Approach of the new year

I can literally hear the clock ticking towards 2008. I have always approach every new year with much anticipation except for this year.

It is just unbelievable how time zoomed pass without us realising - I will be entering another decade of my life. A friend cleverly calls it the 'Glamourous 3' though I honestly don't find it anywhere near exciting. A classic example of Cognitive Dissonance.. haha~

Reflecting back, 2007 has been a rather eventful (in a good way) year for me. Obtained a promotion at work, travelled quite a fair bit both for leisure and work and not-too-recently, had a change of job.. just to name afew.

And of course, below is my new year resolution for 2008!

1. Stop my procrastinating nature and aim to pass my driving!
2. Lead a healthier lifestyle - exercise more..
3. Eat in moderation - have to understand that every meal doesn't need to end with cakes or ice-cream and that stomach doesn't have a separate compartment for desserts!!
4. Reduce intake of red meat (though I still love my morten's) and increase fruits and vege
5. Cut down on hobbies like shopping and bingeing - Save more!
6. Adopt a positive attitude in every task I undertake

... and still counting!!

Happy New Year to all!

Christmas Present from Sis

is yet another addition to my Kate Spade collection!

My adoration for this New York label seems pretty obvious.. heh heh..

Being a sucker of good presentation, I guess the olive green (my fav color) packaging does play a part in my fondness towards her merchandise.

Singapore is..

a beautiful house in an ugly neighbourhood.

Came across this rather interesting analogy while trying to catch bits of financial news on TV late last night.

Some food for thoughts?

The one on christmas parties

Unlike previous years, I didn't host many parties this christmas. The thought of massive cleaning afterwards made me cringe. Just hosted my first christmas get-together of the year with my bizader pals over the weekend. Food was awesome and company was unbeatable! It was a great binge-and-bitch session.

Was told (by this same group of friends) that my blog is too wordy for pleasure reading. Decided to post pictures this time round.. As the saying goes,.. A picture speaks a thousand words..

Pressies, pressies and more pressies!

Receive a huge (literally) Christmas present from RBS today. Its a battery-operated remote control helicopter. Some thrilled colleagues started flying them in the office. Guess the toy has achieved its purpose - it is interesting to see how it unleash the child in all of us.

And its found a spot under my christmas tree!

Can't and Won't

What is the difference between Can't and Won't? To put it simply, the former doesn't give the person-in-question an option to choose. On the other hand, when a person won't do something, it is actually his choice to refuse to undertake a particular action.

A question was posed to us during a 3-day course I attended - What are the things in life you can't have a choice?

Pondering over this simple question made me realised that 'can't' is an overly-abused word, a victimised language to a certain extend. Theoretically, (of course, other than being borned and having to die one day) every action we undertake is indeed our choice. Most people use the word 'can't' because they want to give the impression that they do not have a choice for something they won't do. To put it bluntly - they hope to obtain sympathy and understanding from others.

Very often, we hear remarks like 'I can't have a choice whether I want to pay taxes', 'I can't leave office now as work is just pouring on me' dah dah dah...

If you think harder, all these are nothing but actions one chooses to undertake as he/she does not want to bear the consequences of not doing it.

So next time, before you are too quick to say 'I can't attend your party as I have something on,..', think twice - is it 'You Can't' or 'You Won't'?

Hmm... Any comments?

12th Dec

Happy Birthday to me!

It seemed only yesterday that I celebrated my 21st birthday with Chiuyen who was 1 day younger than me. Now that we are both on the wrong side of twenties, I guess I have reached a stage where I am no longer excited about birthdays.. Still, I was really moved with all the well wishes, lunches and pressies I had received. Felt blessed to have such thoughtful friends and colleagues!

My first birthday greeting came from Margaret. Very nice of her (as always!) to remember..

The nicest surprise came from Eileen who got the gift delivered to my office. Definitely didn't expect her to remember my birthday, let alone the surprise she had painstakingly arranged. Pressie was a lovely Kate Spade hp accessory! Love it to bits!

Most unique birthday greeting came from Tatsoon. Huizhen had wanted to be the last person to wish me (at 1150pm) but TS had beaten her to it (30 secs before the clock struck 12). Heh heh.. Very original indeed!

A Year Older (yes..) and Wiser (hmm.. not too sure)..

December has always been a celebratory month for me. Bonus is not the only reason I look forward to year-end. The fact that both Christmas and my birthday happen to fall on December made it slightly more special than the other months of the year.. :)

To celebrate my birthday this coming week, we went to Morton's Steakhouse at Mandarin Oriental. Service was undoubtedly awesome! I was pleasantly surprised by the customised menu that screamed 'Happy Birthday RJ!' and the table setting that was decorated with glittering confetti.

Food wise, absolutely no complaints. The lobster bisque, which left an light alcoholic aftertaste, was lovely. The prime rib boneless steak, despite being at least 2 inches thick, was grilled to perfection - both inside and the outside. The sauteed mushroom and lyonnaise potatoes with onion were great too! We were so STUFFED that the waiter suggested us packing the leftovers so as to save some space for the warmed hot chocolate cake which we ordered for desert. Needless to say, desert was simply heavenly~! Oh yes, it was complimentary from the restaurant too!

Would I come back despite its relatively expensive menu? Definitely a non-hesitant YES!

Thanks to Esther for the brilliant recommendation!

Lost and Found

One of the simple pleasures in life which will bring me great happiness and really make my day is to meet and catch-up with friends whom I have lost touch for years. Last month (Nov) seems to be the season to rekindle such lost friendships... maybe its an early Christmas gift from the Almighty One up there...

Long-lost Friend Nbr 1 (last met: 1997):
Received a facebook msg 'Are you my vacation job buddy? blah blah blah.....'. Though her profile pic wasn't exactly clear, I knew it had to be SK!! (from her style of writing) - ever so witty and candid. We met during our vacation job at citibank. She not only made my 3-month stint in citibank bearable, but also enjoyable. In fact, it was this vacation job that inspired me to work in a bank after graduation. Thinking back (of the good 'ole days), I remembered us standing at our workstations processing endless remittance transactions for 1 hr daily after lunch for fear of developing a tummy. We shared common interests and goals - to look slim, lady-like and demure. Hah~ what ignorance!

We arranged to meet up for lunch at Raffles Place through facebook. Though meeting was brief (wish lunch was longer), we spoke lots. Of course our conversation topics now differ from what interest us years ago.. we had great fun discussing how to handle annoying MILs. Ha~!

***

Long Lost Friend Nbr 2 (last met: 2000):
Met Gerald during a vacation to US and Canada. Couldn't remember what made us started talking and got acquainted. Affectionately known as 'Lau Beng' to us, he was great fun during the entire trip. We did meet up randomly after the trip in 2000 but subsequently lost touched after he married a Taiwanese girl and migrated to Taipei.

While planning the recent trip to Taiwan, it suddenly dawned upon me that I could arrange a meetup with him in Taipei. Lunch at this Japanese curry house near Taipei 101 was lovely. Had planned to take some pics but forgotten as we were busy talking non-stop. Also, met a new friend and colleague-to-be during the lunch.

***

Long Lost Friends Nbr 3 (last met: 1994 (Weimian) and 2003 (Huizhen & Cailing)):

They were my very dear primary school classmates eons ago! The clique I hang out for lunch and did school projects with. I recalled stupidly signing ourselves up for a piano-cum-singing performance during the book-and-music week. While I enjoyed myself playing the piano, the rest are still holding me to it (till this every day) as they felt embarrassed having to sing to the whole school then!

It was Huizhen who organised this dinner. I was really impressed that she had managed to gather us all (except Wenfeng as she is heavily pregnant). Of all days, I had to work OT that evening and was terribly late (for 2 hrs!). Nevertheless, we had great fun that night and laughing uncontrollably while reminiscing the silly things we did years ago!

From left: Myself, Huizhen, Cailing, Weimian

Indulgences..

Didn't do much constructive stuff today. Instead, I persuaded Ivan to drive me to this boutique, which carries a portfolio of niche labels, tucked in an obscure corner of Serangoon Gardens.

My latest damages! (pls pardon me for my bad photography skills if I had caused these gorgeous dresses to look any worse than they actually are..) As you may notice, I have a soft spot for dresses with big bows..

Baby doll dress by Senada Theory. Was told that this dress is under the black label range - meaning that the fabric is proprietary to this brand.

Cocktail dress by an australian designer. I like the way the round white satin collar extends to a bow at the back of the dress.

Long Live Friendship!

Heh heh.. me trying to be corny with this cheesy title..

Just celebrated 10 years of friendship with my Bizader ex-faculty mates at My Humble House. I first knew about this restaurant through my mom who raved about it when Esplanade first opened its theatre doors. I had always wanted to dine at this swanky restaurant but never found a good-enough occasion. When Chiuyen and I were brainstorming for a venue to commemorate our 10 years of knowing each other, we unanimously agreed to pair this special occasion with a sumptuous dinner at the anything-but-Humble-House.

Though both My Humble House and Noble House are restaurants under the Tung Lok group, it is an irony that a decent meal at this not-so-Humble House costs at least 5 times more compared to Noble House. heh heh.. In fact, food at Noble House is yummier and of course, more value for money!

Given the expensive menu, food wasn't up to expectation to be very honest. Nevertheless, we had a great time chatting the evening away..

6-Course chinese fusion set dinner menu we had for that evening

Final group picture of that night

Not-so-fantastic Weekend

Woke up on Friday morning with an bad sore throat. DAMN.. an omen.. a bad sign that a lousy weekend is coming. Tried gulping gallons of water but that didn't help keep the irritable flu-cum-fever-cum-cough virus away.

Other than the occassional stomach cramps, I am not someone who frequent the GP for regular illnesses like flu and fever. In fact, the last time I visited the GP feeling feverish was back in 2003 when I contracted Dengue.

Had initially packed the weekend with activities as quite a couple of piano lessons were cancelled due to school exams. Plans to take morning walks and breakfast at the Botanic Gardens and cycling along East Coast were abandoned.. sigh~

Well, nothing is gonna stop me from having a good meal though! Had my mom's sinful fried laksa for lunch and dinner was at the popular Canton Wok by Chef Kang... Yum~ Trading a quick recovery for good food... Very ME!

Sense of Satisfaction..

Not sure why but everytime I have a 'major' task on hand, everything else in my personal life comes to a halt.

Have been putting off planning my taiwan trip intinerary since I booked the tickets more than a month ago! Well, not that my procrastination was anything new but a few days prior to THE DAY, my mind couldn't contain anything else except the Khalix training I was supposed to conduct and the schedule I was to cover. Am so glad it is finally OVER!

Overall, the attendence was a little disappointing which kept my spirit a little down throughout the training session. Some dropped out due to last minute workload. Others had to attend another external course... :(

My initial disappointment was soon overcome with the general good feedback I received! :)

"Thank you Rui Jin, great training... 3 months in London and you are like a Khalix guru... Impressive!"

Received this note via email from an attendee after the course. It is little appreciation from others (like this) that keep us going, isn't it?

Back... (erm.. long time ago)..

Its been such an oh-so-long time since my last posting. The sloth virus has been manifesting itself within me and I am still recuperating from it.

The experience of being back in the comfort of familiar company, family, culture (and more!) is simply indescribable. Managed to catch up with friends over the past 7 weekends, during lunchtime and even dinners after work. Have always enjoyed good conversations over yummy food.

Still miss London.. but it feels great to be HOME!

Last night in London.. (random thoughts)

Time flies... Can't believe that 12 weeks have just sped by! Before arriving London, I had an ambitious list of neighbouring countries I planned to cover and plentiful things I had wanted to do. Though I have not quite accomplished every item on my travel wish list, I am truly thankful for this 3-month trip and probably-once-in-a-lifetime experience.

During this overseas stint, I met wonderful people - not only did I have London colleagues-cum-friends who tried to make my stay as enjoyable as possible, I befriended Singaporean friends thousand miles away from Singapore. It is amazing how I was (placed to) immerse(d) in an environment of diverse culture but yet got to enjoy the comfort of occasional company from a familiar background.

Another highlight of this stay was the lovely weekend spent at Emily's place in South Hampton. Her house was absolutely GORGEOUS! One could tell that every piece of furniture was carefully chosen to complement the theme of the house. Most of the pictures hung on the walls was either taken by Dave or drew and given as a present from a relative - which adds to the cosiness of the house. Also, (it may sound bizarre to some, but) the feeling of watching HK drama serial by the fireplace in a typical English house was indescribably heart-warming. Until now, I'm still hesitating to post pictures for fear my poor photography skills will only do injustice to the beauty of the house.

......

Its 11pm now as I am writing this blog. Hmm... strange that my mind seems to be in a turmoil. Part of me is looking forward to go back (to bask in the warmth of my family) but the remaining part of me is sad to leave this place. Think there will be loads I will miss leaving London - the friendly people I met here (which goes without saying!), the french food at Islington (brilliant!), yummy Bayswater duck rice, the not-that-fantastic-but-still-cosy apartment I stayed in, shopping at Harrods, the train-rides out of London, driving alongside horses in South-Hampton (a true-blue 'country-side' life) and even London tube and buses.. Damn... I'm definitely gonna miss this place...

......

Bye.

Hen & Bachelor Party

Attended Chrissy's and Chads' Hen-and-Bachelor Party at The Angelic Pub. Nope, they are not getting married to each other - Chad's getting married on 24th Aug and Christine's 18th Sep. Can't imagine if they did. There would be absolute CHAOS.. Their bickering never fail to amuse me and they are never known to be able to co-exist in harmony.. haha~

Accompanied Karin to get the party accessories to dress Christine up (much to her violent protests). We contemplated between pink and white but unanimously agreed on pink to complement her sugar-and-spice-and-all-things-nice image.

My first time attending a Hen/Bachelor Party in London and it was quite an experience. Unlike SG (which usually involves a quiet dinner followed by drinks or coffee), its livelier and of course involves ALOT more drinking! As usual, I started off with a couple of 1/2-pint cider and proceeded on to champagne.

Guess this is probably one of the mildest Hen/Bachelor Parties according to London standards. Heard that its not unusual for friends to get the groom-to-be really drunk, strip him down to his briefs and send him off on a train out of London without his wallet. GOsh~! If I were that guy, I would faint out of embarassment and rather not wake up!

Christine all sweet with her pink gear..

Chads looking great with Purple Ears and feathers!

Karin a little tipsy after a few rounds of drinks..

Myself with a glass of champagne and chip!

Kensington Palace

Did a slow tour of the Kensington Palace on a lazy Sunday afternoon. This royal residence was home to the late Diana, Princess of Wales amongst other royalties such as King William and Queen Mary, Queen Anne, George I and George II.

The parts of exhibition which touched me the most:

• Photographs featuring the late Princess Diana - originally taken (just months before the tragic car accident) to promote the charity auction of her evening dresses
• Video clips of her life - her wedding to Prince Charles, birth of Princes William and Harry, her visits to third-world countries to raise social awareness and how she was not afraid to have upclose and personal contacts with the sick
• Countless articles of people relating their encounters with the late princess - each speaking so astonishingly well of her
  

It amazes me how her down-to-earth nature, despite her royal status, was able to make everyone around her feel so at ease. It makes me feel that she was beautiful not just outwardly but also very much at heart. She will always be missed by all..

Not a fantastic picture of me taken in front of the palace. This is what happens when you do sight-seeing alone and have to rely on a stranger to take your picture... sigh...

One of the ten flower sculptures which was installed in the gardens of Kensington Palace to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana. They echoed the thousands of flowers left by mourners in front of the palace gates days after the tragedy 10 years ago.

The one on Bridges...

London Bridge is Falling Down,
Falling Down, Falling Down

London Bridge is Falling Down,

My Fair Lady

While singing this song in my nursery days, I remembered picturing in my mind what I thought would be the London Bridge. It was a grand red-bricked suspension bridge built across the banks of a wide river. (Then, I had absolutely no idea that it was River Thames.) There was also a tower clock attached to each side of the bridge.

When I finally got to see the most sung-about bridge for the very first time today, I was slightly disappointed to see a boring plain grey-concrete bridge. It was nowhere near the image I had in my mind as a child.

Approximately 400 metres away from the London Bridge is the Tower Bridge. In fact, the Tower Bridge seems to be closer to what I thought London Bridge would look like!

Finally Re-Connected..

Woohoo~~

The internet in the appt is finally fixed! I have NEVER EVER been soooo over-the-moon at being able to surf the net..

Felt totally cut off and isolated from the rest of world not being able to connect for the last 2 weeks! Many friends wondered why I haven't been on msn or replying emails. One (you know who you are) even thought I was starved and became so skinny that I vanished completely.. DUH~! It really amazes me to know how ignorant some people can get.. :p

Time to continue the HK drama serial where I left off when Tunleng came visiting... Hmm.. am beginning to foresee many late nights to come...

Lion King Musical

Watching the Lion King Musical was yet another adhoc arrangement. MindAligned Desiree near knockoff time and we decided to try our luck at Lyceum Theatre to lay our hands on the last minute tickets.

I could tell that Desiree wasn't exactly very keen on the musical initially. She had the impression that it will be some 'cheapskate' musical with humans prancing around in lycra costumes. On the contrary, we were wowed by the way the musical protrayed the animals. In fact, the BEST part was when they introduced the animal kingdom!

Overall, it was quite a good musical. I did enjoy it pretty much as it didn't turned out the way I would normally expect it. In fact, it was better than my expectations! My only complain - there was too much dialog for a musical...

Apologies

Dearest Pals,

You may noticed that there are a couple of entries 'missing' for the last 2 wks of July. As you may be aware, this was due to the fact that internet in the apartment was down and I have been desperately trying to catch up with the back dated entries.

Stay tuned...

Les Miserables

Had planned to spend a quiet week in the evenings preparing for my training which will commence this coming Thur. I was so tempted when Tunleng suggested going for my favourite musical - Les Miserables. The moment she mentioned that the last minute tickets were available, all plans to prepare for the training were thrown out of the window and gone with the wind. Hack it~! I am NEVER known for my discipline and this shall be no exception.

Despite being someone who had problems sitting through a 2-hr movie (I remembered myself almost close to tears and pulling my hair out when Ivan made me watch StarWars with him), I enjoyed every moment of the 3-hr musical. This is my fourth time watching the musical - I first watched it 11 yrs ago in my Katong Convent uniform at Kallang Theatre! Time flies. :*(

Not sure why,.. but everytime I watch Les Mis, I prefer Eponine to Cosette. She is prettier and sings better. The female lead pales in comparison. Desiree agreed too.

I could almost remember all the lyrics.. My favourite part has always been Eponine's 'On my Own'. She was a brilliant singer! Found myself sub-consciously singing along.. good thing I wasn't asked to shutup.. heh heh~

Enough said. I LOVE my musicals!!!!

Next few days in Paris

Headed straight down to Louis Vuitton at Champs Elysees first thing in the morning! Wanted to get my hands on the neverfull bags which the salesgirl mentioned were always out of stock by late morning. Managed to grab the last 2 small ones!

Also,.. **drums roll**... I had thought of a BRILLIANT idea to get my hands on the Porter wallet (last piece!) in a branch outside Paris!!! Just before hitting the sack last night, it struck me that Desiree will be travelling down to Paris the coming weekend. I could ask the LV staff to transfer the wallet to Champs Elysees (which takes 5 wkg days) and then get Desiree to collect it for me! Woohoo again~! You could have probably guessed how badly I wanted the wallet by now.

After fulfilling my shopping desires at LV, we proceed to do more serious sight-seeing.

Irene was right! Arc de Triomphe was indeed amazing! There seems to be some sort of majestic aura that eludes from it. I like the way the 53m tall by 45m wide structure stood right in the middle of busy road junction with never-ending traffic moving around it. Though we made our way to the top of the monument, we thought that the view wasn't as impressive as compared to one standing at the foot of the structure looking upwards.

Another must-see-cannot-miss monument in Paris is, of course, the much-talkabout Eiffel Tower. No wonder thousands of people from all over the world raved about the iron tower. Even Tunleng, who was skeptical with most things, was wowed by it. Think I must have taken more pictures of the Eiffel Tower than the rest of the pictures taken in Paris!
Mischievous us left our names on the tower!Moving and jostling around the hectic and bustling streets of Paris can be extremely exhausting. And this gave us the perfect excuse to take a breather at the Parisan cafes along Champs Elysees. It is interesting to see how the tables and chairs are arranged to facilitate people-watching!
During the trip, we were blessed to meet several wonderful people who had helped us in someway or another. Their kind gestures from forcing the metro doors open which were closing on us when we struggled with our luggages, to telling us we were on the wrong directions of the metro while accidentally overhearing our conversation left us thankful and definitely made our trip more enjoyable!

The yummiest macaroons I have ever tasted! We ended up buying 1 of each flavour. A must-try in Paris - Pierre Hermes macaroons!!

Our only regret in Paris was not being able to visit the renown department store - Galeries Lafeyette. Had originally reserved our last day for a day of shopping at Galeries, not knowing that most stores closed on Sunday. My heart dropped completely when we turned up seeing the entrance closed before us. Martin insisted that he had told me earlier but I had absolutely no recollection of it. Sigh... Heard how its food halls are more impressive than Harrods. What a pity we couldn't get to see it.. sob sob :*(