Hiking at Bukit Timah Hill with the folks.

Met the folks at 9am to go Bukit Timah together. I don't know why, I felt like I was at work. Perhaps it's because of the presence of colleagues and the timing, haa. Kelvin, our senior volunteer came along to join our hike, and we made him demonstrate the intense warm-up while we stayed behind and rested, hehehe...Benjamin, the old man brought along a stool. Can you believe it?Males just love to explore and discover things, don't they. They claimed that they discovered this cave.

I don't know how the idea of kissing the lizard came about, but anyway, we didn't forget about maintaining professionalism- attending to the feelings of the monitor lizard, wahahahahaaa~ Tell me more... It's okay if you don't want to talk about it now, you can always tell me when you're ready...

Aye, Social Work skills aside please. Today is our leave or off days leh. We bought roti prata and brought it up the hill. Thank you Kelvin for carrying the food and SM for buying and carrying the drinks!
Us at the summit, after our late breakfast.

After going down the hill, we wormed around for quite a while before we ate paper steamboat (yes, ate again) at Tiong Bahru Plaza. We didn't do much, but it was a relaxing day given that we were joking and fooling around for the whole day. Thanks for the company!

P/S: Looking forward to the picnic or hiking at Macritchie!

Bread and butter #41 (NTSS Secondary 1 BBQ & School Meeting Sit-in.)

The BBQ was great! Almost the whole class attended, they enjoyed the games, they participated happily in the games, they were very helpful, they listened to instructions, they were enthusiastic... I can still remember how they were like when we first met them. My voice went hoarse immediately when I gave instructions for Fire, Hunter, Squirrel. I would definitely love to take them again next year!

The school meeting I sat in was super intensive, was so different from the meetings I had earlier. I'm so lucky to have seniors guiding me and offering me chances to observe them. Xie xie SM!

Random #16

Feel like blogging, but I have nothing much to say.

Oh anyway, I realised I counted wrongly the number of days left to fulfilling 6 months of Social Work practice! Urgh, so originally I should work for an average of 180 days, and since I have 68 days left now, it means that I have to work for another two months and 8 more days. Makes sense huh.

I felt like fiddling with photos, so I created a Staff Retreat collage as well. So far, I've received very little comments with regards to my collages. I guess my readers are silent readers.

Having a BBQ with my favourite class of the year 2007 tomorrow. The last time we went over to meet them in class, they were cheering super loudly when we arrived. They may be rowdy but aye, we still love them.

Retail Therapy.

I seriously think that I lack bright and colourful clothes. And most of my clothes are rather old. Soooooooo, RETAIL THERAPY! Met up with Yujie and Zhumei for dinner and shopping thereafter. The top looks really cheery! And the necklace reminds me of a good old phrase: good buy, best buy, must buy! Haa, I can transform it into a belt or a bracelet. I can't wait to purchase my yellow, red and hot pink tops!!! Shopping, anyone?

Jia Rui's full month.

I so enjoy observing his every little move, and of course holding and touching his little hands and feet. Eiow, so cute!
Happy full month, little boy!

I don't get it.

Sometimes I really wonder why some people don't bother to think for others, don't bother to spend some time to think before they talk, don't bother to ask how others feel before they do certain things.

I believe that it's not a matter of personality type, it's a matter of effort. Personality type is not a good enough reason, so shut your gap up if you want to convince me that I'm being too sensitive while others are being too straightforward.

Bread and butter #40 (Remember the good times.)

"Miss Koh, I never see you eat..."

With that, he handed me a paper plate with 3 hot chicken wings on it.

*

"Sit here leh!"

He waved at me to request that I sit beside him, when normally he'll scramble away when I try to approach him.

*

When I journey with them, they journey with me. =)

Free days.

Took leave last Friday and finally saw a Chinese sinseh for my backache. The sinseh commented that only people who sleep on the floor (no space between body and floor, i.e. even if you sleep on a di-lam -mattress in hokkien- you're still considered sleeping on the floor), and people who are above 30 years old get my kind of backache. Erm, and I'm only 22...

I thought sleeping on a di-lam is fine. Afterall, I've been sleeping on a thick di-lam, not thin one leh. But still, I pestered my mum to get a bed frame, because she has backaches too. So we've got bed frames now! Yay.

Bought this on Friday at Diva for half price! Love the little little charms loads. Mum thinks it's a bit complicated, haha. But I think it looks quaint and beautiful. =)

My Saturday was spent by nua-ing at home after my late morning tuition. Was quite shiok to be doing nothing at home.

Sunday was spent looking for the bed frame, collecting air tickets for my coming trip to Vietnam, buying a glitter art and craft thing, and spending time with my family.

I enjoy staring at Jia Rui's face and simply touching his small little hands and feet. It's especially cute when he refuses to drink water. He'll try all kinds of ways to reject water intake- so stubborn leh, like his father, hahaha. We played mahjong too. Was quite fun to recall all the rules, and more importantly, spend time with my family.

Anyway, I couldn't resist from buying this brown bag I found in Chinatown. I know my mum bought me a black one already, but I love brown!!! (And it's cheap!) I've also made it clear to my mum that I bought this not because I don't like what she bought for me. It is because, I like brown.I took leave today too, for an unknown reason. So I had tuition and tried out the art and craft thing I bought on Sunday. Spent a total of 1.5 hours doing it! Think my kids will spend a longer time than me. I thought of combining two art and craft items in a day, but I don't think I should. It's kind of draining to do so much art and craft in a day.

I am still yearning for shopping...! I just feel like spending money on myself, to make myself feel better. All girls need to pamper themselves once in a while. ;)

22nd Birthday.

10th October:

I asked for vouchers from Peiyi, so that I can go shop for my new bag, and I got these instead...I'm looking forward to messing Theresa's hair and receiving acts of (all kinds of) service from Benjamin! Wee-hoo!
Mum and Xinyi got this bag for me. I've been wanting to get the maroon one, but have been hesitating because it is a new product (therefore no discount) and it is not quite within my budget.

11th October:

Had a dinner with Kelvin, mum and Xinyi. Sometimes the venue doesn't really matter. I wonder if anyone realise that. Here's the birthday present from mum and Xinyi.
Mum said she did not buy the maroon piece, because the buckle was not shiny anymore. Anyway, yeah, new bag! But hor, I might need a new watch and a new pair of shoes to go with this black bag leh. =P

12th October:

I took leave so that I won't feel like I'm torturing myself on my birthday (like last year meh...). Met up with Julia and Weishang for a simple meal at Phin's Steakhouse and some shopping. At first we did not intend to go there. We wanted to go for some Vietnamese food, but were turned off by the service there. At the same time, we did not really want to eat in Hong Kong cafes. So while roaming the streets, we were attracted to the smell of steaks!

The (medium well) steak's really nice, especially with the mushroom sauce! Yums. My first time eating escargots. Don't quite like the garlic taste- think butter would be nicer. My cajun chicken was not too bad, and lastly, the yam sago was heavenly.Must really thank you girls for always being so patient, big-hearted, and thoughtful, and for always being ready to share any joy or woe from my side.

Birthday chocolates from Jane. Thanks girl!

Thank you to Grace, Weishang, Melisa, Lijia, Rachel, Sharifah, Ellen, Shang May, Melody, and Seng Meng too, who sent me wishes via sms. =)

Bread and butter #39 (Bessey's 50th birthday!)

It's Bessey's 50th birthday tomorrow and I wanted to do something heartwarming for her, so I decided to bake! Not as if I know how to bake well... haha... I burned my fingers lor. So painful!

First batch:I added too much water and the muffin was soggy! =S

Second batch:I forgot that I do not need to fill the cups completely with the muffin mixture... it was supposed to be half-filled.

Third batch:Mini muffins shaped into a "50"!

Fourth Batch:So much better-looking, haha.

And the final product...Mini muffins with 5 candles on them!

Ain't the muffins beautiful? Happy birthday, Bessey! =)

Two-week-old baby, Jia Rui.

He's got so many expressions!!!

Was amazed at the natural survival instinct of babies- they cry when they wet themselves, they open their mouth when they're hungry, or they lean towards any kind of nipples, hoping that they are his mum's.

Sunday Brunch at Paulaner.

Was at my beloved Paulaner this late morning with my german friends, to have the Sunday Buffet Brunch! Yums.The food was great. The wasabi for the sashimi was ridiculous- it's almost tasteless! But all in all, I ate quite a lot, and it was all worthwhile. I ate quite a lot of salmon sashimi. =)Albeit we did not interact much (due to the seating arrangement) until the time when we started to take photos.Lovely Oktoberfest decorations.
Notice that we love to pose with the sunflowers? Hee.Looking forward to German Film Festival this coming November. Till then.

P/S: Saw a guy who took loads of sashimi. He filled his whole dessert plate with sashimi, and I don't think that was his only serving of sashimi. Oh gosh.

Bread and butter #38 (SCS CC Staff Retreat 2007!)

Our staff retreat was at Desaru, specially organised by Christine, Benjamin and Melissa. Some unfortunate events happened and we couldn't reach Desaru together as a big group. So, my team, the Amazon girls, a.k.a Raging Fire headed Golden Beach Hotel together with BT, while CQ waited for the rest.

Raging Fire! Sweet on the outside (pink) , and burning on the inside.Can you spot the difference? People always get our agency name wrong. It's Students Care Service lah.Raging Fire having lunch at the hotel. While waiting for our food to arrive, someone suggested to sabotage CQ...

And when explanation doesn't help...

The food standard was above our expectations- the curry was thick and hot, while the ice kacang was simply oh-so-yummy. It was a mixture of conventional ice kacang and chendol. Moreover, it was topped with a scoop of vanilla icecream! After lunch and chilling out, the rest finally arrived with bibs on them and called themselves the Bib Bib team. We greeted them with our Burn Them Down cheer, wahahahaha... It was an interesting contrast- one team was raging with fire and violence while the other team hoped to win everyone over with their seeming innocence.
SM being nosy and aunty, and his fellow team mate captured the moment.
Before the games: Bib Bib V.S. Raging Fire.

We played loads of games, ran around a lot, laughed out loud a lot, screamed a lot, and surprisingly, we still had energy in the evening. Below are some of the beautiful photos captured by CQ... =) The Bib Bib team looks cute and gentle on the outside, but violent on the inside lor. Our team lost badly for the shooting game... haha... Us soaking in the seawater.Early celebration of October babies' birthdays. Notice the four-tier cake? =P This is what happens when your buddy abandons you for his own life.
Lastly, the roman king and his four concubines!Introducing to all of you, the Gorgeous Girls! I hope we aren't sensationalising anything.Actual early celebration of the October babies' birthdays. The October babies are as follows: Bessey, me, Seok Ai and Christine.Us on buggies- a pleasant surprise prepared by the organising committee. We had to drive our way to the seafood dinner location. There were a few times when the lights went off, and instead of feeling worried, we were more concerned of the bright shining stars we found in the sky, haha... beautiful sight!After we went back, I tried to fiddle around with the buggy. Thanks for all the encouragement, folks. =)

And at night, we played several sessions of Heart Attack, Heart Attack (pig version), and while the rest went off to sleep, the 5 of us started pillow fights, TPs, tried to make each other laugh desperately, and laughed our heads off (or stifled our laughter like nuts) at each other. We ended off with two rounds of super fast Animal Game and a short intimate sharing about work and social work.

Took some more photos the next morning again before we left.Thanks so much, SCS folks and organising committee, for the memorable retreat. And thanks to the crazy hunks and babes. Work has been so much fun with you people around. With the burning passion, I believe we will last!