Weekend Bonding

work can really mess with your little head. or mine for that matter.

Battlefield hasn’t gotten any better the past week. if anything, it got worse.

Right now im feeling congested with an itchy nose.

I hope it’ll get better because my week next week looks set to be equally punishing.

being tired also makes you say things without thinking which eventually leads to silly squabbles. not just your other half but also with your siblings.

So weekends are a reprieve that i treasure greatly.

New Park

Wow. this isn’t as fun as it looks like. i was half dead most the time. the sun wasn’t very friendly and the trail was harsh. wouldn’t recommend it for the world. Eventhough the quarry at the end is pretty pleasant to the eyes. The journey was not fun.

Pasir Ris Park

Im genuinely surprised by PRP. clean, nice, long blade tracks with little hidden towers and enough space for the other kiddies and families there.

There’s also a horse stable if you’re up for some horse riding although i wouldn’t recommend since the horsies look quite small. im guessing it’s for kids more so than adults.

cheap bike rentals also. we did 2 hours around the park and the weather was perfect. i love blading there. the tracks are not so bumpy and the people are not as many compared to the likes of East Cost. So i dont have so siam so much.

Out with the old, in with the new

Figured i should start clearing out my room before October comes.

I emptied half the contents in my cupboards. The cupboards still look strangely filled up although neat.

Next up, i need to start packing my books. Those will take me ages cause i have about 5 shelves of books to lug to the other end of the island.

Snowballs

white, soft, and douse the fire in you very quickly.

Wakeboarding

Sandy, her brother and myself went out to the waters today. I did pretty jumps. i am happy. the instructor is awesome today. he had an amazing playlist on his ipod.

great music + great drinks + great weather + great water = HAPPY SORE ME.

i couldn’t move much after and crashed on the floor with shelly after.

Australian Open

Serena won. again.

if tennis remains like this, im gonna start getting bored.

I think these tennis giants shld take a short break so the other dark horses can get a chance at stardom. you know? like my verdasco.

i mean the boy is good. have you seen him on court? you’d be inching so close to the screen by the first set, you can literally smell him. yummy.

Tsonga is yummy too. wouldn’t mind a bite.

ha ha ha ha ha ha.

federer vs murray tmr at 4pm.

Really, do we need to even watch to know who will walk away with the trophy?

By the way, do you know that Serena walked away with a cool AUD 2 million cheque for winning the finals? how cool is that?

MPH book sale @ Raffles

MPH is having a renovation sale at Raffles. Guess who bought books?

Do not bring me to a bookstore and expect me to walk out empty handed.

Just dont.

Blujazz

New hang out place with the office girls. we run down for quick drinks and bitchin session almost all the time.

Timbre

Met with adam, maz and ian the other night for quick one drink before i got home to crash. So so good to see them.

Pictures soon when adam decides to not be lazy and upload them.

He bought a new fancy wancy camera that i like. he’s such great company i feel sad he’s going back to sydney on the 27th Feb.

I was drawing up the guest list the other day and i just realised alot of the people i wanna visit are out of singapore.

Carmen left for Hk. Liz is going back to Melbourne. adam wont be around…. and the list just goes on.

meh.

Quote of the day:

“Sometimes you just have to clear your friendship closet.” - Maz

I suggest you do that sometimes. Methinks there are some in there already rotting without you knowing. so you can stop spending too much time trying to figure out where the putrid stench is emitting from.

x

no running water?

i woke up this morning to a startling discovery that the entire 2 blocks at my estate do not have running water.

I found out more when i dashed out of my apartment to the lift clad in my towel to see ugly scribbles on a piece of purple paper stuck on the lift mirror which says, “Sorry for any inconvenience caused! Water pump broke down!” complete with a half past 6 attempt at drawing a border around the message + floating spiral designs.

i reckon the person thinks the message might be better received. methinks not. meh.

I entered back into the house and woke the entire household with my whinings (you need to understand the gravity of the situation here. i woke up early today specially to wash my hair. this is akin to a catastrophe.)

Pails were dutifully brought down to the pool to fill up with water. (no, not the pool water, the hidden tap by the side of the garden that everyone of us dismisses but suddenly becomes a tap of gold when we have such problems.)

So now im sitting here blogging and praying the technicians wake up on time to fix the water pumps so i can wash my smelly hair. Which means i have to cab to work. which means i will be very angsty today.

i am rather annoyed by the chain of events this morning.

the good thing is the ice between my sassy and i is finally broken.

havent you heard? Disasters foster togetherness.

I pray hard when you wake up today you will have running water.

god bless.

omg

i couldnt sleep on this very parched night, so i thought i’d blog on my HK trip (although there’s really nothing to blog about because i didn’t like it) on shalyd.

and for the life of me, i couldn’t remember the username nor password!

it took me about half an hour trying to remember which email id that blog was linked to and etc etc.

verified some questions here and there and voila! dunzo.

Hong Kong trip is finally up.

when there’s another night where im feeling hot and bothered like this, i will blog on Jogjakarta which has really nice places that are worth mentioning on.

till then, here’s to a fantastic sunday!

xoxo,

Lyd

more of weekends

Last week i thought i’d make some mean pancakes but i wasn’t quite successful with it. it wasn’t as fluffy as i wanted them to be. meh.

on top of which i totally forgot abt the maple syrup jeff bought for me in Canada and used the japanese one instead. will try again tomorrow morning.

Seletar Animal Farm

It’s not really a farm per se. it’s actually a training ground/centre for the German Shepperds. but cause of the land they already have, they have some space for geese, a old racing horse, some guinea pigs, lots birds…..

great for a stop if you’re round the corner but not a place for a day’s activity.

Recceing for good photo places.

S & I are on the hunt for good places to take our wedding shots. We have some places in mind already but am always game for more options if you readers have any to share.

we like earthy tones.

I realised on saturday night that i am definitely not a masala tea fan.

Day 6 of Australian Open and my favourite boy is still in the running.

Ana Ivanovic is out on her second round which is really not surprising. ive been reading up on her and her performance is just horrible. i wouldn’t even say it’s gradually getting worse or anything. it is just plain horrible.

i need to support a new person already.

ok, too much time blogging. it’s already mid day. am going to start my weekend!

xoxo

pained

he is the closest person in my life that resembled datuk dawi.

his freckles. the dark spots on his face.

his stubbornness.  his deep set eyes. the way he snarls when something annoys him.

his no-nonsense attitude.

his smile. his teasings.

i just lost him yesterday.

the lump in my throat will be staying for a while more.

Such great news to come home to.

True to my work’s demands, i came home feeling like a miserable little pussy cat.

Days are becoming shorter and my patience is running very very thin.

I got home today, had a little chat with mum and sassy on the couch. Apart from our ritual breakfast sesh in the morning before work, night is the only time i get to catch up with them.

So i decided to settle in with a book (i bought a new book. i am mighty excited. ) when i thought i’d do my daily trawl on FB to see if there are any gossips to fuel me up.

then i found out someone i know just got proposed in Philippines!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

such happy news! no wonder she was texting me on New Year’s sounding all so happy telling me she’s in phil with her boyf.

hahahhaa, that little happy pill.

i shall go demand she show me her rock.

White glistening sand, pristine waters, perfect sunset, live singer accompanied with a acoustic guitar, a big rock…. someone on his knees asking for your hand….

ahhhh…. that’s what love stories are made of.

x

What clasifies as insecurity?

“When an insecure person gets involved in a relationship, there is almost constant worry and fear. These feelings get transferred to their partner in very negative ways that are hard, if not impossible, for them to deal with.

They may be subjected to constant questioning as the insecure person needs reassurance of their love and faithfulness more than most people would. The insecure person doubts their own value and therefore, can’t imagine that another person could see something special enough in them to stay and be faithful. Distrust and fear are the bedmates of this couple and they aren’t very appealing. ” – anonymous

 

I just think that insecurity is like a ghostly apparition that’s always hanging around haunting you at any opportunity. IT is also when you see visions of yourself that don’t look anything like you really look.

What happens when your guy then goes out of his way to make you question your self-worth and then acts like there’s something wrong with you when you try to talk to him about how you feel? I think that is just plain sad.

Insecurity is something everyone deals with in life, to one degree or another. None of us is completely secure about every single aspect of ourselves, our abilities, or our personalities.

At the end of the day, aren’t we all a little insecure in our relationships. Is that really such a bad thing? I think a small amount of insecurity actually helps relationships. My insecurities encourage me to watch what I eat, fix my hair, put on makeup, stand up straight, and all the other things I do to be who I want to be for my other half.

Its when we are completely secure in our relationships when we are at greater risk to “crash and burn”. That’s when we tend to “let ourselves go”.

We stop trying.

We should all  remind one another of each other’s presence every now and then. Love needs constant attention and reassurance.

 

and that my friend, is not insecurity.

Dump the next guy who says you are. Cause he is obviously not worth your time.

photo weekend.

Why i want to buy a fancy wancy camera part 2

So i managed to convince S to look into buying a nice camera.

Of course as of now this is of our lowest priority. Did you know that wedding is an expensive affair?

It is so expensive it makes me choke on my saliva at alot of times.

More of that later.

Dragged Adam and Phoebe out to the sea to enjoy a great start to 2010! (this was very very short lived.) more of that later….

HSBC Tree Top Trail

I clearly misjudged this trail. It is long….oh so very loooonnngggggg.

Few Tips:

1) Drink plenty of water

2) Wear sunscreen

3) Bring insect Repellent. **VERY  IMPORTANT.

4) Park at Venus Carpark (which is near to the golf course) and not the main one.

5) Bring a poncho. Once it rains, and you’re caught in the middle, you have nowhere to go.

6)  A Round trip is about 10km. So braise yourself well.

7) The highest point of the suspended bridge is 25M, so great for photo taking session. Just bring a nice one cause a digital camera ( or my bbold in this instance) won’t make any justice.

How was your NYE?

The office had chocs, wine, champagne, chips, candies and prank calls to unknowing suspects.

The girls had more wine downstairs at the garden area with more office people.

Meet my manager who curses so much i always end up laughing more than hiding in fear.

She has a new iphone and i’ve been playing Sneezies on it. So random and oh so addictive.

I think we make a good team.

We stayed back at work the other day till 330 in the morning. BUT… more of that later.

Had NYE lunch with the easties. Joyce who is now like 5 months pregnant eats so much but her figure is still so svelte.

Life is so unfair.

The whole family then did the countdown by the pool/garden.

We played sparklers and had lots of food. We drank barley, we ate chips and fried rice, chicken…. desserts… you name it.

Then everyone popped their heads out of the window to bless the new year. We screamed till our throats hurts.

it was pure awesome.

It makes me wonder why anyone would want to spend the countdown with friends at congested places. rubbing sweat and dirt all over.

Best part? can’t go home cause of the crowd.

and ppl start off their 2010 very pissed.

why? stay home with family. that’s the best way to bring in the new year.

the best and the only way in my point of view.

TEHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

S and i bumped into them at Queensway when we were buying new running shoes.

she is so cute, my heart melts everytime she runs into my arms.

Mummy comes to SG

I’d like to sometimes think im arty farty. But the truth of the matter is, my attention span is akin to that of a goldfish.

I can’t spend so much time looking at artifacts and paintings and wonder about the beauty of life. you know?

See, i don’t mind going but it’s like, watch and go.

S on the other hand, he can stand there and watch all these figurines. It’s as if they’re all speaking to him.

I in turn end up watching him and wonder how it’s going to be like when we eventually marry and travel…………………………………

Mysterious artifact of mine.

More lancing lancing

Because the number of girls in the office has now grown (correction: cool girls), we have started the cool carat club. CCC.

And we’ve made a point to go out at least once (or thrice if one of us is really stressed, which is all the time. ) a week for drinks.

Even if that means going across to Bali Lane for one drink and then going back to the office to work again.

No thanks to the alcoholic, Danna.

Nice, happy things

Coffee, bagel and a book in the morning.

Old couple holding hands.

Work

I’ve never spoken much about what i do in this space and people are always asking me over drinks to describe what i do.

In short, or more like in an ideal scenario, clients will brief us on their campaign (say maybe a launch of a new piece of furniture) and provide us a budget with objectives meted out.

We will then sit as a team to brainstorm and work out an advertising campaign on media space.

well, that’s in a nutshell.

Media buying and planning is really interesting and i thoroughly enjoy what i do. Every day brings new excitement and even the most mundane of reports (budget summary, competitive deck, media scene update) excites me.

The start of 2010 though has taught me that sometimes other people have their own personal agendas. Which is fine by me until they shove it down your throats unexpectedly.

It then pisses me off, and that my friend, is how i got myself acquainted to office politics.

the most important lesson i’ve learned from my manager?The art of CYA.

Wedding

We have finally booked our venues for the solemnization, the hotel dinner and the sunday lunches.

We have also found our bridal studio and photographer.

The only things pending, i hope:

• wedding bands
• wedding videographer (monday)
• guest list (which last i checked is growing at an alarming rate)
• HONEYMOON DESTINATION.

i’ve been told my focus is very sporadic.

i am just happy we have our venues locked in. ha h ha.

we went to an exhibition the other day and was asking for availability on  dates. the person went, “October 2011?…ok.. wait ahh…”

“errr….no… October 2010.”

her reaction after that was pure classic.

apparently some couples book everything 2 years in advance.

what nonsense is that man? So we’re one lazy couple it seems.

or maybe, just me.

dum di dum di dum.

but hey, everything is in order so no need for panic lah. aiyooohhssss..

Ok, im going to paint my nails purple and wait for S to go eat Thosai.

i am craving for some mean masala thosai.

xoxo

Why i want a fancy wancy camera part 2

i have managed to convince  S to get us a new fancy wancy idiot-proof camera in 2010.

We need to get it before we go to Russia/Maldives/Mauritius.

yum yum yummmmy. i am excited.

On other news, i went to Timbre the other night with Sandy and we were talking about debating.

how i miss debating.

i sorely miss it. and miss public speaking.

sigh….. see what i found—->  here.

meh.

those were the days.

i also miss singing on stage with the girsl.

having so much fun backstage and laughing like there’s no tomorrow.

i miss practicing at my place to Tainted Love and singing Fever with Shahidah.

i miss superdawn being our manager, busying us around and making sure we all kept our sanity in checks before we ran on stage.

i miss phoebe being our unofficial photographer and cameraman. (ok ok. plus wilson. )

I miss bubble tea + Prayer cake ddaaayysss!

this is where i hate growing up.

Guess who’s going wakeboarding on Saturday?

with the glorious sun and lovely boat ride.

oh my god, i cannot wait.

god bless everybody and have a rocking 2010!

PS: COME TO BLUJAZZ. Sixx is playing.

PPS: I am in the office blogging and everyone else is drinking champagne + wine. Ok, Sandy and i just went online window shopping.who feels like working on the eve of new year? pleasseeee……

Ok, im out! gonna join the rest at the back.

xoxo

boredom is EVIL!

Boredom

it sets your mind thinking. For the first time in a long long while, i am sitting at work with absolutely nothing to do.

Ok, im lying. i do have things to do but im still in my holiday mood and all my clients are on leave so no one is chasing me and ive been busy facebooking with my manager in tow. how awesome yo.

Rules of engagement

Apparently there are so many i wonder which idiot had all the time in the world to come up with them.

I for one am clearly flouting each and every one of them. But hey, then again, it’s me we’re talking about here.

It’s like walking on a sheet of broken glasses. EVERYWHERE you walk, you’re sure to get a splinter. I kid you not.

i think i have fought with S more times in this one year then the 5 years that we’ve been together. It’s strange really cause 2 weeks before the party, i was out with a couple of friends. One of which coincidentally just got married.

His first reaction when i broke it to him was, ” Oh no… don’t lydia. just dont. if you love each other, just get married and screw this process!”

Those non-malays would prolly not understand the gravity of this situation and im far too lazy to describe the process. The number of people just involved in this entire space you’ve built with your other half is scary. Suddenly, they are walking around with this new found responsibility. They suddenly have a say!

what.

Apparently, where they come from, it’s called advice. Rubbish is more like it.

I feel angsty all the time and naturally the relationship gets the brunt of it.

someone should sue Disney for planting the ideas in little kids heads that every girl has a prince and everything ends up happily ever after.

See, love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayls.

We are all guilty of that.

Life when engaged

Those who are in an engagement don’t really talk about it. It’s almost taboo to discuss this. Let alone in a public portal.

But i shall adopt the role of a responsible and kind citizen by dispensing some personal experiences.

1) If you love your other half. For the love of god, screw the engagement process and just bloody get married. The amounting pressure on the engagement is just a bloody pain in the ass. You are under constant scrutiny. Both families are watching your every move and everything is placed under a microscope. oh… and everyone suddenly has tunnel vision: marriage.

2) If you still need to go through the engagement process, then keep it short. the longer you go through it, the more problems will surface. I think, you start looking at your other half as a husband more than a partner. you start developing questions like “Is he able to support me?” “What if he finds my amounting pile of clothes annoying?” “What if i can’t connect with the family?” (You’d be jolly well surprised, that even after many years, you are still struggling to learn the in-laws way of living. it’s normal i think. i hope.)

3) FLIP THE PAGES OF HISTORY IF YOU HAVE TO. See, my take is simple. get it out and clear it out of your system. Do not linger a minute longer. Have an issue, say it out. do not let it dwell in your being because it is poisonous.

4) don’t apologize if you don’t mean it.

5) telling your other half that you’re not going to do it again is not an apology im afraid. that is just saying, “Oh, i dont think it was wrong but since it’s making your hormones all psycho and suicidal then ok, i wont do it again.” WHAT IS THIS. -.-

5) have sufficient me-time. You can only allow someone to love you when you have enough of self-giving because you wouldn’t know how to love you if you havent done any lately. you would spend all your energy cursing your other half for not loving you correctly when you dont even know how to! If you love life, then don’t squander time. i am famous for that.

6) If people tell you that forgiveness is choosing to love. and that it is the first skill of self-giving love. They’ve probably not been in a relationship before.

7) don’t hope. Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man. faith yes. Hope? NO. you want something, you work for it. Dont sit there and expect the cake to bake by itself.

8 ) If all fails, make sure you have a safety net. just make sure you only tell the necessary. and make sure if your other half is psychotic, he/she never finds out. Also, make sure your safety net is someone/people who is/are capable enough of helping you out. Is well enough to dispense advice. If you just want a listening ear, go speak to the trees in the forests. At least you know for sure the trees are not going to tell anyone else.

9) if you do not have a safety net or do not have time to go to the forest, let me know. I’ll introduce you to my very very good friend: Apple Juice. and boy, believe you me, you will be in love after this.

Marriage Plans

Is just plain annoying. I wonder why a marriage planner is not an essential part of being married. you know? Like how you get pregnant and you need to have a gynae? why is it that when you’re planning for a wedding, there isn’t a planner in near sight? Pray tell me.

At first i was all excited and going through booklets of locations and food menus and rushing to the next wedding exhibitions. But now?

S and i are planning our AFTER wedding plans. yes, we are strange like that. we’re thinking of our trips AFTER the wedding.

We talk about the house and getting a new cat (ok, this one abit one-sided but hey, someone needs to start first).

and suddenly the marrige is like, ok, let’s just bloody get a venue and get someone is capable enough to do EVERYTHING in a bundle so we can snuggle in and watch cable with Shelly.

That is how lazy we are. or maybe that’s how lazy i am.

I dont even want to go and hunt for clothes. i have decided to save money and tailor my dress for below 2oo bucks. cheapo.

i think my mum is more excited than i am.

I want it to be nice but im far too lazy to sieve through everything. oh my godzzzz….

how now brown cow?

I think S is great when it comes to this. His amounting patience on such nitty gritty details is so amazing that i want to coddle him till he chokes.

Typical convo:

“Ok, what you think of venue ABC?”

“Can lah.”

“you like the space?”

“Oklah. big enough.”

“then how? The plan like that? Pass?”

“dont know leh. can lah i think. what do you want?”

“ok, so here’s a pile of food menus *dumps stacks of printed venues, food menus, price list*”

“*gets excited for a while” yay! ok, we’ll go through it! *gets distracted in the next second by Shelly’s odd behaviour*”

that is the progression of our wedding plans. that is how terrible we are. -.-

My perfect wedding plan?

everyone come, everyone eat, everyone laugh and everyone go for after party while i crash into the hotel suite with S.

and then next morning? Fly out to Maldives to dive with the fishies…. bloop bloop bloop.

not bad. no?

aiya ya ya ya ya.

boredom. is. dangerous.

So dan directed me to his favourite website:

icanhazcheezburger.com