These numbers are scary… …

In my job, I get to read economic data and announcements on a 1st hand basis, courtesy to Bloomberg and Reuters.

And as the days go by, I see more and more horrible data and reports...
(From Business Times)

“Singapore‘s non-oil exports plunged 34.8 per cent from a year earlier. The January fall in exports from a year earlier was the biggest since records began in 1977, the trade agency said.” (Fresh from the oven, numbers released this afternoon)

“JAPAN'S economy shrank by a worse-than-expected 3.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, or 12.7 per cent at an annual rate, marking the most savage contraction in 35 years, the government said yesterday” (Data released yesterday 16Feb09)

And I don’t even want to talk about data from the USA and Europe…

For myself, during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, I was still a nerd in JC and the “event” was merely a textbook case study for my Finance course in Uni years after.

As for the 2001 dot.com crash, I didn’t feel a thing since I was still an ignorant student in Uni as well.


2003 SARS outbreak, I was blissfully doing an extended internship in the US, so by the time when I was back in Singapore in Dec 2004, Singapore’s economy was up and running again.

This time… this time is different. I am facing this recession point blank and I am feeling every bit of it. To be frank, I do not even know whether I’ll get to keep my job by end of this year.

2009 and 2010 will be a tough ride.

I'm disappointed... ...

Sigh. I'm sure many of you have went through this: "to salvage or not to salvage a friendship" ...

After being friends for almost 20 years, I seriously wonder whether I'm being taken for granted or i'm just plain petty. Maybe my expectations are too high, maybe I'm disappointed that my love and friendship arent reciprocated.

It's just such a pity to give up a friendship of almost 20 yrs... yet, I can't simply just bottle up my frustrations and displeasures. Yet, at the same time, I cannot bring myself to confront the issue. (which is very, very unlike me)

The bestest friend is now an Alien.

Funny Conversation with Hubby


I said: You know, some people said that guys with small feet have small d**ks?

Hubby: Ha. That’s dumb. Woooh… look at Ronald MacDonald’s then. *Grin*

I: Wah Lau… YOU ARE GROSS.

Hubby: Maybe that’s how BIG breakfast comes about?!

Yup… that’s my hubby for you.

This is not right... ... ... I dont think I ever wana eat suckling pig again. It kinda kills me a little to see a little, pink. baby piggy on that grilling pan.

It almost looks like a new born baby! Geez...

"I didn't do anything wrong... why must I have children?"

Ha. Think i'll use this line during CNY next year...

Brothers and Sisters!

Wedding couldn't have happened without these very important people!

Happy Birthday to Hubby!

Hrm, although he's arent no cat... but the idea is there lah. Heh, mine is coming up in 2 days time! ;P

Back from the Land of the Rising Sun

One word to describe the trip: F.A.T

I ate so much Japanese food in the 2 weeks while I was in Japan that I think I’ve surpassed an average Singaporean would eat in 1 year.

I’m not kidding. Somehow, my stomach was tuned to the geez-im-never-full-until-im really-going-to vomit mode. Very unhealthy… Hubby and I wana try so many restaurants that we ended eating 2 sets of dinners most of the time.

We would hit this Unagi restaurant and order 1 bowl to share and then hit another sushi place to whack on more sushi. Or I could eat 1 huge bowl of ramen and when I walked past a really delicious-looking pastry shop, I just had to sit down and eat another huge slice of cake.

I can’t believe how almost everything we ate were so freaking good. Even milk from the supermarket was like the best I’ve ever drank in my life.

Foodies aren’t no foodies until you have been to Japan.

OMG. I'm married!

Ok, below is the video that I wanted e groom and his brothers to do during the gate crashing and their expressions while they were watching the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeRGd4Rn7fA

I love the expressions...

I hope my hand bouquet will look like the one as the 1st pix. So green and pretty... I will not get a chance to see the actual hand bouquet until the day my groom picks me up.

Talking about flowers... Geez, how much did these angmohs spend on the flowers manz. Look at the tons of flowers! I've learnt that flowers are like damn bloody expensive... *ouch*

My mum loves me and gave me the wedding that I want.

I’ve always been willful and head-strong since young and so, when it comes to the planning of my wedding. I’m driving my mother (the tradition-ist) up the wall.

I told my mum that I’m going to have both luncheon and dinner, so that I can have a cozy dinner with friends ONLY. Ie: Even she will not be invited to my dinner. She was like “huh”, but she agreed.

I told my mum that I want a small & intimate lunch of only 100 pax. She requested for 5 tables to contain our relatives and I was “No Way!”. I’m not going to invite those distant cousins and aunties whom I spoke less than 5 sentences in 5 yrs. My mum was upset and said that it would put her in a difficult position but I insisted and even made her made phone calls to tell relatives that they are only allocate to 5 seats per family. No maids and “extra” persons are allowed. She wasn’t very happy about it, but she agreed and did it for me.

I told my mum that she will be sitting at the VIP table with MY relatives instead of the hubby-to-be’s parents. She once again “huh? But that’s not the norm”, but she agreed.

I told her “NO Yam seng” during Lunch and she was a tad disappointed, but she agreed.

I showed her our unconventional wedding photos online and she was like “huh, no albums??” But she’s ok.

She requested to go for food tasting and I told her that we have actually went ahead with another couple friend of ours and ate everything liao. She was like “huh? I didn’t get to eat??” But she’s ok.

She gave me so much room in the planning of my wedding that I truly enjoy the process and am grateful. I know my mum loves me and this is the greatest wedding gift that a mother can give.

I begin to feel like I’m a horrible daughter.

Looking forward to the cold

It has been 5 years since I last visited a country during winter. I think I’ve forgotten how it feels to have snow melts in my hand…

Thus, Im looking so forward to a cold, cold winterland trip to Japan! Wooyoo! I’m NOT going to Hokkaido though… yeah, I know that’s the REAL winterland. But, Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Kinosaki and maybe, Hiroshima will be good enough for me!

I really do hope that there will be snow though!

I can’t wait to freeze my ass off!

Last night, I had so much fun digging out all my winter stuff, my knee-high boots, my scarves, my overcoat, my gloves, my hats….. On top of my new, kick-ass jacket from Mango and 2 new additional sweaters, I am good to go!

Although I have to admit that my winter overcoat looks so passé that I’ll most prob save that for a trip to Russia instead of Japan. To go Japan, gotta travel in style!

Fishy business

It felt really weird to have fishes nibbling at your feet. Took some time to get used to...

Weird things that girls do for the name of beauty!

Friendship

I don’t know whether my friends know this, that I really treasure the relationships that I have with my friends. As long as it’s within my means, I will definitely try to help if a friend is in need. But since I might come across as independent/insensitive/unemotional, maybe some of them didn’t dare to approach for help…?

Looking back, I realize that I didn’t really get to keep in touch with my secondary school friends, and thus, it turns out that I only have 2 surviving friends. That’s kinda sad since I’m from a girl’s school and usually girls from girls’ school have very strong bonds. Hmmm, sorry to say, I only have strong bonds with only 2 girls and 3 of us are leading such different lives right now, I can’t help but to feel that we’re all drifting apart.

Turns out that my closest group of friends is from my uni days. Thank goodness that I stayed in a hostel to cultivate these friendships with this bunch of crazy people, or else, I think I really wouldn’t have many friends.

As I’m growing older, I begin to realize how vulnerable friendships can be, and how one has to “work” to maintain the relationships. Frequent meet-ups, frequent catch-ups are indeed necessary to ensure that there is an exchange of ideas, feelings and thoughts to keep that connection going.

Although I am keen to keep that connection going… how many of them have the same thoughts in return? Expectations and disappointments can affect the friendship and it will be such a pity to lose a friendship due to a misalignment of expectations.

Sigh.

Can I live without friends? I don’t think so… Without the support of true friends, I don’t think anyone can function normally! All I can do is to treat my friends with love and respect, and hope that I can get that in return.

His name is Lawry and he's a handsome, white pony at RDA, but he really looks daft with that hood on, doesn't he?

Lawry might looks cute but he's a tad grumpy and tends to bite. Esp when u place your hand on his neck... he just doesnt like it.

What i've learnt about horses...

[1] When horses snort, do try to stay clear, or else you'll be covered with horse mucus. Pray that you are wearing an old t-shirt.

[2] Horses do bite and they are not like those cute little ponys from the cartoon "My little ponys". They can be grumpy, kick or stomp their hooves to show their displeasure.

[3] DO NOT STAND behind a horse at all times. Once again, they do kick.

[4] Horses can shed TONS and i mean TONS of hair/fur. There are many times I wish that im wearing a mask when im grooming them.

Ahh... the joy of having dogs is when you can dress them up in silly costumes for Halloween and they will still love you for it. Cats, just dont quite have that kinda love nor patience for these costumes.

These pictures totally made my day!

Isn't that a pair of, really cool red shoes?? Check out the feathers!

I've alwas had a thing for red... then some Fashion Guru told me that one has to be tall to wear red well... Like Julia in Pretty Women when she went for her opera.

Hmmm... I'm not exactly tall. Just barely average height. Haiz, I can't wear red well then.

But.... I can still wear red shoes!!!

As for the other 2 pictures, just feel like posting them... to celebrate my love for the color red.

These dolls seem very scary to me, they are like the bride and groom version of voodoo dolls... YeeeeeeK!

Saw these dolls at a wedding website and they arent selling cheap, I tell you! Gives me the goosebumps. and I can so totally imagine my enemies sticking needles into a version-of-me doll.

No dolls for me.

Marley and Me

After reading this book, I wish I have a dog.

Nope, I don’t think I can handle a dog such as Marley. I’ll most probably kill him when he destroys the sofa for the 3rd time or eats my 50th pair of shoes.

But for all dog lovers, this book is a must-read. It’s such a touching story and best of all, this story sounds really REAL. (Although I wouldn’t be surprised if parts of it are made-up for entertainment value)

Nonetheless, I truly enjoyed myself and the book also reminded me of my dog, Puggy.
I had Puggy when I was a little girl, and being too young (like 5 yrs old), I couldn’t take good care of her and my mum simply couldn’t handle 3 young kids AND a dog. Thus, Puggy had to be given way.

I only had Puggy for only less than 2 yrs but I remembered that she was my best friend and we had so much fun at the beach, riding in my mum’s car, our moments when we shared our food (she basically ate everything that I hated). She was such a comical dog and I remembered many moments when my mum and I would just laugh at her for all the silly things that she had done.

Puggy was eventually given away to a neighbor, and I remembered missing her very badly and would run over to the neighbor’s place when ever I could until that neighbor moved away and I never see Puggy again.

I still think of Puggy once a while and I sincerely wished that she had a good life and died as a happy dog.

Above are some pictures from Cameron Highlands. Decided to escape with E to somewhere cool and nice for a short getaway and Cameron Highlands come to my mind immediately. Since I haven’t been there before, thought that a short 3 days 2 nights will do me some good.

Weather was really indeed cool, in fact, temperature dropped to about 13 dc at nights. During the day, it was really pleasant at a comfortable 20 dc as well…

Nothing super exciting to do at Cameron Highlands, except visiting strawberry farms, eat tons of strawberries, eat tons of fresh sweet corn (really sweet!), and look at veggies (and eat them too).

All in all, it was a really pleasant holiday. Except for the treacherous, agonizing, 8-freaking hours bus ride from Singapore.

That sucks