October 11, 2009

  • This Weather is Amusing

    The Weather is Amusing Me

    The photo on the left taken @ 5.20pm. The photo on the right taken @ 6.20pm. The weather alternated between the scene on the left and the scene on the right ALL afternoon long on Thursday. Yeah, that amuses me. :P I was amused. *LMAO* I'm like a 5-yr-old kid when it comes to new experiences.

    With the wintery weather these days (even though it is only fall season) i've been hiding indoors to keep warm. But it gave me a reason to pull out my winter gear to keep myself warm, including these slipper socks that i bought way back in 2005 when i was in Melbourne for a holiday. :P

    Keeping my Lil Itty Bitty Toes Warm

    In the meantime, i am on the hunt for a decent pair of winter boots. However, i have FAT calves which means i can't fit into those fashionable long boots that go right up to your knees if you wanted them to. :{ The current pair i have right now was bought in 2005 when i first came to visit Hubbie. It's worn out now cos i can feel the plastic frame in the insoles after a long day of wearing it. I remember buying it at Kingsway in the kids section of either Bay, Sears or Zellers. Can't really remember. :D So yeah... *grin* i need a new pair of boots. :D I should also get me some thermal underwear. *sigh* These cold weather days are costing me money which i don't have cos i have been forced to sit at home for the last 7 months.
    Slowly, but surely, going stir crazy.

April 14, 2009

  • Lightning Flash

    Last Friday, Edmonton received its first rainfall marking the arrival of spring. This got many "Edmonton-ians" excited and was clearly demonstrated by the number of people who seemed to pop out of nowhere from the apartment block across the street from me, standing at the balcony watching the rain come down. Should have taken a photo of it cos it was an interesting sight for me. The last 4 weeks or so i have been here, i have come to the assumption that the apt block is not even 1/2 full cos very lil lights are on during the nite regardless weekday or weekend. So yeah, seeing so many people standing at their balcony watching the rain... i was surprised.

    Now that i am here and basically at home most of the time, i spent quite a lot of time on twitter reading what people here have to say about anything and everything that is going on in this city. So that evening, everyone was tweeting about lightning and thunder and here i was sitting in front of my mac going "Lighting?? *looks out the window* No..... Thunder?? *listens*... No....Am I the ONLY one no seeing or hearing anything????" So naturally, i kept my eyes and ears out, looking out the window every now and then. Suddenly, everything went bright white and i saw it! Lightning streaking ACROSS the sky! Ok, when i was in Singapore ALL the lightning i have seen were ones that came right down from the sky. This one went ACROSS ... yes, left to right.... ACROSS the sky. Can you imagine how exciting this is??? OK, maybe not for you but it was for me. :)

    What was the next thing i did? I went to the dining room window, slide the 2 layer of glass open and stood there waiting to catch the next one. I took a few test shots first to determine which angle i liked best and all, as well as the shutter speed. Then i saw a flash in the left corner of my eye, i looked up and BRIGHT WHITE .... damn, i missed it! So i stood there for another good 5mins with my hand on the camera, poise and aim to shoot. Another flash in the corner of my eye, i instantly reacted and took the shot and then........... WHAM.... SUCCESS!!!!! I nervously viewed the shot on the camera ... wondering if i screwed it up by a slight twitched of the hand or something. Ok... photo looks clear... doesn't seem to have any blurry lines..... zoom in... the lightning looks clear....

    WOW.... i captured my first lightning .....

    If, Hubbie were there i would have been jumping for joy and going all Tigger on him. But i was alone so i contained my excitement although on the inside i was doing sommersaults and cartwheels! Didn't help that we have paper thin curtains in this house that i didn't want to risk people in the apt block across from me saw me going crazy with joy in the house and think that i am some lunatic. :P

    Without further adieu, here is the shot....

    DSC_0966-1
    Just a lil extra tidbit... this photo (cropped version) was featured yesterday morning on inews880.com. Heh. My 30secs of small fame. Heehee.

April 6, 2009

  • DIY Project - Framing a Poster

    Have been spending time walking the streets of Edmonton and getting my bearings right on where is where. I've more or less know how to walk and get myself to the nearest Safeway, walk to Edmonton City Centre, Stanley Miller Library, Empire Theatres, and of course the nearest few Starbucks around my area. I've also figured out my way to WEM, Ikea, and Whyte Ave by bus and have bought myself a monthly bus pass. To make myself more contactable to the few friends i have here, i re-connected with the world of mobile phones and SMS (text messages) by signing up with Rogers. I could say i am more or less ready to go out and explore the city by myself when Hubbie is at work.... somehow am a lil hesitant. Still have to get myself out there and be independent... Hubbie's friends have been really helpful and hopefully i will get to hang out with them more. Today, i spent the day indoors even though it was really good sunny day to be out and about. Instead, we chose to stay home to chill out, watch tv and just having the time to spend with each other. I did spend a small part of the afternoon working on a short project that i should have done a long, long time ago.

    Back in 1987, my 5th aunt was working as a graphic designer for an advertising company back in Malaysia. For my 8th birthday that year, she drew me a nice birthday poster which i have kept with me all these years through our move from Malaysia to Singapore. I've always wanted to have it framed up and hang it in my room... somehow, that never materialise ...till now. Last week, i bought a simple frame from Ikea and today the poster is nicely framed ready to be hung up on the wall in my craft room. What can i say, i am sentimental like that. Still working slowly on the look of the craft room and i need more storage boxes for my stuff. When everything is done i will post photos of the room.


    Happy Birthday Drawing 001
    The original 'Happy Birthday' poster that my 5th aunt gave me back in 1987.

    Happy Birthday Drawing 002
    Covering the backboard of the frame with black paper for the background of the poster.

    Happy Birthday Drawing 003
    Final Look. Just wondering if i should paint the wooden edge in a more vibrant colour.


March 24, 2009

  • iMac Baby

    Early this morning, we got a call saying that there is a Fed Ex delivery waiting for us in the lobby. The first thought that ran through my mind? .... "IT'S HERE!!!!" So we went down, i signed for the package and Darcy carried the huge box up to our apartment for me. So i present to you ... 

    iMac Baby 001


    Compared to the brown box with the words "Certified Reconditioned Product" that arrived at Kenneth's place when he got his iMac last September, i had a plain white, huge ass box. No apples with bite marks seen on it anywhere. I unwrapped my iMac Baby out of the confines of the box and wrapper anyways, since there was an Apple Packing Slip attached to the box. And yes, it is a refurbished set too. :)


    iMac Baby 002

    When i plugged in iMac Baby and the welcome clip was played, i had to scream out "It's alive! It's allliiiiiiiiivvvvvvveeeeeeeeee!"

    iMac Baby 003

    Fortunately, everything is up and running but am waiting till tomorrow afternoon before i explore more since the Futureshop tech guy is coming down to install the wireless router, hook up my iMac Baby to the wireless printer and internet connection. The service is a promotion that came with the router and printer package we purchased yesterday. Am excited about sitting in front of my iMac Baby to surf the net and chat with family and friends. :P


    Can't wait.

    Can't wait! 

January 4, 2009

  • First Three Days of 2009

    Thursday
    I headed over to Kenneth's place with Ningy to pick up the durian cheesecake that Kenneth had ordered on my behalf. I have always heard about how good his mom's durian cheesecakes are and there was a time in 2007 that i was going to get my first taste of it but heh his brother got to it first. So yeah, i finally, got to try his mom's durian cheesecake! Kenneth had told me that his relatives are over for New Year's lunch so when i got there i was just going to pick up the cake and go. However, when i got there Wynnie waved me in. His relatives had left and there were plenty of sugee cake and chocolate mousse left to go around. Rich chocolate mousse and sugee cake.... mmmmmmmmm yum! Plus Kenneth offered me a small glass of port. Yeah, i was definitely on a sugar high after that lil snack. *heehee* So much so that i could walk by the Yami Yoghurt outlet at J8 and not stop to get a medium cup with gronola. *heehee*


    Friday

    Hi ho! Hi ho! It's off to work we go! First day of school for every kid out here in Singapore.
    I had prepared myself for the potential crying fest that could happen since i was handling the Nursery class this year. Thankfully, it was managable with only two who were unconsolable throughout the 2 hours they were in class with me. Understandable since this is their first time away from home and in a classroom setting. However, with all the cute, adorable faces and personality that greeted me throughout the day... i will miss this when i am sitting at home in Canada enjoying some quiet time before the visa comes in and i get to work again. By the end of the day, i was quite worn out having been on holiday for the last 6 weeks and trying to console the children. So i guess my body is still trying to get back into the mode of teaching full time again. :) Really looking forward to my time with the children in the next few weeks and continue on my learning journey with them.


    Saturday

    I met Eila to go walk walk see see look look around Orchard where she decided i should try on fake eyelashes. We walked around Far East Plaza and found this place that not only sold them at a rather decent price but also showed you how to put them on. After the first one went on, i was hooked! Everywhere i walked by that had a mirror i would stop and stare at my eyes. *lol* Eila was just shaking her head and laughing at me. :) We ended up walking from Far East Plaza all the way to Plaza Sing, you see with Eila there is no way you can go to Orchard with her and not walk all the way to Dhoby Ghaut. It's just her! *grin* I also showed her the pretty old buildings at Emerald Hill because she has never been there before since it is just pub after pub. :)
    IMG_3148-2
    Which eye do you think has the false eyelashes?

    Three Days into 20091-1  Three Days into 2009-1

January 1, 2009

  • Farewell 2008.... Hello 2009

    I ushered in the new year by spending a quiet evening with close friends. Dinner at Ikoi, Miramar Hotel. Followed by ring shopping with a close friend (12 years...) and her bf ... they were looking for an engagement ring. We did find the perfect one. Towards midnight, we ended up at Vivo City and basically drank Bacardi Breezers as we welcome 2009. No fireworks. No 10 seconds countdown. We didn't know it was already the new year till we heard the resounding booms of the fireworks being let off at Sentosa.

    NYE 2008 Hera 001

    NYE 2008 Niko 005


    It has definitely been a year to remember... looking back there are things i wished i had done differently but at the same time i am glad i experienced all the emotions and thoughts that came along throughout the year. You learn from mistakes and walk on with the knowledge on how you can improve and change to make yourself a better person. The highlights?

    1. Spending time with my husband during his stay here in Singapore.
    2. My kids from Mars and Jupiter class of 2009. They will forever hold a special place in my heart.
    3. Pulling off a drama and dance performance with my fellow teachers for the year end graduation concert.

    mars  jup


    I'll be turning 30 this coming March and somehow it has presented me with a new sense of urgency and direction in life and life doesn't always match up to how we planned and like it to be. I am hoping that the year ahead will not have too many bumps ... but create enough highlights to make it memorable and (hopefully) fulfilling one. I know i will have quite the adventure with my move in March 2009 to Canada to start a new chapter in my life with my husband.

    Here is wishing everyone good health and best wishes in all your future endeavours

December 24, 2008

  • Christmas Card Swap 2008

    Took part in Brooklyn Bride's Christmas Card Swap for the 2nd year in a row. I decided early on that i will only use the materials i have in around the house and not buy any new materials. So this is what i came up with.

    Envelopes and Envelope Liners
    Brooklyn Bride Xmas Card Swap 2008 001
    (Materials Used) Drawing paper, Brown paper, Flower design stamp

    Xmas Cards
    For the card, i decided that i will be sending gifts across the ocean using flower balloons.
    |To make the fabric flowers i used the idea of Yo-Yo's from Heather Bailey and attacheda  sparklie sequin in the middle to cover the gap.
    I then tied the yarn around the present cut-out from the scrapbook design paper and sewed the other ends to the fabric flowers.
     Brooklyn Bride Xmas Card Swap 2008 007 Brooklyn Bride Xmas Card Swap 2008 006
    (left) Securing the yarn around the present cut-out. (right) Sewing the ends of the yarn to the back of the fabric flower.

    I pasted the completed flower balloons carrying a gift attachment onto the card using clear glue and drew my christmas-ie elephant at the bottom of the card.Once this was done, christmas-ie elephant was coloured using acrylic paint.
    Brooklyn Bride Xmas Card Swap 2008 002 Brooklyn Bride Xmas Card Swap 2008 003

    Final Product
    Brooklyn Bride Xmas Card Swap 2008 004
    (Materials Used) Drawing paper, Floral fabric, Yarn, Scrapbook design paper

    Brooklyn Bride Xmas Card Swap 2008 005
    A lil peak at the inside of the card... a snowflake xmas tree.

    Hopefully, Brooklyn Bride will hold another one next year and i will be sending out xmas cards from Canada instead of Singapore. :)

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December 16, 2008

  • Cotton Year

    It's our 2nd Anniversary today and we're spending it apart. Way apart. While he is in Canada, i'm over here in Singapore. However, i will be seeing him soon and moving to Canada come March 2009. We would have been apart for 9 months by then. So what did we do on our 2nd anniversary? I had tuition with one of my tuition kids in the afternoon then went out with my parents and grandma and took a ride on the Singapore Flyer. Hubbie spent the day spring cleaning my in-law's apartment before his niece and nephew arrive for Christmas next week.

    Happy 2nd (cotton) Anniversary, Hubbie. I can't wait to have someone to cuddle up with on those long cold mornings and i will see in real soon in March. Love you....


    For Hubbie Facebook-1

  • Singapore Flyer and FunVee Bus Ride

    Tonite was a fun nite because i hung out my my parents and grandma as we took a ride up the Singapore Flyer and later on hopped on a FunVee bus for a free ride to view the Orchard Christmas Light Up. *heehee* My parents haven't been to the Flyer before but i have with the kids some time back in September. I wanted to go onto the ride again because i didn't get to enjoy the view much the last time with 22 6-years-olds with me. There were tasks and objectives to be met within that 30-mins time frame we were in the capsule and it takes them a while to finish their observation drawings and i had to give them pointers on what they could observe and choose to draw about.

    Anyways, we shared the capsule with another family who were tourists and we took turns enjoying the view from either side of the capsule. My parents today definitely got struck by the photo-taking bug since they were asking me to take photos of them with the nice view as the backdrop.

    Singapore Flyer and FunVee Bus Ride Niko 002 
    Parents and Grandma at the start of the ride.

    Singapore Flyer and FunVee Bus Ride Niko 010

    Too bad it was a cloudy day and there wasn't much of a sunset to view and take nice photos of. After the ride, we purchased the photo that was taken before we went into the capsule. I bought two copies so that my grandma could take one back for keepsake.

    We walked around the premise for a bit and were about to head to the carpark when i remembered we could get a free ride from the Flyer around Orchard Road and back to view the Christmas Light Up. So i went and got 4 open pass for the ride so that we could come back later. When i met up with my parents and grandma again mom decided that they didn't want to make another trip back just for the ride. So, i turned around and booked us on the 9pm scheduled bus ride... well that was the earliest timeslot they had for the nite as the seats for the other time slot were filled. So we basically had 1hr and 20mins to wander around and have dinner. So where did we end up having dinner? Popeye's. Simply because we wanted ice cream and saw the sign at Robert's Coffee that entitled us to 50% off a single scoop of Movenpick ice cream if we showed them a Popeye's receipt. So... we had our Popeye's meal followed by ice cream, coffee and a slice of New York cheesecake.

    We made our way back to the departure point for our free ride and basically set back and enjoyed the ride. It was my first time on an open top double decker bus so i was really excited to be taking a ride along Orchard Road in one. *heehee* It also helped that it was a nice, cool and breezy nite and i thoroughly enjoyed having the cool breeze blowing on face and hair. Though i had a good laugh half-way through the bus ride when my mom saw me taking photos of her on the bus and said to me : "Take a photo of me with the wind blowing my hair."

    Singapore Flyer and FunVee Bus Ride Niko 016   Singapore Flyer and FunVee Bus Ride Niko 021
    Our ride                                                                                                                     I really like this shot

    Singapore Flyer and FunVee Bus Ride Hera 003
    See how my parents are getting in my shots? *smile* I had fun on this ride, not because it was my first time but my parents were having fun with me. :)        


    It was defnitely a fun nite with my parents and grandma. :) The free ride to view the Orchard Christmas Light Up promotion ends on the 2nd Jan 2009, so if you haven't taken a ride on the flyer maybe this is a good time to make a trip there. Oh, if you have a HSBC credit card you get 20% off admission tickets. :)

December 13, 2008

  • Pameran Poskad

    Well after that fun-filled morning, i only managed to get home at around 2pm and was dead tired. I showered and promptly plonk myself on the bed and slept. Could barely drag myself out of bed more than 2 hours later even though i had made arrangements to meet Betsy, Edward, Richard and Rita at 5pm for dinner at Dempsey before heading off to House for the opening of Pameran Poskad. As a group under the name of Pauseability, we had entered our individual postcard-sized work for the exhibition.


    Pameran Poskad 2008 Official Opening 007-1

    As a rather amateur artists, i was more excited to have one piece of my work being displayed in a public space for all to see rather than having someone buy it. (Oh yes, all the works on display are for sale.) Though, i did panic as i managed to spot our group's collective pieces of work on one of the walls .. all but mine were accounted for. At first i thought i had somehow managed to miss my own work but my piece was definitely not there with the others. I asked one of the nice ladies, Terri (think i spelled her name right) for help. After explaining to her my concerns and describing to her how my work looks like, we managed to track down where it was. It was displayed on another wall away from the group because my piece was heavy and needed more support to hold it up on the wall. PHEW.......!

    Pameran Poskad 2008 Official Opening 004-1    Pameran Poskad 2008 Official Opening 006-1
    Our group's entry                                                                                                                       "Inner Self"

    I have only one thing to say about the event.... the venue was way too small and there were way too many people cramped into one area. Plus, the air-conditioning was not suffice so certain areas were nice and cool whereas many areas were warm and stuffy. Guess the weather that evening didn't help at all as it was drizzling on and off.