. Though we missed the rides as they were closed at 7pm (dearie worked late and we reached close to 7pm), we enjoyed a good dinner at KT's Grill.
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Ernie sprang a surprise visit! |
Saw this lovely dress at Max & Co. while shopping around at Hsyan Mall Causeway Bay. Just couldn't resist not giving it a try!
After being on antibiotics for the past few days, I do feel better a bit!! Can't say no to hotpot and my very own created sauce!
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| Miss having hotpot in HK! |
Saw the most wonderful sunset onboard the flight to Hong Kong! I was due to fly earlier but changed it to a 3pm flight as I was still recovering from a really bad viral throat infection.
Had to visit the doctor yesterday because my throat was so painful that even drinking water hurts. I'm now on a 5-day antibiotics course and hopefully I can recover to enjoy the foods in Hong Kong!
After a hectic 4 days in Shanghai, I had little rest as I was due to fly Hong Kong next week and a day after my return, it was my company's 'Be a Star' mid-year event at Yishun Safra.
We exchanged our work attire and were transformed into theatrical costumes from various popular movies and musicals including The Addams Family, Twilight, Iron Man, The Flintstones, The Black Swan, Despicable Me, Grease and many more!
My team has decided on The Black Swan - guys as black swans and ladies white swans. As I was up in Shanghai, I got the help of my China colleague to help buy our hair accessories, tutu skirts, ballet shoes on TaoBao as they were much cheaper. Thankfully I managed to packed them all into my luggage :)
So glad it's over!
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| When Despicable Me meets The White Swan... |
I was in Shanghai for the past 4 days for a roundtable event. Usual stay at the Ascott Serviced Apartment and to my surprise I was given the premier apartment which was bigger than the standard size. Too bad I was all alone so it was a bit too big for my comfort.
Nonetheless the business trip was good; enjoyed good massage and desserts at my favorite chain store. Will be back next March!
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| There was even a walk-in wardrobe! |
All the unforgettable times we have shared together for the past year -- thinking about them just makes me glow. I know this one year hasn't been the most easy for us both but I believe good relationships are not just about the good times we share, they are also about the obstacles we go through together and the fact that I still say 'I love you' in the end.
There's no such thing as a perfect relationship and I know I have many flaws. Imperfections however are real and beautiful. I'm still learning to be a better me and I know you are God-sent to bring out the best in me. I'm happy that you are part of my life for the past year and hopefully in the many days to come.
Happy 1st anniversary, love!
Love my nails! Looking at them just makes me happy :)
My Pilates teacher made a comment during our class this evening, 'Did you paint this color because you are going to Shanghai?'
I replied, 'Nah I'm just being patriotic.'
On second thoughts, the colors do resemble the China flag eh? LOL
The long weekend went past so quickly... My office was closed on Wednesday afternoon in celebration of Hari Raya Puasa and I took leave for the morning so technically speaking, I had 5 days off including the weekend.
My parents went to Hong Kong for a holiday and so I stayed over at dearie's place for 4 nights. It's really nice, waking up late, enjoying brunch, taking afternoon naps, jogging around his estate, spending time with each other without any quibbles.
Simple blessings in life.
Dearie and I went to Changi City Point for Starbucks Coffee and thereafter we ended up shopping! It's amazing that the shopping mall tucked in the East of Singapore was so crowded, possibly because of the long weekend.
A friend who likes shopping at CCP told me to visit Timberland and in we went... Dearie saw this pair of lovely boots, originally priced at S$339 but it's retailing at S$99! He found a pair of nice sneakers and together the price of our shoes totalled slightly over S$250 and we enjoyed additional S$48 off. So my boots was a steal at S$80!
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| My Timberland high boots bought at a steal! |
Had a short but great catch up with my Korean classmates at the Plaza Sing new wing! Tried fusion Jap at Hoshino Cafe which was crowded! Thankfully we managed to get a table before the crowd kicked in...
Till our next gathering!
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| Clockwise r to l: Seafood pasta, souffle and parfait! |
Took my first Pilates class today. I have always wanted to try Pilates as I have heard good reviews of taking Pilates and how good it is for those who have bad backaches.
There was a new Pilates studio near my office so I decided to sign up for my first trial class. It was really good and hence I signed up for a package of 10 classes. So it's either every Friday or Monday evening when I'm not teaching.
Hopefully, by the 10th lesson, I will become more flexible with a stronger core and back!
Something funny happened while dearie and I were on the bus this evening. We were heading back to his mum's house and boarded bus 28. I was quite sure the bus stops at Bedok but dearie wanted to make sure so he asked the bus captain, 'Sorry do you go to Bedok North xxxx?'
The bus captain gave a blank look and so dearie thought he wasn't speaking clearly and repeated himself, "Do you go to Bedok North xxxx?" The bus captain then slowly replied in puuurrfect Mandarin "勿洛巴士站?"
Dearie and I looked at each other and I just could not control my laughter. We both realized the bus captain's an English delinquent.
Finally visited Lor Halus Wetland Park! Good to be with nature and appreciating fresh air once in a while!
Finally took my birthday leave before it expires this end week... A close colleague was on medical leave today so I applied day off so we can both enjoy brunch and do some shopping!
I have longed to go for a short break this month but dearie just couldn't get away because of his new role. Thereafter, I have events in July and August. Not forgetting my students' prelims in August and September and the final lap in October.
Can I endure 4 more months to a good vacation and hopefully dearie would be able to travel then?
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| Caribbean styled brunch at Wild Honey! |
Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith first.
The trust part comes later.
Interesting quote from the latest movie, 'Man of Steel'.
A friend recently told me that he does not rely on others for happiness. This sets me thinking... if we take away our loved ones, relationships and material things, what really makes one happy? What makes me happy?
The only person who can make you happy is you.
The root of all happiness in your everyday life comes from your relationship with yourself.
While your mood may be affected by various external influences, the way you look at yourself and what make of all that is around you is more important than the details of the atmosphere itself.
Love yourself and stop depending on others for your happiness.
And finally.... I had my belated birthday celebration at the Ocean Restaurant @ RWS this evening! It's a wonderful dining experience, though food portions were small and dearie had to fill his remaining stomach space with char kway tiao at the Malaysian Food Street ^___^
We made a promise to visit the aquarium soon!
Taught a student this evening.
Celebrating my special day with the one I ❤.
Dearie surprised me with a bouquet :)
We were supposed to have a nice dinner at the RWS Ocean restaurant but he called to make reservations too late (apparently reservation has to be made 2 weeks in advance) so we settled dinner at Level 33 instead.
Thank you all who have sent their birthday wishes via text and Facebook! They really made my day. I feel so loved!!
I was very much looking forward to enjoying Jay Chou's concert with dearie tonight. Guess there were too high expectations?
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| Pictures taken with my iPad mini as my Olympus camera and long lens were sent for service... |
最近不喜歡回家... 因為跟老媽的關係不是太好。
不知道老媽何時會發瘋，被她炮轟?
今天旁晚跟上星期日一樣，和男友跑步運動。
出了一身汗，理說當然一定要洗澡對吧?
回家後，我跟老媽說已經在男友家洗澡了。
哪知道，老媽就火大了!
她說可以接受一兩次，但不要每次都這樣!! 還繼續說了＂最好搬出去" 難聽的話。
My Baby G watch has finally arrived! Now I can time my weekly run :)
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| G Casio Baby-G Ladies Runners Watch BG6903 in pink! |
最近晚上常聽UFM100.3
I have always wanted to enjoy brunch with dearie on one of the weekends or public holidays but it never happened. Dearie doesn't quite like western brunch; he has an Asian taste bud and has liking for fried beehoon, mee siam and other local delights.
But today is an exception! Dearie actually drove me to One Rochester for brunch after my morning class. Well I guess this will only happen once in a blue blue moon... I'm a happy girl for now :)
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| Eggs Benedict at Graze |
I have seen many pictures of this place, The Coastal Settlement and have wanted to visit it some day and today... finally is the day! Too bad their kitchen had some problems and my close colleagues and I didn't have a chance to try their brunch. Perhaps another time!
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| Sandwich, wings, fries and pizza in replacement of brunch! |
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| Had a great time with Hazel and Joanne! |
I have just attended the inaugural HR Excellence Awards gala dinner which was held at St. Regis hotel. My company was selected as a finalist for 3 award categories and we were awarded gold for Excellence in Employee Work-Life Balance!
Something funny.... while the award winners were announced, appetizer was served and just as the host was announcing the bronze and silver winners, my colleague and I told the HR Manager who was seated in between both of us to start eating as we felt there's not much hope of winning this award. The minute the HR Manager picked up her fork, our company name was called out.
What a pleasant surprise! :D
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| Yet another winning award submission! |
Don't know why... but I teared after reading dearie's message.
Maybe because I haven't heard words of affection for a long long time.
