Focus Group, Kebabs and Fondue!

Today went to Boon Lay to do a focus group in XX company for a XX electrical appliance. Sorry ah, me under non-disclosure clause. Cannot say anything relating to what I did or what we discussed. But I can tell you it's good money lor. There were 6 of us...we just talked for 1.5 hours...and each of us is now $100 bucks richer! Hee....

Then met Fish and MF for dinner. We went to Clarke Quay and walked around for more than 20 minutes. Couldn't decide which restaurant we want to go in. With my sore feet (new shoes lah!) and MF's growling stomach, we decided to choose a decent restaurant and just step in, irregardless of the price and type of food.

So, we chose a Moroccon Restaurant. Nice ambience! Too bad none of us had a camera. So means we must find a chance to go back again to take photos. The place is more of a pub lah...they don't serve alot of main courses. But thank god still have some substantial food. We ordered chicken kebab, morrocan chicken wings and stuffed pita bread. All quite nice. My favourite is the stuffed pita bread.

Must record this. I wanted to order half a pint of Kilkeney's Irish Ale. Then MF say he want to share a full pint. Then I say ok lor. Then he seeing Fish ordering a half pint, he also ordered another half pint, WITHOUT telling me to change my order. So I ended with 1 full pint. If not for the fact that I like the beer, I would strangle him despite our 11 years of friendship.

Though the food was good, it wasn't filling enough for the other 2. So we ended up next door - Haagen Dazs for ice-cream fondue. For $35 bucks, you get a variety of ice-cream "balls", fruits, biscuits and cakes. It was HEAVENLY.

Tomolo meeting SY and MP for dinner. Wonder if we will have such "adventure" too......Hee....

Vivo City Outing

Went movie and shopping with the girls yesterday.

Maybe I expected too much out of VIVO City. Not very impressive to me leh....The layout is confusing though. Maybe that's why I might have left out some places...Will be going again this Sat to do more shopping. Will see if proper walking around will change my mind about this much hyped-up shopping paradise. The view from the outdoor gallery is fanstastic though. (:

Anyway, we had my favourite Ben & Jerry's ice-cream. Chunky Monkey (banana and chocolate flavour) and Choc Fudge Brownie. Yum Yum!

For dinner we went Thai Express..and got a free Tofu Square because I paid with credit card. Hee...

But think my tummy not used to all the yummy food yet. Whole night tummy churned like mad. Guess I have to take it easy on killing the tastebud cravings.

Fun @ Bintan

Here's a short clip of the oyster digging, coral & clam viewing @ Bintan.

Bintan Rocks!!

I had a great time at Bintan. There were so many "first times" for me...

* First time dig fresh oysters
* First time play golf
* First time play laser quest
* First time start BBQ fire (successfully!)
* First time see instant ketuput

The oyster digging was most fun. We all got alot of cuts on our hands and legs from climbing the rocks. But the blood and sweat was worth it when we ate the oyster omelate.

Here are the photos. Beautiful sea, and of course, with beautiful me. Hahahaha.....

Don't play play ah. Holiday-ing with my colleagues is not boring at all. This is one of the nicest resort stays I had. Too bad many couldn't make it for this trip. But thank God I had SC 妹 妹 amongst the aunties. 2 of us went sun-tanning, swimming and took so many pictures!

The beach is really very nice.

The aunties gave me a mahjong refresher course. Hee...I think I'm hooked. Can see my winning combination??

Woah. This is the first time I play golf. Not easy to swing and hit the ball man.....and more difficult to make it fly high and land far.

Nope, we din play archery. This is just posing "for show" only.

This is the beautiful bungalow we stayed in. Costs $1,200 per night if you book by internet! Got 4 rooms and 3 bathrooms, with fully equipped kitchen. And with our very own 6-seater buggy!

This is the big big nice nice pool.

This is the big big nice nice sea.

Got nice nice sea of coz need nice nice babes!

Me on the rocks..see the little white spots around? All are oysters!

Oyster babes at work. You only need a rock and spoon. We even found a live sea cucumber!

Oysters in shells and oysters in plastic bowl...ready to be cooked.

Enjoying the fruits of my blood and sweat - Fried eggs with oysters. Yum!!

自恋

Hee...got enough affirmation liao.
I think safe enough to say that the hair did not turn out to be a disaster.


I actually like this "tai-tai" look now. Hahaha....

new look!

i did it.
i permed my hair for the first time in 28 years.
it turned out alright. mum say nice. bro say "auntie". hubby say "pretty".
tomolo go janice's wedding then get more feedback. then i will decide whether i will post a photo up here. hee.....

it's a loooong day today. was a the salon from 10.30am to 4.30pm. the stylist so busy. kept making me wait. if not would not take so long....

after the hair is done, went PS to get hubby's MP3 player. old version of creative's ZEN NEON. 6GB for $149. cheap and good. of coz not the latest model lah. but he likes the 6GB space.

then went back TPY to settle some small errands. on the way back, passed a Kong Ba Bao stall. my feet wouldn't move another step before i made my purchase. so there. a Kong Ba Bao with all its fatty oils...is now swmming in my gastric juices.

tomolo is another long day...meeting julie they all for lunch, then collect air-tickets (argh...that's $2.5K gone), then janice's wedding. me am the part-time decorator and video-woman. hahaha.....

and fri.....off to bintan!!

up in the sky

it's 6.09pm (aussie time) now.

my butt aches! another 4 more hours to go. am watching "Lake House" now. Keanu is so suave! And he's an architect. My favourite profession. Hee....

can't wait to be home. i dun think i will sleep...the kids around me are making alot of noise. and jumping around...thinking the plane is their house. the parents also dun control them abit...sigh.
their mums are busy comparing notes on their kids' school progress. when you hear mummies talk about pei qun and ai tong primary schools, you know you are in the right plane back home to singapore. hahaha...

looking back the past 5 months, think i have grown so much. not in terms of size lah. in terms of maturity. living overseas requires alot of independence. i thought i was indepedent..but starting a new life in a foreign country requires another set of survival skills. talk to anyone who has been overseas for work or study. they will share the same sentiments.

but i thank God for this opportunity. hubby and i may not have the financial freedom that we enjoyed when we were working. cannot suka suka step into a restaurant to settle our meals. cannot suka suka go shopping. but we are happy. this is probably going to be the happiest period of our lives..we said we will cherish these few years..before the kids come. and I am thankful for this.

P.S> i not so high tech as to pay for the internet on the plane lah. this is going to be posted when i get home. (:

Burnt!!

I guess I wun be visiting Gold Coast for a long while.
Can't imagine I went there for 3 consecutive weeks.

Well, we had a great time at Nobby's Beach. Played ultimate freesbie, tug-of-war and building sandcastles.

End result? Burnt back, burnt face from the sun and bruised arms from the tug-of-war. What a way let my mum see me on Tue. (:

More photos will follow tomorrow. My miserable back is aching from the high level of physical activities today.

1,2,3...4!

Remember the 2 little flower buddies?
Under the TLC (tender loving care) of the Ongs, they have bloomed...very well!

There are now 4 little flower buds.

The Ongs are so proud of them that they bought a big new flower pot and gave the buds a new home.

Out Comes the Fan!

You know summer is near when this little guy makes its way from the dusty box to the bright sunshine in the outside world.

Geng Koh Kum Kok

The title means 劲歌金曲 in Cantonese.
What happens when u put 6 people who have just finished exams and having a crave to sing?
7 hours at the KTV.
We were in the room from 8pm to 3am (last night). Whatever type of songs you can think of, think we sang them. Yes. Even Hokkien songs. Haha....

And yes, hubby and I went Gold Coast on last Sun. We met Gloria, Alan and her 3 kids. Aiyo! Baby Ashley so cute!!! But boy, she is heavy, at 8kg. I could only carry her for 30 mins and I couldn't feel my arms anymore. Well..they're on the plane home right now (I would have been on the same plane with them..but well, I'm happier spending another week here with hubby). Meeting them was just an excuse...for me to shop lah. We went Harbourtown and Pacific Fair. And I bought a nice little black dress for just..10 bucks!

I didn't really buy much....just 3 shirts for Bro, this dress, a mambo "garung-guni" beach bag, 2 pairs of sunshades. Well, we are going Gold Coast again this Sat. For the OCF farewell party. Not much shopping there. But we're getting the nougats at Surfers' on the way back.

Holiday Lor!

I submitted my last assignment today. Dropped it into the box and that's it! End of my first semester. How undramatic.

Everyone around still seemed to be in the exam mood. The ferry conductor was nice..he wished the passengers who were having exams all the best. In all my years of studying in SG, never did I meet a bus conductor who said such niceties to the students.

Well...for the rest of the 2 weeks...it's all play and no work. Still praying for a good temp job back home...have to earn some air-ticket money. Haha.....

Thank You So Much!

My mouth has been frozen for the past 3 hours.
Frozen in a big wide smile.

We just signed a 1-year lease for our new unit. Really really thank God for the new place.
It's on the second level and not facing the road. Means we can finally sit on the balcony and enjoy our afternoon tea and coffee without gawking passer-bys looking at us. And..there's air-con! ---- our saviour for the summer. And...the bathroom sink is so nice! The modern steel type. Haha...silly me....for falling in love with a bathroom sink.

God has really provided us with a nicer place in the same apartment..and the rent is only $5 bucks more per week. And the timing is just perfect. We can settle the move before hubby comes back in Dec...

He really knows our desires. And gave us the best.

Thank you!

Gold Coast Part1

We drove to Gold Coast yesterday. Had to do some recce-ing for the OCF farewell gathering. We're having a beach party! Hmm...maybe I will stay for the party...maybe not??

It was raining whole day lah. It rained when we stopped for pie.






The pie shop was somewhere off the Pacific Highway lah. Which exit? Haha...I dunno. But the price is very reasonable. AUD$3.60 for a good-size pie. Delicious and fresh too!

And it rained at the beach. So we could only take a quick look around, made sure there are BBQ pits and toilets, snap some photos and off we went to Harbour Town for shopping. Hee...

Why Gold Coast Part 1? Coz I'm going there again next week! Haha..this time to do more shopping and meet Gloria and her family. Gold Coast Part 2 will mostly be shopping and more shopping. Watch out, shops!

Photos Galore!!

Making its first (half) appearance..Blooey!!
It was hiding behind a coral last night. So couldn't get a full view.
But you can see 2 of its blue arms. Can you?





This is where Blooey spends its time and some of its frens.

More photos next time when it is good and gives its full appearance!



Hubby brought me to the Roma Street Park yesterday. OOO...the flowers are so pretty!!!




























And we found a pine tree with a 90-million year history!! WOW! It looked ordinary enough though.