. nostalgia at haw par villa .

A road down memory lane:
Haw Par Villa

The only one of its kind in the world, the formerly called “Tiger Balm Gardens” park was built by elder brother, Aw Boon Haw as a gift to his younger brother, Aw Boon Par. A Chinese-oriented theme park, Haw Par Villa is filled with an array of colourful and intricate Chinese statues and structures that revolve around the Chinese legends, myths, folklore & history. As a gift to the society, Haw Par Villa was constructed not only to preserve Chinese ideology ( mainly from Confucianism ) but also to increase the awareness of such values & stories amongst later generations.

Huts that used to serve as ticket counters, during its peak .

. A glimpse into the mystical world .

A moment to relive the glory days of Haw Par Villa

Model of the dome-shaped mansion, that was unfortunately destroyed in the midst of World War Two.

Exhibition : Famous Tiger Car

Aw Boon Haw was a genius who understood how influential marketing & branding work hand-in-hand, in boasting sales for his business. Used as a marketing gimmick back in the olden days, the Aw brothers would drive around in their ‘Tiger Car’ ( that even “roars to the sounds of a tiger” ) to promote their world-renowned Tiger Balm ointment. Now parked in ‘The Garage’ is a 1925 vintage Buick that is decorated to look like the famous ‘Tiger Car’.

Welcome to “The Ten Courts of Hell “

where the guardians, Ox-Head & Horse-Face, would greet each soul at the entrance. Back in its heyday, there was a slow boat ride that would take visitors through the 10 courts of Hell. Now, it’s back to basics. Walk through it, that’s the only option. Going through the 10 courts of Hell, that used to freak me out when I was still a child. You will be shocked to see that sins such as  ‘Disrespect towards elders’ , ‘Lack of Filial Piety’ , ‘Wastage of Food’, ‘Mis-use of Books’ & ‘Sowing discord amongst family members’ were taken as seriously as that of murder or rape. Commit either of those sins ( according to mythology ) and be prepared for a journey of torture.
Punishments include : Boiled in a volcano pit. Freeze to death. Dismemberment. Having one’s internal organs pulled out from his body. Thrown into a pit of protruding swords/spikes. you get the drift.

Stories that our parents and grandparents would tell us when we were kids, in order to scare us from getting into trouble. What do you think about it – Did those horror story-telling tactics work?

Note: $1 entrance fee applies.

A vivid journey through the 10 courts.
* Warning: Disturbing images

Make A Wish, at the Wishing Pond .

The Tiger Balm Mascot

MK acting as the legendary tiger hero, Wu Song. Nah, failed attempt. Please try again!

What an irony! A replica of The Statue of Liberty spotted in a Chinese-oriented theme park !

Seeing that Haw Par Villa has long been forgotten and banished into the world of non-existence, the both of us went there expecting it to be kinda a “ghost town”. Surprisingly, there was a pretty good turnout on the day that we went ( probably also due to the fact that it was a PH). Mainly tourists, from mainland China or Taiwan. Much love to my partner-in-crime, for always being so game on exploring the corners of this tiny island!  =)

Honestly, it’s quite upsetting to know that there are many people out there who feel that the place is out-dated & boring, and would thus want the park to be demolished  in order to make space for other developments. Probably, an additional condominium or shopping mall (  Have you seen the number of upcoming malls that we’ll soon have in Orchard? Oversupply of malls man. Such a concrete jungle!  ).  * rolls eyes *  Sure, there is no denying that the park is in a rather run-down state, but somehow the Old World charm & rustic appearance are what that draws me. At the end of the day, I do hope that Haw Par Villa remains for sentimental reasons; as a form of a permanent reminder of our prided migrants and their efforts in preserving the Chinese mythology & ideology through generations.

Note: Singaporeans’ fav word. FREE entry.

. Puppy Archie playing fetch .

. old friends & new dates .

The MINI motorcars, in all its glory.
Don’t underestimate.
The little car that packs a punch.
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My future mode of transport! Ha.

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♥

A good friend is a connection to life – a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world. ~Lois Wyse

♥

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. 18mths & 2 overseas exchange trips later, the girls meet up for a juicy catch-up session .

2 overseas trips – 1 to Buffalo, USA & the other to France -  later, the 3 of us finally managed to arrange for a suitable time for a great albeit short birthday celebration!  After such a long break, it’s no doubt that the list of talking points was endless. Both Sok & I revel in 1k’s fascinating stories of living in France for a month … somehow, stories of traveling escapades never fail to keep me captivated. Lucky girl stayed in the  region that plays the homage to champagne – the province of La Champagne. Known for its scenic views of rolling countrysides, countless vineyards & greenery, you can probably say that 1k perfected the art of living, even if it’s just temporarily. The fabled land of excellent champagne gave her taste buds a chance to feast on the different bubbly champagne, wine, cheese & bread. An authentic French experience.

A trip to Paris is an absolute must, if anyone were to visit France … expectedly, the glittering  lights & array of Paris monuments await her. Apparently, the stereotype of some of the Parisians being unfriendly/unapproachable to those who can’t speak French remains as the truth (according to 1k). A shopping paradise for all shopaholics, 1k found herself , like many other females, falling into the irresistible lure of designer goods as she signed her card on 2 expensive purchases – 2 Longchamp bags. Why ain’t I surprised?

One thing that we both agreed on, was that we often find ourselves dumbfounded whenever someone asked about our overseas trips. It’s freaking difficult to summarize all the fantastic memories that we had into words, lines & paragraphs.

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Loving the new, low-cut back LBD. Oozes sexiness.

Speaking of overseas exchange trips, Kenneth is the next one to fly to la-la land! Boy here is leading the charming life, 1 that the most of us can only dream of. First pitstop would be UK and he obviously doesn’t plan to do much studying when he’s there. Instead, it’s gonna be Europe on a Budget. The places on his must-visit list include Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain ( someone’s a huge fan of ZARA!!! Party Hard in Ibiza man. ), France ( in time for romantic Christmas. Go get a Winter fling! ) & Germany ( in time for Oktoberfest 2009!!! Be ready for a potbelly lol. ). J.E.A.L.O.U.S.  Come Feb 2010, he’ll be taking another flight to LA for his international competition, where he’s gonna represent Sg. Home to Hollywood, celebrities & paparazzi. Flying all around the world. Life’s unfair.  Hrmph.

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Soaking in the live band music

TGIF. A reprieve from work. The few of us ( excluding ZN, who always can’t make it last min! You’re soooo screwed! Next dinner outing is on your tab. ) chilled at Timbre @ Substation after work. Indulged in the heavenly thin-crusted pizzas – Duck & Spicy Tandoori Chicken – , spicy buffalo wings ( BUFFALO!), Calamari and drinks. A non-stop LAUGHING session. Having seen many working adults who hang out after work at restaurants/bars when I was still in school, I thus grew up with this hope that one day, I can be more than just colleagues with my colleagues. Thought that it would be pretty cool to chill out with colleagues after work & have a ball of fun together. To let our hair down & chat about anything under the sun, other than work please. As such, I gotta count my blessings to have the 5 of them as my fellow MTs … Work Hard, Play Hard.

We have a line of proposed activities – 1st & most important, S & I are gonna force the rest to club with us at Butter soon. In lieu to promote healthier lifestyle & not let work affect our well-being, we talked ( talk only, no guarantee action! Esp when it comes to exercise. ) about getting together to cycle and play a game of badminton where the GUYS will face-off with the GIRLS. V even suggested that we start training for 5kmn-10km runs, so that we can participate in runs together ( like the Nike Human Race or SC Run )… ERM, aiyayayah. Not so sure about that lol. However, Im ALOT more interested about us heading to Bintan for a short vacation. Seeing that there might be a change of plans in our work schedule, that might not be feasible now. :/ Yes, Im desperate to travel. Needs of A Desperado.

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Ministry of Food Addicts

Sat was spent with my SIM darlings. Unfortunately, dark clouds & heavy downpour spoiled our initial plan of spending a sunny day, cycling & exploring Sentosa.   Hence, we stick to the usual long lunch date. Seeing that the bulk of our lives revolve around work, the topic of jobs & work inevitably became the topic of the meal. The no. 1 sub-topic – Work-related Complaints. Theory X Management Style, where the manager has a huge TV screen in his office to keep tab of what his employees are doing ( how horrible!!! Where’s the sense of personal privacy or space… Right?). Boredom at work; being given unchallenging tasks to do. Stress and pressure to meet deadlines. Overworked & overtime. Sounds like everyone misses being a student again. Currently, I don’t have much complaints about my job yet … Being a MT allows me to enjoy the honeymoon phase. But as we all know, the stress will definitely set in someday soon. Gotta enjoy the freedom while it lasts.

May I also mention that I ♥♥♥  Jocelyn’s ‘job’ – being a traveler. That girl has since been to Japan ( for a million times! So, if there’s anyone who needs travel tips about Japan, pls find Joc. She’s the Japan expert and speaks fluent Japanese. ) & is heading to China & Taiwan soon. Not wanting to stick to the usual “let’s go have a meal” date, the few of us also suggested a couple of exciting & fun activities for the upcoming months. Lazertron. Adventure Obstacle Course, similar to that in OBS ( where tiny, little Loisa is gonna be our instructor as she’s the only 1 who is certified. Unfortunately for her, all of us have our doubts lol. You can’t even support any of us with the harness system; our weight will shoot you into the skies instead. HAHAHA. ) Cable-ski in Batam ( Flex those arm muscles, babes!) . Let’s make those plans work out, babes! No excuses. Wouldn’t take “NO” for an answer!

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Met up with MK baby after the date with the girls. If you recall, my colleagues & I went crazy over the “Catch A Toy from Sesame Street” machine a month ago. Back then, as much as we wanted to catch a Big Bird toy, luck wasn’t on our side and we found ourselves with 5 Elmos & 1 Cookie Monster. This time round, MK & I got not 1 but 3 tiny big birds ( what an irony! ) and 1 cock-eyed cookie monster disguised as a fish!

The gaming store was ridiculously crowded on a Sat evening … couples, youngsters & a few ah peks ( who obviously look like they spend hrs there each day playing those games. Something which I can never understand. Can’t be the stuff toy prizes, right?? ), spending their money on these machines. We even spotted a couple who won like, 10 or so “My Melody” toys … 10!!! And you would have thought that they would end their winning streak at half a dozen. Sounds like it’s all in the game of cheap thrill, but damm .. those machines are money-suckers. Expensive thrill. I used to think it was stupid and plain silly of people to waste their money away on such novelty … I eat back all my negative opinions of them, for Im finding myself becoming 1 of them. Like a drug addiction.

The novelty of playing a mindless game to win prizes.

Our expensive wins !!!

. nothing better to do? go for a haircut! .

. Where the crowning glory is concerned .
Hair Matters

What’s the deal with women and their hair ? Honestly, as much as I ♥ my crowning glory, I however have to admit that Im a stingy bitch when it comes to hair expenditure. Just the professional trim once every 4-6mths & DIY hair-dye ( yes, im THAT cheapskate! ) are all the hair beauty enhancements that i indulge in. Nevertheless, daily conditioning and bi-weekly DIY hair treatment/mask are essential. Yet, lately the reflection that’s staring back at moi in the mirror is starting to bore me. In other words, Im simply bored & tired of looking at the same old, same old self in the mirror.   It’s a well-known fact that many ladies change their hairstyles at the drop of a hat but Im always an exception to that … in fact, I have been accused of having the same hairstyle since secondary school lol!  Boring Steph. For some women, a change in hairstyle could indicate a change of direction in life and goals … the adding of another dimension to life. Superficial enhancement to make us feel good. Come to think of it, the statement could very well be true … after all, i’ve been feeling as if Im kinda stuck in a rut, temporarily sucked into a world of negativity lately… so perhaps, a slight change to my hair would help in rejuvenating me.

Being a 0% risk-taker when it comes to my tresses, I would say that the only action of “change” that I’ve ever done to my hair so far is to dye it (which is so bloody common). Even then, I often opt for safer choices, such as the different shades of brown or jet black. I once dyed my hair to the shade of reddish-brown ( my SIM friends would know! ), and only to have 1 of my guy friend commenting that it’s an auntie colour! =(    So, you can probably understand the reason behind my apprehension. Here’s the hairstyle that I’ve since forever … the typical long hair with side, sweeping fringe.

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Slight change of look : With Bangs !!!

Nah, unfortunately … Im just not daring enough to do something bombastic like, perm an afro or settle for a short, stylish & tousled hairdo or go all 1920’s with the famous bobbed hairstyle. NOT YET, anyway. Instead, I opted for the safe option of having less heavy bangs. Yea, seems like I just jumped onboard the “bangs” bandwagon. Lack of courage has forbidden me to take a deeper plunge into more drastic changes. Question is, “Am I happy with this new hairdo? ” Frankly, im not quite comfortable with this look yet as it’s been ages since i had fringe like this. To  make up for the awkwardness, I do pin up my short fringe once in awhile to “cushion” the effects.  Oh boy, i better not have any regrets.   One step down, where do I go from here?
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Barely Concealed Narcissism

. quick update .

What’s up during work ?

A bunch of working adults, fresh from university, hanging out at the arcade in-between meetings. I call it a case of ‘deprived childhood’ lol… somehow, the arcade managed to work its magic in making us re-live those worry-free days that we had as a child. Our new addiction to those “catch-a-toy” machine!

Where Serene kicked Jingwei’s ass in a game of air hockey!

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Fugitives Fleurs

@ the Gallery

Event Details: The artist explores the floral fragment as a vector of emotion, time and identity. In her images, she tries to capture the emotions and impressions of that moment, rather than the sense of its loss. Photographing her subjects at the peak of their beauty, her pictures evoke a poignancy relating to the transient yet cyclical nature of life.
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Something to share: ” Lyrical Memoirs: A Kernel of poetic detachments”
. By Ho. Leng & written by Fezz Hoo .

“I like sitting by the car window while travelling on the road. Every sight is like a moving image. There is something about driving a long country highway, where you can see the clear skies, vast landscapes, roaming wild animals and urban freeways; as if the earth stops turning the way it is supposed to – that releases me. Anything passes by – stops the inertia for an instant. For a moment, a space, a breath, I am not responsible. This is pure escapism, just watching by the window and feeling the subtle vibration of the engine rattles through my legs. I’d felt like a child again. Whenever the landmark changes, I see a different scene, and it spurs my mood. Sometimes I feel momentarily detached when a scene brings back memories of despair, other times anticipating for the unexpected. Like a wanting to experience of what comes next after the horizon – like keep going forward. Keep moving on.”

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Dinner @ Tampop, Liang Court

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Pink Dolphin Charity Heritage Walk

It was one of the rare moments when I felt like moving my ass & waking up early on a Sun morning … and so, off we went for the Charity Heritage Walk, organized by Yeo’s. Taking a short walk along the Singapore River & across several bridges ( Elgin, Read & Ord ), we were also briefed on the stories behind the historically-rich area surrounding Clarke Quay. As you probably know, Clarke Quay was never the bustling, fashionable nightspot that it is nowadays. About more than a decade ago, it was a touristy spot that was a hit amongst many people with its many souvenir & antique shops as well as, weekly flea market. I could even vaguely remember being thrilled at taking the Disney-style water-based ride, called the Clarke Quay Adventure. Sounds familiar? If Im not mistaken, there were VERY FEW rides like this back in my childhood days ( old already sia! ) … The only other exciting rides ( that I can recall ) were  probably both the Flume Ride & Slow Boat through the ‘10 Courts of Hell’ at Haw Par Villa ( used to love to visit both HPV & the now-defunct Tangs Dynasty). Speaking of which, I just got an idea of where to head to for our next wkend destination!

. Vanishing Trades .

So blessed to have a lover who shares the same interest in trying out different activities. =)
. Times of Our Life, Together.

Jump. Jump. JUMP !!!
Look at my constipated facial expression & shitting position.
Super un-glamorous.

A walk around the estate with 2 of my darlings, on a lazy weekend afternoon. Finding beauty in a simple luxury. That’s Archie’s BFF in the first pic – a tiny chihuahua. Probably, the only dog that doesn’t bark at Archie upon first sight … so frankly, Archie doesn’t have much of a chance to choose his doggy pals.

A love affair with my beloved Archie.

lemmings

. lemmings .
pretty floral things.

. things that make me smile .

“Do not ask to have your life’s load lightened;

ask for courage to endure.

Do not ask for fulfillment in all your life;

ask for patience to accept frustration.

Do not ask for perfection in all you do;

ask for the wisdom not to repeat mistakes.

And finally do not ask for more before saying “Thank you”

for what you have already received.”

- Unknown -

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Small, Little Things that make me Smile

“Archie, 4 months ago”

The tiny bundle of joy that unexpectedly came into our lives. The boy that made 2 young adults who were just about to start working officially to re-evaluate their decision of not having a dog. The boy that opened my mind, to finally understand that mongrels are no less inferior than pedigrees … and also, my heart, to fall in love with mongrels and truly feel the joy of having a doggy companion. Many have said that Archie is indeed very fortunate to have us, for there are so many abandoned dogs out there that need shelter and love. Yet, if I were to think about it, there is no denying that we have been so blessed to have Archie.

“Archie, Today”

4 months later, Archie is now the “baby” of the family. The boy that brought about as much laughter, as he did with headaches. Taking care of a boisterous puppy is no walk in the park … just look at the amount of chew toys that he managed to destroy. Usually, within days. Oh, did I also fail to mention that he ran off TWICE, with my undergarments ( torn beyond recognition) in his mouth? Or, the once beautiful garden that now looks like a barren desert because he once had an addiction to digging the soil ?

Am now scouting around for good doggy training school, where we can enroll Archie in Basic Obedience Course. So far, Archie’s been fabulous with people, a people-dog! Unfortunately, that can’t be exactly said about fellow dogs though.. somehow, he has the tendency to get overly-excited or friendly and would start barking at them. In turn, it’s undeniable that most dog owners would be apprehensive about allowing Archie to get close to their dogs, for fear that he might be aggressive.     So, that’s something that we have to work on. Next phase, Doggy training!

Nevertheless, the happiness that he brought to us is so much more significant. My granny just told me stories where Archie would constantly touched her with his paws and nudged her elbow with his head, just so that he can get her to pat him on his head. As you can probably tell, it doesn’t take much to make Archie a happy dog ;  just a simple gesture like this will suffice. It’s also delightful to see that in spite of the incessant complaints from both my granny & dad, that they still pamper Archie whenever possible. I have personally seen my granny sneakily feeding Archie treats whenever he throws her the irresistible puppy doe-eyed expressions! Oh, the puppy eyes! On top of that, she never fails to fill me with stories about how naughty ( but affectionate) Archie is, whenever I come home after a day of work. Beginning to experience what’s only the start of a lifetime of happiness with a doggy companion!

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http://homelessinseletar.blogspot.com/

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One of the simplest yet greatest joy in life is to wake up each morning,
and know that despite the past day’s problems,
that today is a brand new day.

With each morning, comes a fresh start.
The beginning of a day that determines either a    or   on your face.

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Dusk falls. Headlights of vehicles. Heavy on-going traffic that zoomed past.
Glaring headlights. All in a blur. Empty streets dotted with brightly-lit street lamps.
Not a sight of a single soul. Twilight. End of a day.

. 20 months! .

♥  Hitting the 20th Month ♥

to love & to be loved