Christmas Eve

Nothing much going on around here. Just waiting around for Christmas I guess... But I got a very special present today! I had an interview with an advertising agency... I got a call back about 4 hours after I left the place and I was shortlisted! So I'm gonna start my training on Monday, 9am. Yea!

Seeing as its end of the year, I've decided to make as many countdown lists as possible, just to roughly summarize my year.

This post also marks my 100th post! Woo! A little over a year ago, someone whose name also start with K convinced me to start a blog... and here I am. Its a great place to practice my writing and to let people know what's going on with me. If only I got more feedback... :)

Since its Christmas time, a time of mass consumption (hee...) I've decided to compile a list of 10 of my favourite purchases this year.

10. Dickies bag with my own MCR patch
9. Chanel lipgloss
8. Lee Cooper shoes (I wear them all the time)
7. Lots of Amethyst stuff
6. Lots of CDs
5. Face shop stuff (in Korea!)
4. Lots of Books (special: HP extra and Artemis Fowl)
3. Lots of DVDs
2. Samsung handphone
1. Olynpus camera called Violet

There ya go... my top ten items this year. And the special thing is... I actually paid for half of these items with my own money that I earned! Haha...

Tomorrow is the Christmas part at Shaun's house. I don't even know what time it is man!

Patriotic, maybe

I was at Jurong Point on Friday night, by myself, to pick up dry cleaning and to feed myself. Boy, was I pissed by the time I got home. And I was there barely an hour!

I love my country, don't get me wrong. But the only thing I dislike about it is... its overcrowded!!! We're such a small city and people are just everywhere. I can't walk 10 steps without having to step aside to avoid some idiot who's in my path! This made me think back to the 2 weeks I spent in Perth. It was so relaxing... People weren't in a rush, you have all the space in the world to walk and you could actually get a seat on the bus! There's no way you could do that here. Unless you go out at like 4am...

Which reminds me: the times when I am thankful for being a Singaporean (besides National Day) is when I am out in the wee hours of the morning. The time when people are already in bed or before they come out for another hectic day. There's hardly anyone around and I can finally breathe and take in my country. I see youths out and about at 4 in the morning, I hang out at a 24 hours food joint, I stop by 7-eleven to get a drink, etc...

That's when I appreciate my urban oasis. When things wind down in this concrete jungle and I finally have space to take it all in. Its clean, its safe, its my home.

Then the alarm rings. People wake up and go about their daily lives... And that frown returns to my face...

Oh well... I'm definitely patriotic, maybe.

In Good Company

My aunt is in hospital in Australia. So less than a week from our return home from Korea, my mum flew off to Australia to see her. My sis is on vacation in Europe. I don't really hang out with my dad. So basically, i'm alone. For the 1st time in 20 years. I've gone overseas without my family before but this is the 1st time i'm alone at home. I think i'm doing darn well! I feel more independent and more of a... adult! I though that I was totally dependent on my mum but i'm glad to find out that I can do things on my own. Awesome!

That's why i'm real thankful for all the great company I have! Mum left on Mon and i've been going out everyday since then with my cousins and friends. Thanks guys!

My cousins and I had a sleepover and we also rented a car! Now we have 2 drivers (i'm waiting till I earn my own money then I can really get my license) so they took turns in driving. It was real fun chilling to the radio and seeing the world go by. And we could go wherever we wanted. I finally got to see Dempsey Road and satisfy my craving for Waffletown!

We also went Sentosa for a short tanning session. First time I purposely went to tan. Other times its usually some other activity that would get me dark. But I don't get dark. I'd get pink, look ever so slightly darker, then I'd go back to my normal shade. Anyways my skin is red and a little itchy right now! At least my tan lines from work aren't so obvious now!

At Dempsey Road we went to have Ben & Jerry's. Man, that place is nice! It has an old English castle-like feel to it. The atmosphere was amazing... Plus there was a 2-man band playing good acoustic covers of good rock songs. Can I use that place for something? Haha... I admire local musicians for playing live sets. The Singapore crowd is dead. Dead! They won't even applause a little bit after they were done with their song. I know how it feels when people don't appreciate your performance, so I was glad to say I started the applause! Hee... Dempsey road is nice but super inconvenient if you don't have a car and way too dark if you do! Here's some pics...

It's Friday and I have nothing to do. Guess I'm gonna stay home then. Urgh... I hate being alone at home at night.

Korea!

Wow, it was a real fun trip! We went to Jeju Island and Seoul. We got to meet some interesting people, stay at nice hotels and... see snow! After 20 years of existence, I finally got to see snow. And the best thing is, its the first time that my whole family saw snow, so its a nice experience to share... Here are some highlights from my trip...

Jumping for joy on top of a mountain

Aiin's Miniature world

Yes, that's my butt...

No, we didn't stop in Paris, but its one of the dreams!
New York is also one of the dreams

War Memorial

It was surreal to go in the actual planes and tanks that those brave soldiers were fighting the war in. I can't imagine what must've been going through their minds

FOOD!
Korean food is very simple. Sure, we have Korea food here, but its altered to suit our taste. So we had authentic Korean BBQ, ginseng rice, noodles... and of course, Kimchi. Man, they have Kimchi all day! Even in the morning right beside your scrambled eggs! Haha...

At Everland resort (mini Disneyland), freezing, drinking beer and eating sausages in Holland Village. Yup, you heard me. A Holland Village in Korea.

Kimchi school! The Kimchi we made was given to the orphanage. Btw, Korean kids are the cutest!
At Dunkin' Donuts. All their shops were so nicely decorated, the donuts fed us and their hot Oreo latte kept me warm!
Coffee Bean, my fav (sorry ting) was all over and it kept me warm too!

Of course, after eating so much, I started to look more and more like these corn dogs... Diet!

Teddy bear museum

We weren't supposed to enter but we did anyway! My sis couldn't get up but I somehow did! :)

At a Teddy bear museum. I know... I really look like the Teddy. Round.
At Everland resort again. We were almost lost but my navigation skills got us through! Ahaha...

We really weren't prepared for the cold and when the wind blew... we braced ourselves!
Dragon Ski Valley

Supposedly where they filmed Winter Sonata. Sis and I got to ski! I took to it pretty quickly but didn't do much cos we weren't allowed to go up too high and it was tiring climbing up by yourself. It was -12 baby!!! Woo... damn cold but I got used to it... with snot running down my nose! Urgh... Here are the pics!

Hmm... when did we take a non-goofy pic?
My snow angel. Mind you, I did this in the middle of a shopping centre square and people were staring! But I think when you're on Holiday, the normal rules don't apply! :)
This little girl is called Cheryl and she's damn cute! Real sweet and nice and tells the most ridiculous jokes!

My tour group. Got some damn tau people but some real nice ones too. Just before this pics was taken, we were all throwing snow balls at the driver and tour guide. Damn fun.

Family pics

How do we look in our Korean costumes? People keep saying my sis looks like a Korean actress. Anyone knows who? (tag please)

Ah... in the snow after a warm dinner and good shopping. Who could ask for more?

Us with our tour guide. She's from Taiwan, is damn funny and straightforward. Thanks mei ren yu!

Last but really not least... the stuff that we bought! A whole dining table worth! Haha...

Here's some items that I was real happy I bought:

• Adidas special shoe made with bamboo! And... it was at a factory outlet, a whole shopping mall of cheaper branded stuff! Only $40+!!!
• Gucci and Roxy perfume like SGD$20 cheaper than here!
• The Little Prince umbrella
• A ton of face shop stuff! Really, a lot! I spent almost SGD$100. But some of the stuff there is half the price here man!
• Chocolates
• Little souvenirs for cousins and friends
  

It was a just nice trip, really. Not too long nor short. I liked Seoul. Its like a cooler version of S'pore and their heritage is everywhere (Something you don't see too often here). The architecture is fantastic. The people are cute. Food is nice, healthy and simple. Would I go there again? For sure! Maybe in like 5-10 years?

Hmm... where will I be going to next? Haha... :)

A night out about Town

Met up with my secondary school friends yesterday. I haven't seen the army guys in ages, so it was real nice to catch up and see how they are. We were supposed to meet at 3.30 but they didn't come until 5! But its alright... after they arrived, we thought maybe we could hang out at level 9, maybe get one of those rooms. But after much discussion, we decided to watch City of Ember. We missed the beginning so I was a little blur as to how the city came about. It was an alright movie, but more for young teens and kids. The lead male looks so much like Skandar Keynes (King Edmund in Narnia) and the girl that acted in Atonement (one of my fav movies) was the lead female. Here's a little comparison between the 2 males...

Get what I'm talking about? And the Ember actor actually has a twin brother!

After the movie, we went to this Japanese place at the 2nd floor of Orchard cine for a little dessert. I couldn't eat cos I was cutting down and I already had rice earlier, so I just had lime juice and chatted with them. That place is nice! I'd definitely bring mum there someday! Haha...

After that, I didn't feel like going home just yet (I spend so much time at home already) so we just hung out at Heeren for awhile. I promised I wouldn't spend on anything unneccessary but I ended up buying Paramore's DVD! Then we went to hang out at the tent that Shawnrick was supposed to look after (his 3 days temp job). He had the AMAs so we watched it for awhile. Shiok, cos it was kinda dark and the tent cover was plastic, plus it was right beside the entrance of Heeren. I just sat there and watched the world go by. Nice.

It was real nice catching up with them. I learnt a lot about them that day! Hee... I don't have my camera so can't take pics but May Ann brought hers, so i'm gonna pester her for the pics!

All packed and ready to go Korea! Being a girl so troublesome man. My dad's luggage is half our size and the 3 women in my household are carrying huge ass luggages! Haha... take care ya'll! See ya in 8 days! :)

House-daughter

I spent half of my day on Wednesday... ironing clothes! Haha... I woke up with the thought ''I feel like ironing clothes''. I mean, who thinks of that??? Only a slacker who wants to do something, I guess! I started irong my clothes around 11. I went on to iron my mum and dad's clothes as well. And now all the clothes that we need for Korea are all ironed by me! I did feel a small sense of accomplishment though. :)

I know I won't be doing this for long. I went for a job interview with NParks today. The headquarters damn nice. It looked like a upscale chalet cos they're in the process of renovating. Cool office furniture. It went quite well! I was clear on what I could say and I think I did quite ok. The 2 interviewers were guys, so that made things a lil easier! Hee... but if I get it, there might be a chance that I'd have to be stationed at Pulau Ubin. Hmm... not too keen on that! Well, see how it goes!

In a total music mode and I just bought the new Sims expansion so I can't spend anymore!!!

Kylie Mania!

Cousin Spencer is a huge fan of Kylie Minogue whose concert is tonight. I got a call from him at about 7...

Spencer: Kel, are you at home?

Me: No, at Jurong Point, but about to go home.

Spencer: Can you go over to my house, check on my mum then call me back immediately?

Me: Oh, ok. I try to go asap.

Spencer: Thanks, its an emergency.

So I hurried over to his house, with my mum, thinking that there might be something wrong with my mum. When we got there, his mum was fine. I called him...

Spencer: Ok, go to my room... (it's in a total mess cos he's revamping it) Is there anything inside the black booklet on my desk?

Me: Erm... Nothing much. (I saw a sistic booklet on his desk but I ignored it, he sounded real panick-y and I didn't wanna ask too many questions)

Spencer: Then go find this orange and green bag... is there anything in it?

Me: Nope...

Spencer: Ok, go back to my desk... (Mumbling)... Sistic...

So I took the sistic booklet and lo and behold, there were 5 Kylie Minogue tickets inside!

Me: Are you looking for Kylie tickets???

Spencer: YES!!! YOU HAVE TO COME DOWN NOW, I'LL PAY FOR YOUR CAB FARE AND I'LL... I'LL BUY YOU A DRINK! YOU HAVE TO COME DOWN NOW!!!

Me: ok, ok, ok!!!

Haha... The concert was at 8 and I managed to get there after a short jam at about 5 min to 8! Mum and I had to take a cab from Jurong West to Indoor Stadium then back to Jurong West again! Lucky we got a good, fast taxi driver. The total cab fare was $36.40. That's the most i've ever paid for a taxi ride! Cousin spencer sure knows how to make a night interesting!

Things have been going fantastic since I stopped working. I get to spend lotsa time in my wonderful home and do all the projects that i've been wanting to do. I also have lotsa time to clean up my room and I must say, its looking much better!

I went to Zouk with cousin Ruyi and 2 of my friends for the PCD Doll Domination party. It was pretty boring so we decided to go phuture. 1st time ladies night and it was so shiok not to pay! Save money... There, we had a fantastic time! Met some people and shared some stories. Partied until lights on and went home thoroughly exhausted!

I've also taken to being a... house-daughter! Haha... I help run errands and clean up the house and it totally reminds me of when I was waiting for my results. The house is now in tip-top condition and looking good...

I would consider myself a pretty organised person and I love to pack. Gonna go Korea soon and I just love packing my stuff neatly into my luggage and seeing how I can put things in. Wow... I'm a geek! And I need something better to do... hmm...