The one with the meet up, pig out excursion, simba & chipmunk face in 1973

Long awaited meet up with Fantastic 4 aka F4
6th October 2007

The name is so corny and I used it on my blog just for fun. Who knows, the rest of them started calling ourselves with that name too.

This outing was supposed to be held in August to celebrate wy and hs’s birthday but it got postponed till now.

We met up for Jap food at Waraku @The Central.


It was my first time there. Em said, “Welcome the mountain tortoise to the river!”

We had an unpleasant dining experience as the air con wasn’t working well. We were sweating while eating. I didn’t think much of the food too. The food wasn’t too bad but it isn’t as great either.


Check out the size of the bowl. That was how big our bowls were. It would help if the food tasted better.

Nice river view


wy & hs


They just had to keep snapping and snapping coz they always deem the previous one too ugly.

em & me


Just flashed, unflashed will do.

wy & her fila bag which I so wanna kop for myself.


When I was editing this photo, I realised that we didn’t snap one with hs and her present. I still remember she was getting all ready to pose with her bag but we were too engrossed in wrapping up our conversation up before wy left. Hahaha… Poor hs!

It’s always great hanging out with all of you coz the conversations are always so relaxed. Updates are frequent with no missing link, no tension, no awkward moments and we can just talk about ANYTHING under the sun. Can talk till mei wan mei liao.






There are really lots and lots of clothes and accessories shops. My eyes lit up for I haven’t been shopping for a loooong time. It’s indeed a place catered to the female customers. I hate the layout of the mall. You have to worm from makan places to fashion spaces because they seem to be located at sections of the building which are invisible to each other.

I bought two new tops which can be worn for work too. I seriously need a working clothes wardrobe! I’m wearing the same clothes over and over again while all my 101 spags, tanks, low cut tops and tees are lying obsolete in my wardrobe.



Met up with tailtail (deardear) and took some random pics.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Just Eat company excursion
9th October 2007

We had a shi zi lu kou excursion-game around bugis area. It was such an eye opener for me. I’m so gonna try out some of the food stalls and go for little walks in Singapore more often.

My group was in charge of this event but I didn’t contribute a thing except to be facilitator. I think the two main colleagues that came up with the whole game really deserve a round of applause. It was really quite out of the ordinary kind of excursion and it was fun too.

The clues...



We were divided into 6 groups each with unique name.













Take the first word from each envelope and we have "shi zi lu jou chu fa". How creative!

What's inside the facilitator's envelope



I’m sure the group S people would love to play this game together for we are so united! (Hey we won the best team effort during team building) But since our group was in charge, we had to be facilitators and mingled with the other groups too. The group I facilitated was a little quiet and cliquish but as the game progresses, it got better.

Piecing the puzzle which led to the check point




Checkpoint National Library










The desserts here are worth a try. Very unique! Gonna check out this stall and savour the desserts slowly next time.


My favourite outta all the dishes savoured-- Beef noodles!


The soup is soooo delicious that another group member and I continued sitting there and slurping the soup away when all the rest had run off to the next "pit stop". It's damn funny lor. When the rest thought that we had finished and started running away, we were like, "This is good stuff man!" and we just kept slurping away before catching up with them. I'm so gonna drag kh to the stall to try it out again.


For a group that was not so united and chatty, often bumping into other groups which were one stop ahead of us, we were quite happy that we came in 3rd.

The last stop was memorable! We were to end at NAFA building. At the traffic light, we spotted another group and we started shooting friendly daggers at one another. The other facilitator and I were urging our group members to run once the green man appeared. The usually buay onz group members asked us if NAFA was indeed the last stop and if it was they would really cheong for us. So once the green man came on, we ran as quickly as our legs could carry. The other group also started running. There we were, two groups zipping down the lane with many uncles and auntie sitting along coffee shops la kopi and passers-by cheering for us! I tink they think it was some kind of Amazing Race.

That day, I discovered that I could still run quite quickly. Papilios are really made for running! Hence, I decided to procrastinate no more and get myself a new pair of running shoes for exercise. The last time I ran was 2 years ago, no? It’s time to adopt a healthier lifestyle!


Destination NAFA...


Group shi


Facilitators


apr, the one who can run with high heels, LV bag and all
&
me, the one who realised she can still run


4 of us





Went for supper at Selegie's famous tau huey... We were so thirsty that we could only order chin chow. That was good! Most delicious chin chow I've ever tasted.


The kt people



I took some time off to visit baba before work that day. Poor girl look so lethargic. Together with the drip poking her little paw, she looked even more pitiful!



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Welcome home, Baba!
11th October 2007

We cleaned out her tray and laid her favourite cushion. I even cut my old obiang t shirt for blanket and tucked her into bed. Her body temperature was still quite low hence the blanket.

She looked so snug and guai under the “blanket”. She usually doesn’t like to be covered.


The next moment, she became like this…


The vet said that if we were to put a time on how long she would survive, it would be a month. A MONTH! Poor baba. Now we are trying to let her live her life to the fullest. My sisters and I are reasearching for home care online. With proper home care, the strong simba would definitely make it past 1 month. I'm confident of that. But for now, I don't dare to venture too far away from home w/o immediate transport for fear that something would happen to her.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chipmunk Cheeks
12th October 2007

I had my wisdom tooth surgery and now I look like a freaking chipmunk!


Ok it’s just one side, so now I look like half of a freaking chipmunk.


Only that I don’t look as cute.

The pain has been plaguing for months but I kept putting off the appointment, trying to pick an appropriate period when I could enjoy my 5 day mc without having to worry about work. However, Thursday was the last straw. The stubborn tooth was pushing against my cheek and other teeth so much that the intensity caused pain to my left jaw, left cheek and left part of the head for the entire day. I could not tahan anymore and had to bring forward my appointment with the dentist whom I kept canceling on.

Being a well-known procrastinator, I applaud myself whenever I make sudden prudent decisions based on my blink 2 seconds judgment. I parted with my $420 most willingly thinking that I could part with the pain too.

Alas, the thought of making a prudent decision lasted only as long as the anesthesia.

Anyway, the dentist and nurse commented that my tooth is very nice and full. The nurse said can make necklace wor.

PAIN PAIN PAIN!!!!!!!!!!! I'm trying not to take painkillers too often so I have to bear with the pain.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

1973 by James Blunt is currently my song of the moment. Take a listen to it.



Great tunes! Very nostalgic and laidback… I could almost imagine my little mtv of the days gone by with this song.

I think the player on my blog isn't really working. Those reading this, could you turn on your speakers and let me know if it's working?

Look at how my water babies have grown.

Without asking, my mum emptied the container of water and decided to use these for her money plant.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~* Taggies *~

4 Oct 07, 08:24
Canny: Hi Jo!! I always have a mixed feeling when clicking ur link on my fav. cos its either no update at all OR a long entry which I love reading!~ U & ur bf looks fab in couple wear! I breed mealworm B4 too!! with my SO. cos he have Arowana too! I even too pictures of our 'harvest' with my HP. LOL!!! Its amazing to see their changes & growin up!!
Hi Canny! Love what you say about the mixed feeling coz of the element of surprise at the end. Oh hahaha… I tot we look a little like 2 bananas in yellow. *LOL* I never expected anyone to breed this so-called disgusting beetles too. Yeah, nature is really amazing!

12 Oct 07, 23:35
Canny: Jo, be strong too, for urself, for Simba!! Will keep her in my prayers. I have a pet myself, entirely can understand how u feels. its really heartaching..'Shen lao pin si' is unavoidable. We gotta cherish the happy times & create keepsake memories!! Hope Simba is strong to overcome & fight against the illness. *big hugs to u*
Thank you so much babe for the hug and keeping her in your prayers. She's not so lao yet... 7 years old.. so I hope she can survive even longer. When she was at the vet under critical condition, my sisters and I were looking at all her photos and videos and so many of them showed us "bullying" her. OOps... But yeah... the memories.. we kept laughing at the videos. Now we must treat her like queen.. cannot bully her til her last day. Can't bear the thought of that.



6 Oct 07, 06:08
ajmal: do u know how to place meez widget in blogger??
Hi, sorry for this late reply. Hope you’ve found out how to do it. I don’t think I’m much of a help here as I dunno what widget is. But I used photobucket to upload the animation on blogger.



7 Oct 07, 22:54
clover: Hi is the black dress worn on 2Sep07 a desiner piece? How much is it? Appreciated.
Hi… You mean designer piece? You can say that I suppose. It’s by ABS. Not really popular in sg but he dresses Miss Teen USA and Beyonce. That was what they told me.



11 Oct 07, 23:07
WS: Do u do rebond at xiuzhen? How do u look different in diff occasion? Do u haf double or single eye lid? Do u wear special contacts? I dn tink Hairspray was gd too. Zac is cute. Hope ur cat is well.
Hihi.. Wow! You managed to squeeze so many questions in 1 tag! Which hair you referring to? My past entries? Now it’s curls and no, I didn’t rebond at Auntie Xiuzhen. I’ve got small double eyelids which become single at times. I wear monthly disposable and I don’t wear coloured contacts or big eye contacts if that’s what you mean by “special”. My cat has returned from the vet but she doesn’t have long to live. Thanx for your concern.

Be strong, Simba

The blood test result is out. Simba is diagnosed with kidney failure. She’s hospitalized at the vet now. The last time I saw her was in the morning before I went to work. I miss her so much… The thought of her all alone at the vet now really breaks my heart. The vet said that if she manages to pull through these 2 days, she would have to undergo weekly “dialysis” for the rest of her life.

She may be just a cat; however she is certainly not just a cat to us. She has human-like qualities in her. Those who have seen her will definitely attest to that. She has brought great joy to us and is a part of our family. People who are not animal lovers or pet owners will never understand the pain we are going through now.

To all my friends whom I sms earlier in the afternoon, thank you from the bottom of my heart for keeping her in prayers. To all reading this, please help me pray for her.

Thank you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Since a week ago, baba hasn’t really been her usual playful self. She doesn’t run to the door to greet us. She doesn’t trot to us when we call for her. She doesn’t play catching with us. She doesn’t chase little insects and lizards. She doesn’t jump up to sleep on her favourite chair or on the window ledge. She doesn’t jump up to the basin to urinate anymore but does it on the bathroom floor and rags. She must had been too weak to jump. She has stopped putting her paws on top of the food container whenever she wants food. She simply doesn’t eat now. She doesn’t drink water when she used to lap up a lot in the past. She kept vomiting and shitting watery stools when she did not even eat or drink.

She has been sporting spikey fur too. Sick animals usual have fur or feathers that stand up. Silly me still made fun of her and called her “hyena” coz on top of her spikey fur, the way she hunched and crouched really made her look like a hyena. When my da jie suspected her of contracting “lao mao chi dai zhen”. I merely brushed it away.

For the past two days, her body has been cold and limp. She has been very nua—almost like a dead cat with minimal movement. It was a lot worse than when she had fever a few years ago and mites a few months back. It got all of us worried. We had never seen her in such a state before.

She had also been hiding a lot too and not in all her usually haunts. Even though she was in the house, we could never find where she was unless she decided to creep out silently from her hiding place herself. When cats know they are dying, they tend to hide as they do not want anyone to see them go.

My parents and er jie sent her to the vet on Sunday. She was sooooo frightened yet so guai. Even though she struggled, she didn’t behave like an angry mad cat like how most cats behave when brought to the vet. The vet suspected her of having kidney or liver failure and gave her two jabs.

FAILURE, not disease. He said that a blood test was needed to confirm it and we had to brace ourselves for the best.

When the vet drew blood from her, nobody was allowed in the room. From outside the room, they could hear her crying. Even though I wasn’t there physically, I felt like crying when they told me this.

At home, we had to give her four different types of medicine. I feel so 心痛 xin tong for her whenever we force feed her medicine. The holding down, the forcing open of mouth, the look of her agonised face and the sounds of her cries pain us deeply.

After the medicine torture, she walked away from where we squatted. From that level and angle, I saw her 背影, limping away I supposed due to the drawing of blood from her leg.

However what pains me the most was the thoughtfulness baba exhibited on Sunday night even when she was so sick and weak. She retched loudly and vomited at the recess area and was crouching there for quite some time. After a while, she limped all the way to the toilet, sat on the floor and urinated. Amidst her frailty, she could still painstakingly limp to the toilet to urinate instead of dirtying the recess area.

I can’t even find the words to describe how I’m feeling now.

I feel like taking leave and just spend all my time with her at the vet.

Simba, hope you are not crying in the hospital now. Be strong. All of us at home miss you.

Long overdue entries of September

Warning: LOOOOOOOONG ENTRY


Efron Ecstasy
9th September 2007

I suffered from Efron Ecstasy for the past two weekends.


First, it was High School Musical 2.



Then, it was Hairspray.






With all the BIG hair, BIG names and BIG hype, I’ve expected a BIG BANG.

However, Hairspray didn’t quite meet my expectation. I really wonder about its 100% perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the 4.5 star ratings on 8 Days.

In case you don’t know, Hairspray is set in 1962 Baltimore. The film follows a pleasantly-plump and cute teen named Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky). With her big hair, big heart, big ego and big size, she simultaneously pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation.

While it is true that there are many fat people who are nimble on their feet and are very good dancers, Blonsky isn’t one of them. She was merely shaking and shaking her booty and boobies in the show. It was entertaining to see her dance not because she was that good but because she was that hilarious. (Don’t say I mean hor. Even though she can’t dance, I still think she’s cute lor.)

The plump girl in High School Musical 1 who defied status quo could dance even better. That was good stuff man! But Blonsky? Nope… It was pure comedy.

The movie dealt with social, racial, political and fat issue in a somewhat unrealistic manner. I hated all the twists too. So fake.

Everything was super unrealistic.

The way Link (Efron) fell in love with Tracy (Blonsky) was so DUH… Like hello? There weren’t any circumstances which could have drawn him towards her. The both of them had no chemistry at all! The way their love blossom is just so CARTOON. Kh and I literally gagged all the way when they kissed at the end… with tongues some more. EEWW!!!!

The actors and actresses acted pretty well. However, hyperbolic characters are easy roles to get into, aren’t they? Just exaggerate all you can. That said, I have to bear in mind that it is a musical and we know that people watch musicals for the singing and dance sequence, not the plot.

Ok the movie is not all that bad. Musicals are never that bad coz there is always the song and dance sequence to look forward to. Alas, most of the songs are forgettable except for the last song -- the one that keeps playing over the radio. The dance moves fared better. They were slick like tefal frying pan.

Almost everybody in the cast is famous and it was fun to see all the big names relegated to playing minor roles. John Travolta as Tracy’s plus size mother is so endearing and cute but everyone knows his reasons for donning the fat suit *winks*. Michelle Pfeiffer never looks a day older than Grease 2. With both of them on screen, I tend to compare Hairspray with Grease and I think Grease was a lot more fun!

It was an entertaining movie but not worth the high ratings in my opinion. My 2nd sister who is very supportive of all musicals (or musicals with Efron inside, I suspect) wasn’t too pleased with my views on Hairspray. She thought I should jolly well be a disgruntled critic.

Well, the movie wasn’t as good as I’ve expected but Efron really performed beyond my expectations. The person who stole the show would be non other than Zac Efron with his electrifying blue eyes and perfectly shaped brows, oh with just that little spring of hair falling impeccably over his forehead.




I’ve always thought I like Zac’s hairstyle in High School Musical with his fringe falling all over his puppy dog eyes. When I first saw him in the poster of Hairspray, I thought that Elvis-look-alike hairstyle was awful on him. Plus, nobody can ever emulate Elvis classic looks. However, when I saw him with all his sleek moves and the Oh-I-am-so-handsome-look-at-my-blue-eyes-baby mannerism, I changed my mind. He was so unlike his usual boy-next-door and just-a-regular-guy nature that I almost thought I was looking at chiseled face Elvis. Zac really has got some smooth grooves and I totally dig guys who can dance. Oh don’t I sound like a shallow prepubescent or a cradle snatcher?


Now, back to High School Musical 2… It is another musical with lousy plot. High School Musical 1 was cheesy but my whole family enjoyed it anyway. High School Musical 2 was yawningly boring that I almost fell asleep. Oh and Zac and Vanessa’s hairstyles weren’t as gorgeous as in part one. There was really nothing to look out for. All the hype about HSM2 sizzled within the first ten minutes of the show.

Since the title of this post is Efron Ecstasy, I will stop lambasting Hairspray and High School Musical 2 and concentrate on gushing over Zac instead.

Zac is like the cutest young thing after my Robert Pattinson (the handsome but ephemeral Cedric in Harry Potter GOF)

Now Zac isn’t too photogenic but he is really quite telegenic. He looks good in almost every scene in HSM 1 & 2, especially when he dances.





Hmm… Come to think of it, maybe I don’t like Zac Efron, I just like the singer-dancer-basketballer Troy Bolten. Love his wardrobe too. Guys who dress well really impress.

His floppy fringe, puppy dog eyes and cheeky grin make the fairer sex go gaga over him.





Ok forget about dressing well in this photo. He reminds me of Bananas in pyjamas here.



I think he's really cute here...





Now if only kh looks half as good, sings, dances and dresses half as well as Zac...

But don't worry, I love you all the more for your imperfections. ;P



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meet up with the bimbos
15th September 2007

The bimbos unite at Miss Clarity Café.


It was my first time there for the suaku me. The décor is mainly pink with bold colours that remind me of "Happy House" and "Bang on the Door". The prices are so reasonable that a black angus prime costs less than $20!

xtina and I shared the Old MacDonald Had A Farm.


Definitely for the meat lovers! This dish boast a medley of steak, lamb chop, crispy chicken, chipolata, bacon, ham & potato wedges served with clarity's special black pepper sauce topped with sunny side up.


Geral and her squid ink pasta. Looks unappetizing but the taste isn’t too bad.



We then adjoined to Blu Jaz. Suaku me again first time there. I must really start to have more social life! The sofas and cushions were so comfortable that everybody felt so sleepy. That place was really conducive for sleeping. The night was a little slow and languid. Well, it was no wonder. That was one of the rare times we met up not to cheong. How horrible! Even while cam whoring, our actions were so slow and retarded.







SlowMo BimBo



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mini Mid Autumn Celebration
22nd September 2007

Had a mini bbq, mooncake eating, tea drinking, spirits sampling session at one of kh's lame lame friend's house. It's been a while since we hung out with lame lame people and listen to lame lame jokes and speak lame lame stuff. They are just such a funny bunch of people la... It's a great way to unwind after racking the brains everyday at work.

The only photos taken that night was of the family's dog. She is soooooo guai1!!! Big dogs are really so obedient.

Kelly's feeling sleepy...




~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Oldest Kids to Play with Lanterns at Yishun Park
25th September 2007

Yup.. That would be us. The other kids there are like those 不良少年 who keeps throwing sparklers into the sky and onto the road. They even set a campfire in the middle of the playground! It was as huge as a real campfire! Kids nowadays ah... tsk tsk tsk.

A collage of that night

[Click to enlarge]

One thing about Picasa is that it keeps cutting the edges off... Well, but it's a lot more convenient than Photoshop.


Preparing to light the lanterns



Everyone wanna blow bubbles o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

tiff blowing o0o0o


xtina blowing o0o0o

I dunno how I did it. This was supposed to be a candid shot but it captured the bubbles so beautifully.

gera also wanna blow o0o0o


me blow so many o0o0o still cannot capture the bubbles well.


Took more than 10 shots still cannot capture nicely.


Zanne also trying so hard to blow o0o0o which can't be captured on camera


POOR US... hahaha...


We were supposed to celebrate a belated birthday for jq with candles and mooncakes.

Well, nobody brought the mooncakes!

Nevermind, just blow all the candles in one breath will do.


A huff...


and a puff...


and no more breath.


Everyone with the birthday boy...







Bubbles blown by tiff lends a hand to the dreamy effect.



Group shots...




These photos are quite metaphorical... jq is always "at the back supporting us". Since pri sch, he was always this nice little boy who mo mo de lend "support". I think you all would know what I mean. ;)





Before I met up with my friends, kh fetched me from work so that I could go home to change into more comfortable clothing and meet them on time. I had wanted to wear my quirky (ugly drawing) Beatles Tee which was hanging behind my door so when he picked me, I was smirking to myself. You know why?

:
:
:

Coz he was wearing a yellow Tee in the exact same shade as my quirky Tee. Talk about telepathy.

Are you thinking what I am thinking B1?


I think I am thinking what you are thinking B2!




~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Latest Craze -- Water Babies

These jelly balls, better known as water babies by my students, are the latest craze to hit all primary schools in Singapore.

The only "Water Babies" I know would be the political fairy tale by Charles Kingsley.

My cute cute tutee C was the one who introduced "water babies" to me. He even poured some into a plastic bag for me to "grow". Over at work, all my students from P1 to P4 were all talking about their water babies. Some even called these balls "我的babies".


我的babies


I feel like buying other colours to add to my collection. My sisters too... They were quite fascinated by them. Hehe... After I've grown enough, I'll start pouring them into all the money plants in my house.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

See it as DIGUSTING or See it as SCIENCE

In pri 3 Science, we learn about the life cycles of animals and insects. Insects such as mosquito, butterfly, moth, beetle, housefly etc go through 4 stages of life cycle:

Egg --> wriggler --> pupa --> adult


I used to wonder how come the worm-like wriggler stage could undergo so much transformation. I even had the misconception that the "worms" have many legs and after they emerge from their cocoons, their legs decreased to 6.

My sis has started "cultivating" mealworms. Mealworms are the wriggler stage of beetles. These mealworms are actually the food for her arowana who had "passed away" a few weeks ago.

If you picked up a mealworm, you'll notice that even though its body is long, it only has 6 tiny legs located towards the front of its body. The day I found out about the 6 legs, I was ecstatic and went to inform all my Science students about it.

My sis has these mealworms in various stages of growth.


If you hate insects or are eating while reading this, maybe you should stop scrolling.

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

[Click to enlarge if you dare]

Wriggling wrigglers


Check out the 6 legs


Wriggler stage moulting and transforming to pupa stage.


Almost a pupa.


The pupa stage. It isn't moving at all and reminds me of curled up alien.


The adult beetles. The one at the corner keeps laying eggs. Check out its ass.. erm.. hole.




Did you manage to read till the end? Were you grossed out?

Initially, I was totally grossed out by them but now I'm enthralled by it all -- of the growth, of the transformation, of nature. I even put my face so close to these "disgusting" creatures to observe them more closely.

Ok la... some cute cat photos to end off this entry.

My neighbours' Siamese cat which bleats like a lamb. It goes "meh meh" instead of "meow meow".







The National Anthem was played over radio an hour ago, the sun has risen and I've got to accompany my mum to the polyclinic in a while.

I'm wide awake but I'll snitch a short nap first.

NiteZZZzzzzz.....