Thursday, June 28, 2007
@4:23 AM
Off to Europe
I've been so tied up with work, band and itinerary planning these days that I hardly have the time to exercise and watch tv. Let alone updating my blog. Anyway, I'm flying tonight at about 8 plus! Really excited about it. =) For the past few weeks, I had intensive band and marching practices with NUSWS to prepare for the Band of Festival in Milan. I guess the marching segment is truly a tough one, especially when most of us do not come from military bands. I've to agree that it's easy to march or to play, but never easy to march AND play. Despite the toughness, I enjoyed every marching training cos' I'm learning something new to me. =D
Band aside, I had a wonderful 21st birthday with my family, dear and sincere friends =D Though I didnt hold a loud party, I had a memorable 21st birthday. To me, it is not the gifts and attendanc I'm concerned with, but the heart that counts;
One week prior to my birthday, my pri school friends had already asked me out for a birthday bash. Despite some of their busy schedule, they still make time to celebrate with me. I'm truly touched =D Really thank them for the birthday cake and song they sang for me and the interesting gifts they gave. =)
Two days before my birthday, my family celebrated with me. It was my 21st birthday cum Father's Day celebration, and we had 'in-house' steamboat. Of course, the little 'party' was also accompanied with a chocolate truffle cake that dear managed to get for me. =D
On the actual day itself, it was filled with a day of surprises by dear. The first thing that caught my heart was the bouquet of sunflowers he asked to deliver to my office. =D Something that he's never done before, and I've to confess tt it was truly a plesant surprise. After work, he gave me options of the following to decide our dining place; )1) Comfort. 2) Distance (good food near my house). 3) Comfort + Distance. I chose 3 and we had our dinner at Changi Airport's Popeye. =) We then proceeded to the gallery where he gave me my birthday gifts. One very creative one was the backpack (for the trip), which he carried it all along on that day and I've no idea that it was for me. =D Inside the backpack, I found a cutie debbie bear couple's key-chains in the shoe bag.=P Besides that, I pulled out a sweet Smirk card from one compartment, which says in the front, "What do you give a girl who has everything?" and below it shows a guy stickman cracking his brain on this question, and a girl beside it smiling brightly. It's very cute! When I opened it up, the answer was a big "ME!" What touched me in the card was a photo that he pasted; this shot was taken during a concert, Intempo 07 . He was standing in front of the stage playing solo, and I was just right behind him playing the piece's accompaniment with the band. Then he wrote in his card that this pic signifies me behind his every success and in turn, he will always be my guardian angel. That was really sweet of him! But the highlight of my gift was a photo album that he made for me. I was totally speechless looking through our photos all the way from how we first met till today..with some story lines too. I was so touched that I hugged him after that. Truly appreciate all his efforts to make my 21st birthday memorable. No amount of thank you could express how I feel at that moment. Bliss is the word Icould use to describe. Still, THANK YOU, DEAR!
On top of that, I would also like to thank my colleagues for the birthday card and treat, and also, all those we wished me birthday that day! I'm glad that you guys still remember this day =D
5 days after my birthday, my JC friends whom I've not met for sometime asked me out for birthday cum gathering too =D It was really nice to catch up with them again, and I'm so sorry to my King Zhiming that I didnt get your LV from China! Haha. Though it's just a short meet-up with my friends, I'm still very happy to see that they take time off just to ask me out to pass me my birthday gifts. I really love the gifts especially the hand-made piano card by Rainbow with all the rests' birthday blessings in it. Thank you friends!!!
And today, Xinhui told me that she gonna pass me a birthday gift that she's taken quite long to choose. Wonder what it is, but anyway, thank you too gal! =D
Alright, I gotta do some final packing for the trip. Am so looking forward to it!
Europe, here I come! =P
Yearn for the days of innocence
Thursday, June 07, 2007
@12:30 PM
Back to my home sweet home
Yes, I'm back in Singapore!
Well, actually I returned home last Tuesday and I've been quite busy since.
I started work the very next day. Crazy me! What happened was my past employer from Academy of Medicine contacted me, offering a temp accountant job whenI was in Hangzhou. I was disbelief at my good luck cos' I didnt expect myself to work before my Europe trip. I only have 3 weeks to offer, and coincidentally my supervisor only needs me for the same length of period. Due to my excitement, I readily agreed to start work once I was back to Sg. *oops* BUT it truly feels great to earn some income before going on an expensive tour =D
Sino-Singapore exchange was great! An invaluable experience I've gained besides my shopping bags from retail therapy. Through the widening of my friends' network to China, I learnt about their schooling, hostelling, transport, the different cultures in terms of the way of living, eating etc..As students from 3 universities went for the trip organized by MOE, I also get to know people from NUS and SMU, and made good friends with some of them too!
I strongly recommend those in Uni years to go for exchange like this if you havent gone to any! It is an opportunity not to be missed to explore and experience the diverse cultures overseas; something that one will never find in Singapore. And it's only in Uni years when one can go on a budget tour too. =)
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:28 PM

NTU group in a restaurant in Yunnan University - all of us come from different faculties;
Business, Engineering, Maritime, Communication, Econs, Accountanct
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:27 PM

The four of us sharing the famous 'Cross-bridge noodles' in Yunnan.
It's a very big bowl of noodles!
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:26 PM

In front of a library in Yunnan University.
Look at the long flight of staircase leading up to the library! :s
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:25 PM

Visited one of the tourist attractions in Yunnan - the minority groups
There are 18 minority groups in Yunnan. The lady above is a typical Ming minority
group in her traditional clothes.
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:24 PM

Zhongshan University, Guangzhou
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:23 PM

Our multi-racial performance for Zhongshan University.
This is my 'Chinese' group.
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:22 PM
We visited Meiji Ice Cream Factoryin Guangzhou =)
Daphne(NTU), me and Junjie(SMU)
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:21 PM

Posing with a Doctorate student from Zhongshan University
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:20 PM

=)
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:18 PM

The beauty of Xiamen University=)
One thing I envy about Universities in China - Space; The universities are really
spacious!
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:17 PM

After picking the golf balls from the field opposite Xiamen University=)
Yiqi, me, Manyi (Xiamen), Daphne
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:16 PM

With Xiamen University students=D
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:15 PM

Xiao Lu performed puppet show for us. It was really nice and creative!
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:14 PM
With Zhejiang University students at International Hostel. Btw, Zhejiang is ranked the third best university in China.
Yearn for the days of innocence
@12:13 PM

In our performance dress code taking picture with a China MOE personnel- Fu laoshi
Yearn for the days of innocence
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
@11:29 PM
An artistic photo. Attracted to it at first sight! Looks like a conductor to me =)
Yearn for the days of innocence