Happy 56th Birthday Dad! 辛苦了! Gonna treat him to the nicest cheesecake ever!
U know like most parents, Dad always think big of his children. No matter what people say to hurt me or look down on me, Dad is always proud of me! Thanks Dad!
And Happy 40th Month Anniversary to Jun Wen and I. I hope there will be endless monthly anniversaries with him!
I collected my specs! Was getting really dizzy when I first wore it. But now it is much more comfortable than my contact lenses! :D
I'm starting work on the coming Monday, 3rd of October, too. Same as Jun Wen! So cool that we start work on the same day. We are both at the same pace in our career. Yeahs, so nobody gets left out!
Jun Wen was frowning and freaking out over starting work soon! He named the coming Monday "End of Happy Times". He intended to go out everyday of this week. We went to the movies, the zoo, shopping and ktv the whole week! Lol. Is working the end of happy times? Omg! I'm freaking out now too! I hope the pay will make up for it. LOL!
Are u afraid of turning 30? I was watching "F.R.I.E.N.D.S" and apparently in Season 7 episode "The One Where They All Turn 30", Rachel was celebrating her 30th birthday and was really devastated about turning 30. And other than having a huge banner of "Happy 30th birthday" in the background of the house, it had a flashback of the other 5 friends turning 30.
Joey on his 30th birthday cried to God, "Why, God why? We had a deal! Let the others grow old, not me!"
And at Chandler's 30th birthday, Joey cried again, "And now, Chandler. We are all growing so old! God, why are you doing all these to us?"
Watch this youtube clip and u know how horrifying turning 30 is.
http://youtu.be/hioyK9yDrLg
Rachel was very upset about not achieving the things she wanted at 30 years old. Do u have a list of things u need to cross out at the age of 30? If u don't, u need to keep one now!
We are going to turn 30 in like, 6 years' time! It's really soon when u heard people wishing u "Happy 30th Birthday!" Omg! My heart skipped a beat whenever I think of it. I must say I love my twenties! They are the best times I've ever had. My luck and life have finally become better! :D
I hope the last 6 years of my twenties would be very well spent and be really fun too!
I once had a friend who told me she only wants to live till 30. Cos after 30, there will be lots of responsibilities to bear, lots of troubles.. Well... When she told me that, she was 18. She is 25 now. Maybe she changed her mind. Hahahaha. Let's enjoy till 30 while we can then! Make the best out of our situation! :D
The studio photos were out 2 months ago but the blown up one has not.
I believe I have shown some of u but here are 2 of them for the rest who haven't seen them:
My dad bought 2 photo frames from Daiso and they don't fit the photos. LOL! He left the task of putting these photos in the frames to me. I had a hard time adjusting them into the middle of the frame.
I took photos from the hard copy photos so they aren't so clear.
I know I look weird. Lols! Although I always didn't agree when people said I look like my mum, well I agree now.
Dad took the photos and showed them to Cousin and Aunt. Cousin said she thought I looked fat and funny in the photo so she took a photo of our photo to show it to me. Lol! As if I didn't have it in my house.
Yea, I looked so fat! I thought they were supposed to photoshop me thinner. Mei Li Mao!
My younger brother seemed to look nervous in each photo. Think he didn't smile to himself in the mirror enough! :D
My mum wore my blazer. It was just $20 from G2000 sale!
Younger bro wanted to wear a bow instead of a tie but switched to a tie eventually since there were free ties to borrow over at the studio.
And I have taken photos of Jun Wen's studio photos too!
I hope u know which is Jun Wen and which is Jun Jie.
His younger brother wore his SIM gown in advance. Lol. We didn't think of having my younger brother wear in advance too until the shot was over. So I went to advise Simba on asking his younger brother wear it and they don't have to take another photoshoot. :D
Well.. Jun Jie wasn't keen at first to wear the gown since he was very very insecure about graduating. He thought he might not graduate at all.
I was very surprised when Jun Wen told me that his brother was studying his notes the whole day since the start of school. Lols! I laughed it off since Jun Jie used to be very annoyed seeing me and Jun Wen doing assignments for school and all that. I had never seen Jun Jie with any book before! What a big change! Looks like the youngest in the family has grown up. Lols. Hope my younger brother will do the same too. :D
Jun Wen shocked me when he said he did the horse face during the photoshoot and was warned by the photographer against doing it. I was thinking how lucky that I wasn't there with him during the shoot. I later found out that he lied. Lols! Apparently, the thick skinned Jun Wen has become less thick skinned and less embarrassed. Phew!
Finally made my pair of new glasses after 2 years. I depended on my contacts lens totally for the last 2 years. Took the contact lenses off when I reached home but squint my eyes to look at my mum. I have been at home all the time lately, and the distance between the laptop screen and my face is barely a few centimeters. Lol! I can't make out the faces of the characters in the show if I don't watch them closely! It happened to be too much for mum to take so ya.. I had to get a pair of glasses.
The optician told me to wear glasses instead of contact lens everyday. I guess it's a great idea to wear glasses to work since I will be looking at things in detail.
If u are wearing contact lens, have u given your eyes a break every now and then? Don't be like me! :D
Jun Wen was very curious about having eyes tested and wanted to lie to the optician that he has blurred visions recently so that he could have his eyes tested. So full of motive right! Lol. I warned him not to do it since he is not that good at lies. Lol! He agreed at first but requested to have his eyes checked anyway. The optician was happy at first but disappointed to find out that Jun Wen still has a perfect eyesight. Lol!
But luckily he did not also execute his initial crazy idea of getting his first pair of glasses by feeding the optician with wrong information. U know, like during the testing he said the lenses make his visions better but they didn't actually. I said it would be wasting his money! Lol!
Wanna say I have been watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S all the while! Boy, I hope the episodes never end! But I'm now at Season 6 already. :(
I am sure at some point of time in your life, u would have heard of your friend telling u to watch it! And I'm telling u that u have to! U really have to in your lifetime. It's so funny and really touches your heart.
If u have watched it, I wanna say I find my personality very similar to Rachel's. Omg! Tell me if u think so too! :D
And my favourite characters of the show are Joey and Phoebe. They are so cute! Lol.
Oh.. And since I am finally going to bring back money to my parents, I have decided that I want to learn to grow up! I will set my new year resolution for 2012, think about what I really want in my life and work hard. I don't wanna be some Y 头 anymore! :) Hope life continues to be great!
Whenever u scroll down the newsfeed page of Facebook, u know what's going on around u.
When I was schooling, there weren't so many "TGIF", "Monday blues", "Wednesday - Midweek, counting down to Friday" or "Sunday please don't go away." Yea, people started counting days instead of numbers!
Now, I get all of these alot. And more of "Wish I am schooling." and "Wish I don't have to work."
People around me are going to the next phase of their lives, working. So am I! Will I start counting Monday to Sunday like others when I work for maybe 3 months? I have a feeling I will. :D
And it's terribly weird to see some teenagers' posts! They will say "Oh I failed my Maths test. It's the end of me." or "I wish I will have someone who loves me for who I am, opens doors for me, carries my bags for me and puts me before him all the time."
It's so funny that kids like to be loved. They always get in and out of relationships too. One day u see "I love him so much. I will love no one else but him." And the next day u see "Back away, u jerk! All men are the same!" Omg, very expressive younger generation we have here! All I wanna tell them is wait a few more years and u find a better man! U are just 15! Lol! Do I sound like a mum? Okie, u must be thinking why on earth would I know a 15 year old? The fact is that I do know quite a few since they are my own cousins, Jun Wen's cousins and church friends!
Interestingly, out of my 480 friends in Facebook, most of them are acquaintances and u actually get to know some of them better without them knowing just by looking at their posts. Scary right!
There are people who complain and complain about their lives, so often that u quickly scroll down and skip their posts.
While there are people who are so motivational. Always coming up with quotes to inspire u! This I don't mind since sometimes when I'm feeling down this post can really get through to me.
And last of all, I like people who are funny. Look forward to looking at posts of particular funny people. Do u too?
Lol. I'm sorry but did the above bore u? I'm just rambling on about nothing important..!
Jun Wen and I will be balloting for a flat in Hougang this November! Wish us luck! I decided not to be so picky cos there really isn't an ideal location like I wished for! No Serangoon, and nothing between Serangoon and Harbourfront but thank God for circle line, Jun Wen is able to travel to Buona Vista within 5 mrt stops.
If we didn't get it this time, I will just wait for another Hougang! To me, Sengkang and Punggol is too far away! Lol.
If I get this flat, I will be staying near Serangoon Reservoir and next to Serangoon Secondary School. Keep my fingers crossed! Walking distance to Hougang MRT but long walk! Lol.
Halloween is coming! Jun Wen and I will be going to USS for Halloween Night Event!
Yeahs JW is the best, lol! (Okie, i mean for me! Your boyfriends/girlfriends are the best too!) Go google "Halloween USS" if u wanna to go with your boyfriends/girlfriends/friends, and U are the best to them too!
And book your tickets now ok! They have Early Birds Discount. U are welcome!
:D
Simba bought protection covers for his new 250 Resident Evil cards! And he has to slot them in one by one. I wanted to help but he won't let me! He said I might bend or crush some of them. Lols! Although thee is a very high possibilty that I may accidentally use my elbows to press on them, but I think I deserve a chance! Lols. When it comes to being careful, one will definitely not think of me!
Simba's official start date of work is on 3rd of Oct. Mine is still not known. Lols. We went to Vivocity to get Simba some working clothes and shoes. Felt so much like an adult! :D
The more comforting thing about being a Researcher is that I don't need to wear formal clothings.
It was so weird that I wanted to get a job related to Business while Simba wanted a job related to Science, and I got a Science job while he got a Business one.
He bought 3 shirts from Library in Tangs, and got the Tangs card. How cool it is! And guys, if u are of the same build as Jun Wen, Library is currently having a 70% discount for shirts with smaller sizes.
Saw this new creative ornament at Vivocity. A tree which grows all kinds of flowers and looks like a ball from far.
I have gotten over myself. Lols! I have decided not to fear not enjoying my new job. Things might not be so bad. I may not be able to enjoy the job but if the people are nice, I am okie with the job! :D
I would rather not have a job that I enjoy yet the people aren't nice! Of course, it would be great if I have the best of both but it is seldom this way in life huh.
And finally down to my last day in Hong Kong!
In the morning when Jun Wen looked so sleepy.
In the MTR. The t-shirt that I was wearing was one of the most expensive items I have gotten from Hong Kong. It was from a shop which sells t shirts from many local designers. The salesgirls were really polite and all, so Simba and I bought designer t shirts. Omg. U know I seldom wear t shirts but well... That was an exception.
But this is really cute right! The salesgirl told me that the hand is the actual size of a human hand!
It was a long ride to head to the last stop of the MTR line.
Simba remarked on our itinerary that we have to bring along our passports. And after exiting the MTR station, we immediately had to exit Hong Kong's gantry and then entered China. It was quite an adventure! Simba didn't know that the last stop of the MTR would lead us to another country.
A mistake led to another, and so we landed in Shenzhen, China. Lols!
We didn't know where to go for Shenzhen since we didn't plan for it at all. Hence, we went to this nearest shopping mall. There were actually nothing much to see in the mall but we have already changed SGD50 to RMB each. Lols! Decided to spend it all there. I bought some accessories like earrings and bracelets while Simba bought SGD50 worth of Shenzhen food. Lols! The Shenzhen people are really hospitable. They are so nice! :D
The shopping there was just as expensive as Hong Kong's and they sold nearly the same things as Hong Kong too. I guess Shenzhen was too near to Hong Kong that it gets similar to it. The Shenzhen people do not have any China accent, but instead they have this Hong Kong accent. Lols. Amazing isn't it?
How come we don't speak like people from Johor?
Later on, in Singapore, Miao told us that there was actually a great place for shopping few stops away from where we were. Too bad we didn't know!
But Simba was glad that we collected one more China stamp on our passports. :D
We exited the shopping mall and took photos of Shenzhen.
Wikied Shenzhen and this is what I got:
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones (SEZs). It currently also holds sub-provincial administrative status, with powers slightly less than a province.
Shenzhen's novel and modern cityscape is the result of the vibrant economy made possible by rapid foreign investment since the institution of the policy of "reform and opening" establishment of the SEZ in the late 1970s. Before this, Shenzhen was a small village. Both Chinese and foreign nationals have invested enormous sums in the Shenzhen SEZ. More than US$30 billion in foreign investment has gone into both foreign-owned and joint ventures, at first mainly in manufacturing but more recently in the service industries as well. Shenzhen is now reputedly one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
I like this: 來了, 就是深圳人. Read it out loud and u will like the ring of it. Felt so welcomed right!
Had lunch at this cafe.
Shenzhen has many Hong Kong styled cafes too. Simba said it would be better if we had lunch at none of such cafes, the 茶餐厅.
I remembered the food was great!
And so is the milk tea!
The Beef Hor Fun is a thousand times tastier than Singapore's. I promise!
Was elated to see Shangri-La Shenzhen since we would be having our Graduation Ball at Shangri-La Singapore. Lols.
Bruce Lee!! We were guessing that it is a KFC ad. U think so too?
After spending our $50 at Shenzhen, we exited China and entered Hong Kong back. The queue for the Customs was not long for visitors other than Mainlanders and Hongkongers, so we entered Hong Kong pretty fast.
Our next stop was Sha Tin, where it was shopping at New Town Plaza.
Snoopy featured bride gowns were on display at New Town Plaza.
But New Tow Plaza turned out to be a highly expensive place! We went on to look for malls nearby.
Simba then discovered that malls' names that end with "Plaza" are malls with expensive shopping while those with "Shopping Center" are those we could visit and spend on without feeling the strain from our pockets. Remember that next time u plan a trip to Hong Kong!
One of the Shopping Centers we found. :D
Had KFC for dinner. Lols! Wanted to try the difference between the fast food in their country and ours. But apparently, unlike Taiwan, the fast food tasted the same as ours.
While we were having this, a weird lady came up to us and asked us how much our food is, whether it was nice and many stuff like that. She looked so suspicious. That's definitely something fishy about her. We got quite scared and held onto our belongings. Lols. After she left, we checked our things and were glad that they were still safe with us. We held onto the thought that she might have hypnotised us and made our things disappear and then later appeared with her. Lols! Sometimes humans think too much! Or watch too much magic.
We shopped for the whole afternoon and then left the shopping area to go the Avenue of Stars!
I really didn't know what Avenue of Stars is until Simba familiarized me with the photos my friends took in Facebook where they placed their hands on the ground to try and fit into the hands of the TV/Movie Stars. I also didn't know the Chinese of Avenue of Stars is 星光大道!
Tsim Sha Shui is the nearest MTR stop to Avenue of Stars. :D
We followed the friendly signs and reached within ten minutes.
The purpose of Avenue of Stars:
To pay tribute to outstanding professionals of Hong Kong's film industry, to promote tourism industry, and to consolidate Hong Kong's position as Asia's World City, the Avenue of Stars which is located at the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade was given a glittering official opening on 27 April 2004. It was opened to the public and visitors from all over the world from 28 April 2004 onwards.
We were slowly strolling our way there when the people around us started picking up their paces and saying to their peers that the performance was starting. We came by and heard people singing. And there were many elderly people singing old Cantonese songs. And we really thought this was The Performance. Lols!
But while The Performance was on the left side of me in this picture, everyone was looking on the right side of me instead. They were looking towards the river.
They were looking at the buildings beyond the river.
Then we heard louder music not from The Performance, but from the speakers around us.
Colourful lights began to appear on the buildings, and they flashed according to the rhythm of the music.
And then we realized that that was the real performance. Lols!
As we walked along, we saw many handprints of different movie stars on the ground. The more popular ones were always surrounded by people posing with their palms placed on the ground.
I took a zillion years to take a good photo of Bruce Lee cos everyone was too excited to take a photo with him in this posture. Lols. There were plenty of different heads, arms or legs as part of my photos before I finally took a more satisfying photo.
2 souvenir shops were in the small area. The small figurines of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan cost a bomb!
We also walked along the riverside to find the Clock Tower. When Miao knew that it was the Avenue of Stars and the Clock Tower we were heading next after Ocean Park, I asked her how the Clock Tower was like. Lols. She said it was just a tower with a clock. And it was so true! It is a tower with a clock on it! What I mean was I thought initially that we were allowed to enter it or see something unique. :D
But it wasn't a disappointment since it is a NICE tower with a clock on it.
Simba said this van sells the nicest soft ice cream. He loves soft ice cream which I had no idea of what it is. We tried one each, paid using our Octopus cards (cool!) and I like it too. Just that I still don't get the difference between soft ice cream and Vanilla ice cream. Okie! I know I have the least sensitive taste buds!
The ferry from Tsim Sha Shui goes directly to the Wan Chai area, where we were staying in!
We were so lucky as we were the last to rush for the last ferry! We was running to enter the gate as it closed on us.
In the ferry.
As we were the last to enter the ferry, the good seats which are those nearest to the windows were all taken, and so we couldn't enjoy the sea breeze and the awesome view of the buildings. :(
Then it was Day 6, our last day in Hong Kong. We went back to New Town Mall in Mongkok for more shopping. Lols. We skipped one destination "The Peak" on Day 4 but decided not to go there during Day 6 since it was far from our hotel and we might be in a hurry to catch our flight.
Definitely going to visit "The Peak" next time we go there. The Peak is not a shopping place by the way.
It (Chinese: 太平山, or previously- 扯旗山) is a mountain in Hong Kong. It is also known as Mount Austin, and locally as The Peak. The mountain is located in the western half of Hong Kong Island. With an altitude of 552 m (1,811 ft), it is the highest mountain on the island proper, but not in the entirety of Hong Kong, an honour which belongs to Tai Mo Shan.
The actual summit of Victoria Peak is occupied by a radio telecommunications facility and is closed to the public. However, the surrounding area of public parks and high-value residential land is the area that is normally meant by the name The Peak. It is a major tourist attraction which offers views over Central, Victoria Harbour, and the surrounding islands.
And because we decided on more shopping, I had to go and exchange for more HKD currency. Omg. We did a market survey and found out that one currency exchange shop in Causeway Bay had the best exchange rate. We went to Causeway Bay in the morning before going to Mongkok. It was a wrong decision since we saw the "We Sell" column instead of the "We Buy". Lols! I calculated and we lost about SGD10 for the exchange. Omg right!
New Town Mall is the place where u get the cheapest clothings in Hong Kong. I mean, other than the Street Markets. They aren't as cheap as Bangkok's or Taipei's but still worth it. :D
I bought about 15 pieces of clothings from there. Lols!
And finally, when we are all broke, we are all happy to make our way to the airport!
And the Hong Kong Airport, I tell you, is the one of the best airports I have been to. It has a great great viewing gallery. I went around taking photos of aeroplanes when there was a 10 minutes delay in boarding the plane.
We were running late to board the plane since we had some trouble finding the Airport Express train in the MTR station. Got us both panicky and all that. But when we reached the airport, we still spent some time looking around in shops. Once a shopaholic, always a shopaholic! :D
And guess what we found?
Disneyland is not over yet in the Hong Kong Airport.
Here is a souvenir shop which u still can get Disneyland stuff if u forgot to get them in Disneyland!
And we hurried to the viewing gallery where we could board our plane.
Could zoom in so clearly on the planes.
And in every Day 6 photo, Jun Wen was sulking. Lols. He couldn't bear to leave any country during our last day there.
When it was time to board the plane. Look at me all tanned and sunburned!
And sulking again in the plane. (Carine, so funny isn't it?)
Saw this toy in the catalog, so cute!
This time we watched "Paul", the Alien Comedy and then an episode of "The Big Bang Theory".
We didn't fall asleep this time round and finished all our food.
Asked also for a big cup of Baileys each. And when we wanted another cup, the air stewardess told us that we were going to land and the bar was closed. It was funny how even though u get free flow of alcoholic drinks on the plane, u eventually only get one. Cos after u finished dinner in the plane, u asked for a cup of Baileys and the plane was landing when u finished that cup. Next time I am going to drink a whole lot faster to make the money worth. Lols!
Still sad. Nothing I could do to cheer him up. He was singing the "Goodbye" song. Lols!
Our dinner!
Finally finished my entries on Hong Kong! Am I great or what! LOL!!!
Going for dinner with my poly friends now now! Sorry for any typo since I was typing really fast.
And ya.. Happy Birthday Shi Xing!!
