Blog entries are below this “Youtube Video of the Moment” entry
Blog entries are below this “Youtube Video of the Moment” entry
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Goodbye January and HELLO February 2010. We may only be at the start of February but I have a feeling that this month is going to be a good one. Do you know why? Oh well, Chinese New Year will fall on the same day as Valentine’s Day this year – which I think it’s kinda cool. It’s finally gonna be a “Lonely February 14th” no more. Wheets
Since this entry is all about my ‘tribute’ to January 2010 i shall leave blogging about Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year and February happenings to another day.
Nothing much happened in January except for my very first overseas trip and birthday celebrations of the year.
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GENTING, MALAYSIA
On the 24th – 27th, my parents and I went away for a short get-away to Genting. This particular trip was my 4th time there in less than 2 years. One may wonder if I ever get bored of Genting, and the answer is definitely YES! I may have already gotten bored of Genting but then again, I should be happy to be able to go on a holiday instead of just staying in Singapore right? Besides that, the weather in Singapore was really killing me so going to Genting was not a bad idea.
Didn’t capture much during the bus ride this time round as I spent most of the time sleeping away due to the lack of sleep the night before (slept for an hour only). And besides, shooting the same stuff over and over can be quite boring, right? Nevertheless, since I was awake when we passed the Petronas Twin Towers at Kuala Lumpur, I decided to capture a shot of it. Believe me, I have taken many shots of the Twin Towers before but I still decided to capture it anway since I brought my new camera
Here’s the shot of the Petronas Twin Towers at Kuala Lumpur (couldn’t zoom much since I only brought my 18-55mm lens along) :

Been to Genting many times but that day was the first time I ever saw this sign. Usually, I would sit at the driver’s side of the bus and thus, I don’t really get to have a better view compared to those on people seated on the left. However, I decided to move over this time round as there was a vacant seat on the left.

After checking-in at our hotel, mum brought us to the Chinese Restaurant located above Genting Hotel, infront of the Genting Casino. While we were led to the table by the waitress, we came across a group of people eating yu sheng and we decided to give it a try. Usually, i would only eat the crackers and not the ingredients but for the first time, I actually ate 2 plates of yu sheng (with ingredients) as it tastes much better than those in Singapore.
For those who are thinking that 2 plates is nothing, it’s quite an achievement for me ok, since i usually eat either one mouth of it or none. Even though it tasted really good, I am still not a fan of yu sheng.

Stayed at Genting Hotel for the first night (my first stay there) andFirst World Hotel on nights 3 and 4 as Mum was given a complimentry night’s stay and we extended another night there.There was only a queen-sized bed in the room so my parents and I had to squeeze into one bed. Since there was little space to move, I hard a hard time sleeping for both nights.
Genting Hotel is a five star hotel but it’s quite old. If I compare it to Resort Hotel, I would rather stay at Resort Hotel even though it is only a four star hotel. Click here to see some pictures of the Hotel Resort room. The room at Genting Hotel may be bigger and more spacious compared to Resort Hotel but Resort Hotel looks more pleasing to the eyes and it is much more cosy.

Instead of sharing some expected happenings at Genting such as Casino trips, I am going to share something new. You see, I have been wanting to visit the Chin Swee Caves Temple since my second visit but I never got the chance to (all thanks to casino). This time round, I told myself that I had to visit the temple to no matter what so I kept telling my parents about it and finally, my “dream” came true. LOL.On the fourth day, we visited the temple.
In order to get to the Chin Swee Temple from Genting Highland, one has to either take a free shuttle bus (frequents every 1 hour) from Highlands Hotel or take the Awana Skyway (frequents every 15-20 mins). Since out timing did not match the free shuttle bus timing, we decided to take the Awana skyway (costing RM3 per person, single trip) there and get back by the free shuttle.
Some pictures taken while waiting for the Awana Skyway to arrive:


The sky was quite misty that day and it looked like it was going to rain. Nevertheless, we still decided to try take the Awana Skyway hoping that the view will be clear once we are on the way down. Below is the pre-arrival and arrival of the Awana Skyway.


Some shots taken on the Awana Skyway:



After a 5-10 minutes ride,we arrived at the Chin Swee Temple. Time to do some exploration of the place and not forgetting, pictures for momentos


The trip to the temple will never be complete unless you try climbing to the top of the Pagoda. Though the Pagoda is only 9 storeys tall, my parents and I were already panting by the time we got to the top. Guess it’s time to start leading a healthy lifestyle and start exercising again.
[[ THE PAGODA'S ENTRANCE ]]
[[ FINALLY READY LEVEL 9 ]]
[[ DESIGN OF THE PAGODA'S INNER ROOF ]]

[[ PAGODA STAIRWAY ]]

[[ VIEW FROM THE 9TH FLOOR]]
Headed back down to the first floor and walked around the pagoda and again, stopped for photo-taking at the Pagoda’s back door.

More pictures below so I shall just let the photos do all the work…



It already started to drizzle while this shot was taken:


When the drizzle got heavier, we took coverage at the Goh Tong Hall building. In this building, there are 3 lifts and it leads vistors from the 1st to 12th floor. Between the 12 storeys is a temple and so we decided to take a look at the temple.


[[ THE TEMPLE'S ALTAR ]]

Fortunately, the rain had stopped and we were able to continue some outdoor explring and photo taking. The exhibits outdoors kinda reminds me Haw Par Villa. The statues outside constains characters from Chinese history and beliefs such as those from Journey to the West as well as the different stages in hell.
Characters from Journey to the West (Xi You Ji) and yours truly:




Before leaving, it is a MUST to take picture with the pagoda.

I think this photo looks like it’s taken in china:

We were almost done exploring the whole place and had to leave so we could catch the free shuttle service back to Genting. Wouldn’t want to miss the bus as we will have to wait another hour for the next bus. Since dad wanted to get something from the souvenior shop, it’s time to rush to the pick-up point but here’s one last pose:

Here’s are two shots that I took while dad and mum were at the souvenior shop:

Since the shuttle bus was not there yet, I decided to take a quick walk down the slope to capture a shot of the big Buddha statue. This is the shot that I like best throughout the whole trip but I also don’t know why. I just feel that there’s just this something that attracts me to it.

Once we got back to Genting, I decided to visit the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum located at the First World Plaza . Even though I have been there once before on my first trip to Genting, I still decided to visit it anyway as I didn’t want to visit the casino. And so,dad went with me.
Look at the picture below. Believe it or not: It’s the luckiest chair in the world. Didn’t really believe it but decided to try it anyway. Afterall, no harm right? Guess what, casino visits after sitting on that chair made me lose all the winnings that I had won from days 1 to 3. Maybe it should be called a jixed chair or maybe I lost money because I didn’t believe it (the chair) in the first place? Oh well, I should just stop being superstitious.

The gold plated coin covered car:

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the thinest of them all?” Love how my legs look in the mirror, long and slim. When will I ever get such beautiful legs? Hmm….

[[ HELP!!! ]]
[[ RIPLEY'S BELIEVE OR NOT: WORLD'S LARGEST CLAM ]]
Here’s how it will probably be like if I had the tallest man as a boyfriend. Wouldn’t I have to face his crotch everytime we face each other? LOL


[[ IN THE WORLD OF TIES ]]
Shall make an adrupt ending over my Genting entry and move on to…..
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ALVIN’S MINI ADVANCE BIRTHDAY GATHERING
The last day of January was spent with my some of my poly clique. Guiwen organized this gathering but unfortunately, only less than a handful were able to turn up. Nevertheless, the gathering continued with only the star (Alvin), Guiwen, Raymond and I present.
Alvin had to work that day so we were only able to meet him for dinner . After work, the star went for a hair cut before meeting us. Since his haircut was to be done at Parkway, we decided to gather there. When I saw him in his new haircut, I couldn’t stop laughing as it looked kinda weird on him (I wasn’t used to it, that’s why).
Headed over to Ichiban Sushi for dinner and as it was a weekend, we had to queue for awhile before we got seated.
Again, time to let the pictures to do all the talking. Photos below DO contain pictures of food so if you’re hungry, maybe you shouldn’t scroll down
[[ STAR OF THE EVENING ]]
[[ IT'S JAMES RAY BOND IN THE MAKING ]]


[[ OUR FAVOURITE TEA POSE ]]
Yummy, mouth-watering Japanese food:











[[ FOOD ATTACK ]]

Time to present our little gift to the star:



[[ HAPPY STAR WITH THE SHEEP ANG PAO ]]
More pictures of us with the star, and his mini cake…



[[ MAKE A WISH...OR MAYBE THREE WISHES ]]


[[ CHERRY LICKING GOODNESS ]]
I am going to end this post with a little birthday message to Alvin:
Dear Alvin, happy birthday and may our friendship continue to grow ![]()
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Something random to start this blog with….
“When was the last time I felt excited to blog ?”, I asked myself. I am unsure of the specific day/week/month/year since I felt that way but one thing’s for sure, it was ages ago. Sometimes I wonder why should I even bother to keep this blog going, “pen” down my thoughts and let people know what has been going on in my personal life.
Yes, and I would like to be honest and admit that there are times that I feel keeping/ updating this blog is such as chore and therefore, I wanted to stop blogging. However, after some considerations, I decided to keep going as my blog helps serve as a place for me to refresh my memory. Both the positive and negative have been jotted down in this little ‘e-diary’ of mine and during my free time, I would usually view some of the past entries.
Most of the ‘great moment’ entries have never failed to bring me back in time (not literally) and put a smile on my face. However, life is never full of the ups without the downs. Therefore, with happiness, there’s also times of sadness, regrets and sorrow. While coming across the not-so positive entries, I am able to learn from the past mistakes and become a better and wiser person.
Ok, I shall not go on any further about my thoughts and feelings as just by typing the three paragraphs above is already making me feel frustrated. Reason being- there are many deep and personal thoughts that I’d like to jot down here but I am having a HUGE difficulty doing it as i am not good in expressing myself in words.
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Yakaty, Yakaty, Yak…
So anyhoo, let me get moving and start yakking about some of the past events that have happened during the last month of 2009 and the beginning of the new year, 2010.
DINNER CATCH-UP WITH THE COUSINS (15th December 2009)
Met up with da’ gang for a catch-up, game and dinner session. When thinking of doing these three things in one session, where a better place to hangout but at my cousin’s cafe, People Like Us Cafe (aka PLU Cafe)? PLU Cafe may not be located at one of the most convenient spots nor is it a huge place but hey, its one of the best places to hangout with your loved ones as it is quiet and cosy. Food wise, it is good and of a reasonable and affordable pricing. Also, the Cafe provides its customers with games like monopoly, scrabble, taboo, poker cards and many more. With these board games, customers will be kept occupied even they while waiting for their food orders to come.
Snap away!! The night started with a series of self-timer camera shots of us sitting at the cosiest spot in the cafe…
[[ SELF-TIMER GROUP SHOTS ]]
[[ GUYS VS GIRLS ]]
Played a game of taboo and the six of us divided ourselves into 2 groups (boys vs girls). In the beginning, the guys were very much ahead of the girls. However, with our ‘joint forces’, the girls eventually won the game. LOL. Another game that we played was called ‘ China Man’, a game that involves lotsa drinking without allowing anyone a visit to the toilet until the whole game ends, unless you have the ‘toilet pass’ card. This game can really be torturing if you have to keep drinking and not be allowed to go to the toilet when you are urgent but it’s fun and hilarious
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PRE-CHRISTMAS GATHERING (21st December 2009)
This Christmas was a little different to the one before as I had an additional Christmas party to attend. This group of friends is none other than my SIM classmates. The party was held at Marco’s house and his place was the biggest house that I have have been to so far (it has a swimming pool and a lift).
[[ MEIYU & I BY THE POOL ]]

[[ AMELIA DISTRIBUTING GIFTS ]]
Before the party, we were told to each bring a dish for potluck and on the day of the party, I was shocked to see the amount of food on the table. The food brought by all of us was way more than what all of us could eat.
[[ WITH THE SALMON ON CRACKERS ]]
[[ CHIT CHATTING AWAY ]]
[[ ALVIN, JANICE, MEIYU, ME & JEFTER ]]
Left the party earlier than expected that day as Desmond drove and offered me a ride home so off I rushed with him. Thanks for the ride,Desmond. Since I left before the gift exchange, Alvin helped me to collect my present. I got Monica’s gift (Esprit towel) while Alicia’s got mine (towel with bamboo scent packet).
That will be the first and the last Christmas with them before they head to Switerland in July 2010. All the best to all of you and it’s been great knowing each and everyone of you
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CHRISTMAS FAMILY LUNCH GATHERING (25th December 2009, DUH!!!)
It’s that time of the year again, a time for joy, love and giving. Christ was born on this special day years ago and as Catholics, we do celebrate this day. The day started off with me going to church and for the first time in a long while, I enjoyed myself during the Chinese Mass (or they call it church service for Christians).
Just to side track a little, I have to shamelessly admit that I am one of the most UNHOLY (if there is such a word) Catholics around. I have to be honest with myself and anyone who reads this, even if it means “shaming” myself here. If you are wondering why did I label myself one of the most ‘UNHOLY’ Catholics, here are some reasons why…
There are some more reasons to why I label myself as an unholy catholic but the ones mentioned above are the three major ones. I guess there may probably be some people judging me now after reading this entry but hey, you have no right to judge me – At least I am true to myself but what about you? I am not perfect and so are you…so back off !!!
Back to the topic of my Christmas family lunch gathering. As usual, Christmas day is spent celebrating with my paternal relatives as my uncles, aunties and my cousins are all catholics. My second uncle, who usually plans the gatherings, whether or not it is a festive occassion, is the one who never fails to make gatherings fun and lively. Also, he is the one who keeps the family together and without him, the bond within the family may not be strong or even exist today. Thank you, Ji Pek
Food glorious food. Meals during Christmas are never complete without food such as ham and turkey. Food that day was specially prepared and contributed by my cousin’s boyfriend. With such great food and company present, it is definitely one of the best gatherings ever!!!
[[ GETTING READY TO TUCK IN ]]
As Christmas is here, it means that it will soon be one of cousin, Gabriel’s birthday as he is born on the the 29th of December. Ususually, when a cake is provided during the Christmas gathering, we would use it as Gabriel’s birthday cake and have a small advanced birthday celebration for him. HAPPY BELATED 19TH BIRTHDAY GAB
[[ THE BIRTHDAY BOY ]]
[[ GIRLS TAKING SNAPSHOTS AND EATING THE LOGCAKE ]]
Whenever either of our baby nephews (Isaac or Arian, both born in 2009) is present at family gatherings, all attention will soon be turned to them and they will become they star of the day. To my surprise, neither of the nephew will make and noise or tantrums despite being passed around from one uncle/aunty to another countless times… Here’s a picture of Isaac. Haven’t gotten a picture of Arian yet, will upload as soon as I get one.
[[ BABY ISAAC ]]
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POST-CHRISTMAS PJ PARTY!! (26th December 2009)
Had a post -Christmas themed party at Alastair’s house. The theme for this party was pyjamas but only a handful of people got into their pyjamas. As the guys used to say and joke “Going to Alastair’s house will never make you leave with an empty/hungry stomach” and that’s true. Parties at Alastair’s place will always be filled with a sumptous spead of food prepared by his parents as well as pot-lucked by guests like us
As usual, games like Mahjong, poker and blackjack are there to keep us all occupied throughout the party. Brought a logcake over to his place and I am glad that the cake was sufficient to go around as there were simply too many people already, more than what I had expected.
[[ ME, STEPH, GUIWEN ]]
[[ KAYE, MUNYEE, STEPH, JIAYI, GUIWEN, ME ]]
Also, it was for the first time that I left Alastair’s house really late as my parents were able to pick me up from his place after their game of mahjong at my Aunt’s place. Thanks for the party, Alastair and to his parents for all the hard work preparing the food
Hangsen, if you’re reading this…I WANT YOUR MARTELL CHICKEN WINGS AGAIN!!!
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (Moving on from 2009 to 2010)
Goodbye 2009 and hello 2010!! Being the boring person that I am, stayed at home and watched TV while the rest, or should I say majority of Singapore was counting down elsewhere but home. Boring, I know but at least I don’t have to squeeze with the crowd no matter where I am. I remember going to Clarke Quay on New Year’s Eve (2008) with one of my cousin and it was freakin’ crowded. Ever since I experience my very first crowded and sweaty New Year’s Eve, I’ve decided to stay home on such occassions as I really dislike crowds.
Had my very first New Year meal with some of my ex-secondary classmates as well as ex-polymates at Bedok’s Blk 85 market. Each of us forked out $10 each into our fund, which was used to pay for the food and drinks ordered. There were 6 of us and we ended up spending almost all of our money. Realise I said almost all? Oh well, that’s because we had 10cents left…LOL!! Ok, lame I know….
Jiayi came and join us when we were about to finish our dinner and the rest of the guys went to hangout further except for Shellen, Ray and I. As much as I wanted to hang out with the majority, I was unable to due to my stupid curfew…ARGH!!!
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FIRST BAN MIAN & ZOO OUTING OF 2010 (4th January 2010)
One fine day, my dear Janice said that she wants to visit the zoo. Upon hearing what she said, I got all excited and told her we should visit the zoo together some day- and that day came on 4th January 2010 (a day before school starts for the SIM-mates), with the additional company of Alvin, Guiwen and Meiyu.
The initially plan was to meet Alvin and Guiwen on that day for ban mian lunch at Toa Payoh followed by meeting Meiyu and Janice later on at Ang Mo Kio so we can take the bus to the zoo together. After having our delicious meal of ban mian, we gave Meiyu and Janice a ring and both of them said that they’ll be late. In the end, we told the 2 girls that we will meet them at the zoo instead.
Coincidentally, Meiyu,Alvin,Guiwen and I arrived at the same time and the 4 of us had to wait for Janice to arrive. While waiting, the 4 of us took turns to take pictures with all the different zoo animal statues outside the zoo. By then, the sky started to turn grey and it definitely wasn’t a good sign for us at all. Here are some of the pictures taken while waiting for Janice….

[[ TOP: ORIGINAL JUMP SHOT PIC ]]
[[ BOTTOM: EDITED ALVIN AND JANICE INSIDE ]]

[[ GUIWEN, MEIYU AND I ]]

[[ THUMB-UP FOR SINGAPORE ZOO ]]

[[ CART PULLING ACTION ]]

[[ IT'S A COW AFFAIR ]]

[[ SINGAPORE CROCODILE HUNTERS ]]
Once we were done taking pictures, it started to drizzle a little heavily. Since we were still waiting for Janice, we headed into KFC. Being the greedy person that I am, I ordered my favourite bandito pocket meal and donated my 2 whipped potatoes to Alvin and Meiyu. Once we were done eating, Janice called to say that she has reached. By then, it was already 3.30pm and that meant that we had only 2.5 hours left to explore the zoo as it closes at 6pm. With so little time left, we made a quick exploration from one exhibit to another. Lucky for us, the slight drizzle was starting to go away. Anyhoo, it’s pictures, pictures, and more pictures again
[[ GROUP SHOT TAKEN AT ZOO ENTRANCE BY STAFF ]]
[[ US WEARING THE ZOO RAINCOAT @ $4.95 EACH ]]

[[ ALVIN AND HIS 'FANS' ]]

[[ RAINFORSEST KIDZWORD - KAMPUNG HOUSE FAMILY PORTRAIT ]]
It was actually quite a pity that we were unable to view all the exhibits and watch the performances done by some of the animals due to the lack of time. I know I have been to the zoo for about 5 times in 2 years but despite being there so many times, I am still able to enjoy myself each time as each experience is different with the different company.
After all that brisk-walking in the zoo, we decided to head to Liquid’s Cafe where one of our SIM classmate, Suban was working at. WARNING: Pictures contained below are not for the hungry!!!
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[[ SOUP OF THE DAY - MUSHROOM SOUP ]]
[[ DORY FILLET - MEIYU's ORDER ]]
[[ HAM & MUSHROOM PASTA - MY ORDER ]]
[[ CHICKEN & HAM PASTA - GUIWEN'S ORDER ]]
[[ ROASTED CHICKEN - JANICE'S ORDER ]]
p/s: I just realized that I have missed out Alvin’s order and I am gonna leave it out as I am lazy to upload the pictures again….
Can you believe it? All these delicious dishes was cooked by our friend, Suban, himself. There was no one else helping Suban with the cooking and yet he managed to serve these dishes really quickly. Thumbs up, Suban
As Liquid’s Cafe was located at a really inconvenient place for me, I had a hard time deciding and planning how I was going to get home. Thankfully, another SIM classmate of ours, Marco, was there to give Guiwen and I a lift to Alvin’s place as he lives near Marco. Guiwen and I decided to head over to Alvin’s house for a sneak peek as we haven’t been there before. The first thing that ‘WOWed‘ me was the two HUGE swimming pools that Alvin’s condo had…was really tempted to jump into the pool but too bad, I did not bring my swimsuit. Alvin, if you’re reading this, next time I shall go to your house and swim ok?? Secondly, I was taken aback when I saw how organized Alvin’s room was and I must say, that was the neatest guy’s room I have ever seen… Lastly, I was quite shocked to see the number of steps that we had to walk down before we crossed the road to the MRT station as Alvin’s condo is located at the top of a hill…
Besides checking out Alvin’s house for the first time, it was also my first time taking the Circle Line MRT. As I took the train at about 11pm on a weekday, the station seemed really quiet and there was only Guiwen, Me and another girl waiting to board the train. Guiwen alighted first and fortunately for her, there were a few more passengers who alighted with her. As for me, I was the only passenger on the train who alighted at Bartley and being new to the surrounding made me feel quite lost and scared.
I thought it would be all be better once I was at the bus stop, but I was so wrong. You see, one has to walk a short distance from the MRT exit to the bus stop but throughout that distance, there wasn’t a single soul and neither was there any at the bus stop. It was dead quiet and trust me, it was so quiet that I could here the wind whenever there was a breeze. Across the road was nothing but darkness as it is an empty plot of land, which used to be a cemetary before. I dare not look across as I was afraid I might see something ‘dirty’ instead. Oh well, you can’t blame me…I am a girl and I was all alone in a quiet and “deserted” place. While I was trying to keep myself as calm as possible, a stupid lizard outta nowhere made a sound and since the surrounding was quiet, the lizard’s sound came out really loud and that scared the hell outta me and I swear I jumped!!
Even though I had only waited for about 15 minutes for the bus to arrive, it sure seemed like it was the longest time ever. After experiencing such as “frightening” night, I was all glad and relieved when I got home, for at least I was alive…LOL!!!
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p/s: Sorry for the long and wordy entry. I don’t know why but I simply couldn’t stop “yakking” once I started typing and typing
If you had bothered reading word-for-word, I really salute you..HAHA…can you believe it? It took me about 3 hours to get this entry done!! Now, I am going to bed.
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THAT’S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS!!
IT’S ELIZABETH SIGNING OUT
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Tagged: 2009, 2010, christmas, Circle Line, Liquids Cafe, New Year, New Year Eve, Singapore, Singapore Zoo
This blog isn’t dead yet.
I am still editing the photos for the upcoming entry.
Hope to do the updating SOON!!!
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