Alicia's blog

New year, new me

2012-01-02T23:04:00.005+08:00

Looking back on 2011

It's a brand new year! A time when you reflect on what's happened the past year, write down resolutions & look ahead for a better one. As for myself... 2011 had been a relatively smooth year, no emotional issues, no ups & downs, no nasty people. Come to think of it now, it's been a rather quiet & bland year as compared to the past 2 years, & I like it much better this way :)

Just a few days ago on nye, a friend told me I'd changed alot. Curious, I asked if they're good or bad changes & why. He said I used to give people an "atas" feeling & look aloof, but I'm much more friendly & approachable now, so it's a good change. He's not the first one to say I'd changed, I had another friend tell me that a few weeks ago. But I'm quite surprised, cos I never knew & never intended to be seen as aloof, but somehow I just had alot of people tell me that over the years. With that said, I'm glad I've learnt to talk more & be more friendly, though it still takes me awhile to warm up to people. So there're still room for improvements.

I've also grown to be more mature over the course of the past 1 year, being able to see things differently & act rationally, not like in the past where I will just do what I like. I guess the biggest change in me is that I no longer trust people easily. In a way its good, to not be so gullible. But it's sad really, that I find it hard to place my trust in people, that I still have reserves about people, sometimes more than necessary but I now find the need to protect myself.

And... I place alot more importance on my dental health now, even the way I brush, cos I finally visited a dentist this year, after... 4yrs?! I'm embarrassed to say this but the last time I visited a dentist was in secondary 4 at the mobile dental caravan. I'm dead scared of dentists! All along I thought I had healthy teeth cos I never fail to brush my teeth twice a day, no matter how late/tired I am. I'm appalled at my friends who don't bother to brush at night when they came for stayovers! It horrified me when the dentist told me I had 6 cavities, I honestly thought she was going to pluck them all out. Luckily that's not the case. So now every night I will strictly follow these steps: 1) Floss teeth, 2) Gurgle with mouthwash, 3) Brush in the proper way, i.e up down up down instead of left right.

I'd done most of the things I promised myself- get a license, learn a new language, learn baking... so here's my new year resolutions:

#1 Start volunteering already (This I'd procrastinated for months)

#2 Get connected with old friends

#3 Stop shutting myself from people & open up more

#4 Don't be stingy with praises, praise people more!

#5 Travel more

#6 Exercise more

#7 Learn something new

#8 Improve my interpersonal skills

2011 had past exceptionally fast. I can vividly remember last December like it was yesterday. Everyone knows that Christmas is my favourite festive seaon. I'll hum to xmas songs & prance around like a kid when I see xmas deco & lights. But strangely, it doesn't have the same effect on me anymore this year. I don't feel the xmas mood as early as previous years... but I still felt the festive joy & it's still my favourite occasion :)

Over the past year that I'd been single, I'd become a better person. In terms of character, temper, maturity level, people skills etc. I used to just be myself & not care how people think. But now I know how to better behave, control myself & my emotions. Sidetrack: Have I become an emotionless person or does relationships put people in turmoil? Because I realised I hadn't had much heartache, I could even count with my fingers the number of times I'd cried this past year.

Being single makes me understand myself a lot better, & I really love the time spent alone doing the things I enjoy. I'm not one of those girls that hop from one bf to another with no gaps in between. I think that's pathetic becos they can't stand being alone. Of course at times I feel envious when I see a lovely couple, but for me, I can't bring myself to be with just anybody. I have to really like him to be together with him. I still remember it took 10 months for me to finally meet someone I like & open up myself in my previous rs. It's taking a little longer now but I haven't really met someone I'm interested in.

And sometimes, the best relationship resolution is not to have a relationship at all, until you find the right person.

After some months of bumming around, I'd also gotten a job at OCBC, which made me regret not starting work earlier! My workplace & colleagues are an amazing bunch! And although I'm not entirely sure of my future, this job had made me see a clearer view of what I want in my career path. But work takes up ALOT of my time. Almost like a full day!

The first thing I'd do in the morning when the alarm rings at 9am is to switch on channel news asia in my blurriness. Then with the news anchor speaking in the background, I'll lie with my eyes close for 5 more mins, before waking up to prepare. Then I'll go to work, have lunch at 4pm (I have to had lunch late, else time will pass very slowly & I'll get hungry quickly), go back to work, which ends at 8pm earliest. Mostly I'll have dinner with my friends, or at home, in whichever case will be supper timing. Then watch abit tv, go to slp, & the day repeats itself. Standard. Boring eh?

Oh & I'm proud to say that I'm good at saving! I'm not as spendthrift as in the past anymore. Actually I've been less of a spendthrift since a couple of years ago, but the biggest difference is I don't care for branded stuff anymore now. I don't have the urge to own a new bag AT ALL. I just realised I've not bought ANYTHING branded over the last 12 months!

And I don't shop often, maybe once or twice every couple of months? That explains how I'm able to survive through the months of bumming around. I've worked for 2mths+ already & all I spent is on food & transport, meaning I'd probably saved 90% of my salary? But I love a good meal every now & then, & would rather spend on food or leisure trips than on an expensive branded bag.

Kudos to you, Alicia! Keep up the good work! I miss bangkok & want to go back soon! Lastly, happy new year to all of you! I wish 2012 would be a better year for all of us!! :)

Bali: Making full use of the last day

2011-10-08T05:14:00.004+08:00

Spa/Uluwatu Monkey Temple/Jimbaran Bay

04 Dec 2010

Aloha! Surprise surprise! I'm back to blogging... & hope this is not just a 3-min revival. Cross your fingers.

I realised I haven't written the last post of my Bali travalogue! And the reason why I've decided to write it now is because I've just came back from a 9-day bkk trip. I love travelling, & I love relishing those moments through pictures & writing about it. So pardon me if I forgot some nitty-gritty details cos the trip was taken last year! Continuing from this post...

So, we checked out of our villa after breakfast, left our luggage there, & took a cab to...

How can you go to Bali & leave without doing a body massage, right? Even though it's the last day of our trip, we managed to pack it in. And I'm one perfectionist. So prior to this trip, I did a hell load of research on every place we visited/stayed in, reading forums reviews, blog reviews, scrutinize hotel photos, compare, spent lotsa time on google maps, read advice by travellers etc. So this Jari Menari was supposedly highly raved about. They even had the guts to put "Bali's best massage".

Btw this is the 2nd time we've taken a cab in the whole trip, partly cos after the 1st time at Ku de Ta, I'm kinda freaked out, & partly cos we're here to see the island so it's better to hire a driver becos one point to the other might take up to 2hr. For people who're here for water sports & would stay in an area, it should be safe to take a cab anywhere.

We all got changed & their staff walk us through this long corridor, & bring you to this beautiful jap-styled hut. Once you step in, you'll feel very at peace inside. Throughout the whole session, you'll only hear the sound of water drippling down, which makes you feel strangely relaxed.

I had the "Tibetan Singing bowl" for my parents (a 90-min massage session which at the end the masseur will hit a large metal/bronze bowl & the vibrations which resonates through your body will supposedly restores balance & harmony), & a basic 75-min one for myself & sis. Total price is about US$157.

I love how relaxed this environment makes me feel, with the zen statue over there. But if you ask me if it's worth the price, I'd say no. Yes everything is perfect, but I really don't enjoy the massage. I think for USD$160, it's too expensive (but becos Bali is so commercialised, good massages are about this range).

There's one thing. At Jari Menari, they only hire male practitioners. I know this through their website before I book, but I didn't know how uncomfortable it would make me feel... cos I hadn't had too many spa sessions & the ones I've had were with female practitioners.

Call me conservative, but this could be the reason why I couldn't relax myself thoroughly to enjoy the massage. I even wore a bikini inside as you can see... which the masseur pull off once I laid on my stomach. I thought he'd have the manners to at least inform me he was going to start. But maybe he didn't because of language barriers so it'd be unfair to judge him. They're professional enough overall.

After the massage, with oil all over my body. And why do I look so tan in this picture?!

Feeling all giddy. I'm not sure if you're supposed to wash off the oils or let it stay on your body so it will seep in... but I took a shower all the same, which I'm pretty sure is wrong.

In the shopfront, you see all sorts of things sold there. From the attire we wear, to the massage oils & shampoos. I bought a hotpink tunic & 2 scented soap bars. I don't use soap bars, but I bought it for memory purposes.

Do you think we could actually buy this statue home?

Went back to the villa to collect our luggage, & there our driver Putu is waiting for us. Our next destination is Uluwatu Monkey Temple.

There, the only modern building we've passed by on these streets

In Bali, there're different rules when you visit different temples of different religions. Mostly you're required to cover up your legs & you may or may not be asked to wear a sash. I wanna experience the culture of this country, so of cos I did!

Now you know why this is called the Monkey Temple. I'd advise you to give them a wide berth, after hearing what Putu told me. Don't wear anything striking or wear anything on your head cos you run the risk of them stealing it, & I'm sure you don't want them climbing all over you.

Climb up a long way & you arrive at a breath-taking view of the Uluwatu coastline. The villa which I'd love to stay in (but was wayyyy too expensive) is somewhere near here.

Our driver, Putu. He's really nice, the Ayung River rafting we went to was through a lobang of his. And he brought us to eat a $1.50 noodles just outside the temple which was really yummy.

Afterwards, we head back to the car & off we drive to Jimbaran Bay for seafood! And of cos, I already know before we came here that Jimbaran Bay is too overrated & overpriced. Why would we still go there? Because no matter how many forumers warned of the highly raked up price, we still hadn't been here ourselves & I want to experience how eating in Jimbaran Bay is like.

And luckily for us, Putu has a lobang for Jimbaran Bay too! We get a 10% discount off the total bill cos the owner is a friend of his or something. Yay! :)

A whole stretch of other seafood restaurants

Isn't the beach stunning? I couldn't remember if it was clean or not, but from the pictures it look passable. At least much better than our Singapore beaches.

The evening sun is crazily hot! And irritably so. I see flies around our food & together with the sun, it pisses me off a little.

HUGE-ASS crab pincers!

This place is FULL of ang-mohs. Of cos! This place's a money winner. They're the ones providing for the bulk of the salary of people in the tourism industry. Other than us, there's only one more Chinese girl with an ang-moh bf.

I don't know how to photoshop this picture :( I don't wanna spoil the beauty of the horizon in the background so just leave it as it is

I think, this place is great for pictures (as with all beaches), food is so-so, and... those who still wanna come here to eat might want to order a beer with your all your crustaceans, because the heat will spoil your evening if you don't.

So that's it! My completed Bali trip. Oh yes, don't forget to grab some duty-free alcohol at the airport! My parents don't really drink, the Cordon Bleu is for my grandma (yes, grandma... she has tons of these), & the Baileys is because it is too fucking cheap! $27! I didn't even know it's this cheap.

So... in 4 days we've covered Goa gajah, coffee plantation, Mt batur, Spring temple, rice terrace, white water rafting, Uluwatu monkey temple, even slot in a massage & a few good dinners like in Ku de Ta & Jimbaran. No doubt all the touristy attractions, which is all what I planned (because these are one-time things, 2nd visit to Bali would be a whole different experience). The 3 things that I'd planned in our itinerary but didn't get to do is the Kecak dance, helicopter tour & another one which I forgot. Quite a feat, huh? Considering it's all self researched, arranged & planned. I'm so so proud of myself!! I would put in so much effort because these are the things I really enjoy doing. I even do it randomly in my free time. I think could be a travel planner! :)

The previous entries are all here in chronological order:

p.s: I recently saw a travel agency brochure, a 3D2N bali trip in a good resort costs about $1000+ per person. Ours is for 4D3N, about the same price & we covered so much more! I'm sure our villa is already top enough. And I'm really glad we went cos I recently checked on asiarooms.com (the site I booked from).. maybe due to customer's raving reviews, the price per night for The Seiryu has increased drastically as compared to the time of our booking.

I've never...

2011-09-03T00:48:00.001+08:00

I've never...

1) Had a tattoo

I contemplated having one before (on my lower back), at a given age. But the idea just sort of dissipate into thin air when the time comes. Luckily I didn't do it cos I now think it's trashy! A pure, fair body is the most beautiful.

2) Had a tongue piercing

My last piercing was a navel piercing, 5 years ago, & I had it closed already. I have no guts, nor a modicum of interest in getting pierced anywhere other than my ear lobes or navel. (Even my mum was more gutsy than me! A long long long time ago she had a piercing in the helix. But I was afraid becos I heard stories of people going blind from the piercing hitting their nerves)

3) Won a lucky draw

4) Done any adventurous sports

Not even the "bungee jumping" at Clarke Quay, which has been there for many many years already. But one day, I'd like to do the real bungee jumping, & parachuting, & skydiving! They're on my things-to-do-before-I-die.

5) Had a stye
When my little cousin was around 4-5, he get that alot. And all the adults used to tease him cos they say if you get a stye, it means you must've seen something you shouldn't have... like peeping at someone shower :p I haven't had one yet.

6) Been in an accident
CHOY!!!

7) Driven on the road without a license

I know how to drive, & I drove on the road many times before, just not outside my lessons. I know many people secretly drive their friend's car, learning how to drive on their own... but I wouldn't do that. Of cos, it'd be absurd to say that I'm a goody-two-shoes who haven't broke any laws. All of us did when we were young! Be it mild or serious ones. But who hasn't got a past?

8) Volunteered before

Of course I mean volunteering out of your own accord. Those compulsory ones years back in school doesn't count. There was a time when I really want to do volunteering work that I searched the internet until daybreak. Signed up for a group already, just haven't got to doing it.

9) Been in a theme park haunted house

Not that I can recall. I remember when I was 14, we had a family outing to Escape theme park. There was a "haunted house", which required visitors to be at least 7 years old. Even at twice the age, I still don't have the courage to go in! So I looked after everyone's bag alone, including my 7 year old cousin's. LOL!! Of course... my playful friends & I had visited real haunted houses before. That was eons ago. Being the timid me, I listened to my mp3 & hid behind my friend's back the whole time.

10) Watched a 3D movie
In Disneyland or USS, yes. Just not a movie, & honestly? I'm not really interested in watching one.

11) Gotten dead drunk

Drunk as in laugh/cry uncontrollably, can't stand still, talk in random languages loudly.... yes. But not dead drunk like sprawled over the toilet bowl, vomiting all over the place, lying on the floor like a corpse. Hahaha I say all these becos just last week I witnessed how a friend gotten drunk like that (at someone else's bdae celebration!) It was horrifying! The pic below is the mildest already, just look at this, & this!

But to be honest, I'll behave extremely different from myself when I'm drunk too. Like I wouldn't normally talk loudly or gibberish under normal circumstances. The one time I've gotten the drunkest was waking up the next morning with partial memory loss of what had happened. And you know... alcohol lowers inhibitions. My alcohol tolerance level is god damn low, just a glass of cocktail & I can get tipsy already. So I did something out of the ordinary (not to the extend of ONS, no!), & I'm still slapping myself over it!

12) Smoked shisha (sheesha?)

I know how to smoke, I just haven't got to try shisha yet. And I heard it's dopeeee!

13) Eaten Subway

Weird, I know. I hadn't eaten tomatoes before either. Nor most vegetables.

14) Travelled alone

Adventurers who backpack around the world impresses me! There's once in the lift of Changi Airport, I saw 2 caucasians with their HUGE backpack on them & I remember thinking at that point that I'd never be able to do this. Maybe sometime in the future. (Sidetrack: I enjoy watching The Amazing Race) I'm sure they have to dig really deep in to find a piece of clothing or charger.

Actually... I do have the guts to travel alone. Just not backpack.

15) Walked into a sex shop

Despite owning a sex toy. Hahaha. Which was actually a bdae gift from a close gf 2 years ago.

Post birthday thoughts

2011-08-06T17:05:00.189+08:00

This year has passed extremely fast for me. Now that I've officially entered the big 20, there's lots of things that I have a different perception on. I'd matured a lot as compared to how I used to be, but it's kinda weird how much my thinking had changed. It's like I'm a different person, & I don't know this new Alicia at all. Not the naive, gullible Alicia anymore. Maybe it's the people I hang out with? Or something happened that has that big an impact on me? In whatever case, I like how much I'd grown. I like this change :)

It now irks me when someone gullible made a naive comment, I'll think to myself how can someone be so incredulously stupid & ignorant. But you know... I used to be in that position of that someone just a year ago. Not anymore. The world is not all that beautiful you know... not everyone you cross path with is Santa Claus, you don't just take people's word at their face value. I'd seen a lot more & had learnt my lesson.

On relationships, I'd adopted an insouciant attitude. If I feel like it, I'll chat with you. Once I feel bored, I'll stop replying. But this is one thing which I felt I'd changed the most. I don't used to be like that. Now it's like... I can't even be bothered. Have then have, don't have then ok lor. This has been going on for a few months already. I go on dates, but not frequently. And when someone starts to show just a little interest in me, I'd be very uncomfortable, ultra turned-off & irritated by him. I don't know why! Yes it feels good to be treated like a princess & taken care of, but it irks me at the same time too!

When I'm on dating terms with a guy, the most I can manage when sms-ing is a . Anything more & I'll feel nauseous. I can't bring myself to say "I miss you" or put a kissing emoticon in my msges. And whenever he includes the kissing emoticon, or say "miss you" & such, I'll feel extremely uncomfortable I'll shut down.

Also, I don't cry as easily anymore. Just awhile back, I cry at the littlest things... at any romantic scene, even at Jack Neo's comedy "horror" movie. Now, I find that the things that can make my heart wrench are when I read articles on family relations or see a clip of the disabled. It's like I've become less emotional, if I have any emotions at all. I still like watching romance comedy but inside I think these love stories are all bullshit. And I'm not as easily frightened as before. Previously, I don't even dare to watch horror movies trailers when they're on tv. Granted, I still don't have the courage to watch horror movies. But at least I can somehow daringly look without averting my gaze when the trailer is on.

In the past, I think it's very sweet whenever I see my friends & their partner exchange sweet nothings on their facebook wall. A long time ago I even quarrelled with my exbf at why wouldn't he put 'in a relationship' with me. Now, I think it's redundant & childish & stupid & mushy. Why must people announce their rs progress on each other's facebook wall? One moment its a break up wall post "Days with you are the happiest time of my life. Goodbye love". 5 hours later it's a patch up wall post, "Bibi, let's not leave each other again, till death do us part." (And the same thing repeats itself next month or so.) That is so gross I get goosebumps from reading it, albeit entertaining.

One of my friend even created a profile for their pet dog & name herself & bf as mummy & daddy! But to be fair, these people may be soooooooo in love that they live in their own worlds. Love makes one crazy right? Maybe when I'm in love I'll do the same things. NOT! It's so silly & childish, to me lah.

Anyway, it's getting increasingly hard for me to find someone I have a slight interest in. Long gone are the days where you fall in love hard & fast. I remember it was so easy when we were little (like 13 or so), to have a crush on somebody. Now it's hard to even have a small liking for someone, even when he's very eligible. Actually there's one, but becos of my STUPID actions I did when I'm drunk, I kinda blew it. When face to face with someone I like, I can't be myself. I'll not behave like myself at all, e.g how I eat. It's the first & last time I drank so much I couldn't remember what happened the next day. I haven't drank over my limit since then. I am not looking, but if it comes, I'll let things take its natural course :)

What about needs? Yes, sexual needs. Hahaha my own friends (esp Cheryl) have been very curious about it & asking me (how I manage) every now & then. And they're surprised at how well I can contain it. No choice!! I can't bring myself to have casual sex with someone.. I'll feel disgusted by myself. I know it's different for men though.

As for family, although most of the times I'm hanging out with friends, I'd been hoping to spend more time with them. Am bringing mum out next week to bond. Oh & I'm about to get my car license already :)

All about me

2011-06-23T17:49:00.002+08:00

Here's all you need to know about me:

Random facts about Alicia

1) I don't eat vegetables
I've hated vegetables since young, & will always retch when I accidentally tasted onions, ginger etc. Until I decided to try these yummy veggies one day. At present, I only eat 3 kinds of vegetables- Kangkong, long beans & french beans.

2) I hate long fingernails
I love it neat & clean, so I only paint them like thrice a year. I keep my nails around this length where you can at most see 3mm of the white part.

3) I cannot stand seeing/hearing ppl vomit
cos I'll automatically feel like retching. Its a torture for me when watching movies/tv or when partying with my friends, even when I'm completely sober, I'll be affected by their retching sounds. Damn I even feel like retching while searching for this image.

4) I can't hold my liquor well
Seriously. 1 cocktail or beer is all it takes to make me dizzy, 2-3 cups of any hard liquor (with mixer) is all it takes to make high throughout the night for partying. And I am NOT myself at all when I'm drunk, I'll do or say stupid things which are really idiotic. My ability (or lack of) to drink deteriorates as I get older. In the past, at least I'll remember everything that happened. But recently on one or two occasions, I realised I can get partial memory loss on the day before.

5) I don't like hard liquor
Especially after knowing Xingyi, cos we drink together frequently & Cheryl & her always forced me to down the glasses. They always play drinking games & will scold me if I want to drink slowly. I'm always getting shouted at cos my 1 mouthful is reaaalllyyy small. And god knows how good I am at drinking! I can start retching after 1 glass. I even hate green tea becos of the association. Hate the girls too! I prefer beer & wine to hard liquor.

6) I'm quite the perfectionist
I like everything neat & organized, especially academic stuffs. I can't stand it if my report is not aligned or punctuated properly, so when Cheryl & I do projects together, I like to be the last one editing cos she is damn messy! My french notes are written neatly, with headings 3 fonts larger of a different colour.

And I have a weird thing about me. I'll be annoyed if things are not placed at their original position. Like when I go to the library, I'll browse through books, put them back & walk away only to turn back 2 steps later cos I placed them 1 book away from their original position. And then I'll walk away & again turn back 2 steps later cos I realised it's still in the wrong position. Even things like how many dark-coloured tiles I stepped on... it has to be even for both legs. Yes I'm weird like that!!

7) The two things that can 100% tempt me out is food & mahjong
My, how great is this invention!! Fun, strategic, & best of all it prevents senile!

8) I can be very indecisive
By very, I mean really, extremely. Like the mahjong image above? I spent 15 min on google images cos I just want the perfect image. So can you imagine how much time I can waste deciding whether or not to go out?

9) I need to drink Magnolia fresh milk while eating chips & after eating maggi mee

It's just a must for me I don't know why. And I only drink magnolia.

10) I look super unfriendly & inapproachable.
ALOT of ppl who know me now told me that when they first met me, they didn't dare approach nor talk to me cos I look unfriendly & arrogant. Yes I know that... but I'm just not born super friendly like some ppl, I'm a little aloof to ppl I don't know or those that I don't have a good impression of. I'm kind of anti-social in the past, where I will have this expressionless face when alone. And I know how my expressionless face looks like, it's no wonder ppl will think I'm fierce. But these ppl who got to know me later on will know that I'm not at all unfriendly. But I'm much better now, will make friends & all.

11) I used to be the quietest girl in class
When I was young, at about age 8-13. Teachers often use adjectives such as soft-spoken to describe me in my record book. Until I got to know Jerlyn, Yiqian & Lim. I'd be completely crazy with them, but totally quiet with not so close ones. My breakthrough was when I got to know Cheryl. Damn, she's one loud & crazy girl, changed me into something like her.

12) My favourite cartoon character is Doraemon

13) I used to be very demanding/unreasonable/self-centered
... & all the bad things that you could think of.

14) I'm very childish inside
I know I don't look it, but yes I am. I can skip around in public, play around with Cheryl, giggle like mad & I like to give riddles & jokes. Funny but I'm ESPECIALLY kiddy around my bf (talk to him in baby tone, stamp my feet etc)... Think most girls are like that.. And when at home, I have this small blanket with me all the time (been with me since I was 2). Watching tv, sleeping, hunting for food in the kitchen etc. I even hug them tight when we have guests in the house, how embarrassing!

15) I loveeeeeeee slacking at home.
Sometimes I can be quite homely, & I can definitely spend the day like a potato couch eating junk food while cosying on the sofa watching HK dramas. Its Heaven! But of course, we can't do this, its too much a waste of precious time!

16) I'm gullible.
Not so much now, but I used to be really really trusting. Some things I'm naïve, in a way. Not so much naïve as in innocent... but trusting, if you know what I mean. I just believe everything ppl say, even though its ludicrous or absurd, but I will take it very seriously, widen my eyes & ask if its true, when ppl around me will find it ridiculous that I'll even believe. But lucky for me, I haven't really met any bad guys yet. I'm glad it's getting better now :)

17) Food is my weakness!
And damn its really something that can bait me. There's once when I'm irritated with a friend... he tried to appease me but to no avail. We were in the car & I was looking the other way with a grumpy face. So he asked a string of questions... "You want chicken rice?" - I gently shoke my head. "You want duck rice?" - I shoke my head again................ "You want to eat Shashlik?"......
I turned around with a huge grin on my head & nod vigorously.
See how I just lost my pride becos of food! And I just can't control it! My expressions, feelings etc. when I thought of its succulent steak & escargots. (Look how good that escargots are in the pic, I'm salivating)

18) I think anything that's healthy will not taste good.
Anything low fat tastes awful. For example low fat maggi mee, magnolia low fat milk etc. That's why I love junk food so much!

19) I don't exercise... at all.
By that I mean regular exercise (although I used to be from the Track & Field team who trains 6 days a week. But I hate running now). Last holiday I was so enthu about gyming & swimming that I went twice a week, but became lazy slowly. I still love swimming and cycling though, feels so good!

20) My threshold for both pain & itch is super super low
Can't describe how low my pain threshold is, but other than tearing, I'll bleed when going for eyebrow trimming

Updates on my recent life

2011-05-19T05:55:00.001+08:00

Hi guys, to whoever is STILL checking back this dead space (I just checked the stats & am amazed that viewership haven't fallen that much!) I know I know... where's all the entries I promised, right?

I genuinely thought I'll have more time to spend after graduation. True, I had more time, but I spent them bumping around. Surprisingly, I can live without switching on the laptop for a week. I don't even feel the need or urge to! For a good 3 months... I slept late at night (it's 5.08am as I'm writing this), woke up when my body tells me to (normally it's 2.30pm cos I need to catch the 3.05pm drama ), woke up dunno what I'm going to do for the day. Some days I go to my grandma house to stay, some days I have plans for dinner with friends, some days I play mahjong from afternoon till evening. I don't know how but I managed to keep myself busy & occupied everyday!!

As much as I like living without a care in the world, & although I'm born lazy... I seriously think it's time for me to find something meaningful to do. Like learning a new language or pick up a new skill. Remember these things I said I'm gonna do after graduation? Sure, I'm halfway through obtaining a car license. But I stopped after I passed my BTT. Yes that's about the one thing I've done... I haven't even touch A BIT of the other 4. I'm so ashamed!

Really! I'm amazed at how lazy I am. When I stayover at granny's, I sleep in my cousin's room. Another of my cousin will come by in the morning to change before going to work. So when he comes around 10am, he'll see me sleeping. Then I'll wake up, have lunch, watch the 3.05pm & 4pm drama, then maybe go take a nap. And when he comes back from work at 6pm+, he'll see me sleeping in the same spot. It makes me feel so conscious of being a bumper!! I get constant naggings from my aunt whenever she sees me at 3pm having just woken up.

Maybe I should go get a job, but first I need to work on my resume first. Or maybe do some volunteering? At least it's meaningful. Hello I'm serious eh... about a month ago I was googling for volunteering work overseas, but have to pay like $1000+ for 4 weeks? Meaning I have to pay to volunteer for the needy/unfortunate? I don't know much about volunteer work so I don't know if it is common practice or what.

Oh yes, & my application to uni. All 5 UK universities I applied to have rejected me I'm super sad! Is my GPA of 2.7 really that lousy?? It's now May & I have to hurry & decide on which path I'm gonna take. Apply to Australian unis? Wait for the next year & work in the meantime? Even SIM has closed their applications so I don't have much choice.

My tolerance for alcohol has gone from extremely low to insanely low.Why why why??? When I was younger, I went clubbing very often. Although I get high very easily (2 glasses of vodka cranberry is enough), I don't vomit at all. Now, even when I don't mix drinks, I'll still vomit. The feeling is ultra terrible. And I don't even like liquor to begin with. Btw, I realised my memory is failing me.

I had NEVER drank till the extent that I woke up the next day not remembering anything. I didn't even believe it was possible (when in the past my friends told me they don't remember a single thing) until that ONE fateful day a couple of weeks ago. Why did it have to be that day?!?! I just know I said & did something realllllyyyyyyy stupid, & I couldn't slap myself harder for it.

More recently, I realised I'd been saying things I don't remember saying. It's so scary. When I drink, I'll talk louder than usual, laugh harder, sing sweeter, and do/say LOTS of stupid things. I don't wanna embarrass myself anymore cos I really did that day, & it's totally not me! It's like I'm possessed or something. I actually tried to swore off alcohol... for a week... but I failed cos I normally acc my aunt & granny drink. So I'll try to remember this hard lesson & switch to water when my limit is reached.

Lastly, I'm going to KL over the weekend. As if being a bumper is not enough... I have to leave the country for a getaway when I'm not spending meaningful time earning income. God save this useless lazy person! Btw it's not like my parents give me money, they don't! It's just that I don't really spend that much, that's why I can survive till now. Haven't pack my bags, I'm gonna do it tml. Oh yes! I'm going to watch the Macbeth play tml too! So looking forward! Will blog more when I come back (hopefully!)

CNY 2011

2011-04-20T04:13:00.001+08:00

I wanted to say this is the best CNY ever!.... until I read back on my entry of last year's CNY (here & here). Indeed, last year seem to be much more eventful! 11 days worth of pictures, wow!

I have no idea why but I've become more homely as I grow up. So this year, there's only 3 days worth of pictures. & I'm definitely not going to write a detailed entry like last year cos that's going to take me at least 6 hours.

One thing I've learnt is there's no need to spend too much on new year clothes. Since young, I'll look forward to mum bringing me out to buy cny clothes. I can still remember vividly what I wore when I was 11 & 13 & exactly where I've got them. One year, I even spent $700 on clothes & shoes, which is crazy when I think of it now. This year I only spent a fraction of it, I didn't even get myself new shoes!

I only dared to taste abalone a few years ago... & I love it!! My fussy sister still don't dare, but that's good cos I can have her share! Every year we'll receive gift packages like this, from whom I dunno. But I'm glad this year's package is bigger than last year's!

Not that we can finish though... look! The bottom one is from last year & we only opened a can.

I like how my wine goes with the glass doors & croissant meant for sis' breakfast. That's the riesling I bought for cny eve. It's very good! But caused me heart pain at $70/bottle

Day 1 初一

As with other years, we'll wake up...

1) Have breakfast
2) Proceed to 1st uncle's house, have meesua there
3) Then to 3rd uncle's house, have lunch there
4) Then to 2nd uncle's house.
5) Then end the day by watching a movie

Standard.

Day 1 dress is bought online. It's slightly too large for my petite frame, but it looks ok when I wear very high heels, which is what I did.

Poooorrr Bingo gotta be locked up at home

My cute maid, Marlyn :)

恭喜发财!!!

My I look so BIGGGG size here beside my petite mum

Look at my legs! Do you all know why it's filled with blue-blacks? Nope not that I was tortured. It's becos the day before, I did last minute shopping alone in the supermarket, stocking up on beer, tidbits, daily neccesities etc.

The queue is superrrrrrrrr long, the basket is heavy too. So I have to resort to kicking the basket while the line moves. And so I woke up looking like that

Maternal instincts

Don't my cousin look like a doll?!

Booked tickets for "All's well that ends well 2011" at 2nd uncle's house, & we proceeded to town for dinner. Usually we watch movies in the heartlands (one year at Causeway point & the other at Westmall) cos my dad doesn't like to go to Orchard.

Had dinner at Mandarin Gallery, & I told dad that even if it's not CNY, this place is just as quiet with few crowd. I think people who have boutiques here must be seriously rich & just wanting to find a pastime.

This is my 1st uncle. He is very cute sometimes, but I'm very scared whenever we dine together. Because he will ALWAYS fight for the bill!!

Sometimes even when we're not done with our meal, he'll go up to the waiter to pay first. Which will make me guilty cos I feel he's not obliged to pay for our family when we make the bulk of the bill. That's why I always have to keep an eye on him.

Day 2 初二

Tired-looking dad

Whoa this weirdly-angled picture gives off an artistic, detached feel.

Bloody bottom lip due to excessive plucking. Oh yes 2nd day outfit is bought at F21 at $49, was thinking if I should get it & I'm glad I did!

The 2nd day of CNY is always my favourite cos as you all know I'm closer to my mother's side of the family, so obviously I'll be more at ease & enjoy it more around them.

My mum distributing ang pows (red packets) & my cousins got a good laugh out of it by queuing like how they did last year. Ah boy (cousin in red above) queued twice or thrice & mum didn't even notice!!

He did it for some playful bits, & said that he needed money for milk powder for when his son is born, which would be in May. LOL!! Yes this is the cousin whose wedding I'd just attended last month!

Home-cooked food by beloved grandma!! ♥ ♥ ♥

And everybody's wolfing it down when they first arrive.

Oh I love how happy I look in this picture!

And how my hair looks so smooth & sleek & soft even though it's damn flat irl. Wonders of the DSLR!

(Almost) all my cousins from this big big family, including one extra uncle

Baby baby cuteeeeeee baby!! ♥
And look! They've started gambling on the small mj table already! A first time! We usually start playing together but this year they're addicted to the game "13 cards", which they play every week during Saturday gatherings.

Cousin whom I affectionately call 二姐 (2nd sister), she's getting married in Nov!! But I may not be able to attend if I decided to go overseas to further my studies :(

Here it comes again!~~

Everyone will squeeze around the round table, & even if you don't want to play a hand, you can park your money with a player. So that if his/her cards wins, you get your money, but if it's a losing hand, you lose your money. Basically it's on a First In, First Out basis.

And damn, look at these 3! They are sharing to be banker & on a superrrrrrr lucky big winning roll, which explains their smugness! They don't even allow people to "invest" or take in another "shareholder" for fear it would bring down their luck! BOO!

Ah qiang kor kor with his new sweet partner :)

Ahhh~ Sweet photos with my grandma which I really loved! Cos my grandma look really adorable!

I have a confession to make though. Had a few cans of beer while gambling cos it was a really warm day, & I overestimate myself. So after about 2 (or was it 3?) cans shared with my mum, I was feeling a woozy already.

CNY is just a routine. So on the 2nd day of CNY every year, we'll head to Long Beach @ East Coast to have dinner with my dad's family.

Standard location, standard restaurant, standard time, standard 3 tables.
Only difference is each uncle take turns to pay each year. And again.... have to look out for 1st uncle cos he sometimes rush to pay the bill fearing someone will beat him to it, even though he paid it last year already!! Plus one meal like this is $1000+ so I think it's fair to take turns too.

Awwww... this cousin of mine is soooooo adorable, ain't she? Totally looks like a doll!

The plan after dinner is to go to Ang Pao River for a walk, since we haven't been there for years. But mum & sis were tired, & I didn't wanna stay in the four walls of my room, so I spontaneously went to Hougang!

For?

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No!! Don't criticize me for being a gambler... well, I mean I am, but... no! The original plan was to go to Ang Pow River at a designated time. But Karen got to her friend's house late, & it's not a good idea to just stay for 20 min, so we played in between instead.

That's the 1st time I played in between. It was fun!! Somebody suggested mj, & I haven't played mj in agesss, so I readily agreed to make up for the 4th leg.

Their mj table is placed along the corridor near the lift lobby, lol! And they say neighbours wouldn't mind since it's CNY. Really?!

Karen then went around taking pictures with everybody, & unglam pictures of me with double chin!

Amazingly, I was the big & only winner of the day!! Amazing becos I have very very bad mj luck, or luck in gambling generally as I realise deteriorated over the years. Sometimes I'm super lucky though, my mum always make a killing when I view her cards for her. But out of 10 times in mj, I will lose 9 times. Really!!

So I'm fucking happy that I won, cos it's Chinese New Year, & that's a sign that my luck's gonna change in the new year! Karen's friend even asked, "Eh why you brought a cheat to my house to win all our money?!" (in a joking tone of course). LOL! I sure hope I get to hear this more often!

We later then pick up one of Karen's gf & off to her house. She had a party there & invited some friends over since her parents are in Msia for the week.

I forgot what's her dog's name. He is extremely active, Jeff have to hold him between his legs for me to take a picture without blurring. He has cute dog features though... but look soooo different from when he is little!

Played in between (which I realised can amount to a VERY large pot!), I'd never, & drink from the bottles of liquor leftover from Karen's birthday, which are many!

Day 3 初三

Everybody in the family had plans.

Mum's going over to her friend's. Sis' going over to her's, & I'm going over to mine. You'd think we left poor dad alone at home... but no! He invited his workers over for steamboat (Again! CNY eat already, not bored meh?)

But mum wore the dress I planned to wear without telling me!! I was so angry at first & call her to demand if she wore it. But later contained my anger & realised it's no use getting slumped over it, so I wore a new dress I bought at FEP instead.

Went to a classmate's house with Cheryl & 3 other girls. Wow, only until the last semester do people start to involve us in their group. Great!! LOL! That's so self-deprecating & pathetic! Not that I really cared or desired to be in any cliques, but it's nice to have friends in school.

Omg what if I go overseas & I can't make any friends??? I know I look & give people the feeling that I'm extremely arrogant. I don't used to be like this!! I used to be able to have fun! But as I aged, I get more & more introvert, like back to my sec sch self!!

I can sense the vibes I give off cos I can be absolutely quiet & so not sociable at parties. It makes people & makes me feel uncomfortable. I recently just coincidentally met an event organiser who cast me last year, became friends with him & he told me the reason he didn't pick me for the event was becos "I was too arrogant"

How how how?

Met a friend & he drove us to Changi Village for dinner. Then later to Tua Pei Kong temple, which so many people visit that the roads & carpark was congested with cars! We had to illegal park & walk a longgg longgg way becos cars line up right up there!

On closer inspection, the immaculate dragon was made using hundreds, probably thousands of small dishes & spoons!!

Look!! My CNY clothes doesn't even cost 1/7 of what I spent on 2 years ago! I'm no spendthrift no more!

Generous thief @ Zirca

2011-04-11T22:21:00.006+08:00

6 April, 2011

On average it takes me 2-3 months to blog out an event, so... it's weird that I'm writing about last week now huh? Hmm... and after my long disappearance of more than a year from the clubbing scene, I'm surprised by my recent nights out. Which is about... once every 2 weeks?

I dunno why... at times I have a strong desire to go out and party, and at other times I remain my homely self. It's like I have a split personality

I wore very casually, mainly cos I'm not really in the mood to club. Chloe commented I look like I'm going to the library . I haven't even finish my makeup when I left home. So I just quickly draw up my eyes in the toilet. Lightning speed compared to Chloe's 2hr when she makeup.

While we were snapping photos away (mostly Chloe!), this woman behind kept yapping to her ang moh friends in French. And she was directing that at us- with her stares, sarcastic tone, sniggers with her friends, occasional "whatever~" lift of her hands, & rolling of her eyes.

You know the feeling when you can sense a person is talking/looking at you even when your back is behind them? Yes I learnt french before, but her french is very fluent, like those native speakers. I could only catch "les photos..... les photos" among her yapping. That double confirmed she's speaking about us. Even chloe who doesn't know french told me she can sense it. Cam-whoring is illegal meh?!

Saw Cherie outside Zirca, she was doing an event & ending so we chatted for awhile.

I need to clarify that I am not drunk in this photo. These are posted according to time sequence so I am VERY sure. Anyway I didn't drink more than 3 cups that day. I'm also not dancing. That's just me pulling Chloe over to my side to take pictures, & somebody accidentally shot it.

Acting cute. And oh yes my hair is superrrrrr in need of a cut. And I did it already so it look drastically different from these photos now.

Okay here comes the dramatic part.

Everytime I go clubbing, I'll put my bag in the locker. But the lockers are always full by the time we got there. So that day, we put it underneath the table, kindly asking someone to look after it for us. As if that's not enough assurance, I asked ANOTHER person to keep an eye on our bags. Then, we went to dance.

Coming back, I look a quick look underneath. Finding my bag intact, I didn't think much about it.

NOT UNTIL...

I saw this girl slumped over the table in front of me, drunk. The guy beside me kindly put her wallet & handphone into her bag. I was JUST ABOUT to tell the guy how coincident your girlfriend has the same wallet as me. When I instinctively reach my hands into my bag to fish for my wallet, only to find none.

I honestly thought that girl was using the same wallet as me... & I almost am too lazy to reach into my bag to reaffirm. LUCKILY I DID! Else I would've lost everything include IC, credit card, membership cards etc. etc. So I asked the guy to let me have a look, & true enough it IS MY wallet! With $50 & a debit card missing!!

I asked the guy where he found the wallet & he said on the floor. WTFFF?!?!?! I asked a girl in our group, Niki if her wallet's missing. Same as me, her wallet is intact but she lost $70 cash. Chloe didn't lost anything cos her small clutch is tucked inside my bag.

What bewildered me is that... Why would the thief take to so much trouble:

1) Open my bag
2) Look for my wallet
3) Open my wallet to take cash
4) Throw wallet on the floor

Isn't it EASIER to just take the whole bag & go?? Or even the whole wallet?? That's why I say this is a generous thief. He/She left my $2k miumiu bag alone, or even my prada wallet, & only took $50 + a debit card. I mean... not to sound brand-conscious, but isn't that strange?

I'm so angry... why doesn't he take my credit card instead?!?! At least credit card cannot swipe cos already swipe to the max liao (mum's medical bills). Debit card still can swipe leh!!! So Chloe called DBS to help me cancel, but I still feel insecure so I transfer my everything via m-banking to a friend I trust.

No money to eat breakfast

So Chloe lent me some & we shared a big mac (is that what it's called?) We even play Scissors, Paper, Stone to decide who'll do the buying cos we were both dead beat! Then she came to my house to stay & we chatted till 7am before hitting the sack.

LOLLIPOP @ Zirca (30/03/11)

2011-04-09T04:59:00.002+08:00

Want to know what I've been up to this past week? Well let me tell you. I decided to be good & blog a proper long overdue CNY entry, so I uploaded it on Friday, planning to blog at granny's over the weekend. Then, realisation hit me... HARD... that I have not submitted my uni application!

Other ppl have submitted theirs wayyyy before even school ended. And although the last deadline is June 30, nobody really submit so late. And April is already considered VERY late! So I wanted to blog about how screwed up I am... & then after clicking "new post", I stopped myself & shouted in my head, "What are you doing!! You haven't even wrote your personal statement nor confirm a referee, & yet you still wanna blog about how you haven't done all these?!?!"

Thinking how logical it is (I could spend the time writing my personal statement instead), I begin on it. Emailed my tutors, got a referee, read tons of sample personal statement to see how ppl start/end their essays, & worked on mine for 3 whole days! I sleep at like 6am on some days.

Well guess what... My essay exceeded by 2000 characters & I had such a hard time cutting it, cos I wanted to retain all. You can't possibly know HOW hard it is. One paragraph is only around 400+ characters, imagine how much it hurts to press the delete button just to stay within the limit, & that's not even NEAR! Each hour I spent thinking & playing around with English, UCAS says, "Your statement is 1587 character too long to be saved." and the next time, "1506 characters too long... " and the next, "1465 characters too long..."

IMAGINE HOW SIAN IS IT!!
But I know I must and I will do it. So this thing goes on for 3 days until I have reached the limit at 3am on the 3rd day. So....

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YAY! I have finally finally finally submitted my uni application. The choices I made are University of Exeter, Reading, Loughborough, Leeds and Manchester. And knowing how indecisive I am, I asked myself in advance... IF I can get into all unis, which would I go to? The answer is I don't know! OMG this is dreadful.

This is like after 'O' levels & your results are so excellent that you can get into any course of your choice and you dunno what to choose. Which of course I'm talking about myself hahaha! (I was torn between Business studies & Banking and Finance. I think I chose B&F, then thought about it & appealed to BS, then regretted & appealed again. Now I regretted not choosing BS!!!)

EXCEPT now the scenario is my results are so lousy that I can only hope that I will receive an offer. But IF I get offers from all, which should I go to? I know I shouldn't look at rankings, but it just doesn't make sense to spend so much & study in a school nobody has heard of, right??? So... IF I get offers from all, should I go to

1) Exeter whom I really like, whose UK ranking is 12th but world ranking is 250+? or

2) Leeds whose UK ranking is 26th but world ranking is 85th?

Actually I'm thinking why is it this way? Logically, Exeter whom is ranked higher among UK, should rank higher in the world right? Hmmm....

& what's more troubling is, or should I go to Reading, which allows me to learn an ab initio language as part of my degree? (Most courses like this requires A level standard in that language but I don't)

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Ok no more education talk. Let's have some partayyyy pictures!

I wanted to blog about what happened this Wed at Zirca, but since this is such a wordy post, I'll leave that to another day. Below are pictures taken from last Wed when my girlfriends & I went to ladies night.

That's evil chloe grinning and sprinkling salt generously on Xingyi...

... for me to lick!

It's my first time playing body shots & it's quite happening with the crowd.

I don't normally dress up like that. I don't like spending a huge deal of effort on my attire, so that can be translated to I'm not really fashionable. That's the 2nd time I wore stockings.

And the reason is? I need to cover the bunch of mosquito bites I got from working at dad's shop

Locked in a veryyyyy deep kiss afterwards

Saw Jocelyn within minutes of reaching! She's one of the vibe girls, which is basically the main point of Lollipop @ Zirca. We were coincidentally with the same group of friends at the same table.

You know how long it's been since I last saw her? Let me think.... if I'm not wrong it should be 2 years ago on my birthday. That's frreeaakkinggg long ago! And that's her sister Fiona beside her, which is my first time meeting

I love the atmosphere but I hate the camera they use! I squint without fail at the glaring flash, even if I open my eyes extra large. Why do they all look so normal?!?! Hate it hate it! I take better pics with my camera. Show you guys tml!

Oh there's an education fair tml (Saturday, 09 April 2011) at Suntec Convention level 3, Learning for Success, 10am - 8pm. I missed the annual big-scale one on 13th March by British Council Serves me right for not checking my mails. So I'll be there to bombard those representatives with questions, so do come if you are all confused like me.

I'm more sua ku than I really look

2011-03-28T03:07:00.005+08:00

Places in Singapore I'd never been to before

I'd been wanting to do an entry on "Things I'd never done before" for months already... but I figured I'd better do places first. This will be a good laugh. At my own expense, of course.

For non-Singaporeans, "sua ku" means ignorant, in loose translation. Or more aptly, frog-in-the-well.

1) Night Safari

Zoo, many times. But not the Night Safari. I vaguely remember that the Night Safari opened its doors when I was 8 or so.... omfg that's 10+ years ago!! I just didn't have the guts to visit with my friends during Halloween :(

I know, I know! But I'm pretty sure there are people living in other countries, for e.g., U.S who'd never left their state before. Although I'm in no stand to argue, given that our Singapore is just a small red dot muchmuchmuchmuchmuch smaller than any of their states.

2) Geylang

I mean of it as an overview, not the red light district that immediately comes to your mind (don't deny!). I know it's kinda unbelievable but I've really NEVER been there before, except passing by on the bus (Lor Geylang on the road signs means that it's Geylang I'm passing by right?)

Cheryl always tells me about the fabulous food you can find there, but I can't even imagine how does the stalls look like. I do know there are a lot of durian stalls though.

2) Marina Barrage

What is the proper pronunciation of barrage? Whenever I see the word, I'll associate it with "garage". So I just call it bur-rahj.

Anyway, around 2-3 years ago when this dam/reservoir (I couldn't be bothered really) was completed, it became this really hotttttt place for couples. Everyone was talking about how romantic it was at night, like it was the perfect dating spot. I think people fly kites & picnic there too? Till date, I'd never step foot on it, be it day or night.

4) Helix bridge

Another romantic place I'd never been before.

5) NEX Serangoon

This is forgivable, isn't it? It just started business not too long ago, just about 3 months. I heard it's full of restaurants & eateries, just like Bedok Point (not that I've been there before, but neither does friends who lived in Bedok!)

6) Marina Bay Sands

Nope. Not to the hotel, not to the shopping. (Actually, I didn't know there's a shopping centre until I saw pictures in my friend's blog. That's quite... hopeless) And I have people saying I'm spoilt/atas etc. Whatever!

7) Resorts World Sentosa

The closest I've been is looking across the harbour from Vivocity after dinner with my family. LOL even I feel like laughing at what I'd just typed.

As with MBS, I'd never even been there to walk around or take photos, even if I'm still a year away from being of legal age to enter the casino.

8) Universal Studios Singapore

Of course I know of its existence, but to be honest, I'm not overtly keen to visit any of the places above. I'm just too lazy! I'm dead certain there are people who are as homely as me... I really can laze at home all day following this schedule of mine. Other than that, it's just town. So it's just home-town-home-town.

Well, at least I've been to Escape. Oh and the flyer!

Bali: Ku De Ta

2011-03-24T15:38:00.006+08:00

Recently I've been obsessed with skincare. So I read up & bought quite a lot of new skincare. Will share with you all if I have the time tomorrow :)

But today, I'm gonna blog about Ku De Ta! The much raved about Ku De Ta! Not the one in Marina Bay Sands though, the one in Bali. In fact, the one in MBS is being sued by the original one for using the same name.

That evening, after a heavy day of water rafting, we were all very tired. Called up the massage parlor which many people recommended, but they were fully booked till the next day. However, Mum & I still wanted to go explore, while Dad & sis opted to stay in the villa.

So we asked the receptionist how to walk to Gado-Gado, one of the restaurants featured in their website. The friendly staff then printed out a map to us, showing clearly how to walk to the beach. Simple as it was, I can't help being afraid of getting lost as we walked.

It was easy! Just a 5min walk & we're there at the Kuta beach already!

We walked the whole stretch of the beach, looking for Gado-Gado, but there was none in sight! I felt like the typical tourist holding a map asking people to show us the way!

It should be located on the beach cos the description in the website says it's right in front of the white sandy beach (not quite white huh?) In the end, some kind soul told us that it's under renovation. Arghhh! We've been walking to & fro like idiots!

Reached there just in time for the sunset :)

Despite that, there are some other cafe/bars on the beach. One in particular was packed with caucasians, with colourful sofas which looked comfortable & blasting loud music.

We were about to leave when we saw 2 cute doggies, half buried by the sand & sleeping soundly.

They were so adorable we asked the owner if we could take pictures with it.

The following shots looked like they're straight out of a health supplement or fitness equipment advertisement. With people running, playing volleyball on the beach... doesn't it look like those ang moh AIBI advertisement encouraging you to purchase a product by calling a number?

Mum wanted to settle for dinner somewhere near, but I was already enticed by the idea of eating by the beach. And I remember the famous Ku De Ta being somewhere near, so I somehow managed to convinced her to hop on a cab

(Much later after we went back to SG, I was lectured by my aunt saying this was dangerous. We should never do this, especially without my father's companion. I did it becos after researching I find bali taxis are relatively safe, but on hindsight I too realised that just 2 girls travelling in an unfamiliar country can be really dangerous. Case in Point: Taken [movie])

The inside was quiet, classy & elegant, much like fine dining in SG.

But in contrast, the outdoor (which most people visit KDT for) was booming with R&B music, bringing everybody into the atmosphere. We were told by the waiter outdoor they only serve cocktails & pizza. Pizza sounds great, & we were there for the experience. You have to call days in advance though, if you want a seat with a good view... unless you don't mind sitting on the grass

Tip: Plan your trip & book reservations prior to arrival

What a remarkably magnificent view!

Don't be fooled by the angle of the camera, it's not like the bar before which is located on the sea level. This famous joint is perched on an elevated platform. Here, you can truly enjoy the light breeze & listen to waves caress the shore, while sipping cocktails & laughing with your friends. I'd posted a video below.

KDT is the must-go for destination for most tourists, it has established itself as having one of the best parties & nightlife on the Islands of Gods. Determined to celebrate their 10th Birthday in the grandest of styles, bringing together a stellar selection of International DJs and live bands for their world-renowned, iconic High Season parties.

I'd done a search on it before I came, & everybody seem to love this place (not the price though)! As a wise man once said, "If you haven't been to Ku De Ta, you haven't been to Bali!"

There we were... going round & round hoping we'd miraculously spot an empty sofa seat.

Indeed, we found one!

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NOT!

Mum & I were bewildered at why this seat wasn't taken. We thought we had really good luck, until we realised it's blocked by this massive stage. Say... CHEY!

But beggars can't be choosers! Those really good seats are the ones by the side facing the rolling waves. The center ones are less popular. By the way, I swipe a glance around & saw that we're one of the 2 mere Chinese groups. Them caucasians really know how to enjoy life huh?

I like this photo of me... fresh-faced, without makeup (only concealer to cover my dark eye rings, although it's still visible ), & most of all, simple :) Which is what I really am, believe it or not.

Mummy disturbing me when I'm trying to decide what to order from their extensive list of drinks. I forgot what I ordered for myself, but I ordered margarita for her & a something (lamb?) pizza. Opps, that's the consequence of blogging only 4 months after a trip, especially when you have a failing memory

The funky, contemporary decor, amazing location & views had me impressed! Too bad dad didn't tag along, I was hoping he can see this for himself. But fret not, I took a video to record down the character of this party venue so we'd never forget.

But beware! I'd been warned & I'm here to warn you.

The prices in KDT are absolutely over the top for Bali. Food & drinks are very pricey for local standards. It IS a place you go to looking for to have a special meal, but first consider the markedly price difference between it & everywhere else in Bali. Hell, even I (& other aussies) think it is expensive for SG/AUS standards.

Cocktails costs on average Rp110,000 each. I only remember paying USD 77 for the 2 cocktails & pizza we had above. That said, the food is really good! I'm speaking for the only pizza we had (HAHA!), but already it makes me feel like going back It was so good I licked off every bit of it. Well, not literally lah.

So, come here if you want to be WOW-ed. But if it upsets you to part with a lot of cash (like my dad HAHA! ), then this is not the place for you.

I'm definitely going back again! What could be better than relax with your loved ones, indulge in the fine tunes of the music, rhythmic seawaves & immerse in the party atmosphere with party people?

The drink I ordered for myself is much more tasty than the margarita I ordered for mum. So she forced me to swap with her

Their toilets has these cute figurines indicating gender. But I couldn't tell which is the males & which is the ladies!

While we're leaving, we got offered a ride at the entrance by this taxi driver with a price agreed beforehand (couldn't remember but it's very cheap). Later, my instincts took over & I recalled things I read while doing my research that says there's one 1 official taxi company is Bali. The guy who offered us drives a private car, & I pulled my mum away suggesting we'd rather walk to the main road to be safe.

Actually, the guy means no harm. Just like drivers in bali, he only wanted to earn more bucks. But I'd rather be safe than sorry, especially when cabs in bali are bloody cheap. Now I'm not being pompous, but you'll agree with me. Like... SDG $2+? It's like the starting fare in SG cabs!

Tip: Do not accept unsolicited rides, especially girls!

The ride home was much more scary. The driver seemed to drive a long long way, meandering though VERY dark & narrow streets... Inside, I am panicking at why we haven't reach, but at the same time, I have to show that it's no big deal & assure my mum we're reaching soon. What a ride!

Starting to photograph things in our living room again :)

OMG look at my taut muscles... now do you believe my track & field story already?
Long distance runner... me!

Nope I didn't fly Emirates. Nor am I a fan of Arsenal. The jersey's a Christmas present from a friend last year. Only after I received it do I know how expensive jerseys can be! Why do guys like buying them so much?? (Actually I can understand... just like how girls buy Bebe. But I stopped already after realising it's a utter waste of $$)

I flew KLM!

Tip: KLM to Bali can be cheaper than Jetstar on some days. Actually, most days.

Dad & Sis had room service in their respective villas. (By the way, Dad registered a poker face for the rest of the trip. We later realised it's due to our, i.e. Mum & I, negligence for safety.

Other than the menu, there's another folder containing information of Bali's tradition, happenings & events on the islands etc. I gave it a good read, interesting

Here's some of my buys, mostly gifts & souvenir for friends:

I bet these ceramic bowls & plates would costs at least 500% more in SG. There, we can bargain from Rp100,000 for 1, to the same price for 4! But we bought for more expensive cos we bought at the beginning of the street. & we bought from different vendors cos it's kinda unfair to buy from just 1.

If you walk off, the vendor would shout a better price after you. Some will even pull your arms & refuse to let you leave! Scary~

Rented dvds from the front desk. There's TONS to choose from... hundreds! Although it's kinda obvious they're pirated So that means not all can be viewed.

The serene view as I lay on my crisp white bedsheets.

There's only 1 last Bali post to go!

Now I'm busy researching on universities & applications. Also helping out my dad at his shop this month. Sigh... can't accept that I'm done with poly

Mrs Tan's birthday

2011-03-18T22:31:00.004+08:00

Was having dinner chatting with my family around the table just now when my cousin told everyone how I talked in my dreams. I was stunned!! I know I do dream A LOT (almost everyday), my dreams are all very dramatic & senseless. In fact, I always laughed at my little cousin for spouting gibberish in his dreams, I'm so proud that I'd never talked in my dreams my whole life!

Imagine how unacceptable it is when I'm now the subject of laughter. Must be because I'm too well-fed at granny's. Everyday eat, sleep, eat, sleep~

Speaking of dinner, we had western food today! Grandma cooked non-stop cos the moment the food were ready, they were all scooped away. We ate faster than she can cook!

Went to the supermarket last night with my aunt to buy all these, plus other groceries household stuffs, all amounting to $380! My cousin teased his mum saying, "Mummy, we're not in Japan leh" I go to the supermarket with my aunt on average once a week. Monthly expenses on food beverages are huge cos we have family gatherings fortnightly, plus some cousins aunt stay there frequently.

I had a shock the other day when the delivery guy came to unload boxes of soft drinks, stout & beer, amounting to not less than $600. Because my grandma had to drink 3 cans of stout every night, watching tv with her made me gradually start to drink a Heineken every night too!

Look at the cute children plates! Very old school right? Pork chop, chicken chop, lamb chop, fish & chips, wedges, hot dogs.... YUMMY! (btw I prefer cheese sausages much more to cheese hotdogs. There is a difference okay! Some brands put cheese sausages on the label but they're actually hotdogs, made me so angry whenever I try a new brand!)

My cute grandma

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This Tuesday was the birthday of the newest member in the Tan family!

It was just 4 days after their wedding, & we hadn't hold a BBQ for the longest time. So, a BBQ it is! It's a little weird seeing another person living in the same house as I did since I was a child, but seeing their sarcastic teasing bickering can be really adorable! Plus Joanne is of the same age as me, so I'm sure we can get along very well

Oh yes! I had my very first basic theory lesson on that day. Start of the journey~
Went to Causeway point to get a present for the birthday girl wine glasses for the family. I even brought my riesling which I don't even bear to drink myself to share with them! Learning to be more altruistic less self-centered Here, part of my big family!

1st uncle cooked Black pepper crab Cereal prawns (my fav)! He's a cook btw

My little aunt showing off her years of experience in BBQ. She's always the one organising events handling the bits pieces of things. Although she's twins with my mum, their character are at 2 extremes. Every time we have a chalet, she'll be the one standing at the pit for hours, shouting to ask us to come down eat.

I'm laughing so hard because my cousins were all teasing me, restricting me from taking pictures cos they say I'm always so self-absorbed!

The birthday girl, Joannne! Still very skinny... but her pregnancy is very very smooth. Touching her tummy gives me a very touched feeling!

Good news!

My mum is finally able to be discharged tml! It's a good day cos it's Saturday, all my aunts would be coming back. They were all looking forward to her discharge, encouraging her saying, "When you come back we can play poker together already!" & funny things like that. My 3rd aunt kept reminding ah boy to put those electric fireworks to welcome her home.

Tml is the 15th. I'm going to the guanyin temple at Bugis to pray & get something to bless her.

Hallelujah!

Taking things (or people) for granted

2011-03-13T03:13:00.015+08:00

It is 2.18am as I am typing this. I'm in the hospital now, accompanying my sleeping mum. She hasn't been home for more than a month now.

I have never mentioned about this, but this is affecting me & my family a lot. She underwent an operation on the 5th day of CNY, which is already quite some time ago. It was supposedly a small & common operation & she could be discharged on the 4th day. But due to complications, the fucked-up doctors at NUH & the negligence of the nurses, my mum went through unnecessary trauma which could be avoided.

Just imagine, her heart rate was unusually high for 2 whole days (at 144) & they did nothing to help or try to find out the reason? She was panting 24/7 for 2 days & her stomach was bloated like 5-mth pregnant & no checks or x-rays were summoned.

2 days later we could stand it no more & demanded they do an x-ray. We had to wait an hour for an x-ray, & another hour for the report, because "there's only 1 person running the whole x-ray department"? The nurses even said that no specialists were on duty when my mum's in pain because "It is a Saturday."
WHAT THE HELL?

And mind you, she stayed at a Class A deluxe room. Is this the kind of care you give your patients? Class A, my foot! The doctor at Mt A thought she stayed at 8-bedded Class C or something when we told him her experience there. (Disclaimer: I'm not saying NUH is bad, this is just our experience. Might not be the same for all)

Shall not elaborate more, but we were so furious over their hack-care attitude that we insisted on transferring her over to Mount Alvernia, where she received immediate and personal care. Luckily we did not heed the advise of the doctor at NUH to "wait patiently", else she'd have died. She was found to have water retention in her lungs, which is very serious & can lead to death. One accident in the 1st op, led to her having 3 other repair op, all in a month. It is so heartbreaking to see her in pain.

During this 1 month, I realised we've all been so dependent on mum. My dad, my sis & I. Without her, I have to take up her load, all while having my major exams. It was so stressful for me. I have to open dozens of letters, pay the phone/electric/credit card bills, transfer money between accounts, fax documents to people, having to deal with hospital administration/insurance, going to banks every other day, visit mum everyday... It was all too much & too unfamiliar to me. The worst part was during my exam week when I realised I had little time left to study.

I know it is tough on dad too, cos he used to rely on her on financial stuffs. Ask her if rents are in, ask her to transfer between current & savings acc, ask her to write a cheque etc etc. And he doesn't have to worry about paying bills at all. Now he sometimes try to lighten the load by opening letters himself although he can't read english.

I guess this is the perfect example of how we always take people for granted. What do we all do when she is around? I don't know about Dad, but I do know my sis & I trouble her with the slightest stuff...

1. Sms-ing to remind her to transfer my allowance to my account

2. Calling to remind her to collect my clothes from the tailor beside her shop

3. Asking her to buy fresh milk & tidbits (& getting angry when she forgets)

4. Asking her to book nails/hair/facial appts for us cos we're lazy to call

5. Asking her to bring us to breakfast/shopping on a Saturday

6. Reminding her to call the technician up when something is faulty at home (SCV, doorbell, basin, computer, fish pond, lightings... tons of things she needs to handle)

God I'm getting a little emotional here already My mum not only looks after things around the house & the finance, I just realised that there's so many other things she did single-handedly. Things like the dog's grooming, insurance for the whole family, lots of miscellaneous items.... at the same time helping my dad with his business (3pm-10pm everyday) & properties.

While all these already proves to be a big feat, she can still maintain looking youthful & squeeze in whatever minimal time she has for facials & stuffs like that. I'm already breaking down doing a fraction of what she normally does. I can't be certain I'll be more independent, but I'm sure this had me matured. She is a good person, please let her recover soon.

My mum, she is the one maintaining the family harmony.
My mum,

she is the BEST mum ever

Awaiting the BIG day

2011-03-11T01:32:00.006+08:00

Advertorial- Amelie Nails

These 2 days I'd been out shopping & making last minute preparation to beautify myself for my cousin's wedding. In almost every shop I walked into, I received praises from the shop assistant, commenting on my beautiful nails & asking how much I did it for

Yesterday at the fake eyelash store, Shu Uemura counter... today at the Chinatown tailor, from my beautician when I went for my facial, & many many countless more.

Well, to be honest I rarely do nails. So they're bare & plain most of the time. But because my cousin's wedding is approaching, I had to perfect myself to level up to the gown I'm gonna wear that day (you'll see!)

So I gave Amelie a call & travel down to her home-based salon at Sembawang (beside S.S.C). It's just a $6 cab ride, or 15min bus ride from my grandma house, very near for me! Tried to book an appt with Amelie on CNY but she's fully booked until 3am on CNY eve

So for those who wanna use her services, better book a few days in advance! Very reasonable rates too!

This is the 'before' picture of my natural nail beds. Don't they look good & healthy? I don't like my nails super long like some girls do. This is the maximum length I would keep them. I like them bare, square & clean. But I did acrylic extensions so I had to cut them all away

I'd been running around the whole day, so I was very tired by the time I settled down in her cooling room. But during the 4hr, I had TV programmes to keep me entertained. That's Channel 8 playing in the background. Do you all watch the new drama "A tale of 2 cities"? One of mediacorp's fairly decent works IMO.

During the 4 long hours, I kept switching between Channel 8, U and 5... reading magazines, looking at Amelie work on my nails. And all Amelie does was concentrate on the delicate manicure acrylic powder. If it's boring for me, it'd be even more boring for her right? But no, she was just working her magic onto my nails. I'm so awed by her passion for nail arts & creativity

Almost done! It's so pretty even when it's blur... can you see the rose in-lays?

I like 3D, but I have a serious nail-picking problem. I can't keep my hands to myself! The previous time I did 3D, I plucked all of them away during boring lectures, bus rides etc. Until my nails are ruined & hideous. So the solution is to put the 3D art inside, which is what I did.

Tell Amelie you want in-lays if you want the same nails as mine
I now like to type on my bb cos I can see my 2 gorgeous thumbs moving here & there

http://www.ameliesnail.blogspot.com/

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Tomorrow is my little cousin's big day. Yes you read that correctly, my little cousin of the same age as me. We all know the reason so let's not pretend that we don't. The fortunate thing is that everybody is joyous over this marriage! Everyone loves the girl cos she's really lovely The important traditional tea ceremony is over yesterday already.

Tomorrow is the wedding dinner & they've made it into a BIG BIG affair, with close to 100 tables! I'm gonna have to go early to help out, first time arriving early for a wedding dinner eh...

That's me & the bridegroom when we were kids! We were the 花童 for my youngest aunt when she got married. Ah boy's so chubby & irresistably cuteeeee then! OMG! I'll post up more childhood photos next time. So touched while browsing through them

I always know that I have crayon shin-chan's eyebrows. Look at that! And I look so vain even as a child! What's with the expression & red nails?! LOL!

Bali: Around the Villa

2011-03-07T21:19:00.006+08:00

Since so many of you asked, I decided not to be selfish and share with you the name of my villa.

When I stumbled upon this villa in Asiarooms, I couldn't believe how affordable it is per night. I mean, for a villa this awesome? Prior to the trip, I already had a dream villa in mind. That, was heaven. But wayyyyy too expensive for $1k per night, PER villa. Meaning if we were to stay there, it'd cost us about $2k PER NIGHT. Hence I decided to leave that for when I travel with my boyfriend.

I'd already done a video here, so if you'd seen it already, you might want to skip this entry, although this is a much more detailed one.

The staff are all REALLY friendly & helpful!! Recommending us places to eat, how to walk around the area etc. I know it's kinda like their job, but in Bali you can sense it... the sincerity & warmth of these Balinese, totally not like our ugly Singaporeans (although you meet good people once in a blue moon too).

One night, I didn't want to sleep, so I came out to borrow DVDs. While browsing, I chatted with the staff on duty that night. It was so easy to chat with him. Then I asked him about the famous Ku De Ta. That evoked a strong reaction from him... saying it is very overpriced. A dinner for 4 could costs him his monthly salary, which is about Rp 3,000,000. Then he talked about his gf, & how he lived near here so he could save on transportation, his training in SG & how costly it is over here.

The concept of The Seiryu is to unite couples. The word SEIRYU contains 2 meanings, SEI is to bind people, & RYU is the Dragon, which in Japan symbolises the story of the couple Dom.

Outside the property, they have these lights & stones as decoration. I'll tell you why so in a minute.

When we checked in, it was in the afternoon. So the sweltering hot weather from the Bali sun and roads made us wanna check into our haven fast. Indeed, inside, it was TOTALLY like you're in another world. You feel like, it's almost impossible this heavenly place is built on the same undeveloped roads.

The experience starts when you walk through this door. And then you'll be greeted by soothing music & aroma.

The Buddha statue gives you a very Zen feel right? That's the feel you get throughout the villa.

See the Dragon made up of flowers on the wall? Because this villa is called 静龙. Dragons are an evocative symbol of artistic, intellectual and spiritual progression. From the brochure I read, you can see 40 Dragon images/silhouette throughout the villa. The stones & lights outside make 1, the thick glass behind the reception make another 1.

Can you see the images of dragon in the form of shadowgraph puppetry? It's the effect of shadow and light creating a look of dragons dancing, which expresses the happiest age of life. This stage of the dragon is called "Sujyaku"

Then you walk through this longgggg walkway with lights lit, and total isolation from the outside. What you can hear is only the music and aroma surrounding your senses.

In essence, the property is built with the concept of
Zen + Japanese

Btw there are only 8 villas in total. We had the A-3, my parents had the A-2 (IMO mine is more romantic than theirs).

Look! My daybed & patio umbrella is red! Sexy colour, my favourite too! Unlike my parent's dull green.

The gazebo is my favourite part of the whole villa.

Their 8 villlas are designed according to the four seasons- Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.

Ours is the Spring theme with orangy ceiling lights, more romantic compared to my parent's bright lights. They should've taken this room!

Shiokness! ♥

Heheh, I never leave the country without my starstar

Can you imagine how comfy is it to be holed up in this spacious, freezing room... complete with all basic necessities? Having a tv to watch, hundreds of DVDs to borrow if that's not enough, a pool to take a dip if you feel like it, breakfast served to your villa everyday, room service to order at any hour, or a fully equipped kitchen to cook in!

I could really get used to a life like this! How nice would it be if this is my house. I mean, who would mind coming home to a residence like this right? I just need my laptop... & I would never leave home.

Have I mentioned that they have shuttle bus service to the nearby beach? I forgot if it's the very near Kuta beach, or Seminyak beach 30-min walk away. Aiya just go to their website for more information. The music you hear in the web page is the soothing music played throughout the villa

Now, let's move on to the more intimate areas. You'd think that a toilet is a toilet right? But no. The toilet, basin & bathtub/shower are all compartmentalized. You have to watch the video to understand what I mean.

The toiletries Seiryu provides all uses premium stuff. You can see how much effort they put in decoration and packaging.

Guess what, even the DISPOSABLE toothbrush set they provide uses Oral B & Pepsodent. (I took both sets home BUT I LEFT THE OTHER THINGS THERE OKAY!) Most 5 star hotels even in Singapore just give you a small tube of shitty toothpaste, & a toothbrush which chances are, is too small for adult teeth.

This is the washing area, & behold! What you're going to see next is...

a door which leads STRAIGHT INTO the pool!

Just so you can head to the shower immediately after a dip. You can swim naked in your private pool without anybody giving a hoot. Well, doesn't this sounds cool? Perfect for couples whom after some splashing around, decided to... huh, get kinky in the bath

Wanted to post this bikini photo up when I thought of the photo-doctoring accidents (with an S!), so I thought it'd be better to put a watermark. Guess it really got to me.

That's mum swimming in my pool (looking as happy as a lark!) cos like me, she's a huge camwhore. I had to photograph her posing around cos Dad wouldn't have the patience.

Bath salt! Ahhhh what a relaxing afternoon, swimming a few 'laps' & then soaking myself in the foamy bath exfoliating myself with bath salt.

Yes you see that correctly, it IS a jacuzzi bathtub.

My BIG head popping out.

Hahaha I made a mess of the whole place cos I didn't know how to operate the jacuzzi. And while the bathtub is already filled with water & bubbles, I tentatively pressed a button & the whole thing just went into a frenzy! It was spinning & splashing foamy water in all directions but I didn't know how to off it!

I don't like it! I prefer a clean, neat bath. Scroll down to see the aftermath of my poking around.

If you really wanna know, my sister took this photo & I'm wearing a bikini underneath all that foam

What's better than a steamy cup of coffee after a refreshing bath?

I'll resume my Bali travelogue after this.

Signing off here,
Later!

I'M BACK!!!

2011-03-04T19:42:00.001+08:00

HELLO LOVELIES!

I'm back! I hope you none of you abandon me & my blog during this long hiatus

Now that I'm done with poly, I promise to update as regularly as my lazy bum would make me Heheh! It's the 3rd day of holidays today! Went to collect the spree items I ordered in December... & I couldn't resist the temptation to buy more stuff! I spent even more money than the items I'm supposed to collect cost.

I already have a Winter in Moscow palette from Stila. But how can I resist?! The name already made me feel like bringing it home. And you haven't seen the cool colours yet. These are from NYX (U.S brand, not available in SG), & quite afforable too!

And the 3 eyeshadow palettes above are from e.l.f, two for my lovely girlfriends, & one for me of course! Very very pretty, with 100 colours at that!

To me, I'm not that big on clothes (& shoes); they don't have to be branded. There's only a few 3-digits dresses in my wardrobe. I think $20+ dresses can be pretty too! So places like Far East Plaza is one of my shopping hunts. I'm not as materialistic as you people think okay! For bags & sunglasses, I have a different perspective.

But the sunglasses I saw on the Taiwan spree is so cheap & has a nice shape to it. And I must be crazy to get 4 pairs of leggings... I got so many pairs of legs meh? Hahaha cos I couldn't decide what colour to get, so I spin excuses for myself like it's wearable in cold countries. And I don't even wear earrings... but I think that's pretty. Had a hard time eliminating those items that I bookmarked!!

When you calculate, each item seems so cheap. But adding all the shipping costs & everything, these costs $70. The 2 dresses has very warm lining though, cos they're selling winter items when I ordered

Spent the day sorting out my sec school notes into folders for my 15-yr old cousin. I haven't thrown them away even when I've already graduated from POLY. In fact I never throw things away... only once when I was clearing the house for my 18th birthday. Threw away lots of nursery books & primary 1-6 textbooks.

I've gotta admit I'm a sentimental person. I can remember very vividly things from the past... my childhood & even clothes ppl wear on different events. Even conversation I had with my nursery teacher when she asked me how I want my custom made bag to be. I remember what I wore, how I feel inside, what ppl said on a memorable day. It progresses like a dream when I think of it, if you know what I mean.

See I even spotted old yellow pages from primary 6!! That's 8 years of enduring the days of humidity on my shelves.

Oh! Have I mentioned that my cousin is getting married next week?! Not just any cousin... the cousin of the same age who used to bathe with me when we were babies! So looking forward!

Promise to complete:

1) Bali trip
2) CNY

... in the next 2 weeks!

Yeah that's Mark Lee & Jeremy. I'm not those kind of people who'll gush & squeal at celebrities when spotted on the road. Cos I usually think they're snobs. But they're the emcees for the event I attended. Look at the background & guess where! (Hint: Not in Singapore)

Want to know where I met them? Stay tuned.

January

2011-02-22T04:10:00.005+08:00

11 more days to the end of my poly life! Kinda missin' it already now... Throughout my poly life, I haven't been active in school. Always been low profile, leaving the premises straight after school, not being part of any clique or groups. I guess it's just me? Since young I'd been this quiet, shy girl, not knowing how to interact with people & my 人缘 (affinity with people; not very likeable) is not very good. But I regretted not taking up cca in poly though.

Over the years it's getting better. It's worse in primary & secondary school... So soft-spoken & shy that I'd easily fade into the background. I always envy how loud, active & friendly girls can talk so easily to people.

Anyway, I'll update more once my exams are over. For now, here's a general update on the month of January I know it's a lousy entry just posting the whole month like that, but there's really TOO MANY PICTURES! I just finally make myself upload it into my laptop. So bear with it!

It's a friend's birthday & I brought him to Dozo cos I'm missing the beef & kurubota pork. I still remember how it melts in my mouth the very first time I visited.

I'm not going to post up individual photos of food, since I've already posted it here. I don't really like to take photos of food/environment which I'd taken before.

This time, the food is disappointing. It was full house at Dozo, so the staff weren't as attentive as the previous time where we were seated in a private room. Coincidentally, the staff which served us was the same as the last time, still remember his name is called Jason.

Bought the birthday boy a Mont Blanc pen as his birthday present. You all might think it's extravagant of me to get a friend a gift like this, but the gift he gave me was MUCH MUCH more extravagant than this. So I thought it'll be a nice gesture since I know he'd been wanting a Mont Blanc pen. And he insisted on footing the bill for dinner when I'm the one who wanted to treat him

This is my all-time fav "slack" attire. The leggings are so super comfy!

Went to MBK to find my Xingxing for awhile, before heading to granny's for the night.

Chloe invited me to her friend's birthday celebration one Saturday. BBQ! ♥

Me, Yan Ru, Chloe, & her friend

The birthday boy Aaron with the guys & girls. Can't believe he's only 18! Totally don't look it.

ECD bazaar @ Scape

This bazaar is for one of my modules, we can choose either to write a detailed business report, or participate in the bazaar. Of course we chose the bazaar! It's so much more fun! And don't laugh, but it's my first time going to Scape.

We sell manicure & polaroid services. At first our manicure were set at $6 I think? Then from far I saw another store's poster selling at only $3! Spoil market! So we gotta reduce our price. And for mobile polaroid services, we're selling the small one @ $2.50 each, big one @ $3.50 each.

To be honest, will you buy if someone were to sell to you? I'll buy one... two at most. (Not like Cheryl so stingy! I persuaded her for like 20min then she agreed to buy one. Someone is shared by 3 person! *Faints* ) Our strategy is to aim couples & tourists, esp caucasians cos they're more generous.

Alcina, the group leader. She did nails the whole day! Confirm very tiring

That's Madeline on the left & Vanessa on the right. Vanessa's a mixed! I dunno mix what though, but I heard her dad's a European.

Look at the picture above & this! My oily face from walking around Orchard road asking people if they want to take photos. LOL! I dunno how to photoshop away the oil shine though... it's so eye-catching!

Jerlyn suddenly called me asking where my booth is. I was honestly surprised! Didn't thought she'll come to give her support. And better still... put the fate of her nails into my hands

I'm very serious okay! Don't think I don't know how to do nails... I used to experiment on my own & do my friends', mum's & sis' nails. But I'm really annoyed when immediately after they remove the whole thing, when I spent so much effort on it. So I gradually rejected mum whenever she ask me to do her nails.

Tadah! My first satisfied customer! We got fan somemore okay, don't play play!

Kexin came down to give her support too! With her old, er new... no, old boyfriend

They took a few polaroids, & told me it's the 1st polaroid they took together! Wow I'm honoured.

After the bazaar ended (11am-8pm okay!! Can kill!), I headed to Pasir Ris for Karen's birthday chalet. The journey there was longgggg, but I don't mind cos can rest! Was thinking of the BBQ food & doing nothing sitting there, just waiting for 8pm, so that we could close stall. I had to call Karen to make sure she leave some food for me

Her birthday cake. So pretty right! (These are photos grabbed everywhere from fb)

By the time I reached, it was close to 10pm already. I thought the party was coming to an end, & was surprised they haven't even cut the cake yet! The party had just barely started yo!

LOL! That's Janet helping Karen with the butterfly wings they made her wear. Kinda goes with her colourful dress huh?

I don't know what I'm doing or saying when they snap this photo, but I thought my expression is cute!

Seriously? Who BBQs with tailor made shirts & cufflinks?!

Starting games already... I learnt alot of new games I'd never played before that day. Circle of Death, & dunno what else I can't remember.

The peeps who stayed till the end. I stayed till 4.30am playing games okay! Didn't intend to stay that long, but well, it was fun!

Lastly, a photo of Karen with her boyfriend Jeffrey taken earlier on in the day. I like this photo of them. They're super sweet irl, or rather Jeffrey is SUPER SWEET to Karen. So envious~ Better cherish it, girl!

One Wednesday night out clubbing at Zirca, wearing my new dress! Sorry for the dark photo... I usually brighten my photos with Adobe Photoshop Elements (I think it's like the compressed, simplified, basic version of PS, without all the messy & difficult stuff), but I brought my laptop to sim lim to format, & it disppeared.

It was originally already installed in my laptop when I bought it. Maybe it'd still have been here if I brought my laptop to Sony instead? That program is so user-friendly

Nah clearer view... where got pimple grow below the eye right? Actually kinda mood-spoiling, but I still wanted to go out.

Wish me luck for my final exams!

A gift

2011-02-19T04:18:00.002+08:00

...from someone who has always been so dear to me.

Things I wanna do after graduation

2011-02-14T01:34:00.004+08:00

Sorry people! I haven't been updating becos my laptop's sent for formatting. ( I gei kiang tried to format myself but made the whole OS corrupted instead) AHHHH anyway my laptop's empty now, pictures are stored in my harddisk but there's too many to organize.

So... here's Top 5 of my to-do list, after I graduate in ONE MONTH'S time!

1) Get a license

This, I'd been procrastinating since last year. I told myself I'll get a license once I turn 18, & then at 19, I told myself I'll go register during holidays when I have the time... & then now I tell myself, I'll must get my butt to BBDC when I graduate.

2) Learn Japanese full-time

Or maybe Swedish? You might ask why don't I complete my French first, right? That's because I'd already decided to go to France to learn French when I'm older. The plan is that after I complete my university, I'll go to Paris for 3 months for the course. I have an immense interest for languages, so it's one of my consideration for choosing the destination for my further studies (e.g if I go to France, I'll come back in 3 years speaking fluent french. Or Germany, Italy or whatever country I choose to go)

Actually I'm not really keen in Japanese, but it's useful. Deep down, I really want to learn a Germanic language like German, Swedish or Danish (although might not be v useful in the future)

3) Learn baking & cooking

Kexin & I had been talking about baking together for like what, a YEAR?! What the hell, girl, when are you going to teach me!!!

The (first and) last time I really really got down to cooking was 2 years ago, for my exbf's whole family. The level of satisfaction when everybody praises your cooking is indescribable. It's like... "Really auntie? Is it really good? I cooked it with my grandma's belachan" *look away blushing again*

I really really wanna try cooking & making desserts. As you all know, I have alot of interests, this is one of them. Everytime I go to a nice restaurant, I secretly wish I could produce those palatable dishes. And these are my cookbooks bought at a bookfair which I often flip through, wishing one day I could find the time/effort to go to the supermarket & just spend my day experimenting. I wanna be able to bake pretty colourful cupcakes like THIS!

4) Organise my notes neatly into folders

As a sentimental person, I like to keep things. Read this entry to see how I kept my kindergarten books for 10+ years. For some reason, I think the mountains-tall stack of notes I have printed since year 1 in Poly will be of use in the future. So unlike most of my friends who burn their notes after final exam every semester, I'll keep them in boxes. But I kept procrastinating organising them. I just started filing them the previous long holiday... bit by bit everyday. So I'll just continue working on that!

5) Finish knitting my neglected scarf

Something which takes an average of 3 months to do... I took 3 years. Well I bought it 2yrs+ ago, but I'm not even halfway done yet! There's still around 5 balls of wool left. I did it for my then boyfriend, but stopped when we broke up. But I should finish what I started, so I'll finish knitting it. That's a promise!

♥ ♥ ♥

So... these are the things to keep me occupied while waiting for university. Maybe I'm just finding excuses for myself to not find a job, cos I'm really too lazy to work. Please please not ask me to find a job, let me enjoy my freedom for 6 months~

My favourite girlfriends

2011-02-02T02:52:00.002+08:00

2.30pm: Wheel of Fortune

3.05pm: HK drama 1

4.00pm: HK drama 2

4.45pm: Switch on computer surf net

5.45pm: Watch movie online

8.00pm: HK drama 1 (next episode)

9.00pm: HK drama 2 (next episode)

10.00pm: HK drama 3

10.30pm - 3.30am: Surf net

4.00am: The Moment of Truth

5.00am: Channel 8 repeat drama

6.00am: ~~~~~SLEEP~~~~~

2.30pm: Wake up watch Wheel of Fortune

This is my schedule for a random day if I don't have school. I'm not exaggerating, I do this almost everyday! And the cycle goes on & on... Just look at how lazy I am! I don't study at all even if I have the time! How am I going to get into a good university like that?

For the past few months, I'd been doing alot of thinking & googling about universities, & I couldn't make up my mind which country I want to go to & which course I wanna study. Until a few weeks ago.... I finally found my dream course/school! University of Warwick. I was soooo excited that I couldn't get to sleep that night, cos I finally found out what I want to do. I really really really wanted to do their International Business. But University of Warwick is a TOP TOP university. Look at my results: 2.63 GPA, how am I going to get in?! (Unless my father donate a building or something lah). They require a GPA of around 3.8. And fuck look at what I'm doing everyday!

On schooldays, my schedule would be like....

7.30/9.30am: Wake up for school

4.00pm: End school

5.00pm: Take a nap

7.50pm: Wake up, just in time to watch 8pm show

8.00pm: HK drama 1

9.00pm: HK drama 2

10.00pm: HK drama 3

...

4.00am: The Moment of Truth

5.00am: ~~~~~SLEEP~~~~~

I love watching The Moment of Truth! Sometimes I even sleep at 6am if my lesson next day starts at 1pm. I'm cureless, ain't I?

Chilling @ Ali's place

Hahaha! I'm affectionately known as Ali to them. Kinda embarrassing when they shout "Ali!" in public, but after awhile you get used to it & will react naturally to that name.

That Thursday night, they all came to my place to chill. It was suggested by Xingyi, but she asked me to plan! She ALWAYS do this! She's supposedly the organiser, but I ended up doing everything. But I did it willingly cos I'm looking forward to our girls' night too

I had no school on Thursday, so I gladly volunteered to go shop for wine (I love doing this!)

My friend Junming came to pick me up at my place, then drove me to town (when he was already at town! So nice of him!). I went to the wine shop at Valley Point S.C cos I passed by there a few days ago & saw that they had a decent collection. There were a few caucasians wearing formal business wear when I was there, they totally look like wine connoisseurs!

But I asked the staff for help as a safe bet. Bought $200+ of wine, cos I wanted to get the membership . And mine is just the ordinary one. You get a gold membership if you spend $2.5k, or elite if you spend $12.5k.

They must've felt honoured cos I RARELY (almost never) cook for anyone! Btw the popcorn chicken I fried are really yummy.

Left them alone chatting in the garden while I watch 2 HK dramas (can't make myself miss it!). We chatted about LOTS of stuffs! Men, ex-boyfriends, cruel breakups, hilarious events etc. So much things to talk about! Well, we're girls!

But we were a lil.... okay, VERY noisy. Mum kept coming down to ask me to keep my volume down (actually Xingyi laughed the loudest! She's the noisiest!) I think she was very angry cos she stared at me. Opps! OMG I can't imagine what will happen if we played mahjong.

We drank red wine, baileys & beer. Xingyi alone drank 5 cans OMG!! She's a super good drinker!

I drink alone at home quite often. Usually after 1+ glass of red wine, I'll be tipsy already (once I drank almost 1 whole bottle cos I was v upset & vomited like fuck That was the drunkest I'd ever gotten). But that day, surprisingly, I managed to stay sober! I guess it's becos I'm the host & I've the responsibility to take care of them, bring them drinks/food, that's why subconsciously I stayed awake.

Cherie was the 1st to "die". She claims she's sleepy/tired. BAH!

Bear in mind that it's a Thursday. Cheryl, Chloe & I all have school early next morning, we even have a presentation! I don't know what got into us to agree to chilling on Thursday. Xingyi suggested Thursday cos that bitch doesn't have school the next day! WTH!

And she wouldn't let us sleep! I gotta wake up at 9.30am... but Chloe & I were steady enough to accompany her drink until 6am+. She couldn't drank enough! I kept going downstairs to get beer for her until all my beer are wipe out. No more beer for her, you'd think she'd stop right? NO! She's even willing to drink stout, which I told her it's nasty! In the end, she left at 6.30am, still wouldn't let us sleep. Pulled us outside to acc her wait for cab, & then still called to disturb when I'm already sleeping...

The next day, she couldn't remember she called me. Hahaha! The alcohol princess lost to weak Alicia?

I love love love these girlfriends of mine!

How we got along so well despite being of different ages, how we're all similar in thinking, maturity & personality, how we have endless things to talk about, how we laugh with/at each other, how we split into the smoking/non-smoking group, how we introduce personal friends to each other, how we organise different kind of gatherings, how we stayed close even after the thing that bond us together ended

One day during the Panasonic event, it was raining & we were seated in MOS burger, that's when we all really chatted & start to warm up to each other.

Cheryl, she's the one whom I count her in on my every activity since when I knew her 3 yrs ago. Every job, events, lobangs, she'll be the 1st I'll count in. And I introduce her to all my close friends so most of my close friends are hers too! (Jerlyn, Amelia, Elaine, Lovelyn etc.) But she doesn't introduce me to her group of friends or activities! Selfish!

Cherie, she's the cute one whom we all laughed at her super slow speech. Her story telling can really be a joke sometimes cos we all tried so hard to understand but really couldn't cos it's just TOO slow & draggy! And she just got her new-found freedom! Congrats! So she's very much a party animal now... not like Cheryl & I, old & sick of it already!

Chloe, she's the spontaneous one. Super steady in ANYTHING. I'm serious... anything you ask her she'll be like "ON!" (e.g mahjong overnight when she have school the next day, go JB tonight, drinking/clubbing when she has work the next day) It's almost like she'll find it hard to say no.

Xingyi, she's the one I love to crap with! She's the chao ah lian in the group. When I first saw her, I think she's super ah lian. Full of vulgarities! But after awhile you'll realise she has alot of nonsense to talk about, won't run out of topic those kind. She's super fun to hang out with! And fuck she stole my 1st french kiss to a girl. She just sticked her tongue into mine one night when we're drinking.

And Lovelyn... Lovelyn is the one who brought us all together. Very intriguing how Lovelyn & I became so close cos we weren't really friends or acquaintances to begin with. She hated my guts! And I was so scared of her cos I don't know why she disliked me, keep pointing middle finger at me, but yet still find her cool. LOL! So all I can say is... it's really Fate.

Love them darlings!

The budding feeling of Love

2011-01-28T02:51:00.005+08:00

My laptop's screwed up & I can't use it, so I have to use the computer to go online. And I rarely even use this computer! But I just have to blog about this...

I'm feeling a lil..... happy now. I think girls can better relate to what I'm feeling now . Do you all remember the period when you just got to know someone new? When you wake up, turn off your hp alarm & saw a morning greeting from that someone? When you never stop sms-ing with him, from the minute you wake up to when you sleep, 12-hr non-stop? When you smile silly at every single sms, or even when you're just looking out the window? (Hell, I'm smiling even when I'm listening to emo songs, which usually makes me cry!)

That's exactly what I'm feeling now. I know it's the budding stage, & I know it won't last. But how I wish it would! I'm guillible, & I don't know how to play mind games. I'm not a player. I just want to find someone I really like & have a stable relationship.

Actually, I'm kinda afraid too. In my life, I'd met 3 great guys who are good & true to me. I'm afraid because I think I don't have the good fortune to meet another one again. I'm afraid I'll meet someone who just wants to play...

But I think... I shall let things take its natural course. God has everything set in store for us already :)

Bali: Ayung River white water rafting

2011-01-25T03:24:00.006+08:00

Ayung River rafting

03 Dec 2010

This is the post with all the ADVENTURE & SPORTS! Both of which is hard to associate with me. But surprisingly, I'm the one who insist on including it in our itinery. This is another side of me, the opposite from the bimbo side

From the previous long entry, you can see that we had a very very tiring day. So we skipped the Kecak dance & went straight to check in at our villa. We were swept off our feet the minute we entered, it was like stepping into a haven as compared to outside. View the video I recorded here.

Oh my legs look mighty short here. But that's not gonna stop me from posting it up!

Mum & I agreed on a time to meet at 7.30pm (she knows I always dilly-dally), so we could take our time to freshen up.

First thing I did was, of cos, soak in the bath! It's my 1st successful bubble bath by the way. Everytime I tried creating bubble bath, the bubbles are always pathetic. Maybe it's the soap?

I don't really fancy soaking in the bathtub, even if we have one at home. So strictly speaking, I'd only bother to use it when we're having holidays overseas. And from as young as I can remember, dunno it is to save time or water, my mum had always asked my sis & I to use the bathtub one after the other.

Meaning we both wash in the same water. Ewwww!~ How dirty right? Why must help hotel save water right? But that's what my mum asked us to do! Parents always have the greatest influence on children. Just like how she didn't force me to eat greens when I was young, which resulted in me not eating any now.

I dunno if I'm being considerate or stupid... but whether in public places, other ppl's house or at hotels, I'll help them save water. I'll feel guilty when I flush the toilet cos I remember vividly reading in p.sch health education textbook that a half flush = 4.5 litres, & a full flush = 9 litres. And then I'll imagine 4.5 litres = 3 big bottles of water & that's such a waste!!

Have I mentioned that I wear my clothes twice before washing? (Unlike my sis wear 30min also throw into the laundry, wasteful!) When I was in p.sch, my shoes & uniform are washed EVERYDAY. Until my friends told me they wash their shoes once a week, & I decided I want to be like them too. So from then on, the habit to save detergent is carried on till today. See! My future husband confirm save alot from having a thrifty wife!

The only person in the room is my sister, so I could only turn to her for help in taking pictures, however unwilling I know she is. My friends know how hard to please I am... so people who help take my photos have to be prepared to take repeatedly. Sis was so frustrated in the end! :p

Yes, I know right! I am SOOOO narcissistic.

Then it's dinner time!

We're lazy (& also afraid) to travel far, so we asked the counter staff for recommendation on restaurants. He said there's just one Italian restaurant just right beside... perfect!

Aww so sweet, mum looked so happy :)

Edited this photo using a china software, nice?

Unglam chewing~

Mum wearing the frangipani clip we bought that day.

There's only us in the whole restaurant!! And you'd think that they only have 1 or 2 waiter but no, there's at least 4-5! Look at the picture below & you'll see there's already 3 hanging around the entrance chatting.

Towards the end of our meal, a group of malays (or balinese?) came in for their reservation. They look like those on the 'rich' end. I think in bali it is too commercialised. Expensive places are veryyyy expensive (bali context), that's to aim tourists, esp generous caucasians. But how can the locals afford it? That's the result of being tapped on too much for tourism.

With my gingle ale... taste like sprite

That's mine... actually I forgot what I ordered. Steak?

My sister's pork rib. She only ate like 2 mouthfuls & didn't want it anymore cos she said they're all bones. So I chided her, "Then why did you order it?" She said she doesn't know it's like this

I can't stand her being so wasteful eh... Seriously, she wore a pair of jeans from our place to grandma's place. It's a 30min drive in a cab. Once she reached there, she changed out of it. Like this also must wash?!?!

Dad's putting on a forced smile cos I stopped him from eating hahaha!

Lastly, our dessert. Caramel pear/apples & chocolate lava. Both are awfully sweet... but that's what desserts are for isn't it?

I think I look so stylish in this outfit... like finally I'm touching the tail of the trend. But that top is my sis' & I rarely dress up like this, I usually stick to my old boring safe outfits back home.

Back at the villa, what do we do??

WELCOME!!

That's how my villa look at night :)

And this is my parent's. Their's is the winter theme I think... it's much brighter, & our's is much dimmer & more romantic, hence mum said ours suits daddy & her better.

But too bad! I prefer mine.

That's my mummy fiddling about her kitchen in her nightie~

THEN I had to follow her around her villa, like her personal photographer helping her shoot every corner while she posed. LOL!

Talk about narcissisism...

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After she's done, it's my turn. So she followed me back to my villa (which is next door) & now its her turn photographing me I didn't ask my sister cos I know how she'll react.

I know! Super act right?!

I may look very relaxed here, but it's actually very hot! I really considered using my laptop here... but I couldn't stand it! I rather hole into my room with soft comfy bed & full blast air-con

That night I watched The Amazing Race online while my sister went to dreamland first. It's actually a little scary being the only one awake in such a big villa

The next morning...

In this villa, you get to choose what kind of breakfast you want to eat (American, Japanese, Indonesia, Baliese, Organic... etc.) & they'll serve you in your own private villa. So we chose our breakfast when we checked in the previous day, & at 8.30am sharp (or the time you choose), the helpers will knock on your back door to inform they're here to prepare.

That's mine! I chose Japanese to differentiate from the others. It's quite authentic, from the looks of it. But look at the amount of greens... they're those I'd never touch. Arrangement of the food also looks great. Don't look at the small amount of food, they're actually v filling together with the rice, fruit juice, tea & fruits.

American breakfast is even more filling. I ordered it the next day & both me & sis couldn't even finish our own share!

Dad doesn't look like he's prepared for the water rafting at all! Look! I'm all prepared! :)

Mum forced me to take this photo. "Stand nearer to the orchid... one more one more~"

(Heh! You spotted Panda?)

For today's activity, I arranged for another driver to pick us up (becos of the many recommended drivers in Tripadvisor, I was indecisive & didn't wanna stick to one, so I contacted another driver other than Sila). The driver was supposed to be Putu, which I triple-confirmed with on the phone the previous night.... I didn't want anything to screw up cos I'm organizing this trip!

But he couldn't make it & sent his brother instead. Was a little paranoid at if he'd be a good driver, but yes he's okay :)

After 1.5hr...

Here we are! (Photos from now on taken with my old canon camera)

The place is at Ubud (or near), & it's very deep inside. When we reached, there were a few balinese guys & our driver asked us to follow them to walk through the side of a house. I didn't think much of it, but my dad started saying, "We wouldn't even know if they were to sell us off or kill us at this remote place..."

Then alarm bells started ringing in my head & I convinced myself it can't possibly be true... we're not so unlucky. Emails between me & Putu flashed back in my mind... And only when we reached the gathering place & saw other tourists do we heaved a sigh of relief.

There's 3 Malaysian girls travelling together & an aussie guy travelling alone joining in today's adventure, adding on to the fun!

It was a loooooooooooonngggggg way down, & I took the lead! How long is long? I'll tell you guys. We headed downwards for about 25min before we reached the end. And my legs were shaking & giving in by then, I swear. I asked the instructor & he said it was about 450 steps

450 steps!!!

Strangly, the few days in bali, my skin condition was better than usual, & I was without makeup most of the time. Who in the right mind would apply makeup for water rafting right? But I had on concealer cos my dark eye circles were terrible...

While waiting for our instuctor, dad stood at the edge of this huge rock with the rushing water underneath. Dunno what he's trying to do!

Glowing mum & sis :)

Yes, look at what kind of steps we climbed!! Slippery, uneven & dangerous!

This 2 are our instructors. The one with the helmet is the other group's & he's real funny!

Crash course & then setting off!~ I'm very serious ok! I was listening very attentively to instructions cos I'm really afraid accidents will happen.

I even insisted on rushing to buy a pair of sandals 2hrs before jetting off becos the website says "sandals", & I'm afraid if I wear slippers it'll slip away despite mum telling me it won't. I'm those kind who will follow each instruction cos I'm rigid like that.

Apparently, the sculpted wall behind are done 5 years ago (?) by the 5-star hotel located high above, Ramayana or something I'm not sure. And it's not a small area... the wall extended very very long! (This pair of shorts used to fit me very well, I used to wear it very often. Until it's been expanded by my mum! )

The one above is our instructor. He's not as much a joker as the other, but he tries to make the whole experience fun for all of us by splashing water on us, making our boat bump into rocks etc.

There's a number of instructions, like "boom-boom", "back", "forward", "left", "right", "down" etc.
At first I was pumping with adrenaline, & nervous at the same time. The drops were really fun... but after awhile you get used to it. There's alot of rafting company, each priced differently. The pricing I found online was USD $64 each, but when reading Tripadvisor, people say it's cheaper to book there.

Our rafting co. is called Payung, & it's arranged by Putu so it's cheaper. Our's is one of the few company which starts very early in the river... so we passed by alot other rafting co. during our 10km ride.

There's a few places where you can stop your boat & get out for a rest. Your instructor will also tell you where the water is shallow so you could jump in for a dip. The Malaysian girls got pulled into the river by their playful instructor & the aussie guy! And man, was it cold!

That's my zodiac, the goat :)

We stopped at the waterfall for some scenic photos. Some rafting company start their trip AFTER this waterfall so they don't have the oppotunity to view it

Guess what? After the 1.5hr rafting, my dad took out his hp from his wallet & say that he forgot to put it into the waterproof bag How could he forget!

These are more professional photos taken with a DSLR. At one point in your trip down the river, one of their guys from the company will actually wait & shoot while you pass by. And they'll bring back to the original gathering place where they have a computer & compile it in a dics.

Best thing is it is very reasonably priced! Most companies like this catering to tourists will try to rip you off at any chance they get. However it's not the case here. We bought the dics (8 photos) at only less than SGD $10 I think.

After the whole thing ended, I sincerely thought we'll magically reach the place for lunch. But no! We had to climb all the way back up!! My dad almost fainted, lol! During the whole trip, I kept observing if he is smiling, cos I want everybody to enjoy from the activities I planned. Apparently it is not as easy...

Climbing down is already hard, but climbing up is even harder! Although I'm an ex track&field runner (lol show off!), but I panted like a dog! From what the malaysian girls said, my whole face turned pale , & I ended up having to be piggy-backed up by their instructor. Which I believe was extremely tiring. Imagine how tough it is to climb up yourself, now you have to climb up with added weight on your back. Btw, they climb up & down EVERYDAY, sometimes twice a day (!!!)

Sis climbed the fastest. She's the youngest! Mum asked her to slow down but she refused. And later on she told us that she was somewhat molested. Cos she was the 1st to reach the top, & there was a balinese man, & he held my sister's hand interlocking her fingers. She was so shocked! Then he asked her to kiss him on the cheeks (EWW!) but she replied no. Mum scolded her later for acting pro haha!

As usual, my paranoia acted up. Cos this is the 1st time we seen this driver, & it's such a long activity. My wallet was placed in the car too... & mum reminded me my credit card's inside, she said he could drive off, use the card & come back. But what I'm worried about is he'll be gone when we reach the ending point, cos this is like in the middle of nowhere!

Luckily he was. Just patiently waiting for us while chatting with fellow countrymen. Honest guy!

Towels & showers were provided. I'm someone who can't stand dirt. I'll squirm uncomfortably & cringe in disgust, even if I visit friend's place with dirty toilets. So the showers weren't pleasant...but it's as if the structure is designed with Ubud in mind, with stone walls... just rural & village feel lah. Maybe if you stay at hotels/villas in Ubud area it'll be similar to this.

Lunch was normal, I think the more expensive the company charges you, the better the lunch will be? But generally the food in bali is okok only. We slept throughout the 2hr ride back to the villa.

Candid photo mum shot of me I didn't even know until we got back to SG. I was checking my emails & also searching for good massage places to go to for our aching bodies.

Originally, my plan for the day was to go for the Ayung river rafting at 9am, then go for a helicopter tour at 2.30pm. I'd already sent emails to them to make a booking weeks before we arrived, they'd also confirm & asked if we'd like to pay by cash or card already. Then after that when I wanted to confirm again my tour, they didn't reply!

I called them on the 2nd day I reach but couldn't communicate with them, so I asked my driver to speak to them in their language. Apparently, a super duper ultra rich guy who stays at Anatara or something booked the helicopter for the WHOLE WEEK. Imagine 30min already costs SGD $1300 (cheapest package), how much would it cost for a week!

I really really really want a helicopter tour.... so depressed my itinery screwed up (a little). Well luckily we didn't squeeze it all in one day cos we were dead beaten by the time we reach the villa at 3.30pm.

Bazaar @ Scape

2011-01-22T05:41:00.002+08:00

Good morning my dear readers!! I suddenly love "talking" to you all. So nice knowing people are reading about me & there to support/console me when I need someone :)

Anyway, I'm here to say I'll be at a bazaar @ Scape later (sat 22nd Jan) from 11am-8pm. It's a school thing. I don't know where we'll be located, but look out for me & say hello! I don't bite & I'm very friendly! My group will be selling manicure & polaroid services. I know on Saturdays you guys will all be heading out to town right?

So hop over at Scape to find me if you want ME to do your nails (once in a lifetime chance ok!) or take photos with/for you & your friends! Help me out so we could close shop earlier!!

I don't need these kind of "fame"

2011-01-22T05:19:00.032+08:00

I believe most girls who i) have a blog ii) are active online iii) post their own pictures have at some point been the topic of discussion or attacks by forum naysayers. Especially those who're good-looking (don't start, I'm not even insinuating that I'm pretty... although I think I'm quite ) or are in the modelling/events line. With that said, a few of my girlfriends have been mentioned on those retarded forum threads too.

But what I don't get is... Why do I get these shits more often than people?! When I'm not even modelling or even working now already.

When I was modelling & doing events a few years ago, it was the frequent threads in forums. People posting up my pictures in hardwarezone, discussing about my looks, my family, my bf etc. The first time it happened, I was scared. I don't know if other girls get it too... but my then bf would always be searching for my name on the internet & helping me to report everytime :)

Then, I stopped modelling altogether & all was good! No more posts in forums (none that I know of). But then came posers, people faking your identity, creating profiles with your name/pics etc. Hello I learnt IT in business before ok! That is identity theft & I can sue you for it! But those weren't mean, so I didn't take any actions.

Then, only very recently the WORST shit fallen onto me. Some interllectually-challenged pervert decided it'd be fun to use my photos from 2 years ago, doctored it naked & post it on sggirls.com. That was a really wretched period!! My heart was in my mouth as I view the photos. One photo was of my head attached to a naked body spreading her legs

WTF!!! Although I myself know it's untrue, but people who don't know would've taken it was real cos the body was blurred (rendering the photo look more real). My friend Ian even msged me, concerned that my "modelling agency leaked my photos" when I didn't even take such decadence photos!! I was so outraged I went to the police, they said they couldn't do anything cos sggirls.com was hosted on an overseas server.

But I used my minimal intrusive skills & tools (google) & found out who the person was. I linked a sick sexual blog to another normal blog, & then Kexin helped me msn the owner's friend... & as it turns out the owner's friend (15 yr old boy) was the culprit! Confusing I know. Printscreen-ed all the images & relevant info of the culprit, went to the police headquarters & passed the case to them.

Shortly after, there's another photos doctoring case. My photos was doctored once again, but not naked this time. It was doctored to make it look like I'm not wearing any bra underneath my blouse, with "my nipples" erect. My photographer friend found this out when he was chatting with a girl who uses that photo on msn. And he knows it's not me cos I'm in his msn list too. Apparently the culprit's a 40+ yr old male. He forced him to admit by threatening to report him. He was so good at it that he forced the guy to send him a copy of his ic! (I have the copy now) Impressive!

And then, a friend of mine named Sam told me about this Jaymee Tan on his msn using my photos on her msn dp repeatedly (again!). Obviously Sam knows it's not me, but the photos are me! When asked by Sam, her answer is "its better not to disclose my real identity online" WTF? That gives you the rights to use mine?!

(click to zoom in)

A few months later today, Alvin msned me asking if this facebook profile is me, my sis, or a faker. And guess what? It is that Jaymee Tan!

She using the same current profile pic as me & WTF she created folders for ~~her~~ my photos... & update them regularly as if she's really me! I gotta say she's more efficient than me, I haven't even upload my Bali photos but she has the patience to copy photos from my Bali blog entries & post it on her fake fb profile?!

Look at the photos, they're so updated. These are new photos that I just posted on my blog! And there's a heap of lingerie photos of taiwan/caucasian models she has on her profile too. Totally image-ruining.

Sorry girls to get you all involved :(

She really appears more to be "me" than I am. I don't even upload my pics on fb regularly. Plus she even included my clubbing photos & photos with my other girlfriends a few years ago.

And she has the cheek to thank people for their compliments on ME, when she's a 100% poser!!

What, Jaymee?! Are you really ugly to an extent that you're so deprived of praises that you had to use this method to find consolation for yourself?

Normally I'm a very kind person. Once I deem you as my friend, I'll treat you very good. I'm super low profile in reality, in school... & I just wanna live my own mundane life. If not for people like this. But thanks for your effort to create such a real fake fb account. Oxymoron lol! I think I shall heed my mother's advice & go bugis there 打小人!

This is Jaymee's msn & the fake facebook profile. Help me report her ok!

jaymeetan@live.com
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001039495975

To all those who'd hurt or tried to hurt me,

this is for you:

Did Australia just change its chinese name?

2011-01-20T05:30:00.001+08:00

We've always known Australia as 澳洲, don't we? And we all know about the major floods in Australia that had shook the world cos its like the worst flood in 50 years. And do you know the floods cover the area of France PLUS Germany?! How exaggerating is that?! Well actually, I'm embarrassed to say I hadn't been following the updates.

But that's not the main point. Most of the time I just listen to the news while doing my stuffs. And since a month+ ago, I keep hearing 澳大利亚, & I was so upset at my ignorance cos I don't know what country that is! I kept linking it with Austria. And yesterday in class, my economics teacher freed me! Well apparently she was thinking the same questions like I did! So she suddenly talked about this in class.

So for those who're as perturbed as I was... Yes, Australia is now called:

But in Taiwan it's still known as 澳洲. I know for sure its known as 澳大利亚 in China, & dunno which other countries. Personally I prefer sticking to the former lah. But its a known fact what China does have an impact to the whole world, so we just have to follow suit.

These are behind the scenes of the 199shoot with Xingyi.

Scroll down to see how makeup can make us look doll-like!

Vainpot!

Ahhh! I'm troubled again :(

Previously I eliminated the destination of france & canada. But these 2 days I did more browsing & added more countries to my considerations! Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden.... bah! I really am indecisive huh? Other than countries, there's the question of public or private uni? Which course?

There's a career & further studies fair tml in school, kind of big-scale too. Will be attending the talks on USA, UK, Australis & NZ. So that means I have to go back to school even though I'm supposed to be lesson-free tml! Hopefully I'll be more settled after the talks :)

The other day I was lucky enough to board this cab, whose driver is the holder of the Best Service Award! My, was he chatty! I sat from Bedok back home, which is a long ride. The cabbie asked if I'm married... & asked me must read the inspiring quotes he hung at the back of his seats.

And then after that, he tells me how the company awarded him a free trip to Zhuhai, & how he bought fake iphones & raybans there. Hahahaha! Very humorous & friendly cabbie!

Lastly, I want to say that if you guys wanna ask me anything, you can send to my mailbox, post a comment on the latest post or use the formspring box on the left. Either that, or use this link: www.formspring.me/aliciatanxt

Because I realised that some of you left me comments/ask questions in posts that're wayyyyy back. And you know lah... I'm very lazy to scroll back to reply. So just use any of the above methods & I'll be sure to get back to you!

Vote for me!

2011-01-15T17:24:00.001+08:00

Ahhhh I need to take a break from all the Bali travelogues. The previous post took me 6 HOURS!

Here's a video as I take you through a tour of my villa, with me giving the introduction! But I added music so you could feel the how superbly relaxing it was there. & its the exact music the villa played throughout all day in the lobby. It's AWESOME!!! But I took the video at the end of my stay, else it'd look even more organised. I was blown away when the staff gave us the tour. It's ridiculous.

And also my dear readers, help vote for me at the 199shop contest. Just click on the picture above or click on this link. You stand a chance to win a hamper worth $120!

Love you all!! MUACKS! ♥

Bali: Full day tour!

2011-01-12T03:39:00.007+08:00

Goa Gajah/Coffee Plantation/Mt. Batur/Spring Temple/Rice Terrace

02 Dec 2010

Continuing from the previous entry, what's in the day's intinery? Read the title... yeah! That's the number of attractions we visited in just 1 day! So previously I stopped at the part where our driver was waiting for us in the hotel lobby. I actually found him off the list of recommended drivers in Tripadvisor, & after comparing days of reviews, I emailed him.

So off we hopped on his 7-seater Arena & go!

Wore my back-revealing playsuit, & I didn't even bother to apply sunscreen. Until my mum asked, & I got scared, then I quickly borrowed sis'.

Mum (she looks excited!) & sis

That's my dad in the front seat with Sila, our driver

It was a good 1.5hr drive away. On the way, you could see alot of things about Bali. There's lots of stores selling handicraft, ornaments, furniture, & you could see countless of these statues lining the roadside.

I didn't manage to take a good photo of those, but the status look really magnificent. Imagine how much it'd have cost in SG as compared to here? But Sila say that when you buy something you must be very alert as very often the seller will quickly switch the item you choose when you're not looking, before giving you that bag.

Yes that's all we took with us.... Mum's bag & my camera. Everything was left in the car: Our luggage, our bags, my laptop, everything! And Sila didn't even follow us throughout the tour of Goa Gajah. He could jolly well drive off with all our stuffs. Hell, we don't even know where in Bali are we, much less say get around or ask for help (Can't speak their language!).

But time & again, Sila proved us wrong. I was so relieved when I saw him waiting for us at the entrance/exit where we walked in. He even warned us beforehand not to fall for anyone pushing us to buy something or use their services cos they're cheats.

They have many of such stores located at the entrace, although most of them sell similar things as each other. And if one is lower, the other will lower their price too. Very fascinating how they can make such things out of a piece of wood/fabric (I assume most are handmade?) They pass down the art from generation to generation.

That's me with Sila in the background.

Everyone have to wear a sarong when entering their temple, as a form of respect for their God. It is to cover your legs, esp for ladies. But since I'm wearing long pants, the caretaker said I don't have to wear a sarong.

Huh? It is not ok to expose your legs, but it's ok to expose your sexy back?

A little illogical, but well, it's their custom :) I still wore one to experience their culture.

The above picture was taken by a guy who approached & offered to help us take. Then after taking this picture, we said thanks & wanted to go inside the cave. He followed us & told us about the history while walking. Of course it'll be rude to just walk ourselves while he's talking right? So I just nodded & let him tell us about the statue.

Sila didn't follow us in becos I asked if he could go back to the vehicle to help us look after our stuff (I thought it'll be unsafe). There's another buddhist temple if we walked on, but we wanted to go back. And this guy told us about his kids & if we could spare him some money for his service! For a few photos & a 10-min tour!

At first he said any amount.... then he said USD $7 would be good. We gave him SGD $6, then he said, "Maybe $10?" WTF!! I feel so conned. Previously you already know how simple a life balinese lead, & money small to us are big to them. Sila's full day tour (8-10hr) service including carpark fee & petrol is about SGD $60... & this guy here just earned $10 so easily?

Big big spider that we spot

Was feeling thirsty so bought a coconut from this nice lady. And guess how much it is? After converting, it's only SGD $1+!!! Freaking cheap if you ask me. And it's extremely heavy too. We couldn't even finish it. I bet a coconut 1/4 the size of this in SG would cost $3+ already.

Spent a longgggg time shopping at the stores. Must've been 30min or more. I bought a yellow scarf which I wore immediately. And halfway through shopping I got really scared that Sila would be gone. So I hurried them & walked really fast, heart thumping. I was looking for the car plate number.... & there I found it! Whew~~

Next stop: Coffee Plantation

Haha it's so touristy of me... everything also want to take photos with.

Before that through email, Sila & I already discussed on the itinery & where I'd like to visit. So I told him my preferences after googling the places of interest & of cos using Tripadvisor. I depend on Tripadvisor alot. We worked out the possibilities but it's not cast in stone, can still change plans along the way.

That's Sila showing me Cocoa beans ( I think?)

The woman behind me is the one roasting the coffee beans, not me. I'm just posing for a photo

Roasted & unroasted coffee beans

The world's most expensive coffee, Kopi Luwak, is produced by this cute animal here, which the balinese affectionately call Luwak. I did a google search & its real name is called Asian Palm Civet.

So, the Luwak will eat the coffee beans, it'll pass through its digestive tract & the coffee beans are then defecated (which is really just shitting!). And they're very picky eaters lor... only eat the pulp of the beans. Wow the world's most expensive coffee people drink is actually passed out from a civet!

The plantation's very nice to offer free tasting. I was kinda surprised to hear cos I only expected a walk. But of course they're only doing so in hope that you'll buy their coffee. No obligations though.

Everyone's happy!

They gave us different kinds of coffee to try- Lemon coffee, Ginseng coffee, Balinese Coffee, Chocolate coffee- 5 altogether if I'm not wrong. Notice Kopi Luwak is not included? That's because it's too expensive to be included for free tasting. I like the lemon one :)

I took this picture to write it down actually... but I'm too lazy to type. (Plus I've already summarize it above in the introduction!) You guys can read yourself if you want.

Neighbouring tables

At the end of the tour, you'll pass by a shop like this on the way out. I think the coffees are quite expensive though. So we only bought a few for friends & relatives.

You can see caucasians all around Bali... like 90% of visitors are caucasians. Initially when I read reviews of hotels/villas on Tripadvisor, I realised alot of them come to Bali for honeymoons. And then I thought, why would anyone want to come here for honeymoons?! I sure as hell don't want to, I'd sure chose Europe or something.

Only until like the 2nd day do I realised it's because Asian countries are so faraway from their countries... so an air ticket would costs approx. $1.3k to them if they were to fly here. Just like how we don't wanna go to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia for our honeymoons, people from the UK don't wanna go to Paris (or France to Spain) for theirs too.

Because they could go there anytime during a normal weekend! Much like how we drive in to JB.

The big one costs around SGD $25, & it's really not alot.

For lunch, we went to Kintamani, which is on the way.

We're having lunch where we can have full view of the volcano! Woohoo!!~ Which means that we have to drive up the mountains, & on the way, I can feel my ears blocked. It's due to the increase in altitude, just like how an aeroplane is leaving ground.

While driving in, we have to make the entrance fees first, it's a drive-through. So while waiting, a bunch of 6-7yr old girls came up to our car window holding basketful of accesories & pencils, trying to sell to us. Their expression look so pitiful. Then sis bought a packet of 10 pencils for Rp 20,000 & what happened afterwards is crazy.

When you buy from one, the other kids will push you theirs, hoping you'll buy more. We said no, & the little girl offer 10,000 for a packet. She look like she's going to cry, saying "Please, please." We decline again, & she offered 10,000 for ALL. A basketful of packets of pencils. And mind you, Rp 10000 is only SGD $1.50

But Sila drove off before we could buy, other cars are queing behind. It's not like mac's drive-through, it's much more crowded & unorganized. And guess what?

THE LITTLE GIRL CHASED AFTER OUR CAR! Holding a big basket running alongside the road & almost crying, just for SGD $1+??

It's very heartbreaking to see her expression. It's so pitiful

Whoa! Deep deep abyss.

Don't I have a healthy glow? Hehehehe, it's all due to the Expression
mode of my camera.

Not only did Sila warn us of cheats, he also helped us save money! We gave him cash & he helped us make payment for lunch so that we don't have to pay the 21% gov tax.

It's a buffet style lunch, with the interior very culturally-oriented.

Hahaha dad's chewing.

I didn't enjoy the lunch at all... the food is not good + there're irritating flies flying around our table. Sweep them away & they'll return. I haven't been so irritated by flies ever before. Other tables doesn't seem to have this problem.

Full view of Mount Batur, one of the 2 volcanos in Bali.

We hadn't seen Sila the minute we stepped into the restaurant, I was too focus on the food cos I'm really hungry! And as before... after a long period of time without him, I got worried that he'll drive off. And I gotta emphasize that we're UP IN THE MOUNTAINS. What'd we do if he's not there?

Put yourself in my shoes... I'm the one organizing & facilitating everything. From the decision of airlines, to hotels, attractions, drivers, adventures... everything! My parents & sis just followed everything I planned without knowing anything. What if something is to go wrong?

I went out to look for him on the pretext of going out "for a walk" when we're ending lunch. For a moment my heart fell to my stomach cos it was raining, alot of ppl were crowded at the restaurant entrance for shelter, & there're hawkers pushing their stuff to ask me to buy. & I couldn't see Sila anywhere!

Thankfully... I spotted his car parked across the street after some time. I went back to ask them out, snap a few more photos & left. Someone in a uniform sheltered us across the street, & helped call Sila. Apparently he went elsewhere cheaper (& I bet yummier) for lunch. Sila half-runned back in a grin, say goodbye to his friends... & I felt the relief all over again

Next stop: Spring temple (Tampak Siring)

Originally the plan is to go watch the famous Kecak dance. But if we were to watch that, we must leave for there right after lunch cos it takes 2hrs to get there. We decided we had enough of travelling in the car so asked Sila to bring us elsewhere. But I wanna catch the Kecak dance though

They're wearing Sila's sarongs. He have extras in his car in case some temples don't provide them. Much more fancier than the previous temple we went to uh?

I'm wearing the yellow scarf I bought in one of the stores at Goa Gajah. Style: Bohemian? Much like the style of 黎姿(Gigi Lai) in 珠光寶氣 when she went to Tibet.

Mum looks cute in this photo!

Many people were washing themselves in the water. I supposed that's the spring water that's good for them? Hmm... & that's me with the aviator I bought in Genting when I was 13. Ha! My memory very good right?

It has a crack in them already, but I'm still wearing it. That's how frugal I am!! What a virtue! Oh have I mentioned I normally wear my clothes 2 times before washing? I think in the future whoever marries me must've found gold cos I can help them save alot from my frugality. (as if!)

According to Sila, that's the President's summer palace. And of cos being the tourist I am, I have to take a photo with it.

This is interesting... the blue thing you see is actually sand (I think), & it shifts! It kept swirling and moving & watching it is mind-boogling. Anyway, Sila said that if we managed to catch a glimpse of the eel, we're really lucky.

And really after awhile we saw it! Many people crowd around the pond trying to snap pictures. Sila said he's been drving tourists around for 14 years, & we're the 2nd family that he came with & saw the eel! Wonder if it's true... Dad doubt that it is though.

Ah hair flying all around the place after a whole day of touring.

Devoters praying. We're allowed to walk around, just remember not to walk in front of the ones praying (common sense!)

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
When in other people's temple, respect their devotion to their God.

With our excellent drive, Sila. Email me for his contacts if you guys are travelling to Bali, I'm more than happy to give :)

When leaving the temple, you'll pass by the marketplace as usual. Sila said leave us to do our shopping while he get the car, & he'll be waiting for us at the exit. We spent a long time here too. Originally I don't wanna buy anything... but I spotted frangipani clips & wanted to get them. One lady pulled mum's hand & wouldn't let her go until she buy her ashtrays

Later, we saw colourful ceramic plates. Very beautiful too! From Rp 100,000 for 1, we bargained until Rp 100,000 for 4! So we bought from this lady... & the seller from the adjacent stall kept asking us to buy hers too, & kept decreasing her price just so we'd buy. So end up we bought another one to be "fair".

The maddening thing is we realised we bought it at an expensive price! We walked towards the end & their offer is like Rp 10000 each. But it's okay lah... still cheap.

Mirrors & decorations that'd have costs alot more in SG.

We have too much plastic bags that we've to buy a big bag to put them all into... else we really couldn't carry it home. And I dunno what's up with my expression.

This is the place where I reallyyyyyyy panic. Even though Sila proved to be trustworthy and honest many many times already, it's still natural instinct to feel fear. And this time we walked out & can't see his car even after searching the whole carpark!!

Turns out it's hidden at this really secluded area in the carpark. It really scare us all... we only have a camera, mum's bag & a bag full of shopping with us.

Last stop: Rice terraces

I wonder how they do that? You see this everywhere... women balancing stuff on their head. Can be clothes, a basin of water, even very very heavy stuff.

I remember very clearly terraces in geography textbooks. Finally I get to see them myself. But the grass is not that green cos it's the rainy reason when we went. It'd be a sight to see in April.

It's obvious that the jumpsuit I'm wearing is not my size. I bought it in UK 8 cos mine is OOS & I really liked it. I always do this... once I even bought a top in UK 14 & alter it afterwards!

We only stayed there for like 10 min, nothing much to see & everyone is tired already. So we made our way to the 2nd accomodation- our villa for the next 2 days!

Passed by these stores on the way. I didn't manage to take a picture of the store which sells dozens of mirrors & ceramic bowls, because we drove pass them before I could whip out my camera. They're reallyyyyy beautiful, those reflective, colourful ornaments.

Abrupt ending, video of my villa next!

Read about Day 1 here

Bali: The Land of Gods

2011-01-08T07:20:00.005+08:00

Bali, Indonesia

01- 04 Dec 2010

So, Alicia, you're finally blogging about your Bali trip huh?

Sorry guys! I know I've delayed it long enough already. Just the thought of editing the pics, renaming & resizing is enough to deter me. Know what my sis wrote on her blog? "Maybe she'll post in another next two years, that's what she did to our hk trip." WTF LOL! Got such a laugh outta me! Aiya... that's because your pretty blogger is very VERY lazy.

Whenever we go on holidays, mum will be the typical kiasu Singaporean, insisting to reach 2 hours before the flight like what the travel agent instructed. This time, I'm the one who planned the whole itinery (which is a big feat for me really). And also our 1st time going Free & Easy!

Oh btw, I went in the middle of my school term. Which means the term has not come to an end yet. On the day of my flight, I have school until 1pm. Went back home for lunch, then head off to Bugis Street with Joz (we're still a couple then). Reason being I wanted to grab a pair of sandals for water rafting becos it's stated there to wear sandals. Mum said slippers will do, but its just me to follow every detail.

Am I the kiasu one here?

Here's me pushing the luggage trolley, when in fact its Joz who did it

We didn't agree on a colour beforehand! It's just coincidence that both my parents & I wore green. Cute uh? It'll be funny if sis wore green too.

Terminal 1 used to be known to me as the most beautiful terminal, with the most pretigious airlines, fountains & orchids etc. And it's the terminal used by TCS/Mediacorp in their airport scenes, remember? But that time I went, it wasn't like that anymore. They're undergoing renovation so it looks very very small.

Terminal 3 is now the one on a world class level. I remember the 1st time I visited & was so impressed!

Before entering the boarding gates... excited excited! Dad was surprised Joz didn't go in with us cos he thought all along he's joining our family trip.

Ah... too much green stuff over here.

It's just nice to reach the airport 1hr before flight. Recalled the times where I was a child & the 2hr we had to while off is just terribly slow. But with this said, in the end I'm so afraid we'll miss our flight cos I waited till the last minute before walking towards our gate.

Of course nothing dramatic happened... we boarded the plane smoothly.

We sat KLM, & all of the cabin crew are foreigners, mostly caucasians. The stewards are much more friendly and professional than the stewardesses, who are really snobbish and rude. For example the female flight attendants can don't look at you in the eye, or ask "Are you done with those?" WITHOUT SALUTATIONS. I wonder if they only treat Asians with such impudence?

HELLO! Ultimately you're still the one serving me eh!

Most of the passengers are caucasians too, just one look over the boarding hall & you'll know. It's just a short flight of about 2hrs.

Because Dad is getting increasingly busy in December, I had a hard time bargaining with him the duration of this holiday. Originally it's 1st-3rd, then change to 2nd to 4th, but what's the point of staying for just 2 nights right?

When I finally managed to persuade him to add another day, he changed his mind again. I was so exasperated!! But eventually I had my way, although I know he'll be worried about work while he's gone.

He wanted to fly on 2nd Dec, but there's no KLM flights on that day, only Jetstar. And it's more expensive than KLM. Like wtf? Why would you wanna PAY MORE to sit a BUDGET AIRLINE? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. So eventually I book our flight on the 1st.

My cute mum :)

Video in dutch subtitles

Ah finally it's take-off!

Is this the Straits of Malacca? Just think it's pretty... & I had to try out my new camera!

Enough of scenery shots. Now time for shots of myself!!

Just for photography's sake. These glasses are super redundant cos I can jolly well just pull down the pane to block out the sunrays! What a bimbo!

Got bored of snapping, & also figured I can watch a movie before landing.

They have a wide array of movies, music & other stuff to choose from for your entertainment. I chose movies, & even then it's tough choosing which to watch. End up deciding on Knight & Day, which I haven't watched before

Dinner time! And the meal is fabulous, for an in-flight meal in economy class.

There's not enough time to watch the whole of the movie! And I fell asleep halfway through it.

After 2.5hrs, we arrived at the Land of Gods! It was already 8pm+. Obviously I knew it beforehand & had already made all the reservations for accomodation. And I arranged for hotel pickup even though it's relatively easy to get a taxi to bring us around (know this from tripadvisor). Mum's scaring tactics doesn't help too... she kept doubting if it's safe to travel on our own.

I think deep down I'm really a timid and apprehensive person. I rather pay abit more to ensure our safety. Actually I'm also pessimeistic by nature. So, when we walk out the arrival hall, I kept thinking things will somehow conk up. Dad asked me the same question I asked myself, "What if there's no one to pick us up?" even though I tripled-confirm with the hotel already.

Eventually we looked for a long time amidst the sea of whiteboards/papers for my name, & there I found it! We were sooooo relieved. Our driver were very keen on us using his services to tour around the next day, but unfortunately we'd made plans for another driver already

The roads of bali is similar to that of Malaysia. They're not like what I pictured before I come to this country. I dunno why but it's just not what I expected. Bali to me is a haven full of villas and resorts, like a sanctuary.

But their streets are really quite rugged and undeveloped. I only saw a Cartier once when we enter the country, & that's it.

There's a thing I have to share:

Because mum don't really know the exchange rate when we reach, she doesn't know how much ringgits = SGD. So when tipping the driver, she clumsily gave him $3k ringgit, which is effectively about 50cents! She realised how funny it is after she had a grasp of the exchange rate.

This is the hotel we stayed at for the 1st night. It's a boutique hotel under Aston. I figured since we'll be reaching at 9pm+, & we'll be leaving at 9am the next morning, might as well just sleep at a normal hotel on the 1st day. Part of the reason is also becos the next hotel we're gonna be staying at is full for the 1st, if only I can be a few minutes faster in booking! Just wait till you see the next accomodation~

But despite this being a boutique hotel, it really exceeded my expectations! Of course I'd read through reviews on it before booking, (I spent a good hell of a time reading reviews of hotels & attractions) & the reviews are really good for this one.

It was value for money, really. I booked a one-bedroom suite for my parents, & another for sis & I. When we arrived, we were served welcome drinks & wet towels while they prepared our room keys. The only thing I don't like is the crampy lift which was reaalllyyyy small.

The TV can be swirled!

So that I could watch it in bed too :)

Had a quick bath, then quickly contacted Wendy & Joz. Was supposed to hand in my advertorial on the 1st, but Wendy was nice to give me another day's allowance. Skyped with Joz for awhile before he went to bed cos he's having his exams the next day.

Opps! You spotted it!

My beloved Starstar. Haha I have to bring at least one of my precious when I'm not sleeping in my own bed. That's the kiddy side of me you see now I think I'll remain like this even when I'm well over 25.

Dad & mum's room was on the 5th floor, ours on the 2nd becos they don't have adjourning rooms. We went up & ordered room service cos we were very hungry!

Prices were reasonable too. I think one coke costs SGD $2+? And my baileys costs around $11. I forgot how much dad's pasta & pizza costs already, I only remember the total is around SGD $40 but all were quite reasonable.

Oh God, my dark eye circles are horrible (it's getting worse as I'm typing this entry at 6.57am)

This bed is seriously as comfortable as I seem to be. You can fall asleep almost as soon as you lie on it. Well, my dad did.

Eh sorry that's my mum snapping ugly candid pictures of myself. I had almost a whole pizza to myself, I think I ate 5 slices? Actually I ordered calamari, but the staff misheard it & delivered pizza instead. But WTF it's very yummy I just took slice after slice. Arrggg, very unglam I know!

Then it's relaxing with my baileys (I just realised when we got back how cheap baileys costs! I spent $11 for that pathetic few drops, or around $17 in SG, when I could buy ONE WHOLE LITRE with just $27!! Fuming mad!)

The next morning,

GOOD MORNIN', Y'ALL!

There's a sofa or two outside our suite (I dunno why they call it suite when it's actually not that big). Faster take pictures meant for the advertorial, post it up & then prepare to have breakfast.

This is the pool when we look down from our corridor. I doubt anybody would swim in it though, you'll know why later.

Here I reveal another childish side of me. Ain't my toothbrush holder cute?? I bring it around when I stay overnight at friend's or my granny's house. Everybody knows its mine & they refer it as the "Panda"

Breakfast ain't fantastic, not alot of varieties.

The man cooking you the kind of eggs you'll like to have

Here's why nobody will be swimming. Becos it's just right beside the restaurant! Ah I guess you readers are used to seeing my nude face already uh? This is actually one of the better looking photos of me sans makeup & without editing. No visible dark eye circles too, hurray! (it's probably becos of the light or shadow)

As you can see, all the customers are caucasians. I know angmohs really love going to Bali, but I don't know there're SO many of them!

As if the room is not value for money enough, there is even a complimentary 15-min foot massage included! What a plesant surprise! So after breakfast, we went for a really short one, about 10min each because our driver is about to arrive.

Can you believe our masseuse is of the same age as me? While chatting I found out her monthly salary is only USD $150. It's so little! But then I realised the people there are very simple and lead a very idyllic life. So young & she's already working to provide for her family. And I haven't even graduated, & won't be starting work for the next 3 years while I complete my studies. Sigh...

Hurriedly went back to my room too prepare, change & there our driver is, in the lobby! He's waited for us for a good 30min, very punctual, but shamefully I'm not

What's there in store for us for the day trip I planned?

Stay tuned to find out!

Read about Day two here

Le Pont de Vie

2011-01-04T02:15:00.006+08:00

Thank you all for all the kind comments and concern about me and Joz. Still not yet back to myself, but I will try to make reading this post interesting. Have delayed the Bali post long enough already, will do so as soon as I'm feeling better!

As most of you would have known, Joz & I got back together. That was a few days before Christmas. But he wasn't able to celebrate with me cos he's out of town, so there goes our 1st xmas & his birthday (which falls on xmas eve). But I had a great xmas nonetheless, will update soon.

Read on, and I have something shocking to say at the end of this entry.

On the day that we got back together.

Had a sucky lunch @ Jack's place, then walked around town to feel the xmas atmosphere. This was inside the xmas tree at Ion. The tree was huge & looked very grand on the outside, but once you stepped inside, it feels like you've stepped into a virtual world. Very magical!

Ha! Funny candid face.

Was supposed to go down to Panasonic to collect my free casing (worth $129 ok!), but I'm lazy so I headed home for a rest before going to town again to join Joz & his friend for dinner.

His friend is a chef from HK & was previously based in KL for 14 years before being headhunted to SG. That day, he asked us to bring him to nice steamboat places. 1st place I thought of was Chong Qing Steamboat @ Tanglin S.C

One of the best steamboat around!

Personally I'm not a huge fan of steamboat. Mostly I have it at home for reunion dinner. But this is SOOOO much better than the one we had at home cos of the ingredients and soup base. Air-conditioned, plus you don't have to queue to take your food, just order & the staff will serve you in plates. A little expensive though, but definitely worth it!

Not long ago, my gfs & I went to steamboat at bugis. It's my 1st time there, I didn't know the whole street is lined with steamboat stalls. Anyway, it was VERY bad compared to Tanglin S.C

My point is... this chef friend of Joz is so picky about food he can find fault with almost everything. I already have weird tastebuds but his expectations of food are 100x higher. The mala soup is already SUPER spicy, but he can ask the staff to add 4-5 times of chilli & yet not find it hot. I was thinking, "WTF this is almost like chilli oil already". Can't blame him though, chefs all have hard to satisfy tongues.

OMG the he niu (beef; sorry I don't know what's the exact kind of beef) above is superb. Usually when we visit, I eat the normal beef. William's expectations of food is so high, he ordered this beef. I can tell you, once you taste this, you wouldn't even want to eat the normal beef already. And this is only American he niu, William said the one from Japan will be MUCH more expensive and tasty.

He doesn't even want to eat the seafood cos after tasting the appetiser, meat & everything, he concluded its pointless since the seafood wouldn't be up to his expectations too. WTF eating with him is so stressful! This is like imo the BEST steamboat already ya know. Then, I asked him to try the watercress cake, & after tasting, he said, "It's OK."

I'm so happy!! Cos if you recommend something you think is good to a friend, you'll want him to share the same sentiments right? His "Ok" is so hard to come by. LOL!

He brought his own whisky that he bought outside for $288. Still have to pay corkage -.-
I tried to but I can't appreciate whisky like the men do, so I ordered my normal 8 treasures tea :)

At night, we went back to Ion again (forgot why), & the lighted xmas tree was much more magnificent!
Afterwards, we went to a club & drank again. I drank one cup & left for home already.

________________________________________________________________________

Since Joz couldn't celebrate xmas and his birthday with me, we had sort of a post-xmas date. Seriously, at that time when he told me with regrets he couldn't celebrate xmas with me, all I could think of is "anything la". I couldn't care less already. I was feeling so... disappointed? no... "Whatever"... I couldn't even be bothered to kick up a fuss.

Sometimes, you just lose faith. And the reason has largely got to do with his mother.

(But on Xmas day itself I received flowers sent to my home, he apologised for not being able to spend xmas with me & that made me cried...)

Watched Guilliver's Travel first. Pretty funny, & not bad a start for our day. Then we walked aimlessly around Mandarin Gallery cos I haven't been in there before. Very quiet and relaxing mall.

As the time approaches for our dinner reservation, we made our way to Le Pont de Vie. I'd passed by this restaurant last year and had been wanting to try but no chance to. It's a restaurant located at Kadahar Street, quite hard to locate if you don't know the way.

It's a very small restaurant with a cosy setting, especially plesant with the xmas decorations still on and xmas songs playing in the background. It was a Thursday evening, so there were not much patrons around. Just the way I like it :)

Anyway, Le Pont de Vie means The Bridge of Life. Haha I can understand simple french like this without checking the translator.

First up, bread with duck "something" and black truffle butter, which at first I couldn't distinguish what is was. The butter compliment the bread so nicely I wouldn't mind going back just for that!

First up, appetiser. I'm always tempted to order what is necessary for appetiser cos menus always have more than a handful of entrees I'd like to have.

Pan-fried foie gras, which I'd prefer it more if it'd been pan-fried a little longer.

Black truffle and cheese souffle, which is supposed to be their signature. But I don't particularly think much of it. I dunno why everyone else are full of praises for it, maybe I really have weird tastebuds.

Mains: I ordered rack of lamb at first, but promptly changed to duck confit. Now I have an excuse to go back again ;)

Very cripsy and yummy! Ah... the fats. Yum!

Joz's vegetable pasta moussaka. Doesn't look or sound tasty at all (I squim in front of veggies). The white flakes look like chinese fishcake to me, but they're parmesan cheese

I'm a superrrrrrr lousy drinker. Seriously.

One glass of wine, one bottle/can of beer, or 2-3 glasses of martell + green tea is enough to get me dizzy~

That's really lousy I know. But hey! Look at how much easier I can get into the mood when clubbing (not to mention $$ saved!). Sometimes I pity good drinkers like Amelia or Elaine when we go clubbing in the past, cos they're more likely to walk out of the club without feeling the alcohol!

Had Cabernet Sauvignon becos it's one of the lightest red wine, I can't take too heavy ones. And true enough, just half a glass & I'm feeling it already -.-

Why is it that the wine I always drink at restaurant tastes so much better than the wine I buy home? Is it because I don't know how to choose? I think I have to buy from restaurants in the future...

Wanted so badly to eat the chocolate lava for dessert. But they have free dessert if you charge your bill to Standard Chartered card (ended 31 dec), and I'm very full already, so decided to forego it :(

Ended the day on a happy note.

_____________________________________________________________________

Ok, that's the end of the happy entry. Here goes:

To me, I take every long-term relationship very seriously. I can fall in love hard and fast, but getting out of it is the tough part. I can't be like some girls, who doesn't even leave a gap in between boyfriends for "alone" time. Seriously I don't get it. I don't get how can people move on to another person, just like *snap*. Don't you need time to forget? Where is the love that you once had so deeply for your partner?

Ah but then again, what is the use of thinking through things and taking your time to forget? What if, you just can't forget?

I don't think it's fair to go into another relationship immediately after ending one. That's why I didn't. I took a long time before meeting someone I really really like- Joz. But why is it that I don't feel as much love for him? Why is it that after 9 months together, the level of emotion is still not up there? Why is it that I can pass each month without realising "Oh! It's our monthsary today!" Why??

I need time to think things through. I'm not being flippant. In fact I take it very seriously, that's why it's fairer to him if I sort myself out before devoting myself to him.

So for now, its a break. Again.

Narcissism

2010-12-30T03:37:00.000+08:00

Don't worry! Alicia will be back real soon! Just have to sort out my jumbled up feelings at the moment.

Here's some rare narcissistic photos of me for those who miss me! :)

Taken at granny's place on the same day after attending mum's beauty salon's pre-xmas party in the previous entry. When staying over at granny's I always bring as little clothes as possible, so I wore these comfy clothes under that pink outfit.

My hair scrunched up in a bun, for the ease of removing makeup.

With one eyelash already taken off if you'd notice :p

2 more days to the new year. Look forward, people!

Hope 2011 will be a better year!

Granny's

2010-12-29T00:49:00.000+08:00

Currently hiding away at my grandma's place, for a break. I feel much more settled here than at home where I think alot. When I'm alone I tend to be alot more vulnerable. But last Saturday, on xmas day, I broke down. Had a most wonderful xmas eve, reached home the day after at 6pm, then mum asked if I want to go to grandma's place. I agreed cos I know I'll be drowning in tears if I stayed at home.

Gambled (as usual) & drank beers with my aunts. Normally I can't even finish 1 can, cos I think beer tastes awful! But it taste strangely pleasant that day, & I drank 4 cans. So amazed at myself. Needless to say I got tipsy & dizzy... & I went to hug my grandma, then I cried it all out. Never had a real heart-to-heart talk with her, but I just couldn't contain it inside me anymore. Everybody, my cousins, my aunts... all were so stunned at what happened to me. I just, couldn't contain it inside anymore.

Baby came to look for me this morning & we walked to breakfast. Went back to acc grandma & played games on the ipad the whole day.

Christmas eve

2010-12-24T11:37:00.000+08:00

To be honest I have nothing to blog about. My mind is in a blank, can't think of anything even mildly interesting to say.

Pre-xmas party @ mum's beauty salon 2 Saturdays ago.

But actually it's just a gimmick of theirs to ask customers to sign for packages. Mum initially don't wanna attend, but the beautician kept persuading her, say will have alot of food & special promotions etc etc. In the end she relented & paid $68 to attend the 'party' which doesn't even look like one

I think they're so hypocritical. Like when my mum sign for a 10 times package, after using 2 times, the beautician will ask her to add more. If it doesn't work, another beautician... and another will join in the psycho-ing process. That's why mum never bring cash or credit card when she go for her treatments.

But she bought another detoyxifying package that day cos the promotion price is really cheap.

Thought we can go for shopping since we're at orchard, but sis wanna go bugis. So I accompanied them shop awhile & I headed to granny's place.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Feels like just yesterday...

2010-12-20T03:47:00.003+08:00

There are so many things I wish I could say, so many things I wish I could just type it all down. But I can't.

I'm feeling so frustrated at the moment. I can't decide. And I dunno how to decide. I'm afraid I'll make the wrong decisions... & I can already foresee the situation no matter which decision I choose. I might appear to be optimistic in most of my entries, becos I don't write emo post like these. But really nobody knows what I'm thinking behind closed doors. Nobody can understand how I feel...

Christmas is approaching. But I don't look forward to it this year. Not one bit.

6 months ago, the thing I want most is for Christmas eve to come. I was so excited about it, becos I'd made plans for alot of things. But now it's all dashed- 6 months of preparations.

Truth is Christmas reminds me of a particular person. Someone whom is my past.

In terms of relationships, I'm not a bulldozer kind of person. I'm not those kind who can move on fast and clean at the end of a relationship.

I'm a very sentimental person. I keep every single love letter and note my exbfs gave me, even those crumpled and torn ones. I keep them all in a little drawer. So it all dates back to my 1st long-term relationship 4years ago. Sometimes, I took them out to read... and everytime without fail, it made me cry terribly. Terribly.

The whole of this year had past like a bolt of lightning. I feel like I'd been in a coma for a year & this past year had never happened at all.

I don't want to one day regret for giving up the chance to be with that someone, regret all the things that could have been.

If I could give you one thing in life, I would give you the ability to see yourself through my eyes, only then would you realize how special you are to me ♥

Start of 2 weeks holidays!

2010-12-18T04:25:00.010+08:00

Ello! I'm back from my short hiatus! Had my last paper HRM today which is awfully easy~ BUT yesterday's paper, International Economics was a total joke!

I spent a HELL load of time researching on APEC, GCC, CAP, Smoot-Hawley Act, G-20 etc. (if you don't know what are they, just ask Mr Google) I spent on average 2hr+ EACH reading on their history, objectives, goal, what are they, where are their annual meetings held, & wrote it all down to memorise. (Btw these are not in lecture notes. International Economics is scary because anything can appear in the exams! My lecturer especially like to make students all die by asking questions about less-known countries like Palivia, Krakozhia & even weirder names really. Who the hell know where in the globe they are right?! If you say you're not stunned if this appears in an exam, I salute you. So we have to really take note of current affairs & the news.)

And guess what? The exam came out asking me what is the group's full name, i.e what does these acronyms stand for. WTF?!?! Fuck my life seriously. Totally under-utilise my reserach and knowledge. Wait there's more... I totally didn't expect the paper to ask us who is the President of South/North Korea, Chairman of US Federal etc.

In the lift I heard ppl saying the name of the Governor of Bank of China, but I forgot! And it appears as 1 of the questions! OMG the mark just slipped away thru my fingers. I only remember something "Zhong". In the last 2 minutes... I recalled there's a 'xiao' in his name. And I happily wrote "Deng Xiao Ping" in the blank. It would've given my lecturer hysterics or heart attack cos this is such a funny answer if you realise. Because he's from the China reform period- Mao Ze Dong's era! (Correct answer is Zhou Xiao Chuan, damn I was so close! Well, not really lah )

28th November 2010

You know how people normally invite someone to their wedding dinner, they'll write Mr & Mrs _____, right?

Obviously my parents were invited, but I love weddings so much I insisted on tagging along. And there's this dilemma whether or not to go in 3s, afraid it'll cause embarrassment if there's no available seats for the 3rd person. In the end, I went with mum cos my dad's busy with work anyway.

Exactly the same date last year, I attended a wedding too! How eerily coincidental uh! (One year one wedding is pathetic )

But still! We were embarrassed! Very much so in fact.

Okay let me start from the beginning... 21 years ago in 1989, my dad & mum rented a room at the house of this couple. Just a single room (mum said rental was $300 then) cos their business just started & couldn't afford a flat yet. They have 3 sons, & the youngest one was the most playful who'd disturb my mum everyday. Mum will wake up, go to the toilet & find shit lying everywhere & alot of other things lah.

So the couple became my parent's customers, & you know... live goes on. Now, after 20years of not contacting, they actually remembered my parents! So they came personally to dad's shop (which is still there else they couldn't have found him) & pass him the invite. But since dad didn't come with us, & mum forgot how they look like, we don't know anybody there!

We were even paranoid & doubt if we went to the correct wedding. So mum, upon seeing an elderly lady who seem like a host, went up to her & say, "Hey ______, congrats congrats! Remember me? I'm lady boss (that's how they call her), last time rent room from you. Your son very naughty last time always disturb me. Where's your husband? Wow he look different now, I remember he is much fatter...."

After a round of chats, thinking why they have a daughter & them being blur why have they got a '3rd son', trying to recall if they did rent a room before, we told them our names. And alas! It wasn't in the list! Turns out the person mum was talking to all along was the bride's mother! No wonder they don't remember a thing!

And the embarrassing thing is mum gave them the angbao, & she's supposed to give it to the groom's mother. So we together with the bride's parents stepped aside, trying to fish for our angbao among a huge stack & returned it to us. Most awkward situation ever!

They have a photographer taking photographs of you before the lunch commence, & you can collect at a counter the photo after the wedding. Feel like a socialite But the photo was well taken, showing off my new hair.

It was very grand though. The setting everything. Btw people address the groom as Doctor _____. I don't know by "doctor" they mean a real doctor as in a surgeon, or a PH.D? Cos normally if someone is address as Doctor so-and-so, it usually means they have a PH.D right?

Btw there's only 6 ppl in our table, can accomodate 4 more ppl

Normally I'll only concentrate on the food during weddings. But this wedding is so much different from the ones I'd attended, even though the newlyweds are someone I don't even know at all.

First, they had their solemnization ceremony here, before the lunch. Normally people go to the R.O.M but they had it on their wedding. Then, the groom surprised the bride by singing the above song with a guitar, what is it called? (I squinted & make out the title "I wanna grow old with you", how appropriate!) The bride watched on in tears of joy :)

Lastly, they couple surprised US during one of their entrance. They didn't walked up the stage, they stopped in front, turned around gracefully & started swirling around dancing in rhythmic steps together with the light music. Seriously! They totally appear to be in their own world, with only eyes for each other. Although there's no spotlight shining on them but it certainly feels so, like on tv!

I teared at that point, & I'd NEVER drop a tear during weddings! Not my cousins', relatives' or anybody elses'. Now this is someone I don't even know! Goes to show how touching their love is

The tree at the hotel lobby. I wonder if Marriott Hotel only have wedding lunches? Cos I attended one a few years back, & it was only in the afternoon at Marriott too.

Ahhh what a memorable wedding... Even though after the wedding ended, we exited behind a long line people saying congrats, & the bride & groom asked each other, "Your friend?" He apparently doesn't remember my mum.

Wonder how my wedding will be like in the future

___________________________________________________________

One random evening, looking for Canon D10 in lucky plaza stores. I know it's discontinued already but just wanna try my luck. No such luck though, think can only import from US which is very troublesome

Had dinner at this restaurant in Paragon whose soba is handmade. I remember Xen telling me about a restaurant, also at Paragon, whose soba is super yummy. Dunno if this is the one, or the one inside.

Mine is some cold soba with duck imported from France. Looks very appetising, sounded very mouth-watering too... but actually I think it's kinda awful. Or maybe it's just me? I dunno lah I have weird tastebuds!

________________________________________________________________________

30th November 2010

One day before my flight to Bali.

Kboxing with the girls! Albert was there too with us. It was raining the WHOLE day & I thought it suitable to wear my coat. And yes it was! Nice change... can't wait to go to cold counties.

Dunno why my eyes can't take the flash of Lumix LX5. They will just squint automatically no matter how hard to try not to. Never had this problem with my previous Canon.

Coincidently, Audrey & Huirong were in the room opposite us. They noticed us when we started going crazy & dance on the sofa (Chloe & Xingyi actually, not me!) Saw this cute mini Martell, & took photos with it. After that, everybody followed suit & started a series of camwhoring

Stupid Lovelyn, she made her photos into collages of SUPER small photos... how to copy? Luckily Xingyi updated her blog (which has no content at all!), did I manage to steal this one group picture.

Clubing with the girls tomorrow (after 2-3 long months) to celebrate the start of our 2 weeks holidays!

Hiatus: Exam week!

2010-12-13T18:00:00.001+08:00

Alicia's on hiatus cos it's the exam week!

I'm gonna buck up this semester to pull my lowly GPA up!

(LOL! Let me show you scribblings on my lecture notes. My handwriting is considerably neat, but during lectures you just have no time for neatness! This is how I note down what the lecturer says. What's the problem? Objective is to understand better right? Hahaha but I do think it's pretty funny though )

I write a HELL LOAD of notes for IEF: International Economics and Finance. That's one fearsome module which many many people dread, with an intimidating lecturer from hell

But surprisingly, I think it's interesting! Really! Every Tuesday, my brain juice will be squeezed dry but loaded with tons of information. I like knowing about politics, world issues, current affairs etc. (but I hate the graphs) Maybe it just sounded intriguing coming out from the mouth of my reverent lecturer.

Lots of stuffs to update about when I'm back!!

CUskin bb cream

2010-12-12T22:50:00.001+08:00

Now that my skin got better, I'm really lazy to pile on makeup to school everyday. So for short school days, I'll just put on sunscreen. And sometimes I'll add bb cream, which has A LITTLE coverage, just enough for longer hours at school.

This is how I look with just CUskin's bbcream:

What about full-on make up?

When I'm preparing for a night out with my girls, this acts as a makeup base :)

Tadah! All set for the night!

That's Joz disturbing my mini photoshoot behind. That was a few weeks ago. Was dolling up for kbox session with the girls. But I'm not gonna blog about it now... back to studying!

Btw, CUskin's giving out free samples now. All you have to do is to "like" them and post 1 or 2 sentences (something you hear of CUSkin), including our facebook url address on your wall. Easy peasy, what are you waiting for!

C.H.A.N.E.L ♥

2010-12-11T02:00:00.007+08:00

Every woman should own at least one Chanel in her lifetime, don't you girls agree?? :)

(No, actually Hermès. But that's too ambitious. About $50k? Plus waiting list for 5years. So let's just talk about something more attainable )

It's extremely heavy you know! And freaking huge at that!

Look! It appears especially huge on my petite frame.
Sidetrack: My first photo with xmas tree this year.

But it's not mine

Nowadays I rarely come out of the house. But that Saturday, I was supposed to meet Cheryl for my haircut. Met mum & sis at town for lunch first, & she asked me to accompany her to shop for a bag without advance notice.

So... I have to lug this heavy big black bag for the rest of the day, & it's a LONG day! Not that I'm complaining (not at first), but I regretted later This is otw to the salon. I took this with my lousy hp camera, no photoshop at all! But is this my nose?? My nose bridge got so straight one meh??

Usually I don't fuss over where I cut my hair, so everytime I'll just use my mum's package & pop by Citibella. But this time I wanted to go to a good salon & hair stylist. I always pass by this salon near Stamford House while in the car, & I remember months ago I accompanied Xenedict for his haircut. Coincidently it's the one Xenedict patronises!

So I decided to cut my hair here, using the same hair stylist as Xenedict's- Alex. The first time when I come with Xenedict it was a weekday, but still he spent v long on his haircut. Seriously guy's hair need to cut so long meh? I got so bored while waiting for him. But Alex's easy to talk to, & he talks about his gf in Thailand etc.

Apparently he's VERY sought after there, I have to wait 1hr+ for my turn because I didn't call. The salon is called Lush Hair Creations.

Personally, I don't like my hair to be blown straight after a haircut. I hate extremely straight hair (like those rebonded ones).

So Alex helped me styled it after a lady curled my hair for me. Very mature, I know. And and... I got a discount! He's v nice to charge me the guy's price + 10% discount. So it's only a little more than $50. Almost left the bag behind

As you can see, my hair cannot withstand styling. Travelled to Bugis, had dinner @ Crystal Jade with a friend, & then home.

Very big box which holds the bag. Below is my collection of doramons seated beside the paper bag, just to show how big in size it is. Imagine me lugging it about the whole day..

K 'nuff said. After so many pictures of the paper bag itself, you all wanna see the real bag right??

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Tadah! What? There's no fun in showing it, this is more artistic. Show it in the next entry lah!

Expensive shopping trip... cos I got my camera on that day too :) I like to act professional so I got the black one instead of the white limited edition.

Now for some randoms:

Dad's car jutting out like a sore thumb. I think even if I've got a liscense, I wouldn't have dared to drive his car cos it's so huge I'll be afraid of scratching it in narrow carparks. Maybe when I'm more pro...

That is family day a few weeks ago. We went to Chinatown for dinner. There's this claypot rice stall in Chinatown hawker (2nd floor) that we patronise since I was very little. Now we go there a few times a year.
Last time, we used to have to wait 45min to an hour for that claypot rice (yes they're THAT busy).

But a few years ago, they gave their regulars their phone number so we could call in advance. HAHAHA like VIPs! It's amusing seeing other tables (who apparently reached earlier) staring at us fiercely as if demanding to know why our food came before theirs.

Christmas is less than 2 weeks away! Snapped a shot of the beauty salon I frequent when I went for a facial the other day (excruciating!). Cute decorations!

How're you guys gonna spend your Christmas?

I want a baby just like yours!

2010-12-07T23:50:00.005+08:00

Although I do like babies (cute ones! those that do not wail the room upside down), I'm referring to my granny's dog, Baby! She's sucha cute lil thing. I want a toy poddle like her too!

Anw, just to update my readers... Joz & I are taking a break off our relationship. I don't know how it'll end up, but I have a feeling this cooling off period's gonna be good for us.

Fitting snuggly in the hole between my thigh & the sofa

OMG did you see the bottom right pic? She look so much like a plush toy! More like a bear than a dog actually...

Let me magnify for you... UBER cute!

This was when I'm about to leave... She's howling like a wolf. How adorable!!!

Remember I described how Baby'll play fetch, take the toy to you & quickly moved back when you reach out? Nah here's the video... had a hard time capturing it. I'm sure you'll coo like me when watching her.

Pardon the hokkien songs and my cousin's conversation with my aunt behind. They're watching taiwan dramas :p

And the video below is how she balances on her 2 hind legs, while trying to catch the toy in my hand. CLICK PLAY! It's just a short clip. Notice frame 0.28 and 0.36

Irresistably adorable~~ I want I want I want!!

Advertorial- CUskin

2010-12-02T09:31:00.001+08:00

Advertorial

Good morning my lovely readers! I'm now blogging at Bali. What a wonderful morning! (pardon the bare face)

Had a full-day tour arranged today, our driver is coming to pick us up after breakfast :) Although I hate hot weather, I really hope it'll be sunny these few days, because nothing dampens a holiday as much as rainy days.

But the weather is already so hot in Singapore... how can I bear holidaying in a country with as hot and humid a weather?!?! Now let me show you my secret weapon...

Wait wait, show off my super cute pink polka dots luggage first. I got it from Laneige. YES! The cosmetics brand Laneige. It was almost a year ago already... love the luggage @ first sight so I made myself buy $150 worth of stuffs to get the luggage.

Amidst the bikinis, clothes, skincare products, passport & my darling starstar, lies an inconspicuous blue box.
What is it actually?

It's CUskin ph balancing facial mist! Perfect for my bali holiday. Thanks CUskin!

CUskin is an aesthetics doctor brand, with 9 clinics in Korea. Recommended even by doctors, it is used by 2 out of 10 women in Seoul, wow! This facial mist is for everyday hydrating purpose use, can be used before and after your makeup. It helps to balance your facial sebum (so your makeup won't look patchy), set your makeup, & hydrate your skin at the same time. Made up of mostly botanical ingredients, it doesn't clog our pores or harm our skin.

Suitable for skin like mine, which is dry on the outside, but very oily on the inside. It is also good for ladies working in office as it keeps your face refreshed & hydrated from being inside an air-conditioned office the whole day.

How to use?

Just start spraying & pat the goodness in!

The spray is retailing at $36 but in accordance with Christmas, there is a 15% off, plus free mailing! Purchases $50 and above is entitled to free courier service to doorstep.

Christmas perks doesn't end here! Read on for MORE perks just for you readers :)

CUskin is having a christmas draw and you can stand to win a chance to stay 1 night at MBS hotel with any purchase.

Christmas promotion of 15% discount for all products is available from now till 16 January 2011. Just log on to their website at shop online and send in orders to enquiry@dioneinternational.com.sg

Lastly, Get free 2 samples of your choice if you guys log on to www.facebook.com/cuskinsg to "like" them and post 1 or 2 sentences (something you hear of CUSkin), including our facebook url address on your wall. To particpate just send them an email at enquiry@dioneinternational.com.sg with their "facebook wallpost printscreen" or "url address" stating their choice of 2 samples & address.

Through thick and thin

2010-11-28T23:56:00.004+08:00

One perfect morning, I was greeted by a big bouquet of roses.

So girly with different shades of pink and yellow~

All girls like to camwhore with flowers... I'm no exception! I like to pretend I'm smelling the flowers, & give a very blissful expression like those very dainty girls in a rose garden. HAHA weirdo!

Ah I know I look sweet. Don't stare at the picture for too long, you'll get diabeties

OPPS! Camwhore for too long, neglected my Dingding seated on my bed. Gotta share the love!~

It was a rainy afternoon & I wanted to cover up. Had a hard time choosing what to wear! Do you girls have this problem? No matter how many dresses there are in your wardrobe, you'll just feel like you have nothing to wear!

So I dug out my old dress & styled it differently by pairing it with a cardigan. Met up with an advertiser before heading to Granny's for my cousin's birthday.

OH HELLO BABY! YOU'RE IN A RAINCOAT!

"Someone please help... my view is blocked by the stupid hoodie. I can't see the way!"

"Oh no oh no... where am I headed to??"

"Ah finally! God bless that person who got the hoodie off me~"

Hmm? What is everybody wow-ing at?

Let's see...

OMG a dice cake!!! Comes in a super large box. Joanne (cousin's petite gf) bought this cake & she said everyone on the mrt was looking at her. They must've thought it's a bomb! HAHAHA!

And do you know why she custom made this design? Cos every weekend when she came over to stay, we are always gambling!! (Sometimes even on normal days) One mahjong table, & another poker table in front of the tv. So she assume her bf loves gambling too. Well, all members of our Tan family do.

WTF royal flush. Better not play with him after he gulp that down...

Okay back to cuddling with baby! Sis' camera is fabulous! Every photo taken of me looks pretty... I don't even have to photoshop it! Canon rocks!! Both ours is Canon. I just got a Panasonic Lumix LX5 but I'll still continue to use it.

Btw I'm using my new blusher from NARS, every girl's raving about it in the US. See that afterglow?? I had to ship it over cos it's exclusively available in Sephora US.

Haha that's my cute grandma sitting beside me

Mum & Dad came to fetch us home at 10pm+. Of course, not without some gambling first. (My Dad don't gamble even though he is a Tan as well ) I lost $16 for the very first round I sat down, cos 2 players got royal flush. Mum came over to give me support by helping me view my cards, & indeed I got a very good hand. Now my turn to have royal flush!

Back at home....

The flowers received this morning (25th) are from Dad to Mum! He called me when I was having a nap the day before & asked me to help him order a bouquet cos it's their 20th wedding anniversary. And he was so anxious that he broke the surprise by calling my mum to ask whether or not she received the flowers when she hasn't! Ahh!

Originally the plan is to go out to have high tea at a nice hotel at town, then shop for a present for my mum. But something cropped up last minute & they could only have dinner

I ♥♥♥ this photo!!

OKOKOK! Enough of me, I know. Now I present to you this sweet old couple!

Haha dad is so cheeky here~

This, of course, is typed by me

In the car on the way back home, mum told us she still kept the very first birthday card Dad gave it to her when they started dating 23 years ago...

And true enough, she showed us the card when she finally dug it out.

She said the 1st Valentine with Dad, they were at this place (I forgot what) & a girl was going around selling artificial roses in a transparent plastic container. Exactly $10, she can still recall. They are electronic & would play music + lights. Mum said it's still working now! Even after 20+ years! I remember the rose... she used to place it on our bedframe in JE when we were staying at the shophouse.

OMG I wonder how she'd managed to keep it with her after all the times we've moved house. And where does she keep all these?!

Here it is!

How awfully sweet!!!

The best surprises are unexpected. It's really sweet to receive flowers on a random day. There's one year, on my parent's wedding anniversary, my bf sent me a bouquet of flowers to my house when I was at his place. Then mum called & told me about the delivery (and how she thought it was from my dad ), I was so plesantly surprised! That was really sweet! (I blogged about it then too)

So guys, pull this on your gf once in a while. It works! Ah how I hope darling will do it too... I know he would, but then later I'd think it's a waste of money. Sigh... girls!

5 more sleeps & I'll be flying off to...

2010-11-27T05:03:00.003+08:00

BALI!!!

How nice is it to sip cocktails by your own private pool, just relaxing inside that little haven? Ahh! I'd love all that rejuvenation. But becos I'm a sight-seeing person, I had booked a few tours too. Else it'll be boring just cooping inside the villa right?

Do you know how time-consuming it is for me to design this trip? Me, especially? A freaking indecisive person. From flights to accomodation to tours to drivers to itineries, I'm so annoyed with myself. Drivers... there're SO many of 'em. I'd read all the reviews but couldn't make up my mind. Accomodation especially! I want to stay in all the villas cos they all look so gorgeous! Then I have to go read reviews, find out the EXACT location, its surroundings, how far is it from the airport etc. before deciding on one finally (pics below).

One destination off my list! But this was not the place we originally wanted to go. Last week, I FINALLY managed to persuade the little princess to go Korea, instead of Australia (Reason being I might go to Aus to study, which means I have 3 years to tour around ya know!) Originally she was adamant when I tried to persuade her, she'll say, "I don't want. You all go lor..."

So I was v happy when she relented. But when Mum brought us to Chinatown on Sat (where most tour agencies are located), it was too late for us to book!! Being so late had v few choices of dates, not to mention crazily high prices. Mum suggested Bali, which I'm even more keen on. But that little princess acted up again, saying she don't want to go cos she heard from her friends there's alot of mosquities. !!!

But after I showed her pics of the villas, she changed her mind So.... yay! (btw I'm not having holidays, not v obedient of me to skip sch uh?) I'll be bringing my laptop too, gotta rush out an advertorial on the 1st night.

Mum bought me a knitted coat though. Initially she didn't want to, but it looks good & after thinking, she said, "Ok you could wear it when you go to France." WTF say until like I confirm leaving. Somemore say till so nonchalant, like she won't miss me at all Mum said it looks like French dressing (From what I read in the book I borrowed, there's nothing Parisians do so well as dressing. They like to look "put together" & take it very seriously. Women in Paris won't even dream of wearing shorts. Tourists dressed sloppily stick out like a sore thumb in Paris.) Eh... I think I have quite abit of shopping to do before I leave

I'm a sucker for winterwear, having quite a few at home. Don't ask me why, I just can't resist buying cos I think winter fashion is so sophisticated! Time for sleep. Zzz it's 5am, again so late!

Just 5 more sleeps!! But before that, I gotta go out tml to buy 2 new camaras. Not that mine is spoilt, but I must have the LX5. Another one is water/shock proof for rough use. Can anyhow hit on rocks/sling it on your wrists when you go rafting & don't have to worry about spoiling it! Excited... Dad's the best!

Hong Kong: Delayed for 2 yrs

2010-11-25T07:45:00.003+08:00

Hong Kong Summer Trip

What exactly is wrong with me? Why is it already 6am & still I'm refusing to sleep? Am I actually an owl reincarnated as a human or what?!

Here's what will happen every night: I just refused to shut down the laptop, even if it's 3am, 4am or 5am. Then I'll bloghop, or do some googling. Tonight is just too boring... I can't think of any more websites to go to. So, I click on my pictures folder, & browse through pictures 2 years ago.

And when I saw this picture... I just can't get over how good my skin used to be. Dewy ain't it? And what happen? Curiousity lah! Kept trying new cosmetics until my skin couldn't take it so she protested by giving me bumps.

Anyway, the picture above was taken with my exbf at the airport. I still remember how badly I wanted to stay in Singapore, refusing to put down my phone even when the plane was taking off, & crying like a baby afterwards... shocked my dad & he whispered to mum to ask what happened. LOL!

It was a mid-yr holiday trip for my family & I. So I guess I'll just share the photos, since I'd never posted it back then (laziness, definitely). Spot how much I'd changed over the past 2 years!

My hairstyle remains pretty much the same though, except that it was a strikingly shade of golden brown at that time. It was after Olevels, so I went into Citibella, used my mum's package for a hair dye & treatment. But this was NOT the hair colour I chose. Caused me to develop a phobia towards dying hair @ saloons until now)

(my tee says, 'I ♥ Boyfriend'. Sigh... that's why I'm so reluctant to go on holiday then)

As you all already know, I'm a SUPER HUGE fan of HK dramas. Hundreds of them had followed me through my years of growing up. Most of them dramas storylines revolve around public housing in HK, much like our HDB flats. This scene on the streets is SO familiar I just had to take a picture with it.

But mum was so embarrassed while she took that, saying, "rubbish bin also want to take." It was like 2 seconds chop chop go off.

At some temple. The adults love it, because they get to touch the God of Wealth's tummy, & other statuses... bring us Chinese luck you know? :)

In HK, people don't mind travelling a distance just to pray because that temple's especially "accurate". At least that's what I see in dramas. Frequently mentioned one was this place called Tai Po something, if I'm not wrong.

Sweet uh? Oh, coincidentally, today (25th nov) it's their 20th wedding anniversary :)

Groggy from a power nap on the tour bus. This is the famous Golden _______, I don't know what's that called! Anybody care to provide details?

Yes, this is how lazy I am. Go on a holiday in another country, still too lazy to get off the bus to take photos with famous landmarks. Aiya, isn't it the same? Photographed from inside the bus also can see the architecture what...

Some boring place lah... and it was raining. Bored to the max that my memory chose to not retain it.

Seriously, I completely forgot what is this too. Is it a performance? I only know the girls are all damn fucking tall.

Woohoo! Finally....

Disneyland HK!!

I've been to the one at Japan exactly 10 years ago... and that trip was fun!! At that era, people still use camera films. Actually I think developing photos still serve as a very important function- that is, to remind people of all the wonderful memories. Photos in digital cameras can be wiped out with just a button.

Sorry I digress, yes it was fun! 9-yr old me trying to act like an adult in that Japanese robe. I remember mum telling little crybaby sis (who's just 3 yr-old then) she cannot go into the hot springs cos it's only for adults. But I went in with her! Felt so adult-ish Mum & I even went out in the middle of the night to buy cute wigs to wear the next day!

Oh my, look how my sis had grown up in just 2 years. I can't believe that was her 2 years ago, so cute and deary.

Whoa, really looked like we're in space

As you can see, I go for simple, easy-to-wear clothes. Minimalist much.

Shortly after I came back from HK, I met Amelia & she told me that if it's her, she'd definitely bring alot of boots & pretty clothes to doll up everyday. WTF?! I seriously have no energy to do such things.

Okay, maybe now I would

Stop! Scroll up.

I gotta explain for my super "smelly" expression in the picture above. I forgot what happened, but mum & I had a heated argument over some things... oh I think it's something concerning my sister. Forgot what, but anyway... I inherited my temper from mum. So you can roughly guess how bad her temper is to pass so much of it to me (lol make sense?)

So we were ignoring each other, either me walking v fast or v slow. Whenever my missy temper surfaced, my face will be as black as thunder that'll put the fiercest gangster to shame. And being Daddy's princess since I was a 2.5kg baby, he tried all his means to coax me. This awkward situation happens alot in the past, dad being the middleman and all.

So while walking, he said, "Wow! Look at the castle! Take one picture together with mummy?". And we all know that mums are the best. Sometimes they can't take it in their pride to simmer down, but most of the time they do. So that's how the photo above came about

But after awhile we're okay & back to best friends! HAHAHA!

Performance with all the disney characters. I LOVE DISNEY!!!

Mobile HSM troupe performing. Sooooo many HSM kid fans- Unfanthomable.

Whooaaa, where are we going?

Tarzan's treehouse, where else!

Climbing all the way to the top, we saw this

Okay lah, cute though.

On our way back, I was taken aback by the sudden explosion of fire. Till date, I still don't understand how the fire can merge with water. Hmm...

THE END

It's 8am now, baby just woke up & talked to me on skype. I bluffed him say I "woke up" already, but my lie was seen through by him. Alright alright, I'll go sleep now. Shit, I'm not tired at all. What's wrong with me?!

Bumps and whatnots

2010-11-24T04:21:00.002+08:00

Don't know what happened... my facial conditions had been at it's low recently. MUST be due to the change in cosmetics I'm now sourcing for a suitable powder for my skin, for light application for school. So for a few days, I experimented with the L'oreal mineral powder I used to use. And it gave me lots of small bumps!!!

It used to make me look radiant even after a long day of events (at least that's what I conclude from past pictures. Memories do fail, you know. I actually forgot what's my skin condition like what I was 13.)

Using mask while watching 无花果 on xinmsn. I don't use masks regularly... more like as and when I feel like it. I can easily go for a few months without it.

By the way, that show was awful!! Because I started watching the first few episodes, but stopped in the middle & started watching HK shows at 9pm, I felt it's a waste not to follow through so I catched those that I missed online. Seriously, it sucks. Storyline sucks (what illegitimate son, leukemia, then incest. Too much!), acting sucks. I actually think the female lead has an air of elegance, but too much of her sorry expression makes me sick & feel like hitting her!

Singapore dramas just cannot make it. I felt so sorry for my own country, when the HK drama I'm chasing ends at 9.45pm & I have to reluctantly switch to Channel 8 to while that 15min away. HK actors are superb! The contrast is just too huge! Even our very own Singapore talent search have to be mostly made up of talents who came from China, Taiwan & HK. *slaps forehead*

Now to show you all some funny photos. Can't recognise who's the mum eh? Hahaha! 1 packet is more than sufficient for 3 person! Should've asked dad to join us

Went for a facial session yesterday, after I stopped for close to a year. It's one of the thing I detest in this world! The extraction part of a facial is SOOOO torturous it should be done under LA or GA. Serious... everyone should have the right to choose to put to sleep while the beautician extract all your white/backheads. You know, I had to brace myself for it everytime becos it's excruciating like hell! Mentally & physically torturing...

I know VERY well, staying up late or not having enough sleep can be the cause for my deteriorating skin condition. I just wouldn't learn! If the clock hasn't registered 3am, I'd think it's still early. And now at 4.30am, I'm still not switching of my laptop.

Gotta practise some self-control, girl!