That flight of steps that signifies the start of new journey:)

Our dearest Dawn is now engaged!!! :):):)

Proposal is a huge success much thanks to the beloved weather:) The amount of sunlight is definitely as strong as their love:)

Really honoured and happy to witness and be part of this joyous and meaningful milestone of their lives:)

And cheers to the sisters who have been with each other since sec school! Loves! Next up - hens party hehehehe~

And I'm really amazed with our media coveragessss! Coolness! Can't wait to see all the compilations of photos and videos - practically all angles covered:)

First batch of polariods to mark the beginning of their new journey - with much blessings from each of us:) Love the sunlight and the effects!

And finally a group zi bai photo to commemorate this important day:) All the sweats of labour and love are worthwhile!
Really really thankful for the beautiful weather! A little too beautiful but we are not complaining (too much) especially when we saw how awesome the photos turn out under such pretty rays of sun coupled with blue blue sky and fluffy white clouds! What a lovely and fulfilling Sun:)

1 week into 2012!

It's been a week since the start of 2012! And it is already packed to the brim with lots of work and activities! Haven't had the time to savour the start of the new year and zoom it's already 8th Jan!

Nonetheless, everything got to start somewhere sometime and definitely can be anytime! :) As for new year resolution, since last year I decided to stick to a theme-kind of resolution that can be universally applied to all aspects of my life. This helps to simplify the already complicated everyday life.

New year resolution for last year 2011 was balance - ranging from work life balance to balance in spendings and savings, balance in diet and exercise, balance in time spent with family, friends and loved ones, balance in social and personal time. Work hard play hard we are the best - the belief that SDE raggers strongly hold:) There has got to be balance in every aspect of our life, too much or too little of anything is definitely not the way to go in the long run.

There are definitely some hits and misses last year, but on the whole I'm glad to say that I did make effort to keep the balance. Worked out more often, though weight doesn't seems to justify that. Perhaps overspent a little (in my opinion) as I was probably too delighted with a monthly income to be a little more generous in giving treats to family and friends and also in giving retail therapy treats to myself. As much as possible, I tried to knock off on time to make sure I don't turn into a workaholic. All in all, the last year was my first full year as a working adult, hence lots of transitions and acclimatization to the new lifestyle. Now that I'm aware of the shortfalls that I need to make up for, it's time for a new resolution.

So here we go, new year resolution for 2012 shall be minimalism - to live within my means and needs and not succumb to the temptation of consumerism. And I have also decided to keep my 2011 resolution to keep things in balance while still striving for minimalism. :)

Probably I shall pen down my resolutions in more details to further expand on these 2 resolution themes:)

Soon it will be yet another new start of the year, hope we can get our resolutions working! Happy 2012! :)

I shall end off this post with my photo blog which I have unknowingly set up and amazingly maintained for slightly over a year already - much thanks to Instagram! Photos have also been uploaded via FB too but here are the collation of all the photos :) Enjoy! http://livelovelearnlaughlegacy.tumblr.com/

You know it's the time of the year

When I start to revamp things, spring clean and do some reality checks.

It's HIGH time since I dust off the spiderwebs accumulating in my blog, after almost a year! Work is not sparing me any extra time and work seems to be ageing me. Definitely not a good sign for sure.

In need of new sparks new passion and new energy to finish the last lap of 2011 and to sprint right into 2012 with the best state! :)

Ending off with a new(er) look of mine and a look which I grew to like alot:) Sadly, the hairstyle has started to grown out - time for another trip to the salon maybe? ;)

Presents for family:)

Received my 1st ever bonus:) 13th mth bonus:) Though it's not alot cos it's pro-rated and I merely worked for half a year, I still feel really happy to be using my 1st bonus to buy presents for each of my family members:D

It's like the 1st time I'm shopping for presents without asking them what they like, so I really put alot of thoughts into getting the best presents for them:) And it's really heavy! And I walked for 2 hours plus to complete my shopping list (all in J8!).

I even wrapped it to make it real present-sy:) Adds a layer of mystery before you open the present:) And the presents have my label all over - pink! :D I have to confess that I got much more pink wrappers other than these designs!

Most importantly, I'm really happy to see them surprised when I gathered everyone to distribute the presents and they are satisfied with what they got:)

Now, hope to get myself a little something too on Sunday:)

Been real busy since the start of the week (and year) as I'm into the peak stage of the project, so I'm really looking forward to a breather at the end of this month:D And also CNY! Wheee~

And luckily there's always weekends to look forward to, meeting CHAOS for Sat high tea time and shopping:D

Happy weekends!:D

I'm a super girl:)

Just found out there's a flea@St James today, too last min so couldn't get any shopping partner. But I'm really glad I made the decision to go ahead, alone, sth which I seldom do:)

Here's me with my Supergirl shoes, have been eyeing it for quite some time, finally it's mine:D

The travel down to Harbourfrnt and then the walk to St James was exceptionally long today.

But all the cheap and good loots make the trip all worthwhile:)

There were blogshops and also pre-loved items sales:) Really feel the thrill when I found solid pieces at unbelievable price:):):)

I still can't comprehend buying clothings that are overly priced, flea buys prove that quality and budget do not necessary conflict each other. :)

Whee to thrifty buys:D

Luckily LokeX2 came to fetch me, saved me from lugging those shopping bags all the way back and also saved me from the rain:)

Rested and off we went for dinner with his ah ma and his aunt:)

Loves such eventful and rewarding Saturday:)

An extraordinary (girls) affair

Had an extraordinary girly affairs tonight with the PFM girls, all girls session this time round, for Xiao Qian's bday:)

Filled our tummy, had sweet treats and we walked along Orchard Road frm PS to Orchard Central.

Pretty Xmasy street lightings:)

We then explored Orchard Central as though we are tourists:) Felt like we are out of town, away frm the xmas shopping crowd.

Hui Fang led us to a quiet spacious place with plenty of freedom to take loads of self timer shots:) We felt like we owned the place, except for the few calafares.

Been some time since we did all these touristy photo taking and wandering around like there's no agenda:)

My favourites:)

Pretty pretty:)
And the last shot of candid is usu de candid-dest:D
Not forgetting our tripod of the night:) Cnt help but to be amazed by our creativity, another innovation after our cake-box-recycle-and-use-as-instant-paper-plate:)

And I super miss our Japan trip, secretly hoping that we can do it again some time soon:)

As for now, I'm contented being able to meet up with them and relive our uni days:)

Looking forward to celebrating Xmas with them:):):)

CCA

Ever since I started working, there are countless moments where I find myself being thankful for all those things that I have experienced and learned during all the CCAs I have participated in during school days.

Athletics in lower pri

This has always served as a strong anchor that I can run and I should keep running:) Perhaps not as fast as I used to be, at least it prevents me from losing it totally:)

Gardening in upper pri

Ahh~ how those weeding sessions and those hands-on with the pungent fertilizers and moist soil make me appreciate nature and find joy in simplicity. The joy of cleaning nature up and the joy of harvesting the fruits of our labour:)

Treasurer in sec sch

Not so much of helping me better manage my finance, but more of the very first training I got from all the paperwork and coordination that I have to do:) Most importantly, it is one stepping stone for opening up to be sociable and interact with all my classmates. Something that the quiet me in pri school has never done before.

Dance in sec sch

Although I feel that wearing heels adds to the professionalism in work, I can't help but feel that something is missing. And whenever I wear my dance shoes, despite all those actions and energy outburst, I feel really grounded:) Something which heels can't achieve. Weird thinking yea?

Anw I can't wait to be grounded soon, again:D

Council/Club in sec sch/jc/uni

Needless to say, I learnt the most during all these CCAs, esp in jc:) Where I'm exposed and taught the "harsher" reality of the world outside our school life. Harsh then, but really appreciate it now:) I have always wonder how I would cope now if I haven't joined the CCAs. I find it really amazing when I actually witness the application or "replica" of instances that I have learnt or experienced before:)

Finally, penned down these thoughts of mine:) These thoughts have been popping up ever since I started working:) Perhaps evidence of how I miss school life, esp those CCAs times:)

***

On a side note, have been having headache since last Thurs and it worsens during the weekends. And today, I found out that my daily dose of coffee before work is the reason. Without it on weekends, my headache seems to worsen. Getting addicted to coffee alrd~ Not a good habit, got to replace it with green tea now:) For now, hope my headache subsides soon:)

Such nice weather, can't wait to jump onto my bed! Nites!:)

Xmas is coming:)

LokeX2 brought me to Bugis for shopping yesterday:) It has been quite some time since I dressed up on a weekend to head out for shoppinggggg~ Crowded yes, but definitely nice to have once in a while:) And what better time to shop when it's the Xmas season with all the promotions and shopping mood in the air, it makes no sense to stay at home anymore hehehe:)

Broke as I might be, I really enjoyed shopping yesterday:) Partly due to the fact that I didn't catch myself indulging in impulsive buys, I shopped within my set budget, with savingssss too:) And also cos LokeX2 patiently shopped with me despite having worked in the morning and not forgetting his poor leech-bitten toes.

And I also received my 1st Xmas present, from Her World:) Cos I signed up a 1-yr subscription at Bugis road show:) Had bought a few issues and think that the content is quite practical and it's always loaded with lots of the good reads, making it really worth the money:)

And the subscription comes with discount too, it's $50 a year compared to the usual $72, this brings the cost of each issue down to about $4.20 (UP $6)! Happy with this kind of great deals hehehe:)

Though Xmas is still a few weeks away and not forgetting a brand new year, I'm getting hyped up with the festive seasons:) Cant wait to meet up with all my friends, mark the end of this year with a blast and welcome a brand new year:):):)

I cnt wait cnt wait~

:)

I'm back:)

Cos I just gotten my new laptop Sony vaio:)

Been eyeing it for a long long time and I cnt believe I have bought it!:) *jumps with joy!*

My previous laptop has served me well, through my 4 years of uni, through all those projects, assignments, forum, discussions, dissertation, fb-ing and all:) And I really love the nicely done Gmask (probably the only reason why I'm still sticking to it till now), courtesy of CHAOS, so nope I'm not going to trade it away/throw it away, since it's still workable, it shall be my bro's laptop since he doesn't have one and our home desktop one is lagging.

One of the main reasons I got this new laptop is the built in numeric key pad which I really need for doing work in excel:) So whee to keypad and a larger screen:)

While this means I have got to save up for the next 2 months at least, it doesn't help that it's also the Xmas season and the end-of-year-going-to-a-brand-new-year festive season! Haha.. So savings and all shall take a mini break for now, I guess I can with a little treat and self pampering:)

So I'm a happy girl:)

And here's my 1st capture using the laptop's camera hehehe~

Hope my new laptop will get me typing more blog posts and start uploading those overdue photos:)

Frenzy hazy wkends!

On MC today due to throat infection that starts since last Fri, probably due to the events that have been zooming passed during the last wkends.

***

Fri

Post work CHAOS meetup cum Wan Xin's super early bday surprise cum Deon's happy sharing session:)

We spent the entire Fri night together at Xin Wang from 7pm to 2am! We just kept chatting, always amazed at how we cld nv ran out of topics:)

Heard Deon's sharing about her new love:) And we are all really happy for her! Stay happily attached yea!:)

And Wan Xin's bday surprise was a perfect success, great improvement frm previous CHAOS surprises with minor minor hiccups. So proud that we are improving! Hehehe~ From our 13th bday to this yr's 23rd bday, we still managed to surprise each other for the 10th yr! *claps!!!* But surprise or not, I'm really glad we have been celebrating each other's bday since our teenage-hood hehehe~ And definitely looking forward to our adult-hood and golden years celebration!:D

***

Sat

Then it was Mitju 1st warehse sales with Joyce!:) Though sleep deprived, still glad that I pulled myself out of the bed for this! It's my 1st shoes warehse sale too, and it's really worth the time we spent queuing up and for me, sacrificing my breakfast (and lunch) for!:)

Both of us spent $70 with bagfuls of shoes and we estimated that we saved over $100 plus!:):):)

We were so satisfied and also drained from Mitju sales that we decided to skip the Charles & Keith warehse sales which was also on last wkends.

Now that we know how warehse sales works, we are so going to be better prepared for this the next time!:) Going to gather more Mitju shoes lovers for the next one!:)

Then it was Hui Mun's 21st bday party at NSRCC:) Did some final touches to her guestbook before heading over for my 1st meal of the day! Was so famished that I ate more than LokeX2!

LokeX2's relatives from KL specially came down for this event and I finally had the time to spend time with the young ones ever since I met them in KL:)

The chalet at NSRCC is really one of the most atas chalet and it's really well-maintained:) Food was good, desserts was good and the cake was good too!:)

Hope Hui Mun had a memorable 21st!:) And have a speedy recovery!:)

Then stayover at LokeX2's place for Sun's Nike 10km run! We only got to sleep for abt 4 or 5 hrs before we head over to meet the rest of the Nike run peeps!

And yesssss I'm amazed that I managed to complete the run! In abt 1 hr 15 /20min I guess:) And I ran non-stop for 7km. Partly due to the fact that I was looking forward to the water point after 5km and there wasn't any until aft 7km!

Then walked for abt 1km with Hazel and continued until aft 9km before we were stopped by Ernest and Joel to finish the race tog!:) We didnt manage to catch Ryan and LokeX2, so the 6 of us (Ernest, Joel, Xu Wen, Dawn, Hazel and I) ran past the finishing point together! Hahaha..

Yeahhhh! Conquered the 10km race! 1 more item down on my 1-yr goal chart:) Shape Run 2011 nxt year:)

After that we got back, brought Loke's relatives to lunch and shop around the entire afternn! Though really exhausted frm the shopping aches, running aches and also impeding throat infection, I'm glad the kids were happy with their buys! Hehehe~ And Happy Birthday Wai Ling!:)

Finally took a short nap and then dinner before heading home after a 2-day action packed wkends!:)

***

Mon

Then throat infection hits me this morning and decided to take MC before it worsens. Feeling much better after rest and medication:) I'm ready to look forward to the new week:)

Take care everyone!:)