Random Ramblings of David ♥ Gladys

From Duo Core to Quad Core

2010-10-16T12:32:00.002+08:00

After my motherboard died on me last week, I went to get a new motherboard + CPU. Once again, I went with AMD because
1) Cheaper. MUCH cheaper
2) AMD still have boards/chips that I can use my DDR2 RAM with. No need to buy new RAM

And I bought a AMD Athlon II Quad Core 640 processor. Motherboard + CPU for just $255. Looking back, I moved from single core to duo core in late 2008. Now finally moving on to quad core. Tho I'm supposed to be a "geeky" person, I'm actually very far behind the rest when it comes to getting high end computers! I'm always going for low-end ones.

Affectionate Cats

2010-05-23T16:48:00.002+08:00

Who said cats are not affectionate? I haven't been feeling well for the whole day, so most of the time I was sleeping or just lying in bed. The two of them would come and sleep with me (beside me, sometimes on me) and sometimes they'll come and kiss me. There were a few times I got woken up by them walking on me though. Haha.

We thought that cats are supposed to be less active after sterilisation. It doesn't seem to be the case with our cats, still as active as ever.

Tech Updates

2010-04-03T16:00:00.003+08:00

Looking back, I've gotten quite a number of the tech gadgets I've been wanting. iPhone 3GS (from Starhub, not M1), Canon EOS 550D, a 1TB hard disk to back up my photos. What's next?

Well, next thing on my mind is actually not gadgets, but the wedding! Wedding prep!

iPhone coming to M1!

2009-10-14T00:47:00.002+08:00

I can't wait for M1 to start selling the iPhone at the end of the year. I've been waiting and hoping that M1 (which I prefer over Singtel) to start offering the iPhone, and I won't have to be forced to change Telco just to get an iPhone. Woohoo! Maybe at the beginning of next year, you'll see me with an iPhone?

Countdown... 3 days...

2009-07-29T00:43:00.002+08:00

We're only 3 days from moving (in fact, less than 3 days now). But we still have so much left undone! So many things to move, so much to clean up. I hope all will turn out well in the end...

More renovation updates

2009-07-20T00:37:00.005+08:00

Finally things are moving at a better pace. I'm still rather worried about whether it can finish by 22nd though. There are a lot of places that need to be touched up.

The lights and ceiling fan are finally up. As can be seen, the balcony is also painted.

The kitchen cabinets

Dish rack

Another part of the kitchen cabinet

The study table

This is the sliding door between the living room and the study room
I quite like the effect of the spotlight on the altar
The colour of bedroom 3
Another pic of the sliding door. This time closed.
The masterbedroom light and the built in wardrobe. The wardrobe hides the entrance of the toilet.

Showing a bit of the inside of the wardrobeMore of the inside
Dining lights
Study room light. I like the wall colour.

Frustrated with Renovations Progress

2009-07-15T00:30:00.005+08:00

I can't believe this. After more than 1 month of renovations, our house is still quite far from complete. Before they started work, the contractors told us in 4 to 6 weeks time, it'll be completed. After starting, they say end of June. After some time, it became early July. A few days ago, it became 22nd July. Now, everything is still behind schedule.

The contractors don't seem to be able to activate their workers well. All they did today was to paint a few walls. A lot of the walls are still left undone. They were supposed to have completed painting last Saturday! Lights are not up though it was supposed to be completed by today.

Anyway, here are some photos of the house in progress.

Painting in progress:

Small window in living room. Bottom is now boxed up.

Grilles are up for all the windows

Probably our favourite part of the renovation. The platform at the balcony.

Store room door. For goodness sake, why would we need a magnetic door stopper for the storeroom door which is supposed to be kept closed all the time?!?! And now that the workers fixed it on, we can't remove the part on the door as it'll leave a hole...

The tight toilet bowl space and the window screen in the common toilet. Although it's still dirty now, it really looks much better than the old green flooring.

Messy kitchen

Messy living room as well. Can't wait for the old lights to be taken down.

Masterbed room toilet door. We wanted only 2 panels for the door (same for the common toilet door), but the contractor forgot to tell the sub-contractors, and both doors turned out to have 4 panels. The contractor asked us to accept it, and we actually said OK, provided everything goes well. Looking at things now, I'm so unhappy... We were willing to give and take, but they just kept doing things wrongly and delaying.

We're going to meet the contractors in the morning to talk things through and sort things out. Do they actually need me to teach them how to manage their workers?

First Day of Renovation

2009-05-31T01:38:00.003+08:00

We started the renovation on 21st May. The workers came to hack the floor. We're changing the floor tiles for the whole place except for the balcony (building platform over) and the masterbed room toilet (which has nice tiles that are only 3 years old)

Renovation Part 1 - Pictures of House Before Renovation

2009-05-30T23:58:00.003+08:00

Oh my gosh. Preparing for the new house is just plain TIRING! So tiring that we hardly had anytime for rest, let alone blog here. After weeks and weeks of re-fining our requirements, and getting quotes from interior designers, we decided to settle for Ah Soon, a contractor recommended by Jovyn (Gladys' friend that she got to know through talking online about diamonds!).

Indeed, Ah Soon gave a good pricing compared to the other interior designers, and he is highly recommended on RenoTalk Forum. And honestly, even when we talked to the interior designers, because we have quite a lot of ideas of our own, we felt that the IDs were not that much value-add after all. Definitely not worth the price difference.

Ah Soon is not personally handling this project though. He got his "disciple", Alan (a.k.a Ah Huat) to handle our house instead. Our experience with Alan so far has been quite good. Although he's forgetful (understandable since he's handling so many projects), but he's quite helpful too.

Some background about our house. It's a resale 5A unit in Bukit Batok. 132sqm. So it's actually quite big. We bought it partly because of the space, especially when we compared the kitchen to the new flats. The flat is quite old though. 24 years old already.

So, to start off, here's some pics of our house before we started renovation.

This is the main door and the storeroom. Because the main door and the storeroom door is in each other's way, the previous owner just removed the storeroom door. Also, he hacked a hole in the wall into the kitchen.

Here are some photos of the living area. The area behind the beam is actually the dining area, and the three doors are the three bedrooms. We are going to block up the doors to the first and third bedroom, and make the second bedroom into a study room, with a sliding door into the room, and then from the study room, we'll have the doors to the other two bedrooms.

Here, you can see the balcony. The doors are quite ugly, and we're going to remove them.

The entrance to the kitchen can be seen here

These old flats have no windows in the living room other than the balcony windows and this small window beside the balcony. At first we thought of sealing it up, but then when we opened the window, a strong breeze came through and we felt that it would be such a waste sealing it up.

This particular window beside the main door, we will definitely seal up though. It's actually already sealed up from the outside (HDB changed their mind about having this window here?) but then the previous 2 owners did not seal up on the inside.

A closer look at the balcony. This is going to become a cosy corner with a platform next time.

The kitchen. The previous owner divided the kitchen into two: a dining area and the cooking area. We're just going to have one huge kitchen instead, and move the dining area back where it was supposed to be.

The common toilet. Major renovations to this toilet. We're going to do some shifting here and build a shower screen. Only problem is that we'll have to turn the toilet bowl 90 degrees, and means that the side will be very close to the wall.

Bedroom 1 (Masterbed room)

Toilet in Bedroom 1. Looks much nicer than the common toilet, and it has a shower screen

Only problem is the windows (which is also the case in the common toilet). They are the original ones, 24 years old already.

Bedroom 2:

Bedroom 3:

Got our house keys

2009-05-10T02:12:00.004+08:00

Not too long ago, we were looking for a house to live in. Now, we finally got the keys to our future home. We got our keys just last Wed (06 May), and I'm just so happy, like I'm a home owner (although technically, it's mortgaged to HDB). I can't wait to get renovation started and move in etc.

But there's a lot of work to do before that! Design, renovation, blah blah... We're only looking at moving into the house in Oct. That's still about 5 months away.

Sad news about Richard Stanley

2009-04-11T16:35:00.002+08:00

Heard such shocking and saddening news this morning that the CEO of DBS, Richard Stanley, passed away this morning at 8:45am. It was really unexpected as recently, it was still reported that he was doing fine in his treatment. Things just suddenly turned bad yesterday when he got an infection. Sigh...

A lot of my friends were utterly shocked too when I told them about the news, asking me where I got the news from etc. Many of us were really hoping to see him back in action soon. Now, we can only pray for him and his family, pray that his family will have the strength to go through this tough period.

Additional Housing Grant

2009-03-26T23:50:00.001+08:00

Just went for our HDB 1st appointment today and found out that we managed to get $15k additional housing grant! We're totally over the moon now, cos we were initially told by our housing agent that we're NOT even eligible for the grant cos our monthly income is over the maximum, but we insisted on applying anyway (without his help) cos David's only been working for half a yr and our average monthly income over the past 12 months should be less than 5k. Even then, we were just hoping to get the minimum grant of $5k. In the end, HDB somehow calculated our average monthly income over the past 12 months to be $3.7k, and gave us an additional grant of $15k!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

We just feel so blessed. If we had bought the house earlier, we won't have been eligible, cos the policy before 6 Feb 2009 required either of us to have worked for at least 2 years, and have a combined income of less than $4k. If we had bought the house later, we won't have been eligible either, cos our average 12 mths income would have exceed the maximum since David would have worked for a longer period of time. We both agreed that it's God's plan that we bought the house at this time, so we can enjoy an additional grant of $15k, over the $40k tt we're already getting for buying a house near David's mum. This $15k means that we pay almost $100 less per month for our mortgage over the next 30 years!

Thank you God! Thank you HDB! Thank you Singapore! Thank you Uncle Lee! We love you! *muackz* =D

P.S. NO thanks to our agent. =P

All Set...

2009-03-03T19:48:00.005+08:00

So I've added a Ticker Factory counter to countdown to our wedding, cos we've already booked the venue for our church wedding (Church of St Mary of the Angels) and wedding dinner (Orchard Hotel)! Our wedding date is now set to be on Saturday, 24 July 2010! Can't believe that we were SO Singaporean about this. Kiasu to the max. =P

It seems like such a long time before our wedding actually takes place, but at the same time, it feels like we don't have enough time to get all that we have to do done! 16 months and 3 weeks for us to:

1) Go for the 1st appointment for our house
2) ROM
3) Collect keys
4) Renovate the house
5) Clean the house
6) Move into the house
7) Design and make wedding/evening gown/suits
8) Take wedding photos
9) Food tasting at the hotel
10) Do up guest list
11) Look for emcees
12) Send out invitations
13）Plan our honeymoon
14) 过大礼
15）安床
16) Complete many other miscellaneous tasks while working full time...
17) Get enough sleep to look good for our big day

Looking at the list of things that we have to do, I don't even know where we're gonna get started, and task #17 will probably be left undone. (-_-;) Oh well, at least we're gonna be married at the end of it! =)))

In need of a break...

2009-02-20T00:07:00.003+08:00

It's been AGES since I last blogged.

After I came back from Sydney, I started work almost immediately. Perhaps it's cos of how laid back life in Sydney was, I had a really hard time coping with the fast pace of my work. Still struggling to cope.

Right now, I think that I've been so overwhelmed that my mind has finally decided to switch off. Happy feelings don't last. Sad feelings don't stay either. Memories don't remain in my head. I have a hard time recalling what I did over the weekend. At the end of the day, I just feel complete numbed, and my mind is blank. I'm in desperate need of some time to get away and relax...

How could I have been so STUPID as to think that I could cope without taking a break from Nov 2008 to Apr 2009, after slacking in Sydney for 9 months?? All I can do now is to hit myself on the head and drag myself through these last 6 weeks before my annual leave. =(

Hog's Breath Cafe... Not to my liking at all. But nice outing

2009-02-12T23:35:00.006+08:00

Last Sat, we went to meet up with Gladys' USYD classmates at Vivocity. Had dinner at Hog's Breath Cafe, and what a disappointment it was.

Although we ordered medium rare steak, the first time it came, it was well-done. Of course, we rejected it and asked for it to be changed. The second time it came, it was medium-done to well-done still. Finally, the third time it came, it was still OK (medium rare to almost medium-done, but we felt that if we rejected it again, we'll never get our food). By that time, the rest of the group were almost done eating!

And honestly, the steak wasn't nice. Definitely not worth the price that we paid for it. Mind you, Hog's Breath does not charge cheaply.

And then there's the bill. I paid with my AMEX card and so was supposed to enjoy a 10% discount. When the bill came, I decided to check my bill properly. On the bill, it came up to about 190+ (after discount), but on my AMEX bill slip, they charged me 200+! I was quite pissed by then. After the waitress brought the bill back, I went over to the counter and asked for the manager. The guy at the counter just raised up his hand like saying he's the manager (very unprofessional way). So I complained about the food and the bill, and all he could say was "I'm so sorry" in a rather insincere manner. So I complained further saying that they charge us service charge, and yet give us this. I don't know what I'm paying the service charge for. Again, all he did was to say "I'm so sorry" in an insincere tone again. Finally Gladys also couldn't take it when he presented the bill to me again, and also commented that "Wah. Service charge of $16+, so much." Finally he mentioned that what he can do for us if we want is to take off the service charge. So of course I told him, yes, please do that.

No more Hog's Breath Cafe at Vivocity for me anymore. Bad experience...

What was good though, was the gathering. And we took so many photos!

As usual, the photographer is missing from most of the photos. :)

Strong wind... from the ventilator.

Rather random shot of a kid playing.

Ermm.... What are they doing?!?!

Just a sample of the many photos we took that day. I conclude that photo taking is the number one activity whenever this bunch of girls meet. Haha.

Looking back on 2008

2009-01-11T00:53:00.002+08:00

OK. I know that it's already mid Jan 2009, but although I've always been wanting to post this entry, I kept forgetting or pushing it back due to other stuff.

2008 has really been an eventful year. On a global scale, there were all the crisises that happened: China earthquake, India terrorism holdup where a Singaporean was killed, beginning of the Financial Crisis, just to name a few. In my memory, there has never been such a scary year, with so many major events happening. One major event which was not bad was the US Elections where Obama came out as the first black president of the US. Hopefully he'll be better than George Bush.

In my personal life, there had been so many events too. Gladys went overseas for studies and came back. I finished my HYP and graduated. I went on to finally joining DBS, on the Management Associates Programme, and made a bunch of new friends. Gladys and I developed to a further level in terms of our relationship, and actually made the decision to buy a house! OK, the house buying part was actually in 2009, but the decision and the search started in 2008.

No matter what, life still goes on. 2008 has been a year of changes for the world, and for the two of us as a couple and as individuals. How will 2009 be? I can only hope that it'll be better, as well as work on making it better.

One slight disappointment with iPod Touch

2008-12-08T23:39:00.002+08:00

After all the fun and joy with the iPod Touch, I finally found one thing that I'm really, really disappointed with. Random acts of setting the wrong date and time on the iPod Touch. After doing some Googling, then I found out that it seems to occur whenever iTunes is open when Windows go to sleep or hibernate mode, wakes up from sleep or hibernate mode, and the iPod Touch is synchronised with iTunes in such situations.

In order to prevent such a thing from happening, I can't leave iTunes open if I'm charging the iPod Touch for a long period without using the computer (in case the computer goes to sleep with iTunes still open, and when I wake it up, the connected iPod Touch will immediately sync with iTunes), and when Windows wakes up, I'll just have to close iTunes and open it again before I plug my iPod Touch in.

The amazing thing is that it's such a common problem that has been around for a long time, yet Apple is doing NOTHING about it. Sigh... Sad.

Celebration over my leave period

2008-11-27T00:05:00.006+08:00

Wow... How time flies. More than a week has passed since Gladys came back to Singapore and I'm back at work already! Of course, we did lots of things throughout the few days of holidays that we had. She reached back Singapore on 19th Nov night, and I took leave from 20th to 26th Nov to accompany her.

On the 20th, we went to Singapore Flyer! And we had dinner at an Italian restaurant. The view on Singapore Flyer was quite nice at night. Although I had been on the Flyer before with colleagues from DBS, it's still nice and different when I'm on the Singapore Flyer with Gladys.

First, we had an exchange of Christmas presents. Early exchange, cos both of us couldn't wait to get our hands on the gifts. Haha. Her pendant, and my iPod Touch:

Our food!

This is what happens when you play with your food too much.

We actually took a video where Gladys played with the food, but I'll have to edit it before putting it up here.

And finally, the Singapore Flyer! I didn't have the good camera with me the last time, and couldn't take good photos. Finally this time I had my good old Fujifilm S6500fd and was able to take some nice photos.

And then it was off to Batam for us! Spent a few days there just rotting. There was really nothing much to do there. Just there to forget everything and relax. I shall upload the photos after Gladys passes them to me.

Before we knew it, we were back to work. Phew...

It's here!

2008-11-14T00:01:00.001+08:00

Santa Gladys has David Good Boy (DGB) on her Nice List this year, and since DGB had a bad day today, Santa Gladys decided to show him his Xmas present to cheer him up! (-^_^-)v

It's from Sydney Apple Store!

What's in the bag???

TADA!!!

Can these count as 3 presents?

It's the 16GB iPod Touch 2G! And it's MORE FUN than the funnest iPod ever, cos it's DGB's iPod. =P

Front view... You can see me + camera in the reflection. Lol.

Super-slim side view!

The back of the packaging.

Yesterday, I was cracking my head over which is the best case to get for DGB. So I went down to Apple Store today and spent about 2 hours trying on all the different cases (the staff at Sydney Apple Store rock!!) and in the end, I decided on this Incase Slider Case. Was gonna buy black, but I spotted this NEW COLOUR at the last minute and bought it instead.

I know it looks like a sad, sucky grey in the photo, but it's actually a very cool metallic finish (gun metal colour).

The Incase Slider Case complete with the fake cardboard iPod. =P

Can't wait to meet your new iPod huh?
Just 5 days more!!

A teaser for David...and a little for myself

2008-11-12T12:52:00.010+08:00

Now that I'm going back to Singapore soon, what does David have to look forward to apart from seeing me and taking a break from work? Hmm... How about...

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The funnest iPod ever!!

So, I've been thinking a lot about which case to get for David's Xmas iPod Touch. At first I wanted to get him one of those leather folio cases, but then I found that they're bulky and seem to interfere with the sensitivity of the touchscreen. After much deliberation, I decided to go for the fitted cases + screen protector instead, so here're a few contenders:

Incase silicon protective cover in black.
This one's a little bulkier (less bulky than the leather folios though), but more protective than the rest. The protectiveness is definitely suitable for David, but silicon means that it'll be a dust magnet.

Incase slider case in black.
This one's easy to put on, has a coating at the back for better grip, but it's made of hard plastic, so it's less protective and might break more easily, plus reviews of the slider case for 1st Gen iPod Touch said that it leaves SCRATCHES.

Incase hardcase in black.
This one's similar to the slider case, except it's translucent and is a snap-on case rather than a slide-on. So probably less chances of scratching the iPod Touch in the process of putting it on. Once again, it's plastic - less protective and more prone to breakage.

Well, ya, this Belkin silicon case in purple is just a THOUGHT. Although David likes purple, this is probably a little too girly for him. Haha. It's cute though!

So many to choose from... What a headache... Maybe I should just get him PINK...

So while I was looking at iPod Touch, I started feeling very tempted to get something for myself to replace my pathetic Aigo MP3 player that has a FM tuner but only plays 99 songs!

Don't you just love ALL the new iPod Nano colours? I'm totally undecided now. I love the look of the iPod Nano, but I like to listen to the radio from time to time, but iPods just don't have FM tuners!! Grr... I wonder if I should just get an 8GB Sony NWZ-S738F/B from Sydney International Airport DFS for a little more than an iPod Nano...

It retails in Singapore at S$319, but I can get it at DFS for just A$199, which is very cheap considering the exchange rate now. Shall pop down to Sony Centre to have a look after my paper tomorrow.

What I like about it:

Built-in Noise Cancelling System
Better batt life - 40 hours(music)/10 hours(video)
Digital FM Tuner
Music transfer by Drag & Drop
Easy to charge via USB connection
Comes with Sony in-ear earphones
Similar size to Nano
Fast charging (3hrs full charge)

Here's the price/size/weight comparison:

8GB iPod Touch: A$299 / 110 x 61.8 x 8.5mm / 115g
8GB Sony NWZ-A728F/B: A$199 / 89.5 X 42.9 X 7.5mm / 46g
8GB iPod Nano: A$180 / 90.7 x 38.7 x 6.2mm / 36.8g

Sigh... What should I do?!?! I love the iPod Nano design more, but I love the Sony features more. BTW, I'm not considering the 8GB iPod Touch. Just threw it in purely for comparison's sake.

Tell me what you think thru the poll in the side panel. (-^_^-)v

Final Countdown

2008-11-12T12:51:00.000+08:00

So I'm actually supposed to be studying now for my exam paper tomorrow, but I totally cannot concentrate. Why, you ask? Cos our final 1-week countdown begins today! I feel like running out and knocking on all my neighbours' doors and telling them, "HEY!!! I'm going back to Singapore in 1 week!!! I can finally talk, laugh and turn on my music/video/TV after 10pm and nobody will hear me or complain to the landlord (unlike you suckers!)!!!". But obviously I won't do that, cos the suckers will probably complain to my landlord. And yup, they sleep by 10pm. (-_-;)

On second thoughts, maybe they'll just jump for joy too. No fun living in a terrace with paper-thin walls between us and the sleep-by-10pm neighbours. (>_<)

Almost time to go...

2008-11-10T13:35:00.005+08:00

How time flies. Before I knew it, it's just another 9 days before I leave Sydney for good and return to Singapore. While I'm looking forward to seeing David, my family and friends again, part of me also feel afraid. After being away for so long, it's gonna be another period of adjustment for me. Adjusting to the time difference, to living with my parents again, to seeing David regularly again, to working again, etc. Most of these may seem like good things, but I just can't help feeling a sense of uncertainty. I guess there's just comfort in the status quo.

DBS jobs cut... Scary

2008-11-09T01:25:00.003+08:00

I'm sure most of you, if not all, should have heard about the news now. DBS is going to cut 900 jobs in SG and HK. It was so scary when the news was announced. We could see that our CEO, Richard Stanley, was shaken and sad when he announced the news to us at The Rock. It was the first time that our quarterly briefing was done at The Rock, because they wanted to address all the staff in one place. Even our chairman was not his usual cheerful self, but was solemn and serious.

Am I worried? I'll be lying if I say I'm not. But at the same time, I'm just trying to hold on to the thought that they probably won't fire the new MAs. Then again, who's to know? Everything's so uncertain now in this current situation. I'm just praying hard. But at the same time, I'm still confident in DBS. Confident that it will ride through and survive this storm.

Updates on my kidney stone

2008-11-09T01:07:00.002+08:00

Unfortunately, it's still not out. I'm still on painkillers. And there's nothing I can do except to suppress the pain with painkillers and drink lots of fluid to pass it out (urine). But it's still not out yet! I still have painkillers only for another 2 or 3 days. If it doesn't get out, and the pain becomes unbearable again, then I'll have to go back to the hospital again. Bleah... Or maybe I can go to a clinic and get the same medication... My appointment with the urologist is on the 19th. Only then will I be able to get a clearer picture.

Well... 10 more days before Gladys comes back! And the appointment date is the day that Gladys comes back! So that will actually be a day that I'll be looking forward to.

My poor dear... =(((

2008-11-05T19:33:00.005+08:00

David's been having severe abdominal pain for the past 3 days.

On the first day, he went to a 24-hr clinic at Clementi after midnight and the doctor told him that he probably ate something bad and there's a lotta gas in his stomach. Send him home with some medicine for his stomach. He went to sleep thinking that he'll be able to go to work the next day.

The next day, after he woke up and had his breakfast, the pain came back again and he went to Bt Gombak to see another doctor. Once again, the doctor told him that it was just gas and gave him more medicine. Fortunately, the doctor didn't rule out that there's a possibility of acute appendicitis, so he gave David a referral letter to A&E in case the pain worsens. He went home, took the medicine, spend most of the day lying in bed wif a hot pack and started feeling better. Once again, he went to bed, thinking that he'll be able to work the next morning.

This morning, when David woke up, the pain was back again, so he finally decided to go to SGH A&E. When the doctor saw him, at first he suspected that David was having constipation, so he got the nurse to give him a fleet enema, but it didn't help much. After tt, the doctor tried to let him have a suppository and see if he can pass any motion, but it still didn't help the pain. After spending around 3 hours in A&E, the doctor ordered blood investigations and X-rays, and finally diagnosed him with kidney stones. Gave him a jab of strong painkiller (Pethidine?) and a urology referral. Now he's resting at home.

Sigh... He's suffering so much and I'm so far away... I just feel like such a failure as his girlfriend. =((( Hope he gets well soon.

Thanks, all who showed concern.

PAIN PAIN

2008-11-04T15:01:00.002+08:00

I can't believe how much pain can wind bring to my tummy. Last night, my tummy got so painful that I couldn't bear it. I wanted to wait till morning before seeing the doc, but I just couldn't. So off I went with my brother to find a 24 hr clinic. Went to the clinic at Bt Gombak that was supposed to be 24 hrs and is in the list of panel clinics in my company, but now it changed to closing at 11pm. Went to Bt Batok Central and found none. Went to another one that's also supposed to be 24 hrs, but now changed to close at 12am.

So finally decided to go NUH straight. The stupid queue was FOUR freaking hours. And the nurse said that she couldn't give me any painkillers until the doc has seen me. FOUR hours!!! I would have died of pain by then.

Off I went to another 24 hrs clinic in Clementi that Gladys found online. Doctor told me it's wind and I might have eaten something bad. So gave me Buscopan and gave me one day MC. That visit cost me $99.50 and only $40 is claimable because it's not panel clinic of my company! Went home, took the medication and slept, thinking that I still can go to work today.

This morning I woke up with a bit of pain, and it got worse. I took the medication at 7+, but the pain kept coming. Finally, at 10, I couldn't take it and went to the panel clinic at Bt Gombak with my mom. The doctor did a more thorough check and also felt that it was wind, but also with gastric pain. He checked for appendicitis and felt that it wasn't likely to be appendicitis due to no pain on right side and no rebound pain. So he gave me more medication that will reduce the stomach acid and line the inside of the stomach. He also gave me a letter for me to bring to the hospital in case my pain persists. And he also gave me MC for tomorrow as well.

Even after taking the medication, the pain still persisted and came in waves. At some points, it was really unbearable and I was really screaming. Usually I have quite a high tolerance for pain, but this time it's really bad. Finally after lunch at about 2+, I could feel my stomach being less bloated and churning, and the pain started to die down.

Unbelievably painful.

FINALLY!!

2008-11-03T18:59:00.002+08:00

I've submitted the last of my assignments! Now all I have left are 2 exams papers before I go back to Singapore! Really really happy now cos I can finally spend 5 days just hanging ard, shopping etc without feeling the slightest bit of guilt. Hehe. I think I'm starting to feel a little sad about leaving Sydney though. Having a bit of mixed feelings. Looking forward to going back, but also can't bear to leave...

Finally on dual-core and Vista

2008-11-03T01:57:00.001+08:00

I think I must be one of the last few people that I know who only migrated to a dual-core system recently. I have been surviving on a AMD Athlon 2800+ system with 1.5Gb of RAM, Radeon 9550 all the way until just last week!

But now I'm finally on a dual-core system. Had such a great buy last Saturday (25th Oct 2008). Went to Sim Lim with Gladys' dad because there was something wrong with his motherboard, so he decided to buy a new system. And I decided to buy a new system to upgrade too. Originally I had a budget of about S$500 to upgrade my system. Then I noticed a pricing error and made the best computer buy I've ever made. An ASUS M2N68-VM Motherboard with an AMD 64X2 5200+ CPU, 4Gb of Kingston DDR2 PC800 RAM, and a LG 22X SATA DVD writer for just $220!!! Super cheap! The ASUS motherboard comes with integrated NVIDIA graphics that is not bad and sufficient for my use.

Of course, Gladys' dad bought the same stuff, with another hard disk, power supply, and Windows Vista Home Premium. Since I already have a Vista license, and I replaced my power supply just last year or so, I didn't have to get those stuff.

Another 16 days and Gladys will be back! And also the start of my block leave! And the start of a few days holiday for the two of us!

It's 1st November!

2008-11-01T10:58:00.002+08:00

Boy, does my countdown to returning to Singapore start to feel real now! It's finally November and I can count the days just by looking at the calendar! =))

18 days more!

For my dear...

2008-10-30T22:12:00.003+08:00

I know we're both tremendously stressed out with work now, you having just started working and already having such a huge workload, and me, struggling to finish the last lap of my studies. When the going gets tough it's so easy to just feel that everyone is having it better than us. But when that happens, I want both of us to always remember that no matter what, we'll still have each other to hold on to, and that is so much better than having a better pay, a master degree at 25, an easier job, a more planned out future, being prettier, being richer, being smarter, whatever. In every cloud there's a silver lining, and we're each other's silver lining, always. ♥♥♥

Just another 19 days and we'll be doing this again! =))

Almost there!

2008-10-29T23:46:00.005+08:00

I can hardly believe this! Now I have just 1 assignment, 2 exam papers and 20 days to go before I'm back! Yay! ♥♥♥

I'm sure I'm gonna miss Sydney, but just not right now... Right now I just wanna be back in my dear's arms. =)) Period.

Please don't be so cold...

2008-10-23T15:57:00.011+08:00

The weather, that is!

Can't believe that just less than a week ago, it was upwards of 30 degrees and we were all complaining about how hot it was. Well, guess I complained too much and jinxed myself. Yesterday, it just suddenly plunged to 10 degrees at midday here in Sydney, along with umbrella-flipping winds and pouring rain. Apparently it was the coldest October day in 4 years. The cold-front brought snow to the Blue Mountains (which I was not fortunate enough to see), and now we're all freezing and cursing over how we've already vacuum-packed and boxed up our winter clothings.

The snow in Blue Mountains.
Photo from smh.com.au

Can't wait to get back to Singapore... At least then I can be CONSISTENT in complaining about the weather!

On a happier (& warmer) note, it's just 27 days more!

One Month Left!

2008-10-19T14:15:00.004+08:00

Just one month left before Gladys comes back to Singapore! Finally! Somehow it seems like she's been away for a really long time.

Then again, this feeling might be because of my work. I'm one month into my current department/role, and I feel like I've been here for ages. There's just so much to do, so much to learn, and I've done so much within this one month. Never thought that it's possible. The projects that I had to embark on and to complete is probably more like a semester's work or more in Uni.

I've applied for a DBS resort stay in Bintan for 3 days at special rates for employees of DBS. Hopefully I'll be able to get it so that when Gladys is back, we can go for a holiday at Bintan.

My sec sch maths teacher will be sad to know...

2008-10-15T12:59:00.007+08:00

I've been feeling miserable all morning, lamenting over how I still have 7 weeks before going back to Singapore. Yup, 35 days = 7 weeks. So it's been running thru my head all morning.

35 days.

7 weeks.

35 days.

7 weeks.

(does anyone see anything wrong with this?)

35 days.

7 weeks.

Why izit so long?

Finally, about 5 minutes ago, it hit me. 35 days DOESN'T make 7 weeks! It's 5 weeks! Dammit, took me 8 hrs to realise. Yay, so now I'm happy again! 5 weeks is pretty short! =))) Feeling kinda stupid tho...

Shh... Don't be a tattletale and tell my maths teacher!

35 days = 5 weeks more! XD

My new pendant watch!

2008-10-11T22:40:00.006+08:00

Went to Paddy's Market today to look for a pendant watch after seeing Charlene's and Jasmine's watches, but in the end, I chose something totally different from theirs. I'm sure David will love it though, cos it's Coca Cola! (^_^) Planning to wear this with my cartoon t-shirts/tank tops.

It's made in the shape of a Coca Cola bottle cap. It flips open like a pocket watch, but I'm too lazy to take a photo of that.

Modelled by our beloved Tiglet (Piglet in Tigger suit)!

Close-up.

38 days more!

My newest purchases!

2008-10-08T23:25:00.006+08:00

Finally went shopping today and bought myself a pair (non-matching) of toe rings from Goldmark! The designs here r so much nicer than the ones in SG and I'm so happy! =))

Here they are!

I just love the design on these 2 rings! They're $10 each BTW. 925 silver.

On my toes.

Also went to Broadway in hope of finding couple t-shirts for David and me, and I found them in the most unlikely place! Target kids' department! I bought size 12 (12-yr-old) for both of us. David's t-shirt should have a muscle tee fit. Hehe.

TADA!! 12-year-old girl's (left) and boy's (right) t-shirts!
David's t-shirt looks a bit lop-sided, but tt's just cos I didn't hang it up properly...

41 days more!

Red Rock Deli and a new hairstyle

2008-10-05T01:04:00.001+08:00

Knowing that I really liked the Red Rock Deli potato chips, Gladys actually bought 3 packets and got a friend who was stopping by at Sydney to bring them back to me. Haven't had the time to get them from him until recently. Thanks a lot dear for buying the snacks for me! Now at least I'll have something to snack on while working during the weekend. Haha. It's been a crazy week, and it'll probably be for at least 2 weeks to come.

Today I went for a haircut at Ashley Salon at Far East Shopping Centre at the recommendation of an image consultantant firm who did the Business Etiquette Seminar for DBS MAP. It's not actually expensive. $30 inclusive of wash and blow. Ashley is really quite good, and he gave me a rather funky hairstyle:

According to him, I can style it either a bit more funky by making it more messy, or more pro by making it neater. Haven't had a funky hairstyle for quite some time. Haha.

Wow, I found my old blog!

2008-10-04T11:40:00.005+08:00

This is so amazing.

After 3 years, I've totally forgotten the URL for my old LiveJournal. Couldn't even remember which email address I used. So on a hunch, I just keyed my current email address into the "Forgot Username" area on LiveJournal and found my old blog again! I don't remember ever writing on that blog about David leaving for Canada! In fact, I can't remember if I ever told David about my blog! LOL.

I wonder if anyone still follows it. If anyone's interested in reading my old childish posts, here's the link to my LiveJournal. It used to be a rather private space for me, but it's so long ago that I don't think much of it anymore. Very nostalgic though... I kept that blog from Aug 2001 to Sep 2005...

46 days and counting!

A photo from long ago...

2008-10-02T18:45:00.006+08:00

I was feeling quite bored and decided to look thru the blog that David was keeping while he was in Canada in 2005. Came across this photo! Really like it a lot. Makes my dear look like a movie star... And he's wearing the sweater that I knitted for him! ♥

So handsome!! (^.^)-♥

♥ I count the days to see you... ♥

2008-10-02T13:10:00.005+08:00

48 days! That's less than 7 weeks! =)) ♥♥♥

If I don't go back to Singapore soon...

2008-09-30T19:00:00.007+08:00

...I'll forget what a normal fruit looks like! Went grocery shopping today and bought some kiwi fruits, 10 for $4, and they're ALL this big!!

My Singaporean fruit knife is feeling a little intimidated...

In my palm...

Speaking of going back to Singapore, I'd better go back soon so I'll stop cutting my own hair and making a mess out of it! I was just trying to trim my fringe A LITTLE the other day cos it was poking my eyes, but I think the result looked more like a traumatic amputation. Emotionally traumatic, that is. (>_<) I had to layer it A LOT to make the shortness look intentional! I'm a mental health hazard to myself...

My new hairstyle. Sorry 'bout the dirty mirror! (^^;)

50 DAYS TO GO!! =)))

=) =) =)

2008-09-25T21:08:00.003+08:00

I'm feeling so happy today, cos David smsed me just now and told me that he actually wanted to mail the pendant that he got me for Xmas to me in Sydney as a surprise! =)

Unfortunately, Singpost told him that jewellery is a restricted item in Australia, so he's not allowed to send it over. Oh well, I'm still super happy, cos he knows that I LOVE surprises and wanted to gimme 1!

Thanks dear! *MUACKZ*

MAP CSR Video of my group

2008-09-21T22:31:00.004+08:00

To all the MAs in my CSR group, here's the video that you saw during the graduation dinner. It's too big to send to everyone via email, but if you really want a copy of it, let me know and I'll see what I can do. If not, here's just a heavily compressed web version of it:

For the rest of the readers here, this video is about a Corporate Social Responsibility project my group had to go on. Some charity work stuff.

Found something in my noodles...

2008-09-21T11:29:00.003+08:00

I've been wanting to post these for my dear to see, but kept forgetting. Feeling quite sian from doing my assignment now, so tot I'll just post them. Haha. I cooked korean glass noodles with dried shitake mushroom (and some other stuff) for lunch + dinner on 5th Sep (too busy 2 think of other stuff to cook) and found 2 very special mushrooms, one during lunch, the other during dinner! Both times, I didn't notice til I was eating halfway. BTW dear, they're from the pack of mushrooms tt we bought when we went to Hurstville together. =)

Found during lunch!! =)

Found during dinner! =)=)

Thanks to my dear for the iPod Touch

2008-09-20T23:47:00.002+08:00

On being touched, I also gotta mention my dear, who felt that her recent attempt at surprising me was a failure, but in fact, as I mentioned to her before, the thought has already touched me.

She wanted to buy me an iPod Touch for Christmas. And I told her to just get a refurbished one. Afraid that there would not be any refurbished stock nearing Christmas, and wanting to surprise me, she ordered the refurbished iPod Touch without telling me first, so that I can get it and use it already. But the very next day, the new iPod Touch came out, which was much cheaper than the old one, with better features. So when I told her about the new iPod Touch, she had to tell me that she already ordered, and so she felt that the surprise was spoilt. Luckily, we were able to return the refurbished iPod Touch to Apple for a refund.

Although she felt that the surprise was spoilt, I really felt that the thought and the action of buying has already touched me. Thanks a lot, dear, for the surprise. I really, really appreciated it and thought it was really nice.

Small sized, but big

2008-09-20T23:37:00.002+08:00

Just now on MSN, one of the HK MAs, Vera, told me something that made me really happy and touched: "although u are small in size. but u are big to me =))"

In such a short sentence, it contained a lot. Thanks Vera.

End of DBS MAP Campus Programme

2008-09-20T21:28:00.004+08:00

Yesterday marked the end of the DBS Management Associates Programme (MAP) 2008 Campus Training. We had a graduation dinner at Hyatt Hotel, for which another female colleague, Ting Yun, and I were in charge of organising for.

Being the chairpersons, the HR actually placed Ting Yun and me at the same table with our CEO, Richard Stanley. At first the two of us were quite scared about it, but Richard turned out to a really nice guy who was very willing to talk to us casually. He didn't put on any "air" at all.

Two months came and went so fast. The whole graduation dinner was full of memories, laughter, and tears. We had various awards presented, performances, and photographs showing. I was involved in the dance performance, and it turned out quite well despite have little practice. Although I fell during a flip and injured my thumb, I still felt happy about having all the Management Associates (MAs) coming up to dance. And the MAs from Hong Kong put up a nice skit with modified songs. I actually won an official award presented by HR, and an unofficial award which the MAs came up with.

For the official award, there were three: Outstanding Team Player, based on the collected score on the Teamwork section of peer feedback forms from the MAs; Best Academic, based on the test scores; and Most Respected and Admired, based on everything combined. I won the Outstanding Team Player award, and my fellow chairperson won the other two awards, which I must say she really deserved it. She's a great person to work with. For the unofficial ones, we had the Most Entertaining MA, Most Generous MA, Most Energetic MA, and Mr and Miss Congeniality. I got the Mr Congeniality award! I'm really happy and surprised at both awards, as both are voted by the MAs. That really meant a lot to me.

Today was another teary session when we sent them off at the airport. Tears were flowing like opened taps. Mixed feelings filled everyone. We were seeing them off, meaning goodbye for a long long time. After the two months of bonding and friendship, it was really not easy. Even though they were returning home to reunite with their family and loved ones, they were leaving us, new friends. And Monday would mark a new beginning for many of us who would really start work for the first time.

Well... On the other hand, it also meant that my dear is coming back in 60 days. Finally will be able to see her soon!

60 Days & 60 Nights

2008-09-20T17:43:00.002+08:00

The countdown for my return to Singapore has finally past the 2 months mark. 60 days more to go. 60 days sounds like such a short while, but yet feels like such a long time. 60 days to flying back to Singapore. 60 days to my own bed. 60 days to warm weather all year round. 60 days to end of studying. 60 days to seeing my dear again... 60 days... 1440 hours... 86400 minutes... 5184000 seconds... Why can't it be shorter?

Yet, I'm actually having mixed feelings about going back. Will everything still be the same? Will the people still be the same? Will David still be the same? Which department will I be posted to? How will I cope with work? Will I miss Sydney? Will I miss studying? So many questions, yet the answer will only come in 60 days...

And the years just past me by...

2008-08-24T11:58:00.004+08:00

I recently added a few long lost friends onto my facebook. When I looked at their facebook profiles, it just suddenly hit me how much has changed over the past 8 years. Some have grown fatter, some thinner, some got married, some relocated overseas... and everyone just look so much older, myself included.

Looking back, I've already known David for over 8 years. 8 years ago, in 2000, somewhere around Valentines' Day, I told David tt I really liked him, but he flatly rejected me. 8 years later, we've been through so much ups and downs together, and just celebrated our 5th anniversary as a couple. It's amazing how much life has changed everything and everyone. I just didn't really realise it until now. 8 years past me by like it was just yesterday. I'm feeling a bit emo right now...

Undergoing training at DBS

2008-07-31T22:35:00.003+08:00

I know haven't been diligently updating this blog, but then I've really been too busy. Too busy to even answer calls and reply SMS-es until evening time! I've just started my Management Associate Programme training in DBS. We started on last Friday, and from Monday to Wednesday we went to Outward Bound Singapore (OBS) for leadership and teambuilding training. And the three days of OBS were really... erm... Let's just say that I'm glad to be still alive and kicking. And today I'm back to lessons! Our lessons start from 9am and end at 5pm everyday, but then because of all the administrative work and meet the management sessions etc, we end up reaching at about 8:45am and leaving at 7pm. That's not including some of the days when we have dinner and drink sessions with others. That's still not the end. We still have homework to do, and we have FOUR projects to do within this 2 months of training... Bleah...

Super Unlucky

2008-07-22T02:54:00.004+08:00

Unbelievably unlucky today. We went to East Coast Park for BBQ today, to celebrate our anniversary since Gladys won't be around on the actual day. We forgot to bring along the aluminium net and paid almost $5 for one at 7-11 whereas the one we got at Sheng Shiong only cost us $1 something. Then, as a lot of people used to do and we used to do, we set up fire in an aluminium tray. For some reason, this time, the NEA people came over and stopped us, booked me for starting an open fire without a permit. They told me I'll receive a letter within two weeks which would tell me how much fine I'll have to pay.

Since we're there already, so we decided to book a BBQ pit to continue our BBQ, although it meant extra costs again. I walked to the AXS Station to make a booking, but somehow it couldn't read my ATM cards (both DBS and Standard Chartered ones). I walked around the area to find another one, and couldn't. Then I found out that that was the only AXS station in the whole of East Coast Park. Just as I was going to give up and just go home, we tried with Gladys' ATM card and somehow it worked. So it was just my cards (I'm the unlucky one).

During the BBQ, I wasn't feeling particularly well, as I hadn't been feeling well the whole day. I guess I didn't have enough rest for the past few days already. And just as we were leaving East Coast Park, I had a bad diarrhoea attack. Sigh... Just plain unlucky day for me...

Rebonded

2008-06-28T10:38:00.002+08:00

I just came back a couple of days ago, and I went to rebond my hair in Malaysia yesterday! Now my hair is poker straight and itching like hell cos I'm not supposed to wash my hair for 3 days. How am I supposed to do tt?!!! It's so freaking HOT in Singapore! I think I'm gonna give up and wash my hair today and just hope nothing bad happens to my rebonded hair. I read online that it's actually alright to wash after 1 day, and my hair is naturally straight anyway... Hehe.

I'm Back!

2008-06-26T03:02:00.004+08:00

After being away for more than 4 months, I'm finally back in Singapore! I kinda expected that many things would have changed during the 4 months tt I'm away, but everything is still EXACTLY the same! It felt as though I never left. The whole feeling is just SO DAMN WEIRD! Anyhow, it's time for me to enjoy 1 whole month of stress-free, cold-free, work-free, study-free fun, cheap food and shopping! Woohoo~! Hope I won't put on weight! =P

More about Apple Sydney Retail Store Grand Opening

2008-06-19T19:59:00.016+08:00

OK. Maybe most people are not as excited as I am. Probably only those hardcore Apple fans will share the kind of excitement (though I must admit that I'm not really a hardcore Apple fan, BUT when I have the money, I will probably be an Apple customer of many of their products). But hey! It's really quite exciting when you're in the group man. And the atmosphere they created. Really good.

I arrived at the Apple Store at about 3:15pm, hoping that there won't be too many people there (not like if it were in Singapore, for 2,500 pieces? You'll probably have to start queueing at 12pm latest). It didn't look half as bad as I thought:

A turn at the corner though, proved that the first impression was deceiving. They had "sections" of queues, fenced in. Following the queue down to the next street, and taking another turn, I saw yet another long section.

I asked one of the security guards where's the end of the queue and he told me further down, gotta cross the street. So I went down to the traffic light, and there was another section across the street! Luckily, there were just a few people in that section, and so I've reached the end of the queue!

That's my view from the end of the queue in the section:

And the view across the road to the other section:

Me taking a photo of myself in the queue. Two people have joined the queue behind me...

And turning around:

A closer look at where the turning point after the section. For those of you who might recognise this road, it's York Street, one street away from George Street, where the Apple Store is at. Basically, the Apple store is at the corner of George Street and King Street. So the queue went around the corner along King Street down to this corner of King Street and York Street, went down a bit till the traffic light, and continued across the traffic light (which was where I started in the queue).

I actually thought there must have been almost 700 to 800 people queueing up already, but I overheard people saying that the point I was at was about 400. So I was actually in the first 500.

After some time, more people joined the queue and that's what the back looked like from my position.

At about 4pm, there was this mobile cafe van that stopped near us and gave out some free coffee. A guy in my section jumped out and helped us got some coffee. He went a few rounds, and I also got one!

Yup, the security guard is friendly enough to help distribute coffee:

Oh! And the Melbourne guy was telling people that the first few people in the queue are actually Californians! He actually went to ask them. The people here are just much more friendly, and can just talk to each other in the queue. In fact, the security guards were joking with us.

At about 4:30pm, the employees started coming out and ran down the queue, shouting, hi-five-ing people, bringing up the atmosphere.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of people taking photos. Haha :

At about 4:45pm, the line started moving!

The new view from the new position. Haha. But it was only for a short while. Then we had to wait, and move on, and wait, and move on.

After some time, some people from Nudies (a drink company, people...) started giving out free Nudies! According to Gladys, it's really expensive. About 3+ a bottle? It's pure juice, with no additives or preservatives. Of course, I got a bottle!

At about 5:10pm, we finally reached the turning point at York Street:

Before we know it, the corner of the store!! Woohoo!!!

There were a lot of people in the store already, just looking down at us.

A group of employees formed the welcome party at the entrance, high-five-ing people, cheering, and giving out the T-shirts.

Looking at the poor people outside...

A view of the first storey, where it's all the iMacs, Macbooks etc.

Trying to take a pic of myself

Going up the stairs to the second floor. As can be seen, ladies, please do not wear skirts to Apple Retail Store in Sydney (guys shouldn't too).

The second storey which houses iPod stuff!

Me again, under the Apple logo. An Apple employee offered to help me take the photo.

The Apple logo viewed from inside the store. Reverse Apple?

View of the entrance from the second storey. People are still making their way in. In fact,

This is a rather new product that I haven't seen before in real life, only heard about it, until today, the Apple TV. Seeing it in "action" is rather cool. It's sort of a streaming media server to play photos, movies, videos etc on the TV.

Level 3 hosts the Genius Bar, where people can get help from the employees, and where workshops etc are held.

A look at how slim the new iPod Touch is! I'm so tempted to get one, but of course, my wallet tells me that I can't. Haha. Anyone wants to give me one for my birthday?

That was just some of the photos I took, and I even took some videos. So if anyone of you are interested to see more photos etc, let me know when I'm back in Singapore and I'll show you slowly, telling you more. Haha.

And to end off this post, I MUST show the kind of extreme some people will go to show their love for Apple, or maybe just to attract attention.

According to Gladys, that's a Mankini he's wearing...

In Apple Sydney Retail Store!

2008-06-19T16:03:00.003+08:00

Hardcore Apple fans, be jealous! I'm blogging here on an MacBook Air in the Apple Sydney Retail Store. Grand opening day! I was among the first 500 people to get in here. Cool man. The atmosphere here is crazy. Nothing like those grand openings or launches in Singapore. This IS the Apple spirit. Haha. Took a lot of photos. More when I'm back!!

Advance Excitement at Sydney Apple Retail Store

2008-06-18T16:06:00.006+08:00

This is unbelievable man. I walked past the Sydney Apple Retail Store at 4pm, and there were already about 10 people queueing up ouside the store! And it doesn't open until 5pm tomorrow. The first in the queue was a middle-aged lady at that. And I thought only Singaporeans would do that. For the sake of a limited edition T-shirt?!?! I guess as one of my friends said, it's probably the excitement. But to queue up more than 24 hours in advance is still... erm...

Preview of Apple Sydney Retail Store

2008-06-16T19:08:00.006+08:00

The Apple Retail Store in Sydney is going to open on 19th June, 5pm Sydney time (3pm Singapore time), and it's quite a big thing here because it's the first Apple retail store in the Southern hemisphere, and it's quite a big outlet. I'm going for the opening! And hopefully get their limited edition T-shirt (for the first 2,500 people only). Today I went past the retail store, and got a preview of the store! Previously, they covered everything up, but seems to have unveiled it today. There were people in the store checking this and that, probably preparing for the big day this Thursday.

And to make you guys jealous... Here's a preview! I must be the first few people to post such photos. Hehe. Quite a number of people stopped by and awed at the store, took photos etc too.

Sydney Opera House / Royal Botanic Gardens

2008-06-14T10:15:00.012+08:00

On my 10th day in Sydney, we had picnic at the Royal Botanic Gardens, it was an enjoyable trip, had a lot of fun with the birds.

Gladys packed our sandwiches, and as usual, I like to bring raisins to picnics. This time though, Gladys decided to pack the raisins in... ermm... a glove... So we had a glove of raisins. And after filling the glove up, it actually looks like a man. Haha.

We took bus down to Circular Quay railway station, one of the stations where there are quite a few tourist attractions around it.

From this quay, there are actually a lot of ferry services to various places of Sydney, like to Manly beach etc. You can even board a ferry here to go whales watching, but then it's too expensive for us for now.

Luna Park is at the other side, under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Can't really see it clearly from this picture as it's actually quite far away. Luna Park is an amusement park.

Sydney Harbour Bridge! One of the most famous attractions of Sydney. It wasn't a very clear day, so we couldn't really see the bridge very well.

Usually we find taxis on the roads, but we saw this yellow river taxi that's so cute!

Gladys treated me to Baskin Robbins chocolate ice cream. Mmmm... Dark chocolate ice cream. It was really good. Thick and rich.

Another REALLY famous attraction. Sydney Opera House. I did say that there are quite a lot of attractions at Circular Quay... Honestly, it doesn't look as impressive as it does on postcards and photos. Partly because it's already quite old I guess. And most of the nicer photos of it are usually taken at night?

The quay is full of seagulls that are not afraid of people. Gladys threw a bread crumb down to feed one of them...

and then came more!

As she threw more bread crumbs down, more seagulls came down, and by the time she finished all the bread crumbs, the seagulls gathered at her feet like school children attending lessons, and looking at her for more stuff.

A closer look at the Sydney Opera House.

Finally, the entrance to the Royal Botanic Gardens, which was just beside the Opera House.

The botanic gardens had quite some couples just sitting down, relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

The picnic that we had! The sandwiches were packed by Gladys, and the muffins were from Coles. Sad to say, though the muffins looked quite nice, they don't really taste great.

There was this bird with a long beak that was standing near us, so we fed it some bread crumbs. Notice that it's tagged. Gladys told me the name of the species, but I can't remember it now. It's supposed to be native to Australia.

It's really not scared of people, unlike the ones in Singapore. At the same time, it doesn't get aggressive like the ones in Singapore either. We were saying that the birds here are smarter than the ones in Singapore. They know when to go over to eat the food, and know how not to be aggressive so that people will feed them.

Here, you can see the bird taking the food from Gladys' hand.

And from mine.

Not long after, two more of these birds came down. The food fight starts. Haha.

Later, this small black and white bird came down as well. It looked a bit like a magpie, but I can't be sure. This bird is actually much smaller than the white ones, but it still managed to get some of the food because it was very fast. What it did was to grab the bread crumbs, and then flew some distance away to eat the bread crumbs.

It wasn't exactly a very nice day for picnic as dark clouds soon gathered...

We lied down for a while and also took a photo with the Opera House in the background.

The Opera House DOES look better at night. Haha. But mind you, this was not exactly late at night. It was just about 5pm? Of course, nowadays, the sky is nearly completely dark by 5pm. The days are getting shorter and shorter.

It soon began to rain, so we ran up to the Opera House to hide from the rain. From the Opera House, we had a nice view of the city.

It happened that on that day, there was some FIFA event going on. And they had this screening of some FIFA pictures onto the Harbour Bridge, and it kept changing.

Lightning soon started. Remembering those post card photos showing lightning, we decided to try our luck in capturing photos of lightning as well. We spent a long time there trying to get nice photos of lightning. Luckily, we did manage to get a really nice shot:
And a smaller one.

We actually found out later at night that the thunderstorm caused a blackout in some area in Sydney. Just before leaving, we also took a picture of Luna Park at night.

Update on purple cabbage

2008-06-13T22:19:00.003+08:00

Yah. I know. I haven't been updating on what's been happening. Well... Other than the limited bandwidth, I had been rather tired, cutting trees, doing all sorts of other stuff etc. I'll just try to do some updates, and only on the more interesting ones for now. Hopefully when I get back to Singapore, I can post more with the unlimited bandwidth. Haha. Anyway, it's only 11 more days before we head back to Singapore! And I feel that there's still so much of Sydney to explore. Damn.

Anyway, Gladys asked me to post this update about the purple cabbage we bought for $1 and I blogged about some time ago. We still have yet to finish it! We bought it on 27th May, so it's been like more than 2 weeks now? Really huge... Haha.

Spiders killing

2008-06-11T19:15:00.002+08:00

If I were to get a dollar for each of the spiders I killed during this trip, I think I'll be quite rich. There are so many spiders around, and quite a number of them are really quite big. They are really hardworking too. We'll see spiderwebs sprouting up all around overnight. Everytime I cleared the top of some of the trees in the front yard, there will be a lot of spiders appearing, probably from the top of those trees I cut. And of course, I had to kill them all or Gladys will just freak out. Just today alone, I think I killed at least 20 spiders? About 10 of them while cutting the last bit of trees today, and another 10 or more when we came home after a coffee session to see that a whole bunch of spiders making camp just outside the door under the balcony.

Good Food in Sydney

2008-06-07T23:39:00.001+08:00

OK. Some textual updates. No photos. Because limited bandwidth! Wait till I'm back in Singapore.

Although the costs of living is rather high in Sydney compared to most other places, you can find cheap good food in Sydney if you know where and know how. There's this pub at this hotel opposite Unilodge that has $5 meals if you order a drink. And the drinks are quite cheap. I got this James Squire Golden Ale (really good, smooth ale) and a steak burger meal (steak burger with chips) for just $9.50. Gladys got lemons and bitters, and a pizza (actually, we just shared out the food) for just $8.80. And the food was good.

Groceries can be really cheap too. Today, we went to this Flemington market to get groceries. It's a wholesale market. We bought a lot of stuff for just about AUD$40. We bought a kg of really sweet and nice cherries for just $12, FOUR kg of fresh mushrooms for $12, 2 boxes of sweet strawberries for $7, 8 bunches of green/red oak lettuce $4 (we saw the same things selling for about AUD$2.50 per bunch in another supermarket), a kg of salmon bellies for $4, 3 boxes of cherry tomatos for $2, and 20 HUGE eggs for $5.80. Really cheap. I think we bought enough to last us for the next 2+ weeks we have left here. Oh. And I don't think we ever saw any eggs that can be compared to the ones we bought. We had one for lunch, and there were two yolks in it. It was so big that the two of us shared the one egg.

And then there are the cheap bread if you get them after 8pm ($1 for a big roll, or $0.50 for 6 hamburger buns), the cheap purple cabbage we bought etc. There was one day we had kangaroo meat burgers, with cheese, egg, mushrooms in them, and we estimated that each burger cost us around $1.50 each.

For those of you who are wondering after all the cheap and good food whether I put on weight, yes, I did. I put on about 2+kg since I came, and my waistline... erm... Haha. With all the gardening and groceries shopping, luckily my upper body became bigger as well.

Ubuntu ROX

2008-06-04T17:18:00.003+08:00

Ubuntu totally rox!!! After dissatisfaction with Microsoft Window's performance (esp in low end computers), and not having access to Mac OS X (as a matter of fact, Mac OS X ALSO requires higher end computers than what I have), and now that it's after exams, I finally decided to try out Ubuntu again.

Yes, again, because I tried it about 2+ years ago, and still found it hard to use. With so many things to configure before I can get it working.

But now... I'm loving Ubuntu! Ubuntu has come a long way in terms of making Linux easy to use for normal users. I can just install and run my computer with ease. Ubuntu is even easier to install than Windows or Mac! They already have drivers for most hardware, and it's so small... Not like the bloated Windows.

Ubuntu comes installed with a lot of apps that the normal user would use, and downloading and installing apps is a breeze. For those people who are still using Windows citing that there are more programs for Windows, how wrong can they be. Linux has a lot of apps out there that can do what those Windows programs can, and best of all, they are free!

Also, Ubuntu is so customizable. Linux has always been customizable, but it wasn't easy to do so in the past. Now with the Gnome UI so improved, it's just so easy.

Best of all, it can run all those fanciful effects that Vista and Mac OS X boasts of, without the need for a high end system. I'm now using my bro's laptop which is about 3 or 4 years old now, running Centrino Pentium M 1.73Ghz, 768Mb of RAM (Yes, Mb, less than 1 Gb), Intel GMA900 (integrated graphics card! Definitely not capable of running Aero). I wouldn't dream of installing Vista or Mac OS X on it. They'll just kill the system. But hey! Look at these screenshots. I've got the dock, and Aero's nice App switching system:

Oh. I forgot to add screenshots for the Expose feature. And some other nice graphical effects.

Oh. I guess one drawback is the lack of those big name games like War of Warcraft etc on Linux. But well... I no longer play games, and some games apparently can be played using Wine.

Ubuntu is my new OS of choice. Once I'm back in Singapore, I'm gonna install Ubuntu on my desktop as well. Why did I wait for so long before switching to Ubuntu?

Purple Cabbage

2008-06-03T22:23:00.003+08:00

Although I didn't get purple hair, there was one day when we got this huge purple cabbage for just AUD$1. Really cheap and really nice. It was so big, we could hardly squeeze it into the plastic bag. We bought it on 27th May, and we still have yet to finish it.

Darling Harbour at night, Day 6 night time

2008-06-03T12:50:00.008+08:00

OK. To continue my previous post about the 6th day night. Dinner at Darling Harbour. We went to this Fish & Chips take-away restaurant:

And this is what we ordered:
It has 2 pieces of fried fish, 2 pieces of calamari, 2 pieces of shrimps, and LOTS of chips. I must say that although it's not a lot of stuff (luckily Gladys and I had some food before going), it was quite nice. The shrimps and the calamari actually taste fresh despite being fried. I don't have a good impression of fried seafood in Singapore, you see. They're usually not fresh.

Xinhui actually passed a comment that it was a bit like Long John's Silver. OK. It might look a bit like the stuff you can get in Long John's Silver, but the quality is much better... If I were to pay that kind of price for food quality the standard of Long John's, I think I'll cry man... It would have been a complete rip off.

Anyway, here's some photos that we took at Darling Harbour. Quite a nice view at night. I went back to Darling Harbour just yesterday in the daytime, shall post those photos up in another day.

Group photo of the girls (and my bag):

And a couple photo of us.

After dinner, we went to Lindt Chocolat Café. Those of you not in Sydney, you saw it right. It's a café. They sell quite a range of Lindt products, including ice cream, hot chocolate, ice blended, cakes etc. Mmmm... It's one of the only three Lindt Cafés in the world. And where are the other two? All in Sydney! So it's only here that you can find Lindt Cafés.

Look at that chocolate mixing in those mixers...

That's me holding a cup of hot dark chocolate, courtesy of my dear.

Doesn't the hot dark chocolate (with dark chocolate flakes) look nice? And I can tell you, it tastes better than it looks. Mmmm...

Results Release

2008-05-30T13:39:00.002+08:00

Well... I got my results for my last semester in NUS. Although I got my first class honours after all, I'm quite disappointed actually. Got my first B in my 4 years in NUS. All along, my lowest grade has been B+, but now I've got a B! In fact, for one of my GEM (General Education Modules), I got a B-!!! But for that one, I can exercise my Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option on it, and just "S" it, so that it doesn't count into my CAP.

For my Honours Year Project, after hearing what Irene said about Dr Kim's comments on my HYP, I actually thought that I would have gotten quite a good grade. Unfortunately, it only got me just enough to get me my First Class Honours: A-. It's rather disappointing. Irene actually commented that she felt I deserve a better grade actually. So I guess that's a slight consolation? Last semester in NUS, and such disappointing results. Sigh...

Purple hair... NOT

2008-05-30T07:24:00.002+08:00

Even after a few days, I don't seem to have any purple hair. Seems like my hair was too black to start with, and the dye didn't really work well on my hair after well. Gladys said that probably could have better results if we developed it longer. So I still have black hair. Nothing crazy to look forward to for those of you who were waiting to see my purple hair. :)

Something I never did in my 25 years

2008-05-28T00:39:00.003+08:00

I think as I start turning 25, I'm starting to become weird and do all sorts of crazy things, like teaching a guy how to go after girls, coming to Australia for 38 days, trying to cook (albeit only steak and veges), doing gardening etc. I even installed Ubuntu and am playing with it now. And I just did the most crazy thing I've ever done. Something that I've resisted doing all these years.

For those of you who know me long enough, you might know that I've always been resistant to dyeing my hair. People mentioned to me before about dyeing my hair brown, Gladys wanted to dye my hair some time ago, but I've always told them to stay off my hair.

But just now, I allowed Gladys to dye my hair! Purple!

Gladys wanted to dye her hair purple and bought this Loreal purple hair dye at Coles. She said that she wanted to dye my hair as well. I don't know what went over me, but I actually said OK! At first, I said only my fringe. But she ended up having so much excess and convinced me that dyeing just my fringe will look weird. So she manged to get me to dye all my hair purple.

Oh well... It'll just be for a month before I'll get a haircut and have to dye my hair back to black again since I'm going for reservist. Just an experiment I guess. I'll probably post some pics tomorrow or the day after.

What crazy things will I do after this man...

Day 6 Daytime

2008-05-26T19:24:00.012+08:00

I'm really behind on my blogging! So many things that I did everyday here in Sydney that there doesn't seem to be enough time for me to blog about them all. Haha. My 8th day in Sydney is coming to an end, and I'm still only blogging about the 6th day. I wonder if I can catch up one day. Haha.

Day 6 was a full day of activities. Went out with a bunch of girls for lunch. We packed burgers from Burger Fuel. It's a small restaurant without much seats, so we didn't eat in the restaurant itself:

Gladys and I ordered a Burger By The Lot, a pack of Kumara fries, and a cup of Caramel Milkshake. Unfortunately, I spilled the milkshake just before leaving the restaurant. Talking about crying over spilled milk:

The burgers are so big that they actually provide this holder called a Doofer to hold the burger:

We walked to a park nearby called the Camperdown Memorial Park. Parks in Australia, like those in Vancouver where I spent 4 months, are just so much cleaner, and you'll really see people playing around, dogs running around etc. Just like those parks you see in the movies. Notice how big the burgers are! And the brown things are Kurama fries. Kurama fries are actually sweet potatoes fries.

Display of our food

After eating comes the shooting craze! Jasmine is setting up her camera so that we can all be in the photo:

Erm... Girls falling over each other. Just look at Clara (second from the left)!
Jasmine setting up her camera for some "upwards" shots:
Ermm... It seems quite stupid, but well... "Upwards" shots of us...
With a cock-eyed variation:

Charlene took some "artistic" shots of me carrying Gladys up. Imitating those kind of wedding shots. Well... I must say it turned out quite well...

And then she took photos of us under this red-leaves tree:

Gladys and Charlene acting lesbian. Note the pregnant Charlene look in the first pic!

And of course, their favourite activity of taking photos of them jumping up into the air:

Me monkeying around once again:

I'm eating Gladys up!

Me and my tree-climbing again. Haha.

And some random shots of the things happening in the park:

Yes, it is the same girl that appeared in the last two pictures. Haha.

After our picnic and photos-shooting session at Camperdown Memorial Park, Clara, Gladys and I went over to Charlene's and Jasmine's place to exchange photos and songs. In the evening, some of us went down to Darling Harbour for dinner by the harbour. More on the evening later.

Gardening

2008-05-25T21:04:00.010+08:00

One of the tasks given to me was to clear the front lawn of the house. Their housing agent said that the front lawn was not of satisfactory condition, and needed to be cleared. The weeds have to be cut, the concrete slabs have to be seen (when I saw the front lawn, I was thinking what concrete slabs?!?!), and the shrubs have to be trimmed shorter. Boy... It was not a simple task. We took some photos of the front lawn before I did any work on it:

So I decided to start work on it on the 5th day of my Sydney trip. Of course, we had some tools that I used to help me, like a lawn mower, vacuum vac, shears etc. The funny thing was when I first brought up the lawn mower from the storeroom in the garage, I thought that it was those kind that needed to be charged, seeing how short the cable is. And so I plugged it in to charge, and went on to cut some of the shrubs near to the ground first:

But well... After a long time of "charging" and still getting no power out of it, I checked the storeroom again, and found this damn long power extension cord...

Here are some photos of me cutting the shrubs. The shrubs are not really shrubs, but rather, small trees:

After finding the extension cord, I finally started work on mowing the lawn:

I finally started seeing the concrete slabs! Hidden all under the overgrown weeds... I then went on to clearing some of the weeds by hand, and also removed the ugly plants growing at the side by digging them up. That's me holding one of the plants I dug up:

And I dug up a number of other funny stuff as well. Like this plant and some mushrooms:

After working a whole afternoon, I stopped for the day. Just look at how much I've cleared out!

And just for comparison, here's the "before" photo again:

My two new T-shirts

2008-05-24T09:02:00.002+08:00

I posted in one of my previous blogs that I got a new T-shirt from Jay Jays and managed to convince Victor to let me have one of his. Here are the two T-shirts. I think they're rather cool. Especially the nerd one. Haha.

OK. Cos these are taken just before we sleep, I look really bad in the photos...

3rd Day in Sydney - Steak cooking!

2008-05-22T23:48:00.006+08:00

After lazing around in the morning (and catching up some sleep after a bad night of sleep), we went for more groceries shopping. This time, Charlene, Jasmine and Clara joined us in the first part of the shopping. Charlene and Jasmine are really as Gladys described. As crazy as we are! Haha.

We got more T-shirts from Jay Jays. This time, other than getting for Victor (Gladys' cousin), we oso got 1 for myself. After which, we actually managed to persuade Victor to give up one of his to me (we wanted to just get another one for me, but there was no XS left).

We went to get stuff for my cooking steak at night. Haha. Gladys wanted me to cook her a meal to celebrate her birthday, so I decided to cook steak. I actually experimented with a few different modified recipes in Singapore. We were deciding on which type of steak to get, when I noticed that T-bone is on offer. Usually it costs about $24 per kg, but then it was going for just $14 per kg! T-bone! That's like so expensive in Singapore. So we bought T-bone back.

I made two kinds of steak. One lemon steak, which is basically steak marinated with salt, black pepper and lemon juice:

And the other is red wine steak, which is steak marinated in a mixture of red wine, black pepper, soy sauce, garlic. RY and Erik did not really like the red wine steak, but Gladys and Clara both agreed that the red wine steak is much nicer than the lemon one. And of course, personally, the red wine steak is the one I'm most proud of and like the most:

I also prepared some stir-fry veges: carrots, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, with onions. Here are some of the preparation photos:

Yes... That's actually me cooking...

Mmmm... Red wine steak...

OK. Gladys cooked one dish. Canned soup. Haha.

The finished products!

The sauce in the small green bowl is actually self-made lemon sauce for the lemon steak by cooking the lemon juice with some honey to thicken it. Unfortunately, due to the T-bone getting cooked much faster than the lousy steak I used in Singapore, I overestimated the time needed to cook the steak and they turned out well-done instead of medium-rare. Never mind. Next time I shall do it right. Lousy steak in Singapore takes so damn long to cook and it's still quite red on the inside. Good steak here, cooks very fast.

Men-unfriendly toilet

2008-05-22T22:54:00.004+08:00

The toilet bowl in Gladys' toilet is very men-unfriendly. The seat refuses to stay up. So when I want to pee, I actually have to hold the toilet seat up with one hand. I'm sure guys can empathise with me. It's not that easy or comfortable having to pee with one hand holding the toilet seat up...

Prices Madness

2008-05-22T14:40:00.002+08:00

Probably to discourage the sales of small bottles drinks for environmental reasons, Australia has one of the weirdest pricing of bottled drinks I have ever seen. A small bottle of drink (those kind of 500ml or 600ml ones) cost about $2+, ranging from like $2.30 to $2.80, which a big bottle of drink costs much less than $2! Usually a bottle will cost about $1 to $1.50. When on discounts, you can easily get 1.5L bottled drinks at 99 cents. I bought a 1.25L bottle of Traffic Stoppers Cola at 69 cents. Doesn't seem to make sense, does it?

The prices of the same items can also differ greatly from store to store, even stores of the same chain. Coles is the name of a chain of supermarkets here in Australia. One Coles at this place can have a special offer on some stuff, while another Coles can offer the same item at a higher price. We bought brussel sprouts at Coles yesterday for $2.99 per kg, while Harris Farms (another store) was selling them at $3.98 per kg. We often had to travel between different stores to get the best deals.

Oh. Don't be misled by the 99 cents etc. They usually just round up the amount. For example, if your total bill is $3.98, they'll round it up and charge you $4. Some places round down as well. So if the bill is $4.82, they'll charge you $4.80.

2nd day in Sydney: Shopping!

2008-05-22T11:11:00.012+08:00

Time for some updates! Been wanting to post updates the past two days, but was so tired everyday that we just went to sleep. We actually planned to wake up very early in the morning on the 2nd day and go groceries shopping for steak cooking in the evening, but then we were too tired, and ended up not going for groceries shopping. Decided to cook steak the next day instead.

So we ended up doing Gladys' favourite activity for the whole day: shopping! Although it's her favourite activity, it ended up that I bought more stuff than her. Haha. Our first stop was this sporting shop. Originally I thought of looking for Nalgene bottles. Instead, we ended up looking at shoes. We looked around for shoes and ended up liking a pair of steel-toed shoes. The salesgirl was strong discouraging me from buying it because it's heavier than normal shoes, and usually are for work. But after looking around, we still ended up buying the steel-toed shoes. Well... There WAS another pair that we liked, but it costs AUD$179. What to expect when it's Columbia shoes? Haha. Actually, considering that it's Columbia shoes, it's not THAT expensive. In fact, the original price was AUD$249. The steel-toed shoes were of another brand. Wild Country. And it only costs AUD$40. Actually, it's not THAT heavy. I could walk long distance with them without any problems. For those of you who are wondering, AUD$1 = SGD$1.30.

They are to replace my old leather shoes which are in quite bad state already. Only problem is we don't know if I can wear the steel-toed shoes past the airport!

We walked past this food van which I thought was quite interesting. The food van appears to be a permanent thing at that place.

We bought ice-cream cone at McCafé at 30 cents and it was really good. Bigger and better than Singapore's. The ice-cream fills the whole inside of the cone!

I took quite some pics of University of Sydney, but obviously can't upload all of them here. So if you want to see them, please look for me when I'm back. :)

We headed down to Victoria Park from UOS. It's a small park. There's a lake with a lot of birds there, especially ducks.

We had lunch at Oporto, which serves good chicken burgers (we shared a triple chicken fillet burger) and chips.

Broadway Shopping Centre was our first stop. We went to this clothings shop called Jay Jays and bought some long sleeved T-shirts for myself. The clothes there are really quite good. The shop assistants were nice too. There was this black guy who looked quite cool, and even managed to carry off a nose ring really well. One very interesting T-shirt they were selling :)

Gladys wanted to look at some Fossil charm bracelet watch, so we went down to Queen Victoria Building after Broadway. Unfortunately, after trying it on, we decided that it didn't suit her. It was too chunky for her. From there, we went to do lots of groceries shopping! We bought a hell lot of groceries. We also got to eat this nice Korean spicy rice cake stuff that was really cheap. $3 for a huge box of it. Just how much groceries did we get? Look at the following picture:

OK. I didn't carry ALL the things buy myself all the way. Gladys carried the pink bag from the shop will we got off the bus near her place. Then I took over the pink bag as well and walked back to the house, which was just a minute or two from the bus stop. It might not have looked very bad, but the pink bag was about 1 kg, and the other two bags that I carried all the way were 16kg in all (one 9kg, one 7kg).

We bought a BIG box of corn flakes for breakfast:

And we had kangaroo sausages and veges for dinner.

Thanks to the Korean rice cake, we were quite full by the time we finished everything. I can't believe how much we accomplished in just one day. In fact, due to time and bandwidth, I missed out quite some stuff here already. For those friends in Singapore, maybe we can meet up after we're back for long story-telling sessions if any of you are interested. :)

In Sydney!

2008-05-19T21:00:00.003+08:00

I've arrived in Sydney! OK. To be more accurate, I reached Sydney about 4 hours ago. Had a good flight on Qantas Airways. Smooth flight, good food, quite good service. I had a bottle of white wine and a bit of red wine. Kept the rest of the red wine for cooking steak tmr. Haha.

I was stuck at the customs for very long, with only 2 counters open for foreign passport holders. The customs checking was quite strict as well. The weather here is great! Just the kind of coldness I like. 10+ degrees. But at night, it fell down to 13 degrees, and when I had to take the trash out... Brrrr... In the house though, it feels quite OK.

Gladys cooked lamb chops and veges for dinner. Wow... The lamb chops here are really much better than those we had in Singapore. Really tender and juicy. I hope the steak we have tomorrow will be great as well. After experimenting with the steak those two days, I came up with some recipes which are not bad. However, the steak that I used on Thu was really hard, so it didn't really turn out that well.

Finally tomorrow I'll get to take photos again! Going out the whole day. Gonna accompany Gladys on her favourite activity: shopping.

Now at Airport!

2008-05-19T08:29:00.002+08:00

I'm now sitting in Changi Airport Terminal 3 Kopitiam. Having some food while waiting to go in. My plane's delayed for half an hour. So it's only gonna take off at 10am. The flight is a connecting flight from London. Coming in late, thus the delay. So exciting! Less than 12 hours away from meeting my dear.

Many thanks to those friends who wished me Bon Voyage!

Last few hours in Singapore

2008-05-19T03:34:00.003+08:00

A few more hours and I'll be aboard the plane to Sydney to meet Gladys! Finally after months of separation, I'll be seeing my dear again. YAY!

These 2 days have been up and down a roller coaster ride for me. Saturday morning, I had good news of my HYP from my supervisor. Apparently, the Korean prof evaluator said that my project was by the far the best project he graded this year. And he graded 6 projects this year.

Then, after that, my luck turned down when I was playing mahjong in Malaysia. Lost quite a bit of money. Went to Malaysia to celebrate my grandma's 70th birthday. The weather was terribly hot as well. After dinner and celebrations though, my luck changed for the better and I won a bit of money in the end.

Sun morning, I got a ride back to Singapore in my uncle's car. So that was good. But then later in the afternoon, something happened which pissed me off badly. However, choir was quite good, so that was good. And I managed to get some of the stuff I needed for the overseas trip. However, at the end of the day, I realised that I couldn't find a number of the things I wanted to bring, including my sunglasses! Ups and downs these two days.

Never mind. I'm sure tmr will be a good day cos I'm finally meeting Gladys! Lamb chops on the first day. Mmmm... 2nd day will be my cooking day. Cooking steak for Gladys. Hehe.

Love is in the Air~

2008-05-11T18:48:00.004+08:00

David's is gonna be here in Sydney with me in just 1 more week and I'm ecstasic!! I went out to Coles today after mass to pick up some of the necessary junk that he eats, like biscuits, coffee etc, and guess what I found there? Hehe... Check it out!

A mushroom that's feeling as lovey-dovey as I am!! XD

Funeral Mass

2008-05-09T22:21:00.005+08:00

I attended a funeral mass on Thursday morning. One of our choir member's aunt passed away, and a few of us went to sing for the mass. A number of the hymns were new to us. One particular hymn really touched our hearts: Song Of Farewell. We sang it when the priest was sprinkling holy water on the coffin, just before the end of the mass. Lianne said she almost wanted to cry. I don't have an MP3 of the song. I only have the midi and so, can only attach the midi here. The lyrics are really beautiful.

Song Of Farewell:

Refrain:
May the choirs of angels come to greet you.
May they speed you to paradise.
May the Lord enfold you in his mercy.
May you find eternal life.

1.
The Lord is my light and my help; it is he who protects me from harm.
The Lord is the strength of my days; before whom should I tremble with fear?

2.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord; that he grant me my heart-felt desire.
To dwell in the courts of our God every day of my life in his presence.

3.
O Lord, hear my voice when I cry; have mercy on me and give answer.
Do not cast me away in your anger, for you are the God of my help.

4.
I am sure I shall see the Lord's goodness; I shall dwell in the land of the living.
Hope in God, stand firm and take heart, place all your trust in the Lord.

Exams are over!

2008-05-09T22:06:00.003+08:00

I still can't believe that I've ended my NUS life with my last exam today. GEM2900. Studied and worried about it the whole of yesterday (yes, I only used a bit more than 1 day to study for that module, that's why I was scared). In the end, the exam was short and easy. All the stuff I was worried about didn't come out. The paper was supposed to be 2 hours long. A number of people actually finished with one hour, while I finished in 1.5 hours. Submitted it and that was it!

I don't think I did well for the paper, but I believe seriously that I will pass. I mean I did all the questions, so I shouldn't fail. Anyway, all I need to do is to pass this module. As long as it's a pass, it won't affect my overall grades. End of NUS exams!

New Headband!

2008-05-05T22:03:00.006+08:00

I was trying to do the readings for my essay today, but the fringe tt I'm trying to grow out kept getting in the way. Resisting the temptation to just cut it short (again), I decided to knit myself a headband with some of that huge stash of yarn I have hidden away in my wardrobe. I did this using 3 strands (white, pink, pale yellow) of 8 ply Panda Magnum acrylic yarn on a 6.5mm needle in garter stitch. Took me around 3 hours while doing my reading.

Shucks, these photos are so unflattering. =(

This headband is great cos it keeps my ears warm too!

HYP Evaluation

2008-05-05T00:59:00.002+08:00

OK. I haven't been blogging for quite some time now. For those of you who have yet to know, I submitted my Honours Year Project Report on the 9th of April, and then had my poster presentation to my two evaluators on the 23rd of April.

My HYP report isn't exactly to say fantastic or even good by my standards. But apparently, my model was quite good. For those of you who actually understand stats, my regression model produced an R² of 0.722. In my model, I was exploring the factors that affected User Satisfaction. Basically, with R² of 0.722, it means that my model can explain the changes in User Satisfaction quite well. Above 0.10 is satisfactory already, and 1 is perfect. According to one of my supervisors, Irene, she has never seen such a high R² value before. Usually it's in the range of 0.15 to 0.5. The highest she has ever seen before mine was 0.6 something.

During my poster evaluation, I had a good experience with one of the evaluators. I think that evaluator would give me good grades. She's quite a nice person, and she works closely with my supervisors. She didn't really ask me that much questions either. On the other hand, my other evaluator was a mess. He kept interrupting me, and asked me funny questions, which after I answered, he disagreed with or looked like he couldn't understand me. Apparently, all the people who were evaluated by him suffered.

Surprisingly though, I learned from Irene that he actually told her that my project is one of the more interesting projects that he saw this year. He went to her to clarify some parts of the project. Once again, he asked her the same questions, and she answered him the same way I did! And he appears to accept Irene's explanations! Maybe he just wasn't in the right state of mind that morning.

Well... Now it's really up to him whether I can get my 1st class honours... I'll know my results on 30th May, 9am Singapore time...

Oops!

2008-05-03T19:01:00.003+08:00

Oops! Just realised that I got the direction of the buttons on David and my neckwarmers wrong! Mine ought to be right over left and his ought to be left over right... Gotta switch the row of buttons over to the opposite side! Thankfully, it's an easily solved problem. LOL.

Jasmine's (F)art Work

2008-05-03T12:17:00.003+08:00

After seeing my beautiful drawing, Jasmine was inspired and decided to try her hand at it too. So here's showcasing her (f)art work... *thumbs down*

Title: Can't wait to bite into tt
Done by: Jasmine Tea

Brussel Sprouts

2008-05-02T18:37:00.004+08:00

When David was studying in Canada in 2005, he had nothing but endless praises for the taste of brussel sprouts. Since it's almost winter and brussel sprouts are in season now, I had to buy some and try them for myself in a stir-fry with some ginger, garlic and salt. Turned out pretty tasty. I was a little disappointed though. From what I read online, brussel sprouts are supposed to be slightly bitter, and some people find it simply repulsive. However, they just taste like a tastier version of baby kailan to me. They even resemble baby kailan! Oh well...

In case anyone has never seen brussel sprouts...

Happy Birthday to Me! =)

2008-05-01T23:59:00.002+08:00

Just a few weeks before my birthday, I was wondering if I'll be spending it alone this year, cos I'm away from my family and David, but thankfully NOT! Charlene, Clara, Xinhui, Harry, Martin, Charmaine, Geneieve, Mong Ling and Jasmine celebrated my birthday for me! Thanks guys! *MUACKZ*

They gave me a treat at Hanabi, which is a Jap & Korean restaurant along Pitt Street.

@ Hanabi

We had a spicy sausages hotpot,

Spicy prawn, squid and octopus hotpot,

Teppanyaki beef,

And Korean sausages, which turned out to be GLASS NOODLES sausages! WTH! Lol.

After the wonderful dinner, Martin and Harry went home, and the girls brought me to Mickey Cafe at Newtown for cakes! Jasmine even brought birthday candles! How thoughtful! =)

We told the waiter that it's my birthday and he served our cakes with a sparkler!

Clockwise from left: Tiramisu, Strawberry Cheesecake, Mortal Sin

Blowing out the candles

Babes group photo! =)

Last photo, just for kicks. Haha.

For more of my birthday photos, CLICK HERE!

Electric Blanket

2008-04-30T18:52:00.003+08:00

I've been feeling so cold for the past few nights that it's getting really hard to fall asleep, so today I finally decided to get myself an electric blanket for AUD$20 from Go-Lo. When I took the blanket out of the bag, my first reaction was, "OMG! It's so tiny!". It leaves a 6 inch border when I lay it out on my mattress! I quickly strapped it to my bed and switched it on and thankfully, it was MUCH WARMER than it looked. *Phew!* Looking forward to warm, toasty nights now... Hehe...

Another Broken Double Yolker...

2008-04-28T11:21:00.002+08:00

I just cracked open another high cholesterol, high fat, low protein double yolker egg but I broke one yolk again! Shucks! But oh well, I took a photo anyway, so here goes nothing...

You can see that the yolks r stuck together.

Neck Warmers!!!!!

2008-04-28T00:14:00.004+08:00

A few weeks ago, I bought the wrong yarn for my knitting and found myself stuck with 4 skeins of yarn (2 brown, 2 purple) with nothing to do with them. After attempting and ripping many projects, I finally settled on making neck warmers for David and myself. It's a combination of 2 patterns that I found online. They turned out great!

In the process of making these neck warmers, I also discovered a fantastic shop in Newtown, Sydney that sells buttons, more buttons and ONLY buttons! They have a fabulous collection of buttons from all over the world, with designs and prices to suit all pockets (no they din pay me to advertise). In the end, I settled for round wood buttons (from Germany) for David, and square plastic buttons (unknown origin) in 3 colours with a pearl finish for myself.

In case anyone's interested in the shop, here's their address:

All Buttons
419A King Street,
Newtown NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9550 1782
Web: www.allbuttons.com.au (p.s. Check out the website! There's a really cool picture of the shopfront in there!)

Ok, enough talk, time for the pictures!

Wet blocking the neck warmer to make it nice, flat and straight.

David's neck warmer (buttons right over left)!

Mine (buttons left over right)!

Double Yolk!

2008-04-25T14:02:00.002+08:00

Wow, I was cooking lunch just now, and i cracked open a hen's egg with TWO yolks inside! Unfortunately, one of the yolks broke, so I din take a picture of the egg. If it happens again, I'll definitely take a photo. Now I'm wondering if i'm getting double the cholesterol from the double yolk though... Lol.

Two Things That People Seek, Part 2

2008-04-25T02:12:00.002+08:00

If you read my previous post about the two things that people seek, and read the comments, you should roughly know what I'm going to say here. I didn't really come up with the two things, but rather heard it from somewhere else. And I actually modified it in my previous post, waiting for the comments to come in. Unfortunately, only Siao Ying replied. But it was precisely the kind of reply I was hoping for.

What people lost and what people cannot get, are not really two things that everyone seek, but rather what a lot of unhappy people seek. Or rather, it is the seeking of these two things that makes a lot of people unhappy.

When you keep regretting the past, thinking of how life would be if you had done something another way, or if things turned out another way, you can't really appreciate the fortune you have now. When you keep seeking what you have lost, feeling that what you have lost is so precious, you can't really appreciate what you have now.

When you seek something that you cannot get, you just keep trying, keep failing, and get sad over it. I'm not saying that you can't have big ambitions and go after your dreams. It's more of blindly seeking something that is beyond your reach. Things like immortality, great wealth through striking lottery, or things that you cannot work towards even. Instead of seeking such things, perhaps aiming for something you can work towards, and actually working for it will make you a happier person.

Recently I also saw a few examples of another type of unhappiness-causing behaviour: Not knowing when to let go of a situation that will lead you to unhappiness. Some people think they know what they want, and they seek after it. Somehow, they got stuck in a situation where they feel unhappy, yet they insist on going after the dream, thinking that if they give it up, they'll be even more unhappy. Sometimes it's a job. Sometimes it's a relationship. Some of them even know that they'll end up nowhere, end up in a dead end, but they still hang on. Well... For jobs, I guess there's the risk of not being able to get a job if you quit, and when you're the sole breadwinner, it's quite a big problem.

I myself was guilty of the above. For the first two years of applying for scholarship, I insisted on going for a technology firm. DSTA, Singapore Technologies, IDA were the three firms I applied to. I got into the last round of interview for each of them, but didn't get any offers. I didn't understand why God did that to me. What I didn't know was that God had greater plans for me. In the third and final year that I could apply for scholarship before I enter Uni, I was rather desperate. I went to apply for a number of other firms which I didn't even consider, including some government bodies like LTA and PSA. But what happened was that the public sector firms and I didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of issues, which was exactly what I felt I would encounter even before I left JC. What really surprised me was that I applied for two companies in the finance, SGX and DBS, and both offered me scholarships. I took up the DBS scholarship.

Looking back, if I had gotten a scholarship in a technological firm, I wouldn't be able to do something that is so interesting, working in a bank. As time goes by, I realise that I'm much more of a people-person. That's why I started applying to those finance companies etc. And maybe I'm more suited for jobs in such areas. What I thought was best for me at that time wasn't actually the best for me. God knew. He knew better what was best for me. I'm thankful to Him for giving me the wisdom and courage to give up on what I thought was best for myself, and going for something that is better.

This is actually steering off my original topic. Haha. But really. Sometimes letting go is the best choice to make. It might be a tough choice. Ask God for the wisdom to see what path to go, and the courage to let go when you should.

Lazy Saturday Afternoon...

2008-04-19T13:57:00.005+08:00

Feeling quite lazy today, but finally decided to take a photo of the handphone pouches I knitted for David and myself. David's pouch looks kinda like a shrivelled prune cos it's elastic and his HTC touch is not sitting inside yet. It should look something like mine once it's stretched out.

Also decided to re-do my toe nails cos it's been a month since I last did my nails and the old polish is all dull and chipped! Couldn't decided which colour to use, so in the end I painted my nails one in each colour. Lol.

Well, time to get started on my work now...

Last Official School Day in NUS

2008-04-18T22:55:00.002+08:00

I can't believe that I just had my last official school day in NUS today. Which means, I had my last lecture in NUS today. No more lectures in NUS, no more tutorials (actually I haven't had tutorials for the past year). Just a poster presentation, loose ends of the HYP to tie up, and 2 exams. That'll be the end of my school life! But somehow the feeling of graduation hasn't really sunk in...

Two things people seek...

2008-04-18T12:24:00.002+08:00

There are two things that people seek. What are they? Scroll down to find out the answer...

What was lost and What we cannot get...

To all those who actually read this blog, do leave your comments whether you agree with me on this. :)

Talent for Canto Opera?!?! Haha. And Someone Made Me So Worried!

2008-04-15T10:00:00.002+08:00

Yesterday my opera troupe boss treated us to dinner at Yan Palace Restaurant in celebration for the successful performance of 花田錯。 (I think I forgot to blog about the performance =P) It appears though, that some of the opera students chipped in for the treat instead of him paying. We also celebrated his birthday there. We had two tables in a private suite and had KTV. The food was quite good, I must say. The KTV session was a different story though. Haha.

Anyway, after we sang the birthday song and my boss cut the cake, he gave a short speech. He mentioned that the performance was a success, except for some of the singing. Some of the actors need to improve on their opera singing. Then he mentioned that even the "extras" (small roles) were good. He mentioned me specifically! Saying that at first people weren't very confident of me taking up the role, but all praised me after the acting. He even remembered that he spotted me in a performance in year 2000 and felt that I have talent, and he was right. He said there'll be more roles for me in the future. Only problem is my Cantonese. Need to improve. Haha. I can't believe that he actually said that I have talent for Cantonese Opera. Haha.

And what is it about someone making me so worried? Well... After our food, we were just hanging around and people were singing KTV. Suddenly I received a call. I looked at my phone, and it showed Ruyin calling me. I picked up the call, but couldn't hear her. Knowing that she (almost always) only call me when there's some problems, I quickly called back, but couldn't get through! And just imagine picking up a call from someone who almost always call you only when troubled, you couldn't hear the other person, and then couldn't get through to that person!

I immediately SMS-ed her, telling her that she can call me back. And then tried calling her again, and then SMS-ing her asking her to call me back cos the phone call got me worried. I kept calling for the next 15 minutes. Finally got through to her, she said she didn't call me! What happened was that she might have accidentally pressed her phone on the way home, and then the phone just switched off by itself. She reached home, saw her phone was off, turned it on. And that was when I got through. Apparently I had already given her 10 missed calls by then.

Really gave me a fright. Luckily I don't have a weak heart.

Back (temporarily) from being MIA...

2008-04-13T09:32:00.005+08:00

After all the promises to myself about updating this blog regularly, I've slacked off again. Lol. Been really busy with writing one essay after another (another one due come Monday)! Hopefully when all these end somewhere in May, I can finally update my long overdue posts and upload photos of stuff I've done (like going to the Royal Easter Show during Easter break).

Speaking of photos, I'm also guilty of NOT capturing all the fun stuff that I've been doing over here (going to Paddy's Market & Glebe Market, steamboat at home, going for Korean food etc). Well, I guess that just means that when David comes to Sydney in May, we'll have to do those things ALL OVER AGAIN in order to remake the memories! Not that I mind of cos! =P

Shameless guys

2008-04-11T23:49:00.003+08:00

Why are there such shameless guys in this world? When they have the advantage, when times are good for them, they take advantage of people. When people turn their backs to them, they act pitiful, repentant, trying to get people to take pity on them. And then the whole cycle repeats itself after people give them chances after chances. Their actions speak of one story, and yet their words speak of another. They make empty promises, and yet girls fall for them...

I actually know not just one, but two such shameless guys. One of them has already caused a woman and a family to suffer. But at least he's out of the woman's life now, or will be soon. The other one is still causing a girl to suffer. Will the girl end up suffering a long time like the woman? The girl doesn't even want to pull herself out. I still have not found the answer to this question I've always asked. Why do some (in fact, many) girls just like bad guys? We have a saying in Chinese that goes 男人不坏，女人不愛，which is loosely translated to if a guy is not bad, girls would not like him. How true...

Finished HYP!

2008-04-11T23:35:00.002+08:00

I know it's been a long time since I last blogged. I have been just too busy with my Honours Year Project (HYP) and other stuff. Well... I have finally submitted my HYP on Wednesday (9th April). At one point, I was even afraid that I would not be able to finish my HYP. Now that it's over, it's one thing off my mind, I guess. Of course, there's still the poster presentation, but that's really nothing much compared to the main report.

I Know My Redeemer Lives...

2008-04-04T10:44:00.001+08:00

A touching video that Jo shared with me this morning. Really wonderful...

Parent Training Course

2008-03-29T20:16:00.000+08:00

I couldn't resist posting this:

Parent Training Course

Okay, so you want to be a parent. I don't have any hangups on that. However, it must be warned to you that maybe you should take these 11 tests before thinking about having a "little bundle of joy" because I can tell you, it's pretty rough...

Car Test: Forget the Roler, it's the station wagon for you. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment and leave it there. Then get a pencil and stick it into the cassette player. Take a family size tub on deep fried chips and mash them into the back seat followed up by running a rake along both sets of doors. Now after driving the sabotaged vehicle 130 000 miles with a second engine, try and trade it in.

Dressing Test: Obtain one large, unhappy live giant squid and attempt to stuff it into a small net bag at all times making sure that all the arms stay inside.

Stink Test: Smear honey, peanut butter and soy sauce all over the sofa and curtains. Place a fish stick and hermit crab behind the couch and leave both there for the entire summer.

Feeding Test: Obtain a large plastic milk jug and fill it half way with water. Suspend it from the ceiling on a cord and start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the "mouth" of the jug whilst pretending it's a helicopter. Now dump part of the contents of the jug over your head and the rest on the floor.

Ingenuity Test: Take a tube of toilet paper and turn it into an Easter candle using only sticky tape and a piece of foil. Take and egg carton and make it into a happy rhino using only a pair of scissors and a pot of paint. Take a milk carton, and empty cereal box and a ping-pong ball to make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Land-Mine Test: Get your partner to spread a giant box of Lego all over the house then put on a blindfold then endeavor to walk to the kitchen. Don't scream as this will wake up a child at night.

Night Test: Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8 to 12 pounds of sand then soak it thoroughly in water. At 3pm start waltzing and humming with the bag until 9pm. Lay down the bag and set the alarm for 10pm. Get up and pick up the bag and sing every song you know. Make up about a dozen more, sing these until 4am, then set the alarm for 5am. Get up and make breakfast doing this entire procedure for the next 5 years. Look happy during the time you are doing this.

Physical Test (for men): Go to your nearest chemist and set your wallet on the counter. Ask the shop assistant to help herself. Now proceed to the nearest supermarket. Go to the office and arrange your paycheck to be directly deposited to the store and purchase a race guide. Go home and read it quietly. It will be the last time ever.

Physical Test (for women): Take a large bean bag and attach it to the front of your clothes. Leave it there for nine months. Now remove 10 beans from it. Try not to notice the large closet full of clothes you have since you won't be wearing any of them for a while.

Shopping Test: Borrow a couple of small animals such as goats, ferrets or Tasmanian devils and take them with you as you shop. Always keep them in your sight, paying for anything they eat or damage.

Warn-Off Test: Find a couple who already have a small child and lecture them on how they can improve their method of bringing up the child including patience, discipline, table manners and toilet training. Enjoy the experience for the last time in order to have an opportunity to get all the answers.

If you complete the course, well done. Not pleasant, is it? Now you know what it really is like to have a baby. Adios.