Xmas Galore!

Showing off...




my cheery bright orange xmas top! Haha...

Huong dropped me my xmas gifts today! Coincidentally, Rozy and her, both of whom are my good pals, bought me similar stuff!



Perhaps they realised how much encourage I need at work! =) Thanks a zillion for those gifts, and for the thought of it!

It's time to set some realistic goals for next year!

As I looked upon those delicately wrapped gifts, I can't help feeling a sense of satisfaction, and hence can't resist taking a picture of them! =)

Rozy has invited me over again this year. It feels a bit odd this time round as dinner is held at her cousin's place instead of hers. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to meet her family again! Made some peach jelly to share tonight too!

SL is away in Malaysia now. I'm looking forward to the Bvlgari handbag he has gotten from Singapore Airport! He originally wanted to get the Balenciaga Biker bag. We later decided against it cos it resembles too much of those $20 look-alikes that you can get from Target (admittedly, I own a red Marc Jacobs look-alike! For just $10 after a hefty discount!). Get my point?

Anyway, being anxious to know how it looks like, I made futile attempts to look for a picture of it on the website. Yet, while looking for it, i chanced upon this website.

I'm impressed with the selection! On top of that, I read from someone's blog that they do deliveries to Singapore too! I'm already thinking about more handbags to add to the existing collection! =P

 





Here's how it goes: (from top-down) Dior Quilted Leather, another one from Dior and there's Dolce and Gabbana.  Dior bags are too sweet to resist! But rather hard for me to keep up with their designs! And because of its style, they are not functional for all occasions (with exception to the leather collection of course!)

However, I would really love to own one of those bigger black quilted leather stuff. They are too handy for work! The good news is, they come with an affordable price tag of just below USD1000.

Having said that, I certainly would not want to compromise my travel plans next year by going all out to acquire those little desires!

I really ought to be satisfied with the handbags I have bought/ received for this year! *Smacks*

Feeling Drained...

It feels as if I haven't had a good rest for a long while!

I'm determined to have a quiet weekend next week. I should start putting my creative hands to use soon! Haha! Being in Australia all these while made me realise how much I love being on my own. Or perhaps I'm just growing accustomed to the way of life here.

But anyway, I have been doing heaps of driving recently. That, no doubt, has contributed to my recent exhaustion too. 

YH came over for the weekend and I showed her around Bunbury and Busselton! I have finally checked out the art gallery... and the Christmas Shop I would never have known about if I haven't been there!

Some pics to share...

 

Curious to know where these places are? Hee! Nothing more than the beach (Rocky Point), the tall Bunbury Lookout and the Art Gallery (last pic)

I have a weakness for perfume set recently. Useless me can't resist this beautiful perfume set from Burberry! I'm trying hard to convince myself it wasn't largely because of the sweet coffret!

Help me with my addiction!

Lovely surprises

SL came back from the States on Monday, with lovely surprises! Check out the latest Gucci design he got from San Francisco airport! They have been out in Europe for only a month! It's not even selling in Asia or on the Gucci website yet.



And there's this lovely scarf from Coach too. A good one for the winter-turn-spring transitional period! =P



I might be due in Sydney for a bi-annual meeting in mid-dec... erm... I mean, only if I can survive the rough waves in the coming weeks, and of course, IF I decide to stay on. Will see how things go. I welcome a free trip to Sydney, granted that extension is permitted! =P

Mission Impossible

I'm feeling so drained. Finished work at 10.30pm last night. The previous week has been a crazy one. Had a full 3-day management training programme. It was enriching, BUT having to squeeze in time in between breaks to follow up on phone calls and finish up urgent matters was totally EXHAUSTING! The following 2 days after the training session was filled with 
LONG meeting schedules.

And thus, I ended my work week yesterday with a full day meeting which finished 10.30pm! What really wears me out is the thought of organising my agenda for the 
following 2 weeks. I can't imagine how I can handle month-end closing and the very inquisitive internal auditors at the same time. 

I can't figure how I can try to put in place the policies and procedures 
that have not been followed for a long while. 

Thanks to those people who just walk
away from their jobs without tying up the loose ends. And thanks for receiving the credits for what you manage to hide and thanks to the management for making me responsible for
cleaning up your mess!

I might be going to Sydney for a work trip in November, IF I'm going to remain here till then.

More training to come next Wednesday on labour relations.

I'm going to have fun!

Exhausted

Work has taken up the bulk of my energy and time of late. So much so that I can't even be bothered to pen my grouses for many weekends.

I badly need a break, but only after I have got things up and running smoothly in my department. With a painful agenda as follows, I'm not sure how long that will be...

1. Plenty of back-log to clear 
2. Difficult staff to handle
3. Coordination with other Department heads (even more difficult to handle?!)
4. Reporting to a very demanding regional FC and a wishy-washy GM!

But I guess it's a good learning curve for myself. Hope to have brighter stuff to update the next time round. In the meantime, I'll be hugging my newly arrived book (Hotel Operations Management) from Amazon to sleep!

Back to work

I'm finally back, after what seemed like a long while of disappearance!

I have been busy at work! After all the fun I had with my siblings in Perth, doing crazy shopping and all, I was made to face up with reality the following day. I packed and left for work on Monday morning.

Lotsa drama at work, even in just 2 weeks. I also realised that I'll need to be responsible for new duties like budgeting and doing cashflow forecast. The job is going to be challenging and hectic! But also promising at the same time, if i can survive it all. So, I'm hanging on there, so that i can fulfil my first dream vacation in 2009! *Fingers crossed*

Lucky thing is that accomodation is provided at the hotel. So it's pretty convenient for me to crash after finishing work late at night!

A Quick Post

I'm officially 23 today!

Dinner at Lighthouse was awesome and the Gelare ice-cream treat topped off the night beautifully!

I was at Margaret River and Augusta today. Bought two bottles of wine from Gralyn. They just taste so beautiful. Wonder who I can share the wine with now... Haha! The coastline along Augusta was equally great! The breathtaking scenery had made my day! Well, actually, it's heaps better to let the pictures do the talking!

I'm back with some updates!

Snippets of what I have been up to for the past one week or so...

My siblings touched down last Saturday midnight (or rather Sunday morning). Had a quick supper at the hotel and a chat that dragged till 3am in the morning. Great to have them here... for two weeks!

SL and I had a dip in the spa in our room at Hotel Northbridge before going out for dinner at 150 Eastside. If you enjoy a spa session with more privacy, Hotel Northbridge has got the cheapest spa suites in town. The interior of the room isn't that fantastic, but it's the spa I love! Anyway, coming back to 150 Eastside, the pictures of the restaurant i have seen on the website are pretty misleading. I can't deny that the food was marvellous though!

So, the whole of last week was spent on sight-seeing and SHOPPING... The following pictures will pretty much sum up the fun we had!

King's Park and Fremantle

Busselton

Busselton Jetty- Worth prob 2km long! Certain parts of the jetty are known to be structurally unsound! Gave me jitters as I paced up the longest jetty I have ever been to in my life!

Ferguson Valley- I love the drive scenic drive there! A pity that we have not taken the 4WD for the unpaved roads leading to the winery!

The Old Quarry at Wellington Dam. It was blown off many years ago, leaving behind a nice U-shape remnant.

Archery! I broke my personal record this time! Haha!

And erm, some stuff I got while I was accompanying my sis for some retail therapy! Haha! =)

Two more things to announce! First, I'm turning 23 tmr! Will be going to the Lighthouse for dinner. My siblings will be celebrating with me too. Mum has bought me another set of Parker pens. Hee, a very traditional gift from her! Second, I'm finally employed! The salary is comfy but certainly not fat enough for me to fulfil my dream destinations that soon (but I could probably afford to pamper myself with spa indulgence and massage once every month or so, plus small trips to cheaper destinations)! The prospects for career advancement within the company sounds pretty exciting though! So, wish me luck!

Can't wait to...

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, real tight... that I would get the job and work my way up the corporate ladder.

I can't wait to earn those big bucks, my qualifications and realise the dream vacations that I have been yearning for. And also, not to mention my dream car! =)

Going to fetch my siblings tmr at the airport. We're going to have a great time tog! Haha! More later!

My Lil' Prayer

Grant me wings so that I can soar. Grant me the hands of destruction so that I can ruin those whom I so despise. Grant me sanity and forgiveness after all I have done.

I feel bad for saying such words. But I have never seethed with such intensed hatred in my life. I have never hated someone to the extent that only their downfall would mark the beginning of my happiness. The cruel knowledge had dawned on me. Gone are the days of living in a naive world of good-will-triumph-over-evil. The fairy-tale life I used to know was a lie.

A simple remedy for sleepless nights

Wine really helps to soothe me and ease my restless soul to sleep. Now, I'm not sure about you!

Barbados

Undaunted by the chills of winter, I'm zipping off in my skimpy tube dress, ready for a big night! Ha! I was kidding! You must check out the classy black coat I got from Zara on my trip back. It's way too gorgeous!

Heh, I spent today catching up with some of my favourite girls. Roz and H came over in the afternoon for coffee.

It had been moons since I have been out boozing with great chill-out music! As a side note, having a glass of wine over dinner doesn't count as boozing! Was sipping my lemon lime bitters while watching Em's bf perform at Barbados.

I totally enjoyed the night! And I need to thank the two girls for that! =)

The Godfather

Nothing exciting to blog about my life (as usual! ha!).. Spent my weekend watching Part I and II of The Godfather, and also catching up with D and Em over brunch. I love the girls!

Back to The Godfather. I must say that it was an interesting show about the Corleone mafia family. I was really impressed by the guts and wits of the underworld families, who pride themselves as "Businessmen". Haha!

Read about the novel (by Mario Puzo), on which the film was based on. It was noted that much of what was in novel had been omitted from the film. So, I guess it might be good if I can get hold of a copy =)

I'd highly recommend the show. It was rated by the American Film Institute as one of the best American films in history. But get a version which has got English subtitles! There were several parts in the movie where the characters were conversing in Italian. Now I need Part III to finish up!

Wicked mascara!

I can't justify the way I spend on makeup. I just wish to own every shade and colour available. I jump into buying all sorts of stuff people recommend, never realising at that instant I'll probably never use them ever!


As most of you can tell from my photos, I dont use makeups often. Only a dash of mascara and eyebrow liner at the most when the occassion calls for it. I use more makeup in Singapore when I have got to hit town or the clubs. And also not unless I have got a hot date or auditions or shows on.


Oh well, I'm not sure what came over me today. I had makeup on for Eni's birthday dinner. And I'm glad I did.


A lot of other people turned up at the dinner (most of whom are people I don't know, or at least people I don't remember meeting!) and there was this hot lady sitting opposite me. Woo! You get what I mean??? Hahaha...

Nature Walk

We had a little walk today, the other way, down the road. As you would have realised, we're blessed with the close proximity of both the ocean and the Maiden Reserve. Surrounded by the greens on one side and beautiful houses on the other, the visual experience of beauty and nature was simply refreshing!

We first passed by Mindalong Beach, where a section of the charred bushes can be seen. Not too long ago, I witnessed a night where the sky was illuminated by bright red and orange flames... and also the burning curiousity of onlookers. The bush was on fire. No one knows for sure if it was the dry spell or just arsen by some cranked nuts. In any case, I was told that it's good for the forest. Some form of rejuvenation I suppose. Haha!

So here, I snapped a picture of the aftermath. It must have been more than a month ago! The soot had remained.

As you can see, playful-me got kinda excited when I spotted the swings at the entrance of Maiden Reserve. Haha! Apparently my bum was too big for the seat. So it kinda hurts after!

Just one snap of us before we head back home, down the same trodden road we came.

A little picture on our way back. Pretty eh??

Me.. Catching my breath and keeping my hands steady for a clear picture!

And lastly a seemingly windy picture of the trees. Haha! It was actually because of my trembling hands! But the effect turned out to be not too bad. Agree with me or not, I DONT CARE!!

Exploration again...

It had been a tiring day. The bulk of my energy was expensed off yesterday by waking up early and filling the day with activities. Today was no exception. For a long time in my life, my day was never packed with programme like today. Was up early in the morning for Easter Sunday service. Met a creepy man who talked into the church service. All the young gals at church, including myself (ahem!), complained about him. It was close to sexual harrassment. He asked all of the same question- if we were married. He wouldn't let go of my hand after the handshake. I shook it off and would have acted nasty had I not been in a church. Damn old man. And he introduced himself by telling me where he lived. I forgot the street number though. I'm going to ask him where he lives when I next see him at church again and will definitely put a brick into his window!

One of the girls, Jaicie, took a bite into a tiny chocolate bar given to her as Easter gift. J asked innocently if it contained nuts. She is allergic to nuts. That freaked us out. I really hope that she'll be alright.

As planned, Roz, H and I headed off for a picnic in the country after church. I suggested Wellington National Park. It turned out to be a lovely choice. Only thing is that the weather had turned cold today. It was even more chilly at Collie. Wish I had more clothes on.

The "Happy THREE Friends"

The camping grounds were packed because of the long weekend. Was really sleepy on my way back. Nonetheless, I had a really good time with the girls. Fortunately, I had about an hour to rest after I get home before making my way out again to D's place for dinner.

After the freezing encounter this morning, I decided to put on something warmer. So here goes one of my fav jacket which I proudly name it as the Eskimo's. Hee...

Long weekend of fun...

The long weekend has been fantastic.

Highlights of the weekend (that has yet to end):

Visited John and Ennie on saturday. Just a little more than 3 weeks old, the baby girl is simply adorable. She has been blessed with lovely eyes like mum's and lips like dad's. More importantly, Ennie looks so happy! John is so lucky to have such a loving wife and beautiful child.

We were then invited by Gr for dinner at Dan's house.

Then come Sunday... I had an early start at church. This was followed by lunch at Gr's place.

Then, just barely 3 hours later, we met again at our place. Took a walk down to the beach near our place together before adjourning at our place again for dinner.

Exciting week isn't it??