Little amazing efforts

As you probably already know how little innovations just makes our lives a lot better. And I must say the Japanese are really good at such stuff!

I got the chocolate below from a senior at work on V-day. ( I suspected that she chose to brand to support her idol Jang Geun Suk...)


See how the chocolate is only half-wrapped with paper so as not to dirty your fingers but also to save cost and effort to unwrap it?


And strawberry syrup oozing out of it! Love it! It was really good!!

The bestest family ever~

I think I have said this only a million times but I really really love and adore and is also being so loved by my extended family~
Really from my biggest aunt to even my youngest nephew ( who was just borned on 2012/1/21!) I just feel soooo loved and blessed to have them as my family.

So anyway, really grateful to the sudden business trip which made it possible for me to meet them so soon!

So here's my darrlllinnngg nephew Elijah. He's not just his parents' little treasure. He is the little king of the hearts of the Huangs, the Gohs, the Loys, the Fengs, the Bohs!
Babies just have this uncanny ability to make all the funny expressions that makes you go ohhoo!

And the cake my cousin prepared. *touched* although since I was already leaving the next day, it became a farewell cake as well. But trust me, I will be back soon.

Anyway, the gathering was held at the HQ, also called niang-jia ( which is also my house!) cus that was the place my grandmother stayed with my father and my aunt ( her 2 youngest children) till she passed away. So my cousins, uncle and aunts comes to my place to reminisicence about the good old days as evident in the below... which also probably explains why my sentimental father refuses to move whosoever. He wants to remember his mother as well as to keep this place for his sisters and brother to come back to anytime.

There's my brother in the center! The 5 of us can counted as a "batch" since our ages are the closest and we played with each other most since young.

The yellow chair came in a pair but unfortunately my mum threw one away. But still, at least one is still around!

I really think my brother was super cute as a baby. If you are thinking where his big black mole had gone to, he had it removed operationally for health reasons.

The pair borned in the year of sheep and has the most photos taken together! I think they were just funny to tease so they have many funny pictures together!

Tada! That is my family!

The little apple of my eye~

That's my first meeting with my godson, Dylan. I think I almost teared with happiness just being able to meet him so soon cus I wasn't due to be back in Singapore so fast.
SO some of my friends commented that I looked "godma-ly"... I don't know how they come to that conclusion but I take it as a compliment =) I am pleased that he didn't cry nor pee while in my arms. I hope that meant he was comfortable with me carrying him!


And he knows exactly where to look! At 7 weeks, he is the most charming and intelligent baby I have ever met! Ok... I admit that I have not met that many and I am biased..

Love love　♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

The hawaii excitement

So the excitement worn off a little bit now cus it is now time to get down to the details and the preparation part.
Not to mention that my leave is not even officially approved. (My boss is afraid that there will be sudden projects and we will be short-handed) I was really pissed at that though. So does that mean I can never go on planned holidays even though it is my entitlement?? Telling you in advance means giving you time to make contingency plans!

So anyway, all I know now is we are going to spend 3 days in Maui and then another 3 in Honolulu. I have 3 things in my head now that I want to do, 1. Swim with wild dolphins. 2. Climb this mountain to see the stars ( it is part of an optional trip). 3. Shop at the outlet. (everyone tells me they have fabulous shopping!)

But all these things equals money so I really have to prepare myself and my bank account for a bleeding session soon.

That's until April for me now. I got so many people asking me to join them on trips that I really have to reject some! You know how much I love to go to Seoul and if going on leave on money wasn't a consideration at all, you will have me on all of them. But I definitely needa prioritise!

hey there~

I am back from a long hiatus and also lack of ideas for an appropriate title.

Well well.. how has 2012 been so far for all?

I started mine with a small retreat and time to myself at a nice little hotel.
You might be thinking if I really need that since I was already staying by myself.
Er yes... I did...
I needed to get away from my house because each time I am in it, I just reminded of the chores I need to get done, corners I need to clean etc.... I think I have a slight Obessive impulsive disorder with cleaniness?!
To put it in simple terms, I can't simply ignore something that is put out of its usual place or some dirt on the floor. ( but hey, people often complain I don't wash plates clean enough!)
Whatever it is... I had a good time just curling up reading and not having to worry about anything else at home.

Recently I watched the Korean version of "Playful Kiss". It started off as a Japanese manga, became a drama and then there was the Taiwnese remake too.
I really hated the girl at first because she was like so in love with the guy and giving in to his every whim because she just like him too much to be irritated nor replused.
But she gradually grew onto me because I began to see that she is just being herself and trying her best because she really liked him. She didn't throw herself at him ( like many other girls tried to throw themselves literally at the guy). and even resisted the urge (actually a joke by the guy) to sleep with him because she know it wasn't right.
We always say that we should do our best and have no regrets after that. ( even if we fail) So I don't see why it shouldn't be the same for relationships.
Hurts and discouragements are really inevitable in life. So a healthy dose of courage and risk-taking. And thanks to her, I developed a new motto for the year!

ぼろぼろまで頑張ろう！
今年こそ、暴走しちゃうぞ！

Somehow... I feel that I express myself so much better in Japanese nowadays.
It means something like, I will push myself to my limits... This will be a year I will not hold back? (erm I can tell you in Japanese it just means something 10 times more agressive than that in English)

I don't kind of hold back on what I want to do or buy usually. But I want to do "bigger" things this year.. especially with the impending big 3. Each day is so precious! I just like the bimbotic idea of saying, I did this before I was 3X....

So one of the plans I had and is pushing through now is to visit Hawaii!!

Yes! I have finally stopped saying I want to.. and booked my trip there!
Here I come!

P/s: you usually don't get to know what I want to do until I am sure I can achieve it. hee... I don't love failures and I hate it even more when people ask me about it...

Very amused~

I ask this oji-san who is the supervisor for another team if a guy whom he “kicked” out sometime ago can return to his team or not,He send me this as his reply.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

*Carol* it is the oji-san you know. LOL

Impressive Service~

Well good customer service is something really taken for granted in Japan and I must say I have been so spoiled by the excellent service here that I get so irritated everytime I am back in Singapore.

But still, this is something I feel that I must still blog about.

I bought the Irobot (automatic vacuum cleaner) about a year ago and just yesterday I received a mail from them stating that I ( my pet robot actually) am eligible for a free-check-up + maintenance. In the same mail there was a postage label which my (return) and the service centre's address was already filled up. There was also a whole list of phone number of the courier service centres which I can call to arrange for home pick-up. However being the blur me.... I accidentally threw the envelope containing the postage label away. And so I called up the service center meaning to ask for the address of the service centre....

But but... guess what I got in return??

The lady on the phone immediately arranged for pick-up for me with the day and time that I specified and I was spared the trouble of having to fill up another postage label + the hassle to call up the courier service centre too!

While the Japanese can really be INFLEXIBLE at times... But I really appreciate that most of the time, they take effort in trying to think from, the customer's point of view and view customer's satisfaction as their pride.

Oppssss

I realised I have been neglecting this blog for a real long time...

But that it how I am... updating fever comes and goes in waves.

But anyway, I wonder really how many people are still reading this since I have not been udpating regularly and also changing addresses from time to time.

So... if you are reading this, drop me a comment below even if you do not usually do so!

Is it too early (or late already) to review what have I been up to this year?

At the beginning of the year when I was thinking of new resolutions. I came to a conclusion and decided that I will make really simple and achievable goals. Seriously speaking, I have stopped making “unrealistic” goals like losing 40kgs this year since I don’t really even lose close to 4Kg at all.
So, I took it really easy to the extend that I didn’t even bother to write it down at all. But I will say it is always going on in my mind.

The first thing I wanted to do was to get my driving license! Yah I have been pondering over it for a year now because of the costs and the time involved. And obviously language too. Well it is one thing to be conversationally-proficient and totally another when it comes to fields which uses quite a bit of technical terms. But I was assured by most people that though it might be tougher, it is still achievable.
And yes thank God! I managed to get my license within 2.5 months! But really it was altogether another story by itself.
Just really thankful for the support I got from my closest peers (since it was a secret to parents and most people!) Really grateful to them ( you know who you are!) who encouraged me ever so often as I "report" to them almost on a daily basis what I do.

But wait... the other close friends and esp family ( extended incld) whom I didn't tell in advance. It is not because you are not close enough, it is because you are the ONE whom I want to surprise!

Linking to the first goal, the reason I wanted to have a license was because I wanted to bring my parents on an all-expenses paid driving trip to Hokkaido. Which I did too! Managed to drive albeit unsteadily at first… but still managed to get to most places in our itinerary. (could have really done more planning tho!) Was really glad my parents really enjoyed themselves especially at shopping and buying all the fresh and dried seafood.
I think my mum really loves shopping in Japan….
Btw, really highly recommend summer in Hokkaido for old folks. The scenery is great, trip is peaceful and easy ( if you can drive will be even better), food is good and reasonable!

And lastly…

I had my hair cut short!

Finally!!!
I have always wanted to do that for a long time and the shortest I ever tried while saying wanting to cut it short was just shoulder length which my friend M often shakes her head say that is not call short. Well.. I figured even if the cut is bad, if u have hair long enough to tie up, all is still not lost.
So… this summer, with courage from an unknown source I finally did it! And of course M finally gave her approval. =)

Here’s it! How is it??

Planetarium

I am going there tonight!!

http://www.sky-planetarium.com/

Planetairum at Roppongi Hills.. Have never been to a planetarium so I am excited!!
There is a 3D sky walk inside...

must be really beautiful.. i love stars =)