Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008

Dear Readers

The Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008's here -- the first international event of its kind in Singapore and Southeast Asia!

This event was proudly organised by Singapore's one and only company specialising in designer toys, Play Imaginative, and took place over the weekend of 28th-29th June 2008.

On these days, the neverending stream of visitors to the convention held at Suntec City International Convention & Exhibition Centre saw a wide array of items both on display and on sale. These included toys (of course) of all sorts -- ranging from designer toys and plush dolls widely popular in the market and the choice of collectors and the bigger/ more serious 'toys' which consist of figurines, busts and statues -- and comics (of course, again), both the ang moh type like DC and Marvel, and Japanese manga. What was hot was also the fact that the actual artists/ designers behind some of these toys were at the scene to offer autographs to visitors who were crazy about their products or simply loved to get something outta a 'celebrity'. :) In addition, there were other cute items to see and purchase, such as colourful T-shirts for both genders with adorable cartoonish prints on them, postcards, ornaments etc.

One very attractive highlight was the Nintendo game console stations, where the public could just queue up to have a go at certain featured games, especially Wii MarioKart and Guitar Hero. These were also the stops where lots of excited teens and kids could be seen yelling and laughing away, or just watching earnestly at whoever was playing the games. Of course, yours truly and her other half were one of those 'young' people who parked themselves there to stare along for a while. Heh.

Speaking of games, another wonderful spot was the Nintendo DS challenge station, where anyone could go up and try to play Guitar Hero on DS. If you beat the previous record on either Easy or Medium mode, you got to walk away with a free exclusive Guitar Hero long-sleeved top! And here's one lucky 30-year-old winner who managed to beat the previous record in Medium mode, and ended up walking round and round the arena with a gleeful look on his face for being a winner (which continued even AFTER he had left the convention :p). According to him, it's all thanks to his usual practice on the Xbox Guitar Hero! :)

So there you go, the Singapore Toy & Comic Convention 2008~!

Gadgets Day... :p

Had quite a good Saturday today. Beebee came over in the late morning to play with... Guitar Hero! Haha. Now's her turn to be infected with this happy rock-star role-playing 'virus'. :p It was quite funny, the way Hubby and I 'welcomed' her at our door. We were both dressed in our Japanese yukata, and unanimously uttered 'ohayou gozaimasu' to a surprised and giggling Beebee (and also a bewildered-looking neighbour who happened to be walking by our door). Hubby even asked in a funny Japanese accent if she wanted us to serve her any green tea. LOL.

Anyway, the morning progressed quickly as we demonstrated how to play the game to Beebee, then she tried playing the easy mode for a start. Not bad for a first-timer -- she managed to get through quite a number of songs despite a few occasional hiccups, sometimes caused by Hubby and I disturbing her as she played. :p Later, I prepared lunch for us and we watched music videos on our new Shinco DVD player while eating. Yep, it's our new toy. Hubby bought it yesterday after we went about looking at some players briefly the day before that. His idea was to use it to watch DVDs of shorter length, especially those we usually watch over our meals, instead of using the TV so that we could cut down on electricity bills. Heh. That's cos he was shocked when our latest bill shot up to the highest amount we've ever paid for so far. Pretty happy with this new player. Sound quality's good and screen's quite clear too.

After lunch, Beebee wanted to play with the Yamaha Porta Sound that I brought home from parents-in-laws' place. Wanted to play around with it myself but didn't get down to it all this while, so in the end, lent it to Beebee who wanted to experiment with it too.

What a morning filled with gadgets. :p Later in the day, after Beebee had left and Hubby had gone to take his IPPT, I settled down to continue working on my plans and preparation for a possible career switch. Will update with more details the next time if more concrete things happen with regards to that. Don't wanna raise my hopes too high for the time being.

Spent the rest of the evening preparing some materials for next week's lessons. Tomorrow's gonna be a more eventful Sunday than our usual one during school term. Apparently, there's a comic and toys convention at Suntec City Convention Hall and we've decided to go check it out cos it's such a rare event. Then it'll be dinner back at Bukit Timah. :)

PS. Hubby got his usual Silver Award for his IPPT... yipee! That's why he was in the mood to buy home KFC for dinner. (and that's also why I'm feeling kinda sinful now. Haiz.)

Important decision

Been doing a lot of thinking recently about where I am going with my career. Am experiencing too much disequilibrium, stress, confusion, frustration -- all beyond my control-- for me to fully concentrate on my work or be even half as passionate as I was when I first set out.

Beebee showed me an ad from the papers some time ago. Am genuinely interested in the position. I believe I have now come to a stage when I feel I can almost just about drop everything and leave. Escape has become my only route to sanity, and I am already trying to escape in my own ways from the people and system that I dread so much. Because of so much dissatisfaction, I am now questioning if it is still worthwhile to continue staying on. Since Hubby has been so understanding towards my pain and has assured me that he's fully behind me in the decision I make, the only tiny voice in my heart that's stopping me from abandoning the path that I have chosen altogether is the unwillingness to give up all that I've believed in and worked most of my life through for. There is still a mini-fighter within me, I guess.

But that fighter is fast losing energy. That fighter is now lying down, crying and exhausted, not willing to move. How much longer can I fight a system that I dislike so much? How much more pain and frustration does it take for me to realise that it is something I do not wish to spend half my life on if it turns out so meaningless? How much more damage to my emotional, mental and physical well-being can I endure?

So... I'm now grappling with a major decision. Something that could change my life, and Hubby's, in a huge way.

Family & Friends...

Hello... been neglecting the blog for a while now cos had been so busy since the last time I wrote an entry here. It's the second day of the new school term now, and I'm experiencing a whole lot of emotions. But shall discuss that in a separate entry. Now, I just wanna put on record the fun and happy times I had towards the second half of the June hols... :)

La la la.... La la la....

Heh, yeah... it's KTV time once again! Finally, after sooooo long, I managed to satisfy my craving for singing into a mike. The last time before this when I went KTV was last November when we organised a small, cosy farewell gathering for Beng Keong. Thanks to him, I had the chance to experience KTV-cum-buffet at Cineleisure. And guess what? I had my second KTV-cum-buffet experience, this time at Kallang Leisure Park. HZ and Jess arranged for it as a sort of birthday celebration for Hubby and me. So sweet of them.. :) Enjoyed myself tremendously... not just the singing part, but the company was great and even just sitting and watching them/ Hubby sing (yes, Hubby finally took up the mike again after so many years :p) was entertaining. :)

The fun night didn't end at the KTV place. After that, HZ and Jess drove Hubby and me back home, and they stayed to play Guitar Hero and... now they're intending to get the game so they can play it on their Wii now! Haha... see how this game can be so fun and addictive? It's not just Hubby and me lor... the creator of this game is really something! Now Hubby and I are just waiting to get another guitar remote so we can play together. Wah, if so, I think next time weekend no need to go out gai gai liao... we just stay home play Guitar Hero enough already. :p

Father's Day celebration

On Father's Day, we all went out shopping for several hours at Isetan Orchard. Mummy had $900 worth of vouchers... ho ho ho, so we went shopping and all of us got some stuff, except for Hubby, who was such a dear and was the hero of the day. Not only did he not get anything for himself, he also helped to carry Mummy and Papa's items in his big bag the whole day and accompanied us around, giving his opinion on the things we wanted to buy.

Ohhh... but he got his reward for being so good during the shopping trip. We made a dinner reservation at Sakura International Buffet at Orchard Shopping Centre to celebrate Father's Day cos Papa liked the food there and suggested eating there. Not bad, the food. Hubby had so many slices of salmon that he made his trip there worthwhile, just like how he gobbled down so many oysters when Beebee treated us on my birthday. (Lucky no queasy feeling or LS after those huge chunks of raw salmon :p) There wasn't much ambience cos there were so many people and it was like eating at some food centre, but at least the selection of food was good. Just wished that they'd replace empty trays sooner, especially at the Japanese section.

Some of the food we took -- fried stuff (most are quite normal in taste, but the tempura prawns are really great! V crisp...), Chinese dishes and fried rice, satay, and fancy little bits of cake -- these are good! The green one's green tea flavour, pretty interesting. :) Really sinful but tempting, especially when we tried eating these cakes with icecream -- suggestion by Hubby! Yummy!

Hubby's Birthday...

Hubby hit the big 3-0 last Saturday! Hee. He was feeling a little down and weird at the thought of suddenly stepping into this age group. Maybe like a bit of a pre-midlife crisis sort of feeling. But luckily was still ok most of the day. Guess I can understand how he feels. It's that stage when you probably stop to think a bit about your life -- how it has been now that you are no longer in your 20s -- and he probably feels a bit more 'mature' now (although sometimes he still prances around and makes faces at me like an adorable cheeky little boy :p).

In the morning, I made him a special omelette pizza that I'd created on my own. Not a very original dish but I didn't refer to any recipe and yet it turned out tasty, according to Hubby. Hee. V happy when he complimented me on the breakfast I'd prepared for him cos goodness knows how rarely he does that. :p We went out to town and shopped for some things like books and CDs. And guess where we had dinner? Haha... Yeah, Sakura! Went back there cos we couldn't really think of where else better to eat at that time after we came out from Heeren's HMV. So just crossed the streets and headed towards Sakura. Luckily no need reservation this time.

Anyway, Hubby feasted on the raw salmon again and I had two bowls of sharks fin soup. Really good, the soup! Maybe not so authentic but it's thick enough and tastes like the kind you have at Chinese wedding dinners. ;) Of course we ate other stuff that we liked too, but after that meal, we decided that we wouldn't be going back there for a long time cos so full and we've already tried the good stuff several times. Heh. See how lah. Who knows next time we're super hungry in town, we'd just pop by there again -- and yeah, you know what we'd be having mainly. :p

Now that school holidays are over and the term has started, I'm starting to miss all the good times I've had during the hols. Although there was still work to be done and it wasn't much of a hol, frankly speaking, cos of work commitment, I know I still found time to do things I liked and spend time with people I love, especially Hubby. Even he commented that we'd been spending more quality time this hol, and we liked that.

OOOooh ooohhh Ooooh Ahhh Ahh Aaaaahhh...

Yah, that's what I'm going through now... haha... nope, not torture but on the contrary, it's a tension relieving session... As I'm blogging away in the room, my back's being massaged by a small machine -- the OTO e-Bliss. Hehe. Hubby and I met Beebee at Plaza Sing yesterday evening for dinner and gift hunting for Papa. We went to the OTO store cos was interested in the OTO Power Back which we wanted to get as Father's Day gift. So funny... the three of us just kept trying so many machines at the store while we were there; good that the sales guy was a friendly and patient fella. :) Anyway, after we had decided on the OTO Power Back, I tried the e-Bliss and was so tempted to get it cos I'd wanted a massage chair all along but it's really too ex plus we didn't have the space for it at home, so this e-Bliss, which targets the back, shoulders and neck area, seems like a much much cheaper alternative for it. :p It's supposed to improve blood circulation, relieve tension and strengthen back muscles, all of which I feel I need sometimes.

The e-Bliss and Power Back by OTO. The second one's a collaboration between OTO and Philips. Not bad, can target several areas, depending on how you position the machine. Both are light and easily carried around, so can use in any room of the home. Spent $500+ on both items at promotional price, and got 2 free gifts worth over $100 in all. Pretty worthwhile. :)

Besides spending my time being massaged, I also spent lots of time on the Xbox today-- a first for me. Hubby very graciously encouraged me to try out the Guitar Hero games I bought him for his birthday, and I sort of got hooked on playing a couple of songs in Guitar Hero II. Especially like the songs "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "You Really Got Me" by Guns N Roses and Van Halen respectively. Virtually played the whole afternoon away! But ok lah, got rewarded in the end cos managed to conquer "You Really Got Me" at medium level (which is like the highest level I could manage without ending up with cramps on my fingers) without making a single mistake! Even unlocked some achievement and got a perfectionist award. Haha. Quite gleeful when I realised that. But er... yah lah, other songs I seriously cannot make it lor. :S But Hubby's getting pretty good at the games. Watched him play a bit and quite envious at how he manages to play so smoothly even for difficult songs. (Also get amused sometimes cos he really behaves like he's a rock star on stage as he plays on that plastic guitar with coloured buttons on the sofa in front of the tv...heh.)

PS. So guilty. Forgot to go to the dentist downstairs (Guitar Hero's fault) and didn't tidy up the bathroom drawers and wardrobe as planned today. Tomorrow I MUST be good and do all that!

Rock music, cute animals and mickey food...

This is what I see when I look up from my typing now and loud rock music (with occasional screams of joy/ frustration and oh yes, even rhythmic clapping of hands coming from a certain male I live with) is what I hear.. :p What's going on? Well, Hubby's playing enthusiastically (ok, he just screamed "The Killers! Yes! Yeah!", which proves that 'enthusiastic' is not enough to describe him) on the Xbox. The game? Guitar Hero III now, after hours of playing Guitar Hero II this afternoon. It's kinda like his birthday gift that I got for him today, although it's not his birthday yet. Thing is, I got this special bundle pack at Jurong Point that consists of a guitar controller, Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero III for $155. Quite a good deal, since the normal retail price for just one guitar controller and one game is about $145, from what I heard. Couldn't wait for his birthday to give him, cos I know he'd love to play with it, especially now that he's got more time on his hands during this hols. Besides, if there's anything wrong with the set, I gotta return it in 7 days. Anyway, thank goodness everything's working fine. The last time we had Guitar Hero, the XBox went bonkers and we had to go through so much trouble to exchange it for a 'new' one. Am really happy that Hubby's enjoying this gift so much. After all, it's not often that I buy him something that really pleases him this much. Haha. :P

I got a couple of items from Hubby yesterday too. :) It was a Sunday but Hubby met up with his friend, Victor, to go to some toy/comic flea mart at Chinatown. He bought some cool NInja Turtles action figures, but didn't forget about me. Heh. I got a little glowing piggy ornament that changes from colour to colour, and a Hello Kitty DS Lite skin for my DS Lite... Hee. Have been looking for new skins for my game machine, but didn't buy cos not sure if wanted to spend the money. But Hubby surprised me with this new skin from the Hello Kitty shop at Chinatown Point, and I'm quite happy with it. Sigh, with this skin and the items that Beebee bought me from Taiwan, I'm starting to seem like I'm a Hello Kitty fan. Haha, not as avid a fan as Peishan yet, but this adorable mouthless kitty is sort of starting to grow on me. Funny hor, like getting old liao then start to like it when I didn't see what the big deal was with it during those crazy Hello Kitty queuing up days. :p

I also finally got down to displaying the whole series of mini Mickey Cafe food stuff I bought a few weeks back... yaay! Now the set sits at the top of my food tower in the kitchen... hohoho...

Tomorrow's a long day... Gotta go to work for half the day cos gotta take charge of a CCA activity, then will go Orchard to collect some stuff for the band plus shop around a bit with Hubby for the afternoon, then evening we'll meet Beebee to go buy Father's Day gift. She's got a great idea -- buying some OTO back massager or something. Looking forward to shopping for it. :)

PS. I FINALLY WON HUBBY AT MONOPOLY TONIGHT SINCE DECEMBER 2003!!! (omg. I feel so embarrassed just exclaiming this.)

Catching up...

Met up with WC for lunch yesterday. Been like half a year or something since last saw him after he transferred to another school... Glad that he's doing fine over there and that everything's also going great at home, with the addition of his precious little baby girl... I got to view several pics of baby Jillen... *Awwww.... * Sigh. :)

Feeling a little maternal instinct once again... wonder if it's cos been having talks about kids these days plus how WC looks so happy as he talks about his baby girl... really makes you feel how someone so small and fragile could change your life forever, in such a joyful way! ;D Couldn't stop myself from looking at baby things for a while in a department store after that... haha...

PS. Just got an SMS from WC about him finally passing his driving test! Way to go!!! :) Looking forward to visiting his home (and baby Jillen!) in December. :)

Bak Zang & People...

It's amazing what a simple little thing like a bak zang can show. Yesterday, while I was walking along the corridor at my workplace, I bumped into three nice elderly 'aunties' who work as cleaners there. We exchanged our usual greetings and smiles, then one of them screamed "Wait! Wait! I want to give you something!" in Mandarin as she hurriedly made her way towards a little room at the end of the corridor. I followed her out of curiosity, and she emerged gleefully soon after, holding a small red plastic bag which contained a pair of bak zang. That 'aunty' said she had prepared these herself at home, and brought some to school to share with others. "You try and see nice or not...," she beamed shyly but brightly.

I was touched. I guess having encountered many unpleasant people at my workplace had made me a little jaded at work, but I realised that I had failed to look at the more positive others who always seemed to make the harsh reality of life a little more bearable. This warmhearted 'aunty', together with her kakis, showed that happiness can be as simple as sharing food with others, and always extending a smile to others. In fact, these three 'aunties' are among my favourite people at my workplace. Despite the problems they sometimes complain to me about, they never fail to flash their wrinkled but sincere smiles at me whenever they see me. They take the initiative to do little things for me, like visit my homeroom when they see my doors open, and sweep and clear the rubbish or used newspapers for me, even though they may not be assigned to my block for the day. And it's not just for me. They extend these sweet gestures to others as well. Some students might give them a headache, and do irritating things like litter or leave their footprints all over the walls (makes you wonder whether they're trying to climb walls like Spiderman), but these old 'aunties' take it upon themselves to patiently guide them by trying to talk sense into them, asking them to be more civic-minded.

The day before yesterday, I was on whole day band duty and also had to conduct enrichment workshops for graduating students in the afternoon. Some time before noon, a little Sec 1 boy, Jian Ping, in the band fell on the stairs and landed on his right wrist. He was crying cos of the pain and was afraid as he could not move his wrist. After taking care of his wrist with an ice pack, after which Jian Ping finally stopped crying, I decided to ask a colleague to take over my workshop for me as I had to take him to the doctor to check on his wrist, since both his parents were at work and I was the teacher on duty that day. I was also worried about his wrist.

Jian Ping and I walked all the way from school to near Clementi central, where there was a TCM clinic that EW recommended. The clinic was closed for lunch break, so I just led Jian Ping to a nearby coffeeshop and bought him lunch, watching him as he ate. Though disturbed by his wrist and still scared that it might not be fixed, the little boy bravely turned down my offer to feed him and tried using his left hand to feed himself. I wanted to take his mind off his injured wrist, so I started a conversation of various subjects with him. He was such a good sport and joined in the talk, responding to me very well.

It was during this conversation that I discovered what a bright and mature boy this was. He shared with me his dream of working for National Geographic in future and travelling widely as he had a passion for Geography. He recited the capital of many many countries to me, many of which I didn't even know! He told me how he had worked hard at topping the class in Chinese even though he always failed in primary school, because he did not want to be a failure at it anymore. Jian Ping also shared with me his feelings about celebrities -- how he dislikes Paris Hilton as she seems to be such a spoilt brat, and how he admires Sandra Bullock as she is rich but does her part for the poor and even chooses to live a simple life despite being able to afford luxuries. Jian Ping is also from a well-to-do family but agrees that the wealthy should contribute back to society and help others in need. In a nutshell, 13-year-old Jian Ping won my respect and admiration within that 45 minutes of conversation. I admired him even more when he behaved so well at the clinic as the Chinese physician examined his wrist and applied medication and plaster on it. He sucked in his breath several times in pain but went through the whole process so courageously (the only time he freaked out was when the doc suggested acupuncture and showed him needles that can be used to escalate the healing process. Of course, he did not take up that suggestion. :p) After the visit to the doc, instead of going home, Jian Ping said that he preferred to stay with the band till the end of the practice for the day. He couldn't play his instrument, but wanted to give the rest moral support as they were practising for an upcoming concert. What a wonderful little boy. I wish my kid in future would be like him.

Beauty is not defined by how one looks. It shines through and touches others from the heart. To me, the elderly 'aunty' cleaners and little Jian Ping are among the most beautiful people I have ever known.

Beware of scam...

Today we got a mysterious call. It started with a pre-recorded message saying that it was from the Supreme High Court and to dial '109' in order to retrieve an 'urgent message'. After Hubby dialled the number, this lady who spoke in uncertain English and with a strong accent that seemed to indicate that she was from China, asked for Hubby's name and i/c number.

Hubby was suspicious, so only gave part of his name but refused to give any further details. I was listening to the conversation on another phone. Wah... that woman really lied through her teeth. She kept repeating that she was calling from the service counter at the Supreme High Court and that Hubby had to give her his particulars so she could retrieve the urgent message for him. But as Hubby argued with her, she didn't seem to be able to grasp what he was communicating in English. I mean, would the Supreme High Court have someone like that at the service counter?! Also, when Hubby demanded to know if she was Singaporean, she said yes. Sheesh. No Singaporean would speak with such a thick Chinese accent lor. Later, when Hubby kept refusing to believe her, she simply exclaimed that if he didn't believe her, he would have to go check things out at the Supreme Court himself, then just hung up on him! I don't mean to be prejudiced, but this is really the rude, typical act of someone, especially a woman, from China. With so many nasty cases, can anyone blame us if we do not have a good impression of this group of people?

Later, I looked up the website of the Supreme Court and called the enquiry line. The lady on the line confirmed that it was a scam and that the Supreme Court was aware of this matter. The police are also in the know. In any case, should the Court want to contact anyone, they wouldn't do so via phone. They'd issue letter.

Sheesh. These cheaters. Really trying all ways and means to cheat others. So beware. Never divulge personal information over the phone, regardless of what a person says unless he's got some proof to show that he's got a legitimate reason.

I'm a kid again... ;)

Ahah! What does a kid like to do? Play games and have loads of fun! Hehe... which was exactly what I did over the weekend... Bought a travel Scrabble set and started playing with Hubby first, then Beebee when we went back to Bukit Timah for dinner yesterday. Got inspired by this Sec 3 boy in my class who's been challenging me to the game since he was in Sec 1. As I didn't really know how to play Scrabble, which is really diu1 lian3 for someone who teaches ang moh, I managed to avoid his challenge for 2 years on the pretext of being too busy with work until last month when, after the exams, he caught me by surprise as I was enjoying the movie I was screening in class. "I've been asking you to play for TWO years!!! Please don't say you too busy to play with me again ok... I think you very free now cos you watching show mah," the boy said. I just stared at him and gulped. Well, what could I say? Bobian lor. Die die had to go through it. So I ended up giving him a sheepish grin and whispering, "Eh... you tell me how to play lor...I er... forgot..." After I got over the initial embarrassment of having to ask him how to play the game and even losing to him (eh, he's been playing for six years already lor, so can't blame me :p), I started liking the game. As a result, I bugged Hubby to practise the game with me (just found out also that Hubby used to be a Scrabble champion at school!) so hopefully I can save myself some face when I next play with the kid. Haha. Anyway, I had loads of fun playing with Hubby and Beebee too, but I think I need to be smarter at games cos even Beebee, who played it for the first time yesterday, was able to win me. Sigh. =.=

Over the weekend, Hubby and I also started taking out the Disney monopoly set that we bought when we were still dating. We reinvented some of the rules of the game to suit our taste, and it's really addictive cos it's so fun trying to see who can amass the most amount of money and property in a single game -- although, once again, I'm usually the loser. Dunno why Lady Luck prefers Hubby... is it cos he's male?! I always end up landing on Hubby's expensive property and becoming broke in a flash. And he hardly lands on mine! Argh! *sob* But guess it's also partly because of this that I'd like to keep playing so that I can see how long before my bad luck runs out. :p

Wheee! So fun being a kid and playing all these games again.. :)

~28 Years Old Liao!~

Happy Birthday to me! Well, this is a special post just to record the happenings in relation to my 28th birthday... yup, am nearing the big three-O... feeling a bit old but shall take it easy and not fret over this number more than I should. After all, I can't stop the aging process, but I can choose to turn my years into more meaningful ones and add more experiences to my belt right? And hopefully, with age comes more wisdom, which I find myself quite lacking in sometimes. :p

Got quite a few wonderful SMSes and emails from friends, among whom are some who have never failed to wish me happy birthday each year for more than a decade, and many other sweet ones from students and colleagues, both current and ex. Also received a couple of presents -- see below ^_^:

Hubby got me this lovely weekend bag from Tommy Hilfiger, which we saw recently at one of their stores. I liked it the moment I saw it, but didn't buy even though the price was quite reasonable, cos figured I already have so many bags -- must control! But Hubby was so sweet... he remembered how I liked this bag and went back to get it for my BD. I like the inside single compartment that's detachable, so it can double up as something like a nice beach bag. Been carrying it over the whole weekend. Think will carry it to work too tomorrow. :)

Sophia bought this for me some time ago, intending to give it to me as a BD gift. It's a shimmering eyeshadow by Christian Dior (White Light Disco). Very nice! No brush needed. Just use a finger to smooth the eyeshadow over the eyelid to brighten up the eye immediately. It's kinda light mousse in feel, but quickly glides over the eyelid to become a powdery shimmering white. :)

This adorable Japanese card's from Beebee. It's adorable until I open it and the words "AH BUI!!!" come screaming at me. *faint* haha... but ya lah, it's still cute. After all, it's just a little non-flattering form of endearment from my little sis. :p Beebee said she sort of damaged the inside of the card while she was busy decorating and stamping prints all over it cos the ink smudged. So end up she had to paste this whole sheet of pink paper over her initial masterpiece and create one more. Heh.

Also got a relaxing buffet experience at Pariss Family International Seafood Buffet at Ngee Ann City the evening of my BD. Hubby and I met up with Beebee for dinner, and she treated us both to a buffet meal there. Me, cos it's my BD (what else?) and Hubby cos she owed him a treat from a long time ago... haha. So my little sis was quite generous and gave us both a good meal in one evening. There was quite a wide spread of food (Chinese, Hong Kong, Japanese, Western, desserts, and especially seafood). Most of the food's pretty tasty, but not all are yummy though. The sharks' fins soup and herbal chicken soup were disappointing -- both Beebee and I think Mummy cooks better soup. But think their seafood's quite fresh. Hubby ate mostly seafood, in particular, oysters -- he had TWELVE in all! In fact, after his twelfth one, he felt a bit queasy and ended up with a bit of LS when we got home. See what happens when you get greedy over oysters? :p Anyway, it was quite a nice overall experience cos the ambience was nice and service pretty good. In fact, we stayed there for about a couple of hours just eating and chilling out. Heh.

HZ and Jess also mentioned KTV buffet as a BD treat some time ago, but haven't managed to take up their offer yet. So thoughtful of them! Think the latest plan's to meet up probably later this month and celebrate with Hubby nearer his BD. Yeah! Am looking forward to enjoying the KTV session with them. ;)

Just some words of reflection before I end this post... :) Think in the past when I was younger and still schooling, BD was a really big thing, with friends showering little tokens and gifts on me, and perhaps getting me to hang out for a meal or movie with them. Of course, I'd do the same for others. So in a way, these tangible things symbolise BD, and the more things you get, the happier you are, cos you feel that people around you appreciate you and that you are well-liked. But as the years fly by, you don't get to always be around friends five days of the week. Sometimes, you don't even meet up much with friends or talk to one another cos of busy schedules and very different lifestyles now, so naturally, BD gifts and treats dwindle in number. But this number no longer matters to me. What's important is that I am able to spend my BD with my loved ones. And a little BD greeting through SMS is enough to tell me that I am still remembered and cared for by others, some of whom are the same friends who used to shower me with gifts year after year together in school. I think these intangible but beautiful messages carry just as much meaning as material gifts, and I am grateful for these people in my life. :)