Xmas & Bdae gathering

Yest nite, we went to PS cafe in Demsey road and the beautiful Ben & Jerry for dinner and dessert. It was so hard to find the way without a car. We took a bus there and walk in by ourselves b4 the rain starts to pour in.

I like the Ben & Jerry over there. The place has unique layout and comfortable ambience. Thanks to Jenny for bringing us there after much confusion in locating where it is. hee. And must mention that the bartender is so so thoughtful and sensitive to offer to help us take pic, offered Ivy a non-alcoholic drink for free, offered to help us to present and cut the cake, offered to pour the beer into the glasses and lastly, bother to make eye contact and bid farewell to everyone of us when we leave (though i was abit disappointed to find out that he say goodbye to everyone else and not just only me...waahaha..) He was just like a personal bartender for our table. hehee.

We had our cake cutting for Ivy's bdae celebration and xmas gift exchange.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IVY! ( who just turned 23 when i am going to turn 24 soon! aaargh)


Jenny, I like ur scarf!. V nice!



Our xmas gift xchange! Guess wat each of us got?





See it for urself! Its hard to believe they cost less than $20!. hehe.
All of us are satisfied with wat we received esp me! I got something that I want. It was an accessory belt or wateva it was called! Thanks Stella for getting what I had actually wanted to get for myself! Muacks!

Shuwei got my sparkling bag. She had beta liked it and use it!





Thanks every1 for the time and company and Ivy's Bf (Junwen) for bringing us home after that. :> We will see each other v soon. Hint hint Ivy?

Cheers to every1 for a season of love and giving! Merry Xmas to all my readers!

Dislikes

Went to O-B-S camp as part of my induction for work last week. Had some muscle aches den. Sometimes quite shiok to have muscle aches. It means you have worked out quite a few muscle groups that you normally don't. The camp not very siong as I would anticipate to be. haha. I mean, was expecting some height challenging or scary stunts that we have to do but not many leh. Maybe cos its only 2 days camp and it has to cater to the various age groups bah. But still an experience lar since never stay at O-B-S b4 mah.



Over the past many years of group activities, I realise that I don't like certain ppl. I mean I am sure some ppl don't realli like me as well but certainly I am entitled to my personal preferences for disliking ppl too?

I don't like egoistic people. Be it guy or girl. A person can exude confidence, its totally fine. But if she tries to command without even bothering to listen to others, or even worse, listens and put him/her down right on the spot without even considering the option suggested, that kind of behaviour totally gains no respect from me.


But I also realise that actuali the more u dislike a person, the more u shld try to talk to her. Talk to her more on other stuff can elicit the other good sides of her personality to you. Den slowly u will grow to like her all over again. 1 more fren is beta than 1 more enemy as it says. It works sometimes. Familiarity breeds liking....indeed.

AOB (any other business)

I once read back my old posts out of boredom. Somehow I am quite amazed by how inspired I can be to write on certain random things in life. I seem to have lost all inspiration to be able to blog like before. Ha. It could be the different stage of life that I am in. I dunno. But I still feel that I am the same old me but why that I no longer can blog like how I used to before? It's weird.

I realize that everyone looks nice when they smile. Everyone and anyone. Of cos I can't deny the fact that some ppl do have greater and brighter smiles than others due to their own physical attributes. I am generally not a smiley person. I wish I am. I dun like my teeth bcos of some gaps in between. I dun like my face shape bcos its big and I have very small mouth which makes it harder to smile I feel. Ha. So many stupid reasons rite. But I remember that I felt quite encouraged when a friend once commented that I look 'cute' (not exactly flattering but still nice to hear) when I smile so he told me that I shld smile more. Praise does work wonder. Lets remind ourselves not to be too stingy in praising others everday.

I feel quite bored going lunch with the same usual khakis at work. I prefer when my other female colleague joins. If not, sometimes I am stuck with going with the same 2 or 3 guys to lunch and I really feel mentally stifled. They are nice ppl I must say...but too nice and proper. Can only talk about work. V sian...so much so that I rather eat in office sometimes. They don't ask enough qns or chat about their own lives which make me feel like shutting up as well. I feel tired having to be mostly the one to think of things to say during lunch just to break the silence among them. Talking to females is easier. Females are more chatty. For guys, its easier to talk to cheeky types who will disturb you or the kind who is opinionated enough to discuss various topics with. But yet I have another male colleague who is too opinionated...he likes to challenge me on the things that I said which gets on my nerves as he makes me feel whatever I say is wrong. Haa... I am so hard to please. No...actually I dont think so.

It is nice to idolize a fav popstar or singer. I used to have idols whom I can divert my attention to. Waiting for his appearance on TV, waiting to buy his new album etc. I lost all these interest. Currently, no one is on my list. Quite sad. I must find someone to idolize so that I have something to look fwd. Hahz...

The things that I say is so random.....see... I have lost the ability to blog properly already.

Break

Feel quite lazy and unmotivated to continue my blog on the since-so-long-ago china trip so will just stop my update till there bah I suppose.

So as for now, don't bother to read back my blog if you have been doing so (thanks..though i dunno how many of u do) as I dun think I will be updating any sooner...so save the trouble yar!

Last but not least, shall show post some random pics of my company's first D&D. Can guess the theme?



Argh....some error occured while uploading the pics! So sway! hmm next time perhaps..sorry!

Day 5 to 7 to Nanjing

Our comfortable 2 hrs express train from Shanghai Railway Station to Nanjing.

Btw fyi, much information needed along our journey was gathered from the book Lonely Planet for reference. Lonely Planet may not have the best recommendations of tourist attractions but it has been helpful in giving most of the info that we need. For hostels, can visit Hostelworld.com as it provides a listing of some of the hostels in the world which you may want to consider booking though the listing isn't exhaustive at all. Any other better recommendations u guys have related to travel, pls feel free to share with me and the rest in my blog. Thanks.



Finally, my cousin is up on shot! He doesn't like to take pics!


The hostel in Nanjing is the one which we booked directly from our hostel in Shanghai. Under the same hostelling organization. I don't like this hostel bcos the shared toilet only got 1 pathetic small cubicle! Imagine it urself by seeing the photo below. I dread showering and using toilet each time! My sis again asks me to count my blessings bcos she has been to much worse hostel in Korea.

Sister's robotic pose along the corridor.




Our 4 beds dorm! I like this layout bcos it made chatting much easier for us.


Pls see the bathroom area I was talking about. Only 2 bathrooms and 1 toilet cubicle.


Pls compare the above with the bathroom below which is the one back in my shanghai hostel. 2 bathrooms and 2 toilet cubicles and much bigger and cleaner! Great difference rite? !


Despite me marking down this hostel in terms of its overall impression, I must say the location of my hostel was just fantastic. Nearby my hostel has such great shopping streets. Can tell taxi driver that you want to go to Fu Zi Miao. Its in that area.



Shanghai has too many shopping centres. What we like is such shopping streets!







We dint manage to come across any good food, as you can see from their facial expressions below. Disappointment after disappointment. haaa... The nu rou shao mai which I have told some of you guys about is the dish on the right! Nu rou shao mai without nu rou! So misleading!



To be continued....

Hope u guys dun find my blog boring..... me blogging them just so to remember the trip. Photographs are really footprints of memory. If not, memories might just fade with time.... and it will be hard to retrieve them once they are lost.

A Question Mark

When you realize that the things that matter to you actually don't matter that much to someone else...suddenly, the things also don't matter to you anymore....



What used to bother me in the past also does not bother me now as much as before.... no longer finding silly thoughts to ponder over....

Maybe it just goes to show that certain thing has started to lose its significance in my life.... what I used to hold on dearly has started to depreciate over time....

Ironic...


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Day 4 to Hangzhou

This is another day tour that we booked from our hostel to visit Hangzhou.
Hangzhou, from the various destinations t hat we have been, is proven to be a more beautiful place than the over hyped Suzhou, it seems.

A must go place:

Xi Hu (West Lake)




Another must go place:

Song Cheng (Song Dynasty)









Other that that, we went to other memorial sites and authentic temples to visit, which has little impressions on me. HA.

Think u guys can just see my photos and don't think wanna go China le rite. haha.
I wld say if whole of my 8 days trip is fully tour packaged, I would not have much impression of China bah, given the kind of places we went to which is mostly sight seeing in a rushed manner if were to be in a tour grp.

Thats the end of our 2 day tours. Next few days is my personal favourite of Nanjing that we have took a 2 hrs train ride to visit on our own.

Day 3 to Suzhou

We book a day tour directly from our hostel to travel to other nearby cities from Shanghai. Day tours in china are pretty disorganized and haphazard. Some hiccups along the way though on the whole it is still fine and sort of enjoyable.

Plus points about going on day tour:
Just follow the tour guide. No need to waste time finding and asking for directions.
Just hop on the bus and you get to go to many places in a day. No hassles for transport.
You get to listen to stories and explanations made by the tour guide relating to the places you have been to.

Minus point:
Restricted time spent on each place of interest. Everything is so rush.
You do not have vivid impressions of the places you have been to because you are not the one who plan the itinerary.
You are forced to visit commission-based destinations like factory for silk or tea production that you won't choose to go if on your own.

Suzhou is described as the Eastern version of Venice because of its various lakeside and pavilion sceneries. Hmm...abit exaggerated lah. hahaz. Suzhou, in my opinion is just so so lor.

Some places of interests that we have been in Suzhou:

Shi Zi Lin (Lion Garden):






Han Shan Shi Jing Qu (Hanshan Temple):








Bei Shi Ta (North Temple Pagoda):


During the bus journey: Both awake...



Midway: Both asleep.... hehe so cute.


I think the most "vivid"part of the journey in Suzhou was the late realization that my sis was kena 'cheated' in buying the overpriced Zhi Sa Hu (ceramic cups and teapots) at a factory that we were made to visit. Zhi Sa Hu was the topic of dismay when we found out that Zhi Sa Hu was sold abundantly in Nanjing at a much cheaper price! Knife stabbed right into the heart....was how my sis described her agony upon the sight and mention of Zhi Sa Hu when we visit Nanjing days after. heha...i guess such experiences are very common in China bah.

Day 1 & 2- Shanghai

Our hostel in Shanghai. Letour Hostel, registered under Hostelling International.
At first thought nothing of it but my sister asks me to count my blessings cos there are worse hostels.
After counting, I find it really a pretty decent hostel.


The cosy 'living room'


Our 4 persons dorm. One person ~SD $15/day.

See the difference of the state of the room after a few days. Can't imagine myself sharing this dorm with other travellers if I were to be on my own. I need a big space to put my things and move about!


Behind me is the famous stretch of Nanjing Lu Bu Xing Jie. A whole street of shopping centres which we merely breeze past cos shopping wasn't our main agenda.


Eating was our much look fwd activity, despite various disappointment with the food that we have tried and eaten. Poor luck on us. Only our first stop at this Xiao Long Bao shop is worth mentioning.


A must-go tourist attraction- Shanghai Wai Tan, The Bund.
The day and night scenery of the place look different. Night view to be posted in future posts.

Big and juicy cut slices of watermelons and my favourite rockmelons sold at only 20cents each! The sellers were seen fleeing away speedily when spotted signs of patrolling police.

The past colonial history explains for the European architectural style of the surrounding buildings at The Bund.

Trip to China (8 Sept 2007 to 16 Sept 2007)

Prelude

Actually China is the last Asian place I would ever think of visiting if given a choice, among all other interesting places that I can rather go. But given the opportunity to meet and travel with my sis and others, I have no reason not to go.

A trip to remember

If there is one thing most enjoyable about this recent trip which I am back from, it must be the company that I went along with. Yeah. Its my dearest mother, lovely sis and cheeky cousin brother. This is the first rare opportunity that 4 of us can come together to travel together. My cousin even changes his reservist dates to make available for this trip. During the trip, 4 of us shared alot of funny and interesting conversations back in our hostel dorm at night. Oh ya staying together in a 4 person dorm is definitely the main highlight. My sis shared with us alot of her stories and encounters from her past 3 mths of travelling through HK, Korea, Beijing and Inner Mongolia. I really get to understand my sis better from this trip. Her thoughts, sentiments, point of views on various things that she has seen and felt. I guess it is through such a trip that creates various chances of communication between us that has brought us closer which we otherwise will not in the comfort of our home. My sis is leaving again for US in a few days time to meet her bf over at Minesota. I guess my distant relationship with her is going to restart once again.

The backpacking nature of this trip adds spices to the journey. Alot of uncertainties and trial and error. Disappointments, frustrations, tiredness and surprises along the way. But my sis loves to take charge so she was the one who oversee most of the things. I also witness how she manages to 'argue' with the ticket counter staff with seemingly good usage of Chinese to win our rights in passing an entrance gate. Like what my mum commented, my sis has indeed 'hardened her wings', we don't have to worry for her anymore. She is free to fly on her own. Indeed.

The People

If there is anything not worth mentioning about this trip, its the disgraceful and uncivilised behaviour of the Chinese people. They love to spit anywhere on the ground. They have bad customer service attitude. They cut queues without battling an eyelid. They knock into you without saying an apology. Never will I want to associate myself as a Chinese as I am proud to identify myself as a Singaporean Chinese. But I guess the behaviour of people usually progress slower than the socio-economic aspect of the nation. We have to understand the transitional phases that the nation has gone through in order to make sense of the citizens' behaviour.

Regrets

Anyway, I dismay with the fact that I have very limited knowledge of the rich cultural history of China to be able to appreciate the beauty of the historical sites that we have visited, unlike my mother who is very well versed with the stories and characters that we have come across. Good for her.

Will perhaps post some photos in my next few posts. Taken some videos as well but very lack of memory space. But I find it very fun to take videos. Shall fine tune my videotaping skills in my future travel trips.

Ciao for now.

These are the tree trunks I'm talking abt!

Sentosa Retreat & Updates

I was back from my staff retreat at Sentosa! Guess which resort my company has arranged for us to stay? It's siloso beach resort! The one just opposite the siloso beach cum cafe delmar! Rem the black exterior building that we walked past during our 2/4 outing to sentosa last sat? thats the resort! Quite excited to get to stay in the new resort which was also featured in magazines and tv. hehez.

The characteristic of the resort is being close to nature...so close that you have tree trunks brunching out in ur hotel room! Yes Yes! In my four people bedroom, our beds were right staring at two tree trunks behind a glass showcase panel! In my colleagues' bedroom, they have a similar phenomenon but theirs have no glass panel at all! What they have is a plot of land with soil and two tree trunks growing right up through a hole towards the sky! U literally can trace the branch right up into the sky! Amazing rite? I really wonder what happened when it rains man!!! Cos there is no cover above the hole where the trunk shoots out. hahaha. I look at it in disbelief when i walked into their room man.

I am still waiting for my colleague to send me the photos to show to u guys! The swimming pool looks great too. Got mini waterfall and mini slides to play but I dint bring swim suit! Next time can slip into the hotel to see see the hotel and use use the pool as nobody cares one!

I like everything and anything nature but whats so irritating is the insects and mosquitoes. I have some mosquitoes bites on my legs out on the beach at nite during the retreat. Sianz. Now still very itchy! If only nature can eliminate all these pests and insects!

Btw, can the rest pls upload the sentosa pics somewhere before everyone forgets abt the outing totally? My cam not many pics as it was kept in the bag for most of the time. Still, i am uploading the link via email to u all. Pls check ur inbox. I am still waiting from the rest to get the pics ok! Dun act blur forget hor! And thanks to pei for the ever prompt and well written update on ur blog!

And yea, yokie, of cos i still rem our swimming date. Think have to wait for me to come back from shanghai le leh. Oh yes, for you guys information, I will be off with my mum and cousin to meet my sis over at Shanghai next weekend for a week! Any outings pls postpone till i back! ;p


I am back to my salsa lessons once again after a pause of like 5 mths or so. In the end we cant afford to wait for the nus salsa club to org for us anymore and decided to just go to the sch to sit in the intermediate classes which is open to anyone who can just pay on the spot and sit in the class on whichever Friday during that timeslot. Flexible system....I like.
Though sometimes I must lament that my salsa friend cannot lead me in the dance due to his 2 left feet, I must commend him on his very positive and never say die attitude. I think he feels more stressful than anyone in the class due to his very limited background in dancing and his far-from-streamlined and way-too-bulky body. Infact he is more eager than me to want to practise the steps during the past few mths. He is basically a very disciplined person who strives to achieve what he sets out to do, from what his academic results and sports achievements have shown. I believe he is holding this same mentality towards challenging his kinesthetic abilities. For me, I don't have flair in dance but have the interest but may lack of perseverance and tend to give up easily.

Okie thats all folks.

Some random pics from KL trip (18 Aug - 21 Aug 07)

* click to enlarge pics.

Thanks for making this trip happen, guys. I have always wanted to go to KL and Sunway Lagoon for a short getaway and its one rare occasion that we get to travel together.
Despite an 'unnecessary' event that has occurred which was pretty quite uncalled for, I will still remember these very moments that we have ever spent tog. *Thanks*



More of other pics to come when I get to see Yokie to exchange pics....Yokie, feel free to reuse any of these pics to post on ur blog if u do find any of ur photogenic pics. haha