I'm so looking forward to this weekend's trip to Jakarta with my best friends. Finally, a break after weeks of packed work schedule. This trip is specially arranged for dress-fitting. I'll be doing 3 dress fittings for this trip - final fitting of two dresses for my cousin's engagement and wedding and first measurement of one dress for Isadora's wedding in New Zealand! ***excited mode on***

The next trip to look forward to is the 9-days trip back home in June for my cousin's engagement & wedding! I bet I won't feel like coming back to Singapore after this trip, as I'll get to experience my new bedroom in my new house, with my first-ever walk-in wardrobe!!! My dad has been telling me how great it looks, after the interior designer finished up the final touch...oh my...this's really the best trick to attract me back home!

The New Zealand trip in November will be my final trip out of the country this year...another long trip with the girls to look forward to! And with that trip, all my leave this year would have been consumed.

I'm so not looking forward to the rest of the months - busier schedule, turning 26, sitting for GMAT, contemplating about uncertain future, preparing for MBA application, and many more not-so-fun events!

Passing-it-on Project

I had a meaningful Saturday, volunteering in the Passing-it-on bazaar by Trans Family Service Centre, supported by SMRT. It was a bazaar of old clothes/toys/books/bags/shoes, and many more for the needy family.

Look at the young girls' clothes arranged nicely by me...Most of the clothes were still in good quality! and there were many dresses that were so cuteeee....

Under the children section, there were many more sub-sections.

Young Boys Section


Toys Section

The moment the families came down to grab those items, the neatly-piled clothes and toys turned into a big MESS! I shouldn't have arranged it so nicely, I thought...

It really touched me when I saw many mothers ravaging through piles of old clothes, hoping to grab decent piece of clothes for their daughter/son. The younger ones stood still next to their mother, waiting for their mother to put their selected clothes against them for rough measurement. The elder ones would select the clothes that they want themselves. It made me realize that there are so many lucky kids out there (I was one of them), who have the luxury of shopping for clothes in the mall or even branded stores. Look at these kids...this bazaar really made their day! And they were extremely happy to grab so many clothes in a day...just enough to let them have a complete makeover to their wardrobe. And these clothes were not even new...yet they were so happy!

At the end of the bazaar, when all the families have left, we were left with some unwanted items. Look at the unwanted soft toys below..If i were the toy, i would be extremely SAD for not being picked up by any of the kids,haha...It reminded me of the Toy Story!

What can I learn from these families? Life can be tough but be happy with what you have...there are so many people out there who are even at the worse state of their life...yet life still has to go on. Don't complain...be thankful! This is what I always love from doing community service...It made me forget about all the problems that I have and made me realize how fortunate I am!

It was 4pm. I was really tired, my back ached...I had lots of things to settle at work...Staring at my schedule didn't help at all, my calendar's packed till end of this month!

I whatsapp-ed my best friend...

Lyd: "Let's hang out this Friday after work!"
Tes: "What's up? Are you alright? In need of company?"
Lyd: "I'm freaking tired of work!"
Tes: "Me too!!! I feel like running away from here and marry someone! (or 'kawin lari' in Indo)"
Lyd: "Haha, marry a monkey, you mean?"
Tes: "Haaa, i'm more suitable with a 'dragon' than a 'monkey'. Why don't you marry a 'monkey'?"

She was referring to the compatibility, based on Chinese zodiac. I wasn't even thinking of that when I said 'monkey', haha...

The conversation continued...

Lyd: "I have to marry a 'rooster', not 'monkey'! Btw, my younger brother is a 'dragon'. Hahaha..."
Tes: "Haha..out of bound! Eh...my younger brother is a 'rooster'! Born in 1993"
Lyd: "Seriously?!?!?! What a coincidence! Well, maybe that shall be our last resort, haha..."
Tes: "Darling, by the time we resort to our last resort, these young men won't be available anymore!"
Lyd: "Hmmm...that's true! My brother may still be available though,haha..."

That conversation made me smile! We have been friends for 11 years and just from some random conversation, we found out about our brothers' chinese zodiac!

The Best Tau Huay

I have found the best tau huay in the world at Old Airport Road. I first heard about this shop from Channel 8 (I think) quite some time back and totally forgot the shop's name till I saw the longest queue formed right in front of this stall.

Since I was already at Old Airport Road, I die die had to eat this. So we queued and we even planned how many tau huay we should tapao home. After all the planning, queuing for 20 minutes, and building the excitement over this tau huay, the tau huay uncle's daughter raised a sign, which read, "SOLD OUT! Please come back at 8.30pm." :(

I was cursing all the greedy people, who ta pao more than 10 bowls home. I just couldn't believe that it's sold out, as the fridge was still full with bowls of tau huay, and she only managed to clear 1/3 of the queue and all the bowls are sold out???? So impossible!

I was so determined to eat this that I went back to the stall at 8pm after my dinner. Guess what, I had to leave my name, contact number, and number of bowls I would like to order!!!!!! She was holding on to a paper, on which an Excel table was drawn to record this information. She asked us to come back at 8.30 pm. We waited for another 30 minutes for this legendary tau huay!

Before 8.30 pm, a queue started to form in front of this stall. It gets longer and longer...and by the time we made our way there, we saw a sign recently pasted on the fridge, "SOLD OUT! Except for those, who have ordered."

WOW!!! Lucky we ordered man!!!!! The tau huay uncle kept on saying sorry for making us wait for so long...I wanted to tell him, " Not your fault, man!!!...or maybe it's ur Fault for making such a delicious tau huay!" At that time, I didn't know how it tasted. We didn't eat the tau huay there, as the uncle's daughter told us to put in the fridge first, since it's not that cold yet.

$1.50 for a bowl!

When I reached home, I was so impatient. I put it in the Freezer! haha...for a while...and when it's cold enough, I immediately gave it a try. OMG!!! It's the smoothest tau huay I have ever eaten in my entire life...the tau huay literally MELTS in your mouth, that the moment your tongue touches it, it feels like having thick soya bean milk in your mouth instantly!

Well, my description is not so great...but this is TF's reaction, after eating it:
"I'm truly impressed that such simple fare can have a profound impact on my soul. I'm truly humbled by the experience. The taste is equivalent to a taste between clouds and heaven...almost made by deity."

He even said he wanted to buy the whole stall as it's really a money tree! And once you own it, you can get to eat this tau huay for FREE everyday!!!

I totally agree with him and his unusual way of describing it! haha...

I think i'll go back there again to ta pao 20 bowls! I don't care if other people curse me... I'm a Singaporean at heart, remember?

The future of Niners

When the girls meet up, the topic of our conversation will always revolve around what lies ahead of us, how unstable life is, who else in the group is getting engaged or married, who just gave birth, work life, etc.

Tonight, we talked again. I found out that one of us is getting engaged this year and married next year, and that means we'll lose her as she will be going back to Indonesia. Our gang is getting smaller and smaller as time passes by, as many realize that going back to Indonesia is the way to go and not be stuck in this country. It made us think that maybe we should also go back one day. It's really sad that the Singapore chapter, which 40 of us started 11 years ago, has to finally be closed one day.

Those who are still stuck here, with no clear direction, are always in dilemma. We always talk about this dilemma, every time we meet, but there is always no solution. We spent our youths here, we are comfortable with Singapore lifestyle, we feel safe here, many of our friends are here, but this is not our hometown...this is not where we belong...this is not where our family is...this is not where our family wishes us to be in. You wouldn't want to be in our shoes. It sucks not knowing what's next. Sometimes it made us think whether the decision to come to Singapore is the wisest decision ever.

For those who finally decided to close the Singapore chapter, they left mostly because they found someone to marry in Indonesia. Everything's clear...go back home, get married, and settle down there. It's a happy ending for both the family and the newly-wed. For those of us who are still stuck here, we have been wishing to find the right partner, who will decide where our future will be and whether we can still give ourselves another 2-3 years here.

Tonight, I promise the girls that I will still organize gatherings, even though one day all of us may be separated by islands. It's really really sad...we 'grew up' together in this country, away from our family, supporting each other since we were 14/15 years old. Some of us were separated by schools since secondary school, some of us shared same hostels, some were united in the JCs and universities, and yet the bond between us still grows stronger as time passes by. I can't imagine the day I have to leave this country, leaving behind my best friends, and the memories we have crafted together! Maybe Singapore is the perfect reunion spot for all of us. I just wish that one day, we will still be able to meet up to laugh and cry together, even though each one of us already has our own married life to take care of.