My Bo Chup Attitude in Life...

Once in a while, I have people around me who will chat with me and suddenly offer comments about certain friends of mine saying that they are no good and blah blah blah blah blah... They may not know my friends very well but they will always like to offer their comments. Very often than not, I will usually listen and not comment on anything.

I do not really like to comment on what other people has to say about my friends, simply because there is no point in arguing back with them trying to "protect" my friends. I am not really trying to avoid arguments. It is more of everyone has their own opinions about other people. They may know my friends at a different point of their life and thus view my friends in this way. However, most importantly, I judge my friends by how they treat me and not how they treat others. If my friends are treating me well as how a friend should treat each other, I see no reason why I should treat them otherwise. Even if they may be a bastard or a bitch to some other people, it really doesn't matter much to me. As long as they do not treat me that way, they can be the bastard or bitch in everyone eyes but they are still my friend. Things always happen for a reason. There may be a reason behind why they are such a bastard or a bitch but which not everyone will know the real reason, unless you are the privileged few. After all, I am in no position to judge them too since I am no angel myself.

In a way, I guess this is the bo chup attitude that I use on things around me. I do things the way I like and think is right, treat people the way they treat me and in a way, live my life the way I like. Just like even though sometimes I do know what I say may offend a colleague of mine, I will still tell her what I think I should let her know. After all, I don't like to keep too much things to myself. I have enough things that I am keeping to myself. I don't need to bother myself with such small little things. I already have many things running in my mind at the same time that I do not need to load anymore things into it anymore.

Afterthoughts of Travelling Alone...

I have been wanting to write about travelling alone for quite sometime. Just that I keep forgetting about it. :P

A lot of people were actually quite surprised that I travelled alone when I was in China. My colleague keep asking me whether I am sure that I am really going to travel alone in China. Especially when it is not a one day kind of thing. I will be there travelling alone for around a week. My manager told me that he didn't think it is ok to travel alone in China because to him, travelling alone is possible if you are going to those more developed countries such as Australia, New York and etc. China is not within his list of travelling alone kind of countries. He said that I had proven him wrong about it after all.

This was the first time I travelled on my own. I have been to Thailand, Malaysia and Japan but all those trips that I made were together with other people. So it is actually something quite different for me to travel alone in Beijing and Shenyang. The feeling is very different from travelling together with other people.

I don't deny that travelling alone is kind of lonely. You don't have anyone else to share with your discoveries, you don't have anyone else to talk to on the trip and most importantly, you don't have another person to share food with (like my Peking Duck saga) and there's only so much that you can eat alone. :( You also have to learn how to 自拍. Haha... I remember thinking to myself halfway through my trip alone that I do not want to travel alone again the next time. It's just too lonely I guess.

However, in a way after I completed my trip, I had this thinking in my mind that it is not bad to travel alone after all. I have the option of going to places where I want to go, eating what I want to eat, waking up in the morning then planning for my day's iternery and etc. I don't have to worry if my companion is fine with the accomodation that I am booking as I am not very particular about my lodgings since I only need a bed to sleep in. It's like... I am free to do whatever I want to do. Even my trip up to Beijing and Shenyang was kind of made last minute because I am free to decide what I want to do. I guess I do need this kind of freedom once in a while.

I have no idea if I still have a chance to travel alone another time. But I do know I will definitely still do it if I have the opportunity. Till then... :)

It's Time...

I was writing in my small book about somethings and I came to a realisation... Something that I had realised for quite sometime and someone had told me but I just somehow choose to ignore and turn a deaf ear to.

It's time for me to move on and not keep thinking about things that will not happen. It is better to preserve some memories and let it be the way it is now instead of letting things happen and maybe things will turn out ugly and ruin the fond memories that I had. Just let things remain as what it is now...

Friend from Long Ago...

I was looking through the photos in Facebook just now when I saw a familar face. She was probably my best friend when I was in Secondary School.

I still remember our friendship started in a weird way. We were not in the same class in Secondary 1 and 2 but we were from the same CCA. Somehow we just started talking to each other along the corridor outside our classroom after we knew each other. We were in the same class in Secondary 3 and 4 and started hanging out with each other more often especially when we plan and organise activities for our CCA.

I still remember we used to lunch alot in Mos Burger and KFC. We used to hold our CCA meetings with a few others in KFC. I still remember the time a bunch of us used to spend together just talking, making fun of each other, planning for our CCA meetings outside the Scouts Room. They were all very fond memories...

For some reason, I just decided to give her a call for a chat. She got married last year which I was invited to and now she is already five months pregnant! So fast... I am kind of happy for her because I know how much she want to have a kid young. She told me that she had quit her job and is now working as a property agent.

We chatted for a while more and agreed to meet up for dinner sometime near my birthday. I am looking forward to meeting this old friend. :)

Love is not complicated, Human is...

I was browsing this blog when I saw the blogger writing this: "Love is not complicated, Human is... Its We ourselves make our relationships complicated because no one will truely know what's on the other person's mind..."

I can't help but agree with how true it is. Relationships will not be as complicated if you know what's on the other person's mind. But how often can you find someone whom you truely know his / her mind? At least I know I have yet to find that someone. Does that someone even exist?

Collection of Memories

I was in my room looking for some cds when I saw this pretty box in the drawer. I could not recall what did I kept inside so I decided to open it up and see. Inside that box, was a stack of postcards. I used to collect postcards, especially those movie postcards. I still have stacks of them in my house which I think I should clear one of these days when I'm free. They are taking up too much space liao. As I have so many postcards, I used to use them as my "diary". The stack of postcards inside the box, was a collection of my memories of many many years ago.

Those postcards were around 5 years old. It stirred up memories of my past relationship and my thoughts about it then. Things that I had totally forgot about until I read about it...

I bought a new book when I was in China that I am intending to use as a diary. It's time to get back to writing in a proper book. I think I still like the feel of writing in a book. :)

Back to School...

I have finally decided not to drag my feet anymore and go back to school. It has been quite sometime since I had graduated from my Advanced Diploma so I figured that I really should get back to school. It is time for me to get my degree... Not that I am those who LOVES studying. In a way, I think it is a must for me to get a degree if I want to move on in my career. Right now, I am not up there, neither am I down there. So in short, I am stuck here.

Actually I wanted to go study for my degree last year but because RMIT rejected my appeal for their 1.5 years course, I decided to be KL and not study even though they accepted me for their 2 years course. :P Now it's a bo bian kind of thing lah. I am not getting any younger. If I want to study, now is the time to do so. Any later, I have no idea if I still have the mood to go back to school. :P

Time to go back to school!

Things Changed. People Changed. I Changed.

For some reason, the thought of "Things Changed. People Changed. I Changed." has been on my mind since yesterday. Maybe because yesterday was the first time I saw her in person ba. My ex bf's current gf.

Even though we had broken up, my ex bf and I remained very good friends mainly because we were very good friends before we got together. He is someone whom I can tell everything to but that's about it for the both of us.

My ex bf's gf and I have a mutual friend and I tagged along to the dinner outing that they are having. In short, I am extra lah... When I first saw my ex's gf, the first thing I did was to sms him and exclaimed "Your pattern kind of girl!" Haha... I think he was a bit -_-'''' as he replied saying "then what do you expect?" Haha... I was like how would I know she is SO your type? It's not about looks and all. It's the feeling that she's the type of girl he fancy... In a way, she just feel like another him... The feeling of them being just right for each other is kind of hard to shake off. Provided they don't kill each other first. :P

After seeing her, chat with her and etc, the thought of Things Changed. People Changed. I Changed just suddenly popped up into my mind. Many years ago, we may be the right one for each other then. However, as the years passed, things have changed, people changed and so did I. When I look at it now, it is very hard to imagine being together with my ex even though we are very good friends. Maybe at that point of time, we were right together. However, that is in the past. I guess maybe because I have changed. I am no longer the girl who knows him 8 years ago. Neither is he the guy I know 8 years ago. My thinking have changed. He was no longer the right guy for me. I guessed that is probably one of the reason why the two of us broke up many years ago too.

I guess I have changed as I met different people along the way in life. Things that happened to me also make me take a brand new outlook of life. I guess it is also one of the reasons why I have become so bo chup at somethings. Things that may or may not concern me. Sometimes I do find it hard to explain why is it that I have changed so much that I can barely understand myself anymore. At times, I am left questioning myself why am I doing things the way I will never do many months or even years ago. I have yet to get an answer. Whatever it is, life still goes on. I need to move on too. At least I really hope I can...

Live from 桃仙机场

I am now sitting in a cafe at 桃仙机场 of Shenyang waiting for the time to board my plane to go back to Shanghai. I did not manage to meet up with my friend but I was still quite ok alone. After all, I managed to travel alone in Beijing with no difficulty so why would Shenyang pose any problem right? I think my mum was kind of shocked when she heard that I travel to Beijing alone. I did not tell her I am going to Beijing at all because it was all a last minute decision. I better get prepared for a scolding from her when I reach home. :P

I will be going back to Singapore tomorrow. I am away from Singapore for almost 2 weeks. I think this is the first time I have been away from home for so long but the funny thing is that I don't miss home as much as I thought I will. But no matter what, I am still looking forward to being back home. :)

Freezing Cold in Shenyang...

I am currently in Shenyang and it is freaking cold here!!! It is like 20 Degrees outside and feels like 16 Degrees when the wind blows! Brrr... Damn cold lor...

Raining in Shenyang

I got into Shenyang at around 8+ the night before. I was hungry but had no mood to try out any local food so I bought a cup noodles, thinking of eating it in the hotel room. I got back to the hotel and wanted to fill the kettle with tap water but changed my mind after I saw that the water that was flowing out from the tap looks yellowish. Luckily I bought some biscuits as backup so those became my dinner instead. :(

My second day in Shenyang started off in a bad way. First, it was raining when I woke up. Then, the tour guide that I had arranged to bring me around for a one day tour in Shenyang sent me an sms saying that due to the rain, the one day tour will be cancelled. Damn it! I was looking forward to it lor... I went back to bed for a while then woke up at 8 plus and went down to have breakfast in the hotel. The breakfast the hotel provided taste very awful lor. I will rather stay in my room and eat biscuits for breakfast tomorrow morning than to go down and have their breakfast again. :P

Since it was raining, I decided to go to their 五爱市场 first as I want to stay indoors. I was hoping that the rain will stop soon so that I can go to 沈阳故宫 by myself. This place is even more 夸张 than Shanghai and Beijing's wholesale market lor. It has one WHOLE shopping center just selling shoes alone... Power! Too bad I had already bought 2 pairs of shoes in Shanghai liao or else I will don't mind getting some shoes. :P I did however buy 2 turtle neck tops from other wholesale shopping center. No choice lah... It is really cold and even though I was wearing a jacket over my tshirt, I can still feel how cold it is especially when the wind blows. I was so tempted to buy their jackets! Their winter jackets are so pretty! The only reason why I never get them is because I won't be needing them in Singapore. So sad... :(

I took a cab down to 沈阳故宫 after I visited the 五爱市场 even though it was still raining then. I have no idea what time the rain will stop so there's no point waiting any longer. The palace was not as big as what I had expected it to be. It took me 1 or 2 hours before I finished exploring that place. During my stay in 沈阳故宫, a drama happened! As it was raining, so I was carrying an umbrella with me while I explored the palace. I left my umbrella outside one of the halls showing some exhibits and by the time I left the hall, my umbrella was gone! I was very angry because the rain was not very small, I was already feeling very cold from the weather and as much as I don't mind getting wet from the rain, I will definitely mind if it was because someone stole my umbrella! I walked around the palace and soon spotted someone with my umbrella! I went up to the man and confronted him asking him to return me the umbrella that he had stolen. He tried to deny saying that it was a mistake, he took the umbrella by mistake and etc but I just ignored his explanation and took my umbrella and left. I can't believe someone actually stealing an umbrella!

After I left the palace, I went to a restaurant nearby to have lunch. I tried this dumpling from the restaurant called because I could vaguely remember the taxi driver telling me that the dumpling from that restaurant is a must try. The dumplings taste not bad lah... Something different but I wasn't very impressed by it too. :P It was later when I realised that I went to the wrong shop! Haha... I went back to the hotel after that to get a change of clothes to something thicker. No choice lah... It was really too cold for me... Brrr...

I went roaming around their shopping area called 中街 after I went back to the hotel and changed. 中街 is a bit different from the usual shopping scene in Singapore. Very few high end retail shops and etc. The food there interest me more instead. I bought this 鸡蛋饼 from this store along the road, a stick of 麻辣鱿鱼 and also this famous 肉饼. The food are actually quite nice, just that I find the 肉饼 a tad too salty.

The 鱿鱼s waiting to be cooked

The famous 肉饼

Inside the 肉饼

Shenyang was not as bad as I thought after all...

One Night in Beijing...

I reached Beijing at around 9plus in the morning and took a taxi to the hotel. Since I will be here for only a night, I decided to stay in a room that is rather small and cost like less than S$30. After all, I only need a bed to sleep in for the night. :P

The first impression that Beijing gave me was that it is not as congested when compared to Shanghai. The roads are wider, the air is definitely very bad because it is hazy no matter where I look. Traffic in Beijing don't seem quite as bad as it is in Shanghai but from what I heard, they are still having the alternate days driving ruling in order to reduce pollution.

I made a trip up to 八达岭 which is part of the Great Wall of China. It was really very wow! It is really amazing how did they build this up so many many years ago. As I was too lazy to climb up there from the bottom, I took the cable car up to the top and went downwards! Haha...　I know that's cheating. :P I spent 3+ hours up there before I decided to leave the place.

I went to this wholesale center called 秀水市场　after that and I realised that Beijinese can speak English very well! You can hear them speaking fluently English to those Ang Mo tourists there. This is something that I did not notice in Shanghai when I was at their wholesale center. I saw a fan there that I thought is quite funny... Oh the proud Chinese... Lol...

I actually wanted to try the Peking Duck from this restaurant called 全聚德 which was recommended to me by a taxi driver. I went all the way to 前门 for it but left without eating... Partly because there are lots of people there and another part is because the minimum order for the Peking Duck is half a duck! There's no way I can finish half a duck by myself so bo bian I left Beijing without eating my Peking Duck! :( But I did buy some Peking Duck to bring back to Singapore. Must 安慰 myself a bit mah. :P

As I was still pretty early, I took Beijing's MRT to 王府井 which is sort of equivalent to Singapore's Orchard Road. Wah liao... The whole street is full of Li Ning's boutique lor. I find that his shop is a copy of both Nike and Adidas. The logo is a modified version of Nike's and the slogan, Adidas!

I explored the nearby streets and came across this street called 东华门美食坊. I was hoping that I can find something interesting for dinner since I did not get to eat my Peking Duck. One thing I realised after being to Shanghai and Beijing is that people in China loves to eat things on sticks. You can find all sorts of perculiar things that they put on sticks and eat either fried or just cooked. Fruits which are put on sticks and eaten just that way or made into 冰糖葫芦, or weird stuff such as silk worms, seahorses, starfish and etc.

I lost my appetite when I saw these... Yucks!

I went back to the hotel without my dinner. Lost all my appetite. I have no idea how did some people eat these. Yucks!

Shopping and Beautifying in Shanghai...

I met up with my cousin who opened a hair salon in Shanghai over the weekend. Other than eat, I think the thing that I did the most while I am in Shanghai is probably to shop and also to beautify myself.

She brought me shopping at this wholesale center where they sell a lot of shoes and I got off with 2 pairs of boots which I may not even get a chance to wear in Singapore. :P Shopping in Shanghai or maybe in China is a totally difference experience when compared to Singapore. In Shanghai, you have to bargin hard in order to get the best price of the things that you wantto buy. For example, initially I was quoted 178RMB for one of the pair of boots that I bought. My cousin managed to help me bargin with the shop owner and we walked off with the boots for only 80 RMB! That's more than half the original price quoted. According to my cousin, that's because business there is so competitive that the shop owner will rather earn less from you than lose the business to the other shops. I won't wonder why she say that business is very competitive there because the wholeplace are selling shoes and shoes and shoes! Later in the day, I bought another 2 bags in a shopping center where we had our dinner. I might have bought clothes too if they are not selling autumn wear in Shanghai now. So sad... :(

For the beautifying part, I permed my eyelashes, rebond-ed my hair again and did a pedicure too. All at no cost, thanks to my cousin. :P She helped me permed my eyelashes while the hairstylists in her salon helped me rebond my hair and refused to charge me at all. She said I look like Betty Boop now because of how curly my eyelashes are now. In the end, all I can do is to buy her dinner and buy snacks for her hairstylists as a sign of gratitude. She even paid for my pedicure. It has been quite sometime since I last did a pedicure because it is so expensive to do it in Singapore. It costs like only S$14 for a pedicure in Shanghai while it will cost at least double the price for the same thing in Singapore. Ok lah... The place to do the pedicure is not as nice as what we are used to in Singapore but the same things still get done. I am pretty ok with that. :P

I will be travelling to Beijing alone tomorrow morning. It is sort of a last minute decision to go up to Beijing. After all I had not planned to go at all. If not for the fact that I had more or less done all that I can do already in Shanghai over the last few days, I may not even travel out of Shanghai. This time it is really a trip on my own. I will not be meeting anyone there and I will be all alone there. I have not plan to do anything yet but I hope I will have the time to go up to the Great Wall of China. What's being in Beijing without going up to Great Wall of China right? 不到长城非好汉! Haha...

I will be making a trip up to Shenyang after Beijing. A short trip also because I have a friend who is staying there. But I may not be meeting my friend also. No plans yet. It all depends on whether my friend is available to meet me or not. If not, I am sure I will be fine alone too.

I am sort of looking forward to making a trip alone. It will definitely be a different experience as I cannot depend on anyone. Like the past few days I have been depending on my cousin to bring me around, help me bargin and etc. This time round, I have to find my way around myself. I have to be independent and carry out things myself with no help from anyone else. I will survive! But first thing first, I think it is time for me to get a watch. I forgot to bring mine alone and I keep losing track of time because I don't check on my hp often as nobody will call. Time to get a watch! :P

Overdose on Coke...

I am someone who is very particular about the plain / mineral water that I drink. I refuse to drink any plain / mineral water that I feel that has a taste to it. I don't drink Evian (yucks!), I can still make myself drink Ice Mountain. Other than that there isn't any much mineral water that I drink.

When I reach Shanghai, the first thing my colleague and I did after we had our dinner in a nearby eatery, was to go to a convenience store to grab some drinks and stuff. I grab a huge bottle of coke and a small bottle of mineral water. I didn't dare to get the big one because I wanted to try and see if there's any weird taste in it. Coke is supposed to taste the same no matter which country it is from so I guessed that's pretty safe. At least it is a drink that I am familiar with.

So now whenever I need to get a drink, Coke is my choice most of the time. The lucky thing is that Coke is really dirt cheap here... 1 600mL bottle of Coke costs only 2.50 RMB which will be slight more than S$0.50. Really dirt cheap. My Japan colleague and I were so surprised at how cheap it is and the place we bought the Coke at is most probably already ripping us.

So right now I am having an overdose of Coke in China... Hee... Think I will stay away from Coke for sometime after I go back to Singapore. :P

Raining in Shanghai...

My tradeshow ended this afternoon and now I am back in the hotel... How I wish I can go out and play now but it's raining lor... So sian...

Thoughts of Shanghai after so many days here? The traffic here is very scary... They drive anyway they want lor... They machiam like ignore all rules like that... Their no smoking sign is non-existent one. You can see no smoking sign in the exhibition hall, restaurant but you can still see people puffing away... It's totally unlike Singapore... Other than that I think it is pretty ok...

I will be making a trip down to Beijing and Shenyang next week. I hope these 2 places will be nice... At least I think Beijing will be. :)

Live from Shanghai...

Heh... I am now in Shanghai loh... The flight from Singapore to Shanghai took around 5+ hours. I took the 10+ flight in the morning so I reached Shanghai at around 3+ in the afternoon yesterday. The flight was ok... I watched Sex and the City on board the plane... I had wanted to catch that movie when it was screening a few months ago but had no chance to do that. So it's a good thing that they are showing it on SQ for the month of September. :D

I like my hotel room! Very nice and big... I almost can't bear to think of leaving it a few more days later liao... Haha... I will upload a few pictures of the room once I can... I can't seem to be able to upload it on Blogger now...

Food was ok lah... I only had a meal here so far so I can't comment too much... :P But I do hope the food is as good as what one of my friend said... :P I am looking forward to my Free and Easy time... :D

Update: I had just update the post with the photos of the hotel room. Nice right? :D