:: backie ::

*beware... long post with pictures!!*

Yes!! I'm back in Singapore and melting from the smattering heat!!

I so miss the nice cold weather in Australia.. of course not the part that my fingers almost froze off from the unearthly hour of 6am (Melbourne time), which was 4 am in Singapore.

My trip was GREAT!!! FANTASTIC!!! FABULOUS!!! I even wanted to extend!! *sigh*
Most days were spend just waking up and getting ready to go out.... chill out, walk around and to meet up with friends. This is what LIFE is meant to be, right??

The main reason for the trip is to attend a dear friend's wedding & to be 1 of her jie-mei's.
So here we are, the jie-mei's taking a group photo before the whole door haggling thing happened!

the lovely wedded couple!

*see Melbourne is cold.. wearing turtlenecks, scarves & jackets!!*

best-est pals in Perth :D Can't believe I've known them for 8 years!!!

luv these gals!!!

In Melbourne where there are lots of alley ways with lots of cafes...
&
aromatic wakeup calls ...

Cappuccino

latte

*luv how the little boy is holding a bouquet of flowers for his mom!*

another thing I love about Australia is how florists are at ever *almost* corner or along the street... and the flowers are just so vibrant!! This happens to be in Melbourne and right in front of the General Post Office!! Can you imagine Singapore doing that?? the flowers would have wiltered!!

&

of course...

There was lots of eating!!!

glorious chocolate!!

quaint little cupcake shop

cute little cupcake :D

wonderful breakfast... eggs benedict...
don't be jealous.. but breakfast was like this almost every other day!!

&

NOT FORGETTING!!!

SHOPPING!!!!

shoe shops in Australia are FILLED with shoes!!

LOTS & LOTS of shoes to make you wanna die.. oppz BUY!!
& when it is sales, it really is a SALE!! prices are usually 60% off!!

oh so wonderful.....

one of my favourite shops in Australia...
I so had to control myself when I was there!!

bought stuff from here, here, here, here, and here... & of course at lots of other cool places.. ;D
Love the factory outlets too... Bought 2 pairs of levi's jeans for A$75. They were already discounted & it was 50% off marked prices!! I can so faint!!

Yes.. saving up again & planning my next trip... kekeke.. hopefully soon!!

More photos to come.. but hang in there... need to edit & upload..

TFL!

:: chilly ::

Hey-ya!

I love being back in perth... chilling out with friends and taking a relaxing loooonnnngggg lunch at one of the cafes...

Today is Day 3 & i've been to Kookai 3 times & walked out with a purchase... walked into Sportgirl twice... & going gaga over shoes load and loads of shoes!!!
I am totally controlling my spending now... 'cos I'm going Melbourne!! Shopping haven with all the factory outlets!!

Am totally doing the touristy thingy here.. taking picts of food & places!!

It's a bit chilly here... wearing a nice wooly cardigan as I walked around the City today! I totally love being on holiday.. who doesn't?? Waking up to a relaxing day.. taking a bus to city, walking around... and finally going back at 3 plus 4 waiting for my friend to get back from work before heading out for dinner.. this is call LIFE!! keke...

update soon!! going to yummy pizzas :D

:: g'day mate ::

Yes!
Finally flying off today to Perth... It's been 5 years since I last went back there... and I am finally fulfilling my promise to my friends for a long over-due visit. This time it's even more special as I'm attending a friend's wedding & helping out as Jie-mei too!

It's looks like it's going to be another round of busy-ness there meeting up with friends....

Lots of things lined up!
Tmr - meeting up with bride + rest of jie-mei's for lunch and to discuss wedding day schedule
Fri - free & easy
Sat - THE wedding... I love how W's dh-to-be wants to follow the chinese customs of 'haggling at the door'... but being westernised.. he wanted something 'fair' that the gals gotta do too... have to find out more tmr!!

Flying off to Melbourne next Tuesday.. where I HOPE to be shopping like a CRAZED woman...
Can't wait to go here, here and here.... and of course meeting up I'm meeting up with more friends!

Going back to Australia is really like going home... I know where to go, how to get around myself and where I wanna eat! Oh yes and the shops that I MUST visit!!

Finally only coming back to SG on the 28th..

Work had been crazy.. so much to do.. but finally I've cleared everything that I need and * shd need not * do... so I totally feel that I deserve this trip!!

don't miss me too much.. i'll try to post if I can!

See you next month!! *i love saying that*

:: grateful ::

I work with children with special needs.

It is a priviledge.

I am grateful.

The Tuesday that just passed, 2nd April was World Autism Awareness Day.

Thank you for dropping by.

:: JOKE me not ::

It's the last day of March! April Fool's day tomorrow! keke.. no joke but I do know ppl born on this day and yes at 1st i thought it was a joke!

But what I experienced last week was NO JOKE!!!

$11.50 just to mend the sole of my shoe.. It's those tiny heels kind and it cost what???

I had a huge shock when I heard it, but I had no choice >_<>

This is the evidence... & can you hear my wallet groan & my heart breaking from taking out the ridiculous amount of $$??? sigh...........

{the official receipt}

I am SO not going back there to Mister Mint at P.S.
Total rip off! The fashionable cobbler (well he is, since he mends shoes right??) was dressed in a very nice executive wear with tie albeit him looking rather funeral like in a black & white get up!
******

The BAD weather is getting to me.. :( I am sick again.

Went to see the chinese doc on sat and it's been declared! I've weak lungs - hence the constant heaty-ness & coughing AND also toxic blood - hence the bad skin on my forearms (ezcema). I was given 1 month of medication for both & also medication for my cough, blocked nose, horrible mucus & sore throat.. Yes again :( mom say it's my own health.. bad constitution? despite her constantly boiling herbal soup or a variety of herbal drinks, my general health takes a toil pretty easily.

Anyway, since I'm not well & should be a good gal to stay at home, recuperate & not spread germs to others, I stayed home and scrapped..

Using more of the MM noteoworthy range, which I'm pretty reluctant as it's so nice hey??

Tried to do some 3-D effect with the layout, by using foam dots, but it's not that great, at least the flowers seem alive?!?!

Also want to do a 5 pic layout thingy - with 1 big pic and 4 smaller ones, but it just looked cluttered... so the 4 smaller ones will be another layout! :D

{the close up of the 3-D attempt & embellishments}

{self-protrait pic taken on my actual birthday}

Another one of a kind gift that I made for a colleague (lady who's totally in black) who left the dept that I'm in. She's been here for 13 years, and finally decided to made the switch to start her own design company + help the husband with his business.

{layout with the photo, which is interchangable}

{Layout without the picture}

{Layout in the frame}

The present !!

countdown again! Another 16 more days to take off!! can't wait.. am already helping friends to collect stuff that they need from SG which i'll be bringing over for them! guess they're excited to see me too!! haha...

:: pain ::

I am feeling pain in the most literal sense :(

Pain # 1)
I have 4.. yepz you heard it right 4, FOUR, blisters on both feet. 3 giants one and 1 mid size that's enough to get me screaming in PAIN!!!! The worst part is when I bathe and running water stings the open blister!! arghhh

I so love/hate wearing shoes!!!

anyone has any idea how to cure/heal blisters fast???

Pain #2)
why? why? must kookai have their storewide discount so soon?? can't they wait till April when I'm there!! oh gosh...
I am so craving for their clothes now... clothes in SG are so 'standard'... and the odd ZARA top that is nice is just way too expenisve for my liking

pic taken from Kookai email newsletter

love the 'hambly' frame that's going on here!

isn't it just adorable!

:: warming up ::

my scrapping mojo is slowly warming up. I think it must have been at least a month since I've not scrapped...

finally did up 2 last weekend. Yay!

since I started scrapping in end 06, I've been digging up old photos of me.
something that I started was a yearly pic of me and I'd scrap it so here it this year's!

{ very simple embellishing / detailing work here, my mojo just started! }

a pic of me taken by cousin J during CNY 08.
thought my expression here is kinda weird... what was I thinking/doing?
so I decided to use the 2 cans of coke near me as the focal point! smart eh?

{ mojo-meter rising !! }

:: thank you ::

for all the birthday wishes that I received yesterday via sms, facebook & personally

Yesterday was just a normal kinda working day for me - being out of the office for several apppointments & also for some own teaching after hours. So yes, it was a pretty long day for me.

However, I:

- cut 2 cakes

1 was from a dear friend who surprised me when we met up for lunch.

The other was at night at home when my family. As Mom & I was watching the telly, a Korean series, the leading actor & actress had a birthday scene. It was the actor's birthday and the actress started singing "happy birthday" & Mom started belting out her *to the best of her tone-deaf ability* version of happy birthday... Next thing, younger bro said "shit? now??" and I was like "huh? what??" & out came him from his room holding a cake with a nice little candle and they started singing "happy birthday" to me, again. While eating the cake, he said that he didn't know when to bring the cake out as he was waiting for the show to finish before bringing the cake out - so he just patiently waited so funny!

I wished I had a photo taken of the moment though - to scrap of course!!

& oh yes! younger bro also commented that itchybackside me just couldn't wait to buy the photo printer. He & elder bro had wanted to get it for me but they wanted to wait for the IT fair this weekend to check out the prices & there I went to buy it *quite on an impulse he felt* oh well, maybe i should ask for something else??? keke ...

- received a bouquet of lovely flowers "filled with love" from another dear friend of mine.

You know who you are and yes!! Thank you again :D

me @ 2 years old.. a long long time ago....
Cute, chubby & looking really alert! kekeke

:: i love a good deal ::

Yes I really really do!

Who doesn't right??

{ good deal #1 }
Been wanting to get myself a photo printer.
Knowing my budget I have been eyeing the Canon Selphy 740.

End up I got myself a Sony photo printer as the deal was $179 + a box of colour print pack of 120 sheets & 3 ink cartridges. I was also given the deal of another box of colour print pack for $30. Good deal I thought, even though I've only been looking only at Canon. Anyway, given that I wanted the usual functions which this Sony has as well, and the per print is the same price. I decided to grab the offer. Not sure of the review on this product, but I've tried it out and it looks good :D so I'm happy. Nice birthday present for myself :P



{ good deal #2 }
Was at Esprit outlet and saw some pants - nice weekend casual pants on sale.
Original Price $119.90 It was discounted to...

*drumroll*

$5 can you believe it??

Naturally I thought, gosh where is the defect?? then I asked the guy and he said "No. There's no gimmack. The pants is PERFECTLY good!" and went on to suggest the size that I can wear.

I tried it on and it fit nicely! hehe...

& OF COURSE I had to get the 2 colours that it was available - green & blue - and all for the price of $10!!

Yippee Yeah Yeah!!

Jealous, right??

keke...

I'm one happy gal,
even though i gotta work long hours on my birthday!!

Oh well but still
I'm one happy gal!!

:: take a leap ::

Happy Leap Day!! oh wow! a feb 29 in every 4 years....

pardon me but it just means that I have to work 1 more day!! >_<>

I need a total sleep-in day to rejuvenate my mind, soul and energy!!

anyway this is keeping me happy.

I love the bags

I want the bags



BUT



I can't have them cos I can't figure out how to get them all the way from the land of the Effiel Tower & also I'm pretty sure they'll cost me an arm and a leg as they are handmade :(



But I'm happy... just to ogle at these babes

:: abandon all ::

reading the latest post from here makes me just want to abandon all and go into baking, crafting and all things crafty & pretty, that my dad will say is frivolous = don't make $$$ kind of work.

Just look at these butteflies and dragonfly cookies!!! aren't they beautiful?? oh yum!! I am full from my miserable packed rice lunch with tofu, veg n chicken, but I can still squeeze in one of these beauties!!

photo taken from: Kuidaore

I really am interested to go for one of the classes at Shermay's! Not cheap but I guess looking at what the classes are like, I'm sure it'll be great fun!! any takers with me??

CNY gathering also brought interesting titbits... one that really interest me was a family friend's 16 yr old daughter's interest in baking and she's gone to the extent of having her very own kitchenaid, red of course! She also went to 2cm @ Holland V for an internship during her school hols and from what i heard makes a wicked tiramisu & warm chocolate cake *with top-notch ingredients - courtesy of her parents* She even sells her cakes online to close friends...

*a note to self*
Maybe, maybe in future...
That 1 day I would like to open a small cafe with homemade cookies/pastries/cookies that alsoo does crafts or flower arrangement.
while i know there are places as such that exists, it's more for self-fulfillment than anything else...

may my dream come true?!?!

:: it's over ::

Yes, 2008 Chinese New Year is officially over... sigh...

It's been a busy new year for me....*haha* as I was diligently collecting as many angbaos as I can, given that soon ppl won't want to give me due to my *a-hem* age... of course it was also great to receive more angbaos this year from newly married cousins & my bro.

It was fun eating yu-sheng, tossing shredded veg and fish, while at the same time increasing my repertoire of 'auspicious' idioms.

Not many photos to show from my visiting although I brought my camera around.. must have been too busy stuffing my face with all the new year goodies!! But luckily cousin J managed to take some and has given us the picts! Thank u!!!

There was one round in office last week and here I am with the bosses & department colleagues.


Didn't manage to do any scrapping this time , compared to last year. Although I managed to complete a few birthday presents.. Managed to only take pictures of 2 that I made - totally forgot about the other presents!!! Anyway... as usual my fave alter project, framed mirrors:


One each for the birthday sisters, whose birthdays are 5 days apart! As both names starts with "N", I decided to just put a simple "N" on the frame for them to choose which frame mirror they like.


Really glad they like them.. and as expected, older sis took the 1st (black & white colour theme frame), while younger sis had the more funky looking one :P

********

another 5 days to March...
*hemmm* I seem to be doing lots of counting down....

and I will be doing another celebration of different kind. keke...
nonetheless, I'll be receiving angbaos & pressies too!! yippee yeah yeah...

:: squeak ::

2 more days till it's officially Chinese New Year and a brand new cycle of the 12 chinese zodics.

The checklist:

1) Spring-Cleaning... is coming along slowly!!! I started with my room *such an obedient gal* and wait till the eve to clean up the living room as it tends to get messed up easily!

2) Decoration.. have been put up. We bought some really cheap ones from Toa Payoh Hub. $1 each for a pair of 'rats' holding couplets and a 'chun' (those felt kind) such a great bargain.

3) Flowers... are usually bought on the eve where there is a great bargain at Chinatown. However, we will buy pussy willow earlier for decoration :D So the Nursery it was where Mom & I went last night. There were loads more different species of flowers that were brought in this year. AWWWW so pwetty :D

4) the GOODIES... have been given by friends and we bought some too :D they are neatly arranged and other than pineapple tarts, my family is not a big snack muncher kind-of ppl! poor mom has to slowly eat them so as not to waste it all!!

I really can't believe it's almost CNY! I've not been to Chinatown for the walk-walk, will usually do so on the eve to get great bargains and to 'immerse' myself in the CNY atmosphere. It's quite a *ecentric* (for the lack of a better word) thing for me as I really DISLIKE crowd but will still go to Chinatown to get jostled with/at... >_<

Good news my cough is getting better. Went to see a Chinese sin-seh on the recommendation of IG. The diagnosis? Weak lungs - can't take cooling food like cold water, radish, 'chai -po', but at the same time, I must avoid certain 'heaty' herbs! What a contradiction, but it's nothing new to me as other Chinese doctors and from my own observation, I will start coughing once I take a certain herb. He gave me 5 different kind of medicines and I've been taking it RELIGIOUSLY despite the liquid/syrup that tastes really awful!

Hence, I enjoyed myself when the paternal side of the family had our Reunion lunch yesterday at Zi Yean. We were stuffed as there were far too much food for a table of 9 each (there were 3 tables - yes I've a BIG family :D) and too many small eaters around. But oh... I do love Yu-Sheng and I had my very 1st one for the year! :D yippee...

Decided to do some last minute shopping at Vivo City after lunch, while my brothers opted for the more 'upmarket' Paragon to do theirs! I have new clothes *several in fact* but not all are meant for CNY visiting. Currently I have 1 and a half new clothes - a shirt (to be paired with my jeans) and a dress. I was hoping to get something for maybe the 3rd and 4th day but all the stores were packed!!! Queues to the fitting room and cashier were long, the stores were packed! I just walked in, took a turn and came out. It really did not help when people were jostling away and oblivious of others who were trying to move in the store. They just stood at the middle of the pathway expecting others to squeeze through them????? I GAVE UP!!! Mom, on the other hand, managed to get a few tops *lucky her*. Leaving the shopping centre kinda disappointed but then I guess I saved some $$ for my trip :) Think positive, Fiona!

:: hello ::

taken from Decor 8

february...

I am officially, still unwell...

Starting coughing & my blocked nose persisted to block my other nostril!! I am literally gasping for air with my mouth and that is BAD as that dries out my throat and causes it to itch due to it being so ulterly DRY!

So is it my latest obsession??

I seriously believe that I am on the verge of having OCD - obsessive complusive disorder

- When I like something or if something catches my eye, I obsess about it and until I get my hands on it I will not let up!! well, at least until I really exhaust all avenues of getting it.. i.e IT IS SOLD OUT ISLANDWIDE!!

- I obsess about shoes / bags / being a neat freak / or getting; doing things IMMEDIATELY *other than official work..keke * or maybe I am just being a typical controlling female??
- and now... am I obsessed about being SICK?? it's been a month!! oh why!! it's CNY next week! Let me eat all the goodies >_<

I've not been crafting :(

Ms Mojo is with me I have loads of ideas that I want to use... but energy level has been pretty low.. *sigh*

on a more postive note,

I have been diligently writing down all my expenses since mid Dec.. it's been more than a month already, but I am still doing it! way to go!! So now, in my bag, I have a few booklets - my diary, my expenses book, observation of children/ *offical* work booklet

Woohoo to new year resolution?? at least 1st month into the year and I did something consistently...

TGIF!!

Have you bought your new year clothes?

:: mid + end ::

it's mid week and ain't i glad! it has been quite a crazy week and it's barely half way!!

Can also hardly belief that the 1st month of 2008 is only tomorrow!

As much as I would like to say how great it has been, I must also add that it has certain had it downs (and it's really down)

Started the new year with horrible cramps,
& with totally no connection
I had a bout of bad cough... the kind that leaves a resounding pain in your tummy when the cough gets so bad+phlegm! It did not go away for almost 2 - 3 weeks and now that it's finally gone...

my nose gets stuffed.. to be precise it's my right nostril and to save the the 'glory' details it's so darn hard to breathe!!!

what plagues me next??

a twisted right ankle...

as if my luck can't get any worse

i missed a step and twisted my ankle in the process, let alone bruising my ego in front of the queue of people at the ATM. It still hurts horribly now and I'm hobbling away in office!

not to mention my run in (+very 1st accident!!) with a nasty lady who reversed her car and I was parking and *we* knocked into each other.. who demanded compensation from me. of course I did not pay her... but still had to fork out good $$ to do repairs to the bumper and paintwork.. GOSH!!!

SERIOUSLY!! what next??

and forecast for the New Year is a good year for the Rooster! does that mean I still have another week of 'gritting my teeth' and keeping my fingers cross that I will be SAFE??

A question that has been on the tip of my tongue -

WHY ME?? WHY ME???

gifts from the heart...

Just completed my commissioned frame :D

Really happy with the results.. lots of layering and dimensions in it.
Altered the frame as well...

above - I used hamly overlay to "hold" the picture in & allow inter-changeability of photos.
below - close up of the the layering + embellishments

A gift to a teacher that I've been mentoring during my course of work. An amazing teacher -- I really admire the way she takes everything in her stride and is never without a smile on her face whenever I see her. Heard from her boss that she faces some family problems, but somehow she still manages to be strong and support her son + giving all of her during lesson times. She has been really kind too - always giving me thank you card, and recently a really cool portable desktop calendar from here.

hope she likes what I made!

3 D effect of the flowers again...

I've another 2 more gifts to make... hang in there it's almost done, will post asap

Another week gone from the new year and another week to go & CNY is approaching...
arghhh... spring cleaning... sigh

hello...

... from my new desk.

I've moved from the open-ness of my original desk that I occupied for a year to the direct opposite of that - a quiet corner at the end of a row of cubicles.

took some time to clear up and sort out / organise my things / files / intervention resources - they are scattered in 3 different places now! hehe but all neat and organised so I am glad.

Hoping to settle into the new area soon and get work done! :D

Happy thursday & TGIF tmr!! can't wait

day 3.. of 2008

is looking slightly brighter than the day before??

Completed 3 layouts during the long weekend break... so I guess good start on the crafting front!

Took me a long long while to decide how to use the Tinkering Ink papers!
Really pretty but the patterns really baffled me!
So I decided to keep it simple and not add too much embellishments, in case it looks too crowded?!?!

finally scrapped photos from my Chiangmai trip! This time elephants 1st.
(see above & below)
used the Love Elsie's range of papers.. so much fun!!
I printed out more pictures but yet to scrap them! coming soon!

& also! I had my very 1st commission... a good friend asked me to do a framed layout for her MIL & FIL. Am so happy!!! She was telling me how her in-laws were admiring what I did for her ROM present.

she can't decide what to give so she thought something handmade would be good!

So nice to know that my work is being admired! every crafter's joy :D

day 2... of 2008

ok ok.. bad start!!! SOBZZZZZ
down the drain goes 1 of my New Year resolutions... not to take cab so often with exception of work related transport of course!!

As I was walking to the bus stop... I watch my bus go past... waited paitently for another 10 minutes or so.. and the next bus was still not here!! In the end...

I took a cab to work.. and it cost me a freaking $16 just to reach office... $10.40 actual cab fare, $2 ERP, $3.65 for the surcharges... it used to cost me only $10, $11 max for the trip! ok, so the route was slightly different but still!! $5 difference!! It used to be a flat rat for the surcharge now... as the amt goes up, so does my heart rate!!

Sigh... but then I was early for work... by 15 minutes...

Here goes Day 1 of 2008 work!

Have a great one!

hello 2008

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

2008 has descended upon us!
to all my family and friends near and far! Wishing you all a blessed New Year.

Have you made your NEW YEAR resolutions?

Mine?

I have a few... but better not say here! in the event that it doesn't happen!!
as a wise cousin of mine said, i don't make resolutions so as not to disappoint myself!

But I definitely do have couple of things that I DIE DIE also most do... so it does look like 2008 is going to be a promising year for me! Hope it's good for everyone too!! I'm sure it will be :D

Hello 2008!!!!