and my head is still in place!

overall it was a pretty good trip. i quite like diving with Scubapeople, at least the resort and food was decently good.my advanced diving course went on quite well. except for the navigation test which i sucked big time. so it's proven that i have zero direction sense both in and out of the water!!we sighted a group of 5 cuttlefishes swimming around us and this is the "grandpa cuttlefish" (according to melvin, cos he thinks his skin is like so wrinkled so he must be very old now)and a cute baby turtle!it's so funny that my hair here looked like Guile from Street Fighter I.his name is CK and i always thought he looks very cute! hehehe. LL you think he's cute? (apart from the fact that he's younger than us lah)this camera costs a jaw dropping $12,000! my god. it belonged to a guy who was diving with us and the pictures he took with this camera was AMAZING.this is CK's brother. he's also my buddy throughout the course. he's so 'man' and always there to help me when i'm in trouble. such a sweet guy! it's interesting that the last time we met was in a TKD tournament when we were still secondary school kids. and now we meet again as friends and fellow diver.glad to have dived with some great people! you guys made me like diving again.

prelude to tioman!

tonight am going to Tioman for my advanced diving course!

last night was listening to all the scary stories about how people have died after their heads being cut by the propeller of a passing boat!!!!

ding! ding! ding! ding!

that sounds like something that'd happen to me!

hahaha.. and all the divers who were at this "discussion" all agreed. LOL.

weekend Tioman here i come! and hopefully i come back with my head (still intact).

skincare 101

after the visit to Shiseido, i must say i have been applying all the moisturizing what nots on my skin religiously every single night. hah. 女人， 还是最怕老的！~

世上没有丑女人， 只有懒女人！ >> totally agree. and i belong to the lazy gang hence the ugly gang!! *wails*

next step - lose some weight and buy more office wear! stop buying Adidas! - ok maybe not stop.. but less priority in my Adidas gear, dedicate more resources ie: money.. to buying office wear. haha.

help u avoid ERP!

was walking past a booth in SUNTEC selling GPS systems for cars. wow, ERP detection also available! once again, my theory of "desperation drives innovation" is proven :) whoever invented this... GOOD JOB!

drama queen is pregnant!!

the sis is pregnant!!! :) got a call from her this afternoon.

phone call with the sis:

me: i hope it's a baby boy
the sis: why?
me: cos i'm really afraid if it's a girl and she inherits nothing but your drama queen genes
the sis: what if it's a boy with my drama queen genes?
me: i'll probably beat him up!!!

HAHA :P wow... so i have a new role.. i am someone's aunt! heh!

apparently Shiseido has a new range of makeup hence they were inviting members to come for a free make-up sampling session. all thanks to Ruoz the lobang queen, me and LL were there today.ironically, each time when i see someone having a makeup session at the cosmetic counter, i'd say to myself in my heart "wow it's so NOT ME".. tadaaah! today, it was ME who was sitting there! so the moral of my story is "never say never" :Pit was a full makeup session with eye shadow, mascara and all. this is my second time having a full makeup. the first time was during a photoshoot for a poster on successful alumnis of Temasek Poly. (yup! successful alumni! --> ME! :P)
and here you go! after-makeup! not too much difference right? but this is good! it means i also look beautiful even without makeup! hahaha!we ended up buying their skincare product instead of their makeup! LOL, i thought it was really funny. I MUST MOISTURIZE EVERYDAY! i even set alarm on my handphone calendar! Everyday 10pm = MOISTURIZER time. moisturize from head to toe, including lip gloss! i will look younger! my inspiration is Edmund Chen - who is 49 years old this year but still looking good! *salivates*

ADIKE???

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE FCUK IS GOING ON????? this is UNACCEPTABLE!!!

25 random things (part2)

6) I do not like to exercise but I like to play games. Jogging is an exercise (dont like) and Badminton is a game (like).

7) Sci-fi, horror, action heroes, animations and movies with a lot of computer graphics are those that I do not watch. I have never seen LOTR, Harry Porter and Star Wars. I like comedies, romantic comedies, war films and especially movies adapted from a true story

8) I dont like people who write excessively in short forms, for example: "i went 2 e movies wid sum frenz on sat n it was v bz @ e cinema."

9) I like online chatting, from the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) days to ICQ then MSN. My current job pays me quite well to chat online with different clients from 7am to 5pm every day and most importantly, I have to make them happy. (Guess what I do for a living?? haha)

10) I realised “haha” and “hehe”s are no longer in fashion. You should say “hohoho

OWE $ PAY $

ok some updates!! i just finished one out of 2 exams for my equity training and i did above average, so i'm happy! work hard for one more week and hopefully i do even better in exam 2!

now bad news is, i got a registered letter from CPF saying "OWE $ PAY $!!!" it says on the letter: "The Board hereby demands FULL payment of the total sum owed ($19,287.34) within 14 days of this letter, failing which we will commence legal proceedings against you."

the money owed is for my tertiary + university education. die liao lor. i use backside to pay!!

it's Déjà vu

it's 9pm on a saturday evening and here i am in my brightly lit, neon coloured, flashy office located in Singapore's central business district area. one which promised a culture of "work hard, play hard".

today is the "work hard" part. heh.

so what am i up to? i just completed my online tutorials on Accounting Fundamentals and Corporate Finance. (rolls eyes) ask any of my friends and they tell can tell you i'm reluctant to do any subject which requires the use of a calculator. but according to THIS i have apparently gone through 6 accounting related modules in my life! well let's just say my gray matter was somewhat designed to sieve out accounting related information effectively after each module. *burp*

sometimes when i look back at my life, i want to laugh out loud at myself.

it's Déjà vu...

hated accounting/finance in secondary school? it's ok! i'll read the same subjects in poly!

hated accounting/finance in poly? nevermind because i'll do it all over again in university!

still hating accounting/finance even after uni? awesome! because now i'm doing it for a living!

oh well, let's just say, i'm learning to love it. :) and i truly am. :):) and the difference now is, at least i'm being paid for it. HAH.

my laopei striked 4D

hah! the dad suddenly appeared in my room and exlaimed: "ah qi! i striked 4D leh!!! 2nd prize!!!" he then showed me the papers. not long after, the mum also came running in and they started debating furiously on how much we've won.

so i wowed them with modern day technology: www.singaporepools.com.sg > click on Lottery > 4D > Prize Calculator... and there you go - the winnings are automatically calculated!

even though it wasn't a significant amount (cos it was a small bet) but it was enough to leave him happy for awhile! he hugged the fat cat who came in to check out the commotion in my room and said to him: "ah siao! can buy alot of nice food for you liao!" ....

oh...then the fat cat scratched his arm. (a common sight) HAHAHAHAHA!!!

the dad let out a "tamade" and left the room with the mum, the newspapers and the winning ticket in his hands. :)

firsts...

today was the first time...

i travelled in a cab 4 times in one single day alone (home > work > home > cinema> home)

i had to get off the SBS bus because it broke down halfway (which explains why cab work > home)

i went to the movies alone (benjamin button is a good movie)

i finished an entire cup of popcorn by myself (although GV's popcorn sucks)

ok you know the part about going to the movies alone is that.. everyone thinks you are a freak and give you the stare as if telling you:

1) you have no friends (outcast maybe?)
2) you dont have a boyfriend
3) you are a psycho

grr.....

25 random things (part1)

1) One of my favourite smells is the smell of Dettol. Dettol is an integral part of my life because I use Dettol solution to clean my bathroom, Dettol shower foam when I bathe, Dettol gel to clean my keyboard, Dettol antiseptic cream to apply on my pimple. Once I went to an Indian colleague’s house and I was very excited when I found out that his entire toilet smell of Dettol - immediately we were friends.

2) I eat plain prata with white sugar and egg prata with curry.

3) I am a habitual nail biter. I dont know how and when it started but it must have been very, very long ago. I tried to stop this habit of mine once when I was in Secondary School and once more when I started working 1.5 years ago. Both attempts failed - I am still enjoying my nail biting activity.

4) My handwriting in both Chinese and English is very poor and I am quite embarrassed about it.

5) I do not enjoy reading because it makes me sleepy and I suspect I have slight dyslexia although never clinically proven. I have NEVER in my life, finished reading an entire copy of The Straits Times. Not that I am not concerned... I watch the news on TV two times a day.

6) I feel a little awkward when strangers ask me for my name, because I dont have a “Christian” name. Not that I am not proud of my name but non Chinese can never get it right. Many of my friends call me “PQ” - the initials of my name. But one day I was told by my Manager “PQ” meant “Poor Quality” in our department and I was quite affected for that period of time.

job security or not??

yes news again, this time the headline read: "BB to cut 100 broadcast jobs" (source: REUTERS) haha! *ouch!* ....this is the first time in 28 years since BB was founded that we had to let someone go like that.

ironically, i was just at this job fair in school yesterday, talking to hundreds of young soon-to-be graduates and convincing them to apply for a position with us. many of those students and even my professor asked the same question: "is BB affected by the recession?" i confidently said to them: "BB is still hiring aggressively despite current economic situation and we have no retrenchment plans." technically, i am still right and wasn't lying. it's true that we're hiring quite a bit because my department is indeed expanding and a generous budget was awarded to us for this financial year. but well i'm sorry about the second part, we do retrench afterall.

although this retrenchment exercise affects only the BB TV and radio folks it still came as a HUGE surprise to all of us. we were always told by HR that we have NEVER laid off a single person even during the toughest 9-11 period. but who's to say we have absolute job security right?? time to get real.

i think my conversation with the professor ended this way: "we should always count our blessings day by day..." how true...

depressing news!

i think i'm going to stop watching channel 8/U's evening news... it's full of depressing news! a couple of weeks ago we received this feedback from a client:

"BB TV is so depressing to watch, I changed to BB TV 6 Months ago and since then I have been so depressed on a daily bases, that I had to go on medication. I have stopped watching for last 2 days and the mood change is 100% better, I recommend to all please stop watching BB F@@@@@g TV."

hmm.. not sure if this is a genuine feedback or if it's just a prank. but i wont be surprised if it's true since the client was from the States! the mood over there must be 100% worse than in Asia...

HUAT AH!!!!!

this year's CNY is so boring.. i actually found the spring cleaning part most interesting! alot of my friends dont really participate in cleaning their houses and they were so shocked when they found out that i actually vacuum + mop the floor, clean table tops, polish mirrors and wash the toilets (my favourite part because I LOVE DETTOL). i'm so proud of my sparkling clean toilet because more than 3 people have commented that our toilet is really very clean.. (especially when we have a cat at home) hehehe...so i think the mum should really STOP complaining about me!!!

luckily the grandparents and first uncle came to our house for reunion dinner during 30th night if not it'll just be me mum and the dad. for some reason i think everyone's appetite shrank this year?? 7 of us couldnt even finish half of the food that's on the table.. or maybe cos the sis is not with us this year? she is usually the one who polishes off the leftovers.

all i did during this CNY was to watch TV, sleep and eat.. the only time i went out was to go for dinner at the grandparents during Day 1. i think this year will be a bad one for me, even the chinese horoscope thingy predicted that absolutely nothing good (health, luck, job, money, romance) will happen to them this year! boo hoo!

in anycase.. 年年难过，年年过！ HUAT AH!!!!!

bits and pieces malacca

we hopped on a very typical malaysian proton wira taxi which was probably 20 years old. it even needed help from the rest of the uncles to push-start it :) damn cool. you probably will not be able to get random strangers on the street to help push start your car in singapore...ok maybe more accurately.. we dont drive shift-stick manual cars anymore so you cannot push start the car. hahaha...we checked into our first hotel (www.hotelpuri.com), parts of The Little Nyonya (a local singaporean drama) was shot here...the decor was awesome, and the rates were reasonable too! we paid 310 ringgit per night for a family room (sleeps 4)hmm.. seriously. singapore's hainanese chicken rice ROCKS BALLS.. so please dont bother to try hainanese chicken rice in any other country... absolutely DO NOTmalacca is pretty nice to look at even at night.. maybe it's because lunar new year is around the corner so they put up extra lightings and decorations.we were at this pizza place.. food was so-so but the ambience is good!jonker street is pretty cool to just sit in a bar and chillout for the night!next hotel which we stayed in (www.thebabahouse.com.my) .. to be honest, hotel puri was better albeit slightly more expensive. i'll probably just stick with puri the next time i come, but for first timers, you may just want to try both hotels!a wonderful start to the morning .. coffee, toast, buddies, magazine and a 1960s backdrop...we suspect that this was also one of the location in which the drama was shot!this is one of the supposedly "die die must try" peranakan restaurant in malacca.. but we were all not too impressed with the food there!

singaporean childhood memories lost and found in malacca

such local stores were a common sight in Singapore during the 1980s when i was growing up..











not too many of such provision shops left in singapore! i miss them.. so much.. i still remember there was this time where me, my sis and our neighbour's kids won so many packets of free 'mamee' snacks from the 'ma-ma' shop at our void deck! i'm sure all the late 70s and 80s kids will agree with me if i say 'ma-ma' shops played a huge part in our childhood times.i remember my mum used to wear such clogs when i was realllly young!old school merry-go-round wow!! once a primary school classmate of mine (who really resembles popeye's wife olive) flew out (literally) of the merry-go-round because we were going too fast! hahaha.. i wonder if she still remember this??





there were many uncles peddling their collected old wares along jonker street...how can i resist not buying anything!










to be honest, my memories of how the old singapore 'five foot way' streets look like are pretty vague. probably because i've always lived in the east and also too young to remember.

we lost a huge part of our culture and traditions during the 80s and early 90s due to massive industrialisation of our nation. at that time, our parents had to work very hard to earn a living.. and also abandoning traditions to keep up with the governments propogandas about modernization... pretty sad actually. singapore government should really spend more effort in preserving our heritage!

found closure.. time to move on!

in case you still didnt know.. these are two of the actresses starring in The Little Nynonya showour attempt at taking replica photos and it was at the exact same location as well!ok fine... i guess the SUBJECT of the photo matters alot. haha.. not as pretty as the stars! but oh well, it's all for good fun okie! hahaha.. dont feel too bad lah LL.. you should have thought of the consequences before agreeing to take the photos!but dont play play ok... we also have behind-the-scene photos to document 'the making of'..



find this pose familiar?? heh.. with this series of photos and hugging on the the "gam cheng".. i've finally found closure to my craze over The Little Nyonya heh... time to move on...... to the next drama! :p