Complexity in Simplicity

Monday, December 31, 2007

2007 - A YEAR OF TRANSITIONS

If you want me to summarise my 2007, I would say its overwhelmed w transitions. The second half of the year especially. So many things have happened. From academic, personal, family and relationships. All of them still living vividly in my mind.

No long reflections.

But I just want myself to remember the kind of struggles I had at some period of the year. The new perspectives I've gained. The overwhelming pain that I could still sorta feel when topics related is brought up.

A year that I have to grow up in a way different from others.
A year that I have to learn to manage my emotions.
A year that I cant let myself go weak in the mind and to constantly fight unhappiness and remain as optimistic as possible.
A year that I got jolted out of my simple lil world
A year I decide to go for my dreams,
A year I have to accept reality.
A year that I embraced an extraordinary relationship.

my mind whispered 'I dont wanna lose you yet'
as i laid in ur arms.

1:09 AM

Labels: Reflections, Sour

doodled at Monday, December 31, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

Sunday, December 30, 2007

ST. JAMES W JERICA - MANY FIRST - 28,29th DEC 07

Clubbing w jerica for the first time, clubbing with only 2 persons for the first time and also hitting St. James for the first time.

Though it was only the 2 of us, it was still fun! W jerica and me madly dancing amongst some of the half-hearted dancers =x. We hopped from club to club trying to find the one that we would prefer as Powerhouse was playing Trance which we had no feel for to dance for long!

And our cup of tea turns out to be Tiger Live which is in our genre of R&B, Hip HOP! Bellini Room and Gallery Bar not too bad as well...quite a nice place for chills out. Definitely more of a chilling out place rather than for dancing...since we have to autistically dance at a discrete corner. HAHAs. And we settled for Lychee Martini at Gallery Bar before we hit Tiger Live for the dance again!

Bartender - Mixing Lychee Martini

A fun-loving pair

We were approached by bad pick-up lines that totally turned us off...and made me wanna giggle. hahas!

I'm like getting addicted to clubbing..

Ending w joy and not agony of waiting

9:46 PM

Labels: Club

doodled at Sunday, December 30, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

Sunday, December 23, 2007

TOP OF THE M

BIRTHDAY FAIRYTALE- 21st Dec' 07

The whole celebration started w a fetch! Simple things such as fetching makes me feel like a princess, enjoying such privileges which has never been in my possession before. People like my sis can never understand my joy. A little girl's contentment and joy.

In the car, i was still kept in the suspense of 'where are we going?' And i always love surprises soo much. (who doesnt?!)

And so! The place that we are going to is sitting somewhere in town. And as soon as we walked towards Meritus Mandarin, and my guess.. yes.. TOP OF THE M.

My first visit to this 'legendary' Singapore's first revolving resturant 39 storeys high up in Meritus Mandarin. It revolves. Yes, it does and it's so slow that you can only feel it even you urself are not moving v much!

The carpeted Spiral Stairs

The stairs led us to a dimly-lit w soft red lights that im so sure that im gonna have a romantic birthday dinner! ;p

The place

It feels great to see through the glass windows, down the streets and see bulbs of lights. The vehicles on the roads look slow when observed from the revolving top. Pace of citylife is reduced as we indulge in the romantic and soothing setting.

The awesome night scene, only from above

Lights

I browsed through the menu which shows long French names and oh pricey delicacies. And seriously, being my first time to such extravagance, I have no idea what I should order. But almost every dish looks interesting w its description..

Appetiser - Escargots.

maybe..maybe its because its so dim that i cant totally see what im eating that i dare to try this out. Supposedly slimy disgusting creature. Yet when it gets into my mouth, it doesnt feel as disgusting. And indeed it is heavenly..springy and lightly flavoured w various spices! The fragrance alone when serve is enough to subdue the greedy koon. hahas. if only i can tell what spices are there..

Venison Tender and Roasted Duck

I chose the Venison Tender as my main course! One reason being...i've never tried a Venison before. And i'm told that it taste like beef. And apparently its nice when eaten w the cranberry sauce and the crispy garnishes on top..(which im not too sure what are they) hahas.

OH! but what surprised me is Jer's Roasted Duck. It definitely doesnt taste like any other coffee shops or food courts duck. If i werent told that was a duck, i would have think that its something else. TAsty~~ hahas. and i love his potato salad! Heaven mix of the sour cream, bacon bits and potato..yummie yummie yummie! =P

Sinful but too sinful to resist

And how can we go off without trying one of the best desserts! THE SEVEN SINS. Its really sinful...each one of them is so thick in its taste. Yet each of them are distinct in either its texture or taste. Close your eyes and u'll still be able to guess correctly which one u're tasting!!

And my favourite among the seven is the one in the eggshell! The whole texture that is smoothly mixed as if its really mixed w egg yolk(is there egg yolk in it? im still wondering,hahas) . Slight bitterness. LOVE IT!!

lovely lovely lovely~~~

Trios - Singing 'Love will keep US alive'

My heart raced like mad when this song was sung..once again, im conquered by the charming electrocuting pair of eyes >.<

That was the first song sung. The second song was Desperado, all by Eagles. It only proves further the point of the importance of classic songs for a romantic and class setting.

Pseudo-candle

Happy birthday to myself :)

But i kinda dread it, Coz when 19 comes, 20 comes next.

The couple shot.

Xmas.xmas.

A shot near the entrance of Top of the M, before we depart the place.
And time taken to revolve one round is approx 2 hrs!

Style.

Taken along the mirror at the Observatory Lounge at the 38th floor, where we were at on the 3rd Aug 07. The second date if im right. That date is one of the most memorable ones.. w the great being so contemplative. Another place of memories! :)

Another emotional Blackmail.

Thank you my dear for the wonderful birthday dinner! It made me felt so special and pampered, so different from any other birthday celebrations I had over the past 19 years. hahas. i'll try not to be too mushy. So, i'll just end off again w a big big big 'Thank You' and 'Love you!' >.<

and lastly.. Thanks to all my ladies who brought me presents and all others for ur wishes..^^ im aldy happy enough to know that u guys remember. Arigatos~!

surreal

2:14 PM

Labels: Anniversary, ecstatic, Extravagance/Fine-Dining, Indelible memories, my love :), Surreal, Sweet

doodled at Sunday, December 23, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

STAYING CONNECTED

Met up with the usual peeps for a dinner at Vil'age and Chills at Holland V's Eski Bar! We were busy cam-whoring away. Especially so for yx who shot all the way when we moved from Heeren to Wheelock.

It was nice catching up with the guys, though im feeling the culture differences a lil. Afterall, (maybe) thats where i used to be too. Hoping that they can complain a lil lesser and learn to enjoy the different kinds of things on this planet. But well...we are all different!

Oh and before the dinner, I caught Alvin and the Chipmunks w the couple! Other than the cute aspect of the movie, It brought me into thoughts of profiteering individuals and corporate. Cold-blooded creatures who disregard about the well-being the money-generating 'machines'. Money-making is tempting..but maybe we should pay attention to giving some warmth to ppl or any other creatures around us. Of course I know that saying it is easy. But doing it..to resist lucrative businesses around..is not easy.

A short post w losta pics ;p

koon, xiang ling

US at Vil'age

cam-whoring w the xmas tree

1e1 - 4e1. High five Goey and Sze Han! We are always ther. hahas

Credits to the *hmphs photographer. Mr XU

w the guys whom I used to hang out w!

Eski shots
Cold Room.

Uh, no, I'm not drunk nor really that crazy! Just that the photographer captured weird shots. =x

simply myself.

merging 2 worlds.

10:56 PM

Labels: Chill, Friendship, Reflections

doodled at Sunday, December 23, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

Monday, December 17, 2007

NYDC

ANOTHER SINFUL NIGHT~ 14th Dec 07

Sweet tooth at 1 in the midnight! And between TCC and NYDC, we went ahead to the NYDC for its mudpie. Look how sinful it is! hahas...on one hand, i'm trying to tell myself "koon, go on diet!" On the other, im being pampered with the Jedi Mudster! The diet plan will never be successful in this way. LOL.

Anyway, the topic of the conversation for that night brought me to think bout yea..Familial Ties. I didnt say much when The Great shared his philosophies, etc with me. But thoughts crawled in my mind in these couple of days. I was just thinking, this is another ugly side of the gracious society, gracious in the most superficial form maybe. But layers and layers of its ugliness is peeling off slowly. And im a piece of this ugly society as well.

When family is concerned, I love them very much but this family is just immediate family members. I haven really taken into account or really cherish those in the extended family line. My uncle told me before..sometimes its just the parents who didnt set a strong foundation for this extended family ties. Well, thats a factor partially but i wun say it constitutes all to the fragile familial ties. Yes, its fragile for one that hasnt been really v strong. For me and even the whole family as a whole.

Can I say that familial ties requires some form of a reciprocation as well? Especially so for grandchildren, for nieces, nephews. We tend to love your *hmphs relatives more if we can feel the affection and attention from them and not when you get the feeling that they are smirking at you every now and then. Looking down on you and doesnt treat u like their nieces. Well, u can say that its all what we think only. But surely after more than 10 years of observance..it cant go v wrong. In this kind of situation..how to love them? nahs.

Searching my conscience, yes..I dun feel that close either to my Grandma. My only grandparent who's still alive. On celebratory occassions, the 3 of us are always the earliest to leave. Oh yea..just to show face. And on certain occasions, we have our excuses to not to turn up. Its true that how many more years to go? Mum said that too. But we would just rather idle somewher else than to join in the errrr 'joy'. hahas.

And i believe this scenario will get more and more typical in this whole society.

hahas. Whatever it is, lets hope that we can just find that lil warmth in this extended family.

Ending this post w a photo that i love! ;p

Happy cool! - NYDC

addiction

11:00 PM

Labels: happy food., Indelible memories, my love :), Sweet

doodled at Monday, December 17, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

Friday, December 14, 2007

AGE.

Working in the same building, under the same organisation but a change of floor. From the 5th to the 7th floor where the accounts department is the only department of that organisation here. The rest of them, belong to that bigger organisation- SN**.

Each time i walk towards the photocopying room, toilet or pantry, I sensed dullness in the air and see age or simply dullness carved on the faces of the ladies sitting in their own cubicle. It sends shivers in me..and makes me feel a little dull too. Lack that bit of a liveliness in the office, especially so when the typical corporate lady w that thick red rouges bury herself(themselves) in their work, expressionless. And i really conclude that if one works in such an environment permanently, it would be so likely that they age at a more rapid pace! Why? The topic of the conversation, the atmosphere of the environment that eventually affects one's mood, style, beliefs and I believe looks are affected indirectly as well. Just like the most common topic Ive heard in office - Motherhood.

Parenthood comes as one eventually gets married and give birth, well at least in the norm.

Though my own cubicle is partioned such that you cannot peep over the other cubicles easily, I constantly hear about Parenthood, especially Motherhood from the front, back and even diagonal desks. Talking about promotions for baby products, development of their very own child, sharing of experiences w their newly-borned child which all tells me bout their lifestyle. Like what Samantha says, she doesnt even have the time and energy to go online now.

This is all too hell scary. While I kowtow to the mothers on their willingness to sacrifice - Time, freedom, energy, friends, fun, appearances, I can't imagine myself doing that few years down the road. It seems that I'm so reluctant to give up my own time, my precious freedom, the fun without heavy committments and definitely to lose the youth and figure. I cant imagine that I cant even go online..or I have to even worry bout the lil kid at home when im out. Neither can I imagine the already chubby koon growing to an ultimate fat ass.

All these nightmares.. they are definitely nightmares. It's sweetness, it's a completion of life for many others. Life would not be complete without starting their own family. But life wouldnt be complete without myself. Age w eventual committments leads to the loss of oneself. I dun understand how it can be even complete when u lost so much of ur own freedom and dreams. It feels more like you have lost urself for you have to prepare to see your family more important than urself.

Its tempting to think that whether these are nightmares lie in the hands of urself. Its possible to start a family and still holding on to ur freedom etc..It's a matter of management? You think so? I dont. No matter how good u are in the management in this case...you cant totally shrink off your responsibilities..Its just too hard to stay responsible yet having the SAME degree of freedom again. Imagine urself being tied to a chair. You might still be able to walk around but it's just not as carefree anymore. And if you're tied to a heavier chair, you might eventually be coerced to sit down.

Freedom is so important so important to me. And fears of ageing has never struck me so badly till this week. Maybe maybe its because..im still young that all these feel like a vampire that will suck my blood dry.

fears

10:49 PM

Labels: inner voices

doodled at Friday, December 14, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

Thursday, December 13, 2007

ZOUK VIA VELVET

The attempt to club was faced w a poor turn up rate again. Disappointing me initially that I've very much lost the mood to club. Its just so hard to coordinate clubbing especially with non-frequent clubbers. Not that I'm a frequent clubber..but...I've concluded that I should club w the frequent clubbers to prevent such unnecessary disappointment again.

Thinking that the club was cancelled..Jer and I headed down to Marina Sq, having Secret Recipe for dinner. Introducing the yummie Irish Lamb stew, Spag Meatball, and Choc Banana cake!! Marvellous. LOve the thick layer of hmm 'spongey' choc on the top and the sides. And the Lamb Stew was tender with a sauce that doesnt let one get sick of it easily.. Oh and..I ate some meatball(beef)..must say that they are quite good,with the sauce. Hahas. Sorry but sauce is still important to me.LOL

During dinner, we simply cant put our minds totally off from clubbing..While the great continued to coord..we ended our dinner...with 'yes lets go!'

Zouk and Phuture were both full house by the time we got there. Or rather, Zouk got full house when we were like 10 clubbers in the queue away. That was damn shitty! Nonetheless,this didnt turn down our want to club. Went over to the velvet's queue instead! And yupps, I don really like the Trance playing Velvet. But still..hadnt got a chance to pop over to Phuture!

Squeezy club I would say! Hahas, and with that limited limited space...we are still trying to display, Salsa, Reggae and Freestyles. Not to forget those jumping up and down!...After that totally shag out that I need somewher to lie on! hahas. And we had really good dancers around. The freestyle has always been good, the salsa moves are impressively done in tandem with the non-salsa music.

koon (SUPER stinky) n Jer!

And oops. Think I forgot and missed the chance of taking photos with the rest! But I had fun with the guys! Jer, Shaun,Edward. And the couple...though i wasnt v familiar w them still..Florence and bf. hahas.

And the next day, I ended up at work SUPER tired with simply 2 hours of sleep. Quite amazed at my ability to do so. To grit through the 8.5 hours of work...with digits turning upside down on me and feeling floaty at times.

Lets not be wishy-washy.

9:49 PM

Labels: Club, Dine, happy food., my love :)

doodled at Thursday, December 13, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

ITS OUR FIRST TIME!

Can you believe it? In my whole 19 years of life, in their 22 and 21 years of life, we have never been out together before! And because we USED to be soooo close...its so weird why we have never been out together even for a simple meal.

And even so, this 'outing' was definitely more than adrupt. I didnt expect such a day would ever come in the near future at least.

And we shared stories. Though, mostly is the eldest sharing her painful experiences and lessons in her recent relationship that just ended. I simply cant believe how strong she is. Sharing her most painful story with a wide smile and feeling PROUD of it, of how she handled and survived till now. I admire her for the strength, courage and optimistic soul. It was never easy.

On the other hand, she's translating some of her pain to an unhealthy lifestyle which I strongly object. Despite my overt and exaggerated actions of signalling...that I dun like it..PLease stop puffing in all directions..she still continued smoking. And when i tried to tell her..smoking steals ur youth. She returned me with "she needs to smoke partly coz she looked too young to clinch deals". Leaving me utterly speechless. But I know..thats just one of the smokers' excuses.

Oh and yupps. This is my cousin!

Shouldnt we cherish our youth?

And the conclusion of the day is we are all soooooooo Chubbie!.. But chubbie can be cute too isnt it ? hahas. my cousin says im good at consoling myself. Hahas, but we should think positively huhs!

hahas! and myself. But w lil lil lil grooming due to the too unexpected outing.

crossing paths.

10:46 PM

Labels: Family

doodled at Tuesday, December 11, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

Sunday, December 09, 2007

7th Dec , 8 Dec 07

Went shopping with my sis before i meet the great. hahas. Cant really see what I've bought and yet those small items could add up to 3 digits.. Comforting myself...hahas...'those are necessities'

And I realised as we grow up, what used to be a Luxury is now a Need. Remember the times when i saw young primary school kids carrying a mobile phone, camera phone somemore..I seriously wonder what they are doing with the phone!? SMS? And that i guess a simple thing like a phone has translated to a need for them at such an immature age. Its not only succumbing to the works of an increasingly affluence lifestyle but also to the evils of social norms.. To fit as nicely as possible into the FAMILY photo of the society.

And this shopping trip has shocked me a little when my 17 year old lil sister started talking about Gucci, Guess, etc. Going for the brands..when even the 21 and 19 year old sisters are not doing so yet. I just hope that these classy brands are still a luxury for her..not a need.

But I cant deny that these temptations are not without a real substance by itself! I almost couldnt resist it too. But yea..ther's this guess tube top is really a huge temptation! But..highly priced at 70+ bucks AFTER disc is making me think twice, think thrice and until now..still thinking of it. So yea..i stepped out of Guess empty-handed! :( Still, a luxury. To resist the temptations is a skill much needed..hahas.

That's us at Mio. A designer accessories shop at Wisma. And here..i got my first purchase for the day!

The whole Orchard is freaking crowded! Makes me feel like shunning away from all the desperate horns from those cars on the road and the sticky crowd..and indulge in somewher quieter, with lesser souls. ZZz. The crowd simply makes the shopping a little less enjoyable..

Finally, a lil quiet night at Orchard-Swensen where it is not crowded. :) Chats over desserts and fries. HAHAs. yupps. :))))) Oh and i think its worth mentioning.. (remembered upon seeing the cherry stalk) I tried to tie that stalk into a knot! First try and....approx 20 mins. hahas. :p

And i enjoyed the ride back to the great's place so much. Finally sitting in the car feeling so light, so carefree....satisfied the previous fantasy of going a spin a little!

so much so much.. :p

4:56 PM

Labels: Family, my love :), Sweet

doodled at Sunday, December 09, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

Thursday, December 06, 2007

OFFICIAL END OF SEM 1! (THE START OF HOLIDAYS!)

"end of exams really get u excited ar" and "i concluded u r very excited", both quoted from ah ze!

Indeed I am somewhat high and excited, for now even chatting is filled with soo much freedom!! And its amazing how this buddy managed to sense that excitement from me merely from a chat dialog box. The wonders of language and tone!. Anyway...thats not the issue today~

Tracing back..I started my life in NUS right from the CAC camp..outings..matriculation fair..biddings..lectures...tutorials and finally exams! In just 4 months, everything is over! Worries of incomplete readings..etc. And after enduring for weeks...exams are OVER! And to be able to share ur joy right after ur papers..feels really really good, i realised.

Plans for the holidays are still rolling out. It seems that this one month of holiday is a little too short for many things to be planned...

Anyway, i'm going back to SERI on the 10Dec07, if nothing goes wrong. Kinda excited that I will get to see people like Jessie, Jooyi, Samantha, Eveline, Chan,Yi Hui, Prof Tan and all the other doctors,etcetc again!

Other than that...i really really wanna club! Doesnt matter if ther's work the next day! (ive promised myself to play and enjoy all i can this hol, but that would mean i need to work hard too..to get the chips for the game i wanna play)

The next most important plan is my Bangkok trip!.. My FIRST trip further than Genting. Not v far...not as appealing as TW/AUstralia/Japan..but im still very very excited whenever i think of it. Yet did i mention? I feel like gg to another place for vacation too..hahas..damn greedy. I just feel the need to travel..to experience for myself after hearing my peers and colleagues speaking of their experience all the way from last year. Even if its on my own...i think i wun mind too...Just that some other older folks mind.hahas

And of course..in the midst of everything..ther's the 19th birthday, dating, anniversaries, outings, x'mas, new year..shoppings...

endless~~.... yayys!

im pretty sure..my holiday is quite fulfilling. :)

--------

by the way, I just realised that I have a really sweet dance instructor! I was so drenched yesterday and she helped me to hang the jacket at the back of the dance room, for fear that i'll catch a cold! And now..its important to keep the fitness level at a certain level...dancing does need lotsa..stamina..muscles...esp for those jumping up and down movements.

And im enjoying my dance so much! One hour is just too freaking short!

Hanging Jacket, Drenched koon ;p

And i will try to get back as much beauty sleep as i can.~ thats..hopefully. :x

Small lil acts a day can brighten up my day!:)

11:07 PM

Labels: Dance, Reflections, Uni-

doodled at Thursday, December 06, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Are those who cry the stronger ones?

Those who grit things through and smile it through the stronger ones?

3:38 AM

Labels: Emo.., inner voices

doodled at Sunday, December 02, 2007 by koon | Doodlelink | 0 Comments