大姐大gang outing

We took the oppportunity of the public holiday on Mon to have our outing!=D It was an event specially planned by Wei Juan for Simon who is leaving for NOC very soon.

It was also our 5th month=) So we went to Orchard super early to have our Mac breakfast as promised by Wai Kei=D

As it was still raining quite heavily and we didnt know if we should make our way to Botanic Garden 1st not, so we stayed around until Wei Juan updated us again=)

So by the time we reached Botanic Garden, the rest were already there having their breakfast=)
Though it was raining, we still continued with the plan to walk around=) It was kind of romantic too, everyone was under umbrella=)

We had great fun taking photos!

Finally we took shelter at the stage, free without the need to hold umbrella!

Took photos at the wedding-type-of-scenery haha... With the beautiful yellow trees as background, it was beautiful=D
After that, we headed to Cineleisure for lunch at the food court=D Was feeling super cold already, so I ordered laksa yong tau hu=)

Then it was Wii! Haha.. It was so cool! There's Wii rooms similar to that of Kbox. It was enjoyable! If not for the sudden flu attack, I would have enjoyed it as much as the rest=)

Ate Panadol flu max with warm Milo, started to feel abit better. Must be the late night, early morning, rain, air-con plus a flu-vulnerable me=S

Then we went to Yishun Chong Pang for crab feast as recommended by Wei Juan! It's interesting that 4 couples were sitting on 1 car haha... Luckily Wai Kei's family car is huge=) Everyone was already quite tired so the ride was a good time to rest while looking forward to the feast!

YumX3! Super duper nice dinner! A great way to end our outing!=D

We shall meet up again soon to send Simon off! Enjoy the holidays, esp Wei Juan and Simon!=D

5 days and counting~

It's been 5 days since my last paper!=D

Have been having great fun and lots of activities!=D Whee~ Super pack my holidays to do things that I don't get to do during the hectic sem=)

Day 1 - Wed

Immediately after the energy paper, I went to Tampines to meet up with Wai Kei to buy our 1st 1000 jigsaw puzzle=) We have been planning this for so long~ Haha... We intended to make this our holiday "project".

However, we were just super enthu about it and we ended up finishing it within 1 day! Muahahahahahaha....

In between, we even went to visit ah ma and his cousin who got hospitalized due to some intestinal complications.

We were like "so what are we going to do tomorrow?" We could only laugh at ourselves=D

But it was super duper nice!=D Really love it!

Looking forward to our 2nd one, hopefully before school starts=)

Day 2 - Thurs

I spent the afternoon packing my wardrobe to make space, hopefully for more new clothes=D

Then met up with Wai Kei to buy xmas present for the next day's Katongster (super early) Xmas gathering.

Treated him to NYDC! =D Like once in a blue moon=P

And he showed his appreciation by taking really *shake head* photo of me! Some are really "exclusive"=P

Went to my house to wrap our presents. He wrapped the easier one - my notebook. And I wrapped the small yet not-simple namecard holder.

Day 3 - Fri

Swensen Treat for Leele

Went over to coolX2 de Leele's place for tuition before our lunch treat.

But that girl was enjoying her beauty sleep still and I have no choice but to wait outside. Aiyo~

Luckily I brought along my book=) Waiting time can be useful too=)

FinallyX3~ ater 30min she finally woke up!

Any later and I had to cancel tuition already loh.

Alright, treat for you for achieving the good results as promised=) Even achieved merit bursary *clapX3!* Work harder next year and we shall see if you deserve a koti-tiam treat or something better than this=)

Evening, went over to Wai Kei house, waited for Yan, picked Jason up, then we set off to Katongster Xmas gathering.

Before that, it was a surprise bday celebration for Wei Han. Though he wasnt surprised.

Xmas gift exchange - presents ranging from 10cent to $10. Haha... Most of them range below $5? Haha... But like what Wai Kei said, it's not the present, it's the fun that's important=)

Maybe that's one way to console himself for getting the "biggest" present - tissue paper=D And I gotten a mini Stitch figurine, which someone likes=)

Had lots of fun playing around, attacking, photo-taking, bbq-ing and sabo-ing the bday boy.

1st official meet-up with Katongster was great=D Really fun people=) But I think Im still having difficulties with all the names=S

Day 4 - Sat

Chicken rice lunch with ah ma

Ah Qi tempted ah ma to eat chicken rice during the last visit. Haha... So we promised to have it together, since ah ma was quite sick of the food there already.

Forced ah ma to pose with him and smile loh haha... But it was really worth it to see her smile=D Hope she recovers fully so she dont have to keep staying there=)

Ben & Jerry's Chunk Fest

Whee~ After lunch, we went to Fort Canning Park to meet up with Dawn and Xu Wen for Ben & Jerry's Chunk Fest! =D

12 new flavours from USA!

Once we reached there, we realized we had to be prepared to get our shoes/slippers muddy due to the rain earlier.

And the queue was super duper long! However, we were lucky to have people to entertain us when we just joined the queue. That's really very thoughtful for the organizers to take care of this detail=)

Finally, after waiting for around 45min, it's our turn!=D

Though we didnt get to choose the flavours properly due to the crowd, we got our triple scoops recommended by the staff. I believe all of them are really nice=D

So 4 of us tried 6 flavours or is it 5? Haha... Anyway, it was just yummy!=D Especially the peanut butter flavour one=D Nothing can be sweeter than enjoying Ben & Jerry's ice cream after the long wait=D As expected, we got to clean up our shoes/slippers at Park Mall. Hope the toilet auntie didnt get too shocked especially when she entered the guy's toilet=P

Walked over to PS and we went separate ways, we went to buy slippers and shop around while Dawn and Xu Wen went for dinner before they catch their movie=)
Oh! We saw this at PS! Muahahahaha... We caught this movie the day it was released! It was super hilarious=D Must-watch! Rhino is super duper cute! Muahahahaha...

I realized nobody took photo with Bolt=P But Bolt is much cuter in the movie, so catch it!=D

Day 5 - Sun

Zen Conference & Workshop @ Suntec City Convention Rooms

Woke up really early for a Sun - at 6am, to attend for this conference. There was this small part of me thinking of just sleeping at home and skip this, but Im glad I still attended this=D It was really enriching and to a certain extent, enlightening=D

Didnt really get in touch with Zen before, so this was some sort of introductory course for me=)

From my own interpretation, in short, Zen is simple life. Zen is finding one's original self. Zen is about experiencing it yourself. Zen is about doing meditation, getting detached from externalities such as thinking, emotions.

In Zen, there's no good or bad, Buddha or human being, no in or out, no myself or others. Everyone begins from the same kind of self - the so-called "before-thinking self". Through meditation, we can detach from the thinking that arises and hence find the original self.

Though I still dont understand Zen totally, but it does enrich my Buddhism knowledge=)

I guess, the most basic teaching is to focus on the present and not get attached to past, future, thinking, emotions, good or bad etc. Although they are inevitable, they are also impermanent - they come and they will go.

The conference and workshop was a whole day event from 9am to 5pm. I was glas I managed to persevere till the end. =)

Did sitting and walking meditation, abit rusty alrd, faced difficulties in focusing on breathing, get carried away by the arising thoughts. But it was my 1st experience in walking meditation=)

Get to mingle with the younger and newer BS members and most of them will be joining the Dharma Camp this Tue too=) So I know I'm not alone=)

Looking forward to Dharma Camp and this was definitely a great warm-up to it=D

NYDC Treat to Tessa

Alright, similarly, Tessa has shown improvement in her Maths results so she deserved this treat=D The last one was at Cafe Cartel so here's an upgrade=)

Guess I should set the standards higher so that the goal is much more challenging=P

Okie, I think NYDC at Suntec is so much better than at Bugis, especially for the pasta. It's juicier and with much more cheese=D

Okie Tessa got this weird photography sense, I called it the "cut here or there photography" or "neither here nor there photography". She just dont take me as a whole. But some were really nice and artistic in some sence=D Maybe it does help to make my head looks smaller=P

I also tried her style of photographer=D

Had a great meal, especially one long day at the workshop=D Everyone is so Xmas-y!=D Such a nice festive mood!=D Simply love this time of the year!=D

Day 6 - Mon
大姐大gang outing

Before Simon flies off for NOC, Wei Juan planned this special outing! =D

Cant wait!=D

Got to sleep soon~~~