Busy busy busy!! I know this post is so overdue but I was really too busy and too tired to write something. You know the kind, work… go out… sleep… work… work… work…, of life. It’s ok, people say that there are 12 days of Christmas, it’s only the 4th day now.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you guys enjoyed the holidays and fun and celebration. Lotsa gifts and love… : )

P/S: I’m so scared… results gonna out tomorrow. Hope I’ll do fine. : s

Gaaah! I’m back. Sorry for being away for such a long time. Had been really busy with work and stuffs, in fact, there are more to come… : s

Anyway, I am really surprised to see friends tagging my blog! Very happy! But I wonder… where did they get the address from? I don’t think I’ve told them. Shall clarify when I see them.

About the CIQ… I am actually back in Batu Pahat now for the weekend cum work cum KL shopping. So in order for me to get home, I had to go through the newly opened checkpoint of Johor which they call it CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quaratine complex). Ever since it started its operation on the 16th of December, you can see various negative reports in the papers. Yesh, both Singapore and Malaysia newspapers. And I am pretty lucky to be able to experience it myself today (technically yesterday).

Firstly… Extra-long way from the Causeway to the CIQ. Both the JB and Woodlands checkpoints used to be connected by the Causeway but no longer, as there is another extra long and bendy flyover coming after the Causeway. Tortous it can be, for the vehicles, what’s worse is that, there is no pedestrian walkway for the new road. Now, I can’t even walk over from Woodlands to JB if I’m sick of waiting for buses. Darn!

Secondly… Only 2 vehicle lanes, 1 for bus 1 for cars (WTH!). At the end of the extra-long way, before reaching the complex, the lanes were shrunk into only TWO! Desperate car drivers will attempt to take the bus lane and then try to cross over to the car lane later. This made the way even longer for us, the bus passengers. Imagine people carrying lotsa heavy stuffs gotta stand and endure in a sardine-can bus. Horrible!

Thirdly… 2 times size of Woodlands Checkpoint and irritating autogates. The arrival hall of the new CIQ is 2 times the size of that of Woodlands Checkpoint, long huh? This means that poor uncles and aunties carrying heavy baggage will have to suffer a lil bit more. Finally, after they’ve managed to make their way to the other side of the hall, the irritating autogates await them. The autogates which are supposed to make our life easier, turned out disastrous. The gates open and close in a tortoise-speed in between the arriving passengers. Then for those uncles and aunties who are not so proficient in English, they had big problem understanding the instructions on the screen which asks them to scan their thumbprints. This all slow down everyone. Not forgetting to mention those whose passports were unable to be detected by the gate detector. Lousy!

This is one of the longest way I had in order to go home. I set off around 10am from my place in Singapore and i reached Batu Pahat at guess what…. 3pm!!!

However, undeniably, the new CIQ is pretty classy and ‘beautiful’. Fully equiped with escalators, tourist information kiosks and centre and souvenir store if I’ve not mistaken. Let’s just hope the authority will try to learn from these and make things right soon.

I’m tired… Just got back from work and I gotta wake up early later to eat ‘tang yuan’ and head to KL for our shopping spree…. Till then.

Human mind and emotions are irritating things, they change rapidly without any apparent reason. Then… I suffer, you suffer, everyone suffers…

I am so impressed by my ability to get angry or furiated over trivial things… Argh…

Bolt is a Hollywood TV star, a dog with ’superpowers’ as far as what he himself believed. Together with his owner, Penny, they fight the evil green-eyed guy and to save Penny’s father. All were well until Bolt accidentally escaped from the studio and gone into the REAL world where he realized that he does not have either ’super bark’ or the ability to jump across buildings.

Despite facing the cruelty of the real world and self-realization, him, together with the de-clawed stray cat, Mittens and the Bolt-obsessed Hamster in a ball, Rhino, they set on a journey to find the way back to Bolt’s owner, Penny. It is the journey that made Bolt learnt that one does not need any superpower to be a hero.

What awed me the most from the movie is actually the graphics! It is REAL 3D! If you really observe it closely, you can see each of the strands of Bolt’s fur. The expressions potrayed by the cartoon figures are extremely realistic too. For instance, when bolt acted cute to beg for food. FULL OF CUTENESS!!! Like I said in the previous post, technology is really getting us far. At this rate, maybe we don’t even need actors in movies in the future : x. Just full of CGs. Poor actors…. LOL

Setting aside the CGs, Bolt is not just a comedy/animation full of flashy and nice-to-see-only stuffs. The lesson behind the story is truly what we can spare some time to think of and to appreciate. The REAL reality and the ARTIFICIAL reality, something we mixed up at times. Especially when the MMORPGs are getting more and more ‘realistic’, with the concept of marriage and all. People tend to get lost. Something to think about : )

All in all, it’s a great movie, at least 4-star to me. Go and watch it before it goes down! Good laughter and great lesson.   : )

Giant Bolt plushie at PS! He’s so adorable, isn’t he? XD

Ah… someone is rushing me for an update huh… Lol… I shall give you one!

Been a lil busy from work and all. You know how tiring it is to work at Starbucks during the day and then sing at the nite… It is worse if you have to wake up at 5.30am for an opening shift the next day. Now I know why people always say that studying is better than working. Argh… But let’s not go into that today.

As mentioned earlier, I attended the December OSSEA meeting last Sunday. Just realised that I forgotten to explain what’s OSSEA, simply Orchid Society of South East Asia. Got another 2 orchids from that, one that I bought and the other from lucky draw! Lucky me!

Been trying very hard to make space for my plants at my place. Lotsa squeezing and stuffing. Pardon my lousy phone camera but this is how my orchid corner looks like now:

The huge boney organism is the one I bought (Close-up photo in a while). You see some orangey stuffs? That’s the flower of the orchid I got from lucky draw. There are also some which are throwing influorescence like the one in the middle! I have 12 orchids in total : )

Here you are, boney guy! The name is Vanda Chao Praya Violet, a highly scented hybrid. I’m not kidding, the blooms smell like perfume, in the day. This is my first attempt on vandaceous orchids, hopefully it will survive and rebloom. My high rise location makes it really challenging for me. Low humidity, too windy and all… A side note, vandaceous orchids are those orchids that grow from a single bud with either ovoid or cylindrical leaves. They seldom produce side shoots, which means that they will grow taller and taller to a few metres. The national flower of Singapore, Vanda Miss Joaquim is a vandaceous orchid.

The lucky draw plant. The very sweet looking Thwaitesara Orange Nugget. I wonder why the hybridizer gave it such a weird name but it is nice isn’t it, we don’t always see orange orchids. Sadly, this one isn’t scented.

That is all for the orchids. Btw, I’ve watched Bolt! It is uber cute!! Will try to write something about it soon. Till then!

Oh gosh! Open house at Starbucks Coffee The Central was uber fun!! We really enjoyed the 2 hour non-stop madness. In fact, the time flew so fast while I was keying in orders on the register and stapling the receipts, not realizing that it had been 2 hours. Guess we were all numb at the moment. All of us were so shag at the end of it, especially the frappuccino team, crazy blending! Undeniably, they did a great job, kudos! And it was really nice to see that a lot of patronising customers actually donated generously to the Salvation Army. Another cheer to all of them as well!

We took lotsa funny and interesting photos on the way. I shall post some when I got them from my partners.

The weekend is here and I’m waiting for my long awaited movie session! Last movie I had was Mammia Mia, months ago. Eyeing this new comedy/animation from Disney for the weekend – Bolt!

Looks so cute, isn’t it?! Oh well, I’ll find out when I watch it. Maybe a review after this, haha!

Other than movie, there is also OSSEA monthly meeting this Sunday. I can’t wait to see the orchids at the sales. Really need to get another 2 or so to add into my collection. Hee hee… Most excitingly, we get to see the exhibits brought by the pros. More photos coming up!!

Till then… Cheerz

Event card featuring – Dark Cherry Mocha (Xmas offering)

After half a month of torturous exams, holidays are finally here and I am finally able to get myself back to work tomorrow! Yay!

Being away from the store for quite a while, I find myself horribly rusty now. Struggling to get a good shot… squeezing my brain to recall the recipes… It’s really time to get serious!

Anyway, just wanna share something interesting. Since it’s the festive season now, Starbucks Coffee Singapore is gonna have their annual open-house event on the 4th December, which is… TOMORROW!!! Free tall-sized drinks will be given away as to thank the customers and the community. For a good cause, the event’s also done in support of the Salvation Army. So whoever feeling rich and is kind-hearted, please donate while you enjoy the drinks k? Oh… not to forget the time, it is gonna be from 5pm to 7pm, at ANY Starbucks Coffee outlet in Singapore.

One more thing, I was so surprised to find out that our company actually even put up an event page on Facebook, sending invitations around. It seems that nowadays, there is nothing internet can’t do… Or perhaps I’m the one lagged behind (I’m new to Facebook, k?)

For those who are interested, click on the link below to access the page.

Starbucks Coffee Singapore Christmas Open House

Oh nono… you do not need to respond to the event in the page or join facebook to attend the open-house. Just come to us, no need to bring money, just you alone.

To You From Us

Gosh… when was the last time I blogged? I can hardly remember.

Anyway, created this blog ’cause I think I really need some place to rant at certain times. However, it is, of course, for recording memorable moments as well.

Hope I will be able to maintain this place for a uber long time. Will be adding some contents and stuffs soon.

That’s all for now. Cheerz

Header featuring -

Paravanda Nelson Mandela from National Orchid Garden, Singapore Botanic Gardens