the way we get by

I just realised that I've been with LJ for more than 7 years now!

I first started this whole writing online thing with my own website when I was maybe 15 or 16? And when the blog format started to seem more manageable, I moved on to LJ with another username and I must have been 18 or 19. Gosh I can't remember what and when my first post was, but I vaguely remember posting up pics of my wakeboarding sessions, and my username then was the model name of a wakeboard I wanted to get. Heh. So cheese.

So now, I think things are getting a little stale here and I feel like a change. So I'm moving over to Wordpress for a refresher, but I'll keep LJ open still for locked posts to still keep in touch with my LJ friends.

I'll see you there - cherylhan.wordpress.com

Till then.

To be honest, I wasn't the most excited having to work this weekend, and esp almost at the brink of burn-out from the rest of the weekends and etc.

But today's events were all about music and when I finally just stood to enjoy it, I really did enjoy it. And I start to think that hey, I really love my job and I should be thankful for being able to do something I enjoy.

So anyway here's Ngak and Clement at TANGS VivoCity. Pardon the quality and slightly shaky hands, but I still love it and it still makes me melt. Love.

We were feeling for some alcohol at work, and I was craving for Chicken Wings to go with beer. So we headed to Muddie Murphy's after work, gobbled a whole lot of food and drank jugs of beer.

This morning, I woke up with a splitting headache and by late afternoon, I was feeling really like crap.

I'm younger than some of the girls, but why is it they can do late nights and drinks on weekdays while I can't?!

In the car, sending Jon home after having dinner with my family. There was a massive traffic jam on the opposite side of the PIE.

Me: Do you remember our first date? You came to pick me and there was a 2-hour jam on the PIE, so you were late.
J: Yah. Where were we going that day? I can't remember.
Me: To watch a movie! That was the day I failed my driving theory test and I was upset.
J: Oh yah, so how did I ask you out?
Me: You said you wanted to be my chauffeur for the night.
J (exasperated): Why would I say something stupid like that?!

Now, I feel really cheated.

Pics and more of the BMX shots from SSTBMX blog. Fashion shots are still editing.

The show was yesterday. I'm glad it went well. And I'm glad its over, cos everything was all in a flurry but we managed to get the fashion show going, the BMX riders were awesome, graffiti artist Adam did a great piece of work and Ngak with his band Timmy Trio just made it all the more sweet.

I had a good night's sleep last night, finally, with their music playing in my head. Lovely.

Today, I'm going back at 7pm sharp cos I'm exhausted.

It was a pretty terrible week but it ended off with lotsa champagne and booze at the EB finals last night - absolutely needed that. French Connection was presenting sponsor so we had good seats and neverending food and drinks, which was all the more better. I had fun with the girls at work and I feel like I haven't gone out for ages?

Now I'm feeling really sluggish and am waiting for Smng and the guys to come over to ride. Am half thinking of bailing out but I know I really shouldn't!

So Jon's parents will be away next week, and they've asked me to stay over to help take care of the house, come back for dinner (yay!), take the car to work (double yay!) and park at Tanglin Club so I don't have to worry about parking (triple yay!). They're really sweet to treat me like family, especially since they are known to be very particular on things.

But yes of cos most importantly, there's something worth looking forward to with more of Jon on weekday mornings and afternoons. Feel like I haven't seen him in ages cos he's been in reservist for the past two weeks. And they cut his tail and sideburns off! How could they.

The next two months are going to be crazy. The holiday in May will be all the more sweet, I hope. Am attempting to plan the itinerary now, and getting slightly excited. Just wish that I didn't have to miss a work event, cos it's looking like it's gonna be quite fun.

More pics on the race later, but can I just say that a spa treatment and massage after a race is almost the best idea in the world?! Thanks to the guys, I had a birthday voucher from last year to Lush Spa at the Singapore Polo Club and I'm in love. A shower cum steam bath is such a great idea.

Now, I just really need to get home to eat my dinner.

This year so far has been... unfortunate I guess. It's only been 2 months and I've already gotten more flat tyres than the whole of last year. Can you believe it?!

It has been both frustrating and demoralising - the stress of rushing every weekend only to have bummed rides, the many errands to run combined with the hopes of still some me-time with the couch, the tv and the books; I've decided to take a break and chill a little. Jon, Cookie and I went for a hike in the trails instead and thoroughly enjoyed it - there's always something new to the same ol' stuff when put in a different perspective! Best of all, we kill two stones by spending time with the dog too.

So, back to the point. With so many flats this year, I've accumulated enough inner tubes to make me go mad. So I've given myself the task to make sense of the pile of tubes lying around, and start uncluttering.

It's not new - there's more awesome stuff on Alchemy Goods, but I never realised how nice it feels to have a needle poke through rubber.

My tube project:




Pouches. Still a work-in-progress.

So the nice breakfast to break a little of the routine wasn't just that. Jon added in a little surprise and brought me to Palate Sensations for a Chocolate-making class!

It was an early Valentine's gift, and I wouldn't have asked for anything more.


Breakfast at Laurent Bernard


A well-stocked kitchen - my dream


We made Nama Choco, Bonbons and Basic Truffles

I meant to redesign my lj layout, clean up lists and endeavour to post more updates, more frequently. But I'm tired from a rather frustrating day at work and stared at enough excel sheets to make me go kuku.

It's been a long week for both Jon and I, so we've decided to go for a nice Sunday breakfast this weekend, to break a little of the routine of just biking on weekend mornings, and really just chill.

Am looking forward :)

Side note: doesn't 'kuku' look more crude than 'cuckoo', though they sound the same?

Am absoultely loving this


Image by Copenhagen Cycle Chic
If only we had dedicated bike lanes in SG! And perhaps, cool weather too.

A pretty bad pic, taken with my new Nokia E71

Other than the tiny 2megapixel camera, I'm loving it! Best of all, it didn't cost me a cent (but with a plan and vouchers, etc).

I know I should be contented and happy, because I have every reason to be. But sometimes I feel like I should be a little more hippie and do whatever I pleasure to do.. especially now when I have little commitments. Like quit my job, travel and do odd-jobs just for the fun of it.

Don't get me wrong - I love my job and I really do enjoy what I do. But sometimes, I dream of dropping everything, just for a while?

I haven't decided if I want to have the courage to do that one day, but I guess if I don't do it within the next year, I'll probably never do it until I retire and just get stuck in the rut till I grow old.

I feel like an early mid-life crisis?! Do you feel that too?

So the customary wedding is only end of the year, but my brother and WY decided to get ROMed first, for practical reasons like for their flat and so that they can go on their honeymoon on a free spouse air ticket... tsk!


With my new family


With my family + grandma


And I really had to post this... look at my hands! This is what wearing gloves does to you!

So we've been hanging out quite a bit at Jon's sister's place after she moved out to her own house. And yesterday we rode from Bukit Timah to her place at Seletar. We'll normally cut through the trails and exit at Casuarina for a drink. And I'll always stop by the biscuit shop next door to grab a pack of biscuits for the kids.

I'm always quite embarrassed to step into the shop cos I'm always in biking gear - muddy, sweaty and smelly. But they're always so kind to offer us samples of their biscuits. I always see their website address at the shop, but didn't think it was worth visiting. I was wrong and I'm loving it cos its so cute! You can mix and match the biscuits and they'll deliver it to you - and at the same price at the physical store. How exciting.

I've been lacking in updates. I've been on leave so tmr will be the mother of all monday blues but I'm kinda looking forward to seeing my colleagues at the same time.

NYE was great - Jon and I went on a date and had dinner at Grill On at Sunset Way which I thought was quite warm and fuzzy. The food's really quite decent and service was excellent too. We headed to Steph & Wan Keong's house for the countdown, which at first seemed like a Beverly Hills 90210 set with trippy lights and underground music. But we just made it chill, ate our chips and had our beer.

Had a nice ride at BT today, and had a nice catch-up with the guys at Gangsa. It's been a while.

Merry Christmas!

Hope you're enjoying the holidays and good food. I've really OD-ed on meats, chocolates, cakes and wine... Bleah. I think I really need to get out for a ride, but I'm feeling a little lazy...

Phew. I'm glad I made it for the 10am meeting today after the event that didn't want to end last night.

But it was great fun and I'm pretty pleased at how it went. I don't think I've ever had a media event where I could go home early the night before, and have everything still turn out alright.

So I decided to reward myself by buying myself a pair of silly toe socks:



So that's it. I'm ending the calendar year for work and will be clearing leave next week on. Yay! Horrriday!

I made Strawberry Shortcake this weekend, though I cheated with a premix butter cake so all I did was to bake it, slice into layers and popped in whipping cream and strawberries. The Greens cake was really good - I've never tried it before, but thought I will cos it came wih icing. And it turned out really nice, except for the messy icing and edges. I need to work on the presentation.. and remember to toast the almonds!

Nigella Lawson said it well - the beauty about baking is that it's simple, yet looks like a huge effort and people appreciate it much. But I guess the best of it all, is that it makes you happy too!

Here I am, alone with Cookie and waiting for the clinic to open before he goes for his surgery.... I'm scared. It's gonna be so painful for him.

Since I can't seem to get to sleep, I'll tell you what my poor dog is going through.

Cookie is going for an operation this Sat to remove a lump on his tummy. It's about the size of a 50cents coin and it's like a pinkish bubble. Of the few vets I've been to, I trust Dr Simon Quek best to do it cos he makes sense and his prescription works wonders.

They're gonna put him on GA, remove the lump and send it somewhere in Canada for testing - hopefully it's just a lump of fats but if it's anything malignant, I don't know what to do.

The week after, we're gonna do allergy testing for his chronic skin problem, while he removes his stitches from his operation. Ouch! Once we find out what he's allergic to, we can stop putting him on medication and get him vaccinated against his allergy. Hopefully, this means a long term solution!

Poor boy.