New friends, new beginnings

*The 3 local co-trainers and myself with our guests* (sorry for bad pic but the lighting in that room was really bad and my sis has stolen my camera cos she couldnt find hers)

Remember my last post moaning about the Appellate Advocacy Workshop? On my last night, I made a short speech to the Singaporean Lawyers and the few Bruneian lawyers present to say that the worst for me was over when the Singaporean lawyers arrived. It meant everything was in place and yes, the workshop did run smoothly. I enjoyed their lovely company (and drinks) the last few days and gained much insight into a profession that I have been in for the last four years (can u believe it? 4 yrs!!). It was my absolute pleasure to welcome, entertain and work with Mr N Sreenivasan, Mr VM Lok, Mr CR Rajah SC, Mr S Singh SC, Mr H Kumar, Mr D Koh, Mr S Chacko and Mr S Nair. Not forgetting also the lovable Ms Gigi. I definitely miss their cherry company already and hope to see them at some point during my next trip to Singapore.

In order to facilitate the smooth running of the workshop, I had to be MIA for many things including family functions, religious celebrations, parties, scrapping deadlines and my monthly spa pampering (fortunately the boy was away) but I'm back and slowly getting back in the swing of things. This does mean that I am oh so very slightly behind for my last SIC submission and was unable to take part in many other contests. The power outage due to the heavy storm on Wednesday night didnt help either.

Tonight I need to get some scrapping done as tomorrow I will be fully pampering myself with a facial, mani pedi, body scrub, massage and hair salon treatment in preparation for my Lasik on Friday. (Oh dont worry, I got deals on all of the above so I'm not spending much) Yup, I'm finally making the cut. Fingers crossed I pass the eye test with flying colours to enable me to have the surgery *gulp*

Oh yes, special mention to go to my sis in Oz for getting all distinctions in her 1st semester exams including 2/3 high distinctions (sorry so late), my bro for getting an A for his AS June Chemistry paper and passing his driving test and lastly me for getting a new toy!! muahahaha...

*yes it came with a beautiful white and red leather strap and leather case and now my diary is completely synched so I dont have to worry about waking up in cold sweat wondering whether I have court for the day or not. Oh btw, I did get the white one!!*

Ho hum...

I've had this choccie bar sitting on my table for a week and I havent 'attacked' it. Funny how when food is readily available to me, i dont take it. Even in my throes of wanting to kill a couple of lawyers (or at least throw darts at them) yesterday, I didnt grab the bar....wonder what's wrong....



There always seems to be something to piss my off this week. I dread the upcoming advocacy workshop. Today its someone who has really ticked me off by being a smart ass. U know the type back in ur school days who come up to u after the exams and go, "OMG that was so easy. I managed to write like 20 pages and I put in all my points and so did u say this this and this in ur answer and did you cover this point and I so aced that one" Argh!!! I cant believe I'm facing this even at work!! FFS!!

Anyway...........(breathe)......I hoarded 4 new punches at SC's new arrivals last week so I spend the weekend making lots of cute little cards. Marvy Uchida, I love u. I wan more.....hmm....

Dorchester High Tea & Bling

Its been a stressful past week for me trying to get the Brunei Appellate Advocacy Workshop sorted with minimal help from those that are supposed to give most of it. Many thanks to AB (not Reeds) for all his help.

I unwound with Dorchester High Tea with some gals from the profession on Saturday. I was really looking forward to it but I was rather disappointed by the cold scones and un-rich tea (they skimped on the tea leaves). It reminded my why I didnt go last year. Apparently there are a couple of establishments here that you can get scones and even if they are not as tasty, at least they are warm! Maybe I'm just cynical after having tasted Devonshire scones with loads of cream in the English countryside but this is just my opinion and judging from the numbers that were there, I may be wrong. Anyway, here are a couple more pics :)




Now most of you probably already know that I'm (sort of) engaged....no I still dont use the term fiance...dun ask why. As most people that read this blog are women and we all love our bling (dont lie!!), here is a pic. Taken from CL's blog and I know she isnt too happy with it cos she brought the wrong lens but I still think its loads better than what I could have taken with my normal camera (yes I did try).



Some people have asked me why I didnt go for a bigger stone etc but I'm truly happy with the size of this baby and I asked him not to get me something bigger. There is a little history behind the design I chose as well and its definitely a ring I'll be happy to wear (hopefully) for the rest of my life :)

Parking rants

(1) I hate people who do not park within the lines or so very close to one side so that people who want to park in the space next to it, have difficulty doing so
(2) I hate it when people park at a spot (which is not really a parking spot) infront or near other people’s car where they know that people will have difficulty getting out of a space due to their fricking car being parked (where it shouldn’t be)
(3) People who take more than one parking space….WTF?!! There is a reason why there are lines in the bloody car park!!
(4) Tiny cars just irk the hell out of me….I happily head towards a parking space thinking…FINALLY!....only to get there n see this poxy little car taking up this big parking space….argh!
(5) There is also the motorbikes….Hello!! U can park virtually anywhere but u choose to take a whole car’s parking space…..Grr!!
(6) People who park at the side of the roads where they shouldn’t causing a 2 lane road to become one lane and cause a huge traffic jam or to block the view of cars coming out of a junction hence accident alert!!

Seriously people should just learn to drive and park properly….

20.08.2008

Hah! Bet most of you didnt realise today's date eh?!

Well, I'm posting just for the sake of posting cos of the date but well, a blog is always more interesting with pictures so I'm showing u this card I made using colour inspiration taken from here. This lady makes cards every Monday and she makes me wanna buy ALL the Stampin Up stuff!! (Btw I have incidently ordered some through someone who is now no longer a demonstrator...cant wait!!)


*Yes I 'popped' it!*

Another album

This was the pop-up album made with the SK Kids Online Crop last, last Saturday. Due to the colours I chose, I wasnt sure if it would turn out alright but thankfully it did and it looks alot nicer than I thought it would though I may change the cover la!








I could have had a couple of extra pages if I hadnt stuck the 1st and last pages of the inner and outer accordian album together but its ok la. It was 2am by the time I finished it!! LOL! Wasnt really thinking straight but I'm glad I got to scrap this pics and journal about them :)

Baby Natalie

This is one of my favourite projects and I had alot of fun doing it. My colleague and his wife had a baby in June (yea while I was away) and I knew I was going to "create" something for them. I just didnt know what. On one of my visits to SC, I spied the SEI album which was all ready to be decorated. I added some cute girly PP, stickers and rub-ons to my shopping list and I was ready to go. It was only a few pages (phew!) and I love the result so much I was reluctant to give it away. However, it already has her name on it so I guess she'll have to keep it!! Haha!

*The card I made from the leftover scraps*
*The album in its gift box*





U will note there are no pics as I have yet to meet Baby Natalie but I hope her parents have taken loads. I have another little girl album to work on as one of my old friends gave birth to a darling baby girl last Saturday and I was surrogate nurse for a while...hehe

We have a winner!

Gosh, nice to see people are interested in getting an ATC...keke. However Emily was the first person to get her comment in so it goes to her!! Sorry ladies!

I had a horrible day yesterday, a bad start leading to even worse. Dont really want to talk about it cos I'm so tired of relating the story but I'll show a pic of what happened. Lets just say my fiery red ride has had to go to the hospital again.


Things perked up towards the night when I got a call telling me my *bling bling* (I think CL still wants dibs) was ready and I had a lovely dinner arranged with my gals plus a very special lady from KK. Here she is displaying the famous dessert named after Maurizio's wife.


Look where I've ended up for the 3rd time in a week!


My dental appointment wasnt too scary this morning and I spent lunch celebrating the birthday of one of the people below...keke. We'll be going away this weekend for more partying and celebrating. WohoO!!


*However my boss is back tmr* *groan* Nevermind I have another fun dinner with more gals planned tonite and it'll be steamy!! keke

I was a bit silly...

...and made one too many ATC's for my SK Swap. Does anyone want the above? I'll give it to the 1st person to say yes :)

An award!

I have been nominated by fab babe Liza for this award. I copied this from her blog:

The rules are:
1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.
2. Put a link to the person you got the award from.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to the blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

I'm nominating these talented ladies who are creative in their own field of writing, photography and scrapping (of course)!
Hence I nominate:
1. Caroline (U may still be learning but ur photography is growing on me)
2. Lee Ming (The way u write makes me laugh and I love ur underwater photography)
3. Wan Shin (I just love the way u write and ur cute ok)
4. Vivs (my fellow SIC DT whose latest creations rock!)
5. Edleen (need I say more? Have u seen her altered milk cartons?!!)

On Saturday night, I took part in a very exciting online crop at Scrappin Kids and made an awesome mini pop up album. We also had to make an LO inspired by the Singapore flag in conjunction with their National Day. Here is my take. Wanted it to look like fireworks (which was wat we were caught looking at) but I was too lazy to emboss cos it was almost 2am when I finished this!! Maybe I'll do it later...keke TFL!!

What happens when U give a bunch of Tweens a bag of SB items?

They make a beautiful heartfelt album for their friend

Sorry for the bad pics but this was taken in bad lighting at night as it was going to be taken away the next morning :p

Remember this?

and this


Brings back memories doesnt it?

Fun tag!

This is a quiz to find out what scrapbook item you are and I've been tagged again...keke



You are PAPER!
You are an all natural basic person who likes to act as a foundation to others. You are willing to take a backseat in most of your relationships and let others take the spotlight, while you show your support and help them shine! Underneath it all, you are the one who makes it all happen. You are the focus and stability in any group, even if you are not the leader. Others look to you to set the pace and provide ideas for ways to get things done. But Paper Beware - sometimes you get a little edgy with the people who look to you for support and can give them some papercut remarks that can hurt their feelings. Remember to watch what you say, because you are best when leading by example.

Time for me to tag 6 others :)

I'm tagging Caroline, Wan Shin, Lee Ming, Edleen, Felicia and Lia :)

AND Lee is tempting me with her latest blog entry. It will make me so broke but its on my to-do list of things I have to do before I have kids and cant travel anymore!! Argh!

Want to win...

...a free class? Pop over here to try your luck!!

Project Scrapaway is getting so nailbiting with less than 2 weeks to go!

I read this....

"In her book, Helen Fisher said this, “People around the world say the exhilaration of romance wanes as their marriage or partnership becomes increasingly stable, comfortable, and secure. I have mixed feelings about this fate nature has decreed. First, many of us would die of sexual exhaustion if romantic love flourished endlessly in a relationship. We wouldn’t get to work on time or concentrate on everything except ‘him’ or ‘her’. Moreover, as romantic love matures, it often expands into hundreds of complex and fulfilling feelings of attachment that produce an enormously intricate, interesting, and emotionally rewarding union with another living soul.”

I guess, if I were to answer my friend again, I would say, “The chemistry is not gone. Strange as it may sound, it has become stronger. It might no longer exist in the same form that it was when we first met. But it has evolved. To stand the test of time.”

... at a blog of an old uni friend that has given up the legal profession to pursue the line of business u will find at her blog here and I think it really rings true for many of us.

This is also why I believe a great friendship between a couple is essential to make a relationship work. I find many couples dont really understand each other and just learn to grudingly accept the other's faults. Over time, this can grow into a cauldron of pent up frustration that will one day boil over and ruin many relationships. A great friendship is needed for understanding and communication. Its taken some time but H and I have reached understandings in our relationship that I never knew would be possible.

I think another important factor is the respect we have for each other. Find out what each other likes/dislikes and try to steer away from the bad stuff. Even if you do stumble onto bad ground once in a while, try to do minimal damage and always make up for it. It doesnt have to be in physical or monetary terms...sometimes we dont realise that even the smallest gestures can move in the biggest ways.

I'm so glad that as different as we are in many ways that we have found each other and H may not be the most romantic (at all) or handsome guy in the world but he's definitely the one that I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with because of the above and more.



P.S. No I still havent got my ring yet :p

On another note, I'm curently coveting this....very much...it sold out in Incomm in 2 days but they only have the dark coloured one....I want the white onneeeeee!!!