First week

Oh wow weee! The first week at work is drawing to a close, and it's been great. I feel thankful to be starting fresh, excited for the opportunities, happy to be out of advertising, and just well, really at a happy place right now.

This week's pretty packed with activities, everyone seems to be in sg, I am quite pooped from running around after work!

Paola's in town, and we have been taking her around, and I am definitely putting my Italian to good use. Tomorrow I am taking her to a musical thing after work at esplanade while Gian is at work, I am excited to show her around!

Yesterday, Sergio was in Singapore- oh gosh! The last time I saw him was in the Netherlands, 10years ago! You can imagine our excitement when we met! I've said it before, and I will say it again, afs has been one the best experience ever, and I have only mum and dad to thank, for having given me this incredible opportunity to see te world and learn about everyone else's cultures. It's just amazing.

Tioman Island, Mar 2012

Tioman was such an amazing trip that I really got to sit down and write about it now before I get too lazy. I have such selective memory that I can completely mentally wipe out big chunks of experiences, and yet to say my memory is bad doesn't really do my brain justice - because I do remember weird things like the dress Ivy was wearing three years ago when we were in Jakarta!

Anyways! Tioman - was everything rolled into one - Sunny! Friendly, relaxing, beautiful, incredible. Simple. Memorable. We went with not much expectations, just that we wanted a quick getaway. 

Redang was closed for the monsoon still then (its open now!), so Tioman seemed like the second best option. The kick-ass chalet resort thing we wanted was fully booked, so we had to settle for a village house thing, which actually in pictures, seemed pretty cosy. But I was a teeny apprehensive when I read reviews ranging from being noisy, to run down, to infested with bed bugs! 

Still, we were adamant to make it work. 

And, guess what, it did!  We were given a sea-view chalet, right next to the sweetest most talkative Finish couple. Then, the Sun god blessed us with days and days of sun. And breeze to go with it. That, and Salang beach is such a cosy retreat - a quaint Malay fishing/ tourist village. The locals were so simple, and happy that it truly made our stay. We had the cutest cat at the doorstep which thinks it is a dog: it keeps going on walks with us. The sand was as fine as flour. By the end of the trip, I even had a favourite beach bar, which sat right at the beach front, near the pier - the perfect reading spot during late afternoons.

We were in high spirits - probably from the overdose on Sun and Vitamin Ds, or from the snorkeling, or sea water - we came back burnt right to the butt, but it was oh-so worth it!

Little Somethings From Home

I am feeling a wee sad having to leave kl this afternoon. Never mind, I shall look forward to having dinner with Gian and his mum tonight, yes, Paola's here, and I shall put my Italian to good practice! Si, molto bene!bellissimo!

That, and am about to kick-start a new beginning come this Monday, so I really gotta focus! Think Tony Robbins's cognitive conditioning frameworks!

So here I am now, running around the house, taking pictures of my favourite little items around the house. Two of which are new from my shopping trip with mummy at ikea yesterday.Ah, how I love these precious moments, of time spent with mum!

A pair of giraffes, one a mum and the other a baby, bought by gian and I from last year's cape town for mum, cosy looking floral lampshade, quaint lacy vase and yes, my favourite pair of Frisian clogs from over 10 years ago!

Anyways, I really gotta find time to meet friends when am back.. But it's just that my time is so short here in kl, and i just would rather spend all I have here with my family. I don't want another 10 years to past though before i actually meet up with everyone else!

For now, let's focus on making more moolah!

Everyone should have a muffin

Six years ago when I got muffin, I was a tad worried that I would not be able to love something for that long a time, enough to take care of it for the next 15years.
How wrong I was, and boy, am i glad I took the gamble. Six years on, I am still very much in love with my baby muffin, and sugarbun. Thank god for dogs, for they truly are the best beings on earth.

On the road

So am on the road, back to kl before I start work next week!

Tioman was amazing!! I love it there, so serene and the villagers are such simple people. Gian and I enjoyed every minute of it, and you can tell from our burnt butts, from days spent at the beach and at the sea!

I just need to now upload the photos from my camera but it seems that I hardly have the time!

Anyways i truly enjoyed the trip, and it was quality time spent minus the use of our mobiles, which cut us off from the rest of the world, giving us the much needed time to unwind.

I am so going to take my diving license this year!

Anyways, Monday and Tuesday was spent hanging out with thanh, who's on a business trip from Netherlands, around Singapore. It's always wonderful to have friends visiting from all over, I truly enjoy the diversity!

First sunny day

The first sunny day in two weeks and we are leaving for Tioman!

Can't wait to test try my new camera!

Tioman

Woooohooo my holiday starts.. now!

Bliss!

I am so happy that the handover went by so smoothly, and am about to embark on a new chapter. For every ending there is a brand new beginning, and I can't wait to elevate to greater heights.

For now, Beaches, fishes ... Here i come! Woohoo!

Postcards

I just love snail mails, and recently I received this from Petra on her recent ski trip.

Thank god for my wonderful AFS experience, I wouldn't have met such an amazing family otherwise!

Tomato soup

We were all so lazy today, thanks to the weather, so you can imagine our relief when lunch hour came.

We had a sort of farewell lunch, and while part of me feels sad to close this chapter of my life, I know it's for the best.

First time to east coast

Two more days to our Tioman getaway!

I am excited, I've never been to east coast Malaysia! It's quite silly I know, I've been all over the world, but never to one of the jewels in Malaysia.

Time fly faster, please! Grazie!

Navigating

So am down to my last few days at the agency, and I find myself inspired at work.

I was packing my bags to go home this evening, when I caught sight of the powerpoint slides of the new girl at work.

Impressive. She's so young, and she's never been to university - yet her presentation slides were so impressive. Everything she learnt, all her skills were from her work experience.

See, that is the way to learn. By putting ourselves amongst people much better than us.

As aptly put by Walter Bagehot 'The greatest pleasures in life comes from doing what people say you cannot do'.

And every day, I do watch out for ways to learn and improve my skills set. By constantly putting to rest limiting beliefs, I see myself growing. Small tiny steps, but chartering forward, navigating the rough waters, for sure!

Ok. Now back to writing a little something for Cyn's Kitchen on Wheels!

Homies

I like evenings like tonight, where i come home from work, and everybody is at home, either watching tv or making dinner.

It's fun, when i've to pee real bad, but my housemate's doing a long haul.

I love it to when we make stupid bets on who's breaking up with whom, and who's getting back with whom.

So, yes, life is pretty comfy for now.

The art of wrapping

Quite recently, we've been into wraps. I am pretty certain that I am becoming THE Gordon Ramsay of Wraps.

Really.

So sometimes, I put a whole lot of lettuce, red cabbage and cherry tomatoes. Other times, I use lentils, spinach, mushrooms as fillings. When we get a bit ambitious, we do cook the filling in italian passata with mushrooms and eggplant. On lazy days, I just drizzle with pure virgin olive oil and some salt.

Over the weekend, true to the italian saying that the best pizzas are eaten with fresh figs- we made wraps with figs and pine nuts.

It was sublime.

Weekend gone by

Over the weekend, we dropped by the shelter again, I was excited to see the new puppies!
I was happy to see dusty, apparently, the guy who took him home a couple of weeks before has returned him.

Dusty however, did not seem to mind the rejection, and is delighted to be back with his friends!So we decided to take him for his long weekend walk, only 10mins into the walk- it started to rain heavily. I've never walked under such a heavy downpour before, so it was quite an experience. My walking partner, seemed equally excited by the rain and could be seen jumping up and down in delight at gian's dog.

Post walk, we dropped by the fish shop and bought a couple more plants for the tank!

As a man thinketh, so is he

Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,

And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes

The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,

Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: —

He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:

Environment is but his looking-glass.

Powerful stuff.. this mind.

Group therapy

I would love to run such a cute-sy cafe like this, of my own.

So.. gezellig! With its mismatched chairs, sofa, bar tops.. Very nice indeed!

E giovedì oggi!

E' nuvoloso oggi! Non e bello uscire.
Per fortuna, io sono qui, in ufficio!

Io posso farlo! Si certo!

Ho solo bisogno di imparare 10 frasi di italiani ogni giorno. In dieci giorni, posso parlare 100 frasi!

Si, Certo!

Ho intenzione di imparare l'italiano

Si Si!! With Gian's mum coming to visit Singapore once again in 10 days, I am in a mad frenzy to put my Italian act together.

2 years ago, when I left Rome after a short holiday, I told Paola I would be able to speak to her in Italiano when I see her next. To my credit, I did attempt, it's just that TIME just has its way of stealing time from me! Before I know it, it's been more than 2 years, and my books are getting dusty.

So, Si, io studiato!

I've got it all planned out:
2 Italian books
3 apps
1 itranslator
10 phrases a day (memorize) = in 10 days I would be able to speak Italian! Well, sort of, like..
Buonguorno!
come vai?
Buon apetito!
io ho fame.
Buonanotte!

I can do it! Sì! Posso farlo! Certo!

Project Aqua - Month 1

First month, and we've finally added some tetras, purple harlequins, cherry something something and four ottos to the tank.

We have had a couple of mortalities so far - two ottos died, hence leaving us with just two to clean the tank. One tetra and one cherry died near the filter; we wonder if perhaps they got sucked in and got stuck. Then one harlequin, which really is my favorite of the four types of fishes- decided to pull a kamikaze stunt; we found it a couple of inches outside the tank. I was pretty upset when Gian told me!

On the upside, these guys are real tiny, I can't wait to watch them grow!

Happy Place

On rainy Mondays like today, I'd love to do nothing else but seat here at my happy place, a cafe near my workplace and have a nice cuppa green tea.
Bliss!

Weekend Pasta

We wanted to try something a little bit more fancy than our usual spaghetti or penne.

So we opted for Conchiglioni. Even before cooking it, I thought it looked real yummy, but boy, throw in broccoli, cauliflower and some cabbage- it was the best weekend treat, si si- perfetto!!

A Little Piece of Weekend Heaven

Nothing like a nice hot salt bath to kick-start the week!

Happy birthday vy!

Vy's bday came and went so quickly!

We were all so excited to surprise her that on Friday- the day itself, I was on an all-time high the whole day, I was quite sure I was going to die of a cardiac arrest.

So happy birthday once again dear Vy!

It was great to see Yvonne again, it felt a bit like the old days when nights were long, and we had more stamina to stay up the whole night!