The first day of 2009 :)

Happy New Year everyone!

I thought about it and decided that 2009 will be a better happier year for me because it is a brand new start!!! :) The positivity has been carried over to all aspects, even school. It is the last semester and i really want to enjoy it because i may never get the chance to be in school again like that.

Last night, i thought of really strange stuff before 2008 ends. Since young, i have always thought about it once in a very blue moon. The surreal feeling of what if i have never existed, never been created by God, where will I be? And i will always wake up from this dream knowing that i can't escape this life, and i am thankful i am here and no matter what troubles are upon me.. it doesn't matter because from that perspective, these things are really minor. The reality is that i exist, i am here, there may be issues but nothing is far more precious than life. And the somewhat scary thing is, you only have one chance in life.. life is what you make out of it. If i decide to live it happily, it will be happy.

And i thought, i am really thankful that God have created me and He loves me so much He has saved me. Whatever we do in this life determines our eternity, so every day is precious! We must make wise decisions and be happy. :)

Recently, i bought a random stranger album "Best of Olivia" from That CD Shop after listening to a few songs from the sample listening pods. (This is so me to be random) Although many of the songs are not original and 'listened to death to' such as Sometimes When We Touch, L.O.V.E, Fly me to the Moon which i kind of try to skip whenever it is playing because i can almost memorize everything..... there are a few that i have never of such as Kiss of Life . Previously, i bought Marie Digby and Jason Mraz albums like that too, depending on my feeling and impression. And i have never looked back!!

Risky yes, it may be a waste if i don't like it. But think of it another way, maybe it's something you may like but have not yet discovered!

Here's Kiss of Life, no video just music. Hope you like it too, i like this sort of music :)



To end off, i haven't been taking many pictures lately, but here are a few.

Christmas lunch and games at Anna's house

First-date anniversary day, classic movie and dinner date.

Should have asked someone else to take a picture for us..

Anyways, may the new year be filled with joyfulness, love and good opportunities for everyone! :)

xoxo, principessa

the last day of 2008

At this moment of writing, i'm feeling quite down and i keep thinking of how terrible 2008 have been for me since i came back from USA. I think i've changed so much these few months and i became really negative about everything.

School is bad. Really bad for me, i got a B+/B semester cap and it may seem rather average for anyone but it is a huge disappointment for me. Nevertheless, i expected it as my attitude towards learning nosedived for the worst this semester, i became cynical about many things, i felt so hopeless and lousy about myself and my work. It may not be true, and i know, i know i can do so much better if my attitude changes but the motivation is just not there. I have been doing quite well for the past semesters, getting A- averages consistently because i have the drive and the type of never say die attitude because i know with prayer and effort, i can do it. It all started in the past with a little bit of encouragement by a quite special friend...but now i don't have it anymore. I am so tired of exams and projects that the enthusiasm for learning faded quickly away to nothingness this year.

Besides school, there are also various personally important issues that i have to deal with. All in all, the later part of this year is bad and being an idealist, i am quite demanding on myself in many ways.

Even today is bad, the sun is painfully tough i just feel like moving away to a place like San Francisco!! Gosh, over here i feel so lifeless like the sun is sapping away all my energy. I like nothing better than to feel alive, doing exciting stuff.....learn many new things, have many good friends and doing fun things. But the climate is not helping, neither is my attitude. I let myself fall too easily to setbacks and inconvenience and being overcontrolled on my random unpredictable emotions.. i should think more logically instead and press on.

I resist school because i can't seem to enjoy myself that i am freezing whatever braincells i have i haven't even settled on my ISM. If only there is a break, a good long long break that lets me rejuvenate myself and gather the passion for learning back again. Like a good 6 months break in a new life.

i am dreaming again.

A random some-day pictures

The day after my examinations, i headed to Mac Cafe to enjoy the ambience in a different way. A different mode of reading! Not papers and essays and notes, but magazines. :) My favourite comes in the form of Female, i wish i subscribe to it but i don't, i always hesitate somehow. I've mentioned about its revamp months/1 yr(?) ago and I am still completely in love with the new look.

I love the fonts and the layout, its a perfect companion for 'tea' :)

And after that, i had to head home to pack for the cameron highland trip the next day, but not without remembering to take a picture of my 'relaxing afternoon tea and girly magazine' outfit that is totally comfortable to be in.

After the trip, i came back craving for Kenny Rogers and so, some days later, my boyfriend brought me there! Yummy yummy, though the standard (at Suntec) have dropped and the chicken is not so juicy or as tender as before (mine's thigh meat) and the sour drill pasta is tasteless! Still, i was glad we went there, i won't be craving for it for some time.

A many many days ago when i was still having my exams, my parents brought me to Earle Swenson at Terminal Three and they had this chicken stew in torilla(?) bowl, not nice at all! The so called stew tastes like the chicken cream soup they served my dad. AND the chicken is made up of chunky and dry breast meat. :( I only like the novel concept of the eat as you go chip bowl.

Lastly, i cut my hair again after 6 months because all the hair that was a bob feels too heavy for me and i'm getting tangled hair because of the lack of a trim. So i went to Shunji Matsuo ICON but well, it didn't go so well but i'm okay with my new lighter younger looking hair. I wish i have gone to my expensive hair stylist...for a more classic cut.

Ending off. Gingerman softie versus Cookie the toy monster, who wins?

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xoxo, principessa

Cameron Highlands

Some pictures from the trip, not in chronological order but in thematic order :)


Arriving in Cameron Highlands

And you already get the impression at 10am in the morning of a place that is obsessed with commercializing strawberries...

After a night spent in the bus dozing on and off for toilet breaks

In my bf's sweater because mine is not enough to combat the cold air con.
I have 4 layers of clothes in this outfit...

Royal Lily Apartments - Where we stay

High tea is my favourite time of the day.

Home made scones that is fresh from the ovens, with homemade strawberry jam from the cameron farms... a nice pot of tea and lovely ambience completes the experience.

Shopping for produce at farmers' markets in Kea Farm and Rose Valley

What an irony, they don't even sell roses there or rose products and all there is, is a doesn't look so fantastic rose farm.

However, the produce is really fresh but when you see veggies and artificial strawberry products (toys, cushions, clothing, umbrellas....) everywhere, it can get very boring because all the shops everywhere are the same. . .

But one good thing that came out of the visit?

I've finally seen how strawberries could be grown under manmade conditions, i dearly hope that's not how they are grown in normal traditional farms or in the wild because little pots of strawberries are so much less appealing to plucking a fresh wild berry off a lovely bush full of strawberries. These little pots feels so...artificial. Like planting strawberries. :(

Completely not how i have imagined them to be. They are my favourite fruit and i have always imagined them to grow beautifully in natural conditions, not from tiny pots!




Strawberries in chocolate fondue 2RM per stick- but the choc is too cheap for my liking. I like real, substantial dark chocolate that has a deep flavour. Not cheap chocolate that tastes like those coin goodies you give to little kids on chinese new year. Am i really fussy or what? Hmm!

But this is the best strawberry sundae i have ever tasted!
Honeyed strawberries in vanilla ice cream, 5+ RM

Bus Station in Tanah Rata

Looks and feels like an old and ratty ride and... its just not my type of place but i suppose it is an interesting experience.

We got everywhere on these public buses taken by local workers who can't afford a car (probably the very poor or migrant workers) with frequency of 1hr on paper but 2-3hrs services in practical.

And yes, i bought a 10RM strawberry umbrella...

And the bus is so old school, so ancient with an extinct ticketing system in Singapore! Imagine a bus conducter collecting bus fees from seat to seat issuing such thin paper tickets with your stop indicated with an obscure tear that i can't understand even though i sat on it 6 times at least!



And I don't even want to mention how gross the interior is. It is a super old old old bus. The seats looks stained and grimy i don't even dare to rest my head, one of the row has someone's old puke and there's no ventilation except windows which can hardly be open when it rains...

My poor Keds shoes are muddy and stained from the constant rain and puddles on the ground.

Uncle Chow - a great place for breakfast that's a 5 minutes stroll away from my apartment.

They sell Kaya Roti 5RM , Nasi Lemak (overpriced by yummy) 7.90RM and all sort of tea time confectionaries, noodles and home made donuts and such. I even spotted a very rich man who probably owns a hotel (perhaps Equatorial?) breakfasting there with his chauffer/bodyguard/ hotel staff in uniform.

Some visit to the Bee Farm

Raining all day all night for 3 days in a row, hence i didn't get to explore too much of the farm but i saw some buzzing bees. The only place with nice scenery?

Sunday church service at a gospel hall

It was a panting climb up as it is located on top of a small hill at Tanah Rata town, not too bad a climb though because of the cool weather that doesn't make me sweat :) Some nice views although the gloomy rainy weather made it kind of dreary

Breakfast at a Prata shop with Teh Aylia (?? but means ginger)

10 minutes from the apartment, how convenient!
The best way to warm up a cold morning is to drink ginger tea... in teh tarik form *yum*

Some hunt for a waterfall

We thought it is a 20 minutes walk but it turns out that after 20 minutes, there's 3km + to go so we abandoned the thought as the path is steep and wet due to the rain. The upstream rapids ...

On the way home :)

Yes, and there's lots of pictures of my bf this time because i am the photographer. Hah.

xoxo, principessa :)