Goodbye Stephen Gately

I cant believe that Stephen Gately is dead.
I rem how I used to idolise and love Boyzone so much in my teenage years from when I was 11 - 17 years old.
Boyzone was a huge part of my teenage years.
And Stephen Gately was my fave band member.
I loved his voice most amongst the Boyzone members.
I used to wanna be Mrs Gately!!!

I rem the times I bought all of Boyzone's CDs, autobiographies,
magazines, posters and concert vcds,
saving all my money just to buy Boyzone stuff.
I rem the time I went for Boyzone' concert in Singapore when I was 14,
and how I went ga-ga over them.
I rem the times I collected pictures of Boyzone,
and made a scrapbook out of it.
I still have it by the way.
I rem the times I handmade a card-size photo of Stephen and me together in a sunset background,
and put it in my wallet.
I rem the times I use to have a poster of Stephen in my class locker,
and in my room.
I rem how devastated I was to find out Stephen is gay after "loving" him for 4 years,
and then tearing uo his poster in my locker with feelings of betrayal.

As I grew up and grew out of Boyzone and Stephen,
I never forgotten them.
I still kept their cds, autobiographies and scrapbook.
I still enjoy their songs and music.
I still do sing their songs at KTV sometimes.

Im really shocked that Stephen Gately died so suddenly.
Altho i no longer "love" him or Boyzone,
but it is something I once held so dearly in my heart.
So naturally there wud be some form of impact on me.

Im glad the results are out that he died of natural causes.
Apparently he died of pulmonary oedema - an accumulation of fluid on the lungs.
N not coz of alcohol, drugs, suicide or murder.
That wud have been more devastating.

I think his partner must be really really sad. Pity him.
Pics of Stephen Gately and his "husband" Andrew Cowles.



And to think Boyzone is planning a comeback album.
They were just discussing the final 10 tracks on the album
with manager Louis Walsh last week in London.
Now it wud be w/o Stephen. So so sad!
Here's a pic of their last get-together performance on 26 Sept 2009.


Album.


Ronan and Stephen


So young, he is only 33 years old.
You'd never know when u or your loved ones will pass on.
It may be very sudden.
Live each day to the fullest.
Treasure your loved ones while you still can.
You'd never know....

Hair cut

Finally had some time to go for a hair cut on Sat at Edmund's (my hairstylist).
Dyed a new hair colour too, after 2 years of having the same hair colour.
From reddish brown to warm autumn.

Brought Baby along to have his hair cut also.

It was my first time having my hair done at Edmund's new salon after he left Kimage in Aug.
Wasnt too bad.
A smaller salon means I cud have more of his attention,
else he multi-tasks a lot back at Kimage.

Before pictures.
My fringe was so long n flat, I hadda pull it back.



Wow, I think my hair is really long.
Edmund said that I should perm my hair,
coz it's so hard to grow your hair out so long,
and it is a very good length to perm luscious big waves.

I was so tempted.
But! I remembered all hard it is to maintain permed hair.
With straight hair, I only have to comb it once when I wake up, haha!
Maybe next time then perm la. Next year.

After pic.

Hmm..I think the before pic looks nicer. Wahaha.
The hair colour look like ah lian hor?
I think it's the lighting and the flash of the camera.
Coz at the salon, it looks much nicer.
Edmund said that if i perm my hair with this hair colour,
I look like Ayumi Hamasaki.
I think he is really FULL OF CRAP.
He is a damn proud hairstylist who loves to compliment his own works.
Haha!

This pic is taken at KTV.
We went for KTV after our haircut coz too bored,
nothing else better to do leh.
There were lotsa new English songs to sing! So happie!

Baby's after pics.


I like his hair! So nice =)
But he sucks at styling his own hair,
so he always cant achieve the nice effects that Edmund styles for him.
But ok la, still quite nice as long as the cut is nice.

My baby cant smile properly/naturally for photos, i dunno why.
But I still think my Baby is very handsome...haha!
I like boyish looking men.
Only sad thing is that I think he is FAT.
If he can lose weight and look the built way he was when i first met him...
Wah! So handsome.
No wonder i fell in love w him...hehe.

Marketing offsite

My team of marketing girls had an offsite session yesterday afternoon and today.
It was pretty fun =)

Yesterday afternoon was a serious one,
with brainstorming and presentation by each of us to my boss on our plans for 2010.
But it was held as an informal session at a suite in Sentosa Resorts & Spa!
So it was overall quite nice.
Then, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at The Cliff.
Romantic with super nice ambience.
So tranquil and serene that I almost fell asleep while waiting for my food!
Fine-dining indeed, as it took so so long for each course to arrive =(
So hungry lor.
We dined from 630pm to 9pm. So long.

I almost wanted to bring Baby here on his last bday.
Din get the chance to, but luckily I still manage to dine here finally!
It is indeed super pricey.
Food is not too bad but i dun think it is worth it at all.

We opened a bottle of wine, shared some desserts,
and I had white canadian lobster that is served with fettucine.
The loster was delicious, succulent and tender...mmmmm, good choice!
The wine we chose was good too, Pegasus Bay Semillon 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.
Love it!

Sunset view at The Cliff, overlooking the South China Sea.
Used my phone's 5 megapix camera, but photos still not as good as a proper camera.




My main course: white canadian lobster



Dessert. This is some chocolate platter dessert that cost $44!
Freaking ex.


Macaroon a la Rose.


The macaroons they have at the restaurant is really good.
I love macaroons! =)

Today was team building day at Sentosa and we visited a few fun attractions to play.
We played the luge and skyride twice and i cant believe it coz
altho the luge was fun, I was super scared of gg up the skyride.
Height phobia!
We also tried out the Cineblast and 4D Magix which was pretty fun.
Anyway everything is so ex.
It's a tourist trap!
Altho our attractions are quite alright,
it definitely cant compare to those theme parks overseas.
Still wanna charge so ex...so embarrassing lor.
I'd rather go overseas.

More photos next time!

Next offsite is for the entire department of about 150 - 200 pax.
Off to Phuket we go next weekend!

Finally! Assignments completed.

I just completed Baby's final assignment for this semester yesterday night.
I had to help him with a 4000-word essay due Mon, 28 Sep,
and another 3000-word essay for a different module due today, 30 Sep.
Have been working on both reports since 3 weeks back!
So shiong lor!
Taken up my precious weekends and weekday nights.

But after this, there will be no more assignments for the rest of the year!
Yay! Till the new semester starts again next year.
And if he does pass these 2 modules this sem,
he wud have only 5 more modules to go.
Hope all goes well! *fingers crossed*

Booze. Boozy. Boo.

Had lotsa booze over the last 2 weekends.
That's really bad for my weight and tummy.
I can almost see a beer belly popping out of me alry =(
Boohoo!

It is all Baby's fault coz he loves beer so much that he keeps having a craving for it.
N when he drinks, i really cant resist too coz it is right in front of me!
N all those 1-for-1 deals during happy hours.
How to resist???!!!
I have really really bad self-discipline.

Last Sat was fun Sat by the beach.
Our Songs of the Sea ticket was expiring soon,
so we made a trip down to Sentosa.
Had dinner at Coaste bar - BBQ chicken wings and sausage platter.
Plus Corona beer.
Den we popped by next door's Bikini Bar to have more BEER.
1-for-1 Asahi beer!
Yumz, our fave beers are Corona, Heineken and Asahi =)

We had a good time chilling and drinking by the beach.
Too bad it wasnt very breezy else it'd be more comfy.
Den it was Songs of the Sea.

The dinner and booze became the highlight after we realised how sucky Songs of the Sea was.
If not for the free ticket, dun think we will catch it at all.
Storyline sucks like hell, machiam cheating small kids.
Only saving grace was the laser lighting effects, with some fire bursts occasionally.
That's all.

See how red Baby's face is after 2 bots of beer.
His blood circulation really super good.




After the show, we went to check out Cool Deck at Siloso beach
as it was "Jazz by the Beach" in the month of Sept!
They had a stage and jazz singers performing.
Sounded not too bad, but i did not really fancy the band's style and rhythm,
heard better jazz bands.
But overall still enjoyable.
Baby ordered another beer..Foster beer this time.
One night drink 3 different types of beer.
Not bad for a boring person like Baby. Wahaha!
I had enuff, needed something sweet so I had a barcadi.




Then this Fri, we had Japanese pasta at The Pasta Shop at Wheelock Place.
And this Baby Dum Dum ordered a huge bottle of Sapporo beer.
The same size as those bottles of Tiger u see at coffeeshops.
I had only 3 mouthfuls, and he finished the rest.
I was more interested in my yummy cooling concoction of peach, vanilla and pineapple shake.
We had too much food. Way too much fried and unhealthy food.
Fried chicken karaage, fried renkon, fried tempura pasta and pork slice pasta.
But it was so so so yummy!




And on Sat,
after a nice nice movie "The Time Traveler's Wife" at Great World City,
we had dinner and ...booze again at The Pump Room.
Very shiok coz it is not as crowded here compared to the other outlet at Clarke Quay.
No queue!
Finally we can have a taste of The Pump Room's food and booze.
And all I can say is that it is YUMMY!

The Pump Room Lager Chicken Drumlets


Mini Burger Sampler - with turkey, grain-fed steak and kobe beef patties.
The Kobe Beef one tasted the best! Irrestibly oomph!


We also had 4 mugs of beer between us coz it was 1-for-1 (who can resist such deals?!),
and a plate of yummy, crispy, tender duck leg confit =)

How not to get fat??
Yes i just weighed myself and I gained 1kg after these few weeks of binging.
Yes go ahead and laugh.
Call me Ms Piggy.

I dun like ppl to force me

Kenna arrowed today at work again.
We have having a departmental offsite retreat to Phuket this Oct.
3D2N trip.
1st & 3rd day free and easy,
with the 2nd day planned with team bonding activities, seminar and a gala dinner.
Apparently the organising committee is looking for "talents" for the gala dinner.
N guess who's door they came knocking on?

Yes.
MINE.

The committee decided that they want me to be the emcee for the gala dinner.
Apparently, after an intense discussion and deliberation,
they claimed that they cant think of anyone who is a better choice than me.
They think i did very well at the recent 3 golf events,
and I was able to connect with the audience,
and that even the bosses were impressed.
So since i had the "talent" and "calibre",
they decided that I should be the emcee,
and asked me to choose my own male partner emcee.

Excuse me??!!
Im sorry, I decline.
I refuse!

Just becoz i did a good job at all customer events and seminars as an emcee,
doesnt mean I always wanna be an emcee lor.
Pls spare me, Im always the emcee!
It is time for me to enjoy myself at a staff event.
I do well at customer events becoz they are MY events,
im the project owner, so there's no one else to do it.
And who would wanna do a bad job in front of highly valued customers and the CEO?
I dun think it is a matter of you thinking that im talented.
It is just that there is no one else, and you just need to arrow someone.

Sorry, im NOT doing it.
N you cant force me.

Would you sympathise?

There is this old woman who sells tissue at Bishan MRT station every morning.
I never once bought tissues from her.
Yes she seems quite pitiful,
old woman, jobless, need money to survive.
But! I have my doubts.

Every morning, she will sit on a stool peddling a bag of tissues,
and say repeatedly in mandarin:
"Im an old woman with no money and no children.
Pls help me buy a set of tissues.
Wishing all of you good health."
Sounds good right?
Telling us the reason why we should help her,
and then w/o obligations, she wishes everybody good health.

Scenario 1
Then one day, I saw her eating a hearty breakfast.
You wud think she shud be quite poor and would be frugal,
hence wun spend so much on breakfast alone right?
Lunch or dinner, maybe...but breakfast?
She had this big packet of beehoon with 3 to 4 ingredients.
That's quite sumptuous for a tissue peddler.

Ok give her the benefit of doubt.
Maybe someone bought it for her.
Or she decides to indulge just for that one day.
Maybe it's her birthday.
Or maybe it's her first big meal in days.

Scenario 2
I saw her talking on...a handphone!
Nokia one.
She was chatting with someone on her hp while peddling tissues.
Prob no business so she was bored.
How can a poor old woman who got no money, no children,
and had to end up peddling on the streets...
own a hp???

Ok give her the benefit of doubt.
Someone bought it for her or gave it to her for free.
Or it was a borrowed hp.
I dunno, i cant think of anything else.
I suspect, she does have children.
Who paid for her hp.

Scenario 3
I got a shock one day when I saw her sporting a new hairstyle.
SHE had a new haircut and DYED HER HAIR!
Omg! Unbelievable!!!
How can anyone struggling to earn a living,
have the money or the extravagance to go colour their hair?

Ok give her the benefit of doubt.
She got the haircut and dye for free.
Some kind soul did it for her, or bought her a home kit dye.

But I still cant believe it.
I dun think i can come up with so many "benefit of the doubt" anymore.
I dun trust this old woman.
I feel that she is cheating the public.
It is not about not buying tissues from her.
(altho one set of 4 tissue packs costs $2..consider quite ex compared to supermarket)
It's about the principles.
How can you act all pitiful to cheat the public of their sympathy?
I dun agree with that.
I decided to never donate to such peddlers again.

The sweetest dream

I had a really good dream last Thurs night.
Wanna blog it down so that I'll rem it forever.

It was a dream where i fell in love.
And it felt so real and so good.

Altho it seems like a teenage girl fantasy,
I just like the feeling it gave me.
It made me smile for no reason at all,
and made me remember how it feels like when you first fall in love.

I was at Anfield in England, about to watch a Liverpool match.
Somehow I was able to get on the pitch and had photo opportunities with the footballers.
Many kids were crowding ard hot favourite Fernando Torres.
They look like poor kids who have won tickets to see the match.
Being a sweet kind girl, i offered to help them take photos,
and all the kids lined up obediently albeit excitedly for their turn.
So i was snapping away.
Snapping them and Torres.

He was looking at me with the softest, the sweetest and most "wen rou" (gentle) gaze.
He smiled at me ever so often, his bashful smile.
I felt a sugar rush.
I felt like i was falling in love.

Then it was finally my turn.
I asked one of the kids to help me and Torres take a photo.

Torres placed his arm ard me, and held me pretty tightly.
I cud smell him, the masculine yet sweet scent of his neck, his hair...
his cheek was against mine and we had our arms ard each other.
I felt a rush of warmth all over again,
electrifying jolts of excitment all over,
tingles of sweetness overcame me,
and i cudnt stop smiling.

The kid did a bad job initially.
So we posed many times so that the kid cud retake the photos,
each time just holding each other more,
teasing each other,
and finding different ways to show our affection.
Apparently, he fell in love w me too.

Then the match was about to start.
Instead of leaving me to play his game,
he pulled me to a quiet corner of the stadium,
where we played ard with the camera, and took more photos.
He even did my signature "V-ictory" sign with me as we posed.

Instead of playing his game, he wanted to be with me.
It really looked like we were very much in love
and all i felt was bliss and simple happiness.

Then he took me to the stands, and we sat down and watched the match.
He sat behind me on the stairs, w me leaning back against him,
and with his arms wrapped ard me.
I cud see every single freckle on his arm.
He was tall, so his arms were long.
N protective.
It felt protective.
N strong.
It felt good.
I felt safe in his embrace.

I love this feeling.
This feeling of falling in love.

I dunno why i dreamt of Torres, esp when my fave football player is Xabi Alonso,
altho Alonso is no longer in Liverpool.
Maybe secretly in my heart, Torres, from being a No. 2, has overtaken Alonso's No. 1 place in my heart.

When i woke up, i cudnt stop smiling.
The dream felt vivid and real.
I wish it was real.
I wanna make my dream a reality.

But reality is....
he just got married this year to his childhood sweetheart of many years.
N they just had a baby.
He is so devoted.
Im super attracted to devoted guys.
I love those shy and bashful guys too, yet talented and determined.
Like Torres..
A bit like Baby.
Maybe that's why i was attracted to Baby in the first place.

But Baby doesnt give me the "fall in love" feeling anymore.
It is now just "comfortable" type of feeling.

I wanna fall in love!
Like in my sweet sweet dream!

After the dream, Torres is no longer No.2.
He is now my No. 1 fave Liverpool player! Yay!

New look, new chapter

After a period of hiatus from my almost dead blog,
decided to revive it through a revamp.

New look with a sweet and simple pink Hello Kitty theme,
smthg that I've not done before but have been wanting to do
since I like Kitty so much, haha.

Have disappeared from my blog coz I have been too too busy with work!
Super loaded till I can hardly breathe or find time to do anything at all.

Will start afresh and try to blog more to capture the memories in my life.

Dear Diary...
I really miss you.
U are my outlet for bitching and expressing my thoughts.
I really enjoy reading all my past entries...
To look back and reminisce about my exciting younger days in future,
and share it with the next generation.

Super hyped up over Liverpool

8 years...and they are back!
My fave football club.
I rememebered 8 years ago when Liverpool FC was last here in Singapore,
I went to show my support and love for them at the National Stadium.
I was only 18 yrs old.

8 years later, I will be back there at the National Stadium cheering for them,
and having the chance yet again to see my fave players in action, LIVE.
Not on TV.
I bought the grandstand lower tickets,
and once agian hope to sit behind the Liverpool dug out
so that I can see them warming up in front of me!

I love Liverpool FC...with all my heart.
Words cant describe how excited I am to be able to see them again.

My only wish now is for my fave player Xabi Alonso so stay behind in Liverpool n not be transferred to Real Madrid.

Alonso, stay please!!!

You'll Never Walk Alone!

When you walk through a storm hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.