sunday

We sent HDW off today :(


We were chatting on the drive back and I recalled a funny sight in the zoo.


There was a cage with little chicks in the Kids Zone. and directly opposite the cage was..

a KFC restaurant! How convenient!

we're going to the zoo zoo zoo

The last time I stepped into the zoo was some 10 years ago, when I was still in BLGPS.

so cute!

haha! We got HDYang to squeeze the orang utan's nipples

remember this?

Night Safari

Our nth trip to Night Safari. It was extremely packed yesterday, we didn't get to catch the show. Apparently it was full 15 mins before showtime. We had a fun time nonetheless :)

queuing for tickets. 

HDW taught me how to take photos at night without using flash :)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8! Everyone's in the photo!

deers

...

ho di yang..

Happy CNY

Life has been good! Except I miss Bran terribly. It was great to be back in Ipoh & Cameron Highlands, such good food!

 

Driving up to Cameron Highlands

Papa with a Japanese cucumber

Vege..

Look who came to visit!

Fantastic view & weather at the tea plantation.

Just short of a lounge chair.

I'm so glad everyone is in Singapore now. Nothing like being with family. So there! Happy CNY!

recommended good read

I got this book on my way to Hong Kong last Christmas. I have read a couple of New York Times Best Sellers - The Lovely Bones, Thinner, The Notebook in the past months.. but they mostly disappoint. Like Diyang proclaimed when we stepped into Harris, every other book is a NY Times Best Seller. Heh.


Freefall, not a best seller yet, is a highly recommended read if you want a good laugh. It's a brilliantly written memoir of Oran, son of Jack Canfield author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

:)

I am so happy, I'm going to Perth again 3 weeks later! :)

Friday was pretty fruitful. I got the chance to visit Sats Catering on Friday. We took an exclusive tour (it's exclusive now because they do not allow visitors after the food contamination incidents at Prima Deli and Royals) around the production floor. It was an eye-opener for me. We saw how they made pralines in the chocolate room, how they prepared sandwiches in the cold kitchen, how the lady picked salad leaves even though they all look very good already! The smell at the baking center was heavenly! Did you know they make their own sausages too? It was such a cute sight, pop pop pop out comes the sausages from the sausage making machine. The guide also told us each chef fries something like 800 omelettes a day??!! There's a First Class kitchen dedicated to preparing meals for First Class passengers, and ethnic kitchens. The Japanese kitchens were particularly interesting. All the tableware are so pretty.

I saw how much work is put into preparing inflight meals, I will never waste meals onboard again :(

We were treated to a random sampling at lunch. They served us food from CX714. Gosh the food tastes so good on ground! Apparently we lose 30% of our sense of taste when we are 30,000 feet high.

Met up with lela, shimin and huimin in the evening. I am so ashamed to say the last time we met was more than a year ago. And we still laughed over the same old funny incidents which happened during our secondary school days. :) Okay, good luck to you, huimin! You shall end your playing days tonight!

The long weekend in Perth .. 2

Sunday was spent at Fremantle. I heart Fremantle! We went to the much talked about Sunday market. It started to rain when we tried to get to the harbour so we hid in a cafe and fell asleep zzZzzz because it was so warm and cosy inside. :) We had the "original and world's best fish & chips" at Cicerellos. Yum! We took a stroll along the beach.. The sight was beautiful.. the breeze was I have remembered to bring everything Bran asked me to, except for my camera. Photos won't do the place any justice, you have to be there to take in the sheer beauty of Fremantle.

By then, it had already felt like my heart weighed a ton..

We took a slow back to the train station.. and held hands throughout the 40 mins train ride back to Midland.. I couldn't stop crying when I parted with Bran, the next time we meet again could be 3 months later.

I cried when I walked away from Bran, I cried on the train, people were looking but I didn't care.. The cabbie even asked Bran if he wanted to turn back.. I cried my way back to Perth city. Everytime the scene replays in my head tears well up in my eyes.

I stayed in my brother's rented room for the entire Monday. It was simply too cold to get out! It's not that I didn't want to return to Singapore, but the ticket required me to stay in Perth for a minimum of 3 days.. so I earliest flight I could catch was the midnight flight from Perth to Singapore on Tuesday morning.

I was back to work an hour after arriving in Singapore.. It was a bittersweet trip. I could not wait to see Bran again, but I knew I would have to bear with the heartache of parting with him all over again.

How was your weekend?

The long weekend in Perth .. 1

I haven't felt this way for a long time - I am very glad to be home - after being on the go for the past 4 days. Please do not mistaken, I really like to be at home. To the agony of Bran, I like to stay home, especially on weekends :). I've never felt so glad to be back home.

The long weekend was exceptionally fruitful. I have been planning this trip since the beginning of August. When SQ finally launched their Natas fares in mid-August, I must have been one of the first few to grab a ticket to Perth.

The most important task to the trip is done, but it was only the start of many more errands. The most burdensome task of all must be bran's bike - in fact it was my biggest worry. Bran has asked me to bring his beloved bike with me when I go over. I had to collect the bike from bran's brother, contact the bike shop to arrange for packing, contact the airline to ensure sports equipment will be accepted, contact car rental to make sure the bike can fit into the car, and the endless worries about getting the bike to the airport, and how to manage the bike on my own when I arrive in Perth. Mind you, the box measured 140cm x 70cm x 20cm, and weighed 15kg!

At one point I was so upset that I told Bran I didn't want to go to Perth anymore. I still feel very guilty about this.. because we have been looking forward to the weekend together for the longest time.

After one month of anticipation, the day has finally come. Bran's brother, girlf, mom and aunty were very kind to offer to send me to the airport. When they came in Clare's Colt, the box couldn't fit into the car! Let alone fit the 5 of us! Thanks to Shannon's quick thinking, and thankfully Papa was not using the Trajet that night, so we took Papa's car and drove ourselves to the airport.

I could still remember the anxiety and anticipation of meeting Bran again after two months. I was so excited I could not fall asleep :)

I arrived in Perth at 6:15am in the morning. The customs & immigrations took some time, partly because of the bike. When the doors opened, and I saw Bran seated at the waiting area, I couldn't have been happier. I missed him so much!

We drove ourselves to Bullsbrook where Bran's camp is and dropped off his bike. It's nice to know where Bran's workplace is. I like to call that place Hogsmeade, and Bran's camp is Hogwarts. Bran knows I can understand better if he relates everything to Harry Potter, so he has started refering to Bullsbrook as Hogsmeade too :). Speaking of which I'm reminded of the Harry Potter attraction which will open in Orlando next year, but I'll save that for another post!

We spent the entire Saturday in Perth City. We had lunch at Dragon Palace with my brother, (everyone says it's they serve the best Dim Sum there, but honestly I think we have exceeded our sodium intake for the whole month) and we walked around Perth City till 10pm. We bought Bran's favourite ham shavings, walked to the bank of Swan River, and tried to enjoy our ham before the seagulls tried to steal our snack! It got too cold so we walked back to the city. I had an enjoyable evening with Bran at The Shed, it's an alfresco drinking area and there were fire places to keep ourselves warm. Then it was back to Hogsmeade for the night..

Best Wheel Of Fortune Contestant

Hahaha! This video is recommended by Di Yang. If it is endorsed by Di Yang, you can be sure you will enjoy a side -splitting laught. Make sure you watch the whole video, especially at the 6:10 mark.

Doing my best impersonation of "SELF - CLEANING - OVEN!"

(on our way home from social night or in bran's words "officers' wives club induction night")

Me: What is this Turtle soup flavoured ice cream ??!!!
Bran: I bought this to see you laugh

Isn't he sweet.. :)

It is actually Vanilla ice cream with caramel stuff.. you can read from the lid. It tastes quite good, if not for the name of this ice cream. Turtle soup is a major turn off bleargh x

Air Force Service Term Social Night

 

#8 / 98

I’m very proud of you bran :)

Don’t you wish it is Friday night again?
So tomorrow will be the weekends again.

HDW flew back to Perth today. :(

Only the best for you

Here’s my gift to bran. It’s a limited edition Audio Technica ATH-ESW 10.

 

We tried a couple of headphones and Bran eventually decided this set works the best for him, though it set me back by $800.

Only the best for you bran.. :)

We had a really fantastic meal at Wasabi Bistro on v. day. Ben & Judy’s discount card made the meal sweeter. And we watched Valkyrie - our 3rd movie for the month. I bet we did not even watch 3 movies in the theatre for the whole year of 2008.

How was your v. day?

surprise surprise!

 

Delivered to the office by TNT

“To the love of my life, Tung.
Love Bran.”

I didn’t know you could be so romantic bran :)

tadah!! It’s an Apple iPod Nano in my favourite colour!

I am honestly, very surprised and touched. I have not expected an iPod at all because I’m not a music junkie. Thank you very much bran :)

Surprise #2 was from my brother, whom I newly christened Tom because Ben can’t pronounce his name. I shrieked when I saw a Burberry Blue Label Paper Bag on my bed when I came home from school today. It’s a very pretty sling bag! He just came back from Japan today. Thanks loads too!

And I was telling Bran yesterday that I am a blessed girl :)

random

bran: tung, you know i like to wrestle with you.
me: why do you like to wrestle with me?
bran: because you are big and soft. can you wrestle with me?
me: oh! no! i don’t like the description.

 

bran: can i have a subway long foot melt

 

homer and marge are attending a dinner, and homer is contesting which tie to wear.
marge: why don’t you wear a tie which matches the colour of my eyes. –turns away from homer-
homer has forgotten what is the colour of marge’s eyes.
homer: is ‘beautiful’ a colour?

Reunion Dinner 2009

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interns

   presenting rai with 2 packets of tissue!

ms bossy

she’s the GPA 4.0 – all distinctions – no Bs - smarty pants.

i will miss her..

woots! i look so tall here!

the little ones

please stop saying i 重色輕友 ok..
i see you every day but i only get to see bran 2 days a week

…

jade!

melissa!

last week…

.. flew past in a wink of the eye. Hong Kong was freezing cold. Even though I was under shelter in Cathay City throughout my short 23 hours stay, I’ve got 2 frostbites on my fingers.

I’m looking forward to CNY. It’s a good excuse to be gluttony, and I can’t wait for Di Lun and family to visit us again, and the long weekends! ooh.. mandarin oranges, waxed ducks, and walnut cookies!

Many asked if I can / would be celebrating CNY. My diplomatic answer would be, “It would be a humdrum affair this year.”

But deep down, I thought, “why not?” Wouldn’t merrymaking be the way Momma want us to spend CNY?

Bran’s family visiting day – 04 Jan 09

 

…

Bran says “no indecent acts” while he’s in uniform,
that includes holding hands.

from left: aunty winnie, bran, wesley and bran’s momma

Bran’s family

It’s very breezy up there

the bf

This year..

I'm going to make new year resolutions I can keep.

1) Be a couch potato
2) Gain weight

I had a enjoyable date with Bran yesterday :). Our intention for NYE was to stay in Jurong area and be back home by midnight so we can catch the fireworks at Boon Lay. Last year I caught the fireworks right outside my door! Sure beats squeezing among the sticky crowded in town.

We went to JP (I heart the expanded JP) to have dinner and Bran walked over to GV to see if we could catch Twilight. He walked back shaking his head. I half expected it because it was already 8pm. Guess what, Bran suddenly produced 2 tickets to Twilight from behind! I'm pretty touched because he is dead against watching that show; and he has caught it the night before when the officer cadets had an outing in town, though I cannot phantom why they were made to watch that show, probably to learn some gentlemanly manners? heh.. nevertheless I was very pleased with boyf:) the movie was disappointing though.

By the time the movie ended it was already 2345 and we went to mccafe for some beverage. We didn't catch any fireworks this time, but it was still a delightful date with Bran. We hardly get to spend much time together, even on his book out days he rushes to finish his journal entries and I desperately need to catch up with my revision and readings. Much as I hate this sort of schedule even on our "off days", I'm pretty sure the tough going now will be worth it.

Goodbye 2008, you sucked.

Happy new year everyone

heartbroken

It's been 6 weeks since momma passed away, I miss her so much. If you hadn't known until now, please don't say "it's ok", because it's not. Nevertheless I would still like to thank everyone who encouraged and supported me and my family during our bereavement. How are we getting on? It's not the same without her here.

Papa woke me up frantically at 5am and once I grasped what was happening, I held her and said, "Ho Diwei is coming back in 2 days. Aren't you going to watch me get married?" Last week when I was walking along the corridor in school, I suddenly realised she's not going to be at my graduation either.

I love her so much. She took good care of the family and always made sure there was food on the table when we're home. Every morning I would go to her room to greet her, and remind her to eat and rest well before I was off to work. Out of habit I would still walk to her room in the morning, and would be heartbroken when I realised that she's not there anymore.

I can't accept that momma has left us so early. It pains me knowing she won't have the chance to hold her grandchild nor travel the world with dad.

So many thoughts running through my head now. Was she proud of me? Will I be able to take care of my family without her guidance?

I miss her so much

5 Sep: Happy 7th Anniversary!

dinner at bran's favourite outback

super juicy and delicious rib-eye

POP loh!

aww..

heart..
when can i see you again..