Houdini's Christmas

And so I did a 'houdini' and disappeared from the blogging world for close to 2 months. Everyone's been asking me wassup with my sudden disappearance. Thanks to my temperamental internet connection, I was disconnected from this aspect of my life.

I'm @Aunt Sharon's place now for a family Christmas celebration and thought I'll just escape awhile from the family gathering to catch up a bit on this aspect of my life. Hehe.

Let's see.... I last left you guys in October with a sore bum due to the fall I had from trying to glimpse at a celebrity while roller blading and up to today I have no idea who he/she is still! Lol. Well, the bum has recovered since that day (hehe... it better!), there's been a whole chain of activities (i.e. Singapore Biennale - somehow all I remembered from that outing was that it was an exceptionally humid day to view art exhibits @Tanglin Camp..hehe...) lined up in my life that took time away from blogging as well. There's also been alot of changes. Like, having my hair cropped to near chin length into a bob style. One of the changes that I embraced, since it saves maintenance time as well as shampoo and conditioner costs. Hahah. Lazy girl here...

Speaking of changes, I have had a number of changes just this last quarter of the year that whenever I think back, I am just so grateful that something's just don't change as there's only a limit to how much change one (Or in this case, I can take) can take within a quarter! Other than my hairstyle, I had a change in the populations I handled at work, our office just shifted to Raffles' Place from Tanjong Pagar and being in the business district, there's been some changes to my cost of living as well...hehe.

Amidst all these changes, I am thankful that the lover of my soul doesn't change. It may sound cliche or cheesy... but I really do feel this way. He's always there for me no matter what changes I go through and he's always there even when I'm so caught up in whirlwind activities. He's patiently waiting for me to speak to Him and to draw near to Him and yet, in any condition that I am in (be it in angst, in joy, etc), I never fail to seek an audience with Him.

The one change that I'm so happy about in this last quarter of 2006 is that I know that the degree of intimacy with Him has deepened and brought to new heights. I so do not want to lose this and am trying hard to make an effort to maintain or draw even nearer to Him, eventhough I admit that lethargy, tiredness, a couch potato's distraction and all that does make me spend less time with Him. Yet, He's still crazy about me despite all that...

This Christmas, I'm reminded of all the things He has blessed me with, His wonderful love and His grace that many a times I feel I so do not deserve. Most of all, as I looked at my family's love for me, my lovely relatives having a jolly good time bonding, my 'foul-weathered' friends that have stood by me all these while, my wonderful caregroup brothers and sisters whom I have grown so fondly of, my hilarious and ever happening colleagues, I'm so thankful for God just being God! I see His love through all these people and I know that it is with His birthday on Christmas that I can come to have all these. So before I head back to join my bubbly and oh-so-noisy relatives (hehe..I'm not complaining mind you... ) I just wanna tell the lover of my soul, Happy Birthday and thank You so much for being just You!

P/s: I may just do a 'houdini' again..... hehehe.... until then, here's wishing you all and your family a Christmas filled with love and joy and a New Year with all your heart's desires being fulfilled.

The Day I Fell For A Celebrity...

The Day I Fell For A Celebrity...

Yes, I did. I fell hard.

I turned my head round to try to see a celebrity that passed me by while on my roller blades and fell hard on my bum. *Ouch*

Worst part is......I didn't even get to see a glimpse of who is the celebrity! GGrrrr...

Ok, end of story. Now, stop laughing you unsympathetic people! Hehe...

Mid Autumn Festival

Mid Autumn Festival

Every year, our loving neighbour never fails to send us a lovely gift of haze. This year, our loving neighbour decided that it's about time they double the portion of their gift to us and sent us a huge dose of haze instead...sending some of our healths and our lungs into a frenzy. Hehe. We celebrated our Mid Autumn Festival this year together with haze. The air was pretty bad but that did not deter many Singaporeans and tourists from visiting the Chinese Gardens to look at the display of lanterns.

Bro Meng Chong was very nice! Heeehee.. he gave me a lift from home (I went back home to change cos I figure it would be warm and humid if I were to go straight to Chinese Gardens in my office attire) to Chinese Garden where the rest of the CG folks would be meeting as well. Thanks, Meng Chong! =)

To my horror, half of Singapore seems to be at Chinese Garden as well! Urgh!! Anyway, as much as I have an adversion to crowds and humidity...(Trust me, I can get reallllllly grouchy with humidity.. hehe) I told myself that I should just enjoy and make the best of it. Hehehe.

Here are some pics courtesy of MC's super pro camera:

Us @ the leaning tower of plates & bowls!

We met another CG here as well! The generous folks shared some mooncakes they brought with us!

I like the next pic. Heee... not becos I am in it la!! Cos everyone seems to have not noticed the 'kirin' tree and when I first spotted it, I didn't realise it was shaped into a Kirin. I saw the red ribbon first and wondered why the ribbon was tied in such a special manner like as if it was a collar. When I saw the "eyes".. then I realised it was shaped into a kirin. Cute ain't it?

My colleague, Adelyn said I looked like a small girl in this pic when she saw this picture. -.-!! Heheh.

We were about to leave the Chinese Garden and head off for supper at somewhere air-conditioned when we took this last pic together. I like it! Gives me a feel that we're in Taiwan or China or something! Hahahah..

Doesn't it? Heheheh... Hopefully, most of us can get to travel to Taiwan next year as a CG if possible... am sure it'd be fun! Anyway, that was Mid Autumn Festival 2006 for me! I guess this is also perhaps the last time the CG folks saw me in my long hair. Hee hee...

Curry Favour Me!!

Curry Favour Me!!

Yes!! You read the title right. You see, I'm so lovable (*vomits*) that upon my conferment ceremony, the CG brothers (Ming was nice to wanna treat me and the rest of the brothers kindly chipped in! The sisters couldn't make it as they were busy though..) wanted to curry favour me as well as celebrate this occasion! So as per Ming's blog, I was the only rose that night. Hahah. (All pics are courtesy of kind Ming's camera...as I forgot to bring mine. hehe)

Seeeeee.... I wasn't boasting when I said they wanted to curry favour me! Heee... Ming brought us to this place and they served wonderful Japanese curry meals!

While waiting for Gab & our food to arrive, as usual we were jesting around with the camera. Oh.. and in case some of you can't recognise me.. Yes, I'm the female geek over there with my new glasses. Hehe..

The Kwok brothers relaxing ....

Me enjoying the conversations we're having... heheh

It's been a while since we caught up on each other's lives and it was pretty enjoyable just chatting and laughing away on a weeknight like this. Then our appetiser arrived and if I recall correctly its fried prawn & mushroom & scallop balls. *Droolz* This was pretty yummy..

Our dinners arrived shortly and so did Gab. We took pics with our food... I'm so lazy that I lumped the pics into 1. Hehehe... If not I would have to post the pics 5 times on blogspot just to depict each of us with our food. Quite like what I did to the pic as seen below. Hehe

I remember that when I was a little girl, my mum used to say strictly to me that little girls like me (back then la!) do not play with their food. Well, I obeyed that commandment all the way and so now that I am no longer a little girl... I play with my food! Heeeee...

Presenting.........my work of art... Curry Pris Tonkatsu Meal! Hehehe... I wonder if my Mum would be proud of me or would continue to tell me not to play with my food. Hmmm...I think let's not take the risk here... hehehe... I don't wish to sit through parliament with my mum. Heheheh. Oh and by the way... this was reallllly good!

After dinner, we had some drinks to wash down all that delicious curry and I had a nice warm almond milk tea (never tried warm almond milk tea before) and it made me all warm & fuzzy inside.. Heeehhee.. And guess who celebrated October Fest that night as well with an Asahi? Heheheh..Gab & Ming both ordered smoothies and Ming ended up slurping Gab's smoothie instead as it arrived first and we all thought that was Ming's order...Hehehe

After a wonderful weeknight dinner and catching up, we retreated back to our homes and I was really touched by my CG folks.. it is very sweet of them to set aside time to celebrate this occasion for me. Thank you very much, you guys!!! =)

An Assortment of Farms

::An Assortment of Farms::

The weather was rather kind to us this Sunday. Not too warm, brilliant for an excursion. Hehe. A bunch of us met up at Kranji MRT to visit an assortment of farms today.

So the dudes and dudettes got into their vehicles and followed the organiser of the day; K.C, as he introduced us to the 1st programe on his farm itinerary (K.C even had an itinerary all done up! Awesome!)

I stucked to my CG brothers and was in Ming's car. Hehe. A pic of us before we set off. Me with my superbly fake smile. Hahahah. Attempt to be a morning person - fail! Am so not a morning person. Heheh. Ming busy reading map so he didnt glanced up to pose. Haha.

1st farm: Aero Green Tech and here are the pics -

It's a .....*drumrolls* Zucchini! Also known as courgette especially in Europe. Hehe. Or as a summer squash. Heee...

I have no idea what this is... winter melon? Bitter gourd? There were no signs (or I did not spot it).. so go figure!

Lime!!! Shift ur eyes to look for the dark greens in this pic and you should be able to spot the limes... =)

2nd farm: Nyee Phoe Nursery pics-

(Don't ask me what flowers are these. Am totally clueless... just took a pic of them cos they look pretty... heheh)

And next! I switch my cam to "colour accent" mode to retain the colour of the flower and everything else will be monochromed. My fave. pic of the entire farm visit!!! Ta-dah!!

=) I lurve it!! Thought this corner looked quite cosy. Oops... forgot to switch my cam back to normal mode. Still in colour accent. But ... hee... quite nice also I thought.

People on rocking chairs by the pond.

As per Ming's blog entry, Dreamfish Inc wasn't open so we went to Max Koi Farm. I like this farm best. Heee... Though I don't like fishes (nothing to do with eating ok... I like to eat fish.. but I just don't like anything scaly, don't like reptiles and also amphibians...and don't ask me why! Haha)

Looks like a resort here. Heee..

Elaine & I...

There you go .. The Kois @the koi farm. Haha..

There was this air-conditioned dark room that some of the others spotted and signalled us to follow them in (we were all scattered over the koi farm). The room was pretty cool as they had a few aquariums with some (i think) expensive and exotic fishes in it. I was trying to get some clear pics in here without much success. Mr. catfish below did not wanna pose and smile for me. Heee... so this was the best that I could do.

Then I spotted this spotted stingray (pun intended). Wahahaha. It was so dark and it was at an obscure corner of the aquarium that I almost mistook it as a sucker fish. Hahahaha. But memories from my primary school science class taught me that suckerfish are not ROUND in shape (or at least those that I've seen) and I went closer to peer into the aquarium. Unlike Mr. catfish, Mr. stingray was rather obliging, haha. I asked it to smile and it just posed perfectly still for me with a cute smile. (Really! Check out the curl of its flap!Heeeeee..) Brilliant!

So after bidding Mr. stingray farewell, we left the dark room and somehow the weather seems to have turned brighter. So I took another snapshot of the resort-like house. Okie, from this angle it looks more like a kelong. Hee...

Took a pic of some lotus (I suppose its lotus...hurhurhur) in monochrome before I left for the next stop.

Ming was right when he blogged that the next farm stop was a dreaded visit for me. It's the Jurong FROG farm. *Shudderx10* I believe I have mentioned above of my dislikes for amphibians, reptiles, scaly animals/fishes. (Note: Although Mr. Stingray was quite cute, but looking at its skin for too long sent shivers down my spine as well... ). We reached the frog farm and I was telling my CG brothers "Can I stay in the car instead???" hehhe.

The instant I set foot on the frog farm, can hear the frogs croaking non-stop. My lower lip curled. Am I up for this? I thought I should not be such a scaredy cat. So I followed the guys as they bravely trooped off in front of me down a flight of stairs. There were some bags on the floor that I couldn't see from my position what was inside. (Check out Ming's blog for a pic of those bags). Ambiguous looking bags. Hmmm....lots of thoughts flashed across my mind and my instinct told me not to go down. Suddenly to my horror, one of the bags JUMPED. Arhhhhhhhhh!!!! Ambiguous amphibians were in those bags!!! Alot of them!!! That was the deciding factor that I should NOT risk it and just observe the frogs from afar....VERY FAR to be safe. Hee hee...

At Ming's suggestion, he said I should still take a pic to at least have some memories that I've been to a frog farm. Hmmm..Do I really want such memories? Hehehe.. But he is right, just for memento's sake. Me trying to smile with Fredos behind me.

Gab captured a pic of me viewing the frogs from a relatively safe distance. Almost everyone went downstairs to view the frogs..er.. except me. Hehehe.

It doesn't mean that I missed out on the froggy action viewing them from afar ok!! Thank goodness for digital & optical zoom. I still captured some froggy pics. There were so many frogs there that I just felt queasy. Don't believe me? See for yourself!

Queasy right? Unless some of you only think of frog legs and see them as delicacies... then I guess it's not queasy but yummy for you.

*GASP*!!!! I was zooming around with my cam and I saw these 4! They were away from the rest, in a corner by themselves. What in the world are they doing?! CAUGHT ON CAMERA!! hahahaha..and smiling somemore...
Tadpole to frog process.

After frogland, we went to a goat farm. The goats' smell came to greet and welcomed us when we arrived. Hehehe. The batt on my cam was low and I only managed to capture a pic of 2 kids sleeping before my cam switched off on me. SooooO cute!!

Courtesy of Ming's cam, he took a shot of me with the kids. Heee... Grinning cos I don't dare to touch them. heee..

So after that we went to Poison Ivy/Bollywood Veggies for lunch and that wrapped up the day's visit to a variety of farms!

Hope's 15th Anniversary

Hope's 15th Anniversary:

It's Hope Singapore's 15th Anniversary. I only took this pic below with Jerilee on my camera, would you believe it? Amazing huh? Hahaha... I think it was a hassle to whip out my baby all the time when my other CG mates had their cameras ready to snap. Heee...

Pic quite blur though. Oh well... it's just the two of us. Hahahah.

Snippets of P.D, K.L Recce Trip

Snippets of P.D, K.L Recce Trip

Friday, 8th Sept 2006: After work, a bunch of the church camp committee including myself travelled to Port Dickson & Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to recce the hotels to see if they were suitable for next year's church camp.

Passed Johore Bahru and the tour guides that was with us brought us to a chinese restaurant for dinner/supper. 4 or 5 course meals at about close to midnight.... Sinful! Heee...The guides treated us... so sweet of them.

After eating, we went back to our mini van to continue our journey to Port Dickson. Most of us slept in the van. It was an ardous journey... eat then sleep for 3-4hours. Sigh.... I'm beginning to feel that it's not "easy" being camp committee. Ha!

We finally reached Tiara Resort, Port Dickson close to 2am. This is a pic of our rooms. Beds are big but I felt the room was a tad claustrophobic in my opinion. That aside, my body was glad that it can sleep horizontally and not 90 degrees like when in the van.

I was so exhausted... I didn't even know that I fell asleep. Hee...

We turned in at about 2ish-3am, had to wake up at 830am to meet the resort's manager for a tour of the place to see if it is suitable for church camp next year. Maybe because I'm not a morning person so I didn't feel inspired at all to take any pics of the place. Heee...*Gomenasai*..not much pics of Tiara Resort, P.D!

After leaving P.D, we travelled to Kuala Lumpur next to meet up with the manager of Palace of the Golden Horses. Exhaustion lingered, once more most of us fell asleep while travelling there. It's tough being the committee. Sigh... hehe..

We arrived and it was here that my senses got invigorated and made me more awake than before. Get this...what seems like strawberry scent at the hotel's TOILET made me refreshed and more alive. Hahahhah. Now I know why I'm sensitive to smells. Hee. This is supposed to be a 6stars hotel I think. Almost everything in this hotel is linked to horses. Spot the horses in the next few pics..Ha!

Ceiling pic..

Think this is concierge section

Huge revolving fountain in the middle of one of their restaurants.

The bedroom.

The toilet (I lurve it! It's so bright.... Yes... for those of you who know... I am VERY particular about hotel toilets... especially those where 1. the lighting is dim 2. the bathtub is directly OPPOSITE the huge mirror. And how huge mirrors get fogged up after a warm shower and it's just facing you when you come out of the shower. Hehe.. when you grow up watching too much horror flicks and B grade scary movies and have a vivid imagination... you'll understand why I end up being particular about such.. I suppose. Ha)

I didn't take pics of the towels in the toilet but if I did... you would be able to see that the towels had horses embossed on it.

More horses!! Quite a nice concept I thought. To use carousel horses to create this in one of the restaurants.

After all that tour, the committe were rather hungry. The manager of Palace of the Golden Horses (this is beginning to be a mouthful.) brought us to this Japanese Restaurant in the hotel to have our lunch. One of the private rooms in the Jap Restaurant, but we didn't eat inside, sat outside.

Sarah & I while waiting for our food.

Peikey asked us to pose a different pose... so okie... we decided to do a vainpot pose. Hahaha..

Ok, enough of us... here comes the real torture. 6stars Japanese food. I told you ..it wasn't easy being camp committee. I had to put up with succulent and oh-so-tender beef bites that had a delightful grilled taste. I had to put up with crispy tempura prawns, fish, and oh yes...lady's finger (For the record, this is the first time in my life I tried a lady's finger. I didn't know it was a lady's finger and thought it was an asparagus or something and popped it in my mouth..until much later..)

As if that wasn't bad enough, I had to force myself to finish the lightly sweetened beancurd with shitake mushrooms that seemed to make me want more! Urgh! What a torture! And the salmon sashimi..... I tell you... I have not tasted such fresh and sweeeeeet sashimi in Malaysia before. And my bento was really huge and I was struggling to finish it.

Prior to that the hotel treated us as well to a platter of Jap raw food like Maguro (Raw Tuna I think).. and usually I don't take raw tuna. Raw salmon was still acceptable. Raw tuna looked too red in its colour to me to be ingested. Anyway I thought, what the heck... just try. And I sOOooOO regretted that move. It was mmmmmmMMmmmmmmMmmMmm!!! It's truly horrible I tell you! The benchmark for raw Maguro has been raised SOOOO high now I don't know if I can find something comparable in Singapore to that piece I tried in the hotel.

Before we left for the next hotel, we were walking past the corridor and I have no idea why I was quite captivated by the scenery outside of the window of this plant & the hotel exterior. Thought it was quite nice so took pic of it for my memory. Heheh.

Our last stop to recce was Grand Seasons, K.L. Here's a pic of their bedroom. Not bad actually. =)

This is one of their ballrooms. Hmmm... pillars seems to be blocking the view of the mainstage eventhough there's TV...Hmmm..

Anyway, tat was our last stop before we made our way back to Singapore. There was a traffic accident on the way back and it caused a traffic congestion of up to 2 hours! We arrived in J.B and stopped at the same place that we did (I can't rem the name!!) when we went up for church camp this year for some dinner.

Sarah spotted this. Thousand Island Egg (porridge) instead of Century Egg. Thought it was quite farnie. Hahah. And that was that for the sacrifices the committee made for the greater good of others. Heheheheheh. There are still other hotels in other parts (e.g. Melaka) of Malaysia as well that are being checked out for church camp next year, but I didn't go for that recce trip though. Anyways, soon we'll know where are we going for church camp next year!