happy bday, my dearest

planned a surprise bday dinner for bf. it was a semi success only because one of his friends accidentally let out the word before that. nonetheless, it was a happy occasion!

dinner at michelangelos - everyone at table

carmen, kaveeta, bday boy and jasmine

vincent & gf, bday boy and hong

oreo ice cream bday cake i bought from swensons - proved to be quite a popular choice

happy birthday to youuu..you're born in the zooo...

me and darling

darling with his bday wallet

and it's back to books for the bday boy now! it's worth it as long as you're happy!

a better photo taken by the pro, catching the sun set behind

snapshots

some snapshots taken over the past 2 months, to show i'm still ALIVE!

sister's dance performance:

one big happy family

one big happy family + zixuan haha.

my dumb dumb sister's 19th bday..19 yrs old! why does she still look like she is 12?? HAHA.

me and boyfriend's trip to sentosa last month

boyfriend frying an egg for me!!

chilling out at cafe del mar yesterday for their progressions/water parade party:friends forever! sarah tan and me

tony and chee keong

all of us

beautiful sunset at cafe del mar, for a moment, we could almost imagine ourselves in another country instead! like...spain..barcelona...OK just for that short moment...

nice blue and light christmasy lights, sentosa is lovely at night..

i had the luxury of listening to 2 great singers today, at the comfort of having lots of space to myself and not having to squeeze with any die-hard fans.

this is one of the small things i like about my job.

during the rehearsal, i cant help but think to myself: if only our resident singers could sing the way they do, it would make my job 10 times easier.

one of my partners replied today, after i asked her for a favour: 你没有跟我计较，所以我也不跟你计较.

ahh, it does pay to be nice sometimes...

a balanced person

the woe of being a balanced person, is that, you become a jack of all trades, but a master of none.

i think i'm a very balanced person.

how i wish i'm illogically, unreasonably passionate about something, so much so that i want to pour my entire heart and soul into it.

i remembered once upon a time when i felt that way, but that didnt last long.

i thought i've found it once again, and then i realised, that's not the case.

and so, i'm searching once again...

question is,

why?

why do you do that?

i can't deny i am disappointed.

but, but..i believe you have your reasons.

to a better future ahead.

LUCKNOW, India (AP) -- A woman chopped the head off a man who allegedly tried to attack her and then paraded the head through a market in northern India, police said Friday.

like..what the hell???

i absolutely detest it when people scream at me.

it was hurtful, it was humiliating, and worse still, it was totally uncalled for.

should i have screamed back? should i have retaliated and defended myself? would it have made me the 'winner'?

i didnt think so.

anyway, what an ass.

"she isnt stupid, but the geniune lack of interest made her seem like a dull person."

there are times when i wish i lead a lonesome life, for interactions with people can be so tiring.

which one comes first: power or respect?

must you have power first, before people will respect you; or must people respect you, before you're bestowed power?

creativity & logic

if i was asked to grade my life now, i would probably grade it a 8.5/10. everything is more or less pretty stable and tranquil. of course there're the occasional affairs that would irritate my soul, but generally, all is fine.

nothing fantastic has happened. i havent struck lottery and turned millionaire overnight. work is okay, though i must admit sometimes it's tough to psyche myself up with the same degree of enthusiasm and anticipation as i did a few months ago. nonetheless, there're still enjoyable times with my colleagues. a most lovely, fun-loving bunch of people they are; i would have thought this was impossible after my first job, but i must say that office politics is minimal here. job satisfaction, pay renumeration, job prospects..these factors are certainly important, but we can't neglect the fact that the working environment has a paramount effect on your mental health.

BUt but..there is just something nagging at me at this moment. i feel that my brain is being under utilised. don't get me wrong, it's not that my job is that easy and brainless so much so that any tom, dick and harry can do it, but it requires another set of qualities in a person which i feel i don't possess. Neither have i been trained in my entire education life to be prepared to excel in such a job function.

you know what they say, there are some things that simply can't be taught; either you have it or you dont. so i figured, what i lack, i'll make up for it by learning through observation and experience. that must surely help.

it's the other side of my brain that has been ignored for a while. i know this might sound strange but i suddenly long for some math to do. those dreadful differentiation sums that we had to do in JC..but hey, the satisfaction when you finally managed to solve it..... ahh..maybe i should start playing sudoku hahaha.

can creativity and logic go together?

barcelona

i cant believe i've only written ONE post so far in the ENTIRE SEPTEMBER! Gosh, have I really been that busy? It seems just a while ago that we celebrated our 7th month anniversary, and now we're already at the 8th month. Time really does fly.

Indeed, Sept has been a pretty hectic month, but then again so was August. The anniversary night, the rush for the launch of the new lounges and suites, gary cao's show, followed neck to neck by 24 herbs showcase, and this sat's 933 event...the song 'wake me up when sept ends' is more apt than ever. I crave for a break, some kind of holiday, to anywhere. Honestly, even the thought of sentosa seems welcoming.

Yeah, i'm busy but not that busy. like i mentioned some weeks ago, i'm trying to be kinder to my body now. cutting short all unnecessary late nights, sleeping early, drinking little...taking things in my stride and not trying to push so hard. i mean..seriously man, one has got to chill. at the end of the day, just ask yourself whether it's worth it. if the answer is yes, then go ahead and chase after it with all your might. if it isnt, then take a step back and look at the big picture instead.

ok..dreary subject that half the world won't get what i'm talking about. i'm digressing again.

caught vicky christina barcelona today and i quite loved it. on the surface, it might look frivolous and silly but peer beneath it, it seems to me a very realistic reflection of life. i think there are indeed people around me who suffers from 'chronic dissatisfaction', who regardless of who they are with or what they do, thrive in the belief that life is a tragedy. they flit from one flower to another like a bee, each time finding temporary solace. they go on searching and looking, for that someone or something who can put a closure to the discontentment they feel about life.

even if we do without the psychology portion of the movie, the setting itself is breathtaking...spain..barcelona, there is an air of freedom..magic...and romanceee! can't wait to go back to europe one day to tour.

okay time to sleep, nite to the world.

whatever, whenever.

feeling just a little tired of it all. you know how we always rush to wait, and then wait to rush? things are always finalised at the very last minute, and just when we thought THAT'S IT, we realised there are more changes again.

of course, I have to understand that this is an imperfect universe and changes are inevitable. but shouldnt we be more concerned about whether it would compromise on the efficiency of work flow and more importantly, the efficacy of the message?

just when i thought i have gotten used to this chaos, and even given myself some credit for being so-called 'adaptable', i find myself feeling jaded and listless on a rainy, Friday afternoon.

7th months of bliss

and time flies. weren't we just celebrating our 6th month anniversary just a while ago? nevertheless, happy 7th month anniversary to my dearest!

the results of photowhoring with my phone:

loving yourself

when i was younger, i always hear those elder telling us the younger ones that we have to zi ai, which in other words means loving yourself, treasuring yourself... at that time, my first thoughts were: isn't it obvious? everyone loves themselves. this is why people shop, go for manis and pedis, watch movies, go for holidays... i love me that's why i pamper myself.

and it's now, i realised, i have never fully comprehend the true meaning of these 2 very simple words.

loving yourself means being kind to yourself, in more ways than just satisfying one's material needs. it's about a person's physical well being and mental state. why starve yourself and get gastric? why drink yourself silly, act stupid and get a horrible hangover the next day? why sleep late and allow yourself to look haggard and old? why get heart broken by people whom dont give a damn about you?

why let yourself suffer..?

and it's what i've experienced in the past year, that finally made me realised, i should be kinder to myself. i should stop torturing my body.

two of my colleagues are in their early forties and they have stopped drinking completely. one had alcohol poisoning and was hospitalised for 2 weeks. another one has high blood pressure. it's only when shit happened, that they decided it was time to stop.

another one drank, fell asleep and got into an accident just last night. thankfully though the car is probably in ruins now, he is complete in one piece, except for an insignificant cut on the finger.

but what if..just what if..any one of them werent that lucky...

oh well..so just love yourself. you deserve better.

i realise, to my horror, that i'm becoming lazier and lazier.

it's becoming tougher to summon the same amount of enthusiasm that i had previously.

bit by bit, i can feel it sapping...

it just further affirms my previous post.

sigh, it's not that easy as it seems..is it..

is it worse to not know what to do at all, or to know what to do, but are just too stubborn to change yourself to do the right thing?

is it inflexibility...is it pride...or is it arrogance?

people management or self management

late nights, fatigue and mounting pressure are making my fuse shorter and shorter. it's getting harder to keep my cool in place and to hide my frustration. i'm finding it harder to rationalise with myself the advantages of patience. it just doesnt pay off. this stems from my strength/weakness (you can call it either way) that i'm always on the ball, striving to push things forward, yet time and time again obstacles are hindering my intended progress.

sigh.


and that's why he said, people management is always the hardest of all. or perhaps, it's SELF-management that is the most difficult. you can't change others, so you can only change yourself.

oh yes, a slightly belated happy six months anniversary to my dearest. :)

my sha sha boyfriend!

my bestest friends

my bestest friends of all time! another meeting with the rgs pals. it's amazing to see how everyone has transformed over the years...zhao qi who is abt to become a lawyer, teresa doing her housemanship to be a doc, amanda just graduated n finding a job in real estate/building, sarah working in l'oreal, rachel back from london for good and looking for a job in engineering and jasmine..going to california soon to pursue her phD soon...and getting married next year!!

time simply flies......