Looking back on 2008

To me this year consists of 8 months of activities, 4 months of doing nothing, many months of uncertainty, worries & depression in between and finally hope & optimism towards the end.

The year started with me feeling uncertain about my decision to be with a foreigner and move overseas. Having to quit the job I enjoyed and leaving my family & friends to start from scratch overseas made me rather depressed. I couldn't help feeling why I had to do all these sacrifices for someone whom I gradually began to feel probably isn't right for me after all. I regret not working out these issues with him earlier.

After a trip together in March, he went back while I stayed in S'pore to prepare for the big move overseas. That was a bad idea I guess coz the 2 months of doing nothing at home in April & May made me even more 'homesick', more unwilling to move overseas. I finally moved over in June in a depressed state.

Not being emotionally & mentally prepared to start new overseas killed the relationship in a flash. He tried to help me adapt but I just couldn't do it. Frustrated with my life there, I began to find fault with him. Everyday I was just waiting for the day to come back. Then my family went over for a holiday in mid-June. The 1 week holiday around Japan with them, away from him and the island, cheered me up for a short while. After that was back to a sad, directionless life.

Finally towards end July he told me to come back to sort out my thinking/feelings etc. 2 weeks after my return things turned very bad between us so we decided to end it. It's meaningless to keep it going if both parties aren't willing to compromise and the love has died. We still have a long way ahead of us. Instead of holding on to something just for the sake of it, might as well let go and search for another future. With an answer to the problem, I could finally move on with a direction in life.

August to October was all about job-hunting and catching up with friends. It was both a time of heartache and hope. I had difficulties facing my friends who gave me their blessings for my relationship and telling them why it ended. I also had to explain to job interviewers why I remained unemployed for 6 mths & assuring them I'm back for good. All the above meant I had to talk about the failed relationship.

Hope came in form of a new job. Not exactly a big career switch since I've been in the education industry for 2 years but the environment is totally different. However, switching to it means it's very difficult to go back to HR. I decided to go ahead with it. Passed the interviews and was offered the job starting in 2 Jan 2009. That gave me 3 months of relaxation at home.

I went to Taipei & HongKong for a great holiday in end-October. November & December was spent doing nothing at home again. The main project then was doing up my room and enjoying the rest of my break before I start work. I started with a major spring-cleaning, throwing or donating almost everything related to him or the relationship. Then I bought new things to make the room look slightly different. During this period I started going out with someone who encouraged me a lot and made me happy most of the time. Plagued by relationship problems for the 1st 3/4 of the year, I'm glad towards the end it's all sweet happy memories.

As you can see, 2008 for me is all about a failing relationship, job-hunting and doing nothing at home. Seems very negative huh? But I learnt a lot from it all. An expensive lesson some would say but I don't regret much. It made me a stronger person with a clearer direction on what I want in life. It was a good thing that I have a practice of saving 1/5 of my salary every month. The savings accumulated over the years allowed me to live a jobless life for 9 months and I could still afford to go shopping & travelling. Important lesson here: 'One must always save up for rainy days!'

I hope 2009 is a more positive year with a blossoming relationship and fulfilling job. And I wish everyone a great new year ahead too.

Happy New Year!

Visit to SPCA

Last Sunday, my friend & I went to The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). When I told my dad where I was planning to go, his reply was "去看那些动物很可怜的！都是猫猫狗狗。" My sister also agreed and told me to go and see some pet hotels or pet shops instead. But my mind was set.

I reached SPCA after a short 15mins drive from my home. I was expecting sad abused dogs in there. I was wrong. The dogs were big, healthy & active! Most were as tall as an adult when they jumped up. It's a small place with around 10-15 dogs in their individual big cage. I overheard a SPCA volunteer saying there are many other dogs caged up elsewhere. The cages were unlocked and apparently visitors are allowed to enter it to play with the dogs. I saw some young kids playing with the dog in the cage. Maybe they had permission from the volunteers to do so.

Will you adopt me & treat me well?

There is an area for cats & rabbits too. Almost all the rabbits were pending approval for adoption. Most were local breed except for 1 holland lop rabbit. All big rabbits but very adorable. Their ex-owners probably don't find them cute after they grew bigger & dumped them. Hardly anyone looked at the cats. My friend remarked, "if you want to adopt a cat, just go to the carpark or along the streets to pick up a stray cat". Poor cats!

I'm in a rabbit craze after seeing many of them at pet shops. There's one at Bugis's Pet Shop Lovers which I visit whenever I'm there. I even named it 大黄 coz it's a big brown rabbit. I think because it isn't as cute as the smaller rabbits, it's unsold for more than 3 months. It's probably still there waiting for a kind owner. I wish I could give it a proper loving home......

Please give me a good loving home!

I can't adopt a pet coz my mum doesn't like pets but I will visit SPCA again to visit the animals. These abandoned pets are really quite pitiful. 1 of the dog was given up because the maid caring for it left. I just don't understand these pet owners who get their maid to care for the dogs. I know many of these owners have to work and need help to care for the dogs. But surely they can spare some time in the morning/evening to walk the dog. I often see maids in my area doing that instead. I'm not surprised these maids have to clear the shit & bathe the dogs too. I feel if you want a pet you should take up the responsibility of caring for it. If you aren't willing to sacrifice some rest time or get your hands dirty, then don't get a pet!

1st day at work

Today's my 1st day at work after a nice long break. I thought waking up early was going to be a challenge but I woke up an hour before my alarm clock rang. Too excited about new job I guess.

After a briefing with the VP, I went to attend their staff meeting followed by a brainstorm session and training workshop. I spoke to some colleagues from other departments during the meeting but information they provided me was very general & I couldn't help but feel very lost. I wasn't shown my working cubicle (if there is any), no clear work scope & work materials, not introduced properly to my department, not given staff pass etc.

I guess they aren't really prepared for me to join. Or they are simply too busy to do a proper briefing & orientation. It's so different from all my previous jobs where things were all set & ready waiting for me to take over. And the boss or someone would orientate me to make sure I know enough about the company to survive on my own. Think it's time for me to be more independent at work!

Next 2 days no work, then Fri & Mon got training. So I officially assume duties on Tues and I still don't know what I'm supposed to do! I just pray hard they will email me a bit of information before Tues so that I have time to prepare.

Feeling lost now but not stressed out yet. Wait till Tuesday comes....

It's party time!

Like past years, we held a x'mas party at home on 24/12, inviting our closest friends to have fun together. Instead of my mum cooking almost everything, this year we decided to do a potluck party. Mum cooked curry chicken & fried beehoon and bought smoked ham, the rest brought drinks, salad, satay, otah, roasted lamb, fruit tarts, brownie & a log cake. Seems like very little food when we list out on paper, but it turned out to be a lot. Meat lovers were the happiest.

Part of the food served

As it was raining, we held it indoors. We were hungry at 7pm and started to eat before the "official start" at 8pm. By 9pm almost everyone's done with dinner & was all gathered at the living room watching 'Little Nonya'. When it ended, we spilt up into 3 groups - 1 playing wii, 1 drinking (almost all the guys so we called them the 'kopitiam uncle group'), 1 just kaypoh at the 2 groups. I was the kaypoh one not keen on playing wii or drinking. Very soon the kopitiam uncles became drunk. Luckily all except 1 was sober enough to play the gift-exchange game.

The Wii group

The Kopitiam Uncle group

At 12am, we sang "We wish u A merry Christmas" then ate the log cake & drank champagne. After that we played a gift-exchange game with forfeits, which is to drink a bitter mix of vodka & green tea. The lucky ones had 1-2 gift choices, the suay ones had to drink 1-2 cups of vodka. But of course in the end everyone gets a gift though probably not everyone's happy with their choice.
Part 2 of gift exchange was collecting presents (specially bought for each other) under the x'mas tree. That's when we see more excited and happier faces. haha!

Santa AhKe & McDull

Done with the presents, 1 group continued playing wii, the drunk uncles fell asleep and the kaypoh group continued to be kaypohs. At 3am+, a few of us were still awake but no energy or interest to play wii so we watched dvd "Connected". I've watched it before so it couldn't keep my interest for long and I went to sleep at 4.30am. The rest apparently watched till 5am+ then went home.

I enjoyed myself and hope the rest did too. Looking forward to Chinese New Year Party next month if there's any......

Gifts!

This X'mas, despite a bad economy & less bonus, many friends still splurged on nice gifts for me. And they know what I like, wish to have or might need. Very touched!

Items include a big & cute Muji bag, a small McDull pouch, a Muji pencil-case, 1 key-chain, 2 necklaces, 2 bracelets, 1 eyeshadow, 1 small twin star pouch, 1 colorful pouch, 1 nail polish set (incl. remover, 1 color, 1 top coat & 1 base coat), shower cream, a toy rabbit.

Yeah! Start the new year with new things!!

X'mas gift shopping

With lots of time to spare this year, I started my x'mas shopping early & settled it last week. Usually I only have a list of names while shopping but this year I included what gift I want to get for each person.

My close friends are usually in pairs, so I always get the same gift but slightly different design to avoid comparison & to lessen the headache of what to get for each individual. This year I tried to be different & it turned out to be quite a challenge. I've to consider each person's preferences, get gifts of similar value and keep to my budget.

Just when I thought I'm done with all my shopping last wk, this week I went shopping again. This time on behalf of family members who have no time to shop. I think I've shopped in Orchard & Bugis almost every other day for 2 weeks to find suitable gifts.

This weekend I'll avoid Orchard. So sick of shopping. Plus the last-min shopping crowd in town is scary! I shall stay home to do gift wrapping.

Xiaobai

There's a new member to my toy family! Its name is Xiaobai & she's a x'mas gift from my friend. Love this little rabbit! So adorable!

Nice haircut?

Worried that my hair will start balding at my usual hair parting, i changed it during my recent haircut. Plus cut a slightly thicker fringe to cover my broad forehead. Still not used to this new hairstyle though my mum & sis says it's nice.

I want to grow my hair longer then perm soft curls in future. And when it becomes dry & messy after some time, can cut short again. Like that can have new look often. Agree?

New look for my room

The wall stickers I ordered online finally arrived this afternoon after 1.5 weeks. I immediately started to piece it up on my wall. Took me almost an hour coz the picture was in parts & they weren't numbered clearly. With the wall deco, my room revamp project is done.

Pretty flowers next to my bed

2 cute dogs greeting me every morning!

My study table

I'm very happy & satisfied with the new look of my room. My sister said 1 section is like a park with flowers, birds & dogs. The other is like a beach with crab, picnic mat & dogs. I'd say my room is like a zoo with animal soft toys or pictures, mainly pigs & dogs plus 2 bears, 1 rabbit & 2 sheeps.

I love my cheerful room!

Christmas concert

I was at Esplanade's concert hall on thursday with a friend to attend a Christmas concert by the S'pore Symphony Orchestra & S'pore Symphony Children's Choir. The 1600-seats hall was almost full and it was like a family day with many parents & young kids. I guess most are probably supporters of the choir or were encouraged by their company (CIMB-GK Securities) to attend since they sponsored that day's performance.

The programme started with the choir performing a 23-minute piece with harp accompaniment - Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28". I didn't quite appreciate it at first but was soon drawn to the beautiful music. The voices were lovely, especially the crystal clear voices of the few members who sang solo parts. It brought back memories of my 8 years in school choir & Japanese culture society choir. My friend who's more into ktv singing dozed off half-way thru the performance. Hahaha!

Part of the music from A Ceremony of Carols


After the choir performance was a 30 minutes intermission which gave us time to grab a coffee (for my sleepy friend) & a muffin (for a hungry me!) at Mrs Fields. The more 'atas' people bought expensive drinks right outside the concert hall. A small bottle of evian water costs $4. So were the soft drinks. The rest were alcoholic drinks retailing at $10-$16 per glass. We were on the 3rd floor (circle seats) due to budget and hardly anyone bought drinks there. The lower the levels we went (where the expensive seats are), the more people buying drinks. And the people downstairs were more dressed up with an 'atas' air around them. Upstairs you'll see people in polo-tee & jeans.

The rest of the programme was performed by the orchestra, featuring more popular pieces that appealed to the mass audience. There was the familiar Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker: Suite No.1, Op.71a" which we liked, followed by many christmas music that got everyone in the christmas mood.

The Nutcracker Suite (Part 1)


The Nutcracker Suite (Part 2)


The concert ended with a carol sing-a-long and it was nice to hear almost everyone singing with orchestra accompaniment. Carols in the sing-a-long included O Come, All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, Deck the Halls, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, We Wish You A Merry Christmas. I would have preferred more lively christmas songs like Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer or Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

On the whole we enjoyed the concert and will be back next year!

Joke of the day

I was at Plaza Singapura's foodcourt today. At a stall selling taiwan cuisine, I asked the stallholder what's the difference between the $4 and $5 beef noodle set. I was expecting answers like "$5 got more noodles/more veg/bigger bowl of meatball soup".

The answer?

"One is $4, the other is $5".

AhKe's happy day

AhKe went to the movies again on Monday. This time he even went for dinner before the show! No one gave us strange looks or maybe we didn't see it. No one screamed or cried when they saw AhKe sitting there looking at us eat our pork chop & bread. He really isn't that scary, right?

The bread is yummy! / Promoting Cafe Cartel


Happy diners

In the cinema, we were seated at the corner, making it convenient to take more photos of AhKe. I enjoy watching movies hugging my little darling. And my friend likes it too. So we took turns hugging AhKe while watching the show. However we had to be careful not to spill the drink or drop any popcorn on him. Look at how happy he was!

This big popcorn & coke is mine!

This is his 2nd time eating in public & 3rd movie outing. I'm sure there will be more to come in the near future! I love AhKe!!

Jigsaw puzzle lover

I'm done with my 3 jigsaw puzzles! I completed the 2 small 108pc within 30min each. No kick. The bigger 300pc took me a morning coz I was so confused with the 3 dogs' fur and the white portion was a challenge. I remember those days when I did a picture of Mt Fuji with my brother. We had a hard time with the blue blue skies & white white mountain. Duno where we dumped the framed puzzle after that. Sick of the blue & white scenery ;p

I like the dogs. They look so adorable! I almost wanted to buy another 2-3 more puzzles of dog pic after that. But decide to wait for new stock, hopefully have cute pictures of pigs or rabbits or hamster. My hands are itching to do more puzzles now! Now considering whether to buy those less than $10 puzzles online. 1000pc. Do for fun and not frame up coz frames are expensive and no place to hang up.

To save costs I didn't buy any frames for my 3 puzzles. I made my own combining the 3 pictures together. A frame usually costs $15+. Buying 3 will set me back by about $50. My DIY frame made from a plastic board & 2 types of ribbons cost about $18. Though not as sturdy as a normal frame, it still frames up the pictures nicely. I can't wait to put it up at my study table wall once my dad removes the old nail in it.

Completed frame with the 3 puzzles

Marina Barrage

Last Saturday I was at Marina Barrage with my family & some family friends. We've never been there so decided to go there after lunch. We reached at at around 3pm. It wasn't too crowded but parking lots were filling up fast. Not a surprise considering it's a weekend & this place was opened about a month ago. People are always excited about new places. We're no exception!

We were greeted by the sight of nothing too spectacular upon arrival. Concrete and water and a spiral walkway leading to the top. Those not keen on walking can take a life or climb stairs up the 3rd floor. We walked up to take in the view of the Singapore Flyer and marina area. Some kids were flying kite at the top, while many others were playing at the water area downstairs.

There is a cafe looking out at the reservoir. Food & beverages are ok, not fantastic. There is also an exhibition area on water resources in Singapore. There is a "pump house" which I didn't check out but I guess it probably shows how water is treated?

View from entrance

Kite-flying at the top / Water fun at the bottom

with Dad / S'pore flyer's on my palm!

I believe this place will be quite nice for a short romantic stroll at night, and will be even nicer when the IR at Marina is ready. For now it's a family spot in the day & dating spot at night. It's nice to go once in a while for a break from the city crowd but getting there is a problem for those without own transport. Free shuttle bus service is available from Marina Bay mrt station.

Happy day

我今天也很开心!

The day started with me watching HK drama online while making ribbon roses for my room. After that I went to fetch my friend and we went to meet my ex-colleagues at the primary school. I had many notes & flashcards to give them. And also pass them some stuff which I cleared during my spring-cleaning. Feels great to meet them again after so long. After a cheap lunch at NUS, we went to Suntec & Marina Square to do some shopping.

Shopping often makes me happy. I didn't shop for clothes, shoes or bags. I think I've enough new clothes & shoes for the new year & new job. I was focused on finding things to do up my room. My project now is "New Year, New Beginning, New Look". So I removed the big world map jigsaw puzzle in my room yesterday, planning to replace it with new puzzles. The theme for my room now is "Animals & Flowers". We couldn't find any rabbit or pig puzzles, so settled for puppies since I'm in a dog craze anyway. I bought 3 of it at one go.


Depending on how u look at it, they either seem blur, sad or act innocent. For the bottom 2, I like their big round eyes and the "sayang me please" look in their eyes. To me, all the 5 puppies have the sleepy, blur & want to be pampered look. So cute I like!

There was a Sesame Street live performance at Marina Sq in the evening. Done with shopping & dinner, we stayed on to watch it. Though it's meant for kids, I enjoyed it. The songs were cheerful and big Elmo & Cookie monster were cute when dancing. We shopped a little while more and went home early.

All I bought today was 3 boxes of jigsaw puzzle but I'm happy. The process of shopping, looking at interesting merchandise and observing other shoppers was fun!

A day at IKEA

I usually shun IKEA on weekends to avoid the crazy family crowd. However my friend cum driver was only free last Sunday, so I missed my TV show (repeat telecast of MediaCorp's 45th anniversary show) to do some shopping. I wanted to revamp my room and needed some cheap & cute items available at IKEA. Plus I was craving for their yummy hotdog bun ;p

1st stop, $2 hotdog bun + refillable drink set. So cheap!! I think we refilled the drink 4-5 times. 2nd stop, kids section -- my favorite! I had fun playing with the soft toys there. If my soft toy collection at home is smaller, I would have bought some from IKEA!

I wanted to get a small little chair for my window area coz it looks plain after I removed the old mat & pillows. I love the little chairs at the kids section. So cute!! We had fun sitting on them to choose the most comfy & suitable one for my room. My favorite was a rattan armchair. It felt a little tight when I sat on it. When it's my friend's turn, he lifted the chair off the ground with his buttocks. Hahaha!

As a normal-sized chair would be too big for my window area, I decided on a little red plastic chair + a crab-shaped cushion from the kids section. Very cute! The more I look at it, the more I adore it. I even nicknamed it "The Chili Crab Chair".


Done with the chair, we continued shopping & I bought 2 CD storage a boxes/drawers & a new mat to complete my shopping list. However we walked another round to enjoy free samples of gingerbread, cinnamon buns & saffron buns. IKEA had a baking festival, teaching people how to bake the 3 items & gave out tasting samples too. Yummy!! I especially liked the saffron buns. Wish I can bake it too....

After dinner we went home and I almost immediately started to assemble the chair & CD drawers. Plus let AhKe play with new toy crab. He was bullied by it initially but he's fine now.

Yesterday I spent the whole day clearing old things. I threw away 6 NTUC plastic bags worth of old letters/notes & misc stuff. And gave away another 3-4 bags of things to friends/family/charity. Today I bought more items for my room. And there's still more on my shopping list.

I'm still in the happy IKEA shopping mood now. 我很开心！