With all the time in the world AND zero budget

As I woke up today, I thought of how I should spend my holidays now with zero budget (as I'm running low on budget already). Then I attempted to come up with a list of activities for me to do with zero cost. And amazingly I did it (I thought I will get stuck at number 5):) So here's the list for those of you spending your holidays on low budget just like me:)

Top 10 activities that cost $0!

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1. Read. Old books or borrowed books from the library.
   
2. Go out for a jog. Reconnect with nature, build up your stamina, breathe in fresh(er) outdoor air, strengthen your immune system, burn some calories and enjoy some "me" time.
3. Pack your room. You can even re-discover new items, reduce, reuse or recycle them! Green for the environment, good for your soul:) I even found my hand written notes in my secondary school days and the evolution of my handwriting as well!
   
4. Edit photos with free programme like Photoscape. Gain a sense of satisfaction from seeing how you can create different nice effects and transfer a normal photo into pretty ones:) Zero dollar for personalizing your photos:)
5. Have fun with your camera! Just head out to anywhere (even just your neighbourhood) and capture interesting moments which we usually don't notice. You may start to see things from different perspectives too:)
6. Medidate. Nothing to do with anything religious, perhaps except for the fact it is recommended to be done religiously. It is said to boost immune system by preventing our body system from running on an overdrive and as a result creating a greater demand for energy. It also helps to create more self awareness and if done properly can help to promote better breathing (abdominal breathing as compared to chest breathing).
7. Sleep early. Although getting more sleep requires zero cost, it will reap invaluable benefits for our body and beaty:)
8. Watch catch-up TV on xinmsn. Catch up on shows which we miss during our busy times without having to subscribe to anything.
9. Blog. More time to jot down your thoughts and upload tons of photos. :)
10. Let your creativity juice takes over:) I'm sure there are more activities to this list:)

So ending off with edited photos from my holidays:)

POXML Dim Sum lunch cum Lin Yi's 23rd!

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The 主角 for the day - Mr. Dryfit! :) He better uses the BPA-free water bottle which we got for him!

I like this!:) So Singapore~

And the LG hp group. Busy with their gadgets.

Greg&Joan wedding videoshoot!

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The process of video shoot was really sweet and interesting:) Cant wait to see the end product soon:)

PFM Kushin Bo Atas Dinner cum Juan's 24th!

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Happy birthday to Wei Juan! The process of surprise was hilarious as she still have no idea what happened even though the birthday song is played throughout the restaurant.

The bangs gang:)

Ending off with our group photo, missing Hui Fang and Hazel. Hope the flash wasn't too harsh:) Look at all those working adults! How we evolve~ Collected more namecards too! Good to see everyone slowly settling down with their work and for those of us still on holidays, enjoy it while it lasts:)

Alrighty I shall be good and wait patiently for my gst package while I exhaust my top 10 list:)

And the researcher starts work:)

Before Researcher Loke starts work, he brought me to one of my to-go places!:) Quite surprised that he actually remembers:)

Pixar Exhibition

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It was an eye-opener to see how cartoons are actually hand-drawn and then professionally done by media:) Sadly, photography wasn't allowed to protect the integrity of the hard-work of Pixar.

But not too much 3D exhibits though, unlike the Body Worlds which is more interesting in this aspect.

The best and the amazing part is the revolving thing which shows how static models come alive and appear as animated motion right in front of us:D Amazing:D

Then we proceeded to Science Centre after having a quick bite. LokeX2 is so amazed by all the exhibits there! That shows how long he hasn't been there!

Swensens Dinner

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Shopping for his working pants and socks at G2000! I bought a pencil skirt too:) So looking forward to work when everyone has already started work:)

Then simple dinner at Swensens:)

Showcasing our Disneyland nail clippers *cutess!*:D

Sex & the City 2

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Although I guess that there's 90% chance that CHAOS will want to watch tog (and indeed Deon initiated it alrd!), I still have to catch this movie with LokeX2 as we watched the 1st one when we just got together almost 2 years ago:) I seriously dont mind watching with my girls again:D I kept thinking of them when I watched it lah!:)

I accompanied LokeX2 for lunch before meeting Ryan and Joel. I think he looks really good in this photo:D

Then off to pass Ryan her hand cream and have a short chat with then before catching the movie:) Ryan must be have a great time over at Australia now:) Finally got to meet up with Fazal after being miles apart for so long:)

Ole Ole box!

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He came over J8 to collect his altered pants and then went for Ole Ole KFC dinner:)

The look of an officially employed:)

Now into 2nd week of his job, he seems to like the job, the environment and his colleagues so I'm really happy for him:) He actually feels that he's really lucky as he didn't dare to apply for too many jobs before our grad trip. So the fact that he managed to get this job almost immediately after we came back is indeed a blessing:)

加油加油喔! :)

Work for him means less time together. So we treasure our time together more:) And with me on tight budget, it means spending quality time together with our friends and our family:) Simple and meaningful:) And he's into watching Little Nyonya on xinmsn, so that's our stay home activity since I didn't actually follow it on TV:)

Looking forward to JB trip with the Loke family this weekend!:)

Up till now

What have I been up to ever since my Japan grad trip w the PFMs?

I sort of lost track of time for awhile with the luxury of time and laid-back lifestyle hehe:)

It's only until I have just transferred photos into my laptop that I realized my holidays are actually more than just sleeping late and slacking. Haha..

So it has been HK grad trip, Pixar exhibition, spending time w LokeX2 before he officially started work last Wed, reading, dim sum w POXML, videoshoot for Greg and Joan wedding, PFM Kushin Bo:D

Before I sort out the photos to upload on fb, here's a preview:)

HK Grad Trip w LokeX2!:)

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Our 1st time exploring a new country together:) The MRT stations are really colourful!:)

We concluded HK is more like a shopping heaven (for me!). And he prefer those sightseeing places:) Luckily for the research we done beforehand, we had a great time exploring places though usually by the end of the day we were really tired. I must really thank Mr Loke for being so patient with me, esp with all the shopping:D He's really the best:) 谢谢你!:D

All in all it was a great experience for both of us to plan together and really understand each other even better:) I'm actually looking forward to our next overseas trip after both of us start work and saved up of course:)

Here's a brief (in the end it turns out to be quite a lengthy one) overview of our itinerary:)

Day 1:

• Arrived and checked in (Jordan)
  
• Wantan Mee lunch (Mongkok)
• "Far East style" shopping @ Argyle Centre! (Mongkok)
  
I declare Argyle Centre as my personal favourite shopping place at HK!:D Loves!:D
• Avenue of Stars (Tsim Sha Tsui)
• Symphony of Light (TST)
  The night view was nice:) But the symphony thingy was only alright, nothing really fantastic. We very much prefer to breeze:)
• KFC dinner and Mazazu Crepe @ Habour City (TST)
  Oh! Mazazu Crepe is heavenly too! Tried Strawberry cake. As nice as the one I tried in Japan:) And there's an outlet in S'pore Liant Court:D
• Shopping @ Sasa
  Sasa and Bonjour are like everywhere. So every night before we returned to hotel, I couldnt help but step into one and buy something almost every night!

Day 2:

• Dan dan mian and soya milk breakfast (Jordan)
  One of my favourite meal! The dan dan mian is nice:) Why all the food in HK like also so nice?
• The Peak tram, Sky Terrace and Madame Tussauds wax museum (Central)
• Shopping @ Citygate Outlets (Tung Cheng)
  Wai Kei was surprised that I didnt spend at all there. I wanted to buy high cut shoes, but just couldnt find one that I really like, so I saved the $ for more shopping hehe:)
• Temple Street preview (Jordan)
  Wai Kei was disappointed that he could not find street food there.
• Dessert @ 绵绵冰 (Jordan)
  But we were delighted to find this shop otw back to our hotel. :) The mango dessert is nice even though I'm not a mango lover:)

Day 3:

• Breakfast @ highly raved Mido Cafe (Yau Ma Tei)
  Omg! The 菠萝包 is soooooo nice!:D Wish I could bring it over to S'pore lah! I no longer want to eat those in S'pore alrd lah, they really pale in comparison (either that or I have yet to eat those HK standard ones).
• Off to HK Disneyland! Whee~
  
Wai Kei loved HK Disneyland the most! Esp the Stitch Encounter where we really have a unique encounter with Stitch:) This totally made our day at Disneyland:D

In comparison, HK's is really smaller than Tokyo's but because of that we can slowly enjoy walking arnd Disneyland without worrying about not having enough time:)




The parade was also a great one! It was Mickey's Water Works and the entire parade was like 泼水节! So fun! Luckily Wai Kei there to shield off the water while I tried to snap photos:)

And I finally caught the fireworks which I missed in Tokyo!:D Splendid way to end our magical day:D



• Japanese dinner (Yau Ma Tei)
  Again, delicious food even if it's just some random stalls that we decided to give it a try.
• Shopping @ Bonjour
  Enough said. Habitual shopping.

Day 4:

• Off to Macau!
  
A day of食字路口 searching for the must-eats!
Almond cookies, 菠萝包, 猪扒包, double skin milk, shark fins, Margaret's Cafe portugese egg tarts
• Went to explore Langhram Place but it's more mid-range shopping with those popular brands like H&M, Shu Umera, Lush etc. So I decided to head over to Argyle Centre again! I spare Mr Loke and let him go back to hotel to rest 1st.

Day 5:

• Off to Shenzhen!
• Windows of the World
  We were quite tired to explore the entire area and as we wanted to wait for the free performance at night, we just rested and watched video from his BB.

It was until we decided to visit the ice cold area that we were totally energized again!

A warm cup noodle after that was really timely:)

The night performance was awesome really! With like thousands of performers (sounds exaggerated but it really seemed like there's alot of performers), it was like professional performance you watch at Esplanade. Then it ended with a blast - series of fireworks! And it was totally free! The performance was totally worth the entrance fees! A must watch if you go there!:)

Day 6:

• Our self-declared relaxed day!
• Yummy dim sum breakfast overlooking HK Island (TST)
• Shopping @ Ladies Street and Fa Yuen Street (Mongkok)
  These 2 streets are much more interesting than Temple Street! Shall spend more time there if I revisit HK again:) And Wai Kei finally found his street food there!:)

Day 7:

Bye HK~

And home sweet home!:)

Yata!

PFM GANG FLEW TO JAPAN!

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Yeah we flew to Japan for a packed, fun-filled and fulfilling 8days of tour around Japan!:D

13 of us

8 days of tour

6 hours plus of flight

Less than 6 hours of sleep each night

2000 plus photos

50 000 plus yen spent

Over-usage of hai, 0hayo & arigato

Umpteen times of boarding & unboarding bus, loading & unloading luggages

Countless of fun and memories to last for a lifetime! :)

With this, it marks the end of our 4 years of degree course together:)

But I hope our friendship shall continue:)

Cheers to PFM gang!:D

Extracted a handful of photos that I personally like:) Will be (slowly) uploading the rest onto fb thereafter.

The "Ho" in the room! Jia Wei, my room mate who never fails to end each day of mine with laughters!

Day 2 setting off to Tokyo Disneyland:) Maybe I should consider using this photo for the Hong Thai photo contest, but I threw the paper away already.
Love this jump shot taken by Joyce!:) Me @ Tokyo Disney! Whee~ It's a happy land!
The gentle group exploring all the cute and fun rides! Thanks for the companion!:) And we are so proud we did more than we planned for!
Da jie da @ Chinese restaurant for dinner:) Where Wei Juan kept repeating how nice is the chicken.
Tokyo street at night! ShopX3~
Day 3 the rainy day! Luckily it's also the only day that rained thank goodness:) Exchanged umbrella with Tsz Ching for her to coordinate her colour in the photo:)
Everyone is so ready for zi pai shot any time any where any weather:)
Love this head-to-head photo! Eating hot snacks on rainy day while hiding in one corner for shelter is real bliss:)

Don't know why, just like this photo alot:) It was quite a random shot:)
Oh~ this zi pai photo doesn't come easy with the rain and the crowd. This is the shot that took me the most effort and I love it!:)
All of us in yukata!:) The only night where everyone came together for group games!:)
Post steam bath facial pampering!:)
Day 4 with nice blue sky and cotton clouds! The scenery itself is already breadth-taking enough:)
My favourite shot of Mount Fuji:) Taking photos of the Mt Fuji on a moving bus is not easy really.
Jia Wei with her purple set!

Lily with her colourful camera:)

Zi pai zi pai zi pai! Amazing that all 5 of them managed to squeeze into this photo:)

Bullet train+sun rays= love:)
The 5 of us fits nicely into the picture!:)
All the charms look so pretty!:) If only I can bring them all back!
AndX3 I finally found my strawberry cheesecake crepe! YUMS!:D
On the way back to hotel, woken up on bus to witness the sunset!:D Really awesomely beautiful:D The whole sky was in warm orange:D
After checking in to our Universal Studio hotel, we went to explore the area and take some pre-USJ photos:) I love this photo, we looked so happy like students anticipating all the fun in USJ:)
Day 6 finally USJ!
One of our favourite ride of the day! Totally worth the super duper long waiting time and the irritating queue-cutting by groups of youngsters!:D
Day 7 last day in Japan was spent sight-seeing again!

And I really love this photo taken by Joel:D
The 8 of us who came home 1st!:D While the remaining 5 are still having a great time in Japan! Hope they arrive safe and sound back home soon:)

Sayonara Japan~ I had a wonderful great time!:D Time to upload photos:)