Hokkaido trip Day 1

Day 1 was spent on the plane...........
Watched He's not that into You n Confessions of a Shopaholic!!!

It felt so good to finally board a full service (non budget) plane n not have to work for once...
been a looooong time since maaannn....

Thus i was having fun rediscovering the joy of being a passenger... ;D

Pictures from a well travelled but 'sua ku' flygirl......

Happy n relaxed parents...

3 sisters...

Forever getting dry eyes when passengering on flights...
eyes still itchy as hell now its damn annoying lar!
Never happens when workin!

Snap shots of JAL's animated safety vid....
Cute!

Drinks served shortly after take off...
Wat a refreshing change to peanuts! Jap rice crackers!!
I could eat tons of these man!!!

Plum wine/Choya on the left n JAL's drink. something called Sky-something la.
Citrone flavoured

My sister ordered Sake!!

Cute right!?




*gasp* the cap is the cup the cup is the cap!!!
The 2 sisters squealed n Sake bottle became a souvenir... ;D

Lunch!!! My sister's beef

My salmon

Parents knock out after lunch cos we had such an early morning...
the maxi cab was waiting for us at 6 in the a.m.

Tea n muffin before touch down....

So here i m at the Sapporo airport hotel for the night before moving off again
We arrived from Narita airport via domestic on a 1.5 hr JAL flight n landed approx 9pm (8pm sg).
EVERYTHING is closed..
except vending machines..

thank god for free internet .. for this hotel...more to come!!

11th to 17th Hokkaido!!

Im all packed n ready for the family trip...
only things i feel antsy about r

1) only got 3 stix of cigs

hope i can get to a smokes vending machine when i run out there.
Will i even have a chance to sneak a fag?!?!? *nose drips*

2) my brand new Ixus 85 which im not too familiar with....

Sometimes leaving home with new stuff can be pretty disorientating...
Wat if i lose it!??!? WAt if wat if wat if??!
but otherwise, it's a good chance to test its battery life, wat with the bigger LCD n all.

okie shut it Dodo the tech laggard.
;p

3) no handphone reception for 6 days......
spongy taught me to use internet sms......... but only got 1 hotel with free internet....
*frets*

Reminder to self to buy Starhub cards later at the airport!!!!

Other than tt.. im all set.
i dunno why im so antsy bout a holiday when i fly so much for work every other day. -___-

Ixus to Ixus~

My dear 5.5 yr old Canon Ixus 40....

You r the very first camera i bought for myself with my 3rd paycheck when i joined flying...
You digi cams were all so expensive then!!
SGD$695 u were.....

U were the first luxury item i could bring myself to buy when i was so used to being a frugal bit*h.
N only cos the first insurance package i got from my uni coursemate turned insurance agent promised n gave me a $150 voucher to Tangs.

You were shiny n new.... actually u still r now! ;)
N u brought so much joy to my life by capturing all my memories in the past 5 years.
You followed me around the world on my escapades, all the first times in my life, always there in my cabin bag... n never minded being jostled around all the time.

U were there by my side day n night, partying hard n wild n never ran away from me no matter how i mishandled you.

U helped me capture all the material tt went into the now defunct strange-n-beautiful.blogspot.com

I even broke yr LCD screen once... n i never got u a screen guard sticker come to think bout it.
N u never complained once bout the scratches i inflicted upon u....


You have served me so bloody well my dear old Ixus 4.

N you r still working like a dream, no matter how hard i work you. (e.g bloody turning u on n off n on n off multiple times in a 3 min period..)

Though yr battery used to last me an intense 5 day Paris sightseeing trip without requiring a single charge (freakin amazing or wat!) ..to jus 1.5-2 days of rough use now... u r still bloody amazing~;D



But the time has come.... not to decommission you but to put u in retiring mode.

The bf has decided to present me with yr younger brother the Ixus 85 n it pains me to put u aside... much less pass u along to my youngest sister.

I held u in my hand last night n marvelled at how sleek n compact you r even though u r bloody old laR!

Im so familiar with u now n there's so much more to learn with yr younger brother.
But dun worry, i will make sure i teach my sister to treasure u like i did before i hand u over to her. ;)

I will always remember u n love u..........

TGIF my ass.

it's Friday.
N i gotta report for work at 2315 hrs later...

Completely not thrilled la.

This love hate relationship with my work....
When will it turn to jus a hate hate r'ship huh??

I guess I will go rub some lamps in bkk later in the month n ask for way out from the genie after all....
Maybe wish tt someone will drop a big break in my lap.. or something.

Everybody needs a direction or definite sign sometime in their life right?

Make it last forever......

Another night with the Dome Darlings...

Dunno y after tt night i had this morbid thought tt the group will slowly drift apart in time cos we no longer have fun/interesting outings no more....

U know... like after all the board games fun n mahjong....
I wonder if our bonds r really strong enough to weather big changes???

In my opinion the group tightened in '06 with Co n Adi's wedding n it's jus 3 yrs running with the regular meet ups for birthdays n occasions.....

okie. once again... thinking tooooo much...
Von slap me for being morbid n even thinking this.

*piak*

eeps ...

i deleted a post today.

i dun think any of my 2 readers will actually notice cos this blog is quite crap in the first place.

Nothing lar.. jus bitching bout the bonus tt one.

you know... just to be safe.

im not very net savvy so i can't like literally look over my shoulders to check if got pple tracking me down mah.

i jus wanna save up to my target amount n move on to permanent doggie classes.

I hope by then the money is enough.

The itch to shop n spend money was soooo strong today....
But i tell myself to be strong cos the earlier i accumulate tt sum of money, the earlier i can quit.
Gambatte!!!!

To say it nicely... or bloody blatantly... hmmm

So recently this show called the S Factor aired its final episode in Sg..

I was damn bo liao one day in London n tot.. hmmm... wat should i do since i already paid for 24 hrs internet...

Looking for something light n hopefully good entertainment, i searched for the show in You Tube.

"Wah really have ah!?!?" was my reaction.

Really got people so free nothing to do but upload random tv shows it seems.

anywoo.. the point of this blog.

i wanted to write some really mean stuff after watching episode 6 bout dining n etiquette n deportment stuff but thennnn........ ;D

Yar, so the final episode aired n there were some really bitter cat fights going on in the show man.

But after tt i did a search online n ended up with a question to myself.
There were some girls with blogs basically... n some said nasty bitchy stuff n got all flamed n everything.
But one of the girls pretty much just narrated everything tt happened on set without a single vulgar word, or bad mouthing anyone at all.

The thing is Girl-who-only-has-nice-things-to-say is also, not incidentally titled Nice girl by the rest of the girls...

But Girl-with-bitchy-blog attracted so much attention (though negative) but definitely much more readership. Though she might not be on such friendly terms with most of them...

Then i got to thinking bout my own blogging style, n how strange-n-beautiful got me into so much trouble with the company end of last year...
But how much satisfaction i derived outta it lar! ;D

Maybe u can judge me for not yet coming to terms with wat had happened to me n my still-rebellious views on blogging...
but there r just some people out there who needs to say how they feel.
I for one love to scold $#^^%$%# cos it just makes me feel better.
Some pple like attention for the attention, i just like to talk out loud lar. ;D

Though i also agree tt certain more explicit posts should be locked for more privacy, i think also tt sometimes, bad things can be said to sound nice, n the obvious stuff can come across as vague as long as there is the right choice of words.

Oh well, dunno wats the point of this blog also, but im also wondering does a bitchy blog like mine suggest to readers who do not know me personally as a bitchy person as well??

But then again... nice is boring?! no?

Sigh..... okie thinking too much~

Time to sleep. Shitty shift morrow.
DC if u read this in time, i will actually b in Syd for the night. u can buzz me.
But very short stay la n i have another one next next week.
I know u coming back to sg soon n u veli busy over there, so i wont impose on u to buy me a 10pm dinner again. ;p

The Night I Decided to Catalogue My Shoes...

Other flygirls have money in their banks........

after tonight... i realised where all my money went... -___-

But then again.... each n every pair of shoes have got their own story.... so they all mean quite alot to me .... geezzz..~

So armed with my Canon Selphy(Xmas pressie from Bf), i got down to photo cataloging...

Patent black Stuart Weitzman

Tweed Stuart Weitzman

My most fave n only Stuart Weitzman to date from DSW Shoe warehouse in SFO.
I remember tt trip i returned to SG with a grand total of 7 pairs of shoes acquired in both Hkg n Sfo within a 7 day trip.

Got them at a steal though a can't remember their prices. think average 150-180USD each.
But compare to like SGD600 a pop here!!

These SWs babies made me realise tt u get wat u pay for with shoes.
I swore off cheap China made/night market shoes which make u blister n bleed after having the SW experience balls.
I can wear these n survive standing, dancing, prancing, drunken walking in Zouk all thru the night.

Patent black round toe Steve Maddens

Patent black round toed Steve Madden Mary Janes!
A steal from Ross in Sfo at USD17!!

Patent red Steve Maddens open toe.
One of my first few Steve Maddens from DSW before i discovered Ross.
They r so outrageously high n slutty looking i call them my "come fuck me" shoes. ;)

Unfortunately i haven't had a chance to wear them yet cos they r super painful to stand too long in or walk too much in.

Am waiting for the ultimate date where i m picked up from my door step n driven from point A to point B, brought to dinner at a Les Amis equivelant n then dropped off home at my door at the end of the night....... ;D

seriously... it's been more than 3 years since i dun have to drive myself to dates n have to portray the strong independant woman who doesn't mind foregoing the old fashioned niceities from men.

The truth is, every girl like to be treated like a princess...
N i feel tt the higher the heels a woman wears, it signifies the social status of the lady in a way lar.
Alas, unfortunately yours truly always seem to place Love in a higher priority than Bread/$.

*whimsical smile*

half size too big Stevens for me....
Only worn once.
Cos the darn thing keeps slipping off..
Finally stuck on some 100yen plastic-increase-friction thing tonight which seem to make the shoe work for me now.

Zebra print ballet flats Steve Maddens

Lace Ballet flats Steve Maddens

Steve madden open toe flats
Another USD17 bargain from Ross

Steve Madden open toe heels
Excruciatingly uncomfy.
Thank god only USD25 or something from Ross as clearance.

If u girls gonna run out to the Stge boutique in Raffles Place for these Steve Maddens at exhobitant prices of at least SGD 160 for heels.. i advice not lar.

Steve Maddens r all made in China shoes n i dunno whether is it jus me n my problem feet but i always blister with them one.

In short, they look good but are NOT good.
I rather spend the same amount of money n can get 4-5 pairs of Charles & Keith. Of which some cuts r extremely comfy.
So cheap so can wear n throw away also.

My Dirk Bikkembergs.
From an IT sale in Hk.
Another affirmation tt good shoes dun come cheap.
must be Italian made!!!

Very old substance shoes...
From at least 5-6 yrs back.
When Substance still made decent, uniquely designed babies.
Nabei tt time i walked in n looked n almost died.
Substance now worse than Pretty Fit or Mondo man.
They have totally regressed to City Plaza standard lor, all made in China n cheesy n totally NOT tasteful no more.

See last time one how nice.
This one i remember i flip thru magazine saw n MUST have it n went straight to Wheelock Place (where their boutique used to b at 2nd floor) n buy one.

the crystals started to shed so i try not to wear them too much n haven't for a long time
You think they could b any similar to the Balmain encrusted shoes tt r so vogue now? ;D

Ankle booties Nine West

My first pair of boots is from Mango.
Super good quality lar!!!! bought like 7 yrs back n still velvety soft steady like hell.
Mid calf

Calf length boots, Marie Claire.
Not comfy!!

Birkenstock Madrids!
bought for almost 2 yrs not worn yet!
it's my fifth!!!

Cos they NEVER spoil n cos im wearing like 3 on a regular basis already i dun wanna wear these yet!!
Birkis r the most comfy things on earth.
My first pair accompanied me thru Disneylands n loads of walking tours n they only get more comfy lor!!

My sparkly Converses.
Worn only like twice.

Also cos i have got 2 other Converses which i wear overseas for walking n they never spoil also.
In Sg i seldom wear Converses also lei...

My Aldo Platform wedges.
Too high la. make my knees pain but so pretty!

My 300 yen shoes from a shop in the basement of a building in Shibuya, Tokyo
Comfy like hell!
One of the rare finds where cheap shoes r good!

Guess platform wedges in Leopard.
How to resist??? its leopard print can!??!?!
Like 60 USD on sale in States...

Guess Bronze sharp toe pointies.
On sale in SG SGD99.

My very first pointies were from Guess n i wore them to death.
n to death i meant many nights of prancing, jumping, standing for 5 hours, drunken stumbling while partying n they only get more comfy.

So i love Guess pointies...

My comfy platform wedge slip ons from some chat chat shop in FEP.
Cheap n good for those days i jus need some height to not look stubby.

Gap wedge platforms bought on sale eons ago.
Hardly wear cos heels not high enough n somehow i always look like i got stubby legs in it lei.

So i havent bought shoes for a long time until recently...

only halfway thru........-__-

My more newly acquired shoes r...

Charles n Keith.
on sale lei! under S$35!

When the gladiator sandal trend took off n i kinda had to have them
Also i keep seeing C&K shoes featured in magazines so i took time to have more than a 2nd look at the stores n found these....


Brown Mary Janes in patent snakeskin pattern!
S$28 only on sale!

C&K shoes r darn comfy la!!!!! good value for money!

H&M USD29
Its the gladiator sandal trend la.
keep seeing them in magazines.

More strappies. Dollhouse
Gotta stop buying them liao!!
Both steals at 17USD from Ross

Finally had Sfo flight after 1.5yrs!!
I died in Ross this time round!! ;D


Best buy of my recent 2 yrs of shoe shopping
Ralph Lauren turqoise flats at 80USD from Ross
Original price bout 400 USD.

Since i discovered Ross i stopped buying shoes in DSW Shoe Warehouse le.
Plus i never find nice Stuart Weitzman at DSW anymore......n had enough of lousy Steve Maddens after getting over the novelty of the brand.

By the time i was done taking pictures n wiping down the dusty shoe boxes... my room looked like this...

I seriously think if i stack them up in one neat pile they might jus reach the ceiling....
Sighhhh......... a large part of my hard earned money... *cringe*

I cleaned n clicked n printed n stick til 4 am in the morning...........
N got this....

Tadah!!!

No more wasting time when choosing shoes for my outfit.
Or opening n closing boxes to see wats inside, only to risk whole pile falling down on the floor on to my head.

No need to spend money buying those transparent shoe boxes from Ikea too!!

Im so happy n proud!! ;D *beams*

i really should have jus done this long time ago.

these 26 pairs of shoes do not include those cramped outside in the cabinet with the rest of the family's.

Nor my sneakers n slippers!!
N my Tokidoki sneakers.....

argh............ i ban myself from buying shoes after this le.
at least now i see tt i really got ALOT. n another patent black pump or some other crap seems irrelvant now tt i seem to have shoes of all heights, colours, shape, design.

sigh....i jus feel heart pain for the money la. really lor. *grimace*