[ happenings ]

Celebrated a couple of birthdays... my 2nd Aunt Alice's 60th birthday.
A wonderful dinner treat by her boys at Tien Court, Copthorne Kings Hotel

the birthday girl with the elder nephew...

the generous sons...

more cousins pictures...

eldest cousin, May

Serene & Alvin

We celebrated Dad's birthday in advance before younger bro left for States last Tuesday. Dad's birthday is not till this week, but luckily I remembered so we had a quick dinner at Soup Restaurant at T2, Changi Airport in between bro checking in and entering the gate...

a family portrait taken by a kind customer who was sitting next to us...
he was rewarded by a piece of nice yummy coffee cake :D

Company trip on the 15th - 18th November to Chiangmai. It was pretty interesting to go travelling with a whole new group colleagues after knowing some for a year and some barely hi and byes in the office. But it was all good fun... the ladies shopped like crazy, the few guys who were with us also shopped like crazy or ideal hubby, carrying wife's purchases or making helpful suggestions on their choices.

Temple @ Chiangmai, had to walk up 100 over steps!!

elephant tricks

feeding elephant...

The elephant we sat on... and my colleague who was with me :D

children and lady at Karen village, Chiangrai.

They start putting rings around their necks and legs from approximately 5 years old
and can roughly put aroudn12 rings on their necks (yucks!).
it weighs approx 4-5kg!!!

illegal immigrant at Laos ...
part of the trip was a boat ride to either Myanmar or Laos, which is of course additional cost
Myanmar is out of the question as the country is unstable at the moment with riots
So we all choose Laos... it was said initially that we will have to bring our passports along, but subsequently the tour guide say, no need.
ended up? being illegal immigrant to Laos for approx 1.2 hr... the boat alighted us at this area that is cover with trees and sanded ground.. with lots of makeshift shops ... dun even need to chop passport despite going to another country!!!??!!!! huh??
wasted my 450B... i could've done for 2 excellent massages!!!

At the Golden Triangle...

Map of the countries
for more photos, go here.

now i can't complain no pictures to scrap!

some dinner pictures...

Managed to take some photos courtesy of E after the dinner... night mode shooting so the photos don't come out great! but i think it's the moment that counts :D


Here goes:...

me la!!

love the smoky eyes and beautifully side-swept hairstyle :D

GLAM mama :P in her short in front & long behind gown!

can't see the beading on the dress but it's nice ;D

SIL and me
3+1 = 4

brothers and me :D

more photos to come from the day event and ROM...

patience ppl!!!

a new sister....

I OFFICIALLY, have a new sister, that is Sister in law...

Feels a bit odd to have another gal in the house after 26 years of only mom and me at home - but all good.

Sorry there has not been time to upload photos from personal camera, afterall, I was also not the photographer having to overlook logistics during the tea ceremony and the dinner itself.

Despite the lack of sleep everyone in my family were running on adrenaline for the past couple of days leading up to the wedding proper. Dad, mom & I were up till 5am cleaning Bro's house to be ready for the tea ceremony, while younger bro spent the earlier part of the night shifting some serviceable furnitures to my brother's place - FOR THE TIME BEING... who wants old stuff at their new house right?

I had 2 hours of interrupted sleep - so afraid that I could not wake up in time! I ended up waking everyone up at 7am on Sunday... rest of the days went in a daze... rushing here and there.. waiting for caterers to arrive (who were late - but thankfully the food was quite good) after that was a mad rush to get makeup and hair done - very nicely and so pretty :D *pictures to follow up soon*

A big shoutout and THANK YOU!!!
to all male cousins who did the extended and thunderous YUM SENG :D
to female cousins who helped with manning reception table and with the rehearsing of the flower boy and girl, and ring bearer walk.
to K1, K2 and G for cute little presence who made the whole wedding fun and lighthearted
&
to friends and relatives who graced the event to make it a success :D

lots of stories to share after the event with mom , dad, Bro and SIL as well as younger bro... at the end we are just glad and happy that the wedding went well, the food was great! the company was fantastic, the live music was incredible. Everyone was totally shagged out but it was a ball! :D really really happy

till later for photos...

baaaaacccccccckkkkkkkkk

from Chiangmai, Thailand... the land of smiles!!

not that I am smiling today... just came out from a meeting... it's really hard working with educators... such 1 track mind of thinking... sadly they are all ages of my mother...*read: stubborn as a mule / 1 track mind / can't think out of the box* and they look at me like their daughter *read: naive and immature*...

i kinda blew my top and guess what was said to me at the end?

" Fiona you are still young, you can only handle 1 thing at a time, don't worry,

we are not going to stress you and leave you alone and we are going to work as a term.

you are still very young and inexperience lots more to learn...

for now, you just concentrate on your brother's wedding

and we will do the rest when the event is over,

you can join us and you can concentrate on the task at hand.

Don't worry! "

Oh yes! thank you so much.. for that pat in the back and the vote of confidence.

=_=

all in a week....

Work week has been extremely short this week - 2 days of work. I was on leave yesterday for the 'exchange of wedding dowry'. My hands nearly died when I had to carry the huge basket of canned abalone, pig trotters, oranges, dried seafood! - and there were 2 of these baskets!! Luckily, Dad helped me put the heavier basket on a trolley so I can just roll it along. In hand were another 4 plastic bags of cakes for the bride's family. After the exchange was slightly better with a lighter load, but there was another mission to accomplish - to deliver the wedding cakes to relatives.That took almost the whole day! *I swear I will give getting married third thoughts*

Back to work today for meeting and to clear up some paper work before I am off to Chiangmai tomorrow for a company recreational trip till Sunday. I guess I'm pretty lucky to have the opportunity for the trip as:

1) I've work for the company for only a year

2) I'm a contract staff and it's ending soon!

3) I am contemplating if I should stay on?

anyway, I guess I'll just enjoy myself 1st and stop worry myself silly and letting my conscience eat me up!

So I shall relax, go for soothing massages and return home to a crazed state of mad packing, preparing for bro's wedding and career decision making

till later..................................

in preparation ...

Mom has started her long leave from work in preparation of my elder brother's wedding. I can hardly believe it's in 2 weeks time! We went shopping on Thursday for all the things needed for the traditional gift exchange. I was driving, alighting Mom, SIL and her mom as they went to buy things as I looked for a parking spot.

We also managed to buy little baskets for the flower girl and boy! Mom sewed them up to match ANGBAO baskets... so cute right??


matching corsages
*recycled from my Cousin's wedding 7 years ago!! together with the big ANGBAO baskets*


On my side, I enlisted the help of Cousin J to make a frame layout to put at the reception area at the Wedding dinner. It's great to have a good crop session after a long time! It's also amazing to see how quickly and decisive J places embellishments while I take forever to do so!



Scrapping with someone else always motivates and inspires me to scrap and with possible layouts in mind! Since there were a couple of photos left over from what J printed, I went home and continued to scrap :) and here it is...

I love everything about it... from the backing paper from BG to the embellishments and I finally digged into July somo kit!!! i absolutely heart the little love word that is printed on the paper too!


Another Layout I did of my Cousins... if i remember correctly this is one of the rare photos of us together! We've never really posted for photos... what a treasure to keep :D




Have a great week everyone! :)

SO loved....

Younger bro called on Sunday - the weekly phonecall from States reporting that he is ALIVE and doing well.



With my elder bro's wedding coming up, lots more to talk about over the phone with last minute prep that he might be able to help with (?) or what he is to expect when he comes back that wedding week.




Anywayz! great news from that little kind brother who has certainly grown up lots during his 1 half year away...


he's thinking of getting mom & I a bag each... He was asking about the size that we would like so now i'm wondering is it this?


or?

or?

:D good to be the only dd at home? keke...

and what is all the nonsense about being a middle child??? i am so not attention seeking !!! HA

oh gosh!

it's NOVEMBER!

Crazy busy month it's gonna be!

To tick off from the ever growing long lists of to-do/followup with:

1. decide on job!! i need more info 1st!
   
   
2. Proposal for further studies
   
   
3. Brother's wedding - I can hardly believe it's this month... and the *quabbles* that has been going on at my place!?!?! - I can safely say *he/my family is/are SO not ready* - at least I have clothes to wear for the day?? haha
   
   
4. Help Mom prepare things for the exchange of gifts and for actual day.
   
   
5. Clean up house for wedding!!! - it's not my mess that I have to clean up though
   
   
6. I need to scrap! I've been buying a *fair* bit of irresistable SB products and I've hardly touched them!
   
   
7. Prepare for company incentive trip - is it already Nov? and 1 year in this company??
   
   
8. Tick off another ever growing list of things to do at office - reportts/proposals/planning - arghhh
   

I should be happy that there's only 8 things on my list?
there is always a silver lining in the cloud right?

&

after november...

... it's DECEMBER!!! when the shop starts to beckon with all the X'Mas sales!!
arghh... I am so glad I work far away from town!! *or am i??* >_<

my other favourite past time!!

SHOPPING! as in for clothes! something that I've not done for a long time... I am a sucker for shopping *DUHHH* but I am also particular about the types of clothes that I part my hard earned cash for!! Recently with all the fashion, it is really difficult for me to buy something that I truly like.

A couple of great finds that I made these few days are:

A quaint little shop at Haji Lane: http://soonlee.wordpress.com/
I am not a big fan of quirky, arty-farty kind of clothes or vintage that is usually sold at Haji Lane, although I am a great fan of such clothes! * just don't dare to wear them * hehe... This particular shop sells clothes that I like personally, lots of classic pieces that is so wearable for day and night functions, work and casual! Had to get that cute cardi that I saw when I was there!

--> confession! i think i am addicted to cardigans! I have so many!!

There's this other shop that sells lots of cardigans as well! I really can't remember the name. I am currently wearing my fav grey knitted cardi from them! What's so great about it? It's the length, the colour and it doesn't crease if I put it in my bag!

No harm taking a walk down Haji Lane to check out the various shops too!


Another great place I like is ESPRIT factory outlets for basic office wear like pants or skirts. Prices are usually 50-60% off the usual prices and sometimes with luck it's even 70-80% off! How wrong can one go with black / grey pants?

Other sale that I went for was the Raoul sale last weekend! I stood there for 2 hours!!! grabbing 6 shirts and 3 cufflinks for my elder bro, and 2 shirts for myself! It was a friday mid afternoon and the number of people there were CRAZY!!! lots of young executives and lots of even younger looking crowd grabbing clothes like there's no tomorrow! Prices for a shirt was $50 but as the numbers increase the price went down to 2 for $80 and 3 shirts for $90! come on! $30 for a Raoul shirt?? pretty good deal hey?

Also busy looking for nice dresses / gown for my bro's wedding next month *Gasp* gown is more or less settled but still keeping a look out! any good suggestions anyone? Dresses are the hardest thing for me to find! They are not cheap for a good one :( maybe I am just to fussy?

oh well! think my recent shopping escapades are to make up for the past few months of not shopping for *clothes* .

oh gosh! now i miss kookai.. hehe...

*shopping happy SMILE*

finally...

A couple of layouts that I did the past week.

My other hobby: jewellery making

{ my other luv}

The "WOO" side of the family...

{ it's all RELATIVE }

An altered mirror for a colleague who is leaving my team. It has been great knowing her. I gave it on friday and she loved it! :D

I think I am really into altered art! it's really cool to do and plus I seldom have lots of pictures to scrap about. To keep SB going I tend to alter stuff nowadays! hehe.. and plus it's so ego to scrap about me all the time rite?

***********

Roughly 5 more weeks to my bro's wedding... lots of things to prepare for my side of the family and of course the ever important: trying to find a gown/matching shawl/matching accessories has been keeping my mom and myself busy!

Also gotta pack up the house to make it nice n clean for the day! that i am dreading.. haha..

lost and found

Not entirely pleased by this layout!


Was trying pretty hard to complete it. Inspiration from Labeltulip gallery.


Still recovering from a bout of flu/sore throat, fever that likes to make its appearance every other few days!

Hope I get well soon! and have the mojo to scrap! :(

gosh!

introducing....

Lee Baby gal No 2!

to cousin/brother at the other end of the world, say hello to your new little niece :D


Cousin J popped on Tuesday 9.10.2007.

went to visit mommy and baby that evening! Both mommy and baby are doing great! Cousin J said it was an easy birth :D *kudos for her bravery!* She was walking around when I was at the hospital. Yippee...


G was wonderfully great! There were so many cute moments at the hospital! She acted like the real big Jie-Jie! She held the baby really gently, talking to her.

once we went out to buy some biscuits, G was so cute.. she rambled off telling mei mei

"I'm only going out for a while, I'll be right back okie, mei-mei?"


When BB cried, we convinced G that she needed to sing so that BB will stop crying! and BB did when G started to sing.. such a coincidence! We all clapped! *proud grin*



Happy mommy with Lee gal no 1 :D

and a happy ku-ku writing this post :P

[Tang]

Recently the topic that has been on the tip of the tongue of many around me is GIVING CREDIT! At work, my boss has been asking my colleagues and I do come up with a complete guide. We were using parts of information from some books and a large chunk from another single source. From the beginning of the whole discussion, we were careful that we were copying wholesale especially when it comes to books about plagiarism or copyrights - for fear of being sued. My boss and I kept reading the fine prints with regards to how much we are allowed to use the information. We are no legal whiz, so we had to break up each and every phrase just to make sure we understood and know where we stand! We never DENIED that we took info from the sources so I added a footnote of "adaptation", giving CREDIT to the original authors for their brilliant work, especially HARDWORK.

I found that GIVING CREDIT is also really important in the daily life around me! Even in SB, where layouts, ideas, and techniques are so easily available on the net, gallerys, blogs, etc. I always wonder if the layout I make is closely following anyone's. Granted, I am not a genius in creating stuff and often I am inspired by what others have done and I would like to attempt it as well. I feel it is COMMON COURTESY to ask for PERMISSION to attempt something along the same lines as the ORIGINAL CREATOR, rather then just rip it off and get comments like "wow you are so talented", when IT'S SO OBVIOUSLY NOT AS I WAS JUST FOLLOWING SOMEONE ELSE'S CREATION?

For this layout, I GIVE CREDIT to:

Cousin J - who always blow me off with her fabulous layouts and most recently her lines of album covers!

jamie waters - love her photography, and clean simple lines in her layouts!

&

to everyone around me *near & far* who INSPIRE me everyday!

I GIVE MY CREDITS and *hugz* to you all!

1st class @ a LSS

I attended my very 1st *official* SB class at MWL last weekend. I really like Aida's {page in a bloom shadow box} so that was my choice when it came to redeeming a class.


Aida was really patient and clear in her instructions. *Thanx Aida!*

Only bummer was
1) no available shadow box . It was all sold out and we have to wait 3 weeks for new shipment to arrive . (so in the meantime, I used the ever versatile Ikea frames *heart*)

2) no instructions. I am so anal that I forget the instructions!!!

This is what I did during the class -
a wedding feel kinda bloom for my bro and future SIL...
hope they like it... :D

Had a picture of G lying around, so I decided to make a fun/cute bloom for her!
I absolutely love the colours here! :P

Oh! update on my flower noteboard pressie! Little Gal's mama loved it! yippee!!! was a great party at safra toa payoh gym... lots of kids, lots of adults mingling, lots of food! nice to see the my ex students again... Thank K for the invite :D

I think I'm addicted to altering and this page in a bloom project! haha...

way over...

yepz... national day is way way over... but since i took a nice picture during the preview parade that I went to, I decided to scrap that cool picture that I had.


not prizes for guessing the inspiration of the colour theme!

TFL !!

original...

Before scrapbooking, there was jewellery making that interest me... *another expensive hobby!*

The appeal came to me recently again and I've been collecting interesting things which I could take apart and redesign to make it my own *albeit inspiration from books and other designs*

These were made last night....

some interesting beads

another set of beads with different colour theme from the necklace above

A little gold leaf attached to the necklace for a bit of fun!

close up of the floral design of the main charm in both necklaces

Both necklaces are for sale!
Great ORIGINAL & HANDMADE gift for someone special....

Interested? Email me at fiona.woo@gmail.com to enquire
Thanx!

thanx to my elder bro who volunteered to model the necklace while I take the pictures!

can you feel...

the WIND???

succumbed to temptations and of course VANITY and went to extend my eyelashes!


took a while for the people around me to noticed it! but who cares! i like it.. although it can be a bit hard to manage at times!

Oh well.. all for the price of beauty right?

a pressie

not very good at altering things. As I mentioned before, no formal lessons taken but listening to advices on altering stuff from more experience scrappers!

Thanx for the advice! *you know who you are!*

the flower note board with stamped writing pads

close up of name and painted peg
her personalized board with her name

The flower board took me quite a while to complete.. I find altering things require lots of 'strategy'. knowing what come 1st and the next step forward. I had to be very clear with with I wanted to do! Well, very pleased with the final product! End result is amazing nice! hehe... although I couldn't embellish anymore even if my life depended on it!

Hope the little 5 year old gal who's receiving this noteboard will like her present! well, at least I hope her mummy likes it too! :D

I have to say altered stuff sure make a great gift!

TFL!
Have a great weekend!

on a high!

I am proud to announce that I am on a scrapping high... been doing layouts but slow to upload them... hehe... cos I wanted something to blog about? hehe...

{happiness is all in a smile}
{ me *heart* Birkenstock } close up of the title, i cut out parts of the box.
the word Birkenstock is from the box.
also cut out the side with the picture of my favourite Birkenstock model.

TFL!

eta: Thanx Cousin J for the lovely OA papers! Isn't it great to have a cousin who is on 2 *probably - I have to be politically correct!* most wonderful kit clubs? Even though OA pps has not been released in SG yet, I had my hands on it for the longest time and couldn't bear to use it until now! hehe... THANX again!

i *heart* ikea frames

Another layout in my favourite white Ikea box frame especially for my mom's friend. This time I had a photo to work with! However, I also thought I wanted to allow changeability of photos so I did not adhere the picture to the layout and used hambly overlay as a "pocket" for the photo.

i *heart* Hambly overlays!



Been spending a fair bit of moo-lah ($) on SB stuff! arghh... I have been warned that's it's always like that after a CHA when all the new releases are out! Sad though as I kinda feel mojo-less... due to a couple of unfortunate SB discoveries.

*chin up, shoulders up FIONA!*

it's the weekend, go and have fun! hehe.. yepz.. will do just that tonight!

{ 4 each other }

Another layout using August's SOMO kit.
Totally loving the different prints in the pattern papers in the kit!

Did you see the Sept kit that's up? Oh my.... loving it as well... did you see that cute ribbon that looks like a measuring tape and all the stamps and the papers! NICE!!!!

Totally...

hate *really hate* the long agonising wait that I am enduring at this moment. it's been like this for the past 3 days! argghhh when will my torture end *sweetly i hope* !!!

{ look here! }

I had to dig into my new supplies from SOMO kit... Totally *heart* the July kit and can't bear to use it... So i decided that I should start scrapping with the Aug kit 1st.

photo from my elder bro's wedding photo shoot.
Don't mind me saying it again, ain't the kids just cute! hehe...

Thanx cousin J and IG for a wonderful crop session with lots of snacks and the discovery that Sara-Lee has yummy Apple Pie. Darling G woke up from her nap to discover how yummy Daiso's Caramel Corn was and kept coming to the table to reach her little hand into the packet! Thinking of it now, should've got the camera ready! We were all just too busy scrapping, chatting and playing with G!

mixed feelings

just "saw" an ex-college friend online.. after saying "HI" the next message was... "I'm getting married"

That was probably 15 minutes ago that I talked to her over msn... Now I am left with lots of mixed feelings! I am definitely happy for her. It has not been easy for her to have come so far in her relationship. Truthfully, it was almost like a chase around *half* the globe, from w/i Australia to Singapore... her boyfriend faithfully followed her to Singapore when she decided to work here for 2 years.. and faithfully followed her back to Australia when she decided she had had enough of him and of Singapore *Singapore not in a bad way*.

Now she is getting married *in Nov! 10 days before my brother's! I hope I can make it for her wedding in Aussieland* ! Oh darn am I surprised and it just makes me wonder about my own perspective in life. Interestingly, the topic of marriage *much to my dismay* has been THE topic surround me - questions were posed by"concerned" colleagues and friends. My reason *truthfully* is that I am not ready and I don't think I suit marriage with such a strong-headed character.

But boy oh boy, my close friends around me are certainly joining the ranks of marriage life and leaving me all alone....

Relax...

... it is times like this, when I am feeling kinda burnt out that I really miss ...

Freo

*fremantle, Perth*


I love walking that stretch of road leading to the weekend market for a nice hot homemade savory crepe, immersing in the sights and sounds of a bustling market, walking by *and of course into* the rows and rows of eclectic mix of clothings, savouring the paper wrapped and awfully scrumptious meal of fish & chips at cicerellos & of course the sea... such clear waters and such peace.

how i wish i could be there everyday! I really miss the year that I stayed near Freo, where it was my 'playground' every weekend!