Merry Christmas!

Have a fiery Christmas, dudes!

I have not done my christmas shopping. Not that there's much to shop for. My parents said they didn't want anything from me. Which makes it harder for me to guess what gifts will they prefer. And my brother, the shopping is done. As for the rest, I've gotten the perfume, wine, and vodka you guys wanted. (Sorry Vaseist, no Cordon Bleu, out of my budget la)

Have I left out anything? Please let me know. I've been so busy packing for my Phuket holiday trip, I'm sure I will forget something.



But anyway, have a fiery Christmas... haha

P/S: I'll be back in KL for Christmas. Give me a buzz if you miss me.. haha

Another year gone...

Time really flies. Without me knowing, it's already end of the year. Two more weeks, we shall bid our farewells to 2005, and welcome 2006 into our lives.

This year has been an eventful year. From landing a job in Singapore, to owning my first computer. Among all the years in my life, this has been the most fruitful year. Being able to visit so many places till I have run out of places to go during my holidays, well, I guess that is a great achievement. One might ask, "What else do you want?"

*angelicwitch smiles weakly, nodding "Yes, there are more things I want. Things that you could not even begin to imagine."

All of us has been through a lot. Changes of direction in lifes, decisions that changes the course of our destiny, events that affects our faith and judgement. In just 12 months of 2005, we learn, we grow up, and we see things more clearly. With that, I hope all of us are a better person when 2006 arrives on our doorsteps. Armed with experiences that no one has but ourselves, march forward into 2006 with courage and hope.

That said, I guess my new year's resolution is "Try my best to live a simple life, and try not to want so much..." (is this a joke? huhu..)

P/S: Picture taken and modified by angelicwitch.

Empty, empty...

A friend said this to me recently, "Simple and small things are enough to make a fool happy." I smiled at her and said nothing. There was a small voice inside of me saying, "If so, I'd rather be a fool, anytime."

It's been a long time since I've felt happiness in my life. There might be smiles and laughter, but after awhile, smiles are worn off, laughters dead. It might even be easier if there are reasons to cry or to complain over, but there is none. There is this phase where no feelings exist in the little cold heart of mine. Sometimes I'm not even sure whether I should call it a 'phase' I'm going through, or is it just me, someone void of all emotions, someone who keeps wanting more and more. Someone who is never satisfied with anything, who don't mind sacrificing anything just to reach my goal. Such a cold and greedy person, I am afraid of myself at times.

When I enter teenage years, I told myself, if I get myself a boyfriend, I'll be the happiest person on earth. There is nothing more that I want more, apart from getting good results and struggling to stay in the best class every year. Slowly as the years progress, I want more and more. Having a boyfriend is not enough, I want a 'better' boyfriend. Being in the best class is not enough, I want to be on the top (although I never become one, it has motivated me to go through all major exams with good results). I was never satisfied. Whenever I get the thing I want, more things will come into my 'I-need' list.

Moving on to college days, I wanted to be known, to be recognized. I went for the presidential campaign. I got it. I became the president. How do I feel? Apart from stress, nothing. I was so convinced that I will be a special person if I become president. Everyone will look up to me, people will know me, I will be the leader. And I told myself that I'll be happy. Did i feel happy? No. Do I feel that I am above anyone else? I was, for a moment, before everything collapse into normality again.

Human always want things that they couldn't have. I, for one, is the perfect example. Knowing very well that I will not be able to continue my studies overseas after my diploma, I still force my way into university application. I told myself, maybe they will offer me scholarship. Looking at my shitty result for my architecture, I'm beginning to doubt myself. What has happened to me? Why am I fighting so hard? Why does things have to be this way? Why can't I make my childhood dream come true? To be able to graduate with a degree from overseas, that was my goal eversince I was a child. Why can't I? I was in depression mode for almost a year. I blame myself for not studying hard, I blame my parents, I blame my family background, and I blame god. Now looking back, I ask myself the same question again, will I be a special person, someone above everyone else, if i manage to go overseas to complete my degree? Absolutely not.

Then again, there is my dream of traveling around the world. I told myself, if I am not able to have a degree in my hands, then at least, let me travel the world. I got the job that allows me to do just that. Travel. In the short 10 months since I've started this job, I've travelled to countless places. Most of the major cities in the world I've been. Although there are more to come, I'm no longer excited. I said to myself when I took up this job, this is not a job to be proud of, but at least, I am given the chance to travel (which at that time, I was desperate to get out of my country). People will look up to me, and listen to my stories of experiences. Will they? Even if they do, what difference will it make me as a person? Am I any special compared to the girl that goes to the office everyday 9 to 5? No doubt, my photo collections will be more extensive. But what do I gain from there? There was once, walking down the streets in Frankfurt, I ask myself, what's so special about walking on a foreign land, now that you're walking it? Nothing so special I told myself. Do I feel bubbles of happiness inside of me? No. So why am I here? Why do I want to travel in the first place?

I guess it is my nature that whatever things that seems impossible or hard to get, I want it. But when I get it, I forgot the first reason why I wanted it in the first place. Maybe that is the reason why I can never be happy or sad about anything. To me, everything is a race, a competition. There's always something to fight for, something you'd die for, but for what reason, I don't know. All I know is I have to keep on fighting, keep on wanting in order to continue giving myself that one second spark of fireworks in my cold heart. Else, my life will be empty.

Very, very empty indeed.

Miss y'all!

It was great being back in KL, although only for 3 days.

The event that is worth remembering is the gathering with my architecture friends. It might not be so long ago that we had a gathering, but it still feel great.

This time round, the main topic of our conversation is about our new jobs. Everyone has landed themselves a job in an architecture/design firm. Everyone is excitedly talking about the projects they are working about. (And also complaining about the pay difference.. haha)

There was a time what we talked about was which universities we're applying into, how long are we going to stay there, how are our packings progressing.


I wonder what will we talk about when we meet up four years later in KL tower? 31 DEC 2009, don't forget!! (Maybe about Min Sean's wedding and Jet having kids.. haha)

New York

My first trip to New York.


I didn't bother to go to Ground Zero, or take a cruise to Statue of Liberty. I spent my whole trip in Fifth Avenue and Times Square. Shopping. Fun?

Frustrated

The first time I went to Seoul was the first ever trip out of Singapore. My first ever flight. So, it is only natural that I am so nervous about the trip that I didn't manage to take any photos.

Nevermind about that first time, I'm going to Seoul for the second time!

Ever happily, I charged my camera's battery before leaving for this beautiful country, thinking of all the beautiful sceneries that I can photograph.

When I arrive in Seoul, and all set to sight-see and have a cosy lunch and dinner of kimchi, I took out my camera to start photograhing. Only then I realised that I left my battery at home in Singapore!

Frustrated, I spent the whole day shopping and eating!

Oh well, I guess there's always the third time... :P

The answer to the picture I've put up in my previous blog, is Eiffel Tower, Paris. :o)

Photographs

On a visit to my friend's house, she showed me photos taken by her friend, who is interested in photography. When I went to his website, I am really impressed. For a guy his age, he can do really well. My crappy pictures can be dumped into the bin. Haha. You can have a look at his site at http://why.smugmug.com

Oh, yes, after looking at his portfolio, I've decided to post my best picture to date, haha.. just to amuse and embarrass myself. Try to guess where is this taken. Hint: I have a date with Mona Lisa.

Raining

It has been raining for the past 24hours. The sky is so grey, I don't feel like waking up. Truth be said, I have been sleeping for 12 hours straight and not being able to wake up :P too tired I guess.

Waking up at 4AM on a rainy morning reminds me of those good old days in high school where I have to stay awake the whole night just to finish doing my revision (not that those revision goes into my head). The memory channels especially towards end of year 2001, when I was sitting for my SPM. It was raining non-stop that time too. The fresh breeze, the clear morning air, the sound of raindrops, the feeling that I'm the only awake at this time of the day is too familiar.

I longed to return to school, back to studies again. But, will I be able to do that?

Perth 191105

Really, sometimes I'm lost for words to describe my trips. This is my first time to Perth, and I'm glad that I managed to meet up with a few of my high school best friends. But the car ride given by Fiona caused Rowena and I headache the rest of the day after that.. haha..

It was really nice, gathering with old friends, and talking about the good old times. The silly things we used to do back in school, and the catching up of who is where, doing what. The impression that Perth has given me, is that half of Kuching's population is there. Everyone is there. Knowing myself, I couldn't stop myself from those juicy gossips of who is getting married, who is going out with who, who is graduating with a degree, who is already working, and who is entering Uni next year (*wink at Rowena). Haha..

Whose boyfriend is this? :P

The real shock was someone a few years senior of us is already married. Well, after passing the initial shock, I guess five years down the road it will be our turn (not me though). And yes, our Europe trip is drawing nearer and nearer, I can't believe that it was four years ago that we made that promise.

But I'm really glad that I'm in Perth, although for that short 24 hours, it seems to me that we didn't run out of things to gossip about, which is a good thing. The thought of us not finding a common ground after four years is banished. Take care, keep in touch, and hope to see you again soon!

Tokyo and DisneySea

Picture says a thousand words...

Four Sydney trips, more to come

In the short time of 5 months, I've been to Sydney for four times. Unbelievable isn't it? And I have another Sydney trip in December. I hope there's still 'people' there that I can meet up with. Haha..

In my first trip which dated way back in May, I visited my friends in UNSW. It is actually the first time I went overseas to meet up with friends. It was such a great feeling. I still remember the way we hugged one another tightly when we met.

My second trip, about two months later, I meet up with the same group of friends again. This time we're more adventurous, thanks to this friend, Calvin who introduced me to various places in Sydney, from the back of his car. We went to this particular site, but I don't know how to spell the name. It is supposed to be one of the site where MI2 is filmed. (Huh?) Then we had this really sweet chocolate desert in the chocolate shop. And we saw loads of great cars, but none beats the Lamborghini that is parked outside the shops. Plus, it's in my favourite color, yellow!!

My third trip? Due to miscommunication of our mobile phones, I ended up hibernating in my hotel room and leave the next day. Great experience! :P

Fourth trip happened just about two weeks ago. This time we didn't do much, just having supper in Chinatown and then off to my hotel room to gossip. Haha...

Although all my Sydney trips are short, it's sweet. Meeting up with my good friends really helps cover for the loneliness I feel back in Singapore. Being in a new country, and being away from there most of the time, didn't give me much time to make friends. That is why I don't mind going Sydney time and time again..

Waiting impatiently for my next trip...

Dubai trip 231005-281005

My shitty Dubai trip.

On the first night we're there, my friend, C, stepped on cat (or dog.. I'm not sure) shit. Second night, my friend, C again, stepped on camel shit. On the third night, that stupid pigeon shit fell right on my shoulder while I was walking along the Gold Souk. Maybe because I laughed too much at C, that I got punished. But one thing is for sure, the shits are smelly. Darn smelly.

First night, dinner at this Indian restaurant. Chicken tikka anyone? I guess it's too spicy for me that I didn't really enjoy it.

Second day, went for desert trip. Cool. The four-wheel drive actually when up and down the sand slopes. Everyone in the car was screaming happily for the first half hour until both my friends started to feel sick with the motion. They almost puked in the car. But I am all for it! I don't mind doing it again. Then I tried sand boarding and camel riding. Even tried out the black color outfit for ladies in the region. Well, you know, those all covered up outfit. Then we have camel riding in the evening, arabian-styled dinner and henna painting. All under the stars in the desert.

Third day we were supposed to go to Burj al-Arab Hotel but it was postponed to the fifth day because we will not be able to make it for dinner in the city if we went to the hotel. So after dinner we went the spice souk (spice market) but it was all closed because it's Ramadhan. So we walked to the Gold Souk (where I get that bird shit on my shoulder). The whole stretch of street is filled with gold. Every where I look is gold, gold, gold. Too bad I'm broke.

Fourth day we had to work so we decided not to go anywhere or do anything but hibernate in the room until it's time for us to work.

Fifth day woke up early in the morning, (the day before we came back from work about 2am) and off we go to the souk madinat jumeirah, which is the complex next to the Burj al-arab hotel. Beautiful I would say. The interiors and the architecture, I would say it's different from what I usually see in other countries. Open spaces, small light wells on the ceiling, complicated floor plan which spiderwebs most of the shops. I'm impressed, but definitely not a wow. We went to the beach next to the Burj al-arab hotel, and the scenery is spectacular. But the hotel actually looked quite short. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me because of the relatively fat-bodied structure. None the less, one item on my wishlist is ticked off (although we didn't manage to enter the hotel because we need reservations and pay a lot of $$$). At least I'm still able to say that 'been there, done that'. Haha..

We had this really great lunch in the chinese restaurant in souk madinat jumeirah. Surprisingly the food is real good. Or maybe it's just because all of us has been deprived of chinese food for the past few days. Been having curry and spices the whole trip.

So, what can I say? Lovely trip, except for the shitty encounter C and I had.

My Dream Car(s)

I just got home from drinks with a few of my friends. Had a really good time.

Anyway, the main topic is not about drinks, it's about my dream car :0) my friend sent me home in his new beetle (I called it turtle car.. don't ask me what model, I just know that it's the newest) and it's a convertible! It has always been my dream car, and I told myself that I'm going to own one in the future (in the very near future :P). And my friend is such a dear that he drove it with the top down.. such great feeling, plus today it has been raining whole day, the weather is just perfect for such ride! Plus, he allowed me to take picture with his car!

Another of my dream car is the mercedes benz.. yes yes.. it's SLK 280. I didn't know that I would be able to 'meet' my favourite benz model when I was in Paris two months ago. But it was such a beauty, looking at it in real life, and in magazine, it's such a different. It is just the same feeling when you look at a painting that takes your breath away. I just stand in awe of this powerful man-made machine. I told myself, I'm gonna own that one day too...



Isn't dream a great thing?

What I did, saw and ate today.. (I pierced my belly..)

Well, I went to SimLim Square today to accompany my housemate to buy her new phone. Then we went browsing for cds, programs and microphones. Halfway I was searching for cds, I saw two monks, exchanging remarks (IT-related remarks) between themselves and whether they should buy those webcams and stuffs. (Cool? I told myself never to look down on monks anymore..)

Then I went to Far East Plaza to pierce my belly.. WEE... PAIN!! well, actually not pain.. hahaha


Went to Borders in Wheelock Place (did I spell it right?), bought the whole collection of Harry Potter books and The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. Wonder when will I be finishing all the books.

Dinner at Coffee Club in Takashimaya. Had this really cheesy country pie and strawberry and fruits chocolate fondue. Don't think I'll be eating for another week.

Have to go take my shower. Cheers..

By the way, Happy 21st Birthday, Joshua. :o)

Zurich, Switzerland

21.08.05-25.08.05 (ZRH)

It is a beautiful place, I wonder why so many people say that it is a boring place...
On the first day, I went to the old city, where all the old buildings are, the biggest clock-face tower in Europe is there (St. Peter-Kirche), a late-Gothic church called Framünster with five large stained glass windows by Marc Chagall (I didn't manage to see the windows, when I was there, it was already closed - too late), Grossmünster - the symbol of reformed Zurich (to me, it looks like KLCC, maybe the KLCC architect get his idea from here) and of course, the ever famous, Bahnhofstrasse area where I did my chocolate shopping that costs me a bomb!
I also managed to visit two buildings built by prominent architects of our time, the Corbusier-Haus by who else but Le Corb himself, and Bahnhof Stadelhofen (Stadelhofen Railway Station) by Santiago Calatrava.

Pic1:largest clockface in Europe
Pic2:KLCC lookalike?
Pic3: Corbusier-Haus
Pic4: Bahnhof Stadelhofen by Calatrava
Pic5: Bahnhofstrasse

After all that walk around the city, it's dinner time in Zurich.
Fondue... a Swiss delicacy, tastes like heaven. A must try if you're stopping by Switzerland... I had it for two nights in a row. So you can start imagining...

Pic: Cheese Fondue, wiener and rosti

Waking up early on the second day, my friend and I decided to take a train to the border of Schaffhausen and Zurich, to experience the rushing water falling from the height of 23m. Rheinfall is said that an average of 600m³ of water rushes over the 150m cliffs each second. It is the either the excitement of seeing such a huge waterfall or the fact that we're out of our bed early in the morning after a late night the day before; that made us took the wrong train. Instead of going to Winterthur where we need to change to another train to go to Schloss Laufen am Rheinfall, we ended up in a station called Bulach (a place out of nowhere, let me assure you). And we wasted about 1 1/2 hours before we reach our destination. So my advice is, if you can't read or speak their language, don't simply jump into any available train (even if it's on the correct platform). Double check and double check again.

Pic: Wrong train!

But the view is worth the extra 2 hours of train ride. It was breath-taking. Standing at a platform that are just feets away from the gushing water, I felt the beauty and power of mother nature. It is just a 'wow'. Go and see it for yourself. Words would not do it justice. I took loads of pictures there. It is such a shame that I do not have enough time (I have to catch the last train) to take the boat ride across the fall and to the central cliff, where visitors can climb that and look at the water falling right in front of them.


Pic1: Cows enjoying the sun
Pic2: Rheinfall
Pic3: Cruise along Limmat River

When I'm back in the city, it's way too early for dinner, so we went for a 1 1/2 hour cruise boat that takes us along the river Limmat. All I can say, "beautiful view". Although most people would say, Switzerland is most beautiful during winter, but she is still gorgeous at summer time. And by the way, this summer, Zurich has this 'teddy bear' celebration of sort. I was at first intrigue by the amount of painted human-size teddy bears by the roadside, but the vast amount of it across Zurich just overwhelms me. Every bear has different theme, and the theme depicts what is happening at that particular street or area. I find it cool, but I didn't have any snaps of it, because it's just too many of them.

And yes, I ended my final night with fondue in a secluded (but packed) restaurant. What are the odds of two Malaysian girls, staying in Singapore, having fondue in Zurich, talking to two men, one Finnish, and the other ex-German now a Swedish, and plus, served by a waitress from Beijing? I called it globalisation...

Previously blogged in my old website, (but this time, with pictures)
angelicwitch 040905.2158

Nanjing - the best trip ever!

09.10.05 - 12.10.05 (NKG)

I have been blessed to do a 4days Nanjing (NKG) with my team, plus a few others crew and pilots that are very nice. This trip is the most memorable of all the flights I have done so far.

Upon check in, we gathered at the lobby discussing with the tour guide about the program for the next day. Right after that, a few of us decided to take a shower and head off to the massage parlour. But it turned out, about 10 of us went for it. Massage was great, I fell asleep throughout, although I was teased for not enjoying it.

Walking out of the massage parlour, someone suggested dinner, so all of us, and 3 others joined us in this really 'not so good service' restaurant. We did not order much, but the portion was so small that we wanted to order another round. The waitress was like, "it's gonna take a long while" and start making funny faces. Anyway, we didn't let her spoil our mood. So we buy more food on the way back to the hotel from the stalls.

Picture on left: As we walk away from the restaurant.

The second day.
With the tour guide, 10 of us went to the Sun Yat Sen's Mausoleum, some place where there's this turtle sculpture being trapped by a huge stone (which is supposed to be some king / prince's tomb -my mandarin not so good, couldn't understand what the tour guide was trying to say). And then lunch! wow.. the lunch, and the service was fantastic! we ordered about 15 dishes and we finished all of it. Haha, I'm talking about a bunch of hungry people here. Oh yea, before lunch, we spend some time (and money) in this jade factory. I bought this lion looking thing (those things that businessman like to put outside their door) that costs me SGD$300. Haha, but it's well worth it. It's beautiful. Come over to my house in KL during Chinese New Year next year to have a look. *wink

After lunch we head off to this tower where you can see the most of Nanjing's skyline and the Yellow river. The sunset is beautiful. Then, we went to another shop to spend more time and money. This is an art shop, selling those crystal balls painted from the inside.

Pic: Crystal Ball shop

Oh well, I spend about 20 bucks there (again). But it's so cute I couldn't resist. Better than someone who spend about SGD$2000 on a painting of 18 dragons. (If he's reading this, he's going to kill me.. :P) Forgive me, but I just could not resist blogging down that amount of money spent.

Dinner time, because I did not join the rest for the garden and 'princess-emperor' photo taking, I had dinner with two other crew at this restaurant that is holding a wedding dinner. (very noisy and loud, the games they play, a bit weird. Not that I'm condemning, maybe it's just their culture). But the food is good and we had 4 dishes and 1 soup and it costs each of us SGD10. Aww, where to find such good bargain back home?

The third day (is a 'not so good' day for me).
I forgot to bring my camera!! We went boating around the Confucius Temple. Other than that, I don't quite remember what else we did. Oh, yea, shopping at this really small alley for jades and teapots. And a really GREAT lunch and dinner package. We called it our deluxe lunch and superior dinner. Haha. We really ate like kings for these few days we're in NKG. And the best thing is, each meal only costs SGD10. Heaven! We ended our night with massage and DVDs shopping. What a trip!

Pic: Our superior dinner! Half the dishes were taken away already, only half left!

The next day, we have to check out about lunchtime and head for work. Taking pictures in the lobby with our uniforms and so many people were looking at us. But it was such a great experience for all of us that we didn't bother. And also taking pictures in the plane during lull period. GREAT!

This trip will always be compared with my future trips, and although I think this is the best it can be, I hope there are more to come!