Happy happy yiaay yiaay!!

Many reasons to be happy this month :D I think I am allowed to buy more charms for my Pandora bracelet as a remembrance of the following milestones... :)

• Finally my office moved to a more "civilised" location - we moved just in front of the Bugis Junction... so many eating places and cafes nearby...
• My incentive trip is next week, hence I am quite excited!! I just want to go out of the office to have fresh air... 
• PR application is finally approved, the journey to get there is so uneventful, unlike what others experienced...
• Boyfriend and I have finally made some baby steps to be together... the "higher order" has made our journey together as a couple quite smooth...though we have been through ups and downs... but for now, I am very thankful that we could finally see the end of the tunnel... 

Hopefully nothing is screwed last minutely due to unforeseen circumstances...

One Directioner!

Hahaha... yes, I am the biggest fan of One Direction...
I really feel that their songs are such a guilty pleasure... and all of them are such eye candy...
I really like their style, the way they dress... especially Harry and Louis' style..

In my ideal world,  all men should dress up like that...

My Cinema

Another milestone :D

Today highlights another achievement in my career ladder... :D
I officially climbed one more step up the ladder of the managerial role... I am so happy and pleasantly surprised, I could see it coming but I did not think that it's going to be this quick.

Anyway... hopefully this will make my workload less heavy, since I would not have to do the ground work anymore... *yiayyy!*

Somehow, I feel that today I need to be a fully grown-up woman from this point onwards...
OK.. that's all about work-related. Well.. one more thing related to work...we are going to either Taiwan or Korea for a company trip this year!

In the mean time, my boyfriend will come in 2 weeks time... :D
Yiayy!!

My baby's baby - Occhio Photography

My baby always has very expensive hobbies... when he was a teenager, he used to do ice hockey, when he was in his first career ladder, he used to play golf... now when he's in his late twenty, he first followed my part and bought that freaking DSLR camera... the difference is he is actually quite good at it, while I suck so bad that I sold my camera away...

Now, his second love after me, of course, is his camera and lenses...
It's like his baby and now, it finally 'gave birth' to something... something where we all could enjoy his work and his two cent on digicam, lenses and whatnot...

His baby is called Occhio (actually I was the one who came up with the name, so I had to take credit for it...)

So...pls go to his website and check out his work... he does freelance photography at his spare time :)
if you feel like having your photograph taken, you can contact us; otherwise please feel free to just roam around and enjoy his images...

Cheerio!!

Hundred reasons to say thank You, God!

It's been a while since I have posted a serious entry in this blog.. mainly because I have no more brain juice to actually write properly... :) so it's just about time now...

This entry, I just wanted to take sometime to actually count my blessing and share with others how we should be grateful every day of our lives... cherish whatever we have, people that we love and really seize the day... My last trip to the Philippines actually gave me the much needed wake up call... One of the ladies who worked with me for the study in Manila, lost her kid on the third day when I was there... though I only knew her for two days and I barely spoke to her, it really made me sad terribly and made me think how blessed I am...

Thank you God for making my life so wonderful...Though I am already a few months late for thanks-giving, I am still going to list down what I am thankful for....

1. First off, my parents... thank you Papa and Mama for all your unconditional love, for always supporting my decisions, and never say NO to what I believe in, for being there whenever I need :) I think I couldn't ask for better parents.
2. I am also thankful for my boyfriend... he is very supportive, I think so far, he is the one who can 'control' me...he could be so calm when I start to raise my voice and still call me, "baby" even when I already scream at him :P He is the only one who can tolerate my talking about make up and can still let me do my make up, even when he is ready to walk out the door... He is just awesome, awesome other half...
3. Thank you God for granting what I, last time, always wished for... Working and living in Singapore used to be a dream and here I am... living in the Singaland, earning good money...though I am not rich (yet), but I have enough...enough that I could enjoy my life, enough that I could live independently on my own, without having to be a burden for my parents... enough that I could go have massage every month, take a cab whenever I want, eat whatever I want, have a part-time maid... :)
4. Thanks for the wonderful job that 'forces' me to travel so much... despite of the love-and-hate relationship that I have with my job, I could honestly say that I love my job... this is just right for me, I could actually do what I love best - travelling and talking! And still got paid... besides, I don't think I could do work that are related to sales, administrative stuff... I always wish to God that I wanted to be 'important'... I want to work where my job will be the core business, I don't like doing support-related job.. I want to feel important and be recognised for what I do... so here I am.. the one who's much needed because of the 'talking part' :) I don't think my parents know exactly what I do until now though... but I like it that way... 

OK..so I guess this Sunday I am heading off to church... :)

rubbish

Travelling update:
I am going home for Chinese New Year... and then after that, 1 more day at work and I am off again to Thailand - Chiang Mai and Bangkok; followed by Delhi and Pune, India.
And after that, I would be back to Singaland for about one week and I am off again to Manila.
I hope I am not falling sick in the middle, it would suck so bad!

Actually I am now stuck in the office, waiting for a ride home, while outside is raining.
My boyfriend keeps asking me to do some research on make-up school, travelling plan or whatever I could do.. but instead I am actually blogging some rubbish.

OK my ride is here.. I am going off now!
Ciao :)

Busy January...

Oh Goodness Gracious!!!!!

January was a busy month..No time to update this blog.
But today, finally I am home again in the Singaland... and I could sleep in my own bed again.
Today, finally I could say that I am doing nothing, just because I can :D

After a short business trip to Bangkok to attend some boot camp conducted by a client of ours, I am finally able to relax. But the trip to Bangkok was great! Was able to steal sometime to do some shopping and even went out clubbing *Thanks to my bosses! Yeaa..I went clubbing with my boss!

So... while I could, I am just going to chill out in my house, which I will sort of leave for almost the whole month, in February.
Guess what?!? I am going home for Chinese New Year next weekend, and then a few days after I am back in Singapore later, I have to go to Chiang Mai - Bangkok - Delhi - Pune for another long and tiring business trip...
Then, I would have one weekend at home in Singapore, followed by another business trip to Manila.

Hopefully no more business trip after that! I need a freaking rest.
Hopefully March is a quieter month. In April, the boyfriend will come!!! Yiayyy!!!

xoxo
From someone lazy-ing around in Bedok :D

Euro Trip

Hey everybody! Wish you all a very happy new year of 2013!

I am back in the SingaLand now... actually I came back on Jan 1st (How pathetic...but I had no choice, as I had to get back to work by 2nd Jan because I had to take turn with my colleagues...) Anyway, I shouldn't complain too too much about my work, especially considering the amount of bonus this year, which is quite significant I would say... haha...

Back to what my intention to blog... well, it is to document my Euro trip in Dec'12...
So, I will try to start chronologically, if I could still remember... :D
14 Dec (SG time) - Flew to Milan Malpensa (Damn you Emirate - I had to stop and wait in Colombo before reaching Dubai for another 3 hour long transit)

14 Dec (ECT time) -
Arrived in Milan safe and sound, bf picked me up and I was surprised to know how long more it would take to get to Parma... Apparently, from Malpensa, which was in the middle of nowhere, I still had to take a train or a bus to get to Milan Centrale and from there, we changed to a train to Parma. From Parma Centrale, we take a cab back to his place. It was like.. damn 4 hour long, because of the snow and all.. (Of course the trains must have had some delays and even stopped working). I was successfully unconscious at around 09:00PM CET time... because I was just damn tired to even open my eyes...

15 Dec -
We took our time and just spent time together to walk around Parma, having a nice Parma-specialty dinner like Parmesan cheese, Prosciutto de Parma and my fave is Torta Fritta of course! :)

16 Dec -
We wanted to go to the fashion outlet, but decided not too, because we figured many people would go there since Xmas is approaching...so we just walked around Parma and chilld out at home...

17 Dec -
Flew to Cologne, via Bologna... When we touched down in Cologne, the boyfriend mentioned that I seemed happier in Cologne than in Parma - hahaha.. of course, I dont speak Italian, I don't understand most words, and the place was just gloomy.. and unfamiliar. But Cologne is just like any German cities I have been; besides, I have been there before...so I feel more at ease. Plus, with my Dutch, I could understand some words and when I go to restaurants, shopping centers, supermarkets, I could easily find things I want.

When we arrived at his place in Cologne, since his kitchen there was amazing, well-equipped with digital electric stove, I decided to cook for him Hainan Chicken rice... Once I reached the supermarket, suddenly I was so happy, finding my old-day snacks... ohh how I love German supermarkets...

18 Dec -
We walked around Cologne and the best part of the day was eating in Weinachtmarkt or Christmas market, we ate like there is no tomorrow... both of us haven't been to Xmas market for a while, so we ate the good old champignon, flamlachts/ grilled salmon, curry wurst/ brad wurst, crepes, fried potato with onions and apple mouse, and of course gluehwein! Yea..we ate all these from like 4:PM or so till 8PM...

19 Dec -
Early morning, we caught a train to Amsterdam and oh gosh... when we arrived in central station, both of us were feeling so overwhelmed... it felt good and it felt like we were home... everything is just so..familiar...
My bf being a fanatic of Sie Joe, Indo rest in Amsterdam - he "forced" me to have lunch there and he order a damn lot...
On that day, we had unlimited sushi/sashimi dinner with old friends and we just couldnt stop laughing and laughing.. it was a good night.

20 Dec -
We decided to become tourists for a bit in Amsterdam; since we probably have never done it before. When we started our day, my boyfriend already planned to visit some museums - I told him that I wanted to visit Annefrankhuis museum and he wanted to go to Amsterdam Dungeon and Sex museum... half way, once we were done with Annefrank, he was like.. "Let's go to Pathe, babe! Just like the old time!" Pathe is a cinema we used to go a lot, because we had unlimited pathe cards; so after we visited ABN Amro to close my account, we went to Pathe and watched Taken 2.

That night, we went to have dinner with friends in New King, Chinese rest that we all used to go as well.. closed with coffee session in NH hotel.

21 Dec -
We had until 6:00PM today, before we had to leave Amsterdam for Cologne again.
So we just walked around and ate Indonesian lunch yet again (the bf's choice - since he barely eats Asian in Parma) so eating Indo is luxury to him...
We had lunch with my old friends and before he saw us off in the station, we went for some drinks in Three Sister bar... in a broad day light, but it's Amsterdam, who care?

22 Dec -
Yiayy back in Cologne again - and guess what? We went to Xmas market again to eat some more salmon, some more wurst, etc.
For dinner, I was meeting my bestie who happened to be in Cologne also in a Chinese imbiss she recommended... again, we were having so much fun.. :D
I miss her already!

23 Dec -
Travelled back to Parma...can't really remember what we did then... but I guess boyfriend was making pasta for dinner.. :D

24 Dec -
We went to the outlet near his town to check out some brands... the outlet is not bad at all, it has Furla, D&G, Armani, Red Valentino, Alexander Mc Queen, La Perla, Samsonite, Killah, and many more..and they are like in a proper store kind of format, so yea.. I went nuts, though I didn't go overboard for shopping! In fact, I didn't buy the Furla bag that I originally wanted (Furla is so damn cheap there..the bag I originally wanted was 100 plus EUR only!). BUT... hahaha my bf was generous enough to buy me another bag by Italian brand, BluMarine though it wasn't exactly cheap, but it was quite a good bargain; down from 400 Eur plus to 200 Eur...  such a steal, isnt it?

In the evening, finally we decided to do an early Xmas Gift exchange!!!! Since from early Dec we both have started teasing each other and played a guessing game on what the gift we got for each other was..

This year, I got my long awaited Fuji instax (BF didn't go overboard like last year... dont know whether I should be happy or sad..hahaha) and I got my baby a new iPad mini :D I also got him the cover and a DSLR lens tumbler...
For dinner, I cooked for him char kwee tiauw using pasta instead of rice noodle and bee hoon... then we just enjoyed the eve with champagne and profiteroles... :D
We were full happy people that night! (Well..everyday, we are full happy people anyway!)

25 Dec -
I think we didn't do anything but chilax and did nothing! Just because we could! hahaha...
And of course we had to pack for Rome, since we had to catch a very very early morning train.

Since we are here on packing - well.. for girls, I think I am already such a light packer... Out of 30 kg that I could bring to Europe, I only brought 19 kilos in 1 luggage and I didn't bring any hand luggage except my hand bag(Remember I am travelling for 17 days! and it's winter time with less than 5 degree in average!) BUT my bf still complained about me being too much packer.

When I was travelling with him to Amsterdam, Cologne and Rome I literally lived in half of his cabin-size Samsonite luggage. I am so proud of myself! Muaahahaha...

26 Dec till 29 Dec -
Rome here we come! Yes, we were in Rome and well.. I didn't exactly like the city, if you are talking about living there... a bit dodgy (maybe because we stayed in the termini) and seemed many people were so dangerous and going to attack you somehow... unlike Parma. Suddenly, I missed Parma.
BUT, if you are talking about the scenery, attractions... WOW! It was beyond words... I have been to Rome twice, but it was never 'in-depth'; it was just as short as 1-2 day kind of visit.
So this time around it was quite long and extensive.
We went to Palatine, Colosseum, St. Peter Basilica in Vatican and Vatican Museum, Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, the famous shopping street, Via Condotti with brings to you all the branded stuff like Prada, Fendi, Celine, Gucci, LV, Salvatore Ferragamo, and many more..
BUT I didn't buy branded stuff for myself, because I just couldn't... somehow when I entered the store that full of Asian people who were buying like 4-5 bags in a go, somehow I just felt... so opportunistic and greedy if I would join the crowds... besides the more I look at the bag, the more I felt that all of them are about the same and if I am to buy one I would be one of these people who are queueing in front of me...

Don't get me wrong, I love branded bags too.. and I want to buy it because of its luxury. I want to buy it when I like it and when I want to buy it. Not because I am in Europe then I buy a branded bag. I mean, branded bags are supposed to be expensive, luxury things... so even if I have to pay tax and more expensive price in Singapore, or where I live... I would just pay for it. As long as I could still afford it.

When we passed by Ferragamo, boyfie was so kind for letting me in since he knew I would want to check out the Ferragamo block heels... but then he didn't approve the look and suggest me trying on the high heels instead. But in the end, I refused to get them..it's so damn expensive, the high heels are 500 EUR for a pair.. it's like damn 900 SGD... I just couldn't get myself to buy them yet.. Maybe I just need more time, baby! Hahaha... :P

I think we also visited more places, but I couldn't remember somehow! hahaha..

 Me in Palatine hill... while the rest of the country is bleek, gloomy and snowy even, somehow Rome was green and maintained its warmth... how wonderful God is!

Vatican from the very top of the dome in St. Peter Basilica  

Trevy Fountain 

Colosseum 

30 Dec - 

Back to Parma... finally... I just like Parma more than Rome. 

We were just very tired, but then we managed to go to supermarket to buy things for Dinner. I cooked Chicken teriyaki and pan-fried potatoes with rosemary and also broccoli with garlic. 

Yea.. I know teriyaki doesn't really go with potatoes, but the near supermarket doesn't sell rice at all, so I have to just improvise my cooking... 

it reminds me... baby, I think we still have lef-over potatoes.. please don't forget to cook them if you read this!

31 Dec - 

Time to go back to Singaland... so yea... 

Kinda sad, but it's been such a good trip, was very relaxing, a lot of travelling but that's about my life in my 20's somehow! 

And you only have 10 years to live your 20's... so when you still have the energy, you'd better travel! 

Oh yea... to close the year, I bought myself a pandora bracelet in Milan airport. I bought 4 charms,  the first two are just the stopper charms and then the third one is Colloseum as a symbol that I have visited Italy at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 and the last one is a glass charm with green turquoise colour - my fave colour! 

I promise myself that by end of 2013, I would make it complete and I would really buy the charm when I want to signify some occasions/ milestones that happened in my life. 

So..we shall see what happens to me in 2013!

Ciao!

tomorrow is the day..

hahaha... tomorrow I am on leave, tomorrow I am going to Europe to finally see my boyfriend after 3.5 months... 

Xmas comes early this year for me!