Samsonite Black Label Fashionaire Collection

I simply love love love this collection which is inspired by Christina Ricci. I first saw it in the magazines when it was announced in April/May 2007. Didn't think more of it though it has been in the back of my mind. This collection is actually a new take on the original released in the 1960s, with matching accessories to the luggage set.


Then I received a look-alike bag, which is totally not in the collection but with similar prints and the interest is revived. The collection consists of a suitcase, wheeled upright, keyhanger, shoulder bag, scarf, umbrealla, wallet, shopping bag and beauty case.
I so love the scarf too with its purple satin trimming. It is 100% silk and only 200 pieces are produced! Darn!

Features Include:
Leather covered handle.
Sleeve with shoulder strap for easy storage and transporting.
Chrome finishing details on the top, bottom, and handle grip.
Fashionable and colorful Purple detail on the edge.
Dimensions: 34"x4"x4

The umbrella is so pretty, with the pop-art flower prints all around it.

The beauty case(US$315) is out of stock and unlikely to be in production. There are only 2500 pieces made worldwide.

Dimensions L x W x D: 15” x 8” x 11”38cm x 21cm x 28cm
Weight: 4.37lbs. / 1.98kg.



Features:
Elastic loops for bottle organization
Retractable leather top handle
Removable make-up pouch with waterproof liner
Removable toiletry pouch with waterproof liner
Wheeled Upright (US$475) - 600 pieces available worldwide.
Dimensions L x W x D: 15” x 20” x 8”39cm x 55cm x 21cm
Weight: 10lbs. / 4.54kg
Features:
Solid top handle with chromed base
Retractable leather side handle
Zippered panel pocket on front
Zippered ticket pocket on back
Two zippered pockets on interior of front panel
Removable pouch with waterproof liner
Webbed compression straps in main compartment
Bottom grip


They are just so pretty but I would be so hesitant to use the suitcases on commercial flights. Since they are so LE with limited pieces available worldwide, you do worry if they will go missing in the cargo hold. I would only own such expensive luggage when I have my very own charter plane or private jet (i.e. never!) :p


Some things are just meant to be admired and appreciated and enjoyed. Not necessarily to be owned. Maybe that is why the musuems exist, for us commoners to go soak in the richness and beauty of the displayed items.


For more information:
Samsonite Black Label

Dresses I Like

Surfing the web and came across these dresses which I quite like. Not that I will get them but they are nice :)

Tocca black polka dot "Laurentia" dress (U.P US$365.00)
I love the polka dot straps. The little details made it so much prettier and sweeter.




Yoana Barachi polka dot chiffon dress (UP. US$350)
I like the twisted straps and subtle polka dots detailing and the trimmings.


Nicole Miller Handkerchief dress (UP US$355)
The flowy dress looks perfect for a fun day out in the garden or park.
Feel fun and fanciful in this unique dress by Nicole Miller.


Alexia Admor green lace halter dress (UP US$215)
The lace overlay is so pretty, especiallu with the green satin ribbon neck ties and tie belt. A simple sweet pretty dress for me.

Transportation Woes

The cost of living is rising everywhere. It is more expensive in Canada in the months I was living there, especially since the CAD was on par or around the same as USD, yet the same items cost more than in the States.

And in Singapore, I was treated to the news of taxi fares rising (courtesy of TODAY in the plane from Japan to Singapore). I have been back for close to a month now and I noticed the gas is between S$1.90 - S$2.00 a litre. The other impact of rising cost of fuel is the increase of electricity bills. Other increase is flour, cooking oil (ration in effect in Malaysia now), etc but that is another issue.

Transportation. Already it is still a luxury to own a vehicle in Singapore with the road tax, insurance, COE, gas and parking charges etc. Even with a 90% loan on a small car, I believe it will still add to close to S$1k a month to pay for all the necessary (excluding maintenance and unexpected expenses). So that leaves majority of people relying on the public transportation.

Apparently bus fares went up recently in October 2007. It is considered not much as it was a few cents, when compared to Canada but unlike in Canada where a one-way trip is valid for 90 mins including transfers on bus/train/seabus, here it is based on per trip/mode of transport.

The increased taxi fares are the most confusing this time round. And didn't we just have an increase in early 2007?

Effective 17 December 2007, here are the rates for Comfort-Delgro:
Meter Fare
The first 1 kilometre or less
Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric Taxis - $2.80
Hyundai Sonata Taxis - $3.00
Limousine Taxis (Sovereign, Presido, MaxiCab & LimoCab) - $3.20

Every 385 metres thereafter or less up to 10 km - $0.20
Every 330 metres thereafter or less after 10 km - $0.20

Every 45 seconds of waiting or less - $0.20

Booking Fee
Comfort Transportation
Current Booking *
Prime Time
Mondays to Fridays:
7.00am to 9.30am/5.00pm to 11.00pm - $3.50

Non-Prime Time
All other times (including Saturdays, Sundays and all Public Holidays) - $2.50

Advance Booking (at least half an hour in advance) - $5.20

Limousine Taxis
Current Booking * - $8.00
Advance Booking (at least half an hour in advance) - $16.00
*Applicable at the time booking job is confirmed.

City Area Surcharge
Monday - Saturday : 5.00pm to Midnight - $3.00
*Applicable for cab hired within the CBD area and at the time of boarding. Not applicable on Public Holidays and payable on top of the Peak Period Premium.

ERP Charges
Passengers are required to bear the ERP charge shown on the upper display of the In-vehicle Unit. The ERP charge is deducted each time the taxi passes under the ERP gantry.

Peak Period Premium
Monday - Friday : 7.00am to 9.30am/5:00pm to 8:00pm - 35% ofmetered fare
*Not applicable on Public Holidays.

Public Holiday Surcharge
From 6.00pm on the eve of a Public Holiday to Midnight of the day of the Public Holiday*. (ie: the five major public holidays, New Year's Day, first and second of Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali and Chirstmas Day) - $1.00
*Applicable at the time of boarding Where the public holiday falls on a Sunday and the following Monday is a holiday, the Public Holiday surcharge will be payable up to Midnight of Monday.

Late Night Surcharge
Midnight - 5.59am - 50% of metered fare

Others
a. Every trip starting from Changi Airport, Changi Air Freight Centre, Airport Police Station and Airport Logistics Park of Singapore
Friday to Sunday (5.00pm to Midnight) - $5.00
All other times - $3.00

b. Every trip starting from Seletar Airport - $3.00

c. Every trip starting from Singapore Expo Centre - $2.00

d. - A surcharge pegged to the prevailing ERP rate is payable by passengers alighting at Fuji Xerox Towers along Anson Road.

e. A 10% administrative charge on top of total metered fare is applicable for Credit and Charge Card payments. The prevailing GST is chargeable on top of the 10% administrative charge.

f. A $0.30 administrative charge on top of total metered fare is applicable for NETS payment.

That is more or less the gist of the taxi fares structures in Singapore. How convoluted is that? It is never a simple matter of paying according to the meter.

So with this inrease in taxi fares, I have kinda cut down on my use of taxis now (unless absolutely necessary).

So far I have taken taxis maybe 4-6 times since I came back, which is like a record for me now and I have actually taken the last train home (last train at 11:40pm and last bus at 11:15pm - reason why I usually take taxis home as no bus for me when I go out late).

It is around a 30% fare increase on non-peak hours for me. What used to be $6+ trip is now $8+ from Paragon. And with midnight charge, it came to around $18 when previously I could even get back at $10 or max $12 from Orchard. And taxi from Serangoon MRT is now $3.40, up from $2.80 or 3.00. Taxi from Liat Towers is now $10+ compared to $8+.

So yeah, I am so NOT happy with the taxi fare increase. And I thoroughly dislike the way the newspapers always compared the fares in Singapore with places like NY, London, Tokyo, etc where they convert the various countries currencies into Singapore dollars and said how cheap it still is in Singapore. They should do the comparison dollar to dollar and add in the average pay those people get in their home countries.

Again, as usual. Everything is going up, except people's salary (unless you are working in the Singapore government ;p)

Snowstorm 1-2 December 2007

The snowstorm which caused me to be stuck in the apartment for the weekend of 1 - 2 December 2007. It started snowing on 1 Dec morning but it got progressively worse and these are the pics I took on 2 Dec. I just had to get out for a while (no matter what). Cabin fever is totally not fun at all.

But it certainly is lovely to be inside the warm apartment, drinking a mug of hot milo. Only thing missing is a fireplace at JH's apartment :p

Click on pics to enlarge them.
Snow beating down furiously onto the balcony

Thick blanket of snow, covering the cars and pavements


People braving the snow, walking to where, I do not know. Being stuck in the mountains sucked.

See how fat the snowflakes are?

Skiiers!! (Partially blocked by the shrubs)

Another view of the thick snowfall

Better view of the skiiers. Guess it was as good a time to practice cross country skiing?

At the apartment driveway. Totally covered with snow

Trying to capture a clearer view of the snowflake. It is essentially iced raindrop

Driveway round-about of apartment buildings.
Snow on branches
A friend with an over active imagination said the tree branches looked like a couple in the victorian days where the lady wears those pouffy skirt and the man with top hat

The snow reached up to either middle or 1/3 of my calves. That is how heavy the snowfall was. There were many accidents that weekend, including one suffered by a friend. Thankfully she was ok, just bruised by the airbag. Her car slid across the road (icy roads) and hit another car while making a turn or something. Bumper was damaged which activated the airbag. She could still drive the car home slowly as it was nearby and basically it was quite useless to wait for tow truck or call a friend as everyone was stuck too.

As Vancouver's weather never remained sub-zero for long, the snow melted the next day, causing floods and evacuation of some homes living near the waterfront (Howe Sound area, IIRC) and residents living in Coquitlam was advised not to go out unless necessary as the floods were stalling the cars.

Bobbi Brown Shimmerbricks

My humble Bobbi Brown Shimmerbrick Collection. This probably attests to the fact that I still only do purchase makeup items which I will use, and not collect blindly ;p

Close: Rose (my very first SB), Gold, Pink Quartz and Peony

Aren't the shimmerbricks pretty? Besides the primary function as a highlighter, they can be used as a blush or eyeshadow. Somehow shades such as Brownie, Beige, Apricot, Bronze, Pink, Sandstone, Tawny, etc didn't seem to attract me. I am still a "pink flush" girl at heart.

Rose is really lovely, giving a slight rosy cheeks with no fear of looking like a clown. Peony is gorgeous, but it needs to be apply with a light hand as it is very bright. Gold is such a subtle elegant highlighter giving a glow to the face, particularly for dinner dates or functions. Or it can be used for outdoor events.

My latest acquisition is Pink Quartz, another darling. It combines the best of Rose and Gold, giving a soft rose-gold shimmery highlight on the face. Simply stunning. It goes very well with Peony too.

Maxim's Classic Almond Flake

This is my absolute favorite snack/pastry from Hong Kong (and most people know I am not a huge fan of HK at all). The first time I tried it was way back in 2002 when my ex-manager gave me a pack after her trip to Hong Kong.

It was simply divine. The soft flaky pastry puffs topped with slivers of almonds and sugar with a hint of butter. It goes very well with a cup of robust coffee.

The end result is something so delectable that I can just gobble it up in a sitting. Ever since that first encounter in 2002, I never got to taste it again until recently when a girlfriend bought it for me. She remembered I had mentioned this pastry before (must have been years or many months back - that is thoughtfulness/friendship for you). Some things are just indelibly etched in your memory bank.

The closest I had this was from the bakery at T&T Supermarket in Vancouver, Canada but it is definitely different. Maxim's is so much better. This is usually sold out by late afternoon at the bakery store in Hong Kong. It is that good!

First Wedding of 2008

I attended one of the nicest weddings ever last night. Maybe it was the company or the location or just the good hospitality of the couple (Gerald and Anna).

The viva-gang, minus some who are still in Canada and Australia.

A better shot with Gerald, the groom. The last time almost all of us got together was at Wenjian's wedding in 2005.

My good friend and I since Canada days. It is kinda almost standard to see us both at these events. Pity that our crazy work schedules didn't always mesh for us to catch up more often.

The blissfully wedded couple - Anna and Gerald (bad pic)

The plating at Conrad. I love the decor. Very understated elegance and luxury. Nice! Plus it is individual plates, making it easier than the communal big plate of food.

1st course - Appetizer of spring roll, jellyfish, suckling pig skin, duck and salad prawn

2nd course - shark fin soup with crabmeat and chinese cabbage. Rare to have a clear broth instead of the usual starchy concoction.

The flower candle stand. I love how candles are used to light up the room. Very soft lighting and the candles burn for the entire evening.

No more food pictures as battery ran out. It was a 9 course dinner. Usual but good food :)

It was a great night, catching up with the old friends from SFU. 3 of us went up to the Presidential Suite and caught up more with Gerald and Anna. The last time we met was in Feb or Mar 2007 when Jason was in town.

Conrad is a pretty good hotel to host a wedding. Central location with only 1 ballroom. 37 tables seemed to be the max. But it is a good size, and each table can seat 12 people. I like that Gerald and Anna actually had the solemnization before the dinner. But it was held a few hours earlier, unlike some friends who had it just before the dinner in front of all the guests.

Bookswap, Anyone?

I guess one of my resolutions (and I so hardly ever make them) is to de-clutter my room. Identifying certain areas, I would want to have less of the followings:

• Books
• Clothes
• Bags
• Shoes
• Makeup

Already, I don't seem to need to buy or spend more now. Maybe being in Canada has made me realized I can survive on that number of clothes. I missed my stash of makeup when I was there (even though I brought along a traincase full) but I could still pare it down to items that I will use more often. Actually those items which I hardly use are from other swaps. Lol.

Books
I try not to buy books as I know I would face this problem. No place to store them after a while. But after several years of random buying, the books have started to accummulate again. I had to give away lots when moving to Singapore from Canada 9 years ago. I usually try to rent books but sometimes I just had to buy as either they are not available at the rental bookstore or I was at the airport departure hall.

Carolyn's bookshelf (alphabetical order by last name):

• Frank W. Abagnale - Catch Me If You Can
• Theresa Alan - Who You Know
• Sherry Argov - Why Men Love Bitches
• Sherry Argov - Why Men Marry Bitches
• Leanne Banks - Footloose
• Jo Barrett - The Men's Guide to the Women's Bathroom
• Judy Brown - She's So Funny
• Francesca Castagnoli - Princess
• Cindy Chupack - The Between Boyfriends Book
• Catherine Coulter - The Courtship
• Catherine Coulter - Mad Jack
• Catherine Coulter - The Deception
• Barbara Delinsky - The Passions of Chelsea Kane
• Susan Donovan - The Kept Woman
• Peter Dorney - Chinese Takeaway
• Johanna Edwards - The Next Big Thing
• Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
• Kathryn Finney - How to be a Budget Fashionista
• Susan Jane Gilman - Kiss My Tiara
• John Grisham - The Rainmaker
• Jane Green - Life Swap
• Jane Green - Straight Talking
• **Kim Gruenenfelder - A Total Waste of Make-up
• **Mireille Guiliano - French Women Don't Get Fat
• Candy Halliday - Your Bed or Mine?
• Lori Herter - Listen Up, Lover
• Elizabeth Hilts - Getting In Touch with your Inner Bitch
• Elizabeth Hilts - The Bitch in the Bedroom
• Liz Ireland - Three Bedrooms in Chelsea
• Alison James - The 10 Women You'll Be Before You're 35
• **Shirley Jump - The Angel Craved Lobster
• **Shirley Jump - The Bachelor Preferred Pastry
• **Shirley Jump - The Bride Wore Chocolate
• **Shirley Jump - The Devil Served Tortellini
• Marian Keyes - Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married
• Marian Keyes - Sushi for Beginners
• **Sophie Kinsella - The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic /Confessions of a Shopaholic
• **Sophie Kinsella - Shopaholic Abroad / Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
• **Sophie Kinsella - Shopaholic Ties the Knot
• **Sophie Kinsella - Shopaholic & Sister
• **Sophie Kinsella - Shopahohic & Baby
• **Sophie Kinsella - Can You Keep a Secret?
• **Sophie Kinsella - The Undomestic Goddess
• Nicholas Koh - My Bowl of Hae Bee Hiam Rice
• Tim LaHaye - Why You Act the Way You Do
• Cara Lockwood - I Did (But I Wouldn't Now)
• Kimberly Llewellyn - Tulle Little, Tulle Late
• Kimberly Llewellyn - The Quest for the Holy Veil
• Julia Llewellyn - Amy's Honeymoon
• Julia London - The Perils of Pursuing a Prince
• Julia London - The Dangers of Deceiving a Viscount
• Julia London - The Hazards of Hunting a Duke
• Whitney Lyles - Always the Bridesmaid
• Clare Nayler - Catching Alice
• Clare Nayler - Love, A User's Guide
• Clare Nayler - Dog Handling
• Judith McNaught - Until You
• Judith McNaught - Whitney, My Love
• Elda Minger - The Dare
• Nisha Minhas - Chappatti or Chips?
• Alexandra Potter - Be Careful What You Wish For
• Amanda Quick - Mischief
• Amanda Quick - With This Ring
• Amanda Quick - I Thee Wed
• Julia Quinn - The Viscount Who Loved Me
• Julia Quinn - The Duke and I
• Julia Quinn - The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever
• **J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• **J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• **J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Akzaban
• **J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• **J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• **J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• **J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Brenda Scott Royce - Monkey Love
• Anne Thomas Soffee - Snake Hips
• Kelley St. John - Real Women Don't Wear Size 2
• Darri Stephens & Megan DeSales - Spooning
• Sarah Strohmeyer - The Cinderella Pact
• Amy Tan - The Hundred Secret Senses
• Denyse Tessensohn - Elvis Lived in Katong: Personal Singapore Eurasiana
• J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit
• J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• Lauren Weisberger - Everyone Worth Knowing
• **Lauren Weisberger - The Devil Wears Prada

Anthology Books:

• American About Town (Jennifer Weiner, Lauren Weisberger, Adriana Trigiani)
• **Secrets of a Perfect Night (Stephanie Laurens, Victoria Alexander, Rachel Gibson)
• **21st Century Goddess (Jessica Adams, Jelena Glisic, Anthea Paul)
• **Lady Whistledown Strikes Back (Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins, Mia Ryan)
• **The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown (Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins, Mia Ryan)
• Playing with Matches (Katherine Greyle, Karen Harbaugh, Sabeeha Johnson, Cathy Yardley)
• Girls' Night Out; Boys' Night In (Jessica Adams, Chris Manby, Fiona Walker)
• **The Lipstick Chronicles book one (Kathryn Shay, Fiona Kelly, Vivian Leiber, Lynn Emery)
• **The Lipstick Chronicles book two (Emily Carmichael, Kathryn Shay, Vivian Leiber)

That is all for now (for chicklit and general fiction), plus the other numerous books on other subject matters. Quite an eclectic selection I have :p

**denotes books I would like to keep

Bangkok Jam / Toastbox

I actually walked to Great World City from Far East Plaza this afternoon. I decided that will be my exercise for the day instead of going to the gym. It didn't take that long but it was a bit warm with the sun beating down. It was about 30mins maximum, not a strenuous exercise at all. Lol. In fact it was only about 15 to 20mins from Borders to Great World City.

I was quite amazed at myself, I think I am so used to walking now after Canada. I walked a lot over in Vancouver, especially along the seawall at Coal Harbour. Even SC commented that I seemed to be dressing down ever since I came back from Canada. Always in casual togs.

I chilled at Toastbox in Great World City. Enjoying iced coffee (it is good!) while reading my book. The mee siam was good too. Tangy rich gravy with fine bee hoon topped with diced dried beancurd, hae bee (dried shrimps) and half a hard boiled egg. The portion is small and it costs $3.20 for that. The bad thing about staying in Toastbox for long is that your clothes will smell of the food. Not ideal.

Met up with Celest later in the afternoon and we had dinner at Bangkok Jam since I have a $15 voucher, AMEX promotion. Bangkok Jam serves a mish mash of food - Thai, Japanese, Western. I have already read reviews of the place and it was not that great though the place was packed. Probably due to the voucher promotion as we saw several tables utilizing the vouchers too. Lol.

We ordered the lobster bisque, fried chicken wings, Khao Soi (crispy noodles in curry with chicken) and beef curry with rice.

Lobster bisque (7.90) - It tasted more like spicy water with prawny flavor. Only the garlic bread is good. Soft fluffy bread. Island Cafe crab bisque is way superior. We didn't even finish the soup.

Fried Chicken Wings ($8.90) - the star of the 4 dishes. It looked like a lot of wings but they actually halved each wing and deep fried individually. Can be convenient as you only have 1 bone each. There are about 6 whole wings in there. It is very nice when warm, so eat it while it is hot. A bit salty for my taste but still crispy good.

Beef curry with rice and achar ($9.90) - The curry is good, very creamy with a hint of sweetness and spice. There are ony 4 small pieces of beef, however the beef is way overcooked. A bit tough to chew. There are a couple of small pieces of carrot and potatoes. The achar is super sour.

Celest ordered this - crispy noodles in curry (khao soi - $10.90). The curry is very sweet, and there is too much yellow noodles (they use mee pok) which absorbed the gravy very quickly making it very rich to finish. I can hardly see the pieces of chicken in the dish. She didn't finish this at all.

So the reviews were pretty accurate. The food is not that fantastic. Ambience and service are good though. The olive fried rice and the fried kway teow ordered by tables around us looked pretty good. The calamari, bentos and fish and chips (also ordered by other tables) didn't look that appetizing.

Sahara in Boat Quay

City Skyline in the background

I met up with a few ex-colleagues for dinner, drinks, shisha, etc on Thursday night. Sahara at Boat Quay was the choice since it had shisha and was near their office.

Service was pretty prompt. A basket of pappadoms was delivered to our table almost immediately even before we ordered any food. The menu was confusing with a mish-mash of items available. From middle eastern arabian food to indian and even western food. That should actually be out first clue that Sahara is a totally tourist spot/trap. The second clue is the exorbitant prices of the food and drinks.


Pappadom and mint sauce

Hummus with naan - not too bad but I had better

Butter chicken ($17) - such a tiny portion. Some arabian style mutton dish on a bed of naan and chopped onions and tomatoes. We also ordered cheese naans and tandoori naans. It took pretty long for the food to arrive. At least 30mins.



The food was pretty alright, decent. While the prices were more for tourists and the location, we figured we were paying for the view etc. It was a lovely breezy evening with no rain, perfect for a night of chilling and just hanging out.

However, I had a problem with the way the billing was done (see receipt above). I didn't see the first bill which apparently we were overcharged for the drinks. So it was changed. The 2nd bill - I noticed the discount given didn't seem right. Sahara participating in AMEX promotion with 20% off food items.

The items in the bill were not labeled clearly. Who would remember/know what is "open food", especially if one had too much of a drink? Good thing we didn't order too many items as it was pretty late by then and we just wanted to move on to the shisha. So calculating the food items, the total should be $60, giving $12 discount at 20%.

We pointed that out to the manager and instead of canceling the previous credit card transaction, he just handed me a $2 note. That would actually mean the 7% GST and 10% service charge would be off, but since it was a small issue, I didn't really bother quibbling over it. After signing and everything, I noticed that the service charge and GST were actually based on the original total, not on the discounted total.

Now, I never really noticed how it was supposed to be charged/calculated in other restaurants which had such promotions/discounts, but I would have thought those charges would be on the after discounted price?

Anyway, I would not recommend Sahara to those who like Indian food. Frankly there are so many other places which are much better, either in price or ambience and service. Shahi Maharaja at Raffles City is one. Delhi Restaurant in Little India is another.

What Birth Month (February) Means

I just installed this app and this is what it has to say of those born in February:

February
Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

How true is that? I think it is probably 85% accurate, huh?

Lyrics - You Are My All in All

Lyrics
You are my strength when I am weak
you are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking you like a precious jewel
Lord to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus lamb of God
Holy is your name (2x)

Taking my cross my sin my shame
raising again I praise your name
you are my all in all
When I fall down you pick me up
when I run dry you fill my cup
You are my all in all

***********************************
One of my favorite worship songs which I had not listened to in a long time now.

Awesome 2008

It is the new year. 2008. My new maxim for 2008 is for it to be awesome. I do not know how but I know it is going to be. I just have to trust in God that He will make it so.

Even though 2007 has not been smooth sailing for me, somehow I didn't feel it was that bad. 2007 is the year where I learnt and experienced a lot. Maybe I am getting older and feeling more assured. After all, I have hit the big 3-0. Suddenly what seemed important in your teens and 20s do not matter so much after all. There is the bigger picture you see, a calm in your life.

I ushered in 2007 with male strippers (yes, you read it right :p) at a friend's house party. Females only. Then it was filled with the usual flus, colds, sprained ankle, office politics, impossible clients, stressful deadlines, work pressure, relationships confusion, joy, laughter, friendships, etc.

Then the unthinkable - taking an extended break. On a sabbatical. Re-think about life and what is important. What have I lose track of while joining the others in the rat race (not that I am always in there) or being on the non-stop quest for the "next big thing".

That was a relevation. So while I do not know what 2008 will bring for me. One thing I know, it is going to be awesome because I am going to hand it all in His hands, come what may.

So I ended 2007 with a bang. Literally! Fireworks! I went to Clarke Quay with SC. Dinner at Tom Ton in Central as Cafe Iguana (my fave restaurant) was full house. Pretty good tonkatsu. Then the countdown at the main arena. We decided to do the countdown there since the line for The Pump Room was very long.

So yes, I actually went out, squeezing in with other strangers, bringing in 2008. I have not done that in many years now. It was always staying home or house parties.

Clarke Quay is still very bad for getting a taxi. Long snaking lines even at 3am at the taxi stand. I think I will still stick to my Orchard Road in future :)

Have an AWESOME 2008, everyone!