The longest 3 and a half hour plane ride

Never have I thought that someday I would feel so much anticipation in going back to Singapore from Manila.

Many times I have said that I will never have a Singaporean boyfriend.

But just one look at the man waiting there for me was enough reason to smile at all the ironies of my life.

Fate indeed has its funny way of twisting things. I love it! ;)

Chasing a volcano

It's unbelievable how one of the most violent and disruptive eruptions could create this amazing beauty, huh?

Mount Pinatubo's crater lake
Zambales, Philippines

Trekking for this paradise was one super great experience! Highly recommended! ;)



***
Read more about the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 here.

Monkey playing drums

They say that the way to a man's heart is thru his stomach.

I say: the way to a woman's heart is thru laughter.

:)

Today's laughter was brought to you by: Yes Man starring Jim Carrey. Ahhh, I love this guy. ;)

My first Zoukout

Was a fantastic night, with the full moon up, the music, the sand, the fireworks and the company of people you enjoy being with.

****

Zoukout is an annual beach party event in Singapore held sometime during December. It started 3 years ago as a big new year's eve party in Siloso beach in Sentosa Island of Singapore and I guess due its success, they made it a regular event.

I can only offer my prayers

Right now, I don't think there would be any words of consolation that one can offer to two of my good friends who lost their first baby just one week before he was due to see the world.

And so I can only offer my prayers to them, that they may be strong in this faith shaking moment.

I am deeply shocked and sad about this. I myself could not understand why things could be so ironic. And I thought it was actually another one of my answered prayers, because I remember that one time in the cab last year when we talked about their longing to have a child, which for years they had been trying to have. I told them to keep their hope and faith, that in the right time it will happen. I prayed for them, for God to grant them their wish. And what joy I had when I learned a few months later that they were finally expecting a baby...

But there are things which are beyond our comprehension. I still do believe there is a reason for everything, for all our challenges, no matter how faith shaking.

I wish I could give comfort to them. But for right now, I think that the best thing to give are silent prayers.

Blessed be.

Tennis and beer

Ok, I'm gonna try something new -- I am going to write something right now, when I am a bit tipsy from having some beer with my good friends, my tennis buddies Chris, Janine and Sherrie.

So tonight we had our last tennis match for this year. We had been playing doubles for a couple of months now, with Janine and Chris playing together against me and Sherrie. Janine and Chris are a couple from Germany who are here in Singapore for study. Next week they would be going on their holidays in Australia then they'd be back in Singapore and will be here until the end of February next year, and then they return back to Germany. They used to be my neighbors too until they moved out last month. Sherrie is my Singaporean neighbor, whom I play tennis with during our tennis lessons until we decided to play singles on our own once a week and then another day once a week with Chris and Janine.

Anyhoo, going back to beer, so tonight we decided to switch partners. I played with Chris and Sherrie played with Janine. Chris and I won the first round: 6-4. On the second round, it was a tie at 6-6 and we didn't have enough time to do a tie breaker. Then we went to a nearby hawker to have some beer and oh boy, I don't know if it is because it was Tiger beer, or if it was because I have not had beer for about month, or if it was because I was tired from tennis, but I cannot believe that a couple mugs of beer would make me this tipsy. Yikes. I don't even know how I am going to take a shower now. All I want to do is to just lie down on my bed and sleep. But nope, not with my sweaty tennis clothes on so I have to go and get that shower.

Ok, I think so far I am still making sense, right? This would really be interesting to read tomorrow, when I am all sobered up and in my senses. Well, I am not really drunk drunk, just what I said, I'm just tipsy, hehehe. You know, there's this famous Filipino writer in the Philippines, Nick Joaquin, who can write his masterpieces when he is drunk. Maybe I could try to be his female version? hehehe.

Anyways, I just want to say that this was such a good night and I am just so happy to have my tennis buddies, they are such a joy to be with. It is just funny to discover that this is the effect of beer on me after tennis.

That's it.

hehe. :P

Will you take a chance?

On yellow and purple roses that say:

"I want to be your favorite hello and your hardest goodbye"?

I need blueberry cheesecake

Right now.

Badly needed.

Please, please, please, I need a blueberry cheesecake.

The Happy Long Weekend

Was brought to you by:

Bellini Grande
McDonald's
Sizzler
TCC
Geylang
Raffles Place
Boat Quay
Harry's
and McDonald's (again)


Yes, let's just be fluffy! woot! ;)

The little black dress

I think there's this little black dress which every woman should have. The one which makes her feel sexy and confident about her look. And I found mine (although it's not so little really) :) Then I also found the perfect belt to match it with and voila! I got the perfect outfit! I wore it to work today and a number of my lady colleagues gave me compliments, they loved my belt most especially. I love it too!

And the great thing about it is that I even got the dress for a good price, quite half the usual price for a dress here.

Dress: Tom & Stephanie department store at West Mall in Bukit Batok, Singapore (S$30)
Belt: Reds boutique at West Mall in Bukit Batok, Singapore (S$49)

(Yeah, the belt is even more expensive than the dress! Haha :P )

Since the belt was already sparkling with glass, the accessories/jewelries shoud not be sparkly too so I just wore pearl stud earrings, I didn't wear any necklace and bracelet.

For the shoes, plain black high heeled sandals were the best match. ;)

Allez! Allez! Allez!

Félicitations à moi! (Congratulations to me!)
Pourqoui? (Why?)
Parce que aujourd'hui, j'ai suivi ma classe française, pour toutes le trois heurs! (Because today, I attended my french class, for all the 3 hours!)
~~~~~~

Yes, I've resumed having my french lessons 6 weeks ago. It was not easy to do it, because I've stopped for months and I had a lot to catch up, (although I did still read all these french emails everyday at work). Plus, the very important factor that it adds to my frustration at work because I feel like it is an extension of my work hours so I've never been that enthusiastic about learning it. Three consecutive hours of lessons one day of each week can be very heavy, I tell you.

Anyhoo, I'm just very glad that I got myself to go to class today. I've actually missed the past two classes already because I was able to find some "good" excuses - I was a bit not feeling well the two weeks ago and last week I just felt like I've had too much of the french for that day and I couldn't take in some more. In my homework, here's what I even wrote down:

Quels sont vos désirs ou vos projets? (What are your desires or projects?)

Je voudrais quitter mon travail et étre écrivaine. (I would like to quit my job and become a writer.)

And I was sooo tempted to skip it again today but then I knew that if I don't attend today's class, I would most probably skip the rest of the remaining 3 lessons altogether. Oh la la! Ce n'est pas acceptable!

So how's my French now? After having completed my elementary French, well, I am happy to say that I can read fairly well. I can write fairly good but which takes A LOT of effort and I still have to remember to put my adjectives in the right gender form and most of all, remember all my verb conjugations! For my listening comprehension and speaking, well they suck! :( I need to improve here big time.

Oh well, the important thing is that I am learning. I may be slow but I will get there!

Allez!