I've just done some calculations on my salary and lifestyle check! And bleahh!!! I WANT TO RETURN MY PR now!!! the reality check just hit hard and I found myself being poor right away! Crap with all the CPF for future... as much as it's a good scheme but come on, it should be an optional kind of thing. I'm already saving up so much and I dont want to disturb that and with that 20% or more going to the CPF, i'm really poor now.. I barely have enough for myself!!! DANG!!! Because of the PR, i think i can say bye bye to my hope for owning and financing a car all by myself! AGHRHGH!! (Nat!!! Dont fall into the trap!!!).. and not only that... I may have to readjust my lifestyle! arghhh I need a pay raise! SUBSTANTIAL PAY RAISE please!!!!

Please convince me again why I took it up! I can only remember one thing being easier to get another job without the hassle of MOM! Now I'm having second thoughts! I would rather be queueing up and keep renewing my E-Pass rather than giving up that portion of pay!!!

The view from the new toy! =)

What a saddening news this morning, when suddenly all the facebook status updates has been all about the bombings of Ritz Carlton and JW Marriot in Jakarta. What more can happen in Indonesia. The idiots who initiated the bombs really have no brains or are just so deluded in their self righteousness that human sacrifices is deemed trivial to them.

It's been a few years since there is peace and then this happens in Indo. How are we ever going to move forward if we still have people like the extremist who foiled and blocked our way towards progress. How are we ever going to be perceived as a safe country or reliable?

My heart goes out to the innocents who were killed. Those who woke up this morning and thought that it was a good day and were still eating midway when the bomb exploded.

My favourite town of all, Nice. I would go back there again one day!

These are the joys of Europe.

I know, you must be thinking, food is so inevitable with me. But hey they give me joy and make me all smiles. I love good food and I guess it's a passion for me already. Though my expectation was much higher, but it wasnt utterly disappointing either. I must say that really and truly, food is the thing that can make me go all smiles and happy. The joy of eating something really good is just truly satisfying. It makes everything else worth while. I know that many people would just be able to eat anything, but to me eating is a lot of appreciating the cook, the skills, the goodness of the ingredients and also most of foremost the fundamental of cooking is the thought that counts when the cook makes the food.

I believe that food is an art. I truly am able to appreciate food more than appreciating the paintings and all the museums, and all the works put into building a church. I know that they are more mighty things, compared to food. But cooking also need a lot of creativity and thoughts and also love in order to make something yummy, delicious and something for people to go 'Ahhhh'. Other than just being able to present well, taste matters most to me. The looks can be secondary. Because once the taste has the 'oomph' factor, i tell you, the look is not important. The cover is no longer important. In fact, the taste would just get stuck in the head. I regretted not taking a picture of the kebab that I had in London. The shop was small and not a shop that I would normally go in and have lunch. None of the menu pictures actually looked appetising, the menu was in fact greasy. When my order of kebab came, one bite and it won me over! The meat was crispy and at the same time tender. The fillings was overflowing, the lemon juice lifted it to another level and most of all I was in ninth sky after that first bite. I tell you the taste is still stuck with me even after 3 weeks! In fact whenever I passed by other kebab stalls, I wondered if it would taste the same.

Anyway it's lunch time now and the thought of the kebab is making my tummy rumble! So let's stop the thoughts here before imaginations run wild!

It's been a few days since I came back, and man I've been tired everyday. And my brain is only running on intel premium 1. It's tiring and sometimes frustrating to have forgotten simple things. I guess it may still be the jetlag side effect.

Being on the holiday had been fun! It's a time of doing nothing but walking around for sightseeing, discovering new things and experiencing something different, even if it's McD or BK. And maybe because of that my brain had gone into an idle mode. When i come back, there were quite a few things to do and it was actually quite hard to get it started thinking and reacting just like before.

Anyway, the holiday was really a wow experience for me. Just seeing all that many churches and museums, trying to understand French and Italian, and all the guessing when it came to watching the Italian television shows. At times, I get these feeling that I cant believe it that I've realised my Europe trip dream. I thought it would take me a few more years. Oh well, God works in ways we cannot tell or imagine. But i admit, it wasnt easy on the pocket at all, but like I said, God works in wondrous ways, I manage to get by with it.

I'm back from the trip.

I've became darker, and to make it worse, it's not evenly tanned.

Had a blast during the trip, seeing the things that Paris and Rome has to offer. But my best stay was over in Nice at the Southern part of France. It was relaxing and the most enjoyable place! Just walk anywhere and there's bound to be things to be seen. Like there was this place where it's a wet market by day and by evening, it's the most liveliest eating place that i found in Europe so far.

Okay anyway more stories later on......