Chezzy's Journal

3:59PM - Choice

Well, i think this phrase " If i have a choice, I would........" has been overly use as an excuse??
I think its being abused.. Well, everyone has a choice in all situations..
You choose the option, make the decision and shoulder the consequences....

"Food for thought"...

10:43PM - Hamburg, Frankfurt my first trip to Europe

A visit to Europe has always been my dream.. The only thing that I could relate to Europe is through media channels. So finally, to visit the flood control event, i have finally step into Europe.
Well this wont be my only trip to Europe.. Its just the beginning....

11 November 09 - After almost 14 hours of flight, super hungryy.. After checking in at Mercure Hamburg,
My first buffet breakfast.. Yummy



From hotel cafe,

After freshen up, Monica and I decided to take a walk to Hamburg Central... Well, its autumn now and its cold.. 6 degrees ..
Nice shots near the hotel




Hamburg Central is just 3 train stops away.

When we reached, we saw yummy bread and sausages.... Ooh... how can u resist these yummy sausages..





Mon and I decided to share the yummy fries and sausages...



After filling our tummy up with the yummy fries and sausages, we started our expedition and took a couple of nice pictures of the architectures...








Well, I have always imagine myself dressed in my warmers and walking in the cool/cold streets of Europe.. At last, dream turns reality..








This does resembles the SMRT buses right :P

After a pretty long exploration, its dinner time!.. We found this nice restaurant to have our dinner
Slurp - Yummy French Onion Soup


I had Turkey and Mushroom with Yummy Baked Potato! while Monica had her steak :P


Smiley faces after a hearty meal

12 November 09 - Visit to the Messe Hamburg event and National History Musuem in Hamburg



Along the way to the congress, we took pictures ...


I simply love the colours of the flora ...







After visiting the show, we had a little time , about an hour to visit the National History Musuem of Hamburg. This museum if I remember correctly was constructed in 1900.. i must say its a little "Creepy" and Monica didnt dare to visit the washroom...:P

Here, the history of Hamburg was told.. how a maritime port transformed into a city over the years... And how some of the early immigrants (Jews) "contributed" to the development.



13 November - Frankfurt.

Monica and I took a super early flight from Hamburg to Frankfurt for the mtg with VDMA.


I had this super "hard" sandwich and capuccino before catching the flight..

After the mtg at 1pm, we had some time to roam around Frankfurt central before catching an evening flight back home. I do miss home and friends, and of course G :P and with the jet lag.. its really bad!

Mon has been to frankfurt a couple of times and she decided to bring me to this lovely restaurant that serves very good pork knuckles (apparently its not available in Hamburg)

= infront of the restaurant...

and yummy draft german beer.. (well, i paid EUR2.50 for a 330ml of water ... so its more worth while to drink beer as you can get it for the same price!!) .. This explains why everyone drinks BEERRRRRRRR.



The menu and the real thing

= SUPER YUMMYYYYYYYYYY, Slurp

Oh i must say this waitress is super efficient. Its a one woman show i.e. She is the bartender, cashier, and waitress.. I am IMPREsSED..

Some pictures taken at Frankfurt Central





Before heading to the airport, Mon insisted we must have the "Nutella crepe"



monica next to the crepe cart.



Shiok!! the nutella crepe.

2:38AM - Guten Tag! Hallo...

Its 2.40am Spore Time 7.40pm Hamburg Time.
Zzzz.. Still suffering a little from the Jet Lag... and still led by the Spore timing.

Eventually, didnt go out dinner with Monica as she fell asleep and I wasnt that hungry as well..
More of sleepy and tiredness/weariness from the long haul flight (well, a good 16 hours)

I have been having lots of food in Germany, Sausages, pork knucles baked potatoes, fruits (yummy i love it).
Still no chance to savour the pork knuckles.. hmmm.. waiting for tmr for Monica to bring me..

Hmm.. tired already so maybe to get some sleep..to catch a morning flight tmr....

12:55PM - Auntie Agony..

Decided to work from home today. Well, since the boss is not around and I can access my emails anywhere and everywhere. Haha, Mr Lloyd was just saying that "Wow, you are really mobile". Well, when your organisation give you a laptop, they expect you to be mobile right? and "maybe" 24/7.
I was on conversations with Ah swee and Ms C last evening and this morning.
It makes me ponder "why do people have bad relationships?" well, not that i do not have.
I believed at one point or the other you should encounter some bad relationships and learn from the mistakes made. By going through some rough patches, you tend to learn (in general) and handle relationships better
"Well, i am still trying to learn :-)"

In relationships, its mainly to manage expectations and reach a stage of compromise. When two persons have differing expectations for each other i.e. wanting the other partner to be "PERFECT", and to behave/act in the way that they wanted, the relationship can never work". Well, its really about how both parties strive for a win-win situation.
and when the relationship involves a kid, personally i feel that the focus should no longer be on oneself, but for the KID.

It just takes alot of EFFORt to make things work. Its never one party's fault as it takes two hands to make a CLAP

12:23AM - Nice Montage by Cloud...

10:31PM - UnComfy Tummy

Woke up close to dawn with a super bad tummy ache.
Couldnt describe the enormous pain
that left me tossing and turning in bed...
Its somewhat like Menstual Cramps but worst than that.
Besides the pain, I felt nauseous and giddy...
Couldnt endure anymore and decided to pop a "Nurofen" which is my quick fix for pains.

For a moment, I thot i was going to die from this great unbearable pain.
Still feel alittle uncomfy now but definitely much better...

Accompanied G to visit Ben's new born , (coincidentally Ms Lee's baby boy has came to the world this morning). The baby gal , Sarah is so adorable. She resembles her dad alot and has this constant smile on her face. Her face is also full of expressions, well just like mine! haha....

Congrats to all the mom and dads for their new borns!

5:29AM - In Memory of Grandpa...

It has been almost 30 years since grandpa passed away in Jan 1980. I still recalled that I was only close to 3 years old when he passed away. Surprising I could still recollect bits and pcs during Grandpa's wake. I was sharing with Dad, Mom and aunties @ wee hours this morning infront of Grandpa's coffin, that I could still remember asking my dad and nat " Why is mom crying ? and Why is grandpa sleeping?" Well amazing isnt it? I was only almost 3years old.

As the govt releases land for other burial to take place ("lease" is about 30 years), the land which Grandpa "occupied" has to make way to others. Being traditional Asian, my parents and the elders in the family have decided to engage a "Private" Contractor to handle the exhumation and necessary rituals. Last sunday, Eldest Auntie, mom, dad and I went to make our last offerings.

This morning at 2.30am, we made our way to Choa Chu Kang Cemetary to witness the actual process. Trust me, at 2+am in the morning at the Choa Chu Kang cemetary, where thousands of bodies were buried, its kinda of SPOOKY.
No lights, pitch darkness.. And lots of mozzies.. Well, the process supposed to start at 3am. But we are early by 40mins. So wait in the darkness. It wasnt so dark as you stand in the middle of the road in the Cemetary (well, i just dunno why)

To make things worst, it was raining the whole night. And the chill just went down your spin... :P
Second Auntie was extremely timid and kept holding to all of us. Elder Aunt and Mom just refused to allow her.
And she took my torchlight :(.. But lucky dad brought an extra LED small torch and pass to me..Phew... :P

Its amazing! After being buried deep into the ground for close to 30years, Grandpa's coffin still looks absolutely intact. There were no signs of damage or corrosion at all. The contractor has dug up the coffin earlier to dry the coffin.

At 3am, after some simple ritual, the contractor used a saw to make a opening. There he took out the torso/remains of grandpa one by one. Surprisingly, some of grandpa's clothes were still in pretty good condition. His socks were also intact which was stuck with his lower limbs.

The whole process took almost one hour. After leaving the cemetery, all of us went to the 24 hour Kopitiam near my place for cup of hot drink. Heehee dad and I and few of my cousins are hungry so we took some noodles. :P

Later in the morning, we will head to Mandai Crematorium. Perhaps time to catch some sleep now.. its almost 6am. GOSH.

10:30PM - Sales Trip to Korea - 27 to 29 Oct 09

So apart from the mtgs, have managed to shop around and savoured good food. Well, back to my supposedly homeland.. haha, since i have been mistaken as korean so often... :P

27 oct 09 -

First picture that was taken when i touched down at 4pm @ Incheon Airport.

Always take the airport limobus or subway.. taxis are very expensive..


Checked in at Casaville Residence , Pretty decent svc apartment. Just that i wish they could add some variations to the breakfast selection..


The study where I checked my emails and log on to msn each evening


Where i boiled hot water for tea and my Kopi (Heng ah, i brought along two packs of 3-in-1, korean coffee lacks the umph!)

After checking some mails, have decided to go grab dinner with Monica.. ALong the streets, we decided to try some rice cakes..



After filling up our tummy with some rice cakes, we headed to Dongdaemun..
i must say... Shopping @ Spore is really a little too boring for shopholics. In Korea, they have big big buildings of at least 6 storeys filled with shops and the shopping malls are almost 24 hours, opens daily till 4.30am in the morning. So how to compare.. hmmmmm



Caught sight of some puppies on sale along the streets..



And of course lots of yummy foood....

Not forgeting Korean BBQ... aiyo so sinful!!




So satisfied after all the sinful food..
I would recommend that u try this restaurant
Haha, dont ask me whats the name.. Because I cant read Korean language.

Nice shots.

Other meals that I had,

1) Bibimbap... Supper Yummy

Before mixing up the ingredients

After mixing

2) Yummy Spicy Korean Kim Chi Tofu Soup!


Meet some nice people too

1) Very cute sales person...



2) Judy, Sunny Moon's assistant.



I, Judy and Mon

As we have some time to kill before going airport, we went to Krispy Kream to share a doughnut and coffee




At the Limo Bus Station waiting for the bus to airport.


It was indeed a short trip.

8:13AM - an nyung ha se yo

Yep.. I am in Seoul now.. Again with Mon to do a sales trip.
For a change the weather was much cooler, though the windchill could really get into you.. :P
(our experience last night)
Just had breakfast and now waiting for Sunny Moon to meet us in 10mins for the sales appointment

Didnt really have much sleep last nite.
Few reasons though
1) the pillow was too soft (i prefer hard pillow)
2) new env (find it difficult to fall asleep these days)
3) i am alone (used to be ok, but now not really)
4) some stupid thots manifested me... (well, i deserve a knock on my head..
and thank ful that G has been there for me and standing all these nonsense!! Spank myself.. OUCH)

Hope that something fruitful will come out from the appointments..

Cheers

Ahhhhhh the sun is so strong!! gosh.. and i m in "all black"

8:50PM - Eve bday celebration on 21 Oct 09

Time really flies.. Its Eve 22nd Bday this year.. Well we had a little celebration for her..
Haha, i ran out of ideas where to go.. so went back to Long Beach Dempsey instead.


Eve with her bday prezzie from Mr G...


Hee hee, i bought the bday cake!!

Kelvin and Eve, not bad right ? quite compatible..


While waiting for food, captured this shot of mom and dad in some serious discussion :-!


Hmmp! had wanted to take a group photo.. But Nat and G said later... and then we forgot!! :P
No group foto!! :S

Well, Well,

My latest spoil... all thanks to Mon and Daphne... these are real great buys from Orlando Factory outlet..



And a gift from Victoria Secret.. Wee U wee.

9:08PM - A nice catch up..

Had a catch up with Chio and Swee earlier...
G treated all of us to a sumptous lunchie at Crystal Jade Kitchen!!
Rian is so hyper and cUTIE!! Really so adorable. I only havent see him for 2 - 3 weeks
and he has grown so much!!

The lunch was really yummy.. We had so much food!!
The Peking Duck was superb.. and the mouthwatering dim sums..
Slurp!!!... Ahh... i am getting FAT!!! with all the food these days.
"Mommy cooked her specialty yesterday "Curry Chicken"
slurp slurp slurp...

Oops.. my marathon run is like less than 2 months away...
with all these food and no exercise... FAT FAT FAT...
Hopefully it doesnt rain tomorrow and i can go for a nice swim with Cloud!!
:P

9:47PM - Having the right frame of mind will allow one to conquer great heights

Was on msn with Celest earlier. Sad to learn that Mike is leaving Sg this week due to his recent retrenchment. Seems unlikely that he would be able to get a job in Spore due to his specialised field.
Its always hard to maintain long distance relationships.
She is feeling jittery now especially so as friends around us are not "supportive" of their relationship.
Somehow they felt that this could be a SCAM. I did share with her that our friends are all concerned. They are just afraid that she might be hurt again.

Well, in all relationships , regardless of the distance, requires effort and determinations from both parties to make it work. Have shared with her that its a mental challenge right now. If you set your mind that it wont work, no matter how hard you try, it just wont work at times.

Having the right frame of mind its important regardless of the situation. When u are faced with difficulties or in some ordeal, you could conquer it regardless of the situation. I always believe that you have to trust yourself and your hunches and of course having a "cool" head does help alot!

Having the right frame of mind would certainly allow one to conquer GREAT heights!

12:15PM - My last day at Furama Riverfront...

Ok, I was quite bored here..
Well, i am supposed to be on half day leave to settle some stuff @ HDB.
But because cloud is alone at Furama , so decided to come straight.
Its freezing here!!!!! Dun understand why they cant raise the temperature..
hmm, thot its global warming so shouldnt they maintain temp at say 25 degrees?
Both cloud and I drank so much coffee and tea that we wanna puke...

The day has been good so far. Everything went pretty smoothly and lets hope things maintain this way
Cheerios.

10:41AM - Its a rainy day...

Since yesterday, we've been stationed at Furama Riverfront for the AWWA Conference.
As the network is pretty slow [no wireless but have managed to use starhub mobile], all we could
do is to check on mails of smaller file sizes or chat on msn, update facebook.
Well, besides gulping down lots of coffee, we also have lots of foodie , 2 tea breaks and 1 lunch per day..

Supposed to reach at 8am today but was caught in the rainy traffic this morning, so arrived at close to 8.30am
Elaine was early and managed to have a good chat with her. Well, we chatted about work, family and life.
Uh Huh, my recent change in status on facebook did attract curiosity. Elaine also "grilled" me
a little on this. Well, took the opportunity to share with her briefly.

Hmm.. perhaps my friends are the more "concerned" ones, who will ask and ask or grill if u put it in another manner. But still I have received MANY well wishes and good blessings.

It has been great and I have considered myself extremely fortunate with the ways things have turned out.
Couldnt have asked for more and I am indeed very blessed.
I am confident of this.

12:36PM - Mid Autumn Festival 2009..

Had celebrated Mid Autumn Festival differently this year!
After dinner with my folks, dad dropped us at Chinese Garden for our little "Mid Autumn Festival" celebration.
G and I have decided to embark on our little exploration around Chinese Garden
while waiting for Emily and Cloud. Well if u asked me, I cant remember when was my last visit, hmmm.. more than 25 years?

The weather was considered cool.. especially after the drizzle the whole afternoon.
Well after lighting up my fish lantern, strike a pose


G took a picture of the bridge, isnt this beautiful?


Well, a couple pose :P


We've managed to tour the garden without Cloud and Ed. :P So we decided to meet at Cheesecake cafe instead.

Yummy Cheesecakes

And Cloud and I with the Ninja Turtle Lantern that G bought for the them... Isnt this cute?




A nice night out.. :)

10:56PM - Little Catch Up

Had stayed a little later at work today... Well, was trying to clear my emails. GOSH!!
alot of backlogs.. especially ever since BKK trip and being away from office for whole of yesterday for the watermark award. Part of the other reason was to wait for G to finish his appt with his client :P

As Ms Lee has stayed on to wait for her hubby, decided to have a little catch up with her. I am actually
very happy for her. After much trying, finally the little one is coming out in less than a month from now.
Her pregnancy is definitely great. I was just sharing with her how radiant she is compared to before pregnancy. Definitely much better than other friends of mine. She has shown that she is enjoying every single moment of the pregnancy and looking forward to receiving her baby. Personally, I think she is really a role model for all mothers to be... Managing Expectatins or setting the right mindset is certainly very crucial before starting a family. Dont plunge into it when you are not ready and ended up whinning all the time.
Its not just affecting own self but also others around you. Everyone has to remember that they dont live by themselves. Though honestly speaking it is, still you've got to spare a thought for those around you. Of course , I could understand mood swings [well, i have never experience it before, but certainly its a known fact, still have to manage it somehow , somewhat]

Thumbs Up Ms Lee, may she has a smooth delivery :=)

12:05PM - Short Getaway to Bangkok..

Havent really had the chance to update my blog entry on my recent BKK trip from 19 to 22 Sept. So took this chance while waiting for Ah Swee to pick me and Ah Chio up for dim sum treat,

190909

Mr Gareth Phua aka Uncle G.. "haha" sending me off at Changi Airport..


I like this photo of mine somehow


Once touched down, after leaving my luggage in the apt, we headed to attend Ed's friend's wedding.

In the cabbie with Cloud

Photos taken at Geraldine and Sathana (he is going to be posted to Chile and Geral will follow him.... woo hoo)

Photo with the bride and groom

Wedding decor

It was such a romantic dinner held by the river...

The bride also sang a Thai Love song during the dinner.



Well, always time for more photo taking...

Da Ge and I

Cloud with desserts

Cloud with Ed

Cloud and I at Ramada Hotel ..

Yummy Desserts

Yummy wedding cake


After dinner, we went to the nite market to start our shopping craze....
Cloud and I just went beserk .. everything was so great and of course affordable!...
Especially looking at accessories and shoes... hahaha.. we are just SHOPHOLIC...

Before shopping , took a shot with Da Ge..

Thailand is known for great food!.. We had supper...slurp

with of course Thai Beer.. CHANG


20 Sept 09

We started the day with hearty breakfast at the cafe..

while waiting for food... Some candid shots..

While waiting

Before food

After food..






The guys would never be filled up... So along the way to the bkS station.. they decided to buy sausages along the way..
so SINFULLLLL..

Upon arriving at Chatuchak, the guys left the gals to roam around ...
and meet back again 3 hours later.. well, hmm kinda of short but being shopholics, we managed to fill our bags up!
pay special attention to the green and red recycable baggie!!! haha, filled with our purchases!! woo hoo

Have also decided to pay a visit to the Temple of the Reclining Buddha...

While trying to figure out where the temple is ...took some nice shots.


There it is


Magnificient is the word to describe the buddha sculpture!





After the visit, we were all famished.. as we skipped lunch.. So had lunch+dinner at 6pm...
Took Shabu Shabu... we must have scare off the waiters and waitresses with our orders...


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Another day of craze shopping....At the train station




If u go BKK please visit this complex... and u will go cRAZY like me and cloud...



Lunch at Platinium food court.. Yummy but spicy



Cloud so happy with her purchases


22 Sept 09

Home sweet home..




..

10:55PM - KO my boss

Today is one of those rare occassions where i stayed in the office past 8pm.
Well, just to finished some work that i have dread for the longest time.
Work is never ending.. well.. not sure if its got to do with inefficiencies or just lost of interest at work sometimes.
Or maybe because of the bosses...

After having a chat with Ms SU and Ms Lee, we have confirmed that its because of the BOSS..
Just cant contained it any further. So before i left office, I have decided to send out a strong worded email. Well, just to state my opinions..
regardless of whether they care or not. I just want to echo my views... instead of bottling up.
You can call me garang or simply just boh chap them .. I dun care.

So long as i assume my duties, I dun think i have committed any grave mistakes.

11:24PM - Gals' Nite Out!!

We had a gals' nite out today by catching the movie "Coco Avant Chanel" Ker, Ms Su, Valentine, Jasmine, Cloud and I... That makes the 6 of us... Too bad ms dawnut couldnt join us...

It was a bit of a rush as my discussion ended late with Mr WTS.. well, he was dragging a little on the US Trip...
But we made it in time!! since its just at Great World and of course because Valentine drives.

After getting the tix, Cloud and I decided to buy Nachos and PopCOrns.. hahaha, it has been so long since i last stepped into the Movie Theatre. I am not a moview goer to begin with. But then again, whenever out with frens
No one seem to suggest, "Hey lets watch movie"...
Erm.. if i recalled correctly .. my last movie was the "Bee MOvie" aiyooooooo thats like so long ago right

Well Well, then again, my last movie was on SQ flight "The proposal" hahaha - well, obviously this doesnt count.

The movie is depicts the story of Chanel. How she was left in the orphanage by her father and never return. While working in a bar where she sings with her sister, she works as a seamstress as well.
She gotta her nickname Coco from the song she sings every night with her sister.
A regular customer gave her an entree to the French society and later she fell in love with an English man..
However, wasnt fated to marry the Englishman. With determination, she took some monies from her lover and started her own line of "Hat" biz and eventually the chanel range....
Bravooooooooo to her determination...

Hmmm.. the only sad thing is .. lack of love in her entire life...

9:32PM - Its beginning of another week...

Uh Huh... The posting of "Japanese Curry Chix Rice" on facebook did kept me
busy answering Qs from many curious pals earlier today :-P
Uh Huh.. Certainly its nice and yummy... :-P "Yeah, I will have more treats!! Hahaha"

Time seems to passed by so quickly these days.. Its the beginning of another week.
Well, this week does seem a little shorter? Perhaps because of my upcoming weekend getaway.
Or maybe because the boss is not around these two days!!! Haha, better dun let him read this. Well, the mood in office was great but the weather was killing us ALL.
Today is extremely HOT... i was perspiring profusely when i reached the bus stop this morning. Arghhhhh
Shouldnt have wear any makeup as all melted hahaha.. I have used SO MANY pieces of face blotter today..
Even in office, I dont have to wear my jacket at all. And i could feel the heat!!

Help!! Is this the effect of the global warming?