Shingalingaling~

Back To School

2012-01-03T20:53:00.004+08:00

So it's back to school after 3 weeks of break. And I had a lot of fun in those 3 weeks! I know that all of the my recent blog posts are about him but I cannot help it. I had been spending most of my time with him and he has grown to be an integral part of me.

Last night I could not help reminiscing about the time spent with him. My holiday withdrawal syndrome had not hit me so hard before. I will miss...

Waking up with him beside me

Lying in bed in the morning deciding where to go for breakfast

Having lunch together and planning what to do for the rest of the afternoon

Strolling around Bukit Panjang leisurely

Watching movies late into the night

Playing mahjong

Playing PS3 together

Jogging in the night

I will really miss meeting him in the mornings. I always like mornings when the sun shine brightly in the sky. It always give me a sense of hope; that something wonderful may and can happen. I wonder when we will have such a chance again....

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=)

2011-12-28T23:58:00.002+08:00

He makes me feel like the most fortunate woman on earth.

I wish he knows how much I want him to feel like the most fortunate man on earth.

I am happy. =)

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How It Has Been So Far

2011-12-16T18:22:00.003+08:00

So how has it been so far?

Everything is new to me. These three months were spent getting to know him, getting to know myself, adapting to him, adapting to myself, changing him and changing myself. People say that the first few months into a new relationship are always the "honeymoon" months where everything is made of candy, there is always a rainbow in the sky and stars rain down on us every night. Surprisingly, we settle down very fast into a "non-honeymoon" relationship. Maybe the two of us are very practical people. Maybe I am not the typical sweet girl. Maybe he is the typical non-romantic kind. Or maybe we have reached the age when we have a lot of things going on in our lives besides romance.

However, I quite like this. At least, I know what I see is what I get.

(But somehow, somehow, he always manages to do the right things at the right time.)

I am surfing my fb while typing this entry. I saw the status of the guys whom I used to like and of guys who used to like me and have gotten attached and there was a weird feeling inside me. It was a mixture of jealousy, envy, wonder, discomfort... A reunion of all my "old friends".

And then I turned and saw him and suddenly everything felt right.

I think I may like him more than I care to admit.

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It Happens When You Least Expect It

2011-09-25T18:47:00.003+08:00

It all started with a KTV session. I was struck by his voice.

And then it was the "I have never ever ..." game when we got to know more about each other. I was struck by we share in common.

Following that, it was the night when he offered to drive me home after my bowling game with Zac. I was struck by the number of cockroaches in his car.

I was struck again when I took his car the next day by the smell of insecticide and a bottle of air freshener on his dashboard.

Mustafa became our dating ground. We would take turns pointing at something and then ask a question to find out more about each other. I was struck by how we have such similar eating habits and preferences.

Dinners followed dinners.

Joanna told him that I do not like shabbily dressed guys. I was struck when one day, we decided to have an impromptu meetup, he appeared in jeans when he told me that he was wearing berms. He bought the jeans after work.

He took my hand after posting the question on a board along the Sentosa Boardwalk. I was struck by the number of butterflies flying in my stomach.

He asked the important question on the 9th of September in La Salsa and gave me a surprise gift. I was struck by his effort and sincerity.

I was struck again and again in the following days.

And that's it. It happens when I least expected it. Now, I finally understand what Yvonne once said to me, that feelings will grow and deepen day after day.

In short, I am struck by him.

That's why darling,

It's incredible

That someone so unforgetable,

Thinks that I am

Unforgetable too

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Little Snippets of My Life

2011-08-09T19:03:00.008+08:00

I have not updated my blog for a long time. Nope, I did not spend my time moping or feeling emotional these days. I simple picked up where I have left, spending more time with my friends, the ones who truly care for me. I am starting to find joy in my work again. Here's a little photo log from my Iphone on what I have been doing these days.

Teacher's Investiture Ceremony

At first, I did not want to go. I received news nearer to the date that it is compulsory for us to go. They did their "thing" again, forcing us to do something just because we "owe" them the money. But anyway, I'm glad I went. It was time well-spent catching up with friends.

P-Plate

Found this stuck on my metal cupboard in the staffroom. One of my HODs put it there. It made me laugh out loud. I guess this is his way of telling the rest to go easy on me as I am a "P-Plater". But then, my friend said that "P-Platers" are always the easy target for bullies. -_-...

Salad For Lunch

As part of my determination to lose weight, I have switched to eating salads for lunch. The salads are prepared by yours truly and I am proud of my creation. =P

Grilled fish salad with mango and roasted rice crackers

Grilled chicken breast meat salad with grapes

These meals were not cheap though. I think each meal cost me around $5-$6. But it is still cheaper and healthier than popping pills!

Muffins

Went to Jaw's new house for dinner on a Friday. It was quite exciting because none of us has a place to call our own yet. And they had a surprise for me.

Xiao Pang's sister, Chu Xin, baked these muffins to cheer me up after reading my blog. I was so touched that I was speechless. I really really appreciate the thought and effort that went into this. I must have done something good in my previous life to deserve friends like them. =)

Angry Birds

Had fun playing with Ethel's, Alvin's and Aaron's Angry Birds one afternoon.

We used our building blocks to create an Angry Bird's scene too.

Cute.

English Noticeboard

One day, my English HOD tasked me to help design the school's English Noticeboard. I was stumped. Luckily, my Level Head came up with great ideas and I helped to carry out and modfiy some bits here and there. In the end, we were so proud of our board!

Founder's Day Dinner

My first Founder's Day in my new school. It was a chance for the teachers in my school to dress up and look pretty for the night. So unlike their usual self. I have many beautiful teachers in my school!

With my Beginning Teachers.

Make-shift Bed

My favourite sort of bed in the office. Nice, soft and full of knowledge. Heh!

Inner Desire @ Wavehouse Sentosa

Esther, my ODAC friend, has set up a blogshop selling bikinis and night gowns. She asked me to help out at her fashion show at Wavehouse last Saturday. I like exposing myself to jobs outside my usual scope and she is a good friend of mine so I agreed immediately.

My job was to help the model attached to me change into 4 different sets of bikinis. They were really professional and had no qualms changing in front of strangers. I think we, Esther's friends, felt more awkward than the models. Heh!

It was a real mad rush in the changing tent. There were only 5 models and the runway was short. That meant that they would have little time to change.

Esther doing an interview with Razor TV.

The helpers for that day. The buffet we had for dinner is the best I have ever tasted.

Anyway, Esther's blogshop is http://www.inner-desire.com/. Visit her store if you are thinking of buying lingerie, bikini, swim wear or night gowns!

Prawning

After helping out with Esther's event, I met up with Jane and her cousin to go prawning at Jurong Hill. It was nice, chilling and catching up with small interludes of excitement when the prawns got hooked.

Joey came and joined us soon after.

Our achievement after 3 hours - 9 prawns! Heh!

And so, this concludes my little photolog from the pictures taken using my Iphone. I have moved on. =)

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I Am Over You

2011-07-18T16:53:00.003+08:00

So life goes on as it always does. And I move on like I always do. I'm glad Jane told me what she did. It woke me up properly and I know that the time to move on has been long overdue. So I did.

I've learnt a lot about myself through this incident. Some parts that I like and some parts that I dislike. But I am thankful. At least for a few months, I lived happily. Not that I am unhappy now but you know what I mean. I am also glad of this "opportunity" to know more about what I can or cannot give or do.

And so.. I didn't regret what I did. If I have to do it again, I will still choose the same route. Everything happens for a reason, doesn't it? =)

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A Letter To Someone

2011-07-04T00:56:00.009+08:00

Dear Someone,

I wish I have the courage and wisdom to send this letter to you. But I know that such courage is not within me. There are so many things that I want to pour out to you. Knowing that my blog is a secret to you, I shall write my letter to you here. Maybe there is a part of me that actually wishes that you will stumble upon my blog one day and read all that I wanted to say to you but never could.

Something has changed these past 2 weeks. There is a strange tension and some awkwardness hanging in the air. I didn't know that actually tension and awkwardness carry a weight. My heart is so heavy, trying to bear it all. I realised that I am not as strong or rational as I always thought that I was. I kept believing that working helps. That being busy at work would take my mind off things and that I will be forced to operate normally. It is rubbish. Though being busy really takes my mind off matters, the heart is not that easily distracted. Yes, I try to function normally. But the dull ache inside me didn't let me forget easily.

My mind is so distracted nowadays. Even sticking to routines can be a problem. Can you believe that I tap my Ez-link card at the lift control panel, walked into my room and switched on the fan before realising that I was in the dark, brushed my teeth twice and many other small incidents that remind me that I am not "normal"?

I wonder what caused the change. Can someone please please please tell me?? Is it because we danced too intimately two Fridays ago? Is it because I said or did something wrong? Is it because I flared up last Friday at you for making me wait the whole day for your answer? Is it because you feel that I have turned needy? Is it because you realised that you don't like me?

Then why said that it is complicated when someone asked you about your feelings for me? Saying that it is complicated means that there is chance that you like me, right? Do you know that I was happy when I heard that reply? These few months, I realised that actually it does not take a lot for you to make me happy.

I wish that I can turn back time. Now, if someone asks me about the happy times I had in the past few months, those happy times still come back to me clearly. My Sentosa stayover when we started smsing back and forth everyday, your smses which start with, "Morning morning!^^ ", the night of the seven dwarves, you showing me your watch collection, our breakfast together, our dinner at Great World before our first trip to Taboo, KL trip, suppers at Al Azhar, me bringing lunch for you at Lau Pat Sat, etc. I wish time had stopped there.

You know, I have tried. I have tried many times to keep my feelings in check and to try to stop liking you. 8 years ago, I succeeded. I, myself, did not expect that 8 years later, I will fall for you again. There were many times when I told myself, "You are not his cup of tea. Don't like him! Nothing good will come out of it!" But every time I tried, the moment we meet, I know that it is useless.

Why am I writing this letter? What is pressing on me most these days is actually our friendship. To me, romance and relationships can take a back seat when it comes to friendship. I don't care if you don't like me romantically. I don't care already. Wait. I do care. But it is just that if I have to choose between relationship and friendship, I choose friendship. I am so afraid, terrified, that me liking you is going to affect our friendship. Can you please, please, please pretend that I have never liked you and we just go back to how we are before? This friendship really matters a lot to me.

This letter is to let you know that there is a girl who likes you very very much. When people ask her why she likes you this much, this girl does not have an answer. She just feel genuinely happy when she is around you. It is the type of happiness that chase away all tiredness, the type of happiness that makes her glow and walk with a spring in her step. I guess this letter is to remind you that, in the future, when you are feeling low or when you meet snags in your new relationship, you used to make a skeptical and rational girl feel like she owns the world by just being who you are.

Let's just be best friends. =)

Sincerely,

Me

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There's A Fine, Fine Line

2011-06-22T00:01:00.004+08:00

There's a fine, fine line between a lover and a friend;
There's a fine, fine line between reality and pretend;
And you never know 'til you reach the top if it was worth the uphill climb.

There's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of time.

There's a fine, fine line between a fairy tale and a lie;
And there's a fine, fine line between "You're wonderful" and "Goodbye."
I guess if someone doesn't love you back it isn't such a crime,
But there's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of your time.

And I don't have the time to waste on you anymore.
I don't think that you even know what you're looking for.
For my own sanity, I've got to close the door
And walk away...
Oh...

There's a fine, fine line between together and not
And there's a fine, fine line between what you wanted and what you got.
You gotta go after the things you want while you're still in your prime...

There's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of time.

I wish I can bold the whole song. So, so, so true....

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Connecting to the Wilder Side

2011-06-07T15:01:00.010+08:00

It has been a crazy clubbing period for me. Since the start of April, I have been clubbing every week (except last week). People told me that I am a late bloomer but clubbing is more fun when you have the money to spend. =p

Anyway, I think I am off clubbing for a bit. At first, it was fun! Friends laughing, dancing, getting tipsy, saying and doing funny things together. Then, things get a bit more complicated when we got to know more people. Suddenly, people with other motives started appearing. Things turned from innocent fun to something else.

And I am starting to dislike the way I behave nowadays. My brains did not function as well, or rather was not functioning, the last few times. I wish someone had slapped me there and then. I think I need my Enemies with me. They kept me rooted and reined me in when I went overboard. Girls, I miss clubbing with you...

This is the photo log of my happy, carefree and young days before I start working. If not for my job, I don't think that I will club that much. Bleagh...

Double O and Zouk Winebar 15/04

Our VIP for that day - Marcus.

KL Zouk 22/04

Hitting the club during our road trip.

Rebel and Butter Factory 27/04

Pris's first visit to the clubs!

Zouk 01/05

It was bro's birthday that day!

Taboo and Zouk 07/05

The scandalous picture in Taboo.

RY gone.

Zouk 14/05

The night of the infamous Seven Dwarves.

$200+ worth of drinks. To make us suffer. Never again!

Henry opted for the normal Jaggerbomb. Smart move.

And clubbing has become such a common event that I have no more pictures to show for it. Scary... Anyway, I have been trying to make it less of a common past time for me. Time to connect to my inner geek and focus on my job.

Damn. I still feel guilty.

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Deep and Meaningless

2011-05-29T22:10:00.001+08:00

I, I don't know why I miss you so much
Yeah I, I don't know why I still feel your touch
You, you left me feeling high and dry
With nothing, nothing but the question why

Yeah you, I guess you had another direction
And leaving me with nothing but a dead connection

If you call me today
I'll say that I'm fine
But I bet you can tell by the tone of my voice
It's just a lie
You knew what you had
You still walked away leaving me in this mess
My love for you is deep and meaningless

You, you knew what you were doing to me
And I, I guess I was too blind to see
Well you hit where it hurt and you fooled me so bad
But I'd do it again to relive what we had

Damn that's sad

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Not Again..

2011-05-25T22:13:00.004+08:00

I've been feeling rather down lately.

I miss him.

Or rather, I miss the happy times spent with him.

I wonder whether he knows that I still like him. A lot.

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Can't Believe This Happened To Me

2011-05-21T01:43:00.004+08:00

I always prided myself on my independence and responsibility. I still cannot believe that I missed my keyboard exam yesterday because I overslept! My watch did not ring and though Mum gave me 2 missed calls, my spoilt hp did not ring too. In fact, my hp stopped ringing since a year ago.

And so, I missed my keyboard exam. That's 1 year of preparation and $200 down the drain. I nearly broke into tears.

Anyway, I was pissed at the same time. And so.... I bought a new phone - a white Iphone 4! I love my new gadget baby! And I have also sourced some watches and am waiting for the retailer to email me back.

Next thing to buy, an alarm clock!

Luckily this did not occur next week when work has started for me. I do not even dare to think of the consequences if I oversleep.

This exam incident may be a warning from above. =P

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Like Moth To Fire

2011-05-08T23:03:00.004+08:00

Crew: Captain, are you sure you want to go into the black hole?

Captain: Yes. It is such a beautiful thing, isn't it? And what is on the other side? I just keep thinking about it.

Crew: Captain, you know that there is a possibility that we may end up destroying our ship and losing our lives? Nobody who went through the black hole came back.

Captain: Yes, I know. But the black hole keeps haunting me. I just cannot look away from it. Sometimes, when I stared real hard, I caught a glimpse of something good.

Crew: But most of the times, it is just black, hopeless and depressing.

Captain: I know. Just indulge in me once? I have never been in a black hole before. Even if I end up shattered, at least I've been there and lived to tell the tale. I believe the glimpses of something good will be enough to sustain me through. And I know that if anything happen, you will be there to help me rebuild this ship, right?

Crew: You are so silly.

Captain: The black hole has already started its pull on me. I am in too deep.

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KL Road Trip

2011-05-02T15:49:00.031+08:00

It is time for me to snap out of my emo mood. Let me blogged about my road trip which I enjoyed immensely. =)

Day 1 - Muar and KL

Our first breakfast at Malaysia's KFC while waiting for ZR and JH to clear the customs. To our surprise, there were no long queues or jams despite the long weekend. What to do while waiting for ZR and JH? Camwhore with my camwhore partner, Henry!

Finally, ZR and JH cleared the customs and we took a cab to Jason's house to collect his dad's car for the road trip.

On our way!

We depended on the GPS to guide us to Muar.

But the battery ran low before we reached Muar! We depended on our instincts and the sparse road signs from that point on. Luckily, we managed to find our way.

The parking coupons in Muar are so interesting! No loopholes for cheating. Heh!

Time for lunch at Muar famous 四马路 (si ma lu)!
The meat was so-so and the otahs were thin and average too. Think we need to do more research next time. =P

The dessert was good though.

The weather was freaking hot! ZR's ears turned super red from the hot weather.

We finally reached KL at around 4 plus. And I saw this huge advertisement with a very familiar face. Christopher Lee looks so young here! Wonder how long has this advertisement been around. =P

We stayed in Hotel Equitorial. Although the exterior of the hotel looked rather worn and dirty, the inside was nice and the service was commendable. Plus, the rooms were affordable!

ZR aimed straight for the bed (under all the pillows). Haha!

They never grow up.

Time for some serious planning on where to go for dinner and some shopping.

We decided to go Jalan Alor for dinner. But first, some camwhoring shots since we had a big mirror in our room! Haha!

A common sight in KL.

From our hotel, it was just a 10-15 minutes walk to Jalan Alor.

What's a good meal without beer? Cheers to our arriving safely in KL!

The Oyster Omelette was the crispy kind. I prefer our Singapore version.

Their La La were very special.

I had fried mushrooms from the lok lok stall but prayed hard that I will not suffer from food poisoning. Heh!

After dinner, we went to the Pavillion. It is something similar to our Ion where all the brands are located.

And Jason introduced us to this superb chocolate shake from Godiva. It was heavenly!

JH and ZR had the cheesecake. It was very creamy which was to my liking but not to some of them. Heh!

While waiting, they had to suffer from my constant camwhoring. =P

Told ya, they never grow up.

Our only group picture taken by others for the whole trip!

And then, it was the highlight of my trip - KL Zouk!

Getting ready to party the night away!

We opened a bottle of Black Label. Cheap cheap! Only 373 Ringgit!

The guys truly enjoyed themselves that night. KL Zouk has dancers dancing at a level above us in various stages of undress. Food for their eyes. Moreover, according to them, they had never felt so many boobs brushed past them before. Heh!

I enjoyed myself too because I received praise from a stranger! Haha!

The night ended with all of us tipsy but very happy! The jokes that we had in the hotel rooms... =P

Day 2 - Genting and KL

The number of jackets JH and I brought for our trip. Heh!

Preparing to go Genting!

By the way, don't ever eat Subway in KL. One of the worst meals I have ever had.

We took a six-seater cab up Genting. A very comfortable ride up!

I think JH was getting irritated with my constant picture-taking. Heh!

"Jason, make that pervert smile using my shades!"

I like this shot!

JH got a bit crazy with Jason's DSLR. Haha!

Jason and his pervert smile again. Heh!

We decided to take the cable car down. There were sooooo many people queuing to go down.

I like this sneakers shot!

We analysed the first sign on the top row from the right and still could not figure out what it is.

When we reached the cable car station, there was no more bus down Genting. So, we took a cab again. The driver was damn good. Rushing at 110km/hr down Genting. Phew...

We reached KL CC at around 830pm. The place is very pretty and breath-taking! I was amazed and stumped by how the lights managed to make the buildings dazzle and glow.

We sat and watched the musical fountain for a while.

Henry and his camwhoring ways.

Stupid ZR and his hand.

The guys and their typical "act cool" poses.

Henry being protective of his gay partner. Haha!

We had dinner at the Little Penang Kafe. The Char Kway Tiao and Lor Bak were good!

We went over to the other side of KL CC and took more of what JH termed "cheesy shots". Well, she is an Art Major and an Art teacher.

The boys spotted this small fountain and boasted that they could easily jump over it. We (the girls) doubted it. They tried to prove us wrong.

Anyway, the boys were jumping behind the fountain and not over it. Haha! The area was too slippery to take any risks.

Then, they decided to scale a low wall for better shots with the KL CC.

We then made our way to Pacific Regency Hotel Luna Bar. Jason told us that it boasted a good skyview and we should pop in for a drink. We walked a long distance and cut through some dubious alley before we reached the place. My first words when I reached was "Eh, I feel very out of place." The place seems very high-class and we were not dressed for it. Moreover, we had to pay cover charge to go in. We decided to give it a miss and return to our small but comfortable rooms for bridge and supper.

There was a surprise waiting for me after I bathed. I was the first to bathe and I noticed something written on the mirror. I was not particularly afraid as I know how to create such images. Just use toothpaste or saliva. The words I saw made me even less frightened. "What's up?" -_-"..

C'mon. I can think of better ones. How about "Who is this?", "Go away", "Leave me alone" and my favourite, "Look up". Haha!

It was on to our favourite activity after we bathed - Bridge time! They could not find me Ramily burger but Henry bought cheesecakes. Woots! I remembered sighing happily, "This is life". =)

Poor JH had to prepare her school work though.

The life of a teacher. =(

Day 3 - KL and Home

We were supposed to visit Malacca on the way back to Singapore. Blame it on our luck. Our car broke down! In the end, someone had to come and change the fuel pump for us. We had never even heard of "fuel pump" before!

The four of us headed to KFC for breakfast while Jason stayed with the car. The manager of the hotel was super nice. He helped to jumpstart the car and stayed with us throughout the whole time.

While having brekkie, we checked whether we struck 4D from the numbers we bought in the Genting the day before.

Nope. =P

We shopped around Bukit Bintang for a while while waiting for the pump to be changed. We headed back to the hotel after that because we did not want to leave Jason alone. I aimed straight for the Magarita at the hotel lounge when we got back. Woots!

ZR looked like he was at the airport. Heh!

Henry's sweet tooth made him aimed for the cakes.

Indulging in a frozen Margarita on a freaking hot afternoon is life. =)

Of course, everytime we had leftovers, we used them for our favourite forfeit game - 终级密码.

And then, it was a long drive back to Jason's JB house before his uncle sent us to the customs. A few rounds of DOTA and supper before we called it "home".

I really enjoyed myself a lot during this trip. The sense of camaraderie, the sharing of favourite songs, the dancing to club hits in the car, the constant banter, etc etc. I kept reliving those moments! I hope that we will have a chance to do this again when I start working!

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Not Me

2011-04-28T04:23:00.002+08:00

I have been drinking too fast and too hard these days. So not me.

(P.S. I was congratulating myself for not sending any drunk smses or making drunk calls when I saw this post. Great. Now, I make drunk blog posts too.)
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A Day I Will Remember Forever

2011-04-26T12:02:00.002+08:00

So, I confessed. I never thought I would and could but I did.

So now he knows. I really pray hard that this would not affect our friendship. We'll see where it goes from here.

26th April 1 am. I will forever remember this day.

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It is Tough

2011-04-17T23:46:00.004+08:00

I really dislike emotional posts but I am going to post one now. I just need to get this out of my system.

It is really tough liking someone and not expecting anything in return. I guess I am not a saint afterall. I do not expect that he will like me but it still affects me if he is interested in other girls. I am so afraid that he will like someone before I stop liking him. Really afraid.

Which is why, I think I need to stop liking him. Although it was fun and happy at first, things start to change once I start to have daydreams and expectations. I guess I am not that strong afterall.

我寂寞寂寞就好這時候誰都別來安慰擁抱

就讓我一個人去痛到受不了想到快瘋掉

死不了就還好

我寂寞寂寞就好你真的不用來我回憶裡微笑

我就不相信我會笨到忘不了賴著不放掉

人本來就寂寞的 借來的都該還掉

我總會把你戒掉

"借來的都該還掉" This is so true. The happy times that I had was borrowed from him. They were not given.

Shall. Concentrate. On. My. Last. Paper. Tomorrow.

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I Get A Kick Out of You

2011-04-03T01:29:00.007+08:00

I have been busy busy busy these few weeks. Being busy with school work is the norm. What makes these few weeks a "busy-yet-happy" time was playing DOTA, drinking and dining out with friends. And perhaps, friends have noticed that I seemed much chirpier and happier. That is because I am really chirpier and happier these few weeks. And I am going to put down the reason in my blog. I am not going to try to mince my words and act coy. Well, the main reason why I am enjoying myself these few weeks is that I got a crush on someone. After so many years.

He is the someone who makes me want to dress up every time we meet. He is someone who brightens up my day with a message asking whether I am free. He is someone who makes me shake my head in public in an attempt to clear my mind of silly notions. He is someone who makes me "park" in facebook. He is someone who makes me sneak peeks at him for the moments when he looks good. Most importantly, he is someone who makes my "I-thought-they-are-dead" butterflies in my stomachs flutter every now and then.

But there is something I wan to make very very clear here. This is a one-sided thing. The amazing thing is, I am satisfied with this. Really. Truly. I don't how to explain it or to make one understand. I am just happy to be meeting him and this happiness seems to envelop me. It creates this bubble that protects me and keeps me light and happy wherever I go. I am also glad that the butterflies in my stomach aren't that dead. I am just enjoying this moment.

So friends, don't go digging and searching for the slightest or smallest hints that he may be interested in me when I tell you stories. I know, for sure, he is not. I don't want to go down that path as I believe that will be unhealthy for me. Things change when more feelings are involved, don't they? More expectations, more wants, more disappointments, yada yada. You may think that I am silly. But if being silly makes me this happy, then let me be silly for a little while longer. Let me just soak in this simple simple one-sided infatuation. =)

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It Sucks to be a Woman

2011-03-16T00:53:00.003+08:00

I wish that my period can come soon. All these hormones running inside my body are screwing up my brain. Between having cramps and staying sane and happy, bring me the cramps any time.

***************************************

My Birthday '11

2011-03-14T02:21:00.000+08:00

Birthday Celebration With Enemies at Aston

It was held at Aston's in Centerpoint. It was a surprise because I didn't know where we were meeting. I was happy we are going there because western food never goes wrong with me. =P

Huli really surpassed herself! She was my bday organiser. At first, we didn't think this celebration will go well because of her history but she really, really gave me a wonderful party!

I had the cutest birthday cakes.

Sexayyyy! I want to have these figures by next birthday! =P

As seen, the baker was so meticulous.

With my favourite girls. =D

Sour grapes. If I don't have such big ones, the cupcake can't have them!

Splitting the ass. Heh!

Huli made these flowers! There were messages hidden inside each flower. So sweet! She must have spent much time and effort doing this. For me! I was so touched. =)

Love you, girls!

Birthday Celebration with Straits Gang at Concorde Hotel

Gwen managed to find this hi-tea buffet restaurant, the Spices Cafe, online. So, we went there for my bday celebration. It was so worth the money! There was Salmon sashimi which is my favourite! With that, I was a happy girl.

The biatches that I have known for 5 years. Phew.. Time really flew by.

My presents! They bought me a Laniege Moisturiser and Chelsia bought me a dress from Phuket.

It's a girl thing. Taking pictures in toilets.

Birthday Celebration with NIE Clique at Bar Bar Black Sheep

My favourite peeps in NIE asked me out for lunch after our psychology class on Monday to celebrate my birthday. Catherine drove us to this place that she was raving about a few months back. It is quite inaccessible unless you drive. Bar Bar Black Sheep is located along Cherry Ave, next to Sixth Ave.

My favourite peeps in NIE. =)

The western food stall closed on Mondays so we did not get to try it. But the Naans from the Indian stall made our trip worthwhile. They were delicious!

The peeps whom I hanged out with during my long long breaks in NIE. =)

Birthday Celebration with My Family at Home and Live@Teppan

Ethel and her mum made me a card for my birthday! And I was amazed with Ethel's artistic flair.

Nice right?

My cousin, Ethel's mum, bought me a cake!

My niece and nephews tried to blow the candles without me! Naughty kids! But they could win a bigger child (me!). I pushed them away and blew the candles. Wuahahaha!

Anyway, with the pampering adults around, they got to have a candle each and blew to their hearts' content.

Look at the pool of saliva on Aaron's chin and you know that he was such fun that he forgot to swallow his saliva.

The small little cake was split among 13 people.

Mum cooked giant prawns for me! These crustaceans were longer than 2 fingers combined! One prawn was enough to fill me up.

On my actual birthday, we went to Live@Teppan at West Coast Plaza to celebrate. The food was great! And we were entertained. I shall let the pictures do the talking.

Birthday Celebration with Sec School Gang at Bar Bar Black Sheep ... Again

Seems like this is the "in" place nowadays. Wan Lin suggested going Bar Bar to celebrate my bday. Although I was just there on Monday, I did not mind going back to try the Western food. This time round, we went there on a Saturday afternoon.

The western food Cat and Wan Lin were gushing about tasted pretty average to me. But maybe it was because I ordered the wrap instead of the steak which seemed to be their best dish. Well, to my steak lover friends, maybe you can give it a try when you go there!

After lunch, we went to Daily Scoop near my place for some desserts. Yums.. =)

I had a great time celebrating my birthday with my friends and family. =D Although growing old is a sad thing, they made that one time of the year a truly happy and memorable time for me. And I thanked them for helping me ease into another age.

I have the best people as friends. =)

***********************************

My Boyish Side

2011-03-09T00:55:00.002+08:00

These few weeks, I have reconnected with my boyish side. The side that loves pool, Counter Strike and my new-found interest, DOTA.

My life is balanced and I am one happy girl. =)

*******************************

Best Marriage Proposal

2011-03-07T23:51:00.003+08:00

I saw one of the best marriage proposals on postsecret.com.

Simple and sweet with a touch of humour. =)

******************************

Metamorphosis

2011-03-02T23:29:00.004+08:00

I've calculated. Over the past 3 days, I have slept less than 8 hours in total.

My butt has left a permanent imprint on my chair.

My laptop has started creaking where I rest my wrist.

My mind has begun playing random songs.

I can play the lead in Kung Fu panda.

I have a strawberry for my nose.

I have begun to start admiring myself. I feel like Superwoman. Maybe I could start designing my superhero outfit.

Hmmm... Wait. I think I will want to include one more adjective in my title. How about the adjective "tired" after "Super"? Hmm...

*******************************

Best Quote Eva!

2011-02-28T00:56:00.002+08:00

I was telling this guy friend that I would want to have many "bois bois" for my birthday wish this year when he said this,

"u know.. women are like locks and men are like keys..
if a lock can be opened by many keys, it's a shitty lock!
but if a key can open a lot of locks.. it is a master key!

so one at a time ok?"

HAHAHAHAAHAA!!

********************************

Forked Road

2011-02-25T12:24:00.003+08:00

I am standing in front of a forked road. Should I go left or right?

On my left, it is a prestigious scholarship. Status, one more year of being a student, better prospects, etc, are attached to it. So does the extension of one more year of bond, no income for another year, studying alone in a competitive environment, lowering my chances of meeting someone, etc.

On my right, it is a job in my junior college. I have always wanted to go back. No classroom management issues, interesting subject, intelligent and responsive audience, etc. Hey, I may even reopen my ODAC club if I have the chance. However, I will have to meet my nemesis. Two of them, in fact. And I don't know if I can speak fluently and well enough to handle my job.

Which should I choose? *Troubled*

*******************************

Taking Action!

2011-02-11T23:58:00.004+08:00

It's the family's annual trip to our "weight consultants'" place tomorrow. Every year, it's "Oh (insert a frown here), you gain weight huh?" or "You look (insert a half frown here) the same". Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever heard, "You have lost weight!"

And then, out rolls nutritional guides, exercise regimes, achievements in sports, etc. Oh ya, throw in some occasional snide jokes about our weight and you will get the whole picture. I am so not looking forward to it.

Speaking about weight, I have signed a one year package with Contours Express! I really enjoyed working out there. The circuit training suits me better than slogging 45 mins on the exercise bike. Besides, paying a fee a month is a motivational factor.

But as always, exercising is tiring, especially when some of the equipments place me in some very awkward and embarrassing situations.

One of such equipments is called the twisting disc.

Basically, you step on it, go into the half squat position and swing from side to side with your arms swinging in the opposite direction. The moment I step on the disc, I feel 40 years older. I am instantly "auntified". My eyes will naturally avert the rest of the people and the huge mirror at the side and I wish fervently that all eyes are averted from me too. The announcement "change station" never appear too early.

And then, there is the leg press machine.

On my first visit, I wore FBT shorts, which is suitable for jogging but totally inappropriate for working in a gym. To correctly manipulate the leg press machine, one has to position herself in the same position she will be in while in labour. Wearing the loose FBT shorts means exposing your..., you know where I mean, to the other women in the gym. It is a totally "sexy" machine. The instructions given are good material to be used in adult-themed movies. "Open your legs wider", "lift higher", "push", well, you get my drift. Totally awkward.

And finally, the triceps training machine.

Nothing much except that I have seemingly weak arms that shake horribly while working this machine. And it seems that the instructors like to chat with me at this station. So, it turns out that my voice likes to be in sync with arms. Great.

I am going to stick to my new exercise regime though! I am a whiner but not a quitter. The "weight consultants" will be so proud of me. Maybe I will get to hear the elusive "You lost weight!" next year.

******************************

ODAC Zouk Party!

2011-01-30T17:21:00.005+08:00

The last time I clubbed with my ODACians was when we were 19th! Finally, at the age of 24 approaching 25, we hit the club again!

Being the typical poor students, we bought alcohol and sat by the road to "warm up" before the real "clubbing".

Poh Wai and his "drug dealer" pose.

If it's not for our age, we looked like the typical Bengs, Lians and deliquents sitting by the road. Hmm.. So is growing old a good thing or not?

Now I know why 3 of my toes still feel numb after 2 days.

Girls from OCBC. OCBC stands for ODAC Chio Bu Club! Haha! The guys have a club too. UOB - Ugly ODAC Boys

Zouk was super crowded on Friday! It was packed to the brim with NS boys, Ah Bengs, Ah Lians and the barely-twenties. In other words, it was filled with lecherous young men and angsty, unreasonable and self-centered youths. Not a very nice place to be in.

Luckily, I got my friends with me! And they were fun to club with! There were some parts I got irritated though. Especially when the guys got too protective and made it difficult to dance. I kept telling JX that he should relax and that he was not there to protect us but to have fun too! I guess we girls could take care of ourselves pretty well. Heh! I appreciate their gestures though.

I got a shock when I checked the time in the middle of a dance. It was 4am! That was the first time time flew so quickly by for me in a club! And minutes later, the lights came on! It was then when my feet sent signals that they were dying. It was really really painful. I could barely walked. I survived based on sheer willpower.

The last group photo for the night!

I really enjoyed myself that night! And I didn't realise how much I missed clubbing! I didn't club the whole of last semester!

I want to go again! =P

************************************

Occupational Hazard

2011-01-16T21:39:00.003+08:00

On Friday, I got into a quarrel with a stranger on the streets for the first time. I was paying for my groceries at a shop when this woman pushed me. I ignored her at first. She then proceeded to dump her groceries on the cashier table, nearly crushing my packets of fruit which were still on the table. I was a little irritated by her already.

Then as I left the shop, I stood at the doorway for a moment as there were many people stuck at the doorway. Suddenly, somebody pushed me away and said, "走开! (Go away!)" It was that woman! The next thing I know, I was telling that woman, "没礼貌! (You're rude!)" (Feels like I was scolding a Primary school kid)

Upon hearing that, she immediately turned around and started yelling at me! She complained that she was behind me for a long time. Hello! I do not have eyes behind my back! The more decent thing to do would be to say, "Excuse me" and I would immediately make space for her to leave. And that was what I told her. Did that shut her up? No. She then went into a long history of how Singaporeans behave and some other stuffs. I can't really remember what she said because she was screaming all the time incoherently.

My mum quickly came and pulled me away. I was also quite scared because she was taller and fatter than me. I do not wish to be beaten into a pulp. As we were walking away, she was still shrieking her head off! Crazy bit*h!

My dad told me off after that. He said that one day I will get myself into deep trouble. But I feel that we should stand up to injustice. By remaining silent, we are condoning those selfish and rude acts. If all of us can open our eyes and ears wide, I believe that the social conscience of the people will go up, making this a better society. Everybody has a part in educating the public. Well, that's my two cents worth of view.

Do you agree that I am in the right when I chided the woman?

Back to School

2011-01-09T18:41:00.003+08:00

Tomorrow marks the first day of my last semester in school. I am still recovering from the hellish previous semester; I will have to drag myself to school tomorrow. Not to mention that I will be stuck in school for 5 hours for a stupid lecture from 630-730pm. And I thought that I will have a short day tomorrow. PLUS, I just realise that none of my clique will be in the same class with me in Social Studies classes. It really really dampened my mood. I like working with them on projects because they are so dependable. *Huge sigh* Guess I will have to learn to trust someone else this semester.

On another topic, I am so glad that I reunited with my NPCC friends. Friday's mahjong was the best session ever. Sacrificing my sleep was totally worth it. I have not laughed so much since I don't know when. Thank god for them to help me prepare to face another disgusting semester.

**************************

Looking Back

2011-01-02T22:58:00.003+08:00

I first heard the following question in an advertisement. It has stuck on me since and I found myself constantly asking myself the same question.

"When is the last time you have done something for the first time?"

I am happy that I have many "first times" in 2010. =)

My "Firsts" in 2010:

Jan - Travelled with my Odacians to Genting

Mar - Bought a semi-pro camera

May - Toured Taiwan
Went travelling with just a friend
Planned my trip without professional help
Snorkelled and White Water Rafting
Attended an autograph session
Saw Jay Chou up close
And all the other "firsts" comes with an overseas trip

July - Met up with Anita and Deanies after many years
Stopped a cab and openly confronted a cab snatcher

Aug - Received a Grade 3 in Piano
A short and terrifying encounter with an Earwig
Saw the Olympic fire up close
Stayed in Marina Bay Sands Hotel
Met up with my NPCC friends after 5 years

Oct - Completed a 20-pages individual report

Nov - Went without sleep for 4 separate nights
Completed around 21 assignments in 15 weeks

Dec - Painted my house for the first time in ten over years

I hope that there are plenty more "first times" for me in 2011!

***********************

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T16:06:00.016+08:00

I have two favourite festivals. One is the Chinese New Year and the other is Christmas! And I have enjoyed my Christmas this year to the fullest!

The first celebration was with my Enemies!

Cafe Orielo (Somerset 313)

This year, we decided to do something different. We decided not to determine who gets whose present before the celebration. We just decided on the budget and off we go to buy whatever present that falls within our budget. It was more exciting because we didn't know what we will get!

In went our ICs into a paper bag for the "lucky dip"!

I received Xiao Pang's present and Birdie got mine! I am so sorry, Birdie, that you got 2 organisers now! You are really lucky, you know! The chances of receiving my present was 1 out of 6 and you hit it! Maybe it's time to buy lottery. Or you just love me too much. Haha!

Ah Bun received a present from Huli.

Jaws received a present from Mascot, I think?

Xiao Pang received a present from Birdie.

Mascot received a present from Ah Bun.

Huli received a present from Jaws?

I had two surprises that night. When I first drawed Xiao Pang's IC, I was like, "Eh? Who is this?" Haha! Girl, you are much much prettier now! =P

The second surprise was when I saw my present. I immediately went, "WTH is this??" Haha! That is the longest present I have ever received. Don't think naughty.

It was photo frame or photo drop from IKEA! Very nice! And a passport holder which "coincidentally", has the same design as my 22nd birthday pencil box. I think I know who bought my pencil box back then! =P

Xiao Pang also managed to find the funniest Marie cat stickers for Jaws.

Marie, what happened to your eyes??

A log cake from Patissier, also from Xiao Pang! We thought that Santa was made from icing sugar and tried to behead him but failed. Santa is a tough old man.

Our 8th Christmas together. =)

Second celebration with my Straits gang!

Shaun's House (Hougang Unit 313)

First to arrive with my Vodka!

Shaun's parents had prepared soooo much food! There was another side table with vegetables not shown in this picture. And it was a non-beef lunch because of me. I was so touched. =) I was very glad that they had considered my religion beliefs and were very willing to accommodate me. I love my friends when they do this for me!

My favourite irritant, Ba Jie. =) Life would be boring without this mean Biatch.

My Straits gang! It is funny how fate works some times. I never thought I was able to make fast friends when I first started working at Straits. It is amazing that we manage to keep this friendship going despite going different paths. =)

Gwen bought sparkling juice!

POP!

I love my camera.

Maggie and me. =)

Present time! Maggie received my present and I received Maria's, I mean Ba Jie's, present! (She looks like a maid in her IC. Haha!)

Cheers!

And then, it was Mahjong time! I got to leave halfway through the game because I need to rush back for my cousin Jovy's birthday. But I won $11.50! Haha! Not enough for my cab fare back though.

The last celebration - Jovy's birthday and Xmas celebration.

Cousin's House (Sunsetway Street 13)

Pictures of my nieces and nephews!

Baby girl, Chloe, who has grown a lot this year!

Aaron, who always gives a emo look when taking pictures.

Alvin and Ethel. That is Alvin's "smiling" face that he saves for picture taking.

I had steamboat again!

This prawn was huge! But believe me, this was a midget compared to the rest in another bowl.

Caught in the act! Naughty girl, emptying her bottle of water into a bowl of corn.

The boys received their Christmas presents. More toys! Judging by the amount of toys they have, they can open a toy store. =P

My brother received an unexpected present, Oakley shades, from my cousin who claimed that the shades do not suit him. Lucky bro..

Took it for a picture!

Jovy's birthday cake from Choc a Bloc! One of the best chocolate fudge cake ever!

Birthday girl.

The kids gathered around the cake, eager to blow out the candle.

Ethel looked super comical in this picture! Makes me laugh everytime I see it.

Lawrence saw his little girl missed the chance to blow the candle and specially lit one for her to blow. Doting father...

On Christmas day, I received a card from my Bro. It was beautifully and painfully (I saw him struggled with the bits and pieces) designed with a sweet message inside. I heart my bro. =)

I love my Christmas this year. =D

******************************

Taiwan Trip Day 15

2010-12-20T15:41:00.009+08:00

Finally I have time to blog about my last day in Taiwan! This is a super late entry, considering that more than half a year has gone by already. Heh!

I consider the time spent in Taipei most boring. Coz all we did was shopping and I hate shopping. So there are very few photos of us but more of the food. Well, at least, that is interesting.

I had the best Kong Bah Bao ever! I think the Taiwanese call it 刈包 (yi bao/chua bao (localised name). I think the Taiwan version beats the Singapore version hands down. You can choose either fatty or lean meat and I asked for a mix of them. The chunks of meat went into the bun first. Then, the boss added a huge spoonful of preserved vegetables, another huge spoonful of crushed peanuts and finally, garnishes! Tasted heavenly! The meat simply melted and the peanuts gave it a sweet taste amidst the saltiness. Delightful!

We shopped around 五分埔 (Wu Fen Pu) for the whole afternoon. It is a packed, stuffy and confusing maze. I bought a owl pendant which becomes my current favourite accessory piece and some other pendants. That's it. The clothes in Taiwan are too floral-y, lacey-y, chiffon-y, in other words, too lady-like for me.

Around evening, we took the train to Shihlin again because PX had not shopped to her heart's content the previous day.

My interest peaked only when we started discussing what to eat for dinner. Heh! PX wanted to try Japanese sake so we searched around Shihlin for a Japanese restaurant. Surprisingly, there was no Japanese restaurant in Shihlin! There were plenty of Korean BBQ restaurants and numerous stalls selling street food but no Japanese or Western restaurants.

In the end, we decided to cab back to 五分埔 because we remembered there were two Japanese restaurant situated there.

And we managed to have our hot sake! And fresh salmon!

I cannot remember the exact price of the sake but it was super super cheap compared to Singapore's. I think one bottle cost only around S$7.

I was a happy girl!

My meal! I had the black boar set while PX had the Tempura set. Once again, Taiwan proves itself! One of the best Japanese meal I ever had! The meat and the onions blended so nicely together! I tried searching for something like this in Singapore but haven't found anything like it yet.

The confirmation that the meal was excellent!

The sake was so cheap that we decided to buy another one back to the hotel!

The meal we had was super cheap! If I didn't remember wrongly, I think we paid around S$15-20 per person.

Before going back to the hotel, we popped into one of the convenience and swept the boxes of masks off their shelves. Between us, we bought nearly 20 boxes of masks. Heh!

Day 15 ended with cold sake in bed. Bliss..

************************************

End of The Suckiest Semester!

2010-12-15T02:08:00.005+08:00

(Background: Sound of tearing paper)

Goodbye Taylor, Barker, Cummins, Beardsmore, Jewitt, Tatum, Pakir, Deterding, Roberts, Prensky, Luke, Low and many many other authors!

To those who are dead: May your souls rest in peace and stop all "turnings" in your graves from all the horrible interpretations and quotations we made from your work.

To those who are still living: May all curses thrown at you be deflected away and may you grow to a ripe old age.

Looking at all my notes, too many trees have been sacrificed for my quest on seeking knowledge. I thank you trees.

Time to concentrate on burning fossil fuels for computer games, surfing internet and watching videos! Yay! The holidays are here! =D

*******************************

Feeling Irritated

2010-12-13T21:58:00.003+08:00

Recently, I feel like I am in a relationship. One that I do not wish to be part of.

Random smses, facebook messages, msn messages, phonecalls, etc. Seriously. I am really getting very irritated. I don't mind the sending of messages to me. I mind the replying part. I seriously do not know how to reply. So, I don't. And then I felt guilty for not replying to a friend. Imagine having such feelings day in and day out.

I wish that it was from a guy. At least, I can be outright cold towards "him". But these were from a friend. Tell me what to do?

And just now, I just felt super irked. I don't like someone to call and compare revision speed with me in order to make him/her feel good and confident about his/her work. Hello? What about me? You think that will make me feel confident?

GAH!

*******************************

My Brain is Fried

2010-11-28T18:37:00.002+08:00

I was in the middle of typing out a report when I suddenly recalled a dream I had last night.

A Jerk: You have a lousy command of your English! You write boring essays!

Me: No way! I know how to use synonyms! "Therefore", "thus" and "hence"! (Waves my research paper at him)

LOL! Such a funny dream!! I think I must have used too many "therefores", "thuses" and "hences" these days. Haha!

***********************************

Last Lap

2010-11-26T23:34:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was the 3rd night in this semester when I went without sleep rushing for an assignment. Gosh... It is so scary that I am getting used to going without sleep. It is damn bad for my body, my mental health and my skin. *sigh*

Two more assignments to go before the exams. I hope I don't have to do another "sleepless" night on Sunday for my Monday assignment. Going to start tomorrow and do as much as I can. Fighting!

P.S. Just received news that Jaw's mother was hit in the face by a Chinese-speaking foreign worker. Be careful, peeps. There are just so many crazy people out there.

**********************************

Hopelessness

2010-11-18T01:28:00.001+08:00

I feel like giving up.

My emotions these days are bound tightly to my assignments.

Somebody save me.

**************************

Panda

2010-11-09T01:45:00.003+08:00

I had another of those nights yesterday when I stayed up all night to rush for a project. This semester is really killing me. I can feel the strain and the stress. The disappearance of my Muse isn't helping either.

Yesterday, or rather, this morning, I tried to take a half an hour nap at about 4am before returning to work. Halfway through my nap, a BEETLE had to fall onto me! Tell me how unlucky I was! Well, I got to thank it though. My adrenaline was pumping like crazy and my mind was suddenly very clear. I quickly rushed back to my laptop and continued working before the adrenaline wore off.

The beetle? I just let it crawled on my bed. Work is more important.

***************************

No Time to Breathe

2010-10-25T02:01:00.002+08:00

My blog has been dormant for so long. I guess it is going to stay dormant for another long spell again.

I have just completed the one of the toughest assignment I have ever faced and am feeling elated despite my tiredness. Now, the 20 pages individual report is beckoning me and I must start on it soon. The deadline on Friday is looming closer and I have yet to start. Argh...

Sorry, just came in here to take a breather. I doubt I will be blogging anytime soon. My brain is squeezed dry these days and I need to save it for all the other assignments. 7 modules in a semester is really no joke.

Wish me strength and perseverence. =)

P.S. Please ask me out on Fridays. I promise to be the organiser during my holidays.

****************************

Braces Diary

2010-09-27T00:04:00.006+08:00

Dear Teeth,

It has been a while since I blog about your progress. But before I go on,

Happy One Year!!

Time seemed to have zoomed past very quickly and we have another year to go before "bye bye braces". Within these few months, you have progressed a lot! The gaps are nearly closed now and I no longer have protruding front teeth.

1st Month

5th Month

12th Month

Just a tiny gap left.

The last time I blogged about you, the ortho used the power chain to close the gaps and it worked well. This month, however, I am back to the normal rubber as the second last molar is out of place.

The ortho placed another bracket on the top and bottom last molar on my right to fix the problem. Hopefully, the second last molar will shift back in place quickly.

I love my almost-straight teeth!!

**********************************

Little Miss Angry

2010-09-22T00:09:00.005+08:00

Looking on the bright side, I am glad that my lecturer called out my name during lecture today for something that she misunderstood me for. At least this issue made me so pissed that I do not have the emotional capacity to be pissed over people who do not reply my smses.

Hmm.. Wait. I think I am still as pissed over the latter. It has been weeks and this kept gnawing at my mind.

I think I have an anger management issue.

***********************************

Taiwan Trip Day 14 - Taipei

2010-09-05T18:07:00.015+08:00

Woke up early and packed breakfast from a nearby breakfast store. We had to be early for the next activity. We even carried on with our plan despite the heavy rain. 2 umbrellas from 7-eleven saved our day.

Today was one of the more exciting days we had as you can see below. =)

Even when we had reached early, there was already a huge crowd! And it was raining heavily!

And that was how we had our lunch.

Look at the huge crowd! We couldn't even see the stage from where we stood.

Very excited!

The ushers split us into two groups. Luckily for me, we were in the last row of the first group. Bye bye, second group! Come earlier next time!

Finally, he arrived! Can you see him??

It is Jay Chou!!

He is like a mega super star in the Chinese industry! We were so lucky to manage to catch him in Taiwan!

Love the zoom function on my camera!

After queuing for about 2 hours, we finally got on stage and met Jay. He was so cute and charming! Although he does not have the classic handsome face, he exudes a charm that only comes with success and confidence.

I think I was too starstruck to even look at him. I saw him looking up and smiling from the corner of my eye but I did not return the smile! Argh! Has been regretting it since.

Anyway, here's my reward from queuing in the rain for two hours!

We decided to go for coffee after that but the weird thing about Ximenting is that there seemed to be a lack of places to eat. After much searching (it was raining again), we saw a flight of stairs that seemed to lead to a restaurant. So we just popped in. And on the second level, we looked through the windows and realised that, "Hey! The restaurants are all situated on the 2nd floor!" -_-"....

Did some shopping before we decided to go to Taipei 101 Building. As it was raining heavily at that time and the tickets were not exactly cheap, we did not go up to the top floor of the building. Instead, we had dinner at the foodcourt.

And we spotted a stall that got us all excited!

It was the Taiwan's version of Cold Rock!

And the portion was huge and the price was cheap! Couldn't remember exactly how much it cost but I remembered exclaiming how cheap it was. =P

My favourite dessert!

After our dinner, we decided to walk to the nearby 诚品书店, Eslite Bookstore. In Taipei, we usually asked our way around as the people were pretty friendly and helpful. So PX approached this guy for directions. Little did we know that we had asked a weirdo for help. He offered to walk us to the bookstore and we chatted along the way. Out of the blue, he stroked PX's hair and said something which I could not remember. We just stared at each other and were stunned by the unexpected gesture. So...We started talking in English and said something about "kicking his balls if he does it again" right in front of his face. Haha! Although he might not understand exactly what we were saying, I believed he had gotten the drift as he bade us a hasty goodbye at the entrance. =P

Anyway, back to Eslite. I like that place a lot! It is filled to the brim with books and they are cheap! They are at least half the price of the books in Singapore. As we reached late, the bookstore was about to close (they closed at 12 midnight) and so we could only grab some books.

I got myself a book for the flight back home. It did not come in useful as I slept the whole journey back. =P

PX got herself many comics. I had to keep reminding her to tone it down a little as we might exceed the baggage limit.

As tourists, we got some form of discount so be sure to ask if you ever visit Eslite! After book-shopping, we decided to walk back to Taipei 101 to catch a bus back to the MRT station.

And we saw Taipei 101 covered in clouds! It was so unbelievable! A building tall enough to be in the clouds!

It was then we realised how late it was and decided to take a cab back.

And so ended Day 14.

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Taiwan Trip Day 13 - Taipei

2010-08-31T14:02:00.000+08:00

With no pressure from any guides, we always woke up late during our stay in Taipei. Day 13 was no exception. One great thing about staying where I stayed was that good food was just around the corner (literally). We noticed this stall with long queues the day before and decided to give it a try.

The stall's name is 姐妹凉面, which sells plain noodles covered in a gravy made up of garlic, peanuts and some unknown sauce(s). Coupled with a porkball Miso soup, we fell in love with it. It was just so simple, plain, cheap and appetising! Our food mantra is right - always follow the queues.

I highly recommend this stall. It is located at one of the corners at 五分浦 (Wufen Pu). =P If you are staying at Wonstar, just turn right and walk all the way.

After our brunch, we took the MRT and a bus to 阳明山, Yang Ming Shan.

While waiting for the bus.

The bus goes straight to the interchange at Yang Ming Shan. We explored the areas around the bus interchange and were amused by the number of elderly folks we see lying around in deck chairs, sipping tea. There was even a "choir"!

They even prepared their score sheets! (Hmm... I think the auntie spotted me, thus the bright smile. =p)

Afterwards, we decided to explore the rest of Yang Ming Shan by taking the Yang Ming Shan bus that goes to all the major sight-seeing points.

The dog looks like a Grelim. Haha! Oops. I just revealed my age.

(Did I mention that the Taiwanese are huge fans of Dogs?? By "Dogs", I mean Chihuahuas, Poodles and Labradors. I don't seem to find any other breeds in Taiwan.)

PX wanted very much to look at the famous Yang Ming Shan Calla Lilies and maybe buy some home. So our first stop was 竹子湖 where all the Calla Lilies farms are located.

A woman stopped us and told us that we can pick Calla Lilies at her farm for TWD 200. We agreed and she brought us to the farm.

When we reached the farm, she told us each person must pay TWD 200. -_-... So I told PX to go ahead since I'm not a very "flower" person anyway.

This is a Calla Lily!

Managed to find a shelter while waiting for PX. Very bored.

Borrowed the flowers from PX for some pictures. =P

After the visit to 竹子湖, I wanted to check out the waterfall since I have never seen one before. But I missed the bus stop since the names of the stops were not clearly written on the road signs. Haiz.. A pity

And I saw a pretty interesting sight on the bus ride.

Smoke rising from the ground! Ok, I'm a swakoo..

We went one round and back to the interchange. Slacked at the Starbucks before returning to Shilin Night Market for dinner.

When we reached Shilin, we realised that the Shilin we went to last night was only a very small part of Shilin Night Market! We had only explored the Shilin Market the night before. The whole stretch to the right belongs to Shilin as well! And it was huge!

And we decided to go for 麻辣锅!

Actually, it tasted very mediocre. Heh!

But we made the wrong choice to have steamboat for dinner. PX's Calla Lilies looked like they were doused in the soup when we finished dinner. The flowers drooped and the petal edges curled inwards from dehydration.

Was pretty excited that night. We had planned something big for the next day! =P

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Earwig??!

2010-08-20T15:07:00.004+08:00

Two nights ago, I was lying on my bed, reading Harry Potter for the umpteen times when I saw some black and long crawling on the pillow next to my head. I took a closer look and immediately, a fierce gush of adrenaline rushed through my body. Everybody close to me know that I have a deep deep fear for insects that border on insanity and there was this freaking insect crawling next to my head!

That disgusting insect was an Earwig. The weird part was that that was the second Earwig we had in our house within the past week. My brother actually had to google "insect with pincer at the back" to find out what that was. An Earwig! I have only read of Earwigs in Enid Blyton books and never thought they exist out of Britain!

Go and google it if you are curious how it looks like. I don't want pictures of it stuck on my blog; I might ditch my blog like I ditched my room for the night.

A Very Happy 14th August!

2010-08-17T00:57:00.011+08:00

I had a terrific night on the 14th of August! The night before, Dad told me that his friend might be able to get a room at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel the next day! He was going to give it to use for free! And to top it off, the hotel is facing the city and we might get to see the Youth Olympics' opening ceremony!

So on the morning of 14th August, I was waiting excitedly for good news. And good news came! We got the room! Yeah!! My parents went happily off to check out the room, and of course, the casino while I waited at home. That was because I had a date with my Secondary School girls for steamboat at Wan Lin's place! On one hand, I was feeling guilty that I had to leave halfway through dinner to make it in time for the fireworks. On the other hand, I was excited and feeling that I got the best of both worlds, steamboat and hotel stay! =P

Table filled with the ingredients for a steamboat party.

And my first ever, Sashimi in a steamboat dinner!

And the peeps I have known for 11 years!

And right before I left, we decided that a few group photos would be a perfect end to the dinner. So we started fooling around with my camera's multiple shots function!

Oh, we just loved to camwhore. =P

I left after that and rushed to Marina Bay Sands Hotel. My bro said that they had already let off two rounds of fireworks and I was eager to reach there before it all ended.

Found out that our room was big! My twin nephews were there for the fireworks too! And they had a great time, climbing the beds and crawling on the carpeted floor.

My happy nephews.

Complimentary chocolates and fruits!

From our window, we could see the Marina floating platform! The seats were filled with people!

They looked like tiny red ants! Haha!

There are two main factors why I love staying in hotels. One, the room service and housekeeping, second, bathtubs in toilets. And I got my wish!

Munching on the fruits and chocolates while waiting for the fireworks to start.

Beautiful skyline. =)

And finally, the fireworks!

They even let off fireworks from the top of the skyscrapers! It looked like we were surrounded with fireworks! Alas, the show only went on for about 1 minute, which was way too short. Bleagh. We were guessing that they blew their budget and therefore, could only afford such a short display. =P

And then, it was time for the twins to go off. Alvin loved the room so much that he refused to leave. Heh! So, they had their milk in the room before they were carried away.

So cute.

My family then had their late dinner at Rise, a restaurant in MBS Hotel. One word to describe the service - sucks. The service was definitely not what I would expect from a 6-stars hotel. No initiative, slow service (despite us being the last few patrons), wait staff who don't understand English, etc. And the price! Totally not worth it. One suggestion to MBS, open a 7-eleven which sells cup noodles. I believe we would have enjoyed that more.

Anyway, after dinner, my parents hit the casino while I hit the tub!

I can't remember when's the last time I soaked in a bathtub. It was so soothing and relaxing. Shiok!

Soon after, it was bedtime for my parents and me. I didn't get to sleep much. Being with my father in a room, it was like I was caught between a thunderstorm and a train in a tunnel. I would want a room to myself next time. =P

View in the morning!

My parents left before me as I was meeting my girls in town. So I had the room to myself in the morning before I checked out! A funny thought came to my mind when I checked out. I was in a floral dress and my high heels, holding onto a clutch with no luggage (Mum helped me bring it home) and suddenly, I felt like a hooker who was there to spend the night. Haha! Ok, I thought too much.

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One Day In My Sleepy Estate...

2010-08-11T21:43:00.008+08:00

It all started when I saw a sign put up yesterday. Determined to be part of it and to show a bit of love, I decided that, "Yes, I will sacrifice some of sleep!"

So today, I woke up at 830am despite sleeping at 3am. I dragged myself to get freshen up and by 930am, I was ready to go. Mummy decided to join me too!

We walked to our traffic junction and saw no one waiting in sight. A little disappointed and worried, we were afraid that we were on the wrong side of the road, we decided to wait and see what happened.

Slowly, people started to trickle in. A school of young preschoolers also appeared, carrying purple and orange poms-poms and musical instrument, showing their best spirit.

Then, several Traffic Police officers arrived on their bikes. We could feel the excitement mounting in the air.

Suddenly, the preschoolers started cheering and a red bus appeared round the corner.

Then, came the blue bus.

And then.... We could see it! A man in an orange YOG T-shirt, bearing the Olympic torch, running before us! That was the moment we had been waiting for!

It only hit me afterwards that "Hey, THAT is the OLYMPICS FLAME!" Legend said that that flame is the same flame that has been burning in Greece since the first Olympics! However, that is not the reason that I was so happy and honoured to see that flame. The reason that I was thrilled was because this flame, passing through our tiny island, signifies that we have come a long way from our Kampong days. Who says that our country is like a piece of 鼻屎 or snot, on the map? Who says that we are just a little dot in the world? Now, eat your words! This little piece of snot or dot has done what the others cannot do! The world will know about us (hopefully)! No more explaining that, "No, we are not part of Malaysia or China." I am so proud of my country. =)

The flame was then passed on to another torch bearer.

Off it went, continuing its journey around Singapore.

And there it was, a 5-minutes bit of excitement in my sleepy estate. =)

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Taiwan Trip - Day 12

2010-08-01T23:56:00.012+08:00

Day 12! I believe that this is the day when I started looking forward to going back to Singapore. I missed my bed, my parents, my friends, the food, etc etc. =P

Anyway, that day, we went to the Damshui Harbour.

We ate some pretty expensive 关东煮 which was not value for money. Then, we just strolled along the bridges.

The sky was so pretty that day!

So.. We took plenty of photos to capture that moment!

Took this picture through my shades. Creative eh? =P

Toilets for the feminine guys only. The tough guys will have to rough it out in the wild! Haha!

After loitering around Damshui Harbour, we decided to try out the hotspring baths in Beitou.

And we took the cutest train to reach Beitou! Why can't they make our trains like this in Singapore? The last time someone actually tried to create some form of Art on our trains, he was jailed and caned. Tsk tsk..

We had a room each this time round. I actually fell asleep in the bath. So tired from the travelling.

Feeling fresh from the bath, we decided to go to the famous Shilin Night Market!

We could see crowds and crowds of people when we alighted from Jiantan station (this station is nearer than Shilin station). It was so exciting! The huge crowds signaled the promise of good food!

There were many stalls squeezed side by side. What surprised us was that many of the stalls had air-conditioners installed! I have never seen a market stall with air-conditioners, but I wasn't complaining. =P

We chose a stall that was packed to the brim with people. I have learnt that as long as we followed the crowd, it won't go wrong.

We ordered a shrimp omelette and a plate of bee hoon. We didn't quite like the omelette because it was cooked differently from what we are used to. They added a lot of starch in the omelette, making it sticky and filling. Needless to say, the combination of starch and gravy covered the taste of the egg. I would prefer a simple omelette.

Next, we headed straight to the famous chicken cutlet store that was featured in all the tour books and forums that we read or visited. Our friends also highly recommend this particular store, calling it the "blue label" store.

Just look at the long queue!

Camwhoring while waiting! Our favourite past time! =P

And finally, the dessert, Peanut Butter Ice-cream with chunks of peanuts inside! I like it a lot but PX dislikes it. So I had it to myself! Yums! But the portion was too big for me to finish it alone. I really like Taiwan! They always make sure that you get what you pay!

That night, we were rather disappointed with Shilin Night Market. I guessed our expectations were raised too high. We thought that Shilin was rather small and the varieties of food were limited. Moreover, we didn't see any shops selling clothes, shoes or accessories.

However, that part of Shilin we went to is only like... 20% of the whole Shilin?? We thought that Shilin was located on the left side of a road but actually, the right side of the road belongs to Shilin too! We only found that out the next day by accident.

Tell you more when I blog about Day 13!

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Taiwan Trip Day 11 - Taipei

2010-07-27T00:36:00.010+08:00

Day 11 was the end of our Hualien trip. 刘阿姨 was very nice to send us to the train station. To celebrate the return back to the city, PX and me donned dresses and put on makeup. Haha!

On the train, I spotted this stuck to my leg.

Quality Check passed! Haha!

We decided not to hire any guide in Taipei as the transportation systems are quite good. This was the part of the trip where the two of us had the freedom to decide where to go and what to do and relied on ourselves to get to the right places.

Ended up, we had a very mediocre 关东煮 for lunch. This was the start of many bad or mediocre meals.

It was planning time for us. Basically, we took out the MRT map and circled places that sound interesting.

Due to our blurness, we arrived in Taipei one day earlier! We were supposed to spend another day in Hualien. We had to ask our Taipei Hotel, Wonstar, whether they had an extra room for us. Luckily, after some searching, they managed to secure a room for us, thought it was slightly more expensive.

Our room number was 606. When I heard that, a peculiar feeling crept into me. The mention of that room made me uncomfortable. When we entered the room, my first thought was, "Oh no. This room is not 'clean'." It was the next day that I got to know that PX was having the same thoughts at that time.

This is the room. Although most of the lights were on, the brightness of the room was only this much.

We dropped our luaggage and then it was off to do the first thing on our mind! Karaoke!!

We didn't know that the KTVs in Taipei offer food as well! Although we went after our lunch, we still managed to squeeze in some food from the buffet line. Yup, buffet! Really worth the money!

For just the two of us, we got this huge room!

And to top it off, there is a toilet in every room! And our toilet was huge! It was bigger than some of the KTV rooms we have in Singapore.

After satisfying our "KTV crave", it was time to satisfy another crave - nightmarket street food!

We walked to the nightmarket nearest to our hotel, the 绕河夜市 (Raohe Night Market).

Most of the night markets in Taiwan are situated in front of temples. So it is rather easy to find one.

Looked around a bit and bought these back to the hotel for TV and dinner. This night market really pales in comparison to the 瑞峰夜市 (Rui Feng Night Market) in Kaohsiung. Ahh... I love 瑞峰夜市.

Food laden with MSG that still didn't taste good. Bleagh.

Remember earlier when I mentioned that my hotel room was rather creepy? Something strange happened that night. While we were eating dinner, at around 11pm, something suddenly banged against our window, making a loud "clang"! We nearly jumped out of our skins. The clanging continued but it sounded like someone was strucking a gong downstairs continuously. Really freaky. I decided against drawing back the curtains to check out what was going on. And so it remains a mystery.

Also, our room was freaking cold. We had to don long sleeves and trackpants to keep ourselves warm. Even Alishan didn't feel so cold. Moreover, whenever I sat on my side of the bed, goosebumps would pop out all over my body and remained there until I left the bed! It was really uncomfortable.

The night ended with me wishing that the day would come quickly.

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What Not to Put In Facebook Profiles

2010-07-22T01:09:00.005+08:00

I finally met up with Anita and Deanies after two long years. Nothing has changed much except Anita's voice, which has mysteriously deepened. Our conversation topics, though, have veered off what we normally talk about when we were in our early twenties.

After dinner, we started scrolling through Anita's facebook, looking for potential boyfriends. (The wonders of an iPhone and cheap data charges) Through such an "exercise", once again, I realised the importance of the screening of profile pictures. I have hereby come up with 3 golden rules.

1) Do not put up pictures of you in weird poses or funny faces. This rule doesn't apply when you are one of the fortunate good-looking ones. Just make sure you put plenty of good-looking pictures of yourself so that this will be a one-off incident.

You better make sure that people can spot a difference between your "funny face" and your face, otherwise DELETE THAT PHOTO!

2) Do not put pictures of yourself in your better years when you were youthful, fit and slim, especially when you have changed alot since. This will only make the surfers wonder what had happened to you. I think I know the mindsets of these people. They are trying to tell the surfers that, "Hey! I used to be that good looking!" But that was history and let's face it, we can't turn back time.

3) Do not put only pictures of your baby days, pets, vehicles or cartoon characters. Nobody would want to get together with babies, pets, vehicles or cartoon characters. And by the way, heard of photoshop? There is no such thing as an ugly picture anymore!

Girls, do you agree with me? Haha!

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Taiwan Trip Day 10 - Hualien

2010-07-12T00:31:00.019+08:00

(Birdie, your favourite pose!)

We planned two activities for day 9, whale watching and a visit to the Taroko Gorge. We woke up late again and 刘阿姨 was nice enough to pack breakfast for us. One of the drivers, 陈先生, bought freshly made Muah Chees (soft rice cake) for our breakfast and that was the best Muah Chee I have ever eaten! We couldn't buy it back to Singapore because it would have gone bad by the time we come back. Boo..

Aboard the whale-watching boat!

All suited up! Had down several motion sickness pills too!

The assistant skipper provided commentary along the way. He said that it would be very difficult to spot a whale and explained how to recognise a whale from the waves. He added that if we saw some white above the water and it flew off, that would be a bird. Haha!

About 15-20 minutes later, with all us eagerly searching the water, we found these:

Bottle-nosed dolphins!! We saw them danced, hopped and twirled in the water. That was the first time I saw animals that we are familiar with in the wild.

The original plan was to venture into deeper waters to search for the elusive whales. But one of the passengers suffered from motion sickness. So we had to turn back for shore. Seriously, I wasn't feeling too well at that time too. So I didn't complain about going back. =P

Another of the Minsu driver met us after we alighted from the boat. He brought us to the port to buy Salmon sashimi! It tasted better than the ones in Kenting and attached to a higher price. But still, cheaper than in Singapore. =)

We ate them together with our lunch, Wantons!

One thing I love about Taiwan is that there is no "outside-drinks-and-food-is-not-allowed" rule. Cheers!

鲁肉饭. Basically, it consists of chunks of fatty meat cooked in dark soya sauce served over a big bowl of rice. Sinful.

He brought us to our next destination - Taroko Gorge.

Plenty of photos taken again! =P

Unlike 张大哥, the driver dropped us at different scenic spots and let us explored the places on our own. There were pros and cons, I guess. But we managed pretty well on our own. =)

I have never seen water the colour of jade before. So pretty.

Very nice view!

I wish someone would explain why there are different layers in the rock.

Along the way, we spotted a stream with the clearest water and decided to venture down to dip our feet. Hee!

It wasn't easy to reach the stream. The slope was filled with tiny slippery pebbles. We had to slide and stumble all the way down to the rocky stream. But it was worth it! The cold cold water soothe our tired feet. Ahhh....

My posture is pretty weird in this picture. I think I was trying to balance on the uneven rock. Haha!

It wasn't easy to take the following picture. I had to set my camera on timer, scrambled past wet rocks, balanced my camera, stepped on a few fishes (kidding!) and scrambled quickly back again.

That woman behind spoiled the picture. Damn.

Take nothing except pictures,
Leave nothing except footsteps.

I left mine. =)

I love my camera! The intricate design of the web can be seen clearly. Woot!

As I said before, in Taiwan, everything is big. The packet drink in my hand was easily twice the size of our normal packet drink.

We gamely crossed a rickety old hanging bridge.

While crossing, another couple joined us. We were so tickled by what happened next. The girl was so afraid of heights that she squatted down in the middle of the bridge, unable to move on. Her boyfriend just walked right across the bridge without knowing that his girlfriend was left behind until we told him. Should dump him. Haha!

What animal does this cliff look like? =P

We reached a part of the Taroko gorge where we needed to put on safety helmets due to the danger of dropping stones. The helmets didn't smell that good. Bleagh.

We walked and walked and reached a place where we could see swallows flying in and out of the tunnels. But the place was cordoned off! So disappointing...

There were loads and loads of China tourists. The guys were always in suits whereas the women were easily distinguishable with their umbrellas and sometimes, high heels. PX and me were super irritated by them. Most of them had no manners nor common courtesy. In the end, I was so pissed off that I decided to let them have a taste of their own medicine. Whenever I saw someone taking pictures, I would purposely walked in front of the camera. Neh neh neh neh neh... Haha!

They looked like the foremen in construction areas. Haha!

According to our driver, many men died while building the roads in Taroko Gorge. When the place was finally made accessible, the Taiwanese built a temple to commemorate these people.

The names of the workers who died.

After the visit to Taroko Gorge, our driver took us to a beach. He didn't know but we have been to so many beaches that we were not that excited about beaches anymore. So we just sat on the steps leading down to the beach and talked.

Finally it was time for dinner! I was famished after all the walking and climbing. Our driver suggested we try the 葱油饼 in Hualien and drove us to a small alley where we could spot a queue a long distance away. Luckily he had called and reserved two for us. And they were yummy!

We told him we wanted to try the 小笼包 too and he dropped us at a shop famous for its 小笼包. I told PX that I could see 5 because I was so hungry. So we ordered 10. When they arrived, we were shocked....

These are not 小笼包 lor!! They were so big! Should be named 大笼包! I was expecting the Crystal Jade type. In the end, I could only stuff in 2.

刘阿姨 told us that there was a free Aboriginal dance performance every evening in this place so we walked there after our dinner. During the long walk, we were stalked by a man and subsequently, a dog. Luckily we didn't let our guards down and realised that a man was stalking us. We just popped into a shop and chitchatted with the shopkeeper and that scared the stalker off. Phew...

And then, I was stalked by a big black stray dog. Maybe he could smell the 小笼包 in my bag. Haha! PX yelled at the dog and managed to scare it off. I was getting rather nervous by that time. =P

Finally, we reached the performance area only to reached in time to hear an announcement that the performance was cancelled for that night! Damn! We missed the one in Alishan and now we missed this too.

An empty stage. *Sigh*

So we went to check out the only shopping centre in Hualien.

There was nothing much to look at and so we decided to go back to the Minsu. Called our driver and he came and picked us up. A very nice man. =)

As were leaving the next day, 刘阿姨 gave us a necklace each as a farewell gift. We were very touched with her generousity.

A stone to remind us of Hualien and 刘阿姨. =)
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End of Chapter

2010-07-08T23:34:00.002+08:00

He is married.

With this post, I am closing that chapter of my life. I will not contact him.

With this post, I will also stop daydreaming that I will bump into him whenever I step into a new environment.

End of chapter. =)

Taiwan Trip Day 9 - Hualien

2010-07-05T00:31:00.000+08:00

Awoke to a great breakfast. It was the day we went white-water rafting. I was so excited!

A van was there in the morning to bring us to the river. There were 6 guys in the van and we were to form a team. 6 guys waiting for us in the morning.... I could predict that the day would turn out heavenly. Haha!

We got suited up when we reached the river.

The guys in our team. They are Taiwanese who stayed in Vancouver, Canada. Hmm... Since I don't think any of them will read my blog, I shall openly say that the guy behind me, Lawrence, is very cute!

There are no photos of us in the boat. No one was there to take pictures of us. Boo..

The rowing part was rather tiring. We kept spinning around. The water was quite shallow so we had to be drag by the speed boat most of the time. I kept getting bumped by the speed boat! I don't know why the driver kept choosing my side to push the raft. Grrr...

During the drift down river, we spotted two deers along the bank. Suddenly, I heard shouts from the speedboat drivers. "Chase them into the river!" I was puzzled. The deers would drown in the water! The guys in our boat started explaining that the drivers are Aboriginals and they still hunt for meat. I was horrified. I wouldn't want to see deers drowning in front of me! Luckily, the clever deers sped away from the Aboriginals. Phew...

I was rather surprised that we ended the rafting about 3 hours later. I was expecting to be on the river for the whole day. Heh. We were issued packet shampoo and body soap and sent to bathe. It was very well-organised. I like. =)

Lunch was provided too. I love the Taiwanese lunch boxes!

We went back to the Minsu after lunch. On the way back, I believe I was the only one awake (besides the driver). I had an amusing time giggling at the different ugly sleeping postures and at Sean (one of the guys) who kept hitting his head against the window. =P

We took a long nap in the Minsu after the exhaustive physical activity. We were just resting, watching the tv when I zonked out on my comfortable big bed. We were woke up by 刘阿姨 around late afternoon. She was going to the main shopping area in Hualien and asked us whether we wanted to join her. Of course!

We went to pick up a Hong Konger. As she was travelling alone, she stuck with us throughout the evening. She was very sociable and humourous so we had a pretty good time chatting and exchanging information.

After dinner, we went to the nightmarket, 南滨夜市 in Hualien. Compared to Kaohsiung and Kenting, Hualien's nightmarket was pretty quiet and cold. None of the hustle and bustle in the other two cities. We didn't eat nor buy anything from there. It was quite boring.

So we called 刘阿姨 to bring us back. Suddenly, we spotted a stall selling fireworks and had a brainwave! Let's let off some fireworks! We excitedly asked 刘阿姨 about it and she upped the excitement level by saying that we could let them off at the Minsu!

She then drove us to a fireworks wholeseller!

The fireworks we were holding were not the ones we bought. Haha! They were for show only. We couldn't afford the big expensive ones.

And this is 刘阿姨!

We decided to combine our fireworks power with two other groups of Singaporeans.

This is us with the girls group.

Lighting up the skies with the fireworks and our smiles!

We made such a commotion that 黑熊 came to see what the fuss was about. When I first saw him, I really thought that it was a bear!

The other two group of Singaporeans next let off 孔明灯!

And so Day 9 ended with us sending our dreams to the heavens....

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Found Him

2010-07-04T02:20:00.002+08:00

I realised that I had mistaken about his sirname all along. It is Chan, not Chang.

Ran a search through Google and I found him on one of the business social pages.

Omg. I do not recognise him.

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History?

2010-07-03T02:35:00.003+08:00

I could not believe I saw his name again. If I not received a sms from my cousin saying that my yahoo mail was sending spam mails, I would not have logged into yahoo mail. If I didn't log in, I wouldn't have the chance of seeing his name being "available" in my contact list again.

I thought I have put it down already. But my heart still skipped a beat when I saw his name. Since then, my thoughts have been running wild again. My old friends, the "What-ifs", are back again, flooding my mind.

I didn't have the courage to click on his name just now. I will, next time. I hope that I will get the chance again.

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Taiwan Trip Day 8 - Chiayi Alishan

2010-06-27T15:23:00.012+08:00

Day 7 started with a gorgeous sunrise on the mountains. That was the first time I saw the big, yellow sun peeking out from behind mountains. It was beautiful.

Sunrise was around 530am that day. We had to speed for around 2 hours to reach the place to watch the sunrise. 2 hours when we were already on the mountains! Me, who has spent 24 years staying in tiny Singapore, has finally comprehended how big the world is.

After breakfast, we went to the 阿里山森林游乐区. It is a nature reserve in Alishan. Along the way, we saw the oldest tree in Alishan.

This tree is 2000 years old! When I think of the year we are in, I began to start thinking backwards, running through the pages of history, trying to visualise what the tree has seen in its time. A human's life on earth is just so short.

We saw plenty of interesting trees and wildlife in the 阿里山森林游乐区 but I'm going to just list a few of the ones I found interesting.

A tree disguised as a pig!

I look like a hobbit next to the trees.

This is a super poisonous plant! According to our guide, we cannot even touch the flowers. The poison will attack our body within hours, causing the heart to stop beating.

Trees, trees and more trees!

I have never seen so many tadpoles in my life before.

I love this picture.

Next, we went to the Alishan train station.

As we got to catch the train to Taipei, we had to give the Aboriginal's dance performance a miss. A pity...

When we reached the Minsu, we hurriedly did some last minute packing and then it was off to the train station. This time round, 吴大姐 sent us to the train station. As she is a Hakka, we had a jolly time trading Hakka recipes and comparing our traditions.

For lunch, she treated us Chiayi's famous dish, "Gong Ah Gei" - chicken roasted in a pot.

These are the pots. Wood from Longan trees are used for the fire. According to 吴大姐, the chicken would not taste as good if wood from other trees was used.

Yummy!

We had the long and tiring journey to Hualien next. When we reached Taipei station, we had to buy the train tickets to Hualien. But the earliest two slots were sold out! In the end, we had to buy the 5.10pm one. Wasted our time waiting...

自强号 is the newest and fastest train currently. The other trains may take up to 5 hours to reach Hualien. Phew...

I used to hear people complain about the cramped seats found in budget aeroplanes. Well, at least they don't have to stuff their luggage in between the seats.

Imagine sitting like this for 3 hours! I looked like I was giving birth..

Camwhoring to pass the time. =P

A minor episode happened on the train ride. I was taking pictures of my train ticket when I accidentally dropped it and it went missing! I panicked. I even took the luggage out and scrambled onto the floor to check. But it was gone!

Luckily, with the help of some Taiwanese aunties sitting beside us and a determined train conductor, who pried up the seat to search for my ticket, I managed to get back my ticket. This episode showed me the warmth and friendliness of the Taiwanese. The old grandma beside me even patted my backside to comfort me when we found the ticket. Haha!

Hualien at last! "You were just behind the mountains we saw in Alishan and yet we took a total of 6 hours to reach you!"

We met up with our Minsu owner, 刘阿姨. She is a very friendly and chatty person and we enjoyed her company very much. She is also very generous because she never charged us for the rides she given us throughout the trip.

She brought us to a place for dinner as she knew we were famished by that time. We had 排骨面.

Our Minsu, 石头的家 (Stone House).

This building plus the plot of land it is built on belongs to 刘阿姨! And she turns it into a resort-like place with its private "zoo" where a peacock, two dogs and some chickens and geese live in.

This is 妞妞, the friendlier of the two dogs.

Our gorgeous and spacious bedroom. 刘阿姨 let us use this room -or-4 for the night. In the end, she allowed us to stay there throughout our stay and charged us the room-for-2 rates! She was super generous! So, we had a double bed each for our stay in Hualien. We needed the rest and comfort badly. Shiok!!!

End of day 7. =)

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Taiwan Day 7 - Chiayi Alishan

2010-06-21T00:26:00.011+08:00

We woke up late again. In the end, we had to takeaway our breakfasts and had them on the High Speed train. Zhang大哥, being very nice, drove us to the train station free of charge. (Well, we paid for all his meals during the few days he was with us.)

Finally, we were alone again! It felt like the start of adventures. I felt that we were too well-protected by Zhang大哥. =P

Waited for quite a while at Chiayi High Speed Rail Station for our Minsu driver to pick us up. The first stop was lunch at 喷水, a restaurant.

We had turkey meat with rice. Turkey actually tasted much like chicken and I really could not differentiate between the two.

The car ride from Chiayi will take around 1-2hours to reach Alishan.

Next, we went to 阿里山风景区 where we heard a lot of legends and myths from our driver, 陈先生. He is a Taiwanese aboriginal and thus, has plenty of interesting stories to share.

That's him, showing us how the aboriginal people carried goods in the past. He said that in the past, they could carry up to 100kg per person using the method above! Power!

Next, we went to the famous 天长地久桥 in Chiayi. The 天长桥 was cordoned off because of damages due to the 88水灾 so we didn't get a chance to cross the bridge. It looked so exciting! *Sigh*

The after effects from the 88水灾.

While crossing the 地久桥, we were attracted by loud bangings from gongs and the crackling of fireworks. We were lucky to stumble upon 济公游行. A man was possessed by the deity, 济公, and he was making rounds around a temple situated there. It was a real eye-opener!

The man in the patched black rope was the 济公.

Our guide drove us to 奋起湖 next. If the mountain railway is working, this is the place to take the train to watch the sunrise at the Alishan train station.

We grabbed our chance to take pictures on the railway. =P

Alishan is famous for the production of a fig called 爱玉. The smooth jelly 爱玉冰 was thus borned.

It looks like the ice jelly we have in Singapore but tasted much much better! It had a sweet, natural taste to it unlike our ice jelly which tastes bland. I bought a packet of 爱玉 back and will attempt to make the jelly one day!

These are TOMATOES!

On the left - mutated 耳朵饼.

After some shopping at the 阿里山老街, we went for dinner. We had the famous 阿里山火车便当 (Alishan Railway Boxes) for dinner! I could see why it is a hit with the tourists.

Served in a nostalgic metal lunchbox.

Tada! One chicken thigh and pork cutlet with plenty of rice and vegetables. A very satisfying and hearty dinner.

On the way to the Minsu, we managed to capture this breathtaking sight. It looks like we were on the top of the clouds.

Finally reached our Minsu around nightfall.
Here's our Minsu, 县云居.

Besides being home to us, the mountain is home to a vast ocean of insects. The insects, attracted by the light and warmth of the house, began suicide missions into the house. Their stupidity made me ran up and down this flight of stairs, screaming for a shelter without insects buzzing near my ears.

Our simple homely room which we didn't get to sleep much in. We had to wake up at 3.30am to catch the sunrise.

Our Minsu's homeowners have another sideline - they dry and pack tea leaves for sale. As it turned out, a batch of tea leaves they packed had won the first prize in the tea leaves competition held in Alishan! And we were so lucky to have a taste of the champion tea leaves.

The Minsu's homeowner, 吴大姐, taught us the art of tea-drinking. First, we had to pour the tea from the tall cup into the round cup. Before drinking, we had to sniff the tall cup and let the aroma filled our lungs. Then, we drank from the round cup. But hold on! We got to let it stay in our mouth while we soaked in the taste of the tea. Then, we swallowed. Hmmm.....

I must say, the tea from Alishan really tasted different from the ones in Singapore. It had a flowery scent and was bitter without the astringent taste that some teas have. I bought some back too!

A chat with 吴大姐 during the tea drinking made a startling realisation. We realised that the High Speed Railway does not reach Hualien, our next stop! Although, on the map, Hualien is just next to Chiayi (where Alishan is situated), it is seperated by the mountains and there is no direct route there! We were so shocked then!

We had to replan our itinerary. We then decided to take the High Speed train to Taipei and then take the normal train to Hualien. Total time for taking this route costed us 4 and a half precious hours.

Luckily, 吴大姐 pointed out our mistake and helped us rectify by planning the time with us.

After putting our luggage down, 陈先生 passed us a torch and we went to the backyard to look for fireflies. We were so dumb. We kept mistaking stars for fireflies. Haha! There was another funny episode with a moth. A huge white moth was attracted to the light from the torch and sped towards us. Our screams could match those in horror flicks. Haha!

陈先生 keeps a Laborador named 阿发. And this dog tried to hump Pei Xuan while we were playing with it! It grabbed onto PX's leg and got into its doggy position. PX was trying her best to pull away her leg but that dog was strong and in heat. Meanwhile, I was at the side, yelling my head off, "PX! Pull your leg away! It is trying to hump you!" Haha!!

This is the horny beast.

After some fooling around in the backyard, 陈先生 drove us to another place to watch fireflies. When we reached there, we saw a group of Singaporeans too. I didn't realise it at that time, but they were capturing fireflies and putting them into glass bottles! Disgusting behaviour! They have totally no respect for nature and the creatures' lives! Should have walk up to them to scold them. Grrr...

Putting that aside, I really enjoyed the time spent there. That place is just a little rest area beside the main mountain road. As it was really dark, we could see lights twinkling from other villages in the opposite mountains. 陈先生 started telling us stories about his tribe and other tribes. There were so many interesting myths and legends! As the stories rolled out, I could feel the cold wind and hear the strange melodies made by the crickets. Although 陈先生 was just next to me, I couldn't see his face as it was so dark. All these factors made the stories more real and tangible. I was totally absorbed into the tales of old and magical. I was hooked.

Day 7 ended on the mountains.

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A Petty Woman

2010-06-19T01:17:00.004+08:00

I have been blogging about my Taiwan trip for days and it seems that I am nowhere near finishing it. In the meantime, things do happen to me and my days were not stagnant.

On Monday, I nearly had my downfall. I boarded bus 185 with a full bladder and my bus was stuck in a jam in PIE. The bus was absolutely crawling along the expressway. My whole mind was occupied with willing the bus to move faster and to stop myself from squirting out my urine. It was really horrible. I was stuck in the jam alone for 30 mins. Try holding urine for 45 minutes to understand how I felt. I kept thinking, "Is this going to be my downfall? To urine in the public?" Luckily it never happened. *Huge sigh* I have learnt my lesson. Never board a bus with a full bladder; you never know what will happen.

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These days, I kept haunted by nasty thoughts. I felt that I was taken advantage of and was looked down on and yet I could do nothing. I wanted to bitch to my girlfriends but I felt that it would be mean to do so. Little little details of how selfish that person was kept coming to me in times when I was alone in my quiet room. Seriously, I feel that my esteem had taken a blow and is now slowly patching up, thanks to my Enemies.

It was through my Enemies that I found out that real friends will never put you down. Even if you are not that capable, not that strong, not that clever, they will never use words or actions to highlight your flaws. True friends even try to help you hide your flaw or turn it into something the two of you can joke about. In other cases, real friends learn to stick by you and learn new things together at the same pace, not trying to outdo each other. I have found such qualities in the six of them. And I am really glad to have them with me. Really.

Sometimes, I could see a bit of that person in me. Through that person, I can see how some of my actions are deterimental to someone's esteem and to our relationship and I don't like it. I don't want to treat my friends like this, just like I do not want to be treated like that. So, these days, I tend to be more careful in what I say and how I say. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise, turning me into a better person.

I just need some time to get over, to forget, maybe forgive, and move on.

Or I just need to bitch about it. =P Girlfriends, you there?

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Taiwan Trip Day 6 Kaohsiung

2010-06-15T01:14:00.017+08:00

This was our last day with Zhang大哥. The highlight of the trip was Meinong, where there it is densely poplulated with the Hakkas. Being a Hakka myself, this was one place that I wanted to visit very much.

First, we went to a Hakka museum in Kaohsiung. Nothing much there except some old artifacts.

I dubbed Taiwan the Scooter Nation. Scooters were seen everywhere ridden by the young and old. And when I say young, they are really young.

This will never happen in Singapore.

Then, we went to 澄清湖.

The famous hotel 圆山大饭店. It looked really grand.

The second stop: 九曲桥

This is why it got its name.

Along the way, we stopped by a lily pond.

Saw some ducks and managed to terrify them.

3rd stop: 富国岛 (Fu Guo Island)

Zhang kept telling us that the place is called 复活岛 (Fu Huo Island). I was thinking, "Easter Island?" When I saw the sign, I burst out laughing. Really, the older generations in Taiwan kept substituting "g" with "h", confusing us sometimes.

Saw a hanging bridge again.

中兴塔.

Next stop was lunch. Along the way, we spotted this grandma selling lychees. The Taiwanese called the lychees at the start of the lychees season 玉合包.

Actually, we should not have bought the lychees. Due to all the late night snackings, by the time we reached our lodgings, we were too full to eat them. In the end, we lugged the bag of lychees all the way to Hualien only to discover they had turned mouldy. Bleagh....

We had wantons for lunch. The Taiwanese called such a meal 扁食.

There were about 10 wantons in the bowl of soup. The wantons, unlike the ones in Singapore, were stuffed to the brim with the stuffings. Really worth the money! The soup was a bit oily though.

After lunch, we went to 佛光山.

It is a very touristy place. As a result, it becomes very commercialised.

We visited an exhibition area to escape from the heat. The whole area was so creepy. It was filled with statues, plastic humans, animals and plants. These exhibits were lit with green, yellow and red neon lights, making the place very gaudy and outdated. That place brought back my childhood fears of finding statues that will wink at me.

We got out of that place pretty quickly.

This is a Bodhi tree. It was under this type of tree that Buddha gained enlightment on the order of life, 生老病死.

The Taiwanese are really fortunate to have huge land area to build huge temples. Sometimes, we had to go through several courtyards to reach the main hall.

A word of warning if you want to visit the temples in Taiwan. There are many steep slopes and long flight of stairs. I think that this explains why I lost 1kg in Taiwan despite the heavy food and late night snackings.

This was where we saw the Mynah which knew how to talk in Hokkien.

佛光山 is famous for housing over 1000 Buddhas in the temple.

I think I got a crink in my neck looking at the Buddhas and deities in Taiwan.

Next, we made our way to Meinong, the Hakka village. On the way, we stopped for Ice-creams at a famous Ice-cream wholesaler.

Strawberry Ice-cream for me! Hmm... Actually, I would still prefer Udders or Daily Scoop. =P

Finally, we reached Meinong.

Meinong is famous for its paper umbrellas. They are all handmade and beautifully designed.

Taking a rest. Actually, Meinong was very disappointing. There was nothing much and is very commercialised. I did not gain a better understanding of how the Hakkas live their lives in Taiwan. I didn't even get to taste any Hakka dishes. Disappointed.

We left shortly. We went to 旗山老街 (Qi Shan street) after that.

As I have said before, everything in Taiwan is huge! Even the watermelons!

Along the way, we spotted this weird structure.

According to the sign beside it, this structure was used to burn papers. As the language of man was considered sacred in the past, the words written on paper have to be disposed properly to give them the proper respect. Hmmm... Interesting piece of history. =)

At night, we went to Ping Tung nightmarket where we had our dinner.

And this was our dinner, shared by the two of us. It was very different from the rice dumplings in Singapore. Firstly, it was drenched in dark gravy mixed with lots of garlic. Secondly, crushed peanuts were dumped on it. Although it was very different, it tasted yummy!

Zhang大哥 also drove us to a famous beancurd place.

It was good! But comparable to Selegie's beancurd. =P

Actually, Zhang大哥 wanted to bring us somewhere else. But we were sooooo tired. In the end, we had to reject him. It was so unexpected to see a tour guide being more enthusiastic than the visitors. =P

We changed room for the night because our previous room was taken before we called to book. However, this room was big, comfortable and well-designed too. =)

And then, it was goodnight world! Alishan trip tomorrow!

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Taiwan Trip Day 5 - Tainan

2010-06-11T18:34:00.017+08:00

The both of us overslept on the fifth day. Luckily I was jolted awake by my internal alarm clock. Phew..

Had our breakfast (included in the Minsu's fees) at the cafe opposite our Minsu. Although we could only choose from 3 sets, the breakfast sets still win hands down over the breakfasts we had in the two hotels previously.

1st stop: 打狗英国理事馆 (Dagou British Consulate Residence)

Very boring place flooded with tourists from China and Hong Kong. They were a very distinct bunch with the guys in suits and the women with their umbrellas. Plus, we could hear them loud and clear a mile away.

After the brief stop, we went to a garden. Zhang大哥 saw this garden featured in the newspaper a few days ago and decided this was a good spot to take photos.

I love my camera's macro mode!

Third stop: The National Stadium of SAC. I have no idea what SAC stands for.

And we had our first fight...

Haha!

And we kissed and made up at the Lover's Wharf Park.

Come on lar, PX, I know you want my kiss! Haha!

We had our lunch after that - famous 虾卷 (shrimp roll).

It looked and tasted like tempura prawns. Yummy!

5th stop: 安平老街 (An Ping)

A 300 years old tree.

A 200 years old house.

After that, we visited some temples.

The next stop was a interesting place. It is called 水火洞 (Fire and Water Spring). How can fire and water co-exist?

Answer? Methane gas at work again.

Saw this weird tree at the area. Looked like huge peanuts hanging from the tree. Got to know from a sign that it is called 腊肠树 (literally translated: sausage tree) and that the seemingly innocent "peanuts" are poisonous.

Bought some 蜜地瓜 (honeyed sweet potato) to eat after our next stop, which was a visit to the hotsprings! The sweet potato didn't taste as good as it looked.

The unique feature of this hotspring is that the water is muddy!

This was the hotel where we had our bath. We had a room to ourselves. =)

Zhang大哥 waited 3 hours for us to finish our bath. He did not want to pay for the hotspring and so didn't rent a room for himself.

After 2 and a half hours of soaking in scalding muddy water, we came out of the hotel to find Zhang大哥 missing. But his cab was still in the carpark. So we sat on the steps and waited for him.

Suddenly, we heard, "Let's go" behind us and saw him running out from the hotel. Turns out that the boss of the hotel saw him waiting for us and invited him to take a bath for free. So generous of her!

And I spotted something funny about Zhang大哥 when he came running out. There was steam rising from his head! So funny, to see him "smoking"! Haha!

After the visit to the hotspring, we went to 瑞峰夜市, which to my opinion, has the best food stalls in Taiwan.

Quail eggs!

Super sinful. One quail egg equals to seven normal chicken eggs.

Hoop a prize! The prizes looked attractive.

Hotplate chicken and spaghetti! We bought this back to eat in the hotel.

The best 关东煮 (Oden) we tasted in Taiwan!

Day 5 ended with a full stomach. =)

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Taiwan Trip Day 4 - Kaohsiung

2010-06-06T16:41:00.018+08:00

Day 4 started with a hearty breakfast in 恋海126. I really love the service and breakfast there! The breakfast was served to our room at a time we specified. And it was so nicely arranged and with a variety! Really love it!!!

Zhang大哥 first brought us to 出火 again to take a picture with the park's sign in the day. Then, we went to the first and now defunct train station in Kenting.

A shot with the county's sign!

The sign reads "Ancient City of Heng Chun" and it looks ancient.

Along the way, we spotted many vegetable and fruit farms. And so, we city kids, had a lesson on plants.

The papers wrapping the pineapples are to prevent the fruits from getting dehydrated; to maintain its juiciness. Different farmers have different ways of doing so.

Top to bottom starting from left: Betel Nuts, Lychees, Bananas, Bananas, Mangoes and Mangoes.

Next, we bought 绿豆蒜 which is something like our dessert, Tou Suan, from one of the famous shops in Kenting.

It comes in hot or cold.

"What's so special about you? Aren't you similar to our Tou Suan?"

"I tasted malted candy! Omg! You're really good!"

"I am so going to gobble you up!"

Next stop, lunch! Zhang大哥 kept gushing about a dish called 万兰猪脚, saying that if we didn't have this dish, it would be consider that we didn't visit Taiwan.

Seriously, the dish was really good. Especially with the dark soya sauce with lots of garlic inside. Shiok!

After lunch, we went to this place called 龙虎口 or something like that. A very touristy place again.

Climbed up 8 stories for this picture. *Paints*

Roar!

Saw an advertisement that shocked me.

This is an advertisement to promote a politician! A+ for trying to win sympathy votes.

Next, we went to a nice park.

I like this picture! It would be better if it was a handsome guy beside me. Haha!

We did the "jump" stunt again!

We stopped by the Love River before making our way to our Minsu.

Finally, we reached our Minsu in the afternoon. We stayed at this building called 85大楼 which is the tallest building in Kaohsiung. We booked a room through 幸福角落. Apparently, there are many Minsus in charge of different rooms in the building.

Our room was super huge with a superb view! I love the place. =)

Immediately after checking in, we headed out as Zhang大哥 was waiting for us. He brought us to a offshore island called 旗津 to a lighthouse called 旗后灯塔 and its fort to watch the sunset.

The view from the top of the hill.

The backdrop looks like it was keyed in. So picturesque.

I wanna say I have good photography skills. Haha! By the way, that's our Minsu building!

Dislocated my wrist climbing up this wall.

Beautiful sunset.

I wanna restate I have good photography skills. Haha!

Nice.

We went to the Turbine Park next.

Mourned for my dead pet, Mudskipper.

Saw a roadside stall selling 盐酥鸡. Bought some and it was shiok! Have been craving for it since I come back.

Went for dinner after that. We went to this restaurant where all the dishes, including the seafood ones, costed NT100 each only! Super cheap!

After dinner, we went to the Dream Mall for the Hello Kitty ferriswheel. PX happens to be a big fan of Hello Kitty.

Snoopy on the top of the mall!

Went to the 六合夜市 after the ride.
Tried the papaya milkshake but I still prefer the ones sold at the foodcourt near my place. =P Taiwan's milkshake is too sweet for my liking and I couldn't really taste the milk. Didn't buy any food because we were too full.

Saw stalls selling 1/2GB SD cards. We were quite surprised that Taiwan is so behind in the area of IT.

We went back to the Love River to take pictures of it at night.

And then it was hotel sweet hotel..

A little episode happened in the hotel. I saw this button and was very tempted to press it.

And.... I gave in to my temptation. Some mysterious bell rang like the police siren for about 10 minutes. Scared me out of my wits! But luckily, no police arrived or anything like that. Phew... =P

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Taiwan Trip Day 3 - Kenting

2010-06-03T01:19:00.022+08:00

Looking fresh after yelling at some Hong Kong tourists to shut their mouth at 630am in the morning. Revenge is sweet.

Day 3 started with a minor episode between our driver and another driver 郭先生. 郭先生 led us to believe that he was there to take over Zhang 先生. Very bad man. Luckily, Zhang 先生 called me so we managed to take his cab instead.

(Actually, it is very competitive over there in Taiwan. I believe that most cab drivers and Minsu owners are aiming to be tour guides as well as it is a more lucrative business.)

That aside, we switched to a Minsu for our third night. And it was BEAUTIFUL!! And cheaper than the hotel too! The Minsu is called 恋海126.

恋海126 at night.

We forgot to email the Minsu back in Singapore, hence our original room was taken. =( That room has a seaview! But our room was not bad too. Very very cosy and nicely decorated. It looks like a boutique hotel.

While waiting for our driver, we went to the beach just opposite the Minsu....

And did the "jumping into the air" stunt.

After many fail attempts....

Yay!

Fail!

Passed!

Our first stop in Kenting was 沙岛.

Nothing much there.

Next, we stopped at 鹅騾鼻公园 (Er Luo Bi Park). It has a famous lighthouse.

The rock-like structure beside me is actually a dustbin. Haha!

The third stop was 龙磐公园 (Longpan Park). When we reached the cliff, the place was SUPER WINDY! When I lifted my foot, I could feel streams of wind rushing under my foot. It was a super weird feeling. The wind was so loud that we got to shout to be heard. We were so scared of being blown away.

Being blown to one side.

The fourth stop was 风吹砂 (Feng Chui Sha).

This is a very interesting place. In Summer, the sand is blown into the ocean. In the Winter, the sand is blown back up. Cool right?

This is one of the many piles of driftwood washed ashore from the 88水灾 which occurred last year.

The fifth stop was a hanging bridge that we must pay to walk across. The bridge ends in nowhere. -_-".. So, we did the smart thing and just took pictures of it. Heh.

We saw paddy fields too! Finally I got to see a real paddy field. =)

We also saw a roadkill.

Yucks.

Zhang大哥 also brought us around Kaohsiung 古城 to take photos of the fortress walls.

A very touristy thing to do. =P

Next stop, lunch!! He brought us to a famous 包shop which we saw in one of the television programmes just the night before! The shop is called 小杜包子.

The place was packed with people. We had to even take queue number! The buns were all sold out right before our number was called. Luckily, the next batch was out soon. Phew... I had the bacon bun and the cheese bun. The bacon bun was yummy and very filling. End up I couldn't stuff in the cheese bun.

The sixth stop was 猫鼻头. Why is it called 猫鼻头?

Does the rock looks like a cat facing the sea?

Zhang大哥 started to lead us off the tourist track. It started to get very difficult to walk. Moreover, we were in our slippers and PX was in a dress.

We spotted an altar in one of the crevices. According to Zhang大哥, the altar is set up for 南海娘娘, a Goddess of Mercy.

I'm going to give a warning here. This post is going to be bombed with many many pictures of us at 猫鼻头. The view was just too spectacular for words.

We managed to climb up the back of the "cat"! Catcalls and cheers were heard when we were up there. They came from the Taiwanese students up above on the tourist tracks.

Can you spot the students?

Next stop: 白砂 It is just a beach. Nothing much.

The eighth stop: 關山(Guan Mountain)

The divine rock that looks like a tortoise.

Saw the sunset.

The last stop: 出火

This place is very special. Because of the methane gas rising from the ground, the fire never stop burning, despite heavy rainfalls.

And then it was dinner time! Finally.. We had 冬粉鸭 and Salmon sashimi again!

And then it was goodnight world!

(P.S. Wah.. My longest post yet.)
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