千四百九十八： Last Day in Krabi :(

It's our last day here! luckily today is all bright and sunny without a single trace of cloud in the sky. Else it's damn sad..

Using the comp now since Ryo needs to work abit, later we'll probably go bake ourselves at the pool or the beach again. Very Very Blue skies today!!

I think I'll go for a facial today? hmm.. or maybe some foot scrub spa I think..

千四百九十七： Rain

It's raining non-stop today as well, we baked ourselves in the sun the whole morning until the pouring started. Went to a small Pizza Place for lunch, it started pouring on-off. Lounging in the room reading and waching TV. :D

千四百九十六： The Beach!

Today we went on the 4 islands Ko Phi Phi tour. The guide was a very funny guy who called himself James Bond and kept saying he was very handsome. hahaha.

But the weather was horrible today, unfortunately. It was overcast this morning as we headed towards Bamboo Island (Ko Pai) on the speedboat, but the weather cleared up when we reached there and we actually had about an hour of suntanning & snorkelling there before we headed to Lanti Bay. Its called bamboo island but all the bamboo is in the mountains according to the guide. hmmm.

At Lanti Bay (Ao Lanti), it was supposedly better snorkelling there but actually much of the coral reef had been destroyed during the tsunami in 2004. The guide said to return to the place in 15 years' time. -.- As it was sort of raining quite hard by then, I just watched as Ryo tried snorkelling abit and I tried to throw the bread to where he was treading water so that the fishes came to him. hahaha. Next we went past the cliff that Leonardo (di Caprio) leaped off in The Beach. hee. The boat went past Ko Phi Phi Leh, which had caves of bird's nests in them, but after there were too many poachers in the past, no visitors were allowed in there anymore.

It was Maya Bay (Ao Maya) up next, the beach in The Beach!! it was really as beautiful as the movie portrayed, but unfortunately it was marred by garbage in the waters. The sand was really very very soft though. We stayed there for about 40 minutes and the rain became so heavy that we could only hide beneath the cliffs to wait out the rain instead of frolicking in the blue sea. The boat took us to Phi Phi Don for lunch next and it was just pouring and pouring and we were all shivering in our beachwear in the boat huddled beneath our towels. It was quite a sorry sight as the boat did not offer much in terms of rain protection and even under the shelter of the canopy we were drenched. When we finally reached the island we just followed the guide in the pouring rain to the sheltered area where a buffet lunch of thai food was being served. Tom yam soup had never tasted better, especially when you are soaked to your skin, shivering with cold and wearing just a bikini with hair still dripping wet.

After about 2hours, we got back onto the boat. Luckily the rain had slowed to just a drizzle and we headed towards Mosquito Island (Ko Yung) as the last stop on our itinerary. We were giving 30 min to snorkel, but at first i just thought nothing much was in the water, cos from the top I could see some fishes and nothing much seemed to be in the water. Until Ryo said I had better wear the mask and snorkel too, I shouldn't miss this. So I wore the mask and life jacket and snorkelled for the first time in my life and the view in the water just took my breath away. There were beautiful corals that were not visible the moment I took my head out of water and the fish were so colourful!! They came so near to me!! Very amazing, I can see why a couple on the boat had their own snorkelling equipment. It could become quite addictive.

So finally the tour was over and we sat at the front of the boat for a very very rocky and exciting 1.5 hours ride back to Krabi's Pier. It felt like those rides at Disneyland / USJ where they drop you from a really high place and you just feel weightless like you are going to fly off. The weather was still bad and sitting in the front made us feel the full impact of the choppy waters. Very shiok!!! I just screamed my head off when the boat hit the bumpy waters and it felt like an endless thrill ride, hehe.

We finally reached the resort at abou 4pm, wanting to get a hot shower and guess what, the whole block was down with a power outage and a water stoppage. -.- We couldn't shower or use the loo!! Argh.. in the end we just tried to change and went to the lounge for the free cake and tea to wait out the repairs. Finally after an hour, everything was working again despite the initial murky and brown waters coming out of the taps for the first few seconds.

& yesterday we discovered a small Thai/Chinese cuisine restaurant that has the best prices around here. (normal dishes not above 70 Baht) & we had a very good dinner before it started raining in the evening and we had to dash back in the rain. looking forward to pool lounging again tomorrow. :D

千四百九十五： day 2 in Krabi

The breakfast here is definitely not better than Century Park Hotel in Bangkok. I bumped into a Secondary sch friend I haven't met since sec 4. So weird, to have not bumped into the person in sg for sooo many years and to bump into each other here in Krabi at the same resort out of so many.

We went to explore the town area around the resort yesterday. There is a 7-11 nearby, near a macs, and it was comforting to see familiar shops around. we had a full body thai massage near the resort along the beach stretch for 200baht, it felt good! maybe I'll go back for a head/face massage soon. Taxis are exhorbitant, they always try to negotiate, esp to the airport or from the airport, its so tiring to negotiate. My luggage was overweight yesterday, i dunno how i added 4 kg to the bag since i came when I hardly bought anything. maybe its the air.

And I've been mistaken for a Thai ever since yesterday afternoon everywhere I went, the airport, the taxi, the massage place, the restaurant and I'll look blank while they speak to me in Thai and finally they will ask, where are u from? and I'll say Singapore then comprehension dawns on them. :S must be the tan getting darker that caused it.

ok pool relaxing today and then Ko Phi Phi tomorrow. :D finally going to see the beach in The Beach!!

千四百九十四： Krabi

In Krabi now, at Aonang Villa REsort. There are mosquitoes here!! :s & they gave us a twin room instead of double room which we thought they had promised the availability cos of the weird english they sent their email in.

Having free cake and tea in their lobby now. Yesterday evening we had dinner at Coca, it was about $30 ++ for 2 people and it was pretty good. nothing spectacular but at least try b4 liao. :D

ok Internet here costs 500 baht / 5 hours so maybe I'll use when Ryo is dlding his email. :D the sea looks good from our room!

千四百九十三： In Bangkok!!

Today is like the 3rd day here le.. Only took out the laptop today, and apparently the hotel had to choose today to have problems with internet. -.- so we packed our bags, headed out to the biggest macdonald's in the city and plugged in to their free wi-fi.

Took the chance to upload my photos, and rest abit from the super hot weather. Photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157601671095599/

I took the plane about 2040 on thurs nite, reached Thailand at 2205 (2305 Singapore Time). Ryo was waiting at the starbucks (thank goodness, cos I felt quite lost) at the thai airport. We took a cab to the hotel (Century Park) for 400baht, abit ex i guess. The hotel was like 4-star, looks really good for us to be paying about S$80 per night.

Woke up to a super cool american buffet breakfast, high quality and variety and quantity. :D We went shopping around Siam area, all the high end boutiques like Siam Paragon, Centralworld, etc then at night we went to see the New Calypso Cabaret. Before that we had dinner at a small Thai zichar place just next to the hotel. Very cheap and very very good. The girly boys were quite pretty but in some ways, abit unnatural.

We joined a tour to Ayutthaya on Saturday, the ruined city, also a UNESCO world Heritage site. Went to the King's summer Palace at Bang Pa In also, then it ended with a river cruise down chao phraya witha buffet lunch onboard. We had to wake up at 5am for this tour and I was exhausted after lunch so I just laid in Ryo's lap for a nap until the boat nearly reached its destination. Went to the hotel for a short rest, then headed to MBK by skytrain for some last minute shopping for WK. Our hotel station was near the Victory Monument, so 順便 went to see it. Night stalls were everywhere on the streets on a Saturday night.

This morning we went to Chatuchak market & got a few t-shirts and stuff. The place was sooo crowded. Very Very Very hot weather in Bangkok now, i think i became darker by 3 tones..

The weirdest thing about Bangkok is the animals. The cats and the dogs on the streets mainly. No matter where we saw them, they were in this position:

Playing dead.

We thought it was the heat, but they were behaving that way both indoors and outdoors. So weird.

Ok tomorrow we'll be heading to Krabi for the rest of the week. :D

千四百九十二： Rush Hour 3

The movie was hilarious!　Chris Tucker was one fast talking cop with a very very comical face. I wonder who wrote the script. The lines kept me laughing throughout and although its amazing how jackie chan still has the energy and dare to do such stunts, he is getting kind of old for such slapstick lines.

I finally packed finished I think? I haven't changed money though, probably no time le. The guidebooks are at the office, I think I'll bring at least 2 bottles of water there? abit worried about food poisoning. n I only just showered. got a 8am meeting tomorrow.

千四百九十一： Musings

The boss is in town again. & she chose to sit beside me today so it was just work work work all the way. Not that she really had to look at me or anything, I was quite overwhelmed with work today. Composing Japanese emails to customers that had to be super polite took up alot of my energy, and handling bugs the first thing I go into the office.

I thought about making peace with a dinner outing tonight before my trip but I guess my company is not really wanted/needed. I took the initiative to ask but I guess as XH said, don't be so 主動, and I probably should really heed that advice soon.

I always detest the idea of playing hard to get, playing games with people's minds. But maybe my frankness & directness is too much for some people. I speak out when I feel things are unfair, wrong, not for just myself, but also for others (like my sis who usually just keeps quiet when my mum gets mad at her and I just feel the need to speak up for her and argue for her) or just to voice out my opinion and I don't see why there isn't more of us doing that. If you are not doing anything wrong, not speaking up will weigh on your head/conscience isn't it? I think it's hard to earn back my respect if you lose it, the wall I erected around myself against you won't disappear easily and things just don't go back to normal easily.

Especially people who take me for granted and take advantage of me. I very very much despise those people who borrow stuff and don't return automatically, and has to be chased and chased to return my things. Yup I admit to be possessive, of my goods and my food, but who isn't? I don't mind sharing my things with people so they can share the joy i see in those things (books, Cds, games) but why do you choose to take things further by pinching them for yourself & taking advantage of my goodwill in lending you? This applies to friendship too. I keep quiet but it doesn't mean I don't feel hurt when I feel like my friendship was made use of.

well. just some random rambling. Finally got Ryo's stuff in order, I better remember to pack my luggage tomorrow. I haven't packed!! argh. but it's just one more day away. :D

千四百九十： JCS

What's left:

1. Register for JLPT 1 exam by next week
2. Change S$400 to Thai Baht & Go to The Cathay next week
3. MSE GateKeeping Manual!
4. Prepare list of things to followup.
   
5. Excel my funds
6. Prepare Ryo's stuff - DS
   
7. Prepare Status Sheet & Folders for UAT
8. Pack Luggage
9. Collate guidebook/Collect Guidebook from YH

I finally registered for the JLPT exam with Suki today, and this is the first time I've been to JCS. Apparently it's the HQ, the place gives us our exam ID number directly after we pay and hand in our registration form (I'm 10105). I hope I get to take the exam at Bugis this time though. It's always at the Japanese school at ulu Changi and it's so inconvenient!

On the way home, had a scare and thought I had left my vodafone in the office on my desk. Just couldn't find it in my bag no matter how I searched. After I finally got to sit down in the bus, was just frantically digging through my overstuffed bag and luckily it was inside some corner.

Time passed very fast at work today, before I knew it, it was lunchtime. I am a little bit irritated by a Japanese colleague. I find it quite awkward to eat with her, cos I dunno how to carry on conversations with her. She's abit like Phoebe in friends, flinty? like, we will be talking about something then she will put in some weird comment that is of a different topic altogether and we will all just fall into silence. I feel very stressed to eat with her & I think she is really free at work so she will come and ask to join our lunch group exactly at 11am. which is supposed to be lunch time but usually we don't go so punctually cos we are all quite busy. So I kinda resent her joining our lunch group (making my lunchtime a non-relaxing time) but at the same time, can't say no also I suppose. aRGH!!

千四百八十九： 食べ過ぎ

I think I overate this weekend.

Friday we ate Korean bBQ (alot of beef), & I had extra helpings of the birthday cake, then I had Billy Bomber's steak for dinner on Saturday. That was a mistake, a bite of the steak towards the end shifted my braces somewhat and now I can't really bite properly on the right side of my mouth. :( Today I had lunch at 3pm, felt hungry, then snacked on potato chips and ice cream, ate popiah at 6pm, took a nap until 10.30pm and ate dinner. Now I think I have a slight ulcer in the back of my mouth . ouch..

I watched Shibuya怪談 2 today, & Udon. the first is a horror movie, but didn't really understand the reason behind the killings except it was a vengeful ghost. hmm. The 2nd one is quite funny, still watching it right now. The noodles are the hardest part, apparently hand kneaded, and then boiled then washed in cold water to become noodles. I felt really hungry after that. hehe.

4 more days! :D

千四百八十八： Remember Everything

Remember Everything, Forgive Nothing

I watched Bourne Ultimatum yesterday with ZC and CJ. Jason Bourne is soooo cool!! Without being as suave as James Bond or as many gadgets, his quick thinking and ability to speak so many languages really bowls me over. & it does help that he gets out of so many tight situations.

After the movie, we ate at Billy Bombers, at The Cathay & I made my first visit to Strip. After that we shopped around abit, went to some pub to support ZC's navalmate's gig. not too bad, but they probably should have known their lyrics. & I was feeling tired, so I was sorta wanting to leave by about 10.30pm. & I was supposed to coordinate last minute stuff with Ryo oso. at least he made the effort to stay up til I reached home at about midnite (1am in Japan). I'm so excited about the trip!!

千四百八十七： 花火

We had a birthday celebration for QQ & Jamie today.

4 girls

It just so happened that they chose to eat at Esplanade which had a great view of the fireworks and we came out at about 9pm to watch it.

boom!

Not bad, but a pity the esplanade had too many trees which were obstructing the view we had. More Fireworks pictures at flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexxis/sets/72157601502078944/

I have to sleep liao. dozing off.

& yH visited in my office today to pass me the Lonely Planet guide. so cool! he came in for some coffee in the apoc cafe and we just sat there & chit chat. :D he is the first person that i have shown the office so far..

千四百八十六： 寝たい

深夜の 3時半に起きて、空港へ行った。妹の見送りだった。今仕事中なのに、すごく眠いです。目を閉じてる・・

I am so sleepy now. My sis is off for her student exchange program & tears really started flowing out when it was time to say goodbye. I dunno whether it was tears cos my eyes were too tired from lack of sleep or tears cos I was crying but I suspect it's a mixture of both.

Very very sleepy at work now. (oops I said that already) Cleared some issues in the morning, got Ryo's DS card working & got my own 2GB mini-sd card working also. Can't stop yawning.. hopefully I won't be too tired to catch the fireworks after dinner.

Things to do:

1. Register for JLPT 1 exam by next week
2. Change S$400 to Thai Baht & Go to The Cathay next week
3. MSE GateKeeping Manual!
4. Prepare list of things to followup.
   
5. Excel my funds
6. Prepare Ryo's stuff - DS
   
7. Sign off UAT Plan tomorrow?
8. Prepare Status Sheet & Folders for UAT next week
9. Pack Luggage
10. Collate guidebook/Collect Guidebook from YH
    

That's all before I fall asleep & forget them I guess..

千四百八十五： Last night

We had a dinner at IMM today because my sister is flying off tomorrow. (T.T)

her flight is at 4am tomorrow. 7am actually but checking in at 4am. sianz....

ok i better get some sleep. tomrrow night still gotta go for bday dinner with the girls.

千四百八十四： Mood Swings

I wake up feeling so exhausted these few days I barely have the energy to do anything and just go around with a head that's spinning inside. I don't know why, is it because of nightmares, cos I don't remember if I dreamt of anything these few nights which really shows how tired I am cos I usually remember my dreams vividly.

I better remember to copy the last guidebook and return to the library the books this weekend.

I saw Mr B in the office cafe this afternoon and I had to remove the newspapers from his table in order to read them. Then I sat on the same bench but on the other end to read the papers and I got to enjoy his presence nearby for the next 30 minutes or so. :D some small indulgence in the office to cheer myself up. he is the same age as Andy!! why did he get married so early!?! hmm.. what if he was actually just 2 or 3 years my senior in NUS? (if he was from NUS) maybe we did bump into each other before!! wahaha. my imagination is too active.

Suddenly heard this song 月亮代表誰的心 in my iTunes and I can remember the time i fell in love with the song and the person who influenced me to listen to 陶吉吉。The song always brings tears to my eyes, especially since I can visualise the MTV and I thought it was a very very sad clip. I still think it's a very sad song but the past is the past and at least we are still friends now.

月亮代表誰的心
作詞：孫儀/陶吉吉/娃娃　
作曲：翁清溪/陶吉吉　
編曲：陶吉吉

都怪那晚的月光　浪漫的讓人心慌
其實原來沒有怎樣　只是夜有一點涼　愛忽然難捨難放

彎彎月亮在天上　看我們愛的癡狂
什麼誓言都不要講　我的吻在你肩膀　在你耳邊輕輕唱

你問我愛你有多深　我愛你有幾分
我的情也真　我的愛也那麼真　月亮代表我的心　oh yeah

圓圓月亮在天上　看人們聚散無常
一個人在街上遊蕩　愛恨心裡已兩茫茫　yeah　我沒有想像堅強

初一十五的月亮(有些憂傷)　天天變的不一樣(在你臉上)
原來所謂地久天長　也只是誤會一場　那首歌我慢慢唱

你問我愛你有多深　我愛你有幾分
我的情不移　我的愛也不會變　月亮代表我的心　oh yeah
輕輕的一個吻(輕輕baby just a little kiss)曾經打動你的心(打動你的心)
深深的一段情(一段情)　成了回憶到如今(從此我會永遠思念)

我問你愛我有多深　你愛我有幾分
你去想一想　你去看一看　月亮代表誰的心
月亮代表誰的心　月亮代表誰的心

Good night all.

千四百八十三： 溜め息

The list:

1. Register for JLPT 1 exam by next week
2. Change some S$ to Thai Baht
   
3. Reach work by 8am on Monday and Tuesday.
4. MSE GateKeeping Manual!
5. Prepare list of things to followup.
   
6. Excel my funds
7. Go to the bank on Tuesday evening 6.30pm
8. Prepare Ryo's stuff
9. Sign off UAT Plan tomorrow?
10. Prepare Status Sheet & Folders for UAT next week
    

I was swamped by Explore questions today. I was actually thinking that this tool is quite alright until this week. I dunno why I was bombarded with so many things when Akane isn't around. :S

I think I woke up on the wrong side of bed today. From morning after I woke up, I was so snappy and tense and skittish and everything rubbed me the wrong way. I just felt irritated by everything and everyone (its not PMS btw..) Was pissed off by every little thing that went wrong and felt very blur the whole day too. :( Will be glad when I finally can go to work at the normal hours tomorrow.

The investment plan has finally been settled, and I guess the only bonus is that I receive 1 month's waiver of the premium due to me being a cardmember. & paying by yearly mode saves me quite a bit of $$. I must remember to put aside the amount of $$ monthly nevertheless.

I am so tired of work and I can't wait for my hugs next week to take away the blues.

千四百八十二： The Gift

Watching this old Kimura drama The Gift since last night. i am only at episode 3 but he is seriously super cute!! especially in the first scene where he tumbles out naked from a closet. yummy!!! if only they showed more of him. hehe.

Sudden issues at work at 3pm, had to rush to do up screenshots and explain to my boss what the bug was. ermz. basically something that i didn't know about also, had to check from scratch and understand in the space of a few minutes and think of ways to check the impact. Very grateful that my mind rolls pretty fast when I need it to.

Okie, list of things to do updated:

1. Register for JLPT 1 exam by next week
2. Buy a piece of luggage - currently eyeing Sahora (Samsonite) & Robinson's is having 20% off until Sunday. Check Planet Traveler & Isetan's pricing
   
3. Change some S$ to Thai Baht - sms WK my acct no. so he can TT me $$ he wants to convert as well.
4. Apply for movie tix for Akane and myself for the movie event by Aug 5th.
   
5. Reach work by 8am on Monday and Tuesday.
6. Pay Christine back $27.45 for Sushi Tei farewell lunch.
   
7. MSE GateKeeping Manual!
8. Prepare list of things to followup.
   
9. Excel my funds
10. Go to the bank on Tuesday evening 6.30pm
11. Prepare Ryo's stuff

I have to remember to check on all the aliases everyday also. Madness!!

千四百八十一： 翼の折れた天使たち

I finally succumbed to Crunchyroll.com today and I managed to complete season 2 of 翼の折れた天使たち. It's 4 episodes about 4 separate girls who have fallen into bad times or are in a bad state morally, mentally, emotionally. Very sad stories, but the ending is always about them finding the right way again. I can't wait for season 3.

I went to the dentist this morning to fix a wire that came loose and then went to my dad's office to fix the anti-virus definitions for his PC. Ended up fixing his Outlook settings, and also teaching him how to use his new phone as well.

Came back and manage to do some studying, then watched the drama and wrote cheques for my mum again. watching the whole season 2 took up the whole afternoon.

Went to Al-ameen for prata after dinner with J, after getting some prata craving from those makan shows on TV. I'm feeling super filled up right now, think I overate a little with the pratas and the fried ice cream.

& I got so many pimples these few days!! on my neck right in the middle, and on my chin. argh!!!
ok I gotta remember to go to the bank next tue evening to get my account details and stuff.

千四百八十： New Suitcase!

Yay, finally got my luggage! in the end I didn't buy samsonite, cos I saw Crossing luggage at planet traveller (what I bought last december) for about half the price and about the same size. Since I'm already using that brand, the quality is pretty up to my liking so i bought the medium sized one. It's about 24inches, expandable another 2 inches I think.

tonight is conversation nite! with Ryo i mean. Then we were happily discussing gossip about our ex-colleagues. 2 people in the office got attached. hehehee. secret though, we're not supposed to ask them about it. it was fun and he was laughing and laughing and i dunno why i was laughing and laughing oso. yay only one more week to seeing him. :D

& i converted my bank account at HSBC today. They were having some roadshow and I apparently qualify for some program that will convert all transactions I conduct with the bank into reward points & since I'm using the HSBC credit card as my main card, I thought it was pretty worth it to get as much points as I can without spending so much on the credit card. Took up an investment savings plan too : http://www.hsbc.com.sg/1/2/personal/insurance/savings-plans/targetsaver Slowly trying to grow my money long term, but think i need some short term investments too. Will think about that in the next few weeks.

I spoilt my sunglasses case today. (T.T) it fell on to the ground and the latch had to crack and it can't be latched anymore. so very sad. then I think I scratched abit of the lense when I hit my head on the top of the car frame with my sunglasses on top of my head. ARGH. so very clumsy.

千四百七十九： Reminders

Several things to remind myself to do in the coming week:

1. Register for JLPT 1 exam by next week
2. Buy a piece of luggage - currently eyeing Sahora (Samsonite) & Robinson's is having 20% off until Sunday. Check Planet Traveler & Isetan's pricing
   
3. Change some S$ to Thai Baht - sms WK my acct no. so he can TT me $$ he wants to convert as well.
4. Apply for movie tix for Akane and myself for the movie event by Aug 5th.
   
5. Reach work by 8am on Monday and Tuesday.
6. Pay Christine back $27.45 for Sushi Tei farewell lunch.
   
7. erh .... anything else?
   

went to look at suitcases today. The design that I wanted D'Lite range from Samsonite is not sold in Sg. WTH!? It was shown in the samsonite sg website.. sianz half, the sales person showed me the Sahora range instead (similar price range) actually looks ok, but its red. There is black but the black design looks too plain, and its quite a tough choice between being flashy and just plain. -.-

Went to robinson's to take a look, they were having 20% off for the same style when the samsonite shop wasn't having any sale. I will go back to Robinson's to take a look since I have the $50 voucher from there anyway.

Ate at Sushi Tei for dinner.. the raw stuff tasted pretty good, but the rice was so hard!! thx to J for the dinner treat (i think?) and i had kimchi & the mayo miso hotate帆立 (scallop) was too salty but overall quite filling. I think maybe cos i ate most of the raw stuff so I am not really feeling very filled up right now.

There's a trailer truck stuck at the Hillview roundabout when I reached home; & I think it's going to be there the whole night. The angle of the truck is all wrong and it overturned after I reached home as I had foreseen. The police are there diverting traffic, but the trailer truck is just too long. I don't think they can move the thing w/o the aid of a crane?

Work was quiet today, except for the hyena in one of the other teams laughing & speaking so loudly as if she was in the market or her own home. seriously very inconsiderate. so what if you are someone senior? have some common courtesy! & mr B was eating in the cafe this morning. he was very definitely staring at me when he came back for some coffee. oh well. too bad he is married. we still haven spoken to each other yet in this whole 8 months. Better this way I guess. Don't want to get into any trouble at work.

& I think in the end, the Oct trip will be to Osaka. Cos he said Australia too exp. :S and the cheapest ticket I can find so far is Malaysian Air, for $928. have to discuss with him the dates and the time and the price again.. Another 13 days!

千四百七十八： Buffet Lunch

Catered buffet spread for lunch today, & I took lunch with some of the other Japanese ladies. They are always very funny, discussing XXX topics or making XXX jokes in the middle of eating, always causing me to have to cover my mouth or spew out all the food I'm chewing.

Dinner was a very sumptuous steamboat spread at home, the last one b4 my sis heads to London for her student exchange. I never had her disappear from the house for so long before, I think I will cry at the airport. Well its different if I'm the one away from home but now that she is the one leaving, I dunno what it will be like without this dependable albeit sometimes very grumpy person in the house to prepare food for me when i'm lazy. :(

Searching for the cheapest air tickets for the best timings is really tough. I dunno whether budget is a higher priority than maximising the time spent together.

Finally Friday again tomorrow. :D

千四百七十七： National Day Eve

This is my first national day in Sg in 3 years I think?

Last year I was in Japan even though my training was over but I missed Ryo so much I went back in Aug to stay with him for a month. & last year on this day, I chanced upon a rose garden in the midst of the bustle and hustle in Osaka.

Apricot Nectar: created in 1965. Happy Birthday Singapore!!

Time really flies. The memories of the roses and their sharp & sweet scent is still very fresh in my mind. That month I discovered many sides of the city I never had time to explore before and I was pleasantly surprised by how much we miss everyday, by being cooped up in a building during the daytime and not being able to see such beautiful places even though they were so near to us. I remember the day being very very bright and sunny and I was wandering around after sitting in the library for the whole morning. Ryo was at work and I couldn't return to his place until he knocked off so I had to keep myself entertained until evening when I met him for dinner. Very happy memories.. i miss him so much!! (T.T)

Quite a slow day at work again, no holiday tomorrow for me of cos, but very much looking forward to flying off on 23rd Aug evening. I can't really remember what I did today.. I think it was a meeting first thing in the morning, then some data creation before lunch. Went to warehouse for a very cheap but delicious char kway teow lunch (hawker food is still the best!!) then went back to doing some MSE related work (or just touching the system here and there for no reason?), researched on funds & suitcases, & then it was time to go home. & I reached home to find the Citibank atm card in my mailbox. Its so pretty!! sky blue, very smooth looking with a visa logo.. they are really super efficient! their cheques also look very cool.. i must say they chose their designers well. :D do not laugh; this is very important in retaining female customers who likes carrying cool looking items in their bags.

oh and the office is having a movie screening of Ratatouille on sept 5th~~ very happy cos it's one of the movies i have been waiting for as well. so excited, i hope it's as funny as Nemo/incredibles!

Ratatouille - a traditional French stewed vegetable dish

Last but not least, this is the pic/ad of Kimura Takuya for Nikon hanging on my desk at work.

what beautiful hair...

I think his hair looks better shorter, but well.. who else can boast of such beautiful non-balding hair at his age (which is 35 this year OMG!!)? Enjoy!

千四百七十六： DQM: Joker

Citibank is really efficient!

Today I received my cheque book from the step-up account, when I only opened the account last Friday! So my strategy would be not to touch this account too much initially, to earn the interest, and then only when it has the 2 percent interest, then start paying the bills from it.

I'm now hooked on Dragon Quest Monsters : Joker. It's sorta like Pokemon, you catch and rear monsters, by making them fight for you to level them up and & then cross breeding them to get new breeds. pretty cool huh. I'm still only at the beginning (no telling how long my patience & interest will last), and the 3D moving of the character is giving me a headache on buses. I can read / play games but to maneuver in 3D games even on stationary land makes my stomach turn. :S

Researching on the next holiday destination, probably Taiwan or Australia! :D Instead of meeting Ryo in Japan, I guess meeting up somewhere else to travel makes more sense. so excited!! It sounds like a lot of travelling in the next few months, but actually it's not, cos if I'm not travelling I'll just be going Osaka and we'll be zobo-ing in the weekly mansion and doing very normal stuff like shopping and me cooking meals for him. lol. I don't mind that, cos I actually am good at doing the housewife thing, but since we need to spend the money on the air tix anyway.. I guess he feels like he wants to travel abit too.

:D

千四百七十五： The Simpsons

Bart on a Naked Dare

I finally caught the movie I been waiting for since last year with my sisters!! hmm ya i do watch abit too many movies esp this weekend. :D But we had 2 tix free from my insurance agent so we just paid for a 3rd one for my sis lor..

It was hilarious, but unfortunately I dunno what the start of the show was, cos my sis was late. ARGH!!! Its really like a extended episode of the usual Simpsons, but I didn't think it was too long, unfortunately it still felt not long enuff. :S Maybe one day I'll be able to buy the full set of Simpsons cartoon DVDs.. oh, and they showed alot of the good parts in the trailer!! resulting in me not being able to properly enjoying the spider-pig spider-pig scene. argh!!

After the movie it was still quite early, so we went to the Singtel shop and we thought my sis & dad could finally get their phones on the $500 Voucher. they did but we waited until 10.45pm b4 it was our turn to be served. -.- so late!! so in the end my sis got the 6388 (i think) and my dad got the k800i and we still had $$ in the voucher left over for a 1GB Memory card for my hp. hohoho! :) so happy about that, in the end we topped up about $16 only for the card. :D now i can take alot more photos and copy alot more ringtones on it! currently I only have like one SMAP song and a Katamari Damashii game song on it (but i pushed both into the phone memory to make way for the photos..) and about 50 photos on it with space for only 25 more. so happy i dun need to keep deleting photos liao!

Then we finally were able to get our dinner at 11plus, just fried hokkien mee at the nearby kopitiam. finally showered, waiting for hair to dry again. zz

this morning a guy brushed his arm against the back of my thigh in the train but I think it was an accident in the crowded train. I dun really know but the hairs on my neck were standing after that. That bastard molester turned me into a super paranoid person in crowded spaces.

千四百七十四： Mask

Did some spring cleaning today, leading to my sinus problem acting up and runny nose and sneezing the whole day. I couldn't take it finally and took a pill and dozed off at around 5pm.

Spoke to Ryo on the phone oso, talked about some boliao stuff and just laughed alot even though nothing was really very funny. Maybe it was the pill. :D

I tried the ZA whitening mask today too, and my face was really white after that. haha. but of cos shiny with the essence oso. I think it really works.

& I found all these in my wallet and my bags from the spring cleaning today:

hmm i been watching alot of movies..

ok I gotta go sleep..

千四百七十三： Vacancy

Ok I was totally freaked out by the movie. it wasn't really the gore (since actually there weren't much deaths in the movie only like 4? and out of the 4 only 1 was the victim), but more of the expectation of the impending murder that got not only me but the rest of the cinema screaming. hehe.. the show was mostly girls watching somemore, so it was like high tension and screams galore. but it wasn't as bad as the reviews made it out to be. there were alot of times where we were like thinking oh no! don:t do that!! but aiyah, its a thriller wat, if they don't do silly things how will the murderers find a chance to murder them?

I wanted to repair my watch today but it turns out city chain gave me the wrong info and i have to go FS Benjamin building which is only open during office hours. -.- How they expect people to go repair their watches during office hours?!

Before the movie, I had a piece of Strawberry Cheesecake tart (why is it not just a cheesecake) & Mango T Twist at Spinelli's as I was hungry but I didn't want to have dinner alone. I was thinking if I wanted to eat at Sakae which was really empty still but felt that it just was weird if I went in to eat 3 plates of sushi and left. hehe. not really those place where u can sit and read a paper and loiter for an hour. WK finally came at about 6.45pm for the movie. After the movie, we chatted for over an hour and then after that I met up with my cousin for dinner at NYDC (him for just a drink) as he was in town too. It really is a most convenient place, right in the middle of Orchard (for me to walk from PS and his car was parked at Cairnhill so just nice) and opened till 1am on weekends.

I hope I will get my mind back next week. feeling abit lost but trying to get used to some other feelings. I gotta start sending Ryo the photos of the things i need him to buy for me. ;)

千四百七十二： 秘密

The movie is pretty good! I had fun today. :) I got along pretty well with W and he made me laugh alot. We had dinner at the Hong Kong Cafe but my mouth was hurting me very much (with the sore gums and the ulcer on the tongue) and I couldn't eat much.

Secret. The first movie I've ever watched with Jay Chou in it. At first you think its some predictable love story, but the twist is good. I was almost in tears at the end when he was trying so hard to reach the girl at the very last moment. Unfortunately, i sorta read a similar book to this so I could see where it was leading up to after the dad started his part of the story. Anyway, I think couples should watch this..

I went to sign up for the step up account today from Citibank, the way it works sounds pretty cool, but kinda like forcing you to save up which is pretty ok with me. The 0.685% p.a. interest is definitely a pull factor, compared to all the other current/savings account right here. pathetic rates most of them offer. Due to the long lunch I had at vivocity (incl signing up for the acct) with Ray, had to work until about 8pm in the evening. which was alright with me cos the original idea was that I was supposed to go to work tomorrow (sat) to regress some tests. But, luckily Redmond proved to be pretty efficient this time.

千四百七十一： Guidebooks

OK, I finally got off my ass to start doing something for the Thailand trip.

Guidebooks to Elephant Hunting

I went to Kinokuniya with the intention to purchase a book, but the more I looked around, the more the prices shocked me. Although the books were good, but to pay $60 was abit too much. I very much preferred the National Geographic one, but i don't know what kind of paper it was printed on; the book was damn heavy!! Would anyone lug a heavy guidebook in their backpack while travelling or a light one? of cos i don't wan to add extra weight to my bag right? the rest were of the same thickness but at least 5 times lighter. very strange. Well, I realised the library was still open and ran up to find all the books I wanted there. :D of cos its now too early to be borrowing and bringing them on holiday, but I figured I'll use these 3 wks to study the book and probably combine the useful pages from these books before I return them.

My Japanese colleague told me I have to ride an elephant when I'm there, she was so enthusiastic about it. I said I would try. hehe.

Work is sorta building up in this last panicking week of UAT. Had to do testing until 8pm today, before I could clear up the reports and stuff, but partly cos I want to clear the tests as much as possible today. If there were going to be bugs, they need more time to solve the bugs and we can only give them more time if we clear the tests and find the bugs earlier right? And the time difference makes it very difficult to work, so its better to clear what we can clear today so they can start working on their part to give us back to work on the rest tomorrow when it's our working hours.

zzz. My hair just doesn't dry. I am so sleepy.