..:: 743. Ushering 2011 ::..

after watching my travel bud's homemade video of her travels this year, i was so tempted to do one but i dont think i have the patience and determination to filter the pictures, let alone finish the video. for someone who edits her photos before loading up on facebook, you can tell i am not the kind of video person.

xmas have been a blast! i decided to move my lazy bum and show up at the gathering/party. at the same time, i also wanted to practise shooting with my new camera, sony alpha 33. it takes amazing photos (without the need to edit). i always enjoy gift exchange when the other party takes effort to buy it. it is quite amazing that i was "aiming" for the loccitane gift but ended up happier when i got a super shockproof mug that had a 5 yr warranty. sometimes in life the things that you want may not be the best for you. lol. john, dont think so much, its just a gift exchange.

xmas party at the fullerton hotel was even more amazing. a presidential suite was booked that could accomodate 300 people. atas life to the max. that's not all. DJs were hired and there were two different themes, hip hop and trance rooms. hot hunks and babes who had just enough cloth to cover their vitals were serving the guests. unlimited booze was like heaven but heaven was not so kind cos it rained intermittently and it kinda spoilt the mood a little. worse thing was the management had received complains (as expected) for the loud music and noise. first time i saw security standing outside the suite. overall, it was great, catching up with friends, people-watching and awing at people who had great style.

checklists are my favourite things in life or rather my personality, i figured i should do up a list to see what i want to achieve in 2011.

- travel to eastern europe and another new destination
- go somewhere with my travel bud
- save 20% of my salary
- complete my ACTA certification
- go for photography course
- buy a zoom lens up to 105mm
- explore other volunteering opportunities outside of red cross

...:: 742. Closure to 2010 ::..

another year has whizzed past. it's the kind of reflection you will do when you are bored at home and the posts that you re-visit and laugh about.

work: pretty satisfied with my performance so far. been given extra tasks to prove my worth and so far my reputation seems alright. hope this year's ranking will be good. 2011 will be my last year for this current appointment. besides the collaboration with NYP in my to-do list, i need to come up with some projects to end my tour in a good note.

friends: kept to my resolution to have gathering every month, at least for my fyp mates, we are still keeping contact :)

vacations: known as the seasoned traveller by many, i still have 3 days of leave left. pays to be a planner.

Jan - BKK
Feb - Sri Lanka
Apr - KL, BKK
Aug - BKK/ HCM
Oct - Phnom Penh
Dec - BKK/ Taipei

Others: Glad that I started my quest on ACTA. Looking to do NLP Certification but am unsure of its prospects. More involved in Red Cross this year, going into international humanitarian law and manpower aspects.

..:: 741. Networking 101 ::..

Networking 101: never close doors of opportunity even if you do not want them. It's the first impression that counts.

one going-to-be big shot (which I didnt know) asked me to join him. i was not interested in the specialization that he does. hence i said "dont think so"

my big boss told me, "wrong answer".

even if i decide not to choose that spec, my first impression created was "this guy rejected my offer".

bad move.

..:: 740. $$$ ::..

this year is a good year for bonuses :) got my annual variable component in july, getting my variable market bonus in oct and market adjustable component in nov.

can save up for my europe trip and my year-end party trips.

did a survey which both my sisters did.

Spontaneous Idealists are creative, lively and open-minded persons. They are humorous and dispose of a contagious zest for life. Their enthusiasm and sparkling energy inspires others and sweeps them along. They enjoy being together with other people and often have an uncanny intuition for their motivations and potential. Spontaneous Idealists are masters of communication and very amusing and gifted entertainers. Fun and variety are guaranteed when they are around. However, they are sometimes somewhat too impulsive in dealing with others and can hurt people without really meaning to do so, due to their direct and sometimes critical nature.

This personality type is a keen and alert observer; they miss nothing which is going on around them. In extreme cases, they tend to be oversensitive and exaggeratedly alert and are inwardly always ready to jump. Life for them is an exciting drama full of emotionality. However, they quickly become bored when things repeat themselves and too much detailed work and care is required. Their creativity, their imaginativeness and their originality become most noticeable when developing new projects and ideas - they then leave the meticulous implementation of the whole to others. On the whole, Spontaneous Idealists attach great value to their inner and outward independence and do not like accepting a subordinate role. They therefore have problems with hierarchies and authorities.

..:: 739. Some things should not be stiff ::..

and i meant my neck. gosh, 4 days of pain. even lying down or getting up hurts. seen 2 therapists, 1 acupuncture and 1 doctor. i wear salonpas more than i wear my branded clothes. got a major paper due and i have yet to touch it.

i almost didnt make it for my bali trip cos i reached the airport 1hr before the flight and apparently the counters had closed. luckily i did online check in but to my initial horror, the staff could not find my record.

as she kept refreshing the data, i showed my successful online check-in page. it was frustrating to hear her say "sorry sir, we dont have your record here.".

finally, she found and printed my boarding pass. we heaved a sigh of relief. that period was not a good time for travelling as i was involved in fire fighting back in office. overall was ok as we managed to visit quite a few places given our short stay. next time i would want to experience their night life.

next trip cambodia... to go wedding or not? no bandwidth to think about it anyway.

back to salonpas.

..:: 738. Coffee Stained ::..

what a trip to saigon. second time there but felt so different. no shopping. plain scouting for food and drinks. didnt know i am such a coffee addict.

came back drank my canteen coffee. took a sip and passed.

i have 5 days of leave left to spend in the month of sep and nov.

dont ask me why i can travel so much. face it. life is unfair.

..:: 737. Professionalism ::..

my facebook status:

professionalism: one should not bad-mouth another especially if the person is not even in the meeting. apparently one senior commander doesnt have it. i am not surprised.

this bloody fucker has done it again. accused me of something and mentioned it to my boss. worse thing is that i am not there to defend myself.

teach me how to smile when i see him.

..:: 736. June Summary ::..

in the end i didnt make it to bali. sick. good thing was that i saved another 2 days of leave. it was nice to be back in office to receive all the congratulations for my emplacement/promotion. felt the pressure to perform putting on the new rank.

jun 18. promotion ceremony. sadly this year they chose to exclude those on emplacement, meaning to say i wont have a chance to go up stage and shake chief of army's hand. made myself useful by helping out at the registration. all the scenarios that you can think of: promotees coming with their spouses and did not rsvp. some even brought their kids despite advice not to. NS men who did not know how to wear uniform properly.

the month of june was spent drinking wine and watching world cup. watching the opening match between south africa and mexico at chijmes was a great experience. went to catch the "unmistaken child".

looking forward to my bkk trip and the book-over-dinner-trip to HCM, vietnam.

..:: 735. LTA no more ::..

yea. last day wearing that rank... been a hectic week to rush to clear my ippt and the next day my annual currency shoot.

looking forward to bali...

..:: 734. Pray ::..

finally told my big boss my interest to do internal swop. praying for my replacement to come.

..:: 733. Non-toxic weekend ::..

over the week, caught ip man 2 with my travel bud. surprised chinese movies are her cup of tea. especially with the actress "with 2 expressions" or so she claimed. throughout the show, i was busy exploring my new iphone. surfing has never been that fun on the phone. downloaded a must-have app that came as a shock to her.

fri - 7th may was my branch cohesion. went helix, MBS and thereafter minds cafe. met an idiotic driver in the morning. argh. how come i dont meet friendly chatty cab drivers? made a booking in the morning and waited ten mins but no cab. only then the driver called me and told me his problems (i was running late, give me solutions, not problems). when i boarded the cab ten mins later, he didnt even know that there was a circle line station promenade. while i was playing with my iphone to calm myself, the driver asked me to use his phone for gps function. i looked at his phone, clearly no gps function.

"then how you get gps"

i was damn pissed. being late meant i had to treat everyone for the game session later. i kept quiet and continued to use my iphone.

"you also using nokia right? how come you have gps, i dont?"

clearly not in the mood. so bloody obvious it is iphone.

"just head to rochor road" i snapped. he just have to catch me at my bad mood.

but iphone does take great pics! bought a viva world cup series iphone cover :)

first healthy weekend without booze. had korean dinner then bowling and movie - back up plan. lopez's ass still as hot.

sun went out for dinner and bought a laneige sleeping pack - hydration masque.

booked my trip to Phnom Penh in Oct and my boss just approved my leave today! some of my friends decided to go tpe over aug holidays. mmm... bkk or tpe?

why i should not be a drag...

..:: 732. April Flashback ::..

wow. april just flashed past. though i look forward to june, i still want to enjoy my aprils and mays.

new development in office - had a new guy from hci, finally someone sporty as we usually get those who can only do clerical work, if you know what i mean.

decided to venture to the clubs over weekends alone to push my networking limits. saw familiar faces and had a great time. no expectation usually leads to happier ending.

shit stirring up back in office. as usual, my name got mentioned for negative stuff. easy target being in the junior ranks. so glad my boss was inside to lend support for me. i generally dont like to be mean but sometimes when you know the person wont be going anywhere and wont budge, you can only hope for something to happen.

i need my weekly outing with my frenz to vent all these work frustration. best, cos you cant talk to your colleagues about such stuff.

end of the month, got my sleep test results and doc told me i stopped breathing for 18 times per hour when i am asleep. astonishing results. i can fall asleep within 2 mins.

my ENT doc said my tonsils are too small, so no point removing them. gave me some medication. i have so much problems. look at the bright side, i can get them treated before it develops into something serious like stroke.

friday night dinner @ east point was cool minus the location minus the drama. threesome has never been that fun. lost my voice from trying to be heard amidst the band. i also realised that supper would taste exceptionally well if i have danced crazily. you also know a date is good when you actually plan for the next date during the date. wah so many dates to remember.

may day holiday. not for all. poor unionists had to be rallied for a good cause while my bed was full of clothes. not sure what to match and wear. went for my red cross peeps birthday celebration. then to desmond's birthday celebration at the pool side. then to party. back to house-warming at 2am.

that is why i aged like crazy. next week farewell party for a friend. not forgetting pay day.

..:: 731. Songkran ::..

so glad i went ahead with bangkok. the situation not serious at all. only faced a few roadblocks and closure of major shopping centers but the rest still per normal.

songkran is damn x 100 fun!

spraying water and getting ur face smeared were the most fun thing. usually u will spray at the person you like hence getting sprayed at was a good thing. :)

first day: water fighting started 230pm and lasted till 6pm
second day: from 8pm to 10pm.

going out for dinner was a chore though. cant keep ourselves dry.

usual clubbing for 4 nights straight. sleeping at 6am and waking up at 10am. felt more tired than before :(

saw my old frenz that i met in my oct bkk trip! what a surprise!

..:: 730. 2D1N @ SGH ::..

2D1N @ SGH was pretty awesome. admission felt like a check-in to the hotel. personal room, toiletries pack, inclined bed, tv, etc...

had to sleep early for the night test as i had to wake up at 6am.

"there will be a day test at 7am after your breakfast"

i was starting to fall asleep around 730am and before i knew it, i was woken up by the nurse at 745am.

"your next test is at 9am, you can do anything but sleep"

i was like -_-"

and the tortuous cycle that i have to force myself to sleep...

7am, 9am, 1pm and 3pm.

by the second day test, i can hardly sleep... the nurse noticed and said,

"i know, judging from your brain activity..."

popped by A&E to get my tonsil checked cos they are inflamed again. the doc told me a startling advice,

"you can remove your tonsil you know..."

i was like, yea-ness. my next sgh stay...

..:: 729. Living Life ::..

in order to enjoy and live life to the fullest, you need to have spontaneity.

as usual over dinner, we have decided to go KL for spa and relaxation though the decision process involved a lot of "here's what my blackberry 9700 can do" demos...

here goes my resourceful travel bud email:


1) Departs at 12:30am on 2nd April, Friday from Golden Mile Complex to Puduraya Bus Terminal = 8 vacancies left
S$45/pax

2) Departs 8am/9am on 2nd April, Friday from Harbourfront Centre to Corus Hotel = on waiting list
S$49/pax

3) NICE bus departing from Copthorne Orchid (Dunearn Rd) to Novotel, KL = I will call them tmr
~S$55 / pax

apparently NICE has other meaning...

in a very kind reply:

NICE = Nationwide interstate coach executive.

HAHHAH

i am really not a himbo.

..:: 728. Period ::..

yes. the time of the month has come.

sitting in the office, saw a familiar text from a oh-so-familiar person. the brother having the same period as me. pleasantly surprised i must say.

wanted to read my happiness book but the thought of receiving my online performance bonus slip at 12 midnight just threw every else away. instant gratification.

talking about happiness... the trip to work can easily kill the joy of going to work.
i bet many share the same sentiments on the different ridiculous people u see on mrt.

1. pole dancer. the one who leans against the grab poles and deprives all from support. sometimes i secretly wish i had long finger nails to bore through the fats (usually), breaking a nail is definitely worth it.

2. medicinal sinseh. the one (uncles usually) who decides that medicated oil is the best deodorant. if it is for aching body parts, can someone please design an odorless one?!

3. BO. this one lagi worse. seriously it smells so weird that i cant even describe the smell. arh yes, vinegar-like smell... and no, i am not thinking of lor mee. can the medicinal sinseh talk to the BO guy?

4. look-at-my-super-long-hand. the one who stands near the door with his outstretched hand. for someone who is crazy over packing order like myself, whenever i see people who do not move in when there is space available, i get very agitated. by stretching his hand, that space could easily fit at least another 2 people. for this type, i usually move near his hand and breathe onto it. yea, no more stretched hand.

5. stroller. the one who strolls upon entering the train. knowing that when the door beeps, people will be rushing in. the one just had to walk in slowly and sometimes these people deserved to get a lil' push.

6. untouchables. the one who gives an irritated face whenever he/she gets pushed. on such busy trains, if you cant handle a little pull and push, then go take taxi.

my trip to work would be more enjoyable less these people...

7 more hours to end of duty.

..:: 727. Awesome Book Shopping ::..

despite the gloomest sunday albeit the nice-good-to-sleep weather, i figured sleeping alone is not all fun

my first thought was: i should go to work.

insane! but the gym beside my work place is the real reason for me to drag my ass to work. was on 2-day MC and i had spent the whole of friday replying emails. whoever set our iso objectives to deliver efficient hr services. that includes replying emails on time cos we do get complains that we never reply emails.

now i understand why going to work can be fun. it is not the process of going to work definitely, but the thrill you get when u are able to clear your workload. i finally completed my minutes for meeting which were long overdue. went back office on a monday feeling really good cos i have cleared my work! according to the happiness project by gretchen rubin, i have achieved my happiness dosage with that few hours spent.

borders sale. book shopping just popped up in my mind. for such educational retail therapy i have only a few friends to turn to. after i asked some of my friends, i got replies like,

"har... i dont read books one"
"what is there to buy?"

ahem. books? feeling sad that my frens dont read, or rather dont share the joy of reading. i knew my travel bud (is this the new term?) would agree in a blink of an eye and i was right! i guess her affair was not messy on sunday so she got time to entertain me :X

from my travel bud:

"Travel bud, meanwhile, must be the most finicky book chooser. He whose main considerations when purchasing a title are: size, weight, typefont, mustbeabove20dollars, nonfictionthenicanlearnsomething. Uhm, okay man."

to set the context right, i am concerned about weight cos i am already lugging a huge heavy bag and my reading companion has to be as light as possible. must be 20 dollars and above to be eligible for the discount. i am quite practical, read things to learn things that i can apply almost immediately. maybe i will read fiction when i am older, with more time to think :X and yash, funny comment but you made me sound like a himbo!

..:: 726. Telephone ::..

yea! got my htc snap during the IT fair and traded off my e51 for $90.

finally lady gaga's telephone music video is out. as usual dark and weird. but i must say i always look forward to what she wears and the fashion element in it.



the video kinda made beyonce look quite bad. especially the dance part, beyonce cant do that kind of dance. go back to hair twirling and butt shaking.

i need a getaway!

..:: 725. Makes you wanna travel ::..

sometimes just by looking at those pictures, i feel like i need to escape.





the tea ladies...



insane 9-hr climb



the skyline



world's end. got a nice shot of this couple.



i love the shape.



guess the rice may not come.



unawatuna beach



the US$160 place.



the kind of tan i can never get in singapore.

..:: 724. Sri Lanka & 24th Birthday ::..

been a month since i last blogged. that is the result of travelling, work gets piled up. feb is such a breeze.

ten days in sri lanka were great and despite a lot (i mean really a lot) of waiting, it was a worthwhile trip. shall trace my itinerary...

prior to SL, spent a day in KL which was a different escapade :P

5 things in Sri Lanka that are similar in India.
1. nice people
2. same touts
3. same stares from people
4. the steep turning curves on the roads
5. handy lonely planet, rough guide

5 things in Sri Lanka that are different from India.
1. curry and chai
2. less aggressive touts
3. no (prolonged, customized) honking from vehicles
4. no sleeper class
5. no rides longer than 8 hours


touched down colombo and headed straight to kandy by train. tried our hardest to get observation deck but to no avail. saw coffins being couriered by train. bathed at the train station for about a dollar. tasted a few tea but nowhere near the amazing chai in india.

stayed at the highest view and realised that you cant trust superlative guesthouse names cos they might be refering to other things. quite sad that i didnt try the sri lankan breakfast. maybe it's the stringhoppers (read: thick bee-hoon in laksa lookalike) that made me steer away from the SL breakfast. not a fan of noodles.

been busy playing with yash's gadget. nothing kinky. just a new panasonic camera with newer functions like pinhole, film strip, etc (which i think newer canon cameras also have). the fight between whose camera is better goes on.

went to the spice garden and some ad-hoc massage which was quite good. watched kandy dancers which had like close to 10 segments with no hot bods. almost dozed off but the show was saved by some walking on fire and fire-eating finale. the tour of the tooth relic temple was a rip-off and we decided not to go for it. yash was surprisingly nice to a guy who couldnt get where we wanted to go. she had the never-before-seen patience, trying to explain to the guy where we wanted to go and bargaining for the price. the guy was only quite cute but our standards of cute are clearly very different.

next up was to climb the adam's peak at delhousie. had to take a bus to hatton and change to go delhousie. found a guesthouse for 2000rs but the food was kinda expensive. tea tasted horrible as usual but the ice cream (ended up looking like cream) was the ultimatum. my ginger tea tasted like normal tea.

explored further to find white house which offered better food. met up with a few backpackers, from US, UK and France. Of course, craziest thing for us was to choose to climb Sri Pada (Adam's Peak) on 14 Feb with 75000 other people. the 30 minute-move-1-step climb was agonising. i could rip my hair off while standing and waiting to take minute steps. in the end, i chose to bash through the jungle cos i could not stand waiting. took me 9 hours to reach the top (5500 steps) and 1 hr 40 mins to come down.

the consolation was that we managed to hitch a ride from a couple who are doctors. They were heading to colombo and passing hatton where we have decided to catch a bus to nuwara eliya.

so cold its not funny. i had to wear 2 layers, jacket and wrapped myself with towels. but the huge room with 2 king sized beds was gorgeous. the best things there were the hot chocolate and chocolate milkshake (i had the last and only choco milkshake). taxi to hortons plain (or as yash calls it plainly lovely) costs 3000rs after the rough negotiation and the constant harassment of "madam, you want to try herbal massage, very good for you madam."


walking through hortons was plainly easy. no insane crowd nor people chanting. no couples holding hands. just great view at world's end, baker's falls and the green pasture.

i love this pic. taken with a few backpackers we saw along the way. love my canon. point proven.



then we headed to the beaches like in marissa and unawatuna. but the highlight would still be staying at the US$160 per night tamarind hill at galle. gorgeous and ultimate indulgence, especially the chocolate tarts and the swimming pool. got my even tan for just a couple of hours.

..:: 24th @ Harry's ::..

Thanks for all who came. Missed out quite a lot of frenz cos there were too many to invite. overall had great fun moving around seeing my friends knowing other friends.

thanks for all the great gifts.

...:: 723. Last week of Jan ::..

month of jan has ended! been a great and fulfilling month.

both meetings went with some hiccups as expected. went to check on the serviceability and set up of the conference room and was a bit late returning back to office for the meeting. My boss was not very happy cos she has an appointment after the meeting. luckily the meeting went smoothly and ended in about an hour.

next was a mad rush to prepare for my second but big meeting. felt jittery as "40 attendees" in the attendance list were staring at me. while i was caught in the mad rush, i received a call from a super nice female captain asking whether i needed a lift to the meeting place. i was pleasantly surprised.

throughout the trip, she shared with me how it was like for her as she had to be the secretary for the similar conference for 4 consecutive months. gave me some tips which were indeed helpful.

i had to scramble for more chairs as more people turned up without registering. i could have rejected them but how to ... in the end the chairman was already inside waiting, but luckily not for long. the whole meeting went well and it lasted 4 hours! the thought of churning out the minutes...

January in a summary...
- passed my driving test
- 2 x JC gatherings on the same day
- 3 x uni mates gathering
- 1 x 1-on-1 breakfast
- 3 x house party
- 1 x wedding lunch
- passed my PKE
- 1 x NBS alumni dinner
- club last night

totally met my new year resolutions for networking and a tad too much lol...

..:: 722. Big Meeting ::..

my first big meeting... first time being secretary and with almost 35 commanders present, i hope they dont leave me with a lot to write for minutes.

voice recorder. checked.
pointer. checked.

it's make it or break it.

..:: 721. NBS Alumni Dinner ::..

you know that you will be getting good luck for this year especially after you have won vouchers after "lou hei" (tossing of yu sheng).



all i had to do was to drop my namecard...

met up with a few seniors and networking has been the usual activity. they gave something interesting as part of the goodie bag.



so happy that i got a slot for my basic conversational malay course which starts next week.

sad that i will be missing my basic manpower course cos i will be in bkk close to the end of the course but shall wait for the next one later this year.

..:: 720. Fly from Abu Dhabi to Where? ::..

my constant question come september...

our first option, jordan. then came gorgeous pic...



how to resist the temptation... you tell me...

google earth is simply AWESOME.

shall continue to research for Lebanon and Syria.

..:: 719. 3rd week of Jan ::..

finally passed my professional knowledge examination. done about one plus so took a cab to rush back to camp as i knew i had something to submit and something to conduct at 3pm. when i reached, i heard from my boy that some senior guy was looking for me... i was caught in the jam, as there were 2 accidents along the CTE so i texted my boy to let him know that i am on my way back. it was only 2pm.

when i finally reached around 240pm, i managed to settle what i had to submit and my boy told me this,

"Sir, just now when xx was looking for you and i told him that you were caught in the jam, he said "wah usually if a private give me this kind of excuse, i will f*$& him, but since he is a lieutenant, i give it to him."

naturally, i could feel my blood pressure rise. but then i think again, the comment came from someone though senior but was not an officer, why should i take it to heart... to give such comments, you would have known what kind of person he/she is.

what a hypocrite. when i went to see xx to explain (i wasnt even late), the person was like "oh, its ok." cant wait for the mid year to come, good riddance. arghz.

met up with my other uni peeps, gosh so many people changed jobs within a couple of months. thought a while ago, recession and bad economy were the talk of the town. but nevertheless, good that your friends can bring you free shampoo. thanks jo in advance.

going barcelona as a buyer for fashionables is definitely something i will consider doing. staying in 4*/5* hotel in hongkong for 2 weeks of work = priceless.

sat party was great. getting used to all that networking. next fri another one! woohoo~

its complicated is damn good... meryl streep NEVER fails to impress. very witty one-liners that leave you laughing for a long time...

one scene where meryl had to ask her ex-husband to turn around while she changed her clothes.

ex-husband: why do i have to turn around?
meryl: it looks different lying down.

..:: 718. TGIF ::..

yea. busy weekend coming up. meeting my uni frenz, yanni, stacey, jo, elton for dinner. sat gathering and house party at night! yes again! sun afternoon wedding reception.

my boss on leave the whole of next week. yeah. but means i got a lot to settle on my own.

and the upcoming hr conference which i am the secretary... so not looking forward to it.

i need to book my facial appointment!

btw was checking out some pictures of others' final presentation days, gosh, they were still reading from cards/papers... some had whole slide full of bullet points which made you ponder whether they have gone through ab114 or ab214.

quite safely to say my team of usual presenters never failed to deliver great presentation, especially dealing with Q&A. really missed those times...



missing those train rides

Do you mean what you say when there's no one around

..:: 717. Fly Away ::..

woohoo~ so excited. was flipping through the straits times and saw offer from airasia.

i am flying to abu dhabi in sept. cant wait! even cheaper than my tickets to india! less than 250sgd.

..:: 716. Worst ceremony ::..

went for a ceremony today and it was quite poorly planned. firstly, they dont cater for insertion. not sure why they were afraid of messing up the sequence when it is not even organized in the first place. went all lengths to change duty of a guy so that he can attend the ceremony, only to find that he would not be able to receive his certificate cos he was not in the "planned sequence". so inflexible. felt bad to tell the guy to go home, he came for nothing.

there were so much time wasted waiting. if they want to match the late timing of the arrival of the minister, then they should not have asked the recipients to come so early. you could see the disgruntled faces of the parents.

i mean how hard is it to organize an award ceremony? back in red cross, it's like been there done there. maybe the difference in protocol but the sequence of events would be similar.

1. sitting plan is the most crucial. they had such miserable small tags, i really had to move my head close to the chair to be able to see the label. maybe they had no experience with insertion. you could just put the insertion guys at the back of the queue. when it's time for them to receive, you can call for them to join the queue. very hard meh?

2. MC calling the recipients. the list of attendees must be confirmed prior to the start of the ceremony. could still see those names of absentees being announced and some moments of fumbling over the correct certificates.

hope the upcoming event that we are organizing would be a great one. perhaps next year they might pass the organizing baton to us.

done with my grumbling... loving this song. written by alicia keys

If you feel good
If you’re feeling good,
Put one hand in the air, say yeah

..:: 715. Gatherings ::..

what a "socializing" start to 2010... my fren commented that he could hardly find me at home on weekends.

had our usual gathering with my uni frenz on tue, though i secretly wished we should start hunting for new eating spots! everyone shared their recent countdown travel experience. all of them have their interesting and exciting stories to tell. mine was just normal, partying and meeting new friends.

went to ktv in the evening on thur. hilarious session. with people attempting to sing and making sound effects. after ktv, went to zouk for a special event.

fri night had a house party to attend. got arrowed to be the music provider. then in the midst of the party, i had to run to shanghai dolly cos i heard from my fren that another colleague of mine was angry that i was not going to turn up for the party she organized for me. so i went. got stopped by the bouncer and i was denied entry cos i was wearing berms. shucks. other clubs were cool with berms. worse thing was i actually got the chop from the lady who did not notice my sexy leg (and hair) when she gave that chop. then again maybe she was focusing on my face :)

managed to find ky at some corner of the river with her friends. was excited to know one of her guy friends went for facial laser treatment. see, i am not the only metrosexuals around.

soon it was sat morning and went for a breakfast outing. one of the rarest ones. time passed so fast that i had to excuse myself for the next outing with my red cross batchmates.

shopping around marina square was zzz... i miss shopping in bangkok! almost stop at every store to try clothes. over here i dont even stop to look at the clothes. not appealing at all...

went back home to refresh myself before heading down to serangoon for a birthday party. went to tiong bahru for supper. lol. seems like i am running all over singapore.

what a sucky end to the week, duty. now surfing for cheap tickets. short weekend getaways, anyone? still thinking whether to go taipei in march... worried my boss will be unhappy cos we are organising an event in June and lots of preparation work. we just sorted out the committee listing and she wanted to schedule a first meeting in feb.

"eh but you on leave on the whole of 2nd and 3rd week of feb right? last week of feb will be too late. i think we should have the meeting in the first week"

ok. so everyone has to fit my schedule. i get it.

my boss also took quite long to approve my apr leave... so now to apply for a long leave in march may just equate to a drop in performance this year. :(

"There's only two types of people in the world:
The ones that entertain, and the ones that observe"

..:: 714. Random Sunday Outing ::..

glad to have made some cool friends back in bangkok. had a random sun outing. supposed to pass some cds and ended up doing a housewarming visit. east side is so happening.





then had coffee and cakes before we decided spontaneously to go cycling at east coast park. how cool~ love such randomness. my clique uses iphone (except me) and got to know a lot of cool widgets from them...

weekends should not be spent at home resting... though how tired you may be... its 2010!

..:: 713. JC Gatherings ::..

Been a long day of gatherings. After 6 years, friendships still going strong. has been 2 years plus since i last saw them...

met up with my anderson CCA gals. potluck and was brought around siu's amazing house. toilets that are like standard of a hotel. her dad was particular with the lights in the toilet. one for general bathing, another angled for reading. walk-in wardrobe... a must-have for my future house.



went over to my hwa chong gathering. lucky this time they were not talking in medical terms. still reminiscing the old times, our orientation, lectures and tutorials.

..:: 712. Holidays ::..

For my dear friends who enjoy travelling as much as i do, enclosed are the details for your forward planning... (hur hur... sounds like work email i am sending)

The dates for the specified public holidays for 2010 are as follows:

Chinese New Year
Sunday* - 14 February 2010
Monday - 15 February 2010

Good Friday
Friday - 2 April 2010

Labour Day
Saturday - 1 May 2010

Vesak Day
Friday - 28 May 2010

National Day
Monday - 9 August 2010

Hari Raya Puasa
Friday - 10 September 2010

Deepavali **
Friday - 5 November 2010

Hari Raya Haji
Wednesday - 17 November 2010

Christmas Day
Saturday - 25 December 2010

* As Chinese New Year falls on Sunday 14 February 2010 and Monday 15 February 2010, the next day, Tuesday 16 February 2010, will be a public holiday.

**The date, 5 November 2010, for Deepavali needs to be checked against the Indian Almanac when it is available. Should there be a change in date, the Ministry of Manpower will issue a press release to announce the change.

For those with kids, you can plan trips for them. For those without, you can plan to avoid them on your trips and those expensive air fares.

After Term I Saturday 13 March - Sunday 21 March
After Term II Saturday 29 May - Sunday 27 June
After Term III Saturday 4 September - Sunday 12 September
After Term IV Saturday 20 November - Friday 31 December
Youth Day Sunday 4 July, Monday 5 July
National Day Tuesday 10 August
Teachers´ Day Wednesday 1 September
Children´s Day Friday 1 October

..:: 711. Celebration ::..




this feeling is like a reminiscence of the time when our team won 2nd in the capitaland marketing award.

i guess praying to the 4-faced buddha in bangkok helps :P

had my first revision yesterday night after a month break and my instructor actually told me i was not ready. every mistake i made, he was like "4 points", "2 points", "fail already like that". hur. how encouraging.

luckily i have my second revision in the morning just before the test. it was my first ever female instructor. though most people prefer male instructors but i thought having a female one would be good as they are known for being meticulous or in some case fussy. always had problems with vertical parking and she gave me good tips by using these really cool cards that can have movable poles to show me about the sighting and turning points. she also gave me sweets and asked me to chew on those when i am nervous. so sweet right?

warm-up session was kinda peaceful. the young chap didnt have any comments. feeling jittery, i kept rehearsing the circuit moves while waiting for my instructor. was the last few to be called and when i heard i got test route 4, i was excited - cos no u-turn to do.

started off with the circuit which he gave me lots of instructions to cut through lanes, turn here and there so as to finish all the circuit requirements. lots of signaling and checking safe to do. circuit was rather smooth and soon i headed for the road.

traffic was quite smooth. i was lucky to go to bukit batok side and not bukit panjang/teck whye where the traffic is building up. didnt get to do the emergency brake and he got me to park the car. didnt say a word. i was worried, thinking that i might have gotten immediate failure.

waited anxiously in the room while i saw a few instructors having debrief with their candidates. i was quite amazed that all the girls that took the test passed. then my instructor came with the result.

"good, you passed..." the rest didnt register in my mind.

..:: 710. Crazy Bangkok ::..

i partied for 10 straight nights in thailand! woohoo~ must be some kind of record. 3 nights in phuket, the rest in bkk.

this might be one of the best trips i ever had, mainly because i was most of the time alone.

made friends with this group of singaporeans and we went out together for shopping, lunches, dinners and without fail, clubs. we were like the resident clubbers and during our last few nights we got free entries. yeah. i also opened a bottle of whisky which was half the price in singapore (not supposed to say cheap).

another cultural intelligence (CQ) moment: never bargain for food prices.

saw a fred perry bag that i love and a cute message board in the chatuchak market... thought if i walked around and the temptation still lingered, i would buy them. to my horror, they were sold out! only one per piece and i was damn pissed. navigating the different section and soi was challenging...

section 2-4 sell more trendy clothes, my kind of place.
section 21 soi 29/2 sells damn affordable slippers like braziliano praia... 45baht for one pair.

i hate to unpack cos it reminds me that my trip has come to an end. suffering from the side effects of long trips... the night seems too quiet and i find myself surfing the airlines websites. that is not a very good way to start a new year.

in the midst of finalising my new year resolutions...

i miss (x100) bangkok!