Last post for 2007!

Can you believe it, we have come to the last day of 2007!

Well, I guess other than work, the only decent "accomplishments" I have personally are:

• started a blog (and reading friends' blogs) and hence kept in constant touch with good friends
• signed up for Amore package and started working out regularly
• had wedding plans finally

I must say my health has been considered good this year with no major flus or coughs or fevers, thanks to my daily intake of multi-vitamins, echinacea and the regular exercising. :D While there was a period of time that I kept getting bruises due to bumming into objects (or strangers' objects bumming into me), such "accidents" have greatly reduced for the last few months. :) But for my stomach, it has been as weak as ever and I still rely a lot on 保济丸, hahaha... hopefully it will get stronger next year.

Despite having good health, my sweaty palms condition is getting from bad to worse. Perhaps it is due to my work getting me all tensed up. Hopefully next year's work will be smooth going always and may heaven gives me the strength to face any difficulties without fear.

For 2008, I hope to....

• read more books
• explore more recipes in cooking and baking
• start lessons in music (or at least find some scores and play some decent music)
• explore drawing and painting
• explore sewing
• explore more Amore dance classes
• do more good deeds
• be more gracious, less petty
• smile more, frown less (less "black face")
• take things easy, stop excessive worrying
• be more optimistic

别了，2007!

希望2008会更好！愿所有我爱的人和所有爱我的人都能健康，平安，快乐！:D

Cheapo!!

Christmas - the season of giving... presents? Frankly I do not see the joy and need to buy gifts for everyone, even your co-workers. Perhaps many people like the idea of gifts exchange. They find joy in shopping for gifts, wrapping them up and giving them away and they like the surprises when they open up the gifts from others.

As for me, you may call me a bore. I find such gifts exchange a waste of time and money. This is especially so when I am not even close to my co-workers. So what do I do when I unexpectedly receive gifts from some of them who tend to give presents to all in the department? Well, as the Chinese saying goes, we have to "礼尚往来”. Of course I cannot accept their gifts for nothing and therefore I have to buy something back for them.

And the headache comes when I have to decide what to buy and the amount to spend. Perhaps the most practical type of gift will be something that the recipient can use. I have received gifts like photo frame, body shop gift set and electric lamp cum essential oil vapouriser from them. But it seems like I do not have any usage for them: the photo frame is 5" by 5", I will have to cut up my photo in order to fit it in, which I have no intention to do. The body shop gift set has got a body lotion and bath lily, which I do not use. The electric lamp is nice but my nose is allergic to essential oils and perfumes, therefore the vapouriser has no use for me as well.

I have come to the conclusion that chocolates are the best Xmas gifts ever. Normally people will feel happier from eating sweet stuffs. Even if they do not have a sweet tooth, at least they can share the chocolates with their family right? If not, can even keep them for Chinese New Year! No doubt chocolates lack novelty (or even sincerity) but hey, you can't deny that they serve more practicality than gifts that they will not use?

I guess the only trouble with chocolates is that everyone knows their value since they are easily available at supermarkets. My co-workers must be calling me a "cheapo" now, since I only spent $6 plus on a box of chocolates, when I just realised (after giving them my gifts few days ago) that they had spent between $14-18 on their gifts!

My goodness. I find this whole thing so irritating. Firstly, I received gifts that I have no use for and secondly, perhaps I am being regarded as a "cheapo" or greedy person now. And it is so weird now to prepare another gift for them to make up their "loss".

But in the first place I didn't ask for the gifts! 无奈....

梁静茹 - 《崇拜》专辑

难得今天有时间可以一边看着歌词，一边仔细聆听整张梁静茹的《崇拜》专辑。觉得有几首歌的几段歌词很有画面与感觉，特别令我留下印象。

1．《暖暖》的第二部曲：《每天第一件事》和《三寸日光》

《每天第一件事》的甜蜜歌歌词有：

你送的灯 像在床头放了星星

让我每一个梦 都闪耀着暖意

在捷运里一通贴心的简讯

赶走了我的蓝色星期一

每天张开眼睛第一件事就是想你

空气有草莓的香气

你的周围 太多事要你烦心

就算我帮不了忙 至少让你放心

每天分手回家第一件事就是复习

快乐和感动几比几

每天都是因为你而看见风和日丽

你为我发明最美的天气

《三寸日光》平凡幸福的愿望：

深秋山顶风微凉

恋人并肩傻傻看夕阳

仰望 你为我敞开的天窗

一段日光落在手心 三寸长

你说 秋天早上的日光

一寸能许一个愿望

希望我爱的人健康个性很善良

大大手掌能包容我小小的倔强

你的浪漫只有我懂欣赏 能让眼泪长出翅膀飞离我脸庞

还想每天用咖啡香不让你赖床

周末傍晚踩着单车逛黄昏市场

我的浪漫只有你懂欣赏

就让每个台风晚上 不恐慌紧张

第三个愿望 还不想讲

你自己想一想 望微笑的月光

2. 苦等的凄凉：《知多少》

等的人　等待中花落知多少

经得起　岁月动摇

想的人　感伤的日落知多少

或许这世界上　有些梦

美在永远握不到

看那朵云　是我想飞的羽毛

堆砌在空中　放慢地飘

我好想他　于是我将心缠绕

静静地守候着人潮

3．失恋后要忘记悲伤，勇敢往前走！《生命不可承受的轻》

爱真的需要一点勇气

就看我们敢不敢忘记

我和彩虹最短的直径

也不一定没有你不行

就让我狠狠地加速前进

脱离你所给我的梦境

再零点零零一公里 就可以清醒

我决定不再等你决定

我决定不再当局者迷

我决定属于我自己的黎明

距离你一世纪 下一个世纪

My English sucks!

My English is getting from bad to worse! I seem to have forgotten how to spell certain words which I knew so well years ago. For example, I will spell "commitment" as "committment" as I confuse it with the spelling of "committee" (with double "m" and double "t"!) It is only the 2nd time or 3rd time that I look at my word "committment" do I realise that this word looks too long and too weird!

And there is the word "humorous" which I always thought it was spelt as "homourous"! I also thought the spelling of "intermittent" was "intermitten" because I would connect it with the word "smitten" (without "t" at the end). Same thing for the word "fulfil" vs "fulfilling" which I might spell as "fulfill" without thinking.

My goodness, this reminds me of the Chinese 辨字section in our tests and exams during primary and secondary school days. A classic example will be “幕”，“募”，“墓”，“慕”，“暮”. The look-alike and sound-alike type of words. So English has such things too!

My little sis told me such spelling mistakes are common as she has seen more ridiculous ones, and the mistakes could come from people who are supposed to be very good in this language! For example, "receive" could be spelt as "recieve" and "silver" could be spelt as "sliver".

Whatever it is, I should not be too complacent and should always make it a point to use the spelling check tool where available. After all, I do not wish the recipients of my emails/sms to think how lousy my spelling is!

New Laptop!

Woohoo! Woohoo! My free laptop has finally arrived! What a fantastic offer from Starhub whereby you just need to sign up for a 2 year MaxOnline 12Mbps plan and top up $299 to get a laptop!

Now I am able to surf wireless at home anytime! Don't have to wait till my sisters are not at home, hohoho!! I can watch more online anime and DVDs! I will be able to surf the net more often and blog more! :)

Oh yes, check out my pink mouse too! Cheers!! :D

Meaning of Christmas

What is the meaning of Christmas to you? A colleague asked me this question a few days ago. I replied that perhaps to many people, Christmas is a day of giving and sharing, a day of peace and joy, but to me, it is just another public holiday.

She then asked me if I know what was the reason for Christmas? I told her it was to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Indeed it is. But seems like these days, Christmas has become a day to have parties and to exchange gifts. "Imagine it is your birthday and the whole world is celebrating it, but no one invites you to their celebration!" she said. I smiled and didnt know what to say next. Nevertheless, I am not one of the "guilty ones" - I dont join in the countdown or put up Christmas tree in my home or buy gifts for everyone. I dont even send out Christmas cards now!

Hero Movie!

Woohoo! After the long wait and aniticipation since early October, I finally went to catch the movie yesterday! The movie picks up where the TV special left off and still retains the style and characters of the tv serials. Kuryu Kohei (Kimura Takuya) never fails to touch me with his determined pursuit of truth! Oh yes, he is really cool wearing that black leather jacket when he appears in court! (Is it the same old one from six years ago?)

Although some parts of the plot have not been fully explained, the movie is still as good as the tv serials! Way to go, public prosecutor, Kuryu Kohei!

Antique weighing scale

Yoz! Find this familiar? Remember when you last since seen this? I think I would have forgotten its existence if it didn't catch my eye outside a Shop & Save supermarket in a old shopping mall at Tanjong Pagar!

I think I had tried it when I was a little girl, heehee and hey, the "price" for one try remains the same at 10 cents! But even so, wonder how many people will use it? After all, it is so common nowadays to have a bathroom scale in a household. ;)

Is S'pore getting too crowded?

Remember my blog entry on inconsiderate people on Mrts?

And Ani told me she witnessed a fight in the train as it was too crowded and violent shoving began.

Yes, I blame the overcrowding in trains mainly on the increased population in S'pore. When I was in primary school, I remembered my teacher telling us that the population then was about 3 million. And now the statistics show a huge increase to 4.68 million! Why is this so when the birth rate has not been going up?? Well, this is due to the growing number of expatriates and foreign workers living here, about 1 million of them! This figure makes sense, I mean, do you remember having foreign classmates when you were in school? Perhaps we only knew a few from JC onwards. But now, foreign students are so common in primary schools!

The journalist from Today who wrote an article on this spoke to a sociologist professor from NUS. The professor doesn't believe the crowd situation here is bad.
It's nothing compared to Jakarta or Bangkok or any Indian city, he said. He has a different way of looking at "density".

"The only measure of density is the quality of life. If you find yourself unable to be polite and civil, then it's dense."

Maybe the professor is right. Perhaps I am getting more impatient and intolerant.

And maybe not only me alone.

Fruits Galore!

Wahahaha! My title sounds misleading but if you are to eat everything of the above by yourself after a dinner, wow, that's really "galore"!

I really love cherry tomatoes! That's my favourite after-dinner snack! No one really loves them as much as I do at home and great! I can have most of them to myself! I pop them into my mouth as if I can eating grapes! And you know what, one medium-sized tomato may provide almost half of a person’s recommended daily amount of vitamin C. Tomatoes also aid in the development of healthy teeth, bones, hair and skin (吃了脸美美！); lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels and possibly reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers. :))

Now for the huge and juicy strawberries! They can be really filling man. 2 big ones can fill your stomach like a small apple! Strawberries contain a range of nutrients, with vitamin C heading the group. They also contain significant levels of antioxidants, which fight free radicals. (Free radicals are elements that can damage cells, and they are thought to contribute to the formation of many kinds of cancer.)

Woohooo! Am I full after these 2 servings of fruits! ;P

Serenity at Raffles Place

I found a new place to have lunch when I am alone :) It is an area along Boat Quay, opposite Fullerton Hotel/ May Bank building, in front of the Asian Civilisation Museum. There are quite a number of small stone benches here and I was sitting at the very bench in the picture, with Fullerton Hotel across the Singapore River. It is really peaceful and quiet here! Such a miracle to find such serenity at the crowded and hectic Raffles Place!

And isn't it lucky of me to find a Lunchtime concert going on at the Museum at 1pm today! (Presented by Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music - every Friday from 12 Oct - 16 Nov - free admission)

Wow! So many people were already there at 1pm! All the seats were occupied and I could only stand at the back. Strangely, most of the audience were either ang-mohs or little children who came with their parents or teachers. Perhaps they were students from music schools. Don't think there were many office workers like me. The performance today were by 4 players on 3 violins and 1 cello. Didnt really take note of the pieces they were playing, they all sounded unfamiliar to me, hahaha. But I could see their harmony and rapport, even without a conductor!

But haiz! Time passed so quickly, I could only stayed for 20 min before I walked back to my office... Wonder what time did their performance end?

White hair! Eeeeks!

Eeeeks! I found 2 strands of white hair on my head today!! I NEVER had white hair before! Both were discovered near my forehead and were short "baby hair".

One of them started off as a reddish brown hair, then the colour got lighter and lighter and eventually turned to white. The white portion was about 3cm long, I think. I pulled that strand out and realised that the tip of the hair had turned black once again. But never mind, I never like the idea of displaying white hair on my head. >_<

The other strand also started off being reddish brown and eventually turned to white. It was still white at the tip. I just touched it lightly and the whole strand came off. Must had been an extremely weak hair.

Sigh!! What has happened to me?? Am I getting old? Or have I been thinking too much? :(

龟苓膏

啊！终于！今天总算品尝到真正的龟苓膏了！平时都是吃易拉罐装那种，今天竟然让我在Westmall basement 的福华燕窝行找到现做现卖的传统龟苓膏！好大一碗才$2！好开心啊！:)

龟苓膏是梧州的传统药膳，相传最初是清宫中专供皇帝食用的名贵药物。它主要以名贵的鹰嘴龟和土茯苓为原料，再配生地等药物精制而成。其性温和，不凉不燥，老少皆宜， 具有清热去湿， 旺血生肌，止瘙痒，去暗疮，润肠通便，滋阴补肾，养颜提神等功效!

这碗龟苓膏吃起来苦涩苦涩的，良药果然苦口！它肯定比其他甜品来的更健康！:)

I have a new blog!

Hohoho! Welcome to my new blog! Am I glad now that my pictures here turn out to be much bigger! And there isn't any restriction on how many pictures I can upload a month? Great!

Yeah, I should have come to this website to blog instead of Friendster! After all, my main purpose is just to write down some of my thoughts and reflections and not to keep in touch with long lost friends. What a loner I am, you may say, but ha! I don't care! ^_^