Bits and Pieces

So,  the power supply isn't the problem. Changed my power supply but computer still refuses to boot up. Sigh. I hate having to depend on my work laptop. The idea of getting a mac has been crossing my mind. My rational self says no and that repairing the motherboard is prob way cheaper. My vain self says I want a mac for everything that is cool. Too bad I am not exactly feeling very rich now. Maybe I should walk across the road during lunch and shade 4 digits.

I havnt swum for the 12 days I was away and my hair feels smoother. I always thought that my hair quality was somewhat good, considering the amount I swim. Apparently, it has degraded over the years and now I feel the familiar feeling I had years ago.

Mid week.

 

Home

Home finally.

Then, I heard the new ndp song by Kit Chan on TV and it struke a chord in me. I always have been a sucker for ndp and the ndp songs. I like Home a lot, and now I think I have a second fav in There is no place I rather be.

Which is strange, because I enjoy returning to Singapore, in fact I am always very happy to be home in Sg, but home as in sg home but not my house home perse. Everytime I return house home, I get flak and tons of it which makes me wonder why I want to be home in the first place. I am still feeling that way. However, I do enjoy cruising down the pie from Changi in the cab.

Finland and London was a Blast. Finland Tampere was rather boring considering that Alboy was in conference the whole day long leaving me with ample time with nothing to do. I soon got used to and even enjoy walking in a town where there were so few people. There was so much space and it was just great. Nice cool weather.

London too, eating a sandwich and apple pie, a piece of choco cake in the park opp the London eye was just out of the world. You can never do this in the sweltering humid, ideal for mosquito breeding weather here. But in London, it was just so relaxed and nice.

We walked in a park where swans ducks pigeons flew boldly around us. Sat by the pond at a very nice cool 15 degrees and watched the world go by. It was just like in the movies.

Minus the fact that the pound was just so expensive - I had a really really good time.

cold and hot

I am becoming a fin. When I arrived I was freezing like crazy, now 20 degrees is hot to me. I can actually go out with just one jacket. Its amazing.

Have not stepped out today. Hopefully the weather is scorching hot today in finnish terms at 20 degrees.

Kinda bored here actually. Tampere is a super small town. I walked around like for 4 hours and now I can go ard without a map.

Going to Gone

Moodless. Moodless. Moodless.

Waiting for time to pass. Waiting for time to pass.

Waiting for email reply. Waiting for email reply

Want to leave. Want to fly.

 

But not particularly excited. Just want time to move on.

chirp chirp

I been reading Karen Cheng blog and she is just so inspiring. I been reading for some time now but on a lazy Sunday afternoon I just started reading entries from before. She inspires me. She makes parenting seem like such a joy. Totally opp from whatever stories my mum tells me. Sometimes I wish my mum stop doing such things. Its poisoning me. Her husband comes home at 5pm everything, and still has time to take care of kids. I do not think it happens here in Sg. If you reach home by 8pm I supposed its a wonderful thing already.

I know she probably has her tiring times too but the fact that all her entries are so bright and chirpy is just so nice. Its like an escape from my own world. I should make a conscious effort to blog about happy things. Like how today I swam faster than this 1.8m tall ang moh. Like how my boss is not around and I have been doing rubbishy work today. Like how I convinced myself that even though I stare at my computer screen doing nothing, I am doing work as long as I am listening to podcast by top company management from the ipod. Ain't that wonderful.

 

Dollar and Sense

I should be sleeping now. But I am not.

I had a lousey evening. It usually happens when I need to buy something and Alboy is around. You see, we have very different notions about how much a thing should cost and how much I would be willing to pay for it. Alboy just have this mindset that the more expensive something is, the higher the quality. Usually that is the case, but the question I always have is, Do you need that high quality. Sometimes you are just paying for the branding. Sometimes he gets totally biased and insist it is the better make even before opening the package. Gosh, I hate those moments. When its his turn to buy stuff, i just do my tsk n walk away because after all it is his money and its not for me to approve his purchases.

Its a different story when I need to buy stuff. I do not consider myself a cheapo but I am highly unwilling to pay top dollar for something. I am much more pragmetic. If something performs its function and is not too ugly looking, I do not need to buy the most expensive one.

So it always happens like this. Alboy accompanies me to look for my item. Take the ipod skin for example. I was only willing to pay 20 dollars max for a silicon cover. But Alboy always have to insist that the cheap silicon covers are no good. Personally at 20 bucks, I do not think its cheap. Also, I hate to make my purchase at the first shop, I like to shop around, walk around, know that I am not cheated because I can buy the same thing at a neighbourhood store at 80% of the price. I get into this mangzhang mood cos Alboy just picks things beyond what I am willing to pay, then puts me into this difficult spot. Then, I go really silent and blackface then he gets mad too. I end up paying for something overpriced and feeling shitty about it.

Something similar happened again. Sigh. I should stop shopping with him.

Another story, at timberland, I think a yr or so ago. I need to get this moisturizer for my suede bag. Timberland was the only place I could find the moisturizer. Buy the moisturizer I will cos I really did the hunting. Then came along this one stupid brush. I knew I didnt need the brush. But Alboy insisted I will need the brush some day. My argument at that point in time was, When I need it I will buy it. I do not even forsee myself needing the brush. I didnt know what happened but I paid 8 bucks for the brush anyway. Its not really a matter of money, but now when I look at the brush in mint condition sitting on my shelve, I feel super irritated.

I should shop with people who understands this.

For the soul mate that he is, I do not ever think he understands this.

Sigh. I should really go sleep or risk being zombified at work tomorrow. But, like I care.

Random

Heard "I never promised you a rose garden" on my way to work and man, it was the most awful song I heard in a long time.
Not the song per se, cos I love that song but today's song was sung with absolutely no feeling. I thought it must be a cover, then I was thinking to myself, it seems like a song sung by a guy to a girl so I was pretty sure what I heard was a cover. Did a google the moment I got into the office and found out it was sung by a woman. Now I am a bit disturbed.

Feeling dazed on a tuesdays is not a good sign. Blame Prison Break. 5 episodes in a row is so not good for health.
I need sleep.

 

Of mice and stupid people

Today i think, erm erm, I havn't blogged for some time so I should write something really nice.

But now, I am in the eragon mood where I want to mentally kill some people. Make it more violent this time, I want to physically take their heads and smash it against the wall till the blood makes a mess on the floor.

How can some people be so self centered, think they are so damn bloody smart (worse still, keep refering to themselves as smart which really reafirms the fact that they think they are smart) but yet be so dumb. I hate people who pick and choose what they want to belive. Sometimes, I think i should just focuse on my job and not bother but its just not me. I have this knack for telling people off and confronting them like a raged bull when I totally do not agree. Sigh. Poor me.

To happier things, I finally filled in my spreadsheet and realised I spent a lot of money this month. Its double the amount. If money spent were an indication of my social life then I should be doing pretty well but somehow I do not feel so. It does not help that the GSS is ongoing. I seriously do not think I be buying anything unless it is really really cheap which it never is.

My heart feels rather knotted. I think its cos of imbeciles and work. Sometimes I feel like just quitting but I don't think i will. Not yet at least.

A Perfect Morning.

A perfect morning

-  Wake up feeling totally refreshed. That means 12 hours of sleep at least. I just read somewhere today that waking up refreshed is the best feeling in the world. I paused to think  about it and I think ya, its actually not bad. Too bad I peel myself out of bed almost every morning.

- Wash up, Have a pippin hot breakfast. Preferably like Prawn Noodles or Wanton Noodles.

- Settle oneself down on the sofa and slowly reading through the papers.

- Assuming all these take place in nice cool weather, it would be time for a little nap or some light chore like making the bed. Else, take a long hot bath or go for a swim.

- Juice some fruits for drinks.

- Sleep/Watch TV

Sigh.
 

An Entry

Time to blog since I have some spare time.

It’s been a crazy week for me workwise.
On the social note, I have been caught up with watching 24 now that I have completed prison break. I do not like it at all. Not the show. But the act of watching TV.

I only have so many hours a day, watching television disrupts my reading routine. Eversince I started Prison Break, I have not been able to complete my Magazine readings before the next issue arrives. It is pissing me off big time. My book - I read only 5 pages a day before I get too tired and conked off. Anyone would, try reading a book at 3am after 3 hours of telly. It’s so disgusting.

I am going to just complete the first season of 24 and stop there. It’s not that interesting anyway. The rest if I watch, it be like a Saturday Afternoon thingy, no more messing with my reading.

Spent 230+ on Mother's Day Lunch. Sometimes I think that my siblings are the ones who are enjoying it most. I mean, they just wait and depend for me to make reservations, go have a nice lunch , make mum happy and mum doesn’t question them on their absence of presents. I should make them pay a nominal amount but then I would surely get flak for imposing that.

Have recently been enamored by the T100 and ipod Video 80G. My mum was almost going to buy the 80G for me (in partial exchange for LV) but they had no stock. Darn. Now that we left Epicenter, its never going to happen again.

Would put them on my Birthday Wishlist since I do not foresee myself spending so much money. Have to put myself on Budget. Esp since I have yet to book my London Finland hotels. That is going to cost at least 1k.

Things I need to do this week
- Pack my clothes cupboard and decide if I really do need an extra cupboard
- Pack my table. I cannot understand how my table now is messier than when I was actually using it to study.
- Pack my room. I think I have more wires entangling everything.
- Get another component input cable so I do not have to manually plug and unplug them everytime I switch from TV to DVD. Than k goodness I have some substantial knowledge about electrical stuff.
- While I am on that, install Wireless control for my light switch! Not high priority since I would have to shut off electricity to my whole house. Do not think Dad would be very pleased.
- Finish reading all my backdated magazines.

Single or not?

Attended a wedding today, watched Jennifer Aniston Rumour has it , heard 2 friends propose and here are my thoughts on getting hitched.

I still do not understand it. Or rather, to put it more honestly, I don't think I understand myself. I still do not know what stand I take about marriage. More of these reunification just make me think deeper to what I really want. I think I want to be together with Alboy for a long long time but yet, I am afraid of what the future will be. I am afraid I will be bored and take flight. I also do not want to give up all the little luxuries I get when I stay at home.

Since I have been travelling quite a bit this yr, 6 countries in 4 months, I realise that i am always rather happy when I am out. Maybe its a form of escapism, or maybe I really just enjoy taking in the sights.

Maybe its because I am not making much new friends these days that I spend time with Alboy. Maybe its the other way around. I enjoy being with him a lot. But, i just hate the empty feeling I get when I am alone because he is not free. It makes me feel useless and needy.

I seen a lot of new couples happily together at the start but later they hate each other like crazy. How did it happen? How can you hate someone you liked so much previously?

On Alboy, I know he is a keeper, thats for sure. Which guy will endure me screaming and hunging up the phone on him when I get irritated(which doesn't happen often) , then leave it alone only to sms tease/confront me about it and later buy me ice cream?? I know a lot of guys who would either have flared up too, or try to 'reason' with the girl making the girl admit she was wrong.

Two of my friends just did amazing proposals. One took 6 months to make a mtv and used to to propose in a ktv, the other arranged an elaborate fancy dinner and popped the qns with a big ass tiffany ring. It was woa. But the strange thing is, I didnt feel like i wanted any of those things, infact i think i was a bit terrified.

Jennifer Aniston in Rumor has it was somewhat like that. It took her major awakening in her life before she finally knew what she wanted. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be have to go through that but yet I feel like I want to feel what I really want before I just go along with the flow of things.

A lot of rambling. I still do not know my point of this post. Maybe next time I have to structure it first to have it make more sense.

My updated World Map

Paradise on earth

Maldives was lovely. Paradise. Heaven on earth. The most beautiful place I have been.

It was the only place where I wanted to hop onto a plane and fly back immediately right after I landed back in Singapore. When I close my eyes, I still can picture it vividly. I want to remember every moment of it before the memory gets blurred. It was just, perfect.

Our room was about the cheapest (but yet still very expensive imho) on the resort but yet it was lovely. The back of the room was a glass wall with wooden blinds. Open the door and you have this neat patio area afterwhich you walk out to pristine white sand and crystal clear waters. Yes, the beach at your backyard. It was just surreal. The waters were so clear that you can see fishes swimming to shore. On one day, dophines actually swam really close too.

At night, the sky was just a blanket of stars. Clear skies whole night. Beats all the stargazing sessions I been. The whole sky of stars just there for you. In my rush to pack the night before, I forgot my starmap so I could only recognise the major constellations which kinda pissed me off cos there were just so many of these jewels in the skies. I had told myself to pack it in but totally forgot.

I slept at 10pm everyday and wake up at 7, feeling all refresh and nice. The routine was so laid back, wake up , eat a hearty breakfast. Activity at 10+11, then back to shower and change nice nice for lunch, then activity again either at 2 or 4 then shower and change nice nice for dinner.

There were so many koreans there and boy do those ladies know how to dress. They were dresses I would wear to weddings to go on board a boat, complete with kitty heels. Its a wonder they didnt capsize on board. They kinda inspired me to dress up, so I had fun dressing up during mealtimes. Mambo had a closing down sale just 2 days before I left and I bought quite a bit of stuff there which came in handy. Alboy packed so many shirts and berns/jeans, I didnt even know he packed so much, he was always so nicely dress for meals too. That vain boy even brought two watches, one for meal one for rough use. I almost fainted when I found out.

What did I do there?
I went sailing, or rather sat on the sail and the guide jaga the boat, snorkelled, suba dive, wakeboard, fishing, did a half day island hopping thingy, went sunset dophin watching. It was just perfect, going out on the boat, sea breeze ruffling your hair. All the photos turned out fantastic, mainly because the scenary was so great it didnt even matter if you scrowl in the photo.

Fishing was an experience. There were so many fish out there. We were just provided a reel of nylon string and some tuna as bait, throw into the water and fish. Alboy caught this huge fish, or rather the standard size there, the length of the fish was from his ankles to his knees. I caught a tiny red snapper though. Best part is, they cooked it for you for dinner the next day. It felt a bit strange though, to be so involved in the killing and eating of the fish. A bit cruel cos you could see the poor fish struggling, hooked through its nose/eyes and then eating it the next day.

Snorkeling was just out of the world. There were stingrays, turtles , sharks, octopus and plenty of multi coloured fish. The marine creatures mentioned were just an arm length away. It was that plentiful and nearby. I even managed to touch and rub the shell of the turtle. Was a bit afraid of a Steve Irwin when I was swimming ontop the stingrays because I knew there were barely a meter below. In fact, we saw more snorkelling than scuba diving.

Wakeboarding. My first try. Everytime we do any of these sea sports in Singapore, you will land up smelling like the longkang water the whole day even if you give yourself a thourough bath. Here, the scenary just makes falling into the water fun. Clean water, nice backdrop. Photos turned out amazing too.

It was just amazing. No wonder so many people go there for honeymoon. Oh, we told the agent that we were on honeymoon too to enjoy the perks like free fruits yada yada....and when we first arrived the first night, I got a shock of my life. They used leaves, flowers to create this "happy honeymoon" words on the bed, then flowers scattered all over. I was just speechless for words. The bell boy was like "oh your honeymoon" and I wanted to say nononono, but I guess my jaws were just too wide open and too stunned to react. Alboy then took over from there and I didnt really know what was exchanged.

I want to go back there again.
Would post photos if not cos I am too lazy to figure out how the photo thing works. Don't have the software I used to use now that I am using the laptop.
Would show to all when we meet up. You have to see it. It just mega pretty.

The slightly ouch factor was that everything was so expensive.
Accomodation was 2.2kSGD , Spending amout there(inclusive of food and excurisions) was 1.2kUSD. Airport tax was 400SGD. Thank goodness I redeemed the tickets else that would have been an additional 1.2k SGD. Just this alone was like 4.5k SGD, just for 4 wonderful nights. Very expensive. But it was really worth every single cent imho.

I want to go back!!

The Wheel turns...

So, its one of those days where you feel just tired, then you are not sure if you are emotionally tired or could be a physical strain. You think for a while, then decide its a lethal combination of the two. Mind over body you tell yourself, but alas, the mind is weak. The force is not there.

Things have progressed to a stage where I hardly feel much. Let it be, Whatever, I don't care, Even if I do, do I have the power to do anything you ask. Ziltch.

Yet, the wheel of life has to continue turning, dateline has to be met, else you get annihilated, you get weeded out. You persist then you find out certain things that make you $ad. Ya, $ad. A new word I learnt. A useful one.

A walk to remember

A walk to remember was on TV today. Although I think Mandy Moore sucks, the male lead was quite eyecandy.

Anyway, this show brings back memories. A point in my life where I did not know what the hell I was doing. I watched this show at JEC like 5 years ago with a guy, this quite hunky guy. It was crazy. I didnt know I was doing. The guy was hunky as agreed by most people in the varisty and somehow I landed myself with him. I think he treated me like his gf and now I cannot even remember if he tried to hold my hand.

All i remembered was, during the show I was like wtf, after the show I was like, how do I get rid of him. Which was strange because I sorta invited trouble myself. I 'dissapeared' and remained uncontactable for like a month from him after that. It was sorta end of story. I felt bad, am reminded of how bad I felt today.

Things that come back to haunt you.

My updated Map of the World

Back home!

Glad to be back in Sunny Sg.

Barcelona was mainly hotel. I only got to see Sangrada Familia, ate some tapas and surprisingly good food. Water there is always with the 'con gas' choice. Its refreshing although all the gas made me feel a little flatulant. I think I prefer my water still. I am still undecided how I feel about water with gas.

France was okok. The touristy attractions were okok. Maybe cos I was alone and it was raining most of the time, leaving me super duper cold and miserable. Paris Disney was suprisingly small, like HK. Half a day was enough.

The driver who drove me from the hotel told me "Paris is a place full of magic".

On my way back, there was a wedding ceromony and he went "This is a sign for you, when you get back to Sg, you will get married".

Later, there was this huge bird shit splattered all over his window, he thinks its a sign too. I told him that in Sg, if you have bird shit, you probably become very rich soon. He immediately went" This is a sign, when you get back to Sg, you will get married with someone very rich, Paris is full of magic".

When we reached the airport, there was sirens going off and he went "This is a sign for you, when you get back to Sg, you will get married with someone very rich who is the chief of the police. Paris is full of magic".

I was like hurhurhurhurhur, and in a hurry to get out of his car to grab some grub because I was starving. Starving really, so hungry that I thought I knew how a kid in Somalia feels like. I had not eaten in hours cos everything was so expensive. I had initially planned to go back to the hotel because the neighbourhood is cheaper there but my driver came early, leaving me with no time to eat.

BTW, nothing the driver said has come true. I don't think it will anyway.

I been super duper tired since I came back. Had to attend a 2 day meeting, then work work work. Today I slept 16 hours straight. I didnt even wake up. My dad came and shoke me "eh, 4pm already" I was like..what.... I was planning to sleep in..but like till noon. Not 4pm. and by 6pm, I was ready to go sleep again.

The good thing is,
-I am going to watch Phantom on Sunday
- I am going to Maldives in two weeks. Finally finalised the trip. Its so expensive. 2.2k just for accomodation, and its the second cheapest one. Thankfully, the tickets are redeemed.
- I also booked my tickets to Finland and London in June.

That leaves me so so so broke. My cc actually got rejected when I tried to pay for dinner.

Gone again

I'm really tired.

Going to Barcelona in a few hours then Paris.
Sounds fun but I am really tired. God knows what is going to happen in the meeting in Barcelona and the idea of walking around in Paris alone does not excite me. Plus, boss just had to schedule his bi annual meeting right after I come back leaving me with no time to prepare. Sigh.

On top of that, I just got back from KL PG and TH. 2 weeks out with one week in between and I am gone. I kinda miss my bed. So bad till I am working on my laptop on my bed now. The deal is to work till the battery power runs out and I will stop procrasinatoing and pack for Spain. Its so freaking cold there I think I will freeze and whither. 15 degrees is too cold for me but I risk looking like an idiot there all fully wraped like a ba zhang. Who cares.

The High Life

Its 3am and I just got home. I'm kinda tired and still have to hook up my DVD player because I must watch the last 10 mins of The Devil Wears Prade but I just have to word this before the moment is gone.

I just found out I actually love the night life so much. I have always been a night creature but mostly I am stuck in my room, recently I had the opp to be out and best of all , at the wheel. The feeling is tremendously. The first time I did that, i had a high that lasted 2 days.

If I had the wheel more often, I properly be really really really tempted to get my own set. I think I have arrived at a stage where I probably can afford a car, abeilt I do not get to save as much as I want. If I had taken the job offer last yr, my car would be one year old now. Much as I like to be driven, the feeling of being in control is fantastic. I think this must be mainly due to the facts that I drive at night and there is no traffic. I can swerve across 3 lines and do perpendicular turnings with it without having to neogoitate the congested arteries of day time traffic.

I love being able to lead my own life and forget about work. I been reading watching high fashion shows, not by purpose but rather concidentally. I need that kinda passion, energy and purpose for life that the characters have. Now I just lug myself to work. At least now I have started something on the side that is supposed to burn the fire in me. I am getting quite old and need to be on top of my game.

Recently I been looking and buying pretty things and its getting me onto a high as well. I have this huge shoe obession now and it doesn't help that Alboy is supporting me on this. He believes that a girl cannot have too many shoes and thinks that 30 plus shoes are cheap. Even up to less than a hundred is fine for him as long as the design is nice, cos he says that guy shoes cost a whole lot more. I think this is someone who has like what. 3 Kenneth Coles? and has to get a new pair to match his new trousers?

K, need to go hook up the DVD and wake up by 9.30 tomorrow. Am on Leave. Happiness. This has to be one of the best CNY.

I am delidrious.

*note- i'm too tired to go thru spelling n grammer edits. So be it.

My world travel map

Ya, so this is where I been and lived. Feels empty to me.
The naming of the places got messed up. I wanted the city, country format but because the maps were as usual as not as detailed in the asia region, it was hard to pinpoint exact locations so I just left them as countries in Asia. Want to go Europe