right after I finished my morning's entry, my long & dreadful day started. I had lunch way past my usual lunch time at 2+ and hopes of a nice thai lunch was dashed. the restaurant closed at 2pm and only reopens later for dinner. so my boss & I with our client had KFC for lunch.

they were commenting on how long it was since they last had KFC and they said its the age gap. when you get older, you start to eat less of this kinda unhealthy food. you know, while we were in hanoi, on one of our nights in the hotel... we were watching a documentary on stomach cancer. It was mentioned that rice and salt i.e. excessive salt intake are contributing factors to stomach cancer - which is why Asians are prone to it.

it had quite a big impact on me, cos I saw how the entire stomach was removed to stop the cancer cells from spreading. can you imagine yourself without a stomach? your diet and appetite will change drastically. I love my food, I wouldn't want that.

and this morning I had this sudden idea, maybe we can meet up every weekend to run at the stadium? you guys think its feasible? I don't wanna grow fat & unhealthy leh... need to do sth to keep fit! :P

saw many pretty dresses on ASOS online. would love to buy them but since they are priced in pounds, I don't want to risk it. risk my hard-earned money on clothes that are great-looking and expensive, but I can't wear or it only looks good on the model -_- Some of my favourites!

ASOS | ASOS Lattice Detail Fitted Waist Dress at ASOS

Killah | Killah Ruch Front Jersey Dress at ASOS

Oasis | Oasis Ruffled Sculptural Dress at ASOS

once again my boss 'bang seh' me to go meet another client and asked me to go meet the client alone first.

anyway, I realised the next few weeks will be a blur of events and made a mental note to jot down a list of things I have to do. for work and for my personal life. especially since next week my boss won't be around, I'm hoping I can work from home and kill many birds with one stone.

since when did I lose my interest at work? I rem being proud to be such a consultant becos of the exposure I get and the hands-on training I got. but as time passed, my boss' promise of hiring didn't materialize. I think a main contributing factor to this is because there's no colleague with me at work. no one to bitch, no one to share weekend or holiday plans, no one to go lunch with.

then also, there's a lot of meetings he didn't involve me in, and I'm starting to think if I'm just a high paying clerk + secretary sometimes. so... I really hope jer & I can work out the business proposal, though there's a great deal to work with. client's here, gotta go!

everytime I come back from a trip, no matter how near/far the destination is, I get an urge to equip my laptop with Photoshop so I can learn all the editing tools & beautify my pictures. but till now PS is still not installed on my com. So I resorted to downloading free photoediting software online to help in editing.

Found Picasca (I think that's how its spelt?) which is an application from google. I think its pretty user friendly though I took some time to familiarize with the layout and functions. I love it for its collage function and is already experimenting with different layouts.

I'm thinking... maybe I can use it as a banner for this blog? let's just find me some time to play around with HTML codes and you guys will be the first to see if it works.

on a more solemn note... went to the temple to offer joss sticks to my cousin today. its the 49th day rituals and I decided to drop by instead of participating in the rituals. mum was concerned as to the annual leave I'm taking recently since I just went to Hanoi. so my bro cleared his off to 'represent' us instead.

if my cousin was still around, he would have ran in the marathon the last weekend. his family received the chip & his number tag & they put it beside his urn. Its been almost 2 months, and each of us is still dealing with his passing. I don't think any of us will really get over it because his departure was so very sudden. these few weeks, when my mum mentioned him and the things he did/bought for her... sometimes I still feel my tears welling up.

hai! have not openly thanked him for all that he did for me, and this will be the regret of my life. next time I will tell my kids how great he was and he will be remembered in our family (:

the year is coming to a close, and inevitably I reflect on the past year and many memories surfaced - the good and the I-want-to-forget. time to pack my room and throw out things that are cluttering my room! and hopefulle usher in a fresh start.

Hanoi: one last look

let the pictures speak for themselves, some more of Hanoi

hanoi: my travel companion

who is none other than jeremy! :D



honestly, we have never spent so much time together alone & overseas before. besides our JB trip with his family & his NH clique, we've never travelled together. I even wondered what if he grew tired of me after 6 straight days of seeing me 24/7? HAHA. of cos he didn't!

anyway, travelling with boyfriend is a first for me and I'm glad to say that it turned out well. we didn't discover shocking habits that changed opinions of one another. neither did any of us found ourselves mysteriously sleeping on the floor the next morning. so all is well!

as usual when he's tired, he asked for me to help him massage. and when we came back, tired and legs aching from the walking, I remembered that Veron & I had run a hot water bath to soak our legs in Paris too. which made me do the same for ourselves and we helped to massage each other's legs.


he navigated when we were lost and I was too tired and bothered (on a side note, I am able to read the map too!). I think that was the only time I got on his nerves. I kept nagging at him to ask the locals for directions in my hurry to want to get back to the hotel. but he was determined to follow the map and get us back on track. which he did! :D

I helped him to shave.

he helped to carry my luggage.

when we came back, the turbulence on the later part of the journey was quite bad. even the cool & stone-faced Caucasian sitting beside me let out a loud 'Shit!' while the plane dipped and rocked back and forth on the turbulence. I remember clutching Jer's arm with a panicked face, half thinking: is this it? He saw my reaction and just laughed it off.

but I'm serious, the plane was so small. who knew if it could take the impact. but whatever it was, I still hold on to the thought that I had at that moment I held on to his arm

At the very least, I found the person to journey with me... No regrets.

Thanks baby. Glad you enjoyed the trip as much as I do. Looking forward to our next trip together!

hanoi: major attractions

we spend about a day being tourist-y and visited some of the major attractions in hanoi. actually our objective of the holiday is just to relax and enjoy the weather & slower pace of life in vietnam. which was why for our entire trip we did not have an itinerary planned at all. we only drew up a list of places-to-go and the night before we thought abt what we wanna do and add in the restaurants that is along the route. and voila!

sometimes while walking to our destination, we find sth along the way which we didn't see on the map. and we just stop for a while and explored. I really like the impromptu and no-rush feeling of this holiday. a really gd recharge for me.


some monument for a past King we discovered

many people asked, isn't 6 days in Hanoi too much? even the hotel manager said she can finish all the attractions in 1 day. yes of cos we can... we can also fly to Ho Chi Minh. but in view of our budget & we didn't want to rush ourselves here and there, we did not plan another destination besides Hanoi. if not it would beat the purpose of the aim of our holiday - to relax! (:

so here goes, some of the attractions we went:






Temple of Literature. full of Confusian's teachings by long-ago Vietnamese.






Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum - holding place of his body


war memorial

hanoi: more food

before we left for Hanoi, Jer & I spent some time researching on places & restaurants to go based on other people's reviews. It was fun to find a particular restaurant, try the food for ourselves and see if it was really as good as the review said it to be.

our first two attempts didn't turned out well. Au Lac Cafe was a real pity, many reviews recommended the place for coffee & snacks. Supposedly, its a cafe with a front terrace where guests can sip coffee & have pastries and watch the world go by as it is strategically situated facing the main road. right opposite to Metropole Hotel. But when we made our way there, all we saw was a boarded up area with nothing like what we see. It has either closed down or moved ):

Bobby Chinn's
then we also tried to find Bobby Chinn's restaurant - named Bobby Chinn's - and we managed to find it about 10-15 mins away from where we live. but it has moved. argh. luckily the neighbouring shop gave us their new address. and you know what, its new location was almost, just almost... out of the map. its like at the top of the page right at the border. I guess you can say at least we got the address :P we made our way down by cab one of the evenings and also explored the region.


Bobby Chinn's now at 77 Xuan Dien St, near 2 major lakes divided by a long bridge. Its located inside a prime residential area. Much like our Bkt Timah Road with its restaurants & eateries. we were early as we didn't think of calling to reserve and wanted to avoid the traffic. but it was nice to just walk along the lake (it looked more like a sea to me), enjoy the sea breeze in take in the beautiful skyline & architecture.


the meal at Bobby Chinn's was good, but too dark for us to take pictures. and we tot we would looked 'sua gu' to take a picture of all the food. it cost us USD70+ for two. Jer say it was abt the same as local standard but for the ambience & quality - worth it! because we were early, it seemed as if we had the entire restaurant to ourselves & the waiters were very attentive.





Fanny's Ice Cream
one of our best find among the restaurants we visit. the ice cream was fantastic. made in-house naturally and every scoop was smooth and melts in your mouth nicely. Our favourite have to be the dark chocolate. I also like strawberry and chocolate coffee. the vanilla flavour with the tiny black flecks shows it was made with real vanilla and not just artifically flavoured. now you know how to tell the good ice cream from the artificial ones!







other local food we tried:

salty crepe with seafood, very yummy!


a fried version of another Vietnamese popular dish: spring rolls


restaurant style pho! its a franchise restaurant called Pho 24. we went twice. actually road side stalls taste abt the same its just that in restaurants the cut of the beef is better, and more selection.


they call our you tiao 'fried bread sticks'. not as flavourful as our local version, but taste great when dipped into pho soup

hanoi: halong bay cruise

on the second day, early in the morning we set off for our luxury cruise. allow
me to say 'luxury' because we paid about USD170 each. so! it must be luxurious! hahaha. anyway, b4 we could board the cruise we had to take a 3 hour journey on the road to the pier. and at the pier there was some communication breakdown and we had wasted a bit of time: us waiting for the boat manager, and the manager likewise. not knowing each was already there.

so of cos we spent some time... cam-whoring!





the cruise was good. nice food - two buffets and one full menu lunch. the bay was beautiful & very peaceful with the rocks & caves dotting the coast line. we spent about an hour kayaking, a very good way of immersing in the tranquility of the bay. there was a moment where I almost bump face first into a gigantic rock while kayaking, because it was so dark and we couldn't see anything in the cave. phew! almost disfigured! lol.

we also climbed a lot of steps to go up a viewing point which was the highest point in halong bay to catch the bird's eye view of the beautiful scenery. 437 steps. and 100+ steps at another location. plus the kayaking. so I guess our buffet was justified? :P

more photos will be uploaded on FB. giving jer the honour of uploading the pics. so I will wait till he does then I compile my own albums, telling more about our experience. more posts to come! still a lot more to share (:








legend has it that when the Chinese invaded Vietnam long ago, the gods sent down dragons to help them. the dragons spitted jade & jewel that became the islands and islets now found along the bay. these formed a wall and a barrier against the approaching enemies and the Vietnamese were saved. The place where the Mother Dragon landed was now known as - Ha Long Bay.

While we climbed steps to one of the highest viewing point in Ha Long Bay, we also went to a cave rich in history and geology. Apparently the cave dates back to millions of years ago, and evidence were found that cavemen once lived in the very cave we went. Millions of years ago, Ha Long Bay was deep sea. evolution and erosion over time (and we mean a really long time here) created the beautiful place that it is today.

hanoi: first impressions

when we first boarded our transport to our hotel, we were commenting on how slow their pace of life was, all so different from us. evidence - the car was driving abt 2/3 the speed of a local car on a highway.

then we realised maybe its not the pace of life. its likely that its due to just how vietnamese drive. the scooters/bicycles/bikes are an unruly crowd! zipping across the lanes like nobody's business. most of the times, there are basically no rules practised on the roads. the drivers mainly just avoid people crossing the roads. so you shouldn't dash across lest they cant avoid you in time. why... we used the traffic light and when the green man flashed for us to walk, guess what?

the motorbikes were zooming across the road like the green man was for them. we thought we looked damn silly standing there, looking lost and confused. lol. but of cos, in no time we got used to the traffic conditions there and crossed like pros. the trick is to cross slowly, not dashing. becos you can never out run the bikes & car with their sheer volume on the streets. cross section by section and the vehicles will avoid you as they pass.



and for a developing country like Vietnam, I was impressed that even small local restaurants have clean toilets WITH toilet paper AND proper flushing systems. of cos they are not sparkling clean like our toilets. but sometimes when I go JB the toilets are like just a bucket of water for 'flushing' and no paper. so this is much better than expected!


hanoi: street food
street food is a must. city dwellers might be skeptical of the standard of food & hygiene but from what I see - nothing much to worry about. they use gloves, chopsticks, etc when handling food and even on the streets you find the stalls providing tissue/serviettes. of cos, they clean their bowls & utensils by dunking into a pail of water (clean one of cos, check to be safe *winks). but jeremy & I came back fine so no worries! a bit of germs won't kill!


the first local dish we sampled, its seen like 90% of the time. pho - rice noodles! its a bit like a thinner version of our kuey teow









some of the street food we sampled:


vietnamese tang yuan! in ginger soup with roasted peanuts


Che - a dessert that mixes a lot of ingredients together. coconut milk is an ingredient in many desserts, used in che too!





quite a nice kebab at less than SGD2!


a simple dish that is likened to our chee cheong fun. taste very gd with spring onions and a special sauce. seems like some gland juice from an insect was also put in. let's not think so much abt it :X

realised that I didn't do very detailed posts on my past trips to France and Australia. perhaps its the time to be 'different' with Vietnam. Will be updating soon on my trip with photos (:

meanwhile, my boss said he will be going away for his own holiday too. one whole week from 14-18th december. woohoo!

its like I can work from home if I want. but of cos, I din express this to him :X wahaha. there will be work for me to do, just that it won't be alot since there is no meetings with him away. so means no work added to our load.

yay! holiday mood alrdy!

waiting for our cab to pick us up to the airport. its the end of our Hanoi holiday! jetting back and reaching around 12+am tonight. can't wait to see how our pics turn out :D see you guys when I'm back

the good news is mika is found! apparently megan didn't give up finding her and brought her food container downstairs when her friends met her for a chat at the void deck. so she just went around the neighbourhood and shook it. the way they do at home when its feeding time. believe it or not, she really appeared.

like omg! what i heard was she smelt like rubbish and had a cut on her mouth. honestly we've all given up hope on finding mika again. or her returning on her own. so it is such a miracle that she's back :D


this morning went to the temple and gave offerings to my late cousin. I learnt that he loved ritter sport chocolate - white whole almonds. and laksa. and honestly, like I've said before... I still cannot believe that he is gone. today is exactly one month since he left us. and we're all remembering him in our own ways.

mum could not bear to use the dried food like dried scallops, mushroom & black fungus that he last bought for her when he came back from china. and just now she asked me to help her play some cassettes. which I learnt that my cousin actually took the trouble to manually record for her because he knows that she doesn't know MP3 and computer stuff.

so... one lost and found. one lost and remembered.

4 days to my trip with jer to hanoi (: trying to pack some stuff. opened my luggage up so I can throw in anything in these few days when I come across them. so looking forward to it :D let's hope it'll be gd weather all the way!

and having take part in the bridal gift thingy ytd makes me feel happy for my cousin as well. at least a wedding will brighten everyone's mood. 13 dec. carlton hotel!

the first time since eons mths that jer & I stepped into town tog. besides, he was previously busy with projects, then exams. for a long time we pretty much just had dinner, watched some movies at his place, and roamed nearby. so its like a first quality day tog and it was great! :D

there is this slim chance (due to a few factors) of a business opportunity that got jer & me daydreaming for a bit. if it indeed does work out it'll be like a dream come true. but still. its too early to tell. need to keep our feet grounded & iron some stuff out. but gosh! if it really works... its going to be something totally new altogether.

it'll be something we wanna do tog. and seeing how my client quarrels with her husband (who is outstationed in vietnam permanently) every other week. I told jer that I can't stand long distance relationships. marriages are already complex enough, the long distance really strains the relationship. I rather uproot my entire life and move with him rather than weather the storms here alone & go thru all those communication problems.

and... way before marriage, the process of getting married itself is troublesome enough. helping my cousin send the bridal gifts to his fiancee's place today makes me even more determined to 'simplify' the matter. his dinner will be on 13 dec, so happy for him!

things happened and change in such a short time. I was arranging a dinner with shuyi & soonhui because I'm flying off next week and they're the only ones free now since they don't have exams. and just one day ago we were watching movie at Vivo & passed by the pet shop, almost going in to buy a brush for dear lil' Mika.

and the next morning she was gone. nowhere to be found. she wasn't scratching & meowing at Jer's door like she does every morning. she doesn't come running furiously when the food is laid out. neither did she when we shake her food bottle. she is just gone! windows were closed & door wasn't even opened since no one left the house yet. so the only way was...

the rubbish chute.

which they did hear her playing around there the night b4 she disappeared. we tried all methods & asked everyone we could but she is still not found. in the 3 months (yes, it felt like we had her for ages) she was at jer's place, she's sorta like become a part of the family. and now... I really dunno wad to do. hope for the best or prepare for the worst.

gosh. like what jer said.

curiosity really killed the cat.







so sorry for cancelling last minute sy & kor... I'll fix another one, promise!

the minshan asked me out ytd but I already had my family day planned long ago. so when she asked me out for dinner again today I felt bad to reject her again. two days in a row leh, how can?

haha. so its dinner with her at JP later! even though its at JP but I still look forward to a gal's night out. yay! maybe I can find sth for my cousin's wedding dinner. and the pair of black heels that I need since damn long ago. u have no idea, the agony of not having your staple black heels. the outfits just seem so wrong sometimes. keke. noooooo. its not my excuse to shop. my black heels worn out that time & I havent been able to fing sth suitable since. maybe minshan can bring me 'luck' later?

have a great week guys! I'm counting down to my Hanoi weekend with Jer *cheers

was at Ion for most of today's afternoon with my own family. been planning this trip down to town since forever becos I know my parents seldom step into that territory. and I'm glad that they enjoy it - the food, the 'sightseeing' and the update of orchard they had.

today we were on the train bound for Marina Bay to take the west bound train back home, and just before our train reaches City Hall, someone let off a gigantic fart. and by that I meant the 'overpowering' of it and not how it sounded when it came out. God. by the look of everyone's faces in the cabin, everyone caught a whiff of it. and I swear the people who filed out of the cabin moved doubly faster. it was super smelly man! I wonder what did that person eat. gosh.

anyway, I'm like getting alot of sudden impulses lately. I have an impulse to restring my necklaces. to make earrings. to pack my room.

but making jewelry has always been sth that I wanted to do becos I rather I make sth I like than look around thru tons of shops to find sth that really catches my eye and yet, withdraw from buying becos of the price tag. making jewelry is fun but often u have to buy beads in bulk. cos when you buy it in smaller quantities, it ends up being more expensive. of cos, one may say its ok, becos its sth I like and not found in the mkt, since whatever it is I made it & I like it.

because 'cost' is often a factor to consider & I'm not buying to make and sell... I usually end up just toying with the idea and drop it. and there was a time when I bought beads that I like and kept them. but combining them is such a chore. becos they make look pretty on their own but when combined, it looks either too messy or just wrong. lol.

so my conclusion is: don't make them myself. just buy simple, classic jewelry that won't go out of style. and maybe invest in a few gd pieces next time. spare myself the trouble and my eyes the stress of poring over beads & clasps :P

this week sorta flew by becos I was on course for two of the work days. some course which I will not name in case it makes me 'google-able'. but it was pretty useful and reinforces what I learnt on the job. and let's just say I met some interesting people too!









long overdue photos from the lunch meetup I had with my FYP gals - Minshan & Joyce. realised that only of food & not us :X I havent taken pictures of myself for a long time. heh.

anyway, it was a good catching up session after a gloomy week. hope we do it again soon! :D

and, now its like less than 2 weeks to our Hanoi trip. I am so so looking forward to it! hope it'll be nice cool weather, no wet spells or anything. keep your fingers crossed for me too. hehe.

entwined amongst all the meetings, course & emails... also comes yr end plans. few weeks back Jer & I sorta have sketchy plans for a cooking session at his place. invite a few frens over and carry on that Wii session or any other group games. that will be when his folks are away :P

then after rejecting his sis' godpa's invitation for a few times, I am finally able to make it for his X'mas dinner. usually catered nice food I heard. by nice it also hints 'sinful'. so there, the pressure of starting my exercise is GREATER.

and interestingly, on the same night the invitation was extended to me, another came from dear yuen teng. sorry gal, I know you're very early. but lately the timing doesn't seem to work out between me & you. maybe our 八字 crossed. lol. still... my 23rd is free for u!

which also means, to my dear nan hua frens... I may not be able to join our usual xmas eve gathering. I hope we can work sth out, I do still wanna meet u guys! maybe the new yr's weekend? :D after ur exams we can talk abt it!

hooray to the oncoming year end plans! catching up, partying, nice food, new clothes too! *winks