Few more hours to 2009!

May the coming 2009 be a better year for all! I wish for the economy to recover, good health and world peace! May everything go smoothly for me in the coming year...

Today I was really unlucky with my parking during my driving revision....I hit the poles so many times that I have lost count. Haa, I broke my record...guess this is the first time I have hit so many poles in a day. My instructor has to keep going out of the car to pick up the poles...I told him that today is just not my day. I hope this is something rare and my parking will be super on 5th Jan. Pls give me a kind and lenient tester on that day. Maybe I should visit the temple that is next to BBDC before the test...

I joined InCinemas.sg's online contest and won a pair of preview tickets to Sammi's Lady Cop and Papa Crook on Monday. Sammi played a very entertaining role of a cop/madam in the movie and she was so natural. I quite like the movie and I don't agree with the movie review made by i-weekly, which said that it's a lousy movie. This was the first time I ever visited Balestier 1, Shaw Plaza and it was so far from Jurong! If not for the free tickets, I don't think I'll ever go so far for a movie. However, the theatre seats were really clean and comfortable unlike the Shaw theatres in Orchard and Jurong East. This is a really good website for contests' source: http://contestjunkie.blogspot.com (where I got to know about Incinemas.sg's contests). So people, if you have some free time, you may wish to visit the website to join the contests and see how lucky you could get.

Merry X'mas ~

Merry Christmas!

Yi, thanks for the delicious "buffet" that you have prepared! I was so full....I won the mahjong game again, hehe. Ling, told you that you always end up winning the most and my wins are not really big.

I just finished watching the Korean movie Le Grand Chef that my sister borrowed from her SP library. It was a great movie...recommended for all! There were many parts that touch the viewer's heart and the story wasn't boring at all (I don't really know how to cook, but the cooking scenes were shot so well that I don't find it boring) . This year, I received more Christmas sms than all other years, so it sort of make up for the lesser hands that I shook this year, haa.

The Singapore Flyer breakdown news made the headline in yesterday's Lianhe Wanbao. It must have been very scary to be rescued via a rope and I can't imagine been trapped for hours in a stuffy capsule. The company must have lost quite a sum of money on arranging the transport for the victims and refunding the tickets.

On X'mas eve...

I'm so glad that we got a half day off from work today~! This year is the year that I have received the most number of presents, and also the year that I spend the most on Christmas presents....However, I didn't really shake as many hands as previous years in my current company. Many were on leaves and all were rushing to take the bus back after the free lunch buffet in the canteen.

My mum and sisters left for Malaysia to visit my relatives, leaving me alone at home surfing the Internet. Tonight, I'll be meeting up with my best friends to exchange present and play mahjong...luckily I still have them or it'll be a boring Christmas.

Ever since I have completed my part time studies and driving lessons, my life became more boring. It's always the same thing - Internet, TV and manga. Maybe I should go learn a new language or something. I hope with a new car, I could spend my free time exploring places in Singapore. I hope I could buy an off-peak car next year...I learnt that it is expensive to buy an auto insurance under a new driver's name, and I should buy an insurance plan under an experienced driver's name and add my name as one of the car's driver (I think I would probably do that to save money).

I'm really envious of Jinglun, who got a chance to cut album and pursue his interest in singing. As his ex-classmate in JYSS , I wish him all the best in his singing career. Nowadays, I didn't really go karaoke much with my best friends. Luckily, I have got colleagues who like singing too or I think I won't have much chance to sing karaoke except on my birthday. I ever have a dream of becoming a music cafe singer, but I think it is hard to fulfill as I'm easily nervous and I have got bad memory with lyrics. It always happen no matter how hard I practise...in singing contests, I always freaked out at that important moment and all the things went wrong - the pitch, the lyrics, the rhythm....everything. Haiz. My favourite driving instructor ever told me that human is always envious of others who seem to do better. I think he's absolutely right.

Back from KL...

The meeting at KL was a bit tiring, but it was good to meet our counterparts from M'sia and HK. Our hotel is conveniently located in front of a very big mall, so it wasn't too boring. I would like to visit the Sunway Lagoon's theme park one day. Sleeping alone in a corner hotel room was a bit scary...I don't have much quality sleep except the last night (have slept well with the help of beer, haa. It has been years since I last drank a beer). I kept hearing water dripping sounds in the toilet, but the water wasn't dripping when I checked. I had a weird dream on the first night - I dreamt that there are people lying under each layer of my bed. This is the first time I went to an overseas meeting, and I really enjoyed getting to know my colleagues better. Five of us went karaoke on the last night and it was fun. M'sia family karaoke chain - Red Box actually comes with free buffet, but we have had dinner before the karaoke, so wasted. The bill comes up to RM$310, which was a bit shocking (Luckily there were five of us to share the costs).

Today was my first driving revision class and I'm glad I didn't make any major mistakes despite stopping classes for 2 weeks. I only got my parking steps confused, haa. Today's traffic was a bit heavy and there were many vehicles who didn't signal when they are turning or changing lane. I hope I won't encounter such situation during my test. After my revision, I went to get a new haircut + rebonding & treatment for just $100 at N.D. Hair Profile in Jurong East. My hair is so much shorter now and I hope this would shorten my long bathing time that always make me late.

A rainy day dampens my mood...

I felt so down today. Was it because of the rain? I really don't like rainy days. I wanted to take up more driving revision slots, but it is too expensive and I have been spending more than usual on miscellaneous stuffs. My favourite driving instructor has been shuffled to a new group of instructors and that means I will never get taught by him again. I wanted to buy a car when I got my licence next year, but in Singapore, cars are so expensive to own, no matter how low the car price or COE price is. Today’s news stated that many people's full car loans were rejected despite earning more than $3k per month, as banks wanted to reduce their risk in this period of uncertainty. Should I get an off-peak car? I calculated and think I could handle the additional payments, but it would mean depleted savings and I fear I would not have enough for rainy days. Oil price in Singapore would never be as low as USA’s. Spending time at home would mean higher electricity bill, as I would either be watching TV or surfing the net. Nowadays, the electricity and water prices are so high that seeing the bills made me scared. I really hope my bill amount would significantly drop after the decrease in electricity price next year. Going out would cost more, as I would be tempted to spend more on food and other miscellaneous stuffs.

Now, I must convince myself that these are all nothing, compared to people who do not have enough to eat and people who have no home to go to. It is so hard to be contented with life, but I must try. It must be my lack of sleep that made me felt so down. I shouldn’t have played Viwawa until so late when I’m working the next day. Haa, I'm too addicted to its games.

December is a month of festive season!

I'm so glad that December is here! This month has the most rest days - 2 half days off (courtesy of my company) and 2 public holidays~yeah! I finally recovered from that dreadful jet lag. Work has been really busy, as I was also preparing the material for the coming KL business meeting on top of the usual projects that I'm involved in. This will be the first time that I'm going to Sunway Lagoon...hopefully I'll have enough time to explore the place at night.

I was quite shocked to hear about the suicide news of a girl who won the 3rd place in the recent Taiwan Xing Guang 3 singing contest. She was younger than me and even has a music record contract...and her singing was really good (I like her singing style; she was really cool). I hope she will rest in peace, even though there's a belief that people who committed suicide would be punished in some way after death. Please cherish life - life may be tough at times, but it will become better if you act positively.

My next driving lesson would be the final lesson of the entire course - 5.01! Wow, time flies when it comes to driving. I hope I won't fare too badly in my mock test. I really hope that I could pass my TP at first attempt, but I don't have much confidence, as my driving standard isn't consistent...(it all depends on how nervous I get). I really like my group of manual driving instructors G6003 and I strongly recommend this group to all potential BBDC Class 3 students! They are very patient and experienced instructors. Hey Mr Lim, maybe I will write in a compliment after I pass TP, haa.

Photos of my US Trip

At Boston~! Very very cold...I was really hoping that it would snow...

Lan lives on the 2nd floor of this rented apartment (that has really thin walls) in Portsmouth.

The first place that I visited - Universal Studio Orlando!

The water ride at Disney Magical Kingdom has such a long queue, luckily I have a fast pass to go through the express lane. I was seated at the back, so not much water gets to me. *Phew*

In the queue for my favorite 3D Toy Story ride at Disney Hollywood Studio! I was sick and tired, but I still enjoy the ride very much!

I love Chips and Dale - They are really cute!

One part of Universal Studio that tries to imitate the look of San Francisco.

Tower of Terror was fun and scary. The vertical drops of the lift are really fast and there is no time to recover!

A ride that bring you through a car test track - very fun. One would never be able to experience that kind of speed in Singapore unless you join F1. I like the braking part, really scary. Haa.

A tree in Disney Magical Kingdom - Are you able to spot Piglet?

The new Simpsons ride at Universal Studio - It was a simulator ride with a very big screen that stretched over to the ceiling and surrounding walls (Our seats were raised to a height before the ride starts, so the ceiling is really high). Very beautiful, but I felt giddy after the ride. There was 1 more simulator ride with very beautiful simulation on such a big screen as well, called "Soaring" at Disney Epcot (Didn't take any photo as it was a room in a building). We felt like we were really flying in the air, super!

Parade at Magical Kingdom

Outside Clarion Hotel, which we stay for the first few nights

The Mt Everest ride was in that fake Himalayas in Disney Animal Kingdom - It was really exciting!

Live car stunts - very superb driving skills! It was so cool!

The Jaws ride entrance~ This ride has a very dramatic host who tries to be shocked upon seeing the fake sharks.

Infront of the Disney Castle ~ the trademark of this park.

Inside Universal Studio

Energetic High Sch Musical 3 performance at Disney Hollywood Studio!

Evening performance at Disney Epcot

The Fear Factor show!

Evening performance at Disney Hollywood Studio

The evening parade at Disney Magical Kingdom

Disney Pop Century Resort - The place we stayed! It smells new and fresh.

Disney Hollywood Studio

Disney Magical Castle

Beauty and The Beast musical

At Animal Kingdom

At Citywalk near Universal Studio

My US holiday diary….

Day 1. I’m finally out from the planes! Time has passed so slowly in the plane and the worst thing is I can’t really sleep well in the plane. My eyes are so dry and red after the 2nd flight. I don’t know what happen to my luggage at the US custom. The inside of my luggage was wet when I opened it up in my hotel room. My new luggage belt looks so dirty and I think that they’ve opened up my luggage to check my toiletries, powder, aloe vera cream etc. I think they either did it in the rain or they spill some other people’s water on my bag. I’ve to hang all my things to dry them! I hope they don’t do it again, as it’s quite troublesome to clear up the mess that they have created. I met a nice lady on the 3rd plane, who’s from Michigan. She has brought along her whole family, including a blond angelic looking toddler who can scream really sharply. Haa, kids are like that when they threw tantrum. I could see that she tried her best to calm down her daughter. At least she’s not kicking, just throwing things onto the floor. The sun sets earlier in US during the winter season. It is so dark that when my plane reached Orlando, I felt like it’s already near midnight even though it was just evening.

Day 2. While waiting for Lan to join me in the hotel, I decided to make breakfast for myself. After tearing the lid from my cup noodles, I realized that I’ve forgot to bring along a pair of chopsticks or a fork! I searched the room and found 2 hard straws (which they use to stir hot drinks) that could be makeshift chopsticks. While filing up my bottle from the water cooler at the ground level, a sign caught my eyes – ice cream! I bought a cup of Hershey’s chocolate sundae and it tasted great. Lan and I went to the Prime Outlet to shop. I tried to limit my purchase due to the 20kg check-in luggage limit (my luggage weighs 14kg before arriving in US. I guess I’ve packed in too much clothing). In Singapore, the GST is usually included in the price tags, but in US the tax is calculated separately. I learnt that it is a common practice here to clear the table after each meal at non-restaurants.

Day 3. I think I’m getting sore throat. We missed our 8.50am free shuttle to Universal Studio and had to wait for the next at 10am. While waiting, Lan and I walked around the area and I bought my lozenge from a 24hrs mart. The Universal Studio was fun! The rides or shows are really interesting. The queue gets longer in the afternoon, but it clears quite fast due to the big capacity of the halls or ample number of vehicles. There are usually pre-show acts before the actual show. The Universal Studio hosting staffs are really dramatic and funny. There was one where they show the twister effect on the movie set after we move through the twister movie’s props gallery. I could feel the heat of the fire even though I’m standing at the last row! The roof starts to leak and we got really wet. It felt so real. The Mummy’s indoor roller coaster was nice and short (I don’t like an exciting ride to be too long). At the Fear Factor live show, there are some theme park visitors who enrolled as participants of the show. They did stunts like swaying on ropes to catch things, crawling on cars in the air, allow creepy crawlies to crawl on their head and ate disgusting stuffs. The winning pair of father and son who ate a mixture of crushed worms and internal organs with sour milk only received a pair of Fear Factor mugs as prize. I think it is not worth it to risk one’s health for that miserable gift, but I do admire their courage to participate. Lan told me that in US, we have to give tips that amount to a minimum 15% of the total bill at restaurants or to hotel service providers. Everything is so expensive here. We had our dinner at a restaurant on Citywalk before catching the shuttle back to Clarion Hotel. Citywalk looks like a more colorful version of our Clarke Quay.

Day 4. We checked out of Clarion Hotel and took a cab to Disney Pop Century resort. Our room was great, everything smells nice and clean, and most importantly it felt so cozy! I love the Disney 50’s Pop style. We visited Disney Animal Kingdom after we put our stuffs in the room. Everything went fine until it starts to rain in the afternoon. Many visitors were wet and it really spoilt our mood. However, there were many things to see or ride at the park. The Mt Everest ride was quite exciting, with the ride suddenly changing direction at the sight of the broken bridge. I really like Disney’s Fast Pass system; it really helps to shorten the waiting time for popular rides. It was a tiring day. I was down with flu and have to buy the flu medicine at the resort. The rain didn’t stop until it was late at night. I bought my plastic Disney cup to enjoy the free flow of drinks at the resort’s food court after doing a calculation on whether it is worth the money (The cup costs US$12 plus).

Day 5. We went to the Disney Magical Kingdom. It has plenty of nice scenery for photo taking and is the biggest park among the Disney theme parks. However, many of the rides are rather childish and more suitable for kids or families. We requested for the Disney photographers to help us take pictures using both my camera and their camera. The Disney castle looked really nice and one day, I hope I would get to visit a real castle. It was another tiring day, as we waited for the evening parade and fireworks. It was really crowded, and we were lucky that there was no rain despite the weather forecast saying that it may rain. I think my flu worsen despite having taken my medicine.

Day 6. We visited Disney Epcot, which reminds me of our Singapore Science Centre. We redeemed our free photograph that came with our package. My flu still hasn’t gotten better and I still had teary eyes. The attractions are fun with the usual 3D shows with sudden falls of water drops and wind, and roller coaster rides. I think I’ve taken so many rides that I have mixed up which parks have which rides or shows. They all started to look similar, haa. It was really a tiring task to visit so many theme parks in a row. I was glad that the crowd at Epcot was lesser than the Magical Kingdom’s and that the weather was fine.

Day 7. Disney Hollywood Studio was the last Disney park we had on our plan. I really like its new Toy Story 3D ride! It was so fun that we queued twice for it! The 2nd queue took us 40mins, as the fast pass system has closed for the day, but it was definitely worth it. One gets to shoot at 3D targets (while sitting in a moving and rotating vehicle) that fly or burst towards the person who shot at them. Each target has different points on it and there are various stages (very colorful cartoon images with different theme at each stage), which the vehicle quickly brought us through. The Tower of Terror was also really interesting, with a haunted hotel as the background story. A bunch of us sat in a lift on chairs with straps across our lap. Then the lift went up to a floor and spirits are seen when the door opened. When they disappear, the door slammed closed and the lift shot up at high speed to 13th floor. As the door opened to reveal the clear sky outside, the lift dropped at high speed immediately after the door is closed. Then, it repeated again. We could feel ourselves fling up during several drops and the drops were so fast that there was no time to recover before each fall. Lan said she felt her sling bag flying, haa. There were many people at the park, as it’s a Saturday, but many of the people didn’t go for the rides. It seems that there were soap opera live recordings at the park on weekends and many of these people were in the queue either for the show or for autograph sessions. I do not recognize any of the stars, but I was happy to get a Colgate goodie bag, who was the main sponsor for the soap opera event. There were two short musicals at the park; one on the Mermaid and the other on Beauty and the Beast. I really like those familiar songs; they sound better in those live musicals. The evening show features Mickey trying to fight against the evil and of course, he won. The firework and the other effects such as the musical fountain and the fire really make the show an enjoyable one.

Day 8. We went to Disney Downtown to redeem our Planet Hollywood $15 voucher. The restaurant has a nice environment, but the food is really expensive. Again, we left a 15% tips for the staff. I think US service staffs really earn a lot here, with so much tips and higher basic salary than ours. My luggage is 18kg now and I haven’t fly to Boston yet! Oh no, I’ve to watch the weight of what I would be buying. I really regret bringing so much clothes. My flu is better now after switched to another type of flu medicine (Vicks brand), but I felt really sleepy. It was really cold in Orlando today, and I heard it was even colder in Boston. Lan was really sweet, she bought me a pair of woolen socks to prepare me for the coldness and bought me pastries for my breakfast tomorrow. My connecting flight was delayed for 30mins due to the bad weather at Detroit. I was so tired that I managed to doze off on both flights. It was a long drive from Boston’s airport to New Hampshire’s Portsmouth. I would like to thank Lan’s boyfriend, Baonan, for fetching us at the airport and waiting for my flight to land. Lan has reached the airport much earlier as Jet Blue has offered her an earlier flight. If only my Northwest flight could also do the same. (Instead, they were asking for volunteers to give up their seats for a night stay at the Hyatt and $400 travel vouchers.) The US airport security check was really tight for foreigners; I was searched, both body and bags. I checked into the Motel 6 and started to upload my photographs from my camera to my thumb drive.

Day 9. I explored the area on my own and I felt frozen despite the gears I have worn. It was so cold! I felt my throat starting to pain again. Lan met up with me for dinner and Baonan drove me to the Wal Mart for some shopping. The Macdonald here has really tasty nuggets, which are crispier and juicier than Singapore’s.

Day 10. It was such a cold day today. I wanted to take some pictures, but my hands were trembling and it was too cold to take out my camera. I looked around and found that I was the only one who was wearing gloves…I explored the Fox Run Mall and spend most of my remaining money on clothing. There are so many jeans here and the Levis and Lee brands were cheaper than Singapore’s. There was Christmas sales going on at Sears and JC Penney and some tops are as cheap as US$3! I hope I would have enough money for the next two days…Anyway, my bags are full and I don’t think I’ll buy any more things.

Day 11. I visited Lan’s home in Portsmouth and she fried some crispy nuggets for my cup noodles. I played wii for the first time and it is a bit hard to control…It is a cold day again and I heard that it will only snow after I return to Singapore. *Sigh* Tomorrow I will visit Boston and prepare for home sweet home. I heard it’s going to be colder in Boston…Hope my skin don’t crack.

Day 12. We visited Boston and it was another cold day. I got a bit of motion sickness after the long bus ride. We took the subway to the Aquarium, as Lan got free tickets to it. The subway has a flat rate of $2 with the charlie card (it's like our ezilink), regardless of the destination. The aquarium was small, but all the bigger sea creatures are very well fed; they all look bigger than the normal size. I tried the New England Clam Chowder at the Quincy Market and it was tasty, too bad the staff was so unfriendly. He seems to treat the non-chinese customers better. The shops at Boston seems to be more high-end than Portsmouth and they seem to be less service-oriented too. We went to Boston's Chinatown and there were many chinese there who conversed in cantonese. We had wanted to visit MIT and Harvard University, but it was so cold that I dropped the idea of going there. Even though it wasn't snowing yet, I saw that some floor had ice on it. You could imagine how cold it was.

Day 13. Today is the day I'm returning to Singapore! I really need a good rest before starting work on Monday. I was so glad that my luggage didn't exceed 50 pound! My wallet only has US 41 cents in it now, haa. I had really spend a lot and Lan had also spend a lot on me. Today was quite an unlucky day. The air stewardess wasn't very friendly; she insisted that my fat backpack could fit under the seat when I already have it stored in the storage bin above (I have told her that it couldn't fit, as I was sitting near the aisle and I have already placed my sling bag there). A laptop drops when I open the cabin storage bin. Luckily, it fell into the lap of the owner, but his friends seem to blame me for the fall. I vomited during the 13hrs flight as it was a bumpy ride and the food was too oily for me to digest. The worst thing was that the lady beside me kept pushing her head towards me when she sleeps and I was hit by her pillow. Her hair was so near my shoulder that I could smell them if I don't turn the opposite direction. I don't understand why she couldn't sleep within her own seat as she was a small size asian. I lost my mp3 player's battery cover while changing its battery. I searched high and low for it, but it seems to disappear into thin air. The skin of my hands was so dry that it was painful and itchy, no matter how many times I had reapplied the lotion. I realized that my beautiful Disney luggage tag was missing after collecting my checked in luggage from the belt. What a bad day.

Catching my flights to US soon...

I'm catching my flights to US in less than 24 hours....and now I'm feeling so nervous at the thought of travelling alone. I hope nothing bad happens during the whole trip. Touchwood. I have never been so hardworking in applying facial mask, but after hearing that the skin gets really dry during a long flight, I decided to apply my masks today and yesterday night to prepare my skin for it. I wanted to check-in online, but I don't have a working printer at home to print the boarding pass. My luggage looks so full now...I hope I'll have enough space for things I'm going to buy...

I went to dine at Zheng Fa Steamboat with my family just now and it was so crowded. Its new location is opposite Novena Church and as featured on the Channel 8's buffet show, it now has an air-conditioned area. However, we did not get to sit in the air-conditioned area, as the tables in the air-conditioned area are for bigger groupsa nd we didn't specially request for it. I always fear the sight of the live prawns being cooked in the hot water....I hope they rest in peace. The queue on a Sat evening was so long that I believe they have to wait for 1 hours plus before they could get a table. The tip is to go earlier, like 10mins before 5pm (5pm is its official start time for dinner).

I think I'm getting rusty in my road driving skills....during my lesson today, I couldn't brake in time and went past the stop line, which my instructor said is an immediate failure case. I never have problem in stopping at stop lines, thus I really don't understand why I did it today. Maybe I'm just too excited about my trip, haa. I always find it hard to change lane in heavy traffic and all the vehicles seem to be so close to my car. I hope I would improve on that soon, or else I'm sure to fail my first attempt of TP. Touchwood again.

I wish myself a happy journey and thanks to all who have wished me Bon Voyage!

Counting down to my US trip...

2 more weeks and I'll be off to US!!! I'm so excited. It'll be the first time that I'm flying alone and on such a long flight to Orlando! I haven't change my USD and I really hope that SGD could get stronger in these 2 weeks....Please let it drop to 1.4.....(I should have changed my money when it was at 1.35. Haiz haiz haiz)

I just checked on NWA's website and realized that my flight is cheaper by S$100+ now! I always thought that it's cheaper to get the air tickets early, but I'm wrong...ok, I have learnt a lesson. The tickets are only cheaper during promotions or nearer to the date of flight departure.

I hope I could sleep well on the plane. I remember that I was ever seated near a toddler who cried and threw tantrum throughout the 6-hrs flight during my trip to Korea. It was a night flight and I was trying my best to sleep...I must have looked like a panda when I arrived at Korea. Hope that won't happen again.

Towards my last part of stage 3 driving lessons....

Thank you Mr Tan H.C. for helping me to revise my S course and crank course! Finally, I learnt how not to mount kerb in these narrow courses, hee. You have given me really good tips. I managed to pass my vertical parking without hitting or shaking any poles, yeah. I tried to learn emergency braking today, but my instructor told me I didn't brake hard enough. He demonstrated and the hard braking could really jerked the car hard! However, that should be the right way to do an emergency brake, even though I find it a bit "violent"(I mean the jerking of the car, not the driver. Haa, I think Mr Tan thought I'm referring to him when I told him it's so violent).

Next lesson I'll be learning how to do an emergency brake again and I hope I can do it better, with the right "violent" jerk that could bring the car to an immediate stop.

Time passes so fast during driving and I really enjoyed learning how to learn. I think I'll miss going into the portal to book the driving lessons and attending the driving lessons. Being a kiasu Singaporean, I have booked many lessons in advance, which I think is more than required to complete the entire course. I guess I'll end up with more revision classes if I pass my remaining subjects smoothly.

I attended my first compulsory auto car lesson on friday night. As usual, I adjusted my seat and tested my left leg's reach to the clutch pedal, which was not present in an auto car, haa. I found tha an auto car's brake needs more pressure than a manual car and that braking has to be done early or the car will jerk to a stop. The accelerator of an auto car seems more sensitive than a manual car's. I felt that it's easier to control the speed of a manual car...I think I'll consider a manual car for my first car purchase...(Actually I shouldn't be thinking about buying a car now since it's recession now and I don't think I have the savings to own a car. Haiz.)

My new crystals

Do you believe in the magic of crystal? I do. I bought a lovely purple and brown crystal bracelet at $98. I really like the crystals and I hope they will bring me luck in driving and in having good health. Purple crystal symbolises a clear mind, and helps in concentration and memory, while the brown crystal enhances one's health. It was said that no other people should be allowed to touch the crystal except its owner, as everyone has different magnetic field that would affect the crystal's magic. So, don't touch my crystals ok?

Recently, I found out that I have lost both my Julie Roberts four leaf clover pendant (it was my 2nd one, I have already lost the 1st) and the purple crystal keychain, which I have bought from Korea and really like....sob. I felt so sad that I went to shop for another crystal the next day. I really love my current crystal bracelet and I hope I won't lost it again.

Addicted to driving

I'm finally in Practical stage 2 (Subject 2.08~proceeding to stage 3 soon) and I'm starting to love driving~ I really like the feeling of being in control of the wheels. I'm now saving up for my first car and I'm still pondering on whether to buy a OPC or normal plate car. However, the high costs of maintaining a car make me indecisive, as taxi seems to be a cheaper option for travelling. If only I could afford a car next year, haiz. Based on my calculation, I could only afford to buy an used car in year 2010. Being an impulsive buyer and someone who is addicted to driving, I doubt I could wait so long. (I checked my zodiac luck in year 2009 and it seems that I would be spending too much and the advice from Fengshui masters is to save for rainy days.) Nowadays, I often visit this website http://www.sgcarmart.com to check out the cars for sale. I really want to own one of those cheaper Korean cars like Kia Picanto and Hyundai Getz. My favourite was Honda Jazz, but it's too expensive. (I never expect myself to be so enthusiastic in driving before I signed up at BBDC, haa. I was someone who don't know a single thing about car before.)

Today is the first time that I learnt driving at night. It was raining heavily and I couldn't even see the line marking on the road. I nearly drove into the lane of the opposite direction without knowing! I even missed out a motorcyclist on my right side mirror during lane change...Phew, luckily I got an alert instructor beside me. A big thank you to all the patient and nice instructors (especially Mr KP Lim and Mr Lu LB) who had made my learning enjoyable!

Graduated!

I'm finally a graduate! I would like to thank my 3 best friends for taking time off from their work to attend my convo yesterday. * So touched * The flowers are really nice, but I don't know what to do with it...maybe I'll bring it to office to display. The RMIT degree was a bit large, but I carried it along (with all my other barang barang) to BBDC where I took my final theory test and passed! Now I could finally just concentrate on learning to drive. I think I'll be able to drive out in my next practical lesson. Hope I won't get too nervous and stall the engine again.

My 3rd driving practical lesson...

It was raining during my first 3 practical lessons. I remember an instructor mentioning that a past learner failed his practical test because he was unable to operate the screen wiper. I guess that won't happen to me. My braking is super lousy, as I was always braking too hard even though I have tried my best to be gentle with the brake pedal. Guess I'm not really the gentle type of person, haa. My engine stalls whenever I tried to be gentle on the accelerator pedal in half-clutch position (it was too gentle) or when I depress my clutch pedal late. My dear instructors, please be patient with me. I think I need more practice, but more practice means more costs. I hope I could complete all my practical lessons in 30 sessions. May I become a better driver soon and make life easier for both the instructor and myself.

Happy Birthday Singapore!

Yesterday was the first time I ever watched a NDP performance on the floating platform. I went early and got really good seats at the front! The weather was great and cool till the evening when it starts to rain. Everyone took out the poncho from their goodie bag and I didn't see anyone leaving the place even though the rain gets heavier after 30 mins. The performers continue their performance despite the rain and the hosts continue to host in the rain without any caps. The performances were great except for the few singing parts where the solo singer went really high pitch and loud. Maybe I'm just one of those who don't really know how to appreciate the high tones. Anyway, all the performers and staffs worked hard to make the show a success and I think they deserve the credit. May Singapore continue to prosper!

At home on 12 July...

I've finally made the decision to do something to my hair, which is getting too long and difficult to manage. After searching online for comparison of different hair services, I decided to go to a home-based salon, for my rebonding and cutting. There were various good comments about this Jurong West home-based salon, that only charge $60 for rebonding. Unbelievable cheap right? I've booked my appointment for the coming Wed...

I just finished watching the final episode of the Korean Drama "Love Truly". It's not boring at all (even though it is 34 episodes long) and I really like it. The theme song sounds like the 881 type of songs, haa. The first line of the song - "Really, really like you" in Korean sounds like "Really, really smelly live prawn" in Hokkien! It was like "Jin Jia Jin Jia Chao Wa Hei" in hanyu pinyin. The story reminds me of Da Chang Jin. The female lead is an aspiring cook in the Korean presidential residence who put her heart into the food she cooks. As she was poor, she did not have much formal education background and was often bullied by two of her superiors. The male lead is a very comical bodyguard at the presidential residence. Do watch it if you haven't do so.

I finally completed the korean drama - Devil (also known as "The Lucifer"). It is like a detective story, very mind-engaging. I do not like the ending, as it was so sad that both male leads have to die! The story brings out the bottom line that good and evil are just a line away, and revenge is not as sweet as predicted. There are some parts that got repeated with every new episode, which I found quite irritating. Otherwise, it is a good show.

Basic Theory lesson started...

Today is my first day attending lesson at BBDC. Luckily, I'm not late for lesson, even though I left my house later than expected. I didn't read the basic theory book before I go (thinking that it would be very easy) and had a hard time answering the MCQ questions on the touch screen during the practice session. I wonder whether it's normal to not be able to answer 280 MCQ questions in 45 mins...I've only completed half *sigh*.

The NDP ticket collection queue last Sunday was surprisingly short and it took less than 3 mins to get my tickets. I always believe that good luck come after bad luck to maintain a balance. Right after the ticket collection, I went over to Suntec City and to my dismay, the walkway was so crowded that I feel like a sardine between two pieces of bread...Think it may be due to the IT Fair and events going on in the mall.

I've made some changes to my US trip itinerary...instead of just visiting Florida, I'll also be going over to Portsmouth to stayover at my best friend's place. It'll be the first time I ever experience winter...hopefully, it won't be so cold that I would fall sick. * Touchwood * However, that also means I'll have to spend $700++ more to change my air tickets...I should have bought the tickets later to save the $150 change penalty fee. Guess I'm just a typical Kiasu Singaporean, haa.

I'm currently waiting for SIM to announce the graduation date....hee, I'm finally a graduate! The two years were really tough...lack of sleep, lots of research and reading, weekends spend completely in the national library or school...finally it's over. Luckily, I graduated before they stop the supply of refreshments. I always look forward to those snacks during teabreak, as some are really tasty and there is always a variety of snacks to choose from.

I finally found a good website to play online mahjong. This website is really cute - www.viwawa.com. I like the cute wawa(s) very much. Xin, you could practice your mahjong skill there. Haa.

Friday the 13th...

Yesterday was Friday the 13th and it was indeed an unlucky day for me...

I made my 1st visit to BBDC alone to enrol as a student and was surprised that female needs to attend much more practical lessons than male, which means higher fees to complete the driving course. As someone working office hours, I could only book for peak-hour slots and it will add up to around $2700 ++. Upon hearing the costs of each items, I quickly search for my mobile phone to calculate the amount. To my dismay, it couldn't be found... I quickly make a number of calls to my office to check whether I have left it at my desk. Many of my 10 cents and 20 cents coins were confiscated by the phone everytime a voice mail is reached, which was so annoying. I felt guilty for hogging the phone as there was a lady waiting behind me. After confirming with a kind colleague that my phone is locked in my drawer, I hurriedly took a bus back to office.

I have recently booked my Orlando air tickets from Northwest Airlines after several comparisons of price, flights timing, airline reputations...I hope there will not be discount in the near future that would made me regret my purchase...Today, I saw from singtelshop.com that the N82 I have just bought has dropped in price by $200!!! Argh...hopefully my bad luck will go away soon.

Tomorrow, I'm going to collect my two NDP tickets at the floating platform (At least something lucky has happened to me...). I hope the queue won't be very long....(keeping my fingers crossed).

At home relaxing...

Yeah, the stressful exam period is finally over. The exam results will be released on 4 Jun...hopefully the results are to my expectation, so that I can happily graduate.

Before my exam, I have went for a one-day Batam tour and used my new biometric passport for the first time. It is so much more convenient! I don't like Batam's ferry terminal. The queue gets so messy when the crowds from different ferries come in and the tour guides are openly helping their tour members to cut queue! The passengers leaving Batam also use the same passage way as our queue to enter Batam, which makes it very irritating, as there is already not much space to move and yet they keep pushing with their hands and luggage. Some words to say to an irritating Uncle - next time don't use your palm to push a lady ok? It is very rude to push a stranger's back and I can sue you for molesting! The other people in front of you got through our crowd without having to push me!

I'm so glad to have my best friend back from USA for visit...Thank you for your Nike cap and chocolate! Have a safe trip back and see you in December at Florida!

Everything is so unexpected in this world. Recently, there are so much news on the Myanmar cyclone and China earthquake...it is so sad to see how lives could be easily gone and how lives could be dramatically changed. Singaporeans are so much luckier, as we do not encounter serious natural disasters (hopefully we will NEVER encounter such tragedy). We need to cherish whatever we have. From the news, I see people getting their legs or arms amputated to be able to escape from the rubble....I hope the search team will be successful in their rescue effort and may all the survivors find their way out soon.

Turning 25 on Good Friday...

Hmm...I'm 25 soon. What do I want to be?

When I'm in primary school, I told my class that I want to be an actress and one day, they would see me on TV. I've achieved that by appearing as an extra in three local chinese drama, even though it's less-than-a-minute appearance, haa. I remembered one of the extras I worked with became an ad model for Dove, one was a Miss Singapore Universe finalist and one was a Project Superstar finalist. I remembered that I took part in a chinese game show and injured my back, as all participants were required to re-shoot the jumping scene till it's perfect. Now, I've became quite 'low profile', and I just want to be a regular gal with no worries...

I would be graduating this year...I don't think I want to pursue a master degree, as it's pretty stressful to work and study at the same time. I want to learn driving and maybe save up for a decent car. I want to travel around the world and visit places I haven't been to. People told me it's time to find a boyfriend, but this type of thing shouldn't be rushed right? There are just so many things I want to do, but yet to get started. I want to learn a new language, attend a course in Fengshui, and maybe get a tour guide license in case I want to work freelance in future.

Manga/ Anime Craze

I'm addicted to Manga/ Anime... I really like Zatch Bell, Bleach and Naruto + many others like Saiyuki Reload, Tsubasa Chronicles. The stories are so interesting...however, Bleach and Naruto's getting a bit draggy....I'm more interested in the story rather than the fighting scenes....Is it weird to still be crazy about manga/ anime at this age? I don't know, but I enjoyed staying at home and reading such stuffs. I have seen cos players wearing the costumes from Bleach and Naruto, and it's really cool! I really admire their courage, which I don't think I have even though I'm so tempted to join them...Singapore's version of Celestial Zone is also not bad...I'm so glad that our national libraries have such comics for loan!