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Friday, January 12, 2007
GREETINGS!!!


After a long, long hiatus from blogging due to my being back home in Singapore...I'M BACK!! For those I've missed out on, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Don't scream at me...I have tons of pictures for you guys to view. They might take some time to load, cos there are quite a few of them.


As some of you know, I was in Hongkong from Dec 20-23rd. I shall leave those pics for another time. For now, sit back and soak up 3 weeks worth of pics!!

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Dec 17th: NW 5 touched down in Changi Airport late, at 2am. We promptly proceeded to Bedok 85 (near where we have moved in accordance to rebuilding Wilkinson Road). Next day we woke up and trudged to Parkway for my foodcourt staple: BAN MIAN.


Dec 18th: Mark's wedding lunch reception at The Fullerton Hotel. Pity I haven't have my haircut, but at least I had painted toenails, thanks to a visit to Rachel's hours before the wedding. I think Mark's wedding was the most chop-chop one I've ever been to. couple enter-talk-eat-talk-sing-talk-sing-talk-pictures-zao.

Good, I like... cos that left me with ample time to make my way down to Far East with my much awaited appointment with Tony, who gave me a new hairstyle. Have I ever mentioned that Tony my hairdresser is one of my favorite people in the world? I never have to say I want this or that... he just delivers time after time. Though it took a while before I was convinced of my new fringe, I learnt to like it. Lesson learnt: Enjoy new styles, (you're young and hey, its only hair) as long as you've found a hairdresser who's worth his 2 shears. You might be surprised. After my haircut, it was upstairs to Aunty Nancy who threaded my eyebrows to perfection. Shiyun threaded hers for the first time too. Ow, ow ow...but worth the pain.


Dec 19th: Bright and early, my parents brought me to see our architect, just to touch base on what I want, and what they are doing at 51 Wilkinson Road. Though nothing was concrete yet since it was about interior design, it was reassuring to meet Randy the chief architect at long last. After that, I went to Tony's once more to get my hair colored.

Two hours later, I emerged looking 80% ang moh. wahahha. Then met Justina for some xiao long bao and la mian at Crystal Jade at Suntec city.


Dec 20th - 23rd: HONGKONG! (story another day)


24th: Went to my uncle's house for a christmas dinner, ang moh style. Then, adjourned to Shiyun's house for another christmas dinner, chinese style. Shiyun's father and his friends love their food. Listen to this: roasted suckling pig, roasted duck, 2 roasted chickens, 100(!) satays, 150(!!!) otahs, one bucket of beehoon, one bucket of noodles, sea cucumber, assorted dishes, ALL FOR 15 PEOPLE. You tell me siao or not. But good for me la, am very grateful to Tupperware.


25th: Honestly, I forgot what happened this day. All I remember was that I wore a red dress and carried a green bag, and looked extremely festive. I was out with Ruoyi...but to where? OH YES I REMEMBER NOW. We met Shiyun at Lido to watch 'Curse of the Golden Flower' by Gong Li, Chow Yun-Fatt, and Jay Chou. You would say it is plot-less...which I don't disagree. But I have to give kudos to Zhang Yimou who shot it most beautifully, and thus I enjoyed it. Then Ruoyi and I went to visit Aunty Mingming, who was my Math Tutor in JC. Fishhead steamboat later on.


26th: Met Shiyun and we had our nails painted at Rachel's.

tadang! New nails!!

Dec 27th: Met Meishan for KTV @ PARTYWORLD. Our conclusion is that the Partyworld stereo suits us better than kbox. We also decided that their drinks are way worth the money than kbox. heh heh

If you recall our KTV shots EVERY time I go home, its the exact same background



At night, the family met Pakshun, Ruoxi's boyfriend for dinner at Werners' Oven, our favorite hangout for some authentic German food at Siglap. Pork knuckles, sausages, saukert, mashed potato and hearty soup... we are happy people... Even bobbie the family dog was happy cos we brought him the bone.


Dec 28th: Shiyun and I went to Bakerzin for some sugar, and went to Drama's birthday chalet. That night, Shiyun ate 5 super frosted cupcakes. *puke*


Bakerzin's pretty wallpaper


Dec 29th: Went to this organic vegetarian restaurant YogiHub with my Ma and her friends for some healthy lunch in a last minute attempt to cleanse away the sins of the past few days. Tofu pizza tastes pretty good, to be honest.

My sister and my best friend. This lighting is not the most flattering.


At night, I went to ailing's place to meet the HSBC gang for dinner and mahjong. Alas, no one was interested in mahjong leh.... OH!!! But one good thing is that I found out that my mahjong luck has improved drastically since last year... maybe its cos I finally decided to use some strategy and decided to stop 'anyhow' throwing tiles.


Dec 30th: KTV-ed with my cousins Hanxiang and Hanxu. Dinner was at a Hokkien restaurant to celebrate my Ah mah's birthday. Traditional restaurants is the place to let down your guard...chances of bumping into friends is like 0.5%!! we were like our 10 yr old selves...belting happy birthday songs super loudly, and making a fool outta ourselves.. but NEH NEH NI BOOBOO NO ONE CARES!!! actually, when I said 'WE', I meant the older cousins. The younger cousins were quite embarrassed by us, to be honest. WAHAHA!!


My cousin Yuhao took part in the InterJC pageant, and was crowned Mr. Personality and Mr. BEAUTIFUL SKIN (the gay-est award, according to him). oh!! he was supposedly also a crowd favorite cos he received the most online votes (but actually is he force us to vote one lor...wahaha!!) but aei, NOT BAD RIGHT, my family actually can produce pageant quality.


Dec 31st: As planned, my gang is not big on attending foam parties, or even mingling with the masses on new years' eve. I mean, I don't know about you, but I definitely don't fancy skin to skin interaction with strangers, stuck in a place where you can't breathe while counting down and have difficulty going home afterwards. Thus, our plan was to go to Meishan's house in the afternoon for her mom's wonderful chicken curry, salad youtiao and mifen (my ultimate fav), and then to Cecilia's house where we have called home on New Years Eve the past year.

Picture at Meishan's.



Picture at Cecilia's. Wah lau, who forgot to close the toilet door. Pai kua. I have this policy abt leaving toilet doors closed if they are within a room.



And so we got bored and started playing with her toys. wahahha. Ernie the puppet, Pinky the pig and that weird colored bear.



Ali (cecilia)'s house is amazing. Why go out when you can find the best entertainment right there?? So, we counted down to our favorites:



KTV lounge style ktv system!!!!!!!! ...



Sec sch indulgence... SEAWEED CHICKEN with thai chili sauce (mmm)....



and what else but MAHJONG. I emerged as the GRAND WINNER AGAIN!!!! woohoo, my luck for 2007 is begining to change!!! But too bad Meishan had to TEACH TUITION (on NEW YRS DAY HOR!) early, we couldn't play throughout the night. :( I COULD HAD WON MORE YOU KNOW!!

Jan 1st: Went home and washed up and went down to Swisotel to meet godparents for dinner. Before that, Shiyun and I posed with the Christmas tree.



Her, me, and my fat arms. DARN.



Then Shiyun left to meet her friends and we had dinner at Swiscafe with my godparents, godma's sis, and their 3 newphews (2 chao bin and 1 smiley. guess which is which.) Ummm, for $50+per pax, it is TOTALLY not worth it. Poor Shao yi bobo, who did extensive research before settling for this place, glanced at his dismal piece of veal, and asked the table who cared for 2nd round at pizza hut. WAHAHHAHA.


In the end, we had to stop at some kopitiam for hokkien mee before the boys were full. WAHAHAHAH.

Jan 2nd: Met Andrea, Shellen, and Cherie for some dimsum at Minjiang. It's been a year!



Our class girls are very pretty right?... Of cos la, you must see who is the Queen leading the troops mah...


At night, I went to dinner with Shiyun's family at Bedok. Tzi char chefs ought to run for the White house. Seriously.


My favorite tie ban doufu...


Scratch that... THIS is my favorite.... well, ... actually....OH man....what a tough decision, so lets not choose!!


Jan 3rd: Met a somewhat ill Kelly for coca buffet at International Plaza. Its our pact to go there every year when we meet up. hur hur.



Kelly, ni de lian se cang bai (face very pale), rest more!!!


At night, like as if the buffet wasn't filling enuff, I joined my maternal family for some HANABI japanese buffet (yes. I'm very ashamed of myself. really.)


The family minus a few members. My big uncle is working in Indonesia, my lil uncle is at home nua-ing, my sister is in New York, and 2 of my cousins are in Canada. So that leaves, L-R: big aunt, ruoyi, ma, ah lu, 2nd aunt, me, pa, 2nd uncle.



The reason for japanese buffet... ALL-U-CAN-EAT SASHIMI!!

Jan 4th: Headed to Club Street to Amanda's contemporary art gallery where she is working. The works are really pretty contemporary, and we HONESTLY wanted to hone some artistic qualities in us...but only my Ma was interested. WAHAHAHA. Then I went to VIVOCITY (for the first time) to meet Sokhong.

My dear friend Sokhong, as the Cedarians would affirm, was one of the best athletes of her time. 'Her' time seemed to be very far away, for Sokhong of today no longer competes. Oh wait, 'her' time means 'my' time also lor, cos we started out at the same time. Aiiii, the good ol' days. But nevermind, none of us really miss the days when we would train till bones creaked and skin peeled.... I just miss the winning, to be honest.

Sok went to Japan in July, spent abt S$800 on SNACKS which filled up 2 suitcases. She nibbled through them all in less than a month, and put on 10kg in 5 mths. Thank god she was born lean, so she could still afford the 10kg. However, out of the 10kg, we reckon that 5kg went to her FACE. wahahhahaa. She kept asking me 'is my face round, is my face round? HOW TO SLIM THE FACE AH?? OK I'M GONNA LOSE WEIGHT!!'


OK, here is a girl who wants to lose weight. So you either eat less, or you increase output...but NO, instead of doing all that, she.....


ORDERS 2 CAKES AND a MACAROON AT BAKERZIN @ vivocity. TELL ME SHE WASN'T SERIOUS ABT LOSING WEIGHT!! (actually, she continues to lament about wanting to lose weight with her mouth full)



Shiyun joined us later and ordered another cake. Sigh pie.

Jan 5th: Me, ma, Ruoyi, Shiyun, and Justina went down to a very posh Italian restaurant - GARIBALDI on Purvis street, for some considerably affordable set lunch. Came up to $30/pax with is okkk la. OOOH, all of us dressed up for the occasion cos there was a dress code involved here.



The hiao ones in the car. WAHHAA.

Later, we toured Chinatown in our fancy frocks, and looked totally out of place. But then we took a bus to town, where we fitted in better.



The ladies in black

Jan 6th: I gave Sok a little surprise! I had wanted to meet Ian, another old friend from the track n field era, for lunch at Little India. OK, legend tells us that Ian used to be Sok's idol 6 years ago. It was our first ASEAN schs' meet in Bangkok. We were 15 and from Cedar, he was 18 and from ACJC. Soon after, Sok was forced to do hurdling cos a scheming man decided that she should just choose another event so she wouldn't clash with another top athlete...EVEN though she hurdled like the way cows flew. Ian, on the other hand, was an amazing hurdler (he once shot a commercial for I believe, SHARP, holding a camcorder while hurdling) and thus became Sok's idol once n for all. But I didn't let Sok know that we were meeting Ian cos she's very shy around him.

On the way from Lil India MRT to the restaurant, Sok kept asking me 'are we meeting an Indian thats why we're meeting at Lil India? NO huh.. are we meeting Matthew and Fiona?? FIRDAUS??!?!?! Mingmao ah?'... I kept her guessing all the way to Delhi restaurant where she went.. EHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! IT WAS HILARIOUS. And when we were seated, she went 'wei shen meh gang cai wo wen ni shi bu shi wo ou xiang shi, ni shuo bu shi' (how come you said no when I asked you whether we were meeting my idol). I think for a moment, she kinda forgot that Ian was sitting across from us, and understands Mandarin. SOK AH SOK.. STILL AS BLUR AS A SOTONG!


The sotong, the idol, the one who planned it all.


Then, I went to .. yes you're right, VIVOCITY AGAIN! cos I didn't see much the first time mah, cos had to rush home for dinner, didn't even had a chance to go outside!! This time, it was with 2 of my bestest friends.. Shiyun and Meishan.


the outdoor area overlooking Sentosa is really pretty darn nice.


I like this picture because I personally feel that I look like a celebrity. hor, hoR, HOR???



OUtta the 10,000 pics we took at Cordory& Fitch cafe, this is one of the 2 that's better. darn our photography skills!! okok, and our fat arms, pimply faces, and messy hair!


ngeh-si must take another picture.




the mafia...aiiiii, MEI2 YOU3 SHA1 SHANG1 LI4 one.. NEXT!!!


ahh.. much better.

For dinner, we all went to Bedok 85 again with my family and godpa for some hawker fare. My godpa's super funny. his face kinda fell when he found out that we were going for hawker fare cos he thought I would wanna eat 'good' food. HAWKER FOOD IS GOOD FOOD WAD! and good it was!

Jan 7th: Went to GLORY nasi padang along Upper East Coast Road for some good ol' nasi padang. MMmmmmmm


Ordered to our hearts content...


ate to our hearts' content... I can be selected as postergirl for GLORY hor?? This goes to show that you can take the girl outta the chili, but never the chili outta the girl.



Jan 8th: In the morning, we went to Defence Technologies. Why, you may ask? Cos Hong Ruoyi, my very outdoor gungho younger sister, has taken GUNGHO to a whole new level. SHE'S ENLISTING FOR BMT! yes, she's decided to take up a SAF scholarship...Gu niang dun wanna be, wanna go chiong sua.. aiyah. to each her own. All I hope is that she is safe and they are not making them do too cham things, or be exposed to too much UV rays. Aiii, at least she will be saving my dad alot of money by taking up the overseas scholarship. Not like me ah, only know how to spend. WHAHAHA.


Then I went for my 2nd haircut in 3 weeks. wahahaa,..WHAT. don't cut now cannot cut for very long you know. And then went back to coca, this time at Taka, for lunch with Ailing and Justina. OH! we saw fiona xie! I have neverending fate with her cos i see her every holiday.


This is not an old pic, neither isit shaky. But becos this pic was clouded by the steam from the pot la! and WHOA, I never knew my head was so round.


I then met Angie for a short while and she walked me home. At least we met up, for about 10minutes. Then I went packing again, and left Singapore, my beautiful country, fourth time round, for the US in less than 5 hours.

au revoir, my family, friends and country. Thank you for the hospitality you have extended to me in the past 3 weeks. Though it couldn't stop raining for a week...until underwear also cannot dry, it was a much well-spent 3 weeks than all the weeks in school combined. thank you, my friends for entertaining me so much, and thanks for letting me parade in all my new clothes. I will miss you all dearly, so we better keep in touch! I hope that everyone will stay healthy and safe, and may 2007 be good to all of you.


Till we meet again,
your friend Ruoying


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TO be honest, it feels surreal to be back. When I got back in Lansing, all I could think of was 'did I really spend the last 3 weeks back home?? you mean all that i've been planning for.. its over? How come it feels like I've never left Lansing?' Oh well, I refuse to be depressed about coming back anymore (unlike last year when I became SEVERELY depressed). Afterall, this is my 2nd last semester at school.. NO TIME TO WASTE THINKING!!


And I know I will be home soon again, and hopefully I would be much slimmer the next time you all see me (so my ma can finally stop hiam-ming me), and can take better pictures. Ha that should be funny.


As I bid farewell to 2006, I said goodbye to my childhood, adolesence, and teenage years. For now, for I am legally a real adult. If I didn't feel that way when I was 21 last yr, 22 shall be a confirmation of that fact. But I think, with all the friends I met up with when I'm home... all of us still has that childish tinge in us. No matter how I dress up, and how I walk with air.. I will still be that girl who dreamt, and who joked, still giggled, and niam-ed at everyone. I look at the JC ones attending orientation... ahh, I was once there, but even Ruoyi has graduated from JC!! But I realize that we are still pretty much the same. Its just that now we have to accept reality more than we used to, be more aware of whats happenning around us, that we are, whether we like it or not, not as young, and certainly cannot be as restless as before.


More musing to come, CYA ALL ON MSN! ;)
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