What's up pudding cup

Oops, blog

2009-12-07T16:54:01Z

Woo, I love creating gifs, and I love Photoscape.

But I love that boy up there with me the most! More on him later :p

It's been 2 weeks since I've been back. Did I mention I teared when the plane landed and the captain announced that 'we have just arrived at the Singapore Changi Airport'. That's how much I've missed home. But I really did enjoy my time in Shanghai - the ups and even the downs. I can only say that now cos it's over! Internship seemed to last forever during my time in Shanghai, but it passed by pretty quickly actually!

And surprise surprise, I have also gained a few extra pounds. Considering my diet and lack of exercise in Shanghai, I deserved it! Gonna start running again(even tho I hate it) and swimming. And cut down on what I eat(even tho I love it). Haha do you already see this going downnnn.

So glad to see my girlfriends at the airport too. I may not have many friends, but I know I have 2 I can really rely on and I'm very very happy. I've missed Y talking so fast and screaming at every bug she sees. Love bitching with this girl cos we always think alike. I miss HL and her funny giggles. She writes the funniest and sweetest letters, and makes a swell shopping/bitching partner too. Haha.

Going to Shanghai also meant my first try at long distance. Everything is made much easier with the cell, MSN and Skype. But technology does screw up at times. Sometimes things got tough. But I'm really glad at the end of it, we still love each other very much. I do feel blessed to have someone like him. Well honestly sometimes I do doubt him, I do doubt our relationship. Being in this for the long haul, there are times when you feel like giving up. But steady long-term relationships aren't supposed to be boring, cos if it does get boring, that's when things start going wrong. I think long-term r/s take even more effort to maintain, to keep things going, and sometimes to spice things up a little(heh). And every day, I am still discovering something new bout him, us or myself.

Yes, counting my blessings :)

beeinmyshirt @ 2009-11-20T13:56:00

2009-11-20T05:56:15Z

I'M COMING HOME!

Note to self

2009-11-15T08:31:43Z

This is the path you chose. Live with it.

We drove a boat

2009-10-30T15:27:27Z

Scruffy looking kitten that wouldn't stop to let me take a photo. Every time I squat and try to take a shot it will crawl under my legs haha

On our way to Qi Pu Lu/crowded smelly bus/tamagotchi obsession

Went to the garden near the place we stay.. bunnies for sale!

There were boat rides available and we could drive them ourselves haha motor boats that went really slowly but still quite a thrill(for awhile haha)

TGIF (again)

2009-10-30T08:00:08Z

Back to work!

My 2-day (little)ordeal is over. It really made me realize that I may have grown older, but in some ways I'm still like a little girl. The last time I bawled my eyes out in a hospital was when I was about 8. 11 years down the road and I'm still the same. When I look back at what happened on Tuesday I feel amusement, and a little shame. I could have just faced it like a brave person. But then again I am in a foreign country, sick and without family. I panicked. To be honest, the whole process didn't hurt as much as I imagined it to be. It wasn't the pain I was so afraid of. It was just that at that moment, I suddenly felt very very alone. I felt cornered by the doctor, the nurses... the place. I wished to hell to see a familiar face, or to hold on to a familiar hand. No one in the room understood why I couldn't stop tearing as I sat there, waiting for the drip to be done. I kept thinking of family, the people I love, home...and the tears wouldn't stop.

The aunty sitting next to me was very friendly. She kept talking to me, asking me where I've been to in Shanghai, how I like the place etc. She pointed out the old man sitting opposite me and told me he has to be put on the drip almost every day. Then she told me, “你又高，人长得又漂亮，就是胆子不大。明天我也会来。明天不要看到你再哭了。你要勇敢orh。”

And those were the words I remembered on the 2nd day there when I was there, in the room, queuing up to get poked. I didn't shed a tear, nor hesitate in giving my hand to the nurse(ok confession but I was a nervous wreck in disguise). I saw her in the room later and we smiled at each other. It was a little heartwarming :)

Must also thank Jijie's aunt, who held my hand in the process and encouraged me all the way. Without her company I would probably have had a much harder time. Her heart is made of gold :)

Temperatures next week will be dipping as low as 8°, with the highest being 14° oh golly.

P.S. I am witnessing 2 employees being dismissed, right in front of my eyes! I'm trying to be discreet. Sad. Harsh harsh reality. Edited: Okay I was wrong it's not just 2 it's like 5? Or are there gonna be more. And today I just happened to change a seat facing the other direction, that's why I'm able to see it happen. If not, when these sad dejected people walk out, I'd probably still say a cheery "bye!" to them oh gawd.

Shanghai has reduced me to a crybaby

2009-10-28T10:32:07Z

The Chinese hospital put me on a drip.

I freaked out, I bawled my eyes out. The doctor told me "no bargaining" when I tried to ask if I could just have tablets instead. I hate needles! The room of patients (mostly middle aged people) were so amused. The lady sitting beside me gave me some tissue and told me to be brave. I was the only one crying like a baby there. I missed home so much.

Sucks to be sick overseas. Best part: Session 2 continues tomorrow ):

Super song

2009-10-23T02:48:02Z

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS;
something to say when you have nothing to say

Every day when I'm about to leave the estate where I live for work, I'll see this little boy, his dad and his granny. There's a little walking distance from the house to the front gates (much like a condominium in Singapore.) The dad would be carrying his backpack. The granny would get on her bicycle, and the dad would carry the boy and place him on the child seat behind the bike. Granny would start cycling slowly, and the dad would jog alongside the bicycle and talk to the boy as they make their way out. I overheard some of their conversation yesterday. Dad asked if the boy had anymore to say to him (they were reaching the entrance alr), and the little boy said "Wait for you to come home papa." And when they reach the entrance, granny cycles to the right and dad leaves for work on the left.

Major sweet. It sounds way sweeter when said in mandarin, plus the whole accent thing. I love hearing the chinese kids speak here, especially when they call their mamas or papas. Can't really describe it but their accents somehow make the language come alive.

I'm loving the language more and more with each day I'm here. Although sometimes it's still quite hard for me to understand what my colleagues are saying when they are talking amongst themselves, I'd like to think I'm improving a little too!

P.S. Obsessed with my tamagotchi. It was selling for 35yuan at the toys'r'us clearance sale here and J got me one! Childhood toy!

Food for thought

2009-10-19T08:58:12Z

A shirt stained by xiao long bao juice is an unhappy shirt.

I finally ate some decent tasting xiao long bao in Shanghai after what - 1 month here? Haha just felt like drawing the above cos that's what happened to my mom.

The macdonald's here have got delicious chocolate pies. KFC has good egg tarts. Lillian's has very yummy cheese egg tarts. I love the popcorn chicken pizza at pizza hut. Ajisen is so much cheaper here than in Singapore. None of these are doing any good to my already disappearing waistline! And I'm not even talking about the local dishes yet.

My pants were so tight yesterday that I think it disrupted the blood circulation a lil bit and I felt giddy. Either the pants I bought from Qi Pu Lu were the wrong size, or I've gained one pound too many. Sitting on my butt in the office for hours on end isn't gonna help me either. I need a plan pronto!

And thank you dear for bringing me the 5 copies of 8 days I've not read since I left. Definitely felt a lil closer to home reading that stuff today on the train. Chris and Fann's wedding shoot at Maldives looks awesome. They look too cute in their matching straw hats and bags.

P.S. Starting to watch HK dramas dubbed in mandarin to improve my horrigible mandarin.

Stickwit'u forever

2009-10-14T05:09:09Z

Brought some candy to give to my colleagues today, and many of them gave me shocked expressions haha. I just learnt that in China, people distribute sweets and candies when they are getting married. It's called 喜糖(xi tang). Haha! So I did some quick googling and found out why:

1.希望大家都皆大欢喜,更是图个喜庆希望以后的生活甜甜蜜密,开开心心
2.糖是粘的，有夫妻二人和好美满之意,永远在一起不分开
3.想把自己的喜悦和甜蜜分享给每个人
4.发喜糖其实更多的这是一种传统从古到今都有这个习俗,所以人们也就一直延续下来了

It's actually a chinese tradition from way back. There's an idiom in mandarin that uses the words sweet (甜甜蜜蜜）, which can be used to describe a couple very much in love. By giving candy to others, they want others to share their happiness and celebrate their union, and hope that their lives together ahead will be loving and full of happiness. Couples also hope to be "sticky" like candy, never to be separated from each other.

Interesting. The mochi I gave out is very sticky ah.

beeinmyshirt @ 2009-10-13T15:41:00

2009-10-13T07:43:25Z

I like the boldness and daringness that comes with being overseas. It's like suddenly you're brave enough to do anything.

Happy 60th China

2009-10-02T13:46:36Z

Had a nasty case of diarrhea which woke me up this morning. The rest have minor cases of it too and we suspect it was the ice cream we had yesterday (no prizes for guessing who ate the most haha.) So it's China's 60th National Day, and so begins our 8-day long holiday! I am lovin' it!

Ok, some pictures I've been too lazy to post.

This was last saturday at a restaurant after our shopping trip at the bargain mall. Look at Jijie's aunt's cute expression. She is made of love.

That's us today at Cheng Huang Miao. Lotsa touristy stuff, and lots of people! There was a Starbucks there as well, looking very out-of-place surronded by old buildings and temples.

Work days. That's me with an ice cream a colleague brought for everyone the other day :)

Random MSN drawings I like.

Looking forward to the day my mommies and Jeremy come over!

Shanghai Day I've-lost-count

2009-09-27T05:57:33Z

Saturday was a good rest day. I definitely appreciate the weekends more now that there's work. We (the 4 of us, plus Jijie's 2 aunts and cousin) went shopping at the bargain mall again. Hmm, we seem to go there every week! Haha. Jijie's aunts and cousins are really something when they're bargaining. Bargaining is an art every woman should master (I wanted to say every woman and every man but that would mean less peace in the world, so just the women ^^).

And I used the toilet at the mall (I haaaad to, girly emergency) and the cubicles had no doors. Reminded me of my last visit to China (Kunming) where the toilets had no doors, but I've never actually used one where there were sooo many people. Jijie was very cute la, she paid to come in just to stand near the entrance "to give you moral support ok Nat!" Haha she is love.

Anyway we had dinner at a restaurant Jijie's cousin recommended. And we secretly foot the bill as our way of saying thanks. Haha should have seen their expressions when they found out. And I've been seeing many toy poodles here. I think it's an expensive breed back in sg. But here, I see one almost every other day! One little hyper one licked my feet when I went to pat it. I tried persuading her aunt to get one too haha imagine a toy pood in the house... perfect.

We gave Kailing a birthday surprise at midnight last night. It was so funny cos we tried to get her boyfriend's msn, but we couldn't figure out her laptop password. It was damn exciting cos she was bathing and Ryhn was trying all the funny passwords like shushu (ah shu her hamster) and pink monster (her huge soft toy she talks to like it's alive, but I shall keep that for another post haha) and I couldn't stop laughing. In the end we just got his number from her phone haha. Hope the little surprise made her feel happier! ♥

♥

2009-09-25T02:46:12Z

A happy birthday song at midnight - hip hop style. I love you baby. Have a happy dappity birthday and celebration tonight ♥

You're loved!

Almost weekend

2009-09-24T08:21:00Z

I like the smoked chicken salad at Starbucks. It shall be my favourite lunch until I get sick of it. I've been blogging a lot lately thanks to this internship. I'm so glad I get to use MSN openly, if not I would have probably shriveled up and died of boredom and restlessness! My supervisor's from TP too, and he just showed me his wedding album shot at TP. Had a good time browsing, laughing and chatting about the photos.

Omg, there is sunlight streaming in through the windows! I have not seen bright sunlight in days (not exaggerating.) I regret not bringing novels over to read. So far the only bookstores I've seen only have chinese books. But their Japanese fashion magazines are good, and much cheaper than in Singapore.

Had dinner in a cafe in the city yesterday. 新天地is so beautiful and happening at night. Pretty lights and old buildings. Loved it!

beeinmyshirt @ 2009-09-24T09:28:00

2009-09-24T01:39:34Z

Tomorrow's your special day. I wish to be back to celebrate it with you. Well I hope you'll have a great time anyway :)

Halfway around the world, that won’t stop me from loving you

Happy bunny

2009-09-23T08:31:23Z

It has finally stopped raining. YAY! I'm supposed to do my task but it's so difficult, so I surfed some photography sites. Ended up saving a lot of pictures. I'd love to take an album of black and white photos someday. I think black and white makes nice people photos too.

Had a very bad scare this morning but I guess I was just being too paranoid again. Ate healthy today - chicken salad and bananas (and some malteses oops.) I think working here has made me a healthier person cos I drink a lot more water... and subsequently use the loo a lot more too haha.

Looking forward to meeting the homies for dinner later!

Cheap thrills

2009-09-20T14:02:14Z

My camera has a smile detector mode where it just snaps photos when it detects smiles and we were trying it out before heading out. Don't think I'll use it often cos ended up smiling so widely like an idiot haha. That's Jijie's lovely aunt with us by the way.

On our way to Qi Pu Lu for some cheap shopping. I didn't get much but the rest did! We have to go there earlier next time because we only combed the basement before all the shops started closing.

The 4 of us tried a lot of bargaining today and there were quite a few successful attempts! There was one shoe shop owner who quoted us a ridiculously high price for the shoes and I didn't really like it anyway so we walked away. He kept shouting and asking us for our price, and when we just ignored him and continued walking, he shouted something rude. Jijie told me he scolded "fuck you" but it sounded like "fang pi (fart in chinese)" to me haha, hilarious. Cranky shop owners.

Work tomorrow. The weather's getting colder.

Happy happy girl

2009-09-19T17:54:11Z

Am the happiest girl tonight cos of your email.

:)

Mornings here

2009-09-17T03:59:35Z

Best breakfast I've had ever since I've been in Shanghai. Vivian brought me Shanghai's signature breakfast pancake with soya bean milk today! She's my shuttle bus mate, always telling me all the nice places I should go to in Shanghai on the shuttle bus after work. And Frankie brought meat mooncake for everyone too. Yummy!

Traveling to work is slightly better now with the shuttle bus. Still 1 and a half hours of traveling but now it's just 2 train lines, 17 train stations, and a guaranteed seat on the shuttle bus!!! Today's crowd in the train was especially bad, and the air conditioning kept going off. Some cranky people started arguing about who-pushed-who too hard. Fierce.

I heart Skype

2009-09-14T16:04:20Z

I miss him so much(that's monkey the hamster up there btw.) Skyping with him every (other) night makes my day :)

Webcam snapshots are the bomb.

Shanghai food

2009-09-12T04:44:49Z

The colleagues brought me to lunch for some Shanghai dishes. I like how a lot of the bistros and restaurants here are stand-alone and can be found in every corner, or among the bushes. And when you're eating, you look out and there's grass and trees. It's like finding secret places haha. Definitely something Singapore doesn't have much of! Most of our restaurants are in malls, or crowded streets.

Good colleagues make all the difference.

The weekend is here!

Ranting

2009-09-11T08:09:00Z

People here horn like its free. Traffic here is crazy. The food here is too oily. The food here is too salty. The air here is really dusty. Taking the MRT during peak hours is like battling in a war each time(no kidding.) The people here shove and push and cut queues blatantly. A lot of getting used to.

I've yet to see the magnificence of Shanghai. Probably this weekend when there won't be work!

I know I'm here in Shanghai to learn to be more independent but I can't help but wish I had a working partner from school interning with me, and it's not just me alone.

Shanghai Day 3

2009-09-09T15:19:20Z

First day at work. I was half an hour early! Tomorrow I'm gonna sleep a bit more.

My supervisor Jeremey brought us out for lunch at an Italian Japanese bistro - yummy!

That's my workplace and that's my chinese colleague Xiao He - the IT guy who helped me set up my laptop and email!

Jijie and I said earlier to meet after work at Raffles City. But the train station at People's Park was so friggin big that we couldn't find each other till an hour later. Her phone was engaged, we were tired and hungry. And I got approached by funny people. All sorts of weird people around. Thank god we managed to find each other at last. Had sheng jian man tou for dinner haha, quite pathetic. I think the ones selling at Tampines 1 tastes slightly better :]

Shanghai Day 2

2009-09-09T15:06:46Z

Finding our way to Tyco

After a change of 3 lines and a bit of a walk, we finally got there! There's a Starbucks headquarters at the building I'm working at so there's a Starbucks downstairs, whoopee!

Darling your favourite drink - in a big bottle!

That's where I'll be working!

At Huai Hai Road - a huge dried foods store

The streets have pretty trees

SHOPPPPING

To Ji Jie's grandma's place for dinner. We fell asleep on the cab and the cab driver had to shout at us to wake us up haha

第一天上班

2009-09-09T06:17:04Z

大家好！我今天真是开始上班了。今天好早好早起床哦，我还是有点不习惯。换了三个地铁线后，终于到了TYCO。已跟老板见过面，还谈了几句。中午时他们还带我到个日本-意大利餐馆吃饭。好吃！妈妈和伟权十月份来的时候可以介绍介绍：）

我的华语超烂。很多东西想说都无法用华语来形容。幸好还有JEREMEY在，不然我会多么的尴尬啊！

好了，拜拜！