The real Perth :)

Ok, now is really the time to talk about Perth :)

These are what I like about Perth:

1) Fast Eddy’s: They serve delicious pan cakes we cannot find in Singapore. I wonder how can they make such big and thick pancake with the inside cooked to a perfect ten out of ten! The complimenting ice-cream taste delicious too… yummy

2) Broadway pizza: Must try if you are in Australia… give Domino’s a miss, but don’t ever come home without trying Broadway’s signature BBQ chicken, you are not going to regret it…!

3) Gigantic pretzels found in most shopping malls: they are the size of my 2 palms put together..! Thick and juicy and the caramel sauce is better than Aunt Anne’s. Buy at major shopping malls just 10mins before they close, buy one get one free!

4) Chinese food: those AU$8.99 or AU$9.99 per plate pick all you want/can type. Meaning you buy either a small plate or a large plate and just self serve, pick any vege/meat you want that are laid down for you. Just like running your own vege rice stall, you take whatever you can stack on your plate. Feeds minimum 2 persons.

5) Frementle’s Fish and Chips + Seafood Tray: each portion is so big that you can feed 3 persons! Not that expensive at AU$13+, each pax is only about AU$4+…

6) Frementle markets: walking along the streets is like enjoying a relaxing breezy Sunday morning.. Frementle markets are only opened on certain days of the week which I forgot. But weekends are definitely open.

7) ValleyGirl: The Australian equivalent of Forever 21. I shopped till I dropped when I was there. I think they engaged the same factory as F21 in China to sew their clothes, hence, they have clothes with the same fabric, maybe with a twist in the designs. But at almost half the price! T-shirts go at AU$9.99-AU$12.99 compared to F21’s minimum S$28 for the same thing. I bought tops that range from AU$9.99-AU$19.99, a dress that cost AU$28.99 and a pair of pants at AU$24.99. But of course, the collection and selection is not as much as F21. F21 is definitely better as they have styles imported from USA, while VG is 99% China made.

8) Portman: Australian local fashion label which I also like very much. But quite pricey, the same pricing strategy and standards as Zara. A skirt cost about AU$99. I didn’t buy anything the last time haha…

9) Dotti: Also another Australian local fashion label. Young and energetic type. Vibrant with many many colors.. Pricing lower than Portman but more ex than VG. I bought a cardy and a top at total AU$66.

10) Northbridge: almost the Chinatown of Perth. This place is packed with restaurants, small shops, mostly owned by Asians. We loved to frequent a Taiwanese managed comic + bubble tea house. They have the latest collection of Taiwanese variety show and also Jap comics. A lot of foreign students frequent as there are also PCs available for internet surfing and gaming. Not forgetting a fabulous HK restaurant serving BBQ pork and poultry. The Duck and Chicken are wonder-licious! Yummy!

11) Swan River: Beautiful sight, you must drive along this river and catch the wonderful sunset scene!

12) UWA: captivatingly old architecture. Feels like home here =)

13) Swan Valley: the free wine and cheese tasting to kill a good old relaxing Aussie day away…

14) Vietnamese food: these are really good in Perth. Especially the Vietnamese beef noodles… yummy…

15) The cakes, tarts, pastries, pretzels, bread blah blah blah.. they are simply so well baked in Perth.. they look and taste wonderful too… somehow, they are able to make big and tasty sweet breads there.. maybe the soil and air contributes to their A-grade bountiful produce..

Seems like mostly are food that I like about Perth.. yes, the food taste differently and the color of the sky is more beautiful. The air is indeed fresher and everywhere in you can smell the fresh scent of dried leaves and fresh flowers. Just like a natural potpourri following you everywhere you go… I managed to come up with a few things that I don’t like about Perth:

1) Difficulty to find parking in Northbridge after office hours

2) High parking charges in Perth City. 2 hours can cost you AU$12!

3) Racist: It does exist in Australia. Aussies tend to think that they are smarter, more superior than Asians, hence, they always feel that we talk too slow, we think too slow and we are just inferior to them.. %$@#%^&*&

4) Tap water: it tastes funny, and yucky.. I drink only bottled water when in Perth. The only time I drink boiled tap water is when making tea or coffee… the taste sucks.. I am either going to be dehydrated or broke from buying bottled water if I am living in Perth. I need to drink 2 bottles a day which works out to about AU$5 a day.. not cheap to buy water there leh.. AU$5/2 bots is the cheapest we can find in Perth. Those sell in shopping mall is AU$2.50 per 500ml bot.. sucks right..??

5) The hot hot summer day of Perth. Dehydrating…! Horrible!

6) Boring suburb life.. it’s really boring, when night falls and all the shops are closed, there is really nothing you can do except cook, watch TV, surf net or sleep…

Perth

Recently I tried to invite a long-time friend to my wedding but was rejected, saying she is now in Perth, "sorta" helping a friend run HIS business... it makes me wonder, what business is that, and what kind of friend HE is to her... And what beats me is, this friend whom I knew for 9 years, had been close for several years, did not even tell me she will be relocated to Perth for about a year. And it also makes me wonder how true it is, and whether is she trying to find an excuse just to close this invitation? What if I bump into her one day? Well, I have thought about it already. The first question I will ask her is, "Eeee... you back already..??" Sounds sarcastic right..?? Heehee...

This friend of mine has quite a long history with me... 9 years is not very long but also not considered short right? We met in 1998, where I enrolled for my Diploma course in IBMEC Simei. Her name in short, is Han. Soon, Han, Rach, Siti and I became the closest friends in IBMEC. We were rather hip, outspoken at that time, cuz most of our classmates are Indonesians who can't even speak English well.. We studied together, play together, made fun of lecturers together and we really had fun in our 2-year journey.. Han and I were closer, even though, Siti and her were secondary classmates.. We often hang out together after class, shopping, eating, chit-chatting at void decks, talked about our dreams, our future plans, and her future bf/husband blah blah blah... at that time I never talked about bf. At 18, I still don't see myself suitable to have a bf, and also never really thought about it.. But she was the more daring one.. could go after guys she likes, pass guys her HP# on a slip of paper, and sees herself married at 25... (This plan backfired cuz she is now 26.. kekez =X)

After we left school and started working, we still kept in touch, still talked like good friends.. often met at our favourite hangout - Tampines Mall or Century Sq Delifrance.. When I was working in the music school in 2002, we even arranged a choir performance in the nursing home where she worked then.. we were still close friends then.. things took a turn somehow.. through the years, we stopped contacting so much.. she began to take to the internet, msn, friendster and blogging.. I lagged behind... we seldom met since then.. she changed jobs after jobs - admin, sales, nursing home, marketing, retail, communications, etc. While I remained faithfully in 2 companies for the past 7 years. Our conversations began to lessen and we somehow drifted apart.. she had new friends while I hang out with my colleagues or just myself... In Sep 2004, a month after I broke up with my ex-bf, we met up at Changi Airport. She was crying profusely, after being ditched by a pilot whom she met online... they somehow "got together" online while this guy was undergoing commercial pilot training in Australia... He got a vacation for several weeks, so he came back to SG to meet up with this cyber gf... well, she kept saying she loved him, but somehow, things didnt turn out the way she wished. From the way she described, like the guy said, "You looked alot different from the pics.." blah blah... I can very well guess that the guy is checking out a "goods return" policy.. but she didnt get it and kept pressing the guy to hang out with her... a lot of gestures are obvious: didnt pick up her call, didnt reply her sms, claimed that he was sick, couldnt pick up the phone, blah blah.. isnt it obvious enough...?? And, she still didnt get it... we were like talking for 4 whole hours, consoling her and myself.. I was pretty in ruins that time cuz that breakup was horrendous... we were just consoling each other and feeling bad for each other...

So, just one fine night, we met on MSN and she told me this story: One day, they went out and this guy drove a SPORTS CAR... then they went back to his CONDO and made out... the next day, the guy said she wasnt suitable for him... DUHZZ... she was crying profusely again and feel like dying... hmm.. sian 1/2... I think I have told her to give up before, but she just didnt buy it... In Jan 2005, I invited her to my bday chalet and she turned up with Rach... that was the last time we ever met on an "arranged date".. the next time we met was in Sentosa, coincidentally, in Feb 2005.. I was there with GPC and she was there with her buncha friends.. funny thing is, she didnt try to "recognise" me... she ignored me totally, even though we were sharing the same beach.. I hopped over to say "Hi" to her, but she just mumbled.. we didnt talk at all.. during the seem-like-a-million-years of a 5mins duration I was there, it was her friend who entertained me.. I was like chatting to her friend instead of this lao peng you... It really beats me what took a turn of her behaviour towards me.. one month ago, we were still having fun in the chalet, and we were still talking.. but she seemed to shut herself up out of a sudden.. After that Sentosa thingy, we don't talk on MSN anymore.. everytime we see each other online, it was pure silence.. noone initiated to open a window... I eventually did melt... I initiated conversations sometimes.. but all I got was "Yes", "No" or one-word answer... Example:

Me: Hi, how are you gal...???
Her: hi
Me: What are you doing now..?? keke
Her: nothing
Me: Working..?
Her: no

You got the picture...???

We drifted apart even more... out of a sudden somewhere in Aug 2005, she initiated an msn window, only to feed me news of my ex.. she happened to meet him through work and just checked out with me is it really him... the funny thing is, she had never met him before, I didnt even tell her that he USED TO be in my friendster until I deleted him after the breakup... she somehow made her own research that it was him and started telling me stories, which I don't ever want to be reminded of that person.. what a good friend she is - thank you... after that, I don't ever want to initiate any conversation with her... if you knew that your so-called good friend is so hurt by this man-beast, would you want to irritate her by feeding her stories of the beast..?? what is your intention and what benefit will you reap..?? strange women... just can't let me enjoy my peace... Then last year somewhere in Oct, she came back to haunt me again.. she msn me checking the name of my ex.. didnt she knew it already..?? heng ah, I had left office already but did not log out from MSN.. her Qn remained unanswered and I never want to reply her anyway.. I wonder what funny idea she has on her sleeves... So, I never told her I have new bf - ie Aaron, got a flat, ROM, blah blah.. until this wedding invitation came along... maybe she is jealous or she is simply thinking too much...

Sometimes I wonder why people's behaviour changed so much... we used to be close friends and now became strangers and having a bit of bitter feeling... I am rather upset that this friendship had to be wasted, and I also lament about our youth together, the wonderful carefree times we spent together... But it takes 2 hands to clap... hers doesnt clap with mine... I am thinking of giving up this friendship, cuz I am tired now.. I kept telling myself I should focus my time and effort to build better relationship with better friends, friends who truely care about me... But I still get sleepless nights thinking about her... wondering is there a way to make us good again..?? Am I wasting my time..?? Hmmm.....

Funny me, I started this entry with the title "Perth" but all my talk is irrelevant ahahahaha... I actually plan to upload some of my pics and captions for my Perth trip in Jan, which I totally missed out, but thinking of Perth makes me think of her.. and thus.. all you have read so far are my COMPLAINTS..!!!!!!!!!!! WAHAHAHAA........ I think I will keep the Perth thingy another day bah :)

Yoga

I’m into Yoga lately. These are some of the benefits of Yoga summarized for easy reading =)

Circulation
Oxygen heals wound, kills germs and bacteria and ensures the strength and vitality of all living tissues. Our blood carries oxygen that we breathed in throughout the body. Yoga stretches signal the body to send blood around, thereby boosting blood circulation to often neglected areas of the body like joints, connective tissues and internal organs.

Detoxification
Toxins are found in the air, in our food and water, and we detox by eliminating through the skin, breath, blood, etc. We sweat in each Yoga class, and the twisting and bending postures help to purge the toxins out of our bodies.

Strength and Flexibility
Yoga postures strengthen and lengthen the body's connective tissues through physical postures that have been practiced for thousands of years. It doesn't matter if you are flexible or stiff, weak or strong, yoga can transform your body and mind and improve your overall health.

Stress Relief
The stress and pressure of our daily lives can lead to serious illness and disease if left unchecked. A regular yoga practice calms the body and mind, boosts the immune system, and eliminates the toxins that stress creates - so many students see yoga as the perfect "cure" for a hard day at work.

Self Confidence & Self Esteem
Yoga makes you feel healthy, strong, and limber which will immediately boost your self-image and self-confidence. Learning yoga postures creates an enormous sense of pride that will improve the way you feel about yourself both inside the studio as well as out in your daily life.

Breath Control
The quality of our breath is directly related to our mental state. When we learn to consciously control the breath, it helps us to control the body and mind as well. Yoga teaches us to control our state of mind, regardless of the daily stresses we encounter.Weight LossMany students report that after practicing yoga regularly, they feel less hungry and make better choices when eating. As part of an overall healthy lifestyle, yoga is a great way to cleanse the body, increase metabolism, stimulate waste elimination, and reduce food cravings.

Is Yoga Aerobic?
Aerobic exercise occurs when an elevated heart rate is sustained for twenty minutes or more. Aerobic activities are particularly helpful for strengthening the heart, burning excess fat, and increasing the body's metabolism.

Yoga can be a great aerobic workout, but it depends on the student and on the class they are taking. In order to sustain an elevated heart rate during practice, students should try their best to actively participate in all postures and take classes that they find challenging.

Overall Fitness
Many physical activities that are good for your health also create serious imbalances in the body. Runners are prone to knee and back problems, tennis players often develop arthritis in their wrists and elbows, and weight lifters connective tissues soon become tight and rigid.Yoga is one of the few physical activities that promotes whole-body wellness - both physically and psychologically - without creating the imbalances that lead to injuries and complications later on in life.

What is it that you are doing?

My favourite TV channel is Discovery Travel and Living.. And, sometimes I get to watch Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservation”.. Bourdain has been slogging in a kitchen as a chef for 20 over years before he became a writer, a travel journalist, TV presenter, food critic, blah blah blah.. he is humorous and daring.. dared to try any sort of cuisine, ranging from Singapore Chili crab, Taiwanese bubble tea, Korean live squids to Ostrich egg cooked on charcoal (on the ground) in Africa… Once, I watched this episode where he went to Ghanna and there was this black boy who asked him, “What is it that you are doing?”. He was stunned by this question and did not know how to answer him instantly.. later, at and interview, he humorously said that he did not know exactly what he’s doing… haha.. how about you? What is it that you are doing?

What is it that I am doing? Or rather, what is my job scope like…?? When we went for interview we would always like to ask this question. Sometimes it might already be included in the newspaper ad.. job scope and job descriptions are not exactly the same.. job description describes your job. For example, a customer service representative answer customer’s enquiries, process orders and makes delivery. Job scope means what you should do and what you should not do.. most of the times, people confuse between these 2 terms and hence argument might arise as a result..

In Avnet, the line between these 2 terms are not drawn clearly. So, there is a lot of blurring of responsibilities. Sometimes, a customer service (CS) is doing a sales job and vice versa.. thought most of the time is CS covering sales. I feel that Avnet sales people are generally lazy people.. so most of the times, CS are doing their job for them.. why not feed them, bathe them and wipe their buttocks also.. haha.. as a sales myself, sometimes I do feel ashamed that people in my department behave like this.. luckily I am not one of them… kekez.. but I sometimes do laze around too..

So what exactly am I doing? My job title is Inside Sales Executive… the job description includes answer customer’s sales enquiries, quotations, close sales and ensure goods delivery. As an inside sales, it is the cross between a sales and a CS.. my job scope actually is blurred, because of bad management.. I shouldn’t complain here since I am quite satisfied at this moment… what is my day of work like..?? mainly checking emails, checking cost and calculating resale, keeping in mind the margin, freight, storage cost, admin cost, packing cost, transportation cost, etc… quote to customer and ensure the Purchase order is received… then I will hand over to CS for order processing.. the job is not yet finished… customer calls every now and then to check when is their goods going to be delivered.. sometimes I have to be the delivery girl for very urgent shipments.. when customer didn’t pay up, I have to chase $$ on behalf of accounts… sales job just encompass almost everything…! But I also spent a lot of time surfing net… looking for info.. these are all essential as a part of my job…

This may look blur here, this is my Inbox, you see it is rather empty.. I like to keep it clean and neat.. only leave outstanding issues in my Inbox, you can see how many there are, the rest, just archive...

this is a typical email that i sent out everyday

one of the websites i frequent...

Today

Besides acting busy at work and preparing for my wedding, I am also enjoying my life at the moment..

Yoga
This is something new that I have been enjoying for the past 3 weeks. So far, I have tried 3 lessons in both Pure and True Yoga. If the membership isn’t so expensive, I would have already joined. The one that I really like is Pure Yoga on Level 18 at Takashimaya. I had 2 hot yoga classes ranging from 60 to 90mins. The teacher for both classes are the same – an angmoh young fellow named Gordon. The room is kept at a warm temperature of 37 degree Celsius. And we were guided to do some breathing and stretching exercises. The beginning was easy and gradually becoming more difficult. I found that I am quite flexible in bending forward, however, not the other way round. I have a back problem which I can’t bend backwards.. so means, I can do limbo rock… I am hoping to go for another session soon… and also planning to join a Hatha Yoga course with Bishan Sports Council after my wedding.. Looking forward J

Massage
Aaron’s sis invited me for a massage at Haach, M Hotel. It was a pleasant experience having my muscles stretched, pressed and relaxed. The Indonesian massue is good.. I think they are stronger than Singaporeans. The best thing is, it’s FOC. Sis let me use her package and signed off for me.. and I got a collagen mask for free.. so much goodies for hanging out with Aaron’s sis… their family somehow worked differently from mine… unlike my family, where my siblings and I were used to fighting over everything and anything… especially when it comes to money.. all accounts must be clear.. haha.. side tracked.. anyway it was a good treatment.. after the 1hr relaxation, we went to have ramen and chatted for over an hour… nice to know more about my husband’s side of the family… and yes, we get along quite well and I am rather happy about it..

Shopping
After a month long of “Conservation” I have finally broke free from NO SHOPPING. I bought a dress from COCOON for $143.10. I have been eyeing this work dress for a few weeks already and finally bought it after bargaining for a 10% discount from the store manager.. this is called AUNTY behaviour.. But I saved $16! Then again, if I didn’t buy at all, I would have saved $143.10! Hahaha… who cares… Then I bought another dress and a shirt from Little Match Girl on Saturday, totaling $80.70… and my wedding shoes costed $69.. so much for this month, end of spending liao.. I gotta seal up my credit card again… feeling broke already.. when is the next bonus coming..??! GST gonna increase again??!!! OMG!!

Good Friday and Long Weekend
This year’s Good Friday marks the very first time I had a heated argument with Aaron… the first time ever he screamed back at me… and he had to close the door so that we could continue screaming at each other. People say that arguments are common during wedding preparation.. I cannot not take heed.. and well, we did fall into the wedding argument trap after all… it’s a long story, and anyway, we are back on good terms liao (though I am still recuperating).. We didn’t talk much these few days even though everything seemed to go back to normal.. it’s nothing but the money issue.. money is the root of all evil and it’s true.. maybe it’s a misunderstanding or whatsoever… anyway, I hope I will get better soon… cuz arguments like this will be more common in future to come.. though I hope it will not happen again…

Saturday
Went for a full day shopping craze with my mum and sis, at Bugis.. we didn’t buy a lot of things, just window shopped a lot.. I bought the dress and top from LMG. The day ended with dinner at Punggol Plaza.

Sunday
Started the day with DimSum breakfast at Changi, followed by shopping at Tampines Mall.. the first time ever we can bring our nephew out shopping, away from the watchful eyes of his mother.. still, his mother forbade him to “EAT’ and “BUY’. Eat means no eating of ice-cream, cold drinks, titbits and whatever food his mother deemed bad for health (almost everything). Buy means no buying of toys, etc.. He did both… but he is not a “bad” child, he was just hanging out with a bunch of “bad adults”. Sis’ bf unknowingly bought him an ice-cream. He only took one lick and was stopped by me.. poor thing.. if his mother knew about this, he would be wacked…! He took a few licks afterwards but looked very scared.. Then my sis bought him a mini Shell station at Toys R Us.. he broke the rules again, haha.. his mum called and asked him to the phone, he started to tear.. poor boy… his mother is so strict on him.. but we cannot blame her as good discipline is very important.. there are just too many spoiled and bad kids around and I’m glad my nephew is not one…. Not one who will demand, not one who will scream when he did not get something… he is generally a good boy.. we all loved him and is genuinely proud of him…!

That’s all for now, I hope to update again =)