imagine if 4 years ago,
i had chosen to go to ntu accountancy.
today i'd have graduated with a much better cap (at least i knew what i wanted out of it), commenced, worn the graduation gown and probably started working.

but then again,
i wouldn't have met this many awesome people.

finally back after close to three weeks of holidaying =)
been to nanjing, suzhou, hangzhou, shanghai and phuket

nanjing was awesome with shinan bringing us around and introducing us to good food and places to visit and play at. there, we also found the best bubble tea ever till date at dokodo =) it's the best! =D and omg there i tried the duck's tongue and webbed feet as well =s haha scary! but gotta try something new each day yeah =p and shinan's mum even made us awesome small lobsters for breakfast on our last day! =D awesome stuff! =) sl and i had our first arcade games together too! haha shooting hoops and playing drums wahaha =p oh random. but the transport only costs 2 yuan no matter where you wanna go! how you wish singapore was like that too right? lol =p but of course, most importantly it felt so great having the best company i could ask for those 3 days in nanjing =) thanks orange! =p

suzhou was scary at first when we couldn't get cabs at the railway station... and while waiting for a cab at the taxi stand we were also approached by this scary begging girl who grabs pple and spits on people when they don't donate to her =s we had a lousy tour to zhuo zhen yuan and all as well. too desperate to sell us commercial stuff and all instead =s but ah well zhouzhuang was good =) with zhongsheng, jianhao and dearie =p managed to explore the entire water town and get our own boat for a boat ride around the area =) awesome. and another awesome part about suzhou? sl and i managed to meet liyuan for dinner! =D missed her! =)yuanyuan also brought us to this pretty shopping area in suzhou, as well as an even prettier place that looks like a zhouzhuang lighted up at night =) so pretty we couldn't help but to return back to explore that area again the following night =p ooh and she introduced us to the bakery 85 degrees which got all four of us addicted to for the entire china trip wahaha =p and of course, also to the pudding naicha and the coffee jelly naicha which we kept looking for thereafter cos its awesome! =p thanks yuanyuan! ooh and suzhou has good, though atas, food. hoho most addictive fried fish and silver fishies ever =p

hangzhou was pretty awesome =) half of it was spent together the four of us, followed by the other half which was spent with my dearie alone (partially cos we decided to skip the tour we had initially booked so that we could focus on visiting the things we wanted to visit)... and i love our hotel! =D best thing ever! xihu's right at our doorstep! loves it =D oh and i completely love xihu! prettiest lake ever! so awesome! and walking down sudi with dearie made me feel like i was in some haha china love story movie! =D and ooh the awesome beggers chicken and prawwwnsss! =D watched impressions of the west lake as well. pretty awesome stuff =)and omg i got this oh-so-pretty embroidery umbrella! so soooo pretty! zomg =) tian tang yushan as recommended by yuanyuan =) hehe and xihu is so romantic =) just me and you! =)

shanghai was not too bad. lots of people everywhere =s kinda scares me =s especially the world expo =s you won't imagine how... horrible an experience it was. the china people themselves, though the hosts, pushing you, jumping over and under fences and breaking through chains etc to cut queues... the poking screaming shouting and unruly behaviour... kind of left me quite disgusted at the sight of all this shit over the 3 days. so so ridiculous. though some pavilions were pretty well done and insightful, it was sadly pretty much overshadowed by the before mentioned behaviour.and you thought singapore was bad. think again. disgusting. and it wasn't very well operated either. no wet weather plans either. left dearie and me (and i think jianhao and zhongsheng also) huddling each other trying to stay warm and dry under the umbrella while queueing (and undergoing all the shit behaviour) in the rain. ah well but it was an experience. and its something we both went through together. hopefully this experience will keep us going stronger than ever =) the skylines, the bund and the jingmaodasha was pretty awesome too. shld try the can opener someday =p ah well managed to meet yanling for supper at this italian place after our last day at the expo as well =) ooh gotta mail her the free duck from quanjude soon too! ooh and the shopping aroud the area where dearie and i stayed. it's crazyyy! haha =p shop till you drop hehe and the nanxiang xiaolongbaos! omggg haha i can't get enough of them. still craving for them. its awesomeee! =) i'll fly back just for it! =D

hehe ah well... 14 days of travelling and experiences with the best companion i could ask for. the one who always looks out for me, makes sure i get fed with the best possible food at each state, and taking care of me when i was unwell and enduring the haha occasional snores as a result of the blocked nose at night... thank you and i couldn't have been any luckier to have you by my side all the time =)i wanna travel the world with you =)

hehe then it was off to phuket for another 4 days with jianhao and zhongsheng. eh and elaine and lim shen for a part of the time as well. jh, zs and i covered a lot of stuff within our 4 days... from our explorations by foot, to the phiphi island, snorkling, bamboo rafting, waterfall-ing, elephant trekking, rubber tapping, turtle farming, the royal ship all the way to patong beach for shopping and chilling out... haha good company with the good random food hunts, our banana pancake craze, the drinks, the surfing (though the 3 of us looked like idiots with surfboards trying to ride the crazily enormous waves) hahaha and the crazy bargaining for everything haha thanks bros =)

it's been an awesome holiday since ia ended =) still awaiting my fyp allocation... and bidding's starting soon. back to being a student again! =s

the transition from IA to normal life seems quite good.
though part of me still misses jurong island a lil. but all's well =)

tennis with the brothers at temasek club in the morning.
time out with the family thereafter (and omg my bros bought a hamster)

free time is good. there are sooo many pple i wanna catch up with. omg.
rae wen, rae hui, jean, rachel, kai, dorothy, jianie, arvin, yunhui, cheegake, xinyi, the oacians and omg so many more... pls pls give me more time to do so! =s i miss them! =(

so many pple to visit too... the auzzie pple wld have graduated by now =s but theres still europe and USA to explore and visit! gotta find a wayyyy! esp once i start working.

$43 to get to work today.
Thats 2 days worth of pay.
$25 to get to work yesterday.
That's two days straight already
This sucks =(
Horrible week =(

i hate reports.
15 more working days and i'd have reached the ORD status of my life =)
ah well.
but this internship has taught me more than one thing or another.
whether it's engineering related or human capital related, i have to admit that i have seen and learnt a lot.

insightful.

meeting people from many walks of life has taught me how to better understand and react to/handle these different people. something which i haven't been able to do in the past. many a times there have been too many unhappy things i have kept to myself because i didn't have the heart to tell others. but i guess forced by circumstances, i've been forced to learn how to fight for my own rights and for those around me. well that's something a little more daring than the usual old me. it's a little something which i've taken back with me.

whether i'll be back, i don't know. but hey, life's a learning journey. we learn something new each and every day. all the same, i'm thankful for this learning opportunity. i've learnt to be stronger than before =)

stoning in the staff communications meeting.
Visited the helix bridge and then marina bay sands first with dad and tim. And then with dearie =)
You must agree that singapore's skyline is changing ever so quickly.
Imagine the kind of place our children will end up growing up in in the future.
Fast paced and everchanging.

Ah well... random thoughts...
Rings, yes
Rings worn as necklaces, yes
House at tanjong rhu facing the kallang basin, pretty and yes
Me loving you a long time, yes =)=)=)

Bored and random
I wanna go home =(

from the girl who has never been to anything other than school/hall based concerts before

i've always wanted to watch a good musical at the esplanade theatre.

Chicago is here.

but it's ending tonight. and i missed another good chance =(

exam's long over,

internship's still on.

finally shifted back home for good after 3 long academic years in hall.

supposedly back to having a normal life.

but tell me why i feel more tired than ever.

i should be able to handle this.

rarh. i can do this.

anyway, happy 16th month dear!

fast isn't it =p

the poor boy's sick though =(

hope he gets well soon...

xin tong to hear him so xin ku wor =(

pokepoke fishie's here =)

haha many random thoughts.

i'm really too tired...

the paper on the 22nd marked the official end of my being of a year 3 student.

it's time to welcome my final year and fyp.

kinda sucks to end year 3 so badly though.

worst performance for a paper for the longest time.

like really bad bad.

rarh.

but ah well tgif =)

had a great time with my bolstie again =)

sometimes just a single sentence is enough to kill your mood.

don't you think.

sometimes i just don't know why i'm trying so hard.

one of the biggest reasons why i love ese:

we learn together.

we study together

we learn together

we help each other out

we share possible solutions/reasons/summaries of modules with each other

and you know they're to help you unconditionally.

its amazing how everything and everyone's just so genuine.

no ulterior motive, no selfishness, nothing.

it's something that's difficult to find these days.

this is so random but...

exactly 2 months from this date marks the end of my internship.

by then, almost everything i've known my life to be like these couple of months would have ended.

end of IA

end of jurong island-ing

end of hall life

end of the endless activities

end of year 3

almost the end of my last supposed 3 month break.

hello fyp

hello graduation

hello jobsearching

and then it's hello working life.

doesn't time just pass you by

in the blink of an eye

i never knew leaving KR would feel like this.

despite being so burnt out for the last year or so.

despite becoming more disconnected from hall than usual because of my many other commitments.

despite telling myself that leaving a year earlier than expected would ultimately be a good transition period from full time hall to full time student and finally to full time worker for the future.

standing on the stage, behind that oh so familiar curtain, knowing that this was your one and only - very last performance to KR,

the feeling was overwhelming.

the place which has given me so many ups and downs.

the place which taught me to love (literally, when i found you)

the place which has given me the most precious of memories

the place which has given me the best and worst of friendships

the place which made me grow into a stronger person.

the place which i've spent 3 years of my life being more of a hall person than a student.

i guess sometimes saying goodbye isn't easy.

i'll appreciate the memories, the friendships the love that KR has showered upon to me.

oh and the money too.

after being presented with the Lee Soon Ann Outstanding Scholarly Progress Award.

i can't wait to see my name on the plaque in the mpsh (probably cos i never really took note of its existence until now, so i'm still kind of intrigued)

ah well,

but yes, my time here is up. and it's time to give this chance of experiencing and growing from the KR life to someone new.

whoever you are, i hope you will seize the opportunities and make the most out of your stay here in KR.

so there it is. another phase of my life passing me by.

thank you KR!

love,

kimberley

this is not how i wanted my internship to be.
sigh.
screw it. =(

sometimes i wish i didn't have a driving license

nan guo de yi tian jiu shi nan guo de yi tian.
zhe shi zhu ding de.
zhe shi jie shang shi mei you zhen zheng kai xin de shi.

今天又是很难过
今天特别难过

and so, a year later, here we are again =)

it's a pretty surreal feeling.
amazing but true.

on the mrt heading to marina barrage =)

the very pretty barrage skyline =)

and the nerdy me drags him in to take a look at the water gallery to take a look at the engineering challenges of building the barrage and how it works =)

ta-da! the barrage simulation

sandwich with really nice cheddar cheese =)

sushi... the second of many dishes =)

picnic-ing admist the about to be downcast skies

and that sums up a crazily enjoyable (and educational day -> think gallery) haha.
sweeter than ever fruits
and our toasted hazelnut blum.

yeah! love ya =)

it looks and smells like it's gonna rain =(
pls pls pls let it not rain today =(

a cute little story for all:

Today i saw this cute old couple walking up a hill.

The husband looked at the wife and said, "Race you!" They both started running as fast as they could. When the husband realized he was winning, he stopped and pretended to tie his shoe so his wife could win. He even got a kiss for it.

Love, no matter the age, GMH!

this is sooo sweet.
maybe someday we'll be doing that too.
happy 15th mth dear =)