Convocation 2006

yippee!

the only day where you get the chance to do this! (unless you're going for masters or phd la..but by then you are supposed to look dignified also lo)

its my day. so allow me to be narcisstic.

Parents. They are even happier than me on this special day. And of course, they are the reason i am standing tallER and proud in the gown for the conferrment of the degree.

Panel of friends and family.

do we look like we're in love? haha! but veryvery touched that lunz came all the way frm civilisation to ntu and specially taking leave to take pictures with me! and of course she gave me a hugh bouquet of VERY colourful flowers! not to forget, she's the unofficial but voluntary and very responsible photographer of the day..my dad was spot on when he said that you are my "si dang" who has stuck with me all these years..

my jie-meis in school! and now, my jie-meis in the audit industry..(jaze disappeared half way as usual..) and soon, my jie-meis in plastic surgery (to suck out eye bags)

hall fivers! the lao zar bors and one CJ (or is it CK?) its difficult to get a perfect picture where everyone is awake and looking at the right camera (there were more than 5..)

the family entourage taking a break before moving on to heritage centre to take MORE photos!

outside heritage centre: while everyone was chatting away and packing, lunz decided to take a candid and photo and guess what she caught on camera!!! MR and Mrs HOW!!! What are you doing?!?!

flower from hou.

huge bouquet from lunz!!

this weekend...

(i realise that i only have a life on weekends..)

Meet...my saturday girlfriends CULT members...my buddy specially turn down a DATE to meet us!!! very touched though i dont show it..(well, she actually HAS a date! i am forever dateless..lee hom, where are you?).

why are we a cult?

first, we were doing weird actions like massaging our collarbones, eye sockets and brows. next we attempt to group hug and then we stare into blank space and tried to sniff some suspicious white powder (which is actually sugar which julia ground into REFINED sugar!). no doubt everyone in gardens liquid kitchen is wary of us!

after forcing my buddy to shop for 4 hours straight, i finally...finally found the perfect pair of covered everywhere heels for work. i hope it doesn't kill my feet as much. (i checked out all the tinkerbell outlets i see but sorry ah ju, i cannot find your heels anymore!) after accidentally cheated a booth seat out of the cartel staff and a very satisfying meal which was peppered with disgusting dialogue..buddy and i settled in chel's car and wasted $1 for parking 5minutes in the car park and went to coffee bean, found a seat and realised that the "fengshui" there is not too good and left for liquid kitchen so that we can get sucky service. why sucky? actually, it was sucky due to ONE particular staff. we asked for a table for 4-5 and the reply was something like this: "would you mind a table for 6?" of coz we didnt and practically pounced on the sofa. then a lady staff came and told us that the table is meant for large groups of 8! and that we had only 4 people and asked us to change tables! FINE. so we did. after us, a group of about 5-6 wanted that table too but similarly they were rejected. in the end, SHE showed a group of a grand total of THREE people to THAT table. thank you very much. i really don't see the logic in THAT. and because of that, you have made 5 customers very dissatisfied and very unhappy. i wonder what are the odds of us coming back.

the night of the smelly armpits.

Lao Zar Bor outing. i was tired, and left early.

the korean food really sucked.

and i am quite upset that i didn't get a chance to chat much with audrua and qianlu and han xiao jie.

i do miss last time when i walk to school with audrua and she will always listen to me complaining with the most patience and understanding.

my convocation is this coming tues, 25th july. its now 23rd july. yet i am not excited at all...

tirade of thoughts.

on family...
i don't need parents who are of upper class, fine dines, abide by social etiquette etc. i accept my parents who are simple middle class citizens whose first and foremost role in life is to be good parents. it doesn't matter that they talk too loudly nor that they ask the waiter to pack food we can't finish. it doesn't matter that they scold us when we fall nor sayang us when cry. all it matters is that they love us, however subtle the forms of expression is.

on people i don't get...
sometimes i do not understand why people does certain things.
one sunday, my dad was feeling generous and in the mood to pamper the family. so he came up with a plan to treat us to some famous avocado shake, followed by a nice meal at My Humble House(because they have this delicious dish of braised spare ribs which he has eaten before). however, some irrirating and immature kid was feeling anal and refused to have anything that is NOT buffet. this disgusting individual spent the entire journey complaining. thankfully he received the tick off he obviously deserved. pissed, he left the restaurant even before the food was ordered. that was after my mom wasted her efforts trying to coax him.
i really don't get such people.
my dad was making an obvious effort to please the family and the simple reason he was doing so is that he cares. why doesn't the piece of shit realise this and try to appreciate it? when will he learn?

...............

have you even known somebody whom you don't exactly hit off yet somehow or other, always remained in the same circle of friends or somehow, never lost contact with over the years? sometimes i wonder if certain people are out here on earth to torment me in the most subtle manner to obvious ways.

for example, he/she seems to disagree with me on most if not all occasions. i'm not saying that he/she should agree me on every issue or opinion, if that is so, i might as well be alone. such a person will either disagree with me outright, sometimes not even having heard my entire speech, or disagree then repeat what i have said in a different manner such that i cannot decipher whether he/she has in fact disagreed or agreed with me. this really ticks me off and irritates me !#$%^& actually, all i wanna do is complain, and wonder why i cannot shake him/her off.

my weekend..

Friday
after work, met my girls, chel and buddy for a movie and dinner date. however, our pirates tickets were sold out so instead we indulged in another favourite activity. EAT. the brand new eatery at cine, which sells "authentic" hongkong eats is a breath of fresh air compared to the local favourites. chel ordered the hongkong noodles soup which is actually instant noodles with luncheon meat, egg and veggies. the soup was pretty good and i suspect, loaded with msg. my buddy ate her favourite fish served with rice. as for me, i finally get to eat pasta! (i was craving for it since germany!) it was actually chesse baked pasta with pork chop. the chop was tender BUT i don't like! it tastes like PORK! we also ordered a "tau pok" look-a-like french toast. it was really nothing special.
the highlight of the night was actually the chat we had at starbucks (my buddy's favourite place). though it was a very simple activity, and something which they probably do alot with each other, i truly felt liberated and "in" again. it felt as if i haven't "connected" with them in a long time. and i also realised how frank my friends were. frank in the sense that they dare ask the truth and grill you for the truth. though i wonder if that's just the earl grey speaking. the topics which we talk about may just scare the average person for we discuss about any and everything. so if we ever ask you about fireworks, be careful how you answer!

Saturday
as usual, i am LATE for my date. sorry darling, but you should be used to it by now! its really hereditary! as a result, there were 2 girls trying to look glam, dying as starvation. subsequently, we slurped up the entire bowl of SPICY ramen and alot of fried stuff. feeling very fat but satisfied, we started indulging our eyes and fashionista desires by ensuring we comb the entire far east shopping centre (or is it plaza?). the shopping spree ended up with a bagful of "loot" and 2 very thirsty shoppers. so darling and i ended up at the same cafe i went to on friday. the mango ice seems to be beckoning to us man. we ended up having a small and very early dinner of dim sum and we only realised we did not eat the mango ice after we left the restaurant. what the hell! haha, but i made a good discovery: the pineapple bun and milk tea in the metal "gong" is good! we also managed to scare a guy by pretending to be lesbians. well, can't blame him for eveasdropping because our tables were only inches apart.

succumbing to our spontaniety, we called CJ out and ended up eating alot of things. first we went to subway and CJ ate a sandwich which is almost the width of angeline's shoulders. next we went to bakerzinn and we shared brownies with chocolate ice-cream! it was heavenly. quoting angeline, the brownies were "gao" enough. though the food was good, the company was even better. it feels wonderful to catch up and chat with good friends, however difficult to meet up more often. congrats to cj for finding a job and congrats to me for gaining a free meal.

Sunday
time to catch up on sleep.

yadayadayada

work...
its week 2 day 2 of work. today we had training to build up our image for the entire day. 2 speakers from an image consulting franchise came in and talked to us about how we should behave in certian situations, how to defuse sticky situations with clients, how we should observe social ettiquette, simple dressing tips for working men and women etc. it was pretty interesting and enriching as i realized that much of the way we behave and dress, including our postures, the way we sit, walk and speak affect how others perceive you to be.

so far, for the last 2 days, i get off work right on time. in other works, we can leave by 5.30pm, the official end time of work. i guess for these 2 weeks, we get to "enjoy" this, before we embark on any real audit work by taking on cases. therefore, i am making the most out of it! everyday i pia home by 6.30pm..but i realize that when i get home, i have dinner, bath and then nua in front of the TV! too tired to revise the stuff we're taught and too early for bed..sian..i am totally wasting my time. so next week, pls feel free to ask me out after work, though i must be home by 10pm. haha! still! if meet in town i can meet from 5.30 to 9pm le! luxury ok! haha..

shoes...
i have also realised that i have been buying too many pairs of shoes! 3 pairs from europe (2 of which i have not touch yet), 1 pair from penang(which i haven even "adjust" to fit my left feet yet), 1 pair from bugis mkt (which is only 10bucks le! i also haven touch it..) and just yesterday, finally bought my "lacey" shoes (too bad no heels le..). in total, there are 6 pairs AND, i have NOT satisfied my objective of purchasing a pair of comfy heels which is black or white. very gross right? to further gross u out, i just realised i need another pair of closed toe n heels shoes for work..n no pay yet..

lastly...
recently i read the headlines of an article (too lazy to read entire article) whereby they discussed about bloggers who write alot. in fact, too much and cannot stop writing. don't know where to stop. even write about mundane and boring stuff. my point is. i think they are talking about ME!

best of europe..and daniel.

this is the best pictures taken during the entire europe trip. i'm so proud of myself because i took 4 out of the 6 photos! clockwise from top left: sunset from andy's doorstep in nuremberg, lunzi and i just outside the vatican, scenic view of somewhere in germany (where the castle which inspired the disney castle is) which is also one of my favourite photos, side view of the river in florence, beautiful flowers in Titisee and bird's eye view of florence (courtesy of lunz)

forgot to put this in the Freiburg section. xueli and i stayed with this guy, daniel for 3 days. his room was quite comfy and nice! thats our (and his) favourite couch! because it was so rainy throughout our stay i freiburg, we spent lots of time reading his books! heng he has a little collection of english fiction. and yes, he's probably the cutest guy we met in Europe.

with that, its probably the last of the europe trip photo series. i'm too lazy to do collages liao..and the best photos (as in, those which i dun look like shit in..) are up..hope you guys like the pics!

Funny pics.

we plan to take over the world everynight.

take photo take photo! click click!

personal grooming session. must pluck eyebrows TOGETHER and cut nails while sticking heads out of the window.

what are these 2 crazies doing? HOLDING ON FOR DEAR LIFE!!! yes, the wind was THAT strong!

Germany - Berlin, part 1

clockwise from left: photo with berlin mascot; trying to do a winter sonata scene; probably the most famous equation in the world;photo with strangers; photo with the sphinx (not sure why its found in germany though..) and finally the berlin wall.

the memorial for the jews who perished in the nazis' genocide and the berlin wall.

the gloomiest place. yet it makes you really think, how evil human beings can become.

i travelled with some very sleepy people. they sleep anywhere and everywhere.

the thickest girl in the world. i daresay, about 1 metre thick.

on friendship...

you know how sometimes and somehow, without you realising, you drift off from your friend(s)?
for no good reason, one day you wake up and realise that you don't know her anymore, you cannot click as well, she doesn't confide in you anymore and you don't know what is going on in her life? the loss is discerning yet there is nothing you can do. attempts to resume the friendship will likely be futile. i am not talking about the loss of a friendship. you are still friends, just that the feeling is different, and you feel distant. it is alarming how absence can cost you, despite the long history of the friendship. however, not all friendships will turn out like that. there are certain friends whom i always want to meet up with and yet have no chance to. but once we meet, we can hit it off immediately as if we see each other daily. this makes me question, if the friendship in question, is real? is it sincere? maybe i do think too much. maybe i am too conscious of such issues, whether they truly exist or not.

Germany - Hamburg

hobby #1: here's our home in hamburg. and no, we don't have THAT many stuff. the mess was already there before we arrived. and everyday, we will have packing rehearsal..so thats what we do when we are FREE. we PACK.

hobby #2: we EAT. at the top left, its food from our fave pu in hamburg, whereby we visited to have lunch twice in a row. the food is pretty good, affordable with BIG portions and interesting menu. the bottom left picture is of falafel, which is turkish or middle eastern cuisine. it is actually fried pea patties served with spicy sauce.

it took the entire can of hair wax to get this hair. either that or very strong and persistent wind.

soccer craze. what else? argentina fans were excited to see asians and asians(us) were excited to see crazy fans. so they asked for a photo. xueli is supposed to be in the photo..but the photographer...hmm..duno..pak jiao? so she's totally not captured though she was grinning from ear to ear.

when there is nothing to do, we visit the park. those who wants a tan, lies in the sun. those who wants porcelain white skin, naps in the shade.

Germany - Heidelberg and Munster

This is the view from the top of the castle in Heidelberg. We took a laborious climb (for xueli and i) and took a long time to catch our breath. however, i think the climb was worth it, coz we can see most part of the town area! the new friends we made in Heidelberg acted as our guide. In the last photo, i had a weird expression cause while the photo was taken, i was being molested.

This is the place we stayed in in heidelberg. The hosts were friendly and we were their first couchsurfers! I think the place is very well decorated! and i would kill to have an attic like that. Though i walked into the ceilings multiple times and the sun will shine into my face at 7am daily, it felt very homely and comfy! And there's xuelun trying to act like a scene from some play.

xueli and i making ourselves VERY confortable on the couch. It was freezing outside, hence our polar bear suits were out in full force.

Top: Xueli and I ejoying a nice COOL glass of alt bier. Its actually dark beer with peaches! Surprisingly, the zest in the beer adds to the flavour of the peaches and vice-versa! Bottom: The lady in the centre is Claudia, whom hosted us in Munster. She's one of my favourites because she's very pleasant to talk to and somehow i feel very confortable with her. She also introduced us to many of her friends and we spent lots of time chatting. According to her, she's one of the shortest among her friends..hmmm...

We had a nice meal at this lady's home. She was wenqi and xuelun's "mama" when they had the emersion programme a few years back. She made Spargel (which is actually white asparagus) for us and it was so delicious, everyone had seconds!

Germany - Munich

This is the room we stayed in in munich. Anna's very very hospitable and generous friends, Ahmad and Christoph gave up one of their rooms for lunz and i! Ahmad picked us up at the bahnhof and because he didn't know how we looked like, he was holding up a sign with our big names on it! It was pretty hilarious. Further, to make us feel at home, they put up the sign with our names and posted pictures of asia all over. The room consists of a mini kitchen, attached toilet and Christoph's special stash of...INSTANT NOODLES TOMYUM FLAVOUR!!!

...and yes, the noodles were THAT delicious!

...and to top it up, we added our homemade wanton out of tissue papers..yes, we missed local food..

we visited a castle which has various rooms spread out all over an entire "forest". To protect the flooring, the guard made us put on these "mickey mouse" shoes! haha it was super slippery and we were pretending to skate in the room.

Back from Penang

I'm back! again..nice to be back in Singapore and it feels great to catch up on SLEEP..this is what we do daily, for the 5 days i spent in Penang with my new colleagues..

7.30am: Breakfast, buffet.
8.30am: Training
10.30am +/-: Tea break, with like 2 or 3 dishes and coffee or tea
1.00pm: Lunch, buffet
2.00pm: Training
3.30pm +/-: Tea break, with like 2 or 3 dishes and coffee or tea
5.30pm +: End of the day. Freshen up then go out for dinner and some shopping

So in all, we have FIVE meals a DAY. felt full all the time. and diedie want to eat all the meals haha..the lessons are combination of lectures and some activities which require you to make creative structures and quizzes where you have to fight to answer and earn points. MY group, consisted of all the hall5 girls and 2 others..in all, it was pretty fun, especially when you are in the same group as people who are funny and love to gossip!!! haha..the entire training was at sheraton hotel, where we also stayed in. learnt alot of things and made some new friends, whom i will be seeing for the duration of my employment. on the last day, we have half the day free before leaving for home, and managed to do some shopping and bought cheaper shoes and handbag..

New Excuse for Not Updating the Blog

I will be in Penang from Monday to Friday (3rd to 7th July) for job training.

Hence, it is very likely that i would be unable to update the blog. Also, try not to sms or call me unless you miss me terribly and is willing to foot my handphone bill. Either that or something serious/important has happened.

Too bad i will not be able to go down to take photos with my buddy on her convocation/commencement! But hope we will one day, ALL take a nice photo in our graduation gown! hmm..maybe next year so ms wang n chel can be included too? maybe by then we can all wear our graduation gown and kim can wear her wedding gown and we can all take a nice studio photo!

4 Slackers @ Cafe cartel 28 July 2006

The photos are the credit of my buddy. I stole them from her without her knowledge. Her handphone managed to be very zhai.

humph!?!?

what i will look like after starting to do audit.

cannot remember why i am so happy.

diedie wanna take a group photo.

introducing the new ru hua. roomie, recognise the pose?

germany - freiburg and nuremburg

nuremburg - at this point of time, the weather became veryvery cold! for summer in germany that is..weather is about 10-18 degrees with RAIN and WIND..yup. complaints about the weather aside, this is the castle which inspired the disney castle. my photography skills is not exactly great, but this is the best pic i took already!

freiburg - german churches are famous for their stained glass windows.

titisee - this is the blackforest. due to the bad weather, i managed to make it look really BLACK

trying to be very colour coordinated with the old buildings.

castle in nuremburg. the flowers in europe are super pretty, hence the focus is NOT the castle, but the temporal flowers which can only be seen in countries with 4 seasons.