Treasure Life;

It’s been a mad rush of late, not just myself but everyone at work. A major event is coming up in two weeks’ time, and no thanks to ‘last minute-ness’… everything has to be done and ready by early December! BUT with awesome colleagues and the amazing close-knitted bond that we share, things are going rather smoothly (crossing my fingers) #Thankful for them who add colours into my work-life (and after-work life) everyday! <3

Taking a short break from studying to run some errands and a quick update!

Major obsession with knit wear lately, partly ‘cos of the cold weather (rainy season in Singapore is here again!) and the much comfy level of these outfits. LOVES!

Top & Knit Skater Skirt: Uniqlo
Bag: agnes b.

Top & Bag: Bugis Street
Shorts: Mango
Watch: Casio

Top: Random market store
Inner piece: H&M (highly recommended to buy item at S$7.90 only!)
Jeans: F21
Bag: agnes b.

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The past few weeks haven’t been the best and this period has kinda made me grasp the meaning of “相愛容易相處難“.

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Exam period calls for a hiatus period at home, which automatically translates to a lot of eating and binging on junk food to keep the stress at bay! A lot of songs loaded into the classic iPod too, my main companion with the study notes.

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Insatiable love for coffee, and breakfast with mommy on weekends! <3

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If you’re following me on Instagram, you’ve read that one of my mom’s friend’s dad has left without a word. It’s heart-breaking to hear that it was supposed to be his first overseas trip, together with his children… He didn’t even manage to set foot in Taiwan, and passed away in his sleep on the aeroplane. His family only realised it when their plane touched down. :’( Even thinking about it gives me the shiver feeling. Too sudden, too scary… Cliché statement always has its magic and meaning to it – “Life is too short, treasure every single one and thing around you.”

If you haven’t made time for someone that you really care, do it now. Take time off work to spend time with yourself, with your loved ones… Work can wait, for you never know when’s the last time that you’ll get to talk or see them again. Guilty as charged, I think I need to work on this.

*photo taken with my iPhone – that’s my beloved grand-dad’s vintage Citizen watch that the children bought for him and my late grand-ma for their 50th anniversary. Such Love and faithfulness amaze me… I miss you grand-ma <3 ..  好想再回到那些年的時光.

XOXO, Noi

A week in a flash;

A week ago, I was in Krabi with the best travel mates.. Enjoying our Thai food dinner, basking and chatting under the starry night, and sleeping soundly in a beautiful beach resort. Fast forward a week later, here I am in my room preparing for work tomorrow. BAM!

Nonetheless, it’s been a fruitful day/week so far. Here’s a snapshot of the past week for me!

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Monday

Stared hard at my tan, and even mommy commented that I look like a real Thai now. Anyhow, I still decided to dress in coral red to drive the Monday blues away. And the blues really got to me, especially having just returned from an ultimate Krabi getaway. Pouts*

That aside, I realised taking photos of WIWT daily really helps me to put in extra effort in dressing up! I used to be lazy, and would just grab any top/bottom from the wardrobe, but now I take time to make sure that I mix and match my wardrobe pieces. Mommy also commented that it helps me to avoid using the excuse, “I have no clothes to wear!“, when I actually do have new pieces -___- lol.

WIWT
Pull & Bear blouse x Bugis Street skirt x Mitju wedges x Flea Market bag x Casio Vintage watch

Impromptu meet-up with my sis after work, and we decided to catch dinner together as well at Carl’s Jr. Seriously, two set meals cost us S$23++ -________- I really think it’s a little too pricey for fast food, haha.

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Good chat with her as always Am always thankful for the close relationship that my sister and I have, XOXO.
Check out her cute METAL teeth!

Then, we went shopping for a while, and landed ourselves in shoe shopping! Two pairs of shoes for S$30 from Rubi! I love the cap toe design, while she loves her blue loafers. Happykiddosplease! The promotion is still ongoing I believe, but one thing about shoe sales – sizes usually run really big or small (think Size 39 – 41, and 35 – 36).

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Tuesday
A long Tuesday packed with work, and new roles added to the current job scope. It’s getting overwhelming for me, and I’m having thoughts/intentions of speaking to relevant parties about it. No point adding on workload to my current pile, as it would only decrease effectiveness and efficiency, right? Nonetheless, I am still trying my best to remain positive about this.

WIWT
Zara floral basic top x SMooch Waisted Flare Skirt in Bronze x Flea Market bag

Before the movie “Prometheus”, we had a quick dinner at Wadori (Jurong Point)! My order was Set B, and it’s priced at S$5.20 (iirc) with Chicken Karage, Grilled Pork Belly, Grilled Chicken, and Chicken Balls, and rice. Though the food wasn’t too bad, I still very much prefer Tori-Q over this

Address: 
Wadori (Jurong Point)
1 Jurong West Central 2, #B1-53 Jurong Point Shopping Centre
Tel: +65 6792 1283

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Movie Review: “Prometheus”

Details:
2 hr 4 min – Action, Horror, Sci-fi
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Fassbender

Walked into the movie theater without much expectation or knowledge of this movie, I only knew that there’s some aliens involved in the storyline and there’s a mixed reviews about it. I must say some parts were pretty gore, and we had to cover the screen at a few scenes. LOL! Still, the effects were awesome and it definitely got us glued to the screen for the whole two hours. Interesting story-line, and definitely worth to give it a go!

Rating:

.5 out of 5 popcorns

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Ended Tuesday with Stan craving for Tom Yum soup, so we had to make do with a totally different ‘local Tom Yum’ spicy soup from Koufu. Haha!

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Wednesday

WIWT
Dano blouse x SMooch Paperbag Waisted Skirt in Grey x Flea Market bag

My first time wearing this skirt out! It’s a real comfy piece, albeit a little too long on me. Loving the design and the drapes! Gonna wear it out more often now

Quite a bad mid-week, but I remembered the tweets and texts from lovelies got me through the day… A drained day summed it all up. Then, YT shared this piece with a few peeps on Instagram, and I thought it really hit the nail on the head!

To be honest, (here goes the guilt trip) I haven’t been hard-working with my running regime and the last I really had a good run was actually Sundown! Ok now I’m even guiltier, haha. Though we did some sports (hiking, trekking, and a little bit of swimming) in Krabi, I seriously miss my running! Shall put on the running shoes this weekend, and start the regime proper. The Twitter babes really helped too, with their posts of run logs, and it works a hell hard to motivate me. SHAPE RUN in one month’s time yo!

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Thursday

WIWT
Herwalkincloset blouse x Love, Bonito floral peplum skirt x ASOS clutch x OMEGA vintage timepiece

On Parent Care leave yesterday ‘cos no one else was available (work commitments) to accompany my mom for her follow-up check-up, so I could dress down a little bit yesterday. I took two old pieces from my wardrobe, and pieced them together in time for this season’s trend! Heh, I love how versatile these two pieces are, and certainly peplum is the way to go now! I also brought out my ‘new’ ASOS clutch for the first time loving the design, and check out how roomy it is! I’ve brought out my card wallet, wallet, toiletries pouch, mini water pottle, TBS comb, and my phone… yet, it’s still easy to carry around and chic too. Yay!

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Everything turned out to be ok, and I also had an impromptu check-up as well. FYI, my mom went for her check-up with her gynae whom she’s been with for the last 25 years. It felt pretty weird to meet the doctor who delivered you, I must say! LOL.

Dr. Kowa is very experienced, and a couple of my relatives have been referred to him for medical advice related to women’s issues. Here’re his details, if you’re interested hope it helps!

Details:
Kowa Clinic & Surgery For Women
3 Mount Elizabeth, #16-17/18
Singapore 228510
6235 1151

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After the check-up, I decided to give my mom a proper meal treat ‘cos I realised I haven’t really done so yet. -________- We settled on Domani (an Italian restaurant situated in Ngee Ann City, it used to be called The Pasta Cafe) ‘cos their lunch special is really worth it and how many opportunities can one (working) person have to enjoy a weekday lunch promotion? Heh.

*Photos were taken with iPhone 4, with no enhancements made*

We both ordered the same set – Petit Platter; this is what its website states – Petit Platter : Spaghetti with shrimp, clam and squid in tomato cream sauce. Caesar salad and salami, baked tilapia fish and shimeji mushroom with spicy mango sauce, bacon wrapped caprese with balsamic vinegar sauce. Delish pasta, and this dish allowed us to sample different sides with the pasta! The set meal comes with Potato Soup and drinks, which we chose its aromatic House Coffee.

Given the amount of food and its quality, I must say S$15.90++ per meal is reasonable. And, the service was good so that topped it up!

Address:
Domani
Address: 391 Orchard Road, #B2-37 Ngee Ann City
Tel: 6734 1638

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Retail Therapy

My new Longchamp LM Metal Medium Short Handle Tote in Petrol! All prices for Le Pilage and Metal bags have gone down in Singapore now. This costs S$174, and it was retailing at about S$210! Whee was contemplating between this and the Le Pilage medium tote in Fuchsia, but I thought this piece looks better and I have enough Le Pilage totes already. Sis is going to get her Le Pilage bag-pack tomorrow, double yays. Offer while stocks last, so hurry down! FYI, I purchased mine from Paragon outlet; they only have Petrol available for LM Metal totes, and more of classic colours only for Le Pilage.

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SMooch Scallop Shorts in Almond (Size M) x Topshop Basic Top x MYnt Shop Snowflake Necklace

Carted out this piece during the recent SMooch sales! I was in a dilemma over this or the orange peplum shorts, but decided to get this ‘more versatile’ piece instead. The material is luxe, and I love the matching belt that came together with it! It fits nicely on me, but I think it’s not buffet/heavy-meal friendly ‘cos it can show the tummy pretty obviously. Other than that, it’s definitely a steal at S$20.80 /grins.

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Something personal…

Anyways, I had a good chat with my mommy over lunch yesterday. Though we’re really close, but I hardly share anything from work or personal life with my family members ‘cos I always think that they’re busy and/or have their own share of woes. To me, if it’s something that I can stomach on my own, I’ll leave it just like that and not bother them. But yesterday, I bared my heart all out to her, and I took her by surprise. LOL! I shared with her quite a lot of things relating to Stan and work. It’s not easy, really not easy… But I’m so glad that we took this chance to have this talk, and cleared the air about lotsa stuff :’) Thank you dear Momsy, she’s my pillar of strength and always will be.

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That sums up a super duper long entry so happy to clear this draft post. It took me a few nights, and one early morning T.T Heh! TGIF dear peeps! Can’t wait to get through (hell) work day and usher in the weekends First up, dinner with my bestfs from work tonight.

XOXO, Noi

Thank you, Railay (Krabi);

Railay, Krabi has left a huge footprint in my trek of memories/travelogue journey… I’ll post a more detailed entry once Stan passes me the photos from his camera. Good thing that he’d purchased the underwater camera casing (though I’m still feeling the heart-pain from the hefty price tag), ‘cos we’d brought the camera along with us on our Four Islands tour to capture the beautiful landscape shots! Anyways, I’m missing this beautiful place so so much. It’s touched us all in more ways than one – the mesmerizing views that Nature has blessed us with, the dangerous encounters that we’ve braved through, and the sumptuous spread of Thai food for every meal!

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Here’s a compilation of the photographs that I’ve posted to Instagram (link), for your easy viewing. A teaser to the detailed entry I’d say, heh.

On flight Tiger Airways

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Railay Beach Resort and Spa
What we woke up to, every morning… This resort is beyond gorgeous, and not to mention very hygienic too!

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Railay West; our hotel front.

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Railay East; where we alighted (the private boat charter service ferried us from Ao Nang to Railay)

Sunrise

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Phranang Cave and Beach; famous among rock climbers for its mesmerizing limestone.

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Railay West sunset

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Missing the authentic and reasonably-priced Thai food already…

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Heading home (Singapore)…

*all photographs were taken with my iPhone4 (no HDR option) and filtered with PowerCam or Instagram
 

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Thank you, Railay…
And, thankful for the best travel mates that I’ve been blessed.. You guys rocked this trip!

XOXO, Noi

Lucky, Lucky;

Quite sometime back, Stan received a piece of great news and he immediately rang me up but I wasn’t able to pick up his call then. Returned his call, and his voice was so jumpy that I thought something bad had happened -___- boys…

Turned out that it’s the news that he has been waiting for, and anticipated all along, but he’d never thought it would arrive so soon! It’s something to do with his work, and I shall not say too much due to the nature of his job. But I really wanna say that I am so proud of him :*) and hopefully, he can prove to his superiors that he’s worthy of this new appointment, which I am sure he will!

Met up with him at Jurong Point to hear more of it, and we settled for desserts at a newly opened (Chinese) dessert store in JP2, it’s called Lucky Dessert! Reminds me of Ji De Chi, which is also located in JP2, but the menu items are pricier.

Stan ordered this Mango and Grass Jelly item, and mine was a mixture of Mango paste w/fruits and Grass Jelly! I think food wise, it’s nicer than Ji De Chi, but the bill of S$12++ wasn’t really worth it in my opinion. Still, it’s worth a try!

Address
Lucky Dessert @ Jurong Point
1 Jurong West Central 2, #03-54 Jurong Point Shopping Centre
Tel: 9090 1723
Facebook Page: Link here

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Rare guest appearance*
The boy who couldn’t stop smiling for the whole week -_______-

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And in less than two days’ time, Stan, Daph, Phee and I will be indulging in the mesmerizing view of Krabi. Too bad the rest of the peeps couldn’t join, but we believe there’s always a next time! Thanks Chiat for sharing the link on the things to do/places to go in Krabi – it’s a post by LifestyleAsia.com.

Kudos to Stan for helping to coordinate the trip; checking with travel agencies on availability of packages, hotel booking, air ticket booking, planning of activities, and even down to arranging the airport transfer for us! Haha, /applause please/ ;D

Credits: http://www.phuketthailandtrip.com

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View from Railay Bay Hotel

Credits: http://www.hotelthailand.com

 Credits: http://www.lantainfo.com

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Happy mid-week y’all! : )
XOXO, Noi

Before you quit, TRY;

It’s scary what long car rides can do to you; the road trip to Malaysia (and back to Singapore) took almost 13 hours in total, and thankfully I had my trusty iPod with me as a companion. Mental note to self, never ever include emo songs into my playlist again -_____- ‘cos it triggered off a lot of thoughts, especially after seeing the state that my grandparents are in, and other woes in work and personal life.

These thoughts are taking a toll on me, and every now and then I couldn’t help but got reminded of it. Can only take a breather for now, and tell myself to take things one step at a time. Not a superman so I can only gain strength through faith, and running really helps to take the mind off things at times. Motivation Tumblr quotes help too, here’re some that I came across through Google search

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At the end of the day, this is what keeps me going.

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“Beneath every smiling face, there may be a facet that no one can see through the naked eyes.“

XOXO, Noi

Favourite companions for movie dates;

Movie date with family on Friday, 25th May

To celebrate the end of my papers, and also the end of a long work week with the graduation ceremony, I randomly suggested a family movie date. Sis and I have been wanting to catch The Avengers ever since the trailer was out. Due to time constraints from work and exams, we kept putting the idea on hold. Alas! Managed to persuade my parents to catch the movie with us, since there’s an ongoing promotion for GV movie patrons!

If you purchase the movie tickets with DBS/ POSB Credit & Debit Card, the prices are as follows:
- $7.50 (Mondays to Thursdays,excluding eve of PH and PH)
- $9.00 (Fridays to Sundays,including eve of PH and PH)

You may also purchase a DBS Combo (01x 85oz Large Popcorn + 02x 22oz Regular Coke) at $8.00 with any purchase of a pair of weekday / weekend movie tickets using your DBS / POSB Credit or Debit Card online, or at the box office counters. For more information on GV Partner Promotions, you can check out the link here!

Silly forgetful me had always thought that there were three graduation sessions on Friday, but it turned out to be only two! Had to postpone the dinner with my fave girls miss them tons. And I booked the movie session a little too late at 10pm, mommy was feeling sleepy by then. LOL!

We caught the movie at the nearest GV theater to our house - Jurong Point, and partly ‘cos my mom wanted to check out the newly renovated theater too. The renovated theater looks brighter, and the seats are wider as compared to the past. However, I still prefer the seats at Cathay Cineplex’s or GV Grand!

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Review on “The Avengers” movie

Details:
2hr 23min‎‎ – Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi (English‎)
Director: Joss Whedon
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, and Scarlett Johansson

As mentioned, we’re probably the last few people in Singapore to catch this movie. The hype from the trailers and the boys got us really anticipating for this movie! Not to mention, the stellar cast behind this movie involved some of my favourite actors – Chris Evans and Rober Downey Jr.! Maybe we had too high an expectation, so I thought this movie wasn’t that fantastic. Too much conversation in the middle of the movie, and my poor mommy dozed off a while. LOL. The coolest parts were the scenes on Iron Man and Captain America (yes, I am biased like that ), and the last 45 minutes of the show! And of course, Iron Man was hilarious as usual, especially when he poked fun at The Hulk. Conclusion, it’s a good movie to catch if you are into action and sci-fi! For me, the company mattered more and I’m glad the whole family managed to get out of the house to catch a movie together <3

 Cute graphics of The Avengers!

Too cute!

Rating:

.5 out of 5 popcorns

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Another movie date!

Caught a newly-released movie “Dark Shadows“ with Stan some time back, and I seriously think that this is so much better than “The Avengers”! Maybe I am just not so much into action-packed movies

Review on “Dark Shadows” movie

Details:
1hr 53min‎‎ – Comedy, Fantasy (English‎)
Director: Tim Burton
Stars: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Eva Green

As usual, the collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp never fails to crack me up with their dark humour and unique style. This movie marks their eighth collaboration, and I must say that their spark still exists!

“Dark Shadows” is like a soap opera, set in the ancient days (Old English), and with dramatic scripting as well. I love how the  background music and songs are injected at the right moments throughout the movie, and how the story flow was very well-scripted

Johnny Depp is still as charming as ever, and no doubt his make-up was a little too over I thought but he can really act in any role true essence of an actor! Eva Green also had the best wardrobe, with stunning dresses and she carried them off in a demure yet subtle sexiness manner.

Enjoyed the movie thoroughly, and it’s a great show to catch this coming weekend (if you don’t have other movies in mind)!

Rating:

 out of 5 popcorns

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Feels awesome to be back blogging after a long hiatus from the mugging! Looking forward to heading back to Malaysia on Wednesday night miss my grandparents truckloads.

xoxo, Noi

Sundown Marathon 2012 – my favourite run till date;

26th May 2012 marks the date for the fifth Sundown Marathon, and my first! Signed up last year for 21km, but had to forgo it due to a work trip to Koh Samui. This run was made more special, ‘cos my mom and sister came up with an impromptu decision to support me there physically for the run! Pardon the long entry ahead ‘cos this run is one of the most memorable ones for me till date.

Took a nap for about three hours, before loading on the much-needed carbo with Mcdonald’s lunch. And more carbo-loading with Korean fare for dinner at Bugis Junction!

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Reached Bugis at about 7+pm, and met up with Nancy to pass her the race pack for her 10km run! After dinner, we proceeded to the race venue at Nicoll Highway. The crowd was packed with mostly 10km runners then, ‘cos the flag-off for 10km was 10.30pm.

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Here’re photos of my beloved supporters! Stan couldn’t be there ‘cos he had to do duty the next morning, but the messages of encouragement from him helped too!

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After leaving mom and sister at the MovieMob area (organised by Honda), I met-up with Jo who’s running 21km too! We were late for the flag-off at 12.30am for both 21km and 42km, but it didn’t really make a difference ‘cos the crowd was still moving slowly towards the starting point (human jam, as usual).

We ran off individually as we knew we had different paced timings. I started off with an average of 7min/km, and it averaged out to 8+min/km for the whole run. The initial part was really humid and dehydrating, so I stopped at every hydrating stations to replenish the water loss and to keep myself awake as well. Also, the Tiger Balm cream that I had slapped on earlier for my stiff neck and joints helped a lot too! Reason being, whenever I slowed down, the burning sensation from the cream was a killer so running helped to ‘fan’ it off in a way.

At the 8km mark, my left ankle started to cramp really badly, due to the old sprain injury. Went to seek medical assistance for the salonpas spray but they’d ran out it and could only give me the Joint Care cream. Pushed myself forward till the stretch along Marina Bay Sands, and I slowed down a fair bit there. Made a phone call to my sister, who cheered me on with hilarious encouraging remarks =*)

Until the 13km mark, the pain was getting a little too overwhelming, so I had to slow jog and walk. It kinda sucks that I wasn’t able to run for the full journey, but I thought I’d better rest to catch up on the second half of the run. At the 16km mark, the sky was turning red, and my sis called to say that they received warnings that a heavy downpour was approaching, and they were advised to take shelter at the nearby tents. True enough, strong winds came and a female runner was heard saying that it’s going to rain soon. The next moment, it started drizzling, and it poured like mad -______- kudos to the Sundown crew who didn’t take cover but stood by in their ponchos to guide us along the right path and spurred us on to keep going despite the dampening rain.

Contemplated on slowing down ‘cos the rain was all soaked up in my skin, and there’s no chance that the rain would stop any time soon. Besides, the rain was kind of hurting my small eyes and skin, with stupid huge rain drops. So, I told myself to press on and run back to the finishing point fast ‘cos my mom and sis are waiting for me, and I need to beat the rain!

The energy gel and banana given near the end of the leg helped a lot, ‘cos my stomach cramp came back and the food did give an energy booster (maybe it’s just psychological). The last 2km stretch was a killer, ‘cos my knees and ankles were giving way, and the pain was coming back stronger. Thankfully, prayers and my Runkeeper app were my saviours! At 20km mark, I had already clocked 2hours 50minutes. Throughout the run, I had in mind to clock below 2hours 30minutes but in vain which was kinda expected ‘cos my previous half-marathon took me 3.5hours. So, I said to myself that I’ll be more than accomplished if I could finish this under 3hours. Persevering till the finishing start, I didn’t stop for the last 1km and increased my pace too. The guys by the side also cheered us on, and that’s one of the reasons why I love running no matter what nationality or gender, encouraging each other goes a long way!

Nearing the finishing line, I got a little too emotional and started tearing a little. LOL! Maybe ‘cos the rain was seriously a mood dampener against the will and physical condition, and maybe ‘cos I’d managed to listen to my mind, and my body was ‘guai’ enough to get me through this run under three hours. Also, I managed to shave off 26 minutes off my Personal Best timing for half-marathon run!! ^^ The crowd didn’t stop cheering as everyone crossed the finishing point one by one, and I couldn’t stop smiling to myself as I followed the stream of crowd to collect my drinks and the Finisher’s Medal /beams.

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Photo credits to my sis for being such a great help in taking photographs for friends and I! /loves

Yay! Arrived early so there wasn’t any queue to take a photo against the backdrop.

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Hello Zirong laoda! So proud of you for completing your first half-marathon with an awesome timing!

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Jo babe! My dear secondary school classmate, who took up running too! We ran StanChart half-marathon together last year as well

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At last! My Race Bib and Finisher’s Medal for 21km runners! :*)
Sundown Marathon 2012 marks my favourite run till date; thanks to the ‘no-sun’ weather which was more cooling (though the rain didn’t help), and I managed to find the reason to keep me going throughout the run. Not forgetting the beautiful scenery and endless hydrating points (compared to other runs)… yay!

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Check out this link – http://results.hivelocity.com.sg/index.php, for results of Sundown Marathon 2012!

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Albeit still a far cry from my running babes in terms of pace and timing (dear Deb is ranked #36, like omg please), but I’m really contented and thankful to have completed this run, despite the downpour and every other thing else. This marks my first night run, and I am sure it will not be my last! Thanks to all the encouragement texts, Tweets, and kind words :*) loves. Especially mommy and sister who endured the sleeping bug, and the stupid muddy paths on the way to the MRT station. Touched to the max, really* We only managed to get home close to 9am T.T and napped all the way after. LOL!

My mom always asks if I will ever stop running ‘cos of my asthmatic condition and concerns over my old leg injuries, I told her it’s one of my passions and something I take pride in. After being there physically at the run and seeing me completing it, she told me, “I can tell that you’re happy doing this. And I am proud and happy for you too! I finally can sense your determination in doing this, ‘cos I see it in the other runners today too.” :*)

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Hopefully through this blog post, Tweets, and Instagram sharing I’ll get to know more peeps who share the same passion for running! \m/ Holler here if you love running too! ^^

Off to bed now, before I get all emotional again. Back to work week tomorrow!
Nights y’all, xoxo.
Noi

Nine months;

Time flew by just like that, it’s been nine months since I stepped into a new environment.

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Met up with dear peeps after work today, and one of them mentioned a very familar scenario – ‘All pumped up upon entering this new foreign place, and energy boosted up to the maximum level and looking forward to a new day everyday. Then, all that fizzed out after time.’ It’s taking place now, all these zest were long gone and it sucks to see friends leaving one by one. No doubt the remaining ‘survivors’ are happy for them, but a tinge of sadness and paranoia is hovering over our minds now. Having said so much, I guess it all boils down to our own perserverance and beliefs. We may be stuck in a hopeless rut, but these experiences may lead us to stronger individuals and better persons. As we all know, so long that our conscience is clear and upright, bring them on nothing can defeat us. For now, I’m just gonna remain ‘zen’ (as what one of the peeps mentioned), and do my stuff. Come what may, I know I can count on the peeps. Other may doubt us or cast suspicions on us, but we’re just going to focus and channel our energy to healthier stuff. Not to mention, the support from family and friends to tide through for at least this period of time. Indeed, we’ve found love in a hopeless place.

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Our motto;

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So much for verbal diarrheoa, perhaps the heavy downpour triggered off thoughts. Nights peeps

xoxo, Noi

A week in a blink;

Another week has gone by, and it’s scarier knowing that another seven days are taken off my countdown chart to the first paper for this term. Three papers to take, and one ECA to complete; I just can’t wait for June to arrive! Not to mention how stupid the topic is for the ECA – a three to five minute video on end-of-life care in Singapore. And the lecturer had actually suggested us to interview her mom, who’s struck with a terminal illness. Gees, seriously?!

SATURDAY
That aside, I am glad that I managed to squeeze in some leisure time amidst the crazy weekend of mugging, doing up the outline for the ECA, and planning the study schedule. My aunt from Malaysia is in town to visit us and will be heading back to KL tomorrow, so Mommy and I brought her out on Saturday to have dinner together simple food-fare at Jurong Point’s Kopitiam.

SUNDAY
I headed out to capture some shots for my assignment. First stop was Bras Basah, and we jumped onto the opportunity to tour around National Museum of Singapore since full-time students and regulars get to enjoy free entry/S$5 (special rate) for admission fees.

BOOMZ clouds taken outside the museum;

A couple of exhibitions and galleries were opened when we visited, and I found the photography gallery particularly interesting. Perhaps ‘cos it showcased the history of Singapore from various perspectives of the key people, such as Sir Stamford Raffles and the performers from Great World Amusement Park. A pity I left my SD card at home so, I could only make do with my iPhone to snap some photos from the museum tour. That, I shall leave it to next entry.

Another place that we went to, Tiong Bahru Market; this place serves really delish hawker fare. Ordered Hainanese Chicken Rice, Chwee Kueh, Beef Soup, Oyster Omelette, and Sugar Cane drink to top it off. My fave dish has got to be the Chwee Kueh  from Jian Bo Tiong Bahru Chwee Kueh (#02-05)!

Tiong Bahru Food Market & Hawker Centre
(Check out ladyironchef’s post for more food recommendations!)
Address: 30 Seng Poh road
All these for less than S$15, daebak!

MONDAY
After a somewhat long Monday, the whole family brought my aunt out for dinner with some hawker foodfare lovin’. Our initial stop was Redhill Market & Food Centre, but too bad the tzi char store wasn’t opened for business so we decided on heading to Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre instead.

We ordered BBQ Sambal Stingray, Sotong, Kang Kang from BBQ Seafood, and Winter Melon with Spare Ribs soup from Yi Ping Tung. The latter serves really good soup, and the unique way of cooking it charcoal-style allows all the ingredients to be well-broiled. Best of all, the price is reasonable at S$4 per claypot. Yay!

BBQ Seafood
(Check out InSing’s post for more information)
Address: Yung Sheng Road, #03-178, Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre

Yi Ping Tung Charcoal Claypot Soup
(Check out InSing’s post for more information)
Address: Yung Sheng Road, #03-157, Taman Jurong Market & Food Centre

After the dinner, we brought her to Marina Bay Sands to take in the night-view of Singapore.

Chanced upon the window display of Louis Vuitton, and snapped a photo of it – amazed by the vibrant colours. But I thought the colours used for window display were a big contrast to the pastel colours used in their SS12 campaign.

LABOUR DAY
The journey went like this – Jurong Point, Jurong East, JCube, Redhill, IKEA, Changi, and Old Airport Road Food Centre. And I finally got to try the Lao Ban Soya Beancurd!! Bought a few back for mommy and sister, and they love it too. Mommy said that there’s a tinge of black sugar taste in it. The queue wasn’t that bad when I went at 8+pm, less than 30 minutes I’d say. At S$1.50 per bowl, it’s much pricier than the usual soya beancurd in the market but I think it’s worth the price. HAHA!

Lao Ban Soya Beancurd (Old Airport Road)
Address: 51 Old Airport Road, #01-127 Old Airport Road Food Centre

Wednesday
Alas! Mid-week was finally here, and it’s another day with bad headache etc. Went to the temple to pray that evening, and had a good talk with my god-uncle. Let’s just see how things go!

Simple foodfare // home-cooked food is love! Mommy never fails to let us come home in comfort and bask in love from her. LOL, so much for cheesy lines, but I really learnt not to take such details for granted after working. It’s not like I get to eat home-cooked food everyday

OTD // Crochet top with TheTinselRack Floral Blossoms Paperbag Skirt in Violet Peonies, and my trusty Longchamp bag

xx

Sooooo many movies that I wanna catch, but I think gotta wait till my assignment and exams are over – the highly raved Avengers and Battleship. Boos*

xx
Review on “The Lucky One” movie

Details:
Movie title: “The Lucky One“
1hr 41min – Romance, Drama
Director: Scott Hicks
Writers: Will Fetters (screenplay), Nicholas Sparks (novel)
Stars: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner

Synopsis (credits here):
A Marine travels to Louisiana after serving three tours in Iraq and searches for the unknown woman he believes was his good luck charm during the war.

Perhaps I held too high hopes for this movie, so I was tad disappointed after watching it. Other than the scenes with the hot bod of Zac Efron, the rest of the story plot lacklustre and predictable. I felt the emotions shown during the scene where Taylor reminisced about her brother was more real than the chemistry between her and Zac. Nonetheless, it’s a nice movie to catch if you don’t want to fight with the crowd this weekend over tickets to the Avengers movie.

Rating:

.5 out of 5 popcorns

xx

QOTD// daily mantra; thanks for the love received.

xx

This is like, one of my longest posts ever; blogged this over the week and finally managed to publish it today. Gotta find time this weekend to do a good run and finish the rest of my mugging and video assignment \m/ FIGHTING!

xx

TGIF peeps! Looking forward to tonight

xoxo, Noi

Bucket List – Cave Diving;

*Typed a whole paragraph here and it just went MIA, grrrr*

Last Friday, we had our department retreat and the whole afternoon was packed with activities. After a 20-minute laser quest session at HomeTeamNS, which left us all lethargic and sweaty, we proceeded to Science Centre Omni Theatre for the IMAX movie, Journey Into Amazing Caves.

Synopsis of the movie
(Credits: Omni Theatre)
All over our planet are landscapes that hold caves beneath them. Challenged by the underground frontier and inspired by the secrets it may yield, cavers share a passion for exploration. Journey into Amazing Caves follows Dr. Hazel Barton and Nancy Aulenbach on an adventure as they explore unusual caves, like ice caves in Greenland and underwater caves in the jungles of Mexico, looking for important clues about the Earth’s past and microorganisms that inhabit its most extreme environments.

Come join us on an adventure from the natural world…into the unexplored depths of the underground landscapes that are as beautiful and vital as any other place on Earth.

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The movie was really an eye-opener, especially since I’ve never heard of cave diving before. I only know of the open water diving and night diving, which I haven’t even conquered yet. The caves and waters shown in the movie were breathtaking, and I’m still in awe of the descent that the team had done in Antarctica. The glaciers proved to be great danger to the team, and they were risking their lives just so that they could collect samples of micro-organisms that may be the next drugs or antibiotics to fight human illness. Cave diving is one of the most dangerous activities, with many fatalities reported. One of the fatalities involved a cave diver’s operation to retrieve a dead cave diver’s body, but he himself died during the process.

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Before I list cave diving into my bucket list, I think it’s more practical to conquer my fear of water, and complete my basic diving course first. Hopefully the June’12 trip with besties can go as planned! Redang, Dayang, Tioman, or Bali, bring them on!

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Bali

Pulau Dayang

Pulau Redang

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xoxo, Noi