No Me Ames

I forgot how I got to know this song, but it's so sad and impactful :)






No Me Ames (English lyrics)

**I think the translation is a bit weird, but you get the gist :D

Tell me, why are you crying?
Because I'm happy
And why are you so choked up?
From loneliness
And why are you squeezing my hand
So tightly
And your thoughts seem to be wandering?
I love you so much
Why?
Don't be so hard-headed
Stop doubting me
Although in the future there's a large sky
I'm not afraid I want to love you
Don't love me because you think I'm different
You don't think it's right
For us to spend this time together
Don't love me because I know what a lie it would be
If you don't think I deserve your love
Don't love me I'm going to stay another day
Don't love me because I'm lost
Because I change the world
Because it's my destiny
Because I can't change
We are a mirror And you are my reflection
Don't love me
To be dying in a war of regret and sad thoughts
Don't love me
Because in this world
This great love deserves to soar through the blue sky
I don't know what to say
That's the truth
If people want to want to hurt us, they will
If you and I part now They don't matter
But in this world
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't leave me
Don't listen when I say I don't love you
Don't love me
Stop breaking my heart with these "I don't love you's"
Don't love me
Because my heart is breaking
That is useless I will always love you
Don't love me
You have suffered enough
My heart has turned cold like a million winters
Don't love me
To forget about your gray days
I want you to always love me
You and I are changing
One with the other
And always together
This love is like the sun
That comes out after a storm
Like two comets in the same galaxy
Don't love me
Don't love me
Don't love me
(Don't love me, don't love me, don't love me)



---

I remember when I was quite young, maybe primary/secondary school, I had this fetish for garfield cartoons. And for a person like me who doesn't really go around getting precious autographs from pop singers, I had the inclination to get an autograph from Jim Davis himself, who was based in USA. I didn't know how to go about doing it, but I just wanted to try, so I went and mailed to USA requesting for a signed autograph and indicating how much I love Garfield cartoons haha! Then the most amazing thing happened, Jim Davis actually sent me an autographed postcard of Garfield and that dog (odie i think)! with his own handwriting on it!

It felt wonderful :)

As the saying goes... "Ask, and you shall receive." :D there will be times whereby you will fail to get what you wanted, but at least you made the effort to try, and that's all that matters. =)

So... never be afraid to try!

I dreamed a dream

I'm sure you all know this by now, but just for the record:

Susan Boyle, singing I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables. (Coincidentally, I just read the book weeks ago, it was part of my list of 100 must-read books. haha)

It was the first time I heard of the song, but the lyrics really blew me away. It's so full of despair yet has a strong persistence to live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY <-- check it out here as embedding is disabled.


There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting

There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting

There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in times gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted
But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came
And still I dream he'll come to me
That we'll live the years together

But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather
I had a dream my life would be
So much different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

copycats

Great book if you want to start an epidemic.

One lesson I've learnt from it - do not underestimate the power of influence. even subtle ones.

There's this real life example of how teenagers in a village commit suicide one after another, all because of one person who started it and it got featured in local newspapers, and subsequently other teenagers think that it is "acceptable" to commit suicide because of some frivolous problems, and that some even went to the extend of "trying out" suicide after knowing how the first person killed himself.

WTH??!?!!

Maybe that explains why there are two deaths in NTU the other time. kind of like a "oh, someone did it, i've been thinking about it too, so now I shall do it."

tsk tsk. but it is human nature to follow our herd instincts too.

maybe newspapers should stop publishing news of all the train suicides and maybe, just maybe, people will stop thinking about jumping off the platform - and find other less gruesome (and less troublesome) ways to die instead.

=D just a lil suggestion.

fun times and more :)

It's rare that I do product reviews... but I just find this thing rather interesting. and delicious. :D

Let's welcome...



过桥米线！I apologise for the lousy photo quality. was in a hurry to cook it. haha!


It tastes half like mee sua, half like bee hoon, just that it's in an instant noodles pack. I love the smoothness of it, and the it's really tasty (no thanks to the MSG-laden soup base). don't know whether if it's found in major supermarkets, but my dad bought it from the fu hwa trading store i think. =) a pack has 4 individual packets, and it costs approx $3+

On a totally random note, I just saw my old sec sch friend's face on the Sunday Times! I was taken-aback when i flipped the page, and there he was, smiling happily away at the camera. haha! it's been so long since we had a chalet-cum-bbq....


Before I start procrastinating again, let's file away some pictures!

Happy 22nd, Mavis Tan!!


celebrated at Paulaner Brauhaus. It's a vibrant place, with wonderful live music and you can sit there all night staring at their microbrewery haha!



my 3 kakis from sec sch :)



hello lager! after trying both the lager and the dark version, i like the dark better, though lager is supposed to be more female-friendly. funny, but i think the dark one tastes sweeter. that's what my host mom in germany says too. =)



ohohoh the mashed potatoes are to-die-for!!!!!! about 80% similar to the best mashed potatoes i've tasted in my entire life (so far) in vienna's irish pub. i'll be back for it, i swear.



we actually kept it from mavis that we are celebrating her birthday, and surprised her with a card and a jelly-cake (made by yours truly) after we walked out of the pub.



ta-dah!! it's actually a transparent konnyaku jelly mix filled with fruits (M for Mavis) hahaa



and we lighted a candle and sang a birthday song! :D



my friend whom i've known for the longest! =D remember those times in pri 3 when we were prefects and you were looking after class 1A and me, class 1C...? then we started talking about how innocent the kids were when they consulted us on how to read certain words in their storybooks, and how rowdy they cna be? hahaa!!!



a cosy bunch :D


Campus superstar finale

Thanks to Shuhui who gave me a free ticket to watch!! I became part of Yoga's fan club for a night.



not terribly fond of him, but he is distinctive.



very cute fan club logo!! hahaa it was fun screaming and all, and to wave those signs around. :D



if you are a fan of yoga, do check out the website! it's an international fan club, and the people inside are really nice =)


too bad jiamin didn't sing a solo song live, i went there just to watch her sing some ballads, but came back disappointed. but i'm still very very proud of her, being calm and cool throughout everything, and i bet she will make it big in the future! i'm dead serious :) will be waiting for your first album! haha


Kbox with lala + mavis (just because it is cheap keke)

$13.50 for unlimited hours of singing from 7pm onwards, what's there not to like??



lala and her hand-made donuts again. hahaha! she got me started on this clay-handicraft craze too. =P just bought a pack of six colours, shall try my hand at it someday. any request for any food item? lol! it will turn out to be something like those stressballs that you see selling at action city, just in miniature version. XD



lala's full range of delicacies for us to choose



maybe i can make it into a hairclip...



noticed any difference on me? haha i tried my colleague's red dior specs :P


I've been staying at home planning for my taiwan trip for the past two days (and today too) heh. it's really exciting to read forums and blogs on other people's travel experiences, and that's why planning is always half the fun :D i'll start a holiday travelblog soon... when i have the time to think up of designs! haha

P.S: do lookout for jetstar's lunchtime madness deals every wed 11am to 2pm. they are supremely good!!! my colleague just booked tickets to taiwan next yr feb for only $170!! I thought no one could beat my $230, but she actually managed to do it haha! congrats! =P


A nice song to share with you all :) Faith hill - Fireflies

*Fireflies* by Faith Hill

Before you met me i was a fairy princess
I caught frogs and called them prince
And made myself a queen

Before you knew me i traveled 'round the world
I slept in castles and fell in love
Because i was taught to dream

I found mayonnaise bottles and poked holes on top
To capture tinkerbell
They were just fireflies to the untrained eye
But i could always tell

[chorus]
I believe in fairytales and dreamers dreams like bed sheet sails
And i believe in peter pan and miracles
And anything i can to get by
And fireflies

Before i grew up i saw you on a cloud
I could bless myself in your name and pat you on your wings
Before i grew up i heard you whisper so loud
"life is hard, and so is love, child, believe in all these things"

I found mayonnaise bottles and poked holes on top
To capture tinkerbell
And they were just fireflies to the untrained eye
But i could always tell

[chorus]
Before you met me i was a fairy princess
I caught frogs and called them prince
And made myself a queen
Before you knew me i traveled 'round the world
And i slept in castles and fell in love
Because i was taught to dream

disappointment

it's quite a lousy feeling if you know someone's disappointed in you. you'll try to keep up with high expectations, but sometimes you just fail.

but luckily i'm forgiven. :) i'm sorry. honestly i don't know what came into my mind. i know it was supposed to be done, but somehow it just wasn't registered in my brain.

i'm not as good as what you may expect. I falter, i stumble, i lose priorities. but no other feelings can be as worse as feeling the disappointment as you let someone down.

one more thing i've learnt - proximity actually matters. with the entire dept congregated on an island and me (and the other interns) stranded far far away, you will feel a sense of disconnection (and lose the sense of belonging). i feel that i'm easily replaceable, which is true, but it kind of gets you down.

i try to not think like an intern, but rather from a person who wants to give it her best shot. but time and time again, i get reminded that 'hey, you are not a full-time staff, and you shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be asking for this.'

to different people, some things matter, some things don't. some incidents show that sometimes you are being ignored, you don't matter to the company.

it does make a difference, you know. it really does.

and i'm a person who places huge importance on this.

perhaps the company is too big, and there are too many interns. perhaps i'm more comfortable working in small, horizontal teams that ignores formalities and status quos. perhaps that only happens in school. =P

but i still wish we are more treasured, we play a part in helping out, we are included in company's affairs, we are treated like normal colleagues, and even though we are here for awhile, but our presence still matters. that is my motivation to enjoy work, to want to work even if given the chance not to. it's like studying, my dad always say, "if you really wish to study, you will. I don't have to force you or cane you. I don't believe in that. I believe in you finding your own motivation to do the things you want to do. Because life is too precious to waste time doing things you don't see the need in doing. And you won't do a good job in it."

even though i tell my ad sales director, "well, after me there'll still be others helping you out", i secretly wish he'll remember me for who i am, for what i've done, and for him to meet me a few years down the road and still be able to give me a warm smile because i left an impression.

my department treats me really well though, and i'm really grateful for them. but i guess it ends there.

well, you gain something, you lose something. :)

i like one of our heads, PJ, he's hilariously funny. he hides behind frosted doors just to stare out at people walking by through a strip of clear glass. and he plays along with me when i pretended to hide from him! haha! it's childish, but it's these little things that makes me love cnbc and these things that i will remember long term. its the feeling of treating a person as part of the family, the feeling of being acknowledged. and that really brought my spirits up when i was feeling downright terrible. little things, they are really significant. :)

On a side note, thanks for all the comments given to mykindofcard so far! i really really appreciate all of you who msn-ed, e-mailed me or sms-ed me with your encouragement. that gives me strength! will work on improving the website and adding more designs! :D

Launch of mykindofcard.blogspot.com!

It's 12 April 2009, and it's the launch of mykindofcard.blogspot.com!

travel itch

**post note: I forgot to add that I passed my basic theory! muahaha. now my final's on 23 may 2009 and I hope to get my licence before the end of this year :)

I'm really starting to treasure the evenings at home, watching tv and all, though I know it's a passive activity. But hey, it spurs me to do stuff too kay, and I gain knowledge from watching it.

For instance... Destination Most Wanted!

Bryan Wong really made me yearn for more travel trips man. He introduced me to hydra island in greece and burano island in venice!


colourful houses in burano, venice. tales were told of housewives painting their homes in different colours so that their husbands can find their house when they came back from the seas. haha. i want a purple one! And if you ever go there, please buy their laces, as venetian laces are of high quality and usually handmade! :)



it's a photographer's paradise indeed. small island, takes about half an hour to circle the perimeter, but beauutifulll!



say hi to hydra island in greece! it's near athens (3 hours boat ride), which explains the popularity AND the expensive housing prices there. Also, it's uniqueness lies in having absolutely NO cars (or motorcycles for that matter) in it, with a population of 2500 to 3000 people living in a serene, breath-taking place whereby everyone's super friendly and perpetually in a happy mood always. who wouldn't? hahaa! it's a painters and artists heaven as they flock there to rekindle their creativity and to gain inspiration. The slow pace of life is also reflected by them walking everywhere (I'll lose 5 kg living there for one month) and I love the bakery guy. He's so funny in the show. :D oh and they use donkeys to carry heavy goods around. keke how cute!

goodness I just blurted out all these from memory. I'm falling in love with hydra island!



don't you just wanna pop over?



and since it is a harbour, there's bound to be fishes, and here comes the cats! siew this is for you. hahaha!


I'll be patiently waiting for the day I step foot on the two of you! heh. oh yeah, derrick and siew, these two places are DEFINITELY on our to-go list for 2012 kay. oh, we can catch olympics too. :D


Okay, back to Singapore, our sunny and sweet little island we call home :)

my week's worth of adventures!

backtracking from last sunday's morning run with kairu and an evening MOF dessert meetup!


mattchazen. i still can't get over my fear of red bean haha



strawB! we talked and planned our perth trip and exchanged so many stories on travelling heh! but i think your most traumatic experience is really quite extreme. if I ever experience sth more extreme i'll tell you too kay haha! hopefully not!



blissful just thinking about my trips :)



green tea milkshake! it's my one fave item on the menu =D


Donuts mania

I met lala twice last week! hahaa we've been seeing each other often eh :D because something is gonna be launched soon! Do check out mykindofcard.blogspot.com on 12 April yeah!



we attacked 24 mini donuts from JCo! $10.50 for a box, you can gorge yourselves with it.



artistic shot taken by lala :)



i look funny. =/



"huh? what's that?"



it's a miniature spongy clay donut made by lala especially for me!!!! thank you =D i'm really touched! it's sitting on top of my barren coin box now. hahaa



and... we polished the entire box! heh. that's effectively our high sugar dinner



can't wait for our shop to launch!


Joyce's belated celebration



finally!! joyce's present reaches the rightful owner instead of collecting dust in my cupboard. wear it often yeah! :D



we love the queen and mangosteen pub :) i tried samples of the archipalego beers. surprisingly they go down quite well considering i'm not exactly a fan of beer. =/



it's always so interesting to meet you cos you have so many stories and updates for me! haha. but don't dwell on it too much, and don't make yourself unhappy over it yeah. accept people for who they are and don't be swayed by certain people! hahaa ok i'm biased



their toilets. whacky, i like!



*hugs* good luck for your exams! stay focused!


Shopaholic movie with lala plus midnight chats with lala and mavis :D


Shopaholic movie is quite nice, gives you a tingling feeling after watching it. haha. luckily it didn't really gives me the urge to shop =P the plot is quite extreme but i like the way romance developed between her and her beau. :) i think her best friend looks a bit like anne hathaway though.

so, after our 6bucks movie at filmgarde @ iluma, we popped over to the newly opened arcade that is half-filled with catching machines (what do you call them anyway?)! ohoh there's a ice cream machine and i saw TONS of b&j ice cream tubs inside! it's like a huge fridge full of ice cream. there's magnum too i think.



the balloons are very attractive! :)



now you can see our faces haha



wanwei, for you! :D



it's super duper huge, and I broke the law cos I crawled in to take the picture heh



bestie, for you! pika? kachu! though i doubt you'll ever see this. haha!



pooh: help. i'm stuck
eeyore: i'm no where better. and my head is bigger than yours.
tigger: i need to bounce! i can't bounce!

FYI: you have to use the toy-catching mechanism to push the soft toys down in order to "catch" it. so it's like reverse catching. a bit silly, cos no one bothers to read the sign on the right (and ended up trying to "catch" it the normal way, and it's just downright impossible to do it.



maybe the smiley will stand a higher chance since it's flat. doesn't this make you cheery all of a sudden? haha!



flutter flutter. some random deco i found in the arcade



*growls* *snaps*



carebears! it's found in the comics connection-like shop


and so we met mavis at night to have a late-night chat at her condo's poolside, and it was a really nice end to the day :) we poured out our concerns, worries and got some opinions on certain things. quite interesting! such chats are nice once in awhile. :)


a day of walking around seah street

ah! i just remembered i met siew last sat cos we went for an interview at Timbre for the beerfest asia. and I was just notified that we are selected! =D not sure of my job scope yet though.

I went to the dentist at amk polyclinic before meeting siew to check on my wisdom teeth and got a referral to do surgery to pluck them out at jurong medical centre. haven't got around to calling them yet though. =P but the dentist helped me to remove some tars from my teeth and boy, i feel so much happier after the dental trip, like as if I did rebonding. heh! it just feels nice having clean teeth again :) you guys should make a dental appointment soon!



had lunch at manhattan fish market :) thats the prawns platter and fish &chips! i love the sauce that comes with the prawns *swoons*


the afternoon was spent lurking in popular bookstore at bras basah looking at travel guide books and entertaining ourselves with pictures of love hotels in japan. we are looking for interested investors to open a love hotel in singapore, any takers? hahahaha!

moving on... we chanced upon this wonderful street named seah street, which has always been around but I usually don't take notice of it. and there's so much gem in it! it's like stepping into a different culture and timeline with every unit i passed. =D

First, there is the mint museum that has a collection of toys from the past decades with a cute little cafe downstairs


a painting on their wall



it always amazes me how people can create such stuff


after that, there is this traditional chinese medicine shop, and then a pub, and then a modern chic clothing shop that is beside a old dialect association, few more pubs, a mushroom hotpot restaurant from taiwan, and.... naumi hotel!!!


small luxury hotel that provides 5-star services. :) their reception is very friendly, so I managed to get her to give us a tour around the hotel heh! their rooms are very spacious considering the small space they have, and it's really very inviting! gosh i will definitely stay there if i have the chance. or if i have friends coming over for business or sth, i'll recommend this to them :D you can even play Wii for free in your room! not that any self-respecting businessman will be caught dead playing Wii, but you never know!



their pool that reaches the edge of the building and unhibited views that just makes you feel like you are at the top of the world. such a great feeling :D


so after enjoying the superb hospitality brought to us by naumi hotel, we went to esplanade to catch a band playing there with tzu qun too :) i still can't remember the name of the band to this day though i've seen them play twice... one of the members is a friend of tzuqun and siew.



yep, here they are! they have a damn good sense of rhythmn i would say... but need to work on changing the tempo and feel of some songs. they are getting too similar. haha. i like clockwork though! could hear myself humming it the day after. hahaa



but it's an amazing feat to be able to play at the outdoor stage, so kudos to you guys!


whoa. i can't believe i actually finished posting everything. no bad at all *self-satisfied smile* can't wait for thurs! it's a long weekend this week :)