Rest & Relax - Day 1

Well, I have about a week's break before I start on my new job. I have a whole list of to-dos, but i ended up lazing more than half of Day 1 - doing nothing but eat, sleep, watch TV, chat on msn. Okay, I read newspapers as well.

Towards the evening, I felt that I should no longer rot at home. Headed down town to meet Dear. Mission: To do some solid shopping. Firstly, I bought a daily devotional book by Joyce Meyer to give to Sherin as a farewell gift, to encourage her during her 3 year stint in China. I'm so touched Dear went through all the books on the shelf at the Christian bookstore at The Rock with me, checking out which suits Sherin best. It takes patience, passion for books AND Christian stuffs to enjoy doing this - not necessarily Dear's cup of tea BUT he did it with me. Thanks Dear, really appreciated that.

Next, was to shop for Dear's formal white shirt, to be worn with his convo gown and perhaps could be used during our wedding photoshoot as well. After much deliberation, the one at Raoul seems the clear best choice. Only problem? It costs a bomb for a white shirt. Nonetheless, it is my gift to Dear for his graduation. The boy ought to be rewarded for having the discipline to work and study to get his degree right? =p

Dear with his first Raoul Shirt - looking excited and beaming with joy:

Then off i went to the airport, to see Sherin and her hubby off. He's posted to Dalian for 3 years and she's tagging along. Its not easy to relocate, I salute Sherin for her strength and perserverence to go thru the journey just to support her husband in his career!

Sherin, Jenevieve and me (short of Xan to form our Uni click):

The suprised guest is 7-year old, cute, intelligent and well-mannered Nigel - nephew of Jeremy.

Jeremy & Sherin, Zhiliang & Jenevieve and Me (too bad Dear couldn't come along):

Time flies indeed. Still remember the good old days when we were doing projects together during our uni days......

All the Best, Sherin & Jeremy! Keep in touch always! =)

Hard to say Goodbye...

Today is my last day at DHL. It has been my pride and privilege to work in DHL - an MNC, market leader and a strong brand, especially when I am doing marcoms - dealing with the brand.

It has been 1 year 8 mths here. Sounds like a short stint to many, but somehow, i felt it has been an intensive period here - I have truly grown and matured, learnt a lot and been exposed to a lot. Never thought I would leave this company so soon, but I guess there will always be a time to say Goodbye and the time has come.

Right till the very last hours of my day at work, I was busy rushing work, clearing emails, archiving things, doing handovers and settling the administratives of the clearance. You cannot imagine the number of people I wish to say Goodbye to and to thank them for all the guidance, support and friendship. Indeed, too much to do, too much to say and simply too little time. I must have missed some people out unknowingly.

There will surely be things i missed in the company. The privilege of working for a strong brand, the privilege of working with big name agencies, the many great friends i have made with colleagues and associates and even the area where i used to call boring and uloo - will be a place i will miss - where else can you find free parking, no ERP, 5Km away from home and cheap food?

My employee pass - part of my everyday work life:

My workstation - it finally looked clean and neat today =p:

My name tag at my work station:

My dept colleagues - not all are here unfortunately.....

My team - the C0mmunications section of Marketing dept:

My 2 good frens, Andrea and Wei Terng who treated me to lunch at Crystal Jade today despite their busy schedules, the heavy rain, the difficulty getting a carpark and the long queue at the restaurant....thank you both - I'm so touched!

Towards the end, as I went around to do my clearance, many other colleagues wished me and said all the appreciative words, it really touched me. For once, I felt so recognised and honoured at the same time. Thank you all, for your kind words.

The farewell lunches, gifts and cards really touched me a lot. I said I would be strong and not cry. But when i came home and read the cards - I teared! So touched by all the things said and mentioned, that its now so hard to say Goodbye!

Even my agency girls from Ogilvy - they waited over an hour for me after work, wanting to bring me out for drinks, really appreciated their patience! It was really my honour and privilege to work with them, and I really am lucky that they put up with my temper and demanding requests. I was driving and couldn't go for drinks. I also had to go home for dinner, so we just went to Gelare at Siglap for ice-cream and waffles. Something simple, but am glad we had a great chat. I'm glad for our friendship :)

Well, just pray hard that the next chapter will be even more rewarding, even more challenging and that I can make equally good friends there. May all the good friends made at DHL stay in touch! I'm really so blessed!

Krispy Kreme Donuts

Thanks to Adeline, me and my family managed to savour fresh Krispy Kreme donuts flown in straight from HK. Its not cheap, its fattening, its sweet, but we love it! At least we didn't have to queue and well, it feels good cos we are eating something not available in Singapore!

I first tasted Krispy Kreme during my HK trip last year. Still prefer Mister Donut which I had in Taiwan last year, but nonetheless, Krispy Kreme is my next best choice. The selections are a plenty, they are rich and nice and the dough remains soft for days. Awesome!

Here's a close-up on what we got:

2 Years Anniversary + The Official Proposal

It was our 2 years ParTor Anniversary last Friday. I took 1/2 day leave to go home rest, doll myself up cos the date that night was expected to last quite late.

We had a wonderful dinner at Tung Lok Signatures at Vivocity. Mainly Seafood....by the seaview. Right across was Sentosa. Nice.

Shian made arrangement for us to watch RATATOUILLE at GV Gold Class. It was our first time there. Very amazed by the level of service, the exclusivity, the ambience, the selection of drinks and cuisine and the quality of the food, drinks, quality of the sound system....and of course the luxurious seats....

Us at the exclusive lonuge:

Us relaxing on the first class seats:

The movie was very nice, great storyline, sometimes funny sometimes touching, cute, and entertaining.

The movie ended about 1240am. I was a little tired. Dear was taking his own sweet time to leave the hall and I was wondering why. All of a sudden, a GV staff brought in wine stands with dry ice creating that misty effect around me. Then another staff presented a bouquet of flowers for me. Next moment, Dear knelt down in front of me with a Diamond ring - OMG - he is proposing! :) And he cleverly planted two frens there, Weiqiang and Aijing, to videocam the whole scene. Of course, i said "YES"!

Us with the bouquet of flowers:

Us with Weiqiang and Aijing:

Us at the Proposal venue:

Me with my bouquet of flowers (ermm, can you see my ring?) hehe

Zooming in on the flowers, can you see what it says? :)

My family and close friends would have known that we have been planning for a wedding, we bought a place and booked the banquet venue. Shian didn't have to go through the formalities, to propose, to surprise me and to plan all these, but he did it and I know its cos he loves me! Really appreciate all his efforts, careful planning and of course spending a bomb overall! And did i mention he actually wrote a poem in the card too? I'm overjoyed and touched :)

Once again....my special bouquet of flowers and my ring and the special poetic card :)

Thanks Dear, for all that you have done .... I Love You, shIan =)

Movies Galore!

Over the last week, Shian and I actually caught 3 movies! Amazing!

First, we caught the Simpsons Movie...i always thought Simpons look very cute but i have never watch them on tv before so i don't even know their characteristics or storyline. I thought they are real cute and the movie was pretty heartwarming, funny and cute.

I came across this cute set-up at The Cathay and I couldn't resist:

I was invited by SPH for Rush Hour 3. Quite sick of typical Jackie Chan's movie - very predictable storyline and moves. But its Shian's favourite. So we went. Well, I must say its not too bad. Pretty light-hearted and funny.

Finally, its the much awaited Secret! Orginal story by Jay Chou. Directed by Jay Chou. Lead Actor also Jay Chou. He's my favourite Chinese entertainer now. I think he's so talented. He can sing, act, direct movies, and so musically talented. He isn't good looking but has the X-factor. The show is really sweet, yet mysterious. A very unique storyline and a real twist at the end. The theme song is also very nice too. Looking forward to Jay's next movie already.

Miss Clarity Cafe - Where Happy People Meet...

Well well....I've heard so much about this place and I finally had a chance to step foot there. I organised this and got a few colleagues to go with me on Friday for lunch. They have 3 outlets now - Purvis St being the first outlet and 2 other newer outlets: Upp Thomson Road and Tanjong Katong Road. We went to the one at Upp Thomson.

I like this cafe. Everything there is so cute and girly. It really cheers. The food portions are big and tasty and very affordable. The staff are friendly and service is pretty prompt and good. The decor is very well coordinated with the menu. There is quite a lot of varieties with the food and they even serve Ben & Jerry's ice-cream!

Check out the Salt & Pepper containers, aren't they unqiue?

I had set lunch which includes Garlic-Crusted Dory [check out my 2 pink cups as well =)] together with carrot soup, barley and the famous bread & butter pudding.

Great food, great atmostphere and not forgetting GREAT COMPANY!

Before we left, we had to take one more picture - this is just so cute :)

Always by My Side...

During service on Sunday, we learnt a new song. The melody was nice and soothing and the lyrics really speaks of what I've experienced in my life. Indeed my life has never been the same since I accepted Christ when I was 18. I may have experienced trials and tribulations, but my God has always been with me and I know even for my current challenges and those that are about to come, God will still be with me and see me through.

God Of My Forever by City Harvest Church

God of my youth I remember
Your call on my life took me over
Your love has seen me through all my days
I stand here by Your grace
On this altar I’ve written my life
Tells of a story I have with You my Lord
I want the world to know

God of my forever and forever I’m with You
My life is saved with a price
Your sacrifice redeemed my soul
God of my forever and forever I will sing
My greatest honor will always be
To serve my Lord and King

God of my all I’ve surrendered
My heart finds its rest in Your word
Praises will not be enough to show
How my love for you has grown
Nothing matters when You’re here with me
In the end just to hear You say "well done"
Bowing before Your throne

Forever and ever
Jesus You alone in glory reign
Forever and ever
With You I walk this narrow way

Can't wait to get the CD of this song...

Joy of my life

Been feeling quite down these two days, becos of some comments some people made, some mannerism some people reacted to me and some expectations of people that wasn't fulfilled. Either i am paranoid or PMS-ing, I am also bothered by little things such as my mouse not working, my Precious Moments display set broke, my favourite mug cracked. At the same time, feeling frustrated at my lazinesss and poor time planning, that resulted in me paying for gym membership months after months and incidentally haven't visited the gym for about 3+ mths? And then upset by the fact that quite a few had mentioned about me putting on weight (which i can see for myself also). And goodness gracious, i really have been eating the same and trying to cut down. So - with all these cumulative stuff, i guess i am about to explode.

Then I was downloading some pics from my camera, and i came across these, taken on Sunday with my 2 prince nephews and princess niece. They are the joy of my life. I feel happy when I see them.

With Charming Big brother, Gavin:

With cute Gareth:

With Princess Claire (look at her cute smile, too bad the background was too bright):

Teambuilding to Kukup - 21 Jul

Wanted to update on this for the longest time, but as i didn't bring my camera on the trip, had to wait till the photos come in from various sources before i can post them.

Our dept chartered a mini bus to Kukup for our day trip, sad to say this was our only group picture for the day:

First stop after passing the customs was breakfast at a local coffeeshop followed by buying local pastries next door. Its the exact same coffeeshop and exact same pastry shop as my trip on 30 June (if you read my earlier post).

Along the way, we passed by a chocolate boutique which was opening that very day. This wasn't part of our itinerary, but the guide said we could drop by anyway. All of us were excited to check the chocolates out. We were actually the first tour bus that arrived there where we were given "Number 1" stickers and welcome drink and treated like VIPs upon arrival. The decor of the place was pretty high standard. However, none of us bought any of the chocolates as the price and the quality just doesn't quite suit our preference. We felt bad that the whole troupe of us went in to taste the chocolates, used the washrooms, drank the welcome chocolate drink and left with no purchases. Still, the memory of bring the first visitors made us feel privileged. No pictures taken there though - *too embarrased*

Next stop was the batik centre where we saw the making of the batik as well as a musical performance using traditional instruments - again! can you believe it, the exact same place as the one i went on 30th June.

Subsequently, we went to the Pewter Factory.

The likes of "Royal Selagnor" kind of products,

but just that no brand names were cited. *LOL*

Finally, a place different from my itinerary during the last trip made.

Thereafter was our hour long bus ride to Kukup Fishing Village. Along the way we played games and got to know one another better, which was especially helpful with quite a few new additions to the dept over recent mths.

Upon arrival, the weather unfortunately disappointed us. It rained pretty heavily. We decided to have our Seafood lunch first. Here's a picture of the Communications Team with our temp staff. Incidentally, this teambuilding trip was also a time of farewell for our temp as she is going back to her studies.

All the best, Mei Feng! She is someone i hired. I've seen her grown from a forgetful, blur girl to one who is able to multi-task, and is fast and proactive in completing her tasks.

After lunch, the rained cleared, we were waiting to go on our boat ride to the kelong.

On the boat, on the way to the kelong.

Well, the last time i went to Kukup was way back when i was in Secondary School. My greatest fear came true when i realise history had repeated itself. I had to walk on those thin wooden planks that are placed over the water and which bends and feels unstable. Not good at all for someone who is phobic of height and water. Totally embarssing for a tall and big-sized lady like me screaming away in fear. Thank God for caring colleagues like Eileen and Wen Shan who took turns to guide me through the scary paths. I promise, this will be the last time i visit a Kelong!

We saw quite a few species of fishes and sea creatures. An unusual one was the spitting fish, that spits out "fountains" of water every few seconds. Check out this huge jellyfish:

Thereafter, we went on to the fruit farm. The timing wasn't right. We missed the durians this time. Also, it was raining quite a bit, so we only got to be introduced to some local fruits and plants. There was this fruit where the plant can double up as a bath lily! But too bad - no picture and i can't remember the name. Some nice pics taken here though....

We didn't know the 2 men were posing behind us at the point of the photo taking:

Finally, we were brought to Jusco at Tebrau City, the last stop before our dinner for some light shopping. It was a change from being away from the city all day. Nonetheless, I had nothing much to shop for as I had been there quite a few times recently. I'm just glad i managed to buy some double chocolate donuts from Dunkin Donuts, one of my favourite outlets since childhood days that is now no longer available in Singapore. Much as how I agree there are many other nicer donuts in the market today, I'm just glad i managed to buy some of my childhood favourite donuts after a day of "very different travelling".

Well, the day ended with a sumptuous seafood dinner at a pretty nice restaurant. Much as we dread going back to work after a packed weekend thereafter, I believe we have all benefitted some way or another from this trip, having known one another in a deeper way :)