Random thoughts...

Someone asked me today how I find the time to blog. I realised I don't, just like a lot my other friends who have more or less ceased their blogging activities (ie. Claritee, Soulvibes etc). Unlike some who blog so that they can let the entire world know what they are doing, others blog only so that friends whom they hardly see can still be updated once in a while (Facebook status not counted). So Ms Claritee, Mr Soulvibes etc.. I'm still waiting for updates on your blogs, especially now that I can hardly come online, and I don't get to see you all too...

My new job was supposed to allow me more time to see my friends, rather than have them come to my office just to deliver food. Why is it then that I end up having even less time for them now? In the past, at least they could come up with food. With monster here now, I doubt they can even step foot into the lift lobby.

Interestingly enough, just as I mentioned in my earlier entry, my most often meet-up "friend" is really someone who gets paid to see me. Which may or may not be a good thing since I think bottling too much stuff within me has made me blabber a lot more things that I think I shouldn't have. I need to learn to shut up and watch tv more. Haha...

On a side note, I'm impressed by WL's honesty. Frankly, I don't think I'd ever do what you do. Whatever and however things turn out, remember I'll always support you, k dearest? =)

On a super side note, should I reply Jo's message on Facebook?

Intolerance, a step towards downfall?

Couldn't help but applaud when I read the parliamentary comment by Assoc Prof Koo (Tanjong Pagar GRC) when he stated that intolerance, and not the economic crisis, poses the biggest threat to Singapore. Finally, a person who's willing to call a spade a spade, and not deal with the matter in a roundabout manner.

If like what Prof Thio said, that the media had blown up the entire AWARE saga, why on earth did she deem it fit to raise it in parliament again, now that the dust has supposedly settled? If the media were truly biased in their reporting, they could have totally left out your and another unknown MP's parliamentary speech. The fact is that (as Prof Thio would probably know since she lectures on Human Rights anyway), the media is still made up of humans, and humans are entitled to expression, reporters or not. As long as they do not go overboard in their reporting, who are you to stop them from congratulating the new-old exco from scoring the coup against the team led by your mother?

The way I see it (not that my view really really matters, of course), the whole parliamentary speech is like a broken tape recorder played by a sore loser. If the papers had slanted towards your mum's "we-should-bring-down-the-pro-gay-AWARE-people", would you, or Mr Sin still accuse the papers of being biased, for not sufficiently reporting on "the other side"? The fact is, you won't.

Frankly, I totally agree with our Minister of State for Defence (ok, I admit I didn't know he was a Minister of State before this, but that's not THAT bad, right?) that "While we focus our energies on solving this economic crisis, we should never lose sight of the long-term challenge of building a tolerant, diverse and inclusive infrastructure where everybody has a private space within the bigger common space". Lest you or your mum accuses me of being "sexually challenged" (haha.. what a funny term, no wonder people had to write in to the forum to comment on it), let me just clarify that I am not (disliking certain males that I have to deal with on a routine basis doesn't count, I'm sure). My only difference is probably just that I have friends whom you view negatively. But that doesn't matter, frankly, because to me, they are still priceless. Sexual preference does not make or break a person. In fact, some of my dearest friends are way better than those "normal" ones who may be useless, less caring and downright self centred.

Besides, if you look at it from a policy point of view, if you were to argue that it is these people who affect the growth of our population, given that they will probably not form a "normal" family unit, perhaps you may explain the difference between them, and a not-married-and-probably-will-end-up-single-for-the-rest-of-their-lives "normal" being, who too, does not in any way aid in the growth of our nation. As long as everyone contributes to improving the society, who are you to judge others? Just like what our pledge says "To built a democratic society, based on justice and EQUALITY". Justice is insufficent if you do not have equality as well.

To further clarify, I am not exerting that you may not take your anti-gay views. But do not attempt to impose it on others who choose to look at it from another view. As long as one doesn't step past others' boundaries, it is fine whatever you choose because that is your own life.

Which brings me to another point about keeping within boundaries. Audrey mentioned the other day about GLC's ex COO overstepping the boundaries when he called her home after she missed his call on her handphone. That, I truly agree too. In this day and age where mobile phones are a common sight, home phones are really dedicated to certain individuals whom we deem important enough. So it's just pure rude and annoying if you can't get a person, and you have to call the person's home to hunt down the person. If it is not life and death, so be it. In fact, we agree that it is as rude and ill mannered as calling people at ungodly hours of the day for non life-and-death matters. (For the most important friends in my life, for eg. Randall, Gary, Qi, Koon, Lijia, Guoxing, Itak da ge, you guys are obviously exempted. I don't even mind being on call 24/7!)

Now that I'm more or less done with my ranting, I just can't help but realise that changing jobs really doesn't make a different to the amount of time I have in my life. Was just hit with the realisation that the person who seems to see me most, and to a certain extent, see the real me (or hear my weirdest blabbering) most is actually Shaun, rather than any of my closer friends. Perhaps cause I'm really consciously not allowing myself to whine too much to you all (yeah.. i know I still do despite me actively not letting you all in on a lot already). Come to think of it, Shaun really has to be careful, haha.. someday I might just have to kill-person-rid-mouth (translate into Chinese). Haha.. Still, don't worry, I've finally figured that in trying to make you guys proud of me, the other important thing is to be happy too, just like what GK or Itak da ge said when I asked whether I'm useless if I just gave up... I'm sure I'll be able to be successful at work and find the cheerful me (haha.. was suddenly reminded of nespray) again so that you guys can really really be proud of me.

One baby step

Yup, it's one baby step towards my ultimate goal of making my most important friends proud of me. Seriously though, I'm beginning to wonder if I had said anything wrong to justify the pretty good outcome from the hearing today. Or maybe my ears were bad and the order wasn't what I thought I heard. Otherwise, why were they so surprised that I managed to get that order? Whatever, at least I didn't get scolded by the AR (who is really nice, and will probably be amongst my favourite, at least for now) and got more than 50% of the costs I asked for. =)

Oh, and my first reaction when I came out from chambers? To "announce" to my most important friends (ok, in the end more people knew, and I didn't sms some of the important people too, for eg. Itak da ge, cause I didn't want to bother them). Still, I hope it's just the beginning...

******

On a side note, I really really detest people who borrow my books and refuse to return it. I may have known you for the longest time ever, but that doesn't mean that you can just happily ignore my previous questions on whether my book is with you. Perhaps you should ask poor Calvin how I react when people borrow my things and not have the decency to return it on their own accord. Especially when the book I lent you is not cheap and it's MY book. Bothering me for other things is not going to make me anymore please, especially after the amount of time wasted and MY BOOK! (ok, I think I've emphasised my book sufficiently)

Oh yes, although it feels reassuring to see the phrase "fang fang" again, I'm still undecided whether to respond. Perhaps I've become more hardened, or I've totally given up on you, still, give me some time to decide whether to respond, k?

You know how much I hate to find out about people only through some other means?

You changed your jobs but refuse to admit it right? Why? I'm not stupid, I did a google search and confirmed my suspicion.

Know what? I am pissed. What's with the secretive behaviour these days? If you think you're very great, so be it. I can't even be bothered to talk to you anymore.

You can take a person out of Raffles, but you may not necessary take away the Rafflesian in her

Suddenly had that thought on my way back. For some (strange) reasons, I've never thought of myself having any Rafflesian trait.. Until on my way back home today.

I am competitive. At least in the face of things/people I don't particularly like. Which explains how even more competitive (and crazily stubborn) I've been lately. Doesn't look like it'll be abating any time soon though.

On the bright side, at least I can still say that I'm not an anomaly. At least I've some RGS trait in me. Good or bad? You judge.

Btw, if you ever read this, Brandon

Hope you're feeling better about your driving test!

Don't give up. I'm SURE you'll do fine the next time round. Just have more confidence in yourself, k? Besides, on the bright side, you'll get your licence before 21, unlike me (NO AUNTIE-ING!).. so cheer up and look ahead. I'm still waiting to go out for supper when you pass, k?

Males with English names beginning with "K"...

Yes, if it's you. Stay away.

Haha.

My sense of indifference just moved up another notch.

PS: Gary, I'm really sorry about this evening. I really really didn't mean to fly you kite. In fact, I was really looking forward to dinner today. Whatever it is, sorry.

Much Ado About Nothing

The topic has obviously nothing to do with the Shakespearean work, nor the play with Adrian Pang as the male lead (anyone wants to watch?). It's just a follow-up from 2 incoherent blog entries two nights ago, which obviously have been removed to maintain the sanity of this blog.

******

How often would you tell someone not ultra close to you what you think exactly? Especially if it's to point out what you disagree with.

Being frank leads to two possible results, either(i)you don't get along as well or (ii) you become closer. For most cases, the former holds true. Just like today, I thought your actions were a lot more wary after what transpired the past few days. Rather than your usual more child-like self, I thought I detected the step-three-steps-back-and-keep-your-distance feel. Perhaps I'm just oversensitive, though I don't regret speaking (or rather smsing) my mind, somehow I think you would probably act more like your usual self if you had been kept in the dark.

******

Insignificant events in life may sometimes end up being pretty significant in memory. For some reasons, I've been reminded of Mr Chai more than once this week. Can't really uncover my memory lapse for the earlier event, but at least for today, it was our chat in remote relation to the above that reminded me of Mr Chai (and Mr Lim too). If acquaintance-ship cannot survive the test of truth, then friendship can be described as a raw diamond, the more you polish, the better it gets. Somehow I would still believe that our numerous disagreements and cold wars in school did help us become better friends, or at least, make us annoy the hell out of each other less (then again, I wonder if it did. Haha) Still, those long winded letters of yesteryears will always be one of my most treasured items, even if they only go to show how boliao we were to disagree with every possible issue. But that's what makes friendship most real too, ie. not being afraid to be who you are.

******

Frankly, I still don't think my outburst would have as positive an effect as it had with some of my most important friends. Perhaps I do regret a little about letting you in on what really pissed me off. Still, what's done's done, and there's nothing much I can do now, yeah? I'll just see how things turn out.

Congrats, Itak Da Ge!

Those who have been following my blog would probably know how I view wedding dinners as one of the world's most torturous events, and dread attending such events to be stuck with strangers/people I don't want to see. (Basically I'm anti-social, yah?) Yet, the world's filled with exceptions, especially if those people you are talking about are important enough to you.

And it did happen, the rarity of me looking forward to attending this particular wedding reception AND dragging myself up at 5.45am despite my severe sleep deprivation mode (even without the sleep deprivation part, I haven't even been bothered to get up anytime before 7am these days anyway). But of course, this event was special, special enough to be given a "font-size-60-cum-Bold" status in my mental diary. How could it not be so? Especially when (1) it was da ge's wedding and (2) I was actually invited over despite the distance (the reception was obviously not in Singapore).

Da ge being da ge, I was absolutely sure I would be in safe hands even if I am alone in a foreign land. Being stuck with a whole lot of strangers is usually awkward, particular if they're all relatives/friends of your friend and all of them seem to know each other so well that you're the only odd one out. Still, that wasn't the case today. Edi picked me up from the ferry terminal and gave me my first ever ride on the bike!! Itak, Itak's eldest brother, sister-in-law and 2nd brother ensured that I was never without food and drinks even though they had their hands full. Esp his 2nd brother and Edi. I could tell that they were going all out to make me feel comfortable, chatting with me or making sure that I wouldn't be bored on my own. Edi even had to hunt a seat for my return ferry, otherwise I would probably still be in Tanjung Pinang at this hour. Da ge too. To a certain extent, I could tell that him dragging me in to take the various photographs was his way of looking out for the younger sister and not let her feel awkward. Even though he didn't have to.

To a certain extent, I did feel kind of useless. Angel's close female buddies readily did her make-up for her; her friends from the radio station hosted the reception and sang; her best friend (I presume so) was their driver; da ge's best buddy, Robin, was the "official" hairstylist for almost everyone. And there I was, not being able to do anything, and was being served all the time instead. Perhaps you guys didn't mind, but still, if only I could make myself more useful...

Lest anyone think that I was unhappy as a result, I really wasn't. In fact, the short trip was the refresher to a somewhat drained me. Being able to participate in a closest friend's joyous milestone in life and sharing that simple joy is something that's priceless. Add to that a doze of unexplainable feeling of safe and comfiness. Not forgetting meeting up with Darmaji da ge, someone whom I haven't seen in almost 8 years and just chatting with the da ges, Darmaji's wife and Robin in Darmaji's new residence. Makes me can't help but make the oblique reference to an acquaintance's MSN nick.. 幸福就是如此的简单吧!

Whatever it is, congrats da ge! 祝你和大嫂从今以后都过着happily ever after 的日子!!

Disclaimer: Photographs relating to this post will be included in due time.

Nagoya Part I - At the Airports (20/21 December 2008)

Not that any reader of this blog would still need to know the reason for me having to be at the airport on 20 December 2008, much to my chagrin. Thanks to one of our matters, and not to mention our ultra capable associate director, one of our clients ended up sponsoring my birthday treat to Japan. And so, after watching NTUC Income's soccer match (or rather Lim Tong Hai), I rushed back to pack and whizzed off to the airport.

Apparently according to the brilliant associate director, it's hard to survive in Japan if you do not speak Japanese, or at least that was his reason for wanting someone to pick our CID officer up from the Nagoya airport. Me? In a bid to save clients' money, plus not wanting to be a useless pain, all I had to do was to follow clients' pretty detailed instructions on how to take the airport bus, and act kawaii with "sumimasen" peppered with loads of English and sign language to buy the airport bus ticket. Seriously, there wasn't much of a problem, save for the fact that I missed the bus and had to wait for an hour plus plus for the next one to arrive.

When you've time to kill alone in a foreign land, what would you do? Explore of course! And so, I backtracked into the airport and wandered amongst the array of interesting shops and deco.

Even the sky garden was nice enough to walk around. I particularly loved the part where you could play a tune by hammering the various bells. So much like the Handbell Ensemble in RGS. Beautiful.

Roasted in Winter

What kind of hotel gives dumb solutions like to open your room window if the guest complains that the air conditioner seems to have broken down and the entire room is extremely stuffy?

The place I'm staying at!

And a train just went past... (btw, the hotel is connected to the train station

Argh...

Aside from this minor problem, I'm surviving pretty well here =)

Tong Hai wished me Happy Birthday!!!

Yes, I know I sound totally like a fan girl, but then again, that was really the turning point of my an otherwise horrible day. Despite feeling blue enough to want to hide from the entire world, the chance of watching my favourite local player in real life action made any other reason minor. And so, even though the match was past half-time, I still made my way down to Serangoon stadium. And it was way more than worth it.

Can't remember which year it was, but one of my previous birthday wishes was to have a poster of Lim Tong Hai. And now, instead of a poster, I had the chance of a real-life encounter with Tong Hai! Looks like birthday wishes do come true... in a matter of time. Plus you need to be pretty thick-skinned too. Haha..

Aside from Tong Hai, and since there was this rare opportunity, I managed to get a photograph with David Lee (the real person is so different from the fierce impression I had when he was during matches) and Nazri Nasir respectively too. The only person missing was Steven Tan. Didn't see him although I thought he was confirmed as one of the players too?

Come to think of it, it's been 14 years since Malaysia Cup. Seems so near, yet so far. In fact, yesterday's standard was disappointing. Then again, who cares, since I was more focused on the Number 8 jersey (which, coincidentally was his jersey number in 1994 too).

Then again, I must say bumping in Mr 0543 was a cheering up factor too. Though I realised I accidentally "uncle-ed" him too loudly already"

Of course, that's not to say that everyone else's well wishes and presents are redundant either. In fact, it's always these simple stuff from people who mean a whole world to me that keeps me going each and everytime. In fact, the spoilt brat me actually kept a mental list of the wishes I wanted. You people are my best-est presents in life, so there you go, Gek Koon, I shall use this year's birthday wish to buy another year of friendship.

My Birthday eve dinner, kindly sponsored by Jan (Tiger beer) and Gilson. Thanks for my dessert too, Mr Chan!

噢買尬

無猜無邪 無私無暇 的友情無價 你是買不到的奢華
天涯有天 風景有風 浪花有花 再加上我有你就夠啦

Plus my nicest Mr Randall Tan too....

Farewell to a memory

Whilst spending an entire day cleaning up (ie. dumping away a whole load of things) in my room, sis commented about how when throwing away things, we're also throwing away a part of our memories. Perhaps that's why we can't bear to throw things away. Since young, you've always insisted that we should throw away things we no longer need. Yet, I still see you keeping clothes that you've had since your youth. What does that mean?

In any case, you've succeeded in moulding people who are capable of deleting memories. Just like how we happily threw away loads of the lecture notes/study materials that we had painstakingly compiled.

Sayonara, my first office bag. Thank you for keeping me company through the ups and (more often than not) downs of pupillage. I loved how I could always keep my hands free and feel not much different from a school girl just by having you slung across my shoulders as I wandered everywhere to find myself, or simply to watch the various election rallies. You'll probably be my favourite bag ever, even if that one chapter of life is now history.

Warehousing Duties

For the frog-in-the-well me, this was the first time I've been to a warehousing place. And to think I ended up spending almost the entire day there.

Tiring..

"Life is just so unpredictable"

Either I'm observant when it comes to MSN nicks, or I've a perchant for "borrowing" their nicks to blog. Whatever the case, the multitude of events in the year can be best summed up by Chee Min's too-the-point nick. Whatever the case, I presume I'll not get quoted for quoting MSN nicks this time round since (1) Chee Min doesn't know of the existence of this blog (2) there are no "interesting" photographs of a certain subject to make this entry of any interest.

******

When it comes to opinions, who's to say who's right and who's wrong? You may say that your actions are for the future of your country, but seriously, is it worthwhile to get your way at the expense of your country's economy? Now that hundreds of tourists are stranded in your country, do you seriously think they'll be back anytime in the near future? Who are you kidding?

Or how you're waging war for ... (did you even mention what you were fighting for?)? How is your purported cause more important than the other lives that were lost? And what did you achieve? Because of your purported importance, you've laid to rest so many hopes and dreams of others, including your own. How worth it is it?

Not that I knew anyone who's a victim of these major events in Asia. Yet, these events so close to home cannot help but make me wonder if power, rather than just money is the root of all evils.

The vulnerability of life should, by right, make us treasure what we have even more. Yet, the amazing thing about life is that it's way easier said than done. I, for one, do admit that despite Meisi and Guohui, I still don't make it a point to meet up with my dearer friends as often as I should. Example (1) Lijia's birthday's been over for more than a week, and I've still not scheduled a long overdue meetup. (Deserves 1 slap) Example (2) the once a year meet-up with Ciyao still hasn't materialised. (Deserves another slap) Example (3) When I bumped into Tony and Vivian (ok, not a terrific example, since I'm not that close to them, esp Vivian in the first place) during lunch today, I was mildly stunned to see Vivian pretty heavily pregnant. That goes to show how long since I've last kept in touch with them.

Anyway, on the bright side, it doesn't necessary mean that not keeping in touch means you'll totally not hear/see news about people. Just a moment ago, I did a double take when reading an article on some suit that a Singaporean singer is taking up. A senior counsel and another lawyer James Low. James Low?????? Wait a minute, the senior counsel should be from Drew & Napier, meaning James Low = James Low Yunhui? Haha.. Haven't heard of that name in a really long while. Seriously, I wonder how he's doing now...

PS: I'm still undecided whether to see a doctor about my left eye, despite the affirmative views from Weiguang, Weiling, Cailing. Hopefully it'll disappear by itself tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

Belated Thanksgiving

It's been exactly a week since my encounter with that disgusting old man with a protruded mole on his cheek. Truth be told, the impact still lingers on, though not as sorely felt as last week. Perhaps I've just put too much pressure on myself (not that I didn't enjoy my lessons though). Still, I do not think I deserve to fail, and that, I'll always thank the idiot of a tester aka old man. Oh well, whoever says looks are deceiving will sure have to eat their words in this case..

In any case, there's always a silver lining in everything. It's through falls that you know which outstretched hand awaits you. Then again, I don't know whether it's a good thing or bad one either. The more genuine the concern, the more easily the running tap flows. =) Still, I would give just anything to keep my dearest friends who are the safest harbour I can ever get. Thank you!

Aside from friends this time, there're also some instructors to thank. Whilst I was sitting alone at CDC that day, my warm-up instructor came up to chat and said Eugene called him to ask about my test results. I must have been in quite a bad state at that time though, but I truly am grateful for the words of comfort and the insistence that I book another re-test. Eugene was equally reassuring and smsed over 3 days about booking of my re-test. He even asked for my student ID so that he could help me book. Then again, that was a little late though, since someone from customer service had already offered to help me get the earliest possible date for the retest that afternoon when all I did was to ask another instructor to check on my behalf whether there were available test slots at a particular time. All these, of course, made the probably easily contented me feel ultra loved.

Of course, with so many expectations to meet, I can't possibly not retake (even if I've even less confidence now) right? Though this time round, like what 0543 suggested, I'll take fewer lessons, meaning I'll have more time for myself and those more important to me, for eg. meeting up with my dear friends to celebrate their birthday etc (sorry!!).

******

The above is, of course, not the only reason for me being grateful to people who are important enough to me. Even on Friday when I needed someone to keep me company to do something that may/may not be very safe, I still had a wonderful buddy who agreed gamely to make a detour/have a super late dinner just to go with me. Thanks, my favourite Mr Chan!!! Some people are way more dependable than others (who cannot even be bothered to answer simple questions), and this is what makes them my dearest friends and people I'll do anything for, rather than just mere acquaintances. =)

Our dinner. What's wrong with not having rice?
Stop staring, you rude/ignorant people!

Safiah's Last Day..

Pictures say a thousand words. Or do they?

Not very creative me

When I come up with ambitious ideas like folding 1000 cranes in less than a month, obviously the procrastinator in me will never get it done. Of course that means I've to come up with some last minute ideas..

Now I know why Gek Koon didn't inflate the toy. Haha

But you know what, watching you play with it did more than brightened up a otherwise less bright day. Happy birthday, Guohui, and may you recover soon!

A Crazy Saturday

Just when you thought that being excited about an interview because you can lunch with a friend of yours after that is crazy enough, the same person comes up with even crazier actions for you to shake your head in despair...

Frankly, even up till Friday, I wasn't really that excited about going to Batam. Despite how people oooh and aaah about the prices over at Batam, they were just that. In fact, the only attraction that held for me there was just the chance to meet up with Itak da ge, one of those handful who count as my most important friends, and whom I've not seen in over a year (no thanks to Daryl). Thus, the only thing that made me excited on Friday about my impending day trip was just Itak da ge's comment about getting his girlfriend's boss's car to fetch us.

Perhaps it sounds silly, but the best memory I had of the entire trip was when Itak da ge thrusted the car keys into my hands and allowed me to collect the car from the car park. Mind you, the car wasn't even his car (fyi, it was his girlfriend's boss's car). And he knew that my driving test would only be next Monday. Still, the trust he had in me gave me the warmest and fuzziest feeling. How many would let another drive their car? And there he was, passing me the keys without a moment's hesitation so that I'll get to practise a bit more, even though he kept saying he'll not take the car when I'm driving. Angel didn't complain too, and was even game enough to sit beside me and offer words of encouragement.

Still, the driver for the entire day was still my da ge. In fact, both Angel and him were essentially our driver cum photographer cum tour guides for the entire day, making me feel ultra bad for imposing on them for the entire day. With such wonderful friends like da ge and Angel, what more can I ask for?

The best part about having a local bring you around is that you get to go to places that are off the beaten track. For eg, Angel's work place, aka 106.5fm. Having tuned it to it for a short while when Itak was still working there, having the chance to see for myself how the studio looks like was of course a chance that I would not pass. Unlike how our radio stations would probably look like, 106.5 could well be described as a family home. Situated at the top of a hill, there was nothing post like what you would expect of Mediacorp. Instead, all you had was an apartment with an excellent view, and a whole bunch of people walking in and out, and knowing each other with all familarity. I can imagine how nice and simple it would be to work there. In fact, other than the radio station part, the place was also where a group of little kids gathered every Saturday to learn Chinese. Doesn't all these make the place sound more like a kampong family rather than some commercial station? *nods vigorously*

All good things must come to an end. In spite of me suggesting that we go home earlier, we ended up taking the last ferry back to Singapore. And not before Itak da ge telling me he'll let me see his shop another time, else I would miss the last ferry. So off we went to for our dinner by the sea before heading back to the tiny island called Singapore.

Da ge, thank you for taking the time out to bring us around, even though you didn't have to. In fact, I felt extremely bad to cause Angel to have to get another person to take over for the art session, and you for having to drive us around, follow us everywhere and even pay for a lot of our food/drinks. In fact, thanks for being one of the most wonderful da ge I can ever have. You know, on the way back to Singapore, I mentioned to Shuyun that you would probably sms me later that night if I didn't sms you to let you know I'm back within a certain time. True enough, you really did. And not forgetting the driving part. Thank you so much! The trip to Batam was wonderful, simply cause I got to meet up with you, and meet Angel finally, even if we didn't really chat a lot, I think. I'll aim very hard to pass next Monday, so that the next time you're in Singapore, I'll rent a car and this time round, I'll be your chauffeur, k?