[[*---Twangy Thang Thong---*]]

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Chocomania!

Random pics in my camera.

Two consecutive days of Starbucks.

buckies
Originally uploaded by loneyrunner.
With HamSam and Vanilla again the day after. I'm starting to feel like a minah now...

My favourite art piece at the esplanade. I would love to credit the artist, but my short-term memory has proven itself again. Its done using oil and on canvas.

IMGP0894edirt
Originally uploaded by loneyrunner.

Singapore's Shanty Town:

IMGP0895edit
Originally uploaded by loneyrunner.

Baby has a day off so we managed to spend some time together today. He was embarrassed cos' we were wearing matching outfits. Before you jump to conclusion and think its one of those cheesy couple tees, its not! We were merely decked out in similar colours: Pastel blue top with khaki coloured bottoms.

The newest shop in Suntec.

IMGP0896
Originally uploaded by loneyrunner.

The most opulent Guardian in Singapore. How long would it last?

The sneaky boy surprised me with a box of Royce chocolates while I was preening myself in the ladies. Such a sweetie...I was casually mentioning to him that I have a chocolate craving and voila! I have chocolates!! Its my all time comfort food!

HamSam without chocolate:
>

no chocs
Originally uploaded by loneyrunner.
and now with chocolate:

with chocs
Originally uploaded by loneyrunner.

One thing abt Sam, he's always so animated. He never fails to amuse me with his endless database of animations! For a 26 year old guy, he one hellava clown!

My childhood fantasy about Willy Wonka's factory is tainted. Read about it here. Not suitable if you are below 18. Negative sexual connotations involved.

I'm on a cheese cake binge these days. The other day I had the NY cheesecake at Buckies and today I had an oreo one at Olio (I just found out today that their plates are shaped in the form of the "O" design in Olio. It seems just like any other plate but on closer inspection, its like an asymmetric "O"! Go check it out the next time you are there.)

ARGHHHH!!! I'm so ill-disciplined. I'm going vegan this few weeks and has been for the past week…to detox and cleanse my system. But all these cheese just doesn't fit in the picture!

More runs....I need more runs!!!

Rode the waves @|11:29 PM|

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Gulps!

"Are you guys newly-weds?"

I almost choked on the chocolate dates from Dubai when my cell group leader asked us that question last night.

I thought it was pretty obvious right from the first session that we were merely dating. Perhaps, I assumed it was obvious just because I mentioned I had just graduated. But, on hindsight, maybe it wasn't that self-explanatory after all.

I have friends and have heard of people who are engaged while still enrolled in varsity and recently, there was this guy (from SMU) featured in the ST who got married just before he entered uni. Of course, there are many others of my age and Sam's age who are married with kids. So I guess I shouldn't take it for granted in social situations that it is understood I'm not married.

Why is everyone obediently following the government's call to populate the nation?

17 days remaining.

My current read

Quote of the day: "I cannot afford to buy cheaply." Genevieve Antoine Dariaux

Rode the waves @|12:05 AM|

Monday, July 25, 2005

Scampering

The weather this morning was perfect for running. It was cloudy and the air was relatively cool.

Think we clocked a slightly better timing than the previous run.

Our target for the final run would be to hit the finish line under 55mins.

We were so bushed that we came back home straight after and slept the whole afternoon! That has got to be one of our laziest Sunday afternoon ever!

I have great admiration for the lone runners. For how they have the motivation to crawl outta bed early on a Sunday morning and make it to Sentosa for the run ALONE. And how they push themselves to keep running...up the undulating slopes, the challenging trail and the tacky sand course.

I wouldn't have been able to do all that if not for SpunkIce. We pace and motivate each other...to press on...until we pass the next lamp post, for another km, or till we close up the gap with the runner in front of us.

Baby went ahead. He didn't want to risk hurting his ankle again by running at our snail's pace. The boy was sweet...he queued up for the highly rationed 100 plus drink and waited for our arrival at the finishing line. The ice-cold isotonic drink never tasted better!

Cell meeting tomorrow evening with the newly multiplied group. The previous cell was getting too big with a sudden influx of new members. So they have to split, or should I say multiply (sounds less negative), the cell to working and varsity groups. Looking forward to it....and I hope SpunkIce would come along too.

Rode the waves @|1:38 AM|

(",)

Rode the waves @|1:29 AM|

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Buckies

I succumbed to temptation.

He didn't help by asking for the whip cream.

And he, being the angel, ordered the less sinful iced tea for himself.

But I love him nonetheless....for accepting me as I am!

Rode the waves @|1:15 AM|

Friday, July 22, 2005

Lingering

I wonder if that's how Ah Bengs pronounce "Lingerie".

The smell of durians still linger in my fingers today.

If there had to be a reason for keeping me away from durians, it will be the pungent odour that is so hard to get rid of from my fingers.

Between me and SpunkIce, we had 6 durians! She ate it to ~~drown~~ stuff her sorrows whilst I ate it...just for the company!

We sat at the durian stall along Kovan road for almost 2 hours. The durian stall uncles were really nice in giving us free flow of drinks...seeing that we were yakking non-stop. Beats chilling out at Starbucks I must say.

It such a pity Fudgey doesn't fancy durians....he winces and pinches his nose while inspecting in horror at mountain pile of empty durian shells in the basket. Baby was just happy to have a whole durian to himself.

We went off to Grapevine for tea (not wine) after that....to "wash down" the durians in our tummy. It's a pity I didn't have my camera with me...couldn't snap some pics at the nice place. Grapevine is a really neat place to chill out in...and the best part: They do not charge GST, Svc Charge nor CESS. No triple plus nonsense.

I have seasoned my shoes fair bit with some mileage...and I hope it will be race-fit for me this Sunday!

The Ikea sale starts tomorrow (Friday). I was there a day too early. Darn.

Rode the waves @|1:15 AM|

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Cheesy

It was sheer luxury...

Being able to just read a book over coffee on a weekday. Having the company of a good friend and simply chatting away...with no work stress or pressing school datelines.

The closer D-Day(120805) draws near, the more I cherish such pleasures of life.

Monday was Vanilla's first day of freedom. She had just ended her internship the week before. So we went to the library @ Orchard and borrowed a good book (between which we had to resist the very tempting urge to buy a book from Kino! And Vanilla: Do not get the Harry Potter book lar!!)

The NY cheesecake at Border's Bistro was delectable. So much so that we decided to make one our own today (Read below for more on the day @ my humble abode)!

After our afternoon tea and cake, it was time to meet our dearest teammate back from secondary school, Chervaun, for dinner. I haven met her in such a long time...with her work schedules and our study madness, meeting up is quite a challenge. So the reason why we could meet was cos' she QUIT her job!! Haha....

Such drastic measures.

This seems like a season of people quitting and changing jobs. DareVurls is leaving for greener pastures, Vanilla's lovey dovey is bored stiff with his current job. And some one dear to me is also changing direction. I wonder if I would even last the 3 years (to get my CPA) in my upcoming job....sigh

Anyway, snapping back to my beautiful world. It feels so good catching up with old friends. It could be the gloomy weather these days that is making me so nostalgic about everything. We laughed as we recalled the horrid but memorable trainings we endured back then...all the way from 10 years ago...

Chervaun : Your curls are smashing!

Vanilla came over to my place today (Tuesday) to...just hang out...

Like adolescent girls, we lazed on the bed and talk about stuff. And to bake the cheesecake to satisfy our cheesecake craving sparked off by the Bistro's cheesecake yesterday.

Its damn tiring!!! I had to beat the cream cheese by my sheer human strength and a fork! I do not have a machine whisk. It's a great workout nonetheless....to atone for my sin later when I indulge in the cheesecake!

It takes a lot of courage to post these hideous pics of me....sans makeup and with specs!

It turned out really great!! Baby gave it a rating of 3.5/5 and mummy rated it 8/10 (I forced them to give me a rating....and no, I didn't coerced them into giving me good scores!) My Cheesy teacher, Vanilla, was devouring the cake like she hadn't eaten anything the whole day!

It's a success!!

She's missing her darling...

They really give me the duckbumps at times!

Rode the waves @|12:56 AM|

Sunday, July 17, 2005

DJ Llihc

Looks like the Angelfire peeps have caught up with me. Got one account deleted off already.

Anyway, this song by Tina Turner just brings out the Omph! in me. It makes me feel strong and powerful....in a womanly way.

Actually, Tina's songs are always anthems for females round the globe. All the way from my mummy's era till today!
My all time (shower) favourite: Simply The Best

I have heard this tune on the radio a couple of times but it really only hit home when I heard her perform this on the Oprah Winfrey show. The show has been a daily affair for me in my bummer lifestyle. After the cooking shows on Discovery T&L (Ch 16) @ 12pm when I wake up, it will be Oprah for me on StarWorld (Ch 18).

The Oprah Show seems to be such a motivation and source of strength for the American women. And almost 99.9% of the audiences in her show are female! The odd occasional male would probably be a guest star or guest audience.

So anyway, enjoy it while it last (before my account is cancelled!)

Also, be warned of the scary laughter at the end of the song. I'm too lazy to get one that is unblemished.

Rode the waves @|11:46 PM|

Friday, July 15, 2005

Such a Mess

There has been so much whoo-hah about my convocation yesterday....and when it finally was over....it felt rather anti-climax actually.

Now I can close a chapter of my life....the chapter that revolves around studying and schools.

The very old and the fresh graduate.

The friends I have made over the 3 years in NBS.

Pls do not severe all friendship ties with me if your picture is not up!! I have yet to finish the editing and loading of all the pics. And to all those I took pictures with, pls send it to me!

Korz couldn't make it cos' of work commitments. My parents were happy to be there....as happy as Charlie is at the Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

The people I saw yesterday, the schoolmates I snapped pictures with...it feels like the last time I'm seeing them. Perhaps the next time we ever meet would be along the streets of Senton Way amidst the concrete jungle, or at some Big 4 annual meets, or even in the papers being the CFO or CEO of some big corporation. Yesterday was probably the last time I see them untainted and unblemished from the onslaught of ugly corporate world.

I could be a victim too. With each passing day of my holidays, the doom draws nearer...and the feelings of trepidation augments. I'm living each day like it's the last day of my life.

Sometimes I envy friends who are in more stable and humane professions like teaching. I can't think of a more contrasting and apt example.

Would they have to slog till 2am in the office like I would have to? Well....the most is perhaps staying up to grade assignments till 12am isn’t?

Would they be expected to work on Sundays too? Granted that there would be CCAs on Saturdays....but isn't that all???

It's a feel-good profession, moulding the future of the nation. What extra utils would I obtain morally discovering the overstatement of expenses just to lower tax expenditure or uncover a fraud perpetrated by the CEO?

Just a declaimer: I have nothing against the teaching profession and did not in my writing have to intention to belittle the teachers or teachers-in-training! They are an admirable bunch and to come thus far, I owe them a lot!

What's my point?

Nothing really. Its just that I wanna cry out loud:ITS NOT FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!

So why wouldn't I join the teaching profession and quit being sour?

Simple. I HATE KIDS!!!!!!

And adding to the list of undesirable teaching qualities, I am very impatient (especially when it comes to imparting my knowledge)

I'm just everything that a teacher-ly person is NOT.

I must really digress now before I get lost indulging in self-pity.
My mummy threw away my track shoes!!!
She mistook it as trash as it was bundled up in a NTUC bag...similar to the other bags of real rubbish.

My mum's mad obsession with cleanliness and tidiness really gets on my nerves. I have never eaten deep fried chicken wings, fish or anything that needs deep frying in my home before cos' mummy is afraid of dirtying her kitchen. The most she would permit is shallow pan frying. Even then, she will be cleaning the WHOLE kitchen for an hour at least.

So if I have a fried chicken craving, there's only KFC I can turn to. But thankfully, I no longer have such urges. I have sworn off fast food, at least for the rest of the year, after watching Super-Sized Me.

I will burn a copy of the show and watch it every year (somewhat like those road safety video you watch when you pass your driving test!). To remind me why I should never step into a fastfood chain.

Tired. Woke up at 9am for gym this morning.

Conference tomorrow. I need strength for the superficial networking.

Rode the waves @|1:35 AM|

Monday, July 11, 2005

The REAL stuff

I went for my first REAL run training session. Dark and early I woke up at 6am for the run, met SpunkIce downstairs my place and off we went to Sentosa.

Since it's the first run, we decided to take things easy and run through the route not for timing but for familiarization sake.

The entire 10km is pretty manageable and the route is scenic. No doubt there are some dreadful slopes....but hey, what could be worse than the mountainous terrains we used to run in NTU???

It was hell nevertheless!! Plagued by blisters and abrasions!

Baby hurt his ankle, so both he and Fiak walked abit and got lost!! Hence, only me and SpunkIce made it to the official 10km signboard!

Chatted with the race veterans and organizers after our race whilst waiting for the other two to come back.

Veteran #1: " Nice job ladies, see you next Sunday yah!"

Me: *eyes wide open in astonishment*

Me and SpunkIce : *with great enthusiasm* "SURE! Sure....we are definitely coming!"

I silently thought to myself....I dunno if I can do this every Sunday for the next 4 weeks...my screws would pop outta my knee!

After grabbing a small bite, we plonked ourselves on the beach for a short siesta.

Baby went home after that whilst the girls head to town. We had tea and chatted at Coffee Club till I dozed off midway in the conversation! I'm that tired.

Plus the rain and chilly weather is not helping in keeping me awake.

Fiak, Me and SpunkIce @ Coffee Club

Dinner was at my place. Baby gave me a soothing foot massage whilst lazing to a DVD title: Unleashed. Despite the trailers in Singapore, it never got released. Guess the censorship peeps could not let it go.

A common friend of ours (me and HamSam) just got engaged. Baby tells me he wants to get married soon too.

I felt both happy and apprehensive....

Rode the waves @|12:44 AM|

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Class 3

I woke up this morning with a silly smile. Looking out my window...the world seems beautiful once again.

The euphoria from yesterday still lingers...

The ascent up the unrealistically steep slope was perfect. I felt, literally, on top of the world when my vehicle was at the peak of the slope...The Slope that has caused my previous three failures!

I have conquered the world!!!

At least I managed to achieve my goal of getting the coveted license before I start work. It would not have been possible if not for him!

Hes da bomb!!

I had wanted to have a nice dinner to celebrate but it had to be a hurried one cos' baby had an appointment with the Devil's peeps.

On a normal day, I would have thrown a fit and sulk if he has to rush through dinner and stuff cos' of his work commitments....But yesterday, I happen to be on the 9th Cloud...so it's excusable. Anyway, I could meet up with DareVurls there too...and fill her in on what she missed out on the luncheon last Sunday.

The ladies foolin' around whilst the lads discuss business.

I think I would have to quit adopting SpunkIce's mantra : There's always room for desserts.

Instead, I will go by: A moment on the lips, forever on the hips!

The Last Supper

We were at NYDC...I haven been to that place since my JC days...When I sat in there, it still feels very JC-ish and UNCLE HamSam feels so outta place, sticking out like a sore thumb. But he has fond memories of that place cos' he had worked as a waiter there in his JC days! And that's where he met his first love too!*grumbles* That's a very boring nugget of information, so let me move on to something more exciting. *sourpuss*

The Real Run is in August and these unhealthy eating habits have got to change! At least I garnered enough resolve to decline Darevurl's offer of a pint of beer earlier on.

The first training run tomorrow morning @ Sentosa!!

Rode the waves @|2:28 PM|

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Tai Tai @ 35

As expected, the moment I reach the pool all geared up in my bathing suit...the sky turned ominously dark.

I give up...I really do. This battle with Murphy...its taking its toll on me.

So, to not make it a wasted trip, it was a hurried swim. Perhaps its better that way, I really pushed myself. It's a race against mother nature. I had to finish my 40 laps before the rain pours!

Turns out it was such a great workout that I was famished when I met baby for dinner.

It's a post-birthday celebration dinner. He was so busy the past few days that we can only dine together this evening.

We were at HotStones...to satisfy our primal craving for meat!

Baby-the-caveman can't wait to cook his hunt for the day!
I'm just playing along with my Lampchops.

I feel like a kangaroo carrying a joey in my pouch after the meal...no way could I down a pint of beer. So Plan A of going to Brewerkz had to be abandoned.

We decided to be Coffee Connoisseurs instead.

Baby was passionately telling me about his business plans over coffee and tiramisu...and I'm just dreamily listening away. Can I retire by the age of 35 and live off his wealth? Hahaha....*dreams away*

After dinner and desserts, hand in hand, we had a slow walk down the quay. Bumped into the Paris IOC peeps at IndoChine.

Ok....so its sort of an upset that Paris didn't win the bid. Oh well....there's always 2016.

Anyway, I think the bigger sporting news for the day would be that Gerrard might be putting his signature on a Liverpool contract after all!

Rode the waves @|12:55 AM|

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Bookworm Club

I had a post birthday dinner with korz and mummy at the nearby diner yesterday. Since its such a last minute thingy, my daddy couldn't make it join us.

Baby got me 20 champagne-coloured roses...lovely. Haven received flowers from him in a long time.

My supper: Leftover birthday cake and wine.

I'm hoping to wake up to a sunny day tmw....gonna do some laps in the pool and read my book.

Speaking of which...a book which I have just finished reading: Man and Wife by Tony Parsons.

Highly recommended!!

SpunkIce, pls remember the book is due on the 18th!!

Rode the waves @|12:15 AM|

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Blessed

Hosted a lunch at my place today with the girlies. I'm truly blessed to have a bunch of close friends to celebrate this special day with me.

They are friends whom you know will still be around in your future.

Friends whose wedding you would shed a tear of joy for.

Friends whom you will have family gatherings with.

Friends whose kids would be your little ones' good friends too.

Friends who you will grow old with.

At the end of the day, they are friends who would be there for you when you need them...

Let the pictures do the talking!

DareVurls was absent. All ready for the elaborate lunch I have whipped up for them!

My assistant chef.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Moments before spitting all over my cake.

It's a Baileys tiramisu from TiramiSutra. Niceee....

Beating the heat in my chilly room! Doesn't Miss PAP look all so sexy in that candid shot? *winks*

An impromptu decision to shop after that....so off we went to town!

Vanilla is a horrible driver!! The short journey is enough to conjure nauseating feelings in me....I can't complain otherwise she would drop me off in the middle of the TPE!!

With Fiak at the back...Are we there *pukes* yet....????

Zara sale!! SpunkIce and Fiak in their cowgirl footwear. I'm in a ridiculous traffic warden looking vest!!

Thai cuisine was our dinner since SpunkIce is adamant about not dining at Crystal Jade. It a nice and slow dinner and we had many laughs...especially while trading driving jokes!!

Yesterday, we made a momentous decision and signed up for the Real Run!!! Baby is running along with the three of us. We made a pact to go for all the 5 training runs at Sentosa....and even arranged for gym and running sessions for the week. This Friday night, we (the girls only, since HamSam would most probably be irritated by our shrieks and constant bitching while running!) are doing a round trip from punggol park to kovan and back.

I'm motivated to train now!! Come on biatches...trade in your heels for the track shoes!

Btw, gals..I have uploaded the pics for the day. Go download them at your own convenience yah..The same password and userID applies.

Rode the waves @|11:57 PM|