Instagram Snapshots ~*February 2015*~

Honestly, I still feel like it is the beginning of 2015 when we are actually a quarter way through. The warmth and sunshine of Spring is dawning on the Northern hemisphere whereas here in Singapore, we are starting to feel the dread of the heat and humidity.

February was a short and no doubt busy month and here's February Instasummary. As usual, Instagram videos on blog run in fast forwards, skips and jumps. They are better viewed on iamjolene Instagram page itself for sound and image quality, as well as full streaming and on smartphone Instagram app for emoji to display.





~*1 February 2015*~
For one of the Division team building activity today, our department did this. Cute max!
We had such fun working as a team to draw, colour, cut, decorate and put everything together. On why the soccer theme and why no breakdown into branches like the other departments... we explained how the 3 branches in our department do not work in silos, but together in tandem to pass the ball to our boss to achieve our goal. Although we didn't win this challenge, we are the champions in our hearts.




~*1 February 2015*~
Melancholic Danbo looks on forlornly at... peanuts. ~
I got to handle a toy Danbo (Japanese: ダンボー) for the very first time thanx to my colleague and I think I'm so gonna bug him to help me buy one too. I don't care the exorbitant price now. I just want a Danbo. Oops... Do I need a DSLR to take Danbo pictures that are Flickr worthy?




~*4 February 2015*~
Saw 3 friends on Instagram balancing eggs today and wondered what it was all about till I googled about it. Egg balancing has been connected with Lichun (立春), the solar term beginning Chinese spring (春) on February 4 or 5 when the sun is at the celestial longitude of 315°. I took only a few seconds to balance this super outta shape egg 😃 and then I decided to put my 2 Chi cats as props, knocking the egg down in the process 😣. Hubz could turn, snigger at me and call me "stupid" even when gaming. 😅 After that, I took about 5 minutes, snapped a photo and decided the egg wasn't photogenic enough with visible condensation forming on the surface. I wiped the egg and then took more than 5 minutes to get it to balance. Why does it get increasingly difficult?
Have you tried balancing an egg today?




~*5 February 2015*~
Lo Hei!




~*5 February 2015*~
Another group shot with Baby Samantha. Hahaha. We look just like the ambassadors of Mouth Restaurant.




~*6 February 2015*~
A colleague and I decided to pamper ourselves for lunch today coz we (read: I) write paper till wanna puke. For a normal lunch, sharing salmon sashimi is 奢侈的 happy food for 2. *burp*

~*7 February 2015*~
Pig trotters bee hoon. Yummy!




~*7 February 2015*~
Chili cheese fries. Delicious but I prefer their salted egg yolk fries.




~*7 February 2015*~
3 days later... The egg wouldn't tumble even with the silly hubby jumping about near it. No, I lied. I didn't leave it there for 3 days.




~*8 February 2015*~
How to get longer slimmer legs like Blake Lively (the cheater bug method without exercising) up on my blog. Link in bio. Told Ya it's the cheater bug method. 😝😝😝 #longlegs #leanlegs #skinnylegs #noexercise #blakelively #legenvy #photoedit #meitupic




~*11 February 2015*~
#workingfromhometoday coz I need a cave to hide from all the emails and phone calls #butfirstletmetakeaselfie and then take a break.
Feeling totally drained now "cooking" a paper.
My boss said, "You've got all the ingredients. Pick and choose then see if you want to serve sashimi style, whatever cooking style... Up to you to cook." 😜
I said, "Sounds really yummy. But the cooking process SUX." 😅




~*11 February 2015*~
In another 3 days, it would be our 14th anniversary together on the 14th of February. A few years ago, I've stopped counting the number of years we were together and the number of wedding anniversaries since all these numbers do not matter as time passes. What matters is that we continue to walk this journey of love together hand in hand through ups and downs and dance if we can. #sugarmeupclass95 #valentinesday #anniversary #blackandwhite #letsdance




~*14 February 2015*~
Today is a very different Valentine's Day for me. My sweet eldest sister, @kappo77 is currently in ICU. This is my most recent wefie with her during her wedding last November. She is most beautiful that day and she would always be beautiful inside and out. Please help my family and all who care for her to pray for a smooth surgery on Monday. Thank you. (Click on link in my Instagram bio for more details)




~*18 February 2015*~
3rd Lo Hei this CNY.




~*18 February 2015*~
A stroll at the newly furbished park in the estate after dinner. MIL walked to the front to take a pic and everyone did this... with @jovennnnn. @gnahiy you walked off too soon.




~*19 February 2015*~
大年初一 Chinese New Year Day 1 wefie.




~*19 February 2015*~
And then we went "mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" to welcome the year of the GOAT till the timer clicked. @troodss missing here. #全家福 #ilovemyfamily #cnyday1 #cny #chinesenewyear #大年初一




~*20 February 2015*~
So only after a full day of heat, humidity and perspiration did I achieve the hairstyle that I wanted. 😕 Feeling "meh" in the year of the goat 🐐 #butfirstletmetakeaselfie.




~*20 February 2015*~
Flipagram version of what BIL @gnahiy uploaded just now. CNY Day 2. All the chao posers visibly surprised at what's in the gold coin. Hahaha. 😂😂😂 with @gnahiy @jovennnnn @troodss #cny #cnyday2 #meh #lol #chaoposers #familyportrait #ilovemyfamily



~*20 February 2015*~
Delivery from Crust Gourmet Pizza. Truffle wedges, Gourmet Smoked Ham & Pineapple, and Peri Peri Chicken. YUMMY!!!




~*20 February 2015*~
Random "meh" thoughts in the year of the goat/sheep/ram:
#1 Random strangers who pass by to comment couldn't tell who the owner of this account is.
Not enough selfies meh? 😳 @_@
#2 Disliking the new MeituPic (美图秀秀) update coz the editing looks fake. I love to use mtxx filters rather than Instagram ones but the updated filters come with auto editing to slim the face, enlarge the eyes and blur out the skin tone all in one.
Not fake meh?
#3 I think I'm gonna cut my fringe soon. Current fringe is too untidy for daily look with many strands of antenna-like hair growing upwards. Always gotta crop the top of head in photos.
Not weird meh?




~*21 February 2015*~
Hubby and I headed to Fat Boys The Burger Bar after TTSH coz SOME people like @soonorsooner and @julestbl BO JIO us earlier. Now jio us 有什么用呢？😂




~*22 February 2015*~
We couldn't meet on Christmas so we met up on Chinese New Year instead!




~*26 February 2015*~
#Throwback to 8 years ago when I frequently drew tattoo designs on different parts of my body with liquid eyeliner. My mum was so used to it till this black rose ankle one when it dawned on her to ask "It's not real right?" immediately after commenting that the design was nice.




~*27 February 2015*~
#新旺 CNY menu- XW Chinese Baked Scallops. Looks so good but totally regret ordering this. It is almost the same price as our main meals combined but it kinda sux.




~*28 February 2015*~
It is a brand new day and henceforth the Blue-Black, White-Gold dress trend that has torn relationships at the seam all over the world has fallen out of fashion. Let's enjoy the last day of February with other things other than that dress. #whatcolor #dress #blueblack #whitegold




~*28 February 2015*~
The most atas BBQ with the VIOS ever!




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Christmas 2014: The One Where Everyone Said, "No Gifts, Ok?"

With a few groups of treasured friends to meet, Christmas had to start way early in 2014 as there were schedules to accommodate to before everyone disappeared from Singapore over the next few weeks. All the close friends who met up in early December declared that it would be a Christmas meet-up without gifts as it was way too early for our gifts to be ready. After all, the gift of friendship and love far outweigh any other material gifts.


~*AVJ at Outback Steakhouse*~

That Group That Shall Not Be Named (aka AVJ) met up in early December for an advanced Christmas dinner at Outback Steakhouse.




Viv and I started on the food first since April would be late. This bread, as what Viv and I felt, was so damn good that we finished everything without saving a single crumb for April.




Viv's steak with potato wedges and garden vegetables.




My steak with mashed potatoes and garden vegetables. The steak was so-so; I was expecting more from an Outback Steakhouse.




April is a super health-conscious babe that we were quite taken aback when she replied the waiter on her two choices of side dishes.
"I will have the fries... and the fries!"




We ordered chicken wings to share too.




Drinks and desserts to share.




We caught up with one another with serious matters as well as loads of bimbotic laughter and tears from laughing. That's what you get when there are 2 bimbos in the group. No prize for guessing right who the 2 bimbos are!




We were attempting a The Dog style of photo without the use of fish eye lens. We concluded that April and I looked quite dumb with our The Dog face while Vivi looked like a sinister cat with a sinister up-to-no-good smile.




The result of Vivi's creation using some photo app.




Jo and April were trying so hard to get a good shot and even switching seats for better lighting.




Viv and April got a great shot in just one try. Ok, twice coz there was a guy in the background for the first shot and I simply had to angle him away.




There was a raised platform somewhere in the Millenia Walk filled with Christmas decorations and we decided to take more shots there.




Viv said it was one of the rare times I wasn't in heels and had to take a full length picture of us together.




I'm not too sure why there were floating dots of lights on our faces. With the iPhone 5 front camera under very dim lighting and trying means and ways to angle the selfie stick, it was so difficult to capture a great photo of the 3 of us.

And yes, the first shot seems to be the best after all.




[All photos in this section were taken using iPhone 5.]



~*CJC at Charlene's Home*~

CJC (Cyn + Jo + Char) and family gathered at Charlene's place for a cozy advanced Christmas dinner.






We had a Asian fare of zi char dinner.




Top L-R: chilli crab, black pepper crab, sweet sour pork
Bottom L-R: toufu with minced meat and vegetables, nai bai vegetables, rojak




After dinner, the adults lazed about while the kids got active.




As usual, Jase is not just the good kor kor to his mei mei but to little Dylan as well. My godson is really a big and mature boy now. Can't believe that he would be in Primary 5 this year!

Look at how sweet Jase is to Mia.




Sweet little Mia looked so innocent here!




Cyn Mommy and Mia.




Dylan is no longer a toddler but quite a fine boy already. The first and last time I was at Charlene's place, he was still a cheeky toddler who loved to be around ladies. Now as a boy, he is more shy towards us but really sociable with kids, especially to Jase whom he looks up to.




It was really hilarious and cute how Dylan imitated Jase's every move.




Still as cheeky as ever, Dylan's cheekiness manifested during play. I loved to watch the 2 boys play football. Jase would be the goalkeeper and Dylan would keep doing fake moves and hopping over the ball instead of kicking, much to the chagrin of Jase.




Godpa Kh and Mia photobombed Jase and Dylan.




What a sweet picture of Godpa Kh and Mia (who looked like she was boxing him).




When Kh put Mia on Dylan's "throne", she felt really happy and kept smiling coyly at how she had gotten the throne seat of the house. I wasn't able to capture her coy smile.




Kh made Mia fold her arms and cross her legs, an action that I used to do as a toddler whenever adults say, "Fold your arms and cross your legs." Mia actually remained in position, looked at all of us and smiled coyly. Lol!




"Fold your arms and cross your legs."




Godpa with his little girl.




Godpa with his little man.





You know Facebook is really smart at face recognition whenever you do tagging? Well, Facebook keep mistaking Kh for Jase. I always chuckle at this mistake.




I realise that CJC didn't take a picture together that evening so here's a throwback one from last June which some of you would have seen before.




A parting anigif shot of all of us being spontaneously clad in red and black.




[All photos in this section were taken using Canon S95.]

As some of you would have known from my Instagram, I caught a full blown URTI bug and was so sick from the flight back home from Hanoi with no other medication but Panadol Extra. Flaring red tonsils, super painful throat, uncontrollable coughing, leaky stuffy nose, feeling like I'm drowning in my own thick mucus, pain through one side of the nose and forehead, blowing small trails of blood out and feeling like a useless bum sleeping and sleeping and sleeping.

Right now, I see zig zag flashes of light on my computer screen and I guess I could do nothing more but to sleep.

Hope all of you are keeping well and are in a better state than I am in the first week of 2015!