[blackout at #09-**]

A torchlight would've been useful - if it had batteries! So came our mobile phones..which gave us the light we needed to grope around the circuit board in the store room. Thank you technology.

We had a power trip in our house yesterday. At first I thought it was my dad switching off the light without knowing I was in the toilet...so I was wailing "I'm in the toilet! Don't off the light!!" Then I heard my sis scurrying out of the room so I thought..yay something exciting's happening in our estate (re: recent blackouts in sg) but well..not as close. I had turned on mum's computer earlier and it refused to start. Then when I entered the room, it smelt like burnt wire - so I figured something must've short circuited there n tripped the power. I guess this is what happens when u dun listen to the expert who says that your power socket is overloaded. Tsk tsk. We tried plugging in the multiple sockets thingy (gosh i realise i dun have a word for this gadget...) and each time the whole house was in darkness. So yeah - only the modem and the router are plugged in now.

Back to queueing for the pc. I hope school starts soon so that I can scamper to the comp before sakura does hehe.

[emo]

been feeling quite emo lately. small things made me tear, like when

1. charlotte (charlotte's web) died then her babies flew away instead of staying in the barn to accompany wilbur

2. i had to say goodnite after sending flo home

3. my doc cldn't find my past records

Dunno wat's happening to me..PMS? I hope...

[Naruwan]

That's welcome to Taiwan in aborigine language.

I'm back I'm back! Had an awesome time in Taipei, as I always make it a point to when I travel. Heh. It was so good that I even enjoyed the biostats workshops we had to attend (main purpose of the trip actually). It was a pretty good revision of what we'd already learnt so it was fun actually knowing what the lecturers were talking about, and even being able to explain it to my colleagues. p-values n more..bring it on!

I did pretty much everything I wanted to do. Visited the night market and Ximending with the ladies on our first couple of days there. We even skipped our not-so-formal formal dinner on the second night to see the world's tallest building (for now) - Taipei 101. We got by with our minimal knowledge of Mandarin...even managed to converse a little with those who spoke not much English (with a bit of comedy of course!)

I did the must sees like the Sun Yat Sen and Cheang Kai Shek memorial halls, National Palace Museum and even the Aborigine museum (left out by many tourists...I went there cos I have a soft spot for natives who have been driven out from their own land..must go there next time to visit their tribes...).

Then there was the nature part - Taroko Gorge (Hualien), Northern coast tour (Keelung Harbour and Yehliu Scenic Area), Northeastern coast tour (Nanya Rock Formations, Bay of Two Colors, Chiufen (aborigine) Village), and Yangmingshan National Park with the hot spring baths. The views were just AMAZING. I remember touching down in Hualien and the backdrop from the airport was moutains. What a lovely spot. Taroko Gorge was beautiful beyond belief...I'm so jealous that we're so deprived of natural sceneries here. If any of you decide that you need a soothing place to meditate, that's definitely the place to go. I would have spent hours just listening to the waters flowing and admiring the rocks if I hadn't been on a guided tour.

There were pretty interesting rock formations at Yehliu. Queen's head, elephant head, fairy's shoe..what have you. Some needed some imagination to be deciphered lol. I also managed to captivate a Korean's heart...he was trying so hard to buaya me...even asked me to attend a workshop in Seoul so that I could visit him! Tsk tsk. He was saying I was beautiful and smart and blah blah then our tour guide (thankfully) burst his bubble by saying that I'm Muslim so can only marry Muslim. Muahaha. I could swear poor Mr Korean guy became more quiet after that. He even got me to take a pic for him on my cam so that I can email it to him...was a tactic just to get my contact after I disappointed him abt not having a name card..haha.

I had loads of fun taking all sorts of pictures..now that I know my cam a little better. I was in a pretty trigger happy mood (till I pissed Sugi off haha) especially in the scenic areas, and I'm pretty happy with the shots I got. I also got to meet Winnie, one of my online friends from m'sia who's studying there. She brought me on my first motorbike ride ever..I was nervous and first..but it turned out to be really thrilling. Wanted her to go faster lol. That was half my butch fantasy fulfilled lol. She brought me to Shihlin Night Market..and we realised neither of us are big shoppers so we ended up spending on food instead. It was a pity we couldn't meet on Fri...cos we forgot to take pics tog. Hope we meet again in future :)

Taiwan's a beautiful country. I'm pretty sure I wanna return there to explore more. For now I shall get back to admiring the scenery... Check out more pics here!

[to love or not to love]

Got this from a Ruth's blog:

What will you do if you face a situation where you love 2 people. Person A loves you madly but person B likes you (not sure madly) and you love person B madly but guilty of leaving person A?

A couple of other things came to mind:
Do you think it's alright if in a relationship A loves B more than B loves A? Should B feel guilty for not loving A equally? Are we able to define how much is equal love?

Comments anyone?

[for M&M]

Ben & Jerry's performance

Far in her element

The Band

[view from the top]

I've been doing a lot of impulsive shopping lately - altho' it hasn't seem to be working in making me undepressed. Anyway Fri's one was the best so far. After dinner with ruth, yun n ester (and a crazy chat about boys n dates and even porn!), the girls brought me shopping. They suggested going clubbing so I said I wasn't in a sexy enough outfit, so they didn't let me out of IORA till I bought something haha. I was really about to give up cos I either didn't really like the tops or they were too sexy or didn't fit well. Then finally the salesgirl picked out something "retro" for me and voila..we could go clubbing now. It was hilarious cos I've never done such impulsive shopping - and literally buying and wearing the top immediately. But it was damn fun..you gals are the best! Must do more shopping n crazy stuff with u all heh.

We went to New Asia bar after that - at the 70th storey of Raffles City. The view was amazing and the music was really good too. Saw ruth n ester flaunt a bit of their dancing skills, then I decided to join in the fun. I think we were among the tamest there...but had loads of fun anyway! Here's some pics!

[a tale of love and desire]

I caught Notre Dame De Paris last Saturday with Sakura. And of my criteria for a good musical, the overture was left ringing in my head after the show...so yes..it was good haha. I was a bit hasty in buying the tickets - was happy with the 20% UOB card discount, but now NTUC is offering 30% discount for members..grr. No fair no fair. I burnt a hole in my (August) pocket, but I guess it was worth it...wouldn't get good seats if I buy tix now.

It was a lovely musical with lots of grandeur. I managed to read thru the summary of the classic by Victor Hugo, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Pardon me but I'm not good in my classics so I needed a little refreshing abt what the story was about. Even after reading the summary I got a bit confused during the show tsk tsk. Good thing I had Sakura (tho she was hoping I'd tell her what the story was abt...I guess we both didn't pay attn to our classics...) I don't usually enjoy sung-through musicals but this one didn't have silly lyrics like a couple I've watched before. The songs had some lame titles, but they transitioned with the story well and were very romantic - and combined with the ultimate language of romance, it was absolutely dreamy. It also made me realise I've forgotten all my French..cos I kept translating things into Swedish lol. Wrong language!!

The show had a lot of acrobatics - rapelling down walls, somersaults and break dances. Needless to say it was very lively. My favourite scene was when the bells of the cathedral hung down from above...two small ones and a big one in the centre. And there were actors doing stunts and dancing off the bells - the synchronised swinging was really impressive. I also liked the part where they had some "angels" hanging down (sakura thinks they represet the dead Esmeralda tho..) and when the "lifeless" bodies came to live..they started dancing so gracefully. It was almost as if they were really floating in the air. My only complaint was that they could've chosen a better Esmeralda, since in the story she's someone who's really captivating. Oh and they could've added a few of her sexy dances which mesmerised the men...haha.

We had somewhat of a bonus too. At the end of the show, after the standing ovations they received, the main character sang the overture alone at first, then followed with the rest of the cast and music. I love the song!! Too bad I don't understand the lyrics, or rather know what the heck he's saying. Sounds good anyway. I thought it was a very French thing to do; to give an encore...but well, they invented the word didn't they? Haha. If any of you sweeties ever come across the lyrics to the theme song, or have a budding talent for deciphering French songs, please fill me in!

**runs away humming..."The time of the cathedrals has come..."**

P.S. I bought the DVD so if any of u wanna watch it on tv, feel free!

Temps de Catedral Encore


Temps de Catedral

[in the name of the law]

Was discussing some pretty intense topics during lunch today, like the difference in parenting laws in Singapore and Sweden. We were talking about how Sweden doesn't allow parents to lift a finger on kids, even when they're misbehaving. While most Asian parents, who still believe in using the rod, might snigger and say "ah that's why their kids turn out nasty", you can't help but wonder where to draw the line between labelling a parent who's disciplining his child, and one who is abusing the child.

My friend messaged me a couple of days ago at 3am in the morning to tell me she was in terrible pain. Why? Her father had just beaten her - again. All because she was caught smoking. A couple of months back, he hit her so bad that she had to go to the hospital to get an eye scan because her sight was affected during the battering. I asked whether she had made a police report and apparently she HAD to; since she had to be admitted. What was the outcome of that? Her father simply told the police he was disciplining his child so they dropped the matter.

I knew it would be pointless to ask if she would wanna report to the police about this early morning incident and her meagre response was that they'd just take her statement and leave it at that, and her father would probably tell them it was a family matter and she's be back at square one again. And this poor, small-built girl could only stay in bed, locked up in her room the whole day, contemplating if there would ever be a day she could escape.

Where does the law help in this instance? Isn't our dear law enforcement agency supposed to protect innocent victims even if it's a domestic matter? I remember the time my brother held my dad at knife point the whole night. They arrested him in the morning, but by afternoon they sent him back home. It's as if u're releasing ur potential killer back in your safe space..to give him another opportunity to attack perhaps? I could list a million and one things that the cops didn't help us do, like not helping us send him to IMH when he was getting violent, simply because they "did not have enough experience handling psychiatric patients". Are we supposed to have more experience than them? What were we supposed to do then? Wrap him up in a little box and send him in the car? Well if we could've fitted him in nicely, we wouldn't have asked them for help. Will my friend only be rescued the day she's unable to be dragged back home by her father?

That wasn't the only issue that came to mind. My friend also mentioned that her father was "discplining" her in the name of religion. She's presumably too wild for his liking, and should learn to be a better little Muslim girl - I suppose one who conforms to his every demands. While I can't say much about her behaviour, I still believe that no matter how nasty your child is, a parent has no right to abuse her so violently. If smoking were a reason to beat up your child, I think a lot more people should be bashed up by now. What happened to rational talking? If he wants to talk religion, didn't the Prophet preach non-violence? Is he being a good Muslim by instilling so much fear in his family, to the point where the girl's own mother no longer dares to protect her from his beatings? To the point where she really cannot run away from home because there's always a way he's gonna track her down. And to the point where she no longer has any self-esteem and is unable to love herself truly.

There's a few things she could do; like seriously consider running to a relative's place or a women's shelter, or getting a personal protection order. Report to the police..let her statements pile up. And when the time comes, throw all the reports in his face and show him how nasty he's been. It's easier said and done, and I would know how she's feeling. Lost. With no one to help you. Stuck. Not knowing what to do next. She told me her father said the only way she could get out of the house was through a marriage contract. I seriously pray she'll consider the former options. For now I can only be a listening ear.

[seafood weekend]

dear diary, i'm writing to confess that i pigged out during the weekend. it was food food food, and the theme was seafood. my partner in crime was flo, and we started our indulgence on friday to celebrate her birthday. (Happy 25th dearie!) We went to Faber Rock at Mount faber which had an alfresco style dining area overlooking the cable cars and Sentosa. Unfortunately, we couldn't see much of Sentosa cos of the haze, and the service sucked. The buffet was worth it tho..$38++ and we ate lots n lots of bbq-ed prawns, beef, satay and lamb (we got to pick what we wanted to have bbq-ed..that was fun...picking out lots n lots of prawns to get our dollar's worth haha). The dessert wasn't really good...hmm...I think the place scores much better on presentation than anything else. The ambience was perfectly romantic, candle light and all. Ahh..wish we could be there the whole night. We had much more important things to do though, like go for a drive and tuck into bed. Skipped Mt Faber Park cos flo's afraid of the dark..so that shall be our next day time agenda. ;)

Sat was a bit of an adventure. Was running aroud planning Flo's surprise. She went over to Auntie's place so I could sneak out of her place and get her b'day cake. Was a little late in fetching her...between my lie about being at the car wash and her worrying abt what time I was gonna pick her up, I was glad she didn't have a clue what I was up to. We went over to our friend's house for raya...then i crept back down to the car to get the cake. Luckily I grabbed one of sha's friends to accompany me..needed the moral support haha. We sneaked the cake in, lit the candles, and finally brought it out. I think the cream was slightly melted..but well..the best I could do. Next time I'll just ask sha to buy cake for me heh. Flo was pretty surprised...was glad it worked. :P We chilled out for awhile, eating the Tiramisu (yum yum), some kuih, then headed home. We wanted more seafood at Fisherman's Village but the food centre was closed so we bought stuff at woodlands. Our second pig-out session, chilli n black pepper crabs, tom yam soup (that I finally enjoy), chilli kang kong and sting ray. Great food, even greater that flo was peeling much of the crabs for me. Haha. Yeah, I know I'm spoilt. Tsk tsk. We bought so much that we had leftovers for today. Why do u think I'm feeling guilty??

What did we eat today eh? Oh yeah, lunch at causeway point. Well that wasn't too big..which is good. I went to make new glasses cos my old pair disappeared after my starlight movie at the padang. And now that I'm attending classes, I have a dire need for a new pair. I bought a pair of transitions lenses...can't wait to try them out next week! Would be really useful for driving n stuff. Erm..not that I use my specs that much...

After all that eating, I'm left with no dinner now. So I resorted to frozen pizza...and had one whole piece...but I'm still not full. Had some choc chip ice cream cos sakura wanted a partner in crime. I guess I should stop eating since I'm feeling pretty guilty already..and also so that I don't put on double the weight I lost during fasting month. Guess I should turn in early, before I reach for the fridge again. Good night!

[time to lepak]

Been pretty zoned out and exhausted lately...with my mind-f***king over issues which are beyond my control. Was off on Thur cos of a tension headache n puking, and the nausea and throbbing hasn't really gone away. Sigh. It was good that I didn't have to spend the weekend alone, would've been disastrous for my poor little overworked mind.

Had a great time meeting up with my buddies over the weekend. Sat nite was pretty wild...my friend n I drove to Seletar reservoir just for the sake of it. We sat by the rocks and tried to gaze into the horizon...but the PSI was 52, so we couldn't gaze very far. The golf course looked nice from where we were sitting, so instead of natural greenery, we admired the neatly planted trees and bright green grass, talking abt the shit that's been happening ard us. I felt like I was in limbo world, my mind preoccupied with questions questions and more questions, ones that I couldn't solve. I was crazy enough to let my friend try driving the car...I think she kinda got the hang of it after awhile. For the rest of the night, I think I worried the hell out of another friend. Sorry.

Sunday was much more chirpier. Went to meet Yun to have a little b'day lunch with her. She gave me a (very) belated b'day prezzie..but hey, better late than never! I gave her the camisole I got her from Victoria's Secret and she couldn't help but peek into the bag..haha. She was too shy to take it out tsk tsk...must tell me when u try it on!! Better yet, show me a pic. haha. We talked for a couple of hours, catching up on a lot of stuff. Then I got a call from my "parole officer" to see if I was behaving myself..lol. Yes yes, I'm only drinking fruit juice :P. We walked ard Heeren a bit then I went off to meet the Hello Pandas at the Toy Museum cafe.

Happy b'day Mel =) Hope u had fun! I always do when I'm out with u guys. N Min, thanks for consoling me..what u said makes sense...*sobz*...will patiently wait to heal. I think by dinner my headache n nausea was back so I could hardly eat the Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Basil which was pretty good. The waitress was abt to clear my plate when Lionel n Mel asked for it back and ended up eating my leftovers haha. Desert was good tho, after lying down awhile on the huge comfy sofa I felt a little better. But then again, chocolate always makes me feel better ;) We crapped n crapped till we certified ourselves as unwanted (noisy) guests...but who cares..we had loads of fun! Min n bf were busy..ahem..interacting...I think they hardly noticed the nonsense we were up to. We made full use of our couch reservation and went home only a couple of hours later. Felt really good to luagh out loud with the gang. Let's meet up again soon!

[raya was good]

Hari Raya was a pretty peaceful occasion this year. Uneventful. Yes, uneventful = good, at least in our house. Sis n I relished the fact that we could be guests this year, which meant we weren't drained after a morning of cooking and panicking, an afternoon stealing naps while waiting for guests to come, and an evening cleaning up the kitchen. Auntie took over hosting this year (not that we had much of a choice), but yeah, everything went well. Bro behaved by doing what he does best - getting his token n running off even before the night of Syawal could set in, but really, who cares as long as there no (or not much) commotion. Dad behaved too. Yay.

I was a little confused about ang pao giving/receiving. I didn't want to receive, now that I was working, but I wasn't prepared to give (finances ain't really flourishing at the moment and well basically, just wasn't prepared). So there were moments of awkwardness between Auntie saying she should be getting reimbursement for all the ang paos she has given me over the years, and Auntie Rad slipping me one in the midst of my protests. We should have clearer boundaries abt green packet culture like the Chinese.

Jam n I found something in common - mingling ain't really our cup of tea. After hurriedly serving dinner, we were pretty much satisfied sitting in the room hanging out but Auntie came in and dragged us out for mingling time. Mingling wasn't really on the go till Auntie helped to break the ice - sometimes I wish I had a closer r'ship with my cousins and not just see them once a year, at most twice. Auntie reached a point of englightenment when she realised that tho the ADULTS were all in the living room talking family and business, she was clowning ard with us "kids"...pretty hilarious. Well, who says age is a barrier to fooling around eh? ;) My models weren't exactly sporting to humour my trigger happy mode..but I managed to get some pics with my hp. Selamat Hari Raya. Maaf Zahir Batin. (seriously, don't say it if u don't mean it...)

[Her Song of Unrequited Love]

Love like mine is never ending
mine will last forevermore.
All my love to you I'm sending
from your faithful "open door."

Want you to know
you are the one I wait here for.
Everyday my thoughts are with you
'though I know yours aren't with me.
And you may have met another
lady of your fantasy.
I shed no tears
you are not forced to love me.

Fearing my own desires could stray
I keep busy through the day
still thinking of you standing there
I accept you do not care...
O wasted years!
with a broken love affair.

I come to terms with destiny
living life, yearning for thee;
we meet up in my dreams at night
till I wake and see the light
I must be strong
All alone to sing my song
and I will be alright.

-Joyce Hemsley

[this ramadhan]

I thought the days of screaming at the table during buka were over. Or the melodramatic cries about "I can't cope alone (yeah right) this year". Or the incessant need to "ration" out food so that enough goes around the table at night and in the morning. And of course I thought the ending of the bickering between my dear parents would finally bring peace to the house. Doesn't seem so.

The tension is still abound, especially when a certain family member decides to act like a 5-year-old kid. We wonder when we'll have the next good home cooked meal, even the simplest of dishes satisfy our palates. The constant piquing drives us insane, we give in just to avoid the badgering. The moment we come home, some form of torment begins. How long will this last? I wished it ended yesterday.

Will things ever change, will the insensitive turn sensitive? No we're not exaggerating, 2 decades of this pattern GETS TO YOU. If it wasn't for God keeping me sane, and my dear friends who bear my crying in pain, I wouldn't be as strong as I am today.

Ramadhan is ending, goodbye to the blessed month so soon. Comes forth another worry, of how we're going to spend the arrival of the new moon. I pray everything goes well; if not utterly pleasant, at least not disdainful.

[revitalising alright!]

I took last Friday off to chill. Since I had physio in the morn and dad has been bugging me to follow him to HDB on a Fri which is his only off day, I thought why not. Physio was tiring...learnt some exercises...and bid farewell to my therapist. lol. Well since I'm gg to the private one, which is much better, I don't mind the extra cost. Was pretty agitated cos they were gonna show a Westlife interview on CNA...and the moment they came back "right after the break", it was my turn to go in. (arghhh). I was pretty touched Dad came to fetch me even tho it was pretty early in the morning and he cld've slept in. I really thought we were going to the Bt Merah branch and since that'd be near SGH, it would be a gd arrangement. Only later I found out that that branch no longer exists, and we actually went to the one in Clementi which is like..duh..so near!

Accompanied mum to Sim Lim in the afternoon cos she wanted to buy a monitor for her laptop. She still hasn't figured out how to use it..hmm..can anyone help?

Ok here comes the highlight of the day...my retreat!! Finally decided to use the voucher my dear Hello Pandas gave me for my b'day...since it's gonna expire in abt a mth. I didn't mind at all that it was all the way in Changi cos I'd seen the hotel it's in before, and it overlooked the sea so I thought it'd be lovely. And lovely it was. I didn't get the seaview cos I was on the 1st floor (girls: next time we have a spa party on the 8th..complete with jacuzzi facing changi beach). I thought I'd end up at a very chee-na place (no offence) cos the receptionist called earlier and went like "Hi Miss Safiyyeee...ur spa appt at 4pm leh!!" Lol. Thank god the therapist spoke better...and the service was perfect. It started off with a cup of oligomer tea (whatever that is...supp to be good for u...ok lah of course they'd say that i guess ), but I couldn't drink since I was fasting. So we headed to the room which was WOW. It was as big as a hotel room and complete with a steam sauna, bathtub that can fit two comfortably, and a shower. The amenities were good too - lots of paper undies (with a choice of g-string or regular haha), 3 combs (wonder what I'd need so many for...), toothbrush n toothpaste, 2 shower caps, plastic slippers - well you get the picture.

My retreat started off with an aromatic steam bath, salt sea scrub (which I accidentally tasted cos she spilt some on my lips..yucks..VERY salty), and a shower. Then I soaked my feet in a tub while she gave me a soothing "welcome" head massage. That set the mood for the full body massage, under the dim lights. By now I was exclaiming - I have the bestest buddies ever! Haha. I didn't want the massage to end...nooo...not so soon! The wonderful experience ended with an aromatic scalp massage and I took my own sweet time to change back into my clothes after that (oh and mel..I managed to put my papparazzi skills to work..tsk tsk..nice rite? :P). The therapist did a little advertisement by bringing me to the 8th floor to have a look at the place and I must say, it looks terrific. For a moment there I didn't feel as if I was in Singapore. Reminded me of the Batam Spa resort we went to in June. The view was amazing, definitely would consider indulging in the jacuzzi package...girl's weekend out ppl?

I headed down to Changi Village after that to buy the famous nasi lemak for buka under the sunset. Unfortunately the stall vendors were on a break so i bought from the stall next door..still nice lah.. Waited for Flo to come so that we could have dinner tog. But she didn't manage to get a cab cos of rush hour so by the time she came, I had had two cups of drinks (damn thirsty..the lymphatic drainage massage whatever must've worked...) and the moon was up and bright. We had our little picnic anyway, under the full moon. There were a few families there celebrating Lantern Festival. Was pretty cool, I never knew families actually went out to celebrate together. We were admiring the waves and the full moon, and just chilling out, listening to some songs on our phones. The tempestuous waves were a bit scary at first, but really quite pretty when u stop to admire the ripples and gushing sounds they make. Flo was getting bitten by insects so we decided to head home.

Was a relaxing day indeed. Just wanted to say a big thanks to the Hello Pandas again...one of the best b'day prezzies ever! Muaks muaks muaks!

P.S. I managed to find the Westlife interview here...yay! Well for the non-WL fans...I didn't know CNA had interview archives..so just in case u've missed an interview of say...Shahrukh Khan..here's the link

[visited country map]

cool link i got from a friend. will inspire me to travel more. wonder when my whole map will be red haha. :P



create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

[California Here We Come]

I'M BACK!!! And it's time to get blogging again! Yes, about my trip to California.

Like the American's favourite word..."awesome"! Yes it was. I must say though that upon landing we weren't really impressed. The airport runway looked old and there were patches of earth with dried up grass. Very unlike what Changi Airport wld do to spruce up the place - even if it means beautifying the place with fake lawn grass. Even mum commented that Sweden had a bigger impact on her even upon landing.

Our first day wasn't very eventful. I planned a couple of things to do but we were pretty tired so we napped the day away...then I forced the two to wake up so that we could prevent jet lag. The receptionist during our check in (still remember his name..Kamal Ahmed) was pretty annoying. He was giving us all sorts of lame excuses not to give us a special rate viz. EEG Inst where mum was attending her course at. Luckily I was in my arguing mode - saved at least USD100 a night!! Our first dinner was Mexican food. Nice...but it's quite "muak" (dunno how to say it in English..but it's the feeling like..when u eat too much cream and u get so like "whoa enough already" haha). One meal and for the rest of the trip, we didn't want Mexican anymore.

Our first adventure was to Disneyland. Oh and might I add that I had an adventure with the Toyota Highlander that we rented from Hertz. HUGE car..an SUV in fact...we had to get that instead of a smaller Hyundai cos we wanted the GPS ("NeverLost" system that would give us directions. Turned out to be really useful...we never got lost...just took a couple of detours now and then tsk tsk). Disneyland wasn't as exciting as I thought it'd be. The entrance wasn't that grand and the rides...well..perhaps cos I had to take most of them alone. Mum n Flo are not into motion rides...tho I managed to drag Flo on a couple. Was her first time and I must say she was really brave about it. You go girl! At least I got to meet Mickey Mouse haha. I got excited just seeing a fake "Captain Jack Sparrow"...he looked pretty close to Johnny Depp's character. I think if it'd really been him I'd have gone bonkers. We had an extra treat since it was their 50th Anniversary this year, so at the end of the day there was a parade going on with all the cartoon characters. Wish I were a kid again!

Universal Studios the next day was totally amazing. Best theme park I've ever been to, and way better than the one at Brisbane (from what I can recall). They lived up to their reputation of being the biggest and most entertaining theme park in Hollywood. The behind the scenes tour of the sets were very insightful...and really really cool. They had very realistic simulations - like the one where our tram stopped in a Mexican "town" and it started raining (the sprinklers turned on) and very soon the "river" overflowed and water gushed out and flooded the streets. The fire display commemorating the movie dedicated to firefighters "Backdraft" was one of the most thrilling simulations I've ever seen. Real fire mind you...explosions here and there...and the set was only a couple of metres in front of us. We could literally feel the heat...that short presentation made me feel in awe abt the brave men who fight fires almost everyday. We even got to see Wisteria Lane of Desperate Housewives...there was filming going on that day but too bad we didn't get to see the housewives. We got our drawings done at Universal too. The artist was so nice..gave us a discount..maybe we look like poor students lol.

Other highlights were the Mulholland Drive Scenic Corridor where we got to see a bird's eye view of LA. We drove along Topanga Canyon as well to see the Santa Monica Moutains...they were simply magnificent. I can't help but marvel at the fact that they have established a city surrounded by mountains. It's like..usually the moutainous regions I've been to in Indonesia are in the rural areas...but here in this City of Angels...surrounded by beautiful scenery even on ur drive to work. Wow. I got distracted while driving a couple of times cos I was gazing at the scenery. Would be a beautiful place to live in. The UCLA campus was also fabulous - huge and lots of greenery. I only saw a tiny section of it and was already amazed. Something we'd NEVER get over here! Sobs...

Oh and did I mention that I got excited everytime I saw the Hollywood Sign..tsk tsk. First time was when our dearest GPS directed us to a spot to take pics of the sign. Second was when we were driving along the moutains, third was in Hollywood...Flo cldn't understand why I was so excited. Wel, I couldn't either..lol. Just that I've always wanted to see the "typical" Hollywood thing. Hollywood itself wasn't as exciting though..I guess it's the glitz and glamour of the stars that make it more alive. Hollywood Blvd was quite a disappointment. Apart from the Walk of Fame, near chance to catch Jessican Simpson (we decided she wasn't worth sacrificing sunset for), tour of the Kodak Theatre where the Oscars are held (and will be held till 2070 I think..), there wasn't much else to see. We had a bit of a thrill seeing where the stars live...got to see Tom Cruise's Merz leaving his house. Unfortunately the closest I got to seeing Johnny Depp was his star on the Walk of Fame. Oh well, there's always next time. haha.

We had a bit of a detour on our itinerary. Instead of getting to Palm Springs, we spent a day at the hospital cos Flo strained her back It was pretty bad cos she was getting into spasms and all...thank god her condition was serious enough that they let her in only an hour after registration. There were patients who had to wait for like up to 3 hours, a few giving up and cursing the management and all. Boo to Chicago Hope and ER and what have you...the service there wasn't impressive at all. Flo was into major spasms when she was in the triage yet she had to wait another half hour before being treated, cos the nurse couldn't administer anything till the doc had seen her. And they didn't let me in so I spent 3 hrs alone in the waiting room worrying whether she was gonna be ok. Managed to chat to a couple of locals tho, learnt a few things from them like how their medical system works and how college costs USD30000 per year! The lady I was talking to was sweet enough to convey to my mum that I was waiting outside when she went into the triage with her daughter (who coincidentally had a back strain too). Then finally mum came out to smuggle me in so that I cld be assured that everything was alright. Flo was give a couple of Valium jabs (pretty strong..they wldn't do that over here). She got a bit drowsy after that. Subsequently, everytime she took her Val pills, she was a bit tipsy. It was scary but hilarious to see her behaving so childishly as opposed to her usual "controlled" self. So point to note: if you're not depressed, that's what Valium can do to you. Lol.

Santa Monica Pier was more brilliant. Thanks to my LA friend, Chris, who told us to go there to catch sunset. It was the most beautiful sunset ever (ok well..I'm a freak for sunsets and anything nature...). The setting was pretty romantic too - sunset, baskers playing romantic love songs, watching birds in the sky, lovers walking hand in hand. Ahhh..wished the moment lasted longer. Flo n I had a fantastic time there...lovely.

Okies, that was a lowdown on our LA trip. I don't feel that I'm done with that place, so if any of u have plans to go there, let me know!! Hehe. Lots more things to see! You can check out my photos here. There's loads...couldn't help not uploading a lot of them..even after a lot of careful picking and choosing. Oh well, the photography freak in me... :P

[westlife geek]

Yes, I'm still a Westlife geek. I was pretty shocked at my own excitement - after not paying much attention to the boyz from Ireland for ages (in fact I only listened to their Face to Face album a few wks before gg for their concert). But with their opening song - Flying Without Wings, I went bonkers immediately. The lads are brilliant on stage, and yes, they can sing...and dance! I went with my senior last Friday. Interestingly, we both pledged a couple of yrs back that we'd watch it tog the next time WL came over (we missed their previous show cos neither of us had concert buddies to go with) and coincidentally, we found each other to go with. So yeah, there we were - I was expecting her to go more nuts than me (err..she has tendencies...) but I think we were both off our heads the moment Westlife appeared on stage. Their most amusing number was their rendition of PSD's Don't Cha. It was hiliarious! They were showing off their booties, and changed the lyrics to "don't cha wish ur BOYfriend was hot like me". Lol. Irish humour eh? And then there was a medley of songs which included MJ's "Billie Jean", complete with his trademark hat, gloves and erm..crotch grabbing (well almost...). We got premiere seats so we were pretty close to stage. The guards kept shooing fans back to their seats...pretty dumb...what's the fun of not being able to run to the front of the stadium to scream at ur idols?? I was so caught up in the moment, I kept snapping shots after shots. Oh and might I add that I love my new camera cos it zooms so well!! Haha, as if I haven't said that before. They did their "it's our last song" trick just as I decided to join the screaming girls in front. There was one screaming boy too..who went like "I love u" with his really shrill pre-pubescent voice...it got the few of us ard him turning to see where the voice was coming from. Tsk tsk.

Anyway, I was pretty sure they weren't at their last song yet. And after some screaming for an encore (one girl actually went "an-core"...*rolls eyes*), they came out with Seasons in the Sun. Weee. My fave song. Oh and since I was up front, I could see the gorgeous lads...they look soooooooo good in real. The posters weren't lying afterall! Mark put on quite a lot of weight...he was showing off his paunch when they took off their coats at one stage, and he consciously pulled down his ahem..figure hugging tshirt so that his belly didn't look too obvious. Most of my pics are probably of him...if u haven't already noticed :P. He can sing really well, in fact they did pretty well live. Kian missed a couple of lines, but I guess it's bcos he's not used to taking over Bryan's parts. And some pretty rude audience members actually laughed at him. How uncouth! Oh and that reminds me - there was this couple who brought their kids along..the girls were barely 5 and 7 - I really wonder why they brought them along. Family outing? Cos half the time the girls seemed fidgety and whenever the fans screamed, mum and the girls covered their ears - duh..isn't that what u expect at concerts??

Ok ok, back to my drooling over Mark. He was really good - singing, dancing, smiling (awww). Oh and (in my imaginative mind), he even waved at me..yes yes he did! (ok lah..i guess he was waving at the bunch of us...but anyway.... I was telling my friend at the end of the concert that I didn't care he was gay - he's still adorable and will always be my fave!

We weren't so lucky being groupies - they left pretty quickly after the concert - in 2 merz cars. We were pretty much in denial, so we even stayed till the last van left and that was like ard 11.30!! Aida wanted to catch them in person, tho I doubted it wld happen. And well, it didn't.

The most ironic part of the day was when I got home, Saki told me that my dad told her that WL was staying at the hotel where he was working at. Goodness. And he didn't tell me! Talk abt insider info! He told me not to tell anyone...but duh...he said they checked out that afternoon already anyway. Humph! He apparently didn't tell ME cos he thought I wouldn't be interested. How wrong! Saki's the one who can't be bothered abt WL. Haha. And I guess I should be more detailed next time when I tell him I'm going for "a concert", cos he didn't know I was going for Westlife's concert. Damn...double damn!

It was a fantastic concert. I'm happy! But next time must rem to empty my memory card before gg so that I can take more vids with my cam (it kept saying memory full but it didn't show that my fireworks vids were still there..grr...). Oh well, I've got a few good shots and some recordings on my phone. Enjoy the pics!





by princessaf1

[ya ya sisterhood]

Flo came over again last weekend (yay!), on fri nite so tt she cld accompany me to physio next morning. I was afraid I'd be in terrible pain like the last time I went to the ortho, so my sweetie agreed to accompany me. Was really touched, never had someone care for me so much. Ok yeah some say parents - but I think my parents decided I should fend on my own after I reached a certain age. No more accompanying me to doctor's appts, no more fetching me from sch after a long day. I guess that's part of growing up, but it wouldn't hurt if they did once in awhile. Ok well..emo child speaking there..

Anyway, we were watching Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood on sat nite (I refused to let flo go home hehe). Watched it cos Sandra Bullock was starring, and well, sakura asked me to watch it on dvd last time but I didn't. It was a very very emotional show. I thought it was gonna be some crappy comedy where she usually has bimbotic roles in, but it was so meaningful. Gist of it is about Sandra Bullock's character coming to terms with shit that happened in her childhood, mostly due to her mum's (Ashley Judd/Ellen Burstyn) behaviour - including several bouts of depression and unconventional parenting techniques. Sandra being the eldest took the brunt of the crap and had been in therapy trying to figure out what did SHE do wrong. And her fiance wanted her to figure things out since it was troubling her a lot..and basically..well...end her "feud" with her mum.

The movie kinda conjured up a few memories abt my own relationship with my parents. My mother went thru a couple of severe depression episodes as well; she was unhappy with her marriage, and things weren't easy with my grandmother picking up fights with her very often, and my brother was in the worst stages of his behavioural issues. I guess I was her stabilising factor, so she used to come to me a lot for support. Not that I didn't want to, but I didn't know how to, and well, after awhile, I got irritated. Why was she always coming to me? Can't she ask someone else for help? I had to deal with a lot of issues myself, like bearing my brother's abuse, which was much more than physical. And I felt that she didn't listen to me, and kept focusing on herself. I guess that's why I learnt to shut myself up in my little cocoon, bottling up all my issues.

And then there were several scenes in the movie where the dad loved the mum so much, even tho he knew he could never be first place in her heart because her first love killed himself. It was so freaking touching - he stood by her through her crisis, even shifted out of their bedroom to give her the space she wanted. And at the end of the day, he still reached out his hand to tell her that she was the best thing that happened in his life. My tears just flowed out, couldn't hold them back anymore. It was awfully moving, tho I wondered whether I cried because of that scene, or bcos of the scenes which showed them constantly fighting and arguing while the children were huddled up in their rooms wondering what might happen next, whether they'd be able to sleep that night - scenes which invoked memories I'd rather not talk about. And it could also be bcos I've always longed for my parents to get along, without the shouting and screaming that got worse, without me needing to blast my CD player at night so I couldn't hear what was going on in the next room, without the threats of divorce and what have you. Though I've come to realise now that things are much much much more peaceful now that my parents are apart.

I was thoroughly glad that Florence was there with me during the movie. She's the only one so far I've told all my shit to. And her hug was all I needed to feel better. Thanks dear =) I know you may not understand everything I'm going through, or why I'm going through what I'm going through at this stage of my life; but to have you by my side is all I need.

I'll probably be feeling emo for some time to come. Warning to those of you who still decide to stay in contact with me. Haha. I'm seeing a counselor cos I finally decided to tackle my issues, or even find out what my issues are. I'm glad I've taken the first step, altho I almost chickened out the first time my counselor called me. (And all she wanted to say was hi lol) But I think I'm gonna be eternally grateful to her, cos she's doing it on a voluntary basis. I'd feel better if I was paying. Dunno how to broach the topic tho. For now, I'll stick to bringing eternally grateful. heh. I melted when she said "I want to be a part of your healing process", and she said it so sincerely. Gosh, I think if I had the privacy of my room now I'd be sobbing again lol. =)

Your Seduction Style: Fantasy Lover

You know that ideal love that each of us dreams of from childhood? That's you! Not because you posess all of the ideal characteristics, but because you are a savvy shape shifter. You have the uncanny ability to detect someone's particular fantasy... and make it you. You inspire each person to be an idealist and passionate, and you make each moment memorable Even a simple coffee date with you can be the most romantic moment of someone's life By giving your date exactly what he or she desires, you quickly become the ideal lover. Your abilities to make dreams come true is so strong, that you are often the love of many people's lives. Your ex's (and even people you have simply met or been friends with) long to be yours. No doubt you are the one others have dreamed of... your biggest challenge is finding *your* dream lover.

What Kind of Seducer Are You?