Been doing alot of online shopping via amazon.com to get textbks at a much cheaper price cz honestly, if you know how much textbooks cost on-campus in US … you’ll faint. It’s unfortunately, ridiculously expensive   All I can do now is to pray that the books will be delivered safely and in time for my following classes.

Ginnie just informed me that my whole family (parents and grandma included) reads the blog so as to be kept updated of everything that’s been going on for me.

ps: visit http://seaofshoes.com/ for quirky fashion styles! and Oh-So-Fabulous shoes!!
i love how she’s able to come up with such fashionable outfits so effortlessly lol.

all images below credited to seaofshoes.com

2 weeks gone. Life here is pretty different as compared to back home. It’s all about making an effort to step out of the comfort zone, the comfortable personal bubble of being surrounded by great friends and the usual activities. However, just like almost anywhere else, people tend to stick to others whom they feel comfortable with so it’s inevitable that we see many communities hanging out with mainly their own. Chinese. Indians. Koreans. Japanese. Americans. It’s not as easy to break into the cliques … probably, ‘time’ is the key to forging better bonds. That, and the ‘willingness to initiate and be pro-active’. So far, it’s been alright … taking it a step at a time, managed to befriend a few Americans, Japanese & Chinese (mainly hostel floor-mates) .. a couple of “bonding/get-to-know-you” sessions but with movies/books (rmr sweet valley lol!) portraying the excitement that university brings forth.. you cant help but wonder if that’s just a glam portrayal and in reality, it isnt what it seems.

Talking to a couple of the Americans, you’ll realise too that their individualistic society has made many of them alot more independant than Asians. To many of them, they prefer to stay on their own after graduating from high school. Some even worked throughout their undergraduate years to pay off college tuition fees. The great sense of achievement. In Singapore, we’ll still see many working adults who (I’ll probably guilty of that for awhile too. Im not gonna deny that. ) live with their parents … but what’s worst is that some still do take allowances from their parents despite working (be it extra income or supplementary credit cards). That is despised by many over here. I know it’s easy to be dependent on our parents for most things but in a way, dont you agree that life is how we want it to be … only we, ourselves, can be responsible for the things we want & do. Off to a good start thus far i guess: purchasing essentials such as bed sheets, grocery, adding a personal touch to styling my own corner, doing laundry, etc . The only other thing that I have yet to do is to cook! lol. Will I or will I never? I have a feeling that it’s gonna be the latter. In any case, im excited with this influx of ’changes’ which hence explains why Im already coming up with interior designs to add the extra glam to my own room back home. A major task considering the fact that the room is super cluttered with junk and rubbish lol. Baby love!!

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A million ‘ I love you’ might have been exchanged but you know, that’s never enough.
Just let me hold you again as you hug me to sleep …
Nobody does it better than you do …
Addicted to You

.New York, New York.

Finally. Some time to upload the pics to the blog! Thanks to Cherlynn for the camera usb cable!  There’re so many pics so I’ll just let the pics do the talking and cease on the writing for this entry.

Welcome to the Big Apple!

. Day 1.

Sight-seeing and attending the “Behind-the-Scenes at NBC Live Studios” tour.

Splendid aerial views over at our hotel.

. Day 2.

Early morning being part of a live audience for the “The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet” ( www.mandjshow.com/ ) . Front-row seats for us both and the topics that the hosts discussed were so relevant: Managing One’s finances during this recession period. Great show and awesome, might persuade my family into attending a live show when they’re over at yr’s end!

Later on, it’s all about amusement parks and fun. Coney Island over at Brooklyn.

Anyone ready for some 360 degrees spin?!? We did!

We tackled the world’s first ever roller coaster to be built – the CYCLONE! I miss the thrill and adrenaline rush of roller-coasters! Anyone up for some roller-coaster adventure soon?!?

.Day 3.

Who goes to NYC without doing some shopping right?
Retail Therapy over at Woodbury Premiere Outlets!

Combination of both Cherlynn’s and my purchases… seems like we got a huge load of stuff right? But honestly, I bought only 6 items including a special gift for someone!

Nine West cowboy boots for only $30 !!! What a bargain, if you might ask!

My most expensive purchase to date. My Kate Spade loves!

.Day 4.

Doing what most tourists would do, some sight-seeing in the fabulous city!

Skyline view of Manhattan

Mdm Tussauds – and… the photo camwhoring session begins! Here’s the selected few, enjoy!

Mdm Tussauds herself - the genius behind all these mesmerizing wax statues.

Central Park, a place of tranquility & peace in the mist of the bustling city.  Frankly, I love that place too! Upper East Side is where all the rich (and i mean, really wealthy!) and famous live at.

Here’s us with our Turkish “Work & Travel” tour guide!

Buffalo, Buffalo, Buffalo !!!
A whole different world compared to NYC.

Apologises for the lack of updates. Promise to update it with pics & more descriptions regarding NYC & Buffalo once Im more settled over here! 
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“When you feel alone, just look at the spaces between your fingers, remember that in those spaces you can see my fingers locked with yours forever.”
.A promise made in Tioman stays true.

.Here in USA.

Just checked the grades for the summer semester and once again, im pretty happy with my results. Improvement in both overall and communication major GPAs so hopfully, i’ll be able to exercise greater self-discipline when Im here to bring it up even higher!   i even have a notepad pasted with ‘3D graduation gown and certification letters’ stickers right at my desk board to motivate me!

It’s a ’stay-in-the-room’ day for me, so will most probably devote some time to re-decorating my corner (black/maroon-red theme), doing misc stuff and surfing the internet (watching Gossip Girl and The Hills. Such chick flick shows, i know! ).

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Quick update!

Close to a week since I left and finally, some time to use the laptop. New York City was awesome – I’ll let the pictures take center stage … But somehow, I can’t seem to find the usb cable for my camera. (it’s either i misplaced it or didn’t bring it along. darn!). So now, stuff unpacked and settled down at UB. Orientation week’s full of different activities and talks for us … international students from all across the globe – Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Indians, Canadians, Malaysians, Africians, well – there’s a reason why UB is known for its wide diversity of races in its student population! My roomie comes from mainland China and she’s such a sweetie. It’s such a huge sigh of relief knowing that I aint  living with some stranger whom I can’t get along well with… so, things looking pretty good  i know that im a little incoherent with my sentence phrasing at the moment but frankly, im quite tired and exhausted. Been feeling alot more sleepy and less energetic ever since flying half-way round the world lol. All that I wanna do now is to snuggle up at the cozy corner in my room ( decorated in red/black theme!) and fall asleep (im such a pig, seriously.) but there’s still laundry & other misc stuff to be done. Im sleepy.

The last post before I head over to the states.
Thanks for all well-wishes!

“The return makes one love the farewell.”
~ Alfred De Musset

.The last 24 hours.

That’s the consequence when you leave everything to the last-min and now, have to cancel the meeting with the gals to do up the last bit of preparation and packing. Packing’s such a chore!

You know how everyone has their own little quirks? Here’s mine! I love to bring some of my little trinkets/charms with me when I travel! It’s not that im superstitious, it’s just that I’d like to believe that these trinkets each works in their own special ways.

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A deck of ‘Something you can do to make someone’s day’ cards. 

My ‘dream-catcher’ which never fails to accompany me for all my overseas trips. Not that it’s that effectively anyways.

Need some luck? I have double doses of luck from the ‘Shamrock’ (3-leaf clover). A necessity for me during examinations lol.

A dose of ‘friendship sparkle’ !

And all the other miscellaneous pendants!

My Love Story: A mini locket of baby & me
Ankh: The Gift of Life
Love Character in Chinese: Amanda darling bought it for me when she was in China!
Angel: Guardian Angel

Just slightly more than 24hours and it’s good-bye Singapore, Welcome NYC!

.The Last Weekend.

With 12th August just a mere few days away, it’s inevitable that my last weekend was spent packing, packing and more packing. And surprise, surprise – Im not quite done with it yet! So, as im writing this post and getting ready for my trip, it suddenly hit upon me that both Abby & Jocelyn had flown off. Eil and JZ’s turn tmr, before mine in 2 days’ time. 
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Look at the astonishing amount of winter clothes that I have! Trust me, that’s ‘A YEAR SUPPLY OF CLOTHES’ that I have there lol ! But nah, Im just selecting a few from that huge pile of ‘borrowed clothes’ lol. Did you really think that Im able to squeeze all of that into my tiny luggage?!

It’s supposed to be end summer over at the States now but a last check with the online weather.com stated that it can get as cold as 13°C over at Buffalo. Sheesh, imagine what it would be like when Nov/Dec approaches (apparently, it averages around - 20°C )!!! Yeeks! Im really starting to freak out that I wouldn’t have enough warm clothes!

A peekapoo pic of baby wearing the winter ‘cap’. !!!

Saturday, Happy National Day!

It’s National Day so that calls for a special celebration – Time for a family BBQ and baby dearest volunteered to be the ‘Chef of the Night’ ! Juls & Camy commented that we look like a ’stay-in & cook/bake’ couple- seems like they got it right this time round lol.

Look, we even had a piece of the ‘National Day Celebration’ over at my place. Yes, the flying of the various planes & helicopters !   Brings back memories of my childhood when my sisters and I would immediately run towards the windows to gaze into the sky to spot the planes whenever we heard the loud, roaring sounds of the engines! Frankly, a habit that I can’t get rid off, even at this age!

Everyone slacks while baby cooks ~

With food in hand, what’s there not to smile about?

Amanda dear loving the camera and giving it her best poses lol.

That’s my parents and amanda indulging in the yummy & hearty feast that we had – beef kebabs, honey-glaze chicken wings, chicken satay, otah, fishball, crabmeat, gigantic tiger prawns, you get the idea! (Too bad, ginnie can’t join us cz she’s off for a durian-tasting party! ). And that’s baby at the back, hard at work being the Chef lol.

Yes, when I say that it’s a family affair – that includes our lovelies too! Here’s Fat Girl as she’s the only 1 that will stay still and post for pics! Typical female’s trait – Photogenic eh?

Food! Everyone was pretty much bloated and bursting after such a heavy and delicious feast. No complains from anyone, good job done Baby Boy. 2 thumbs up!   But I seriously need to hit the gym and lose those extra pounds, yes -im as weight-conscious as any gal would.

And to end off a fabulous day, a piggy-back from the boy!

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Ever been caught in a situation where your credit card debts just seem to keep increasing & spiral out of control and that there’s nth you can do to help salvage the situation? Read “Save Karyn” and have a great laugh over it. A brillant and funny read – that was how I spent half of my national day too – reading! lol.

Here’s the link to her original site, take a look -
http://savekaryn-originalsite.com/

life makes you ponder … …

Ever feel that you are stuck in a rut? That there seems to be something wrong with the current picture despite living a rather perfect life? Or that you feel like you are a confused and lost soul and that life doesn’t seem to make much sense to you? Do you feel that life seems to be nothing but emptiness to you?

Life’s strange at times, isn’t it? Everyone aims to be happy and want to lead a life with purpose, passion & happiness but like what Eve said, ”Contentment is the hardest thing to achieve in this world” . Life is never a pure Shangri-La, never so idyllic and never away from all those flaws that plunge us.

I think for the majority of us – especially living in an increasingly demanding and competitive country like Singapore, we don’t just want to lead an ordinary life – we want something extraordinary, something that allows us to push beyond what we think we can do and further allows us to explore the exciting opportunities that awaits us.

Joan Perry wrote in her book that the ‘Wheel of Life’ consists of 7 key elements: Family, Social, Career, Financial, Mental, Physical & Spiritual and that it is important for each individual to strike a healthy balance across all 7 elements in order to keep herself contented and fulfilled in life.

Will you finally reach that state of bliss and fulfillment knowing that you eventually work your arse off at becoming the high-flying career person that you always wanted to be since young? Maybe, just for a temporary moment but knowing human beings, there will always be other elements in life that will bring us down. Perry believes that while we might not think of such stuff at the point of time of our pursuit, we might however have moments later in life whereby we just wish that we could have devoted more time in pursuing the other factors in life (be it, in a relationship with GOD *religion* or to spend more time exercising and be healthy). After all, we do hear stories from friends’ friends or people whom we know personally who have devoted so much time in their careers or money-making that they eventually die young cz of a certain illness that plunge them. Or how some people lament their lack of love & social life because they spend so much of their time working and becoming successful. We all know of people who seem to lead such perfect and flawless lifestyles (that makes us go WOW! ) but deep down, they’re just like anyone on the streets – like you and me, who have vulnerable moments in our life and imperfections.

Quoted from somewhere, “Life feels like a plate spinner. Work, family, recreation and relationships can involve a blur of responsibilities that all need to be accomplished yesterday.”  It’s true – it’s always easier said than done. Who doesn’t want a balanced lifestyle right? I want, You want, everyone wants too. But it can be a bitch managing life and its priorities when time’s scare and there’s only so much energy that we can utilise each day.

1 simple question – Can we have it all in life?

It was reported once that the people of Bhutan (yes, where Carina Lau and Tony Leung got hitched at) are the happiest people on Earth and it’s often a cliche that sometimes, the happiest people are those who have less complicated life and less expectations in life. I’ve quite a number of friends who prefer to live in laid-back countries such as Australia, Canada or New Zealand any day over Singapore. Should we settle for something less but lead a generally happier life? Or is this just a form of naive idealism? Is there ever a way to achieve that level of contentment in life? Or are most people basically just expecting too much from life and themselves?

* Im feeling great about my life at this moment, but just wanted to pen down my reflection on life.

.The Last Week.

Took a sneaky snap shot of baby boy as he was getting ready for work lol. It’s gonna be months later before I can capture you in a shot like this again …

Tuesday out & about with Claire darling!

You know how girls love their locks? Im no exception and somehow, it seems to be taking me forever to grow my hair to my desired length. Just when it grows to a longer length, I often find myself having to go for a hair-trim to maintain the shape and rid of any dead ends and unfortunately, when that’s done it’s back to square 1 of having slightly shorter hair again. Seriously, how long is it ever gonna take me! Another year? Speaking of hair, there’s a new ‘Vain Beauty’ outlet over at FEP, Bao Shuang and her gals seem to be thriving real well in this ‘hair extensions business’ ! Was telling baby that darn, i shld have foresee that trend and start a business in it!

In fact, the mere few hours with Claire babe didn’t seem enough as we wanted to proceed on with a phone chat following our meeting. I didn’t think anyone would remember much about dates & details but this gal here really amazed me. She could actually recalled the exact date that I flew off to Japan a year ago, something which i frankly couldn’t even rmr lol. Plus that I was feeling unwell prior to leaving. Well well, What can I ever do without you dear?

Thursday: Exam’s done, school’s out and finally, yea it’s time for us to have our well-deserved holidays!

Missing those ‘oh-so-adorable’ shots of the hamsters? Some hamster loving before I head out!

Dustball – still behaving like a little kid despite being a father himself lol!

Baby Runt! Remember then that he was the tiniest of the lot? Well well – he’s all grown up and a big boy now (bigger size than his dad lol !   With his signature, cute little pinky nose.

First up, Camy and Juliet babes at Vivocity !

Looking back, it’s neat to see how our friendships have developed through the years. What started out as mainly a clubbing khaki ( the frequent girly nights’ out at clubs .. the dancing, drinking, dressing up! ) have since evolved to something more substantial and deeper than just pure fun & club. More in-depth talks about things that truly matter and the exchange of different opinions/views. Now that I think about it – I really do have to thank Olivia darl for some of the friends that I made in my life thus far - Juliet, Camy ( The Sex & the City bunch! ), Su and a few others and yes, a particular Mr Teo. Ming Kiat too.

Please allow for some final camera loving times with the babes before the separation.

Look what Juls did specially for me. I always envy people who received friendship collage from their other pals and never did think that I would finally receive it. Now, I can officially say that I have a friendship collage of my very own! As you know, no other ‘purchased’ gift beats (except maybe, a Balenciaga bag! Or a pair of Manolos. Or sth glittering from T&Co. haha, jk. ) a personal handmade gift such as this! It’s gonna be going into my luggage and off to US! Thanks babe

Next up, Swensons for dinner with SIM pals.
* Cherie, Christine, Jane, Jia Zhen, Krystal, Loisa*

The last time that I got to see the girls before heading off to UB and frankly, even though the parting ended off with good-bye waves, big hugs and smiles … it was however a sense of sadness and sorrow that I felt knowing that I wouldn’t get to see them for the next few months. After all, these are friends whom I see almost every weekday for my past 2yrs+ at SIM. The times that we had lunch together, the times we struggled through trying to complete our group projects & assignments, the times we secretly pass notes to one another in class cz the lecture is so darn boring, the times we gossiped and self-entertained ourselves – school wldn’t have been memorable without you guys.

Till we meet again, my dears!

Finally, look what I received in my mail box on a mid wkday! Something from Trixie babe (Lequinte). Handmade clay flower encasted in a 14K gold finish locket. Ah, the feel of old-fashioned romance. Yea, just the perfect charm for me to bring over to US when Im missing the boy!

* last pic credit to lequinte

Time to stop procrastinating and start packing now!