merry christmas and to a better 2014

12.34pm

ho ho ho merry christmas everybody! how was your holidays? i hope you guys have enjoyed yourselves as much as i did. nothing like spending time with our loved ones during this festive period. i dont know about you but there's always something about the month of december that i feel like that its kinda magical and yet slightly melancholy. i dont know how to put it into words exactly. you know its just a vibe, a feeling that i get almost every year end. 

anyways, enough about all that. im back in my home country( for the past 2 weeks) as you already may have suspected so thats why i've been rather quiet in my blogs. sorry about it. i have been really busy! honestly! with all the rushing around trying to catch up with cousins and friends, getting last minute gifts and not to mention all family luncheons and dinners...oh boy. not sure if im coming or going!

 well i dont know if i've mentioned  this to you guys before but i realize that alot of people have just taken christmas for granted. like christmas is not all about the giving of presents and receiving them. its about family, getting together, being united and reflecting on all that has happened throughout the year, be it up or down and learning how to improve on mistakes made etc.  to also count our blessings that we can still walk, talk, laugh, eat etc. unlike a lot of folks out there who do not have these sort of  privileges. its quite sad and unfortunate really. i feel for these people and my heart goes out to them.

as we go about happily with our lives do we ever stop to give a thought about the starving in ethiopia? what will they getting this year? imagine parents losing their kids and vice versa. everyday people are just dropping dead like flies over there and here we are living in a lap of luxury(so to speak) and wanting more. thats where greed, power and envy steps in. i do realize that sometimes that is inevitable because thats how society in general is but seriously why must we keep up with the joneses? isnt it hard to keep up appearances all the time? why cant you just be yourself? why must we seek other peoples approval? why all that bullshit?

you know, those days when i was a kid or when i was an adolescent, i never really given it much thought about the under privileged or people less fortunate than me. my mom always taught me(when i was growing up) to have a heart and that i dont always need to have material things in my life and often told me to think about those who dont have what i have and to be thankful. but you know, when you were a kid/teen, whatever your parents say just goes into one ear and out the other. its only when im an adult, i see things in a different light and perspective. and unless something tragic or traumatic happens to you, only then will you wake up and really smell the coffee. i also noticed that only when something bad happens to you, only then you will learn from that experience. now,if everything runs smoothly in your life(like being born with a silver spoon in the mouth) what will you learn? will you know what sadness is or living in poverty, being jobless? one fine day god may takeaway what you have and then how? what will you do?

thats why i say we should take a step back and look hard into our lives and see how blessed we already are. just take look around. family checked, friends checked, roof over the head checked, food on table checked...the list goes on...we have almost everything. but reminding you once again, theres alot out there who dont have what we are having and wishing that they had something. christmas has been "spoilt" by all these giving and receiving of gifts. spending lots of money on gifts and getting annoyed when its not reciprocated. is that how we are these days? is it all about the material things?

just look at this image that i took off the internet. this should speak in volumes to everyone. and mind you this is just the tip of the iceberg. we all should do something to help. and when we do that something (ie helping others in need or doing charity work) we shouldnt brag about it or "announce it to the world". when you do that, it means that you are trying to tell everybody - "oh look, see! i have done charity and donated x amount of money" - seriously, is it necessary? do you need that kind of recognition? why must you let the whole world know what you have done? just do the deed, keep your mouth shut and trust me, deep down inside you will be proud of yourself and you will have that feel good moment. god will know if your "work" is sincere. you may fool others but never yourself or to god, remember that.

right i have got to go now. i wish you peace and lots of god's blessings for 2014 and may it be a good year for everyone and hopefully things around the world will improve for the better! take care and god bless!

ttfn

1.41pm

seoul, south korea

9.48pm

aaah...its not good to be back to the land of heat and rain. right now, im now back in my home country up till early next year. ok i got to admit that in a way, its good to be back here to see my parents and friends(as i've not seen them for about half a year) but i wished i was still in seoul. i really had a blast there!

well in a nutshell, my trip was da bomb!  i went with an open mind and didnt want to expect too much of it. just keeping it real, you know. dont want to get my hopes up and then it being shot down in a jiffy so therefore i reminded myself to just stay cool about it and just see what happens. anyways, let me just give you guys a quick run down of my trip. i will get into more details in my upcoming blogs, but not today.  

you know, i never really gave it much thought about the language barrier but surprisingly, the people could understand a tiny bit of english and some even spoke mandarin (i reckon it was because there were lots of chinese folks from mainland china flowing into korea). the things that i didnt really like was that sometimes i would get knocked into by accident by the people walking by and they dont even realize it. haizzz and the other thing was that some of the men there tend to spit. ok, not directly at your feet but onto nearby drains or bins. bleeaah.. 

but i guess these type of things happen in almost every city, the spitting and people knocking into you. dont know if they are blind or just totally oblivious about it or its a daily routine getting knocked into and that they are immune to it already. oh well, nothing and nobody is perfect right?

now judging from what i saw, the shopping there wasnt  not too bad but unfortunately i went during winter therefore lots of winter stuff were being sold or on sale. but no point in my spending money buying those things as i will hardly ever use them. there were also lots of imitation bags being sold there too. however, there are different types of grades of these bags so you got to know what type you want. right now, the best imitation are called "super copy". i had done some research (before going) on where to find these bags  and thats how i know it was being called super copy bags. these bags look almost exactly the same as an original bag ie brands like etro, hermes(birkin), LV.. you'll be spoilt for choices im sure.

almost of my entire trip i ate korean food. again there wasnt any point in eating fast food or western/chinese/italian etc. at least i can tell my friends/family that yes i have tried this or that especially the street snacks. i'll get to that part another time. (hopefully i'll remember). food is pretty cheap and affordable. hey, im talking about normal street food or those at the food courts.(not talking about those high end restaurants).

ah yes, for those of you who are planning a trip there (which i highly suggest that you go at least once in your life and if you can afford it, of course), you wont have much trouble getting around. all you need is the seoul metro map to use their subways and to plan your route. if you plan to catch the taxi, by all means do so. it is inexpensive riding the taxi or the subway. one thing that you must pay attention to is the subway lines that criss crosses all over. they have many colored lines which are numbered so you wont get confused. and its written in both english and in korean. a couple of times i took the right train but heading in the wrong direction. luckily i paid attention after a couple of stops i quickly got off and backtracked.

theres so much to see and do there. its just too bad i didnt have that much time so i just did what was on my list and i can safely tell you that out of 100%, at least i managed to cover about 70% which wasnt too bad. if/when i  to go back to seoul, i would want to go to busan, jeju island and try lotte world(biggest indoor/outdoor theme park apparently). guessing spring or summer would be the best time.

right, i'll stop here for now. im getting tired and sleepy. been a crazy hectic week for me. i'll blog again hopefully sometime soon. until then, take care.

ttfn

10.50pm

seoul, here i come

2.39pm

right so guess what folks? tonite im heading to....SEOUL, KOREA!! woo hoo!  imagine, my goal for this year(or next) was to go to korea and just so happened, the hubster has to go there on a business trip therefore, yours truly is following him. hahahahha  how cool is that huh?

im pretty psyched about going. but i keep reminding myself not to get my hopes too high as things may not turn out the way i wanted it to be. the reason im saying that is because of a couple of factors like the weather and finding my way around. on top of that, i have been googling and realized that not alot of korean folks speak much english. its going to be a bit challenging for me in finding my way around or asking for directions, even to bargain for stuff!!

nevermind that, i have done some homework and managed to jot down a couple of places that i would like to go. those places would be Big Bang's recording company which is called YG building somewhere in hapjeong and the other would be SBS tv station, "home of Running Man". i've noted down the details on how to get to each of these places. so, hopefully i can find them on my own, without getting lost. hubby wont be going with me as he has to work.

besides that, we will definately be going to dongdaemon and myeongdong for some shopping, sight seeing and lets not forget, snacking/tasting  their street foods like bibimbab, bulgogi, tteokbokki,  ddeokbokki (떡볶이), roasted corn (옥수수), ho ddeok (호떡) and mandu (만두). just google and you will know what im talking about. 

all i  hope now is that i can handle the weather over there and  i just checked its like 2 degrees at the moment. omg! 

before i end today's blog, i would just like to add this. you know what guys, i realized that it was only late last year when i was going gaga over Big Bang and i've been following them on bigbangupdates (plus giving my 2 cents worth in the discussion column), not only that, earlier this year, i got to see GDragon perform his michiGO concert and then few months back it was Big Bang Mini Concert during the F1 Singapore Singtel Grand Prix. 

last but not least, around middle of this year, Big Bang World (online) was looking for admin/s (of course its not a paid "job", gotta do it for free) and i applied. didnt think it would amount to anything then one day i got an email from them saying i was one of the chosen one. i had completely forgotten about it. im not sure if they only wanted one or a few admins but oh well,  i was well chuffed i tell ya! really made my day but unfortunately, i couldnt do it because i had to start my freelance work doing telemarketing. and being an admin for BBW, that person has to constantly be online and checking for any current news/updates from sites(which was provided by BBW) and blog about it on their website so that fans from around the world can see and view. long story short, it was simply a-mazing that i got chosen. 

well ok i guess thats about it. im all packed and our flight is at midnight so we're going to be heading for the airport for a late dinner after we've checked in. what a way to end 2013. i'll be touching down back here in singapore just in time for my birthday and then i would have to unpack my stuff and repack again because the day after, we will be flying back to our home country for xmas until next year! let the PARTAAAAY begin!! 

so folks, my next blog will be the post korea trip. look out for it ok!! until then, take care, god bless and annyeong!! 

ttfn

3.18pm

shameful things that people can do

12.42pm


I have to share with you an incident that my husband and I witnessed during our stay in bali. now, I did say we stayed at the westin resort and spa right? well, since it is a 5 star resort  you would think that the guests staying there were more mind conscious of what they were doing right, like the dos and donts on how to behave etc. well let me tell you, you would be surprised of what people can do!

nevertheless, here's my short story. over breakfast one morning, my husband and i sat at a table for two. not very far from us sat a mother and son.  im guessing that the mother was in her mid 50s and her son probably between 18-21 and they were both  already seated and merrily tucking in to their breakfast.

I saw the boy getting up and going to have his rounds(god knows how many rounds he'd gone) and he came back with a plateful of bacon, ham and sausages. it was piled high, no not high like a mountain but high enough. the mother, whom I noticed had a small to medium sized green canvas bag on her lap with a big napkin(for wiping the mouth) half draped over the table and half covering her bag.

then what shocked me was that i saw the mother putting some of the bacon and ham onto her plate and after a couple of seconds (her plate was just at the edge of the table) she quickly flicked/pushed them all into her bag! she kept repeating that process until the plateful of bacon, ham and sausages were gone. OMG! and this lady thought we didn't see what she was doing.

my husband saw it too.  nevermind that, I saw an apple on the table and after a while, that too had disappeared. lord knows how many rounds of food went into that bag of hers. hubby told me to check out her bag (as she stood up to get more food) and I could see it was packed because of the bulge it was showing. 

seriously folks, I hope you don't do this in public. its very humiliating as well as embarrassing. you just don't know who is watching you. I noticed also that she was playing with her handphone on the pretext that she was busy and when she thinks that nobody was watching, she'd then quickly pushed food into her bag. we reckon that she has a big Tupperware in there. wondered why she was doing what she was doing and we came to 2 conclusions -

1) either there's a 3rd or 4th party waiting upstairs in their room for the food OR
2) in order to save money , they prefer to "steal" as much food as possible during breakfast so that they can have it for their lunch(or dinner).

I have seen parents from different walks of life taking their kids water tumblers and filling them up with juices and walking away. nobody says anything. I mean that's not SO bad.  the deed was done in the "open" so to speak.

but pushing food into your bag?? come on! have a bit of class. if you can pay to stay in a 5 star resort, surely you can afford to pay for breakfast, if there's an extra person. if not why even bother coming to stay there in the first place right? seriously, I don't know why people do the things they do. my hubby at one point, wanted to  report them to the duty manager but I told him that its not our problem. if these people wanted to behave like that and think that its ok and its their right by all means go ahead, I mean  who are we to stop them right?

apart from these "stealers" at hotels,  I don't know if you have noticed that whenever you go for a buffet, some people would just pile their plates up and  never finishing what they have taken and it goes to waste. it gets thrown away. so sinful!! we have millions of starving folks in this world, not having a drop of water or 3 square meals a day and there we have those who are just plain greedy. not a care in the world. "nevermind, just take, cant finish, throw. its ok". is it really OK to do such things? why cant people be more civic conscious/minded?

so folks, please next time when you go to a hotel and stay, please don't do these kind of embarrassing things. be it flicking food or piling your plate skyhigh and not being able to finish it up. so very wasteful. have a heart for those who would kill to be in your shoes for a day! think of what you are doing.

thanks and have a great weekend.


ttfn

1.27pm

my bali trip (final part)

10.12pm



ok this is getting a tad bit stale for some of you but please bear with me. in today's blog im just going to put random shots that I took, a real mix bag here. just so you know, the weather in bali was perfect when I was there. it seemed a bit gloomy in the morning and I thought it was going to rain (oh no!) but towards late morning, the sky cleared and out came the sun. but by around 5ish onwards the sun slowly sets. it gets bright relatively early like by around 6.15am, coz im awoken by the  sunlight streaming in through my windows.

picture 1 - kuta. rows after rows of little shops selling knick knacks ie bracelets, tshirts, art, surf stuff, clothes, shoes, slippers etc . its repetition after a while. kuta connects to legian and seminyak. very touristy area and overcrowded. either you hate it or you love it because of the hustle and bustle. lots of night scene too. surfers go there to surf although I think that there are better places to surf as the waves in kuta isn't super high. (not that I surf, but just saying)

picture 2 - this picture I took was around 7.20am and as you can see, the sun was already up and about. it was breathtaking.

picture 3 - not so sure what this picture means. I took it because of the amazing craftsmanship. this shot that I took was a bit too far and it looked more blue than anything. hahaha. I was zooming by in a car (that had tinted windows) so I quickly whipped out my camera and took a shot of it. it was located at a roundabout. you can see its a horse drawn carriage/chariot with some kind of warrior god (or something) maybe trying to fight off the enemy or vice versa. aint sure. but it sure looks like it.

picture 4 - dinner at jimbaran. located on the south side of airport and kuta. its a place to go to if you want to have seafood, fresh from the sea, prices are affordable, depends on what you order of course. theres also lots of tourist there, as you can see. I suggest that you go for a dinner there. you can see planes taking off in a distance, sounds of the waves along the beach.

picture 5 - jimbaran. you can have romantic candlelight seafood dinner for 2 on the beach and be serenaded by a group of guys, going around from table to table.

picture 6 - kuta. used to be a sleepy fishing village but now vibrant place to hang out and watch people go by. lots of small lanes selling anything and everything. I even saw a poster on a stand that read - magic mushroom sold here (or something like that). wow! no no, I didn't try it. just walked on by. I should've taken a photo of it, but oh well.

picture 7 - my hotel room. a huge king sized bed. comfy couch just by the side. overall it was clean and we're given 2 bottles of mineral water daily. lots of tv channels to surf. you can fit at at 3 people on the bed. the room is pretty big - about 400 sqft.


ok folks my sore throat is getting to me. im going to take my medication and hit the sack. that's it about bali. its cheap and affordable. friendly people. even after the bombing several years ago, the people of bali, still persevered and kept on moving forward. they don't need all the riches in the world to make them happy and contented. they just do what they have to do to rebuild their lives with less complaining. haiz... if only half of us could be just like them, this world would be a much better place. 


ttfn


11.05pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

my bali trip (part deux)

3.40pm


rite ok this is part deux of my bali trip. i will be adding few more photos for your viewing pleasure. i don't know if this applies to you but you know, sometimes when i hear about my friends (or family members) going abroad and seeing those wonderful cities, experiencing the different types of food and culture, the shopping scene etc, i just wished i was them, in their shoes, seeing things thru their eyes. does that make any sense at all? just like how i wished you guys could see what i see thru my own eyes, hence the photos. but its not like the entire time one can be snapping away right?

picture 1 - koi ponds all over the resort

picture 2 - another view of one of the 3 pool areas with cabanas scattered around the poolside as well as on the beach

picture 3 - again, different view of the pool area

picture 4 - an area to play water basketball(?) and water polo

picture 5 - kids wading pool

picture 6 - this pool area is away from the rest of the other pools and its very private and from what  you can see here, there's not a lot of people on this side

picture 7 - same statement as above, there's 2 pools here

picture 8 - a very lovely water feature/fountain. i especially like the carvings which is pretty amazing.

there you go. hope you liked these photos. sorry to cut this short but  i have to dash out now. to be continued, again. hehe..sorry. wait for part 3!!

ttfn


4.00pm

my bali trip (part one)

12.37pm

greetings and salutations one and all. wow, it was a good break for me after 2 years of not going anywhere. lets not count going back to my hometown which is kuala lumpur, Malaysia or up to penang, which is my husband's hometown. technically, that's not called a holiday, to me its called visiting our parents, family and friends.

my husband was going to bali on a business trip for 5 days so he asked me if i wanted to tag along coz he knew i had been harping  that i wanted to go for a short break and probably i guess thats why in order to shut me up, he asked me. of course i said yes, i would be mad if i turned down such an offer! 

long story short I arrived at my hotel in bali just past 11pm!! yep! imagine that. my flight was at 6.30pm and it took just 2 over hours to reach there. flight was pretty smooth and we landed on time too. but what held me up was the stupid immigration. man, the queue was long! so many people and there were only less than 8 counters opened for the masses. spent about 45 minutes in line before my turn. honestly, im not so surprised because that's how it is over in Indonesia. when we were living in Jakarta back in 2004-2006, it was the same thing at the airport over there too. so just be prepared when/if you ever go there ok.

by the time I got to the hotel I was starving. as I took jetstar(budget airlines), they didn't serve any food as you have to purchase and frankly, the food didn't look that appetising to me therefore I didn't order anything, just bought a cup of coffee which cost me S$3.50.

got to the room and hubby was already waiting and had ordered food for me. bless him! as it was pretty late already, i didn't have a chance to check out the hotel and its surroundings. so the next morning, we got up and went to have our breakfast. let me tell you, there were lots to eat and you are spoilt for choices. the restaurant was just next to the pool area so it was a nice scene.

there were lots of people around too as it was on the weekend.  the place was packed but not overly noisy like some places. the hotel staff were friendly and attentive. there was an area allocated for small kids to play. for those of you who have kids, this hotel is a kid friendly place and the hotel im talking about is the westin resort nusa dua.

they have 3 pool areas and also a saltwater pool! even a pool with  a waterslide for both adults and kids, which was supervised by a lifeguard. of course around the poolside too you can see lifeguards around to monitor kids.

after breakfast we decided to take a walk along the beach to check it out. by that time, my husband had already finished his meeting so he was a bit free, that's why he can  accompany me. the beach was heavenly. the sea wasn't rough at all. it was calm and i could see kids and parents building sandcastles or just frolicking in the sea. the hotel  provided bikes for rental, there's jogging paths along the beach, you can play badminton or ping pong(for free), there's a kid section where you can drop your kids off at a play school(something like that) where they will be entertained for a couple of hours so that the parents can go off and do as they please. on top of that, the hotel also has aquaerobics, jungle trekking, kayaking etc. anyone can join in. you can find all the list of activities (for the whole week) in your hotel room. but please bear in mind, some of these activities you have to pay.

should i carry on? im sure you can just picture yourself there right now huh? well you gotta try it out yourself and see. the hotel also has free shuttle busses to 3 different locations -  bali collection(a small little village-like place near to the hotel with shops and eateries/restaurants and  a small departmental store called sogo), then there's dfs galleria, which we didn't go and finally to beachwalk mall which is right in the heart of kuta. we tried 2 out of the 3. (bali collection and beachwalk) 

now, kuta is the most happening place/area to be. the hustle and bustle of that area. very touristy. they recently opened a mall there which is called beachwalk and this mall is the one that is providing this free shuttle service to hotels around bali to lure tourists there. smart move i should say. when we were there the last time which was back in 2005, we stayed in kuta so we roughly knew what to expect.(except that this mall is new) although i must say, there were some changes after the last bali bombing.  and by the way, we walked past the memorial with the list of names of those who had perished in the tragic bombing.

well my 5 days there was pretty good and relaxing. we had 2 days of body massage which was what i was dying for. plus i managed to get some tanning done and now im paying the price. my face is peeling and my body is red. hehehee...no i don't mind. its not all the time im doing this so i think im ok. my husband has got a perpetual tan going on so he doesn't need one whereas im anemic therefore its hard for me to get dark so that's why i love the sun especially when im at the beach or by the pool. im not one who hides in the shade under a tree or wear long sleeved blouses to cover up. but i wonder why some women do that especially when they know they are at the beach. might as well just stay indoors and don't come out at all.

anyways, here are some photos that i took so that you guys roughly know what im talking about so you can plan for your next trip, to bali.

picture 1 - beautiful landscaping of the hotel with gardens and pathways that surrounds the entire resort

picture 2 - entrance of the hotel

picture 3 - some folks doing aquaerobics

picture 4 - the water slide as i mentioned for kids and adults with supervision of a lifeguard

picture 5 - saltwater pool

ok i guess that's about it for now. to be continued yeah!! ttfn


1.51pm

food courts arent that clean

1.11pm


yesterday I saw the most revolting thing ever! I've only heard it from friends or family members but now I saw it first hand. oh the horror of it all! *gags*

you see, I was at the local food court and I wanted to buy some freshly cooked food to take home for dinner. as I was browsing along the food stalls, I came across an interesting (well I thought it was interesting then!) stall which was operated by china people. yes, you read right, folks from china. it was a stall selling food from china, so I thought "hey why not, lets give it a try shall we, something different!" and glanced at what was sold and placed my orders.

now, as the guy was packing up the foodstuff for me lo and behold, a middle-aged couple approached the counter with a half eaten bowl of noodle soup. I looked at the bowl of soup and was thinking "oh no, don't tell me, they found something in the soup or they want a refill of more soup?" it could go either way. I was hoping it was the latter.

now the first thing I noticed inside the bowl was something dark brownish buried in between the noodles(or what's left of it). OMFG!! nooooooooo...It couldn't be! it cant be! a roach???? *bleeahhhh*

I was right! the man then proceeded to ask the worker in mandarin "what the hell is this? how can you serve people this?" and the wife/lady then quickly whipped out her iphone and kept on snapping photos of the dead boiled cockroach. ugh and by then the man/husband was fishing out the bug using the spoon and showing the man behind the counter and pointing to the worker. OMFG!

as I stood there frozen  to the spot, looking from the bowl to the stall worker to the couple. my thoughts were "holy crap, I just bought 2 dishes from this stall and it cost me bloody $4.50!! why couldn't they have come sooner but only after I've paid for it?". 

the worker didn't even say sorry, just kept staring at the couple and the bowl of filthy soup. I guess he too was in utter shock or in a daze. he was speechless as was I. the worker took out some cash and gave the couple back their money and they walked away. I think the lady is going to make a report or file a complaint on this stall. oh boy.

before I turned to go I asked the worker "is this clean to eat?" ok I know I know, what kind of question is that, after witnessing what I just saw. but I don't really like to create a scene especially in public, in case he punched me in the face or something. how to return the food that I bought and get back my refund??  and obviously the man replied "of course of course, its clean!" and I took the package home begrudgingly.

I came home and thoughts of it still filled my head and I was rather nauseated. I threw all the food stuff away and that was that. I'd rather burn $4.50  than to have both my husband and myself end up in hospital for food poisoning. later that evening over dinner, I told my husband what had happened. he had no comments, of course!

so, folks never assume that things are super clean here in Singapore coz it aint!! I've seen it first hand and now im sharing it with you. just becareful what you put in your mouth! be it in hawker stalls or in restaurants.

ok ttfn


1.39pm

BigBang - F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2013

5.10pm


well I did say I was going to put some videos that I shot during Big Bang's mini concert here in Singapore for the f1 grand prix. I tried to upload the videos using the "insert a video" icon, but it doesn't seem to work somehow. I don't know why. and then I also tried to add a video by using the "insert an image" icon and still wont work. oh well, I give up. im not a wizard all these IT shit or whatever.

I managed to upload some videos onto youtube. so now  you would just have to either click on the links below or cut and paste them onto your explorer or chrome to start watching.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0e5PHHrwuc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6PQs5dUQJ8


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcI6dWZEeQw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpUql_w_s2k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svXodjHLNOs


there you go. I hope this works and please enjoy the videos. and by the way, just to let you know, I just read on yahoo news that around 35,000 people showed up for this open air concert. daebak!!


ttfn


5.17pm

BigBang concert at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2013

11.28am


I did promise you guys some photos as well as a couple of videos that I took at the concert. bear with me ok, its amateurish as I don't have a powerful camera/recorder (guess it wasn't allowed). both my arms were aching when the concert was over coz I had to hold my phone up high so as not to take peoples head(but no choice, im not that tall). this is as original as it gets.

it looks as though I had shot these from a distance but in fact I wasn't that far away. and as I mentioned to you guys in my previous blog, I was at the mosh pit area. I wish that I could've been nearer to the stage but sadly, I couldn't pass through the crowd who weren't  so co-operative. plus im pretty certain that they too would want to try to get as close as possible to the stage area.

so there you go. you could say these were some of the "best" shots that I managed to take using my iphone camera. and now Im going to add some photos contributed by other fans which I've taken off from one of the websites specially dedicated to Big Bang, therefore here on in, these doesn't belong to me, ok.

by the way, I got this photo (above) from GD's twitter. he twitted it :)  and this was most probably taken just before the concert. because from the looks of it, they appear to be fresh and not sweaty.

right so those 3 photos up above were from fans. simply A-mazing!! what a scene! look at the crowd in the 3rd photo. and that's only at the mosh pit area mind you. there were more people behind us.

I had to throw in TOP's close up. ladies, let me tell you that he looks utterly beautiful. such a beautiful creature don't you agree? he definitely can melt a cold cold heart. ok ok just for the heck of it, i'll throw in a couple more photos of TOP (which also doesn't belong to me).

his sexy smile and those eyes, those mesmerizing eyes! OMG. I died a thousand times! "my momma told me this - you can go for the concert but remember not to stare into TOPs eyes coz they can make you pregnant!" hahahahhaa...oh I wish I wish. hahahahha

ok party people, my next blog will be what I managed to record at the concert. wait for it !! hope you guys enjoyed these few photos. im sure there'll be heaps more if you google them.

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12.07pm

BigBang concert at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2013 (prelude)

1.49pm

hello hello hello there dear friends. its been a while yes. well im back again. my last day of work ended last Friday on the 20th of September and I may resume work again early October. so now im having a short break. woo hoo.

anyways, it was so exciting to get to see my favourite kpop group Big Bang perform in the flesh at the Singapore f1 grand prix. it was awesome I gotta tell you. wished you guys could've been there if you were into them, that is.

so how that day went was like this. after work, I came home, showered and my husband and I went down to town for dinner and after that, he went home and I continued on. I headed straight for the "padang" (which meant open field) where big bang was to perform. however, I was a couple of hours early as I wanted to get a good "seat". of course there weren't any seats there as it was a field and I could see a lot of people were already there, sitting on the grass, chilling, relaxing, having a good time with friends or family. and yours truly, was all by her lonesome self. *big sigh*

anyhow, I tell you it was really packed. there were lots of stalls surrounding the field(under huge white canopies) where the f1 merchandize were being sold and also areas to buy drinks and food too. I went to 2 information booths to check if there were any big bang stalls around so that I could buy some souvenirs. unfortunately(my heart was bleeding by then) there weren't any. I hung my head down and slunked away. sigh. oh well. and as i made my way towards the padang, all around i could hear the f1 cars zooming by. it was loud. plus helicopters were flying above us, filming the race as well as what was happening down below.

so I scouted around and found a suitable place to plonk myself (since im alone it was quite easy). I sat there absorbing in the atmosphere around me. there was absolutely nothing to do but to wait until the concert starts and I didn't want to leave my spot in case people came and took it. I sat there for 1 1/2 hours and then suddenly everybody in front of me started to get up and I was wondering what the hell was going on. even the people beside me was curious. aah..so we found out. the security people were letting a bunch of us into the mosh pit area. which means closer to the stage. hoo ray!!

wow...people were slowly pushing and inching their way thru the small barrier which was opened by the security guards. they kept shouting to the crowd to stop pushing and stop holding hands because its dangerous with people pushing and shoving around. luckily it was not so bad, the pushing I mean. I just had to stand there and go with the flow. literally ok. they will push you along slowly but surely. hahahaha  and the folks beside me too were laughing and giggling.

alas! I made my way thru the barrier and found a spot just behind the gates. I was about less than 150 feet away from the stage. so near yet so far. and sadly, my iphone couldn't capture clear shots of the group. even when I recorded some of their songs, it looked as though they were far away when they are not. sigh oh well. beggers cant be choosers right?

you know at one point just before the concert was about to begin, I wanted to lean against one of the barriers and so I asked one of the girls (who were already standing there) if I could squeeze in beside them. the girl on my right side asked the girl on my left side if she knew me. obviously I don't know any of them as I was alone, therefore the girl on the left replied no. and then this other girl said to me - "no you cant". well that was that. how selfish some people are. there was a small space im not joking but they wont give it up. so I moved away, bit pissed. but nothing I can do about it.

and then the big performance! the concert was rocking, full of energy, totally electrifying and the music they sang was some of my favourites too! sadly, they didn't sing my all time favourite song which was monster. and looking at TOP (yup, I purposely brought my binoculars for occasions like this and for GD's concert too), oh boy, he's so beautiful. what a beautiful creature he is!!

the guys belted out about 10 over songs and repeated a couple like fantastic baby and bad boy if im not mistaken. everything happened in a blur and at that time, I was telling myself, this is what I've been waiting for and there they are, in the flesh, I cant believe it, omg omg! and the crowd went wild with all that screaming and cheering. you could see a sea of big bang torchlights everywhere, it was a wonderful sight and although I was standing on ground, I could only imagine the scene if I was up in the air or standing at the balcony of the hotel(swissotel) that was across the street from the padang.

the concert started from about 11.15pm right up to around 12.45am! a-mazing! never a dull moment when it comes to big bang performances as they really go all out for it. and they never bothered with a costume change. I bet you they were sweating buckets as it was a warm, humid and not much wind blowing.

sadly, its all over now. there I was, waiting in anticipation for the day to come and it came and now its gone. so fast. indeed time flies. but what a beautiful memory for me to take to my grave. aah...if only one of them took notice me and dragged me up on stage then sing to me. hahahaha..ok ok  I know wishful thinking. hey, a girl cant help but to dream - darling TOP serenading to me! now that would be totally daebak! 

ok, folks that's about it! wait for my next blog where I will be adding some photos and perhaps a video or two taken from my phone. until then, take care and god bless.

ttfn

2.24pm

my noisy neighbors

9.34pm

well the shit finally hit the ceiling and boy oh boy I really was pissed. this was how it all went down.

about 5-6 days ago over the weekend, I was home alone, hubby was away on a business trip and I went to bed just past midnight. just as I was about to fall asleep..BOOM..those neighbors from the unit above mine, I assumed dropped a box of tools or something. well it sounded like a box of tools to me!

that jolted me up. but nevermind that, there i was lying in bed looking up at my ceiling, thinking dear god i hope it doesn't come crashing on top of me. mind you, from that time till around 3.45am, the sounds of tools dropping, nuts and bolts or whatever, kept dropping on the floor. yup, i could hear almost everything!

oh my god, i swear i wanted to just bash their heads in, these bloody neighbors. what the hell are they doing at such an ungodly hour? fixing their home in the middle of the night? sheesh man! at one point i just couldn't take it any longer and so at around 1.15am, i got up and went up to their unit and stood there just trying to listen if anymore sounds were coming from their apartment.

i could only hear faint rustling and movements inside but i was keeping my cool and told myself ok give them one last chance (to be honest with you, i don't know how many chances I've given them since we moved in several months ago). alas, i wandered back to my apartment and tried my best to go back to sleep. so that was that.

then last night there was stomping of footsteps from above yet again and god knows what other sounds were coming from upstairs. it was past midnight. i was in bed by that time because i was dead tired and very sleepy. hubby had just gotten to bed and he switched on the radio for me to try to drown out the sounds. that didn't help at all. i could still hear everything coming from above.

so i really couldn't handle it anymore, i got up and told my husband to follow me upstairs and this time was for real. i marched up to their door, knocked on it several times and lo and be hold, a lady appeared. i guess she must be wondering if we were lost or something. i told her that i could hear everything that was going on from my apartment below and i was trying to sleep. therefore could she tone it down a notch. well thankfully she wasn't a neighbour from hell and she kept bowing to me and saying sorry. i thanked her and we went back down.

thank god the sounds were lesser. although i still could hear a little bit more of the footsteps thumping away for a short while and then it stopped and i finally drifted off to sleep.

oh my god, im so glad i finally did it. actually i was kinda dreading it, approaching them directly. i was contemplating to drop them a note in their post box but decided against it. i rather do it face to face as there was too much to say. but alas i never said everything to them. it was pointless. i just got to the point, be done with it and move on.

you know what, i even went to the extent of getting up in the middle of the night(when they were making all the racket) to take note on the timings and what i could hear. not only that, i also recorded some of these sounds with my phone! yup..thats how mad i was and to have my proof in case they denied ever making any kind of noise. 

so i really hope you guys who are living in apartments or condos to try to be a little bit more conscious when you do things like by slamming doors or thumping your feet on the floor  as you walk etc. you don't know if your neighbors below you, can hear everything and they make not like it at all. try to  be a bit more considerate i beg you. don't do unto others if you don't want others to do unto you ok. lets live peacefully ok!

ok that's it. im done.


ttfn

9.53pm

if you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all

6.01pm


very good evening to you readers. well another week gone by and the weekend is approaching fast. aigoo. guess nobody can do anything about it but just live in the moment right?

regarding my topic for today. its basically what ronan keating sang - "you say it best when you say nothing at all." fact is this. sometimes people just talk for the sake of talking or they just love to hear their own voice rather than others. motormouth in my opinion.

have you ever come across your friends, family or even relatives who would ask you stupid questions like -

1) if you are not married - "so when are you getting married?" (not knowing the whole situation with your own love life or if you even have one. sometimes it can irritate a person when asked that question because its personal and whose business is it anyway, right?)

2) if you are married - "so when are you going to have children? don't wait too long ok, have them before its too late" (even lets say you have one kid already, they would ask you to have the 2nd or 3rd etc OR if you just got hitched, that's what they will ask the following year if they see you)

3) asking you to go on a holiday "hey, you should go on holiday when you can still walk bla bla bla". excuse me, is it any of your business if I do or don't go on a holiday? are you paying for me? who doesn't want to go for one I ask you? do they know that sometimes some people have got budget constraints, bills to pay, children to feed etc? so easy for them to talk. they don't know what goes on behind closed doors. they only see what they see or think that they are so smart by going on vacations. well good for them then if they can afford it. others cant. most of us have to prioritize. if I had extra cash lying around, don't you think I would be the first one in line to book a trip around the world, that I need you to tell me? try asking a beggar this question and see what his reply is.

to me, all these questions are private(especially 1&2) and its really none of anybody's business but between yourself and your significant half. my parents and even my own mom in law doesn't ask me questions like that. but some relatives have asked me why don't I have kids and well frankly I will answer them nicely and tell them that we don't want any kids. of course, I would then get follow up questions like why bla bla bla. ugh.. why should I explain myself to them I wonder. like I owe them an explanation. what? are they going to pay for the kid/s expenses and education and bring them up? like sponsors? if that's the case, hey I don't really mind then but I have to check with my hubby don't I? but in any case, Im not some charity case.

people talk rubbish all the time. and seriously sometimes it gets to me when such nonsense is coming out of their mouth. let me tell you, ever since I stopped work middle of 2004 and became a housewife, many have asked and told me "so what do you do everyday?", "go and find something to do", "since you are so free, why not look for some part time work?", "why not do some online business?" etc  honestly, do you even know what you are asking? is there something wrong in being a housewife? am I committing a crime here? and also do you ask any housewife each time you see her, "so what is it that you do?" helloooo..are you that blur??? or do you like talking for the sake of talking?

you know, I have gone thru stress when I was working. I know what stress is all about and mind you even when im not working I get stressed easily. my proof is that I have hair fall unfortunately and my body behaves strangely at times. perhaps its my hormones changing due to my age (sigh) but then again, I reckon its more to stress. now, you wonder, what kinda stress does a housewife have? go figure! until you are one yourself (or a househusband), then you tell me. don't knock it till you've tried it ok.

and trust me, I have not much regrets not working. its not like im some over achiever that I have and need to prove to others that im some hot shot CEO or GM etc. I don't need all those fancy smancy titles. god no! I just work to earn a buck or two and im thoroughly happy. I don't live in a chic and fancy uptown apartment, nor do I own a luxury car or go on expensive holidays. I lead a pretty simple life when I was working and even now when im not. I just try to adjust and learn to adapt wherever I am at.

the only tiny regret that I have is not being able to earn my own money when I was so used to it before I stopped work. other than that, I still enjoy life and what has been given to me by my dear old husband. it wasn't easy to uproot my whole life from my home country where I've lived for 30 over years and then moving to another country with just my husband. from being surrounded by family and friends to having none around and then starting fresh. how would you like that?

that's why I have grown accustomed to being by myself and not going out and even trying to make new friends. yes, when I first moved away, I wanted to try that but it was difficult. not so easy as you get older. having kids would have been a bit easier as that was an ice breaker in striking up a conversation with ladies. one can always talk about their own kids with another who has versus those who don't. different wavelength.

after all that's said and done, I wished that sometimes people would stop and think before opening up their mouth when they are talking to someone. it can be your friends or family members. so please try to give a thought  as to whether they would like what is going to be said to them by you (and how would you like it if it was said back to you). don't just talk for the sake of talking. you never know when you have offended a person(if they don't tell you) or if you have overstepped the boundary.

words can either hurt or soothe a person, therefore just mind yourself and think before you speak and try to be sensitive to others before speaking. nobody likes a chatterbox or an empty vessel . then you wont get into trouble, otherwise it will be like a foot in your mouth scenario. think about it.


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6.42pm

saying 3 very simple words - thank you, please and sorry

4.50pm

you know something, I realized(not recently but I just never bothered bringing this topic up until now) that plain common courtesy can go a long way for some people. what the hell Im talking about here you must be wondering?

ok. very simple. these words - Im sorry, thank you and please. just these few basic words can make or break a person. trust me. I know what im talking about here. for me, its automatic. when somebody gives me something or does something for me, I thank them. like when im in a taxi for example, after giving directions to the driver, I thank him automatically. I know im not getting any brownie points for thanking him but hey, whats the big deal if I say it? no harm right?

or lets say when I accompany my mother in law to the hospital and after her appointment, i would get dropped off at the mrt station, I would also thank her. (one would think that, hey shouldn't it be the other way round?). well it doesn't always work out that way im afraid.

saying sorry too can be hard on people. why? because of their big ego. because when they apologize for something, it means that they are admitting its their fault. that they are the culprit. people just don't get it, that by saying sorry, does not necessarily mean its their fault(although sometimes it could be but sometimes not, right?).  in the end, we just want to diffuse the situation so that perhaps it wont escalate further. saying im sorry is like gold, therefore so hard to come out of their mouths.

hey just so you know, not only men have their egos and pride, us women do too, ok. we are all human beings, so what makes the male species so special, talking about their stupid pride and ego hmm? men are not superior and neither are women. we are all equals. what men feel women feel the same. SAME, got it?

I have also noticed that with some people(I wont be naming names here), they rather listen to strangers or friends and wow....even thank them for their advice or suggestions given. but  there is no thanks given at all to the family members, who has been advising them, being beside them thru  all the thick and thin. come on, how bloody hard is it to say thanks?

these people would rather say please and thank you to strangers, whether you get a reply back from them is another story. there are rude people out there who just don't bother. like lets say walk into a building and as you go thru the main entrance, you noticed there's a few people behind you too so you be nice and hold it open for them to walk in right? I ask you, how many of them would thank you for doing that? more often than not, they think that its your job and you only wanted to do it, they didn't force you to hold the door open for them. what? are you the bloody doorman? 

there's also many times when I would get knocked by elderly ladies zooming by and not giving a toss who they have knocked into. they just stride away. not a word of sorry. or even better,  when their shopping cart knocks into you. completely ignore you. and there you are left standing with perhaps a bit of scratches on your ankle area.

that's why this world is so full of hatred and greed and there's just no more respecting one another or just plain being nice to one another. such a rare thing these days I tell you. what im trying to get across here is that we are AWARE of these words and we CHOOSE who we want to say it to more often than not.

ok for example let me ask you. if you did wrong at work and your boss lectures you. what are you going to tell him?  im quite certain you are going to apologize for the mistake that you have created right? you will own up to it right? but when you have done wrong to your loved one, im also darned sure you wont be uttering those words to them. why? because its taken for granted. you have taken them for granted. "aah, why should I say sorry for? she/he knows me. not my style to say sorry. just pretend and act like nothings wrong"...

touch your heart and ask yourself. how often to you utter those words? to me, if im wrong, I would say sorry. I thank people even though sometimes I feel they don't need to be thanked(but instead they should be thanking me). like I said earlier, it just comes naturally for me.

now finally the word please. I hardly hear this from anybody these days. its very sad. very rare I hear it. don't you think that, if you don't use the word please, it would mean that you are ordering a person around like a slave or something? as if they owed you or you owned them. its really very rude you know. how bloody hard can it be to add the extra word - please - when you are asking someone to do something for you? how would you like it if someone just ordered you around like that?

in fact, isn't all these that im preaching about here today the basic fundamental thing that our parents taught us when we were growing up and was even taught in school? im fairly sure that we all know the meaning of these words and yet why is it so hard to say it?

that's why I cant understand till today about peoples behaviour. from the old to the young ones, there's no more politeness in this world. soon it will be extinct, I tell ya. sad very sad. so my dear friends who are reading my blog today, make sure you save these words inside your brain. lets all try to make this world a better place to live in. one small step can make all the difference. love and cherish your loved ones and do not take them for granted.


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5.40pm