i had done something gross

i had done something gross. i went ahead to try out the beatyfoot product which promises to get rid of your feet's dead skin so that you can have baby smooth feet again! i realllly reallly had a lot dead skin on my feet... so much that i cant stand it! (pun intended) so, yah. as it promises, your dead skin will start to flake after 2 days and will continue flaking after all the dead skin are gone. mine is a massive pile of dead skin which made me feel like a snake! i am shedding skin!

it feels much like being sun-burnt whereby your skin will naturally shed anyway. to accelerate the shedding process , i peel and peel and peel... & it kinda addicitve. ahahah. is it gross or what... but i cant wait to have baby feet.

i pretty much completed all the peeling but i still have conified layers at the sole.

oh-well... i did have a VERY VERY VERY deep layer of dead skin to begin. overall, the japanese are fab! its painless & not as gross as i had anticipated. i anticpated ... bits and pieces of dead skin flaking as you walk. but it's not like that. phew.

& i bought a leather jacket after much hunting and thanks to the mango sale. its the exact shade of brown which i want. the washing instructions that comes with it was .. FAB. because it says NO WASHING, NO Dry Cleaning even. hurhurhurhur. suits me to a t.

but i have to say. the leather is squeaking as i move. i wonder how much does it take to break into the shape and be seasoned into butter soft leather??

& i am sick! it is like the first time i am sick while having public holidays/weekends. what a let down cause i cancelled plans which i made way in advance and i've yet to see my bf in this week. sigh sigh sigh. he doesnt have it easy, cause he worked till 1am on xmas eve to meet his project deadline.

all i can do- hope that his co wins the project bidding after all his hard work!

i love my mom

i bought a pair of ripped jeans in the mango sale. i love it more after my mom asked me where is there holes in the new pairof jeans which i bought.

i simply find it hilarious.

i find it hilarious when she models her new clothes for me to see while fishing for my compliments (only). i stubbornly refuse to say her new clothes are nice just to drive her crazy and see her convince herself that she did iNDEED made a purchase which looks nice on her.

LOL. i *heart* her to the max. coz she is so typically auntie that is supremely funny.

the holiday season havent exactly started but i am eduring a crazy sore throat already. =X too much fried food, i would say.

i plan to use the long weekends to detox myself from all the shopping, materialism and consumerism that i had committed... some forced (i.e. xmas exchange) but mostly unforced of course. since japan, i had the guilty feeling of overspending... i even start to wonder why am i in a hurry to be rid of the monee that i carry with me.

each outing that i go... i spend about $100 on average. OMG. it must be the sale thats driving me nuts. but knowing that i staying away from malls, makes me feel safer with myself. hahahaha.

normallly, i am not so uptight with my expenditure. but now, i am vexed!!

is there any good news for me???

tiring

things are bound to be falling apart...

and it is just tiring to be always waiting and anticipating it. emotionally draining as much as you dont consciously think about it.

we are slacking at work!! openly playing with iphone (obviously, that is not me) and just surfing net to pass time. i have to admit my job hunt bore no fruits at all. i reason that ppl are not leaving their jobs esp since AWS is coming! ppl arent gonna leave their jobs untill march! at least after cny is over ...& they finished receiving all the bonus. gah!

i wonder when will i finally land an interview not to mention a job.

on a happier note, time pass by very fast regardless what i am doing during office. perhaps that is becoz gm is not around?

i do want time to pass by fast... at least there is my melbourne adventure adventure to look forward to!

was i rash?

i booked a 6 day trip to melb due in feb.

i just booked a 8 day trip to hong kong in july. now i am wondering... do i really need 8 days? gosh! that's a lot of leave!!!



i feel the pressure to secure another good paying job pronto!


i had a good time with my bf's friends. i know that we are on different frequencies though. they feel most at ease at a kopitiam place but i prefer cafes anytime hands down. anyway, next time i wont be suggesting them places to eat anymore. i learnt my lesson.

i dont think queen&mangosteen serves bad food but they just happen to order the one that didnt make the mark. i like my chicken dish fine. haha. when in dounbt, just order chicken to play serve and not steak! that is another lesson which i learnt.

but to me, its fun to hang out with people who are different from you. widen your perspective indefinitely.

daisuke- nihon- Shopping

i think that one should never ever ask ppl to buy blue label back from japan for ownself. well, i did attempt to ask before but i was not really serious about it. & really - i realize it is such a mistake to ask ppl to buy for you.

you reallly have to buy one for yourself. it is to comemorate that you had spotted something nice in Japan! like the 3 of us. hahahaha.

its about the FEELLL-LING. you would understand if you happen to be a shoppaholic like me.

Ginza distict reminds me of Orchard Road. except people in Orchard Road never turns up in tuxedos. The japanese dotted their streets with small lighted xmas tress. cute leh.



i absolutely heart the outlet shoppping. heart to the max!!!!!!!!!! why isnt there one in sg? is it because we are too small to have one? must be i guess.

i duno when will i get to have a second time to outlet-shop in japan... :S

daisuki- nihon- Mt Fuji

we stayed over at a hot spring hotel on the 3rd night. you can see mt fuji right outside the hotel window provided weather is good. quite cool huh.

but we never made it to the hot spring . we made it to the common area to blow dry our hair coz there was no dryer in the hotel room. we saw sagging skin and young bouncy boobs! at least erm, i noticed. hahahaha.

it really is the coldest weather i had experience so far. with the wind blowing? it makes it so so much worse. & yah, the pic didnt turn out so great ya. hahaha.

messy hair, rudolph nose, after about 20 min in the cold.

so cold that we dun have water to wash our hands. water supply has vanished in the cold waether! clucky i got wet tissue!!!!!!!! woohoooOOO!!

finally made it into the warm coach after a 10 min mad dash from the cold. YAY!

daisuki- nihon- Food & Beaverage

7d5n trip- we had udon, sukiyaki, udon, tempura, sashimi, udon, rice , rice, miso soup, buffer dinner, udon and tempura within the tour package.

it was exceptionally nice to eat this sukiyaki in the cool cold weather. overheard some uncle/auntie saying if they eat the same thing in Sg, they would be sweating loads unlike in Japan, where all they get is a nice warm fuzzy feeling in the stomache.

Example of our lunch/dinner... for about 2-3 days?

The sashimi boat. the second most expensive food that we spent on. it was fresh from fish market. apparently japanese dun bother serving stuff that are not fresh. even tho i just am not into sashimi... i can tell it is FRESH, SWEET and just pretty wonderful.

the yellow gluey mess was the flesh of sea urchin. gosh! i never thought i eat sea urchin and it tasted as gross as it looks. acquired taste, as people would say. which i havent acquired yet.

The freakin prawn was quite big and looked alive, esp the eyes. so black and shiny!! i can envision it swimming in the sea just what? 12 hours ago? i didnt dare eat it for a moment.

i just wanted to know what it feels like to eat ice cream in a cold cold place. even the cheapest ice cream i could find is creamy and soft. although it is not exactly dirt cheap after coversion. i think it cost 2 sgd.

collagen and those genki drinks aplentiful over there and i am glad spotted coke-plus-fibre over there! i like the idea of drinking fibre within good ole coke. they should launch it here in sg pronto!!

& japs love honeydew. i duno why.

hot corn soup was a hit within our tour groups esp after spending some time in low temperature. there were people who bought a couple of cans to bring back home. Gosh! as great as they are, i wouldnt be bringing back these home. campbell soup will do just fine.

daisuki- nihon- the Hokkaido Crab

i love my japan trip. i love japan's autumm even with the 24H rain and strong winds. i love that i dun need to queue for toilets cause japan has enough room to build 30 cubicles within a toilet compound. and each one is clean and stocked with toilet paper!!!!!!!!!!!

i am not going recount the trip details... lemme just jot down some of the more interesting memories though.

the temperature was lower than expected (average 15 degree celcius?) but i somehow made it through without freezing to death in my 2 layers t-shirts and jeans and jackets. Our tour guide is a hongkie who preferred speaking in Cantonese. just my luck that i was practically the only who dun understand the Cantonese joke and stories that he was sharing. BLEAH.

lets start with The Hokkaido Crab Story.

Hokkaido Crabs are legendary in Japan. but who says you must go Hokkaido to eat Hokkaido Crab??

The tour guide has a Hokkaido Crab lobang if we want to taste Hokkaido Crab while we are in Tokyo. Because he can help us DHL one over to our hotel. While he was droning on and on about the Crab in cantonese , i fell asleep in the bus.

Then my friend just tap me and ask if i wan to try the Hokkaido Crab. well, groggy from my sleep i just said OK without asking about the freaking price. & then i found out that the crab costs 14K yen ! which was unbudgeted for!!!!! shit! means i have to fork out 7K yen. i guess if i didnt fork out the 7k yen for the Crab, i would have a LOT MORE snacks to air freight over. anyway, i really wonder whats the profit margin the tour guide gets to earn. or is it truly a free non-profit service?

but since i agreed already... lets just hope it will be worth it.

heard that it was caught in the morning, boiled in the afternoon, delivered to hotel in the evening. it would be worth it if my appetite is bigger i guess. the first bite is really amazing- very soft n sweet. but after the second leg - i was full already. afterall we had this Crab after dinner. sigh.

it sure looks alive! its body- just slightly smaller than my face?

it is my first time using a scissors to eat crab. usually i just try to bite and crack open the shell. anyway... it is quite fun to use the scissors. hahah.

loooooooook- my first glimsp of the very takaii crab meat. after the first bite- i am never taking cheap crab stick meat again! what an insult to the taste of crab meat. every bit i took probably cost 10 SGD.

presenting the Legless Hokkaido Crab!

My Mad Friend went on to dismantle the Crab's body. quite adventurous but i really pity the Crab which looks alive. my vegetarian boss would freak and be grossed out , i bet!

I wonder where is the brain... she said the grey color part is the organ for breathing and not its brain...
in the end, we pack up the corpse, stuff it inside the styrofoam box and made sure its closed dammm tight. if not, it might emit a stench... as advised by our hongkie tour guide.

crying is contagious

life begins & ends. starts in the pink of health (usually) & end (usually) in sickness. its only natural. except to see it being cremated is extremely saddening.

and then, life goes on despite all the tears and heartbrokenness.

i dont like to talk about death. it brings tears to the eyes. & i learnt that crying is contagious as well.

my ten year old cousin is a chubby, cherubic & lovable kid &... is extremely interested in losing weight! gawd. hearing her talk about wanting to lose weight just takes away a little of her cherubic-ness. She is extemely interested in nail colors. more so than me, i would say. anyway she is sOOoOOOO CUTE!

& i have a little Moses Lim in my brood of cousin as wel. SUPREMLY overweight & VERY comical. hearing him talk is just full of LOL moments. we all encourage him to be a commediene. he does have very nice feature so we guess that when he finally is tired of being fat, he will slim down & be a ladies'man simply cause he is dammmmm funny.

tw actresses

watching Black&White, i realize the taiwanese actresses are starting to look all the same.

the same...
big doe eyes
sharp angular nose
small mouth

& tend to be short.

like zhang shao han, gou cai jie,wang xin ling, yang chen ling & chen yi han.

i thought chen yi han from Black&white look esp like zhang shao han!!

maybe it has always been this way. no wonder sunyanzi is practically one of a kind & irreplaceable even till now.

non food craving fulfilled

yes- i've got myself a pair of comfy-looking boots. wearing boots definitely upped one person's style quotient (when that person is fashionably sensible, anyway) but too bad we live in sunny spore. i'll be sure that i have evidence it existed i.e. takes lotsa photos which shows my shoes when in chilly japan.

yes yes, i paid up for the tour package and my annual leave has been approved already !! woo hoooooo~~. this is for sure! no false alarms!!

i guess there goes a bulk of my savings. but i am not that stingy when it comes to holiday. though i am worried about jobs&related matters. but HECK LA. such things are outta control anyway. i suspect one fine day they ask me to be a mgt trainee since my portfolio has been halted to a screeeching stop (almost) anyway.

it is a depressing state. no wonder jobless people tend to be sucidal. erm. kidding.

wat i am telling myself is- i will deal with it when i come back from japan.

meanwhile. i am hating my painful pimple, counting down & researching on fall fashion. whahahahahahahahaha.

non-food craving

craving....

1- a pair of great killer comfy boots. totally unpracticle in Sg but i am really vain & if i am gonna to be in Japan in the fall, i wanna look damm cool in all the photos i take!!

2- Japanjapanjapan!

CF shoot in some ulu nice place

back in Aug, someone in the sara lee house plonked some monee to shoot a CF featuring a local celeb. (goonnna air soon!) . anyway, quite fun to see old familiar things like boom mic, reflector & whatever-names-i-had-forgotten.
some rich bodies lived there and rented out the place to the production house for the shoot. the owners were pet owners of BIG dogs.

we heart the husky! siberian husky, they said. but i think sib husky prob dun like Sg since they are meant in live in.. Siberia?? (haha, very airhead, i know). this one was very pretty tame & doesnt bark a lot.

and a group shot before leaving...

MF09

mediacorp festival was a trade show disguised as a 3h talentshow. lucked out that i could go & witness it for myself. there was aunty lucy, barbarella & even the beloved PCK. (& it feels like Ch5 hadnt managed to create yet another iconic tv character after him...) it really was entertaining & i wished we taken more pics. heehee.

and i wouldnt so sure that i have a second chance to go there again... sigh...

jeanette aw's cheongsam really was quite short!! i felt like we stranded in Beautiful People land. left, right, centre, front & back- it is really bad for the self esteem of a girl like me =X

cool haiku

i awaken with
clear head; unfortunately
it's also empty.

curious

curiousity killed the cat. & yet i wish to know many things. i wish to know all the 5Ws and 1H...!

sell selling sold

half of what i am doing will be; am going to be sold away; as per official communications (finnallly).

i've got uncertainties in front of me.

in the meantime, business as usual untill futher updates. that is NOT very useful to a small fry like moi.

Best Employee's treat

went to the mirama hotel for japanese buffet as part of a colleague's treat for receiving the Best Employee Award ($2000 cash!!).

we used up about 30% of his cash reward.

poor colleague but he was gracious about it & we thank him for it :)

also, we discovered that there is a mani-pedi specialist wholesaler at that hotel! if anyone likes OPI & can buy in bulk eg 30 pcs or more, each bottle of OPI costs only $9.60. its comparable to any internet pricing! that s super cheap compared to the retail price of $20 plus.

went to the travel fair over the weekend & i am very inspired to go KOREA ... seems like a good alternative place to go compared to Japan. & korea is more afforable?

there really is so many places i wanna go! i so wish my occupation is just a traveller.

a challenging year

i should be looking for new work. preparing plan b as a colleague told me. but something is stopping me.

why dont i feel any urge & urgency to make sure i will be employed?

geez. i really duno. anyway, my horroscope says that nov will be a gd month for me to job hunt. i might as well heed this advice since i had been sticking around for so long ago.

i have to say- my job is pretty cushy & i cant bear to leave this comfort zone so soon!


and today will be the last time that the meeting table was crowded with people. =X

melbourne

well, if i bother to make a promise... you can bet that i will be trying my hardest to fulfill it.

so i couldn't go to melb this time round (air tic would be AUD 1000 plus if i go ahead by myself) but i will book early & go there later.


which i did! already!


will be taking the flights alone & i will be curious to know what's so hard about it.

going * coming

it seems like too many colleagues are leaving and replacement are always hard to find.

we r gonna hire new management trainees x 3!!

we(females species in the office) all secretly hope that the mgt will hire 3 hunks but hey, we are not practising any lookism if not i will be hired.

hopes can remain hopes!

it is a comfortable place to work... i am not sure if any new job can match the comfort level which i am experiencing but that will make me sound like a person adverse to tough conditions.

NOT me! i can do it!

just that it seems there is no suitable opportunities for a profile like mine. i cant even find any thing to apply for.

i really do envy people who are headhunted. jobs come to them regardless they are looking or not. isnt that effortless?

thinking...

i guess i am really really pampered and well looked after.

my bf is angry with me when i refuse to listen to him. because he ask me not to go to melbourne on my own.

"who will look after you?"said his text message. it is kinda sweet for him to say so... but then... if i never go on my own- how will i discover whether i can look after myself or not. & its only 4 days! max! since i am on a budget holiday. & half the time i will be sticking to ah ho, anyway.

sigh. anyway, his discouragment is not stopping me from going there... pretty much nothing can stop me except my lack of budget. i haven't book all the neccessary tic- still hoping the fares can be lesser.

it will be the most travelling done in a year for me!

from taipei to perth to melbourne(if i go)... i feel excited (if i can go!). lol.

taipei 2 Aug - 27 Aug 2009

truly, i was very excited about the taipei trip with my colleague. i was buzzing with excitement & anticipation & i couldnt wait till i can reach the airport!

anyway, i took about 300 pics in this 6 day trip... !!!!

Taipei is 4.5hours away. we reach there in the evening time & below is my first glimpse of the city.

we had a coach journey to the hotel & it lasted about 1h. after settling our things in the small hotel room (but with decent beds :)- we were off to SHILIN night market.

i enjoyed the food & the shopping and were pleasantly surprised that the shops closed late. VERY late. our late night shopping hours is their normal closing time.

the aborginals happen to stage an act when we reach...

the chicken cutlet which was so very juicy!

the crushed ice which were soft & cottony... my FAVOURITE!

DAY TWO- sunday

we schedule today to go to their version of chartuchak @ Wufenpu. but we were too early. didnt realize that shops there only happen from 2 plus.

since we were too early, we found a nearby KTV & had buffect lunch there as well. food wasnt great which was to be expected. but it was pretty cold! my camera lens were frosted by the time we came out which was only 3 hours later. they definitely had better KTV technology too.

shopping shopping!

we were there from afternoon to night!!! & i think we still got a little bit not yet explored. legs aching, we gave up going to the nearby Raohe night market. too tired to eat! but the night is still young so... we went for a late night movie!

such a big theater & we were the only ones! just kidding. we were the first 2. out of 6?

big theater with only me... luckily not.

DAY THREE

we slept till we wake up naturally- such a good feeling. we took a bus to the nearest theme park called Leofu. or as my other colleague says- the pirated Disneyland of taiwan.

it was a super duper duper hot day!!!!!!!!!! i am glad its sunny & not raining... but it was dammmmmm hot! we all got darker by the end of the day.

by the time we left, it was 9pm and closing soon. took the bus & train and went to yet another night market. this time is SHIDA. the meesua was FABULOUS!!!!!!!!! & i crave for yet another bowl of ice.

DAY FOUR

we took MRT, TRAIN and finally bus to reach a scenic place call JIUFEN. its high up in the mountains & it overlooks the sea. gorgeous really.

there is also a museum of masks which is quite interesting. but i am skeptical when the owner said that those masks of of the ghosts which he can see...

it is really just a few interlocking streets and we finished that area in a few hours. went back to taipei on that 90min journey again. & we were off to DANSHUI. yet another scenic spot famed for the sunset but we were too late.

just managed to catch the amazing colors of the majestic sun and the sky in the train and its enought to elicit a WOW from me.

we made it to the fisherman wharf!

we chose a nice restaurant with a really good ambience. & there was life entertainment i.e. someone singing too.

good experience with the sea breeze blowing. a very romantic spot for the couples to hang out.

DAY FIVE
day 5 is the day we hit their town area! Jay Chou is my friend's idol, so we promptly went to Mr J for lunch. Good decor & good looking/stylish chefs(acccordingly to my friend at least)

i wonder why Din Tai Fung is a landmark as well. i wonder why tourist groups frequent the place so badly that we all have to queue for it. i duno.. the food was... good. but not exquisite. i guess i duno how to appreciate?? now then i realize they have a din tai fung mascot as well.

after food, after shopping we went to Taipei 101. yet again, we didnt made it in time for the sunset. becoz of the jam. becoz we spend too much time looking for breeze centre... ;X

the nightscape looks good and i guess my camera didnt do justice to it. so i shant bother posting them up here. the city is a night owl! so colorful and vibrant even the architecture reflects that characteristic.

at the end of the day, we just want a restaurant which we can rest of legs. went to back to ximending where restauarant are still open. there is a quaint little place where by patrons sit on swings!! i am hooked on swings!

the food is nO good! at least the swings are ok...

DAY SIX

its the last day & we just wanted to blow our money away. at least i did. we went to YongKang street to see whats the fuss about. the famed crushed ice didnt impress me coz the mango SOOOOooOOO sour!!!!! i prefer the one in SHILIN.

stock up on masks. why this brand isnt in Sg, its a mystery. i am sure it will sell v well with a pricing that match face shop.

i have bought enought to fill up 2 extra luggage!

here is my loot! some cosmetics, a few accessories and several packs of masks!!! which is simply a big love of mine!

i blew my last few NT dollars on shoes. i wonder why... why must i enter the shoe shops... while waiting for lemon green tea?

which reminds me, a pair of ALDO shoes on sale is cheaper than the average pair of shoes on sale in departmentals!

funny moment:

my friend joked (at least i hope its a joke) to a cab driver that bringing me along with her is like bringing a very blurr little sister. she wish she can throw her away... so that she dun need to worry for me on top of herself.

and guess what the cab driver said?

he said: "ok, u can throw her to me... i will bring her back and make her my wife!!"

me: Uber incredulous. i find it funny to a certain extent. hahhahaha.

i guess this trip didnt have much surprises and is pretty much like wat i anticipated. which is good in a way. made it back in one piece safely.