the creepy one...

sigh. i've been counting my blessings as i recalled not having seen one for a while now (and i certainly don't miss it! in fact i have a weird theory, don't think of them and they won't appear). anyway, given the recent constant wet weather, i knew it wouldn't be long
before one would show up.

and true enough, the flying cockroach (a brown one) invaded through the door just now, fluttered right into the living room, sent me jumping instantly out of my seat (i have a "roach"-dar) and dashing straight into my bedroom - shut all windows, closed the door and pressed tight against it.

i stood panting behind my door as i listened out for my dad, trying to figure out whether he had managed to catch the 'you-know-who'. my dad's against killing of anything, including pests, said they're innocent; so despite saying he would catch it, i knew it's going to be a half-hearted chase on his part. after just mere seconds, it was silent out there already, my dad had sat back down onto the couch. i shouted out from my bedroom to ask if the coast was clear, he gave an unconvincing response... so i knew "it" must still be at large! *yikes*.

so i have no other choice but to lock myself in tonight - no air circulation, no air-conditioning, a little suffocating but i shall just put up with this and pray that the roach will miraculously find its way out and disappear from our home by morning.

*sigh* why does such an ugly and frightening creature exist? why did God make them so hardy and resilient (and even flying ones!)? and why do i have to be terrified of them? why oh why oh why...

when will this be over?

Merry Christmas 2011!

wishing all a heart-warming holiday, one filled with peace, hope, love, kinship, friendship... and all things beautiful.

thankful for what I am, for all I've received throughout 2011.

merry Christmas & happy new year.

obsessed with bows!

if you are as obsessed with ribbons and bows as i am, then you would certainly fall in love with this as quickly as i did too!

check out this adorably feminine bow ski hat from Kate Spade; keep yourself warm and still look chic and fashionable at the same time!

priced at US$85, will you be splurging your year-end bonus on this? ;)

tokidoki rollerball fragrances...

these are toooooo adorable!
i wonder if sephora singapore carries these... shall drop by to check it out this weekend :)

adios & ciao ciao rollerball duo (US$30)

 

rollerball collection (US$18 each)

jingle bells...

i love the harajuku lovers fragrances, have always loved them since i first set eyes on the original collection at a Macy's store in Seattle :) and of course, that's also the beginnings of my (evil) little collection of those cute little fragrance dolls... hehehe.

confession: after all these years, i must have a total of 6 or 8 bottles to date (a few of which were gifts) - selected ones from every single collection, as well as the special edition "Gwen-only" ones :)

yay! there's a new release from HJL, its latest but also the very last fragrance from the line. *sob sob* such a pity because it's been fun looking forward to each new release, but also a BIG sigh of relief, after all no one can go on collecting them forever, can they? ;)

i am definitely getting the 10ml (S$38) for this festive "jingle gwen" fragrance doll. i've heard from colleagues that Robinsons Singapore already has this in store, so get yours early whilst stocks last!

related posts:

• harajuku lovers - G of the sea
• Harajuku Lovers are wicked ;)
• harajuku lovers - solid perfume coffret
• i want the Harajuku Lovers Snow Bunnies gift set! :)

show some kindness today

it's world kindness day.

i believe kindness should be shown every single day; but for today, let's all just make that one extra act of kindness.

something small, something big...
make someone's day.
make someone smile :)

http://makesomeonesday.sg

this very moment - 11.11.11

the time is now 11:11am, on the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of this century :) some people may never even get the chance in their entire lifetime to live this very moment.

so whatever you are doing now (unless it's dangerous), take a minute, look around, feel your existence, feel the world, take a deep breath... and soak it all in :)

hi world, happy 11.11.11, 11:11! :)

enjoy this moment, enjoy this day.

happy birthday to me :)

one year older, one year wiser...

this would be the first time i'll be flying overseas on my birthday itself (wonder if SQ would bring me a birthday cake if i told them so during check-in? lol! just a thought, i won't ask for it anyway) :p

i'd just like to thank everyone, near or in a distance, who have remembered the date and have sent me greetings and wishes, treated me to sumptuous meals... all the lovely presents and most of all, your smiles, your thoughts, your time and your company. without your love, friendship and care, life would never have been the same. so even though i don't say it enough.... thank you, thank you <3 <3 <3

i hope it will be another good year for me, a progressive one in every aspect of life, afterall it is 09.10.11.... that should signify progress, right? ;)

ok, i gotta head to bed now. only a few precious hours of sleep before i'd have to be up and ready to head to the airport. yay! Taipei here we come!

tokidoki Barbie - finally got my hands on her! :)

i finally picked this up from the post office today! thanks to a gf a. who helped facilitate the pre-order and have it re-directed all the way from the USA to me. yay! :) the official release is scheduled for a week or two later, so i'm actually one of the lucky folks who managed to get this much earlier than most other fans <3 <3 <3

tada!! my very own, limited edition, collector's tokidoki Barbie doll!!!

i just knew i wanted this the very first time i set eyes on her... what a unique piece of tokidoki art! and now it's finally in my hands, feels almost unreal, love it!

see how it all started in this earlier post.

pictures say so much more than words, so i shan't say anymore... enjoy the photos:

 

isn't she a beauty? :) i feel like a 5-year-old all over again! hehehe...

check out all those intricate little details and accessories, the super tokidoki-fied touches and Barbie's oh-so-sexy sultry look ;) aren't they amazing?

news release on tokidoki website.

what do you think these are?

make a guess...

(scroll down for the answer...)

(((tada!)))

(view more on these pages: modelling pics. 1 and pics. 2)

pretty remarkable, aren't they? so delicate and beautiful, almost like art... remind me of those paper cuttings, like these traditional ones, or the contemporary ones, don't you agree?

a colleague had directed me to this post on Scrangie's blog, and that's where i had come to know of these fancy stick-on eyelashes from the brand paperself. i had in fact checked out the actual products at the Sephora store here the other day (retails SGD30 per pair) but the packaging is so plain, you'd hardly notice if you weren't looking for them in the first place... such a pity.

i personally have not tried any form of stick-on lashes before, but have certainly witnessed how some of those 'falsies' do wonders to one's eyes.. amazing! :) pretty as these are, i don't suppose we would start seeing these fluttering about in public on the average days... would probably make more sense as some eye-catching pieces for the runway, or fancy costume / themed parties.

this is my favourite pair - deers and butterflies :)

available from paperself.com; sephora; urbanities australia etc.

die-die-must-have: tokidoki Barbie! *heart*

here's my "die-die-must-have"....
the tokidoki Barbie doll!! OMG! 110% tokidoki-ness! *silent shriek* :)

 

isn't she pretty? so edgy, so chic, so top-to-toe tokidoki... i love!!

fellow fans will notice that this Barbie girl is truly authentically tokidoki - tattooed punk rock, chic and sexy, signature pink hair and pouty lips, sporting the tokidoki skull-heart-and-bones t-shirt and leopard-print tights, carrying a real tokidoki miniature purse in hand, walking her cute Bastardino cactus pup... all that attention to these tiny little details, oh wow, i'm impressed!

well, you may be shaking your head and clucking your tongue, thinking i'm no longer 16... but if tokidoki could get me acting like one, then why shouldn't i indulge and just give in to my occasional insane little fancies *grin*.

available from Sep/Oct at selected collectible stores, i am so going to pre-order this right away! if this arrives in October, then just a perfect little birthday gift for myself ;) 

references: Lovetokidoki; Hong Kong magazine

absolutely tokidoki-fied! :)

i was at the STGCC (Singapore comic con) over the weekend, and so thrilled to be able to meet my idol Simone Legno again (4th year in a row!) - got his autographs on a couple more of my tokidoki items, and of course, a photograph together :) my friends said i looked like a starstruck teenager with a schoolgirl crush in my photo... LOL.. well, i have to admit i did feel quite like a 16 year old that day... hehehe.

so for the comic con, my colleague - who's well aware of my love for all things tokidoki, promised to make me some tokidoki cupcakes (one-of-a-kind) specially to commemorate the event! they turned out super duper adorable! i kept the Timidina cactus pup and the chilli ones (because i love all things spicy!) and gave the cute Adios and Ciao Ciao pair to Simone Legno when i met him at the autograph session *grin*.

so yeah.. i did the schoolgirl crush thing. LOL! ;P

 

all this tokidoki excitement has gotten me catching up on the recent tokidoki news and happenings, and... OMG! i found something that i am sooooooo definitely getting! (perhaps as an early birthday gift for myself) :)

check out the next blog entry (above) for more...

ps: while at this, be marvelled by the way awesome tokidoki art installation at K11 mall (hong kong)! how i wish i was going there sometime soon...

hey, i can 'see' you from here! :)

i have been so occupied with work and all, just haven't had the time to sit down and update my blog in the past month or so. what started out as a bid to show a friend that i can keep at this for more than three months, has over the years, taken on a life of its own and became a personal little outlet to vent, to share my little mundane snippets, excitements and stories with people near or far, friends and strangers alike.

i was just checking around and scanning my site for any new features, and noticed that my ClustrMap (yes, that small little rectangular map on the right navigation bar, right under the 'visitors around the world' subheader) is now spotting some yellow dots too.

technology and its features just keep improving and getting better and more advanced each day. see, now as you are reading this on your computer screen (or perhaps your smart phone), i can spot you right there on my ClustrMap - in real-time... that tiny little yellow dot, yes! that's you! :)

there's even a small table recording the date, location and estimated time of the recent visitors to my site... so cool, erh? :)

has anyone used Skype via CallByText on your iPhone?

i was just surfing around for some information on Skype and stumbled upon this site called CallByText. it claims to allow you to make phonecalls via your Skype account even when you are not connected to the internet. sounds too cool, isn't it?

but has anyone actually tried and tested this?
does it really work?

here's how it supposedly works:

 

it's free, it offer good savings, and there's even have a free app for iphone users, what's there not to like about it? so i tried downloading the app onto my phone, and went on to register myself for a free account. i got all the way through to the email verification part, and then i stopped and decided to just drop the whole idea.

so you see, this site that claims to be "not affiliated with Apple Inc. nor with Skype" actually asked for my Skype login and password as part of the registration process? oh no no no! that is one big security compromise! as attractive the thought of being able to access Skype calls without internet connection is, i just don't agree to the idea of providing my Skype login access to an unauthorised third-party.

not even the fact that CallByText was listed on CNET download.com, and its mediocre presence on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter could convince me to do otherwise. on the contrary, after giving it some thought, the realisation that this service has been around since october 2010, yet hasn't quite taken off or garnered warm response or reviews... made me all the more skeptical of it.

don't get me wrong, i so look forward to the day when i can make Skype or some form of  VoIP calls without relying on my data plan or WiFi access - that would be too good to be true. but for now, without positive reviews and affirmation from the general target audience out there, i shall not risk it... and will just continue to pay for my international calls or enjoy my Skype-to-Skype free calls via the internet / data plan :)

Watsons pink ribbon walk 2011

the annual breast cancer foundation pink ribbon walk is here again... and Watsons continues to be the anchor sponsor for the 2nd consecutive year, bringing us the Watsons pink ribbon walk 2011.

i was excited to receive the e-newsletter call for registrations earlier tonight but am quite disappointed when i found out that the organisers have decided to do away with the competitive run this year! also, together with the change in venue from the past two years' big splash @ the east coast park to the waterfront promenade @ the marina bay, the distance is now reduced from the original 5km to 3.2km :(

not that i'm exactly an athletic sportsperson, but the BCF pink ribbon walk/run has, over the years (since I first took part in october 2009), become my annual motivation to train and prepare myself to complete the whole course. even though the inaugural pink ribbon walk back in 2008 did start out without the run component, but as the competitive race got introduced in 2009, and carried on in 2010, the decision to suddenly revert back to a "walk only" event in it's 4th year, just doesn't seem to make much sense in terms of progress for an annual sporting event.

i guess i can understand if the organisers decided that it's more important to make this an opportunity to cheer on the breast cancer survivors, and encourage them to participate in a fun walk, hence the rationale in reducing the distance and intensity of the activity as well as the competitive nature of it, but i can't say that i'm equally enthusiastic about this year's pink ribbon walk.

i wonder what were the real reasons behind BCF and the organisers' decision to make such changes (including the change in timing from morning to evening) to the annual affair. anyway, now i'm in two minds about this whole thing, i do like the new location at the waterfront promenade, scenic dusk view and all... but i'd very much prefer to participate in the 5km run. oh well, i shall give myself some time to think over it, and decide if i'll still sign up just for continuity's sake.

date: 1 october 2011 (saturday)
time: 6:00pm
venue: marina bay waterfront promenade

the voyage night festival 2011 is here!

the museum night festival is here again!

renamed the Voyage Night Festival 2011 this year, i'm looking forward to some spectacular outdoor performances, beautiful art installations, fires, lights and all... as good as the previous years! what's more, you get free admission to selected museums through the night (till 2:00am)... what's not to love about it?

so don't miss this chance, gather your friends, block your calendar today! :)

participating museums and locations include:

• national museum of singapore
• singapore art museum
• peranakan museum
• the substation
• stamford green
• singapore management university campus green

recap: night festival 2009; night festival 2008

yay! Singapore NDP... here i come! :)

well... one of the combined rehearsals, that is :)
not the actual parade on 9 august, scaled down fireworks and such, but still cool!!!

C. and I had originally planned to meet for dinner this saturday, but she had called earlier to ask if i would like to change our plans and go watch the combined rehearsal for the Singapore National Day Parade (NDP) instead. C.'s friend had some extra tickets, and she's so nice to ask if she could bring a friend (me!) along. wow! between dinner and the NDP, my answer was a sure no-brainer! hehehe..

so here i am, finally going to attend my first ever NDP (even if it's just a combined rehearsal show) this weekend! yay yay yay! lucky me! *happy dance*

in fact, i did think of balloting for tickets to this year's parade sometime back, but had somehow missed the deadline. i had even bought one of those tacky "I <3 SG" Giordano t-shirts two weeks ago! LOL! perhaps i'm now being rewarded for that ;)

this year's NDP theme is Majulah! The Singapore Spirit.

"The 2011 NDP is the third one to be a full time musical, just like in the 1996 and 1997 editions, but for the first time will include the popular parade and ceremony segment. The entire show was written by Haresh Sharma. It revolves on the history of Singapore through the eyes of a mother and her son who was born on the same year as Singapore gaining full independence, and later on through her grandson, who sees the Singapore of today as well as in the coming future." (abstract from wikipedia - National Day Parade 2011)

i'm looking forward to the scenic waterfront, the live fireworks, the thundering Black Knights, the magnificent national flag flying above us, the mass singing of all those patriotic national day songs we were all so familiar with as a child, and that whole awesome experience of everyone in the crowd cheering on Singapore, the advanced celebration of our nation's 46th birthday together... and since this saturday is the 3rd combined rehearsal, i think we'll be receiving the NDP funpack too! AWESOME!

i can't wait.. :)

BIG thanks, C.!

btw, i'm bringing my buddy along. i think he'll really enjoy the 'lion city' celebrations too ;)

so what else is there to do if you didn't get any NDP tickets this year?

• what to do when you can't get tickets?
• check out the official NDP 2011 website
• participate in the NDP Outreach activities 
• add 'ndpeeps' to your friends list on facebook
• a preview: xtemujin 360°Resources

would you like to own a petite lap giraffe?

this is not exactly new but i've only come across a picture of the oh-so-adorable petite lap giraffe (PLG) on Facebook over the weekend via a friend of a friend's profile picture.

 

the utter cuteness and intriguing (tiny) size of the giraffe made me stop and instantly google for answers... i just had to find out for myself, whether a giraffe that tiny really exists in this world.

and here's my answer - the petite lap giraffe - nothing but another make-believe story spun off as the anchor of a viral marketing effort of DirecTV.

here are the two TV commericals that started it all (courtesy of directv on youtube):

read all about it here - Petite Lap Giraffe Story Controversy - and visit the website to see how unsuspecting audiences worldwide fell in love with the cutest little fictional creature, and fell into the marketeers' trap :) even more remarkably, there is a 24/7 live feed of the farm on the homepage, if you're lucky, you might even spot the PLG strutting around right in front of your eyes!

in today's buzzling world of social media and citizen journalism, it is getting increasingly difficult for one to differentiate between real vs. fiction. there is often controversy around such tactics and the unorthodox engagement of social media marketing. but if you asked for my take on it, i'd say that's the beauty and power of the social media today. it's the flexibility, the possibility of creating anything out-of-the-box, things so bizarre and unbelievable, and actually making it convincing and viral. the onus is on you and i, to have an open mind, to question and investigate, to understand what's real and what's not, and while at it, take time to enjoy the ride, and appreciate some of these "how does anyone come up with something like this" kind of strange ideas and marvels :)

enjoy! and perhaps indulge in the thought that somewhere out there, in some far far away land, there could really be a colony of petite lap giraffes, yet unknown to the rest of the world...

if you don't have a basketball court near you...

... just bring one right into your office! :)
simply no better way to practise your three-pointer shoots without even having to move your bum.. LOL.

btw, if you remember this older post...
now that we have upgraded to a new office, surely the old 'basketball court' needs an upgrade too, right? ;)

probably the most effective alarm clock you'll find...

my brother used to set 3 alarm clocks around his bed, simply because he had the tendency to oversleep for school. i remember back in those days whenever i'm on leave and wanted to enjoy the luxury of sleeping in later, i would be super duper annoyed by his non-stop, repetitive shrills of alarms going on and on and on, one after another.... (and after 10 minutes of so, you would still find him sleeping like a log! *argh*)

so, for those of you who have difficulty waking up to the alarm clock too, i think this might just be for you! :)

(source: Mashable - Money-Shredding Alarm Clock is Completely Unforgiving)

as crazy as this may seem, i am actually convinced that this idea will work for most people! (especially if you insert a high denomination into the shredder... ouch!) :P brilliant!

but while you don't mind wasting an occasional $100 or so in exchange for a few extra minutes of sleep, bear in mind that it is actually a criminal offence to shred or destroy currency! haha!

we have moved!

we have officially moved into our spanking brand new office today!

and i like it here! :)

actually, the physical move (all that unpacking, cleaning and personalising) took place last Friday.. but we sort of started a new work day afresh at our new location today.

everyone seems to be enjoying the new office so far, it's a bigger and brighter environment, the interior decor is nicely done up - fresher air, fun and coordinated colours, warm and comfortable, with enough space and rooms for meetings and break out activities. all in all, a more cheerful and conducive office, professional yet fun and casual enough, hope that bodes well for everyone.

there are many more corporate offices in this area too, with people dressed up in proper business attire.. makes us all more mindful of our own dressing too (far cry from our casual slippers and t-shirt days back at the Phase Z. Ro container-office or Holland Village residential unit)...

the lunch queues are longer here as well (not liking that so much) but i guess we'll soon get used to that or find our way around to some other favourite lunch spots in no time.

ooh.. and check this out too! our new office has a security biometric fingerprint reader at the door, it's so cool! i feel like a secret agent every time i get that "verified" message. LOL.. ;) awesome!

an epic marriage proposal - 13 million hits on YouTube!

although i wouldn't exactly consider it the 'greatest marriage proposal ever'.. it is indeed a special and sweet one, made me tear up a little at the beginning when the girl realised what was happening...

i applaud the guy's creativity and courage (it must take some level of certainty and confidence for a guy to pull off such a 'involve everyone' kind of proposal, doesn't it?) :)

(courtesy of MattandGinny on youtube)

first posted on 16 May, this youtube clip has already garnered over 13 million views, and still counting! whoa... incredible! they're like some mini celebrities now. if you're keen on 'stalking' them further, you can follow their very own website at www.MattandGinny.com

thanks to davis for sharing this on FB.

remember your first kiss?

haha.. so cute.. young and innocent, yet with a little cheekiness ;)

(courtesy of heyharmony on youtube)

check out this insane burger....

if you've always thought burgers = fast food...

this video will re-define the way you judge them.

Dave Arnold's Burger Of The Future from Eater NY on Vimeo.

this is one seriously insane burger indeed!! all that time and effort... whoa!

i wonder if the taste was truly worth all that work??! if you hadn't watched this clip - just by looking at the innocent little burger, you wouldn't have imagined all those painstaking steps behind it, would you? :)

impressive, but crazy too.

source: Gizmodo via S. :)

mille crepes cake - mini teddy bear version :)

i made a mille crepes cake over the long weekend again.

i was quite pleased with my first attempt at making the cake but there's definitely room for improvement, so this time i just wanted to make the crepes thinner and try the blow torch caramalised-sugar top.

the cake turned out pretty decent looking, it's still chilling in the fridge right now, so i can't quite comment on the taste yet (though i suspect the pastry cream was better the first time because i didn't whip the cream long enough this round so the consistency is a tad bit runnier)... oh well, that leaves room for a third attempt in the near future ;)

anyway, because i had made such a conscious effort to keep each and every crepe real thin and even this time, i actually ended up with some leftover batter after painstakingly completing 20 pieces of crepes (notable improvement considering i only made it to 17 layers the previous time before my batter ran out.. hehehe).

so, what good would some remaining 4 - 5 spoonfuls of crepe batter make?

i pondered for a moment... and this was what became of it *smile*..

tada! meet my special edition teddy bear mille crepes mini! :D

so cute, isn't it? hehehe.

i was able to use the last drops of batter to create 3 full-size crepes, then carefully etched out 20 identical teddy bears with the cookie cutter, and sandwiched each between a layer of the vanilla-baileys pastry cream, topped with sugar and blow torched (like creme brulee). small as it is, this sure is a complete mille crepes cake on its own too, not even a single layer short ;)

i'm not sure if i will go all out to make plenty of minis the next time, it's simply too time-consuming and exhausting. but i might have fun with a few other different cookie cutters if i have some leftover batter again the next time. so stay tuned...

my favourite moment of the Royal Wedding...

i feel like a stalker posting this, but then who isn't? the whole world is probably a bigger stalker than i am, when it comes to the Royal Wedding that just took place 2 days ago :)

so, i don't feel so bad putting this on my blog. afterall, how many fairy tale royal weddings do one get in a lifetime anyway? *smile*.

such a sweet, happy, lovely picture... beautiful couple.

Congratulations to the new

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!

 (source: via news.xin.msn.com/royal-wedding)

harajuku lovers - G of the sea

me likey this!! sooo adorable! :)

should i, should i not?

too pricey though.
i would get this if they have it in the smaller 15ml version.

to add to my tiny collection of the small HL fragrances *wink*.

sooo cuuuute...

Harajuku Girls G of the sea perfume (USD64)

edited to add: good news, fellow H.J.L. fans! this limited edition mermaid "G" is now available in Singapore! :) in fact, to my surprise, they have actually brought in the 15ml version of it too *woohoo*. as i had promised, i went ahead to get myself a 15ml bottle of this at a 10% discount ;) original retail price S$38, available at Takashimaya shopping centre fragrance department. go get yours now!