Recent happenings : Reflection and Renewals

The wet spell in Singapore has finally come to an end, I think. it's now bright and sunny, and just perfectly nice timing for me to get to Batam for a short respite over the weekend and also to embrace year 2006 with a final touch and then welcome the springing of a brand new year of 2007. Not forgetting another new year kick-off trip to HK from 6th-13th Jan 07, 6 more days to go.....And while other people are already starting to make new resolutions since the beginning of this month, I have also made some too. Isn't it quite a common topic to come across when you read your other friends' blog as well? =p

My new year resolutions are as below:
1) To become more mature in thinking, to be able to understand better other people's idiosyncracies with open arms without any first impression prejudice and appreciate the art of diversity in life.
2) To be able to use VBA in Excel for macro purposes and enhance SPSS programming proficiency by end of April.
3) To clear off more of my outstanding tuition fee loan(thus think on how to earn more money and at the same time not neglecting family and friends!!).
4) To sustain equanimity when adversities of life happen and recur which makes life hard to survive.
5) To understand that challenges are inevitable and it's a state of unease over things that we are not familiar with, which ought to be perceived as a chance to get to know better our own limit of ability and stimulate our minds to try to think of the best way to navigate through the challenge, during which, new skills will be discovered, mistakes familiarised, and eventually, will hit a level higher than before. Need to be more resilient and have a long-term vision, patience is a virtue too, only then a sense of achievement and valiance will not be far-fetched.
6) To revise all foreign languages that I have learned so far, including Vietnamese, German, Japanese and coming up is Korean for which I should be taking classes two months later! Haha...

Anyway, it's just a short summary of the direction of my self-improvement plans in the coming 2007. Hope it would not fall short, so I ought to internalise a drive of positivism, stamina and resilience!

Had a department lunch last Thursday at Curry House(Clarke Quay) organised by Pei Chin. It's North Indian cuisine and this time round, everyone turned up. Food was splendid and we had a long 2-hour lunch(one hour longer than usual) since we had had a long busy work week. I did not take any photos of the dishes so no photos for you guys to see this time. Be patient, there are bound to have many other food photos coming up to make sure you don't miss out any nice makan outlets in town!

Yesterday was the last day of work for year 2006, so everyone left on time if not earlier to enjoy a long long weekend. It was the same for me, as I headed down to Marina Square and met up with Princess for dinner at Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe. We ordered Baked Pork Chop Spaghetti with Cheese(quite cheesy but I like it), Chicken Curry with Rice and side dishes such as BBQ Pork Pastries, Prawn Dumplings, Cheung Fun. There was an on-going queue of customers too, so actually I think the cafe has been quite popular in town. Quite full at the end of the course. The bill was close to $30 but I think it's still not expensive considering the food quality and portion. After that, she wanted to go to Suntec to shop for Guess bags so we walked over there and she ended up with a top instead. Haha. After that, there wasn't much to see, so we walked back to Marina Square and walked around and went window-shopping. Nothing much to see also, we were already on our way back to City Hall MRT and after she was done with buying buns at Bread Talk then we felt like going for a drink so we went over to Chijmes for a drink at Le Baroque at basement level where there was 50% off for house pours. Ordered champagne(Moet & Chandon), and two shots of house pours(Jim Beam & Smirnoff Vodka). I forgot what kind of wine the Jim Beam is. Haha..Ambience was cosy but not too well air-conditioned, still I think it was pretty nice for a place to chatter with your friends over the weekend to spin your mind out of the busy work schedule for the night. Pretty enjoyed ourselves that night. Chijmes is a cool pubbing place.


***Sudah berapa lama aku tak bertutur atau menulis dalam Bahasa Melayu?Sejak kudatang ke Singapura agaknya, lima tahun lebih. Walaupun, disini langsung tak ada peluang untuk bertutur dalam bahasa ini yang diagung-agungkan di Malaysia, kurasa ku juga mesti mengekalkan taraf percakapan bahasa Melayuku sebagai warganegara Malaysia. Bagaimanapun, ku tak rasa kesal datang sini untuk melanjutkan pelajaranku dan mendapati perkerjaan yang agak stabil buat masa ini. ***

I came across this local Malaysian Chinese singer but she sings a Malay song named "Cinta Hello Kitty" which I like it. Enjoy the song~~~

Artist : Karen
Song Title : Cinta Hello Kitty-Hello Kitty's Love(with my English translation)
Lagu: Whye Yang
Lirik: Asmin Mudin
Lirik Ihsan Prodigee Media

Mengapa kau membutakan telingaku (Why did you deafen my ears)
Mengapa engkau membutakan hatiku (Why did you blind my heart)
Sehinggaku tak peduli (Till I don't care)
Semua insan berbintiku (Hmm..how to translate this line?)

Hinggaku sanggup melarikan diri (Till I was willing to run away)
Tinggalkan ibu ayah dan Hello Kitty (Leaving mom,dad and Hello Kitty)
Bersamamu ku temui (Together with you I've met)
Yang kukenal sehari (The one I've known for a day)

Korus:(Chorus)
Ku tahu ibu ayah terguris hati(I know mom and dad have been hurt)
Siang dan malam gelisahkan aku (Day and night worrying me)
Hello Kitty tolong aku (Hello Kitty,help me)
Katakan aku ok... (Saying that I'm okay)

Esok aku meraih hari jadiku (Tomorrow I celebrate my birthday)
Air mata berlinang dipipiku (Tears flowing on my cheeks)
Hello Kitty tolong aku (Hello Kitty,help me)
Tiupkan lilin yang buta ini (Blow off this blind candle)

Setelah kepalsuan mencelikkanku(After falsity opening my eyes)
Setelah penyesalan menginsafkanku (After regretfulness making me realise)
Hello Kitty tolong aku(Hello Kitty,help me)
Aku mahu pulang...(I wanna go home....)