Merry Christmas in advance!

Look at those grins on our faces!

Must've been because we were due to receive Christmas presents from our secret santa right after this photo. Am already feeling the festive spirit in the air! Are you?

越南之旅

 

At the rice paper making place, where we enjoyed amazingly yummy rice paper crackers.

 Brother and dad~

sister, myself, dad. plus random korean tourists.

Old but capable boat rowing grandma!

Our horse-drawn cart ride. The horse's awesome feather headpiece & bells were rly impressive. (:

Typical Ho Chi Minh road.

Vietnamese coffee.
 

The Vietnam trip with my family was a much-needed break from work. Something amazing about visiting South East Asian countries that I've not been to before is how familiar yet new the surroundings can feel. The busy streets, lush tropical rainforests, and even the foreign languages spoken are easily, yet faintly distinguishable.

Before the trip, I was rather apprehensive about visiting Vietnam. True enough, there wasn't much shopping to be done there. What really captivated me about this place was their cultured society even though it wasn't entirely developed like Singapore. Their side walks were clean and the greenery always looked well manicured. Something else which I truly enjoyed was the feeling of peace. You can really feel the slower paced lifestyle that they led (along with all the locals chilling at the parks) which makes one want to just kick back and enjoy the moment.

Somehow, I do feel that I've left a part of my soul in Vietnam. The night when we came back home, I was lying in bed trying to sleep and a wave of sadness flooded through me. When will I get to enjoy these sort of languid days again?

Once again, iIt's back to reality; back to life. Funny how a short 4-day trip can bring about the deepest thoughts.

black and white,

Rainy days are beautiful in so many ways!

My slow but steady Samsung EX1.

Guess what this is? (not so hard to guess!)

My cow-ified phone! (:

Right after my hair trim which took all but 5min.

serious considerations

My testimonial made it to our jobs page!

On a totally separate note, my family has been urging me to rethink my education plans. According to my sister, studying business would be the most general and practical degree to take. Doesn't sound like the most interesting thing to be studying (knowing my experience from my poly diploma, my biz modules were the ones which pulled my grades down!) but would something else like social sciences be relevant enough for my future job endeavours? Hmmm...

They're making it seem like the most important thing in my life now and I believe it most likely is.. What I really want to do, though, is to study overseas. Take a course that's really interesting and have a good final study experience. Of course there's many other considerations that affects such decisions and right now, I can only say that this is only but a dream. :(

friends for life

Today was a pretty special day and a great one, as good as how lovely evenings go. (did that even make sense?)

Anyway, it was a rare weekend which my sister spent at home so my dad passed us (the siblings) $50 to enjoy a good dinner. With our Starhub cable tv and all the amazing shows constantly on, we were sorely tempted to laze at home and order take in, then just sit on the couch and be typical couch potatoes. But we didn't. And I'm glad we chose not to.

The three of us decided to head down to Cedele at the Rail Mall for our meal. My first time dining in there, and the food was yummy. I had never used to enjoy eating greens but salads have begun appeal to me a lot more in the past year or two! The salad I had at Cedele was really good. Good salads tossed with balsamic vinegar give the right amount of tartness, opening up the palate and appetite and makes the next mouthful even more appealing.

I had really enjoyed myself because we hardly have the chance to hang out together, just the 3 of us. It does make me wish and look forward to the future which we will meet up for a meal, bring our kids along and just catch up on each others' lives; kinda like how friends do. So yes, I do believe the saying that family members are "automatically considered" friends you'll have for life!

Oh, and I managed to drop by Epicurious to say hi to my ex-colleagues. Glad to know that I've not been forgotten (haha!) and I do miss working there. To those looking to work in a restaurant, go join a cafe instead! I loved my experience at this cafe much much more than the time I spent at a chain restaurant. Much cozier environment, colleagues and customers, I must say. (:

A lazy day

Tigers slumped on a rock...

Lions sleeping with their legs up...

*what are you staring at?*

Today's just one of those days "where I don't feel like doing anything, I just wanna lay in my bed" ala The Lazy Song and those wonderfully lazy-looking animals resting in the photos above. Unfortunately, not everyone can go about doing their heart's desire just as Bruno Mars did in his song and as an adult now (gasp, before even reaching my 21st birthday), yours truly has got her own responsibilities to fulfil today, aka my job.

bookmarked;

Hi there, here's some things that I've been up to lately.

Met up with Gla & Gen for F1.

Super exciting & worth it to be able to see 3/5 Big Bang members up close.

And yes, right-behind-the-barrier-from-the-front-of-the-stage close. :D

Finally got a good look at one of my favourite animals (ZEBRA) while at the zoo!

Acting silly with a giant tortoise & just having fun in general.

网上购物

Online shopping is seriously addictive. It's convenient, simple and just too easy! Purchased a bunch of stuff from gmarket.com.sg for my phone, such as button stickers, phone cover/bumper, screen protector.. and it really isn't expensive at all. Plus, I absolutely adore the idea of having things sent to me via snail mail. It kinda feels like receiving presents cause they're all wrapped up/enclosed in envelopes anyway, except of course that I paid for them myself.

Anywayyy, time's passed really quickly. Today marks the 3rd month I've spent at Groupon and contrary to what others may say about the amount of time I spend on my job (long-ish hours), I've found my experience so far to be really rewarding and interesting! So far so good, so we'll see how things go.. (:

reblogged;

rainbow rock

When life gets boring, have some candy to sweeten it up.

Preferably a rainbow flavoured one. Mmhmm..

Finding back my loves

Discovered the tumblr of this girl called nana at http://ohmytokyo.net/ (must see! she blogs in English & pictures) and the photos she takes from her time in Tokyo are simply gorgeous. It kind of feels like every picture paints a story and is so full of colour and life. Makes me wonder how life can look so beautiful from the viewpoint of others..

so long, farewell;

Friday was the last day of work for my colleague & department-mate Elincia (unique name, right?). Had only known and worked with her for merely two months but I'm rather sad that she's leaving cause she's considered of the the first people I really managed to get friendly with in the office, and I loved going for lunch with her. Will always rmb the trips to LJS & Sakae trips! Best wishes to you.. hope to meet up again soon. :}

the perfect hunt

Have been looking for this pair of shoes or similar for more than a year on gmarket, and I FINALLY managed to find them again today! And they were cost about SGD8.75 before shipping. But.. (yes, there's always the big but) they're not in my size. :( Meh, why so unlucky. If anyone knows where I can find such shoes please tell me k!

how's life?

Since I'm staying up a little later than usual doing my emails, I figured it wouldn't hurt to hop over to my blog and post something here too.

With most of my friends on my social media networks, there's no lack of updates about the start of their lives continuing their studies in university. Honestly, having already starting on a full-time job now simply makes me feel like I've come to a bit of a stand-still in life. I feel like I need to be in school now.. and it's still something I can't wrap my mind around. Maybe it's just something I'm already so used to- long school holidays with job stints but always returning back to school after that. Anyway, don't mind me. I'm just sharing this odd niggling feeling that has been at the back of my mind lately.

On a completely different note: I reallyyy want to shop. Like the times in Bangkok, shop till I drop. So looking forward to making the travel plans concrete!

photo of the day

These dark skies characterize what I call an impending storm.

perspectives;

Sometimes, things are so much more colourful than we make it seem. I feel like I've been painting my life in monotones and it's become such a bore. There's got to be more to life than just chasing after ideals and making others happy.

Bedtime story;

Hello, hello. I'm just here to write a quick post before I drift off to sleep. (:

You know how we all have this perception of who we ourselves are, as well as the ideal 'type' of person we'd like others to view us as? For me, I'd wish for people to view me as a person who is quirky and somewhat whimsical but with a creative mind. I know how this definitely doesn't sound like who I actually am now but it does sound nice, doesn't it? To live vicariously through others is something that I do at times as well. This is especially so when watching television programmer or reading up on other's lives online (sorry, makes me sound like a stalker?).. I can never fully express my love for the adayinmylife community on livejournal. It really does allow you to view the life of a person as they had lived it. And even if it's just for a single day, it's already fascinating and pretty much amazing.

Thanks for bearing with me through this post- simply felt like penning my thoughts down & having the free reign to write whatever rubbish I wanted. Mhmmm, feels really good.

On a completely random note, i have been thinking about this & if I were to start up my own business it'll prolly be a gourmet popcorn store. ♥

mentally tired

I really feel like I've hit my breaking point. Burnt my entire weekend on doing work, and I'm still unable to finish it. Had made a conscious effort to start on my work much earlier as I was aware that I'll prolly have problems finishing up everything but as time ticked by while I was sitting here at my table, the number of emails coming in kept multiplying and my slowish internet didn't help either.

You know what people say about weekends and off days being days that you can take your mind off work? Apparently today and yesterday, I had more on my mind about my work than I usually do have for normal working weekdays. Zzz..

Think I'll even dream (or have nightmares) about the emails tonight. Help!!!

feast like a hippo

Double stacked bacon cheeseburger @ hippopotamus.

Had lunch at Hippopotamus restaurant today and as you can see from the photo above, the food was awesome. Will update with a proper post on this soon, promise!

What do you do at home, on a relaxing weekend morning? ☺

Stared at my pictures: the lovely framed memories ♥

Had brekkie; tuna spread on toast & a literal amount of bacon bits!

Recounted my love for harry potter, and my childhood spent on it (:

Played with my squeaky fish toy, imagining that it's a godzilla.

to four-two, with love

This photo was taken last Saturday, when we had our final meet up before Liesl flew to Australia to further her studies. 4/2 never fails to meet up several times a year, and being able to catch up with the rest of them makes me feel glad that although we have gone our separate ways since secondary school and will be headed in even more different directions in the years to come, we've not forgotten about each other. Just to meet up once in a while.. I guess that's enough. (:

how do you like your eggs in the morning?

ty; accidental epicurean

I finally returned to have brunch at Cafe Epicurious after ending my relations with them (hahaha). Collected my pay, and sat down to enjoy the food. Yum yum! Have been dying to try their eggs benedict since reading about it months ago. Many food bloggers rave about eggs benedict but I didn't yet understand the hype about it.

However, the previous time when I went to the Robertson Quay outlet, they had ran out of poached eggs. True enough that while working at the Rail Mall outlet, the chef would give me a poached egg once in a while as a treat and I'll eat it with salt and pepper but it wasn't the same, cause it wasn''t with the accompanying ingredients for eggs ben (as we call it over there).

So I ordered "half of this and half of that", which consists of a small portion of baked eggs portion (aka baked eggs and soldiers) and a single portion of eggs benedict. How nice is it to get to try 2 different dishes on the same plate? (:

Maybe my expectations for the eggs ben were too high, but I found that I actually enjoyed the baked eggs more. Must have been the bacon (which is my favourite food) in it! The OJ was unexpectedly good as well, which shouldn't have came as a surprise since I knew from working there and peeling the oranges every thurs/fri that they used whole oranges to make the freshly squeezed juice.

After finishing up the meal, dex was eager to leave straight after as always but I managed to make him sit down and just chit chat. I know some people like him don't have the habit of staying at the dining place/restaurant and chatting after, but it's one of the things I really enjoy and am used to doing, especially with my family. Somehow, the mood's always better and words flow more easily when you're satisfied with the meal!

note to self:

Sometimes we face disappointment, be it with ourself or with others. But when things don't go the way you want to, just step back and remind yourself that the world doesn't spin only for you. And sometimes, just sometimes.. it's okay for things to not go your way. Embrace it and allow it to be a situation you can look back fondly and laugh about! Don't be afraid to cry when you want to, or laugh when you feel like it. Life is too short to dwell on unhappy things! ♡

photo friday

From today's gathering with my poly classmates at broun cafe. A very happy birthday to you, elle! <3 Felt like such a long time since I've last joined in the class' meet ups!

at cafe epicurious,

Jam, yihui and vincent visited me at work today. I ♥ you guys!

bedtime;

Sitting here in my room with the flower light and radio turned on is one of the comfiest and most relaxing feeling, ever. With the dim orangey light which casts strong shadows onto the walls and the instrumental music playing softly in the background, this is why my favourite time of the day is at night 8)

Was just browsing through facebook and realised that I miss hanging out with my friends :( Seems like all I've been doing lately is work, have dinner with dex, meet up with his friends, spend time with his/my family. I met up with enping a week ago for dinner before he left for ns. The meeting reminded me of how long I've not met up in that manner with my friends - simple dinner appointment slotted in between other appointments.

I seem to be caught up in my own world! So much so that chatting with the most like-minded colleague at work makes me really happy. You know, those sort of mindless chatter about what went on in your day and gossiping about stuff..

But anyway! I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO FRIDAY!!! Will be seeing my crossers and my poly friends. I miss socializing with people I know :( Till then, see you all~.

photo friday

Mij, taken on 13 June.

From next week onwards, I'll be posting a self-taken photo every friday as a reminder to keep this blog updated as much as possible. I also don't want to lose sight of pretty things in my everyday life just because I'm going to be starting a more "routine" life (soon)!

don't we all?

"But no matter what was going on in our lives, I could imagine lying beside her in bed at the end of the day, holding her while we talked and laughed, lost in each other's arms."

- Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

thoughts

Whenever I manage to take some time to browse the web on my laptop instead of on my phone which I usually do, there seems to be sooo much stuff to be updated on and my blog always gets neglected. Does this happen to other people too? Feels like there's so much happening in life, but only so little that's worth recording down specially..

I'm still in the midst of searching for a full-time job while working part-time at the cafe. And boy, I really really enjoy my time working here and don't actually want to leave :( The staff are all nice, food's good (when I manage to pinch some) and after being there for a month or so, I've finally gotten used to the place but I already need to prepare to leave!

So, interesting stuff that's happened lately.. graduation was several weeks ago and it marked the last day I'll step into an educational institution in a long time. Thinking back to the time when I made the choice to study tourism, I didn't realise that I'll grow to kinda regret the decision after graduating. Honestly, is there really a need to study about service and its execution? In retrospect, it's prolly better to study something of more technicality for a diploma, such as banking, accounting or communications? At least those 'lines' don't have jobs that require diplomas of any "discipline".

And something funny happened several days back. I actually had a sorta impromptu interview with 2 patrons of the cafe who suddenly decided to take an interest in me. At first when they started talking to me, I thought they were just happy with the service I gave and didn't think too much about it. But later on, the lady actually asked for my number and said she'll gimme a call if there's any job opportunities at her workplace. Talk about weird encounters!

what a headache,

Being sick is such a bother. Had a minor discomfort in my throat which worsened slightly after the morning shift at SSS ended. Guess the chicken/fish curry for lunch made it worse :/ Woke up at 4am after tossing and turning in bed, and found I had a large patch of itchy rash behind my right thigh. And with a sudden turn of events, I wound up waking up to an incredibly sore throat and pounding headache. Unlucky, unlucky me. I'm supposed to be watching Voyage de la Vie (free of charge!) in the evening but obviously, I never made it to the show.

Decided to head down to a polyclinic to get an MC for work and found out that I had a relatively high fever, which explains the horrible headache. Slept the rest of the day away and here I am now! Just had the second round of medication and my headache's unfortunately back. Am under "house arrest" till I get fully better. Have got to thank dino for tucking me into bed and making sure I ate my medicine, making me feel really loved & well taken care of (: hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

walk the talk

It's been about two months since school ended but I've yet to find a job. This just shows how 'motivated' I really am to actually do something with my life. -__- On one hand, I'm trying to console myself by saying that it's because I've been working pretty much non-stop throughout poly life that I deserve this break. But the discrepancy between total idleness and the busyness from school is really quite huge.

Okay, the reason I came here is not to think about all that but to complain. What better way to broadcast your troubles/unhappiness than through the web right? Since I don't meet up with my friends as often as before.. Today, I finally got moving and arranged for an interview at a cafe/restaurant through the phone in the morning at around 11.15am. The person on the phone told me to head down at 3pm and look for the person in charge. So at the appointed time, I braved the strong winds and rain (if you saw the news, they were talking about flash floods and stuff. the rain was THAT heavy!) to head down to the restaurant- only to find that it's closed today. To make things worse, the person-of-contact suddenly became uncontactable. Hrmph, what luck. :/

My day eventually got better though. I went to the library and read up about aquatic pets and fishes, had some sushi, then came home and exercised with my dad. Climbed 19 storeys of stairs before going for a fast jog. Nowadays, the only times I can actually sleep well are when I've exercised in the day since I don't usually do anything much anyway.

Have got a separate job interview tomorrow and hopefully, I'll get to reschedule today's (missed) appointment to tomorrow as well. Good night! ☆

introducing my bb puffies!

Okay, I'm finally gonna talk about my little fishys. I have no idea when I started harbouring the idea of keeping pets of my own, but fish sounded like the perfect no-mess and not-much-attachment pets, cause I didn't have experience of taking care of any living thing on my own.

On 13th April, the day before my birthday, dino and I went to Qian Hu to pick out our new pets. The yellow puffers caught my attention, and they were quite cheap. We bought 5 of them and so they started their lives in my home! At that time, we were quite naive and kept them in a glass bottle from IKEA. For the first few days, they refused to eat anything and the uneaten food sank into the bottom of the glass bottle, clouding & dirtying the water. After 3 days I think, 2 of them died :/

I grew quite frustrated and was all ready to give up on them. They weren't eating, the water was dirty, and they were dying one by one! :( So dino and I made a pact that if all 3 of them manage to survive one more night, we'll make sure we take good care of them and find them food they will actually eat (LOL). Yah and miraculously, when I checked on them the next morning, none died.

With the help of my 'fish expert' dad (take a look at the large standing fish tank in background!), an existing tank was pulled out from the storeroom and reused. Now, the fishes are all doing very well and we bought another 3 to join the existing 3. All 6 now live happily! My family members adore them too.