Ok sorry, I lazed today. A picture is worth a thousand words so here's a few Phuket photos for you guys. Hard to find those without our faces plastered all over.

# posted by Shopaholic : 9:43 PM

I'm back!!! Anyone missed me?

Super exhausted, I'll blog more tomorrow about the trip and put up some pictures.

# posted by Shopaholic : 8:49 PM

Just did a bit of preliminary packing. Wish I could have taken the day off tomorrow but in view of the 3 days compassionate leave, I think it's more prudent not to further antagonise my boss. There's a huge deadline coming up but I will worry about that AFTER my holidays. Nothing is going to spoil this for me, especially not work.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:59 PM

Funeral's over. I have a grand total of 13 mosquito/ insect bites on one leg alone to show for it. I'm a mosquito magnet, it's always been like that. Nobody else got bitten. And it's the kind that swells and gets incredibly itchy and a bit painful to the touch. Geez, I'm going to look hideous in shorts and bikini.

I'm going to miss my grandma and the huge gatherings with my cousins. It's been dwindling ever since most of them gone to study/ work in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. Slight melancholy is setting in.

# posted by Shopaholic : 8:45 PM

My maternal grandmother passed away this morning. She stays in Johore Bahru, Malaysia (my mom's birthplace) with my uncle, auntie and cousins. Sad to say, although we rushed there as soon as we could after we got the call at 10am+, we did not make it in time to see her for the last time. Late by 10 minutes. My mom wept when she heard that. Initially, I thought I wouldn't be too upset about it as we've been expecting this for some time. Afterall, grandma's at the ripe old age of 94 and hasn't been healthy for some years. But I did feel a bit overwhelmed upon seeing her body and teared a bit. I recalled how she used to pamper me when I was a child, how she used to save the best food for me when I visited, being the only girl in the family, and so much more.

The least I can do for her now is to help out at her funeral as much as I can. The whole family's going back to JB in the morning again. (Boss didn't sound that happy when I informed her of the 2 days compassionate leave I need.)

# posted by Shopaholic : 12:30 AM

Valuair pre-launch registration for special fares. I registered for Hong Kong and Bangkok.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:28 PM

Isn't this wrap dress from Tskye gorgeous? But it's so expensive!

# posted by Shopaholic : 1:26 PM

I wonder how much do travel agents earn? I think I will enjoy the job.

# posted by Shopaholic : 12:13 PM

Ohh, Workaholic kindly offered to split the parking fine with me, saying that she got rides from me that night as well. Muuuuuuaks.

# posted by Shopaholic : 12:06 PM

Accompanied Workaholic to shop for a bikini last night. After countless tries, I adviced her to go for the dark brown and pink Guess bandeau one which I totally adore too. It's just as well my size is sold out since I don't need another bikini. (I would have been tempted to buy it too if it's available.)

We also headed to Ocean Pacific (OP) where she bought a pair of shorts and me, a pink cotton halter top I can wear in Phuket.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:41 AM

Whoever cast Michelle Saram as a Chinese Princess in A Step Into The Past must be blind. She looks ridiculous.

# posted by Shopaholic : 12:22 AM

It's 6:15pm, the office is empty except for me. In normal circumstances, I would have zoom home as well, rejoicing that I can leave early and yet outlasted the Bosses. But as it's a Friday, I'm stuck in here waiting for Workaholic to finish her work so that we can go shopping for her bikini.

I don't want to go shopping earlier as I might end up being seduced by new clothes or accessories which I totally cannot afford. So, blogging seems like a better alternative. Anyway, I haven't had the energy or mood to blog much this past month.

Yesterday, in my hurry to join the supposedly long queue at Zouk, I forgot to display a parking coupon and received a whopping fine of $30! Arrgh, it is this kind of useless waste of money that depletes my bank account. In the end, we didn't stay that long at Zouk either because we couldn't get a good place to see the stage and had to rely on the TV screens.

This morning, I received an email from Zuji informing me that the flight back from Phuket has been changed earlier, AGAIN! This time, it's shifted from 2:35pm to 1:10pm. Bloody hell (pardon the swearing, I'm really pissed off), this is going to make us really tight for time on the last day taking the ferry back to Phuket from Phi Phi and then transferring to the airport. If any of these parts of the journey is delayed, we might end up missing our flight and having to stay another 2 days (no flight on the next day somemore!).

I called Zuji. They said there's nothing they can do about it except cancel our flight reservations and make new reservations on other airlines which could cost between $60-$150 more. In which case, we might as well use the money to stay 2 more days in Phuket.

I called Thai Airways and basically said that the way they keep changing flight time sucks and is really unfair on their customers who purchased tickets and made plans based on the original time given. Plus, this time they gave only a week's notice of the change?! Their answer? Operational decision, we can't help it. Bleah! Like that's a good excuse for bad customer service. I ended off saying that we are now informing them that we might be late in checking-in for the return flight, that there's no way we can make it to the airport 2 hours before departure due to their late notice of flight change and to make sure that we won't be penalised (by having no seats for us or not letting us check in late).

# posted by Shopaholic : 6:37 PM

The lousy LRT (Light-Rail-Transit) broke down again this morning on my way to work and I was trapped for half an hour. Got to the office at about 10am. I contemplated taking leave instead (God's will?) but decided that would be stretching it a bit too far. Luckily, Boss used to stay in the same area so she understands these sort of delays.

Going to Zouk for the Cleo Eligible Bachelors finals tonight as Sexaholic is one of the finalists and managed to get us invites. I'm so sotong (blur)! I left the invite at home and have to rush home to get it after work and then borrow Dad's car to head back to Zouk.

Counting down to the weekend again.

# posted by Shopaholic : 4:38 PM

Ticketing for this year's Singapore Film Festival starts today. I was looking through the films but nothing seems terribly interesting. Any good recommendations?

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:02 AM

Went to the biggest IT Fair of the year at Suntec City yesterday with Workaholic and Sleepaholic. We had a hard time debating whether the Canon or Epson 3-in-1 printer/scanner/copier is better. I would say the Canon wins out because of its waaaaaay cheaper catridges. Features-wise, it's on par. In the end, I held out and didn't buy because even though the offer is very tempting, I can't afford it at the moment. Sleepaholic couldn't get it too as the fair is closed when we went back after dinner. She managed to sign up for her MaxOnline broadband subscription though.

After a quick dinner at Kenny Rogers, we rushed to Cathay Cineleisure where we had a movie booking for Raising Victor Vargas. The ending was so abrupt that most people in the theatre went huh? Nobody moved for about 2 minutes as we kept waiting for something else to show. And it was so short that it simply wasn't satisfying enough. We decided to catch another movie and flipped the coin for either Irreversible or Big Fish. Irreversible won out but turns out both shows are full house.

Being the indecisive group we are, we hopped over to Mohammed Sultan Road, sat in East Side Bar for 5 minutes without a order, dropped by Great World City to see what movie's available there (only Mystic River and Haunted Mansion) and then sashay over to Wine Bar (where we always end up!). Had 2 jugs of Vodka Vanilla 7-up. We discussed our itinerary for the Phuket trip over the drinks and made some BIG PLANS .

# posted by Shopaholic : 5:39 PM

I bought this adorable pale pink bikini from Roxy yesterday. I was actually eyeing a blue one with diamond clasps but as Sleepaholic and Nic-aholic remarked, the blue doesn't suit my skin tone. It's more for fairer ladies while I'm on the tanned side. On the other hand, I think the pink one brightens up my face. Problem is, it's those triangle string bikini design which is more revealing with less support. hahah, need tons of courage for me to appear in that in public.

See the bikinis here.

# posted by Shopaholic : 1:01 PM

A term I learnt in Accounting - LIFO: Last-in-First-out. It's normally applied to stock inventory. Su used it to describe my time in the office.

Alcoholic and Nic-aholic just left my house where we watched American Idol 3 - Wildcard results show. I can't believe Paula choosed Leah. Her singing reeked, even though she's pretty. I thought Suzie deserved to be in the finals more. Nic-aholic begged to differ, because Leah reminds her of Nicole Kidman (nah, I think Nicole is much more beautiful).

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:19 PM

I'm so bored with my job I'm starting to send out resumes again. There's one which I'm very interested in as it's a different job scope yet not totally unrelated to what I'm trained in. Hopefully, the job is more dynamic and would provide more opportunites of interaction with other people.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:09 PM

Big Boss (based in KL, Malaysia) came into town yesterday and left only tonight. I had made an effort to leave my house earlier so that I can reach the office in time. Of all the freaking bad luck, the MRT was delayed this morning and stopped between virtually every station!

Boss treated us to lunch at Neptune where we had dim sum. As the Bosses had all met for breakfast this morning, they were still quite full which leaves only me and Su. Seeing that the others hardly moved their chopsticks, we small frys are of course embarrased to eat too much as well. Stomach was growling by 3pm! We heated up yesterday's (promotion lunch which was catered) leftover curry chicken, bought Delifrance bread and had tea break.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:03 PM

Since young, about 12 yrs old, I have been a big fan of romance novels. Progressing from Sweet Dreams to trashy M&B books, I collected them all from second-hand bookshops. (Sunny bookshop at Far East Plaza offered very cheap deals.) In fact, I used to pride myself on having an almost-complete collection of the Sweet Dreams novels.

One common theme of these stories is the prince in shining armour, the happily-ever-after endings. They ignited dreams of such true love for myself and I longed for the day I experience it.

The first time I fell in love at the ripe old age of 19 was a wonderful period. I was submerged in bliss and happiness. It's as if the world had suddenly brightened up and everyday is a delight. But alas, reality sets in. Still, my belief in true love held strong.

However, as each year passes, this belief is slowly eroded. It's strongly tested and occasionally overwhelmed by doubts and anger. Now I frequently wonder whether it's unrealistic and whether my simple expectations is still too much.

A lot of friends ask why I persist believing in Someone. (Incidentally, he's the first love.) I can never answer that and I gave the question a lot of thought. I guess the reason is that he's the only one who managed to touch me at the very core of my heart, who understands me without me saying a word. Whether it's blissfulness, happiness, anger, despair, he is the only one who ever made me feel these emotions deeply.

It's a matter of whether I can take the bad along with the good. Sometimes, the bad can be unbearable and drives me nuts and depressed.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:23 PM

I feel like I'm back in my hibernating existence, without energy for anything. I hate that, must do something to get out of it again.

# posted by Shopaholic : 7:33 PM

An email exchange with a colleague yesterday:

Me: It has crawled to 450pm.

Other: Still got an hour half journey. Can do something to make it crawl faster?

Me: Like?? Time is precious as we get older.
But here we are, wishing that it will pass faster.
Isn't that ironic??
And doesnt it show us we should be making use of our time for more worthwhile things?
So that we will not regret not having spent it better when we die.

# posted by Shopaholic : 7:17 PM

In honour of our upcoming trip, I bought a new bikini, in black with strings. Most probably I'll end up wearing it under tank tops . The PT sessions haven't rid me off my fats. In fact, I don't see much results at all.

# posted by Shopaholic : 11:18 PM

From Ginvie's blog, apparently I'm neutral too.

How evil are you?

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:45 PM

The Phuket hotel we're staying in..........

Burasari is a Thai word that evokes a peaceful place filled with delightful fragrances. Everything on the grounds of our resort has been designed with this concept in mind - the wonderful array of tropical plants the calmness of the reflective pool and the soothing sounds of our many waterfalls. The decor on our grounds and in all our rooms is our unique Burasari blend of contemporary and Thai style.

On Phuket.com recommendations:
A new owner-managed small resort, hidden away close to the beach. Stylish but tranquil, it provides a delightful private oasis away from the crowds. Very well equipped rooms, some with direct access to the large central pool fed by waterfalls and fountains. French and Thai restaurant.

Sounds good to me.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:18 PM

Someone's going to NY for a month tomorrow. I'm going to miss him .

# posted by Shopaholic : 9:11 PM

After taking half-day leave and effort made to go to Tampines Road, they exchanged my adapter for a new one . I just managed to configure it and got it up and working!!! So happy about that! Yeah, I'm a closet geek as mentioned before. I like new computers, the latest handphone models with features galore, my digital camera, my palm pilot etc. hehe.

# posted by Shopaholic : 8:59 PM

I finally got my hands on Photoshop, but it ain't easy to figure out how to use the features. Cheem.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:39 PM

Taking half-day leave to bring the 2 weeks old adapter halfway across the island to Tampines for checking tomorrow.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:37 PM

Proof that money spent on the dark brown suit is well worth it:

I was coming out from another department this afternoon and ran into the plump IT guy who babysits our computers when they give us too much problem or when they need attention.

I smiled and said hello.

He paused, "Hey, I didn't recognise you for a minute. You lost so much weight!"

Me: "Really? But I haven't." (And I really didn't.)

Him: "You must be bluffing, teach me how you did it."

Me: "Haha, the secret is in choosing the right clothes with slimming effects."

And that's not the only compliment today. Well, if you can't lose the weight, you camouflage it.

# posted by Shopaholic : 10:12 PM