US no. crunching..

length of stay in US - 10 wks
continents flew past b4 reaching US - 3 (asia, artic, america)
flight length - 21 hrs

no. of travelmates aka golden flowers - 3 (plus me)
no. of huge fights with travelmates - 0
no. of squabbles with travelmates - infinity (juz to spice things up, haha)
golden flowers fell sick - 0 times in e US *victory*

no. of morey's piers parks - 3 (adventure pier, mariner's landing, surfside)
morey's waterparks - 2 (raging waters, ocean oasis)
radio code of AP's supervisors n mgrs - 701, 702, 61, 66, 59
my morey's staff ID no. - 51885
no. of rides learnt- 3 (skyride, jersey junkyard, great white)

no. of skyride chairs - 40
skyride's cycle time - 8 min
tickets needed to take e skyride - 4
max no. of skyride crew - 4 (tho e most i've seen is 3）

no. of junkyard cars - 6
junkyard's cycle time - 45 sec
tickets needed to ride e junkyard - 3
max no. of junkyard crew - 2

no. of GW cars - 6
GW's cycle time - 2 min
tickets needed to ride e GW - 4
max no. of GW crew - 8

tt amt earned in morey's - USD1,820 (spent almost all there)
savings depleted - SGD4,250 (1,500 air tix + 1,500 prog fee + 1,250 cash)
value of souvenirs for family - USD190
value of souvenirs for frens - USD70
amt spent on myself - USD730
(omg i realli spent ALOT huh)

weight lost in US - 2kg
no. of states visited - 4 (new york, new jersey, maryland, pennsylvania)
items thrown to reduce baggage - countless (all old clothes lahz)
no. of luggage locks perished - 1 (lost e keys n gotta saw e lock open)
photos file size - 4GB (before sorting out)

to those contemplating WAT2007: GO FOR IT. tho it seems like i spent alot on it, it's cuz i shopped too much lahz. but it was all worth e money, very very worth it!

kui

omg i juz found out tat joe's metrosexual character in The Rose 蔷薇之恋 is called kui 葵! my gosh. n it took me so long to fall in love with him. haha~

found a corroborating evidence of his zany n crazy n cute n no image self..


so kawaii!~ haha~

joe!

guess wat? im having training now, but still managed to complete tis post. so u noe how slack my training is. haha~

anywayz, todae i'll be regressing to a teenage girl n indulge in some idol-awing once again. haha~

juz completed watching It Started With A Kiss 恶作剧之吻 n im simply in love with joseph cheng 郑元畅!

e show is not bad, tho abit too draggy at times (30 episodes for a romantic idol drama). however, i find e story not bad lorz, mayb cuz there's eye candies for me. ariel lin is very sweet n joseph cheng is very attractive.

both of em look cute with each other. hee~

e show narrates how xiang qin 湘琴 managed to win zhi shu's 直树 heart after 5yrs. tink e original version xiang qin is not supposed 2b pretty de lorz, meant to have tis shuai ge & dinosaur girl effect.

actually if i were zhi shu i'll get so stifled lahz, xiang qin is soooo persistent n sticky. kept pestering zhi shu sia. aiyo.

enough of tat, let me gush abt joe now. haha~

in e beginning i dont like him cuz he's too niang in The Rose 蔷薇之恋..

overly metrosexual for me.

also, he's too tall (188cm) and big-sized, small eyes, plus he's seems abit short-tongued. buT! e more i see him e more i find him realli attractive in a weird way, to quote frm wqing.

he can look realli cool at times..

very sharp nose he has, nice. pouty lips, ohhh~

so cool, i like. hoho~

but wat i like most is his character on tv. veri zany n crazy, no care for his idol image at all.

v cute n endearing lahz. i mean veri few idols will LO really L on tv n go into hysterical guffaws rite?

aiyo so adorable n unpretentious, i like! been youtubing him all these nites after i knock off, too free lahz. haha~

lastly..

donno why, but e male idols i like alwayz tend to congregate tog lehz. hmmm~ haha~

i heart joe! u heart him too? hee~

1st days of training

i was wrong to refer to yester as my "1st day of work", cuz there's simply no work involved. purely theory training, not even OJT. work will oni start after these 2wks' of training. even till then i mite not be on job.

training (noT work) had been boring, let me juz answer tis once n for all. e various trainers juz kept teaching us things tat we've alr learnt back in NBS.

also, it was like a NBS class of 2006 reunion. NBS grads made up e whole of my run, n i probably noe half of em. plus e AA304-like training, it's seriously juz like having audit tutorial wif e same classmates back in NBS.

luckily e ppl at my training table are not boring, else training wld have been even more unbearable. my table's prob e noisiest table in e room ba. haha~

oh n if u'r wondering, there r NO cute guyz at work. at least i havent spotted any. hehz~

training's v slack tho, we juz msn/netsurf/chitchat e whole day. trainer oso chitchat with us somemore. plus we get to knock off early! hoho~

but i tink my company's training prog is lacklustre as compared to its rivals. there's no overseas training cum travel, no refreshments during breaks, no fun warming-up games. let's hope tis is offset by better benefits as compared to its rivals.

checked out my job schedule, not v packed lehz. pray hard tat it'll nv be v packed!

to-do list revisited

today is e deadline for my previous to-do list. let me see how many items have i managed to strike off e list..

1) NTU ARC's AGM - successfully concluded on 30 aug 2006!
2) watch da chang jin - watched halfway n decided to switched to watching idol dramas instead, will finish it slowly.
3) watch lost season 1 - completed! nice! esp like e episode narrating how john locke's dad cheated him of his kidney, damn sad~
4) finish desperate housewives season 2 - zzg said he'll burn for me but havent get frm him yet..
5) watch devil beside u - done! i SUPER love ah meng (e devil), realli is my perfect bad boy! heart!
6) watch it started with a kiss - watched! heart joseph cheng oso, soooo attracted to him! yes, i heart tons of male idols. haha~
7) organise n develop brisbane photos - sent for developing alr!
8) develop convocation photos - sent for developing alr!
9) develop zenith photos - sent for developing alr! developed US photos oso. ohohohoho~
10) backup all photos n songs in my laptop - all done xcept e US photos, wanna rearrange em 1st.
11）do odd jobs to earn abit of $$ - earned abt $700 in total, not bad lahz.
12) pass final theory driving test - i failed lahz.............. hehz~
13) complete all pwc pre-commencement forms n procedures - done long ago
14) pack my room - i wld say it's mostly packed. hee~
15) read da vinci code - read! exciting n interesting, enjoyable.
16) read killing plato - ehh... will try n read while commuting to/fro work..
17 & 18) cycle & practise pilates more - cycle/pilates/badminton at least twice a wk! muahahaha~ such great feat. wonder how frequent i can exercise now tho.
19) visit NJC - visited, nth much lehz.
20) sell textbooks - only left 2 books unsold, quite imposs to sell oso cuz kinda obsolete alr. but sold e rest n earned quite abit. hee~

15 / 20 = 75% completed! not bad not bad, not bad at all. muahahahaha~

last day as a slacker

today marks e end of my life as a slacker, ever. no more leisure activites on a wkday afternoon, no more long holidays tat stretch 2.5mths, no more luxury of slacking at home for 2 mths, no more no more.

so to fully enjoy wkday afternoons while it lasts, i've been gg out! kinda obsessed with my 1.3 megapixel hp camera, therefore e following photos..

okay so my 1.3megapixel din produce excellent photos, i noe. bleahz~

i rebonded n cut n dyed my hair by the way, all set for e smart office image!

omg i have 7 different mini skirts?? n tats not all tat i have lorz. can auditors wear short skirts to work?? LoL~

mayb i shd wear short skirts to work, seduce my boss (if it's a he) n make him gimme less work. muahahahaha~

and so, tmr! my working life starts as a professional auditor, professional "slogger". i juz hope i have more luck than zen who has a packed job schedule when it's supposedly audit's off-peak season.

wish me luck!

little united nations!

take a look at Adventure Pier ride operators' diff nationalities! but these ppl r not representative of e whole population cuz sample size is too small. haha~

belarus

i've heard of tis ctry cuz i used to watch olympics gymnastics. it's in eastern europe n its ppl speak russian.

they are e oni ppl frm belarus in AP, both trained on e skyride. i was alwayz sent to e skyride to guide em.

nice gals, but cant communicate smoothly cuz their english so-so oni. but they do agree wif me tat e american guests at e skyride r dumb. LoL~

me n ting find veranika (left) quite pretty, by e way.

bulgaria

eastern europe too, speaks bulgarian. ctry's main exports are roses n chocolates if i nv rem wrongly.

i muz say i realli donno e bulgarian gals, nv work wif em b4 n hardly tok to em cuz they speak minimal eng.

but i noe one of e gals was v freaked out by e task of operating e super harmless n super no thrill junkyard tat she desperately requested to operate a kiddy ride instead. -_-

nikola (left) is quite a friendly chap, e others alwayz make fun of his name (ricola vs nikola). meow was mentioned earlier. honestly no idea why e guyz like to stick their tongue out tho. haha~

ecuador

ting said she'd nv heard of e ctry b4, then i'll alwayz tell her tats cuz she nv watch soccer. haha~

ecuador is a ctry with varying temperatures, cold in e highlands n hot.. near e coast? south-american ctry btw, spanish-speaking. main national pdts: bananas n tourism.

well, these guyz have been mentioned umpteen times. but collectively they are kind n friendly n hospitable ppl. all of em live in quito, capital of ecuador, which is a comfortably affluent city i guess.

their population consists of caucasian, indigenous n mixed indigenous-caucasian. pedro (extreme right) most likely has indigenous blood ba, tats y at 1st we tot he's malay. oops~

england

no needa elaborate on tis ctry lahz huh. but i wonder if everyone in england has e super cute english accent tho. muahahaha~

awwww cute~ LoL~

tom studies in university of warwick i tink, not bad sch i believe. we sporeans found certain commonality wif him cuz of sg's british past.

lithuania

okay i donno abt tis ctry cuz i donno e lithuanian well. but tink it's a russian-speaking ctry oso cuz e lithuanian alwayz hang out wif e russians. haha~

oh i do noe tat lithuania is a badly attacked ctry during world war II, hitler juz loved destructing tat ctry. hey so i do noe abit abt tis ctry. hehe~

he has an unforgettable name simply cuz it sounds like adidas. tink he's a nice guy lahz, quite friendly. did a great job as an occasional ticket-taker at e great white.

mexico

a ctry veri near e states, spanish-speaking oso. but alwayz no luck in e recent world cups huh. haha~

my big boss in AP, migrated frm mexico to USA when he was young. i was charmed by his green eyes until i knew it's juz coloured contacts. hehz~

but he's a great boss, e most ppl-oriented manager in e whole of morey's!

poland

no info cuz donno e polish gals (e 2 on e extreme left) well oso. but at 1st i realli tot they are sisters.

some of us find kate (2nd frm e left) pretty.

puerto rico

spanish-speaking too. it's actually part of united states, a small island near e main US lands. hispanic population.

my 2nd big boss and e oni park services guy in AP. alotta puerto ricans work in US.

romania

she's (left) e oni romanian in AP b4 i left, heard more romanians came after tat. veri gentle n nice gal, alwayz smiles to me. but i nv realli tok to her b4, tink her eng is not v gd.

russia

i oso donno em well, but all of us tot they look like dolls cuz of their big lashy eyes. e blonde is quite pretty, in my opinion.

again, me n ting find margarita (left) pretty. yes, she has e same name as e drink.

singapore!

we'r e ctry wif most "representatives" there. e loudest, oldest, craziest bunch. haha~

but we dont open up to new ppl easily, abit to ourselves. i guess e supervisors n managers like us most cuz we speak e best english (besides e englishman n americans).

we kinda behave like we own e place cuz we're e 1st to arrive at AP among e other foreigners. don tink e others hate us tho, cuz we'r nice n fun too mahz. hee~

turkey

his english is not bad, donno if everyone in turkey speaks eng tho. he's veri onz when we played e scavenger hunt wor, damn farnie. haha~

taiwan!

wah us sporeans have been waiting for em to arrive lorz, but they came so late, on our last wk of work. we clicked wif em immediately lahz, common language n similar culture mahz.

eh but all of em said i look like stefanie sun. look like mehz, im quite sure my complexion is not tat bad. bleahz~

they alwayz have innovative poses for e camera lorz, i had a hard time asking stan (bottom) to take a photo w/o funny faces. haha~

stan was my partner at e skyride on my last days of work, i was (again) told to guide him. see, im not bragging when i say im e mistress of e skyride clan horz. haha~

clicked wif him veri well, taught him eng (his eng kinda sucks) n gossiped wif him. he added me on msn last wk n we managed to chat a few times. found a tw tour guide loh! muahahaha~

USA

since e park is in e states, there shd be alotta american ride operators rite? no lorz, there r much more foreigners than americans. tink cuz americans find e pay too low.

e twins above are minors, n minors r given special attention like more breaks n knock off early.

e other americans r my supervisors, fun ppl. not snobbish n arrogant yanks like wat tv portrayed.

uzbekistan

haf u heard of tis ctry?? it's near pakistan, in betw middle-east n russia. they speak uzbek mostly, but speak russian too.

oh u noe u noe? tis muslim ctry's laws allows man to have up to 4 wives! most ppl have >1 wife, n they marry young.

i nearly fainted when they told me how many wives they alr have. bet they hate me for inadvertently letting e whole AP noe abt their wives. haha~

to me, it juz feels weird to noe tat a caucasian-looking man is frm a muslim ctry. but diff ctry diff population n culture lahz. they'r v mischievous, alwayz making fun of us. bah~

personally, i find certain resemblance betw matthew mcConaughey n sho (left). but of cuz matthew mcConaughey looks way better.


n so these 15 nationalities make up AP's own little united nations. but after e sporeans left, AP became european union instead of united nations lahz.

it's interesting to noe ppl frm so many diff ctries/races/religion, can experience e diff culture oso. now i needa go collect a black african fren n i'll noe ppl frm all continents. hee~

f.r.e.n.s.

since when has it became so difficult for frens to meet up? recent gatherings wif frens are either ultra hard to arrange or r cancelled last min or shortlived, due to endless work, countless projects, various engagements, coincidental emergencies, etc.

im not complaining or blaming, since i'll most prob be one of those wif tight schedules soon. im juz lamenting at how ppl juz gets more serious stuffs to deal wif as they grow older n haf less social time for themselves.

seems to me tat e older i get, e no. of ppl i noe increased, but e no. of close frens i haf are decreasing. now i noe why my mum has no close frens other than colleagues.

guess tis trend will juz cont as we get older, especially after marriage. then it'll be totally juz husband/wife n kids. who says frens last longer than lovers? seems like marriages r most likely to last longer than close friends.

in tis case, stayin single even till later of life wld mean living in solitude huh. no husband/wife, no kids, no frens available to lend a listening ear.

so now, anyone wanna enrol into a nursing home together wif me? well, at least there's doctors n nurses to tok to me. ha.

anywayz, on an irrelevant note, happie bdae lazy bear. i realised i still havent got ur "999*****" hp no, so dumb. hehz~

e day i FAILED my final theory test...

GRRRR...!!!~

why fail??!?!?! i was pretty confident when i stepped into e classroom lorz, tot i was quite well prepared.

WHY FAIL???!

i plan to start learning driving over e nx few mths n hopefully pass e driving test by mar nx yr lorz. get it over n done with. but now all plans cui-ed.

waste money waste TIME!!~

e bloody official handbook for final theory test din say wat e traffic police's signals over-rides wat, how am i supposed to noe tat it's part of e tested topics?? shit u.

CRY!~

after i failed e bloody test, i waited 15 min for e bloody shuttle bus n 12 min for e damnit trains. so in e end i took 50min juz to travel frm BBDC to JP. WTH~

BAH~

life's topics

1) in primary sch, we talk abt e fun kids we played wif in sch..
2) in secondary sch & jc, we talk abt our cute boyfriends and/or crushes..
3) in uni, we talk abt e unbelievable amt of sch work n projects..
4) after graduation, we talk abt how much work sucks..
5) after marriage, we talk abt how our spouse pleases/displeases us..
6) in our mid-life, we talk abt how naughty our kids are..
7) after retirement, we talk abt how much our grandkids resemble our kids..
8) in our sunset yrs, we talk abt ppl who died b4 us n wonder when it'll be our turn..

when guyz my age r veri much still at topic 3, i'll be at topic 4 in less than a wk's time. haiz~

short update

paisey for e avalanche of US-related posts, made me sound like im totally obsessed with tat foreign land. there's more to come tho, im juz tryin to clear all e "backlogs" b4 i start work lahz.

oso attempting to finish editing photos n developing em n archiving em. tats definitely gonna cost me a bomb. bleahz~

wanna pack my messy room n complete my vcds. n to backup files on my abt-to-cui laptop. n to pass my final theory driving test. aiyo.

9 more days to end of freedom. haiz~

things i missed out on in e states..

1. white house
quite far off e main part of washington dc oso. by e time we reached there e "viewing gallery" was closed alr. visitors r oni allowed to see it frm afar, so it's still alrite tat we missed it ba.

2. cave of e winds
decided to skip it cuz we figured it's juz more niagara water. but i see everyone who went niagara falls went cave of e winds lehz.

3. niagara falls frm canada
i donno how true, but e auntie who rebonded my hair told me sporeans can juz use passport n cross over to e canada. no need visa or anything. wah liew, bet e view frm canada side is lagi better lahz.

4. raging waters & ocean oasis
zen kept saying we shd visit morey's waterparks cuz it's FOC for us n it looks quite fun, but i haf not much likings for water n we'r unable to squeeze out time for it.

5. baseball/basketball match
e whole ctry's crazy over baseball n basketball, zen kept saying she wanna go watch an NBA match. but e NBA season juz ended when we reached, n baseball season din start until we left. haha~

6. philadelphia museum of art
again, closed by e time we reached. passed by it tho, at nite. seems like a pretty place, arty-farty. da tom said it's a must-go place in phili. hmmmm.

7. walmart
aiyo, tis one most heartache. there doesnt seem 2b any walmart branches in e places we've been lehz. and e one in rio grande wun open till oct. sianz~

8. US mobile
been toying wif e idea of getting a US mobile no, but din go thru wif it cuz there's realli not much need. hardly use my hp there.

9. lottery
it's quite famous rite? v popular in US rite? neveR buy. haiz~

10. orlando
lulu offered to host us lehz, cuz she was at orlando seaworld. but after due considerations we aborted e idea, too ex n too many luggages. orlando sounds like real fun lorz, disneyland n universal studios!

11. harvard
boston's quite near to nyc, toyed wif e idea of dropping by boston while we were in nyc. wanna see how scholarly e place realli is lahz.

12. flings
lotsa ppl asked if i had any flings while in e US. sorry to disappoint, no flings. then their nx reaction wld be, "it's such a liberal n happening ctry n u haf no flings?" -_-

13. metropolitan museum of art
din go in cuz we saw tat it's "$20 for adults". after tat shaun told me it's juz recommended pricing, can juz go in w/o paying. sianz, missed out on a famous museum. discovered there's a met art shop in raffles city, mayb can act as substitute? haha~

14. wall st businessmen
i tot it wld be interesting to stand outside a rich MNC's office bldg n spot those big bosses rush out n hop onto their limo, but i oni tot of it after i came back. hehz~

15. photo of times sq subway
times sq subway station is much nicer than e other stations. neon lights, bigger station, cleaner place, better gates. but y nv tot of taking a photo of it lehz..

16. broadway
wanna buy rush tix cuz heard it's damn cheap, but oni afternoon shows r cheap. there's oni afternoon shows on wkends, but we left b4 e wkend. so din watch. wld be quite an experience if i watched.

17. levi's
ting swore to bring back a pair of legendary cheap-ass levi's jeans, n she did. but i din cuz e jeans' cutting din fit me, n they don carry e red tab line.

18. xmas tree @ rockefeller
tat xmas tree was featured in alotta films lorz, like THE place to visit during xmas. we visited rockefeller lahz, but no xmas tree cuz it's not xmas yet (duhz).

19. opus dei headquarters
oni read abt it in da vinci code after i came back. it's supposedly located in lexington ave, a place we pass by several times while in nyc.

20. united nations headquarters
its located quite far off e main part of manhattan, abit not on-e-way. wanted to go on our last day during e spare time, but aborted e idea cuz of e pouring rain. xting went n said it's quite nice lehz. sigh~

AP's top 5!

top 5 dudes from Adventure Pier, my pick! hee~

xiao tom

of cuz i hafta mention him 1st! every T.R.O.U.B.L.E. member noe i've been byo-ing him lorz. hahaha~

awwww so cute, with e cup cake n pirate hat.

e 1st time i saw him, i tot he juz looks typical english. then he was trained on great white, began to noe him better n find his "whole package" super cute.

oso, he has an ultra charming british accent! omg, i love e british accent! so do all e american girls, alwayz swooning over his british aura. nv had so many guests chat wif a GW attendant b4 lorz.

tats him with e kaya toast (left) n both of us toiling at e great white (right). on my last day of work in AP, i worked with him as GW attendants alone. damn shiok lahz. haha~

ting said he's a pretty smart dude cuz he observed alotta things on GW without us telling him. not bad lahz, he learned e ropes quite fast.

u noe wat, he actually visited sg b4! said he likes e food, but cant stand e weather. ya lahz, not surprising, cuz he was perspiring like mad after cleaning e GW trains n his face was always flushed when e weather was like 28 deg cel.

me: zen, did u see my plastic bag?? i forgot where i left it.
zen: (snatched tom's bag cuz she tot tats mine) there, it's here!
tom: *super stunned* ermz, tat's definitely mine..
everybody: *guffaws*

damn farnie can?? LoL~

e other T.R.O.U.B.L.E. alwayz purposely get close to him to spite me, like tat time stupid sam requested a hug frm him as a reward for a day's hard work at GW. grr~

nvm, cuz i haf tis!

muahahahahaha~ i win! okay i sound super infatuated wif him, he better not see tis. aiya anywayz i heard he's got himself a romanian gf a few days after we left lorz.

it's a pity he oni joined us during our last wk in AP, wld be more fun if he came earlier lahz. best wishes to him n his gf! hee~

da tom

tis tom is 1yr older than xiao tom. he's our intern-supervisor in AP. when we 1st knew tat he's oni 20, we were like, "huh? he's not even legally allowed to drink in US but he's our supervisor??"

but alright lahz, we don mind cuz it's enjoyable to haf him as our supervisor. it's quite weird to be trained on e skyride tog wif my sup, however.

he came 1 wk after us, n appeared 2b a serious person at 1st. but he became increasingly zany as days gone by. we accuse brian for leading him astray. haha~

funny poses n faces, pretending 2b assistant manager, etc. we even took a video of him doing all e farnie poses. hilariously cute~

eh tis one is he offered de horz, initially he asked if i wan a photo wif both toms. donno how brian (our other supervisor) got dragged in instead. haha~

oh when he hugs us, we'll all get buried in his chest cuz he's juz so tall. then again, most ppl there are tall lahz. so there's alwayz difficulties breathing. LoL~

study hard in u-penn!

meow

another fellow GW attendant, capable dude. tink he was associate of e wk on his 1st wk in AP, n operated 2 trains e 1st day he was trained as GW driver (took sam a few days to do tat i tink).

i cant rem y he's known as meow, isit cuz he talks like a cat or cuz his meow realli sounds like a cat?

but he really talks like a cat lahz. super soft + severe mumbling = cant understand him 50% of e time. alwayz gotta ask zen to "translate" cuz she seems 2b e oni one who understands. LoL~

all of us became close towards e end, he visited us in nyc too. no wonder ting commented tat we machiam live in nyc lidat, ppl keep visiting us.

sorry for all e rush in nyc, hope u had fun nonetheless!

renato

an uncle in nyc tot renato's frm france, said he looks french. renato was so elated lahz, yaya papaya. haha~

ya lahz, realli looks french. took me so long to realise tho. hmmm.

we were quite mesmerised by his doe eyes in e beginning, like so big n innocent looking. some of his farnie expressions are quite cute too.

i like those in e subway. LoL~

tis little boy was always asking us "where are we gg?" when we were in nyc, n has no patience. like energiser bunny lidat, muz alwayz be on e move. haha~

we'r quite close tho nv worked on e same ride b4. like our darling didis lidat, plus pato n pedro. plan itinerary for em, prepare food for em in case they get hungry on e bus, help em buy tickets, etc.

don worry, u'll find a nice gf soon lahz. hee~

pato

how can i forget darling pato? e sweeeeetest n most sincere guy i ever known, my awesome GW co-worker!

still vividly rem e times we raced each other on e lapbars, making faces across e track, "let me do it, let me do it".

oh he taught me how to rollerblade oso, bladed frm AP back to mag1 (10mins by foot, 20min by blades), so scared i'll break his bones cuz he's so skinny but still tried to break my fall.

n he always like to put on e GQ magazine pose, took 3 tries b4 making him smile in e photo lorz.

u look so much cuter if u do e big smile lahz, plus ur unforgettable rosy cheeks n long lashes. so say cheese!~ hee~

other T.R.O.U.B.L.E. members were beside us when e left photo was taken. still rem they all went, "awwww he's so sweeeeeet!~" then ting said she oso wan, n therefore e right photo. copy cat! haha~

one more thing, pato alwayz wanna carry me cuz im "so small (aka. short)". but darling, pls eat more b4 u say u wanna carry me again cuz u'r too skinny n im not as light as u tot ya? hehe~

new york, new york

todae seems 2b a gd time to blog abt tis topic.

there's so much mention of new york, in films, dramas, newspaper, etc. sex and the city's setting is in manhattan new york, so is e devil wears prada.

madonna's most recent concert was held in madison sq garden, manhattan. not forgetting, niagara falls n statue of liberty are in new york too.

all these made me wanna visit e big apple, tats why i chose to go morey's piers for my Work&Travel Prog. morey's is in new jersey which is juz nx to new york.

but wat i din noe until i got there was tat all e mention given to new york was mostly referring to new york city only.

new york state is big, consists of buffalo, niagara, long island, etc. new york city (in pink) is oni a vv small part of new york state.

even for new york city, it consists of 5 boroughs: manhattan, bronx, queens, brooklyn & staten island.

n most attention was given to manhattan.

which is really a small place. but i still spent 9 days touring it. haha~

while i was in manhattan, i've alwayz suspected tat manhattan is around sg's size or even smaller..

manhattan's land area is 87.5 km sq, n sg's land area is..

647.5 km sq! omg sg is so much bigger than manhattan!

in fact, land area of new york city is oni 500 km sq, which is still smaller than sg! omg~ haha~

so, isnt it incredibly awesome how such a puny island houses e world's top financial hub? n be e place where e entertainment industry flourish? n oso be so impt tat e terrorists keep wanting to bomb it?

anywayz, now tat i've found out how small new york city is, i lagi find it ridiculous for em to have such complicated subway map.

frm a tourist's pt of view, tat is. however, i shall give e new york state government e benefit of doubt, prob there's gd reasons for such complexity huh.

another thing i don understand. manhattan is so small, how to contain so many things? big MNCs' offices, broadway theatres, hotels, tourist attractions etc. where do new yorkers stay? i don see alotta residential bldgs in manhattan.

if they stay off manhattan island in brooklyn/queens/bronx, why do e SATC girls exclaim abt how far it is when miranda announced tat she's moving to brooklyn? to me, brooklyn seems like juz <1hr's>new yorkers are weird, n new york is full of mysteries. haha~

yes, e world shdnt be excessively sympathetic towards a freaking plane crash tat occurred an affluent place like nyc. but i guess we shd give e new yorkers credit for toiling so hard to make tat tiny city such a successful place ya.

US buys!

bought items for myself from various big/popular US brand! it's almost like im tryin to collect as many US labels as possible lidat lorz. haha~

(all prices in USD. USD1 = SGD1.60 approx)

abercrombie & fitch

guess tis is one of e most well-known US brand, like e "mother" of all US casual apparel.

some ppl felt unjustified for paying $30 for a filmsy polo tee, but others say e filmsy material is so comfortable it's definitely worth the price.

striped polo from abercrombie girls. size XL wor, most of e time i buy XS in US de lorz. haha~

costs me $24.50 btw, $5 cheaper than AF ladies. but i much prefer e girls' designs.

aeropostale

i like their designs, trendy n young n inexpensive. in fact, e 3 of us bought quite alotta stuffs frm aeropostale.

tank top abt $10, bohe necklace $3 (!!!), belt $6. oso bought a pair of earrings n simple tee frm there, but forgot to dish em out. hehe~

some of their clearance stuffs r dirt cheap, like $4 for a pair of jeans. most apparel stores in e states haf a clearance corner where u can pick up off-season dirt cheaps.

american eagle

tink it's quite an IT brand in e states, tho i've nv heard of it b4. trendy casual style too, but more classy n ex than aeropostale.

their men's apparel is much nicer than their ladies' apparel, in my opinion. e lifeguards bought quite alotta stuffs frm AE, which proves tat im right to say their men's line is damn nice. haha~

oni bought a flaming red wallet frm there, $10 (sale item). i like e eagle badge n AE zipper.

din buy any AE ladies cuz i feel it's abit not worth it, like i can buy sth similar but nicer in H&M at lower prices.

okayyyyy i realised i dont have any H&M pdts. it's quite a hot brand now that madonna is endorsing for em. then again, H&M is not a US label. *consoles myself* haha~

banana republic

BR factory is substantially cheaper than BR boutique (duhz), things they sell are different oso.

btw, BR n old navy n gap all belong to Gap, Inc. i did my research! hee~

$20 frm BR factory @ atlantic city. BR's stuffs r more for e working class.

proj runway made me had high expectations for BR, but actually it's not realli my cuppa tea.

coach

it's much cheaper in e states, can see alotta girls carry it on e streets.

their collections are newer than sg's, e recent fall collection was quite enticing. but cant realli afford it har. hehz~

$92 frm macy*s, real cheap cuz of e 30% clearance sale + 11% macy*s int'l customers' discount. helped hong bought a slightly bigger one n she saved at least SGD100 wor.

ey but i wonder how i carry it off lahz, cuz tats e oni designer pdt i ever owned. it'll look cheong if i carry it while wearing dano suit lahz. aiyo.

forever 21

bought tis at e double level forever 21 megastore in union sq..

$20 n office-friendly. saw a similar forever 21 top in sg n it costs SGD43. i win! hohohoho~

shd have bought more lahz, can wear to work. sighh~

now tat we'r at 'F', actually i bought quite alotta stuffs frm fossil too. but mostly for my parents. lost my fossil sunglasses n my fossil cap is in laundry, so no photos. hmmm.

gap

their designs are abit like giordano, but much higher price range. their clothes are not really my cup of tea, but ting was saying she wanna buy peasant skirt n came across tis one in gap..

we both went to try, but in e end oni i bought. haha~

e skirt's lovely, except for the drawstring part. alwayz gotta wear longer top or use belt to hide e ugly drawstring waistline.

$20+ after discount, quite okay for a peasant skirt of an okay brand ba.

guess

tis is definitely my fav US brand! bought a whole slew of stuffs frm there..

left out a big handbag in e photo. e stuffs don look fantastic in e photo, but they'r all nice nice lahz.

guess factory is cheaper than sg's guess boutique, but they carry similar items. oh tat watch costs oni $50! muahahahahaha~

i love all their bling designs, but sam said it's so ah lian. bleahz~ don care, i heart guess!

hershey's

im not a chocolate-lover, but i adore take 5! fell in love with it incidentally, was starving at work n it seemed like e best choice among all in AP's vending machine.

n who knew, wat seemed like an odd combi of sweet choc n savoury pretzels turned out to be real yummy!

bought 2 packs of those in times sq, plus another 5 bars frm eckerd. yum!

hollister

mr smiley's fav brand, quote "hollister is my (his) life". LoL~

i tink hollister n AF are arch rivals, cuz their styles are so similar. hollister is a few dollars cheaper than AF, however. i like their trendy graphic tees, but din buy cuz not much chance to wear anymore.

$29 frm clearance corner. tats e smallest size i can find, but still a lil big for me. v hard for me to buy right-sized clothes there ahz..

by now it shd be obvious tat we alwayz cheong e clearance corner 1st huh. haha~

old navy

alotsa ppl wear their flip flops, i see millions of em at e skyride everyday. but i've nv seen anyone wore e purple ones b4, tats why i buy mahz. ohohohoho~

cheap, $3 oni. 2 for $5.

their clearance corner sells some dirt cheap stuffs too, zen bought a nice denim shorts for <$5.

i wanted to buy more of their clearance gds but was in need to conserve cash (due to some screw-ups in my morey's paycheck). shd haf bought more lorz. stupid paycheck. grr~

steve & barry's

gd reco frm greg, told us to go take a look cuz it's real cheap n quite nice. we were dubious at 1st, but went gaga instantly when we saw tat their skirts were like 4 for $20!

tats e $5 skirt, $8 for tat shirt. yes it's taT cheap, quality n design is okay oso. their men's tees r pretty attractive, plethora of designs n colours. interesting prints at veri affordable prices.

felt like such a typical sporean, "cheap! cheap!" everywhere. haha~

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paisey for e super long post, but i haf so much to gush abt my great US buys! hee~

i love all my buys, but they cost me a nuclear bomb altog. spent all tat i've earned there, prob gotta refrain frm shopping for e rest of e yr le.

then again, there aint many opportunities to buy these stuffs anymore lahz huh. so shd buy! hee~