Paris (7 Dec 2006 - 10 Dec 2006)

This weekend's destination is Paris, the city of lights. When I was a little girl, I heard so much about Paris through the television shows, books and magazines and how romantic the city is. I had always wanted to go there and fall into deep, passionate embrace on top of the Eiffel Tower with my Prince Charming. As I grow older, I wanted very much to see the Lourve Museum in Paris. I am not those arty-farty type but because I heard about many attempts made in history to steal the paintings from the Lourve, it made the place sound so mysterious. Can you believe the excitement in me when Da Vinci Code came out?

After arriving in Europe and hearsay from other people, Paris doesn't seem to be as perfect as I once thought but nevertheless, a trip to Europe without going to Paris seems like a sin. For this long holiday of 4 days, I decided to see Paris for myself.

Day 1:

When we arrived in Paris, it was raining heavily and the wind was very strong. Our brolly almost got blown off! The metro lines were a terror. There are the inter-city lines and the intra-city lines. There are at least 2 different metro companies operating in the same train station. It took us a while to familiarize with the understanding the metro system.

We walked several blocks from the Marcel Sembat station to our hotel under the rain and wind and with our 4 days of luggage. The room was really small. I guess most hotel rooms in France are tiny. After drying ourselves, we started on our first stop in Paris - Notre Dame.

It is just a cathedral like any others we see around Europe. I think the Milan duomo looks nicer than Notre Dame. Guess it is so famous because of the show "The Hunchback Oak of Notre Dame". Seriously, I never see the movie before but since it is listed in one of the must-go so go there take a few photographs to show BTDT (been there, done that).

Next stop - Lourve. The walk from Notre Dame to Lourve made me realized how beautiful Paris is. The cars are better maintained, the people dress more elegantly, the French are fairer... ok, maybe the fairer part doesn't make Paris a better city. Ha! We started cam-whoring everything from the graffiti, leaves to the dustbins. Lourve was a palace before it was converted into a museum so you can imagine how bloody big the museum is and how many thousands of paintings and artifacts there are in Lourve. Saw the prism shown in Da Vinci Code and began to fly my shutters away. Somehow after watching the movie, you feel like you came all the way from across the globe just to see this prism thingy. Walked around and towards the direction of Mona Lisa. I don't find her portrait fascinating but then again everyone heard of Mona Lisa so must also go and see. If you don't know where is her portrait placed in the museum, just go to the place where many people gather and you will see Mona Lisa behind a plastic cover. We were speculating if it is bullet-proof. Haha! Spent about 4 hours in Lourve and we still could not cover the entire place, given the fact that we really zoom past each paintings and artifacts except for photo-taking.

Went to see the night scene of the Eiffel Tower and it really took my breath away with the dazzling lights which lit up the entire tower at every hour. With the cool breeze and warmth of the beautiful Eiffel Tower, I almost would marry anyone who proposes to me at the moment. Ha!

Day 2:

Fulfillment of childhood dream. Paris Disneyland! I am not into thrill rides except for ferris wheel or the carrousel. My main purpose there is to take pictures and buy those cutesy souvenirs and to see the princess castle. Paris Disneyland castle is the Sleeping Beauty castle. I have that fairytale in hardcover somewhere in my storeroom. I think different Disneyland in the world has a different castle. As it turns out, Disneyland was really pretty. The atmosphere is very much alike in the storybooks. And with X'mas round the corner, the place is even more magical.

There are a couple of interesting thrill rides but due to the strong winds, many of the outdoor rides were cancelled. Too bad for those who came for the rides. Haha! I bought a lot of stuffs from the stores. It's a crime if I don't bring those Disney tins of candies home! Despite spending the whole day in Disneyland, we are still not able to cover every corner of it.Day 3:

Lucky to have nice weather today as we are going to the famous Eiffel Tower. I wonder how many movies have their setting in Eiffel Tower. The structure was humongous! It was a Saturday and the place is infested with people. We spent like 2 hours in the queue to purchase the ticket. In the end, we either bought the wrong ticket or went into the wrong entrance; we climbed up the stairs of Eiffel Tower instead of taking the lift up! We climbed the 1st 2 segment of the enormous mega-structure and took a lift up to the highest part of the tower. The view there was magnificent. Had our lunch at the Eiffel Tower - how cool is that but it's freaking expensive though. But it was worth it, given I was on one of the most talked about structure in the world.

We went to the Arc de Triomphe next. The purpose of an arc in Europe is mostly to commemorate the bravery of the soldiers who has died in a war. Sometimes, it is also a structure for victories won on battlefields. I thought it was just like the other arcs I'd seen in Europe. But this arc is way bigger and most importantly, it is situated at this big roundabout with 12 exits around the roundabout. No wonder it is one of the must-go places in Paris. It would have made a nice picture to take from the top of the arc but it was getting dark and the queues are never-ending.

When night comes, we had dinner at this typical French restaurant and tried the French cuisine, foie gras and... I dislike it. They say either you love it or you hate it, just like durian. Ok, so it has proven that I belong to the group which hates it. After which, we went to the famous Champs Elysees, a high-end shopping street at one of the exit from the Arc de triomphe. It has trees on both sides of the roads lined with X'mas lightings. But too bad, we came too late and most of the shops are already closed but the crowd was still mingling around all dressed in Hugo Boss suits and Prada dresses. Bought a NIKE tee with "Paris" written on it, which I think is only available in Paris. Love it, Think more international brands should have such a concept just like hard rock cafe tees.

Left Paris to catch the plane back to Milan in the early morning. I will miss Paris. Think it is one of the best city so far I have visited. They say Rome is nice but I say Paris is stunning.

Innsbruck (2 Dec 2006 - 3 Dec 2006)

Austria - A country which I always have this impression of dull and dark mass of land, filled with soldiers wearing those hats that covers the ears (Argh! Forgot what was it called?) and had a history of century-long battles. Boy was I wrong!

We drove like 5 hours to this famous town Innsbruck. First thing that impressed me were the very organized streets with CLEAR road signs. This is exactly the opposite from Italy! The street names were nicely displayed in manuscript fonts. But the street names were kinda difficult to pronoun. There were 2 parts of the town on both side of the canal. Most of the accommodations are situated on the other side of the canal from the town centre where the buzz is. Our 2-star hotel (Innbruke Hotel) is a small pink building with a very warm feeling and there is a pub at the ground floor. Our rooms were very clean and there is a basin with a mirror in the room too. The toilet and the showers are in the corridor and was very well lit up and most of all, clean!

After putting down our luggage, we began our exploration in Innsbruck. We crossed the canal which was lined with colorful low-rise buildings on one side and a bustling X'mas market on the other and halfway on the canal there was snow-capped mountains ranges in front of us. What beautiful scenery! Took a couple of pictures and we walked towards the much talked about X'mas markets in Europe.

The X'mas market is already alive in the day. With the cooling weather and the glittering and colorful decorations on the buildings, it was awesome! All the shops are selling things related to the X'mas season. There are stuffs like candy floss, cookies, nuts, X'mas tree decor, scarves, beanies, etc. We grabbed wurstel sausage burgers and a hot cup of cappuccino before proceeding to visit other places of interest in Innsbruck in case night fall.

We were walking across the X'mas market and unknowingly came to our 1st attraction, the Golden Roof. It was situated just inside the X'mas market. You will not know it is so famous unless you see people snapping photos in the air. It was merely a small roof which is gold in color... why is it so famous? The roof is not so high up to be any lookout point? A quick google check reveal this: "It was constructed for Emperor Maximilian I to serve as a royal box where he could sit in luxury and enjoy tournaments in the square below" Ok, now I know... after I went to the place. Haha! The next few places we went were the exterior of the Hofburg imperial palace. It looked very modern with what looked like a fresh coat of white paint recently splashed onto the building. I was still expecting it to be some old tall castle with fort and ropes thrown down from the top for the soldiers to climb up in the past. As the night was starting to turn dark at 4.30pm, we went briefly to this museum next to the palace. The museum was so small! One look and you can see the whole place. It was actually a small church which still houses the tombs of one of the king and queen of Innsbruck in the attic.

We went to this Swarovski shop in the town center and spent like an hour shopping for crystals there. The things are not exactly very cheap there but there are some small jewelries which range from 15 euro to 100 euro. There is this triple-layered cake displayed on a table with 2 chairs and all of them are made of crystals! I spent like 80 euro buying gifts for friends as well as a pair of earrings and a necklace for myself.

After we came out of the Swarovski shop, the night is already dark and the streets are filled with lots of people. We began strolling along the X'mas market. They always say "Save the best for last". We came to this stall with a long queue selling apple cider. As the weather was turning chilly, we also queued to buy a mug of apple juice. Though I think there is nothing fantastic about the apple juice but drinking something hot under the cold starry night is really amazing. The feeling is so comforting. Ahh...

Came across this colorful shop selling woven or knitted stuffs. Since I did not attach my hood on my jacket, I bought an Austrian-style beanie. A 100% woolen beanie cost 25 euro! So I settled for this half wool and don't half what material beanie which cost 10 euro. Couldn't find the perfect design in the 10 euro range but I bought it nevertheless since I probably won't be wearing it ever again. (I will not travel in winter and I will definitely not come for such long overseas training again unless it is on short business trip.)

The next day we went to Stubai Glacier about 40 min bus ride from Innsbruck town. We past by many small, quaint houses along the way and one thing I noticed are that the windows panes are either nicely decorated or they draw some designs around their window. This makes their houses looked really cheerful. It reminds me of those images from Enid Blyton storybooks. Skiers with full blown ski gear started coming up the bus. At the beginning, they looked so out of place wearing ski equipment in the bus. But as we are nearing the foot of the Stubai Glacier, we are like one of the few people in the bus without ski gear on and it is now time for us to feel so so weird. The view to the bottom of the glacier had me engulfed with excitement. There are snow flakes on the grasses and trees and soft snow at the side of the road. I was hoping it would snow.

We took a cable car up this ski place where there are beginner slopes. The place is infested with skiers of all ages - kids as young as 3 years old to grannies and grandpas. We went to this ski rental shop where there was a superb range of ski equipment available. I did not ski though cos partly I feel 4 hours is not enough for me to master the art of ski and I would not have enjoy the whole ski thingy and secondly I want to try skiing together with Superboy as both of us have never ski before. This set me to reminisce of the times we had in Melbourne during my graduation tour to Australia. We had wanted to ski at Mt Buller in Melbourne but I was running out of money that time. Anyway, the rest of spent like an hour there trying on the sizes and learning how to lock and unlock the ski. After which they walked like a duck from the rental shop to the ski slopes. But after gearing up, they looked pretty cool. As they try to even walk or stand up from the falls, I took the cable car to the highest point of the glacier. The slope at the top of the cable car station was just steps away after you alight from the cable car. I think the temperature there was like sub zero! Cool right? Haha! And I was only wearing my thermal top and my jacket.

Austria is really neat place. I would definitely visit it again if I have the chance.

Rome (25 Nov 2006 - 26 Nov 2006)

There's a saying that goes "if you haven't been to Rome, you haven't been to Italy." Right, so I must proudly say I have came to Italy.

I covered most of the main attractions in Rome in just 2 days. We did tons of walking but not as much as what I did in Australia with Superboy though but it got me pretty tired; must be the age catching up on me. Anyway, the domestic flight was delayed for 30mins at Milan and we arrived at our hostel "Yellow" at midnight. The hostel was still very much alive at midnight! The reception area is like a drinking place, reminded me of this pub-like cafe I went in Liang Seah Street. After lying out our linen, I was pretty fast asleep despite the howling and laughter from the dorms across ours at 2am.

We started off the morning walking towards the Colosseum. Along our way, we past by some of the attractions seen on the tourist map; places like the Piazza Repubblica and many cathedrals. Before we went Rome, we would get very excited whenever we see buildings with dome but in Rome, it was domes-overdosed! Saw a basketball court on my way there and the ground was covered with fallen dried leaves. Think it made a good picture so took a snap of it with me in it of course. :) Missed playing basketball... feel so unhealthy now... miss Superboy when I see something related to basketball... wanna watch NBA during my honeymoon... ok, I am talking nonsense now. :p

Finally saw the famous Colosseum. It was not as massive as I had imagined. It did not give me that 'wow' feeling. Maybe I have seen too much of such structures that I was not awestruck by it. Nevertheless, took picture of this much talked-about place of interest. Oh ya, the Colosseum is also an excellent spot for pickpockets. Heard so much stories about the "art of Italian pickpockets" and we actually met with a group of them! 2 women carrying BABIES and a small, crumpled cardboard, suddenly came up to my colleague who was walking behind me and started walking in circles. I thought they were beggars but my colleague who managed to escape their grasp, told me they were trying to unzip her bag and using the cardboard to block it. A passerby saw it and told them off and they backed off. Er... when you see someone trying to steal in public, do you merely tell them off? I think I will shout "thief!" and naturally the pickpocket will run away right? But here, after their unsuccessful attempt, they went back to their "territory" (the staircase leading to the Colosseum) and await the next prey. *roll my eyes* I have photo to show it. See below. On the left of the picture are the pickpockets showcasing their Italian Job.

The other attractions I visited include the Pantheon (some cathedral that is known for its design which has a hole at its roof - duhz... how "ingenious"), Castello Sant' Angelo and how can I forget the Trevi Fountain! The place is soooo crowded with people! It is not a musical fountain but it is magical enough to attract such a huge group of people, either posing photos, relaxing by the fountain or throwing coins into the water! They say, if you throw 1 coin into the fountain, you will return to Italy; if you throw 2 coins, you will meet a handsome Italian guy; if you throw 3, you will marry the Italian guy. So guess how many did I throw? *wink* ... I don't want to return to Italy nor do I wanna marry an Italian. Meeting one handsome one is kinda difficult here I realized so see whether does this myth work or not lor? ;)

The next day we went to the Vatican City. It is another country of its own because it does not fall into the Italian rule. Think the Pope has all the say in this so called country. There was no immigration though. We visited the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museum. The queue for the museum was terrible! We queued for like 2 hours before we got in. I like the Sistine Chapel but too bad we were kinda rushing for time hence there was no time to slowly appreciate the paintings on the walls and the ceilings. Not a part of the ceiling is empty without any paintings on it. And it is painted on the ceilings mind you, not those which you hang onto the ceilings. Our objective is to see the famous Michelangelo painting - the one with the hands of God and Human touching each other (See below). It is amongst other paintings on the ceiling; if you do not know it is so famous, you probably will not notice it.

St Peter's Basilica was filled with thousands of people when we arrived there because the Pope is giving his speech while looking out of a room on top of the Basilica. There were people carrying banners like in a soccer match like that. In Vatican City, everywhere you also have to queue up. We queued up to get into the St Peter's and we saw the tombs of all the previous Popes. There was even a security screening before we enter the basilica. It was huge inside and the ceilings are also painted. Most probably they are also painted by either Michelangelo, Leonardo or Raphael (Not Ninja Turtle lah!).

My friend, Arthur

My friend Arthur passed away two weeks ago. I received the news on a cold and windy day in Italy on my mobile and email. Enedfea has been trying to contact me all morning but my mobile was off. When I on it after lunch, a couple of sms from Superboy and Enedfea came beeping in.

1st sms from Superboy: Pls call Enedfea, she got something to tell you.

2nd sms from Enedfea: If it is convenient, pls call me.

At the same time, I was logging in to my email and two emails from Superboy. Very seldom he will email me nowadays...

1st email: Dear, pls call Enedfea if you see this email.

2nd email: Dear, I think I have to tell you this bad news... Arthur passed away this morning...

I blinked my eyes to make sure I read the sentence correctly. Which Arthur was he talking about? I know 2 Arthurs and the one that both Enedfea and Superboy could most likely be referring to is the Arthur, my mahjong and supper kaki back in my uni days. I was momentarily stunned for a second and exclaimed "huh?!" so loudly that everyone turned to stare at me. I grabbed the telephone on the table and began dialling Enedfea's number. I need confirmation. I need to know is it the Arthur whom I often had late night ICQ with many years ago.

Me: Hello.... what happened?...

Enedfea: Arthur passed away this morning.....

Me: (pause) Which Arthur...?

Enedfea: (pause) Arthur, our SA bball senior...

Me: What happened?.... Was it an accident?

Enedfea: Nobody knows. We will be going to his wake tomorrow.

And the rest of the conversaton was difficult to continue. I can feel tears welling up my eyes. Many questions ringing in my head. Did he passed away suddenly just like this guy from my uni whose heart stopped out of the blue while on the phone with his friend discussing on the subject which we would be having an exam on in Suntec that afternoon? Or did he have some critical illness which he did not mention to anyone? Did he meet with an accident?

I rushed to the toilet and tears began rolling down. I was still browsing through his Friendster account the day before. I had not look through his Friendster for like a long, long time. Was even surprise to see that his status has changed from "Single" to "In A Relationship". The last time I met Arthur was sometime last year and we had Japanese dinner at this hotel he recommended. It was a short dinner, just some catching up with each other. He was looking good, slimmed down a lot from the previous time I saw him. Was worried that he was still suffering from the break-up with his long time girlfriend... but seeing the cheerfulness in his face, I was glad that he has moved on and was also doing very well in his job as some Account Consultant. He told me he was into this gaming thingy and had made some friends in Hong Kong and he would be going Hong Kong to meet up with them. He told me he is happy with his job but he will eventually start his own business or something and make his first million by age 30. Usually, when people tell me such things about making the first million, I will just listen half-heartedly; but with Arthur, I was confident he could do it. He has a happy family and is smart - no need to study also can get distinction for his Honours and Masters. Why does this has to happen to him?

The next day, Superboy forwarded me a newspaper article which described about an accident occurring on Turf Club Road at 3.30am. The car hit against the divider and crashed into a wall and bursted into flames. When I saw that sentence, it hurted me so much. Did his car malfunction? Was he dozing off while driving? Then I realised that driving is actually such a dangerous thing. It is like a time bomb. And God had cruelly pulled off the time bomb that Arthur is holding onto.....

Seravalle Shopping Trip (18 Nov 2006)

Went to this place called Serravalle, about 1.5hrs drive south from Milan. I think Serravalle means designer factory outlet, just like the Habour Town in Brisbane. Our colleagues told us that the traffic jam started outside the expressway! So, we reached there at 10am (their opening hour) to beat the crowd. But the traffic is smooth that day probably the day they went, it was sales on top of the outlet price. Anyway, it was a big low-raised building of shops, unlike Takashimaya and Marina Square though.

Started off with a cup of coffee at a cafe like the Italians before we started our rummage. The first shop I went into was Prada and without hesitation, I bought a wallet which cost only 100 euro and plus the tax refund, I think it only cost like 90 euro! Along Prada, there are D&G, Versace, Ferragamo but nothing caught my fancy. Also bought a small dinner bag from GUESS for only 25 euro! Haha! Nevermind people saying GUESS bags are not trendy... to me what is important is the confidence of the person carrying it and whether do that person has the status to carry the bag.

Next, there were the Levi's, CK, Diesel and GUESS stores. At first, I was about to give up after trying on about 3 pairs of jeans from Levi's cos they were too loose at the hips. Then on this small corner were the slim cut which most ang mo woman cant wear probably and I found my jeans which cost only 30 euro! Wanted to buy a pair of jeans for Superboy but jeans need to be tried on to see whether is the cut suitable or not. Saw a polo tee but left only the XL sizes and 90% of the tops are long sleeved tee shirts or sweat shirts. When I was about to pay, I spotted this short sleeved lady tee hanging amongst all the long sleeved blouses and quickly grabbed it. In the end, when I went home, I realized the cashier charged me only 1.50 euro instead of 11.50 euro for the top! Haha!! Bought a tee from GUESS, also like the last black piece of size S hanging there. It's a good thing that the ang mo women are mostly big size.

There was this big NIKE and ADIDAS store but mostly it is selling winter clothing. It cost like only 50 euro for a set of very nice track suit. But too bad Singapore is a humid and sunny country. Nevertheless, I found this ADIDAS green top with a small cherry logo on the left side of the top! It was the one and only tee with such a design lying on the rack in the whole shop! This is my favourite buy from Serravalle. Combed the whole of NIKE store twice to find something to buy but to no avail. The bags are pretty neat but luggage space is an issue hence I left NIKE empty handed. Can you dig it? Sigh!

Then we came to the chocolate shop that sells Lindt products and everyone are like rushing for the Pick and Pack. At first I don't want to buy any more chocolate but seeing the mad rush inside, I also picked up 2 empty bags and began to select one choc from each variety and ended up paying about 10 euro for like 20 small chocs?

This Seravalle trip was supposed to be a shopping trip for Superboy's things but I regret to say I could only manage to buy him 2 tee shirts only... L There are simply no short sleeved tops and Superboy has high expectations of the garments he wears; cannot be too loose, color cannot be too bright, neckline cannot be too high, sleeves cannot be too long, etc. Not my fault!

About An Asshole

I am so fucking pissed off by this horrible asshole at work. He is the worst male creature on Earth I'd ever known in my entire life! He behaves just like a woman on menopause or PMS. A selfish idiot and ungentlemanly. He is not those type who will extend his help to woman. On our way here to Italy, he is supposed to help this HR personel carry this box of pineapple tarts on board for the Italian counterparts here but I was the one who ended up carrying for him! Before we came here, our boss stated clearly that the 4 of us will be sharing 2 laptops but now it seems that he is the only one solely using it! If I were to be using the laptop on his table, he will show a kind of CB face. What the fuck!? We are supposed to be sharing the laptop. It is company's belonging, not his! But if I were to rebut him, he will definitely ask me to carry the laptop all the way. He is just this kind of CB person. His wife is not any good either. At the airport, I went over to say hi but his wife just gives me a dumb face. So fucking rude!

I had worked with him a couple of times and he gets on my nerves, right to the root! I thought it was a blessing that I don't have to work with him anymore but now in Italy and he is here too! Remember my 1st few blog entry about this scandalous couple at work? This CB is the guy and the other girl is also a CB person who thinks she is damn hot. KNN. It's no wonder he stays alone in Australia when he is studying. This kind of people has no friend. He is a crane driver-mechanic in NS. Lo bo kind, no wonder his character sucks! I always believe NS mould a person but of course if they are those lo bo types, then there is nothing much to mould. Mould until mud also like shit!

And one of the disgusting things he does is he keeps digging his CB nose and he never wash his hands one lor! Dig and dig and dig with everyone in the room. Dig in the office, dig at home, dig while driving. I wonder at home, after he digs his nose, where else does his fingers dig after that. Wah lanz eh, I feel like asking him to stop or at least use a tissue paper lor. He is disgusting both on the outside as well on the inside. Yucks! I hope he fall down on a puddle of shit and die and nobody will know he is dead cos he just blends in so homogeneously with shit. Bloody bastard!

Monte Carlo (5 Nov 2006 - 6 Nov 2006)

We drove for almost 6 hours to reach Monaco, the most famous part of the city being Monte Carlo. We traveled along the highway to Genova and then took the scenic drive along the coastline starting from Imperial, San Remo and a few other towns which I had forgotten. The view along the road trip was beautiful. I don’t know why but I have a thing for scenic route with houses on hilly slopes and blue sea.

We passed the Italy-France border on the hill top route and reached Mentone, the 1st town in France. The architecture in France is neater than in Italy and you can no longer see those typical rounded balcony as in Italy. Enter into France, all the signboards began to change into words starting with "Le ...", "De ...".

Drove for about a short distance, we finally arrived in Monte Carlo, the city where all the rich people reside. I have only one word to describe it- OVER-RATED. I had imagine it to be like the Las Vegas of the States with all the flamboyant cars, mansions on hilltops, glimmering lights on buildings and handsome men lying on sun deck chairs on their yachts. There were only a handful of Ferraris, Carreras, SLKs, Z4s, Bentleys, Aston Martins, Rolls Royces and only one Lamborghini. It was unlike what I was told - everywhere you turn to, you will see a flashy car zooming past. I only see a number of them parked outside the Monte Carlo casino and the glamorous Hotel de Paris (We were staying in this hostel called Hotel de France... but it was heaven and hell!).

Nothing interests me there. Maybe another highlight of the place is the Formula 1 route. Nothing special though; no signboards to say this is the F1 track if you are not aware of it. It is just a normal stretch of road along the sea where you can see yachts with female names painted on them. Wish I had a yacht naming after me... How about Maiden Janice? Haha!

Bergamo (1 Nov 2006)

It is a public holiday in Italy today and we went for a short trip to this town nearby called Bergamo. I was told that the sunset in Bergamo is fantastic.

Bergamo has an upper town and a lower town; the upper town being the older one is on the hill while the lower town is more bustling with high-rise building. We reached the place around noon but most of the shops were closed probably due to the public holiday. Hence, we had a hard time searching for a place to eat. There was a small flea market though and the things were mostly handicrafts or antiques-like teacups and what-nots.

After roaming the town for a while, we took the funicular up to the upper town and the place is totally different from its sibling downhill. It is a medieval town with very ancient buildings and it has a fort overlooking the town below. The view is er... not that "wow", a bit like Mount Faber in Singapore. Ha!

We walked towards the castle on the highest part of the hill hoping to see something that will take my breath away. We climbed like hundred over steps to the entrance of the castle and it literally took my breath away. We were late by half an hour to the opening hours of the castle! We hurried back down to the direction of the sunset for the much anticipated sight but it was a disappointment. The sun was not very bright in the first place and when it sets, it did not emit those red and purplish rays of dusk.

Overall, it is not a place which I would recommend to go though unless you have no other better place to spend the day then perhaps you can go feel the contrast of the upper and lower town and wait for sunset to see if you are lucky enough to witness the so-called fantastic sunset of Bergamo.

Cliques

We all form cliques wherever we are - at the playground when we were little kids, in school where we have sit together for breaks, at work which whom we have lunch with. Why do individuals inevitably form groups? Usually we form cliques of the common interest, goal or likes and dislikes. Cliques are something like culture. It is a powerful strength. They do the same things, talk about the same things and behave in the same manner.

In my workplace, my lunch "kakis" consisted of people with average age of 33. They are mostly married, experienced engineers and I am the most junior of them all. There is another group of young engineers which consist of people my age but I don't join them for lunch. The topics they discussed are lame and the jokes they attempt to make are pathetic. I prefer more constructive discussion like investment plans or upcoming new estate projects, not insincere talk and boring topics like where I went during the weekends. The type of people who put me off are those who always try to say something really exciting (or seemingly) and then ends it there, to keep you in what they hope to be suspense and then shake their head and mutter with a grin "nothing". These groups of people whom I avoid are those whom I regard as having immature thinking. Call me old or snobbish, I simply cannot stand having a conversation with such people. They are pretentious; one look and I know that they are definitely not one you can regard as friends.

Before I came to Italy for work, my clique warned me of people who take extra bread-sticks home from the company cafeteria because they wanna save on breakfast. Our company provides free bread and break-sticks as something extra to munch after lunch but they are not meant for bringing home. Boy, were they right! This group of people whom I hang out with, (with no other choice) did exactly the same thing! The lunch is already free and yet they still want to steal bread home? I am dumbfounded.

Another thing that pissed me off is there are people who like to imitate your way of talking or dressing. "Attack of the copycats!" I don't know why but I have a very strong sensor for such copycats. Since young, I came across people who would buy the same wallet, tee-shirt, slippers as soon as I bought the previous week. There are also those who copied by saying the same type of lingual which I had "invented" a few days back! It used to bother me but someone told me to think of it as a compliment. Yes, we all look up magazines to see what the latest fabs are and may rush to buy that newly launched bag showcased by Elle mag. These are not the kind of copycats which I am talking about. I am referring to those who are outright copying you. If I were a model and people wears the same sun shades as me, I will feel proud but I am a bloody plain Jane and... gasp! It is like stealing your ideas for a big project!

Right here in Italy, the few girls I came Italy with just did the copycat stance!!! I told them I wanna buy a pair of boots when I arrived on the 1st week and asked them to look out for me. I bought a pair on the 1st week and wore it out during the weekends. The following week, I hear one of them say she wants to get a pair of boots and slowly, now all of them got themselves a pair of boots! Maybe if I were to be in Singapore, I will just complain to Superboy and think they are pathetic but I am all alone in a foreign land and the least I want is someone wanting to "challenge" me. They even intend to bring the boots back to Singapore to wear?! They must be out of their mind wearing boots in the hot and humid weather like Singapore. I am gonna throw mine away on my last day here. I hope their feet rot wearing them.

Milan (28 Oct)

Finally went to the heart of Milan city this week despite staying in the region of Milan for almost 1 month. The mention of Milan makes me think of glamorous fashion, young aspiring designers and hot-bod models sashaying down in Armani, Prada, Hugo Boss and so on. Indeed, designer's shops are everywhere but I don't see any models though. Sidewalk cafes are also apparent and flashy cars are parked along the narrow streets. It is so common to see people carrying a Gucci or a LV bag along the streets. I want to buy one (or maybe two) of those too!

Alighted at the Duomo metro station and was greeted by the famous Duomu de Milano. It was said the building has 137 spires each with a different design in it. Although I am not really into art but I can't help but appreciate the hard work put into carving out each individual statue. We climbed up the duomo to admire more of its beauty from the rooftop.

Next to the duomo is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, a famous shopping mall that houses some of the big boys in the fashion industry. It is not well-known because of the shops but more on the sculptures and paintings on the walls and the layout of the arcade. Superboy said amazing race introduced the place. (sidetrack: I miss watching amazing race... sob sob!) We spent so much time snapping pictures of the place that we have no time to enter the shops to do any purchase. I will return on another day to do some shopping myself.


Another anticipated itinery of the day is the Milan Derby match at San Siro stadium. Yes, you heard it. I will get to see international stars like Paulo Maldini and Kaka! I thought that such a famous stadium should be nicely maintained with bright and clean seats but it was not what I had expected. The seats are so dirty with burnt marks caused by cigarette buds. But one good thing is that the spectator seats are sheltered. You can really feel you are NOT in Singapore stadium with the enthusiasts cheering SO loud even 2 hours before the match! It is like a shouting competition between the two groups of supporters. We were seated on the top few rows because all were already sold out! Now I understand why cos they probably bought the tickets in bulks of thousands. There are a lot, a lot of banners and horns and they are also putting fire flares. At times they appeared to be so rowdy that you are afraid you may hear a gunshot from afar anytime. However, I must really give it to them for being so united. They even chartered buses to watch the match can? The match ended in 3-4 with Inter Milan emerging as the victor.

Actually, we left 10 mins before the match ended because the "home" team, AC Milan (in fact both of them share the same stadium) was losing 2-4 and we are afraid that there may be fights happening and we are like one of the few Asians... On our way down, we heard a thunderous roar and we had missed a goal from the home team. It was an exciting match with Inter Milan leading 3-0 in the 1st half and a red card for one of Inter's player for excessive celebration of a goal. The atmosphere was terribly good but I will not attend another match there again because it is like an opium house in there! They smoke like nobody's business and I can barely breathe!!! I almost died of air sitting there.

Lake Como (7 Oct 2006)

On our first weekend here, we visited Lake Como, a 1.5 hrs drive from Milan. It is a famous lake known for its beautiful scenery and quaint little towns at the northern part of Italy. Do not regard the term "lake" here to our Jurong Lake. This Lake Como is don't know how many times bigger than Singapore!

We drove along the lake from Lecco, a town on the south-eastern part of the lake and passed by Bellagio and then to Como town. The scenery was indeed beautiful. It is not something which can be captured on film and be able to feel that kind of emotions when you looked at the pictures again. It is the whole atmosphere of the houses, villas and churches on the slopes of the valley and some built on the lake itself. After driving for a few kilometers, you will chance upon another town, and another town with all the necessary shop like a pharmacy, restaurant, and so on. The best part of it is that you can see the houses and towns over at the other side of the lake.

Throughout the whole trip, I am pondering... How did they manage to build those houses on the valleys? It's not just a few houses, it's like thousands of them from the bottom of the valley to the top of it and there is only one road up and it is a winding and narrow road. When it first started constructing the town, wouldn't there be traffic jams? And how did they transport those cranes up the valleys? How do these people go to work? Wouldn't there be traffic congestion if everybody drives to work every morning? Although cars are cheap in Italy, how about those who cannot afford a car? I barely see any public buses going there. Grow their own food? Nah, I see very few vegetation plots around. And where do the children go to school? I saw school buses along the way but I don't see any schools around. Does that mean that all these children have to travel 1-2 hours everyday downhill to the cities to study? So many questions on my mind. I hope I can get to know a local staying on the valley and have an interview with him.

We came across this interesting Hotel Belvedere at Bellagio. This town is sited on the promontory overlooking the three arms of the lake. (Lake Como is shaped like an inverted 'Y') They have rooms on the ground floors that have windows that stretches from the height of the knee to the ceiling. The wondow looks out to the vast lake and valley on the other side of the lake and... the bed is placed just at the window! Can you imagine waking up every morning to be greeted with such a stunning view? I think this is the best spot especially for honeymooners to have a break from all those hectic city tours. I wished my honeymoon suite will have a view as nice as this. *wink*

Venice & Verona (14 Oct 2006 - 15 Oct 2006)

Venice - a city on water and is sinking each year. In time to come, it may become like a historical site where it is remembered as the vibrant city that stood proudly on water for centuries.

The drive to Venice was pretty simple. This time we did not spend hours getting lost b'cos it's A4 highway all the way from Vimercate to Venice. We parked our cars on the mainland near Mestre train station and took a train into Venice. It is a car-less city; the only form of transport is your trustworthy pair of legs or a gondola (their famous boat). The city is very small... you can visit the whole of Venice within a day. It is actually like Sentosa but more compact. It's amazing that it is so tiny yet such a famous city in the world.

The gondola is a symbol of Venice. The boatman is dressed a typical Venician boatman uniform and sometimes in a square-topped hat. If you are lucky, the boatman may provide some entertainment by singing as he rowed away. It cost $45 euro for a trip around Venice on gondola but I was afraid of getting seasick hence skipped the idea. The houses in Venice are one of a kind. It actually reminds me of the story, Ali Baba & the forty thieves. The entrances to their homes are not a compound but merely a door that opens up to a staircase and leads to individual apartments. They are like a maze - narrow streets with colorful shop-houses and shops selling Venician masks.


Speaking of those masks, I fell in love with their exquisiteness and how they can create so many fanciful designs, some even with feathers! I wish I can bring home one of them and put them in my house but I doubt my luggage has enough space for that. Suddenly I felt so "arty-farty" that I bought 4 small masks, the size of my palm though.

Saint Marco square is also another highlight of Venice. It has the biggest cathedral (called duomo in Italian) with a rich history. The place is filled with tourists and pigeons! I wonder do people avoid the place when there is the bird-flu epidemic. The duomo, like other duomos in Italy, has many paintings and sculptures each painstakingly done up by famous artists.

On our way back from Venice, we passed by the town of Verona. It is a small town famous for the setting of "Romeo & Juliet" play. All of a sudden, the recollection of Shakespeare's stories during my secondary school days emerged. "... In the city of Verona, house of Juliet Capulet..."... I did not know that Romeo and Juliet were Italians! One of the streets stands the balcony of Juliet which Romeo tried to sneak in every night. Now it has become a tourist attraction. There is also a bronze statue of Juliet below her balcony. It is believed that if you touched her right breast, you will be lucky in love. Her left breast has now become silver instead of the original bronze-color after all the sweat from the tourists' hands. Poor Juliet.

Interlaken @ Switzerland (21 Oct 2006 - 22 Oct 2006)

Interlaken - a small town between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz in Bern Oberland. It is popular probably due to its accessibilities to many of the famous alps nearby.

We set off at 6:30am by car from Cosmo Residence. We took about 6 hours to get there, 2 hours longer than what other people experienced. Haha! We got lost in Milan main town for about an hour or so... The map which I had was so small that I did not know the route we are planning to take does not intercept each other. People said once you drive inside Milan, you will be like a lost child. How true it is. After searching for the nearest highway, we managed to exit Milan. From the map, the 1-hour search covered only 5% of Milan! We even drove onto the tram road which was illegal. How scary can it get!

After getting out from Milan, we took about another 45min to reach the Swiss custom. Need to pay 40 swiss franks for a pass to use their highway. The immigration did not check our passports though. Once we entered Switzerland, we were bewildered by the views of snow-capped mountains and small cottages at the foot of the mountains. Cameras began snapping away. It was highway all the way until we reach the SustenPass. It was a pass through a few of the mountains, Yes, it was literally crossing the mountainS. The roads are treacherous. It was nothing like Genting or Cameron Highlands. Comparatively, the latters were like babies to a mother. With our 1.2 litres FIAT PUNTO, it was no surprise that it took us 2 hours to cross the 40km of mountainous roads. The view there is breathtaking with the occasional waterfalls, plateaus of water and valleys.

After crossing this range of mountains, we heaved a sigh of relief when we reached the bottom of the mountains. We continued "wa-ing" at the sceneries for an hour or so before we arrived in Interlaken, where we will be lodging for the night. As it was still early for check-in, we went check out the surroundings and to admire the serenity of the town. Then we head to the nearby supermarket to buy chocolates! Actually, they are not that cheap as what some people said. Maybe they have more varieties from the Lindt choc range and slightly cheaper than in Singapore that's all.

Time for check-in at 4pm. The hostel, Backpacker Villa was great! It was way off better than the one we stayed during our Venice trip. We had a 7-beds mixed dormitory with attached bathroom and, a balcony! The view at the balcony was really what I had always hoped for. Mountains! Snow-capped too mind you! The hostel is very self-sufficient. When they know that we will not be in time for the all-you-can-eat breakfast in the next morning, they gave us each a token to buy hot drinks and a bagel for breakfast. How sweet of them. I highly recommend this place - www.villa.ch.

Off we head to Darlingen to view one of the 2 lake, Lake Thun between Interlaken (hence the name). The other one is Lake Brienz which we had seen on our way to Interlaken. The town has many small cottages, just like those I had imagined in Hansel & Gretal's story. The Swiss also placed a lot of attention on their house decorations, all those little ornaments on their window panes. So cute!!

Dinner was at this authentic Italian restaurant just down the street from the hostel. Their local specialties are the fondue (cheese, olive oil, chocolate) and the rosti. I had wanted to try on the rosti but the menu shows beef fillet with herbal butter and I could not resist it. I have not had steak for the past 3 weeks and I am going crazy! The meat was tender and the presentation was great. Later, we had the chocolate fondue to dessert. It was nothing fascinating - a ceramic bowl with melted chocolate and a small plate of typical fruits like bananas, strawberries, peach, grapes, apples & pears. I don't really the chocolate cos it is slightly bitter. Why cant they melt those toberone chocolates instead?

The highlight of this Swiss trip is the Jungfraujoch mountain that we went the next day. It was named "Top of Europe" although it is not the highest mountain in the Swiss Alps but cos it has the highest train station stop in Europe. The train cost 100 euro to get up the mountain. The journey up the mountainous region was a sight to behold. Cottages at the foot of the hill became like houses in the Monopoly boardgame. There are snow-capped mountains everywhere and I don't even know which mountains are which. But I know it when I reach Jungfraujoch. The air got thinner and I saw a wide spread of snow. I was dying to feel and touch the snow. However, the feeling was not as overwhelming as I expected, probably cos it was still autumn and the snow had became compacted ice. It was not like those I had imagined where once I stepped foot on it, my whole boots will be stucked in the snow. The ground is like a skating rink just that it is a -4 degree rink. It's amazing that I don't feel at all -4 degree, all thanks to my thermal top. I was merely wearing a thermal top with jacket and jeans. On our way back to Interlaken, the train stopped by Grindlewald where the main attraction there is the Eiger Mountain. It is just a tourist town, smaller than Interlaken with lots of Japanese visitors.

It was overall a good experience given that I had always wanted to feel the coldness and admire the snow-capped mountains in Switzerland. It also convinced me that Switzerland is more than just a chocolate country.

Ciao!

Ciao! Been ages since I have written. I am in Milan, Italy now on business trip for the past 3 weeks. Another 8 weeks more to go! Gosh, do I miss Singapore! The prawn soup noodles from Newton, the garlic butter crabs and honey pork ribs from Defu Lane, the fish head curry from Banana Leaf and "cui kuey" and of course Superboy!!! Sob sob!

To be specific, I am in the town of Vimercate in Milan. Before I came here, my image of the Milan is full of glam and people wearing trench coats carrying poodles, modeling around the town with huge sunglasses covering 3/4 of their faces. But I was so wrong. Maybe this scenario only applies to the centre of the central Milan where all the posh boutiques are. The first time I went inside central Milan was to get the permit of stay from their police station. The roads there are terrible. We would never had made our way back to the apartment if we were not taking a cab. And one horrible thing is there are very few cabs in Milan. Hey! Milan, the main fashion city, where are all the cabs? I haven't been to the heart of Milan yet but this Saturday I will be going to check out those big boy boutiques in town and to see those aspiring designer shops and to watch the Milan Darby match at San Siro stadium. I am so excited!

Alright, to elaborate more of my life here for the past 3 weeks... basically, I look forward to dinner at night in my apartment where the few of us will be cooking Chinese dishes everyday. Of course, the week will begin with planning for shop trips to nearby cities or countries for the weekend. Work is so light... I don't consider myself working at all. Lunch here is free in their cafeteria. Their food is not too bad but it is so crowded cos the thousand-over strength of employees eats there cos it is a ulu place and you can hardly walk anywhere for a decent meals unless you drive. Fortunately, my apartment is comfortable. It is a 5-star service apartment where you have chambermaid cleaning up for you everyday. The bed is comfortable and the view is good. We can see the Swiss Alps from our windows. Milan is actually about an hour's drive to Switzerland. So far, I have been to Lake Como, Venice and Verona. I will write more on my trips in the later entries.

Time to pack up and go home!

Troubled TGIF

Tired. It's TGIF but damn I don't feel the mood. Reached home not too long ago. Was finishing up some things in the office. The office was as quiet as a graveyard. Mine was one of the 3 cars in the big carpark when I left. Look this is how an European company opreates. Time up to go home and all vanished. *poof*

Was bothered by what is happening in my work place... Have been giving training to some newbies. This is my 2nd batch actually. I will be expecting a 3rd batch. Since when did I became my department's trainer!? Ok, I don't deny I have always been thinking of becoming a lecturer. I thought I like to teach, to impart my knowledge to others. I always know I cannot stand teaching kids. Cannot tolerate their disobedience and rowdiness. But I never expect adults to be so hard to handle as well. And maybe I neglect the fact that not everyone is a fast learner. I was looking forward to train the newbies.. I had some materials prepared which was not asked for by my boss. I was recalling how things would be easier if I had those materials when I first started out. I thought my trainees will all turn out to be appreciative of what I had done for them and will all turn out to be diligent young engineers. I was wrong...

They complained that there were too many things to remember and shouldn't there be a manual to show them how troubleshooting should be done. Where do they think they are in? Primary school? I don't even have a fucking guide when I was an apprentice! I have to recollect everything that was taught to me and try to draw some flow diagram for easy reference at the end of the day. Also, I remembered I dared not even go for breakfast and tea-breaks which only the more seniors are "entitled" to. But these newbies don't give a bloody respect. They go for breaks after our morning meeting at 9am and only appear in the office at 10am. They would go for another tea break at 3pm which will last another hour. As a senior and a trainer to them, I only occasionally go for breakfast if my work is still manageable and I never go for tea-breaks.

Besides these, being a shift trainer I have to fall under the critism of the other shift people. If a less diligent trainees cannot perform a task well, they will say the trainer did not teach them. The training is on top of my workload. No one know how I stayed back everyday to complete my work and the datelines that I did not meet. My peformance objective did not state "Shift Training for newbies".

Why am I getting so upset over this? I should just let them die in shift. This was what happened to me last time. But I can't. They have became my responsibility and their every actions reflects on my achievement. I cannot control them like a mother hen and scold them like a primary school discipline mistress right? I don't want to tell on them to my boss. I dont wish to destroy someone's career. I can only swallow and work late everyday and get upset everytime and be treated as a poor trainer.

Missing

Been too lazy to blog lately... Maybe I can summarise the major happenings in my life for the past 2 months?

Had been leading a normal person's life after switching to work on the normal hours 830am to 600pm. So that means I can see the Orchard crowd on Fridays and not fall asleep on Sat midnight shows. I missed those days of shift works though. Most importantly missed the good money that comes with shift work and the many off-days where I dont have to queue for the hairdresser or the bank. Can go swimming in the noon without having to be deafen by the cries and hysterical screams of kids... Now I work an average of about 11hrs a day compared to 12hrs for shift work but surprisingly, I dont feel as tired as I was on shift. I can still meet Superboy for dinner every other day now or come home and watch TV and VCDs. I guess I look fresher now. The main reason why I don't resist coming out of shift is because I want to do things that are constructive and more project-based. It has come to a point in time where I want to advance. I guess I had just been given such a chance...

Right... last week Superboy and I attended our good friends' wedding. We were one of the bridesmaid and bestman, and we were also the emcees for their wedding dinner in Pheony Jade restaurant. The place is nice but a bit small though. The aisle is in the center of the 22 tables which leads to a small stage. We were slightly nervous as we did not have much time to prepare and we are afraid of spoiling the beautiful night. Superboy did great but I think I somehow did not deliver it as well as I did during our rehearsal. Anyway, it was a very tiring for all of us. Wedding can really be the most tremendous project of your life! I wonder will mine beat my unforgettable FYP. Haha!

The World Cup fever is here again after 4 years. Still remembered 4 years ago, I was addicted to betting on the World Cup and as a poor IA student, I lost my 1 month's pay. I knew it was addiction when I looked back because everything on my mind was the damn World Cup - looked up soccernet.com to see which key players are injured, read analysts comments, keep messaging my friend on the match's details during IA, and most obvious of all was I totally forget to think about Superboy! We were still not together at that time and I recalled I was day-dreaming of our conversation and hoping he will message me every minute of the day since we started getting to know each other. But World Cup came, and I eat, drink, sleep only soccer and started to fantasize about how to use my winnings. Quite insane when I come to think of it. Those were the days....

Up and On!

Hey! In case you are thinking I am somehow related to SAINTS (aka St Andrew's affiliations), yup I am (and proud of it *smiles*). A SAINTS fanatic? No, I am not hor!

This phrase of "Up and On" should be very familiar to those who are in any way related to St Andrew's schools as our school song has a sentence which goes... "Up and on! Up and on! Up Saints, .... lalalala~" and the tempo is damn upbeat I tell you. When I first stepped into the grounds of SAJC as a student, the school anthem was played. I was still half asleep standing at attention during the morning ceremony and looking around sheepishly at all the un-cool guys (unlike those ACS-potato guys with swimmers tan and spunky hair) and there goes the "Up and on!!" song. I bursted out laughing! I guess at that time the people around must be thinking what an idiot I was. I was expecting a school song to be of those boring and melodious beat that sounds like Christian hymns. I don't know what was on my mind but at 17-yr-old, "up and on" sounded rather vulgar.

Anyway, back on track. I was sick, or rather ill sounded more correct. ("sick" sounds like I am sick in the mind or some kinda psycho) I was having fever for 3 days constantly last week and I was given 2 days MC. I should be happy right since this is one of the many times when I am really sick until cannot go out and cannot go work. But I was feeling miserable! I was scheduled to be on night shift and night shifts are supposed to be fun. No boss around, wear PJ to work and no one will care, listen to music, sit cross-legs on the roller chairs, sit on your boss's chair, play kyodai, talk on the phone, eavedrop on people talking on the phone, sleep (but I don't. work ethic ok?)

So I decided to go work on my 1st day. On my drive to work, I was already feeling my body temperature rising but then I had already made the effort to wake up and bathed and plucked my eyebrows so I decided to head to office nevertheless. Wrong choice. The moment I clocked in, I felt terrible. I was sneezing non-stop and I looked like one of Santa's helper, an illed one. As the night progressed, I felt worse. I felt as if I may just drop on the floor any moment. So I popped a panadol and felt better. 2 hours later, the fever resumed and I popped the antidote again. Think I popped 3-4 painkillers that night. Going home was not an option for me cos I already came all the way from CCK to AMK and if I were to go home halfway, I will waste on my petrol! So considering all factors, I die die also must tolerate the night and prepare to take a much-deserved MC the next day or 2, which I did.

The doc gave me a 2 days MC after registering my temperature to be a 38C. MCs usually are used to enjoy and relax at home but mine was terrible! I slept and slept, woke up to eat a bit, take medicine then went back to sleep again. I think I slept a total of 60 hours, bathed 4 times, shitted 3 times (the medicine made me shit a lot!) and ate only bananas, cup noodle and 1 decent dinner. I lost track of day and night, lost weight, lost fluid, and almost lost my mind.

Talked to Superboy on the phone 3 times and each time we ended up slamming the phone on each other. I was super easily irritated. I was pissed at him for not renewing his 2-yr mobile contract. He said he needed time to think of what hp model to buy but I could not take hesitance for an answer. Then, I was pissed that he did not spring a surprise visit on me. He wanted to come over after his course at 10pm but I told him not to as it was late and he was tired from a long day at work. How thoughtful of me. Then the next minute, I blew my top at him cos he actually listened to me and NOT come over! The next 2 times we talked, he was trying to get me to admit that I was being unreasonable on the hp thingy. WRONG MOVE! I was not repentant at all and told him I am not going to interfere into his things anymore. That got him worked up and after 20-30mins of silence, we gave up on each other. I was still thinking it was SO UNTHOUGHTFUL of him to not come see me or send me a GET-WELL-SOON card! Heck the hp plan, why didn't he come surprise me despite me asking him not to, I thought.

Sigh, I was glad I have finally recovered! Superboy renewed his plan and got a new hp and I got myself the Nokia N7370. I was so sad to trade in my N7200. Sob Sob.... Will definitely show off my new phone in my next entry! *smug*

English lesson

Back in action after I bought my desktop and subscibe to broadband. No more frustrating dial-ups. My desktop set comes with a 19 inch LCD monitor ok? (*smug*) Dont know why I need such a big screen also but Superboy insisted that it is a good buy. However, it certeinly cleared my table space a lot. Now I can put my plates, mug, tissues in front of the screen and eat and goggle the same time. Isn't it fabulous?

Went dinner with a girlfriend last night and out of the blue, she started telling me about her fantasies.. oh well, how often do you get someone who would tell you their fantasies besides your boyfriends? She was telling me how she used to fantasize a Prince Charming rides along and wakes her up from her sleep. I was muffled initially as this is the first time I am hearing this from a girl. The word "fantasize" seems like such a taboo word. It's like associated with the words "porn", "sadomasochism", "kinky lingeries". Then it suddenly dawn on me that isn't "fantsize" similar to "imagine", to "daydream"? So, i checked out www.dictionary.com and this is what I found.

fan·ta·size

: to indulge in fantasy : create or develop imaginative and often fantastic views or

ideas

: to portray in the mind by fantasy

Ha! Then I must admit that I have been fantasizing since I was young! I am always imagining myself striking the lottery, score 50 points in a basketball match, Aniki Jin picking me up in a pub, or what would my life be like if I were born a Hollywood star. I guess "fantasy" is just a simple word for imagination but somehow it was made different by men. I don't know what's wrong with men but most of them time I guess their so-called imagination are filled with romping with a pair of supermodel twins or having sex with at least 2 or more girls, and preferably in tight see-through school blouses and ultra-mini pleated skirts. I don't think women are able to come up with any thing that creative except for biceps, triceps, a firm bum and a washboard tummy. So, do dreams considered some kind of fantasies too?

dream

: a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the

mind during certain stages of sleep.

: a state of abstraction; a trance.

: a wild fancy or hope.

: a condition or achievement that is longed for

: one that is exceptionally gratifying, excellent, or beautiful

I had a dream few years back that would make every girl envy me. I dreamt I was having a sensual session with the God of Men, Aniki Jin! The feeling was so real that I actually blushed when I woke up. Oh by the way, he was on top and I was just lying there enjoying the fantastic reverie...

Fresh Look

Notice my new look? I mean my blog.. duhz! I am so proud of myself! I am hopeless at all those programming stuffs since uni. I am always scraping through all those codings and what-nots. Lets see.... I am actually "trained" in my Java, Fortran, C and Assembly Language but the most I can remember is "printf"& "scanf". *grin* I must really thank my lucky stars that I even manage to pass relatively well at those modules man. Must have been my papers were somehow swopped with another person. I think those who read/write programming language are simply divine creatures!

Programming is still not my worst subject though. I still vividly remember the dreadful Graphics where they give you a 2D shape and you are supposed to draw out the 3D structure with the exact dimensions, on paper as well as using a software to draw on the computer! That was really the nightmare of the nightmares. I flunged the module expectedly on 2 tries. Yes, I am so proud of that. If it had not been the uni finally realised that this is a USELESS subject and decided to abolish this module forever, I think I may be still in the examination hall staring at the stupid question paper and eventually draw a 3D cube (that's the only 3D object I can draw with precision) and hand it in. In my then 21 years of my life, I have never handed in an almost blank answer sheet in tests. Even during my most untalented Art class which my Mum enrolled me in when I was younger, I still manage to crayon out a crooked house or an aeroplane which looked more like a ship. However bad I was at Art, I did not hand in a BLANK paper. Looking back, I am impossible at Programming, Graphics and Arts... what am I exactly good in my god! Oh... maybe I have some kinda flare in E, D, A, C, F Mathematics.

Ha! I am a freak.

Xiaxue vs Dawn Yang

CLEO was comparing our Singapore 2 most famous bloggers, Xiaxue & Dawn Yang and it sorta sparked my interest to read about their blogging styles.

Superboy has a link for Xiaxue's blog (www.xiaxue.blogspot.com) which I occasionally peeked into just to look at ...the photos. The first time I saw her blog, her last entry was about a talking kai-lan and she had some pics to narrate about her cooking an egg and she was fascinating about the egg-white looking like her white scrungy. My then reaction was: "What an idiot (bimbo is used to describe pretty girls with no brains)! And I was puzzled why the whole Singapore including Superboy (duhz!) was so glued on to her nonsensical blogging. Was it some kind of an in-thing to read about crazy stuffs, or were they just keen on looking at the pictures of her and her friends in itsy-mini spag tops? One year later, I was reading an interesting article from the one of the local papers and I was praising how well the columnist wrote when Superboy pointed out to me that the writer was Xiaxue, the xiao zha bor! It was then I started to actually read about what she wrote in her famous blog and inadvertently became her ardent fan of her columns in the papers.

I came to know about Dawn Yang the blogger (www.dawnyang.com) through TNP. What caught my eyes was that this girl looks so chio! She has that caucasian-asian manga look with her big and dewy eyes. I signed it off as just some pretty girl's blog which lonely Singaporeans visit instead of going into those restricted porn sites. Was bored after Superboy fell asleep just now, I remembered the chiobu blog which was as famous as Xiaxue, and decided to take a look. She did not write much in her blog though, sporadically some englishy poems (dunno written by her or not) and mostly pictures of her in nightspots, her in the States, her potato friends (I have this supernatural powers to tell if a person is a potato just from looking at his photo), her on couch, her with damn thick mascara (Do famous bloggers need to coat their eyes with thick, lengthening mascara?), her and her alone.

Both of them writes good english but I think Xiaxue woos readers by her wacky and oh-so-Singaporean style of writing. The contents are very to the hearts of every Singaporeans. She blogs about the current affairs, she bitches like nobody's business, she critisizes people's looks, she pens vulgarities and she evokes a blush on women out there with her daring entries on the penis, boobs and orgasms. In one word, she is real; she symbolises woman, ME!

On the other hand, blog readers goes to Dawn for her lavish style of living, her havoc incessant clubbing, her celeb friend Fiona Xie aka Big Boobies, her choice of male friends (lucky fellas) and her once in while cleavage peek-a-boo. I bet most of her readers are males. After I look through all her entries which isn't many (actually I was just squinting at all her photos), I began to dislike her. Her photos displays too much innocence. It's sexy if you strikes an innocent schoolgirl-look once in a while when taking photos but NOT every damn picture! Ok, she is a goody-two-shoes alright.... but wait! Do innocent girls cheong discos, get sooo close to different males when taking photos, go travelling with guys alone?? She seems to me like a poser... those rich kids from a certain girls school near Orchard (she is from that school to my not-so-surprise) who can't speak a proper word of chinese, who is smart - don't have to study also will get As types, who giggles and exclaims loudly when happens to meet friends in the streets, who buys prezzies for their gal-friends on Valentine's Day and who likes to shop in Cold Storage and not NTUC.

This is soon going to turn into a hate-Dawn Yang blog.... think maybe I am just envious? :)

Crossroad

Statement: Challenges or stability?

I always thought I was someone who wants a sense of security. This applies to many aspects. Many things going on my mind recently. I am at a crossroad now. Shall I continue to embark on my stable journey with expected route and destination or shall I hook on to my tiny thread of youth for challenges and excitment and new discovery?

(1) Career. Been 2 and a half years into my first job. I would say besides the physical tireness, there is nothing tough about it. Initially I was glad and adored what I was doing but now it seems a bit too simple. Like I am not making use of my knowledge and capability. In other word, there is no breakthrough. I want to have that opportunity to develop and present my ideas in front of all the big bosses in the company and be indispensible. There is such an opportunity now, a position which ensure lotsa challenges and one which requires me to travel to different parts of Europe and interact with the important people of the company. This is such a tempting chance, just what I had been waiting for. But fear of regrets creeps inside me. What if I find out that I dont exactly look forward to that much challenges as I thought I would? What if I dont like the new environment? Sigh! So many what ifs...

(2) Car. Suddenly feel that I have not been saving much for a person who have been working for 2 over years. Realised that all the money seems to go into the installment for my car. Is it time to change to a smaller 1.6 car? I need to see my bank account GROW! European cars are known to be safer than the Japanese cars but the affordable European cars designs are so boring.. except for.....The Peugeot series. I fell in love with the 307 1.6 hatchback but that is like 10k more that the other common 1.6s. I dont like the Altis, seems like every Tom, Dick or Harry is driving that. Throw a stone on the road and you will most probably hit an Altis. I quite like the Mazda 3. I like the design and their bright colours. :) I think the white looks cool on the road, like a police car. Geez.. But the thing now is, if I change to a 1.6, will I not be able to accustom to the slower pick up and the more inferior road-holding? Sigh!

Those Good Old Times

Browsing through Friendster.com never fails to give me lotsa thoughts. The Childhood Friend has given birth to her 2nd child, the Project Mate has married to the same guy who always picked her up after our projects or lab sessions, the Classmate is getting more "happening" from all her parties. It suddenly dawned on me that many years has past.... I am getting old!

No, I'm not talking about wanting to get married and start a family. In fact, I don't think I am ready. Once you are married, you will automatically branded as an "Auntie". I feel there are still many things which I have missed out on, many things which I still have not experienced. Can't exactly spell out what... just a feeling. Maybe life is getting more of a ritual now... work on the 2nd half of the week. meeting Superboys on my off-days, with the occasional gatherings with his friends, lazing around in the house watching VCDs & reading, picking up Superboy after his work to dine at Holland Village, weekends at Jurong Point... everything is so expected. There seems little I can look forward to during the weekends or on holidays; either I'll be too tired from work on Saturdays or the Monday blues for him will kick in on Sundays. We can't have any concrete travel plans now that his job is always so busy.

I am happy with Superboy of course. He is more than what I can ask for. Perhaps I just missed those days of the incessant SMSes with different friends to arrange suppering at different places every night, playing billiard at Queens & Bukit Timah, the ocassional dolling up to go party, the ICQ chats till dawn, etc. Those were hectic times, with practically no time for myself. Guess humans are greedy creatures, they want the best of both worlds. Think I will just go back on my VCDs and accept the fact that I AM OLD and old people are not wanted at parties or poking the cues at billiard joints.