Random thoughts of the day.

Tweeted about having tea with a Uni friend while waiting for my experiment to be done in the afternoon when Sally replied "Please don't go back to your poly attachment time. Lol" Got me laughing for a while because i knew exactly what she was referring to - my sudden weight gain during that short 5 months poly internship in NUS.

The battle of controlling my weight has been an ongoing one. Even though i don't see myself as being obese, i've always been wanting to achieve a toned body. I lose weight pretty quickly whenever i exercise regularly but whenever i become caught up with school and whatnot, i gain that weight back just as fast -__-"

This is how i look, when i was much much younger:

Why is my bro so adorable when he was younger??!?!!?! It's so unfair he's got that big round eyes and cute smile while i pretty much looked like a...tomboy? Mum's never too keen to grow my hair long when i was younger so i had that "Mushroom" hairstyle for quite a while. haha.

I was from Chinese Dance during primary school days so all that dance training kept me skinny and healthy!

And then puberty came and goodbye skinny me =(

Warning: Pictures of me looking (ridiculously) chubby ahead!! hahaha.

WAHAHAAHHA. Look at my face, arms and waist!!!!! Even the growing boobs didn't help salvage the situation. LOL!

And look how horrible i looked on Gorgor's wedding day:

Didn't help that i've got such bad taste in fashion! HAHAHAHA. Batik prints, watch that is a tad too big for my wrist and unflattering dress cut? Lol.

So after i graduated from sec school and waiting for entry to poly, i got fed up with my flabby arms and thighs. I finally decided i need to LOSE WEIGHT.

I did try dieting for a very short period of time but this method is not suitable for me. How do people go hungry for days is beyond me. I get all cranky and grumpy whenever im hungry! I'm kinda glad this method will never work on me anyway, love my food TOO much =)

Some of you might know i have been a member of the local fitness centre for a while now. Actually, i began attending gym classes when i was 17, after being influenced by Jie, who was desperate to get skinnier (which she eventually did!).

I slimmed down quite a bit with the help of the aerobic classes in the gym and after i signed up for a package at a dance studio, I was dancing 3 times a week religiously. I could fit into a S or even XS at times then!

I was slightly underweight at a certain point of time, without even having to control the amount of food i eat! I was eating all the food i love, going out for supper whenever i feel like it, having no worries that eating too much will affect the way i look. This is when i know exercising is the way to lose the fats, at least for me.

Unfortunately, the 5-month internship stint started during my final year in poly and i was working 9am - 9pm every single day from Monday to Friday, and sometimes even Saturday (without a single cent. free child labour, i call it) I was so caught up with writing my thesis, running experiments in the lab that i don't even have time to get proper sleep, much less attend gym classes =(

In addition, i drink 2-4 cups of coffee every day to keep myself awake. I don't think people realise how much sugar is present in every cup of coffee/tea we consume outside!

I didn't know i gained so much weight until the end of my internship. When i returned back to school, people started asking my best friend if i was having thyroid problems and taking medication that caused my sudden weight gain -__-"

Dug out some photos from those days and boy, i really look horrible with my fat cheeks =*(

See how my fat-ass cheeks made my big-ass nose even bigger?!?!

Thankfully, i found time to head back to the gym after i graduated. Getting attached to a guy who trains and hits the gym oh-so-often made me even more motivated to lose the flabs! haha.

My recent pictures:

Well well, still a longgg way to go before reaching my goal of a toned body like Jennifer Garner's but I'm so not going back to my poly internship look so exercise exercise exercise it shall be =))

Oh and in case you think the lady standing behind me in that "batik print" photo looks familiar, yes, that is jie almost 10 years ago and this is her at her wedding last month after spending the past years hitting the gym religiously ;)

So yes Sally, im never going back to poly attachment days!!!! =P

Until next time~

Birthday Boy =)

Ops, I am almost 3 weeks late for this entry but my shit/lab schedule (yea, literally) went a little berserk this week and i was rushing home-sch-supplier-home all week long settling the PCR problem and what-not. Im on the verge of giving up on my Hons, if not for the consultations with "Dr Nisha" in London on Whatsapp. Lab is driving me nuts and as Cyn put it today "it only just got started" Sigh.

So so so....TheBF turned 23 recently and since Dad still has zero confidence in me driving his car, we had to borrow his sis's car for the day instead! Boo. After almost 2 yrs since i passed my driving, Dad still wants the P-Plate to be on the window when i drive -__-" Woe is me.

Since im not driving, i can do better things, like take silly pictures! haha.

Our savior of the day - Dad's GPS.

Brought theBF to The White Rabbit at Dempsey Hill for brunch after hearing so much about the place! Thank gdness we had our own transport because it was pretty secluded!

White chapel with high ceilings. I LIKE :D

Birthday boy happily replying FB wall posts!

I picked English "Fry Up" from their Sunday Brunch menu that comes with eggs, bacon (too yummy!!), sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes and even toasts!

TheBF chose Lobster Omelette instead. The omelette was splendid. We could literally taste the lobster meat within the egg itself!

Overall, i thought our brunch was perfect! The food was tasty, the ambience was good(ok, minus this Caucasian kid who was kinda wandering around on his own and we were so scared he would fall and knock against our table edge -_-) and the company is right =) What more can i ask for on a beautiful Sunday, right?

Leaving the restaurant, spotted in my Yventually Renee bag (Classy Nude)

Speaking of which, so many (too many!!) friends were telling me the nude bag looked so much prettier in real life than on screen T.T sigh.

Spent the rest of our afternoon playing wii at Cineleisure, surrounded by so many teenagers much younger than us. haha. Raving Rabbids FTW!

Found this Korean restaurant at Orchard Central online and decided we'll give it try since reviews were rather positive on various blogs and all.

First up, Ginseng Chicken Soup!! =)

It didn't taste as fantastic as the one in Korea but it's still tasty nonetheless!

Next up: Grilled, Wine-marinated Pork Belly with kimchi. *Nom nom nom*

And we ended dinner with Makgeolli (rice wine)! It's a pity the drink couldn't be kept cold throughout the entire dinner but so good to get to drink my favorite drink in Korea once again. hehehe.

To end this entry, HAPPY BIRTHDAY (again) Old Boy :D

Apple Store Dance

Waiting for Casey Anthony trial to start on CNN yesterday when they showed this series viral videos by an American kid made famous on Youtube!

Now now, do you have the guts to sing + dance in an Apple store where everyone is staring at your crazy behavior? Apparently, this young American kid does!

LOL! His expressions are so epic :/

And he didn't just stop at one song. He went on to do a series of videos, at different timings but the same Apple store!!! I think the Apple staff there are so used to him fooling around in their store they just let him be. haha.

Some of more "entertaining" videos from Trevor:

Everybody's "favorite" song - Friday (Am i the only one who seriously hates the original song -_-)

Pssst, pay attention at 1:31min when the staff starts dancing with him. lol.

Alright, that's all for now. Until next time~

Korea: Day Eleven (Seoul -> Home)

My last entry on Korea will be a short one!

Here's a pic of us with one of the young bosses of Backpackers Korea =) Twin gave each bosses nicknames based on the size of their eyes actually. haha. So we had one Da Yan Jing and a Xiao Yan Jing =P

I thought i've tried most Korean dishes after 10 days in the country but YL never fails to surprise us. LOL. Lunch was at a small family restaurant at Edae where we had BUDAE JJIGAE (Korean Army Stew)

This dish is actually a Korean-Western fusion dish consisting of hotdogs, canned ham and spam. Why cook a Korean dish with western ingredients? This is because after the Korean war, Koreans started cooking this soup-based dish using the leftover food left behind by the US Army bases in the country since meat is scarce, hence its name as well ;)

I think you should try it on days when you are kinda sick of Korean food in Korea! A pretty refreshing change i'll say!

And an abrupt end to my entry with a pic of us at the airport! hahaha. Told you it's a short entry =P

Hope you guys like my Korea blog entry series ;) I've had customers emailing me for YL's itinerary actually! haha. It was a really memorable trip for me and I CANT WAIT FOR LONDON NEXT YR WITH NISHA AND SH!! woohoo.

Last Korean song of this series:

Comeback Madonna - I Am Legend (Korean drama) Soundtrack

Joke of the Day

Don't say i didn't tell you, M18-related joke ahead.

So today, my bro was asked to clean his room and clear all the junk he has because my mum's getting all frustrated with the mess. Then, he came out of the room with a big bag of trash and a small ornament in his hand...

Bro: Mama, throw this away pls!

Mum: *looks at the ornament* Why? I think this is a souvenir from Egypt!

This is how the wood ornament looks like:

Bro: But mama, IT'S OBSCENE!!! It's wrong to have it in my room. I don't even know where this came from!

Me: OBSCENE?? HUH?? It's just a ornament.

Bro: Lift up the wooden bucket thing and you'll see!

*Mum proceeds to remove bucket and we saw......

WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Sorry, this made me laugh sooooo hard. Why anyone would want to make it in the first place is beyond me. LOL.

I just had to blog about this :/ Since both Mum and bro denied they are the one who brought this home, i shall conclude that my dad did. WAHAHAHAH. Poor dad.

Ok, tt's all for Joke of the Day :P

Until next time!

Behind-the-scenes: Miu Miu-inspired self-manufactured satchel

Thrilled to blog about this behind-the-scene entry because not only does this upcoming launch consists of a SELF-MANUFACTURED satchel, it's actually Yventually's first outdoor shoot with Su =)
Having had zero experience taking outdoor shots, i had to spend more time than usual planning the photoshoot route, outfits and coordinating with my helpers.

RECCE SESSION
Had a recce session with theBF a few days before the shoot to plan the route and check out the locations of the toilets at various shooting locations. hahaha. TOILET IS VERY IMPORTANT OK. lol


I realise i needed a "model" for my test shots in order to gauge my lighting and determine what equipment i need to bring to the actual shoot and since i've got to be the photographer, theBF had to be my stand-in model. Make sense, right? :P

Check out his poses. HAHAHA. He said Su likes to pose with one leg up so being the very "spontaneous" model he is, he had to imitate the poses to accurately depict what the scene would be like during the actual photoshoot -____-"



He actually did a whole lot of funny poses/expressions but i shall not pose them here because im quite sure he will kill me :/ Let's just say what you see here is 1 on a scale of 10 in terms of funniness. hehehe.


See, buay song face by the end of the shoot :P haha.


ACTUAL DAY OF PHOTOSHOOT

Initially i only asked SH and Sally for help on the actual day but HL decided to stay for our shoot after her lunch meetup with SH. So in the end, SH became the "behind-the-scene photographer", Sally's the "Tweeter/Su's nanny" and HL ended up as my nanny as she made sure i finish up my Starbucks frappe before the ice melted under the hot sun. Im blessed, so blessed =*)


Erm, yea, we were travelling with a huge Winnie the Pooh luggage throughout our shoot :/ Unglam much. haha.

And the shoot began!!



From Raffles City SC...


to Chijmes...


to SMU..


to Fort Canning Park...


And lastly to National Museum =)

Su was playing around with my camera in between shots and she suggested posing at the pretty fences near Fort Canning Park. Well, as compared to our gorgeous model, we all looked so noob posing in front of the cam!! HAHA.

What did my friends do while i was snapping pictures?

(1) Hiding from the camera, trying to make sure they don't appear in my photos. lol.

(2) Posing for random pictures in between shots

(3) Taking pics on their own with my S95 and entertaining themselves in National Museum. HAHAHA.

Ending our shoot with a group shot of my temporary Yventually team :D Each of us carrying a different shade of the new bag!


In case you are wondering, this is the design the bag was inspired from.

Instead of patent leather, i picked soft faux leather for Yventually in 4 different shades - Universal Black, Rose Pink, Classy Nude & Funky Grey =) Everyone was impressed with the quality of the faux leather, even YL who normally only purchase real leather bags!

The bag fits A4 documents just nicely and comes with a backpocket for your ez-link card and whatnot!

I was torn between Nude & Rose Pink and ended up with the former. SH took Classy Nude as well while Jie went for Funky Grey and my aunt took Universal Black as a birthday gift for a colleague! I think Mich's considering the Rose Pink one so yea, every color is loveeeee =)

Some pics from my iPhone carrying my new arm candy:

Teaser pics are already posted on Yventually's twitter and facebook account and im in the midst of preparing a Lookbook to showcase the versatility of the bag so stay tuned ;)

Until next time~