next country of travel after covid! batam! i used to love batam cos its cheap - 2 way ferry for ~$45, cheap cafes, shopping, (and cheap thrill of motorbike rides that my mum doesnt allow me to take in sg) but after covid the ferry tix are $70 now :O haiz nvm la just go see see hor. and i used to stay in harris cos it's affordable and it's right next to the batam center terminal so no $$ and time spent to get cab. before gojek and grab you could only hire cabs from their concierge and the prices were fixed and you guessed it, they would often jack the prices to earn $$ (still considered cheap but still...) :X 

anyway this time round i went with meiyen's friends, lets call them B1, B2 and B2's gf C. i kinda know B1 and met B2 before but it was the first time travelling with them. we had this wa group set up where they were talking about the hotel and everything before the trip. tbh i dont like looking at group chats so when i finally opened the chat after hours it was already 100+ messages. i kinda summarized the texts and they were finalizing on this resort called nongsa marina and resort in the northern part of batam (batam center terminal is at the central-south) and i tot they already booked it for 5 of us since they finalized it but NO. they told me to confirm with meiyen before we booked? okay so first red flag for the 3-2 divide.

our ferry was scheduled to be 9 July 4.40pm. i had the PAP walk in the morn so the timing was just right for me to go home, bathe and grab lunch after the walk before heading out but as murphy's law goes..anything that can go wrong will go wrong. and indeed they did. the ferry operator sent an email on friday night to inform that our 4.40pm ferry was cancelled, and they were bumping us on the 2.30pm ferry at another depature terminal instead (tanah merah instead of the original harbourfront). so we panicked as it was quite last min. i was still hesistant whether to go for the walk in the morning. but eventually i did, MY managed to contact the ferry operator to get 3.30pm tix at harbourfront terminal and everything seemed to be fine.

but when we disembarked the queue at arrival was freaking long ): but we were quite entertained by the malaysian couple in front of us who were squabbling (could tell they were malaysian cos of their accents). we couldnt hear much tbh it was only the girl who kept raising her voice but she kept saying the bf was raising his voice at her?! hahahha excuse me even though he was in front of us we could only hear you okay. and the girl kept saying things like "not happy then break up" really like drama hahahha. and there were many other classic lines like "dont touch me!!" when the guy tried to pull her to keep up with the queue and "not happy then i will leave" (but she didnt leh, really dramatic)

we finally managed to clear immigrations after 2 freaking hours (even C who took the later ferry had caught up with us) and we were supposed to meet the 2 guys for dinner but they were still quite far away in some other mall and MY and i were quite tired and sticky so we decided to grab to the resort first to check in, put our stuff and bathe, leaving C alone at the terminal to wait for the guys.

along the way in the cab, B2 was angry at us for leaving C alone? though both the guys had already said they were on the way to the terminal before MY and i ordered our grab, they only picked C up at the terminal when we were reaching our hotel which was a good 30-40min away. they "thought" we were still with C at the terminal so they "took their own sweet time" to arrive. what nonsense. even if we were still there at the terminal, we already kinda made plans for dinner so why still take own sweet time? ridiculous.

anyway end up MY and i just had dinner at the hotel. which was not too bad imo tho pricey. they were having some event that night so it was like a dinner under the stars, with pretty lights set up romantically. not the right partner to be with but hahahaha.

the guys and C went off to eat a sumptuous seafood dinner but i didnt feel i was missing out tbh. not a big fan of seafood hahahha. but we did meet them for some light drinks in the hotel after they came back. so in the room we were sharing about our day - the long immigration, the quarreling couple and all and B2 kept saying we were stupid for not stuffing a $5 and asking them to tolong (help)? omg how could he even suggest this illegal thing. maybe not illegal in batam but $5 seriously? they would fall for a $5? but still, kidding or not, is really something i will never do. even if it really helps to cut the line. but illegal? no thank you.

okay that's him maybe. and then day 2 was really epic as well. they literally had no plans but to sit at the pool and do nothing but the pool was very dirty and not like the infinity ig worthy kind? hahahha. not judging but im the kind who cant sit still so me and MY wanted to go out to shop and get massage/nails done whatever. BUT THE PLACE DAMN FREAKING FAR NO GRAB WANTED TO TAKE US. i managed to book a grab bike but that was only for 1 and MY didnt managed to book so i left to go to the mall first. pretty much shopped about 2h by myself before we managed to book a grab car for her to come join me. and then we managed to go to my fav cafe opp bcs yay! so thankful it survived covid.

and then for dinner we wanted to meet the other 3. we texted to see if we should meet them at nagoya snd they said ok. but they said they were still running their errands so we can walk around by ourselves first before meeting them. so MY and i went to the hypermarket to get some essentials but before we were done, the other 3 said they were done and they were leaving immediately. no pre-warning? but we werent done at the hypermarket so the 3 just left without us?!?! and said that they will text us the dinner address place so we can grab there ourselves? eventually they got the private hire to circle around the mall before picking us up cos they couldnt wait at the entrance due to mall restrictions. but whatever la. like i tot we were meeting to go dinner together? huh?

and at dinner B2 kept saying i was stupid to throw my life away for a few dollars cos bike is so dangerous? just be generous and spend that extra few $$ more to get a grab car instead. and how could i leave MY there at the hotel. hello? not as if i wanted to?? and not our fault the place so far nobody wanted to pick us up? *rolls eyes*

haiz i dunno but anyway the whole trip it felt like B1 and B2 were upset at us? guys are so petty man *rolls eyes*

and came third day where we were going home. so thankfullllll. and thankful there was strong aircon on the ferry back. else cant cool the heat in my heart. shag trip >.<

Met a friend today who was my sisters classmate. 

She has been with her bf for many years and today she was telling me her bf’s house will be ready on Monday. Oh BTO I asked? She said no it’s resale. So I tot she wanted the house faster so she got resale. Ahh then you getting married soon? I replied. But she said no again, the house only her bf name cos he was 36 already and eligible to buy. Then I asked her about herself and she said she was okay not to put her name cos she will also buy one when she is 35. They have decided not to get kids so they are not very concerned about getting married. They just want separate houses so that they can live in one and rent out the other for money. Is this the trend nowadays? Not getting married cos don’t want kids? And what kind of relationship is that? Partner? Co-living? 

And then we chatted a while about my sister. She asked me if I knew that my sister was pregnant with number 2? Yeah I said I knew. Congrats to her. She has a fulfilling life. But then my friend said she’s not envious of her sister. She’s not excited. That’s good I guess? Kinda happy for her that she’s comfortable and happy and not jealous of others’ lives. As long as we all are happy I guess that’s all that matters? 

still learning to not be affected by society views. Someday (‘:

it's day 163 of year 2022!

how fast time flies!

i've officially moved into my rented apartment now for 2 months and so far the freedom is great, though my main dilemma every day is thinking about what to eat for dinner O.o but i'm really glad for more personal space to grow and heal, and thankful that i have had more time to myself. been watching tdk podcasts and really like some of the controversy topics that they bring up (': (this one really spoke to me, more thoughts on it later)

anyway the covid situation in singapore seems to have stabilized now, we've finally exited dorscon red to re-enter orange after 2+ years (havent heard that term since forever) and masks are now optional outdoors (hope i dont jinx it!) though i feel like singaporeans' attitude towards this pandemic has not changed. recently i had a scare with someone close being positive but still roaming outside because the moh says it's ok to discharge yourself on 12pm on day7. *rolls eyes* well it was legal but that doesnt make it socially right you know but lazy to say it cos we all are adults and we should be more responsible blah.

other than that life seems to have resumed with travel opening up - ive been to KL and genting already though things feel v v different now. i kinda shopped less now or felt the need to buy less things (is it a sign of maturity?) and i kinda dont have the feels to travel anymore. is it cos of the 2 year hiatus? 

this is way overdue but i wanted to write about this while i still remember it!

attended my first ever indian wedding of my jc classmate aarthi on 17 apr. tbh im quite the procrastinator so only one day before the wedding i was frantically googling what attire i should be in and if there was any customary items to do eg give ang bao (equivalents or sth). thankfully aly had an indian friend who helped asked his mum about stuff (': my only close indian friend was the one getting married so no references for me ahahahha

the wedding was at an indian temple next to farrer park mrt. the invitation stated 9-1pm but as usual...me and xp were late HAHAHA. talk about how we used to stand one behind one another in assemblies and our habits are exactly the same lol. when we arrived at the temple we didnt have time to find out which way to proceed cos someone showed us the way immediately though tbh i think it's cos we were clearly out of place being chinese and most likely werent there to take part in the prayers LOL. anyway, the wedding procession was in a hall on the 2nd floor and there was some kind of reception outside where one of the ladies handed us jasmine flowers to put in our hair. inside the hall some rituals happening on the stage and we didnt know what to expect so we just sat down somewhere in the middle. 

the rituals were kinda long so xp and i attempted to put the jasmine flowers in our hair in the meantime though, we were very unsuccessful haha. eventually some kind lady behind us offered us pins and after that also did our hair for us (i think she couldnt take how noob we were). the procession went on for about 2h? but me and xp couldnt appreciate hahahha. we were just amazed at how the guy on stage was so zai? he was blowing some instrument for over 2 hours without stopping? hahha and then after the procession there was the walk in, so we finally got to see our friend, the bride up close (': and im not a wedding person but i just wanted to say she was so beautiful, like literal bliss coming out of her face (':

and then after that people just got up to leave so we followed also. turned out that there was food prepared for the guests downstairs. after choosing our seats me and xp got up to take the trays for the food and were halted by "nonono" from the waiters >.< turned out that we just had to sit and they would serve the food to us (probs covid) so malu hahahha. and we were again amazed by the spread of the food and how aarthi's friends from australia were enjoying it so much? one couple even brought along their baby (looked really tiny like maybe 1 month old?) and we were awed by how the little one survived the airplane trip and didnt cry at all during the wedding O.o

and after the meal, guests could queue to go up stage and take photos with the couple. suaku us again didnt know when to give the ang bao so we went up the stage like 2-3 times to pass the ang bao to aarthi's relatives HAHAHHA. anyways, probs wont have a chance to attend another indian wedding but really an eye opener! (:

the jasmine flowers in our hair

the scrumptious lunch we had. how many kinds of curry are there?

Thankful that it’s almost the end of March soon 🎉 its been a really crazy month with iras tax filing (albeit only 100+ employees compared to when I did 1k+), bonus budgets and all.

Many other non-work “exciting” things also happened as well like the wild boar loose in #Yishun. Made me think of when people used to summon balrogs in kerning killing all those noobs trying to PQ (only the 90s peeps would know huh lol). Thankful that the wild boar has been caught (poor piggy) and the suay woman is recovering well.

And then I also fell off my bike so I couldn’t exercise for 2 weeks 😥 so feeling fat again hahaha.

And then with work it’s almost 1 year anniversary for me. Wonder how long I’ll stay this time? But it seems like career is finally taking off for me? This was sth that I prayed about many years ago and I guess I’m grateful things have gone kinda smoothly this time round.

And last but not least, not to be greedy but can God grant me my other wish too? O.o pretty pls hahaha

So I just wanted to write about last Sat, cos it was really epic. We had the zoom for WW IWD and godma being the kan chiong spider as always, asked me to come at 10.30am to set up for the 2pm call. I had set up before so I kinda knew where everything was but it turned out that things weren’t there when I needed them to be ): the webcam was supposed to be in the store but I couldn’t find them. I was certain the projector had hdmi cable but the one I pulled out didn’t have and the laptop we always used was missing :O

After bouts of frustration and swear words I finally managed to fix everything after calling Aly and we went for lunch. We came back about 1.30pm after lunch and even bought snacks/refreshments for the talk. Godma always overbuys, but I’m kinda secretly thankful that she thinks about such stuff even for short talks like this cos tbh I don’t really care if the people coming are hungry or not cos it’s after lunch :P

Anyway, when we came back I popped by the computer room to wake the laptop from sleep and to log into the zoom. Host didn’t let us in yet so all was good, just had to wait. 1.53pm. everyone was in and more or less seated, sonI went to click on the “join video” in the zoom. And BOOM. Laptop hanged. Force shut didn’t work and I panicked. Quickly pulled out another laptop for standby and HAHAHAHAH OMG CANT BELIEVE IT. Screen showed the familiar blue screen “Getting your Windows ready…1% complete” GGWP. 

Tried frantically to force shut the other one again but to no avail. So I quickly took my phone to log into zoom, but no visual footage cos couldnt project my phone to the projector and webcam but at least got sound right? by then I think were already 5 min late?? could hear the host talking le. i panicked more than usual. then as a last resort i went to use our linux computers. tried to download zoom but kenna blocked by network. so just tried to log into zoom using the browser. worked but couldnt join audio cos blocked by network also i guess. HAHAHHA. so pek chek. in the end i left my phone at the front while i went to sit down cos i left it running as the speaker while i played the video on the screen T.T felt so lost being unable to tinker with the phone while listening but at the same time quite surprised that iphone's speakers were quite loud hahha. 

so ya that was the end of my crazy day. proud of my quick reflexes (corporate trained yoz) and im v v v thankful the oldies were so patient! (:

I need help ):

Recently things haven’t been going too well. Made some minor mistakes at work which resulted in me having to do double work but ah wells. Then I realised my bike bell and pouch have been stolen ): I usually park at the bicycle bay outside my house where there is cctv but still somebody stole them ): not that the items are worth a lot but still, now I have to repurchase them. Sigh. And update. Bike officially spoilt after 6 months. Just jumped off a step on it and the gear went rosak lol. But at least I fully maximized its $130 value? Hahahha

And..relationship wise things haven’t been going on well with Mr L? He started playing this delete all your messages game again and I realised he deleted me from his fb too. Don’t exactly know what I did wrong and he isn’t receptive to talking about the issues too so it’s quite frustrating. Or is it cos I’m a Virgo so I need things to be very clear. But then again he’s a Virgo too :/

But there’s good things too I guess. I finally found some place that I really really like! It’s somewhat near home so that I still can go to mps (talk about hardcore right) and meet friends and it’s excellent that it’s within my budget for a condo room. I really want to take it but I’m not sure how to tell my mother I wanna move out. She def will ask the reason and how long, I can’t possibly say it’s cos of her and it will be forever. Anyone has experience to share with me on how to talk about difficult topics with your parents?