Move me, move me

Before I begin my blog proper, I have to post this vid - Gardenburst playing Video Killed the Radio Star! Since the Facebook Gardenburst group has about 80 members already I guess Lionel won't mind me showing him off a bit. I think my boy looks gorgeous with his newly-shaven head! My boyfriend the rock star. And I heard random girls are coming up to him just to say hi these days. *Sigh* Oh yeah, I miss him all right.

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It's been a long day. And a moving one. For two reasons. First, I actually, literally, moved. I was given notice to vacate my desk ASAP for a new editor coming in and directed to settle in next to the other Mel. Lots of M&M's over in my spot now, with Mel on my left and MM in back of her! Heh.

Anyway, the second reason I'm so moved has to do with my new neighbours, one lady in particular. When she saw I was moving in she actually clapped her hands in delight and said how happy she was that I was her new neighbour. Awwwwwwwww. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and my other new neighbours (some actually not even neighbours, more like in the vicinity) made me feel so welcome too, stopping by for a chat and a handshake! Looks like the new neighbourhood's gonna be just fine.

Well that's not the end of it. This particular lady came by my desk at the end of the day and gave me a piece of very nice news. It was totally unexpected but intensely gratifying. Whether anything concrete comes out of it I guess I'll have to wait and see, but it's nice to be appreciated and wonderful to know that your colleagues are looking out for you. Even though sometimes the person it comes from is someone you never suspected would do it. Anyway. Warm and fuzzy all over again, and it just about made my day.

Thinking about it, this person has been there for me almost since Day One. A fairy godmother of sorts. From compliments on my hair and clothes (and boyfriend!) to invites to house gatherings and barbeques to thoughtful Christmas presents and even workwise, cooperation on photoshoots and in executing various projects, she's been such a joy to be around. People like her make my work fun and worthwhile.

There are more than a few sunshine-spreaders in my office. They are the ones who offer help even when they're busy, always have something nice to say and offer quiet counsel and comfort whenever you need it. I wonder if they know how much their words of encouragement and praise, listening ears and ready smiles brighten up otherwise mundane days and lighten the mood of stressful projects. Sometimes we take these things for granted so much we don't notice them anymore. I guess I ought to thank these people a lot more.

I hope I help to spread at least a little bit of sunshine too.

My kingdom for a cuddle

Sigh. What's the use of having super cuddling power when there's no one to cuddle?

Dogs don't count.

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Ok so I know I haven't blogged for a bit. I've been busy... social life seems to have picked up lately for some reason. Maybe I'm exerting myself to some extent. Subconsciously. Maybe.

Anyway I know some people have been reading since JJ commented today that I haven't been blogging. Heartwarming, I'm read! By my colleagues, no less. Haha. Sadly, another bird has flown the coop... leaving me all alone. Well, not quite, but I will be soon. Time to steal some people. Heh.

Well I just attended a workshop last week. Lotsa fun, the facilitator was kickass funny. His style is much like my dad's - personal stories, lots of acronyms and catchphrases, and even some of his gestures are similar. Haha. Well I guess the good ones have some things in common ;) Yeah, my dad's still the best I know!

I've definitely been inspired by the workshop though. Now all I've gotta do is put my *evil* plan into action. Hahaha. No lah actually it's a very charming, sweet plan. I'm the Supercuddlelator, remember?

In other news, I haven't been cooking, but I have made a couple of salads. Go green, yes?
















Salmon salad. Because my mom was worried about the smoked salmon going bad. Or taking up cupboard space. Whatever.

What went in:
Lots of smoked salmon
Butterhead lettuce
Red coral lettuce
Garden lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Skinned walnuts
Sunflower seeds
Pine nuts
Zesty Italian croutons
Parmesan cheese flakes
Extra virgin olive oil















With smoked salmon and brie on lightly toasted crackers, topped with basil, as appetisers. Yum.















Today's dinner: Chicken salad

What went in:
Lots of black pepper chicken
1 slice of Kraft's cheese
Butterhead lettuce
Red coral lettuce
Garden lettuce
Shredded carrot
Cherry tomatoes
Skinned walnuts
Almonds
Raisins
Garlic croutons
Applesauce

Tasted good. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I've never tried applesauce on salads before but I had a feeling it would go well with chicken. And it did! ;)

In other other news, I've booked my ticket to Australia! Yup, I'm off to Brisbane with Sam in June, and then on to Sydney to see my dear little sister. We'll stay with Sam's friend Sam in Brisbane and with my sis Lis (or Mel, if you like) in Sydney... girls only this time, two Sams and a Mel, then two Mels and a Sam! Ought to be fun eh. Looking forward to it.

In fact, lots of things happening this month... I'm not sure about May yet but June, July and August look promising too. Wheeee! It's gonna be a good year. More on future plans when they're more concrete.

Bedtime now. Dad just asked when I'm gonna reward myself with an early night (I think it was a rhetorical question, since this query came while I moved furniture and squeegeed the living room at just past midnight) and though honestly I'd love to hit the sack early, it probably won't happen anytime soon. Why? I guess I'm just wired that way.

Feels So Good

Hello!!!!!!! My, what an exciting weekend we are having! Starting with Entz Nite (that’s short for Entertainment Night) on Friday at Settler’s Holland V with the CG, where we had so much fun with wacky games like Charoodle and our game of choice, Cranium. We had three very sporting guests to join in the fun too. And of course we all got to hear the story of how Charles proposed to Sarah… such a creative and romantic proposal. *Sigh* Hee anyway, congrats guys! Really happy for you two.

I love Settler’s. It’s such a great place to hang out at. Everybody’s screaming and laughing and having such an insanely good time. I laughed so hard I couldn’t even get off my beanbag! Heehee. Must go there more often, now that I’ve got the membership card!

The CG girls at Settler’s

The HPC came over on Saturday for our movie marathon. As usual everyone was late, including me! I was supposed to meet Farah at 11 at Jelita to pick up the DVDs and snacks and Saf was supposed to come by later so we could all get back to my place by 12, but Far and I were caught up with bathing and dogs respectively and Saf ended up being the first one there. Heh. HPC Rule #1: Always set meetings an hour early, because EVERYONE will be late. Haha.

Yeah maybe we should set some rules for the HPC. I’m inspired by the first of the (only) two movies we managed to squeeze in, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. A chick flick about four girls who’ve been best friends forever, and one day they find a pair of jeans that somehow fits all of them perfectly, so they decide to pass the jeans around from one girl to another during their summer vacation as a means of staying in touch, and of course they have rules for the use of the jeans. Typical chick flick stuff but it did make me laugh and cry. Which might be why I was so ready to shed tears when Lionel called while we were watching the extra features, and demanded that I get online NOW, whereupon he played Maroon 5’s Sunday Morning for me… ok well I guess maybe the tears were because I was so happy to see him! He also sent me his latest cover, Snow Patrol’s Run. I love this song so much, I keep playing it over and over. It describes us so well.

Light up, light up,

As if you have a choice

Even if you cannot hear my voice

I’ll be right beside you dear

Love it. I made the girls listen to it too heh… but they said it was good. (Or were they just being polite? Haha. Well I’ll take it in good faith.) Miss you so much baby. Wow it just felt so good to have him call me and to have him play just for me… honestly, how can I not love this guy? He’s just awesome.

So back to the HPC. We watched Little Miss Sunshine which was so good!!!!! What a dysfunctional family. And the ending was so unexpected, but it was all good. Love the show. Wish we had time to watch more but well we were all late so… haha. Maybe next time. We’re gonna hold movie sessions once a month now, and we’ll take turns to play hostess. And hopefully we’ll get off our lazy butts and squeeze in some exercise before the movie! Sounds like a plan, yes? Inspired again by Traveling Pants. We don’t get to see each other nearly enough. Love you girls.

Far and Saf in my room

The girls are green today. Weird. We didn’t plan it! We almost bought Min a St Patrick’s Day hat but decided against it. Maybe we should have gotten it after all – she showed up wearing pink!

Sunday was packed as usual. In church till 2pm, then I visited my grandaunt with my Dad. At 95, she’s still ambulant and can remember the names of her grandchildren, do mental sums and regale us with stories of her youth! Wow! I hope I live to be that old. Well. I don’t know. But my Tua-ee sure is something. I wish I could speak Teochew though – I have to rely on Dad to translate most of the time.

Then later I got my hair cut!!!! This is the ‘Before’ pic…

And this is me with my new cut and highlights! See????? I love it so much! $110 well spent ;)

Girls, girls, if you’re planning to get your hair cut or coloured or permed, I’d recommend this place – Sally’s Hairstyling at Blk 43, Holland Drive, #01-51. The hairstylists are friendly and competent, although mine interspersed her conversation with ‘so you can feel better’ almost every other line. I’m not quite sure what she meant, but I DID feel better at the end of my cut, hair treatment, highlighting, wash, treatment again and blowdry. I had two girls working on my hair half the time. I felt like such a… VIP or something. Haha. They even let me keep my hair!

Look Ma, they let me keep my hair!!!

Then home to cook. My first soup!

Healthful, yummy and so easy to make. As long as you have good chicken stock, you’re all set. Basically just soak the mushrooms to soften them, add oyster sauce and boil them for a bit. Heat up the chicken stock and throw in the mushrooms, Chinese cabbage, tofu and fish slices. After the Chinese cabbage it all cooks real fast. Cook rice separately if so desired, but I left it out today since Dad shouldn’t be eating too many carbs and Mom complained that she was overweight. I’m following my Mom’s good example. Say yes to riceless meals! Whee!

And here I am blogging now. Except blogger is still down so I shall save this in Word and post this later. Off to watch Ugly Betty ;) Hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend too!

It's a wonderful year

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!

My darling turns 24 today. A momentous occasion I guess - after all, it's his first birthday since we got together. Really wish I could be by his side today as he celebrates with the ones lucky enough to be blessed by his presence =P but I know very soon we'll be together again and eventually we'll get to toast each birthday side-by-side! So I won't complain. I haven't much to complain about honestly, life is gooooooooooooooood right now. Amen to that!

I'm enjoying the small things these days. Now that work's wound down somewhat - oh, it still has its moments of frantic multi-tasking and 'impossible' deadlines - or maybe I've just learnt not to be stressed too easily. Anyway, I'm back to loving my job. For a while there in the midst of pulling consecutive late nights alone in the office I thought I'd lost some of my passion but nope, it's just been hidden under a pile of too much work. Apart from the occasional overloading things are pretty cool in the office. I have fun, friendly colleagues and I've been blessed with wonderful bosses who have guided me along and also pushed me to grow. The work is interesting and even my authors, well, let's just say I think I've learned to deal with it in my own way.

I'm taking time to reconnect and catch up with old friends and also spend more time with family. It's such a delight even to watch a TV show with my mom! There was a period not too long ago when I hardly could afford the time to watch a commercial. I'm just thankful that life's not so frantic now.

In a way it feels like time is passing so slowly... it's going to be another two years at least before Lionel graduates, and sometimes it seems like things are only going to happen then. He's over there mugging and working so hard and I'm just... waiting. Life in a crystal ball. Waiting for someone to shake things up, waiting for the snow to fall. Well, when it does, we'll be playing in the snow! ;) Good things are worth waiting for.

Meanwhile, I'm just going to take things easy. There's actually a lot to do even over here! I guess I need the time to prepare myself for what's to come. And now that I have the time, I want to enjoy the small things instead of rushing full steam ahead. When I talk to my dad I think sometimes, I won't get to do this forever. So I'd better do it while I can, as often as I can, and treasure those beautiful little moments in my life.

I will.

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Specially to my baby Lionel -
God bless you, sweetheart, with His wonderful love
He has a plan for you
May angels guide your steps from above
May you to His Word be true

May He soothe your troubled soul
May His peace reflect on your face
Rest in His arms, He will show you the way
At the right time, and in the right place

Beloved, it's all in God's hands! Whatever will be, will be, and no amount of worrying will change anything. So focus on the needful, and let God deal with everything else.

I hope you're having a good time today. It's been a great year so far, and it looks set to keep being a great year ;) So enjoy it.

I'm enjoying myself, well as much as I can without you here. Thank you dear, for being part of my life. You've changed it so much! And I'm loving every moment.

(This is where I get emotional.)

Dearest, you are the light and love of my life. I love you so much. I can't imagine ever being without you. Even now, though we are physically apart, you're never far from me. With every breath, every beat of my heart I'm thinking of you, worrying for you, longing for you, missing you, loving you. You have been wonderful, amazing, incredible. You leave me speechless with the things you say sometimes. You understand the things about me that others don't, or can't. Somehow you love me just as I am. I just want to be by your side forever, and I can't wait for that to come true. Love you always.

Happy birthday, darling.

Roadtrippin'. And I mean trippin'!

Reunited with my sweetheart at Vancouver Airport. I miss him already.

Hello people, I'm back! And as promised, updates on my time in Canada/the US. Okay well, updates on Vancouver later, here's what happened on our roadtrip to the US. I've condensed it somewhat ;) (To the other roadtrippers, did I get the events in the right order? I forget.)

Roadtrippin'!!!!!

This is the story of our roadtrip
Four days of fun in the States
Seattle, Portland and Seattle again
Good times with crazy-ass mates

We started out five happy trippers
A kooky bunch as ever I did see
Joy Boo and Daryl and Sulynn,
My beloved Lionel and me

Our first stop was Mount St Helens
A long long long winding road
It was windy and snowy and awesomely white
We're just glad it didn't explode















Jumping for Joy at the non-explosion of the volcano ;)

We dined at the B-B-Q on Russell Street
And we ordered everything on the menu!
The waitress was so delighted with us
She threw in a free dessert too

We went to the Oregon zoo (zoo, zoo)
The penguins were so darn cute
The otter was frisky, the molerats were stinky
And the monkeys were rather astute


































These monkeys were just sitting in front of the wire tapping their fingers and looking at us. They seemed deep in thought. Personally, I think they were bored.

The girls rampaged the mall
American Eagle and Gap
Victoria's Secret and Forever 21
While the guys sat and took naps

In Seattle the sidewalks glitter
Like little stars shining at night
It's fitting for a place so awesome -
A bonafide shopaholic's delight!

Jacq, our sixth happy camper
Joined us for our second grand shopping spree
The size of the stores are nothing to sneeze at
In fact, they made me go "Whee!"

We chowed down on seafood at Ivar's
Crab legs and chowder and clams
Meals in the States are loaded with carbs
Like bread and 'tatoes and yams

Before lights out we hooted
To South Park and Colbert's Report
American Idol was also a fave
Of our jauntily critical cohort

What's TV without alcohol and fruit?
Well, fruit was a cinch to procure
(Although we chose grapefruit instead of oranges...)
But the alcohol was much harder to score =P

We even got to visit some factories!
Like Nike and the famous Cheesecake
Where much as we longed to try every slice
Two was all we could take(!!!)















At The Cheesecake Factory. Will you look at that whipped cream???

Our last morning was spent at Pike Place
Where the world's very first Starbucks resides
And in the marketplace people throw fish
And there are street performers besides

There was so much to see and play with -
Kaleidoscopes and moonscapes and things!
And all sorts of jam and good-to-eat treats,
And tons of glittery bling

We really didn't want to go home
Our sadness was approaching extreme
But our spirits were restored when we stumbled
Quite 'accidentally' into Krispy Kreme!

Haha yeah. I like the US. Based on my four days there! =P