apple & cinnamon

A love so sweet and innocent,
Chemistry like apple and cinnamon.

It's not a feeling but it's still love

On a night, today, I
-Ate my dinner: CHECK
-Studied for Digital Media Arts UT: CHECK (Well, browsed through it and wrote ritchets of small notes on paper to be precise)
-Spoke to Stef: CHECK
-Washed my shoes that got soaked in the rain last Friday: CHECK
-Bathe: NOT CHECK

Now, lately, people have had the word 'Trouble' brewing about in their relationships, & how do I know that? I overhear convos between girl packs whispering 'If he loves you, he'll come back'. I get people running to me like I'm the new Oprah Winfrey or Dr Phil. So then I thought about sharing some of me thoughts that I'd passed down the knowledge too.

1. Trust, Talk & Tau Sar Pau

I think it's simple, really, how can anyone not built their relationship on trust? And to talk, my dear friends, we all speak English, and despite having to bring out discussions and topics with your partners might mean resentment. At least you know you checked it off your '10 things I hate about you and i hope that something would be done' list, it gets rid of excessive baggage. Lastly, tau sar pau. Enjoy your sweet love on the sweet bun. I heard the Pau Shop at Bukit Timah is simply scrumptious to the dough.

2. "If it's not you, then it's me. If' it's not me, then it's you. If it's neither of us, it's the world"

This is one of the fire starters that can lead to arguments and breakups, 'It's not you, it's me...' Well to put it bluntly, of course it's not you, it's the other party then. But out of the many people who use this line, use it as a short cut to snubbing out the last few flames of fire left thus leaving no room for anything else. But when you jump into love, you take all the good and the bad. Accept your partner's flaws and see delight in them. I think Stef's inability to organize his time is cute sometimes although it can land him on the hot clay pot of my favourite herbal clay pot beef rice, but it's so cute when i see him get frustrated.

3. "Extra! Extra! Read all about it, 11-12 year old Romeo & Juliet end up ringing each others' neck because they forgot to buy candy"

You'll be awestruked but every couple has it's day, and every couple can fight about the most stupidest, most dumbest, most frivolous stuff. I know of a couple who fought over a sleepover they had and the girl was angry at the boy because he slept on her pillow instead of his. I know of couples who fight over where to eat, and what to eat as well.

However there are couples who fight about the future, about different point of views, who fight because of the pressures put on them even if it's inexplicitly shown. But true that every fight makes the relationship stronger, and with every fight you built yourself up. So forgive and forget and take one step at a time. Despite the different fustrations and pressures set upon each individual, we're all humans, we're not God. We can't do everything and anything, we can't do much to help us for the future, when in reality check, no one knows the future. So take a day as it is. And definitely take a pressure at a time. Don't end up like pressure cookers!

Well i guess that's all i have for now, I think i should re read my notes again. Have a great night. (:

The way we used to be

“don’t cry at night, we’ll be alrightjust take a day at a time, you know
you’ll never lose me.I’ve made up my mind, it’s about timeI’ll be by your side,
you’re no more ever lonely.”

The scarlet ending

Happy birthday my friend.

HEY NISHA SUNIL! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEST FRIEND! (: 7 YEARS AND COUNTING!
-SUPER BEAMS-

Oh it is love

Someone please call NASA, because I'm feeling out of this world! (: My heart is jumping up and down like a jumping jelly bean! Although the pictures are taken on Wednesday, none the least, I'm happy to share the news that

ERIKA SHIMADA
JUST

CELEBRATED

HER
VERY VERY VERY
FIRST

YEAR
WITH

HER
OTHER-HALF,
BOYFRIEND,
STEFANUS TAN!

I gave him a candlelight dinner picnic under the stars over at bontannical gardens. Not alot of pictures were taken, because we both couldn't contain our excitement, and we both had the same sentiments that this day of our anniversary is just the start to the others. (:

Because i had prepared a special video cum ppt for him, I brought out my laptop and someone asked if there was wireless at the Bontannical Gardens. How inapt indeed. The weather was shreiking hot, and there were quite a few flies, so in order to chase them away I lit up my lighter and started chasing them away, till someone screamed from nowhere 'YEA ROCK ON HIPPIE GIRL!'.

After the meal at bontannical gardens, we drove over to Dempsey Hill to tone the night and our tummies for some tea over at Jones Grocer. And there we met Ilya Noor, who happened to served us that evening. (: Oh and that night, Stef spat on someone's lamborghini.

So to all those skeptics and non-believers, this first year anniversary with Stef is just an entree for you guys, wait up for 8 course meal to be served up right in your face. (:

One day school will be too cool

Hey ho! I know I haven't been posting at all, but school and anniversary operation has been tying me down so much. So far I have a few pages of articles to read for 2 modules and to further my reading and findings before each lesson starts, I also have a 15 page script to memorise whereby i play the role of 'M n M' (please don't laugh), I also have to find activities to complete up my ce points, and then there's this 'portfolio development' whereby I have to start 'now', however nobody knows WHAT to start with, and it seems emailing facilitators are of complete of no use, because i have been waiting for 3 days for a reply, and i guess waiting for an answer from the sky is what i shall do next. Also there's anniversary operation. (: I can't spill all details here on the blog because stef might chance upon what i'd be planning up for him. I hope everyone is doing fine at school, oh wells.. I'm rushing up in writing uhhh something. And my computer is spinning around. Or isit me? OH wells, i'll spill more another day, as for now I need to get my bum down NOW.

After having to change my mobile number after 4-5 times, in my whole 8 years of having a phone, I realized that telling everyone that you've changed your number gets irksome.

scenario 1:
Me: PEOPLE! PEOPLE PEOPLE! This is my new number onwards, i'm no longer using 9********. Please save this number from now onwards and don't be a cock and message the other number, because this message is evident that I DID give you my new number. THANK YOU! (:
-texts to 200+ people on contact list-

Comments: Some say that you waisted 200 worth of free text messages. Some say it's a waste of time because it's either you have or you don't. Some say, i'll purposely provoke the person next time and text 'Who's this?' if he or she replies.

scenario 2:
Anna Marie: Hey carl! I texted you the other day, and you didn't reply!
Carl: Oh yea! Sorry! I changed my number, what's yours?
Anna marie: 9*******, what's yours?
Carl: Thanks!
-walks further up in school and gets the same question from Joseph, Mark, Jacob, Candice, Jasmine, Janal, Ali, Murugesh etc

Comments: Most common experiences, and this were one of the top i had.

Scenario 3:
Me: Hey i changed my number but i forgot yours, gimme yours, i'll miss call you!
Gary: 9******* got it thanks!
-does the same for 200+ contacts-

Comments: And there you would have used up probably 30-50 mins worth of free outgoing calls.

Scenario 4:
This would be the same as scenario 1 but in a mass instant messaging form.

Comments: Wow unless one likes the tedious and precautious way of not giving your number to 'strangers' and finding out who and which person you should give too. That'll be way cool.



Well after coming down of a perfect way to give out my new number to selected people, I think i might just use scenario 4 and 3. Haha so i pray for patience from everyone and not to breathe down on my neck, plus at this timing now, i still haven't taken a shower, so y'all might wanna take a step back! Rest assured, you'll get the new number soon.

Alas, I can surrender now my time to my organizer, my emails, my work, my text to the sex right here. Have a good night everyone. (:

Chilly willies

SAKITTTT! (pain in malay)

My legs are reallly really really aching. Joy and I volunteered to help her cousin hand out some flyers at Bishan area on thursday. And hell did the odd 15 of us combed the entire Bishan vicinity. So if any of you living in Bishan and are reading this, we were the ones that handed out the patent like flyers about a condo in serangoon. But please spare a thought for us. For we had to climb 25 floors which staircases felt like 2.4 km run. What's trecherous when some hdb flats had their lifts under renovation and we had to climb up the 25 floors of staircases.

I guess you could say Joy & I had fun accomplishing a task. But a task that we both think would hunt us whenever if we ever decide to pruchase a house. It left an icy feeling in my back bone that i can never forget really. It was like way more worse than seeing a ghost, infact if i were standing next to a ghost (perhaps friendly ones) we would have been both scared of our souls. You see, the haunting part of handing out the fliers were seeing the houses that had paint splashed acrossed, or summons demanding for the money. However i can remember one house that was fully COVERED with some plastic like material with a police report stuck on it, and yes obviously with paint. Another house had a grim and unfortunate mark of having the previous dickhead owner who owned the loanshark money and the new tenants were harrased madly, till they had to install some camera. And the last house was one of the creepier ones, having to see yellow and red paint with a few notice hanging to say that the tenant has not been attending counselling sessions. And there were like shitloads of empty beer can bottles and the windown was open, so we scurried our bags away.

So after that day Joy and i learnt our lesson, if we wanted to do this again,
1) instead of like 2 people, surround yourself with like 4-5 people. It's ok to be a puss. Every human is scared of something.
2) Like device an einstein plan that can help you get all the flyers, without getting your muscles ached.

Whatever it is, i shall not want to see a flight of stairs in the following week.

Ipod filled with love songs are better than any diamonds in the world

They say that with age follows wisdom. And how true is that? 101%. Only when we were still in our early, mid teens that we are still ignorant, conceited & frivolous. I didn't know any better. And it took me just last and current year to make me realize that I could should would have avoided having more than 1 regret in my life. Afterall, I owe it all to my mom and dad. (:

So today, having lunch with both my mom and my eldest aunt made me feel all cordial like. I bailed out on whatever I needed to do and decided to spend time with the top people in my life. From lunch to shopping, i kinda felt like a mommy's girl again. Oh wait, i've always been kinda a mommy's lil girl. (:

Well, since I belived that I should repay my parents, and give them 10% of my paycheque. I brought mommy to Best Denki at J8, to the apple shop down there (Yea the mini apple store is located IN Best Denki, newly refurbished) and tell her to choose any 'i' instrument she wanted.


And she chose this,
-
-
-
-

-
-
-
-

-
-
-
-
-
-
-

And together with the casing that she chose, it all amounted up to only $367. The ipod nano 4th gen (16gb) + sweet casing for only $367. It was a good gift I could buy for her afterall. (: Now to take my father out.

Spider man died today

After a while of working on the designs of my aunt's garden, I decided to indulge myself for some 'Awfully Chocolate' s chocolate cake

So whilst happily wolfing down the cake in my mouth, i stumbled upon this hair like object in the cake. Thinking it was just a hair, i fished it out, making a big mess on the cream. Only to discover to discover and to my horror, that this hair like object was bent to a right angle like object like the shape of an 'L'. And there infront of me was the body, well HALF of the body of a spider.


Well blogger only accepts uptil 8mb size photo, so try to figre out how you're going to view it. Well there, i guess half of the eaten spider is in my stomach. I think i'm going to look for chips now.

when you wanted to die hard growing up

You always cringe whenever someone says that we look exactly like sisters.
And no matter how hard I pray every year, it seems like God could never make you even more irritating than ever.
But I'll never regret having a sister like you. So enjoy the years being a teenager as you turn 14 today. Happy birthday little one. (:

You know the most fustrating thing about giving a present to someone is to decide WHAT to give to someone. I have been planning alongside with my other plans that que up in my mind, what to give to Stef on our first year anniversary in April. Now I know you're going to say 'Oh jee Erika aren't you abit too early, you have a month to plan.' I know I have a month to plan, but I've always liked to plan ahead and do it first and then slowly remodify or regratify the entire masterpiece before presenting it. It's not a perfectionist job but it's just me doing things in the old orderly organized way.

But with all that talk, I STILL do not know what to give. Strange, because usually I know what to create, but maybe it's because this is my first time in my whole 19 years that i'm actually celebrating a year long relationship with and that's why I don't know what to do? But it's not only that that I don't know what to do, I just want it to be something really special for someone so special to me. (:

I thought this was cute. Although it is a ring, at least it's different from the norm.

Underwear is cute too

Although we are both avid fans of shoes, it must be the PERFECT shoe. And i even thought about getting couple plants. Couple african statues?

I think Stef would rather shoot himself than wear this.
So you see, I'm clearly stuck.

I should have listened to my mother when she told me to take the next flight out to Japan. I SHOULD HAVE bloody hell listened to her. My mind is contorted with all sorts of things. A-Z you name it, it's in it. And the only way to de-contort it back is to go somewhere different, a new and be loose. But with wads of notes, my ic & my credit cards in my wallet, my 2 cell-phones & my ipod. I have no idea where i can travel in Singapore, alone and just de-contort my thoughts WITHOUT seeing someone i know. Taking train and bus rides are not counted.

I'm glad everything has been staying the way it is, all has been sailing on calm seas so I don't see a reason why I should be complaining. I should be getting changed soon, but i just got back from sun bathing by the pool, and i'm really lazy. What more i feel so comfortable in my bikini with my mangoes nestled inside. (inside joke; i think mangoes can lie down and on their nest too) I'm having dinner with Stef's classmates, although i have absolutely no idea why he insists that I come. But before the scheduled timing to have dinner, I was suppose to prepare and set out in search for my new phone for my upcoming new line. Problem is; the customer care lady who talked to me on the phone was a tool. If 'customer care' people are not going to help me, i should pick up my phone chargers and scurry somewhere else. Also the phone I'm looking for is like trying to find a parking lot at some crowded area.

Well off i go then i un-nestle my mangoes.

Sometimes it's good to laugh at yourself, you could be missing out the biggest joke of the century.

"In case i forget what i might say next,in this case later in the evening,i'm actually typing all of this down from my office. I was doing someresearch on this and that company, and i sidetracked off for a while, goingto a few websites. (Unfortunately, like in rp, via the vpn connection. I'min the bank's vpn, which means i cannot access facebook or blogger) Wellback to what i was saying, i was checking out some universities and someother jobs once i'm done working here in this bank, slowly, the process ofdoing so reefed me down like im in quicksand. I was simply annoyed &pessimistic for a short 45 mins, yea short indeed. I think i'm a very vexedgirl. Just yesterday, my mom drove me to work and she was yakking non-stoplike a chicken pecking on it's grub. Although whatever she said to me didnot make much sense, but did she woke me from my pondering stupor that thislife i lead on earth, is very very antagonistic indeed. Afterall, there isa reason why rappers like T.I said that the world is our playground. It hasso many variety of activities to see and do but it has it's pros/cons aswell. But just like any playground that has built up memories, when you goback to that playground you kind of feel that there was a reason why thisthings were made and done. And then you start to think and emote feelings,and you'd the can a few meters away and start to say 'stupid stupid world'.

Anyway, i was falling asleep suddenly and i decided to bite thelemon wedge of my iced lemon tea when my small fingers decided to have amind of their own and squeezed it causing it to aim directly at my righteye. Now i know of a new remedy to keep me awake, instead of sucking on alemon, try 'accidentally' squeeze lemon it. Unfortunately i teared alot andmy eye is a little red but i teared even more after dapping it with alittle solution and now i do not know what to do with my eye."


I wrote this yesterday in the office btw. HAHA. Ok

I'm all curled up on my swivel chair with some chai tea on my other hand and i'm about to type down a memory that is so dear to me. And that is my childhood memories.

Just today at about 10+ pm i took up the invitation of having supper with my folks at the 24 hour hawker place infront of Bishan Cc. And boy does that place brings me back to the ages of being in primary 1. I never fail to smile with glee in my heart whenever chosen to eat there, because i savour each smell, taste, sight and sound of that place. You see, there were only 3 stalls that were my favourite since young. The chicken rice stall, the popiah stall the Hakka Yong Tau Fu stall and the fishball noodle store. Glad to see that they were still around afterall this while. And even more reassuring to know that the taste in the food still stayed the same, and it never faltered one bit.

Oh how i remember before tuition which was just across in one of the HDB flats, my maid would bring me there to eat. And i would purposely eat slowly just so i can skip a few minutes of tuition, like i said before, i never was a student who fancied tuition nor was i someone who liked to learn languages. In this case it was chinese tuition. But just today, i decided to order the fishball soup to share with my mom. The first bite of the fishball, shot me back to age 6-7. Not to hard and not to soft, springy to the core. Not to salty not to blend, just the right tinge of salt to the very end. And the soup, no gst with sprinkles of fried shallots, pig fat, Tong choi, persevered spring onions & parsley. How tender and how delightful it was to gobble down each fishball like as though i would not see it next time.

I can tell you so many tales of my childhood and this place. But maybe next time, but for now, please go there for your lunch, dinner or supper. You can't find no place that sells fishball with such a twist.

Doesn't mean that im not updating doesn't mean that i'm dead. Haha.
Work is piling up at the office so far, i can't log into facebook or blogger or messenger, but i can acces hotmail. (: Anyway, I hope everyone is doing swell.

Ok before i go out to Wendy's.

It's been pretty fun and so entertaining working with SMBC so far. I work at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank Corporation, if you wondered what the abbreviation stood for.

Entertaining, not in the 'get retarded and start craking jokes' kinda entertainment, but knowledge rather. I practically squealed with delight at all the fun things i'm learning. For example i never knew that Bloomberg was actually a computer database system, because i knew that it was a TV programme that screens all the corporate words which were greek to me. Nonetheless, i cannot disclose any information because alot of things are pretty confidential.

But it dawned on me that whatever i learnt back in school or in poly now is apparently useless, i mean no one was ever thought how to use bloomberg, BMI, S&P, Moody's, Fitch, Reuter's knowledge, ICIES etc etc etc. It was all on the job training for me. In school, you're taught how to LEARN. You're not taught what failure or success means. And i'mt not talking about just UT's, exams, test and what not shit please. But i don't know if i see a career working in a bank...on another note still, a mind is INDEED a terrible thing to say and although we were all born smart just that education had to ruin us, we ACQUIRE that smart from somewhere and somehow didn't?

But just yesterday, i was free and bored for a while and i played TIC-TAC-TOE with myself/my concious. And i actually lost to myself. Go figure.