Jen's madness...

Great Buys!

I'm a lazy person in principal.... hee.... who isn't right?

so I found this really really GOOD make up removing wipes and I'm sharing the good news!

it cleans light mineral make up away effortlessly, leaving the skin feeling soft and clean! I LOVE IT! Go get it NOW at Watson's, its on 20% discount!



there's another product in the same family, I have yet to see its effects but its affordable...

Things that I wanna blog about....

I have about 10million 501thousand things that I wanna blog about starting from as early as January this year, BUT I cant!

I cant because I feel bad "wasting" time on blogging while I'm supposed to be doing eyes-popping actions of analysing data, writing reports, reading journals.

*boo* *hoo* hoo*

here's a mini list hee...
1. young singer in the making....
2. how to be a safER traveller
3. new tech toys at home!
4. birthday bashes!
5. new "kang-taos"
6. work-life-balance
7. car race
8. lego
9. story of a tree
10. how to feed a 2yr old & 30yr old at the same time....

see... so much to blog about! but I cant.... yet.... soon I hope.... I pray.... pls pray for me too!

:)

All About Love

Love is a wonderful feeling of warmth, comfort, a deep sense of belonging, an endless joy like a fountain pouring out with water.

Yet, Love cannot be seen nor touched, can only be felt by the heart.

This is our 800th blog and I want to dedicate it to the greatest gift of all, Love.

I want to share a few examples of love with you all....

A friend S, starting seeing a lady A, they fell in love, (after being friends for a while) and they intense love for each other overtook me by surprise. I was overjoyed to know that S finally found someone he can rely on and A is a great great great choice for him. One day, as I was chatting with S, he had suddenly taken a serious interest in his health, diet, exercise etc (he's growing in age & inches around his waist for many years already....). I was curious why has he suddenly became so healthy-minded out of the blue.

S explained to me that normally, men has a shorter lifespan than women which means its very possible that every wife will outlive their husbands by 5-10years. On top of that, S is quite a few years older than A, that means its very possible that A will outlive S for 15-20yrs! With that in mind, he wants to be as healthy as possible to reduce that loneliness that he knows A will experience after his departure.

That is Love. A Love that runs deep, strong and far. I was very touched by S's thoughts of how his presence will affect A in the long term. It was not a short-sighted Love between them. *heart melted*

Another friend T grew up as the big sister at home, often responsible for taking care of her younger siblings and household chores. She continue to provide for her family financially, emotionally and physically without any complaints even though her parents at times clearly favour her younger siblings over her. I asked her how can she continue to provide for an unappreciative family? T responded that what she does for her family, she does it out of her own accord for them, not expecting anything from them.

That's the way T Loves her family. A selfless Love.

In my own experience, I've experienced Love in so many ways. And through each of them, I learn that Love is an endless commodity that we can continue to give and give and not feel empty/tired when we give from our hearts. With each time we give, we maybe surprised ourselves how much MORE we have to offer.

In 1 Corinthians 13, it says:
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

So my friends, claim your gift of Love from God and you'll have so much of Love to offer, it'll last you more than a lifetime!

*muaks*

How lovely it is to receive Presents!

Yes, I cant believe it! Its almost mid-May and out of the blue I am opening up a beautifully wrapped present from Ladybird & Otterman! hee hee.... so cool!



Very pretty wrapping hor? I couldn't bear to untie the ribbon... I knew I had to immortalise this moment when the present is still in such a beautiful state hee....

Guess what it is???

A Sling BAG! yeah!! I've been thinking of a sling bag in this shape for a long time!! Its GREAT! Its got a huge space inside, which means I can do my usual dumping of my many things in it hee hee....

Thank YOU guys!

And guess what??? I also got a present from R, specially brought back from BJ! So happy to be surprised by such wonderful gifts of thoughtfulness. I love it! I can only get present from a person when they think of me right? hee hee Thank You R! *muaks*

now I have a pretty pretty feminine purse! yeah!

Long Curly Lashes!

I have to admit that its pretty addictive trying out the different products out there that can enhance one's beauty....

I have tiny eyes with folded eye lids... yep, other people talk about double or triple eyelids while I have trouble "showing" the eye liner if I were to wear any.

Hence, the saviour..... MASCARA!

Saw in a program how it should be applied to enhance the length, volume and curling effect without having them to look like false lashes and cakey feeling. There is ALOT of knowledge involved I tell you.

First you'll have to start with curling your lashes... I bought (hee hee) an electric curler to help me with it cos the normal spring ones dun seems to do the job... (do you know that you have to find a curler that is suitable for your eyeball shape? I din know that! ha ha ha Asian eyes are more wide-spread and less curvy, so we'll have to find curlers that are not as curvy. TAKE NOTE!)



Then I applied the Kiss Me black mascara (water proof, lengthening and curls) on my upper and lower lashes about 3-5times. You have to keep pulling the mascara brush straight away from your eyes, do not do the the Zig Zag movement, it will reduce the lengthening effect. (Zig Zag movement is suited for other mascara brushes, not this one)



And the effect... is amazing... see for yourself!


美美嗎?

I'm Loving It!

I'm into very girlie things lately... I figured I should have done these things earlier by like a decade or two... Maybe I wasn't listening hard enough when I was younger hahaha

Two big things that I'm into lately.... Skin Care & Make Up!

For skin care, I've started on Body Shop's Moisture White series from facial foam, toner, hydrating essence, serum and even eye cream.... after about 2months of use, I can see visibly some improvement to my skin, the acne scars heals ALOT faster now, leaving less spots on the skin. My skin has more texture now as well, got that spongy effect when u press on it.... (as compared to the "deflated balloon" on my hubby's skin ha ha ha ha)


The good part about this series is that its pretty light on the skin, not too greasy, suitable for beginners like me :D *happy*

BUT then I found out that one HAS to do other stuff to their face TOO! (for INTENSE treatment on top of the daily routines - okay i'm slow in discovering it....) So, I started on the search for them.... I found a few different types of MaSks in the market!

1 = packets with a sheet with pre-cut holes for eyes, nose & mouth. You just stick it on ur face for 15-20mins and peel it off and rinse off.

2 = bottle form creamy paste which you again apply on your face evenly for 15-20mins and rinse off. Some of them are also peel off masks, they become dry and looks like a 2nd face you have. It can get rid of some white heads & black heads for you as well during the action of peeling it off after it has dried.

3 = apply on your face and leave it on overnight. (my personal favourite for its ease of use) Effects of it yet to be seen yet...

BUT today, I want to SHOUT about this...



I applied it on for 15mins.... peeled it off and used the reminder of the "juice" to keep applying on my face... (watched this trick on tv, dun waste the "juice" of the mask, you paid for it anyway!)
And rinse off the sticky bits that seems to be dead skin that came out from the skin.... and guess what???

the water molecules just GLIDED OFF my face!!!

This is the first time it has ever happened to me. It's just so darn cool.... And my pores are CLOSED!!! YEAH!!!

*happiness is an ultra smooth skin*

guess where else I applied the balance of the "juice" hee hee

A sweet gesture

I was helping out at ADEX with Dive Junkie over the weekend and there's this gentleman who made a really sweet gesture that is deeply engraved in my mind. He has a gentle nature and a sweet smile, tanned and semi-blonde hair due to the expose to seawater.

Over the three days, this gentleman came over to our booth to purchase our apparels and wore them the next day! We had great fun asking him to stand infront of our booth to take pictures of him with our apparels. :) hee....

On the last day, again he came over and purchased yet another tee shirt while wearing OUR tee shirt, I cant resist but to ask him to take another photo with our booth again.

After taking his solo shot, he whipped out his camera and wanted to take a picture with ME hee hee... (cos i'm the self-proclaimed BEST sales person on the sales floor...)

He said that he'll email me my shot! Yeah!

At the end of ADEX, while everyone was madly packing away, I was hidden away in the store trying to organise our stocks, suddenly a head popped into the store and it was HIM! He came to say goodbye! Just for me! So sweet hor?

These days, everyone is so involved with their own lives, they dun make the effort anymore to have a personal relationship with each other. Emails, sms feels cold while a face-to-face, over the phone feels warm. I'm touched by this very sweet and heartwarming gesture, which reminds me that I should have a more personal relationship with those around me too!

(now I hope that I look GREAT in that photo hahahahahaha)

Come & Find ME!

Its an exciting time for all divers again!!!

Time to look for great deals, hunt for the best diving spot around the world and time to listen to some of the very experienced divers who can find you something interesting underwater, take the most gorgeous underwater photography eg. Michael Aw, renowned underwater photography who organised numerous trips to discover new species, lead a few campaigns to save our marine life.

Its called ADEX! happening NOW! Suntec City Convention Hall 602-603.





Why am I so ON about this??? Not because I've been soaking myself under the sun too much, but rather, I've fallen in love with the Dive Junkie casual wear! They are so comfortable! Color lasts me 4yrs already and its still going on BRIGHT (mind you, I throw them into the washer & dryer to wash them hee) Their collars will NEVER stretch, their prints are always fashionable. What more can one ask for in a tee shirt?

Plus they've got NEW designs in exciting colors! Sunset orange, Atoll, Kelp... sounds so delicious already, how can anyone resist?


Check out their website NOW!

Vote for Me (friend)

KFC had a photo competition which wanted contestants to submit photos of how they "give in to the moment". Following this theme, me and a few of my very sporting friends spent 2 days, invested quite abit of our food allowance to craft out what we felt was our "giving in moment"


which one first?
(was my entry)

but it din get picked! :( *bleah*

However!!!! My friends' entry did get picked!!! *hoorray!*

So now, in order for my friend to win grand prize... ALL must vote for her!

Vote for KFC03 titled "Eat first! Pay later!" by clicking here to link to KFC's site.


But you'll have to sign up as a member first in order to vote....

By voting, you'll get a chance to WIN 32' LCD TVs!! (i want!)

you can vote ONCE daily! So please help me friend WIN the grand prize... i'll tell u when she does ok?

There's an old saying that goes "help a stranger everyday, make your day brighter in every way!" Help my friend to win and she'll be eternally grateful! (ok, I made up that saying... but doesnt it feel good to know that you are of help to someone whom you dunno? TRY IT!)

VOTE for KFC03! Now!

Jen's current music

Saw the movie "Music & Lyrics" by Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore over the weekend and I cant get enough of its theme songs!!!


Don't write me off just yet
Its never been easy for me
To find words to go along with a melody
But this time there's actually something on my mind
So please forgive these few brief awkard lines
Since I met you my whole life has changed
Its not just my furniture you've rearranged

I was living in the past
But somehow you've brought me back
And I haven't felt like this
Since Frankie said relax
And i know based on my track record
I might no seem like the safest bet
All I'm asking you is
Don't write me off just yet

For years I've been telling myself the same old story
That I'm happy to live off my so called former glories
But you've given me a reason
To take another chance
Now I need you
Despite the fact that you've killed all my plants
Although I know I've already blown all my chances
Than anyone should ever get

All I'm asking you is
Don't write me off just yet
Don't write me off just yet


Way Back Into Love
I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with the cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
I've trapped in my past for so long
I just cant seems to move on

I've been hiding my hopes and dreams away
just in case i may need them again some day
I've been having a sad time
Clearing a little space in the corners of my mind

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I cant make it through without a way back into love

I've been watching but the stars refused to shine
I've been searching but I just dun see the signs
I know that its out there
There's gotta be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not somebody to get through the night
I could use some directions
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I cant make it through without a way back into love

If I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping that you'll be there for me in the end


There are moments when I dunno if its real
Or anybody feels the way i feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I cant make it through without a way back into love

If I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do

And if you hold me in the sun again
You'll know that I'll be there for you in the end

Very awesome lyrics! Go and enjoy them! watch

Oprah's Book Club goes ONLINE

I've always been fascinated with the things that this lady does on her shows, especially her GIFTS!!! OMG if ever one day if I ever get the chance to go on her Christmas giveaway shows.... I'll so be living in ecstasy every moment of receiving the news heehee

Last year a group of us read a book together and we did some exercises and did some sharing and some reflections. It was a pretty enjoyable experience coupled with some essential materials made available by a very generous source.

Now, Oprah has launched another book in the same domain, called A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and she's inviting anyone and everyone to join her online in her "virtual classroom". Maybe it will be one of the biggest classrooms ever...

So go and pick up the book today! Join Oprah and join me! (if i can get out of the house tomorrow to get the book.... hopefully its still in stock and not too expensive!)





Click here to go to Oprah.com direct!

OR Click here to go to her book club direct.

You will have to register at her Oprah.com site first to be a member (pretty fast and easy), get a activation email and link to click to confirm your membership. Thereafter, you can have access to the materials for "A New Earth"'s online classroom materials which includes very pretty bookmark, worksheets (you can write your answers/feelings/thoughts/reflections online and save it for reference later on or print it out to be used in your classroom) Pretty cool stuff if you ask me!

Go sign up today! Let's read A New Earth together with Oprah!!

Yeah!

oh btw, the classroom will start on the 3rd March in USA, so it'll be 4th March Asian timing.... *excited*

What's Up Jen?

I think the very interesting question which many have been asking me is... What are you doing Jen?

Sometimes I also wonder.... yes, mostly to myself... especially in the past few days, crunching the data is really driving me up the wall... now I know why they call it permanent head damage, its actually quite hard NOT to have some form of brain damage considering the amount of time one has to sit infront of the computer staring and staring at the screen....

So after a really long and painful time, I finally figured out the relationships between some of my data... but still a marathon away from putting them together in understandable form... well at least I can seek some contentment in my enlightenment... its another one of those toilet bowl enlightenment moments.... I guess if I'm a smoker, its much faster with a cigarette in my hands... ha ha I can truly appreciate those artistic people who comes out with innovative ideas when they are shitting or bathing or just dazing...

So wanna have a look at what "enlightenment" looks like?


ok, it took a few attempts to make it look pretty, I have to right? Afterall, this will be pasted on my wall for quite a while until the whole experience is wrapped up :)

(some of the o-biang drawings are contributed by my very artistic other half hee hee)

Leaking nose = haze

I know when the haze is back before reading Otterman's blog or the newspaper's report... its when my ultra sensitive, all ready sensor starts to leak....

Hand hurts from too much keyboard?

ok it hurts to type this blog post...

does it really happens?

this was a rested hand from a night's sleep...

it hurt the moment i placed my right arm on the keypad to start typing. Now i'm doing a slated hand typing!

I used to spend about 16hrs infront of my keyboard and it doesnt happen. Why now?

hopefully it'll get better with a few days of CNY "break".

The Scare of my Academic Career

As with every career, especially those which you are going to see the end of the project, there are usually some "excitement". Mine is no different.

Just in the last few days, there was an active discussion among those in the community about how postgrads have "displacement activities" as Alvin calls it. Most were to describe how different individuals would be extremely productive in all other aspects of their lives EXCEPT for that ONE thing they had to do, that is their thesis! ha ha ha

Today, I noticed that my main harddisk space is dropping very quickly (HD is partitioned for Applications and another for DaTa). So I happily backedup my photos, music etc, deleted those music files that I hardly listen to.

NEVER for ONE single moment did I actually think of backingup my OWN research data which I've been working on for the past few years.... (my last backup was 1month back). I'm not sure why I'm so careless!

After happily deleting most of the files, I started to work on some of my data until 2pm when hunger pangs took control over my body, I had to run some errands during lunch, so I put Peppermint to sleep and went off.

When I returned, I was shocked beyond words.... imagine if someone just took away 4yrs of your research, analysis without your knowledge, you did not even get to say goodbye....

I have absolutely NO idea where my DaTA drive went!????

*panic*

(quickly open my trash bin... nope, I have diligently emptied my trash as well)

*more panic*

I recall Jr saying that these data are never really "deleted" off your machines, they just get over-written.

Ad is in KL on his way to a meeting... what do I do? I cant possibly wait till 11pm! I called Jr, hanged on to the foreign sounding ringtone.... I guess he's overseas as well, but he's my BEST BEST bet at recovering anything....

Thankfully, Jr picked up my call and Thank God that he was quick-minded to give me some VERY useful instructions in VERY simple steps in addition to his assurances.

OK, here are the steps, just in case anyone needs them, (but pls do YOUR backUP NOW!)

1. shutdown the computer
2. unplug power cable from machine
3. remove battery from machine
4. Do NOT do anything at all to the machine until....

a. you find another Mac (Jr calls it the Happy Mac)
b. download the trial version of SubRosaSoft
(use the trial copy first to check if its "powerful" enough to see the documents that you want to recover before you pay for it)
alternatively, you can use Virtual Mac Lab or Boomerang Data Recovery
(Jr was the BEST, he gave these links to me within mins of my panic phone call, kept me on the line to ensure that I got the steps right...)
c. Close all software on the Happy Mac and just open the data recovery software
d. ensure that both Macs (Peppermint was Sad Mac for a while...) are plugged in with power (so reassemble Sad Mac withOUT turning the power on) If either one runs out of juice during the recovery, it'll be total failure!
e. Find a firewire cable and connect Sad Mac to Happy Mac
f. Power your Sad Mac while holding on to the "T" on the keyboard until you see the Firewire Logo flashing on your Sad Mac's blue background
g. Recovery software will be able to "see" the files that you might have lost on Sad Mac, so copy them out to an external harddisk or to Happy Mac first
h. leave both Happy & Sad Macs alone to do their stuff - to take a pee/coffee break
i. JUMP up and Down in joy if you can "see" & recover ALL your files, if not, try another software.

I got lucky, I could see my Data Drive on Peppermint without the recovery software's assistance.

YEP, I backed up and backed up and backed up like mad.

And after the backing up exercise, I had to sit around to physically, emotionally recover from the shock, when that wasnt enough, I headed out for Retail Therapy to "remove the cache" from my system... ha ha ha

I must admit I got a pretty nice dress :P

Once again, thank you to Jr for his calm, collected assistance and patience, he makes a great instructor in a crisis anytime.

(some of you might be wondering hey where's Ad in all this action? later I found out that the sms never got to him... *sigh*)

I got a dedication!

This was dedicated to me to show me how IMPORTANT I am. :)

A very tiny World

The world could not get any smaller... or maybe its because we are in Singapore?

Last night, I bumped into our ex-tenant from Hell. Yep, took the train with him, on the same NIGHT, at the same TIME, in the same TRAIN, in the same CABIN! Can you believe that? I only saw him in my last 2mins of "reunion" with him, not sure if he spotted me from the beginning, I suspect that we actually got onto the train from the same station as well ha ha ha

Last weekend, I attended a good friend's wedding reception and bumped into another old acquaintance. Why not a friend you might ask.... after spending 1month in Aussie land together on a backpack, I still dunno this guy! Can you believe that? ha ha ha Some people are just weird... or maybe its me... hmm...

Have a couple of friends who are also friends of friends'... so the world is getting smaller for me. Is that for you too?

I was analysing it as Singapore being a tiny country, so the chances of bumping into each other or having a chain-friendship is normal. Besides, most of these folks that we are talking about are in the same age group as ourselves, so naturally, the social circles also revolves around the same space.

But then hor, I also have friends who are cousins of my other friends... that is freaky! ha ha ha

I wonder if this would still occur if I'm not in the country? hmm... will have to live it to try it out! ha ha ha

Sinking heart

my heart is sinking faster than I can catch it.

Usually, when something goes wrong with an experiment, especially if its human error, one can easily, readily point it out. In my case, I'm dealing with a multi-dimensional error that only by God's grace am I able to figure out what went wrong, in order to fix it.

So my dear Lord, please help me see the light to the mountain of errors, guide me to find solutions with the limited resources that is available. HELP ME! Bless me!

Why my wrist feels like falling off my arms...

What? only 24pieces? I thought there was enough to last for 1year, the washing never seems to end... not only was I running out of space to hang them... but also out of energy... I din think that this washing part would that sooooo long, I figure at most 2hrs... but then again, I also figured I needed only 2hrs in the lab when I actually spent 7hrs! Ok, I think my timing is really screwed up! So if I'm late for an appt, dun yell.... I'm probably washing clothes or mopping or scrubbing or labbing....

hee hee

Tonight

Tonight was a happy sad occasion where I got to meet up most of my family and extended family in a "celebration" of our grandfather's passing of 20yrs. Yep, Grandpa passed away suddenly one monday night 20yrs ago, the year when I just finished my PSLE, we were looking forward to the annual dinner with Beijing Duck...

That evening is still pretty clear in my head after 20yrs, Grandpa told us to pick up something from him and when we arrived, he was still doing his sums told us to wait for him. While waiting, he had a cough and laid back to rest. So we thought that he was tired and had to take a nap. We waited for around 20mins and never did we realised that the cough was a heart attack. Grandpa passed away before our very own eyes.

My world of comfort, fun, security changed from that moment onwards. Grandpa has left many legacies behind and we continue to discover them when we talk to our elders.

In my conversation with a cousin, I noticed something was not right with her and upon further probing, I realised that she's divorced from her young marriage of barely 3years. My heart sunk for her, to see that sadness and knowing that there's nothing I can do for her at this point. While she learns to pick herself up, I can only pray for her to have the strength to move on, to stay strong.

Thanksgiving

A time to give our thanks.

What are you thankful for this year?

I have ALOT to be thankful for this year, let's start from the top!

I was thankful for a short getaway to a city which took me 15yrs to re-visit. My first visit to BKK was quite a nightmare, on the night of arrival with my parents, my mum had a stroke. She had to be rushed to a private hospital at the mercy of the cab driver. Back then, tourism wasnt a huge factor and hence the cab drivers were not so fluent to deal with tourist. By God's grace, we managed to communicate sufficiently with him and he brought us to the best private hospital there was in the city. Although we were alittle hesistant with its exterior structure (being a short 4storey building in between two huge buildings, decked in grey), I was very impressed by how much medical equipment they had and their medical skills were impressive. We were assured that mum was in good hands and although unsettling, we spent a week sleeping in the hospital ward with the kind understanding of the medical staff. I thought I would never really return to that city without having to re-live those days of nightmare but thankfully, in this Jan trip, it was filled lots of fun, excitement and not a luggage bag was empty! I discovered the joy of shopping, the relaxation of having massages and the fun of discovery! Even tried my first hand at shooting a pistol! So cool!

I think I am very thankful for a chance to go back to place that was filled with so much negative emotions and be able to drive them away with good, positive emotions. It was a great experience!

Next came CNY and when it was barely over, I had to start work on my research, yes by digging soil... thankfully I had some serious MANpower! Yes, my ever supportive, ever ready Ad! He's the BEST! Never a single word of complain nor grumble, just asked me where? when? what time? And off we went! This persisted for a seriously long period of time to the point which I was really thankful when I can hide in the safety of our lab to process the soil samples, away from the sun, the heat, the everything! Not only was I thankful for Ad's support, I was also very thankful that the collection went on smoothly as planned. :)

As time passed, the grieve of dad's passing also slowly eased away. I am thankful for the time, the space and the grace to grieve. Slowly but surely acceptance came and peace that followed. Now, at times, I can even joke about dad with my mum. I pray for that same peace to envelope her whenever she feels grieved.

Very quickly, Lent came, after hearing so much about The Purpose Driven book by Rick Warren, we decided to gather a small group of friends to share the 40days journey together. Thankfully, we found some expertise, someone who actually run a similar group before! It was definitely a time when we were reflective, learning and experience more of God's mystery and our own purpose. I am still reflecting on some of the topics that was covered! I am thankful for the constant guidance and having these inspiration to keep pushing us forward.

This year was indeed filled with tonnes of beautiful memories, so much that I am at loss what to say sometimes. There were so many friendships formed and built, made to last longer and stronger than I have ever imagined. One thing I am very sure, all these would not have been possible if not for God's grace upon us. Thank You Lord! (And I think this Prayer of Jabez has got to do with it!)

In June, my family and I took a trip back to our hometown in Donggun, Guangzhou, China. It was my virgin trip to our hometown. I was very very impressed by the amount of effort that my grandparents put to "repay" the kindness of the villagers who has helped my grandfather leave their hometown and come to work in Singapore. If not for their fore-father's help, we would not be here today, enjoying the fruits of their labour. In return, my grandfather built a school (because he feels strongly about education, believing that anyone can learn anything if they desire to, he watches the Tamil news at home at 70 to pick up the language!). He was also often called to raise funds for re-building projects in the home town, there were so many stories of my grandfather and our fore-fathers that we kept thinking of how fortunate we are. And indeed we are very honored decendents of many great people in our family. I am very thankful for this trip to help me learn so much more about my family history, at least I have some juicy stories to pass on to my kids and grandkids! hee hee

One of the themes that really stood out for me is: Marriage - a lovingly marriage is a lasting marriage.
We witnessed how over 400 couples stood before God to profess their love for each other some 50years after their wedding and some as "youthful" as us barely 3+yrs of marriage. The common denominator is the commitment to build a lasting marriage TOGETHER.
And how to be able to achieve a lovingly marriage? The trick is to surround yourself with people who share the same values as you about marriage. People who are commited to each other, who value the importance of commitment which entails faith, hope & love. If you can love, you can forgive and forget. Every marriage will meet their test somehow, some time, how each couple deals with that tough situation lies very much in the crux of their friends and family. If their surrounding values the importance of sorting things out peacefully, lovingly, chances are that these two persons will stay together. And vice versa. So go figure if you want to stick around those whom you are sticking around with now.....

I am thankful for being able to indulge in my crazy "hobbies", hee hee; more hee hee; hee hee hee hee ;lagi more hee hee
Yes, I am very thankful for finding that childhood that I miss, the senseless giggles which I enjoyed. Its GREAT to just giggle! hee hee

AND ok ok this one, I am like so ultra thankful for it that tears can roll out any time....

I am thankful for FB, I have found my sec school best friend, SC! Yes that one that i blogged about like Jan 2006!. All this time I kept wondering about some individuals that has left some part of them behind in me and slowly, they are all coming back to life again! I am just ecstatic! Some of these old friends are counting back 20yrs of MIA! ha ha ha..... If there was a chance of relocating my kindergarden pals, now, that would be a real treat!

Thank You Lord. You have made my life so colorful, so wonderful, so full of adventure that I can only be thankful for! *muaks*

Introducing Linus!

Yes in addition to Lucy, here's LINUS!

My dream mobile phone has been added to our collection of electronics and gadgets at home. And certainly it is one of the BEST mobile phones that I've ever had. Simply because its got a fantastic camera feature of 5megapix.

Ha ha ha

Here's what Linus did on our short walk about the neighbourhood...

I've always wanted to capture a picture of this recycling bin, it usually filled to the brim with bags and plastic bottles. However, one morning, I noticed that all the big plastic bottles around it were gone, yet the bin is still FULL of the other recycling trash. Strange hor? Looks like someone is taking the recycling waste for themselves!

Cant see clearly? Here's a better shot after using iPhoto to "enhance" it with the magic ward.

Okok, I know I need more practise with this camera, i mean phone, i mean camera phone... see i'm confused. There are quite a few selections to this camera mode, so gotta practise abit MORE.

Next I climbed to a higher ground, attempting to capture more images, wondering if the shutter will take in the light from sources further away...

looks decent eh?

Then, I found a young, model, without her permission hee hee... I snapped pictures of her like a paparazzi (must practise to see if I can work fast!) Surprisingly, the camera response time is pretty fast unlike the previous Sony Ericsson mobile phone cameras which I've used.



I have yet to test out the 9frames/sec shots on a real model, tried it on myself and the results are definitely not nice cos of the choice of model.

I am having so much fun with the camera phone that I even took pictures of me "processing" my dinner ha ha ha...


here's a video of how I'm thawing my dinner hee hee... yes, as you can tell, i'm darn bo liao!


What makes Linus truly amazing is that it can take pictures, videos and any function until its last bits of juice. I took a 2min long video clip when it was at 3% of its battery life, even with the low battery warning, it still allows me to continue filming and viewing the clip. Right till its last bits of juice!

Previous models have alot of restrictions on minimum battery life when using the camera functions on the phone.

More things I like about this phone:
1. it has an addition shortcut key in addition to the 4 (top, bottom, left & right) shortcut keys which are usually used for sms, calender, contact list & alarm. I set the profiles, sound record and bluetooth on this additional shortcut key, extremely easy for me to access these functions.

2. its radio reception is of very high quality. It can receive FM transmission in places which my iPod add-on radio receiver experience break ups especially in the lift. I'm surprised! Next time gotta try it in the trains ha ha...

3. Its ultra easy to access its camera & video functions with the buttons and shortcut keys on its side. works almost like a normal digital camera! *sweet*

4. it does seamless bluetooth connection with my Peppermint! (ok this one requires alot more story telling)
In most of my previous mobile phones, the most painful process of acquiring a new mobile phone is the transfer of the contact list. In the earlier models of mobile phones, they have functions to copy all the phone numbers onto the sim card and I used to do that transfer 250contacts at a time. Then when it came to my Samsung E730, it does not have this feature! I cant even copy any of the phone contact to the sim card! aiyo so painful! I tried so many times to bluetooth the contact list over to Peppermint but only partial of the list are transferred. So sad hor!

I was determined to get the contact list sorted out right this time. Hence, I spend one whole afternoon, or was it day... to painfully, go through the 400 contacts on my list and sort them out accordingly. When they were all sorted out nicely on Peppermint. I did the bluetooth magic and everything, I mean EVERYTHING, Every single one of my contact went over to Linus!

Now isnt that just perfect? *muaks* I LOVE BLUETOOTH technology! also all photos, videos, music were transferred using the bluetooth option at the rate of 100kb/s. quite fast hor?

5. its got a great size, not too bulky like the N95 (which has a newer model that comes with 8Gb harddisk space internally, so you wont have to depend on the memory cards, but for that size? like a brick? how to fit it into my tiny purses?) Yep for its size, its easy to hold onto it, not too tiny which might slip out of your hands while you are trying to take a snap at something. I saw a guy holding onto the ultra slim K something mobile phone on the train, he looked like his fingers were going to have a cramp from having to press it to his ears so hard! ha ha ha

6. It has a SOS feature where you can make use of its light from the camera to flash the emergency SOS light signal to get help in times of need! Now isnt that cool???

7. it has everything that I ever wanted in a phone! yeah! I am loving it!

My 118th new love!

hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee

yes can you tell that I cant stop laughing?

I love them all! Each has its own story, flavour and meaning that they bring to my life. After sorting through all of them, I have categorised them into Bags (118), Pouches (21), shopping bags (9) and free bags (23). A grand total of 171 heng ah, still under by 200 quota hee hee

here's my most lovely, most loved, already inducted (meaning no longer virgin bag, used a few times and loving it) no. 118!


ps J, you may find this bag very familiar... i think its because it looks exactly like the one which you bought in bkk, the source of this bag is also from bkk. priced at $15.90 I thought its worth it because the original price at bkk, wholesale market would be around $8-13.

Once I saw a bag which I really liked but cost $30, I refused to pay for it since I knew that I'll would have been fleeced at that price hee hee

Lucy! the iPod Touch

We warmly welcome the latest music player cum web surfer cum games player cum digital address book cum calender buddy cum youtube grabber cum calculator cum alarm clock cum world time cum timer cum stopwatch cum digital photo album cum podcast player and whatever else you can think of or find to install into this neat little gadget.

I am loving it! She's thin and light weight wont feel a thing even if you were to hold her for a long time to watch a video or photoslideshow. Music albums can be viewed with the cover flow series makes it alot easier to look for the music that you want to hear.

I love the fact that you can just add a new contact to the list and sync it with your address book on the Mac, makes it so easy and seamless to keep intouch with your friends again.

Here she is:

Yeah Gmail Increased its Storage Capacity

I have been struggling with 89-92% usage on my gmail account due to the large amounts of data, pdf, picture files which I am so conveniently "storing" on the gmail server hee...

But I noticed that as the storage gets closer to the 90s% range, the mails get sent out slower.... and there are more bugs also...

And the fear that it will just shut down on me suddenly because I've overloading my account is frightening...

Am so glad that they did an overnight increase in the capacity to bring my % back to a healthy 54%! Yeah!

Thank you gmail!

Watson's is EVIL

I tell you.... How....

After working really hard today, I opened up my mailbox to find an interesting broucher, photocopied, scanned and sent to me by a not-so-IT-savvy friend. She got ALOT of heart, remembered that I LOVE Snoopy stuff and bothered enough to send it to me.

So I decided to take a small detour to Watsons before my dinner this evening....

I even planned to buy just 2 Snoopy items because you will need to spend $15 for every two Snoopy items. I cannot really figure out what I'll need at Watsons at the top of my head.

So I called for backup!! (yah like when Macs have their snoopy collection for their value meals, I also request for reinforcements)

I called up a good friend who is usually very sporting hee hee... (although I have to bear with her teasing for a long time to come... nevermind all that, its norm for people to tease me over Snoopy)

She was indeed very supportive, she "ordered" enough items through me to support my cause... hahaha which means I get to purchase another two more Snoopy items if I just throw a few things into the basket.

Then hor, their baskets now come ON wheels... which makes shopping alot easier, you just keep throwing things into the basket, full, overflowing nevermind, got a 2nd basket below it, can continue to fill it up, with its ultra light wheels, even if you put an elephant on it, you wont feel it when you push it around. So you just keep topping it up! (see how evil that is??)

I spent the next 10mins very constructively looking for items that I will NEED and will USE like tissue paper etc, I was even tempted to get shampoo! but it'll be too heavy for me to lag back alone haha

THEN! One innocent looking sales girl walked by and asked me if I was interested to learn more about their products (Silkpro).

Deep deep down inside me I was violently saying NO NO NO

But I just nodded my head because I had to "get MORE stuff" to buy MORE Snoopy items (might as well right? Since I'm at it anyway...)

Then she disappeared!

I should have just ran off that very instant! But I didn't (or else, there wont be this long essay on why Watson's is evil...)

She returned with another lady who was the beautician for Silkpro products, she started with moisturiser, then why I would need their toner and went on to the night repair and why my skin is the way it is now and blah blah blah.... I ended up with 3 bottles in my basket (overflowing already but still can put them on top safely)

Sigh, I'm weak lah. How??

When the cashier kept scanning the items, my heart kept jumping.... total damage $140.

I NEVER EVER EVER spend so much at Watson's before.

See how evil Watson's is?? They put up the Purchase with Purchase for Snoopy items and made me spend SO SO SO much!!

Just as I was leaving the store, I spotted this booth that is operated by Roman (a Germany company that sells pretty good quality stuff at good prices). They were selling anti-slip insole gels for shoes, in many shapes and sizes. Even some for men. Okay lah I thought of Ad and how tired his legs must be daily, I took a set for him. And I also chose another set for myself.

THEN the sales girl said that if I buy 3 sets, I will get a free gift! An anti-slip thing for shoes (on the outside when it can get slippery on rainy days)

Okay, I'm a freebie queen, mention the word FREE and you see my eyes light up!!

So I bought 3 sets lor. another $30 fly away...

See how evil Watson's is??

Now I have to go put on my 3 bottles of newly acquired stuff to see if it does all the magic that the lady claims, if not.... SOMEBODY's going get hurt real bad!!

here's what damage looks like....

Peppermint is Window-fied

Am delighted to see that Peppermint is doing well with a duo system running off her 160Gb hardisk.

Am forced to install windows on my beloved Peppermint by circumstances.

But very pleased that Peppermint is handling all the changes well as if its just another software that is running off her.

*applause* to the Mac!

Singnet is NOT trustworthy!!

Singnet SUCKS!!!

I pay $88 a month for 10Mbps broadband speed but hardly reaches that kind of speed EVER, nevermind, but in the past few months we have been putting up with drop lines throughout the day and Night!!

It is terribly frustrating to have such a lousy service provider and its supposed to be our national service, leader... *PHUI*




We used to be on Pacnet, we have hardly encountered such situations, if yes, its rare, in our 3yrs of contract with them. Gosh, even starhub subscribers get a faster download speed then singnet with lesser problems.

this is terrible!!

messed up schedule

today's schedule is totally messed up by some msn communication with a commerical firm that is conducting some work on our behalf.

issues that were trashed out:

1 billing issue - bill was for 350USD but they sent me 450USD!! too much difference sure DIE

3 invoicing issue - billed for two sets of work but only showed the order number for one, am I to guess which is the other one?

7 sets of work require some serious evaluation for the poor quality, which they can only re-examine ONE set of it. :(

more time was spent on trying to determine which aspects of the one set of work to be focused at. That took alot of time to check, re-check and they made one offer and changed their offer and I had to check, re-check and suggest for an amendment to their offer and then have to check, re-check.

eyes are tired. mind is tired.

how to complete today's to-do list?? now now i wonder....

I would LOVE a HENK!

isnt it such a cool suitcase erhm bag erhm HENK???

check out the Henk website for more information.

btw, I wont mind receiving one of each for my bday & xmas for the rest of my life.... the cases costs USD$20k each, with a long line of waiting list, only sold 50+cases in their past 4yrs of operation...its another one of those Hermes bag syndrome...

Tearing my hair out with BLASTn

Blastn is an online database which anyone with any amount of genetic sequences can try to find a match from their libray (or sea of sequences) and hopefully find a reliable match to their own unknown research sequences.

BUT, this database is firstly filled with junk sequences which anyone anyhow also go and dump their sequences into the database.

So, you might end up matching to a very unreliable source.

*BLEAH*

alot of conflicts that needs to be resolved BEFORE the data is considered sorted out properly.....

*double BLEAH*

You-Hoo!

I found a LAN line that is still active, accessible power point, secure, aircondition room with a huge window view....

what more can I ask for??

maybe some music... yeah nothing that Peppermint cannot provide for me hahahah

YOU HOOOOOO

3 no 4 no 5 places which I would love to visit

1. Bahamas Beach - Stay at Alantis Resort

It has the largest underwater marine collection of over 500,000 marinelife, with some of its collection yet to be named. The simple knowledge that the manta ray is waiting in a giant tank for you to discover it is awesome, I dun have to put on my wetsuit (which usually takes a long long time), dive underwater and wait for it to appear, I can simply walk up next to it. So cool!

It has got giant slides that runs through the giant marine tanks as well, wont it be cool?? Never tried that but I definitely want to!!


2. Egypt - Pyramids

I have heard about this cleverly designed building since a kid, got more fascinated with ancient architecture after a trip to Turkey and realised that history CAN be so rich and full of amazing facts and some fairy tales... Nonetheless, the Pyramids are definitely worth the trip as the last reminding ancient wonder of the world. I was at some of the other ancient wonders of the world previously but found that I was just standing on a pile of rocks, altough the view was inspiring, it was hard to imagine its magnificance.



3. Japan - Tokyo

Since my fetish for Peanuts started, I have been dreaming of going to this city that is crazy over comics characters. Its rich rich diversity of creative juices spilling over every corner of its street is going to be an exciting journey. Each visitor to Tokyo always returns with something about the place that amazes me. Language barrier might be an issue if we visit it Free & Easy style... However, I am sure that I'll need extra luggage space to lug back all my Peanuts favourites hahahaha.... so I can only visit Tokyo when I can afford to purchase whatever I like.... which might take a long long time to happen.

Anyone interested to donate to my Tokyo discovery fund? I'll blog and blog for your money's worth!! *promise*


And my MUST visit place..... Snoopy Town!!



This blog started out with 3 places which I would love to visit..... then I remembered something else!! So here's no. 4!!

4. China - Xi'an: Terroracotta Army

I was very fascinated by the scale of the "fake" army that was built. The amount of energy, resources, money that was poured into ensuring a protected afterlife, the obsession with wealth and grandeur of his death is almost madness to think about. Yet this one man did it.

I was told my R that: today, there are still many many MORE underground tunnels and army/slaves/rooms that were being discovered. There were so many of them that they were uncertain what to do with the newly discovered "treasures". Instead, they were covered up again as determined by the state as to prevent modern day pollution and rapid degradation.

I have not known anyone who has visited this unique army that has a bad review of the place, I am guessing it will be very well worth our time there. I want to spend like 3 full days there.... maybe I will change my mind later... but who cares?? Let's get there first!!



5. South Africa - Wildlife

Wah, this has always been a dream to sleep under the stars in a tent with the giraffes as my "pets", elephants in my backyard and tigers roaming around.... feels like in some movie!! I'm picturing a clear night filled with light from the bright stars. Perhaps also to meet someone with an interesting name?? hee hee

AhChoo to the begining of the Lunar 7th Month

Each year, I have a strange way of realising that its the time of the year when the air is alot more smokey and there are lot more "boogie" traps on the roadsides.

Yes, I am referring to the start of the Lunar 7th Month.

The time when the neighbourhood is filled with folks trying to each find the best corner to burn their offerings to their loved ones.

This year there is no exception, my nose has been leaking the whole day and sneezing non-stop...

The time has arrived!!!!!

Wish there was a better way to do this rather than to suffer through annually.

I'm sure there are many folks out there who is also suffering the "side-effects" of our chinese traditions & customs.

Perhaps this is why the Chinese has started to use cyberspace as the burial grounds and cyber-gifts as the alternative way to connect with their departed relatives. It would certainly cut down on burning of the paper and reduce air polluction index.

Either that or we need more heavy rain to wash away the ashes and strong winds to blow away the smoke hee hee

Exciting Times Tmr

Yeah, It'll be real exciting tomorrow when I step back into a classroom as a "teacher". hahahaha

Module has a focus on Student-Centered Learning. So not sure how much of a "teacher" will I really become.

Its really exciting to be standing on the "podium" (yes, all classrooms in where I'm going to be has a mini stage for lecturers to stand on hahaha get the students to worship us better!)

so how "Student centered" is that??

K bet u can sense the mockery in my tone.

Well, a short while before tmr, we had a briefing, since then, there has been a constant flow of emails attempting to burst my mailbox about the course. Some want to change student groups cos they feel that they can assess them better at the end of the course if they had MY students. Well Ok. Whatever, I havent met them yet right?

Then, some brillant person who planned the MASTER TimeTable (which means that THEY are incharge of scheduling ALL the courses for every student in the whole entire univeristy) cleverly planned two consecutive school-wide-compulsory activities on the same day of the week!

Any child would be able to tell you that it will affect the same class/course/group of students in not one but TWO consecutive weeks!

And we are EXPECTED to fulfill ALL the course requirements like having a fixed number of hours of student-contact time. HOW?

Naturally, if we cannot find any time during the normal school hours, we would just have to do it beyond the normal working hours right?
Then some lecturers trying to be funny, started to email long stories about how they have evening commitments and THEN requests for travel allowance if the course has to be conducted in the evenings? HUH??

so if give u transport allowance then ur evening commitments will magically disappear??

It was such an eye-opener. haha

Then i get students who writes to tell me that they will be taking leave for the first lesson?? Ooi! No respect ah!!
Another write to say got medical appt. These are the definite TWO jokers who will be bugging me with questions like "Assessment %", "absent how?" and many other admin questions which we will be sorting out DURING our first session.

Lastly, there was this other lecturer who contacted me to exchange classroom with him because the one which I've been assigned to was his "favourite" classroom... huh? Got favourite wan meh? Is there Feng Shui involved? Both rooms have the exact same setup leh. Not that I really minded the change in rooms. But I really do not wish to add to the confusion that we are all having with regards to the change in tutor/time table etc. To add another change will be like giving myself MORE admin work lor. Plus, I truly believe that if we want to continue to evolve successfully, we should be adaptable to changes around us. So I had to decline his "offer"

So u tell me, is it going to be exciting or what? hahahaha

blue black monday

Last week's monday doesnt seem quite the good for me. (And it wasnt even Fri the 13 or anything like that!!)

in the early morning, i went to take blood for a blood test... ended up with a huge bruise on the arm! (it never happened before!) *bleah*


then in the afternoon, fell and sprained my ankle (never in 17yrs!!)
*double bleah*

then in the evening, got the results of the blood test and found that its not ideal!
*triple bleah*

GST made my tabao cost increase by 10%!

Its NOT true that its only a 2% increase in GST. If you think about it, its 2/5 which is 40% increase! Scary hor??

All's well until I found out that buying food at our coffeeshop gets ALOT MORE EXPENSIVE since the GST hike!

We used to enjoy a 2meat+1veggie dish with rice for $2.50, cheap and good which is perfect for hardlanders. Fills our tummy and doesnt harm our purse so much.

Just as our garmen increased their "2%" hike on GST, our tabao lunch boxes also went up alot MORE expensive. What used to feed me well at $2.50, now can barely pay for 2 dishes only! :(

Angri!


guess the cost of this meal? $2.20!!

a very painful and disruptive sms

I never knew that I would be lying down on a spot in a public area groaning in pain ......

Well, I did that today.

I missed 2 tiny steps down the stairs because I was totally distracted by an sms which cost me a leg...

sms content somehow indicated that there was two different runs for women, instead of just one. So I was happily replying my "surprise" of the two race instead of one and WHAMP!

I was lying on the floor, shocked and in alot ALOT of pain.

I cannot believe that I sprained my right ankle, AGAIN! after like 17years.....

But I truly dun remember that it was this much pain the last time many years ago.... Maybe age reduces our tolerance for pain? Or just alot of faded memories haha

In that painful moment, a few million thoughts came flying past my mind, here's what they are:

1. Shit, why did i miss that step?
2. Darn, its damn painful!
3. Now ALOT of my plans for the weeks is going to CHANGE!
4. What should I do now?
5. Call Darling! (even thought he's like half a country away... yes call him)
6. flashback of my teenage sprain ankle moment...
7. flashback of how my MUM responded to my teenage sprain ankle moment....
8. No cold drinks/food for a few weeks....
9. Its going to be PAINFUL to be treated by sinsehs.....
10. PICK up the phone and CALL darling....
11. Thank God I still have my phone with me
12. Dial darling's number and was greeted by a very cheerful Darling....
13. weak answer to darling's cheerfulness and meekly explained my mini-misadventure...
14. darling's reply, stay where u r, i'm coming over right now.
15. shall i try to get up from the floor? It might be quite dirty....
16. check pain index... still OUCH
17. a lady in pink walks by... will she try to help?
18. nope, she went right by.... SINGAPOREANS! so CAriNG hor??
19. girl returns, asked if I was okay...
20. replied sprained ankle, in alot of pain...
21. girls walks away. ????!!@@#$%#@!#%^&
22. get up and hobble back to lab first...

yep, hobbling back to the lab was not as bad as I thought. It felt weak but not dislocated...

Back in the lab, boss came in and started discussing work with me. Had to cut him short to announce my handicap and need to get out to see the sinseh before my other medical appointments.

Darling arrived and we headed off to see a sinseh.... remembered that a friend had seen one before and mentioned that they were quite good. called friend to get contact. friend called back to say that they have moved... and in the taxi, the driver mentioned that the move was to Tiong Bahru. OH? so famous ah? Later we verified that it was two different sinsehs.

hmm... which one to go to?? Call friend's contact first to check check.... they say that they do massage of the affected area, preferrably after 1 day when the leg is no longer swollen. Oh well... that leaves us to the hands of the recommendation by the taxi driver... so go lah.

turns out that the sinseh is not in office yet, he's out having lunch, I almost forgot about the numbering system... we took a number tag and headed out for lunch... hehe... guess what? Beo Crescent Curry rice is just round the corner... dun care, hobble over to eat first....

came back and waited a while more for the sinseh to return... he looked very very YOUNG leh!
You know hor, usually the older the sinseh, the more experience he is... the less painful, the more effective.... this one looked like he's just started out only leh.... *fingers crossed*

when it was my turn, he told me to sit down and rolled up my jeans all the way to the knees. He applied medicated oil from kneecap onwards down towards the ankle. he pressed some acupuncture points along the legs and ankle and got it bandage up and gave me a long list of instructions....

here's my bak chang ankle.....

the leg just look fat because of the angle that the photo was taken.... dun be mistaken... haha

jen's wonder encounter

Finally!! After immersing myself into the MJ scene since..... BEFORE my birth, I finally did a 13 wonders!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

best part is.... I drew the winning card in MYSELF!!


HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

Let's Celebrate NDP