HK Trip (3)

Since I settled most of the stuff on the first two days of the trip, the remaining two days were spent shopping, eating loads and just walking here and there idly.

Managed to go to 深水步 on Sunday to look at some decorative items for my DIY church wedding. At night we went to this really nice place at 尖沙嘴 to have Korean BBQ. Oh I just love the food in HK. That and all the stuff you can find at the 茶餐厅.

HK Trip (2)

Started Day 2 of the trip with brunch at my grandparents' place. We usually go to the dim sum restaurant within the estate. The food is cheap and yummy.

And then it was off to Mongkok with Granny who wanted to go to the jewellery shop with me to look at 龙凤镯. I liked a particular pair but it was really too expensive! So I told Granny that we should continue looking around. Next, we went to the building at 太子 where everything you need for a wedding can be found. Settled one more item there: the wedding flavours for guests.

Met Wendy for dinner, together with Gugu, uncle, dad and mum. The Vietnamese food at 九龙城 is fantastic. On the way back, we paid the deposit for the banquet venue. I'm seriously feeling a little nervous, cos it suddenly hit me that the event is really happening. Gosh.

HK trip (1)

Landed in HK late yesterday evening and went straight to Shenzhen for foot and body massage. Then we accompanied Mom to get her 30th anniversary photos - they were really quite nicely taken.

Came back to HK after lunch time and then it was hunting for the right venue for the banquet. Went to at least four restaurants and was totally drained. But at least we're quite pleased with the last one at Wanchai.

Gugu was the sweetest. Not only did she (and mum) keep us company the whole time, she also stayed up till 4am last night to do the research for us - jotting down the available dates etc. Thank God for all the help we're getting!

Cockroach! Scream!

It was one of those rare appearances by Mr. Roach. I was so engrossed with my work that I almost didn't notice him. But noticed I did, and I immediately sprang into the well practiced move of grabbing my insecticide spray and emptying more than half a can on him - I don't know for sure if the insecticide is strong enough so the next best thing is to drown him.

I don't know between the two of us, who is more unlucky.

Final creative

Right. I was expecting loads of criticism on the simplicity of the creative design. Surprisingly, most people liked it because they could apparently relate to it.

Late night studying? Hello?! Does anyone have a life??!!!

Falling sick again?

It was people mountain people sea at the IT fair at Suntec.

And I think I might have caught the flu bug from one of my colleagues. Am experiencing discomfort at the throat, plus cough and runny nose. :(

Blu Jaz Cafe

Was at Blu Jaz Cafe near Arab St just now. What a nice cosy hang out place! So, erm, un-Singapore.

Nice colleagues

LL gave me a chocolate duck today cos I was just grumbling to her yesterday how pek chek work can be. So sweet of her! :)

Went to look for the MND folks for drinks after work. Actually I think we all looked pretty washed out after a day's work but then it was fun just sitting there, talking about crappy stuff etc. It's good to relax once in a while. And even better to know that there are nice colleagues around - think they are actually hard to come by!

My interpretation of 巧力量

Yesterday was particularly hard to pass. I literally had to keep my eyes opened and my mind awake - the accumulated effect of tiredness from Monday all the way to Friday just made me feel super super exhausted. By the end of the day, I just want to sleepy. Whether or not there was a proper bed for me to do so was secondary. Like, 'oh just let me sleep please'.

Anyway, I still met Mr. Jang for dinner at Bugis. Was supposed to go to his place for dinner cos his parents are flying off on Sunday. But because the house was apparently attacked by a flu bug, auntie told Mr. Jang to eat with me elsewhere instead. He looked amused to see the state I was in. I looked worse than the lady in the 养命酒 commercial.

Anyway, we just went for a short dinner at Bugis Mac before heading home. Mr. Jang bought a gigantic bar of chocolate (rum and raisin!) to peak me up. If only we're in the Harry Potter world, where every illness, unhappiness, blessure could be healed by eating chocolates.

My hiding place

I have always liked the airport. From my days as a secondary student to my undergrad days, I've always spent tons of time at the airport to complete assignments, study for exams etc. It helped that I've always stayed in the East and have direct bus to the terminals. I even had study 'dates' there before. :)

Maybe it's because the airport gives me a very carefree feeling - the spaciousness, calming music, and cool temperature! Plus the decor is so nice! And then, there is all these people going on holidays. Makes me feel so happy.

Tonight I went to the airport again cos I was feeling particularly frustrated with work again. Needed to rush out something for tomorrow as well, so thought I could go there to soothe my senses. I was right. I managed to complete what I needed to complete without going 'argh'! On top of that I rewarded myself with a hot fudge sundae (paid by sis of cos, yippee!).

I think everyone's got a hiding place. Mine is definitely at the airport.

Venue hunting - Traders Hotel vs Pan Pacific Hotel

Went for another round of hotel viewing with Mr. Jang this evening (Yes, his tempo picked up - thank God). This time round we met with the manager at Traders Hotel.

I would say that the venue is overall acceptable. And what attracted me was the cosiness of the ballroom and the live screening of the march in. The hotel was also willing to be flexible with the decor and all. The only regret were the twin fat pillars blocking the view and the very narrow reception area.

And so we were contemplating btw Traders and Pan Pac, a venue which we liked much but slightly more complicated in the planning. But a decision was made after we called the latter up and negotiated for more flexibility. While Pan Pac would be stretching our budget, it would also mean more accessibility and nicer food for our guests. Definitely a better choice. The only remaining thing was to look at the tentative guest list and determine the no. of tables.

Think I should be able to breathe a sigh of relief after all these venue hunting is over.

Dinner (Far East!)

Am now at Far East Plaza eating dinner, after meeting the manager from the Regent. It's a bit pricey but its overall setting is quite nice.

Here's Mr. Jang waiting for his food. Of all the places at Orchard, I like eating at the Far East Plaza coffee shops the best. Cheap and yummy local food!

Funny taxi uncle

I was having an animated conversation with the taxi uncle on the way home from NTU and we were talking about the benefits of GPS when he suddenly asked if I was a student or a teacher at NTU. The conversation went like this.

Uncle: Are you a student or a teacher there ah? Oh, you not teacher there? You mean you are STILL a student??? A master right?(His tone implied that I looked too old to be an undergrad.)

Me: ...... er, well... grad dip student lah.

Uncle: Oh, so you working at the same time... Are you a SECRETARY? You look like a secretary.

Me:...... (further silence) NO UNCLE. I'm not a secretary!!!

Uncle: So what you work as?

Me: (with some unknown sense of pride) I civil servant!

Uncle: oh! SAF ah?

Me: (starting to wonder if there is something wrong with him) NO LAH! I'm from one of the ministries. (Come on, which part of me did you see the association with SAF??)

Uncle: ah.... MOE?

Me: Info... The colourful building... you know?

Uncle: oh well... erm..

Hwei's birthday

That's Hwei looking particularly pleased with turning 28. For some crap reason, we miscounted the no. of candles. There's 29! Oops.