14102009

saw the jetstar 1-for-1 airfares promotion today.. so tempted!! 2 tix to hongkong only costs $333! but the promotion ends tomorrow.. told ny about it but he only said 'difficult to plan'. wonder if he's even keen at all to go on a trip cos it seems like its only me who keep bringing it up. though we dont know when is his fyp presentation, but it should be over by mid may. and my schedule is not fixed too. but i wish that we could be more spontaneous. i really wanna go on a holiday...

actually my parents are going hongkong in november with my grandpa and aunts. they asked me along but i just dont feel good leaving to play when i know that my work is not done. but the hotel is so cheap!! the same 4 star hotel that we stayed at last year cost about $40 cheaper per night this year. sigh..i do miss the food. hopefully i'll manage to go somewhere next year, preferably with friends..

met up with M and K last night for dinner. tried out Dallas bar and restaurant at boat quay, recommended by my colleague. didnt regret trying cos i love the place! the 1st floor is the bar and it was quite noisy. the waitress took us up to the 2nd floor and its so different! it was totally quiet, plush sofa seats and dim lighting, with side windows overlooking the singapore river. the ambience is really nice. their signature dish was pork ribs and they have 50% discount on mon and tues. i shared the full rack and a cheesecake with K and M ordered rosti with smoked salmon. then ordered the mixed platter for two to share. the mixed platter had chicken and cheese quesedillas, salt and pepper calamari and chicken wings. yummy~ i liked what i ordered. the ribs were really tender and easy to eat and the cheesecake was really soft. tastes different from those i tried before. only the rosti with salmon didnt appeal to me. bill came up to $61. not bad i think. they usually have 20% off the bill if you order before 7.30pm but we already had the 50% off the ribs already. glad we could still meet quite often this year.

hari raya holiday

met up with lihui, mei and gloria for Klunch at marina square during the monday holiday. havent sang with them since more than 1 year ago so it was fun! we got a very big room with a big lcd screen to ourselves. so nice to have a big screen but the big room was also very cold and we ended up huddling together. haha..

looking forward to going lizan's house for her raya open house! expecting lots of good food! yummy~

20092009

20-09-2009. a very nice date when many couples choose to get married. and this way the guys have no excuse of forgetting their wedding anniversary! my colleague fy also got married today. =) she invited us to her wedding in JB. this morning, i met sy at kranji to take the bus over to JB. havent been to JB since i was 6 so i was quite excited and feels like i'm going on holiday (i wish..). 10 am and the jam was already forming on the causeway. luckily we were slightly early and manage to avoid the full jam. the new malaysian custom is now located just opposite the City Square shopping mall so its very convenient and i guess much safer too. sy's sis picked us up from the mall and we went back to her house to make up etc before leaving for the restaurant.


the restaurant was located at a golf course clubhouse and we were seated with some other colleagues, he current japanese boss and his wife, and some guy whom i suppose is the groom's friend who had no space at the friends table. so ke lian! we were quite a mixed group so it was kinda awkward. but the 8 course lunch was delicious. the seafood was very fresh and i like the glutinous chicken rice. fy was so pretty! all brides really look the prettiest on their wedding day. the photoshoot album was so nice and she look so different in it. looks like a model. these wedding albums always make me feel the blissfulness and love between the couple. so sweet!

6 out of the 8 dishes

waiting for her groom...

幸福的背影，往他们共同的未来走去。。。

second wedding of the year and many more to come!

My favourite place

last sat was a busy day! met vinc and jy in the late afternoon to chill at j.co in tampines. it was jy's bdae and they came all the way to tampines so i could meet them so how could i not go right. haha.. havent met them in a long time. everybody has been busy with their own lives and jobs etc after graduation. kinda sad..anyway, jy happy birthday! hope you can faster save money and propose to your gf!

at night, i went to meet xh and the girls to celebrate lay's birthday. after dinner, we went to marina @ kepple bay. sw brought me and mz there a few months back and i really really REALLY love that place! its so beautiful and relaxing to sit outside by the sea enjoying the breeze. for a moment just dreaming that i am the owner of one of the yatches and staying at the condo beside. drinks dont taste that great, especially since my malteasers milkshake costs $12. but i like the cakes that i tried on my first visit. but i feel the ambience is worth it. too bad my bf dont know how to appreciate. its a good place for a date or a girls' night out. we stayed there for 5 hours! hope our plans for a chalet in november will go through this time.

>cafe from a distance and the bridge to kepple bay

>the bridge at 1.30 am when the lights are off..

met dear on sunday to go for swenson's 1-for-1 ice cream and desserts buffet. they were supposed to have 50 ice cream flavours with 40 kinds of toppings and desserts like cakes and choc fondue - a truly sinful meal. =P ate about 8-9 scoops. not alot right. haha..getting old, dont have such a sweet tooth already. there were alot of people there for the buffet but luckily there were many seats. but service wasnt very good though and many of the flavours that i wanted were not there. at least the ice cream was not as sweet as new zealand's ice cream. ny took 2 different slices of choc fudge cake. very nice but omg so filling! this buffet is definitely for dessert lovers..go before end of sept!

Cycling from Tampines to Changi

the weather was good today and we decided to go ahead with our cycling plan. wanted to cycle along changi coastal road but realized it was too far. found online about this relatively new PCN Pitstops for bicycle rental. there are 6 pitstops along the Eastern Coastal Park Connector and cyclists can rent bicycles and return them at any of the 6 stops along the way. thought it was really cool cos it means we dont have to cycle back to the same shop and we can travel further.decided to try cycling from Sunplaza park in Tampines to Changi Beach. rented our bikes at Sunplaza park and discovered they were having promotion. $6 for 2 hours! i initially thought it would be $5 per hr. it was easy finding our way around as there were many signs along the way and we just had to follow the bicycle path. cycled along a few canals in pasir ris to downtown east then along loyang avenue which is mostly factories or just trees. its fun just following those signs though, anticipating where they will lead us next. a long stretch of gentle slope really zapped me of all my strength and energy to cycle on. but i'm glad i managed to get through without having to get off and push my bike. haha..the reward after that was a fast downhill. woohoo~

then we came to a junction in changi where we were supposed to turn right to Netheravon road. but i insisted on riding straight as i wanted to detour to the changi boardwalk. had always wanted to go there. but haha, super wrong decision to go there with our bikes. there were so many stairs, upslopes, downslopes and narrow paths. guess its not called a boardWALK for nothing. we ended up being so tired from having to carry our bikes up and down. or rather dear carried his while i dragged mine. while dragging the bike up one of the stairs, i think i dragged along some angry red ants and brushed the bike against my leg. the ants were all over my shoes and ankle and a few went into my shoes and bit me! i was really panicking and jumping non-stop then finally managed to brush those damn ants away. changi boardwalk is actually a very nice place just by the sea and some quiet beaches. saw many people with dslrs taking photos. wished i could have taken more photos too.

returned our bikes at the pitstop at changi beach carpark 1. we have cycled around 10km in 1 hr 45 mins. would have been faster if not for the delay at the boardwalk. shall try other routes next time if possible! i love the old rustic feel of changi, the quieter and different route that we took as compared to just cycling in east coast or other parks. feel more accomplished? haha.. had dinner at changi village after that. my fave carrot cake! enjoyed myself today~

Jap food weekend

last friday i met up with yu and hui to celebrate hui's birthday. decided to try out Botan at Far East Square after seeing mz's recommendation. i was early off work and spent time by myself at the esplanade library and rooftop before walking down to raffles place, taking a detour to fullerton hotel. first time inside the fullerton..so pretty! having time by myself like this is quite relaxing sometimes. anyway i digressed.. botan was located amidst a few bars and restaurants lined outside the building. as it was happy hour when we went, the bars were really crowded with many office workers holding a bottle of beer and chatting outside. botan seems to be hidden among all the activity and we nearly missed it. the chefs are japanese and we were given hot towels right after sitting. read much about their value-for-money bento sets and we ordered the pork katsu, chicken terriyaki and beef yakiniku sets. and boy were the servings huge! my set consists of rice with pork katsu+salad+macaroni, chawanmushi, agedashi tofu, salmon+tomato side dish, chasoba+fried salmon, miso soup and watermelon!

Pork katsu bento

Pork katsu bento

the food was quite nice overall but the pork was abit tough and beef abit too salty. the soba and salmon was really bad though. but at $18++ per set, it was still worth it.

sat went liang court for dinner with dear after watching harry potter. wanted to try another recommendation by mz. hee.. reached Saizeriya and saw a loonng queue outside. but the restaurant was quite big and the queue moved fast. the restaurant was very noisy but we managed to get a corner seat. oredered the chicken chop hotplate with cheese and tomato sauce, cabonara and doria with beef meat sauce. when the cabonara came, i thought it look very plain with only a few pieces of bacon, but to my surprise it tasted quite good. it got sticky after sometime though, due to the egg coating on the spaghetti. the doria was really delicious!! another good thing was that they had a drinks bar buffet which was really worth it. had free flow of a selection of drinks. the bill came up to $28, cheap!! thanks mz for the recommendation! walked to city hall after dinner. i love night walks~ good food and company makes me happy. haha..

weekend

met up with sw and mz last friday. tried a new vegetarian restaurant, Naive, in the Katong area. the restaurant emphasizes on being all natural with no artificial flavourings or preservatives. they have a sesame pounding ritual where they let all their customers pound a bowl of sesame and pass it round the table, to receive blessings and give thanks. the pounded sesame can then be added to the food. interesting...
food was quite nice. i like the mushroom tempura-like dish with a citrus sauce. crispy on teh outside and chewy on the inside. yum~ and the oatmeal tofu, similar presentation to the oatmeal prawns. i dont usually eat brown rice but i like it when i add loads of the oatmeal to the rice. haha...1 mouthful sweet and the next abit salty. didnt find their speciality monkeyhead mushroom fantastic though. and their mushroom miso soup was too salty to my liking. tasted like someone poured soya sauce into the bowl. yucks.. overall, its a nice place for vegetarian food but the price we paid ($56) for 3 persons for a meal of tofu and mushrooms was a little too steep. would have been alot better with the one-for-one deal though.

on sunday, i went to watch the 3D version of Monsters vs Aliens at the Cathay. i was really excited before that but the 3D effects disappointed me. there wasnt much 3D effects and the glasses were uncomfortable. not worth the money.. going to stick to the normal version next time..

finally having a busy week at work this week~ not that i'm very happy but it beats being free and unproductive!

random ramblings

I'm back from Taiwan! since 3 weeks ago. haha... the trip was fun, could have been more fun. i wanted to do up a blog on my trip but kinda lazy so i'll see how it goes.

had a fun week after i came back slacking and meeting up with friends. i did go back to work on sunday but after that met ny for lunch and made a spontaneous decision to go to the science centre. haha...ran out of places to go. havent been there since those primary school excursions. we had 2 hours to walk around but didnt finish covering all the exhibits. some of the exhibits seems rather old now. though the ispace was cool. it showed some past inventions like the super huge old handphone, and new ideas of what may become common in the future. there was this table that showed the world map where you could zoom in and out, left and right, by turning the table. can even zoom in to see the buildings in singapore! after that, we went to catch an imax movie on monsters of the sea. the screen seems smaller now compared to what we remembered from coming when we were young. guess we did grow much bigger. haha... its fun to do spontaneous activities like this once in a while.

right now feel kinda depressed in lab. dont know where is my project headed. always seem to have problem with my cells and end up slacking alot. (hence the time to type this during office hours) i have to get back my motivation to continue. lucky i still have sy in the lab. results will be out this friday! sigh...hope i can get a B- for neuro. i dont wanna retake any module!

01052009

yay~exams are over! neuroscience was an extremely disgustingly difficult paper. felt so helpless during the exam cos i dont know what to write at all. havent had this feeling since the BS203 exam in ntu. 40% of one of the questions was asked on something which the lecturer briefly mentioned and was not in the notes. on the other hand, biostats was an open book exam, impossible to fail. i've been very slack though i had alot of time to study. i'm just not motivated enough to study anymore..

wednesday was leo and haris's last day in the lab. so sad...now got no one to go lunch with me..leo's place was beside mine in the lab and we used to talk quite alot. now less one person to talk to le. the lab is getting more and more empty. prefer the noisy atmosphere we had during our fyp. anyway, we went fig and olive at vivocity follwed by hagen daaz ice cream. i had the fish and cheese at fig and olive. yum~ its like fish and chips but with cheese on top. the portions were huge. and of cos, ice cream is always good for me. hee...

i'm going to taiwan tomorrow! but somehow i feel very lazy to plan for this trip. not very enthusiastic about it. maybe cos i've already been slacking for 1 month. and my gum infection is making me feel uncomfortable. dentist say it may be due to cracked tooth. i seriously hope and pray that its not. i still want my tooth. *sobz* i've always been scared of going to the dentist since young and it still has not changed. just hearing the word dentist makes my body go weak. really worried and i pray that everything will be fine...at least its not giving me pain.

shall update when i get back!

i'm back!

have not been coming to this site for a long long time. surprised that there are still people asking why i never update. haha... kk just a quick update on what i've been doing the last couple of months:

- worked at Canon during Nov-Dec last year. it was a totally unexpected job scope of chasing debts by phonecalls. lol..

- went hongkong with my family. i miss hongkong! simply love the char siew bao! must go back there soon. next year maybe?

- went genting with friends. its fun to go there this time with friends. too bad the food and holiday crowd spoiled abit of our enjoyment.

- finally decided to do my masters and after many complications, i didnt get the scholarship. but managed to become a staff and get concession for school fees. its better financially. that is provided i get to keep my staff status. hope dr khan gets new grants soon.

now for recent stuff..i atended kr's wedding at hort park last sunday. though his wedding was simple as he combined the engagement and wedding itself, it was beautiful and sweet. his wife is so pretty in the tube gown and trailing head-dress. they walked down the grass lawn on the path lined with pink and white rose petals, and their friends stood by the side and blew bubbles as they walked past. dinner was served buffet style. the chocolate fondue was the best! then they showed a video their friend made, with cartoon figures of them and their photos from the time in sec school where they met until now. such a long relationship. they even went back to their sec school to take wedding photos. after that they gave a speech thanking their parents for bringing them up and the bride cried. and me and mei had tears in our eyes after that. haha... nothing to do with us but we were touched anyway.

really liked their outdoor wedding. more special compared to the usual hotel banquet. now i'm starting to dream of my future wedding. haha...still a long long way~

congrats Kr! may you and xf live in happiness and enjoy your honeymoon!

09102008

i've been lazy to blog recently. haha... not because i'm too busy but because i'm too free. was sad after i screwed up the sia interview cos i really wanted that job. then almost right after i lost my temporary job too. so yupz, i'm slacking at home again. recently there's alot of depressing news about the economy, with the coming (or already happening?) global economic downturn. singapore's economy will be affected and consequently so will the job market. it is predicted that singapore might take 2 years to recover. and i have not found a job yet. i dunno why its like only me that is taking so long. i've to seriously consider taking the masters if i still cant get a job, that is if the scholarship is given to me too. but somehow i really wanna work now, dont really know if i should still study.

to fill up my time, i was searching for new dramas to watch again. and i came across a korean variety show - We Got Married. i found it very entertaining! its about 4 randomly paired celebrity couples who have to complete missions as newly 'married couples'. for eg the first mission was to move into their new house on White Day (liek V-day) and decorate together. it was interesting to see how the different couples interact with each other and the sweet things that the guys do for White Day. the show was supposedly unscripted. there was a couple alex and shin ae, who were like the fairytale couple. they were the only couple that got to live in a big villa while the rest stayed in apartments. alex was like the perfect guy, seemed abit too perfect to be real. but i liked that they were the only couple who were awkward at the beginning, then exchanged stories and feelings and slowly developed the relationship. seems more real. i think people watching the show can probably relate the different couples with their own relationship at different stages.
below is the song that alex sang to shin ae in episode 2. Like A Child by Kim Dong Ryul. i think he sang it beautifully.


on the topic of marriage, i met K and M yesterday and K is getting married next year! realised i havent finished asking about his whole story. haha...he'll be the first among my friends to get married. cant believe we're all going to starting the next stage of our lives so soon.
祝你幸福！！

I'll be there

watched 100% entertainment yesterday and it was gary cao's singing session. he had a major sorethroat and barely had voice to talk. but he could still sing so well! so impressed! really ke lian him but it was still funny cos the hosts kept saying he talk like zeng zhi wei. he also sang 1 song which i really liked, the english demo version of 一眼瞬间, I'll be there. i feel that its nicer than the chinese version. the lyrics are very nice. anyone know where to download it?? wish someone could sing this to me now. dedicating this song to jh and sy...

I'll be there - Gary Cao
When your tear starts to fall
You feel no hope at all
Don't you ever think of giving in
When the rain starts to fall
Everything seems so cold
Don’t you ever frown
Cos I’ll be around
And late at night
I’ll close my eyes
And pray that one day you will find
The strength inside to show you how to break through this time

Whenever you need someone I’ll be there
And everything will be okay
Cos we can pray that one day we’ll find the love
That will lift us up to the sky
Whenever you need someone I’ll be there
And everything will be just fine
Us hand in hand
We will make it through I’m sure
This I promise you till the very end of time

Through the good times and bad
Forever we’ll always have
One another to keep our chins up high
And you don't have to be scared
Just as long as I'm there

Olympics

16 days of Olympics have finished. nothing to watch anymore. :( i've been watching mostly basketball, with some other sports. all so exciting! i think michael phelps would have become the most famous person in the world after this. 8 golds!! wonder if anyone will beat that in the future. i think technology may have helped with the record breaking though.
i missed singapore's table tennis match against korea that won us the silver. hopefully we wont have to wait another 50 years for another medal. the way that the atheletes perform just amazes me. the potential of human's ability is so stunning. i think the most exciting match was the basketball finals US vs Spain. it was such a close match! spain actually chased up to be 2 points behind US in the last few minutes of the game. it was the closest taht any team has got to, playing against the US. for a moment i got worried that spain might actually win. but of cos US won. haha...they just had to, with terrific nba players like le bron james, kobe bryant and dwayne wade. watching the US play is like watching a nba performance with fanciful dunks and fast-break offense.
spain has a 17 year old player, whom the commentator kept emphasizing. though he is not the best at the moment but i think he will be a force in the spain team in future. for now, he looks like the harry potter actor to me. haha...
another entertaining player was lituania's no 13, whose name i cant spell (think its pronounced like es-ker-vicious). he is quite a good player but his expressions amuses me. haha... i think he is quite unlucky too. in the match against china, he was blown at by the referee for breaking the backcourt rule (offense team cannot pass the ball back over the mid-court line) and thus causing a turnover. his feet were one on each side of the line when he got blocked by a defender. then when he turned the ball away from the defender, his hands passed the mid-line and thus become backcourt. lol...suay.

i'm gonna miss tha basketball action

Right decision?

Yesterday, i did something that many people will deem as foolish. i..turned down a scholarship for masters studies. wasted? yes, i guess so. i didnt expect to get the scholarship so quickly in the first place, and without even an interview. there are many reasons, many inhibitions as to why i turned it down. i'm not sure if that is the right choice. i guess i still dont know what i want in life. i still feel that i would have made a better choice if i could have gone back to the lab to work in the past few months. but that was not possible so no point saying.
anyway, i hope i have made the right decision. hopefully i can find a really good job soon...

You and me

You and Me - Lifehouse

another song that i love now...



Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you...

Day at Bugis

Met jh at bugis today to shop for presents for 3 friends. yup, still living the jobless tai tai life. ktv on monday and shopping today. haha...back to today. we bought the 3 presents in less than 4 hrs and even kept to the tight budget. feel a sense of achievement. haha...

the whole afternoon was packed with activities after that. went sim lim square for lunch, ice monster for dessert, guan yin miao to bai bai. i accompanied jh to fu lu shou tower where esther's mum had a massage shop. jh did a foot and shoulder massage and ended up wriggling and crying out in pain. esther's mum seemed to be very skilled and strong. a little scary hearing the cracking of the bones when she tried to 'loosen' the shoulder muscles for jh.

after that, jh said she wanted to go find a certain backpackers' hostel in little india. walked around the shophouses and saw a few other hostels but not what she wanted. then we saw 3 caucasian backpackers so we decided to follow them. after following them for like 2 streets, they came to the hostel we were looking for! haha...a lucky coincidence. it was very cheap, only $12 per night. with free breakfast, internet and a few other services. though hav to share the room with 9 other people. we got hungry again from the walking and since we were in little india, we went to an indian eatery for appom. its a flour thingy with a soft centre and crispy sides, eaten with sweet coconut milk and sugar. nice!

on the way back to bugis, we passed by the ERP gantry. saw on the sign that from 6-6.05pm, the charges was $2.30 for cars. we thought it was weird why the gantry was only open for 5 mins? it was 6.03 and so we waited for 6.05. haha... then once the time reached 6.05, the charges raised to $3! so much difference! pity the cars that went in just as it changed. haha...

saw many new things today. its a fufilling day!
looking forward to tomorrow...

Graduation!

I have officially graduated! after 4 years of struggling, i finally graduated. feel happy and sad at the same time. happy that i finally dont have to take exams and as renchun said, dont have to read through 180 slides of neurobiology lecture notes anymore. but also 舍不得 to leave sbs and my friends.

bought heels before convocation with jinhong but in the end, i didnt wear them. realised they were quite high. and i still cant walk very well in them. haha... jh said she'll laugh out if i walked up onstage like i did when i tried the heels.

initially met her and the rest at 4pm to take photos before the ceremony. but we were still too late and too slow in dressing. we were robing in front of the sbs office, with huihui and sy's mums helping us adjust. didnt manage to take many photos and we were one of the last to enter the hall. went in 20 mins after the given time!

there was a surprise at the end of the ceremony. a masters graduate proposed to his girlfriend, who was also a graduate! can see how nervous the guy was, taking deep breaths. haha...but it was very sweet. with the crowd's urging, he finally went down on his knees and proposed. their faces were shown on the big screen with their names in a heart-shape frame. think i'll be very embaressed if i'm the girl. haha...

after the ceremony, it was photo-taking time! kept walking back and forth between sbs and nanyang audi to find people. in the end, i didnt manage to take photos with some friends and didnt take group photos. we'll have round 2 for group photos this sat! thanks so much to ny, sw and hb for coming! especially to ny cos he came after work and also went home very late though he had to wake up early the next day. also thanks for being my photographer of the day. haha... really appreciate you all!

now, a new chapter. but before that, i hope to find a job really really soon!

Ice cream!

went to novena's mingles cafe again last week for ice cream...

Ice cream... (strawberry, green tea, chocolate fudge, walnut sth...)

More ice cream... (mixed berry sorbet, spotted doggy, hokey pokey, banana)

And even more ICE CREAM...

(white chocolate with raspberry, lemon lime sherbet, rocky road)

think 11 scoops is the limit for me. at least i didnt get stomach discomfort this time. my cousin ate a total of 16 scoops!! pei fu... i think it was the white chocolate raspberry that made me feel sick both times. much too sweet... i love hokey pokey (caramel ice cream)! now i need to exercise more. been eating alot lately. hee...

taken outside novena. can you see an eagle cloud?

I'm yours...

I'm yours - Jason Mraz

Song lyrics | I'm Yours lyrics

Results out!

i feel like hugging all the sbs people right now! *hugz* all 4 years, now its over. i totally cant believe my results. thank goodness my poster presentation didnt pull me down. thank goodness to jy for having mercy on me. thank goodness to my supervisor! cant believe the words on my screen, its not even obvious and i didnt even see it at my first glance. but its probably cos we are not under the GPA system.
now to find a job. how how?