Day 37

If someone told you:

'There's a rule in this state that says you can take a right on red, if you stop first at the red light.'

'What if a judge told you that you can't turn right on red- that you must stay stopped until the lights goes green again, even if there's a sign in front of you that specifically says RIGHT TURN ON RED. What would you do?'

I just finished reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. The lines are from a scene where the lawyers were screening jurors. The setup and question was a way to weed out the people who can't see past convention. If you chose not to turn right, you understand that rules aren't always what you think they are. If you turn right, welcome to the club.

Day 36

"Stomach flu" is a misnomer -- influenza, or flu, is an infection of the respiratory system and has nothing to do with the discomfort in your gut that occurs when one of the previously mentioned viruses produce inflammation in your stomach and intestines. The results are usually nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and abdominal cramps. You also might get a headache, chills, muscle aches, and fatigue.

Stomach flu viruses are transmitted through direct contact as well as indirect contact (touching something that's carrying the germs of an infected person, such as a countertop, a toy, or a toilet, and then touching your mouth). Noroviruses can also be spread through food (commonly shellfish, vegetables, and salad greens) and through contaminated water.

I've got stomach flu for 1 week and passed it on to Leng who's having her exams. I've got it twice already in 4 months. *Sigh* My condition was more severe than Leng, but it was good to have her company. Lol. Cos she'll copy whatever remedy I try. We ate po chai pills, charcoal pills, even applied the medicated oil that I hate so much. (reason 1: it has a smell that reminds me of old women, reason 2: putting it is like announcing to the whole wide world that you have diahrrea.) The only thing we didn't do the same was that she drank salt wated. Yeewww....

Anyway I just wanted to bring up some home care tips. We had this disagreement with our Dad whether we should drink Vitagen. He said that it was a milk products and milk products are a "no-no" when you've got diarrhea. However, the Vitagen ads have sold us on the idea that it contains good bacteria that can fight harmful bacterial like e.coli blah blah blah...

This is what howstuffworks.com said:

"Active cultures of beneficial bacteria (probiotics) make diarrhea less severe and shorten its duration. Probiotics can be found in yogurt with active or live cultures and in supplements."

So......we won! Even though the label says "Cultured Milk Drink", it's safe to drink. Yay! ^_^y

Other tips i didn't know:

1) You shld not take caffeinated beverages.
2) Eat stuff like rice, dry toast, and bananas. I don't know abt rice and toast, but I think bananas help because they replenish the sodium lost.

I also went to the ENT specialist and dentist this week.

Outcome:
1) I found out that the clinical dignosis for having a problematic tap-like nose is Rhinitis. I've to be on nasal spray for 2 months. I think it could have been avoided if I had faithfully stuck to it a few years back. At that time I didn't perserve because I didn't like spraying things into my nose. But I found out on Monday what could be worse......having the doctor put a scope down your nostrils. I really need to get my nose cured so that I don't have to go for so many examinations whereby they put foreign objects into your nose. $64 for something so mentally and physically discomforting.

2) I came out of the dentist feeling so smug that I wondered whether it showed on my face and if my brother would punch me because....well I looked so smug. Haha. The dentist said my teeth was well-maintained, no need for fillings whatsoever. I was feeling smug because it was my first dental checkup in like some 6, 7 years and he said it was well-maintained. But it was a real neighbourhoody kind of neighbourhood clinic, I did feel like getting a second opinion when I came out of the clinic, but it was easier and cheaper to let smugness take over.

Day 35

For quite some years I've been hating the Nov-Jan period. It rains all day, making the days seem long and melancholic. I used to like the rainy season when I was in kindergarden and primary school. Was very perplexed when they taught us to sing "rain rain go away". But now I find the wet weather intolerable. One because the weather changes have become more extreme due to global warming that it drizzles are few and downpours aplenty. Two because I now suffer from the "cold feet syndrome" literally and I really can't stand the cold.

There were not enough warm bodies on the 19th floor today and I was freezing. Was holed up in my cubicle doing research on SMEs. This is what I found:


Got a presentation again this week. This time I don't feel good about it because I've got 70 slides but only enough time for 15. And how I suck at summarizing. Have a few days more to get my act together.

心理測驗

心理測驗題目：什麼原因會讓你想哭?

排一下自己最易哭的原因! (1是最容易 , 5是最不容易)

a.感動 b.傷心 c.痛( 是肉體, 不是心靈) d.生氣 e.擔心/緊張


My results∼

感動：不是跟你很熟的人覺得你是......
一個傻傻的人。怪怪的。想做什麼就做什麼。不過很可愛。

傷心：跟你很熟的人覺得你是......
對很多事都要求很高的人。不過有很多時候都太固執。

痛：你想要別人覺得你是......
不是那麼容易接近的人。

生氣：你最希望你的情人是......
智慧很重要。可以管得到你的人。而且要講道理。

擔心 /緊張：其實真實的你是......
直接的人。很多時候因為這樣的性格跟別人不合。希望有多一點人可以了解你, 特別是你喜歡的人。

Day 34

Was overwhelmed by a sense of achievement at work on Friday. We were supposed to submit our slides for today's meeting but a new finding came up in the morning which tripped our entire analysis. But it is in times like that where we are forced to work under pressure that we produce the best results. Managed to work around the problem and came up with a convincing flow of argument. I like these kinds of scenarios, they remind me of school whereby we rushed to meet project deadlines=]

I came up with a follow-up for the THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO ON THE JOB:

CORPORATE JARGON YOU WILL ENCOUNTER IN THE CIVIL SERVICE:
* gain traction * bandwidth * my sense is * organic * bounce off * touch base * higher-ups * table papers * give heads-up * get buy-in * discuss offline * tranche * escalate to * levers * exigencies *...(and all sorts of acronyms).

Day 33

Saturday was nvac appreciation dinner. The dinner was passable, I barely remember what we ate. Only remember there were a lot of candies being passed around and I stopped to check if the Dove chocolates were made in China. I've some Dove chocs sitting on my office table for weeks and I cldn't decide whether to risk getting melamine poisoning or throw the chocs away. For the record, the box said they were not made in China. I decided this fact cld be extended to those Dove chocs in the office too so they didn't land up in the bin. I'm just not for wasting food.

Was in anticipation for lunch with Jon and LY at XinWang Hong Kong Cafe (Anchorpoint) that day since Jon promised a bdae treat. And besides we haven't met each other for quite some time. My pockets were supposed to be safe since it was a treat, yet, I was cajoled by the Chinese waitress to sign up for membership in exchange for a bottle of red wine and Tiger beer. With such an attractive carrot dangling, I had no choice but to bite.

Part of the deal was to spend more $40 (more than we intended), so I splurged on a caramel fresh toast. Caramel!!! I was on a high all through the aftn MWH session. Thought I shld mentioned this: after the session Jon reflected that actually the 中国妹 was rather cute. *Hai* Some ppl 死性难改....tsk, tsk, tsk.....hahaha

Jam further made my day when she presented her homemade muffins as a birthday gift. It came complete with box, bow and card! It's like omg....no one has ever baked for me! Appreciated the effort put in =]

The best takeaway from the Apprecation dinner was the exhilaration in doing starjumps and to play "Chase" on the wonderfully green lawn in Hort Park. Some ppl actually forgot how to play "Chase", can you imagine?!

We didn't forget to have fun on our bus ride back either. Jon, LY and I struggled to open the Tiger beer bottle. We tried means and ways to open it without a bottle opener. Eventually 巾帼不然须眉, I managed to open it with a pair of scissors and the three of us shared the warm beer. There was very little to go around. Come to think of it, 330ml /3, each of us actually drank only 110ml. Wonder why we were so thrilled....*L*

Day 32

Close to 3 months on the job and I've done some of the THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO ON THE JOB:

1. Spell your boss' name wrongly and have him point it out to you
2. Spam all the higher management's email such that their mail quota is exceeded and their PAs start calling
3. Provide the wrong tel no. and have all agencies trying to get you call a no. that's not in use
   
4. Tell your boss he is too much of a purist and his approach is impractical
5. Snub your director when she says Good Morning to you because you're still in a morning daze
6. When you boss tells you he thinks the figures you generate are wrong, tell him that you're absolutely sure it's 100% correct such that he gives up asking you and decides to regenerate it himself
7. Put on the line your credibility with the ministry higher up half the time
   
8. Apply for so many positions in the ministry higher up that when you go for meetings for with your bosses, they are so amused because there is no need for introductions since everyone knows you

I think there were more faux pas but I can't remember them now. Fortunately my boss is a very good-natured man and is just mildly amused by all the above.

Day 31

I don't think the results of the personality tests are accurate. Did them out of sheer boredom and depression. But the results for the third test is stunning. I wonder how many people out there are "too complicated".

I went for personality tests for my present job as well. On the 2nd interview, the CE informed me that I'm the only one in the whole organisation that has confused the computer. Apparently the computer could not generate a personal profile for me. They told me they could not understand why but since the personality test was only to supplement the recruitment process, I got hired anyway.

The funny thing is dumb people like me happily and diligently put in 85% of thought into choosing which blanks on the OAS to shade. And when the results come out....."plunk".....They don't even tell you "sorry to disappoint". They tell you "you're too complicated". This is unacceptable.

Personality tests

Get to know yourself better: http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test82.aspx

Your view on yourself:

Other people find you very interesting, but you are really hiding your true self. Your friends love you because you are a good listener. They'll probably still love you if you learn to be yourself with them.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You are not looking merely for a girl/boyfriend - you are looking for your life partner. Perhaps you should be more open-minded about who you spend time with. The person you are looking for might hide their charm under their exterior.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you might that person.

The seriousness of your love:

Your have very sensible tactics when approaching the opposite sex. In many ways people find your straightforwardness attractive, so you will find yourself with plenty of dates.

Your views on education

Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:

You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:

You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:

You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Who is your true self:

You like privacy very much because you enjoy spending time with your own thoughts. You like to disappear when you cannot find solutions to your own problems, but you would feel better if you learned to share your thoughts with a person you trust.

The Real You: http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test81.aspx

1. You've got great self-confidence and you're full of charm. Most guys who get to know you will be attracted to you. You are far from sweet and proper; your intriguing personality fascinates them. Most guys find it easy to fall for a girl like you.
2. You really care about other people's feelings and are quite serious about the issues that affect your life. You are sincere, and your concern for the well-being of others makes many people want to be your friend.
3. You strictly follow rules, and you expect other people to be the same as well. People can get tired of you easily, as you can make them feel a little guilty about themselves. You always make decisions on your own, and can be dismissive of other people's advice. You like to be the leader in groups, but can forget to be concerned about the people you are with.
4. Guys see you as being a thinker and a careful person. They will be really attracted to this quality in you, but you need to learn to speak your mind, otherwise people will find you too shy and quiet. Learn to relax and lighten up--it's okay to have fun sometimes. When you learn to develop your fun-loving side, guys are going to flock to your side.
5. Your boyfriend believes that you are a strong and independent person. Your confidence and cheerfulness make you an attractive person to be around, but sometimes you need to pay more attention to what other people, including your boyfriend, are thinking.

Who is your dream guy: http://www.quizbox.com/personality/test64.aspx

Here is the analysis:

According to your answers; if you are not kidding, you are too complicated. Sorry, we are unable to offer the analysis. Press Back button on you browser, check ONE question that you were not completely sure and try again with a different answer that you think it would be correct.

Shoot, not again.................

Day 30

10 mins ago, I met the most remarkable gentleman in my office bldg. This man greeted everybody he met, even those who didn't knew him (incl me). He also *gasped* stood outside the lift door holding it open for the ladies to go in first before entering himself. This man works on the 18th floor, everyone from the receptionist to the cleaning lady knows him. They called him "老板/boss". He looks like a very happy man. If I had a boss like that I think I'll be extremely lucky. The nx time I see him I must remember to introduce myself!

hmm....think this sounds like a post written by some primary sch kid....

Day 29

I've quite given up on following the news on the political turmoil and successions etc. Just these couple of years there've been so many changes in government all over the world. I ever tried creating a list of the more notable world leaders but then very soon my list became obsolete. So there, I've given up. Just give me what happened in the end....what happens in between I don't want to know. I know Mum's with me on this cos I saw her scan through the newspp headlines only in the morning. My heart goes out to those journalists who hv to write lengthy news reports, really hope there are ppl out there who follow what they write even though we don't. Haha. Lazy ppl like us rely more on the radio or tvmobile for news updates.

There was talk over lunch that our small red dot shld be very worried that all our neighbours are experiencing problems. Why aren't we worried? Perhaps we are that's why we hv our massive displays by the NAF every at NDP. But can you believe we're celebrating our paralymic gold when the whole sea is all the rage abt Anwar and Somchai Wongsawat.

A: What if our neighbours develop the green-eye syndrome? Does Singapore have enough ammunition to stand up to them?

B: That's why we stock up.

C: Don't worry, the Indonesians can have their parangs, the Msians can have their black magic, Thais can have their vodoos, Singaporeans only need their passports.

To me it's not so much an issue whether we'll leave when war comes. To me, war is a remote possibility. Our vulnerability is "understandably" overhyped by the govt.

Just yest I was at a mtg and someone pointed out that one idea that was floating about came about because of one minister's speech. This idea it turns out has been floating around for sometime. I was wondering isn't "floating"= "driftwood"? Everyone's practicing taichi here? Did not dare breathe to anyone that I had treated that particular speech/presentation with reverence, memorised most of the stuff and used the arguements as key points in my answers for the job interviews and tests. Uh-oh....

Day 28

Our neighbour is our window into the rich men's world. Their home cooked food is our restaurant fare, their parties our Food Fest. I finally undestand why one of my girlfriends can go around declaring she's a taitai wannabe. She's one with foresight. Can you be faulted for wanting to live a life like that? Or put another way, can your be faulted for not wanting to live a life of complaining about rising food prices, haggling over the price of fish, eating leftovers three meals a day, walking a few km to buy that one item on sale at Shop&Save because it's a few cents more expensive at ntuc?

I thought of how commonly people will bring up the plight of the African kids and go into diatribe about food wasting, lavish living etc. Sour grapes argument aside, I feel that it's natural for human beings to want better for themselves. If you are rich and successful, why would you want to scrimp and be hard on yourself. Remember the story of Scrooge?

Recently I started working and I realised that it's actually essential and beneficial to reward oneself. You need not eat lavishly for all three meals a day, but neither need you eat poorly for all three meals. Out of three meals, one hearty meal will give you enough oomph for the day. It's a little like the Joy Luck Club where the ladies celebrate with their "luxurious" food items during the war. I want to feel that I'm lucky too. S. Levitt rightly identified in Freakonomics that everyone is driven by incentives and perks. I'm not wasting food, I'm just incentivising myself so that I can go further.

You can be symphathatic towards the Third World plight too if you're rich. In fact, you can be more symphathatic because you're in a better person to help them. See those rich taitai clubs? You can still live a relatively good life after approportioning a part of your wealth to help others. Of course you can always do more, if you give up that buffet at Meritus Mandarin you can feed 100 more kids, but I don't have the aptitude or inclination to become a missionary. From the bottom of my heart, I want to better the lives of a few others, but I'm not looking to be Father/Mother of Africa. There's just so much that you can do.

Besides reinstilling in me the motivation to work hard, my neighbours' galavanting ways have also put me back in perspective about my cooking skills. I always thought being able to cook homemade dishes put me a teeny-weeny notch higher than my peers who cannot. But when I saw my neighbours homemade dishes, my first instinct was to take out my camera and snap away. Only then did I realise how "country" I was =/

To my neighbours for their 'enlightening' meal.~

Day 27

If Midas could turn any object to gold, you can turn any happiness to sorrow. Quit playing. Unless you've tons of money to burn, you'll burn your fingers. And burning your fingers is the least of it cos everyday your family lives as if they're burning in hell. As if ruining your own life is not enough, you've to ruin everyone else's life. You can have nice cosy bbqs in the porch but nothing can mask the fact that the family is nothing more than dsyfunctional. We live day by day believing that it takes more than that to bring us down. Is it?

Anyone in your position would have woken up and tried to mend things. If you're bad at something, do something else and stop making what you're bad at so glaring, even if it takes pretending so be it. Stop hovering!

Day 26

Had a satisfying bbq this evening after it just rained. The electric grill is pretty good stuff...no mess from the charcoal but the wait for the food was longer.

Grandma came briefly today accompanied by the maid. Actually this morning I was over at her place to give piano lessons to the boys but they had forgotten to inform me that they were in KL so it was a wasted trip. Good thing was I got to accompany Mum, Leng and Leong to ntuc and the wet market. I've not been to the wet market for quite some time ever since piano became on Sunday mornings, which is the only time mum goes to the market. Recognised a few of the stall owners that she has been patronising ever since we were kids but every one seems to have aged. I feel that the recession has been taking a toil on everybody... I keep hearing them say "everything is so expensive nowadays"... This kind of statement grips you more strongly when you're in the heartlands.

Well back to the maid. I feel that my family just don't know how to handle maids. Nobody in the family has had one so it feels awkard when somebody suddenly has one. I sense a bit of hostility towards a foreign person in the household yet at the same time it's really strange cos nobody asks her to do anything! I'm not advocating that we shld order her to do everything and exploit her for our money's worth or anything. But I don't see a point in paying for a maid to stay with you and yet not asking her to do anything. Grandma is too nice, she was hired to help relieve her in doing the household chores but I still see her cooking, doing the marketing etc. when she can just ask the maid to do it! Grandma says it's because the maid can't cook well. And another reason is that the old folks will "slow down" if they don't do anything. But i just don't like to see grandma working hard when the maid is not.

I think people shld be nice to their maids, not be hostile twds them, afterall they left their families behind to come work for us, it's a terrible thing. But don't be the maid to your maid!

Day 25

I counted the average age of the people in my department- 39! As compared to my friends in other ministries and agencies, I think my department is the oldest. I'm in corporate planning now, and i think the head was right at the interview, the job fit is quite good. I'd have felt out of place in a slacker department. At CP, you need to know everything under the sun abt the organisation. It's not abt specialization, it's about the macro pic. Since i'm the kind of person who wants to cover all the bases, I guess the job suits me. Initially i wanted to start higher, in the ministry above us, but i guess i was too greedy. Coincidentally here i've been tasked to staff the mtgs with that ministry so i'll be seeing a lot of those ppl who interviewed me lol. Over there i was told firefighting formed the bulk of the work, here my boss told me from day 1 that he did not like firefighting and prefers to look ahead, afterall what's CP without the P? I'm thankful for that because i realised how i cld've languished if i were to do firefighting. Of course there are some parts of the job here that i didn't expect, but i did ask for a challenging job.

There are many old-timers here who've worked more than 10 years, my buddy is one. Apparently he's the buddy of everyone new in the dept cos he's been ard for so long. It's interesting to go lunch with these people beacuse they can really EAT. For example, we went to Queensway last week and just for lunch alone, we had claypot laksa, avocado juice, fruit plate and egg tarts. Then we also went to Liang Court another day for Shabu Shabu Ramien and just yesterday it was Earle's Swensons for deparment lunch. But that's the final straw, i've resolved after Liang Court to find new eating partners and cheaper eating places cos i can't afford to eat like that the whole time.

Day 24

Fell down abt 3 weeks ago after watching Dark Knight (nus guild hse). I haven't fell down for so long that i forgot how it was like to do so. You don't feel the pain right after the fall, just numbness and perhaps a bit of shock, which gives you enough time brace yourself to walk out of the theatre. You think you're alright but wait until the agony comes, then inconvenience....and after a few weeks, the scars. I suppose it was a combination of reasons that I fell, but Leng brought up a very good pt, "WWIATF?"

I cannot decide if i've "settled in" at my workplace. A part of me don't want to "settle in", just want to bum around. How can there be "settling in" when u're expected to do OT in your 1st week on the job? How can you prevent putting urself in a comfort zone and "settle in" at the same time? Is it just me who can't draw the line or is the world made up of too many grey parts?

There's a whole new meaning to "weekends" too once you start work. Played basketball with Huang Di on Sat, went to Settlers and Breeks (played bridge) on Sun with the Econs gang. It was fun, but these days there are just too many ppl around me who've been making me feel that leisure is not sth i'm entitled to. =[

Day 23- Graduation

I've Graduated!

'Graduation' embodies so much- 20 years of hardwork, from tingxie in pri sch, to differentiation in sec sch, to kinematics in jc and macroeconomics in uni.

Someone gave it a funky name Commencement instead of Convocation (Mum and Dad kept insisting that's what they used to call it in the past) because it marked the beginning of a new journey, not the end of one.

This year's theme was “Celebrating Excellence”, and I was picked to attend the main ceremony on 7 July where i got to shake Nathan's hand. Think i wasted the golden opportunity though. I was so fully concentrated on walking carefully so that the gown wldn't flare at the knees that I forgot to smile and look at the camera. The president was looking so serious too. He probably thought "this girl looking so serious, i shld look serious too"...and there!...all the joy there was supposed to be on this joyous occasion dissipated in that brevity I looked stern on stage. Unfortunately there's no more chance for me to change things...

I was very lucky to attend Commencement 08 as a graduand, a student assistant (scala) and an audience. Of the 3, being an audience was the best because you get to dress prettily, enjoy the celebrative atmosphere while basking in someone else's glory, not yours i.e. no anxiety on your part. After 1 week of 3-times-a-day ceremonies, I became so familar with not only the protocol but also the buffet table. =D

And hmm....I'm starting work tmr at a stat board. My first job! Not my dream ministry but I think I'll make the best of every path opened to me. I believe things will pan out well.

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”

Day 22

My third Juxtapose camp! This time i was a slacky a.ogl., nobody knew i was a.ogl except our ogl. After last year's tiring experience as progs head, this time I only wanted to go there to enjoy the games, and leave nus with a gd memory of the jux camp. Was a gd thing cos if i hadn't made the decision to go down, i'd hv missed out on being in the most wacky OG ever! Our Huang Di family was the most fantastic-- fashionably late because we took too many 'shortcuts' but our camaradie was the envy of all the other groups. We played urban warfare like G.I.Joes, danced the best and most coordinated bamboo dance like production line workers, ruled the ultimate frisbee games, put up an absurb performance of a dysfunctional royal family, and even spilled intimate details of our toileting habits.....

http://huangdijiadao.blogspot.com/

Day 21 Picnic at MacRitchie!!

Day 20

I'm drowning my sorrows with MariGold Blueberry Yogurt now because a good friend failed to inform me that there was a gathering today. It doesn't feel good inside....On the bright side, i met this econs girl at Bank M today and also met Eugene from icomp. She hazarded a guess that we were from odac but in actuality we were from the slackest cca ard. I'm glad my figure still doesn't give away that i've not been exercising for centuries.

Day 19

Went back to sch today to collect my commencement gown. Before this, I wasn't at all excited abt graduation, but when I went home, put on the gown for my parents to see....suddenly I felt washed over by achievement. Was reminded that I'd studied for close to 20 years for this day. It's not just 4 years in NUS, it's the entire journey that counts.

I thought gown collection was a fuss-free pick-up-and-go affair. What I didn't expect was that we'd to go through the maze through the MPSH from gown collection to the booths promoting plagues, studio portraits, memorabilia plushtoys, alumni donations etc. Commencement is such a good way to make money.

I signed up for the on-stage photoshots, hope they send me the 2 photos this time round. Back in Cedar i signed up and paid for the same thing during the grad cermony but the photos nv came. Atrocious memory!....or rather the lack of it. Dad's camera was blocked by someone's head so I had no photos of sec sch graduation. Bleah...

Day 18

I love my dad.... today's father's day but instead of me doing sth for him, he did sth for me! Knowing that I always use the laptop in bed, "dangerously" sharing the adapter with the aircon, he installed an additional socket near my bed. Think most dads will set the standard for their girls' potential date: My dad does everything DIY, that's why I can't stand guys who mess up when they hv to do things DIY.

Worked like a dog today....finally the last day of roadshow and we hit 77, twice our target. Think Zac was pleased, he wanted to close at 65.

Day 17

Eww....another old man asked me for my tel no. and to drink kopi again....eww.....Met him as I was walking to amk hub this morning.

It is World Blood Donor Day today and I given complimentary tickets to the Zoo. It was reasonably fun, but unreasonably sweaty experience. Abt 4500 blood donors were invited so it was really packed. I think I go to the zoo more often than many ppl of my age do haha, so i can tell which exhibits are new and which hv been taken away. Cldn't find the golden lion tamarines anymore, Ah Meng's gone, plus of course the penguin enclosure was gone as the ST had reported. Think I missed the giant tortises too. *Hai* Good thing the giraffes were still there....

Had Muturbak at The Prata House along Thomson Rd for lunch. Cldn't help comparing it to Mr Prata. Although this was crispier and the curry was less oily, it was less tasty, I still prefer the Clementi's which just has that "wow" factor in it.

Day 16

my soles ache like hell....from roadshow mania. =(

Went for 10 hr assessment centre at mfa on wed, a mentally draining experience. Feel dumb because i got lost while walking out to the main road. Ended up on Dempsy Hill, completely in the middle of nowhere. Having to tread all the in heels made everything worse.

Was so tired from standing all day long already yet I stayed up last night to research on ASEAN, APEC, LA, WTO....blah blah blah for the interview. But they didn't ask any technical qns at all and for waiting 20min, the interview was barely 5min. *glup*

~does the length of the interview reflect my chances?~

Day 15

Snoozed all the way from 0730 to 0815 today. Didn't want to get out of bed but I had to......had to go get JX's cake before the session today. One more reason was that I had to have that 2nd bowl of soya-barley for breakfast. Haha that's why I was late to meet Jon. But as usual, he was gracious to wait and to help do the "extra-strenuous" task of carry the cake.

It was a wonderful lunch outing with the residents today because he was such a hyperactive resident. It was like he had his own photo shoot and I was his beck-and-call assistant. I must try to get that photo with his arms around my shoulder lol.... so hilarious.... he directs the photographer! He enjoys attention and everyone was willing to provide that attention, so we were all amused. But it was terrible that JX and Jon commented that it was the first time they saw me so fierce when we got them to buy food. So embarrassing...=p But I'd to do it mah, he wasn't listening, didn't want to buy food and was a handful trying to direct the other residents too and chat up all the stall owners....*sigh*.... I even had to open a drain cover to retrieve a coin he dropped....

But it was worthwhile, cos i know he had a good time. He even remembered my name at the end of it all. I'm just sorry that I didn't pay enough attention. He was struggling to eat the noodles but I didn't realised until he finished it and then told the cleaner who collected the bowls that nx time they'd to cut the noodles. I know that the cleaner didn't get it but I got it.

Day 14

Was paid to have fun today. For $160, i brought some 16-yr-old korean students out to tour SG's historical precincts. I thought wld be given a detailed itinery and transport. There was an itinery, but so 'detailed' it was that it only said "Arab St, Little India and Chinatown".

Our first stop was Arab St which was actually a walking distance from Peninsular Hotel where we picked the students up, but because of the light rain we, lazy ppl (Tim, Tong Tong, me) took the train fr CityHall to Bugis, 1 stop away. Buying train passes was quick, but it was crazy having to collect back the deposit from the machine....

Toured the Sultan Mosque and had lunch there. So inexperienced and inadequate we were as tourguides, we had to scout for makan places in the drizzle and bargain with the eatery owners over the price of nasi bryani. We were told to help them save money and spend within the $10 they were given, but come to think of it, we shld hv just let the students pay. Bargaining was pathetic, we cld've had better food. We then walked to Little India to visit the temple there. Cld've seen more but the kids were didn't hv the stamina to go on. They were so shocked when they heard the temperature in SG was 32degrees and "there is no winter". They'd Mr. Slurpee from 7-eleven as a thirst-quencher but after that their lips turned bluish-purple that I'd the impression that they were severly dehydrated by our weather. So i gave up trying to push them to go on.

Our guides were all praying very hard for a double decker bus to ChinaTown because we didn't want to disappoint our charges. Apparently they don't hv double decks in korea....We didn't do much at Chinatown except got chased by the very rude coffeeshop lady boss across the Heritage Centre. *humpf* She was so very rude (I must repeat this) and I thought you were supposed to be polite to tourists?!

Anw I don't think we were very effective as tourguides, the students seemed quite bored by us. But nonetheless it was a good experience, at least I proved to Tim that I cld navigate us with the map around SG! *smug* Although I almost nv step foot into these places, I know abt them so it cldn't be considered an eye-opener, but it was definitely an interesting way to spend the day.

Went with LY to view flats in AMK. I nv believed ppl cld make so quick decisions abt their accommodations intentions, but guess i'm not a person-living-abroad and i'm an undecisive soul. Had a taste of how housing agents do biz and I remain suspicious of them even as a daughter of a housing agent.

Day 13

Ahh...realized how much i want the MTI job. Went for the written test today, it was much more fun answering the econs qns then those psychometric and linguistics tests for mindef and mfa. And i like the job description much better too.

We celebrated KYin's birthday on Fri evening starting with BBQ Chicken at Cine. The family set we got was a disappointment, there was not bbq at all, only fried chicked =(. But the Mezebar-Asian Tapas Bar at Meritus Mandarin which we went later is definitely a good place to chill out. They had those cute seats overlooking the streets but which only came in pairs (couple seats), so we sat in a corner in front of the huge LCD screen showing a soccer match instead. On the waitress' recommendation, we tried their signature cocktails: Tokyo Tea, Mojito, Margarita. I'm not sure if we drank a lot that day but the cab driver told us "you gals smell heavily of alchohol, better eat some mints before you get home or else your parents would surely scold you" Lol....thks....

Aft mwh on Sat we also went for chuan guan zi steamboat at Kallang. Someone mistook another PRC for the waiter! Tsk tsk tsk....

~ Second Upper with a C!!! ~

Day 12

Was pretty awake last night, shldn't have been cos it was just a psychometric test, but I don't know why I cldn't get to sleep. Was at mindef at 8am this morning for the test, it's my first baby step after filling up so many online job applications, but there was nothing noteworthy except that 1) the security guard made me feel dumb, 2) i realised all the ppl i've shortlisted to be my character referees are non-singaporeans i.e. they can't be used and my list is zero. For lunch i wished i'd capacity for more kfc but after eating 6 soup dumplings it was an uphill task. Cheese fries are not just cheese fries, they remind me of jc again. The first time i tried it was at parkway, on one of those Tues when it was half-price, subseq Tues visits ensued. At this point, I'm urging myself to stop rattling cos i'm reminded of someone's dismal opinion of me, "Is there anything else you think of other than food?" But Leng has declared that i owe her a kfc meal for being late in mtg her at Central Mall to shop....kfc again!

I'm beginning to think i'm hopeless. I keep adding food sites to my 'favourites' list:
http://smallpotatoesmakethesteaklookbigger.blogspot.com/

http://www.chubbyblackdog.com/

http://joey8881.multiply.com/recipes

Is there any wonder why I've plump cheeks?

I feel really energetic today cos i think the cough is wearing off. Was very sick the last week after staying up to fix the Pavillion, it gave me so much trouble! Made me cancel the steamboat dinner.....i feel so regretful. Was so glad for the opportunity to get outta the house when SJia had us over for majong on Wed night. It was so fun getting to play mj again despite the fact that i lost quite a lot of money, we even went for roti prata aft playing. But I overslept the nx morning and was late to meet Jon to visit Uncle Chun at his Tiong Bahru flat! Hmm, I used to be ok interacting with him but i've been under a lot of peptalk that he's an unsavory character and I shldn't mix too much with him. I feel that my judgement has been clouded and I can't decide now whether I shld still keep in contact with him. I'll adjourn judgement for the time being.

Results would be out tmr.....

After exams fun

Day 11

"You've been SuperPoked! Howyuan has graduated with you. Check it out!"

Finally I could breathe easier after the last paper today. Luckily we ended with Shin's paper cos afterall it's my favourite mod this sem. And luckily it didn't end with macro else i'll never have the mood to go out and enjoy with the peak-end rule taking effect. Totally cool to realise I've come so far to graduate...

As a reward, i watched National Treasure 2 in the aftn after cooking a hearty meal, and got hooked on the word game on facebook. Pearl wld hv "scoffed" at it, like she did when i suggested we go Settles to play board games instead of ktv ytd, "After the exams still want to use brain?" Why not? that's what I'm good at anw NT2 and the word game were both mind-boggling but exciting. Went to Mr Prata for dinner and was on cloud 9 on trying out the Milo Godzilla there. (What a resounding name) Until then, I'd forgotten the taste of raspberry ice-cream after forsaking it for chocolate or vanilla everytime.






Mr Prata has been one of my fav hangouts this sem.

Luck from Adam Smith

Taken in the econs dept on the last day of school.

It reminds me of a minimalist installation.

I name this "drawing luck from Adam Smith"

Hope the luck sees me though my 4 econs paper.

Day 10

Just came back from the supermarket. A bit irritated cos i was bullied by an old lady there. The auntie jumped the queue and on purpose. She was inching at 90-deg towards the queue and when she finally she stood right in front of me, she turned towards her back towards me to face the cashier and averted my 'stare'. OMG.... i don't quite like it when old ppl take advantage of being old and think that ppl will close one eye to whatever they do. I know at least my grandmother doesn't do that! I was doing a mental CBA on whether it'll be more efficient to let an elderly person go first or a younger one.....if i let the older person go first maybe it'll save her the "pain and suffering" she has to endure while queuing. But then since she doesn't have to work or have tons of modules to study, her time is probably worth less than the young person, me, so I shld go first. Sounds mean, but true.

I'm not being petty. I'd be most willing to let her jump the queue if she'd just asked in a kindly way and stated that maybe her legs were weak and cannot stand for long (my grandmother has this sort of problem), not just pretend that she has the right of way....

Anw maybe i was just being irritable just now because of the weather and a tough cba paper. Had lunch with Pearl and the CBA ppl and we were so stressed from the paper that we'd to sit in silence for a while to catch out breaths before we cld eat anything. Then I was baked at the com ctr bus stop while waiting for dad to pick me. Although the first paper was bad (i was panicking and got confused over the diagrams) i still feel glad today, probably because i'm finally in the game, no more waiting and waiting for the dreaded.....haha. Told Pearl that if today was bad, due to reversion to the mean, we'll do better tmr!

Very glad that i've dad to send me to sch for my 9am paper and reach at 8am. He has been doing so for the past 8 semesters which makes me feel very lucky. Mum deserves credit too for picking Leng & I up ytd and for preparing lotsa food supplements ever since we began our study week. I can't believe my arsenal of junk food this time round. I got Chipsmore, Liang got me Lemon warheads and tubes of Mentols, LY shared his butter cookies. I can't believe it too that I made an exception to go all the way to IMM to buy sushi & old chang kee on Sat cos the school ran out of it! Been trying to psycho myself that this is only temporary gluttony and I need breaks to prevent burnout. That's why i'm blogging now. Another morale boost after checking my mail. The only senior counsel i know said "good suggestions" =) It feels good cos he's this huge authoritative figure who works in an organisation that most econs students can only dream to work for, although he says he's only a shoe polisher for even higher ppl there. Sometimes i wish i were a shoe polisher too.....

Many encouragements hv been coming in, most said it's the last lap, jiayou! I've been too lazy to msg my well wishes to friends this sem so i'll do it here. To those who I always msg, Jon, Cat, WH etc. Jiayou to you guys too! All the best!

Day 9

We were at the airport to see Daryl off on Good Friday night..... I don't really like seeing people off, the moment you see that person through the departure gates and imagining that you won't see that person for ages. It's borders on overwhelming. I think only family should see you off, that's what I'd rather want anyways, to spend the last moments with them.

That was the trough, other times we were just simply horsing around.....at breeks and T3....

I love the flower structure there....was the only "life-form" there in the sprawling T3.

Posing a kawaii pose since he's gg to japan.

Yesterday was Saturday, had a fruitful shopping session with the auntie at mwh. We brought them to the neighbourhood centre to buy stuff like food and clothes. Then it was off for dinner before watching CO concert with LY at UCC. A couple of uninspiring pieces but on the whole it was good, got me reacquainted with some of the CO instruments.

Day 8

Masaru Emoto is an author known for his controversial claim that if human thoughts are directed at water before it is frozen, images of the resulting water crystals will be beautiful or ugly depending upon whether the thoughts were positive or negative. Emoto claims this can be achieved through prayer, music or by attaching written words to a container of water.

The tale of his capturing of water "expressions" was told to me in sec sch. Till today his theory still controversial. But even if it weren't scientifically proven, imagine without these good people trying to find theories to spread the good word of "love for humanity" how would our world be?

I learned another theory at the Superteen camp in sec sch. Just as positive thoughts can be directed at water, they can be directed at people too. For instance when a loved one is in a competition, you want him/her to win but he/she looks stressed. Try imagining a huge gigantic ring of flowers or those heart-shaped balloons flying from you towards him/her. It surrounds him/her and wraps him/her up (this can get a bit comical). If you like you can imagine even that the instant the flowers hit them, a warm glow of light emanates....., whatever.

The idea is your positive thoughts will somehow or another influence them so that they perform better. This subtle power of your thoughts can work not just in races but also other situations like....when someone is sick. I practice it and it works all the time, the only disclaimer is that you can't try it on your Fluff Pet. THAT's when it doesn't work.

Day 7

It was all set this morning that this post was to be a grievance outpouring session. I had so much to grumble, grouse and complain......Last night, I was looking like an effigy of a ghost due to a futile research attempt for my biz project, my being implicated in some mess, and other many things that were not looking good. But the sky did not come crashing down, at least not in the afternoon.

This afternoon I earned 8 bucks again through behav class, it was the highest amt again. Wong proclaimed that i was a lucky girl and proposed i buy 4D. This made me think that perhaps some forces above were taking care of me afterall. Even if i do feel alone, despaired sometimes, there are small positive things in life that if i paid enough attention, i'd notice.

It's just like in the movie Spiderwick's Chronicles i caught on Sat. The magical realm is all about us if only we look closely enough. Fairies in the flowers....etc. There are good things abound in this world worth noticing and unfortunately most ppl miss out on them and it's a great loss.

So I decided to count my blessings today, like how I managed to squeeze up the crowded 151, caught my fav song on radio, received a biscuit fr Pearl, ate chocolates when I came home, enjoyed the fine weather, had friends asking abt my weekend, and even chatted with Cremers.

Day 6

i've made it to another term at ycm.

Although i still have the lingering sense of misfit in this "bastion of exclusivity" that i described 1 yr back (Apr 07), i decided to go ahead and sign on for a new term. Between doing something good for the society and "putting up" with being 'cold cornered', i choose the former.

Sitting on the panel is like back-office work, it does not give as much satisfaction as working with people at the grassroot level, but it's still a form of community involvement. It's a given that you've to grade projects online, meet the applicants, go for panel meetings, attend special events and what not, but through it i've a chance to give back to society and a chance to meet young people who have more drive than me in propelling changes in our community (and look up to them till my neck is strained)....it's a good thing isn't it?

Moreover, after 1 year i've taken a new view on being 'cold cornered'. Some people esp. extroverts gain energy from interacting with people, they are the ones you see constantly 'networking' at social functions. I used to look at this people and wonder how they are so intelligent and can have an infinitely so many ideas on what to talk about, but not so much now. Because i realised that there's another group of ppl, the introverts, who replenish their strength by just keeping quiet. I realised that I liked heading straight to a corner during panel meetings because that's where i'm in my element. I also realised that the ppl at ycm hv also got used to leaving me alone.... i guess you can call it a form of respect for diversity? lol

But at the crux of it all, i'm really fascinated by the idea of youth empowerment.^^ Afterall everyone has only one chance of being young, we're endowed with 'energy' and 'ideals' while young and it's always worthwhile to pursue them while you can.

Went for the training session on Sat where i helped facilitate 1 segment of it. The new batch of panelists seems more friendly....i'm sure next term wld be better. After 1 term of warming up, it's time to sprint now!

Day 5

Recess break is over *chew nails* and most of my deadlines are postponed to nx wk or the week after. I'm not particularly sure if this is a good or bad thing for me. As a sophisticate with time-inconsistent preference i.e. procastinator, deadlines are actually good commitment technology for me. Recently i've been putting off taking a proactive stance to secure a job before graduation and i feel it does not reflect very well on me at all, neither does it signal a dashing future for me. But as usual a whole host of factors (real or imagined) stand in my path. For one, my 'environment' dictates that I can't plan my future beyond one week. (This is probably disappointing for some but all i can say is my hands are tied)

In quite a behavioural econs mood today and it can be attributed to 3 reasons. I worked my referee report till 2am yest, lunched with the lecturer this aftn, and had a sudden winfall of $30 in class today:)

Does this call for a celebration? I think it'll have to wait till i can fully get 'in the zone' again for at least 5 hrs a day. Decline in marginal productivity has set in exceptionally early for me and this is bad bad bad....

~Who is willing to spar with me?~

Taken from 畿米

My Chinese is too lousy to make me a avid reader of Chinese poems, but this one that i chanced upon somehow resonates with my "caption" above.

神秘分界线

小丑的世界，总被一分为二，
一半阳光，一半阴影；
一半欢乐，一半凄凉。
我真想知道，
那一条神秘的分界线究竟是什么？

And this one is super poetic & touching....

And a "kissing cousin" to it....

烙印下脚印的沙滩，已被海浪卷去。
而我们一起走过的路，并没有随之消逝。
美丽的回忆，早已融化在海水里，载到地平线去。
走到任何一片沙滩，我都能嗅到对你淡淡的思念。
就这样，我拥有了整个世界。

Day 4

Another bonding session-- We had our mwh chalet at Coasta Sands Downtown East.

Somebody said the act of Pledging Alliances was to display ur artistic talent...or the lack of it.

These gals got it right with their Artsy pigss!

Group photo on Second day

Googled this this morning....in light of Chikungunya scares this seems befitting:

Q: What exactly happens when you get a mosquito bite?
A: The mosquito stabs into your skin with its proboscis, injects an anti-coagulant to stop the clotting process and then sucks its full of your blood.

Q: I have 4 bites on my legs 1 on my foot and one on my hand and arm. what makes them so rediculasly itchy?
A: It's proteins in the mosquito's saliva, which it injects in order to prevent the blood from clogging. As these proteins are destroyed in temperatures of over 45°C, a method is to hold a not-too-hot cup of coffee or tea against the bite for about a minute, then it won't ever itch again. I always do this and it works great.

Day 3

Coincidentally all the ppl i like are graduating this sem with me! Yayz!...Er...okays maybe not so coincidental afterall...

Last sem alr, rushing to lunch with everyone i can in sch, but it seems impossible =[

Day 2

幸福是回家有焦糖茶等着你
幸福是有人煮给你吃......
幸福是soyabean ice-cream

Day 1- Cambodia Travel Journal

It's almost the end of January....i've been back for 20 days already and I've yet to blog abt my Cambodian trip. *Major Procastinator* It was a fabulous trip, went back primarily to visit friends i'd made from the last trip. And to bring Leng & the gals (Pearl & Xuan)to visit Prey Veng! The place i missed dearly...wanted so bad to go back and relive the simple slow-paced life. *Huge country bumpkin*

We set off on Christmas evening, i was expecting some x'mas festivities on the flight but they'd none on Jetstar....budget....so budget....At the airport, because of some silly miscommunication, we ran all the way to Gate 16 only to missing all the duty-free shopping. On the plane i chatted with an Aussie PR who was in the mining industry in Spore (I never knew such industries existed in SG) and he shared some of his reservations abt gg to Cambodia. From our previous trip, I'd gathered some useful survival tips and so I told him it was better to carry his bag in front, things abt the weather, the currency etc. Going there for a second time was definitely different from going there for the first time.

However, i was not prepared for the cultural shock when we reached the guest house in Phnom Penh. Vitou was very nice to help us book the rooms USD$13 for 3 rooms a night. But before you think it's a steal, let me tell you, the conditions were appalling. Firstly the bed linen looked barely washed, secondly we'd to climb this steep steps up to the fifth floor though the dark stairwell, the windows were non-existent, it was only curtains drawn over grills so anyone wld draw the curtains and peep in anytime they wanted....if they were ok with touching the dirty curtains. The bathroom (this one I'd expected) had no heater and looked like a built-in cabinet. Blackouts were frequent in Cambodia so again it wasn't unexpected when all the fans and lights went off at abt 2am. For me i wished the lights were turned on in that dark creepy room but when they weren't, i had to sleep clutching an amulet which was way out of anything i, a rational non-religious person, would do normally. Jeez....

But we were so tired that night having walked prob abt 8km before that so dirty linen or not we slept. Since it was the first and only night we were going to spend there, we were determined not to waste it and so headed out to take in the night "scenes"--- what a scene, it was so dark at the riverside (supposedly the famous intersection between Tonle Sap and the Mekkong) we cldn't make out what were the black things driven so quickly by the water currents until the walk the nx morning we found out it was bags of rubbish. Duh! There weren't any pretty sights that night, the best thing was seeing the Spore Embassy which had such a towering fence that the interior was not visible at all! Just like Changi Prison! Now we know our Spore ambassador to Cambodia is so very well protected.^^ And hmm we got to see the National Momument which was deserted at night, guarded by a solitary guard. But i'm not complaining, cos it was what we wanted, to take in Phnom Penh as it was at night and that was it, in its truest undisguised form. And we were amazing that night, we managed to acquire a map of the city out of pure initiative by walking into the Princess Hotel and asking for one.

The nx morning's itenary was pretty tight. We went to a coffeeshop for breakfast and took a walk around the Central Market area (which had a magnificent dome roof architecture that i felt had kinda a Middle-Eastern flavour) and then met up with Vitou and friend at the Royal Palace where we had to pay admission of 13USD per person to get in (25 times what the locals paid) Jeez...again. Xuan and Pearl had to miss it cos they weren't appropriately dressed (no shorts and caps allowed), a pity cos it was probably the best Phnom Penh had to offer-- intricately carved shrines and edifice.

Then we rushed back to the guest house to retrieve our bags and then lunch at the upper floor of the market which looked like those 80's hawker centres. Ate zichar...and that was antecedent of the series of zichar throughout the trip. The afternoon's bus journey was to be the most memorable one of our lifetimes. Affectionately known as the MUMBAI bus, the 20-capacity bus squeezed 30 people, a motorcycle plus tons of baggage and dried foodstuff. Think the people on the bus were very amused by us, they were peeping over our shoulders when we viewed photos on our digicams, when we wrote our travel journals on the bus, when we sprayed insect repellent etc. Pearl will nv forget the uncle with an incessant spitting habit, Xuan would nv forget the ricesack she stepped on, and I'd never forget the lady beside me who had a penchant for breadloaves. For their part, the locals would never forget the youngsters who were so afraid of the footprints they left on the seats. The 4-hour journey was a once in a lifetime experience whereby we got up close and personal with the locals and their way of life. The bus got onto a ferry and we reached Neak Leung the scary and bustling market town-- the first sign that we're reaching Prey Veng!

We visited the Youth Center many times the nx few days cos...it was the "most happening" place in the whole of PV and we wanted to be at the "most happening place". It was fun to get to see all the kids again, esp. the familiar faces, some even remembered our names!! *touched* Leng, Pearl and Xuan got to experience being engulfed by kids who wanted photos taken. I got to see Dani, Ame and Edwin again! Xuan, true to her personality, got to be the trend-setter...of butterfly hennas! Lol. The days in PV, i was overcomed with bliss....to experience the slow pace of life there again, to see the star-filled sky, to walk along the riverside and see the riverside kids *paedophile at work again*, to revise my Khemer, to eat ice-cream at the school & petrol stn, desserts and soup noodles at the market, to drink sugarcane water (we saw the ice stored in sawdust), to see the pigs, cows, chickens etc., to talk to the local kids, ride on motorcycles....so much.....The 2-half days in PV made my airfare worthwhile already. Best to be was the sunset, just the 6 of us and the sunset nothing else mattered. A pity none of the camera modes we tried could capture the beauty of the sunset we saw that evening. Vitou also hosted us to dinner at his house one night, it was really cool cos we got invited to eat with a local family! You don't get that in guided tours. Jeremiah has hilarious clips of the evening we spent there discussing Changi airport sweets.They saw fireworks from the shophouse window too.

In Prey Veng, the Mittaheap Guest House was also memorable for its excellent room service (wanted to bring the cleaning lady home) and the restaurant opposite where we tried almost everything...Khemer soup, Viet soup etc. (Too indulgent in my opinion). We visited the temple beside the guest house where we met monks who shouted "See you next year!". This made Xuan very tickled because she was not as warmly received by the local network providers at the PP airport.

26-28 Dec was the best part of the trip. Fresh air in the rural areas was a stark contrast to the polluted air in PP and also Siem Reap as we were to find out. And so was the food. Our first stop in Siem Reap was the fateful restaurant whereby on eating the zichar, I vomitted twice that night.

The next day after breakfast at the Chinese style restaurant beside our Angkor Davy Hotel, we visited Angkor Wat and the temples in the vicinity, but I was not in the best shape to do so...all i remember of the place besides the disintegrating architecture was that i was carrying a puke bag all around. With all the steps you need to climb, it was terrible. We visited Tonle Sap river to see the floating houses and markets and the fish/crocodile farm. We visited the Souvenir Shop too before heading back to the same fateful restaurant for dinner. Luckily i avoided the food this time but the rest didn't escape the fate of food poisoning. For the next 4 days to come, the 2.5 meter square toilet at the hotel became the "most happening" place in Siem Reap. For those few days, we went to the Angkor National Museum, the Artisan house and the market to shop for more souvenirs. We went to West Baryan an island that had a dilapidated temple and where we saw many kids selling bracelets "san ge yi kuai". But the girls were sick this time (xuan even fainted) and probably didn't enjoy it much. Before the team left on the 1st, we had "Kenny Rogers" and noodles from the roadside stalls^^ It was fun squeezing together and eating in the hotel room since none of us had the appetite for the buffet that the team went to enjoy.

1st and 2nd Jan only 4 of us were left. Fortunately Vitou kindly agreed to stay with us and bring us around. On the first day, we went to the market place by ourselves via the Tuk-Tuk and ate the most fantastic seafood spaghetti at a Mexican restaurant. By that time it was the 8th day of our trip and we were so sick of Cambodian food and our stomachs were weak from the food posioning ordeal, so the spaghetti and fruit platter was so heavenly. In the evening, we went to the local concert/pasar-malam with Vitou and his Aunt. Imagine standing in the crowd of hundreds watching the concert and munching on corn. Although we couldn't understand a thing the people were saying, it was definitely an experience that no tourgroup could provide. We also tried the Cambodian ferris wheel which was all wobbly and had carriages like birdcages and which went around at an unusually fast pace...and also a motorcycle carrousel. It was a night of good fun as we rode on the Tuk Tuk out to quite a 'ulu' district out of the heart of town for the concert.

The next day, with a rented car, we went to many exciting places. We went for breakfast at a 'higher class' kopitiam where we ate roast chicken rice, and then we went to the War Museum where we played with guns and tanks and planes. We went to the Cultural Village where we got to see many lousy dances (but kudos to the same cast which ran around performing all the dances) and where the most interesting attraction was the "Halls of Hell" where we screamed our lungs out as the ghost surprised us in the tunnel, grabbing our ankles....we ran for the most part of it and didn't get to see much of the gruesome exhibits. Lol. Think the guys who tried to scare us (Vitou too) had the most thrilling time. We were just 4 girls....no guys to protect us....easy targets.

We went back to the Angkor Wat site attempting to catch the sunset but were too late. Nearly got stranded there in the dark when our driver failed to turn up at the agreed time. And....i lost my specs there. Jeez, all unfortunate things happen to me at that place....We went to the local supermarket (If only we were brought there earlier!!!!) where we stocked up on food cos our supplies of breakfast bars, Chipsmore and Lays have ran out. Then we went back to the hotel to wash up before our driver brought us to try out Cambodian massage! It was pretty cool cos i had a very cool massage lady to the envy of the other girls haha. A good massage to compensate for all the toiling during the trip! And then we went for the most sumptuous dinner throughout the trip. It was our last meal and the driver brought us to a restaurant where he ordered food liberally and we took up the tab. It was a good meal which would have cost us a bomb if we were back in Spore, but not in Cambodia.

Next morning at 4.30 a.m., we took a Tuk-Tuk (not the one hired by the "si wen bai lei")to the Siem Reap airport only to find that it was not open yet. We became the earliest visitors to the airport (examplary example of Sporean kiasuness). Felt really stupid that morning, even the Tuk Tuk driver told us he thought we were playing a prank on him when we told him to pick us up at 4.30. We felt like we woke up early for nothing, braved the morning cold winds for nothing to rush to the airport. We even bought Blue Pumpkin pastries the day before for our breakfast, only to realise that the true blue Blue Pumpkin restaurant was situated inside the SR airport (the one we got from the supermkt came from this shop). So throughout this trip, we've been doing many things "for nothing"....

When we finally touched down in Spore, it was pure relief. 10 days in Cambodia....was a truely memorable experience. I'd never forget the distinctive soupbase taste that was present in the noodles and porridges (Leng & I hv developed a phobia of it). I'd never forget the countless 6-pac training sessions we had laughing at the "mo"/dark forces and the "chi" pitting their wits out and then converging....I loved the trip-- ups and downs.

Pictures are uploaded at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/sheeyee/CambodiaTrip25Dec073Jan08
http://picasaweb.google.com/sheeyee/CambodiaTripPart2