Thursday, April 26, 2007
pursuit of happiness
maybe it can be associated with contentment... to be contented with whatever you have, to treasure the people, the things that you have... we only have 1 pair of hands and there is so much that we want to hold onto.. or is it about unconditional giving to other people, not expecting anything in return?
all the while, i am seeking the answer to this question and i dwell on it when i can't find the answer.. suddenly, i realise that i am going in the wrong direction.. the answer is just right in front of me.. just that i never take good notice or appreciate it.. listen to your heart closely.. it tells you when you are happy or sad.. manify your happiness and minimise your misery..
i guess it is the little things in life that made up the happiness, not the big things.. little things and actions in life that touch your heart... maybe we never realise how fortunate we are already, but always trying to seek more and more.. then we get lost along the way... instead, we feel more misersable.. maybe if we focus on making people happy, we will naturally feel happy as well..
maybe no matter how much people tell you, you will never know until you experience yourself.. until you make the first move to truly make someone happy...
Monday, April 23, 2007
a work-free weekend
i woke up on a saturday morning with a call from xueying. she was attending violin lessons at a music school in my neighborhood and we arranged to have breakfast together. the hawker centre was bustling with people queuing up to buy breakfast. we chatted over breakfast about our recent lives and found out that she would be going to USA to visit her sister. we sat for a while to wait for the photo shop to open to take photos for her visa. as i was planning to go diving in malaysia, she was giving me some information of the place, since she had gone there diving before. she is an avid diver and she loves to see turtles underwater. her love for turtles could be seen by the number of turtle soft toys that she had and i was amazed when i saw the photo of her collection.
after bidding her goodbye, i went home to prepare for my next appointment. i arranged with my colleagues to visit another colleague of ours who just had an operation at kk hospital. we were glad to see that she was doing fine after the operation, with good appetite and watching animations.
after that, i made my way to lavender street to buy bus tickets for my diving trip. the ironic thing was that i realized i had no money for the tickets when i reached there! guessed i got ‘overheated’ by the hot weather to remember to withdraw some money. i went around searching for an atm machine before returning back to the bus terminal again.
the last errand to run for the day was to get myself a mp3 player. i met up with my sister at sim lim square where there were lots of electronic shops to shop around and compare prices. i didn’t have a good idea of what brands were available in the market now. i wanted to get a MP3 player with music storage and fm functions at a reasonable price. so we walked from shop to shop, looking at the brands and enquiring the prices. there were a lot of brands available but actually, I could only recognize 3 brands, samung, ipod and creative. after some enquiries, we realized that ipod didn’t have fm function, so it was down to 2 choices, creative or samung. creative zen model caught my attention since i knew that creative specialized in mp3 players. however, the price of the creative charger made me think twice as i felt that it was too expensive for a charger. then the sales person recommended the samsung mp3 player to me. it was sleek, with the functions i wanted and had a touch pad to maneuver the functions. so we went around comparing prices for the samsung mp3 player until we came to a shop. the sales person was friendly and willing to explain the functions of the mp3 player to us. after some negotiation, we agreed on the price, including the charger and made the purchase. finally, I got my mp3 player!
i spent the rest of the night exploring my new mp3 player and caught up with some reading. it was an exhausting but fruitful weekend for me, having to accomplish a few things. this summed up my saturday weekend...
recently, i realize that a day could pass by very fast, depending on what we are doing… a day becomes a month and a month becomes a year. we live a day by a day, making new discoveries and having new perspectives of things around us… our mindset change as we grow older and we begin to realize things that we never consider before... everyone has 24 hours a day and we have a choice of how to make use of the time. i guess i am learning to live my days fruitfully and appreciate the beauty of life… = )
have you started to appreciate as well?
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
lovers' day
love is always around you.. use your heart to feel.. = )
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
it takes time to be strong
she touched my heart once again..
Monday, January 29, 2007
runaway princess
it is unexpectedly difficult for me to write this entry, trying hard to find the right words to express my feelings. i guess the closer you are to a particular person, the harder it gets to express your gratitude towards him/her. pp has been a great colleague/friend/sister to me and we hit off well. we share many fun moments together, the late night supper, the late weekends working in office, the ktv sessions, the msn chats, my birthday and the cab rides home together. the time has come for her to move on when she accepts a job opportunity overseas. before she leaves, this is what i want to say to her..
dear pp,
thanks for everything, especially being the 1st one to celebrate my 26th birthday. thanks for tolerating my ‘cold jokes’ and always encouraging me to pursue my ‘big dreams’. you are always taking care of others and maybe it is time for you to take a break. i guess a change of environment will do you good since the pace overseas is much slower and probably you will have more time to reflect and learn new things. although there may be new challenges ahead, but i believe you will overcome them with the right attitude. sometimes when things do not go your way, it is time to learn to let go and take stride in whatever that happens. we can never turn back time but we can look forward and treasure the present moment. i see this quote from my poster and thought it will be meaningful to share with you.
live life to the fullest
each day is precious and so full of wonderful possibilities.
do not waste your day by worrying about your problems.
leave all your worries behind.
fill your life with peace and serenity.
enjoy the simple pleasures in this complex world.
happiness lies within you.
i believe you will find your answers and attain the absolute happiness within yourself. i will miss your laughter, hugs, ears pulling and treasure the great memories that we have together. remember to take care of yourself as nothing matters more than health. with a healthy mind and body, you can achieve more than what you think. believe in yourself and be brave as we will be fighting alongside with you here.
remember, princess is hard job, but somebody has to do it. be a true princess and one day, you will meet your knight in shining armour. = )
Saturday, January 27, 2007
timing beyond reach
timing... doing the right thing(s) at the right time or meeting the right person(s) at the right time.. however, sometimes we do the right thing(s) at the wrong time or vice versa.. and to make things worse, somtimes we meet the right person(s) at the wrong time or vice versa.. is timing within or beyond our control?
it is getting harder and harder to arrange even a simple dinner when everyone has different schedules and difficult to commit their time.. mainly because of work or things that happen at the last minute.. we have less and less personal time to do the things we want or meet our family and friends... every gathering becomes the fruit of all communications flying around, finding the best time that fits everyone..
i guess we should treasure every gathering... with our busy schedules, we never know when we will meet again next time..
time to go for my gathering...
Sunday, January 21, 2007
04:00
this time round, i am going to pace and not overstretch myself.. still a long way to go for the peak period... in a few hours later, i might be reporting for work again and i hope i can finish it soon... keeping my fingers crossed... haha...
p/s: hey babe.. time to go home...
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
new year @ 2007
looking ahead to the new year, here are my 10 memorable events/things in 2006, 10 things i want to forget in 2006 and 10 resolutions for 2007..
10 memorable events/things in 2006:
1) valentine's day
2) trekking trip @ gunung tahan
3) trekking trip @ gunung korbu
4) holiday trip @ taiwan
5) business trip @ shenzhen
6) diving trip @ phuket
7) last visit to the doctor
8) blood donation
9) launch of my blog
10) making the photo album for manager with the sunny team
10 things i want to forget in 2006:
1) my tears
2) my sadness
3) my stress
4) my fears
5) my procrastination
6) my anger
7) my impatience
8) my mood swings
9) my expectations on others
10) my insensitivity towards others
10 resolutions for 2007:
1) to get my CPA
2) to get a new job
3) to be contented
4) to be truthful
5) to be courageous
6) to exercise more
7) to have a balanced lifestyle
8) to love & care for my family and friends
9) to love myself
10) to be happy
just want to express my thanks to my family and friends for all the good times or bad times in year 2006, making me a better person in one way or the other...
have a great 2007 ahead... cheers... = )
Saturday, December 30, 2006
donkey @ loose
there are many characteristics of him that leaves ‘deep impression’ to us which i thought i should probably share a few here.
he is someone,
who looks like the donkey in the movie, ‘shrek’, but refuses to acknowledge it.
who spends time styling his hair but looks like a ‘bird nest’ to us.
who gives the nickname ‘tian mu’ to pp and gets his ears pulled by her every time he says something wrong.
who subscribes to the daily horoscope via his handphone and takes heed to them at times.
who shows others the ‘tube’ video clip and gets excited over it every time he watches it again.
who crumples up the schedules that the client gives him.
who plays the role of ‘christine’ and gets goofy baffled during the engagement.
who eats up the client’s biscuits and yet blames us of having a share too.
who talks very loud over the phone as if someone has owed him a great deal of money.
who reminds us of the after 5pm ‘happy hour’ when he will start cracking jokes and making us laugh till our stomachs are in pain.
who sings real good and gets high singing david tao’s and jay chou’s songs during ktv.
well versed in geography and teaches scallop that london is in england and paris is in france.

donkey and me @ dinner and dance 2005
donkey, thanks for the wonderful times and from the bottom of my heart, i wish you the very best in your future endeavors! you will be greatly missed…
take care!
Friday, December 22, 2006
wee hours @ one raffles quay
are many of us too immersed in our work that we forget how to communicate and understand ourselves better? to find out what we really want in lives or just letting ourselves go with the flow? probably time is a main factor since we are always occupied with the daily routine stuff that drain us so much.. the first thing we want to do when we get home is just to lie down in our beds and sleep.. before we know it, the new day has begun and the routine starts again.. will we ever get out of the cycle or the environment/circumstances just does not permit us, leaving us with little choices? or are we brave enough to make a U turn and go against the flow?
i guess i am currently with the flow, trying to anaylse the whole situation that i have put myself into.. keeping myself busy by observing what others are thinking and doing.. this makes everyday more interesting and fulfilling.. haha..
i hope i have the courage to make my U turn at the next cross junction...
Sunday, December 10, 2006
a week @ work
i also attended my firm’s annual dinner and dance this thursday (7 december 2006) at swissotel the stamford.. it was my 3rd time attending the dinner and dance and i wondered whether there would be a 4th time.. haha.. i shall wait and see till then.. everyone was dressed up for the occasion and it was a round of eating, drinking and photo-taking with the colleagues. as part of the entertainment programme, those new colleagues who had joined us recently were asked to put up performances according to departments. 6 departments participated and my department won the 3rd place, while the tax department emerged as the winner, 2nd time in a row. it brought back sweet memories when i recalled my 1st year joining the firm. i participated in the performance that year and we won the 1st place! it was the team effort of everyone and some of us got closer ever since.. i left around 11 plus after the lucky draw, winning nothing this year. a colleague in my department won the big prize of $5,000 travel voucher! haha… she was real lucky!
the team and our manager, chih shyan (4th from the left)
finally, my firm was busy shifting to our new office premise at one raffles quay on friday. all of us were busy packing our stuff last week, taking those that were needed and throwing away those unwanted ones. i was looking forward to the new office with new furniture and a pantry as well. haha.. i shall see the new office next monday then.. for remembrance sake, i took a few photos of the office where i had spent my last 2 ½ years busy working in before moving to the new working environment.
my workplace
this summed up the busy week and i could only get busier when the peak period is approaching.. shall brave myself through it one more time..
Sunday, November 19, 2006
will it still be sunny?
she was the manager of the sunningdale (aka sunny) job for the last financial year. ms universe, babe and i would not have survived through that tough period without her. despite so many years in audit, she still had that sense of humor within her, making her a nice manager to work with. it was sad that she was leaving, but happy that she was going for greener pastures.
the 3 of us decided to make a photo album for her to remember the sweet memories she had with the firm. the sunny team members (past, present and future) gathered around to have their photos taken with her. of course, we wouldn't miss out the partner as well, chen.. haha..

the sunny family
ms universe bought the album, babe developed the photos and i brought the colour papers and markers. we went back to the office on monday night to rush out the photo album for dinner on tuesday. suddenly, it was back to the late nights, only this time, it was different. it was the thought of wanting to show our appreciation for a manager whom we had learnt so much from and would be greatly missed.
we set our creativity to work in designing every page of the album, from flowers to butterflies, from rabbit to snail or a page full of stars... it seemed like going back to the school days doing our art and craft.. haha.. everyone was contributing ideas and putting efforts to make the album look better. after 7 hours of cutting, pasting and writing, the album came 'alive'. we could not stop 'admiring' our hard work... cailing and ah tong lent a hand to make this happen too.. though we were mentally and physically tired, it was all worthwhile at the end..
this was what i had never anticipated when i was doing the sunny job. the job was tough, the hours were long and the only thought during that time was to get out of the job. it was easier said than done and we could only push on.. maybe the bonding and friendship built up along the way.. we encouraged and helped one another to overcome one obstacle after another.. luckily, swee ing was there to handle the bigger issues and the partner.. i guess tim was right, when i looked back, i treasured the tough times that we had together, gossiping and cracking jokes..
i guess everyone of us has to move on at some point in life.. i can only be glad that our paths have crossed..

swee ing and me
to our sunny manager, thanks for everything and take care.. = )
Sunday, November 12, 2006
forever love
the bride is my polytechnic friend for almost 10 years. it was great joy to attend her wedding dinner (11 November 2006) with xiao mei nu, another good friend of ours.. the 3 of us had wonderful memories of our polytechnic days and i am amazed that our friendship has lasted till now.
the 2 of them have registered for marriage for almost 6 years before having their customary ceremony. from interacting with patrick, i know that judy has found a good husband, patient and caring. although they have gone through a lot over the last few years, he has never given up caring for her and be by her side.. maybe he hasn't done well enough for her, but i know he has done so within his best ability.
there is still a long road ahead, a lot of things to learn from each other.. i hope they will learn to treasure and appreciate each other, to continue to care and love each other.. there will be ups and downs in the marriage life, but if they have the strong belief and trust towards each other, i'm sure they can overcome whatever obstacles ahead..
this blog is dedicated to them and from the bottom of my heart, i wish them happiness always.. forever love..
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
happy birthday to me
both of us were pathetically working in the office on sunday (5 November 2006) until we went for dinner around 7pm. while we were walking back from china square after our dinner, she suddenly had the craving for haagen dazs's cookies and cream ice-cream. so we went to the nearest 7-11 to buy her ice-cream and she also bought a sara-lee cake as well. she suggested that we stayed back in office untill 12am so that she could be the first one to celebrate my 26th birthday with me. haha.. how nice of her..
yes, it was an unique way to start off my birthday celebration this year, having a close colleague/friend/sister to be the first one to wish me.. i had a bite on the cake before we packed up to go home. i didn't think much about it then until i reached home. this year's birthday was a strong contrast from my birthday last year.. for some reason, i had a sad birthday last year and i was determined enjoy my birthday this year. emotions overwhelmed me and i was really grateful that pp was there to celebrate my birthday. tears came flowing when i sent her an sms to thank her for being there.. she had been a great listener and advisor over the past year, in work or life.. she is more than just a colleague to me.. thanks pp.. = )
i am 26 years old today, or you could say slightly more than half a century old.. haha.. personally, it had been a tough year as i thought i was undergoing my quarter-life crisis (or mid 20s crisis). i have no study loans to pay off, i have a good job, i have my friends and family with me, but.. i am not happy.. i don't know what i want in my life.. i have been searching for answers over the past few years and i thought the answers would come as i grow older.. but it didn't really come or maybe i hadn't seen them.. it got me frustrated and no one could really give me a satisfactory answer.. well, everyone has their own lives and probably i should be the one answerable for my own life, to know what i want in my life.. it was after the tahan climbing trip and reading some books, that i thought i had found my answers.
believe in yourself.. if i don't even believe in myself, nobody will.. this is what i have learnt from my climbing trip at tahan... it was this strong belief in myself that i made it through the tough climb. i couldn't believe it, but i did it.. there were some great lessons which i had learnt from the trip and kept them at the back of my mind as a constant reminder.. life couldn't be more tough than what i had gone through over that 7 days at tahan! haha..
learn to choose, learn to let go.. this is what i have learnt from a chinese book that i had bought in shenzhen during my last business trip. it teaches me that in life, we cannot have the best of both worlds and there is always a time where we need to make a choice. we can only choose one and let go of the other, no matter how difficult a decision may be.. just like that are 2 sides of the coin, you can only choose one.. in life, you can choose to see things in a negative way or a positive way.. and sometimes, success is dependent whether you have made a right choice at the right time..
suddenly, everything falls into place.. maybe, i haven't been confident about myself in the past, fear of making mistakes, fear of opinions and comments of others.. i let the fears consumed and controlled me until i wasn't making any good decisions.. it was a terrible period and i was at a loss.. probably it was a stage that i needed to go through to regain my confidence and overcome my fears..
now i want to live my life one more time.. and this time, i want to be confident, not afraid of making mistakes and not afraid to stand up for myself. if i fall, i just pick myself up and continue walking.. i want to take control of my life and not to let other opinions or comments sway me easily.. for some, this may be easily achieved by them.. but for me, i am glad that i finally find some answers.. the answers are just within me, when i persist long enough..
like what pp had wished me, to be contented.. i am learning to appreciate things that happened to me, for better or for worse.. to treasure and care for the people around me... this is a life learning journey and i want to sit back to enjoy it.. there are so much to explore and experience in life.. i am proud to say that i have found the happiness within myself and i hope to spread the same joy to the people around me..
look forward to a great year ahead at the age of 26...
p/s: many thanks to these people who have wished me throughout the day.. dl, wensheng, huifen, babe, ms universe (aka ah chua), wendy, ah kan, ms ee, mrs wong, xiao mei nu (for your wonderful present as well), april, yufen, xueying, peiying, lilin, scallop, philip, tim and bryan... = )
Friday, November 03, 2006
under the sea
it was a 4 days course, with classroom theories, pool trainings and finally the open water dives.. our instructor was marco, who quitted his job in holland and came to phuket to be a diving instructor 1 and 1/2 years ago.. wow.. really admired these people who are able to let go of everything to pursue their interests and passion.. wonder when i will ever have the guts to do that.. anyway, he was a really good and humorous instructor, kept telling us that diving was really easy once we mastered the skills.. haha.. highly recommended if you want to learn diving too.. i guessed diving was not that hard, just remember to ALWAYS breathe with your mouth! number 1 rule to take note.. most of the skills he taught were life saving skills, just in case we met with an emergency underwater.. life is so fragile and you could only save yourself in whatever circumstances you face.. just don't panic, remain calm and do whatever that is most right in that situation..
from left: ms ee, me, marco and scallop
have you ever been amazed of how fishes swim and breathe underwater effortlessly? well, humans manage to overcome this, with the help of an oxygen tank and diving equipment of course.. the feeling of being able to swim underwater freely was simply beyond words.. you feel like a fish.. n more than often, i felt that i was swimming in an aquarium during my open water dives.. haha.. i could see lots of different kinds of fishes and corals with different colours and sizes, so close and swimming around me.. just like there were different kinds of human beings of different colours and nationalities.. i guess there is a different world under the sea, living to their best abilities.. the nature has rules of its own, so let's just swim around to enjoy the beauty of nature...
it was truly relaxing in phuket.. besides diving, we went shopping, eating, thai massage, photo taking, snorkeling and island visits.. a good getaway from the hectic working life in singapore.. back to the basics of living where we are away from the work stress and worries to recharge.. enjoying the sun, the sea and the sand..
now with my diving licence, what's next? sky diving! awaiting for another opportunity to come... meanwhile, maybe i should visit other dive sites as well.. till then..
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
dreams vs reality
nevertheless, these are the dreams that i have from young till now..
1. i want to be a teacher
(inspired by my primary school teacher, mrs tan)
2. i want to be a policewoman
(inspired by the popular police tv dramas in the 1990s)
3. i want to be a deejay
(inspired by dasmond koh when he was a deejay with yes93.3)
4. i want to be a writer
(inspired by ng king kang, a reporter cum writer of lianghe zaobao)
5. i want to be a baker
(so that i can bake cakes and pastries for my family and friends; and coincidentially, kim sam soon is a baker too! my favourite korean drama so far.. =p)
the reality is, i am an auditor.. the nearest i came close my dreams is being a deejay, when i applied for the 'film, video and sound' course by ngee ann polytechnic after 'O' levels. however, i didn't make it for that but got shortlisted for the mass communication course instead (as i sat for the tests for these 2 courses). eventually, i didn't go for the interview, because i wasn't confident at that time or probably i didn't know whether i could make it through for the course.
eventually, i chose accounting and finance of temasek polytechnic, by way of elimination.. haha.. because i couldn't do engineering, IT, design or science. and probably accounting is more specialised than business as told by others. my road in accounting was 'sealed' as i went further to get a degree in accountancy in NTU.. i finally ended up in auditing and still working as auditor now...
i have been searching for an answer within myself over these 2 years.. whether i am doing a job that i like or just because it's just a 'natural' career path since i graduated from accountancy.. auditor, sounds professional ah.. but no one will truly understand the struggles auditors have been through, unless maybe the fellow auditors.. haha.. it was a real tough journey and i almost wanted to give up.. but i am glad to have real nice colleagues and managers that support me all this while.. i wouldn't have come so far without them..
looking back, though it was tough, but i came out stronger.. maybe this is what it is all about.. fresh out of school and step into the working world, trying to understand the mechanics and of course, learning the cruelty of reality.. with a better understanding of myself as well.. now, it's time to apply what i have learnt.. in my own way.. haha..
i am beginning to see auditing in a different perspective after 2 years.. it's becoming more managable when i change my mindset.. though the hours may get longer as well.. haha.. i hope to learn and gain as much knowledge while i am an auditor.. and by then, probably i will be more ready to pursue my dreams in this realistic world...
don't give up your dreams.. keep on dreaming.. that's what keeps us going from the daily routine in lives... isn't it?
p/s: just want to say a word of thanks to some people... alvin, mrs yong, ms ee, ah kan, sheep, ms huang, ah chua, babe, tim, wendy, tian mu, donkey, scallop, goofy, wk, swee n chen... = )
Thursday, October 19, 2006
deprived of sleep
when is the last time you have a good night's rest? are you too stressed or troubled to fall asleep? since when does sleeping become a difficult task for the city dwellers? when the night comes, our minds are still working hard, running through the tasks that need to be completed the next day, refusing to rest. when are we going to give our minds and bodies a well deserved break? probably when we retire, i guess. but then again, when we have too much time, we lose sleep from wondering what we should do tomorrow. ironic...
don't deprive yourself from sleep.. i hope i have a good rest and sweet dreams tonight... >_<
Sunday, October 15, 2006
a late boomer for blog
welcome to travel with me in search of the art of simplicity.. =)