i want a massage too...

猪年如意 猪事顺心 猪年行大运

祝大家在猪年里，健康快乐青春长猪，什么事都胸有成猪，身边人都夸你猪智多谋、猪颜有术、情人多到招架不猪，个个都对你按捺不猪。

猪年如意，猪事顺心，猪年行大运！

lotsa luv from me & my fav stuffie let let :)

My First Vodcast!

Check out my very first vodcast!



http://www.mypaper.sg/myvodcast/20070209lexus_a/20070209lexus_main.html

Enjoyed myself very much doing this...but i'm sure my dear video ed n photog must feel like pulling their hair out working with a no brainer like me. Spent a long long time to this but all's worth it. Brings back great memories of Channel U days. Hope to do something like that again soon... but first I need to lose weight.... n maybe avoid bright coloured shirts... they sure make me look fat...

Had a very very very long week....crashing into bed...nitez :)

What should I do with my hair?

CNY's round the corner...what should I do with my hair?
Streak it red again? Trim my fringe or let it grow? Do nothing? Suggestions more than welcomed!

I must resist!!!

Different ppl have different ways of relieving stress. Mine's shopping. Retail therapy works big time for me but only using my own money. Used to hate shopping while I was in school, didn't like the idea of spending mum's money... but things changed when I got my first paycheck and I guess i've sold my soul to the devil ever since...

Pretty tied up at work lately & haven't been able to go shopping physically for the last 2 weeks (good for my wallet!). Couldn't take the withdrawal symptoms, so I've resorted to online window-shopping for a quickie...

As usual...the internet has transformed into the devil, tempting me to part with my hard earned cash....Arghhh... I must resist!!!!

Rite...just like the old times, I'll post my lusts here & "pretend" i've already bought them so I won't spend money...

New S/S2007 Vivienne Westwood Fleet Wallet...love this wallet but somehow if i ever bought it, it's gonna end up like my mac...dirty...



Fred Flare Hot Shot Camera Ring...cute rite? I'm a cam whore.... would be great if cameras in future came in the form of a ring... den i can take as many pictures as and when i like!


Harvey Seat Belt Tote...been lusting after this bag for about 3 years now... it's commanding US$120...3 years ago it was going for $60...shucks...

Rite...back to my motoring review or my head's gonna roll...

Mental Block

Boy...I can't wait for CNY to come... yes i'm definitely into the ang pows but what I'm looking forward to now is more of the time i'll get to stay home n get proper rest. Totally hit a mental road block 2dae. just can't conjure my sentences properly. In a mess. Prob cuz I've slept about 3-4hours each nite for the last week or so.

Ok no more procrastinating. Later...

The Chuan is Back!!!!

Chuan's back!!!!


Me, Chuan & Xi @ Holland V TCC

Sheesh... i'm in need of the dentist & a crash diet... like xi pointed out... i was way slimmer months b4...never was the same after the weight gaining china trip man....


Me & Chuan @ Punggol Jetty

We're going wakeboarding early Sat morning followed by chalet @ Sentosa! Can't wait :):):)

But first I need to finish articles for the upcoming property supplement on Friday...先苦后甜...

I miss London

Saw decade old images of St Paul's, River Thames, Whitehall & Big Ben today n it reminded me once again why i'm so smitten with the place.

Things don't change very much in London unlike in sg & many parts of the world. With all the drastic changes & chaos going around, the sense of familiarity & stability has a comforting, calming effect.

Despite the regularity, there are always little surprises everywhere & exciting places to explore....it's bursting with life everywhere beneath the grey blanket cover. I miss my weekend shopping trips to oxford st, bond st, regent st, covent garden n sometimes to harrods...just for krispy kreme donuts... weekend trips to the various markets, esp petticoat lane mkt & brick lane on sundays...sunday dim sum brunches after church...2h long supermarket shopping sessions...midnite movies @ islington angel...taking the tube...hoping on n off the old london buses...sandwich shops & food caravans for lunch (jamaican jerk chicken...yummy) n kebabs for dinner or supper...chinatown for dinner or 97 for supper....dingy soho @ nite....ooohhhh yummy cakes from valerie's pattisere...oh so sinful cafe nero mocha...drinks @ allbarone or the local pubs...taking the train out of london for a day trip.... boy i can go on forever...

I miss London.It's my second home. In fact I feel more fulfilled & at home staying there. I actually enjoy British TV more than singapore or cable tv for that matter. Miss Channel 4's quirky shows, esp my fav Grand Designs & Location, Location Location and BBC 2's amazing political talkshows like the daily politics. I can watch tv for hours on end without ever feeling bored.

I'm definitely going back one day for an extended period of time. Watch me.

betrayal...

It's amazing how one's emotions can go through a roller coaster ride within a span of just a couple of mins.

Breaking news break hearts. Prob why i have a love-hate relationship with my job.

Earlier on, I was totally euphoric about chuan coming back and with a funfilled weekend all planned for next week but minutes later, I came to know of stuff that brought back all the unhappiness n bitterness i've tried so hard to leave behind...now my heart is aching with hurt from betrayal.

I should have known better when you asked whether I knew so n so n den proceeded into details I wished I had paid attention to. Never suspected anything then. And being me, I don't give a damn about such stuff. You knew these very well.

However, you still chose to play up my feelings and emotions and then at your convenience, turned around to torture with words of disgrace and condemnation and took actions you knew would scar. I still don't understand. What did you achieve from all this?

i'm no fighter like u but i've been trying... and you knew that full well too...so why? why? why?

i've tried hating u but i couldn't n i've promised myself i won't. I'm not going to be as childish as u.

I've decided.

From this moment on, i'm not going to let you get to me again. You can't hurt me if you don't matter at all.

2 Days More!!!!

2 days more & KKN will be complete once again!!!! CHUAN!!!! COME BACK FASTER!!!! Miss u loads... it's been a year since all 6 of us r 1 again....just that stupid wows will be stuck in some ulu jungle next weekend... chalet spoiler :p

Actually hor... i think it's prob more of i can't wait for my junk food tees, sims 2 games n dvd...oh n my shampoo n conditioner if u've gotten it :p hiak hiak....(Yes, i made my fren lug shampoo n conditioner back for me cuz i'm a spoilt brat that can't be satisfied with what i can find here...) Just kiddin!

Come back quick quick!!!!

Summary of my weekend

Hit a wall trying to come up with tomorrow's biz feature so I shall write about my weekend...

Let's see...all I can remember of my weekend was that I coughed and sneezed like mad...slept 12 hours or more each on Friday and Saturday night to make up for my lack of sleep during the week.

Was plagued by the flu bug on Thursday...super groggy all Friday after downing medication...kinda floated through the day. Only redeeming factor was the super fun UOB Media Party at the end of it. Had a good time catching up with old friends and meeting new people.

Crashed into bed after showering and didn't wake up till 2pm the next day (ok i was woken by Rach at 9am but the medication knocked me out after that). Had lunch with mum n dad in front of the tv. Mum just subscribed to cable TV last Monday and both she n my dad are hooked onto the Asian Food Channel. Hopefully they pick up some really good recipes from there and cook up a feast for me soon. Oh ya, Godma & Godpa flew in from Australia on Friday, and they dropped in on us briefly.

If there's such thing called a itchy backside syndrome, I definitely have it. Despite coughing like I've got TB and my head spinning faster than a top, I actually managed to haul myself out of bed to go with Rach to the mega Ikea & Courts store at Tampines. To our surprise, both malls were pretty empty...we even managed to eat our favourite swedish meatballs n fried chicken wings @ Ikea without having to queue for a table at 530pm! I finally got my family our very first DVD player from Ikea... believe it or not...a multiregion player for just $49.90! There was a cheaper one going for $39.90 but it weighed a ton.

Talking about shopping the town down, our shopping rendevous (ok more of my mine since rach din get anything) didn't just end there....at 730pm, we actually decided to uproot ourselves from the east side of Singapore and travel all the way westwards to Queensway! I've been jogging in my ridiculous betty booper shoes for the last 2+ weeks so I decided it's high time I get proper running shoes b4 I end up having a bulging ankle.

Got to Queensway at 815pm and the moment I stepped into the first shop, I set my eyes upon the really pretty n very very light Adidas Chiba Pro running shoes! Too bad they didn't have my size so we moved on to the next shop and I wasted no time in getting it. Better still, it came with a 30% discount, so I only paid $90 for it. Love it! Can't wait to get better n start my jogging sessions again. Must say Queensway is a real treasure trove...will definitely go back for more.

Back to Sat, it was a pain getting home after Queensway since I live in the God foresaken part of Singapore called Sengkang... spent 2 hours trudging home on a bus... it's high time I go for a test drive n buy a car! Totally zonked out when I got home at 11 and didn't wake up 12pm the next day missing church for the 2nd week.... very very guilty....

Had lunch with mum n dad in front of the TV again and decided I should be a good girl n start tidying my desk since CNY is round the corner. It's amazing how much rubbish I can accumulate over a couple of months...threw away 3 bags full but my room still looks as cluttered as ever. Shall try again next weekend. Need to get new shelves too so that my 3 boxes full of stuffies can see daylight once again.

Highlight of the day....RAIN'S COMING concert! A friend had complimentary tix so I went with her to watch it. I've come to the conclusion that Rain is a dancing cyborg(neither did he sing very much nor have very much facial expression) and as merv says, the stage is definitely more interesting than him. Was very facinated by the stageworks n of cuz the fake rain n Rain's bare chest though. The whole concert seem more like a musical with a random plot. All in all, would say it's worth the lowest price ticket of 188 but definitely not 888.

That's the end of my weekend and also the end of my skiving... back to writing once again.....

Valentine

Does anybody out there have this song - Valentine by Martina McBride?

Have it on my old lap top but can't seem to transfer it over to my mac. Any kind soul who has it, pls send it to my gmail: liyunlin@gmail.com Thanks a mil!

Love this song to bits...never fails to make me feel all sentimental...if I ever get married, this song is definitely on the playlist....guess I better find a guy who likes this too...:p

Valentine
Martina McBride

If there were no words
No way to speak
I would still hear you
If there were no tears
No way to feel inside
I’d still feel for you

And even if the sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart until the end of time
You’re all I need, my love, my valentine

All of my life
I have been waiting for
All you give to me
You’ve opened my eyes
And showed me how to love unselfishly

I’ve dreamed of this a thousand times before
But in my dreams I couldn’t love you more
I will give you my heart
Until the end of time...
You’re all I need, my love, my valentine

And even if the sun refused to shine
Even if romance ran out of rhyme
You would still have my heart until the end of time
’cause all I need is you, my valentine
You’re all I need, my love, my valentine

Dilemma...

Right i know i said i wanna get a car real soon... however i haven't gotten off my lazy ass to go for a test drive so that I can decide whether the swift is for me...

To complicate things further, thanks to Carol from UOB (hee hee)... I'm now in a dilemma whether to go ahead n get the Swift or to switch camps and go for the Mazda 3. The Swift is really cute, sporty and comes in yellow but so does the Mazda 3.

Suzuki swift is smaller, easier to park and a great car from the many reviews i've heard n read...

On the otherhand, the Mazda 3, although costing $2000 more, has a higher OMV, is a proper sedan (k...to be honest, i never liked hatchbacks for aesthetic reasons, so SUVs, MPVs, CUVs are out of the qn for me though I'm in love with the Dodge Caliber big time...).

How how how...decisions, decisions, decisions.

Think the test drive will prob gonna b the tie breaker....heard the pick up for the swift isn't great... so if the mazda performs better in this dept, it'll prob win me over.

Hmm...having said the above...for a couple of hundred of dollars more I can have the Subaru Impreza...much sportier car & def value for money......or perhaps for a first car I shouldn't splurge so much n go for a cheaper all new Lancer...it's a beauty from the file pix i've seen...

Night at the Museum

Just got back from the movies with BFF Rachel(result of reading too much pink is the new blog :p ). Had a wicked time :)

Caught a great movie - Night at the Museum. Would recommend it to anyone who has had a long week and wants something brainless & light hearted. It's super duper hilarious, definitely great for a Friday nite when all u wanna do is chill n keep the alcohol at bay. We need to keep our livers healthy b4 we challenge ourselves to the liquid buffet at Pan Pac.

Kiez I'm real tired & I have an interview 2moro at 11am...Before I concus, let me note down my fav line from the movie: Quiet. My Dumb Dumb wants to speak.

Love that easter festival stone face sculpture!

Nitez :)

Keep your cool with construction stocks

First and foremost, I must state that I'm no analyst or stock expert, neither do I invest in stocks (reason being that I don't get paid very much and have yet to save up enough to buy my first lot...don't believe in playing penny stocks either as I have no time to monitor them). The following is just my 2 cents worth on construction counters.

The increased activity and headline grabbing resurgence in sections of the property market have resusitated retail investor interest in construction shares. The sector is said to rebound from the doldrums with the two integrated resorts (IRs), upmarket condominium projects at Marina Bay and Orchard Road, and a hive of smaller residential developments.

In the past five trading sessions, penny construction stocks such as BBR Holdings, CSC Holdings and Hiap Hoe all registered gains of more than 60 per cent.

However, optimism in the construction camp has failed to win me over. Call me conservative or sceptical, I never had an affinity towards construction plays. Many are family-runned, don't possess a stellar track record, with some in the red for years, payout low or no dividends and somehow strikes me the way how china stocks are like to some investors.

I guess many in the market share the same sentiments as despite the buying interest, there is little research coverage on such shares, given that most analysts have given up on the sector after the property market turned sour a few years ago.

Investors appear to have made up their minds on which firms they feel will benefit from the pickup, focusing on niche property developers such as Hiap Hoe and Lum Chang Holdings.

With total construction demand estimated to grow about 12-15 billion a year for the next 5 years by some analysts, this will no doubt be a booster for construction shares.

However, investors must also be realistic that though the general market sentiment might be rosy for now, but at the end of the day it's just going to be the lucky few companies or counters for that matter who will emerge victorious from the tenders and stand to benefit. Buying into counters who are unable to jump onto the IR, Grade A office or luxury residential properties bandwagon will bring you nowhere. It has also been said that big international builders are expected to clinch most of the work, with the local boys becoming sub-contractors.

At this present moment, no one knows who the jackpot winners will be, so going with the flow and buying into random construction plays now would be equivalent to gambling. It's risky business.

As United Overseas Bank's head of deposits, investment and insurance strategy, Tay Han Chong would advise, investors should definitely use their heads rather than their hearts, keeping emotions and noise in the market out of the picture.

Besides, the optimism in the construction sector may be shielding an impending storm. Construction stocks have always been laggards. With blue chips looking to reach the end of their line in the bull run and laggards such as technology and construction plays joining the party, is this a sign that it's time to say goodbye to the good times for the STI?

Keeping in mind the last building boom in 1999, where construction counters fell in a heap the following year as the stock market nosedived in the wake of the dot.com bust, it definitely doesn't hurt to have your enthusiasm nailed down at this point in time where the road ahead for the local bourse is less picture perfect than before.

2007年要坚持亢奋到底！

在网上看到阿里巴巴集团（Alibaba Group）创办人及首席执行员马云曾经说过这么样一句话：“今天很残酷，明天更残酷，后天很美好。可是绝大部分人死在明天晚上，看不到后天的太阳。”

马云接着说，所以活着的人每天要非常地努力，活好今天，你才能走到明天，走过了明天你才能见到后天的太阳。

2006年可能因为犯太岁，过得并不是很顺利，但2007年我不会坐以待毙。我会努力，因为我不要一直处于黑暗，我希望自己是坚持到破晓时分的勇者，能有机会去迎接绚丽的彩霞，看见太阳！

开年之际，阿Q一点，给自己打气，勇往直前：加油、加油、加油！！！

My first gym workout!

From today onwards, I'm a gym virgin no more!

Finally got my lazy ass to SPH's gym on the 7th floor this morning. Didn't have anything urgent to clear for today so I decided I could afford some me time before work. Besides I really ballooned quite a bit from my China & Bangkok holiday.... just had a scan through my bangkok photos... bleargh...

Fortunately there wasn't anyone at the gym so I could play around with the machines. Never used any gym equipment b4 cuz I always zao PE lessons in JC and thot that my daily walk to sch when I was at uni was more than sufficient exercise...

Managed to run 3.5km on the treadmill and did 50 crunches. Didn't take too long... about 35 minutes in total. Running on a treadmill is so much ezier than doing rounds in the park. Think I lasted longer and didn't feel as tired. Pretty good to listen to my ipod & think about stuff while jogging too.

Just that it was a little disappointing to find that after all that running I only burnt off 250 calories.... will be more careful with the rubbish I stuff into my mouth in future.

Hopefully I can keep up this routine at least twice a week. Aiming for 5km next! Kiez no more skiving at work so that I can have more me time in future... toodles...

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing everybody a blessed and wonderful 2007!

I'm off to Bangkok in 5 hours... b back on the 4th...till den :)

in love again...

Roberto Cavalli velvet brocade mary janes

n this other green/gold brocade pair at Nine West which is on sale...

Someone please stop me...

Merry Xmas

To the visitors of my humble home:

Have a blessed Xmas :)


illustration by Jianwei e 色叔叔