Sunday, July 05, 2009

Time for a change!

Just trying it out for fun.

But it turns out not too bad.

So that's my new blog for now. =)

Do support! =)

What a Week.

What a Week.
This week has been unbelievable.
Unbelievably tiring.
So tiring that I slept at 8/9 plus every night (tsk tsk) but woke up at 5.15am EVERY SINGLE DAY.
Going to school is physically and mentally draining (though there was nothing much to do). Not to mention it's physically 'abusing' as well!
My poor feet are full of injuries - blisters and more blisters - from wearing the heels. My skin got scrapped from the friction of wearing the heels until it bled.
I swear NEVER to buy open-toe heels EVER again. Just one day in it and I might have to amputate my poor toes.
'Useful' advice I always hear is: Get a pair of nice comfy heels lah!
Purleeese.
You think it's so easy to get nice AND comfortable heels meh?
Usually, nice/pretty heels are not comfortable because most of the time, comfortable heels or shoes in general are plain ugly (think Sch**l or Cla*ks).
So where to get nice AND comfortable heels?
Seriously must consider investing in a foot massager when I start to work officially.
Meanwhile, I'll just settle for plasters and nude socks.
Painful heels aside.
The kids are almost as painful and intolerable as well.
The older ones basically have no respect for others, or they are just fearless.
But then again, it is possible to reason things out with them. They'll listen and obey you, though grudgingly.
Just five days of work and I've experienced so much.
Interactions with students and colleagues were fun, nerve-wrecking, exasperating and at times awkward. Not to mention meetings, meetings and more meetings!
Got to see some behind-the-scenes that keep the school going and that we would never know/appreciate.
In short, teaching = multi-tasking = challenging.
4 more weeks to go. Fighting!
*** *** ***
Had one 'last' dinner with tiong at 85 and then dessert at T1.

Went to send him off a few days ago (luckily I did not have to attend the meeting after school, so I could make it in the very last minute), so he's probably enjoying himself in Brisbane now.

It was quite sad seeing him off but it's all for a better future. Hope he's doing well over there and is H1N1-free! =)

So thankful that tomorrow is a school holiday! Can sleep in late!!!

And till then, take care my friends!

p/s: I have cravings for bibimbap. Spent an hour to cook it just now. Taste was alright, if your standard is low. Fresh Bulgoggi, anyone? >.<

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Time's running out!

Time's running out...
School's starting for all the kiddies tomorrow!
Same goes for all the educators! =(
I spent the last two days of the last week of school holidays reporting to the school I'm attached to for an induction programme and staff workshop PLUS meeting.
I must say, everything seems so new to me, and there's really LOADS to learn.
To be honest, I'm looking forward to these coming five weeks with an open mind. The staff seems pretty nice and easy-going anyway, so hopefully I can survive my TA. Fighting! =)
*** *** ***
Our dear old friend, Tiong, is leaving us for Brisbane this coming Fri. Sigh! Won't get to see him for two years! So we met up for dinner.
And it's so hard to get everyone together, cos all of our schedules are different, and some of us are just so busy! That's life when one gets older. Sigh.
Anyway, I made a reservation at Hog's Breath Cafe, and the person who took down my name spelt it wrongly, despite double checking the spelling with me over the phone.
I'm not angry. I just don't understand why.
But he gave us a good seat, so. *shrugs*
Tiong, my friend for...9 years?
Xiang and Tiong. I edited this pic for ages just so their faces could be shown. The original pic was so dark that you can't even see their smiles.
Darren and me. He's also going to Melbourne for studies soon. And in case you're wondering, I permed my hair, so it looks kinda messy. But I love my curls! Hee.
Mixed Berry Mocktail. Nice!

Dar's pork ribs. Looks yummy!

My Tex-Mex Combo. Nice, nice, nice! It was the same dish I ordered two years ago when they celebrated my 20th. =)

Think my cam's aging. Images taken are not very clear. Or perhaps the person taking the photo has problems with trembling hands. Hah!

Alrighty.
It's time for bed.
Gotta wake up at 5.30am tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after, and the day after.
Sigh.
Rest well, sleep tight and be flu-free!
Till then...

Monday, June 22, 2009

Happy 22nd, LMH!

Happy 22nd, LeeMinHo!
Still can't believe this guy is the same age as me.
Oh wells! =)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Long long post!

It's Gonna Be Looooonnnnngggg!
I think this will be one of my longest posts ever.
Reason being I was too lazy to blog diligently for the past one week, hence the overdue pictures.
So I decided to combine EVERYTHING and deliver straight to please YOU or satisfy your hunger for ME. *hehs*
Must give me a pat on my back loh, cos it's 1.15AM as I'm typing this, and I've had a long day.
But strangely, I'm still feeling quite refreshed. Guess the older one gets, the lesser amount of time one needs for sleep.
Anyway, I shall start off with my lovely apple pie, Neo Be Be. =)
Notice how the background is black&white and she's in colour? So cool, right!
Credits to PhotoScape. =)
Actually, all the photos shown here have been edited by yours truly using that program. It's rather tiring, but I love love love the effects! =)
So you better appreciate my efforts to make your eyes see pleasant things, that's what I wanna say. Hee.
*** *** ***
Met up with XY last week for dinner.
Had cravings for bibimbap at Fresh Bulgoggi all the time, and finally someone was willing to go eat with me! So happy lah!
But who knows, the outlet at E!Hub suddenly closed down and changed to Seoul Garden instead.
*&%*$^#(!@!!
It was an unpleasant shock for us because we visited the place not too long ago and suddenly boom! It dao bi le.
Think I took 5 mins to recover from the shock.
Sigh.
Now, I have to travel all the way to airport T2 to satisfy my cravings. So inconvenient lah!!!
Is business that bad??? Or is economy really that bad?!?!
Oh wells.
No matter what, I was determined to eat bibimbap that night, and so we went all the way to T2.
Thankfully, the outlet there is still in operation. *whew!*
And these were what we ordered: Blackcurrent & Lemon, Deep Fried Assorted Mushrooms, and of course, Beef Bulgoggi Bibimbap! *yummy!*
My geeky cousin and me.
It was nice catching up and talking about our future plans and dreams, which I hope will materialise and come true for us! Then we can be kong zhong fei ren and visit each other! *hee!*
*** *** ***
You know, they say life is drama, drama is life. Or something along the line.
It's true.
You see those bad, mean, nasty, evil, cunning, stupid characters who often sabotage or try to harm the good protagonist in movies or drama serials?
They really do exist in real life.
Cos I met two really bad and full of evil and greedy thoughts people the other day.
Who? (Nu ku? in Korean)
One uncle and one lady, the working partner and employee of my uncle.
Where? (Eo di? in Korean)
At the law firm.
Why? (Wae yo? in Korean)
They're really trying to take advantage of my uncle, who is too nice and soft-hearted for his own good.
To cut long story short, those two are the most awful people I ever met who are really up to no good, absolutely have no conscience and no heart.
I really pity my uncle, who has been tolerating them and giving in to them for over 10 years.
I guess there's really a limit to one's patience. Even so, my uncle is trying his best to salvage the situation and prevent it from turning to its worst.
But because of this, they are really pushing their luck. Which is what really irks me the most.
I think they don't understand the meaning of karma. Or retribution. Or perhaps they refuse to believe in them.
But I do.
If they continue to do what they're doing to my uncle, there'll only be one ending.
Like in those dramas, where the bad guy always ends up dead, jailed or forsaken.
Perhaps those two won't end up dead, but receiving imprisonment is a possibility because of what they did. My uncle is too nice not to sue them. If I were him, I'd surely do the opposite.
Sue them for all they're worth. For pulling such dirty and immature tricks.
Gosh, my blood pressure is rising while thinking about them and their deeds.
But one good thing I got from this experience is that I get to see how calm and level-headed my dad is.
He really kept his cool and think of things in a big picture. And when he speaks, every word makes a lot of sense, so much so that those two had nothing to say but to agree with him.
I didnt know my father is so experienced at handling such business/legal stuff. I was clearly impressed and felt that there's lots to learn from him and his way of dealing with situations.
Anyhow, all these won't be solved easily over a matter of days.
Hope that my uncle has the strength to fight and win the battle. He doesnt look good, though. That's what worries us the most, his physical and mental states.
Sigh.
*** *** ***
Science Centre with my NIE mates was fun but, erm, quite boring at the same time.
Some of the exhibits were interesting and fascinating, but, sorry, not my cup of tea.
I was never a 'science' person, and I never will be.
I only agreed to go cos it's been quite long since we last saw one another, so I thought it might be a good chance to meet up. Plus, it was a different experience, a breakaway from the normal stuff we do everytime we meet up.
And so, there I was, travelling all the way to JURONG to see this demonstration. Some electricity thingy, which I can vaguely remember.
Okie lah. The demo was pretty amazing, especially when the balloons burst into flames when the current was turned on. Don't ask me why. They explained, but I forgot. Something to do with hydrogen gas and wireless transmission something.
If you wanna know, go watch the demo yourself.
If not, be good and admire my photos. =)
There were some hands-on exhibits that we can play with, and try to learn at the same time. By the way, the disgusting-looking picture at the bottom right-hand corner is infested with huge huge cockroaches. Not the normal brown ones that can fly. But black and just huge. Like those that can be fried and treated like delicacies in some South East Asian countries. Urgh. Creepy crawly blackies. *shudders*
The mirror that makes me look super slim! How neat if I look like that in real life. Hehs.
After touring the boring parts of Science Centre, we went to the Da Vinci exhibition, which was the best part of all.
I was seriously amazed by the works of Leonardo Da Vinci. No wonder they call him the Genius, cos he really was!
You should really pay a visit to the exhibition. I think it's worth it. =)
Just pay for the exhibition.
You can skip Science Centre AND I-Max. We went to watch Sea Monsters at the omni-theatre, and I fell asleep for two-third of the entire show. *shrugs helplessly*
So don't ask me if it was nice or not. But the seat was comfy, that I can assure you. Hee.
And then we had dinner at Mac and waited for nightfall so we could go stargazing! For free!
But who knows, it rained quite heavily at night, and they had to close the observatory for a while.
Thankfully, it opened after the rain stopped, and man, was the queue long long long! As long as this post is going to be.
Plus the weather was quite humid after the rain, so we were all sweaty, sticky and hot.
But still, we queued, hoping to see some neat stars through the telescope.
They said we could catch Saturn, Jewel Box and Centauri (names of the stars).
Sounds like a lot of stars to you????
Me too.
Who knows.
After queueing for 50 minutes, after anticipating for THAT long, all I saw through the one and only gigantic-cum-humongous telescope was two pathetic little shining dots that were really close to each other.
I was expecting to see clear stars that are shaped like, well, stars!
Really, sometimes it's good to have no expectations at all, so you won't be disappointed when your expectations are not met.
But I have to say, I've learnt quite a bit from the astronomer, who owns a superduper cool laser pointer that can actually point directly at the stars in the sky!
Imagine how far the laser can reach!
And one amazing fact about one of the stars (which I forgot what it's called) is that its light takes 4.6 years to reach the earth. So when we were looking at it at that moment, we were actually looking at it 4.6 years AGO.
So cool, huh?!?!!
Oh wells.
At least I learnt something amazing from this trip.
But no more Science Centre trips for me for the next ten years. Unless my future school sends me. Yeeeeeewww.
*** *** ***
"This is the season to pick durians, la la la la la, la la la laaaa~!"
That's right!
Now is the durian season!
Good news for those who adore the king of fruits!
Better news for those who can get it for free! *woots!*
Went to Pulau Ubin a few days ago with my parents to pick free durians. Hee hee.
It was totally a spontaneous decision on my part, cos I thought it'd be fun and nice to visit the island after so many years (I used to go there when I was really young as my dad's friend had a house there donkey years ago).
Because it's the durian season, my dad and his friends have been going to the island to pick free and of superb-quality durians.
I'd describe it as a stakeout, cos you have to wait for them to fall off from the trees and then you go searching for them.
It was a totally neat experience, cos we had to cycle quite deep into the forest to look for the uncles (note: uncles = durians), wait for the durians to drop from the sky, open them up on the spot and savour the fruits of our labour. Hee!
Another fun part was the boat ride. =)
An enormous vessel came sailing at top speed, and our little boat had to slow down to let it pass.
Reaching P. Ubin!
That's my mummy. I didnt capture a very beautiful picture of her, hor?
And that's my father in white.
Choosing bicycles for us. Rent was dirt cheap, but the bikes were in quite bad quality.
Saw BeBe-lookalike, the not-so-pretty version. Hehs.
The uncles who were there since the hot afternoon (it was late evening when we got there). The number of durians they picked was unbelievable. And they didnt bring any food. They just ate the durians.
Burning the durians shells to keep away the commandos. Meaning super big mosquitoes.
The narrow trail that we cycled up to get to the landing.
The makeshift hacking area. Saw the three rectangular containers? Those were already filled with durians. =)
Durians are deeply loved by the Neo family. Just look at her.
And me. =)
Heaps of durian shells.
My super white track shoes. Must wear long track pants to prevent being kissed by the commandos. My forehead was exposed and I got a kiss as soon as I got there.
Non-stop hacking and prying open the hard hard shells.
My mum helping to fill the round container with our yellow friends. Quite impossible to fill it cos we kept eating them. Ha!
When the round container was filled completely with durians, and when the uncles finally decided that they couldnt bring back any more durians, we headed for the jetty.
These two dogs are really obedient! They just mind their own business and laze around, enjoying the breeze. =)
You know those huge rick sacks coolies always carry over their shoulders?
We took two of them that are completely packed with you-know-what. Plus the three rectangular and the round containers.
It was simply too much.
Offered some to our neighbours, who were simply overjoyed.
But we were still left with an overwhelming amount of durians.
And guess what?!?
Me and my mum made durian muffins the next morning.
HAH!
It was a huge success.
The taste was heavenly. =)
I can't imagine how anyone can hate durians.
*** *** ***
Shaheena's 23rd birthday celebration!
We had a hard time finding a halal restaurant that is nice and affordable.
In the end we settled for this:
Shaheena, SC and Philip.
Me, Keng Tzu and Eleanor.
We let Sha ordered for us, cos we simply dun understand the menu.
But the food was very very nice!
The taste wasn't overwhelming so it was rather suitable for local taste buds.
It was fun trying all the different sauces/gravy.
Plus their service was two thumbs-up.
They were very polite and kind towards us.
Although we made a reservation, we were late and when we got there, it was their break time (they close the shop after lunch hour to prepare for dinner crowd).
But they still served us very willingly.
So we were the only ones in the entire restaurant, which is so Bollywoodish.
Cake-cutting ceremony was done in a jiffy cos we didnt want to impose on them.
Present-giving ceremony was done outside the restaurant. Haha.
There was this Mini Rider 2 outside Toys R Us, and Eleanor and I paid $6 for a 'thrilling' ride. No picture for that, though.
While waiting for Tzu and Sha's turn of the ride, I wanna try and see if I can still fit into those kiddy rides.
Amazingly, I can.
And then Eleanor joined me, the only one who's young at heart like me. HA!

Spent a long time deciding what movie to watch.

In the end, we settled for Drag Me To Hell, a horror flick most of us wanna watch.

Poor Tzu.

She kept her eyes tightly shut in the entire show and held Eleanor's hand for support because she's a timid girl who doesnt dare and doesnt like horror movies. Lolz.

She's the first person I know who does that. She paid $7 not to watch movies, but to listen to them. HAHA! So cute.

Anyway, the movie was damn nice lah! Very scary, very gross and very surprising. Though I already know the story (thanks to Lester!), but still, it made me scream at some point.

Lesson learnt from this movie?

Always be kind and good and true to yourself and others. You never know who you're dealing with.

Maybe those two people I mentioned earlier should go watch the show.

But I guess they wouldnt know the lessons, cos they'd probably die in the cinema from all the 'little' shocking moments.

Hehs.

Oh boy.

What a long post this is. Took me 3 hours to finish it!

It's 4.23AM now.

Tsk tsk.

Till then, take care and eat lots of durians if you can! HAH!