TADA!

At your highnesses' request, I'm blogging! Despite being half-awake at 1.35am. Ha.

How's everyone back home? For most (working), it's gonna be mid-week tomorrow! Cheer up my dears! And to a particular Miss Wee...Bet you must be super excited right now. All packed I'm sure. Take gooood care of your delicate lil' tummy and have loads of fun in Tokyo k? Ohyes, and remember to think of me when you're there! *winks*

Gosh. At a wink, I've been away for 2 weeks already! Without further ado, allow me to bring you through my little quest here in the Wild Wild West with my pictures.

Stony Brook University (Long Island, New York)

THE happy graduate and us. =) The main reason for this trip.

Look at us! All stiff and shivering! The ceremony was at an outdoor stadium in school, and guess what? It rained. heavily. However so, the show HAS to go on! Hence we were all given raincoats and we braved the cold for 3 hours out there. Brrr. It was really veeerry cold. Despite being summer, the weather's weird.


Ooooooooooh...KIMCHI CHIGAE! Lurves it. =) The chef at work.

My brother's friends came over for BBQ. Quite a nice bunch of people. =) Oh btw, haha. We played fireworks again that night. And I realised I'm not that timid afterall! Lols. All the other girls (except Mimi and myself) didn't even dare to try. And the guys...they sprinted darn fast too. Wahahaha.

Us with sparklers after playing with fireworks. Had a fun time!

At a Golf Range nearby
Not too bad! Haa. The ball flew (and not dropped), thank god. I'm beginning to like this sexist game more and more.

From left to right:
Alan, Sylvia, Roger, Edward, Pig brother, Mimi, Me & Jin.

Jin's my brother's good buddy! He's a korean, darn intellegent and pretty cute! (Haaa!) He specially flew over from Minnesota (where he just got his masters) to attend my brother's graduation ceremony... how sweet. He stayed with us for a couple of days and headed back to Korea. This meetup was a farewell gathering for him.

Atlantic City (New Jersey) Atlantic City's a little gambling sea front in New Jersey. It's about 2 hours drive away from my Uncle's place and we stayed there for a night. Look at this sugar store! Very interesting. Similar to candy empire back home. See that elephant in the picture? It's made of many jelly beans! (Of course, its jelly beans look-alike)

I was like a child in this store.

Choc's definitely my life-saver.

Look at that! There's that many flavours of M&Ms!

In a shopping mall by the sea.
Look up the ceiling! Star-strucked.
My favourite machine!

Haha, here's a comical scene of yours truly lighting up the rocket! Pls tell me it's NOT thaaaat funny afterall. My pig brother's impossibly tickled by this clip that he keeps requesting I re-play the clip and laughs non-stop everytime it is played.

HI MY DEARS!!

I've safely reached NY! ;)

To everyone back home: I am good! Hee. And the one thing that can prove that would be... I've got my appetite back! And I'm wide awake at 10.33pm! *winks* (I have been dead asleep by 8pm for the past 2 nights!!! Can you believe it???!!)

I lost my appetite, for nearly 2 days. Why? I'm not sure if it was the result of my own cooking on Mother's day (Haha) or the trip to the Zoo a day before (My poor zoo khakis, Dan & 33, are down too!), but, sadly, I was down with food poisoning/stomach flu (Doctor couldn't diagnose which it was as the symptoms for both are the same). Puked a total of 4 times (from 4am - 8am), and got 2 jabs on my butt just before my 10.50am flight to NY. What luck right! Ha. But thank god I managed to survive the ungodly 18 hours in air. I think I puked a truckload of say...3 meals?! Shrugs, an absolutely horrible experience! Right Dan??? That poor boy puked too after I left.

Did I also mention I lost 2.5 pounds??? (That would be approx 1.1kg) Haha! Yippie!!! I was telling Dan & Elv that perhaps this is God's way of telling me that I should be watching my weight! Lol. But don't worry! It's all coming back together with my appetite!

I'll be mainly staying at my uncle's place (in New Jersey) during my stay here in the States. But we'll be heading down to Long Island (2-3 hours drive) tomorrow for 2 days to attend my brother's honors award ceremony (in the evening) and main graduation ceremony (the next day).

A lil' itinerary planned out for the next two weeks...popping by Atlantic City (where the casino is. OHNO...money's so gonna go!), Boston, Washington and of course not to forget...the BIG APPLE...NYC! I'm asking my brother to slot in an adventure ride too! Perhaps white water rafting or sth! Hee. So looking forward. Super random, but we lighted fireworks in our backyard earlier! So fun!!! WHeee! Alrightys. I shall end here with a few pics for tonight. Good night folks!~* Take care!!!

Pig brother and me playing basketball.
We were playing at like 7+am in the morning? Over here, the sun rises at like 5+ in the morning, and sets at about 8+ at night. The day's uber long in summer! The weather's very good now. About 15 degrees. Jussssssst nice!

Front view of house.

Front view of house with mailbox. 15 Hunters Crossing. (:

Back view of house

Mummy and me goofing around in my uncle's MPV.

I just came back from a 1-hr run. To East Coast, and back. The weather's awesome! The Sun is out! It's windy! The air is fresh! Haha, everything falls so nicely in place. I guess when one's in a good mood, everything just seems to be good. Ya??? Haha.

Btw, the bedok park connector outside my house is up! I can now safely (with the pathways) jog to bedok reservoir or east coast park! Cool. Anyway, while I was jogging, ONE particular song was on repeat mode on my Creative Muvo. Tao2 Tai4 by Eason Chan! Haa, but this particular song I downloaded (courtesy of Daniel Ng Hua Qing...haha) wasn't sung by Eason. It's sung by Jay Chou!!! How come? Its a demo song sung by him - the one who wrote and composed this song for Eason. Check out the lyrics. ;) Love the song. Ai4 Qing2 Zhuan3 Yi2 - another song by Eason is nice too!

To all of you out there: Have a great week ya!!! =)

This post may come forth a little late, but...better late than never right?! Haha. And I'm sure you dahlings won't mind this late "thank-you" post. April was an unforgetable month for me. Not just because it is my birth month. It was also the official announcement and set-up of a particular Council I painstakingly brought up from scratch. Can say, its my baby. So, it kinda weaved a beautiful closure for me at Mcys. =) Sad? A little. Missed anyone? Just 2 actually. Missed anything? Haha. *NEH* Hands-off! Liberated. Very in fact. I can finally breathe at my own pace, own time. (Not exaggerating, but nevertheless, it's all over...and I'm soo glad it is.)

Well, life has to go on. And I'm sure life's gonna be nothing but better! One chapter closed. And I'm all excited to enter the next! (cross-heart!) Like how I'll always be when episode 100000 of Prison Break ends. Haha. So yeah, if you guys know of any job lobangs...pl call me! Ha!

Alrighty. Back to the main objective of this post...I'll very much like to thank every single one of you who have made this 23rd birthday of mine such a special and spectacular one. A big thank you to everyone (esp a particular angel in paris) who called and messaged to wish me happy birthday.

First, would be the 3 sweet dahlings...Dan, Elv & Siwei. Ha. Thanks for being the FIRST (okie, 2nd. first was my mummy! hehe.) to wish me Happy Birthday! These 3 sweethearts actually came all the way to my pigsty to surprise me with a cheesecake at 12am sharp - despite their busy schedules, and work the next day! Omg. To think I even caught a movie with Elv that very evening. I never expected to see her again after like...3 hours?!! Haha. I so wanna squeese you 3 hard. Thanks for everything. *muacks*

Next, would be family of cos. Haa. My daddy's not a surprise kind of person. He would always ask me what I want, or what I want to eat on my birthday. And, for those who know me, I'm not one who minds all these...anywhere will do! anything will do! Its the thought that counts. Haha. But yes, I normally choose my birthday presents. Wahahaha. But this year, I told him..."Daddy, I really dunno what I want. Don't need lah". Can u believe it! I told him no need leh!

And so...did I end up with nothing? Or was it just a meaningless red packet? Neither! Ha. He din't consult me. Neither did he consult my mum. He just went to parkway on the day itself, after work, and got me a camera! Just like that. And he got me the coolest one. In red. And tada...that's the bday gift from my dear parents.

My mummy, although she played no part in the buying of the present, she specially woke up earlier on the 19th to cook a bowl of ai-xin mian for me. Haa. What about my brother in the big apple? And my cousin Jim in Singapore? They consolidated their resources and got me a wallet! Red one too. I loved it. But it was darn ex, and I chided them for getting such an expensive gift. I know they want the best for me. But still shdn't lah. They said..."Every girl have to own a XX". Ha. Wells, it's not me. not me. not now. I still can't bear to spend so much on a wallet/bag/shoe/watever. I think its how you carry it. Not what you carry. i.e. even if its a no-brand bag, if you can carry it off well, it may jolly well look even better than a branded bag. haha. Right? That's how I feel. Nevertheless, I appreciate their thoughts very much. And i...do like the wallet v much. But, no more ya! Haa. I count myself as one very very blessed girl. Blessed for being born into this family. And I can thank god no more for that. =)

And next, Eileen & Ping - my closest pals from TJC. My JC life wasn't exactly one smooth-sailing. And these 2 ladies made a huge difference to it all. There are not many frens who I can bear my heart to, who I can spend with w/o talking. And they're definitely one of the few. I absolutely love their company. Talking about them. They're in Melbourne right now, for their grad trip!! *wails* Yes, w/o me. =( And they are going to try out Sky-diving! How cool is that! I'm all excited just hearing abt it. Haha. These 2 sweethearts actually secured a ticket for me when they went tour-hunting. But alas, I can't dearies...my pocket's aldy burnt. Nm! Remember our Krabi trip? Ha. Let's schedule that! Sent them off at the airport on Saturday. Ha, somehow...the airport just has this magical ability that cheers me up. Other than on occasions when I see my loved ones off for loooong trips...I like the airport very very very much. Ohya, I din't mention how they celebrated my birthday for me. It was a unique one. Haha. Back in NTU, where we all "studied", and pigged out together. Dan came to join us too. Those silly girls. We've been through quite abit, and thanks for everything. Especially seeing me through my darkest period in JC. *Hugs*

The Tk-gers. Hahaha. The so so expected surprise. Lols. Imagine receiving an sms few days before your birthday asking you what your office address is? Haha. So obvious right? Omg. What were you girls thinking. Haha. But nevertheless, thanks for the lovely flowers. Thanks for the chocs. Thanks for thought itself. It made my day! And luckily it ended up at home. I couldn't imagine the scene it would have caused if it was delivered to my place. Lols. Thanks my dear girls.

And of course, not to forget THE Market. First and foremost, sorry for turning up late at hardrock. Ha, I was unwell and so...shd be forgiven ya? It was a horrible day for me. I had an awful cold...so I went to sleep it off. Thank god it went away, fast. Thanks for coming for dinner & ktv! Dinner was at hard rock cafe, and it was my very first time there, it was good! Dint really savour much of the food, but I liked the baked potato skin e most! Haa. Ohyes, and thanks for the nike watch. Loved the design, loved the colour, loved how it looks so good. Of cos, credit has to go to the lovely 3 who shopped for it. Haha. *winks* Thanks! BTW, it's on my wrist right now. Hee.

Haaa. Pl bear with me for a little while more. There are a couple more individuals I wanna specially thank. Thanks to Elv who got me this "punch-stick" for hitting my back. I chose it ya??? Hahaha, although the way i figured out the surprise was off as you said...but alas, the feeling was right. Thanks for the puzzle too! I know you hate that pic...but because it's my fav, you had it printed on the puzzle. Awww. And did I ever tell you that I love fixing puzzles? Haaa. Thanks sweetheart.

Thanks to Js whom handcrafted a very sweet birthday note. Thanks for being so so thoughtful. You're the one who goes to the finest detail, and I really appreciate it. You listen, and take every word I say to heart. Thanks girl. It will definitely be up my wall. *winks*

And also to a particular pig, he was the first (okay, as i said...strickly speaking my mummy was first, but haha. okie..let me continue) AND the last to wish me happy birthday. The pig also appeared on the very day to surprise me with awfully thoughtful gifts. Every gift has a meaning behind it. Cool right? I was very touched. Very very. Thanks thanks thanks. =)

That kind of sums up my Birthday Thank-YouS! I just wanna let ALL of you know that, I appreciate your presence in my life, and I cherish every single one of you very much. Though I may not have a fantastic memory, and I may be blur to my surroundings at most times...haha. I try my best to do whatever I can for this friendship. So, thanks for being part of my life!

BTW, its pretty off topic to mention this at this point in time, but I'm so so happy for two of my dearestest friends. Hahaha. So happy that I wanna pen it down here! Lol. One is Ms Constance Chong. And the other, is Ms Adeline Tan. HAHA! 2 sweethearts I got to know fr Uni. I can't describe in words my actual feelings , but I'm just very very happy from the bottom of my heart for both of you. *WHEE* ;)

Labels: Liberated.