Things are slowing down here. At last count, excluding my leave, public holidays and weekends, I have about 10 working days left before I finish my stint here. Fast, isn't it? I was looking through my previous entries and it's amazing how I got through the year unscathed. It seemed like yesterday that I was lamenting about the countless of meetings, the papers, the minutes, the event planing which I had to do.

Now, I'm tying up loose ends and slowly starting to pack my things here before I leave on Dec 19th. The new SAPOs will be in on 17 Dec, and we have seen them cos they joined us for our zone strategic planning. They looked worried to death, exactly how I felt when I first came. Whatever it is, I'm just glad to be passing the baton to them and moving on. Yes, I have learnt a lot here, I have grown and developed professionally, I now know better my strengths and weaknesses, I can see bigger picture, I understand policy planning better but I can't wait to go out and teach again. I'm essentially a teacher at heart. I miss my students, I miss the classroom, I miss my colleagues. I even miss canteen food!

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the slightly slower pace here, and my leave, and look forward to packing for my 1 year education abroad. It's so fast!!! I can't wait. :)

That's Yuhana's newborn baby boy, Ilyan Hakim. Babies these days have the most glamorous names. She gave birth to her second child 2 weeks ago so Diana and I visited her at her place today. We only found out that she was pregnant accidentally about a month before she was due. She had been pregnant for 8 mths and was hiding it from us!!!! Why? Cos she was embarrassed that she got pregnant pretty soon after she gave birth to her first child. Nonsenselah she. I mean, it's fast, but there's nothing wrong cos SHE IS MARRIED! Diana found out by accident cos she met Yuhana at Kembangan and she was heavily pregnant, and Diana obviously messaged me.

She had a difficult labour. She told us this time round, she cried cos the pain was unbearable. Shudder...And cos she went through so much crap, we bought a gift for her instead of her baby. Ha! We got her Clarins anti stretch marks body lotion. Hope it works.

Yuhana's 1 year old daughter, Ilyunisha. She's adorable. Very smiley baby, who likes to laugh and dance.



Diana with Nisha.



I look shit here. My hair's a mess.



After we visited Yuhana, both of us went to have drinks at CompassPoint. Diana's getting married this Sat, and it was kind of our last get together as singletons. We talked about everything: Her fears, her worries, her excitement, her honeymoon plans (She's going NZ! I am so jealous!!!). And of course, I updated her on the happenings in my life, and being my best friend, she didn't make any sort of judgements and I love her for that. Just before we went off, I gave her a really long hug, and we both got a little teary. My best friend of 20 years is getting married and she's starting a new life. I am happy for her, but I would be lying if I said I am not a little sad. I hope things don't change that much once she's married.

To Diana, I love you very much and your husband is one hell of a lucky guy. Don't be afraid of what's in store for you. Look forward in anticipation to your new life with the person you love. Embrace the unsureties and enjoy being married. I love you darling. Hugs......

That's Dev's new car. He bought a Nissan 350Z, Roadster (I hope I'm getting this right cos I'm totally clueless when it comes to cars). It's a sleek sports car, a car he's been wanting to get for the world's longest time but is just too costly here in Singapore. It's a 2003 model, so he got it for $39,000. Dirt cheaplah for a sports car. I don't know what you can get with $39,000 here. Probably a cherry qq or something like that.

Anyway, he was so excited when he got the car and was gushing about how spacious the inside was, the leather seats, the LCD screen in the car. Hahaha, for Dev to gush, it means he really likes the car.



He was thinking of getting the topless version of the car but decided against it cos when the top is lowered, it looks strange.



Anyway, he intends to spray paint his car this shade of gun metal gray.



I think it's a damn solid looking car. Can't wait to sit in it when I'm finally there. It's been 6 weeks since Dev has been gone. 8 more weeks to go before I get driven around in a sports car. :) I hope I can fit my huge ass luggage inside.

We went for Kelwin's bbq at Aloha Loyang. I usually don't go for bbq but cos Kel is one of my closest friend in school, the three of us went. It was nice meeting up with my former colleagues and friends. Ee Kia, Ms Tan, Noor, YY, Lee Choo, Angela, Lynn, Mrs Ong were all there. It was so nice. A lot of people commented that I lost weight and Mrs Ong fussed over me. She's such a dear. I love love love love her. It was a lot of fun catching up with everyone again.

Clockwise: Vidhu, Noor, Ms Tan, YY, Lee Choo and Kel.




Me and Angela.



Kel and me. I love Kel. He's a brutally honest person but he takes care of me and protects me all the time when I was teaching.










Thanks for the company babes. The talking, the bitching, the gossipping, the laughing, the melted marshmallows, the chendol ice cream which Wendy finished up, the competition on who gets the fire going first, the spitting on the cake ('Happy ....*Wendy sprays bee hoon on cake. Khai and Vidhu looks on in horror. Ha!), the flood, the detour, the car washing and regretting it cos of the rain, the company and most importantly, the love. Love you both. A lot. Hugs. :)


I'm in a very happy mood. Maybe cos I had a good weekend. Maybe cos I'm thankful for my friends. Maybe cos my stint at HQ is ending. Maybe cos I'm going on 1 year leave in 16 days time. Maybe cos I'm going Australia in 2 mths time. Maybe cos I'm seeing Dev soon. Whatever it is, I'm happy. :)

I miss going on a holiday. Since I started working, I have taken a holiday every single year. I started in 2003 by going to Perth, Australia. That was my first ever trip out of Asia. The following year, 2004, I decided it was time for some place a little more exotic, so I decided that Turkey was it for 2004. In 2005, I took 2 trips out to Europe. Italy in June, and Egypt in Dec. Burnt a hole in my pocket that year. In 2006, I went to Melbourne, Australia in June and Cambodia in Dec.

This year, cos I'm saving money to study, I didn't take a trip out. I took short trips to KL, Bangkok and Desaru but not out of the region.

I miss going on holidays. Really badly. Whenever I have booked for my trips, I always feel a sense of excitement and ancitipation and whatever comes to me at work seems less painful cos I always had my trips to look forward to.

Let me share some pictures of my trips with you. For this entry, I'm going to show pictures from my Turkey trip. Without a doubt, Turkey is the best place I'ver ever been to. Yes, Italy was nice, Egypt was nice, but Turkey was the trip I remembered most. It was such a beautiful place. The people were warm, the men were the best looking men I've ever seen (yes, even Italian men lost), the scenery was beautiful, it was just a really fanatstic trip. And it was my first trip to Europe with one of my best friends, Khalidal. Enjoy the pics.

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul



Bosphorus Sea, the sea that divides the East and the West.

The limestones at Pamukalle

One of my highlights of my trip, taking a hot air balloon. We left the hotel at 5am, got driven to the place, ate cake and drank warm chocolate for bfast, then went on the balloon. I saw the sun rise from the top of the mountains. It was glorious.

Rock houses formed from the mountains. A natural phenomenon. People actually lived in here.



The view from the top.



Snowing as we were in the balloon. I was freezing.



Where the balloon landed.




My tour guide.



At the Aegean Sea. Across the sea was Greece. i was kicking myself for not including Greece into my itinerary.







One of the stop overs.



Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Library of Ephesus, one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world.

At the airport, just touched down back to Singapore.

Next up, Italy. (If I'm not too lazy) ;)

I went for a World Singles Day event yesterday @ Olio @ Suntec City. Before anyone of you gasp in horror cos I'm not a singleton, I wasn't trying to be funny. I was there to accompany a friend cos she's single, she wants to meet men, but she's too embarrassed to go on her own. So she asked me along, and since I had nothing better to do, aside from cutting my hair, I went along. And yes, Dev knows about it. My bf's cool.

So I went with not very high expectations. I guess it's the pre conceived notion that people who go for this sort of activities (yes, it's an SDU event) basically are desparate and seeking. And my friend has gone for some SDU activities and in her words, the men 'cannot make it'.

When I reached Olio, I was pleasantly surprised. I mean, the guys are not handsome but they were pretty decent looking, except for one or two. I met a few very interesting guys. There was this German guy, who lectures at NUS Science faculty. He was there when the Berlin Wall fell so we had a good 15-min discussion on that. Then there was a marketing manager. Very good looking, but he was a bit of an MCP. Felt his opinions mattered and mine didn't. Of course I don't take that sort of shit so I rebutted everything that he said. That conversation didn't last very long. He couldn't take it. There were a few Singaproean men I talked to, a banker and an engineer. Decent chaps, but dull. How much can you talk about what we do in our free time? And there was this Jap-Spore guy who have lived and worked in America for 14 yrs. He's good looking. And articulate. And can hold a decent conversation. And is a financial consultant. Very attractive. I couldn't understand why he was there cos he didn't look like he needed any help. So I ended up spending most of the time talking to him and at the end of the whole thing, we exchanged numbers and he asked me out for a movie on that day itself. Fast worker huh? Hahaha..I was flattered of course, but I declined his invite. Why? Cos I'm attached. Hahaha..If I was single, I would definitely have gone out with him. Wouldn't mind going out as a group but not one to one.

What struck me was how territorial the women in the room were. They were unfriendly and some were rather nasty. Not to the guys, but to fellow women in the room. I know they were looking for guys there but I don't think there's any harm in making friends in general right? Geez....

But when I told Dev the whole thing, his explanation made sense to me. He said I went there with no expectations, and was there to have fun. So I had nothing at stake. And when you are already attached, you carry yourself with more confidence and that comes across to the guys, hence they get attracted to you. Whereas for these women, they are there with a purpsoe, and that is to snag a guy. So there'a lot of things on their plate hence the tension and stress in the way they carry themselves. Hmm..Insightful.

All things said and done, I had a good time. And I felt good that I could still attract the opposite sex. Being in a long term relationship sometimes make you forget that you have that ability to be attractive to other men too. :)

I had such a busy week. Just when I thought things were slowing down, this week proved me otherwise. I had my branch strategic planning for 2008 on Mon and Wed, followed by cluster strategic planning on Fri. Tuesday was spent at Meritus Mandarin for an SD event. So my whole week was spent out of the office. My Deepavali was spent recuperating from the hectic 3 days of planning and the only constructive thing I did on Deepavali was to do my nails. Had it done in blood red on my toe nails and fingernails.

I spent my whole Sat bumming at home, watching reruns of American Idol,Oprah Winfrey and Life the Dream. Then, in the evening, I met up Khalidal for dinner.We had pizza at pizza hut (on another note altogether, I actually enjoy having pizza hut. When Dev was around, we never ate there cos Dev felt it was junk. Hence eating at pizza hut was a rare occurence. So now that he's not here, I'm going there to eat more often. In the one mth that Dev has been gone, I've eaten at pizza hut twice. Hee..Fatty.. But I like!) and then had ice cream at Haagen Daz.

It was nice meeting up with her. The last time I saw her was 4 mths ago and that is an eternity cos she's like my bestest friend. She's so full of crap, just like me, she's funny, she makes fun of herself all the time, she makes fun of me too. Very genuine. I enjoy her company. We used to be very much closer but cos of work and other committments, we get to see each other only once every few mths only.

But whenever we meet, it's always a lot of fun. She's busy preparing for her wedding and renovating her new flat. God, she sounds...adult. Renovate this lah, buy thatlah for the wedding..Stressful. She's getting married on Jan 19th and I am so happy cos initially, I thought her wedding was in March and I was like 'Great, I can't attend my best friend's wedding'. So this means that I can actually attend her wedding!!! Yeah!!

I had a lot of fun with her today. Talked rubbish, shared stories, I showed Jeff (from Cats in the cradle) to her cos he was performing at IndoChine Wisma today and she was shocked by how I reacted when I saw him. My hands turned cold and I became gibberish. Ha! I'm such a nerd. And she made it worse by POINTING HER FINGERS AT ME IN FRONT OF HIM!!! Stupid K. I died lah.

But it was great seeing her again. She's so nonsense. :)

Of course, no outing is complete without photos. You can see from the pics, how weird she is. We were known as the weird Ks (Khairiah & Khalidal) in NIE.

Covering her face, pretending to be reluctant to take photos.



Yup, her weirdness is accentuated here. But don't be surprised. Despite her spasticism (if there's such a word), she's damn smart and capable.



The only normal shot I have of her. And this is after much begging from me.



Must-have photo of myself.



K and me. Love you K!



Tomorrow's a Sunday. Still one more day of the weekend left!

I had a pretty relaxed weekend. I'm slowly getting back to my exercise regime again, after 5 weeks of not exercising. Met Kathy on Sat for dinner, a little bit of shopping and coffee and cake. She's feeling a little shit cos of work, and things which are happening (and not happening) in her life so I met up with her to catch up with her and make her feel a little better. It was pretty nice meeting up with her again. She was really dressed up that day. I smsed her in the afternoon, asking her what she was wearing cos I intended to wear shorts and a singlet. Thank god I asked cos she smsed back and said 'Im in a black and white dress n black heels.' ???? Oookaaay...I obviously couldnt go out looking like a dog so I semi dressed up. Photos on Sat.

We had dinner @ Changing Appettites at Marina Square. It sucks. Don't go there. Bad food. Expensive. Horrid service. Urgh.

We walked around for a little bit, and I bought slippers from Charles n Keith. I couldn't resist. But Im bringing it to Australia with me. I need slippers during summer there!

We ended the day having coffee and cake at Gloria Jeans. I had the most sinful fudge cake. I decoured most of it. Kat's pretty controlled when it comes to food. But she said I shrank. Hahahaha... I was elated, of course.

The sinful cake.

Cam whoring.

I made her take this semi close up pic cos this was before she had her eyebrows plucked by me.

We actually sat down at Gloria Jeans and I brought my eyebrow kit and plucked her eyebrows at the cafe itself. I was half expecting people to form a queue. But since she didn't care, neither did I. So I plucked her eyebrows for her. Took me half an hour! So difficult cos her eyebrows are very messy. The last time I did it for her was in 2005, after which she didnt bother upkeeping. The she went for threading in Jun this year, n her eyebrows looked witchy. So she came to me for help.

Voila! Much better isn't it? I should start charging.

Sunday was my mom's birthday so the family went out to celebrate. We had a late lunch at Manhattan Fish Market @ Plaza Singapura and it is way...better than Fish n Co. Wwe had 2 sets of the Manhattan Seafood Platter for 2, Fish n Chips, fish nuggets, calamari, the works. Really really good food. And pretty cheap. We didn't get her a gift cos she has almost everything that she needs. So we gave her cold, hard cash so that she can buy whatever she wants with the money. Practical.

My babies and me. :)

My sis and mom. My sis has weird make up, all the time. Over did the white eyes thing. Keep telling her but she refuses to believe.

My elder sis. My niece is weird.

We had cake and ice cream and coffee at Secrets Recipe.

Then my niece went a little beserk at this all-pink shop. She wore a tiara scarf, with feathers n sequins, and angel wings. God, she's so vain. And posed for the camera.

The I took a pic of her wings from the back. And no, we didnt buy her the wings.

We also went to Cold Wear, looking through jackets and sweaters, cos my family's coming to visit in June and it will be winter, so they made my niece try this blue jacket. She looks so cute!

My family.

There's a public holiday next week. Thank goodness. Hope you guys had a good weekend!