YEP Community Service Marathon 2011 Launch
Woon Ching and I had signed up for this some time back. It is a month-long community service project and there are many kinds of volunteer work you can choose from. We got allocated to Beyond Social Services, where a group of us will be teaching little kids how to read every Friday night throughout March. Looking forward to it! :D

The launch was at ITE College East at 10:00AM, but the goodie bag collection began from 9:00AM. Didn't stay for the launch. We were hungry and sleepy, and headed to Bedok to have brunch.


The vouchers are really nifty: Frolick, nuabs, 77th Street, Spectacle Hut, Botak Jones, and Mr Bean. Ok, maybe not all are useful to me. I foresee myself using the Spectacle Hut $40 gift voucher, though. About time I get a new pair of spectacles and stop abusing my eyes with my wearing contacts round the clock.

If any of you (yes, you who is reading this now!) wants any of the vouchers (except the Spectacle Hut one), let me know. I'm more than happy to give them away. (:

Had brunch at the hawker centre beside Bedok Bus Interchange before exploring the Sheng Shiong outlet nearby. Woon Ching wanted to show me that they do sell live turtles (I haven't seen them at the Khatib outlet before). Turns out the glass tank labelled 'turtles' was filled with wriggling yellow eels instead! So amused by the variety of crabs, clams, and mussels there! We ended up buying junk food for ourselves too.


S'been long time since I ate such sugared sour candy strips (I'm not a candy person). Yet I find these strangely addictive. The sourness makes one cringe, yet the delayed sweetness makes up for it and keeps one coming back for more.


Ah, the favourite Pocky presents a Valentine's special. The packaging is really sweet.

よっしゃ！Must start revising tomorrow. It's the last lap; 2 more papers to graduation! I can do it! いくぞ！:D

I'm Back From My Hiatus!
Oh yea! It's official: I'm back and raring to blog again! I had absolutely no inspiration or mood to blog the past two months even though there were many things I could have ranted about. I reckon the hiatus actually did some good. I will be blogging regularly from now on. (:


The heart-shaped marshmallow is my Valentine's Day present from Shi Hui. Belated, but whatever, I still got it in the end! (laughs) This one was bought from the Hershey's at CityLink. They have marshmallows of all the alphabets. They make nice gifts, don't they?

3 exam papers are over; 2 left next week. I went out by myself after this morning's paper, and I must say it felt damn good to be all alone. I strolled from Orchard to Dhoby Ghaut and took a train to Harbourfront and continued walking around Vivocity. It felt so nice, doing as I please, not having to answer to anyone or obey the whims of others.

A lot has happened the past two months. I realized just how many skeletons could come tumbling out of a closet. Right now, I want to be alone. I have no need for some people anymore, and neither do I want them that much. I'm tired of living in other people's shadows. I'm tired of being deceived by the people I should trust. From now on, I just want to stand on my own two feet, pursue my interests, and shape my future the way I want it to be. I want to see the real world in all its ugliness, because I'll be literally killed by the society if I don't. I'm 19, I'm an adult and I need to start thinking about my responsibilities.

There's so much I want to do after the exams. Really excited. First, I have to get a part-time job to fund the activities I want to sign up for as well as for my university fees. Second, submit my application forms for the volunteer work I want to do and the skills I want to learn. Oh my God, I can hardly wait. Life's gonna be good from now on! (:

It's a Food Feast!
Y'know, it's study week and the final exams are next week. I'm pretty sure that all my other coursemates are mugging their asses off while I am going out every other day. I will forget everything if I mug that early. And I believe in quality over quantity. But whatever floats one's boat, I guess. (:

Had a great afternoon with Esther!


Went for lunch at Sakae Sushi at Causeway Point. Esther recommended their shitake yaki and it's great. Think of grilled mushrooms with melted salt on their gills. *Thumbs up* We stuffed ourselves with all the sushi in the Sakae Set. Colourful variety, yea?


Anyone fun-loving person should order the Sakae Candle! I had ordered it because it looks interesting, but I got a surprise when the waitress served it. She actually used a lighter to ignite the "wick" (it's a slice of crabmeat)! I couldn't take a photo of it 'cos the flame died so quickly. But for a moment, it really looked like two lighted candles! :D

Another recommendation by Esther: ika teriyaki. I love how soft and chewy the squid rings are.

We spend the rest of the afternoon window-shopping around Causeway Point and Northpoint. In the evening, I returned to Sun Plaza to have passport-sized photographs taken. Need them for my university applications (what a chore). Whilst waiting for them to be developed, we had tea break at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

I decided to try White Chocolate Ice Blended. Shi Hui has always been telling me how nice it is so I thought to give it a shot. It's waaaaay sweeter than I'd expected, I was forcing myself to finish it. Maybe I should have stuck to Black Forest Ice Blended or Malibu Dream. :/


Saw these two beauties in the food display case and just had to order them! White chocolate raspberry cheesecake and green tea tiramisu! They taste as good as they look.


Well, till July 2011, then. Looking forward to travelling to Shanghai and/or Hong Kong. Wonder if we can pull Si Min and the other Banana Alliance peeps along. That'd be awesome. :D

ハッピーバレンタインデー！
Yes, happy valentine's day! Just felt like saying that. Don't get me wrong—I still think Valentine's is overly commercialized and materialistic. I find it retarded that people wait for this one day to express their love. What's wrong with doing it the other 364 days of the year? And besides, does one even need a reason to? Can't we surprise those we love any time of the year for no rhyme and reason?

I met Esther for dinner at Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe at Sun Plaza. Too bad the aunty that works there wasn't working that day. When we went a few nights ago, she recognized us—even though we haven't patronized for over half a year ('cos Esther was in Shanghai pursuing her degree). She's always so happy to see us, giving us a big, warm smile and chatting to us like regular customers. (:


I wanted to order the usual udon (the kind that comes with a big bowl of soup). However, the waitress recommended the new HK-style Fried Seafood Udon. It was so good when I ate it with the sliced green chillis provided!


Another new dessert. It has coconut milk, strips of coconut flesh and sago inside it. It's nice and warm. Too bad I'm not a big coconut milk fan. I ordered it 'cos it looks interesting and I felt like trying new stuff.


Esther has gotten herself an iPhone 4! I was playing around with the applications she had downloaded. I got addicted to Angry Birds the first time I played it. Cute, sadistic, and strategic, what's there not to like about this game? (:

CHARMAINE CHEONG.

I’m a somebody and a nobody. I’m rational and emotional. I’m critical but I’m non-judgemental.

I like my things categorized by types and chronologically. I like taking photos to preserve the moments of my life. I like dystopian literature. I like reading Wikipedia articles at random. I like travelling to foreign lands and seeing the world. I like long conversations over good food. I like pop and classical music. I like guitars. I like cats. I like writing random, mushy letters and notes to the people important to me. I have a whole long list of things that I like, but you’ve got to get to know me better to know them all.