CNY Day 2

Day 2 was spent with my family and we did our usual routine of going to my maternal grandma's place for lunch, then di-po's place, then my place for dinner.



































in the car








at ah po's house!




i always look forward to seeing my relatives because we only see each other like, twice a year? (christmas and cny) oh except for the yeo family cos we see them at church every week.


and of course what we look forward to the most - the scrumptious lunch prepared by all the ladies (haha i think i'd be more of a hindrance than help if i were to step into a kitchen with 8 or so women rushing about preparing all the food)


this was first round only. still had second round. hahaha. cos the table's not big enough for everyone to sit down at the same time.




Cluedo












and then we headed to di-po's house, which is where we take our annual cousins photo!




it's quite interesting to look at our collection of photos and see how we've all evolved over the years.




the girls




















Hope everyone had a great Chinese New Year! for me it's not something that i dread every year. on the contrary, it's something i always look forward to. we've got lunch at aunty molly's place on sunday and dinner at aunty amy's place next saturday! :)

CNY Eve and Day 1

CNY Eve: Small reunion dinner with just my immediate family and wallace at home.


Dinner, chit chat, Rock Band, camwhoring and Cluedo.


photo 1 - i think meg and i look incredibly alike in that shot
photo 2 - meg's face is classic.
photo 3 - if you can't see, we're actually all pulling charmaine's hair


by the way, we didn't coordinate our clothes, it was a coincidence!






Meg's signboard: "Tay's Mani and Pedi Shop" because we took out all our nailpolish from the drawers to paint our nails in the living room.


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CNY Day 1: visiting with wallace's family at his grandad's house, then his house


the zara shirt i bought him for christmas




his little cousin Benedict! he was born very premature and he had alot of complications (at least i think that's the story) so he has to wear glasses or else he can't see clearly.



"who's a bad boy, raise your hand!"




he's super hyper now and very friendly. his older sister, Belle, is SUPER cute but very unfriendly. haha. they're half chinese - half thai btw.










in the garden, showing him the fish in the pond




i like this




i don't know who took this shot (it wasn't me) but i think it's pretty cool

4 Chords, 36 Songs

Books

i recently watched the movie Twilight and i loved it to death!




note: spoilers inside!


it's based on the series of 4 books written by Stephenie Meyer. Twilight is the first book. in case you don't know what the story's about, it's about a girl named Bella who falls in love with a vampire named Edward. in the story, vampires live forever, are extremely fast and have tremendous strength - basically built to kill. they also sparkle like diamonds when exposed to sunlight. well, Bella and Edward falling in love proves to be problematic as
#1 - vampires eat humans
#2 - Bella's scent evokes an extremely strong attraction from Edward and he has to try very hard to stay away from her lest he falls to the temptation to drink her blood (her blood would be like heroin to him)

but Edward's vampire family, the Cullens, is "vegetarian" i.e. they don't eat humans. Edward can't bring himself to stay away from Bella any longer and they get together. but a group of evil vampires (who eat humans) discover Bella (a human) with the Cullens while they're playing baseball, and decide to hunt Bella down. So the Cullen family tries to protect Bella, but it's too late because she has already been bitten by James (the vampire hunting her). Edward has 2 choices - let her turn into a vampire, or suck the venom out of her body (which also means he has to drink her blood). he's undecided because he doesn't want her to turn into a vampire, but he's afraid he won't be able to stop once he tastes her blood. in the end, the Cullen family kills James and Edward rescues Bella by sucking out the venom, and manages to stop in time with a great amount of effort and willpower.


by the way, Edward is played by Robert Pattinson.



(looks familiar? he acted as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire)

i think he was really swoonable (if there's such a word) in Twilight.
the protectiveness, the quiet but strong personality, the charisma...
(don't worry dear, you're still the best)


well, i was so hooked, i ordered the whole hardcover series from online!




as you can see, i'm very happy. *beams* but you can see also that i haven't unwrapped it yet. i'm waiting till i finish my current book P.S. I Love You.






similar to Twilight, i watched the movie before i started reading the book. Charmaine borrowed the DVD and i cried from start to end! i'm not kidding! i think i used up half the tissue box. after the movie, i went to read the book (char also borrowed it) and i started sobbing even before i finished the first page!

you must be thinking "?$#%&*#?!"

but you see, for me, it wasn't just a sappy love story. what the whole movie was about, was especially relevant to my family. it was about this married couple - Gerry and Holly. they were young, Gerry was 34 and Holly was 30. Gerry suddenly passed away due to a brain tumour, leaving Holly widowed. She was, of course, heart broken. But to help her, Gerry secretly planned for letters to be sent to Holly each month for one year after his death. He hand-wrote the letters to her and gave her instructions like, "buy yourself a new outfit - you'll need it for next month's letter" and after each letter he ended off with "P.S. I love you."

i'm sorry i didn't describe it very well (i'm still reading the book). you can read about the movie here and the book here. Char said the book is much better so i can't wait to see what's in store!

but anyway, it just reminded me to cherish the one i love even more than i already do, because you never know when he might be gone. i don't want to wake up one day and find out that wallace isn't here anymore, just like how i lost my dad.

go and watch the movie or read the book if you can. it'll definitely touch your heart. :)


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by the way, i resolved that i was going to cut my hair at Next after i got my first paycheck.. and i finally did!

Before:



After:



the curls are temporary so my hair still looks the same, just thinner and shorter in length. haha the hair dresser (or rather Artistic Director. his name's Willie) was so funny.

Willie: your hair very soft leh!
Me: really? maybe it's the shampoo!
Willie: *laughs* you can go and be one of those hair models for the shampoo ads
Me: *laughs and thinks how weird it would be if that actually happened*



(CNY post next!)

Lunch at Au Petit

this was super long ago, but i just got the photos, so here they are.



it was lynn's treat to thank us for helping out with her birthday party. people there were me, wallace, elvine, lynn, darren, lixin and elvine's family.



i can't remember all the names of the food so i'll just name the ones i know.











Escargot










Foie Gras


















Creme Brulee

i shot the rest of the shots. ahh wish i had an SLR too!

Sunday

KKMC's 115th Anniversary! Happy birthday, my beloved old church!

i'm very thankful for KKMC. it's where i grew up with my childhood friends (i have a photo of us as toddlers in the joy-room. jon zhang still looks the same. haha!) and everyone is like family. literally. everyone is related to someone in there. for me, my great grandparents attended KK, then my grandmother, then my parents, and then us! KKMC is actually where my parents met! haha. oh and of course that's where i met wallace.. :) my cousins (the yeos - shereen, shawn, jeremy) also come here. and of course, more importantly, this is where i grew up with God :)


as usual, my grandma performed with the Peranakan women



wallace: "WAH FIRST TIME I SEE CHARMAINE WEAR DRESS! MUST TAKE PHOTO!"






my sisters :)












big bullies



church anniversary lunch - childhood buddies :)



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then it was bowling with wallace's family at Singapore Swimming Club. don't know why but i was EXTREMELY lousy that day. (tze kiat we need to go to your country club again!! haha)


his dad at the arcade...

wallace's turn. don't be fooled when his dad said "you lose to me!" at the end. actually wallace beat him. haha.

the 2 doctors teaming up?






it was pretty fun i guess, spending time with his family. although i was pretty embarrassed cos i was the lousiest bowler out of everyone. haha. oh well. :)

Happy 19th Jon!

celebrated jon's 19th birthday at Timbre on saturday night. there were 7 of us - me, jon, kegan, josh, lionel, and wallace brought elvine along.







and then, they decided to give jon a Flaming Tower. and from there it all went downhill for jon...







he said it was ok after that, but after 2 more beers, he was a goner. he wasn't drunk, but he was high. and at the end of the night he had to hold kegan for support to walk. hahaha! he was super hilarious the whole night, so much so that we couldn't stop laughing! he was like "stop laughing at me!" more than 10 times...


elvine and wallace

















you can tell he's high from the first photo.



his face got caked but he asked me not to but the photo on my blog - so go to facebook and see! hahaha.


trying to act like he's ok..





ok i guess he's not ok...

anyhow, Happy Birthday Jon! thankfully you got to spend it NOT in army.. we had a great time, and we know you did too (although you couldn't remember most of it).. haha!

Urgh

i'm trying to post pictures but i guess blogger doesn't like me.

btw, Rachel Getting Married and Jack Neo's new movie (don't know what it's called) are BAD. don't watch.

now that i'm sitting in front of a computer 8 and a half hours a day, i have quite a lot of time to surf the net (when i have no work to do) - and that includes Facebook. you can imagine how many times a day i log on.. more than 5? (yes i'm THAT bored)

and ever so often i come across photos (that's the most interesting part about facebook no?) of friends/acquaintances/strangers partying, clubbing or drinking (or all). sometimes i get a tad bit jealous cos i'm sitting here, stuck in this office from 8.30am to 6pm every day trying to earn some money to spend, while other people who are wealthy enough get to go out with friends, enjoy life and party all day. not to mention spending liberally on things they want and don't need, while others need to scrimp and save just to buy something they've been wanting for months. (ok maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get what i mean)

is it wrong to think that way? yes i know life is unfair and some people are just more fortunate than others. it's just that comparing their lifestyles to mine right now, i think they're the ones enjoying themselves more, aren't they? and yes it was my choice to work but that's cos i don't have the money to go out everyday and meet friends and go shopping and eat expensive meals and blah blah blah. for goodness sakes i get $30 a week! anyway, i guess my point here is just to complain. that life isn't fair. haha.

but then again, i have something that most other people don't - a man whom i love and who loves me back, who shares the same dreams as me, who takes care of me, who spends everyday (as long as he's in town) with me, who wants to have a family with me. and that's enough to make me happy :)



Kiss by the Hotel de Ville



i love this famous photo.

even through the hustle and bustle of life,
let time stand still and forget the world
as he holds you tight and whispers in your ear "I love you".

i'm going broke because of driving! :(

which is why i can't wait for CNY...

btw, does anyone know of any females who are learning manual? cos it seems like all the girls i know have learnt or are learning auto, except for me!

my mum learnt manual though, and she passed first time! haha. hope the phrase "like mother like daughter" applies to this case!


i've got quite a few photos from over the weekend but unfortunately i don't have my camera cable with me now so i can't transfer them...


and things are quite busy this week...

monday: movie (Rachel Getting Married)
tuesday: driving 8-10pm
wednesday: driving 8-10pm
thursday: Timbre
friday: something but i don't know what
saturday: lunch with CF friends, driving 2-4pm, dinner with phoebs

i end work at 6pm everyday btw. except fridays, 5.30pm. this has convinced me that i never ever want to have a desk job as my career.

i wish i had an SLR...again

this was crazy long ago and i never had a chance to post them, but here they are. it was at elvine's house, if you're wondering.

KL Trip (10 - 11 Jan)

The KL trip was very precious to me since it was the only holiday (albeit a short one) i had gone for since June 2008 (yea didn't go anywhere after A's) and i won't get to do much travelling until June 2009 as well.

We shopped most of the time, and it was quite productive, well for me at least. Haha. Oh and it was the first time i missed a hotel breakfast! We were so tired we slept in and missed breakfast. I was really thankful for the time gotten to spend with wallace, as well as elvine and lynn, although most of our shopping was done as separate couples. The trip was actually too short for us to relax much. It was shopping all the way!


the ride up in the coach was very comfy. large cushioned seat + food + movies + blanket and everything. the service was quite crappy though. she got angry when we brough A&W up to the bus during the toilet stop.














We stayed at Times Square Perjaya Hotel. it was right above the shopping mall! our rooms were quite good. Had a living room, kitchen sink and utilities. The toilet had 2 sections one with the bath tub and shower, the other with the toilet bowl and foot wash.

















oh and the lobby toilet's quite nice.. (haha i did the words btw, it's not imprinted there)





After we arrived, elvine's friend's mum brought us to eat the really fantastic yong tao foo at Ampang.











And then we managed to eat this delicious Mao Shan Wang! We bought a really big one for RM80+ ! The durians there are so cheap as compared to in Singapore.


(ours was the one elvine is holding. look at the gorgeuos colour of the flesh!)




then it was shopping time! first stop was KLCC cos i needed to buy something from a specific store there. then it was Sungei Wang (i think that's how you spell it) which has all the cheap stuff = my kind of place! next was Lot 10, which was a real pity cos it's a modern and more high-end place (with Top Shop and Apple and what not) but with virtually no people in it. by that time wallace and i were really tired so we decided to take a rest at the very very cool cafe. and guess what, it's owned by Jackie Chan!





nice right? they even have a disco ball! lol.






















then we went for dinner along the road with all the hawkers. food was alright. The black pepper crab is quite different from ours in singapore!






Next day we shopped at Times Square i.e. the shopping mall directly below our hotel. that's where they have the indoor theme park by the way.





Ate at this chinese cafe that wasn't very good.



and hooray they had Baskin' Robins! *grins*





so that pretty much sums up the KL trip. 2 days went by quite fast.


here's my loot from KL!


For myself - 3 dresses, 1 blouse, 1 pair of black pants, 1 black skirt, 1 pair of shoes
For my family - dress for my mum, bags for abbie and char, books for meg and food stuff for my grandma.

i bought 3 sets of underwear too but i figured you wouldn't want to see them, so yea. haha.

i almost died yesterday handwashing ALL of my new clothes!


well i had a good time shopping during this trip. the next holiday that i go for, it will definitely be focused on relaxing. :)

Random things

Elvine's pretty Chess set












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Yesterday's driving was...silent. i think i spoke less than 10 words during the whole 1 and a half hours. the instructor didn't teach me anything! oh well. driving on the road is fun! :)


Thank God for Char's O Level results! she got 10 points!! great improvement... so proud of her :)

oh and speaking of results, last night i dreamt of my A Level results. i dreamt that i got D, E, E, G (G meaning worse than an F!) gosh i guess i'm unconsciously REALLY nervous about my results! ok maybe not that unconsciously...


i've uploaded and edited all the KL photos but photobucket is taking AGES to upload them!! they'll be in the next post!

i feel accomplished

last friday on my 3rd driving lesson, the instructor took me out to the public road. he said i'm the first lady he's taken out to the road at such an early stage (stage 1.05)! i even went up to gear 4. haha! i was quite nervous at first but after awhile it got better. he says driving on the road is easier than the circuit cos there's more space. the experience was quite exciting! next lesson tomorrow! :)

Rock Band

Meg was singing and abbie was on the drums. 100% for vocals!



Meg is super cute when she sings. take a look at this:




the full video is here. i didn't edit out much though. thought since i uploaded it might as well share it here.


if you're wondering where the guitar is, well we only got to use it for 1 night. because someone *ahem* sat on it. so since christmas night, we haven't had a guitar. why do these people take SO long just to replace one guitar??


i'm getting quite good at drums, but char and abbie are better than me. haha. i think i'm the best at guitar though. :)

Cycling at East Coast on 3rd Jan

with the JC classmates as well as ex-classmates! tze kiat, yan xun, tan ghee, winnie and sheryl. with hoi yan (who went to australia) and terrence (who went to new york)


don't know what they were trying to do



kiat



winnie, tan ghee, me






terrence and tan ghee



guys. yan xun and terrence trying to look "stiff"



me and winnie






girls. me, sheryl, hoi yan, winnie



we cycled all the way to the end, near changi. then it started to rain so we headed back.

btw, this is NOT funny - A BIRD SHAT ON ME. (on my arm, luckily not my head) i was SO FREAKED OUT i screamed and stopped the bike immediately. it was so so so gross. thanks winnie for helping me get it off. in my frenzy of trying to stop the bike and getting off, i got a bruise as well as an abrasion on my inner foot. annoying birds.....



then we went to Kenny Roger's for lunch







well i still had fun even though the stupid birds decided to release their - crap - on me. of all times, of all places, JUST when i was right below them. URGH just my luck. oh well. meeting wallace after that and sitting in his dad's newly polished BMW 335i kinda made up for it. :)


*psst, for more...interesting photos, go to my facebook ;)

1st day of driving

Had my first 2 lessons back to back. 8-11pm.

the first lesson was good. learned the parts of the car, how to change tyres, then drove clockwise around the circuit in gear 1 and 2. i stalled a few times but the instructor said i was good! haha! :D

the second session wasn't as good as the first. the instructor was rather outspoken, made me feel kinda nervous. but i'm in his group so he'll surely teach me all the tips (so that i can pass so that he gets credit. haha) this time i drove around the circuit anti-clockwise. then after a few rounds, he told me to go to gear 3. i was quite disoriented and always changed to gear 1 instead of 3! the first time i tried, i panicked a bit and he had to brake for me. haha. hmmm i think if i had more time i would've gotten it right. that session (the last session) is shorter than the rest. 70 mins instead of 100 mins.

oh well, my next lesson is on friday. in the evening also. excited yet nervous.. gear 3 here i come!



btw, I'M GOING TO KL OVER THE WEEKEND!!!

finally, my first trip overseas since i ended A's! but we're going with elvine and lynn though. just for sat and sun, taking a coach. yipee! :)

Is it me, or is it a bit strange

that i feel stressed just because i saw from a friend's blog that she's going for the job shadowing programme at NUS Faculty of Dentisty.

that's the same thing I went for last year!

please please please let no one else be interested in Dentistry so i can get in with my not-as-impressive-as-everyone-else's CV.......

2008

it's been an eventful year, and when i sat in the sanctuary during Watchnight Service, i began to reflect upon the whole year that has gone by, and some thoughts came to my mind...



for the year 2008, i'm thankful for 2 big things:


#1 - for surviving the A LEVELS!










this has, and probably will be, the toughest exam/schooling i have ever gone through. the new syllabus which was more difficult, proved to be challenging no less, and i finally made it. after 2 years of hard, hard work, we survived the A Levels. the relief after the months of labour cannot be described by mere words. :) :) :)




#2 - for having gone through our first year of LDR





this year, not only did i have to handle the A Levels, i had to survive a long distance relationship as well. but i had God's strength with me (and with us) and we pulled through. even though it was extrememly difficult at times and i felt like i couldn't take it anymore, we persevered and as a result, our love is now stronger than ever. thank you wallace for never failing to encourage me and support me even though you couldn't physically be with me, i love you so much.




and as the year 2008 ends, a new year of 2009 begins. 2009 will be rather uncertain for me, and i've been constantly worrying and stressing over many things. therefore i have a few things to commit to God and entrust all to Him:


#1 - my A Level results

no question about this, but if i don't get at least 3 As, the chances of getting into my desired uni course are close to zero. which brings me to my next point...


#2 - getting into Dentistry

my first choice is NUS, and it is extremely hard to get in. only 42 places for the whole of singapore. if i don't get at least 3 As, like i said, chances are very slim. second choice is australia. only 3 universities there are recognised in singapore, and for which i fulfil the requirements. however UWA needs ISAT which i currently do not have. third choice is maybe UK. i have no idea how i can afford that but i REALLY REALLY want to do dentistry. *stress!*



#3 - my job

i'm currently doing admin stuff at NUS Dept of Social Work. the people are pretty nice and the pay is good, but the job isn't that interesting. i told them though that i'd be able to stay until end of may. the thing is, my mum talked to a few people (after i got the job) and i might get a job offer as a dental assistant. i know it'd be good to take it because it would help with my dentistry applications, but i would feel really bad and irresponsible if i just abandoned the NUS job and hopped over to a new job. they would have to waste time looking for a new staff and training her all over again...



#4 - my service in church

i haven't been serving much the past few months, and just nice, God has led me to take over the Youth Music Ministry in my church, from Josh, the previous person in charge. it's actually very similar to my job as Worship I/C in ACJC Christian Fellowship, so looks like God has prepared me well! my prayer is that God will guide me and lead me in this new position, that i'll be able to glorify Him in whatever i do.



#5 - driving

my Basic Theory Test is on monday (waited sooooo long for it!) and after i pass i should be able to start practical lessons. i really really want to pass driving quickly and get my license!




well, we'll see in due time what God has in store for me.. for now i'll be enjoying the last 2 months before wallace leaves singapore again. (really really hoping we can go on a holiday, even if it's just to malaysia for 2 days)


alright, that ends my reflections of 2008 post! Happy New Year everyone!
(now we shall look forward to Chinese New Year! muahahaha)