Channel 8 Dramas & Breaking Bad

The last Channel 8's drama series that I didn't miss any episode of was 小娘惹, which was screened 5 years ago. During that time, I was in my 2nd year in NTU and staying in the hostel that had limited entertainment, and because there was no (free) Catch-up TV back then, its last episode had our TV lounge's sofa warmed by us and many other hostel mates. First time in my life that I've seen the TV lounge crammed with people, most of which didn't mind standing for an hour to watch the show when no more seats were available. Lol.

I watched 当我们同在一起 that premiered soon after 小娘惹, but missed out on some episodes. What left a deep impression were our pitiful Joanne Peh (白薇秀） who became insane, and the showdown between 戴阳天 and 黄俊雄 in terms of their looks and acting skills.

Then... Despite the many reminders from friends to support local TV productions such as 对对碰, 最火搭挡，甘徬情，断掌的女人， 破天网， 星洲之夜，小子当家 and 警微天职，I only watched a few episodes of each while Simba watched most and even use Catch-Up TV if he missed any, and now I want to express remorse for my lack of support. :(


I did watch half of 小小传奇 because of Simba's constant reminders and was really impressed by 王禄江's acting as well as his effort to slim down (he's so slim now I initially thought he *touch wood* contracted cancer, then I realised that he had to act as a cancer patient in the show).


I am now at the latest episode 3 of the recently aired blockbuster 唐山到南洋, a year-end drama that recounts the travails of our first-generation Chinese immigrants who set foot into the island of Singapore to seek their fortunes and future (from Mediacorp website.) I shrieked in horror when Terence Cao (曹国挥) abuses his 3rd wife in the show! 

Gonna start supporting local dramas back again. I think I'm either losing touch or getting old. I don't know the names of all the new actors or actress belonging to the Strawberry Gen, my memory is just stuck at names of the Gen Y actors and actresses like Elvin Ng, Felicia Chin, Jesseca Liu, Joanne Peh and all.


I'm also gonna watch Breaking Bad since it is so highly critically acclaimed. :D

Spooktular Sentosa 2013.

Finally got down to planning a little. Started on the following random areas:

- Interior design.

- Bridesmaid dress.
- Fengshui Master.

Date of commencement - 9 Dec 2013
Position - Executive (Research)
Company - KTPH

The thought of starting on a job sets my heart aflutter as I won't know what to expect until I work there but at the same time I look forward to learning from scratch and hopefully liking what I will do. Most important of all, smart casuals are now back in the game since I didn't have a chance to wear them during my 2 years in research. LOL. At 26, I must admit that I'm a little late to pick out and assemble smart casuals with a smattering of taste and savoir faire, but still I hope I can get the gist of dressing up for work with aplomb soon. Now, this is my excuse to spy on working women and emulate their fashion sense. 

Time to revamp my wardrobe! Some advice from Simba that I finally heed - Go out and try on clothes, steer clear of online stores; staying at home and add clothes to cart does not guarantee that the clothes fit you. Lol. I bought 2 sets of formal wear from a physical store just for my interviews, and because I tried them on before "adding to cart", Simba responded zealously with "It's professional looking and fitting!" It was a sentence that sounded very positive on the superficial level but once you read between the lines, it sounded like "All these years the clothes you bought online were either too big or small since they were all free size!" 


In my next job, I want to be presented in a new light - I want to envision myself as twice as confident and less of fastidious. Buying a book titled '7 Secrets of Confidence' from the Bestsellers' section of the book fair is my first step to showing you and me my utmost sincerity. And one other problem that I should mitigate is my obsession of checking things a dozen times before submission, hence slowing processes down by quite a bit. :D I promise to keep in mind to improving these 2 aspects of me.

Have you found your funny friend yet? I believe that in your lifetime you should have met one who cracks you up no matter what he or she says. I just met her few months back. Every time before I meet her up I have to prep myself for some serious pain in the jaw. I cannot make out which is the reason; whether it's our culture difference (She's Korean, so maybe it's typical of Koreans to make such exaggerated expressions and analogies) or that she is just plain hilarious! A friend can make or break your day, but she never fails to make my day.


Spooktular Sentosa.

As the pictures I am about to show you are not gonna depict the fears I encountered in my spooktular trek in Spooktular Sentosa, here is a embedded video from The Ellen Show to reveal my exclusive countenance throughout the trek.
Every October, Ellen sends her writer Amy to a haunted house but this October, Amy has a companion, the Executive Producer Andy to brave through the storms with her in the AMC's The Walking Dead themed house.
In retrospect, I was not just Amy, I was Andy. LOL. :D

Once I reached the entrance, I was more than happy to go back home but thinking of the fee I had paid, I went in with a pulse rate exceeding 180 beats per min. 
Our Halloween deviated from the traditional Westernised festival since this time our organisers collaborated with the movie makers from Thailand to have us reminisced the 5 popular Thai movies, all with a horror genre. Which Singaporean didn't cringe in fear at the mention of the critically acclaimed Shatter and which didn't hear of the recent laugh-till-you-cry Pee Mak? 

This lady who was hanged in the movie "Coming Soon", was once again hanged and paraded in the street right where we strolled along. She was the loner whom everyone in the village thought was the link to missing children; they thought she devoured them and wanted to banish her so bad. 

Simba was the best evidence to show that I was there too. It was too much a chore to take photos for me since I maintained a one-arm's length distance with the ghosts (or talents) having witnessed the twin sisters (Janghwa & Hongryeon) stretch their arms to scare girls during photo taking in the 2011 Halloween Horrors event.

Simba acted out his fear near the made-believe altars. 

Friendly Thai ghost who eats bones for breakfast and wears Havaianas slippers.

I hate it when the ghost stretched out his arm and bend his fingers in a claw-like manner.

Lol. Surrealism is truly a powerful art since it makes people believe that it is real when in fact it isn't. Even though we know that the Mickey Mouse in Disneyland is indeed just a human being dressed in thick fur and wore overweight ears, we don't hesitate to hug it and tell others that we saw Mickey Mouse in person.

The cordial ghost who greets people. Sawadee Ka to you too. 
Tuck Wei and Jun Wen had remarkably similar expressions - they looked cunning despite their attempt to look fearful. 

Joe just couldn't contain his urge to laugh at their silliness and dearest Junwen was still photobombing them.

While I was in the washroom fighting shy of the tense atmosphere, the guys goofed around with the ghosts!

I hate to break it to TW and JW, but they certainly need to take acting classes.

A ghost in the Tuk Tuk became the celebrity of the day since the gallant suitors had to get in line to get into a photoshoot with her. Was she the driver who met with a fatal accident or the casualty of the accident? It's funny how JW posed as if he needs to kickstart the engine.

My first picture with a ghost, because I reassured myself that she wouldn't alight from the Tuk Tuk anytime soon just to attack me. A new face here in my blog and she is Jacelyn, TW's friend.

The intruder who punctuated the conversations in the queue for entry into a haunted house by standing behind or beside us without our knowledge.

To my consternation, she crept next to me while I was playing with my phone. I rated her 4/5 on the horror meter because of her hooded eyes which could kill when she used them to stared right into yours. Crimson blood dripping down her face from a presumably gunshot wound exuded her deep grudges and hatred towards her murderer. Now, what I don't understand is her drawn-on bloody dark eye circles. Lol.

It was a ridiculously long queue for each haunted house and when it was finally gonna be our turn, a ripple of excitement spread through everyone - everyone except me of course.  I stepped into the house with lots of regrets and trepidation.

A group photo with the ghost in the midst of us. The photographer thought that the Malay couple behind us in the queue was with us, so they were in the picture too. Lol. It was a nuisance when the staff instructed the girls to lead the way, and I was very unwilling to be separated from Simba as he would be so guilty when I became increasingly terrified and would shield me from all ghosts of all shapes and sizes. 

However the 5-minute walk in the maze turned out to be more hilarious than scary, which was a relief for me. The Malay girl was pretty much as timid as I was, so she grasped hold of me and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was so funny when he told us when to slow down our pace and anticipate when the ghosts will emerge. 

"Stop stop stop! I saw her feet. It's her there okie?"
"The heads are going to come out from the holes on the table, be prepared ok?" (And he poked his head right into the hole, so the ghosts aren't coming out as they were fearful that their heads might just bump onto his.) LOL.
"There, she come out already.. It's nothing, u see, nothing much."

I was traumatised near the end of the trail when the spotlight landed precisely on a ghost who was beside us on the photo shoot stage. 

Pee Mak - the men in the movie did a dance ritual so that they can escape the ghost unscathed.

The brave people of my sec sch clique. It was Joe's and TW's maiden trek in an Halloween event and they did great. They were at all times calm and indifferent towards the ghosts.
TW led the way in all the other houses and casually flipped the curtains away for us to cross through every door safely, never fearing that a ghost will appear suddenly and surprise him.
It was really funny when he gave the ghost (with black long unkempt hair covering her face) a cold shoulder as she blocks his way again and again in the darkness, and even asked her for the way out later on.
Joe eavesdropped on my conversation with Simba and uncovered the whole truth about how I fought for survival in the house - I merely kept my eyes on the floor throughout my previous trails. Despite his encouragements for me to look straight in the next house, I was not able to face my fears with courage.

Simba was looking forward to this event since ages ago but was utterly disappointed by the long queues, short trails, non-threatening ghosts and the sluggish creativity in ornamenting the haunted houses. Relative to the USS Halloween Horrors we went to in 2011, this was nothing to him.
So to draw ghosts to him, he would draw in gasps of air upon seeing them since the more surprised you look, the more they would play along and follow you.

After the least scary trek in the Pee Mak haunted house. The skeletons weren't sturdy enough to withstand harsh treatments from the public. We were guessing that some boys tugged one so hard that a bone has fallen out.

The talent had his face veiled by a sack  and I wonder if he had difficulty breathing underneath the thick layer. Sigh, 钱真难赚! Who else had a good laugh just by looking at this ghost who is faceless and had blonde locks framing his sack-like face?

Another failed attempt of TW's taking advantage of the roadside lighting to look eerie.

Dorm.
Before entering the haunted school, TW would kill for a picture with it. His intense passion for a selfie penetrated his surrounding atmosphere so much so that Ling and Jacelyn felt it too. They jumped out of the picture the moment I clicked the snap button!

Feeling that he has been treated like a castaway, he requested for a group photo! Sorry TW, u know we never meant for you to be hurt.

The school was hurdled with a couple of dark, narrow passageways that impeded our pace in exploring it. The whole place was so dark that we could not see anything ahead of us, and was perhaps the reason why we were told to form a human train before heading in. Simba led the way and crashed onto walls sometimes and gave an occasional laugh when a schoolboy ghost jumped out from nowhere. The ghosts got really bored as they didn't look frightening enough to trigger some screams. One even asked me to look at him so I had no other choice than to greet him with a friendly hello before rushing off with Simba! (Talents aren't supposed to talk to the public, so I guess they must be bored stiff!). Not trying to be sexist here, but male ghosts aren't half as scary as female ones. Towards the end of the trail, the schoolboys just gave up and directed us towards the exit. Lol.

The last image of the trek and it contains me with corpse bride and transvestite ghost.

Remove corpse bride's make up and u should see a beautiful lady beneath.

Then to Siloso beach for some beer and drumettes with SX and his gf!

The promotion they had for that night was a 2-for-2 jugs of beer. Cool deal we have here.

Jacelyn and SX's gf. And his gf who missed out on all the horror told ghost stories to get into our mood. Lol.

Patience is a virtue and it gets you thinking.

Tasting blood whenever I chew. :D The orthodontist is now helping to pull a tooth from my lower jaw back straight up and after this my set of teeth will be pretty much organised. So then for these few days, my diet became 50% of a meal mixed with blood (Oh God, and oh Ying, I am truly sorry for wasting half of my food).

Have u ever felt like if you want something so bad, u would most likely not get it?

Or if u really got it and thanked god a trillion times, that very thing transpired to be not as good as u expected and u started questioning yourself on why u longed for it in the first place.

When the one that u didn't wish for comes into your life and because you had reservations about it at the beginning, u didn't know how blessed u are, being surrounded by awesome colleagues and boss, and everything smooth. (Sigh, but not every job is like my ex-internship company's, and not everyone's extent of kindness can match up to my ex-internship supervisor's.) 

Have I lost you? I kinda lost myself here somewhere while rambling on and on about nothing. 

U know my mid-life crisis isn't over... Everything about me is still up in the air. However, at least, I have learnt it the hard way that only patience will get me the job that I truly desire, and only patience to wait for a suitable one will make my wait worthwhile. 


For the short duration of 2 weeks, I was shortlisted for 8 interviews. LOL. Simba was so right; I am one person who unquestionably lacks self-control, whether in the number of resumes I send out every few days, or the amount of food I stuff myself with in a buffet, or the amount of milk tea I drink per day. Self-control predicts success, so in other words, I am still very far from personal success, U think???


After my 4th interview, I relentlessly rejected the 5th till the 8th one even though I was not formally informed that I was offered any employment. To make things more peculiar, I even went to celebrate the end of all my interviews with Simba over a Korean feast. LOL. 
No wonder my friends said boldness is in my genes. First I resigned from a job without finding a new one first, and then I don't go for any more interviews without knowing if I have secured one already. That's me, you know, steadfast but random and foolishly courageous!


By the 4th interview, I whose middle name is Milquetoast, can be bold and chatty in front of the panel of interviewers. Lol. I even made it a point to smile occasionally, and was flabbergasted by how I could do that.

1st interview: Despite going for the 2-min crash course on how to excel in an interview at Youtube, I was still pretty freaked out in it. Perhaps cos the interviewer exhibited an air of arrogance, looked me straight in the eye and bombarded me with questions.

For a mellow person like me, I knew right from the start I'm never gonna score this. I knew it. I knew that something would go wrong with this one since they called me on the same day I submitted my resume. The job scope was to handle clinical feedbacks and complaints, and work with doctors and lawyers on any pending law suits. Not quite me huh lol. 

The following day, I began interviewing candidates at the tuition centre with my Korean boss, and after several rounds of it, I realised that it all boils down to one thing: it doesn't matter what you say, but how u say it. 
You know it right from the start whether that person has a likeable personality or not. And you know it right from when you see him/her, whether he/she is the one. (Not quite like dating though. Lol.)



My top choice was a position from my 3rd interview; it is a perm job, has some kind of career progression, and I get to recruit patients for clinical trials, help conduct clinical trials, write grant application and research papers and most importantly, I hold the interviewer in high regard and admire the research and simulation his lab does. 

The interviewer is a hand surgeon. He wasn't particularly friendly; in fact, he was actually pretty aloof. However he is the first interviewer that I, when came face-to-face with, surprised myself by not feeling intimidated and the adrenaline rush, something I am not proud of but am extremely capable of. Instead I presented my true self.  

He was straight to the point, never sarcastic, very humble and very meticulous.
He did not ask me those typical questions like what the others would, questions like:  
- What can you tell me about yourself? 
- Why choose a healthcare organisation?
- Why apply for this position?
- What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
- How receptive are you to patients?
- What do you see yourself in 3 years' time?
... And many others that need you to boast or something along that line.

Some of the questions he asked were: 
- Relevant experiences?
- How many clinical trials did you do before?
- Written grant applications?
- What about manuscripts?
- Good Clinical Practice certification?
- Languages you know? (Once I said Mandarin and English, he asked, "Any others?" I was a little embarrassed telling him that I could only listen to Teochew and Hokkien and couldn't articulate well with them.)

He hung on every word I said and noted everything down so quickly that it became illegible (You know, doctors.) He was just genuinely looking for someone who can do the job.

And he went:
No GCP? Okay, u need to get one.
No experience in Microsoft Access? You need to learn it.

You need to have good communication skills,

take some initiative, be independent ....

Can you do that?

He thinks more than he speaks, and I like it. I think working with him will make me wanna be a voracious learner, since I always like a man of few words, and this doctor? Definitely one such man. 

The 4th interview was for me to try for the position of an Executive, and the job scope is to be assigned with problematic HIV and TB patients and make sure that they adhere strictly to the appointments and medication, and educate (nag) them. Although I can be pretty naggy, but I can't imagine nagging people as a job, so then this became my 3rd choice. I didn't expect that 2 days later, the HR called and asked me to go for another position which involves research in improving care and safety for ageing patients; she said it is more relevant to me. Lol. Can't get research out of my life, can I?

I accepted the job from my 2nd interview which was my 2nd choice. I always thought that I want nothing more to do with research, but guess what? My 1st and 2nd choices are both research related, while the 3rd and 4th aren't.
The 3 interviewers from my 2nd interview were not just run-of-the-mill nice but really very genial, and the other people there awesome! From asking from directions from the counter staff, to bumping into my ex-course junior who is currently working there (and coincidentally the same department), to ordering food from the canteen auntie, to the Human Resource personnel, to the interviewers, everything was very very pleasant. 

After being assured by my ex-course junior that my future small and big bosses (both Operations Managers) are both chatty and amicable people, I decided to wait no more. Dear new hospital, I hope u will be a great place to work in! 
Heard of the newly implemented tele-conferences between elderly patients and practitioners to ease the burdens of travelling and heightened consultation fee? I will be analysing the effectiveness of this program, and then evaluating it. 

A print screen of the jobscope:

So dears, I'm no longer unemployed. Hope I will like the job and do well in it! Wish me luck! :D

Dear Gary II

Dear Gary,

Browsing through your Instagram posts pains me; I didn't know u went to Marina Bay Sands and our Rochor Beancurd shop. If not I would be there watching you from afar, and risked being jostled by and then trampled on by other fan girls or pepper sprayed on by the guards (Lolol). You and I are at Singapore at this time, what are the odds of such fate? (Lololol!) I regretted not striking while the iron is hot - not coming to see u when I was given the once-in-a-yeartime chance. Sigh... :( :( Next time, by hook or by crook, I will be at the VIP area to grab your feet. (Lol)

Signing off again,

Your ardent fan

Interviews

Applied for too many positions at too many companies at one go, and landed up having flooded with interview appointments in the same week. Lol! 

Entirely different feeling when interviewing people and being interviewed. The latter = $TRE$$!

Note to self: I shall not be all fidgety in my seat as it distracts the interviewer(s). A swivel chair in the interview room with your butt should not spin even if it is meant to be spun.  Shake the interviewer's hand before putting your bag down. Still wanna buy clothes? Then buck up, you!

More notes to self: "Ah-huh" and "hm" mean yes so just say yes. Lol! And can you just sit in the middle of the chair??

Horrors filled Evening.

My initial thought that this space will be updated more frequently now that I'm in between jobs was so wrong! I became occupied with helping out at the tuition centre, catching Running Man's newest episodes on Mondays, The Big Bang Theory's on Thursdays and The Walking Dead's on Sundays, and most importantly going for interviews.

Interviewing candidates for the tuition centre is an enriching and brand new experience. I can totes learn from them; they didn't let anxiety penetrate their thoughts and speech, but let them flow so fluently in answering the questions. :D

Application for a volunteer in Save Our Street Dogs is currently forwarded to the relevant authority in-charge! Let's pray that my self-introduction in the application will come off as sincere so that I get to help dogs by matching them to future kind owners, thereby finding new and suitable homes for them! :D
(I wanted to help by cleaning cages, walking dogs and feeding them but I'm not confident that the knees can handle such chores, so I hope I can help by being a Rehomer.)

Last Saturday I was at Sentosa Spooktacular! Will update you with details of the event soon but right now, I need to prepare for my interview tomorrow. :D

Here is an evidence of us outside the tram at Vivo and waiting to be spooked!

Dear Gary

Dear Gary,

Today marks the most significant event of my year; the Running Man fan meet is finally here, but I'm gravely sorry that I'm not going. I have just resigned from my job, so spending $496 ($248x2) for 2 VIP seats to see you is too extravagant. :( 

Simba is right; that amount of money could get us the best seats at Jay Chou's concert. 

I was very touched when I saw you thanking the Beijing fans in your previous Instagram post. Plenty of fan girls commented that you are so handsome up close. Argh...!

Maybe next time alright?

xoxo

Your ardent fan

Thank You. Career. Mid-life Crisis.

A long note to thank you.

Happy birthday Mum and Dad, and Thank You.



My parents are pretty easy-going, happy-go-lucky folks so I sense that I could plan the wedding without much objections from them. Thank You Mum and Dad who always spoil me!

Just this week, Dad was behind me all along as I walked home from the MRT, and he was such a close proximity to me that I sensed his presence. The moment I spotted an uncle from the corner of my eye, I thought that he was some weird uncle, so I turned and almost glowered at him before I realised it was Dad all along. He burst out laughing, and carried both my bag and dinner for me all the way home (and I gave them to him naturally without realising it. Omg I'm such a BAD daughter I tell you!).

Every time after I finish dinner and just before I wash the dishes, Dad would quickly wash them for me. No matter how many times I told him not to do them and that I would do them myself, he would not listen. So from then on it became fastest fingers first.

During the few weeks after my surgery, I was really touched that Dad took many days' leave to take me to the hospital for weekly checkups and physiotherapy sessions. There was once when the wheelchair wasn't working well and he used a lot of strength to push it. Younger bro wanted to take over but he insisted adamantly that he has the strength to (when he was panting and perspiring all the while). Bro and I agreed that the head of our family is egoistic and always wants to take things in his hands.

Once I fell and went home to wail, telling Dad that I would never ever recover from this condition even after the surgery, but Dad said in a comforting tone, "Tsk tsk tsk.. This is only one small setback. How can you deal with bigger things next time if you can't even deal with this? Give it time and you will recover.."
For that 30 mins he just stood in my room with occasional "tsk tsk tsk" which is quite cute actually. LOL. And he is right; I have not suffered any fall since then.

Got really emotional tidying up my room, as I delved into my secret stash of old toys and found some lifeless Barbie dolls staring at me (they scare me out of my wits now), my collection of Polly Pocket houses, the Yellow Ranger's dagger and belt, some plastic jewellery, sewing kits, origami and handmade plastic flowers (Mum paid for my Art & Craft lessons), and some other Disney themed keychains. I can't decide which is the most expensive toy now, whether it was a small inflatable pool where Barbie can get a tan from her personalised suntanning bench and swim in with a float or the big magnetically geared Polly Pocket neighbourhood where you can control the plastic tiny figurines using a joystick. Then I realised they bought me so many toys despite earning not so much. :~) Mum still keeps the flowers that I made myself in a vase even though they are all dusty and tattered.

Mum had executed her plan of extorting more and more money from me ever since I began working, and drew up a business plan (without discussing with me) about the childcare package she wants me to take up next time when I have children. Lol.

Mum and Dad are the cutest people ever.


Thank you My Friends.

Thank you my dear friends who got so animated by the proposal news! Your reaction was a far cry from what I expected, as I thought you guys won't be as excited since the engagement is an expected thing after Simba and I bought an apartment a year ago. Maybe friends are really thrilled that I'm advancing to the next phase of my life and that is worth getting excited over! Anyways.. I'm so touched by how passionately you guys reacted.

Friends started congratulating me, asking to see the diamond ring or referring Jun Wen to my husband/fiance the moment we met up!

Bumping into TW in the train few days after the proposal was epic as he flexibly popped his head up down left right hoping to see the ring on my finger. Lol.

When Jason asked to see the ring and I said it was with the jewellery shop (I went to exchange for a size bigger), he suggested to dip my ring into hot water and problem solved. Lol! Weirdest but funniest suggestion ever!

Kept meeting different cliques of friends after that and some friends shook my hand so intensely that it kind of hurt (still in disbelief that my hand was bruised from the massage I did earlier at KSL).

My sec sch friends actually listened attentively to my whole detailed proposal story that lasted an hour or so, which I thought was a very noble act. T.T

Though it took about two weeks for the ring to be returned back to me, it was all worth it since first of all it was free, and we got to engrave words on it for free! (I couldn't stand myself for being cheapo. Initially I rejected the salesgirl's suggestion of engraving thinking that it may be costly but once she said it was free, I sealed the deal. Lol.) 

Utter remorse was how I felt after telling everyone that the ring size was small and went ahead to exchange for size bigger, but now it hung loosely on my finger. In the end, the one he bought in the first place was the right size. Lol.

Anyways.. Guys if you are going to propose I can help u compare my finger to your girlfriend's and gauge her ring size, now that I have heeded some advices dispensed by the Jewellery Specialist.


Thoughts about the proposal.

One of the life principles taught by Mum that I always try to uphold was to be appreciative and contented. Mum just needs me to be average and simple in everything, and she says this is the key to happiness. Hence, I never want to compete or compare with others because we are onto different sets of beliefs, had different goals and aspirations, and at different paces of our lives.

If ever I were a fictional character of the SIMS computer game, the aspiration to create me under would be the love aspiration. To me, I think that love makes the world go round and having a good boyfriend makes my life beautiful. I find my persevering belief in "Happily Ever After" could be largely due to my liking for Fairy Tales books, perhaps cos I had read Cinderella a dozen times. And of course who can forget Walt Disney Pictures that emphasise on happy endings?

Life has been kind to me - I lead an average life but I have a more than average boyfriend. 

As cliched as it sounds, I know Simba will take the stars out from of the sky for me just like how my dad would, if I ever want them.

I always think about how my future husband will look like when I was young. Or whether I will have a husband or not. Weren't you a little curious about who your special someone will be in this lifetime? I always picture mine as tall, dark and fat, all of which don't spell jun wen. Lol. Then I told myself that he always think as himself as tall, and he gets tanned for a while after a hell of a sunburn and he was fat for nearly half a year. So yeah he's the one, if we don't look into great detail.

All the waiting for the right guy was finally worth it.

I mean, who else would be so penny-pinching on himself in order to treat me to some good food or some good film? He only eats the $2.90 nasi lemak set from ALLGOOD or the $2 chicken rice from Cafe Lobby on days where he eats alone, and thinks for ah hour before buying a discounted PS3 game that costs $40. (All his other PS3 games were loaned from his best friend who was willing to be the giver in the friendship. Lol.)

Who else can survive through clips of Running Man (overdosed with Gary) when the only things he finds funny in there are Kwang Soo and his background music?

Who else lets me choose all the songs in the KTV and sings along in every song I chose?

Who else will buy himself only one tee and use up all his vacation money to buy me clothes and accessories from Bangkok, after I casually said I wanted him to bring back all the fashion from there?

Who else will spam me with knowledge from the National Geographic, international news and more vocabulary, when all I ever tell him was how pretty that dress is? 

And becos I'm so love aspired, it's undeniable that I'm an overly attached girlfriend.

The days after he got diagnosed with the disease were devastating. Gradually, I became withdrawn to the thought of marriage. My condition is hereditary and his could be too. I remembered asking Ying over lunch with tears in my eyes, "How can our children be happy if they get one of our conditions? How would they then lead their lives?"

I lost hope. Whenever people asked about when I was gonna get married, I said I developed pre-wedding jitters and didn't want to get married just yet. My self-esteem became self-destructive, as I thought I will bring more harm than good to him. 

Until he started to recover. Until then I got some sleep and stopped blaming myself for things that I can't control. 

I'm finally getting married. T.T

I promise I will not say I'm not ready for marriage to anyone anymore.

Now I want to say...

I'm ready to build our lives together. 

Slowly but surely.

And this is my fiancé.

Disoriented after THE proposal:
"Oh no did I just propose?"



BUT IT'S TOO LATE FOR REGRETS...
COS...
I AM......

OVERLY ATTACHED!

Lol!! 

Exercising

Ever since I resigned about 1 week back, I have been doing what I have been intending to do all this while but didn't have the time to - things like leafing through bridal magazines, delving into wedding studio pages, choosing a not-so-mainstream wedding solemnisation venue, tidying up my room and thinking about what to do next, that is of course other than slumping onto my couch and watch sitcoms.

But all these won't do if I want to be a slimmer bride next year. I had to hire him as my personal fitness instructor and after lots of persuasion, he said,

Lol!!!

(Currently I'm hiring him as my admin help for my tuition work at $5/hr. Child labour, u don't say?)


Career

I was offered full-time at the Korean tuition centre that I've been working in every Saturday for almost a year now. My Korean boss is a benevolent lady and I'm really fortunate to have met her this life. 

I would agree to it immediately if it was me a year ago. But now my mind complicates itself, especially when it dawned on me one day that I need more than just a job - I need a career to see me through life.

Tutor as a career? I dunno. Much to my surprise just as I thought everyone is gonna dissuade me from becoming a tutor, my parents and Simba asked me to give it a go. They said I enjoy teaching a lot; Dad even asked me to go get an NIE cert! 

My mid life crisis, not knowing what to do when it isn't mid life yet.

...........

I'll put in my deepest thoughts and update you. 

Petaling Street. Berjaya Times Square. Mid-Valley Mall.

My day of my wedding solemnisation will most likely be on 13th September 2014, his birthday. There may be a change of date though, depending on the fortune teller. Mum and Dad said it is a MUST to go through the motions to ask for an auspicious date, but were reluctant to take the initiative. They simply said in coherence, "Leave everything to his parents, it's their responsibility. 我们是女方，我们什么都不用做。”


With just a few sentences, it became 

apparent that they just wanna sit through the whole wedding thing.

Lol. 

When I asked if we could ask around for one "celebrity" fortune teller and recommend him, 

again they said no, the girl should never do anything.

Presenting to you my mum and dad who are too "proud" to help.



Pre- and Post Proposal at KL.

Day 1.
It was only 10am when we reached the hotel, so we took a stroll around the hotel area while waiting for the Time Square mall to open, and found Petaling Street by chance (Lol, no map, no tourist information, no nothing from the hotel)!

Prolific in turning heads, stores lining Petaling Street that sell these congratulation gifts overshadow the others which sell typical counterfeit goods.

We usually only see small bears as part of the adornment to the flowers but Minions and Pikachu?? First time first time. I bet these minion-ornamented flowers were selling like hot cakes, since Despicable Me had just been taken down from the screens but would dwell in people's hearts for a while.

He had the dubious honour to be the ambassador of Petaling Street for a minute.

This fellow gave me a sudden jolt of surprise at the cinema when he attributed his support to "Petaling Street Warriors", a movie starred by Mark Lee, instead of some angmoh movie I told him to book that day. Deceit usually holds the key to unhappiness, but he was lucky that I didn't lunge at him; after all I have long accepted his awkward character.

Took a cab that takes about 5 mins at RM12 to get to Berjaya Times Square.
Most cab drivers don't turn on their meter to charge passengers according to the distance travelled because seemingly they don't earn much from letting it run, so they have to quote a price at the beginning before the passenger willingly hop into the vehicle.




We stood outside the mall for awhile hoping to catch some less busy tourists that have integrity imprinted on their heads to help us with a photo, and our patience didn't go to waste since tourists from Middle East were so enthusiastic with it!

Two of them rushed into the picture with one imitating his signature "I just want to say Hello, hello" gesture. So cute!

Guardian Lion of Times Square.
Bet all of you have seen the SGAG photo about a Chinese Guardian Lion's hangover that has gone viral weeks ago. LOL.

If you haven't, I have embedded it here:

The primal job of Chinese guardian lions was to provide protection for the building behind where they stood, but looks like someone has been drinking and is not doing his job well! :D

Simba was shrewd to say that the angle was taken really well. The standing lion in the 1st photo looked like it was utterly startled by his friend who fell on his face from that angle. And for the 2nd photo, the lions faced each other like they were conversing. Cool! However, he advised that they should recycle the same lions to present a more realistic story.

The Minion Craze. It was unexpected of me to not buy one out of impulse and even analysed it before deciding not to buy. The minion toy is bean bag material which I like but its eye(s) and goggle(s) were printed, so it's a pity! I really don't want those innocent-looking eyes to disappear few months down the road.



After searching high and low for Marrybrown, we finally found it at a secluded corner of the entire level.

I ordered my usual - a Fortune set (2 pc chicken) while he chose some wrap. 

The milo was bad, really bad.

Some supposedly artistic pic. Marrybrown features dining on a garden swing, to reminisce eh maybe eating fried chicken while playing on a swing when you were young. :D



First time for him as a patron to this fast food restaurant, so he set the timer on my camera. I was pretty embarrassed since it was just a fast food restaurant and the country bumpkin took numerous photos.

He liked the one-seater swing too.

I wondered how his childhood was like, but I derive at a conclusion that I'd rather not know.

My first kill was this iPhone 4 cover that costs only RM10. iPhone 4 covers became rare after iPhone 5 got launched in Singapore, so I can't possibly pass up an opportunity to buy one of these in Malaysia. Unlike in Singapore, iPhone 4 covers were everywhere! I'm really grateful that my current phone stuck with me for so long and nah I'm not gonna change to a new model until it bails on me out of its own will.

Wandered to the Mini Taipei section of the mall but the shops in there were extremely disappointing. 




Haha! It's time for some antics.

Like many guys, he adores his silhouette and loves nothing like his own reflection, so he went over to the opposite side and hinted for a photo of his silhouette.

We couldn't find anything that we like in Times Square but nonetheless we walked around aimlessly to pass time and that was when the Gangnam Style music permeates the mall.

After which, we found our way up to the observatory of the Twin Towers.

And waited at the Petronas mall for our dinner. 

Then at the restaurant where we were greeted by a panoramic view of the lit city.

At the patio of the restaurant. Enhanced this photo taken by the waiter's camera. The angle was a little off since I was back facing the camera but at least his comical expression could be seen. Lol. (There was actually another pic with him kneeling down and slipping the ring onto my finger but it was so blur I can't savage it.)

Although Simba was slipshod to have leaked his intention to propose to me a week ago and the waiters are not very instrumental in giving us some privacy, it was overall still a dinner to be remembered.
I hope that my human adaptive nature to the norm will slow down a little so that I can be happy about that day for a prolonged time.

Day 2.

As the hotel didn't provide the American breakfast (lol), we wandered around its premises and found a row of shophouses across the street which is the potentially the place for us to have our breakfast.

Sometimes I think he is super thick-skinned to be able to ignore those looks from onlookers.

The cart stores sold jerseys, twin tower souvenirs and unauthentic handbags.

We ate fried chicken again as he wanted to taste the goodness of KFC in another country.

Our next destination was the Mid-Valley Mega Mall where we shopped till we dropped. The mall has those typical shops that we usually see in Singapore's shopping malls but we still bought many from these instead of looking out for those that are uniquely Malaysian.

Waking up earlier than usual made us lethargic and in need for some caffeine. The mini plush wild critter moose (from IKEA) was there to accompany us at Coffee Bean. This moose was supposed to be part of the artwork that he did for the proposal, but it ultimately didn't fit into any leftover space, so he gave it to me as an isolated present.

Yup, now tell me where the moose can fit into.
The fat bride and groom were finger puppets from IKEA, and part of a set, so there were many other unused puppets. One of the puppets is a baby which he intended to put beside the bride and groom but his mum was against the idea, arguing that marriage should be between 2 people and everything should just come in pairs.
He bought the decorative papers from Paper Market. :D

Couldn't resist buying a Korean rabbit in Malaysia. Found the 1st rabbit at a cart store in Korea selling at S$20, and this at $23 in Malaysia's mall. And the ones sold at Plaza Sing were $29.90.

Animal cruelty - Force feeding rabbit with coffee. 

My tutee has been bugging me to let her drink a sip from my coffee but I have to keep saying no. 

"Children shouldn't drink coffee" was my reason, although ironically adults shouldn't drink it too.

Goofing around



More and more goofing before he finally...

... nestled in the armchair and dozed off.

30 mins after his power nap.

Watched "The Frozen Ground" to get a feel of watching a movie in an overseas theatre. Lol.

With nothing better to do while waiting for the light indicating that we could go into the theatre to flicker.

He was dissatisfied with the outcome of the previous photo and exclaimed, "NOOOOOO you should just take the picture of the rabbit and the puma." But let's scrutinise the photo again, don't you think he went ahead and posed for it?

Forced the rabbit into the puma's mouth.

Conveniently, he put the rabbit into a huge crack in one of the pillars. Lol.

I was secretly glad that at this time we were allowed into the theatre. The theatre seats were huge but limited and I think one can easily seat two people. Cool!

Since our dinner reservation at No Black Tie wasn't till later, 

we went back to the hotel to put down our shopping bags.

Before I ended this post abruptly, I wanna show you 2 videos that Simba recommended, one of which I'm sure you have already viewed from your friend's Facebook share:

The Fox by Ylvis, which went international.

Stonehenge by Ylvis.

I like this, witty and amusing. :D

Ylvis, a pair of brothers from Norway, who make hilarious music videos to entertain their audience.