Holiday Addict Jaime, Car Addict Joel and A Happy Peanut

Have a FABULOUS 2009!

2008-12-31T11:59:00.002+08:00

Happy New Year!

God bless everyone a good 2009. :)

Have a Blessed Christmas!

2008-12-24T11:52:00.001+08:00

This Christmas, God had made it very special for me and Joel.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Thank you Father. Thank you for sending us your beloved Son.

Gratefully hating it

2008-12-15T11:50:00.001+08:00

With times like this, I am grateful that i am not retrenched.

Just hating my heavy load, that's all.

Busy Busy Busy

2008-11-29T12:41:00.004+08:00

What a trip..

I left for Shanghai again on 16 November for market visit and trade show. My schedule while there was packed! But the good thing was, the weather was really nice.. So shiok!

16 Nov : Flew Shanghai with China Eastern, flight was horrible. Was assigned next to this guy who has BO. Jumped to another seat not far, a Chinese family of 4. Sitting next to me was this Granny who suddenly felt sick. She puked.. Gosh! Arrived my hotel at 4.40pm. Met the Sales Executive and went out dinner with her. Night ended early.

This is the start of my nightmare.

17 Nov: Met up with 7 hotels in 8hours. Had dinner with 1 of our Shanghai hotel. By the time i reached my room, it was 930pm. Washed up, clear some of my mails, i slept at almost midnite.

18 Nov: Met my boss who arrived yesterday. Met our 5 top hotels, had business lunch with JC Mandarin (good buffet lunch) and dinner with the hotel we're staying. By the time, we're done, it was 9pm. Went back to my room, washed up, clear my mails. Once again, i slept late.

19 Nov: Went Sabre office. Had a wonderful business lunch with our new partner. after lunch, many hotels pop by our office for a visit. Left office for dinner with a Beijing hotel. Same timing again. My routine by now has been the same every night. Washed up, clear some mails and go to sleep after midnite.

20 Nov: Launch of CITM, a China trade show like NATAS Fair. Was there at 10am, walked and entertained, walked and entertained, walked and entertained till 4pm, left CITM and went back hotel to prepare for a thank you party. Party start at 6 and it ends at 9.30pm. And then, my routine starts all over again.

21 Nov: At CITM again. Same thing, walked and entertained from 10am and left at 4pm. Went back Sabre office to collect laptop and went dinner with our Shanghai hotel. Again, day ends late.

22 Nov: Went for a day trip to Hangzhou hosted by 1 of our top hotels. Left Shanghai at 8am and arrived back in Shanghai at 10.30pm. Finally get to see Hangzhou and its surroundings. When we were back in Shanghai, it was raining.. It was wet and cold, so uncomfortable.

23 Nov: Flying back to Singapore. Woke up early and left for Airport. Flight again was horrible! Old plane, no entertainment at all and Chinese auntie next to me? Puke too!!

Normal

2008-11-14T23:04:00.002+08:00

Bravo to good health! That's the result of my health screening. Everything's normal. :) Thank you God.

But i must cut down my sugar intake, salt intake and oil intake. That means no bubble tea, no french fries and no oily food like char kway teow! :(

Review in 6 weeks

2008-11-08T22:38:00.000+08:00

Thank God!!

My brother is fine.. but he has to be on 6 weeks medication and go back TTSH for a review with the heart specialist.

Lack of potassium will stop my heart from beating

2008-11-08T00:59:00.002+08:00

My family got a scare today.

I received a desperate call from my mom. She called me on Joel's phone.

Mom: "How come you never pick up your phone?"

Me: "I'm having din.."

Mom: "Jeremy fell from bed and cannot move.. He is on his way to TTSH.. Can you.. (voice breaking) come.. TTSH.. quick?"

Me: "Huh...? OK!"

I quickly finished my dinner and ran to change.

When i reached TTSH, my mom sitting outside A&E. My dad is with my brother.

Me: "What happen?"

Mom: "I don't know.. Your granny called and told me Jeremy fell and injured his back.."

Worried and no update from anyone, i called my dad who was with my brother.

Dad: "Your brother.. Die la.. Going to be paralyse.. Must be he went drinking until he don't know what he's doing.. Die la.. Going to be paralyse.."

Me: "Can you stop talking nonsense?! What did the doctor say?"

Dad: "Don't know.. They're still checking on him."

Me: "Duh!"

After 3 hours hanging around A&E, we finally get to see my brother at his ward.

Me: "What happened to you?"

Jeremy: "I woke up this morning, trying to get out of bed, the next thing i knew, i fell and landed on the ground. I thought i hit my back.. I couldn't feel my limbs and i couldn't reach for my phone to call for help. I shouted and shouted but no one can hear me.."

Me: "How come? Where the hell is everyone?"

Jeremy: "Stepmom is sleeping, Minghui at school and Dad in his room."

Me: "No one can hear your shouts?!"

Jeremy: "Yup.. There is lift upgrading going on outside and they were drilling outside, so cannot hear. Then Stepmom passed by my room at about 4-5pm and heard me.. Then Dad came in and saw me lying on the ground."

Me: "Huh? That means you've been lying on the ground for 6hrs?"

Jeremy: "Yar, i was lying on the ground. I couldn't even reached out for my phone which was just above me. I couldn't move at all.. The medic thought i have neck injury and had my neck supported with the neck brace."

Me: "So what did the doc say? Is it because you drank too much last night?"

Jeremy: "No la, i wasn't drinking. Doc say my potassium was abnormally low.. And it has nothing to do with drinking last night. Doc cannot explain why my potassium dropped so much in a span of 24hrs. Anyway, i had 3 bags of potassium drip.. I feel much better but i still have to see the heart specialist."

Me: "For what?"

Jeremy: "The lack of potassium will stop my heart from beating.. So need to see specialist to ensure my heart is ok.."

Me: "....."

When i left for home, he was his usual self. Gotta visit him tomorrow.

Bless him, my Lord.

3 = 21

2008-11-03T20:07:00.001+08:00

Happy Birthday to my dear rascal, Peanut!

She's 3 dog years old. 3 cheers for Peanut.

Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!

Actually, she's 21 human years old. So it should be 21 cheers for Peanut.

Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip hooray!

Fear me. Fear me not.

2008-10-29T18:21:00.004+08:00

It's been a while..

The last time i flared up, it was more than 10 years ago..

At my granny's place, during CNY reunion dinner with my 2 aunties.

It was such a wreck. There were so much vulgarities coming out from my mouth that night. And it had to be against my own blood kin, my dad's sisters. I never regret what i did.. It was all to protect my mom.

Long story short. My parents had divorced for some years, my 2 aunties started bad mouthing my mom in front of me, gave them a nice and harmless warning, they kept talking about it, the more they talked the more agitated i became, frustrated and boiling, Jaime was turned into a T-rex, scolded both of them, they got a shock, both aunties gang up against me, me against the 2 of them while the rest of the family looked on stunned, vulgarities and shouts were heard at the end of the road. Eventually i left because my granny was crying.. That's what happened.

And these few days, my temper is back..! This time, it's my dear useless wealthy cousin. My cousin threatening my brother. I asked my uesless cousin for a meet up? He doesn't dare to meet me. Guess he's scared, scared that i will tear him apart.. :)

I become a horrible person when i flare up. Every word that comes out from this angry body is vicious.. Every plan to bring the enemy down is vicious. Everything about me when i flare up is.. Horrible!

I hate myself when i flare up.

I hate it even more when someone tried to bully my loved ones!

Back off Alan! I'm warning you..

Workcation

2008-10-18T15:05:00.000+08:00

Workcation = Work + Vacation

I was in BKK last week from 05 - 13 October 2008 for work and vacation. I was there to train Wee, one of our new team member who joined us recently, and to take a short needed break.

While i was half way training Wee (my new colleague), the series of protests erupted again.. This time it was quite bad.. There were the police, protesters, tear gases and lemon bombs. 2 protesters were dead and hundreds were injured. It was really sad to see a protest leading to deaths and injuries.

But it was a different view from our side. I didn't witness the protest as we weren't even near the protest grounds. Everyone still goes to work. Everyone still goes out for meals and shopping. Life still goes on in BKK.. No protest is stopping the locals. It was the power of media that painted the pictures ugly... I know because i can read about the protests everyday on papers.

I am really blessed that the protests didn't get any worse during my visit there. I still do what i do in BKK; work, barramundi fishing, fabulous shopping, thai food, foot massages..

Nothing.. Not even the protest had got in my way. No matter what happens.. I still love Thailand. :)

Images of my trip, images and videos of our fishing trip are found in my Facebook profile. Cheers!

A party in Botanic

2008-09-21T12:08:00.003+08:00

Snow White Chan celebrated her birthday in Botanics Garden. We were invited by Mag and so we brought Peanut and Furbie to attend her party.

It's been a while since i last visit Botanics.. If i'm not wrong, my last visit was... 20 years ago?? :p

Yes, i'm that old.. But not that old. I still look like 20s OK?!

Anyway, it looked very different now. It's like Central Park. You will see leisure activities.. Like people lying on the grass, jogging, bringing their pooches for a run, leisure walking, photo taking.

We didn't stay long at Snow White's party because it was very warm.. It was a hot day. Having shaded places doesnt help you much in humid Singapore.

Peanut looking at passerbys.. I was so worried that she will be barking crazily, but surprisingly she didn't.

Furbie looking at Joel and Peanut who were sprinting off. Furbie can run but she very lazy to run.. I had to, "C'mon Furbie.. Run Furbie Run." to catch up with Joel and Peanut.

That's my girl and that's my guy. :)

Peanut and Furbie taking a break at Snow White's party. It was held at a pavilion by the Swan Lake. There were 4 other dogs beside Snow White. It was supposed to be an All White Dog Party. But we can't possibly not bring Peanut, can we? She is after all our baby. :)

Happy Birthday Snow White!

BTW, Snow White is a dog if you haven't realise. :p

Hotel hop hop hop

2008-09-13T22:24:00.002+08:00

I have always miss Hong Kong since my last visit was 7 years ago.. But i realised it ain't so.. Before i stepped into Hong Kong, i have always missed everything about Hong Kong. Until this trip..

Shopping was ok. Cheap shopping? Not really.. Then what do i enjoyed during this trip? It's the Goose and YUM CHA! Other than that, everything was alright. Yar, i'm a bit surprised myself too.. I can remember going Hong Kong with Anne, Karine, Suzanah, Jane and Mavis on several seperate trips.. I really enjoyed shopping there, but this time round? I didn't.

Everything is so ex! The transport, the shopping, the food, everything! And try Mongkok's Langham place on a Saturday afternoon and you will see 'people mountain people sea'.. The sight was scary.. The people there other than the hotel crew and the Hongkies i knew, were not very.. erm.. you know, polite. BUT! There is something i still love about Hong Kong.. Their nostaglic Star Ferry, super fast MTR, comfortable winter season and delicious YUM CHA! I really miss Yum Cha..

And you know what?

Macau was fun..! Because we get to hotel hop hop hop! The htoel hopping revives me of my memories in Vegas when i was a kid! Too bad we didn't get a chance to stay for a night at MGM but we vow we will go back Macau for a trip and with the release of China visa soon, we will cross over Zhuhai for shopping and spa!

Macau, anyone?

For pictures, please refer to my Facebook. Too lazy to load here.. :)

Unrest

2008-09-02T16:02:00.003+08:00

in Bangkok lead us to........
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
HONG KONG!

It was such a disappointment that we couldn't go Bangkok but at least we're going Hong Kong! It's not the ideal time to go now (i want to go when it's ~~cold~~ cool and nice, like in Nov or Dec) but it's another alternative to consider. Oh well..

Departure in 2 days time.

God bless Thailand.
God bless our holiday to Hong Kong and Macau.

Tokyo? Taipei? Hongkong? Perth?

2008-08-21T16:53:00.005+08:00

Which one should i go?!

I have special special airfare for Tokyo..
I want to go Taipei or Hongkong.
I don't mind Perth for a relaxed trip with Sam and family.
Which one? Which one?!

Anyway, i know i have 1 trip to look forward in 2 weeks time. Time for a well deserved break. :)

Goodbye Dahlia,

2008-07-31T00:06:00.001+08:00

Hellooooooo Jalan Loyang Besar!

Shagadoodadooooo

2008-07-29T23:55:00.000+08:00

Yup, we're moving again. :)

It was mad house!

I worked from home and when the clock hit 4. Everything was shut down (my work laptop) and i started packing. Joel came home, we changed and went to pick the dogs up from our new place. They were there earlier to avoid our Landlord. :)

Anyway, we came back and started packing again. Yup, we packed and packed and packed. It was like there was a time line to follow, like how Tim Gunn chased his designers to WORK IT.

We filled the van, courtesy of Fisherman Ivan and 2 trips later, all our clothings are in the new place now. Sweet.

And my 42" Scarlet will be delivered tomorrow! :)

I am finally getting

2008-07-21T10:24:00.001+08:00

my Q1 incentives!! Yeah!

It's such a long and frustrating wait but all is sweet now. Very sweet.. :)

Still no pay out

2008-07-06T18:21:00.001+08:00

This is dreadful..

No pay out for my Q1 yet and Q2 has just ended. :(

Empty Promises

2008-06-30T14:18:00.002+08:00

Yup, no news about my promotion and incentives.

I am suppose to be promoted to Level 2 Executive wef 01 May, but todate? No news, nothing. My HR is still pending..

And our Q1 incentives, payment due in May. And todate, we're still pending for our payment. HR is already 1 month late and they say payment by end July.

Who is running the company?!!

1 more

2008-06-23T18:49:00.002+08:00

Review to go before Peanut is given a clean bill of health.

Yup, my rascal Peanut is sick. She injured herself while caged and was squinting badly when i returned home on Wed. Sent her to 1 of her vets and was diagnosed with Cornea Ulcer!

Her Vet: "Aiyo.. Her cornea ulcer is bad. You can see that 70% of her eye is injured but luckily there is no blood."

Thereafter, Peanut was back to anti-biotics again.

Again??

Yup, she was previously on a 10 days anti-biotics due to her skin problems. And now she's back on anti-biotics again for 7 days.

Peanuttt! You loved anti-biotics huh?

Anyway, she is recovering and doing very well now. :)

Thanks Danny. Thanks Mark. She's will regain her full sight back. :)

I need a holiday!

2008-06-22T18:57:00.000+08:00

I need a shopping or beach therapy soon!

Me and my kaypo-ness

2008-05-13T13:34:00.002+08:00

Yup.. Don't know why i sooooooooooo kaypo! Serve me right for feeling so miserable now..

Yesterday, i received a mail from my boss asking me to prepare myself for training with our new colleague who will be joining us in June. So i scrolled down the mail to see when she's coming in.. As i scroll down, i saw something i shouldn't have..
Devil is trying to distract me here. You think i don't know that it's your evil scam? Thank goodness i have Abba! So beat it, Devil!

I actually saw how much my new colleague is getting paid! %^$@#&

It's 30% more than what i'm being paid now! Why? Why? Why...? And the best part is..? I'm waiting for my promotion notification, which my HR is pending for my CEO approval and my boss's review of me. How encouraging is that?! I don't need a promotion if i know there won't be any increment. I rather be the lowly paid staff who comes in late and leave work early. :P

Abba, I want the same salary and if not, MORE than what she's getting! :)

*roar*

Cliff Hanger

2008-04-08T11:52:00.002+08:00

I'm a cliff hanger, i will hang on to You no matter what is to come;

Devil shall not not have his way because i have You,

With You in my heart, i will survive and glorify You with our testimonies.

5

2008-03-30T15:57:00.005+08:00

After 2 years of dating and 3 years of living together, me and Joel have been together for 5 years on 21 Mar 2008. :D

This year, we didn't have any celebration because his granny Mama Jenny passed away on 20 Mar 2008.

And since 24 Mar, we're back dating again.. :)

During the weekdays, i'm at my mom's and working my ass off. And on weekends, i'm with him and Peanut. You see, we've been having conflicts so much so that we literally cannot see eye to eye. It was tough and sour.. Almost every other day, we will disagree with each other and end up sleeping with a heavy heart. And that's no good! After many thoughts and confessions, we knew that we were so 'used' to each other that we took each other for granted. Habit, bad. It was either stay or leave. I chose to STAY AND BE HAPPY.

We decided that it is best we only see each other on weekends and on weekdays, it's me and my work and for Joel, its him and his networkings.

Although it feels weird in the beginning, i kinda enjoy the space i have now and for him, he definitely enjoy the freedom he has. And most importantly, i felt 'wanted' again.. It couldn't get any better.. :)

Four

2008-03-27T21:10:00.003+08:00

I just received news.. My ex-colleague Jane from Zuji and her husband who was an ex-colleague of mine at Ken-Air, Kevin Bong? They were called home to God this morning..

Baby girl escapes horrific car crash which killed parents, brother and grandma

Update 28 Mar 2008

Four killed in family holiday tragedy

They were not forgotten..

2008-03-22T03:30:00.001+08:00

We just came back from Joel's granny cremation. It was sad and happy, mixed feelings.

Since Joel and his family found out about her passing, we have been going to her wake every night. It was the least we could do.

Today is the day. There were tears but no cries. It was a solemn funeral service, memories and tears gushing in. Everyone were strong even when her soul less body was pushed in to cremate. There was a big sigh of relief. Mama Jenny had a long suffering life.

From what i gather, Mama Jenny is a saint. She was raised as a Christian. She married into a family where she's the only Christian. At times, she had to go on a hungry stomach because she didn't want to eat the food that was offered to the idols. She was educated in Raffles Girls and Raffles College and taught in SCGS for many years before she retired. She had 3 sons and Joel's dad was the youngest. Due to tough times, she had to give her 2nd son away. She was always happy and she remembered all her grandchildren's birthdays. As she aged, her eye sight started to fail her. Sadly, we lost her on 20 Mar 08.

Although i have not met her personally, having hear what she been through, it really touch my heart. What impresses me most about Mama Jenny was that throughout her life, she NEVER lost her cool! Not a single moment..

After the cremation, the whole family was told that Mama Jenny had prepared an envelope for them. It was a A4 size brown envelope, sealed and signed by Mama Jenny. Everyone in the family received a letter written by her. She actually had eveyone's gifts sealed up 12 years ago! She didn't forget Gavin, Elisa and Joel's share. She even remembered what Elisa loved.. The moment the 3 siblings received their gifts, they all bursted out in tears. For the 1st time, i've seen Joel cried.. It was too much for them. But.. They were delighted to know that they still stand a place in her heart.

Goodbye Mama Jenny. God has called you home. Mama Jenny, please bless the whole family. I know you will. :)

In loving memory of

Mama Jenny Chia

1912-2008

A lady with the biggest heart

Called home to God

2008-03-20T12:29:00.001+08:00

We just received news. Joel's paternal grandmother passed away peacefully this morning. She was 95.

Shanghai

2008-03-16T03:30:00.015+08:00

On 08 Mar 2008, i flew to Shanghai for a whole week of work. I'm glad that i flew on SQ and not GA. If GA, i think i will be dreading this trip.

After arrival, we went over to collect our luggage. And i was greeted by this.

What in the hell is that? Welcome to Shanghai..? Worst welcome signboard i've ever seen.. So cheap.

Anyway, that's not the worst part. The worst was they have so many belts and they had to arrange 2 flights to 1 belt when the rest are empty and not even in operation. Can you image? SQ and Emirates arriving at the same time, using the same belt? SQ was 95% full, Emirates more or less 95% full too.

The no of people crowding the belt.. Collecting your luggage at this point was like crazy. Lucky my luggage was out earlier.

When we stepped out of the Airport, i had a weather shock. It was cold, i was smoking without a cigarette! Cool.

Having only 8 days in Shanghai, Sun 09 Mar 2008 was the only day i could sightsee and it's cold today. When there's no wind chill, it's cool. But when the wind comes.. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!

The hotel we stayed, The Bund Hotel 金外滩酒店 is conveniently located to most of the major attractions in Shanghai. The Bund 外滩, Nanjing Road Pedestrian Walk 南京路步行街 and People's Park人民广场, all within 5 minutes walk.

If SIN has 4 seasons, we can have such lovely landscape too. But if SIN really going to have 4 seasons, please have it like Hongkong where they don't snow!

Look at the wires, the walls, the street.. Everything's so 上海滩! So nostalgic, i like. If there's a history behind it, i will lagi like it more.

How can you not love these kind of buildings? Well, i do.. I cant stop snapping pictures of these pictures.. Too bad i don't have a proper and good camera with me.. Sponsors please! :p

This is The Bund.. The famous 夜上海夜上海你是个不夜城... The whole of Shanghai is in a mess. They are building their Circle Line, just like us. But they have a dateline to complete. They're trying to get the whole of Shanghai ready for Expo 2010. The last Expo was at Japan 2006.

We took a river cruise and view from the cruise was awesome.

Pearl of the Orient Tower. We didn't go up there. We didn't have time to play tourist. By the time the cruise ended, it was 1pm.

We had to rush to Lujiabang Road 陆家浜路 for some tailored pants. It's like Jalan Sultan Textile Centre but every shop is a tailor shop. Please remember to bargain.. My trench coat was offered initiately at 480RMB, but with my mom's bargaining skills, we managed to convince them for 400RMB.

With some day light left, we went Chenghuangmiao 城隍庙. It's a street with nostalgic buildings that have been restored. It's a shopping street, you can find fakes, fakes and more fakes here. Other than that, it will be a ground where you can find some local snacks.

I like this place because its huge and nostalgic. Very Ming or Qing dynasty..

They have alot of Tea Houses here which were located on the 2nd floors. There were alot of Goldsmiths too and alot of local snacks.

After a whole 8hrs of daylight, we went Pedestrian Walkway 步行街 for some shopping. It's Orchard Road. Nothing special but nice buildings.

Nanjing Road. It is quite long, there is Nanjing Road East and West But main attraction is here, Pedestrian Walkway.

We ended the night early because I HAVE TO WORK THE NEXT DAY.

10 Mar 2008, Hotel visits.

11 Mar 2008, Hotel visits.

12 Mar 2008, Hotel visits.

13 Mar 2008, Hotel visits.

14 Mar 2008, Sabre office in Shanghai to follow up on our hotel visits. Suppose to leave early but too many things to do.. Left office at 6 for Quanjude Peking Duck全聚德北京鸭 at Huaihai Road 淮海路, another Orchard Road. Duck was DELICIOUS!

15 Mar 2008, finally i can do some shopping.. We went Qipu Road七浦路, notorious fake markets. I didn't buy much, besides the fakes this is also their fashion mall. Jeans, tops, coats, leggings, anything you need to style yourself from top to botom. 3 hours later, we were on our way to Airport for our flight back.

SIN is sweet.

PS: SIN is not oily. SIN is not salty. :)

夜上海

2008-03-08T00:15:00.002+08:00

Just arrived in Shanghai.

It's 5 degree celsius, so freaking cold!

quitsmokingforgood

2008-03-02T19:00:00.000+08:00

Today, Me started a new medication which may take 1 month or longer..

Chantix
It's all about getting there.

Joel has started before me and is seeing progessive change. :)

Bless us, Abba! Give us the strength!

It was nice catching up..

2008-03-02T16:47:00.002+08:00

I was at Expo for Natas Fair yesterday. I was there purely to waste some time and to pay Evon a visit. If i don't, she will be mad!

Queue to get into Natas was crazy, the queue started at Hall 4B and all the way to Hall 6! I could have simply walked to the back of the hall and got in from there, but i just walked to the counter and pay for my admission. Don't know why i did that for..

Anyway, it was a pleasant visit. I met up alot of my ex-colleagues from Ken-Air whom i haven't seen for a long time.. There was Suzanah Rahim who is now Suzanah Lim, Kents, Anna, Jamaliah, Maz, Mr Sunny Goh and Eileen Ong who is a teacher now! Voon who left Zuji last year was at Ad Travel and Paul who left Zuji on Fri freelancing at Nam Ho. And there was the usual khaki, the Phua sisters, Evon and Eileen.

It was nice seeing all of them.

But it's nicer to learn that i can buy my mom's travel insurance with Natas discount ONLINE!

Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok)

2008-02-24T19:09:00.002+08:00

I went back Bangkok 3 days later after i came back from Phuket.

As usual, me, Stephane and Louis left on the same flight. Isabel was forced to take the earlier flight alone.For safety reason, you don't usually put all the eggs in the same tray. Duh!

Anyway, i'm extremely excited about this conference because we're staying at State Tower!! The last time i was here, it was Meritus Suites State Tower. Now? It's Lebua State Tower.

Lebua State Tower, located at end of Silom Road before Shangri-La Hotel. It's a 5 star, not the top grade but good enough. Our Sydney hotel was a 4 star ok?!

After 3 years and a change of management, their Lobby changed too. But there's no change in the room, it still had the same decor.

After we checked in, we went Paragon for dinner, Japanese. And our post dinner exercise?Marketing! It's sort of our must-have culture, guess it's a Chai Chee habit we've developed. Anyway, we also dropped by Suan Lum Night Bazaar for some designer shopping.

20 Feb 2008, 1st day of Conference. There were alot of familiar faces and new faces. Everyone was perky and happily chatting away. It was a good start.

Me, Stephane, Isabel, Helen and Elitea. It was good catching up with them.

Like Sydney, our schedule in Bangkok are packed! After a whole day of conference, we had to rush back to wash up for our cocktail party at Millennium Hilton Bangkok which is across the river. After 2 pure hours of drinking, party did not end there... We were being sent back to Sky Bar (State Tower famous bar right at the top on 64th floor) for more drinks, compliments from Roshan (Grant's my boss, he is Grant's boss).

Alot of people likes here to come here for a drink and boy, it wasn't cheap! Isabel came before and she paid 1500baht for a glass of champagne! Me? Boss's treat.. :)

21 Feb 2008, 2nd day of Conference. Night ended late last night. Due we were behind schedule, we had to start early today. As usual, everyone was tired. I can see most of us yawning. Agenda after agenda, discussion after discussion. We're still behind schedule! Damn! Everyone's tired but we have something to give our energy a boost. Massage!

Yes, we have 3 masseurs exclusively for us. Relaxation was very much needed here.

Half way through the conference, i had to sneaked out to meet Suz to pass her my room card. Our day did not end after conference, dinner was in the schedule. A few of us had to rush dinner because we had our massage booked at Healthland. I didn't enjoy the massage, it was painful.. I guess it could be because its nearing closing time, my Thai masseur rushed through the whole massage! Gosh..

22 Feb 2008, last day of Conference. Yes, we're going on a tour. Why do we always do an excursion on the last day of conference?? Why? It's so freaking tiring after the excursion..

Anyway, we were ordered to meet at 6.55am in the Lobby. Then we were led by the Thais to see Temple of Dawn, Chao Praya River and Flower Market. And we were given a task, to buy materials to build Loy Krathong (floating lantern).

Grant giving a talk in the tour bus. Never seen him so casual before. I guess everyone never seen each other so casual before.

View of Chao Praya River at 7.30am. The river is getting busy with all the ferries shuttling here and there carrying boatloads of people.

Chao Praya River was scary.. With so many boats ferrying here and there, swells were quite huge. I was seated at the window and when our boat took off, i shrunk and moved to aisle. Luckily, i was seated at the right place at the right time. The other side of the boat was showered by the river! Whew..

Temple of Dawn. Never been here although i frequent Bangkok alot. Maybe i've been here before, when i was young.

My team at the steep steps of Temple of Dawn.

Along the way, we were usher to this nearby temple where we can fish feed.

Mekong cat fish feeding frenzy!

After some shopping and bargaining at the Flower Market, we were sent back to State Tower for our task, Loy Krathong building. My team, Pretty Pretty *roll eyes* bought many roses. There were about 200 roses. Yeah, we were crazy. We were literally shopping blindfolded. ;p It's so freaking cheap, 1 bouquet of 50s at 50baht! We were shown how to build one and the rest is up to our creativity. And being Team Pretty Pretty, our theme of course is.. Romantic. *roll eyes*

This is the collection of all 5 teams. My team was so good that we had time and spares to make a 2nd krathong.

And all 6 krathongs floated! None sank..

And this is my krathong with help from Lauren, Esther, Helen, Atsushi and Alice. It looks more like a table top flower arrangement than a krathong.

Sadly after lunch, we had to continue our conference. 1 hour into the conference, i was fighting very hard to keep myself awake. Lucky we had a break out session with Brian Kim from USA. And the next thing i knew, it was 6pm.

I ran back to my room, grabbed Suz and left for MBK. We had to go through a jungle of smog before we reached the BTS station. If we have taken taxi, i don't think we will be there in 20mins time. And with more time to spare, Suz happily went bra shopping. After many set of bras, we went pedicure!

Suz's and mine. Mine is the french manicure with flowers. Hers is the hawaiian blue flowers.

Hungry and tired, we went Chinatown for seafood.

23 Feb 2008, Home Sweet Home Day. We went Chatuchak to buy my pants.

I bought my pants! :)

I bought my 1140baht pants! :(

I bought my freaking miserable 10 baht discount pants! :<

Single

2008-02-19T23:52:00.000+08:00

Wished Joel is here with me...

My Suite is too big for me.

Welcome to Bangkok.. AGAIN.

2008-02-19T23:50:00.000+08:00

This month will be my 2nd time in Bangkok. -.-

This time it's for Conference.

poot Thai mai keng

2008-02-16T18:23:00.000+08:00

Bangkok was as usual, Good. Food and lots of local designer shops.. *joy joy joy*

Met up with Gavin's Thai friends on our last night in Bangkok. We had seafood dinner at Ratchada, opposite the (in)famous Carribean (aka high class club). His friend Sak and friends were a happening bunch.. How happening? After dinner, we were being invited to Slim, a disco in RCA. It's designed by one of them. The club has 3 areas, Live Band, R&B and Trance. We were ushered to Slim's VIP area with 3 waiters servicing us exclusively. And they drank non-stop on a work day night! When we left, they were still drinking.

This is a glimpse of Slim's R&B room. It was packed on a Monday night.

On Tue morning, we departed Bangkok for Phuket. We stayed at Benyada Lodge in Surin, a small boutique hotel with good reviews.

As usual, we rented bikes to get around in Phuket. The number of beaches they have in Phuket is crazy. There're beaches where it is so secluded that you have to take a water taxi, I must visit Freedom Beach in time to come! And there is Paradise Beach, the route in was horrible. Up and down the steep slope, our bike at full throttle can only climb at 20km/h. :(

This trip, we've seen most of Phuket beaches.. Nice ones, dirty ones, secluded ones and 3 beaches at one go!

This is Karon View Point. From here, we can see (in running order from the top to bottom) Patong, Karon and Kata.

It's so breathtaking here. The beaches.. I WANT TO RETIRE HERE!

This is the 1st beach we chilled. It's a beach we discovered while riding. We saw "Go to Beach" signage along the way, we just turned in and have a look.

Yanui Beach. This environment reminds me of Khai Island. They have snorkelling and kayaking. We went kayaking. It was actually nice to kayak until Joel threaten to flip the kayak. :(

See this part of Yanui. Beach is split by the rocks, just like Khai Island.

The 2nd beach we chilled was Surin. We've been Surin last year, this year how can we not chill here?

I was chilling when i took this picture with my handphone. Dunno why, just felt that it will be a nice picture. And it turned out nice. :)

Joel and his frowns.. He always do that because of the sun.. Do you know how sunny it was?!

While we were chilling there, we had a little experience. An experience i will never forget.

Danny, remember we were in Patong where we played with the waves? Patong has big waves huh? Surin has bigger!! @_@

Me and Joel were in the waters with a float swimming for the waves. Where the waves were, we were there. After some time, the waves stopped, so we waited and waited and waited. When i was about to give up wanting to go back. A big wave came. Me and Joel embraced for the gush. The next thing i know, we went under water! I can feel Joel on top of me! We were washed up the beach and as the waves subside, we were being pulled back to the waters. When we were recovering from the 1st hit, another came in and swept us underneath the water again! Trying to compose ouselves, the 3rd wave came and hit us! This time, i can feel the current pulling my pants off! With all my might, i held on to my pants. :p Then came the 4th hit. Having to drink quite a bit of water and being thrown here and there. We immediately stood up and walked to higher grounds.

We were filled with sand all over! My hair was sandy, my bikinis were filled with a ton of sand and my thigh & back were bruised (the throwing around against the sand has caused abrasion to my thigh and back).

Price for float: 100baht
Price for sunglass: SGD60
Price for experiencing a little "tsunami": PRICELESS!

I really cannot imagine those who went through hell during the tsunami. It must have been 10 times worst than what we've experienced. Our heart goes out to all those who survived and those who did not.

Anyway, back to happy things.. 天灯! It's a traditional in Taiwan and we saw lots of the lanterns at Patong. Vendors going around, "150baht. 150baht, sir? 150baht."

The lanterns lit up the dark sky.

In Taiwan, lanterns were lit up and set off to float away bringing your well wishes to Heaven. In Patong? Novelty.. Smart. What happens after that? The lantern will burn out the fuel and it will disappear from the sky. As of where it dropped to? Sea of course, unless your ship is in its pathway. :)

And there were also fireworks! I guess there were fireworks every night because we've seen 2 out of 3 nights in Patong streets.

Fireworks at Patong. Nice.. It could be a CNY celebration.

6 nights in Thailand ended quickly.. How i wished i can stay longer in Thailand..

新年快乐!

2008-02-07T00:24:00.001+08:00

This is the only CNY decoration we have in office and we bought it ourselves.

Have a Happy, Blessed and Prosperous Lunar New Year!

Hanging tough because of You

2008-01-30T13:15:00.000+08:00

Abba,

I've been hanging tough for the past 4 months,

I'm almost at my limit and You knew,

I wanted to let go,

But the thought of Devil laughing away at our fall, gave me strength;

I don't know how much longer i can handle,

I know You can feel our frustration and anxiety,

I will give my all because i can see our blessings coming..

One glorious day, we shall have Your never-ending blessings!

Hang tough, Joel. Hang tough, Jaime.
Do not let go..
For Abba is opening his arms,
Especially for us.

2008, 1st Quarter

2008-01-15T12:36:00.000+08:00

I will be travelling so much so that.. For the 1st time, the travelling plans are freaking me out.

09 - 14 15 February 2008
I'm going Bangkok and Phuket for Leisure. ~~There might be a change of plans..~~ Thanks to Jetstar, we have to extend 1 more night in Phuket and apply 1 more day of leave. Crap!

19 - 23 ~~or 26~~ February 2008
I'm going ~~either Kuala Lumpur,~~ Bangkok ~~or Hong Kong~~ for Conference. ~~Date to be confirm.~~ I will be coming back SIN on 23 February 2008. Suzanah will be joining me in Bangkok on 21 February 2008 and she's jumping for joy! :)

~~02 - 08~~ 08 - 16 March 2008
I'm going Shanghai for Business. ,~~Date to be confirm~~. If my mom's coming along with me together ~~i will extend.~~

Abba, bless my pocket! Bless it abundantly! :)

A purpose

2008-01-12T17:08:00.000+08:00

Left home to Tampines for a purpose,

Before i reach Tampines it started drizzling,

Walking to my destination i realised i left it at home,

It started raining heavily,

By the time i reached home, i am drenched!

Limping Peanut

2008-01-12T15:38:00.001+08:00

This girl of mine.. Super hyper. One fine day, we found her limping on her left. Sent her to the Vet. Vet said, she may have injured herself while jumping up and down. Lucky no inflammation. *roll eyes*

We had to bandage her leg if not she will lick and lick and lick.

When she's home, she can still play with Happie.. My goodness, the pain didn't stop her from jumping on and off the sofas and chairs too. She was confined in my room during this period.

Few days of confinement, her left leg recovered. :)

But the very next day she recovered, we found out that her right leg was limping and swollen too.

AIYOH!!

30 is the new 20s

2008-01-06T12:05:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me..
Happy Birthday to me.

Welcome to the club.

What club? Well, when you hit 30, there's a club you will join.. Anyway, i was warmly welcome to the club by member Mavis and member Nee. Wahahaha.. ;p

This morning, i woke up? I received many well wishes.. Mark, Marcus, Angela, Danny, Ian, Destiny, Mavis, Suzanah, Anne and Nee.. And how can we forget Joel?

Thank you all who have wished me a good day and thank you to the rest who will be sending their well wishes in for the rest of the day.

:)

2 more days..

2008-01-04T09:43:00.001+08:00

I will be 30.

It's my blog

2008-01-02T20:32:00.000+08:00

and i can't write what i want... Why?

Because there're some shit stirrers lingering around.. I have no reason to be frighten of.. It's the aftermath.. Some shit stirrers give you serious shit.

And for you,
STAY AWAY FROM MY BLOG.. FRIENDS OF MINE ARE WELCOME HERE, SHIT STIRRERS AREN'T!

Have a blessed 2008!

2008-01-01T09:39:00.000+08:00

I'm going to be 30 in 5 days time.. *gulp*

God tries to find a way in your heart

2007-12-27T13:45:00.000+08:00

but you turned Him away.

And all Devil has to do? He attack you. He started all these little fires around you to destroy that little faith you have for Him. And i can see your faith draining away bit by bit.. Stop putting out the fire and concentrate on our Abba and Jesus.

If you want to fall, i can fall with you. I will used all my faith to ask Abba to bring you back into His arms.

Don't give up on Him. Don't give up on me too.

Because the 3 of us together, we will kick Devil's ass!! :)

AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

2007-12-25T09:44:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to Jesus Christ..
Happy Birthday to You!
Woooooooah!

Warning
I have to crush your childhood fantasy of Santa Claus..

Santa Claus was a make believe by the Devil.. He wanted to use Santa to subsitute Jesus so people will forget Jesus Christ on this day.. Well, it's not working for me.

Do you know that S A N T A = S A T A N?? Try re-arranging the spellings..

Well, now you know.. (",)

Exclusive Sneak Preview of..

2007-12-23T01:27:00.000+08:00

Nissan GT-R!!

The only 1 in SIN.. It was advertise as Godzilla! Roaaaaaar! It was the Premium GTR selling at $325,000!

And we were there to view this Japanese beauty.

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fearsome among all?

It's a kickass car with a kickass fender and a kickass price tag. *gulp*

Joel and Gavin are in love with this Godzilla. Joel was contemplating to buy or not to buy.

Needless to say, he and Gavin feels that the car is built for them.

And this was the sidekick in the showroom which was neglected.. A Porsche being neglected? Poor Porsche..

I had my D&D yesterday at Shangri-la

2007-12-15T21:15:00.000+08:00

16 Dec 2007 update:
With an attendees of 1000 and only 10 lucky draw prizes, Joel came home empty handed. How miserable.. Their D&D Committee is lousy.

and Joel is having his D&D right now at Swissotel.

Praying hard that he will bring back the big lucky draw prize. :)

My lucky draw prize? Was a Royal Selangor Letter Opener.. :(

Zuji Globetrotter's Race

2007-12-15T14:32:00.000+08:00

Oh boy, i had so much fun.. It's not the real Amazing Race but it's good enough.. Enough to quench my desire.. It's not easy, it's tiring when there's alot of running! I think i ran more during the race than when i jogged during the week.

We had to dress up according to our team (which was assigned weeks ago) colour. There were Japan in white, China in red, Spain in yellow, Italy in green and Australia in blue. The amount each team spent to win the Best Dressed Team was madness.. We, Team Australia? Spent only $7.. hehe

Team Japan. They had 2 of their members wearing kimono and the 2 members were expecting a leisure time since they were in kimono.. And, they were wrong! They had to run with the team.. I gotta admit, they had the best cheer moves. Bring it on!

Team China. Their cheer? Was in mandarin! So appropriate. Other than that, i don't remember much because they weren't outstanding.. Sorry guys..

Team Spain. When Junaidiho Carlos (Flag Bearer) is the team leader and when it is a soccer country, you will have to back off. No one can beat his dress up.. From Junaidiho's words, they spent $80 on every prop they used! The yellow t-shirts, the band-aids, the glitter cloth and the many prints of Spain on their t-shirts. Well deserved Best Dressed Winners indeed! But a bit crazy to spend that much for a Race..

Team Italy. I like their dressed up. The details they put into it was marvellous! Their chef hats with Ratatouille character, their 'Good Morning' towels, moustaches for everyone and kitchenwares!

Team Australia. This is my team. We didn't want to spend so we tried to dress up as much as we can. The Australia flags, the cowboy hat with corks, the boomerangs, the sheeps and the body paintings! We had G'day Mate, Crikey, Aussie Rulez. Best of all, i had WHERE THE BLOODY H**L R U? on my arms.. :)

Race was in Vivocity. When we reached there, reality struck us. It's a Friday and Vivo was already crowded. Gosh.. Passerbys stopped to see what we were up to. It was embarrassing as we had attracted quite a crowd.

After briefing by the emcee, all 5 teams immediately sprung into action. There were 5 stations which we have to complete and rewards to complete for bonus points. Race starts at 4pm and to complete at 5.30pm. Great huh!?

When we had our 1st clue,we were dumbfounded. Yes, that includes my CEO.. No one's perfect. -.-

1st station: The world will be dull if every human being agrees to do without it.
Answer: Money. (HSBC)

2nd station: Minister Mentor Lee
Answer: Harry was MM Lee's name. (Harry @ HarbourFont)

3rd station: I didn't get this. I was busy looking out for our bonus.
Answer: (E-zone at Vivo)

4th: Funky Chunky Monkey
Answer: Duh.. Who havn't heard of it, it's a flavour. (Ben and Jerry's at Vivo)

5th: Sun and Moon out to play (Something like that)
Answer: I don't get this.. But we had the correct guess. (Sunglasses Hut at Vivo)

Anyway, there were many supportive Singaporean out there who helped us complete our tasks. Most of them were shy but when we explained our intentions and that none of the pictures we took will be exposed and will be deleted after the race, they gave us their consent and full support. There were some airheads but most of them were fine. Imagine them being shy, can you imagine us being thick skinned? Yes, my CEO was thick skinned too. :)

We didn't win the Best Dressed Team, we weren't the winners (we came in 3rd out of 5) but we had alot of fun with our CEO who was very sponstaneous! Go Scott!

Word of advice; If you're ever in such a race, always approach the youngsters. They're more sporting.. :)

Getting ready for..

2007-12-12T14:00:00.000+08:00

Zuji Annual Dinner & Dance 2008!

This year, we will have a Race before Dinner. Globetrotter's Race at Vivo City, i'm getting my "Amazing-Race-behaviour" ready.. I will resort to anything to win the Race.. Wahahaha :p

No worries are too big for Abba to handle

2007-12-10T16:37:00.000+08:00

I've been having a lot of worries in my heart recently (which is wrong!).. My worries has brought me down. My blessings have sort of jammed up due to my involvement in the small "fires" around me started by the Devil (Fire Starter or Shit Stirrer are never good or justice). I will only concentrate on Abba and i will not be bothered about the small fires around me.

I'm trying my best to keep worries out of my heart, i think You can feel. Give me the strength to cast all worries out!

All these are no doubt in Abba's hands but, we still need to play our part to make Abba's blessings come at His soonest. :)

Ask and we shall receive!
Ask and we shall receive!

T3 Open House

2007-12-02T22:26:00.000+08:00

Went to T3 Open House with Joel. It was nice.. I hope i can used T3 someday..

Inside Departure Hall after Immigration. Look very HKIA to me. Anyway, you won't see any concrete or cement wall and pillars in here. You will see many fountains and landscape.

It has the same arrival concept as T1 and T2. You know when you arrived and disembark from the plane? You will stroll towards the Arrival Hall, down the escalator and queued up for Immigration before the Luggage Claim Belt? T3 has exactly the same arrangement. They are of the same bloodline, what more do you expect?

Immigration area is huge. I wonder why they would allocate this much area for immigration? Hmm.. I wonder, i wonder.. Cheena and Indee invasion?? :p

This is not a 3D image, this was taken 'live' at the Luggage Claim Belt. Thanks to the lightings (natural lighting from outside and some manmade lighting), this picture looks so 3D-ishy to me..

Anyway, T3 looks fabulous. Everywhere is so bright and metallic. The Green Wall is a feature you can see from the Departure Hall to the Arrival Hall. The cafes, the shops and even their toilets are some of the features you cannot missed.

Coming very soon near you!

Citroen-ians E X E R C I S I N G?

2007-11-07T21:42:00.000+08:00

Street Soccer is their latest game.

According to them, this is going to be a regular weekly routine for them. Hmmm... Wonder how long this routine will last.. My guess? Not more than 6 months. :)

Goups of 4 with 2 spare players.

When a goup of men gathered to play soccer and they ain't pro, you will be amazed by how many screams there were.. Really!

But it's good exercise for all of them. FFF, they named themselves.. FFF? It's French Football Federation ok, not Flabby Fat Farters la..

Joel and Glenn, they're the Starsky and Hutch when they're in the same team.

9pm. When the game stopped, everyone was shagged. I meant Everyone..!

It has been almost 1 month since they started.. And they still pant like a dog after 5 mins of soccer.. :p

She's 2!

2007-11-03T22:42:00.000+08:00

Peanut is 2!! :)

Happy Birthday!!

Farewell Jacqueline

2007-10-31T22:36:00.000+08:00

Your sudden departure caught me by surprise.
I never thought that this day will come so soon.

God bless you.
God be with you.

Conference in Sydney

2007-10-20T13:42:00.000+08:00

My 1st ever conference.. Don't know what to expect.

We had our agendas, we had our fun, we had alot of dinners, we even had a lot of walk to many places.. It was crazy but it was a good get together. :)

01 Oct 2007. Met Stephane and Louis at Changi. After much arrangement, we managed to get our seats together. 7 and a half later, we arrived Sydney International Airport at 7pm. It doesn't look like an airport to me, it was quiet... In fact, too quiet. Only a handful of people in the Departure Hall. Nothing much to see, we left airport for our hotel, Bayview Boulevard at William Street. We hopped into a maxi cab and within seconds, our attentions were all diverted to the meter. Their meter was jumping like every 5 seconds! For every KM travelled, it will cost AUD1.79 and for every waiting time, it's AUD46.20 every hour! By the time we reached Bayview Boulevard, it was about AUD65!

When we reached Bayview's lobby, we were a bit disappointed. It doesn't look like 4 star at all. Well, during this period, hotels in Sydney were quite packed. But luckily, room was refurbished recently.

My room.. Looks good, had a plasma on the wall, ironing board, in room safe and it's quite spacious.

02Oct 2007. We had to be at Sabre's office at 9.30am. Me woke up at 7.30am (gosh.. SIN was 5.30am!!) to prepare and it was pleasant, everyone was there for breakfast. At 9.30pm, we were all greeted with a spectacular view...

My room view, no harbour view..

Across the street are 2 very expensive showrooms.. Ferrari and Maserati. Joel will love staying here.

On our way to North Sydney to Sabre's office. We had to cross the Harbour Bridge. I can see people climbing the Bridge.

It's a nice bridge to climb.. Too bad, i don't have spare time for its bridge climb.

Tadah!! View from Sabre office at Blue Street. I would love working there. Everyday with nice view and not view of HDBs!

And this is the smoking view.. Good huh? Such a good view to relax and collect your thoughts.

After a full day of training, New Zealand Tourim Board treated us happy hour at 25th floor Bar. Free flow of drinks and finger food!

Me and Vivian. She's my Market Manager. She's in charge of Greater China and i'm her Market Coordinator. She's Taiwanese with a US passport based in Shanghai.. Whereas i'm based in SIN. Great working distance. :)

Left to right: Keiran - our senior Market Coordinator based in Sydney, Yograj - Market Coordinator in India, Kritti - India Market Manager, Me and Helen - Korea Market Manager.

Vivian, Kritti, Helen and Me.

03 Oct 2007. Today we start our conference. It was crazy.. From 8.30am to 5pm, agenda after agenda, i was dozing off one after another. Lucky the conference was held in Bayview's Meeting Room. After a long day of agendas, Accor hosted dinner for our contingent at Australia Square's Summit Restaurant.

Front to Back: Me, Louis - Maket Manager for Singapore and Indonesia and Stephane - Market Manager for Malaysia, Brunei and Philippines. We were the 1st to reach.. The rest were late.

View of Sydney Harbour Bridge from Summit Restaurant.. It's a revolving fine dining restaurant.. Good view. Must try.. Dinner from AUD100 per person.

Left to Right: Me, Stephane, Andy - Market Coordinator for North Asia and Geraldine - Merchandising. We were having fun bullying him..

Left to Right: Me, Stephane, Andy, Vivian and Geraldine. It was a pure having fun moment, Andy likes being the centre of attention.

Left to Right: Me, Stephane, Helen - Market Manager for Korea, Isabel - Market Coordinator for SE Asia, Geraldine, Vivian and Kuoniko - Market Manager for Central Japan.

Left to Right: Stephane, Isabel, Louis and Me. All 4 of us are based in Singapore. Jennifer was absent from the dinner.. If not, it will be the 5 of us.

After dinner, some of us gathered for a memory. Too many to name.. Ok, we have Andy, Stephane, Atsushi - Market Manager for Southern Japan, Abdul - Regional Manager of India, Isabel, Helen, Vivian, Kuoniko, Christina - Hotel Operations, Kritti, Me, Louis, Yograj, Erin - Market Manager for Western Australia and New Zealand, Alex - Regional Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Keiran and Elitea - Market Manager for Hongkong, Macau, Taiwan and South China.

04 Oct 2007. Another long day of conference. Another night of dinner hosted by IHG aty Intercontinental Sydney's Harbour Room. View was fantastic. We could see both Harbour Bridge and Opera House. How i wished we stayed here instead..

View from the Harbour Room.. IHG actually booked the whole room for us. Another night of dunno-what-i'm-eating.. I have been stuffing all kinds of food in my mouth since arrival in Australia. Stuff that tasted good, funky and raw.

Me and Vivian taking a moment off gossiping.. There were alot of gossiping in the house!

Helen, Keiran and Vivian.. These 2 ladies had been talking about Keiran, talking about how charming he is, how he looked like David.. Haiz.. He was quite reluctant to take this picture after all the teasing from the both of them.

Back to Front: Louis, Helen, Elitea, Isabel, Vivian, Kuoniko, Geraldine and Me. After dinner, taking a moment off gossiping.. Again. What else is new? Everyday i hear gossip.. I have 4 big gossipmongers in the house!

Geraldine and Andy.. Geraldine was getting worried when Andy started getting loud.. Andy was high on alcohol and he started his nonsense, scaring Geraldine. She's constantly seeking refuge from Me or Louis.

Andy and Stephane. Brother moment.. NO! I meant Sista moment! Because Andy is a sista!

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel. It was cold but a nice walk.

Lousy photography.. Both picture not in place...

05Oct 2007. Last day of conference. Hooray! We started this morning with a Backstage Tour at Opera House. Woke up at 5.45am (SIN 3.45am!!) for the tour.. Tour start at 7.15am. We were divided into 2 groups and tour ends at Opera House staff cafeteria with a sumptumous breakfast. After breakfast, we had to be back at Bayview for half a day of conference.. Damn! Luckily, we Market Coordinators, don't have to sit till the end of the conference. We were given the green light to leave early for some last minute shopping at West Field Bondi Junction before our dinner at Paddington Bowling Club.

When i was taking picture of the Harbour Bridge, Vivian and Louis were running behind me.. Can you see her running?

This is our Opera House Backstage Tour Guide.

Left to Right: Jennifer - Market Manager for Thailand and Vietnam, Geraldine and Me in the Concert Hall.

Me, Helen and Vivian, somewhere in Opera House.

Top to Bottom: Jennifer, Isabel, Stephane, Me, Louis and Geraldine at Opera House steps.

There was Hui Ping, Geraldine, Hemanth, Kuoniko, Alice, Vivian, Jennifer, Me, Paul, Isabel, Louis, Helen and Stephane. Paul is our Hotel Team boss..

The whole Travelocity contingent! About 40 of us, from all over the world, mostly from APAC.

Greetings from Sydney Opera House!

On our way back to Bayview for conference, we walked through Sydney Botanic Gardens. Keiran and Chris was telling us that every evening before the sky gets totally dark, we will see alot of flying objects up in the City sky.. Those were not birds but of these! BATS in the city!

We were let off the last agenda. Thus the 5 of us went Bondi Junction for a break. Shopping, food, puppies... Keiran was sitting in front, that explain why he wasn't in this picture. We were the only 5 that left early.. The rest? They were sulking when we left... hahahaha

This is our very last event in our schedule. Bowling and BBQ dinner at Paddington Bowling Club.. Yup, it's Old Men Bowling. Apparently, youngsters in Australia are falling in love with this sport. Not me.

Celebrating the end of a hectic conference!

We were divided into 8 teams with about 5-6 members in each team. We had to name our teams.. So my team was called Aloof-fool. We had teams naming themselves, Chicken Rice, Kimchi, Team Vegas, etc.. Too many weird names for me to recall.

Louis, Geraldine, Chris and Me. I had to give all my Australian counterpart a hug here because this is where i will leave and not see them till the next conference.

And the very day, i left Sydney for Perth.

Perth WA

2007-10-13T22:41:00.000+08:00

I haven't got all my Sydney photos, so Perth 1st. :)

Me and Joel would like to give Sam and family a round of thundering applause! Thank you very much for your hospitality.. Thanks for showing us around. It was lovely and we had fun. We will definitely come visit you guys again. The next time we come, we will stay longer! ;)

06 Oct 2007. Flew from Sydney to Perth, it's a long 5hrs 20mins journey! Dreadful but excited. Joel and Sam came to pick me. As a token of appreciation for hosting us in Perth, me brought 2 dozens of Krispy Kreme's glazed donuts especially for them. Funny, but you won't be able to find a single Krispy Kreme outlet in Perth.

Many single storey houses at Canning Vale. It was very American style. Something different which i may get used to it VERY WELL. ..

This is a glimpse of their living and dining area. They have an open concept kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 1 game room which is Sam's Little Gym, 1 theatre room which Me and Joel sleeps in, a garage for their 2 cars and a backyard filled with vegetables, fruits and flowers all planted by them.
I was warmly welcomed into their home. Everyone was home, Diana, Qin, Auntie Pauline and Uncle Michael. Many glazing donuts at Canning Vale, we left for Fremantle shortly. Fremantle.. We ate Cicerello's Fish and Chips (No 1 in Western Australia), took a walk in the park and went Fremantle Market for some marketing.

Cicerello's.. Best in Western Australia.. I had some nice ones in Sydney too..

Random shot Joel took while strolling in the park.

Fremantle Market. Lots of fruits and vegetables for sale. Broccolis going for A$1.50 for the size of melon! Cheap cheap cheap.. Rock Melon was in season during our stay in Perth. I think i will love staying in Australia for good, for all their variety of fruits on sale when it's in season.
We made our way to some place near Fremantle to check out the fishing spot nearby.. It was rocky, windy and FREAKING COLD!! Sam and Joel plan to do some overnight fishing there.. @_@

It was North Pole? North Poll? Don't know what Pole or Poll or Toll.. All i know is it's freezing there! Ahhhh... It's North MOLEEEEE.
We end the day with a good feast of Bak Kut Teh. Nice.. My favourite when the weather is cool.. I meant.. COLD!

07 Oct 2007. We woke up early for our 7.30am ferry to Rottnest Island.
Me: "You guys not bringing your rods?"
Sam and Joel: "No need la.."
Guess what? Rottnest Island has lots of fishing spot around the island. You should have seen Sam and Joel's face when they read the map upon arrival. Stubborn. :p When we arrived, it was quiet in the Settlement (the hub of Rottnest). Our 1st thought,"Damn..Looks like a ghost town."Being our 1st time on the island, we were all new to their activities and surroundings. After a check on their tours and buses with the Visitor Centre, we decided to hike our way to Kingston Barracks. It was wrong (to walk when we can cycle.. Anyway, bikes there aren't cheap) and crazy (we weren't dressed properly for hiking) but we had fun. There were alot of munching and we wandered to places that were not in our route. Frankly speaking, we all looked silly walking on the roads when everyone was cycling on the island. So if you're visiting this island, please rent or bring a bike.

Rottnest Island. 30mins ferry from Fremantle or Perth. It's like Sentosa with many beaches and bays with snorkeling, diving and fishing spots all around.

We weren't sure what to do so we hiked to see Rottnest.

Random shot Me took of Joel who went after Sam on finding out where the hell is Kingston!
We ended the day with a Reef and Wreck Tour in a boat that has glass panels underneath. It wasn't sunny anymore when we were on the tour. Thus, we couldn't get a clear view of the wreck.

It was a sunny day but not so sunny when we were on this tour. :(

08 Oct 2007. We woke up really early this morning for our offshore fishing. We had to be at Hilary Harbour at 6am. When we reached there, we were all prepared and excited. This was after all the MAIN EVENT. The boat was filled up to their max.. There were fishing fanatics who flew all the way from Sydney for this trip.. Apparently, this charter is the best in Australia with very good catch report. Unfortunately, it's not a good day. 5mins into the ocean, the sea was getting choppy. 10mins later, the swells were getting bigger and bigger. At some point, the swells were as high as 3-4metre tall! @_@ 45mins later, the skipper suggested a turn back due the weather was not favourable for any fishing. We all agreed to turn back for safety except this guy. Well too bad for him, majority votes were to turn back for our safety. It was very disappointing for Sam and Joel, after all its their 1st offshore fishing trip. They super 'lost form' aka sian.. With the whole afternoon to spare, we went shopping at Harbourtown for Sheridan bedlinen shopping. Sale! Sale! We bought 4 sets of Quilt Cover sets, 2 for my mom and 2 for us. After emptying our pockets (that was our main shopping source), we pop by Canning Bridge for some leisure fishing and dinner was at Hog's Breath with the whole family.

Fishing at Canning Bridge. We thought we fished some mussels but they turned out dead and rotten after some examination. YUCKS!

Hog's Breath Perth. 1 of Perth's best steaks but slow service.
As you can see, this day was not a very eventful day. If we've stayed for a few more days, we will definitely rebooked the offshore fishing and not opt for full refund. Well, i guess we'll have to save the best for our next trip there.

09 Oct 2007. Road Trip! It was a last minute plan. We drove down to Bunbury and Busselton Jetty for some sightseeing and fishing. The distance was like driving from SIN to Malacca. At Bunbury, we wanted to see some dolphins at the Dolphin Discovery Centre. But we were told that there's no guarantee on the sightings. Not wasting any time, we left for Busselton Jetty. A 1.841km long jetty, the longest jetty in Southern Hemisphere. It was indeed a long one. :p

Bunbury Beach.. Sightings of wild dolphins swimming up the beach can be spotted here.. If you're lucky.. Apparently, i don't have the luck. Joel have spotted 2 sightings and i missed each sightings by mere seconds. Damn!

Busselton Jetty. All of us were not dressed properly for the weather that day. We thought it's going to be a good day for swimming and fishing.. But it turned out COLD! It was freezing. The wind was chilling and strong. The Sun was playing hide and seek with us. By the end of the day, all of us were numbed by coldness.. :)

See.. It's a loooong jetty, took me 1 hour to walk in and out. Just this day alone, Me and Diana walked 10km each! The jetty is not an easy walk, it's made of wood and concrete. Admission to the jetty will cost you A$2.50 each and there is an underwater observatory at the end of the jetty. Booking is essential.

Joel and Sam immediately swung into action the moment they stepped on this jetty. Not having the opportunity to fish offshore, they're there for a revenge. Auntie Pauline also eagerly threw hers in while Uncle Michael was ~~chilling~~ her bait man. Me and Diana became the runners. We went to fetch the lunch boxes in the car and later we went to buy more baits for them.

Squid! Joel has been eyeing on catching a squid ever since he lost his skippy (He tried to swing the skippy up but Sam was in his way, so he lost his fish while reeling in) . We made so much noise that everyone came and took a look at his squid. Suddenly.. He was the centre of attraction! Passerbys who gathered around, were all snapping at him with his squid.. Hahaha.
We left at 5pm as the journey home will take us 3hours. We left unwillingly, vowing to come back for 1 night stay and more fishing the next we come back Perth for another visit. There wasn't much catch but we had fun..

10 Oct 2007. Today, we leave Perth for home. Me and Joel were reluctant to come back. Both of us loved the cool weather there, the no-work-retirement-feel-alike pace and the fantastic fishing scene there. The moment we arrived, we were hit by SIN's horrible humidity!

Till now, i'm still trying to adapt to the humidity.. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Getting ready

2007-09-30T12:15:00.000+08:00

for my conference in Sydney. I'm leaving for Sydney tomorrow morning for a 4 days conference.

It's not my 1st time travelleing overseas for work. I've travelled to Australia, China and Taiwan as a tour leader before.. But this time, it's slightly different. I'm not there as a tour leader but am attending a conference with the rest of my colleagues. Never been to a conference, so am a bit lost. God, bless me greatly with the conference. Give me the wisedom i need. Thank you Abba!

Although conference scares me, i have something else to reward me after the conference...

PERTH!! Never been to Perth. Always think that Perth is a BORING destination.. But now? I will have to eat my words. From what i read and research, Perth is full of activities. Anyway, Joel is going to meet me in Perth. He will be there a day earlier to meet up with Sam and we'll fly back SIN together on 10Oct. :)

They've got offshore, beach and bridge fishing which is perfect for Joel and he is really looking forward to it.. Joel's so excited about the fishing scene in Perth that Glenn is complaining to me. About Joel pestering him all week, showing him all the websites about the catches there. :p

Glenn Glenn.. You can't blame Joel. After all Joel knows you like fishing as much as him, he's just sharing his excitment with you, a fishing fanatic. Don't worry we'll take as much pictures as we can.. Maybe, next time you can join us to Perth for more fishing! :)

For me, they've got good snorkeling sites (it's cold there i'm really crazy to even think of it), famous fish and chips (Fish! How can i not love eating them?), original apple strudel (Best in the world! Apple Strudel originate from Fremantle Perth) and SHERIDAN FACTORY OUTLET ( Mom needs 2-3 sets, i need 2-3 sets too.. That's 4-6 sets! Shit.. Our luggage will be overeight..)!!! ^_^

Can't wait.. Can't wait!

Perfect Game.

2007-09-10T23:39:00.000+08:00

300, 12 strikes in a row. Not easy but can be done.

See.. Rachel did it!

Perfect Game. You don't see this often. It can only be seen during...

8 Pins Tap! wahahahaha..

Usually we have to go for 10 pins, right? For this weekly Monday game, as long as you strike 8 pins in your 1st throw for every frame, it's considered a strike. A blue cross.. A "fake" strike, a "gei eh" strike. Get it? A true 10 pins strike commands a red cross if you realised..

Anyway, Joel and his bowling khakis decided to go for their 1st competition. It wasn't a success but it's most definitely a boost of morale for all of them. There were 24 lanes reserved and per lane there were about 3.5 bowlers.. That's 84 bowlers!

Lane open for pratice.. Everyone just cheong and roll their ball. What a sight. 84 bowlers queueing up one after another to roll their ball.. It's like a sushi belt, 1 sushi after another passing your table.

Glenn, Joel and Shaun. 3 brave souls joining their very 1st competition. It's a morale booster and even though they didn't do quite well, they still had fun.

I have a feeling this 8 Pins Tap shall become a weekly event for them.. -.-

Glazing around

2007-09-08T21:35:00.000+08:00

Best Glazed Donut in the world!!

Joel and his obsession

2007-09-04T19:54:00.000+08:00

Bowling.

He has his own shoes, bag, ball and ball cloth bag. -.-

Here's a clip of Joel and his 'Mentor' Ben.

Joel's

Joel's learning and getting tips from Ben. He started out at below 100, now his average is 130.

Ben is GOOD. Ben's hook is scaaaarie... His average is 200 and above when he's not practising.

Randomized

2007-08-31T21:58:00.000+08:00

Peanut and her mood. (".)

Her favourite toy-toy accompanying her.. She and her mood swing.

Peanut in Gavin's room. Ima was cleaning Gavin's room and Peanut? Disturbing Ima, what else?

Peanut and her weird sleeping position.

Peanut resting on Joel. She loves to lie on our chest or body. Bad habit.

Peanut and Joel. It was a random shot. Dunno why she look so stone or should i say, well behaved?

Gill working on Joel's hair. Gill is good but too ex la!

My new watch and my work desk.. Nothing expensive, only practical! :)

Joel's colleague, Ben and his new purchase.. Tag Heur Carrera, dunno what model.

Joel with his colleagues, Glenn and Han at Kim Seng. Bowling is their latest obsession, so much so that all of them bought their own shoes, bag and ball!!

Sorry, we're waiting for this table.

2007-08-13T10:00:00.000+08:00

When i heard it for the 2nd time, i totally ignored the time they spent waiting for our table.

It happen on yesterday at Suntec Food Court. After church, Me and Joel went to have our lunch there. We managed to get a 4 seaters table, that was 1pm coming to 2pm. The food court was still very crowded then. After his main dish, Joel left to buy his dessert and me was left alone (my back facing the passageway) slowly finishing my you mian soup.

This man came along with a tray of food.

Stranger: "Hi, is this seat taken?"

Me: "No, you.. (i was interrupted) "

Bitch: "Sorry, we're waiting for this table."

Stranger: "Oh... Sorry."

WTH!! It never occurred to me that being the 'host' of my food court table, do i not have the say in who can take my other 2 empty seats? After all, there're 2 other empty seats available! Why can't they just simply take their seat and when we leave, it will totally be theirs, right?? Nooooo... They are brainless.. They just want the whole table to themselves! Idiots.

Slowly, my anger was fuming internally. :p

A few moments later, a boy with a tray comes along..

Boy: "Hello, are these seats taken?"

Me: "No, you can.. (Interrupted again, this time by the Bastard)"

Bastard: "Sorry, we're waiting for this table."

Boy: "Er, ok.. (Turning away to look for other table)"

Me: "(Calling out aloud) Xiaodi, sit if you want.. it's available, there are only the 2 of us. Sit, sit.."

By then Joel was back, he sat down and looked at me, asked me what happen. I guess he saw the commotion or maybe he saw the face the Bastard gave me.. Remember? My back was facing the passageway.

Me: "The guy and his girlfriend behind me were stopping other people from taking the empty seats. 1st time, i keep quiet. 2nd time, i had to retaliate. After all, IT'S OUR TABLE, ANYONE WHO ASKED CAN TAKE THE EMPTY SEATS (i was saying it aloud which i think they heard what i said). They should have sat down in the 1st place. Idiots."

Seeing that waiting for our table no longer fulfill their needs of an empty table, they had no choice but to walked away and try their "Sorry, we're waiting for this table" on other tables. By the time we finished, they just sat down on their "own" table.

Well, morale of the story? What comes around, goes around.

Let's not be selfish, people. When a food court is packed and tables are quite full, if you see any empty seats for you and your lunch partner(s), naturally you will asked and take the seats, yar?

Well, these 2 smart asses? They don't!! Is it that difficult to sit next to someone who won't even want to touch you? Even if you give me $50, please... I'm not interested. And don't act high class here hor.. Huh, act high class in food court? Don't eat here la, the food here is too cheap for your high class taste buds! Cannot stylo, don't act stylo.. What a joke.

If you're really that cool, you will take the empty seats and not stand around making other's life a misery! Prick.

Chloe 1

2007-08-11T18:34:00.000+08:00

Time passes by so fast.. Today, Chloe is 1 year old already!! Everytime i looked at her, she reminds me of Nee.. Who else?

Nee and Chongli organised a celebration party for her at Aloha Loyang last night.. The Pool Terrace they booked was a 2 storey holidaglow with retro (in another word, old) interiors, a driveway for about 2 cars, 4 bedrooms (all with attached bathrooms, i think), a big yard, a bbq pit outside the patio, a kitchen with some appliances, a living and dining room and a MAHJONG SET WITH TABLE! What are we waiting for?? :p

Chloe cutting her birthday cake. erm.. Muffins. Nee and Chongli chose this to save the hassle of cutting and distributing a normal birthday cake. Smart!

A cute shot of Chloe.. She looked demure here but she's actully quite a monster! ;p

She loved the muffins... Actually she will love whatever you put in her mouth.. All toddlers are gluttons!

Happy Family of 3, 4th member coming soon in early December. Can you see Chloe sneaking the muffins?

Happy Birthday Chloe!! Next year, you will have a little brother to help celebrate with you!

1 year 7 months.

2007-08-08T10:54:00.000+08:00

That's how long I have been with Zuji. It was ok until i have been slacking since last Aug! @_@

Anyway, we had a Team photo shoot and here are my Zuji NFMS/Service Delivery colleagues.

Left to Right (Top Row): Angela, Karen, Patricia, Michelle, Grace, Jane, Annie, Winny, Yvonne, Angie and Me.
Left to Right (Bottom Row): Wendy, Haslinda, Jessie, Merlin, Kristin and Sook Fun.

Like i mentioned before, Jessie is my teamleader whom i report to and Merlin is the Manager of our department. Merlin recently was promoted to the Head by our CFO. Congratulations!

Due to a change in technology, i may be leaving this department soon and permanently joined Travelocity Hotel Team. I will miss Jessie and Merlin when that happens.. :(

As most of you know, besides in charge of Blue Holidays, i have been helping out Asia Pacific Hotel Team for Travelocity (our parent company) as Market Coordinator for China. Met up with my Market Manager, Vivian on 6Aug. She came to Singapore to meet up with me, her new assistant. She's a funny lady who is Taiwanese and holds a US passport, ok!

It has been a busy 3 days! I had to learn more about what she does, what and how i can help her with, learn more about the MTS/Opex/Ehotels we used, bring her around Singapore to eat (Joel's a great help showing her around). And soon, i have to travel to AUS in Oct for conference, Kunming in Nov (to be confirm) and Shanghai in Dec (this is most likely to happen) to meet hoteliers! What a schedule! What a big hole i'm going to burn!

But i like it! Busy busy busy..

God is good.. God shall make my way up with ease! Thank you Abba.

Happy Birthday Bubbles!

2007-07-31T22:36:00.000+08:00

We didn't manage to celebrate her 1st birthday, so this year, we celebrated for her!! We bought her a cake and she gobbled down her share in 1 gulp!! Another glutton, like Peanut.

She's ribboned nicely waiting for Gavin's return.. She was so adorable then.

Look at her.. Look at that face.. How not to fall in love with such a face?!

Bubbles and Joel. She's obviously distracted by something..

Bubbles at the vet.. Can't remember why we sent her there... Oh yes, her 3rd vaccine.

It's so difficult to get Bubbles to take a picture with her cake.. She's no longer petite and light! This is my best attempt. Look at her birthday greeting card!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Bubbles..

You be a good girl, don't pounced on me so often, k? You will always have a place in my heart, right after Peanut. Both of you are my darlings! :)

The RUDE List

2007-07-29T14:45:00.001+08:00

This week's 8Days caught my attention.

The Rude List

Observing aloud that people of a race different from yours all look alike.
Allowing your gaze to drop below waist level when talking to someone at the urinal.
Using the urinal directly next to someone when there's another one further away that's unoccupied.
Peeing at a urinal with all your might as if you were putting out a fire, hence splashing all over your neighbour's footwear.
Giving up your seat for someone whom you're not sure is pregnant or just a little fat.
Giving up your seat for a senior citizen who's clearly fighting the good fight against the ravages of time (hint: they would be uisng too mcuh make-up or trying to dress funky).
Inadvertently taing up more than one seat on public transport during rush hour because you're obese.
Telling someone that an obese person who takes up more than 1 seat should give up his place so 2 regular-sized persons can sit down.
Telling someone you find her/him familiar but can't remember from where because s/he has a 'common face'.
Assuming someone with big boobs wearing a low-cut blouse appreciates being stared at.
Assuming someone with a flat chest wearing a low-cut bouse appreciates not being stared at.
Holding a friendly social hug for more than 5 seconds.
Allowing your hands to drop to the butt in the hug during those 5 seconds.
The notion of 'interfacial marriage' coined by Time magazine, to refer to couples unevenly matched in looks. Eg. Hugh Jackman and his plain-looking wife, Deborah Lee-Furness.
Wearing a white swimsuit at a public pool.
Wearing a white swimming trunks at a public pool.
Wearing a white briefs to swim at a public pool.
Not trimming your bush when wearing bikini bottoms at a public pool or beach.
Peeing in a public shower.
Peeing in a public pool.
Not showering after a gym session and then going out to meet your friends.
Calling a stranger who's not much older than you "Uncle" or "Auntie".
Asking your children to call your friends or colleagues who aren't married "Uncle" or "Auntie".
Assuming the woman shopping with your is his mother or elder sister.
Assuming the elderly-looking folks looking after a young child are the grandparents.
Asking the parents of any child who looks older than 6 months, "Boy or girl, hah?"
Defending your usage of toilets for the handicapped just because you don't see that many disabled people hanging around the place. (If you have to use it, at least have the decency to be sheepish or apologetic about it)
Compiling for a magazine story a list of rude things that friends or relatives actually did to you to indirectly tell them they're rude.
Kissing, stroking the thigh and squeezing thebutt of your boy/girlfriend in full view of the public.
Getting too touchy-feely with your spouse/beau when going out with singleton friends desperate for a little lurve of their own.
Re-gifting within the same circle of friends.
Conveniently forgetting to factor in GST and service charge when going Dutch.
Saying, "I'll pay you back later" more than twice in succession with the same group of friends.
Choosing the most expensive item on the menu when someone else is buying.
Suggesting that your guests choose the cheapest item on the menu when you're buying.
Asking to look at someone's diamond engagement ring, then squinting as if you can't see it.
Wedding dinner guests who refuse to acknowledge that the price of hotel banquets have skyrocketed since the 1980s.
Putting a small amount into an unmarked wedding angbao and hope that you won't be found out.
Wedding couples who drop hints that the dinner is expensive and expect gueststo stump up accordingly.
Wedding couples who invite 'back-up' guests to their dnner with less than 3 weeks' notice.
Saying a bride is ugly.
Saying a baby is ugly.
Saying at a wedding that the ugly bride and groom shouldn't have kids.
Changing without permission the wallpaper and/or other settings of a computer you've borrowed.
Playing DJ in a car without being asked to when someone's giving you a lift.
Deleting the pictures in someone's camera you've borrowed to make space of your own.
Excusing your action of deleting said pictures by saying you'd deleted only the ugly pictures.
Commenting at an abstract art exhibition where the artist is present that your 5 year old nephew could draw that.
Exposing your butt crack.
Asking someone how they afford the luxe condo/car they own.
Telling your wedding guests to better dress up, lose weight so they won't be an eyesore at your wedding.
Giving someone deodorant/anti-aging cream/hair growth product as a gift.
Staring and pointing at someone else's food in a restaurant or hawker centre like it's the menu.
Taking the last morsel from a shared dish that you didn't pay for - without asking.
Making a call on your mobile when you're having a crap.
Denying you're making a call when you're taking a crap.
Letting rip a silent killer fart and then look around as if you're offended by the odour.
Letting rip a loud fart and then laugh as it off as if it were the funniest thing you ever did.
Breaking up with someone over MSN.
Breaking up with someone over SMS.
Breaking up with someone without telling the person over SMS, MSN or any other kind of communication.

Have you done any of the above? Me? Sad to say, 5 of them.. :(

What about you???! :)

He left behind his family who is going to miss him alot..

2007-07-27T09:54:00.000+08:00

HERE

My mom called me on Wednesday noon.

Mom: "You know Tia?"

Me: "Yes, ur friend's daughter lo, beautfiul mix blood. Why lei?"

Mom: "Her dad passed away this morning.. Bike accident at Tuas."

Me: " ..........."

Mom: " Apparently, he was on his bike and this taxi made an illegal u-turn which hit him and he hit an on-coming car which was travelling quite fast too.."

Me: "............"

Although the report says that the Frenchman hit e taxi.. From what we know, it's the taxi who caused him to lose all control and hit an on-coming car. Taxis.. Haiz...

My new colleagues

2007-07-21T15:24:00.000+08:00

As some of you know, i'm being assigned a new position on top of what i'm doing now. Training started on Mon and yesterday was the last day! Yipee!!

Training is tough, training is boring, training is sleepy.....

And here are my multi-national colleagues.

From Left to Right, Me, Isabel, Keiran, Yograj and Andy.

Me, no introduction required. Me, a part time hotel coordinator and a part time package analyst. I'm split in between 2 departments. And i'm in charge of China.. ^^

Isabel, she's from SIN and station in SIN of course! She's in charge of SEA.

Keiran, our senior from AUS.. Before we came in, he was in charge of every destination we're doing. Now? He will concentrate on reports but he is still in charge of AUS and NZ.

Yograj, youngest in the group, from India and he's in charge of IN, what else?

Andy, Joker in the group. Half way through the training, he came down with flu and cough. When the training was over, Me, Isabel and Keiran was infected by his 'parting gifts'..! *duh* Anyway, he's from HKG and he's in charge of North Asia.

Welcome-aaaaaaaaar!

2 bosses, 2 postions and 1 salary.

2007-07-14T12:20:00.000+08:00

As most of you know, i haven't been doing much at work since Aug06. After many emotion and mental struggles, countless of prayers, God blessed me with another posititon at Zuji! A position that will keep my rice bowl no matter what happens to Blue Holidays.

You see.. When i 1st started, me and my buddy, Voon were hired exclusively for Blue Holidays, a Virgin Blue (Australia's domestic airlines, a part of Vigin Altantic) program. After several months, there wasn't much left for us to do.. We started to slack in Aug06. Many months later, we heard some news that were not so beneficial to us. We started to worry and imagine the worst, which got our Manager, Merlin's attention.

After much arrangement, Voon was tansferred to our walk-in office in Jun07, while me stayed back, praying for something good will come along.

It didn't take long.. :) Thank you Abba.

There was a Marketing Coordinator opening in the Hotel dept for Travelocity (our parent company and whose parent company is Sabre Holdings). My CFO wanted to hired someone in the open market to handle the job. Not only did Merlin offer my service :p , she sang praises about me to my CFO and to the Director of the Hotel Dept (my new angmoh boss). Without a screening, i was chosen.. :D

You must be puzzled how come there's no increment since i will be multi tasking soon.. Well, HR feels that since i'm not doing anything lately and with the additional positon, i will be 'balance' out, therefore there's no need for increment. But i will given the advantage of having another additional 20% added to my IPE (Individual Performance Evaluation) which will means a bigger bonus! *winking* I'm fine with whether is there an increment or not. After all, i haven't been doing much for so long and it's good to start getting busy and learn something new. At least i know that my rice bowl will be secured and i don't have to worry about my flat's instalment.

I'm scheduled for training next week. Things are going to change for the better! I will be busy handling Blue Holidays and Travelocity.

I WILL BE BUSY!! :D

Thank you Merlin!
Thank you Jessie!
Thank you Grant for giving me this opportunity!
Thank you Abba for loving me and leading me to this great opportunity!

A new family addiction

2007-07-08T22:51:00.000+08:00

Was warmly welcomed into the Chias..

This is the new family addiction. Make a guess..

PS3.. Gavin's and Joel's new toy.

PS3. Every men's desired toy.. Tested and proven that its a coming home early magnet! :p

It's round. It's sweet. It's addictive.

2007-07-08T22:31:00.000+08:00

Went church today. Wanted to buy something to munch and i accidentally stumbled across this shop.. Hint: It's round. It's sweet. It's addictive (for me).

DONUTS!!

I'm sure you've heard about this 2-hours-donuts-queue at Raffles City SC, where they're just as good as Krispy Kreme? Well, Suntec has a new branch!!

Singapore's very own Donut factory. Somehow, it's very similar to Krispy Kreme and J & CO..

Without thinking, i went to join the queue.. It took me quite a while to actually remember the fact that, the queue may take 2 hours and more.. Heck care! It's donuts! I am willingly to queue!

Nevertheless, it took me about 35mins to queue and another 10mins wait for my donuts, not bad for my 1st try (and there's a limitation of 2 dozens per person). But i don't think everyday you'll be so lucky..

Well, the wait was worth it!

I bought 2 Raspberry Chocolate, 2 Mint Chocolate, 1 Raspberry Glazed, 2 Halzenut Milk Chocolate, 2 Strawberry White Chocolate and 3 Double Chocolate.

My favourties are, Raspberry Chocolate, Double Chocolate, Mint Chocolate and Raspberry Glazed! *finger licking*

Their price? 1/2 dozen assorted for $6, 1 dozen assorted for $11. That's 92cents for each donut if you buy a dozen!

Road trip in Turbo

2007-07-02T12:16:00.000+08:00

Before the sun rose for a brand new morning, we left Singapore for Sepang.. As usual, we were late for the convoy. What else is new? I woke up at 2.30am to bathe, Joel woke up at 2.45am to bathe. We were suppose to leave at 3am to meet the convoy at 4am in Petronas. In the end? We left home approx. 4am. *drum roll* Credits to Gavin.

After 2 years of Track Day absence, we're finally going back to Sepang! If you love roller coaster rides, this is one sport you should try..

This was Turbo's (Airtrek) virgin long distance trip.. And you know what? It was a breeze for Turbo throughout the journey. The distance travelled (close to 1000km), the consistence speed we're cruising and even going Genting was a breeze. The climb and descent was easy. The whole 1000km journey was bumpy but with the space given, it was a 8/10 ride.

Given that it was a dawn drive, we took the Turbo (Airtrek was a turbo) to a pace that we're comfortable with. After many smoking and toilet breaks, we reached Sepang at 9am, 2 hrs behind schedule. Oh well... :)

One of SgTrackies' main sponsors was Gavin's company. We took the opportunity to go have some fun and at the same time show some sponsor support. In fact, i think it's just another excuse of showing up at the event to make sure that there's work done after some monetary contributions. We didn't stay till the end, we left for KL shortly after noon. And for that, we missed the Lambhorgini Track Day which was right after Time Attack.. Darn!

On the way to KL, we were contemplating whether to go Genting to chill. After much deliberation, we left for Genting Highlands with some (precise) driving instructions given by the hotel staff.. After some very windy and good driving momentums, we reached Genting for some moist cool air. It was nice and cool, but not as cold as before (deforestation and global warming! Please do your part). Few hours later, me and Joel lost RM75, it wasn't alot but we had fun..

Trip back to KL was alrite, that was only until we were stuck at the most ridiculous jam along Concorde Hotel towards Jalan P Ramlee.. For a mere 1km distance, we were stuck for a good 45mins.. That's 2.7sec for every 1m! *eyes roll* When we got back to our rooms, we were all shagged from the jam. Every 1 of us concussed the moment our heads hit the pillows.

Next day, before we left KL for SIN, we had to go FOS at KL Plaza.. This is one shop you cannot missed! Good and cheap, it's our favourite shop.

This trip, I didn't buy much. No Famous Amos, no Vincci, no FOS.. Joel was the one who bought more than me. He bought 2 shirts for work, and his 2 pairs of full leather shoes? It's a mere S$145! And me? A miserable pair of sandals and some toiletries. :(

I live in Singapura.

2007-06-28T10:58:00.000+08:00

Where are you? Where are you?

2007-06-28T09:34:00.000+08:00

You're supposed to be here today..

But i don't see you. *Rooooooaaaar*

We're going for Track Day!!

2007-06-22T20:29:00.000+08:00

Yipee!! We're going to Sepang next Sat for SGTrackies' Track Day!!

(Pictures below were taken 2-3years ago)

Sepang Circuit rush hour!!

This is where it all begin.. Where MEN undeniably become WOMEN! Kan cheong spider, you know? :p Enthusiastic drivers queueing up for their runs.

Sweet cars galore!!

All kinds of cars at Track Day, from WRZ-STI, EVO, 350Z, S15, Porsche, Ferrari, Lotus and RX8. Dunno whether will i get a chance to take a picture of Lam? LAM BHOR GHINI lo.. This is a picture of Joel in our beloved Z.

Track Day race maniac!!

Past SGTrackies' Track Days, there will be either 3 or 5 laps race. Or was it both?? Anyway.. It's when MEN become kiasu and proud mummies.. Hahahaha!

FYI, Sepang is not just about winning the title home, boys and girls. *tsk tsk*

In fact, it's about knowing and handling your car better. Look at Joel, need i say more?? He's a Sepang graduate, how do you find his driving? *thumbs up*

And we'll be staying 1 night in KL for food and shopping!

Famous Amos! Dunkin' Donuts! Mango-loh! FOS! I'm coooooooming!

And a treat from more than 4 years ago..

Serene, Me, Joey G, Jane and Mavis at Atmosphere where Joey G was the resident DJ.. He spinned so hard (and we pumped very hard too) that we just had to stayed back and get a picture with him.

Moll Dak Teng!

2007-06-14T13:47:00.000+08:00

NICE~
FABULOUS~
MOLL DAK TENG!!

I just finished this HKG's serial.. What can i say? It's damn f**king good!

I'm so in love with this show... Siao right?! But it's POWER!!

Superstar cast (Michelle, Bosco Wong *wolf whistle*, Tavia Yeung *wolf whistle*, Moses Chan, Raymond Lam *wolf whistle*, Linda Chung and the fabulous Susanna Kwan) , good rich storyline (matters that you will face everyday, be it rich or poor), funny at times (Dai Pao and Dak Dak Tei, this father and son are funny so is the rest of the family), sad at times (Sheung Zai Sum and Alfred grave misunderstanding and Dak Dak Tei's generousity towards Zai Sum), frustrating at times (Bad lady, Kum schemes to make life difficult for the Tang)..

Good! Good! Good! Good! Good! Good! Goooooooooood!

It's about this family man (Dai Pao) who has 2 wives (1st wife, Q and 2nd wife, Kum) and 4 children (1st son Dak Dak Tei, 2nd son Gilbert, 3rd son Foon and 4th daughter Yian) living under the roof, along with the 1st wife's sister (Li) and brother (Pok). Their family business deals with abalone and shark fins and is worth an estimated of HKD600million. Q is widely respected at home and Kum is jealous. Kum schemed to get her hands on her self-proclaimed share of HKD300million.

Just rent and watch! Satisfaction guaranteed! :p

BKK for the 15649th time

2007-06-12T19:19:00.000+08:00

Went BKK with my mom on 8 June to 11 June. It's been 18 years since she last visit BKK.. Yup yup, 18 years! hehehe

Me and my mom enjoying Osim's isqueeze in Changi.

It was such a HOT and HUMID trip.

9 June, we went Chatuchak for a mere 3hrs! It was so humid that me and my mom can't take it. We left for MBK around 1pm for PURE AIR-CONDITION SHOPPING! Late in the evening, we went Yaowarat for seafood dinner, bird's nests and pork floss shopping. *slurp* And i bought this too! Betagen AKA Yakult at 22baht for 450ml and 850ml for 34baht! Cheap Cheap.

It's Yakult Original.. Damn shiok.

10 June, we went Pratunam Complex for Wocoal bra shopping. I'm not a fan of Wocoal but my mom and her colleagues are! She bought 2 for herself, and 5 for 2 of her colleagues for a whopping 4608baht (equiv. S$ 208.10) after 10%. Cheap Cheap! We then hopped to Platinum for lunch and more shopping. Later, we went Chang Massage (at Siam Sq, next to Novotel) for 2hrs thai and pedicure. 3hrs later, we had dinner and made our way to Suan Lum. How can i missed Suan Lum on my last night in BKK?? Thank God i went! I managed to find a top that i like and kudos to the local designer!

11 June, we only have about 5 hrs to spare before we make our way to Airport. Brought my mom to Erawan (famous 4-face Buddha site). I was chilling at the shade waiting for my mom when i saw this guy. Very familiar looking, so i called Joel and it turn out that he was Joel's ex-colleague, Edward! *it's a small small world la la la*

Erawan BKK, at Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel. It's famous but it became more famous after this insane guy went to whack the idol.. The insane guy was beaten to death by the angry mob.. tsk tsk.

The whole of Thailand is having sale right now, right? But when i went into Isetan and Zen at Central World, it's such a disappointment.. No sale at all! It's not like SIN where you see sale, they meant sale! Here? Not even a miserable 10% off.. NO! None! Kosong! Soon! Zero! Angry..

Not wanting to waste any more time, we left for Platinum shopping for Joel's tshirts and jeans. As usual, our luggages were overweight. Being a Singaporean in need of help overseas, we Singaporeans will always help each other out, right? And so, we did manage to get some help pooling our lugagge for check-in. Hahaha! Thank you, Singaporeans! :)

Home Sweet Home!
Viva la Holiday Addict Jaime! :p

"Dear, are you sick of blogging?"

2007-06-06T10:11:00.000+08:00

Am i?

I'm not sick of it, just that there's nothing special going on to blog about it... My life's now is all about: my flat, Peanut and Joel.

Since Jul'06, i haven't been going shopping or meet up the girls anymore. The commitment of having a roof over my head had weighed me down so much so that my earned-what-spent-what attitude is no longer in me. Now? I planned my finances every month.

But i have to admit.. That i pretty GOOD with it! :D In fact, after all my commmitments, i still can afford holiday every 3-4months.. And that comes with a price to pay for! Hahahaha.

Thank you Abba! Many praises for You!

Frankly speaking, i missed having dinner, window shopping and clubbing with the girls.. We used to meet up at least once a week for dinner, shopping or clubbing.. Now? Everyone's busy. Even Joel's busy! :(

I'm staying

2007-05-25T10:10:00.000+08:00

at Chaichee for good until a better job opportunity comes along.

Bless me! Bless me! Bless me! :)

Joel 24

2007-05-20T22:07:00.000+08:00

We had a small come-together dinner a Vila'ge Heeren yesterday. It went from a reservation for 10 to 12 to 15!

The more the merrier.

There was Me & Joel, Lim & Shan, Cookie, Espen, Sheryl, Wilin, Shawn, Jerome & Nat, Cammy & Jiron, Danny & brother and Mark (he only came after dinner).

Having dinner and as usual, there are talks about WOW.

Joel and his cake.. hahaha! I bought this because all of us were extremely full and Vila'ge cake is pathetically small!

Try to take a group picture but some went toilet, some went window shopping..

The best loving couple of the night!

HAPPY 24TH BIRTHDAY MY DEAR!
Bless you! Bless you! Bless you!

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T17:11:00.000+08:00

And..

Happy Birthday Jeremy! Glad to see you so committed into your work & business.. GBY!

Time is running out..

2007-05-12T12:15:00.000+08:00

And i still have no idea what's going to happen.. (",)

And i have given up the wait.

Jakarta? Bangkok? KL & Genting?

2007-05-07T08:35:00.000+08:00

Updated on 25May: After some shopping around and great airlines' promo, we're going BKK!! Wahahaha..

My mom wants me to accompany her for a short trip during the school hols..

Can you imagine? Me, a travel trade staff going for a short trip during the school hols?? It's not right but then again.. She's my mom.

We considered a few places but everything seems so expensive!!

Jakarta - SQ had a $60 promo last week. Me and my mom wanted to go but my brother cant take time off, so we had to give Jakarta up. My brother is in Jakarta running the gaming business for my cousin.. They gamed to sell.

Bangkok - Airasia also had a $4.99 promo last week. With 2 nites 3* hotel stay and both way airport taxes, it will merely cost us less than $200 per person. But she can only go during school hols which is more ex.. Anyway, i'm glad we didn't go.. BKK is a bit unstable now and yesterday afternoon, a bomb went off in a telephone booth opp the palace. It's not a destructive bomb but it's good enough to make me stay away from BKK for a while.

Then my mom suggested..

Mom: Why don't we go Genting?? It's been a while since i last went Genting..
Me: Then what am i supposed to do at Genting when you go gambling the whole day??!
Mom: No la, if you go, i won't spend my whole day in the casino..
Me recalling the last time we went (a few years ago), she did spend her whole day in the casino.
Me: You decide la.. But i don't want to spend 2nites in Genting.. If we go, we go 1 nite in Genting and the other in KL.
Mom: Ok lor.. I go jio Nick and my colleagues so we can drive up together.

I don't mind going to KL and Genting. The last time i went? Almost 2 years ago..

Saw the news on TV yesterday, Malaysia is a destination that i will avoid.. I don't want to be robbed at knife's point; i don't want to beaten up by the thugs and i don't want to come home injured and penniless!

Now... Where shall we go?

It became a gathering

2007-04-10T21:25:00.000+08:00

It was Danny's birthday and it turned out to be a gathering instead..

Happy 25th birthday Danny Boi!

Me, Joel, Lim and Yanie met Danny for dinner at Waraku Starhub Centre. Jerome and Natalie came shortly.

The 5 of us.. We made a reservations for 12 and in the end, only 7 of us.. Well, at least we had some peace and space.

Danny and his funny face again.

We were supoosed to take a group picture.. 3 of them are ready and the other 3 are not.

This dinner cost us $240, of which $100 was Danny's! Yup, he ordered like nobody's business..

After dinner, we proceed to Taboo for drinks. The whole 2nd floor was closed out for his party, thanks to the Taboo's boss! Peeps started to stroll in and soon, the 2nd floor was packed with more than 50! Me (having a headache from the green tea) and Joel (bloated from the food he ate) didn't stay long, we left early for home..

Having a drunken time (except Joel because he needs to drive)!

Next day, Joel fell sick. Damn the food!

We shall be the biggest.. For now.

2007-03-30T11:34:00.000+08:00

Yes, our Singapore Flyer..

Do you know that our wheel will be the BIGGEST in the World when completed and in operation?

For now, that is.. Until another bigger wheel is in proposal and in construction..

So, Mar 2008, we will be....
THE BIGGEST AND TALLEST!! Wahahahahahaha

Siao lei!

The World's Biggest (Tallest) Ferris Wheel
The Singapore Flyer (Singapore) when completed will stand at 165m.
Star of Nan Chang (China) stands at 162m.
The London Eye (UK) stands at 135m.
Sky Dream Fukuoka (Japan) stands at 120m.

Now.. Like me, you've learned something new today! :p

Peak Season's Phuket

2007-03-25T13:48:00.000+08:00

Me and Joel headed back to Phuket during the CNY long weekend. The trip was fun and affordable. And yar, veeeery nice weather (so nice that we were burnt!)..

We left SIN on 19Feb (2nd day of CNY) approx. 8.30pm on Tiger. By the time we reached and cleared customs, it was 10+pm. We didn't have much baht with us (all the money exchange in the aiport were closed), but by God's glory, we made it to hotel and check-in (market practice, we were supposed to pay up the balance payment upon check-in) with only 600baht on us!

My choice this time round, Burasari Resort & Spa at Patong Beach. Location was good (less than 5 mins walk to beach, shops and f&b).. One of the best ambience resorts around.. And it had one of the worst hotel management i've ever stayed!! Yes, worst!

Read on.

We've arrived Burasari at 11pm.. The Front Desk took almost 30mins to check us in. I've made and paid for their Premier Room in Dec'06. Shortly after, we were ushered to our room. And we had this.

This was our 'Premier Room'.. What can i say? It looks so different from what the website.. It's run-down and so mosquito-y.

Half an hour in the room, we felt uncomfortable and miserable. Frustrated, we went to the Front Desk. And to our surprised, this is what we got from the Front Desk;

"Room 2+++ is a Superior Room."

What!! Imagine the anger that was fuming inside..

We were told that the hotel was full and they had to give us Superior Room.

"Even if Burasari was full, you should have the courtesy to inform us about it and not downgrade us without even letting us know. Burasari should have upgraded us and not downgrade us, given that the Premier Room is not available."

The guy was literally embarrassed! He assured us that it will be brought to the Manager's attention and they will get it reticfied for us the next day. Frustrated and helpless, we can only sit and wait for the morning to come.

20 Feb morning, we approached the Duty Manager, Lakkana. She assured us that we will have a free upgrade (to Grand Premier Pool View Room) and our rooms will be ready but the afternoon which they will do the luggage transfer for us while we're away. With some assurance, we left to rent a bike for the next 3 days.

Joel loves to ride! We rode all over Phuket throughout our stay here. He wants to ride so badly that he intends to get a licence back in SIN which i naturally reject without any appeal! Hahaha.

We rode 15min up and down the hills to Karon Beach (so call topless beach). The beach was

lovely... Blue skies, lovely UV rays, strong ocean wind, chill coconuts that were sweet and sun beds that was so comfy (that i fell asleep). And we've got a red lobster (Me)!

Karon Beach..

Me and Joel taking a soak.. Nice cold waters to cool a lobster down.. Hahahaha.

After a few hours of slacking, we went back Patong to had lunch.. I've been hearing alot of good reviews about this place where it has the best authentic Thai food in Phuket.. And we weren't disappointed!

IT WAS FANTASTIC!! Phad Kaprao Moo, Tom Yum Goong, Morning Glory and Pork Omelette were YUUUUUMMY! Best Thai food.. And i'm drooling for it now..

Best Best Best Thai food..Absolutely wonderful food here, must try! Do you see a lobster too?

We went back hotel, hoping for a rest before we set out for our evening activities. To our dismay, rooms weren't ready due guests who were supposed to check out, have not check out!! We waited and waited, and every minute we were getting more and more frustrated. Tired of waiting, we demanded to see the GM. Lakkana, who has been busy problem solving since morning (actually she was busy throughout our stay, problem solving), invited us to the Bar for some drinks on the house.

While we were there, Chris (GM) came and talked to us.. He apologised for the mishandling of our stay and offered us a waiver of the 1st night we suffered (which i had suggested to Lakkana to ease the tension, mishandling and the wait we had to endure) with a complimentary dinner. Given the situation, we gladly accept his offer. But come to think of it, the reason he gave about how our rooms were mishandled was a dumb one..

Not long after the drinks, we finally get to stay in rooms that we paid for (plus its an upgrade)..

Presenting Grand Premier Pool View Room. It has a balcony with a swing, LCD TV, big bathtub with a view of the room and.. 2 beds?!

View of the pool from our rooms..

Due hotel is full, we will have to change rooms the next day, again. OMG... Well, what to do? It's peak season, damn it! Now that we were no longer in those crappy rooms, we went down to the pool and chill off our UV burnt skins..

Burasari did a good job decorating the 4* boutique resort, be it rooms or landscaping. But... As for the service we've got, i will have to give them a pathetic 2.5* (0.5* for Lakkana)..

This is Burasari's Lagoon Pool, which is only accessible by bridge or Pool Access Rooms.

21 Feb, we went for Phi Phi Island tour, again.. This is our 45613th visit there.. The last time we went with Danny, we suffered because we were sitting in front of the speedboat. This time round, we sat riiiiiiight behind. *thumbs up*

The last row of the speedboat.. It has its good and bad..

Maya Bay, again..This is our 135465th time here.. Hahaha. This time we saw a badly crowded beach.. So crowded, we can see the beach lined up with a beach full of speedboats!

Can you see the line up boats? Maya Bay is too crowded to slack, take a slow walk on the beach and take a picture..

Even our favourite Khai Island, had became crowded.. It could be due to peak season but then again.. Every agent you go to enquire about Phi Phi Island tour, most of them will have Khai Island in the itinerary. Too commercialised already. Next time, i'm going for John Gray's Hong by Starlight and 2D1N Similan Island.

Khai Island..

After a full day tour, we went back to another new room.. Hahahaha. This trip, we had 3 rooms change and this was our final change. After all, we're staying for 4 nights not 4 months.

Grand Premier Pool View King Room. Besides the King bed, the rainfall shower and the day bed at the balcony, everything is the same.. Free mini bar in every types of room at Burasari!

After a wash up, we went to the restaurant for dinner. With too many restrictions to the complimentary dinner, we ordered what we like to eat. After the 2000baht complimentary, our bill was a whopping 1800baht top up!! And the best part? We were the only spending guests there.. How pathetic!

Me and Joel fooling around the swinging day bed..

22 Feb, we went gallavanting again.. We went back to the deserted scenic boulder cliff. It was a place of serenity where we find some quietness amidst the crowded Phuket.

Taking a moment of quietness.. It was lovely there.

And we proceed to Surin Beach. Another lovely beach, another topless beach..

We had alot of Watermelon Shakes (it's just watermelon, blended ice and tiny sugar syrup, it was refreshing and addictive). We even rented those float bed to chill in the sea.

After which we headed down to Bangtao Beach (where Banya Tree, Sheraton Laguna, Allamanda was). There wasn't much there but it's another long long beach to chill. BTW, most of the beaches there are long (unlike SIN beach huh)!

And for dinner, we headed to Paan Yaah, a restaurant by the cliffs with lovely view of Patong Beach.

At Paan Yaah.. We were lucky to be there early and had the best tables in the house. Be there early, if not call for reservations. Full every night.

View of Patong Beach from Paan Yaah.

Sunset dinner view is the best..

This is after all, our last night stay in Phuket. We have to had some seafood.. So we went to our regular spot for a sinful supper.

We had drinks, 1.5kg of big prawns, a 1.2kg whole red snapper, 3 crabs, 1 big sotong and vegetables. Cheapest place for seafood here. When we're done, we were all burping andrubbing our tummy with happiness!

23 Feb, having half a day to spend, we went beach again.. This time, Patong Beach for jet ski. Joel rented a single seater jet ski (me? chilling at the beach, had a bad experience at Tioman the last time where i hit my shin, so no more jet ski) and rode out to the open seas which took him less than 3 mins!

He spent 35mins out jetting here and there..

Before we left Phuket, i had to do some last min shopping at the supermarket.

Supermarket?

Yes yes.. I bought a carton of Lay's Sweet Basil for home! Hahaha.. You should've seen the faces of the staff. They were smiling away while packing for us.

We returned the bikes, hotel check-out and went Airport for our flight back. And the Airport's entrance to the check-in counters were packed! We had to squeeze for about a good 15mins before we got in.

And for such a crappy Airport, their Airport tax is 700baht!! So you peeps, enjoy the benefit that SIN Airport has one of the lowest Airport tax in the world!

So peeps, beware.. If you want to go Phuket, go during low season (May-Oct) where it's not so crowded everywhere and hotels are almost 60% cheaper!

Today..

2007-03-21T20:59:00.000+08:00

Is our 4th year!! :)

350Z

2007-03-18T21:47:00.000+08:00

Just got my computer and internet set up on Friday. Was checking and updating my comp when i found these! Our pictures and clips in 350Z at Sepang on Track day!

Prepare for GLORY!!

This was our Z.. Our favourable, trusty Z who never fail us. The attention we get from pedesterians, the comfort, the privacy and the many memorable memories we had..WE MISS U!!

Z at Sepang.. We haven't been going to Sepang for quite sometime.. It's time to relive the excitement!!

Joel and his sanctuary..

<---- Experience our happiness on the left sidebar.

Should i or should i not??

2007-02-28T09:50:00.000+08:00

So adorable!!

Should i?

Jaime, Joel and Peanut wish you..

2007-02-17T22:08:00.000+08:00

Our Peanut with her orange, wishes everyone a Happy New Year!

A VERY
Happy,
Prosperous,
Joyful,
Peaceful and
Healthy
Lunar New Year!

Gong Xi Gong Xi! God bless everyone greatly!

Something is bothering me

2007-02-08T13:14:00.000+08:00

deep inside since this morning. Till now i still can't find peace within..

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Asean Cup

2007-02-01T08:45:00.000+08:00

Went National Stadium to catch the 1st leg of the Asean Cup Finals between SIN-THA last night. We wanted to give our ferocious Lions some support and at the same time visit the stadium for the very last time before they're torn down for a new one..

The crowd mingling in front of the entry point. There were those with tickets and those who were hoping for a last chance to buy tickets.

After clearing the entry point.. I loooove our National Stadium! Look at their structure.. So old school!

Love the stadium. Love the lights. Love the cement feel..

Queuing up for entry into the stadium.

Holding area for toilets, smoke zone, snacks and gantry gates to seatings.

When we were there, we saw alot of red.. Red tops. We were supposed to wear blue to support Lions and thais will wear red. In the end? Lions supporters were all wearing red and thais in yellow. Joel and Gavin were in blue and me in yellow. You should see my face when i saw the small group of thai supporters wearing yellow in a sea of red.

The atmosphere inside was overwhleming!! Like i said (many times last night to Joel and Gavin), it had been so long since National Stadium had such fabulous atmosphere other than National Day.

After a while, we quickly found some seats in front and settled down for the game.

This is where we were seated, facing the goal post.

The reds..

Me and Joel grabbing every opportunity to capture National Stadium last moments.

Throughout the game, the crowd will cheer for the Lions and sneer at the opponents. Like this boy sitting near us... He was the 'joker'. Things he said might not be funny to him but to us, we was hilarious!

That's him! The one in white standing up with a pair of binoculars in his hands.

17 mins into the game, SIN scored its 1st goal!

The stadium was rocking with joy!

Half time, time for a break..

About 50 mins into the game, thai scored.. For a moment, you can see the reds stunned and quiet. As for thais, they were of course jumping and screaming with joy..

About 80 mins into the game, Noh Alam Shah was pulled down in the penalty box and was awarded a penalty. We were all jumping for joy knowing that this goal will make us and not break us. The next thing we knew, the thai players were not going to continue the game!! The whole stadium watched the 11 thai players walked to their manager.

The thai decision to walk out of the game..

Thanks to a guru amongst us, we then know what exactly happened..

Referee award Lions a penalty, Thai feels its no penalty. Thai protest, Thai Manager asked the players off the field.. For the rest, i guess you can figure out yourself, right? We're all smart people. :D

Angry crowds..

After much delays and many persuasion, thai players stepped back into the fields. The game was resumed with the awarded penalty.

Lions scored!!

Crowd jumping for joy after a penalty taken by Farhudin (who looked very angmoh. Mayb he is).

With the final whistle, Lions ended the night with a win for the 1st leg of the finals.

Game ended with contraversy.

2nd leg of the finals will be held in BKK this sunday..

Let the Lions roarrrrrr again!!

Crazy over..

2007-01-10T11:50:00.000+08:00

GT fishing!

4 very eager fishermen fishing for the Catch of the Day...

Gavin's catch.. He only managed to land 1 and lost a few, 1 of which is the biggest GT we've seen that day..

Juice's catch.. He has the heaviest catch after Alfie's.. Alfie don't like to take picture so couldn't get a picture of his catch.

Joel's 1st catch..

Joel's 2nd catch!

29060178

2007-01-06T00:50:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to ME,

Happy Birthday to ME,

Happy Biiiiirthday to MEEEEeeee.....

Happy Birthday to ME!

I wish for World Peace... Wahahahahaha!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!

2006-12-25T00:01:00.000+08:00

We celebrate this day because:

It's His birthday and not because of Santa Claus.

*FYI, i do celebrate with gifts exchange but i'm not into Santa because there is no Santa!

Offshore Fishing?

2006-12-23T23:33:00.000+08:00

I MEANT, WASTING TIME...!

We were scheduled for an offshore fishing trip this morning with James and 2 other fishermen. We arrived at Keppel Club (near HarbourFront) about slightly after 8am. When we left, it looked like a lovely day.. *gulp*

Saw this lovely sail boat at the harbour. It's called Singapore's Flower..

The fishermen were getting ready their rods for Open Season. And they were really very serious at getting ready.. *roll eyes*

It has been quite a while since Joel went offshore fishing.. He looks.. Happy?

1st stop? Fishing for baits. Took us about 30mins just to reach some buoys (Only God knows where we were then) to fish for baits.. The baits they were fishing for were this particular small fish called Tamban? Tammun? Tambun? Don't know what it's called la.. All i know is Nasi Lemak's fried fish!

Joel and his baits.

The Captain's assistant helping Joel clear his catch.

Squids were also used as baits..

This is 2/3 of what we caught... 70% of them were caught by Joel.

Surprisingly, Joel was good at it.. He kept reeling in and by the time we left for real action fishing, there were more than 50 baits to use.

Sad to say, the weather wasn't that lovely... It rained while we were in the open sea.

That's not the "best" part.. The best part?

All 5 fishermen went home EMPTY HANDED!!!!!!

Thanks to Captain "Lousy" Beng.

The ride back..

I've got a SuperStar friend! :)

2006-12-22T09:06:00.000+08:00

Lastest and Final Update 22/12/06
Xiaodi's journey to stardom ended last night. He was eliminated.. My hopes of him getting into Top 10 was dashed. But...! I'm in all favour of Xiaodi being eliminated because this competition has became expensive (the votings)!

After all, he made it to Top 16 (out of 6000+ contestants)! No regrets la.. :)

A BIG THANK YOU to all who have financially and/or morally supported him since the start of this competition. 3 Cheers for u!!

Lastest Update 19/12/06
Went for Xiaodi's Revival Round recording last night. All i can say is, BS BS BS!!

As much as i'm a die-hard supporter for Xiaodi, i'm glad i can still differentiate what is good and what is avergae. Yesterday's results was a total disgrace!

Sorry Jonathan (Joel's Cousin).

As much as i find your friend, Daren, cute and idol-could-be, I am so disgusted by the judges "professional" judging. It was so obvious at the performance. I couldn't help but feel that the judges were scamming to keep your friend in by giving him the highest score ever in history!

41.5!!

Anyway, not that i don't like Daren (i feel that he can be a very marketable idol), just find that his 'vocal power' is just ~~sub-standard~~.. Or should i say not as outstanding as those that really are good, like LeSheng and Kelvin. Still can't figure out what's going on with the judges "professional" judging. I've got nothing against him, just SI BUAY BEI SONG with the judges. Even LeSheng and Kelvin who can really sing, their scores also cannot fight man..

Curious with what i'm fussing about..?

Just watch the episode and you will understand why i'm so disgusted with the judges.

All i ask for is fair judging.. But then again, how can there be fair judging?

Final Plead, please vote for

Jeremy Tian Mingyao

21 Dec 06 8-11pm

Call 1900 112 1004 OR

Sms M4 to 71199

Thank you.

WELL DONE, XIAODI!! We're so damn proud of you for walking this far..!

Lastest Update 18/12/06
Saw JeremyC at Zouk on sat. He looked relax even though his revival round is due on Mon.
See... He's really my friend la.. No joke. Know him for 12+years already.

We talked for a while about his Project Superstar competition and my brother's business venture. He has always been the sensible one.. My bro? Smell no smoke, not as mature as Xiao Di.. Both are Jeremy and yet one maturity is so heavenly and the other? Still day dreaming about making big $$$! Haiz...

Anyway he's up again for Revival Round on

Thursday 21 Dec 06

voting start 8-11pm
Please Please please support him..

This picture, he's enjoying himself at Zouk.. Asked him to pose in the middle of the dancefloor! Poor Xiao Di.. What to do? When you're famous, lots of peeps will ask you for pictures even when you're at the most inappropriate place! Hahaha..

FYI, His (dreadlocks) hair doesn't smell!! And stop criticising his height la..

Lastest Update 15/12/06

He's out but not down.

It's not over yet, there is still revival round!

There is still a 2nd chance and it will be tough. He will be competing with one of the stronger contestant, Daren Tan (who happens to be Joel's cousin good friend)! Haiz.. How sia..

May the best man win!

Latest Update 10/12/06

Please cast your precioussss vote(s) to

Call 1900 112 1001
OR
SMS M1 to 71199
14 Dec 2006 Thursday 8-11pm

Please continue your support for my dear friend JeremyChan Ming Yao!!

Thank you very much!

Latest Update 24/11/06
He's IN!!!! Top 16!

Thank you peeps! Thank you for casting your votes for him! Be it 1 vote or many votes, your precious votes are deeply appreciated!!

Latest Update 13/11/06
Please cast your precioussss vote(s) to

Jeremy Chan Ming Yuew (Contestant M2)

Call 1900 112 1002
OR
SMS M2 to 71199
23 Nov 2006
Thursday
8-11pm

Please show my dear friend JeremyC, your warmest support!! Thank you very much!

If you have no idea what the hell i'm refering to, please continue reading.

Published on 10/11/06
Introducing an old friend of mine whom is in Project Superstar's Top 24..

Jeremy Chan Ming Yuew!

Jeremy Chan whom we known him as Xiao Di.. He's the one whom i'm ASKING you to support!

Come to think about it, we've known each other for almost 12years!? Yar, Me and my brother Jeremy Wong, Jeremy Chan and his elder brother Jefferson, the 4 Js!! We used to be very rebellious during our early teens.. :P

Jeremy Chan along with his brother and my brother would hang out almost everyday... Singing! They frequent KTV for their weekly sessions(Read. 3-4times a week, ok!?).. Everytime, i'm in town and have nowhere to go, i will call my brother;

Me: "Where are you? Singing?"
JeremyW: "Yar, you want to come over? Jeff and XiaoDi are here.."
Me: "Ok, since i have nothing to do. Discussion?"
JeremyW: "Yes."

That's how frequent they visit the KTV.. It's a KTV KTV and not those PR Girls KTV, you sicko!
Anyway, we're all glad that he made it to the Top 24.. But to be in the Top 12, it ain't going to be easy. But with his joyous personality, i'm sure he will gain some recognition and of course, some admirers and fans.

This is one of the PSS2 promotion picture. REMINDER: Jeremy Chan is the guy who has dreadlocks and the only guy who wears a hairband.. Duh!

Therefore, Pleeeeease pleeeeease cast your vote for

Jeremy Chan Ming Yuew!

Appreciated.

2006-12-12T10:38:00.000+08:00

An Appreciation Letter and $50 Seiyu vouchers from my CEO, for arranging a damn happening party for our D&D on the 8Dec06.

Yup, I'm part of the committee who gave a 'happening' D&D party on 8 Dec 06.

It was fun and everyone was spontaneous!

More D&D coming right up!

Fruitful BKK

2006-12-11T10:12:00.000+08:00

We were supposed to join Jiron, Cammy, Angela and Marcus in BKK from 1-3Dec. But in the end, we didn't meet up with them nor Jane who was there too.

We took Tiger Airways there and return by Airasia, both were full. This is our 1st time in Budget Terminal. Giving it a try because we're going Phuket in Feb with Tiger so we need to explore the Terminal.

Inside the Departure Lounge after immigration clearance. Can you see the ceiling? It's so warehouse-y! I thought it was bad till i arrived BKK Surnabhumi Airport.

The Departure Lounge's F&B area.

Although there is no holding area at the Gate, boarding was quite swift. Once the gate is open, every passenger proceed to the Gate for boarding. There was a queue to follow and shortly after we board the plane. Usually at the other Terminal, you will be held at the Gate and have to wait for boarding.. This? You just queue and board.

And we walked to the plane.

Upon arrival at Surnabhumi Airport, it was a disappointment..

The Airport is BIG! The fact that it only have 1 terminal and there're 5 wings to board the planes. Best of all, i can't find any travellators! It's a torture if you exit at the wrong wing. Anyway, the exterior looks very modern, very spaceship. The interior? Boring! From the ceiling to the walls to the pillars.. ALL ARE IN CEMENT! The best part was when i was queueing at their immigration. I can see webs on the ceilings clinging from their lights to the grilles! I was really disappointed with their signage too.. It was poorly labelled. We took quite a while to find out that their taxi stand is 1 floor below the arrival hall, thanks to a small standing poster by the escalator.

Their Gate. Almost all their Gate is tiled and not carpetted. So shopping Mall feel..

This is the only part of the Airport which i like. It's like an oasis in the middle of the Airport.

We didn't manage to get Jiron's hotel (First Hotel), so we booked First House Hotel which is in Petchburi Soi 19 (sip-gow). The location is fantastic! It's surroundings are mostly wholesalers! It's 5mins walk to Pratunam City Complex and Platinum Fashion Mall. Read: Wholesaler. Its not 10mins walk to MBK, it's 10mins walk to WTC instead.

We had a fast dinner at Platinum and headed to Suan Lum. That night was crazy.. We stood by the road falgging taxi down, none of them want to take meter! So we waited and tried. In the end, we paid 100baht on TUKTUK to Suan Lum.. Damn it! What a rip off!

Anyway, as usual, we shopped like crazy..

My battlefield of gold..

Shireen's gold..

On 2nd day 2 Dec, we started off changing some S$ for THB at Pratunam City Complex. Much walking later, we realise that they have some good stuffs at wholesale price. Therefore, we shopped there for a few hours before heading down to Chatuchak. Once again, it's a glorious shopping day!

After Chatuchak, we went direct to Chinatown for some seafood. We alight at Shanghai Inn. Without hesistation, we popped into the supermarket and started digging for my favourite, Lay's Sweet Basil potato chips! We hunt and grabbed every packet that is available. Too bad, they only had 12.. well, better than nothing!

We walked further down and came upon this L& K Seafood at the corner. We sat down and ordered crab, bbq prawns, kang kong and tom yum. In less than 5 mins after ordering, our food were served! And how can we not eat bird's nest?! Total bill: 730baht. :)

Drooling over the Tom Yum Goong..

Shireen drooling over the crab.

My battlefield of gold on Day 2! And my POTATO CHIPS!

Shireen's gold on Day 2.. And POTATO CHIPS!

On Day 3 3Dec, we checked out early (First House was going to charge us half day usage at 542baht for late check-out till 4 pm!!) and we went MBK, Siam Square, Paragon and WTC. Me bought 4 bags, 3 shoes, 1 Columbia shirt and 1 Elle Homme briefcase for Joel. We ended our shopping at 3+pm and we walked back to First House, packed our luggages and off to the Airport.

We came BKK with 2 luggages half empty, and on 3Dec, we leave BKK with 3 luggages full at approx. 45kg (our baggage allowance is 15KG per person, we're 15KG overweight!!)!!! Hahahahaha... We had to approached this kind lady(only hand carry for her) in front of us to pool our luggage with hers. I think without her help, we will have to pay for overweight luggage. $5 per KG!!