I no longer mourn the loss of that relationship. I am happy and well now. It took me a month – a whole month. But I’m well now. I have been surrounding myself with new things, new people. I have been engaging in new activities and learning about new things, reading new books.

I had good and bad memories and I learnt things about love, life and relationships. I saw new places and experienced new cultures. I made new friends (Gerald, Justin and Jindong). I ate new things and had new favourites. I was encouraged to pursue my dreams and I got the courage to take bold steps. I gained a lot, in fact.

Yet, I didn’t lose a friend, I didn’t lose a boyfriend, I didn’t lose a partner.

The only thing I lost was… Time.

by e.e. cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

To spread some love in the blogosphere after all the negativity (and all the hate this afternoon), Rinaz has suggested that we post a blog with the above title.

So I shall start the ball rolling, and hereby present to you, 7 bloggers I admire most!

Doreen (aka Essentric)

The thing I admire most about her, I suppose, is her flair for writing. She always manages to turn a simple episode in her daily life into the funniest thing. Perhaps it is the way she describes it, or maybe it’s just her.

While she doesn’t blog daily, she still manages to have her small but steady group of readers happily anticipating her next entry. She muses about work, vain things (her hair, her nails), about her holidays, relationships, and family, and is probably the most underrated blogger in KL. Hehe. I kid you not.

Even though she is my sister (haha, betcha didn’t see that coming, didja!), I maintain that I am not being biased or intentionally promoting her blog – I do (really) admire her sense of humour and her style of writing!

*

Blinkymummy

The thing I admire most about her is her analytical mind, and how she picks thing apart and presents it to you in the most honest of ways, and still, be able to get you to agree with her, despite the controversy she sometimes kicks up. 

This lady with her quirky sense of humour is definitely one of my favourite bloggers! She cusses like an ah lian, writes like a scholar, and loves her cats like a, well, cat lover. Blinky is one of her cats. I’ve been reading her blog since I was in NIE (mid 2005, if my memory serves me well) and have been a big fan since! She writes about topics that are close to our hearts but never mentioned in newspapers, about the funny episodes with her Good Fren (aka boyfriend) and her fascination with ah bengs (just look at her blog roll).

I love the surprises she throws at her readers all the time. Smart, beautiful, and really really a good read.

*

Dorothy Ho

The thing I admire most about her is her collection of Hello Kitty things her life! No, really. She was a lecturer at NTU’s School of Communication and Information, and then she uprooted herself and moved to Seattle with her husband, Jay. She may not write fanciful things, just the things she observes in her life, but it is so very interesting to me! Simple things, portrayed in simple words, and many photos – that’s what won me over!

I stumbled upon her blog through the blog of a friend someone I used to know. That was some time in early 2006 – and I’ve been a fan ever since

Of course, she is also a big fan of Hello Kitty, and everyone knows I love Hello Kitty. Haha!

*

Veron

 
(Sorry I can’t really find any big photos of her!)

What I admire most about her is her designing skills, and her knack for writing really interesting reviews! Any advertiser who is looking to promote their restaurant should definitely sign her on as a reviewer!

She is honest about her reviews (sometimes she even gives one out of five stars), and her blog is such a visual treat for all. While not unknown in the blogosphere, I do think that she definitely has one of the best blogs around! Great writing, fabulous photos, interesting reviews, marvelous design, and really really intricate details – there’s nothing to not love about this blog.

I first stumbled upon her blog when I was googling the Sun with Moon restaurant last year, maybe, and got linked to this post. Have been reading her blog ever since (and I even read most of her archives already, haha). I got to know her through ping.sg, and found that her personality is just as delightful as her blog

*

Yuka Suzuki

The thing I admire most about her is her passion and her pride in her heritage – this shows clearly in the entries she writes, which really touched me at times.

I first got to know this Japanese-Chinese girl on ping.sg, too, and the first entry I read was on her heritage. A relatively new blogger (I see that her blog began only in April, but I’m not sure if she has blogged elsewhere before), she writes on her life in Singapore as a half-Japanese, issues in Singapore, and often, on race, something close to her heart.

Although she is barely 20, her view on many issues is definitely admirable and worth taking note of.

*

Leslie Tay (aka ieatishootipost)

The thing I am most jealous admire most about him is how he is a doctor, and ye, still has the time to go sniff out all the great food in Singapore and write such mouthwatering reviews (with yummilicious photos) about them! One question, though: Doesn’t he worry about the unhealthiness of eating all those stuff, since he is a doctor? Haha.

Yet another blog that I got to know through ping.sg, unlike the previous 2, I have never interacted with this blogger, though I read his blog almost religiously. He writes on, as you have probably guessed, food and only food! A hugely popular food blog, he has converted me the first time I laid eyes on his blog, to become a faithful follower.

In fact, I love his blog so much that I refer to it each time I am looking for a new place to eat, or if I want to know whether a restaurant is worth visiting or not. He writes a very comprehensive blog, and even categorizes entries according to the location where the food item or restaurant can be found, the type of food, as well as the name of the food item! Just remember not to read this blog when you have an empty stomach!

*

Kevin

The thing I admire most about Kevin is his insanely engaging blog! I am a closet geek, so I find many things he writes about very interesting. He also has many many gadgets! I shan’t even begin to try to introduce this guy and what he does or writes about, but I just love his entries, collages, and gadgets! Haha!

 *

Okay! I’m finally done with this whole “7 bloggers” thing, and I now want to tag the following 7 bloggers to write about the 7 bloggers they admire most!

1. Rinaz (how can we leave out the idea contributor?)
2. DK (and the one who seconded the idea?)
3. Sheylara (who tagged me but I had no time to reply yet)
4. Nicole
5. Wishbone
6. Tstar
7. NTT

Yay! Go spread the love!

It is 070707!

Happy Birthday to my good pal of 9 years, Selena! Although we have all not been celebrating birthdays together in recent years, you all are definitely in my heart all year round! (heart)

Happy Birthday to ping.sg! And to all ping.sg people, see you at Geek Terminal, 4pm today!

Finally I’ve found one redeeming factor about my country (after slamming everything else about it). And it’s no other than….

Okay, I know that they’re not a Malaysian product/brand, but really, their service is examplary!

The first time BB and I ordered from Domino’s, the delivery guy came within the specified time frame (30 minutes) and it was raining too. Plus, he was really polite, and he even repeated our orders to us, to make sure that everything is correct. If I’m not wrong, he actually said something like:

“Hello, these are your piping hot Domino’s pizzas. You’ve ordered one regular ___ and one regular ___. Thank you for your order, and we hope you enjoy your meal!”

Wow! BB and I were so impressed! Hehe!

Today, I was studying, and suddenly just craved pizza. So I called Domino’s again.

The delivery arrived late this time, about 45 minutes after I made my order. But he was still very polite, so I chided him in a joking manner,

“Eh, why you so late? I hungry until wanna die already!”

He immediately began to apologize, and told me that there was a lack of riders tonight. Yes, yes, same old excuse, we’ve heard that 1000 times. But what made the difference was that he was really very polite, and he apologized about it.

Then he said,

“Really sorry that I was late. Here’s a voucher for your next order.”

Okay lah! I admit I was bought over by the voucher! But hey, this is what I call good service recovery! If you make a mistake, you have to apologize, and then take steps to rectify it. As the website says, it is a concept foreign to many businesses.

Aiyah, my point is, at least Malaysia got one thing that we boleh… Domino’s great service!

I know everyone just loved Connie Talbot’s performance at the Britain’s Got Talent auditions. (Official Website) I teared cried unabashedly while sitting in front of the computer, watching and re-watching her performance clips on YouTube.

So here’s her performance at the Semi Finals!

And the Finals!

Although Connie didn’t win (Paul Potts the opera-singing handphone salesman won), I’ll bet she will win a recording contract anyway! She was the audience’s favourite! She got the most votes!

I’ve been so addicted to this show (because of Connie) that I’ve spent loads of time watching the clips on YouTube. Some are downright horrible, but some are marvellously amazing! I really liked Paul Pott’s voice too, but I somehow wished Connie won instead. I’m sure the Queen would’ve loved to listen to Connie sing! FYI, winner gets GBP100,000 and the chance to sing live for Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the British Royal Family!

Connie, you’re so adorable! You’ve completely won me over.

More about Connie:

• News article on Daily Express

• News article on The Mail on Sunday

• Her Wikipedia Page

This appeared on YouTube some days ago, I think. And it made it onto mrbrown.com where I first saw it, and today I saw it on Linda’s blog. I actually cried (not merely teared) when I heard her sing, so I think everyone should, too.

Seriously, I don’t think many non-professional adults can match Connie’s voice. She is going to be the Charlotte Church of the UK! I think the Queen is going to love her. Haha. 

Even Simon Cowell was impressed, so I think everyone else should be, suitably, too. Enjoy!

Mood: (deep in thought)

Timothy recently blogged about this Korean song, whose video I’m sure every netizen has seen.

(With Korean and English subtitles)

I wanted to write about this song when I rewatched it because it suddenly struck me why it all seems so romantic.

Logical and rational people ask: “Why give both eyes? Why not just one, so that they both can see each other still?”

But that’s not really the point.

I think that the romanticism gets to me because of the huge sacrifice that the man has made for the girl. He felt that it was his fault she ended up blind, so he gave up everything he loved to save the girl he loves, and in the process, loses her.

Sacrifice – yes. We make them often (okay, maybe not the selfish losers out there) but how many of us can do what he did?

He gave up his sight, which was important to him as a photographer (his career) and a bike racer (his hobby).

Will you give up both for the one you love? Do you let your heart or mind rule?

Yes, I cried even after watching it the 72945th time.

Happy 14th month anniversary, BB. *love*

Saw this on Selena’s blog, and then Mike’s blog too. I’ve watched it maybe, 10 times. But I never fail to go “awww…” each time I see it. So I wanna post it here too!

Will you hold my hand the whole way too?

It was my birthday yesterday; my 24th 19th birthday. The first time that I’d spent my birthday away from home, and away from my family. Yes, the first time in my entire life. Previously, I’d always spend my birthday at home, having dinner with my family. It means alot to me to have my loved ones around me, celebrating yet another year in my life. However, due to the fact that everyone is far away and busy, and the below reasons, I didn’t have the usual birthday dinner at home. Flashback: Last Year.

A couple of days earlier, I’d decided to take up an 8-week long job with Singtel, cos: (1) it’s 8 Sundays, and couldn’t miss out on that, (2) birthday plans fell through, but that’s okay cos I can always celebrate with the girls another time. So yes, I spent my birthday working!

Doreen said that this is what it’s like when we grow up. Everyone has to work, birthday or not. Haha.

I started my birthday with wishes from BB, Justin, Elaine (who sent me a card which I got on the eve of my birthday), Debra, Gerald and Mian Mian. I was in JB at the time, so the wishes were made over MSN and SMS! Heh. Daddy sent me an e-Card just before I went to bed! I was super touched. So sweet, the e-Card. He’d already sent me a real card about a week before, from Changi airport, where he was transiting during his flight from Bangkok to Jakarta. I went to bed soon after I read his card, and read a few pages of my novel (Jon Katzenbach’s Hart’s War).

[edit: Oh yes, Calyn SMS-ed me too! I received it around 3am while I was actually asleep, hence the forgetfulness. I'm so sorry darling, I left your name out! But of course, your wishes mean alot to me too! Hehe!]

In the morning, instead of the usual birthday mian xian (rice vermicelli), Mom cooked instant noodles for me. We were out of vermicelli! Haha! It’s alright, I still got to eat some sort of noodles, which signifies longevity. Hehe. Quite amusing, though! Mommy wished me a happy birthday, and I had a kiss from her, and after that, it was off to work!

Xiaoli was supposed to work with me, and and as always, her parents drove by to pick me up, en route. Yali was in the car too! Heh. I got 4 birthday wishes from the Choo family! Woo hoo. Yali and Xiaoli presented me with a cute li’l bag from Crabtree & Evelyn (which contained yummy handcream within), as well as a really sweet card, which I was super duper touched to read. Yali is my first and best roomie, my ex-colleague at Bestari Kindergarten, as well as one of the first friends I had after moving back from Jakarta! I’ve always known Xiaoli, of course, but this year, I began working with her at Singtel, and we got to know each other better! We talk, complain, bitch about other people, bicker, argue, tease and ‘insult’ each other endlessly. Haha. Getting to know Xiaoli more actually improved my friendship with Yali, cos now I’m closer to her sis too! Hehe. Both of them are fun and crazy girls, in their own ways. And I love ‘em to bits.

On my way to work, Daddy SMS-ed me, and then he called me! So he wished me a total of 4 times! I’m so blessed – who gets 4 birthday wishes from their Daddy every year? Haha.

Anyways. Kinda depressing to go to work early on the morning of my birthday. And we worked at Boon Lay bus interchange! *faints* So hot, can die! Really. The searing heat is unbearable. And I have 7 more Sundays to go. Think of the money, think of the money.

Received SMS from XY and Lis while I was at work! Thank you, babes! It made me smile. For awhile, at least. Hahaha! Oh yes, and from Serene too. She was still sleeping when I left for work, so she didn’t get to wish me! Hehe. But thank you also for the pretty necklace that you gave me!

Time passed slowly at work, because we had ’supervisors’ watching us. Bleah. I’ve never been watched so closely throughout the years that I’ve been working for Singtel. Working with some people really spoilt my entire day, but thankfully I had Xiaoli and her friend, Xiaoyun (yes, haha these are their real names haha!) to accompany me as well.

After work, I went to withdraw some cash from the OCBC atm, and felt kinda depressed that BB had yet to message me – he said he wanted me to pack food for him on my way back to his place, and said that he would SMS me. So I was just waiting listlessly for the SMS to come in. I SMS-ed Doreen while waiting – I had yet to receive her birthday wish also. I messaged, “You forgot my birthday ah. ” And then she called back! She said she’d sent me an MMS after midnight, but I didn’t receive it! Oh well. I guess it’s delayed, or lost. After hanging up, I waited and waited some more for BB’s SMS, then BB suddenly appeared in front of me!

Haha! I’m so loved! And BB brought me another present too – Justin! Heh. I cannot explain exactly why I was so happy to see the both of them, but I shall try! Well, it figures that I’m happy cos BB is my most loved one. But I was super duper happy to see the both of them maybe because Justin is the first friend of BB’s whom I got to know, way before we got together. And Justin is really a special friend to me too, cos he’s seen all our ups and downs, and we’ve had many many many many happy moments together, the 3 of us. All the steamboat sessions, the first Holland Village outing, moving house and the Chinatown dinner after BB left for Beijing last summer, the Changi boardwalk outing, the sunrise adventure, staying over at Justin’s place, playing with his guinea pigs, bla bla bla. So many! Hehe.

We went to Swensen’s at Jurong Point to have dinner, and they gave me presents! I have The Hospital DVDs, and Yanzi’s new album! Haha. Both were what I wanted. Hur hur. But I didn’t expect them to get me The Hospital DVDs. I only asked for Yanzi’s new album. We were MSN-ing:

Me: BB, I give u idea for my bday present ok! I want 逆光! Hahahaha!
BB: ………
Me: Hahahahaha! Aiya like that u don’t have to think so hard ma, and u know I will surely like it!

Hehe. I’m such a nice girlfriend. Hehe. But BB just had to ‘pack’ the CD among packets and packets of tissue, so that I wouldn’t be able to guess what the present was. =.=”

So. I digressed. I got a card from BB and Justin too! Lalala. I like how they summed up everything in like, barely 4 sentences. Haha! Guys. The difference between girls and guys: Yali and Xiaoli wrote huge amounts of words in their birthday card to me, and BB and Justin wrote about 4 sentences in total! Haha! But both were equally sweet lah. I love all my darlings!

Back to Swensen’s. I had grilled fish with sambal (without sambal, haha) and BB and Justin had a fish baked rice and MegaBurger respectively. Haha! Then Swensen’s presented me with a firehouse icecream, with a candle! Hehe. The guys sang me a birthday song. Very happy leh. And I made a birthday wish! *Shhh. Secret*

Went home afterwards, feeling very loved cos BB managed to surprise me, and Justin came down all the way from Bishan to eat my birthday dinner with me.

Back at BB’s place, Gerald and Mian Mian wished me again, and presented me with a piggy handphone holder thingie. I don’t know what it’s called, actually. Haha. It’s like a bean-bag thing. Haha! Super cute. Looks like BB. Oops. Haha! I read Rach and Uzyn’s messages on my blog (thanks for remembering!) and then we had a cake. BB had bought a cake for me earlier on, but we couldn’t cut it at Swensen’s. Actually we could, but then they already gave us an icecream. So we did the cake-thing at home with Gerald and MM.

They sang me birthday songs in English and Chinese, and then I made the same wish again. Haha. I told BB that if I wished for the same thing twice, it will be stronger. Haha! Okay so now I’m pretty sure my wish will come true! Hur hur hur!

Okay, is it bad luck not to cut your own birthday cake? Because after I made my wish and blew the candles out, BB took over. He cut the cake, and served everyone. I forgot to even perform the mandatory one cut on the birthday cake! Oh no

Nevertheless, it was a long day that started right, became bad (cos of work) and ended perfectly. Thank you to all who remembered, and for the pressies (though you all really didn’t have to – except BB – haha! Old already, no need presents to remind me that I’m old!). Okies. That’s all.

Happy Birthday to me!