The Double "Yu" Birthday Celebration
~ January 13, 2006 ~

The celebration saw new faces as well as the usual old ones like mine. Several common ones couldn't make it, like Hj who was caught was with deadlines, so am I, but i made it anyway.

So we chosed Lao BeiJing restaurant, or rather, the birthday girl picked this place out of the 13 restaurants list i provided. Moveover, my fellow colleague recommended the place, and when she says it's good, i suppose it must be good.



Good decor for the mood. Somehow the place reminded me of the days where the 30 (or so) of us went to Beijing for a cultural immersion tour. The trip was great, but i believed it would be even better for me if i've made my presence felt more immensely. I think i have this big problem, of hiding away in a corner cuz that's where I'm most comfortable without my facade. It takes truly sincere individuals to convince that pair of hands of mine to remove the layers gradually. Corners and people I know i'm truly comfortable and feel secure with are my comfort zones, but to be able to survive in the 'treacherous' world and to enjoy life better, pulling myself out of the corner is something that requires immediate actions. Perhaps i just feel inferior due to the larger surface area i occupy, constantly concerned about others' view of me too much for my own good.

Work-wise, it's been great and real fun. People envy my job, to eat and write. Sure, it's enjoyable, and definitely it feels great to taste good food -- free. On the other hand, i might be given chances to try out other areas as well.

Anyway, it's time to plan my life ahead as time ticks pass every second. Graduation draws close, in fact, a little too close. Though i'm dying to graduate, i'm thrown into what seems like a confusion as well. Haven't been able to put my thoughts into appropriate words. I admit i'm bad at expressing myself, am pretty sure people around me know that. I'm constantly at a lost for words. Perhaps those communication classes aren't that redundant afterall. I desperately need more confidence. Praise me more please? Or is anyone selling confidence at a reasonable price? Call me at 1800-confidence-wanted. Gee...

Time to read more books-- constructive books.

Been thinking a lot about life lately, so much that i'm beginning to lose touch with the world. Unfortunately, those thoughts about life has failed to make me love shopping less. All those dramas portraying characters dealing with the unpredictables and uncontrollables instil new values of life in me. When scenes of the dramas happen in life, it seems so unreal. I try deluding myself it's not real, but i have to face it. It is real, afterall. Life, it's extremely fragile. It's not by choice, when destiny decides to play a trick on your life, you won't even get a chance to say 'Goodbye'. You can choose what to do in your life journey, but you can't direct exactly how it'll turn out. It'll be good to tkae things as it is and cherish whatever's given. I can't read people's thoughts, but i try to be sensitive to these feelings. Sometimes i wonder if it's necessary to do so since similar treatments are not returned as frequently as they are given out. Oh well...why bother about thinking that much in fact? Like the Chinese saying goes, the boat will naturally adjust itself to proper state when it reaches the harbour. So we'll just let it be for now...

I believe all good souls will eventually rise to heaven for peace and bliss. It'll be regardless of religion, race, nationality, and everything else that divides human beings.

By the way, my main motive here, is to publish these photos taken during the Double "Yu" birthdays Celebration but I guess i digressed a tad too much.. Gee..

Here goes..

Photos courtesy of Yutang's camera..





















That's all folks, for now..

Cheers to a brighter day ahead! ;)

CHing Belated Birthday Celebration cum V4 Christmas Gift Exchange - 30 Dec 2005

ChingChing Belated Birthday Celebration cum V4 Christmas Gift Exchange - 30 Dec 2005



When V4 gets together, it's just hours and hours of fun, joy, and laughter, topped with some craziness.

As comfortable as we are with each other, the adventurous side of us brings us to new places people of the norm doesn't go to. Separately, we might just show a hint of madness. But when combined, it's a huge bunch of uncontrollable madness. We do rather crazy things. It didn't matter that a few foreigners at the same place enjoying their night swim took occassional glances at us. Somehow, i felt they laughed at our 'foolishness'. However, if we don't do crazy things, it's not V4.

Thinking of ourselves as models for Min's camera, we posed, posed, posed, and posed for it til time silently went by...

















Happy Birthday Sis!








Til Then Folks!~ Cheers!~ ;)

*Photos Updated below!*

My Humble Sony presents...

DMC/3B/05 Christmas Party 2005 - 24 Dec 2005
















Christmas Night after Volunteer work-25 Dec 2005







At Diana's house..





Sec Sch Classmates-4E2/1/3- Christmas Steamboat cum Gift Exchange-29 Dec 2005
The Photogenic...Muahaha..











The camera shy people has to block their faces..




And the natural "camera-unshy" people treats the camera as non-existant (or they just didn't realise someone was snapping away at them...



Individuals...


Here goes...
All photos courtesy of my humble camera that had loyally served me to its best throughout its three years with me. Looking for an upgrade to capture all precious moments in life with higher resolution. Looking at my individual financial status and monthly allowance from eating and writing, it's rather impossible if there isn't financial support from who else but my parents. While waiting for photos from other cameras that might only appear in my mail most probably a century later,if not a millennium, enjoy what's presently available. Oh yes, and if you happen to want photos from my humbe camera, do give me a mail so I know who wants what cuz no one needs photos from my humble camera presently, i guess.


I forgot to place money in my wallet today, but i thought i wouldn't die from hunger when I'm working for a magazine all about food. The pantry wouldn't be short of milo, horlicks, all kinds of drinks, biscuits, bread, or just some good chocolates would do. I didn't worry about not being able to have lunch at all, weirdly.

Just as I was thinking of what to have from the pantry in the afternoon and if i would be lucky enough to go for a food-tasting for lunch, my sub-editor came over to ask if I would be busy in the afternoon cuz there'll be a food-tasting during lunch. I had no idea where the food-tasting would be initially but it didn't matter, as long as there's free food for the penniless me.

The place was gorgeous, and the genuinely cordial PR person's friendliness made the meal even better with honest comments that are "off the record", not bad comments though, just some facts of the industry. Glamourous it might seem, to be in the media or work with the media, but you never know what's going on until you're part of it. Many PR personnels talk about the realities of the job, and they'll turn back to say, "Not trying to scare you, but that's pretty much a fact..." Gee.. I'm not too scared, have prepared myself with anti-shock vaccination, but I won't be too surprised when shocks get to me either, it comes in the package.

(Enough of reality bites...Back to the beautiful world..)

The ambience of the restaurant was great, just the place you would like to go for some interesting food that doesn't come cheap along with good service. The suites of the place are elegantly done up by some in-born talents as well. The way they did up the whole place, is just the way i want my ideal house to be like -- victorian elegance.

The schedule for the next issue is up and we gotta start working on it. Doing research for the articles isn't easy cuz they aren't materials you would find easily on the internet. This is where human relationships like friendship, kinship, and all kinds of good relationships come in. At the rate I'm collecting namecards presently, it won't be too far a goal to fill up the namecard book Mum lovingly gave me for Christmas. Therefore, don't delete any contats you have now, you never know when you'll need their help someday. Maintaining good relationships, even if it's just on the surface, wouldn't hurt (not too much at least). Though this is what i feel at the moment, it's subject to changes without notice. Haha..

I'm waiting for the day when "Update: Fiona Ng" appears islandwide in a month's time. Do get a copy for a read, your mum will love the recipes too! I've learnt a lot throughout the 4 weeks with them. Despite being unable to put what I've learnt exactly into words, I've undoubtedly absorbed a lot. Apart from absorbing too much food and pushing the possibilities of growing vertically even higher than mentally, that is.

I'm getting so used to the lack of right-click with iMac at work that I'm using too many shortcuts in typing for my own good. Grateful for my own proactiveness to carry an abandoned but in pretty good working condition iMac OS 9.2 to my desk to replace the antique iMac OS 8.6 that is ready for the computer graveyard, i pasted a note for the antique whose sentence is long overdue. On the note, it reads "Certified-Brain-dead. January 5, 2006. 10:21am" Thank you for over-working for my sake darling antique, it's time for your retirement once all my files are transfer. Meanwhile, the iMac OS 9.2 has been serving me well at work. Not a great leap, but having an improvement is an improvement itself isn't it? Important players get the G5, while smaller shrimps get iMac(s) that works in most aspects, fair enough i think. I'm not complaining, cuz the costly food that comes along now and then makes up perfectly, perhaps even more. So be prepared to see a vertically wider me and don't reveal your disgust too obviously, i might just burst. Gee.. I've decorated my desk in the office to add more colours to a 9.5 hour day, in fact, a little too colourful. It's filled with photos of people i like, the way i like my life to be - surrounded by people and things i like, perfect! will get a shot of my desk when possible. Haha..

Here's a long-awaited update of the days that were spent after 22 December 2005 since the previous update last year. Last year, indeed. Happy New Year folks! Even if it's into the fifth day of a new year, i suppose it still isn't too late for a greeting. I certainly hope a new year signifies a brand new and even better year. I need a full-body massage pretty badly. Sadly, time and money doesn't allow for that luxury.

You might start to think I'm leading a sad life from the tone I've been using for all the paragraphs above, but that's definitely not the case. In fact, i realise how fortunate i exactly am after some comparison. There's this very cliche Chinese saying implying one's ignorance of their own fortune. Fortune in this case refers to the bliss showered on the person. Pure bliss doesn't come easy. But the simpliest and easiest things in life are perhaps the purest forms of bliss, which many are unaware of.

Now, what i'm writing is getting pretty boring huh? I think so too..Thus, up next would be photos of happy faces who appreciate the happiness and love around them. No matter how hard the going gets, these happy faces will remain as they are, if not better.

That's all for now folks! Cheers!~