a long time coming.

yes, its been a long time since i last blogged.

i was thinking about blogging while in the shower, dont know what went through my head but yeah here i am.

Around 3 months ago, we took a 14 hour flight across the globe to the real lonely planet called maastricht, my first impression; 3rd world country. The airport declared holiday after our flight touched down to await the next flight in weeks, we hopped onto a bus which took an hour to arrive, and as the bus slowly made its way to the guesthouse; so many scenes of nairobi mixed with normandy raced through my head and i was starting to regret giving up my coveted place in warsaw (which is probably the 2nd most random place after maastricht) for the forgotten son of The Netherlands. The only 2 consolations was that 1, i was with lee 2, the weather was what i had expected, cold and miserable but i was fine with it, as long as i dont have sweat even after taking a cold shower.

3 months after that day, here i am sitting in my room, its 9.15pm but the sun's still up, just had a good 2.5 hours round of soccer with the guys, nice fries for dinner, just soaking up maastricht for the final 3 weeks of this chapter of my life. Its so sad i got to soon part with maastricht and head back home. I have grown to love maastricht, the 5 stores it has in its 'orchard road', the 25 roads this place ever had and the 30,000 inhabitants here,okay i was just joking, trying to add a more melodramatic effect to the whole thing, but basically the point is, i know i am going to miss this place when i leave and i probably will never come back again, i mean who the hell chooses a place like maastricht for a holiday?!?!?! but maybe i would next time. I heard this place is filled for uni kids and elders, so maybe in like 3o years, i could find myself back here. I hope the fries store and my fav kebab store will still be here, run by their 4th generation chicos. Man, on the kebab story, i recently ate my 8th kebab in like 10 ten day? its ridiculous. It beats that shitty Sultan of Kebab near SMU which charge 5 bucks for some skinny pathetic wrap which i can finish before the guy says instanbul. Here thought its like 8 buck, that wrap is think man, the girth on that thing. I have introduced it to most of my friends here, probably accounted for 50% of their revenue in recent weeks..jh, you will not be spared. haha

Next, the Sun, enough of making fun of those europeans behaving as if, they never seen the sun and like its funny how when i talk to them and ask them what do they do nowadays, they list out "out in the sun for the afternoon", then "work at night", its like a serious thing to them you know like its a real activity to lay out on the grass with the sun. Man, i dont mind all the people out there, there's so much more to see now compared to the earlier months i was here. Soccer has been a real experience here, so many nationalities mixing up and i love it how they are all so competitive here esp with the argies and spaniards who try to talk thrash with their funny english and oh not forgetting the french, haha sorry regis if you ever read this. Chian asked me an hour ago when i got back like hey isnt it weird to ask to join the guys if you dont know them, i said nah football's an international language and we just play. Feet does the talking and after scoring the goals, then you can run your mouth.

Rugby has been tremendous here as well, though i am still short of that elusive 5th match, i love the spirit during trainings where everyone is thrash talking each other, they are just so competitive even within the same team.

Arrgh, there's so much to talk about, but i am getting tired, not sure my neighbours who perpetually smell of weed is gonna play some poker, i dont know. and all i know is that i love maas.

poh.

i ♥ fred perry

if you feel the same way that i do about fred perry fashion, do visit:

www.fredperryunderground.blogspot.com

...to browse/buy cool apparel and oh do leave your 2 cents worth about the brand if you've got the time!

this is part of my project for this course internet technologies and international business (ITIB) that i'm currently taking now at UM. It is a design experiment to discover the power of the internet and how networks form, especially around such a niche brand like fred perry and specifically in asia.

//ps: a viral home-made fred perry video with familiar characters (haha) will be uploaded on www.fredperryunderground.blogspot.com once i finish meshing everything together. do keep a look out for that!

thanks for your support everyone! :)

you can run but you can't hide, sucker!

coming back a second and third night after knowing full well that security guards are on the prowl and students are highly suspicious of everyone, this gui intruder is really insulting his own intelligence.

time to be daredevil and open all windows and doors again! jokes!

but seriously, what a relief! phewness!
:~o (thats my attempt at a phew face)

maastricht guesthouse mayhem updates!

Additional information not in the note above: One of the girls was suffocated while she was asleep but both are fine now. Imagine the traumatic experience2008.

*keeping all knives and pillows now*

the two of us locked in our rooms terrorized and paranoid
at 10.40pm maastricht time

latest update at 11.25pm - the girl moved outta her corridor into OURS!!!
say it slowly: oh-my-gosh

maastricht guesthouse mayhem!!!

look what made poh and i damn scared and stressed at every little sound along the corridors!

*shivers and chews on nails*

happy birthday boonsish!

happy 22nd birthday boonsbaby!

I still remember the first time we met (don't emo ahh boons). It was during waikiki 2006 at siloso beach when we were 2 strangers eagle eyeing the same bikini on sale. It was this yellow blue and white biks, remember?? The tension when we knew we both wanted that last piece but my choppy fastest fingers first (I know surprising) allowed me to purchase it first. haha..in the end i think you should have gotten it cos it was erm way too tight for me ..shuts! hahah..

I think Angsters was our intermediary and then we slowly started abandoning her and began hanging out together to support our boys during their matches. hurhur jokes angs. Then slowly, we were closer friends because we realized that we indeed did enjoy hanging out with each other and not just because of weims and poh. Then came about the steady ready set glo's, timbre, bark cafe and house parties at rindu + holland grove.

Whats there not to like about boons? She's hottish (marge hairstyle perpetually in place, great fashion sense, guy's who have been oogling at boons, admit now! but sorry she's attached- lucky weims), sweetish (always thinking of her friends/weimsish first), sensitive (emo nemo, favourite words "oh no..", and thanks for still befriending me after being the 1st person to see my initial permed hair gui state), smart (10/10 for investor relations, boons@blooms kind) and funny (another advocate of joke-add-ons). woohoo cant wait for july when my birthday comes! yay!! thicks

I should be back in Singapore on the 1st july and we better hang out before you leave for your exchange in Barca! I'm so excited for you!! I can totally lonely planet you when I return. :)

I can always count on you...

and you can always count on me

hope you're back home safe from zouk! happy birthday, have a great one!

ps: check your oleander mailbox soon heehee

xoxo, leesters

happy birthday homie

ALEXIS NG HUI SHEN! HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY DARLING!!

I honestly don't know where to start lex! Let me see, how long have we known each other? Since kindergarten2 probably, but I think we only started getting closer after we were in the same class in primary3 all the freaking way till secondary4. thats like classmates for 8 years and friends for..well for Life! :) You're one person who makes me feel so bloody (blerdy) comfortable around you all the time, and there's never an awkward moment. Or even if there are awkward moments, you'll know what to do. Even though we have been having our little LDR since you decided to ge kiang and jetset off to Phily for university, I assure you that you're definitely one of my besties. So leave the insecurity behind (if any) and all k cos I'm announcing it on cyberspace now! hahaha. Everytime I say something retarded, your reply will be ten times more extreme and there's nothing but resounding laughter everytime we're out. Thats what I love about you that spontaneity and zest about life is just so overpowering. Through the years we have learnt to complete each others sentences and read each others mind through a mere look. You're the best person to relax at a coffee joint or office pantry (ahem) with.

There are so many things I want to write but then it will just be totally embarrassing so key words will suffice I hope (I'm sure you'll understand :p). Somerset slicker, serangoon superstar, omu balls, neos, mr ng, cikgu, strong in duty bound, changi chalet, desperate housewives, photo by kid rock, ghostship, j8, mambo, whisky intoxicated kbox sessions, bermudas but now low cut stuff, ldr phone calls, bowling, tennis captain, knock knock room service outside lam and my room in virginia during work and travel, red bag, 3A's, (I just asked Poh for more adjectives and he said 'alexis is mad, thats all i'm saying'), jeejee, joint, peranakan, redwan, the sheep keychain, designing CD's, wise owl, hands in pocket, tiramisu, shutup just shutup shutup...etcetc..this will take forever

This year we won't be celebrating your birthday together, but just think back of the many other birthdays we had the chance to spend together and everything will just seem better already.

Love,

us
(totally recycling last year's christmas photo haha)

ps: we have to take more peektures when you get back, believe it or not i had to log onto my obsolete friendster to steal some photos, gees man!

happy ?? birthday mum!

Everytime my mum and I,

decide to have one of our mother-daughter paint the town red outings, without fail someone (ie: salesgirl, cashier, waiter, toilet auntie, hawker etc etc) will always assume we're sisters. Always.

Then, when I try to clarify things my mum will either start kicking me under the table or give that sheepish "Shh! let's just leave things as it is" expression and start giggly like a convent schoolgirl. But sometimes I just cannot take it lying down like that and so I start explaining she's my mum and everything and then at that instance that someone will go "NOoOoOoOOO" in the draggiest of tones like I just said the most preposterous fact ever and then shoot me that "you're such a compulsive liar blatently lying through your teeth" look. It's either she looks really young or I look like a yucksish chao lao gui. Either ways, good for her, bad for me. But to be honest, I think if she enrolls in any Hot Mum Pageant she'll win hands down. Speaking of which, I think there was such a contest years back at J8 and OMG please, "NoOoOoooOo, can't competes kind". (stop smiling mum, hurhur!)

We have always shared a very unconventional relationship for the longest time. There's not much of a hierarchy and we're more of friends really. Sometimes even I feel like I'm her mum keeping a lookout for her half the time. Going for lunches together, watching movies, shopping, afternoon teas, exploring Café del Mar and St James for the first time together, drinking sessions at Dempsey, partying at 57 Chevy together (though i must admit everytime i enter i feel like i just pulled the average age down a tad bit), gossiping (in teochew; thats probably how my repertoire of teochew words increased tremendously) and sharing dirty jokes.

Actually, don't get me wrong my mum can be a wildchild but at the same time she's motherly too. Overly protective with the million of phonecalls, anti-stayovers, super conservative and loves grilling and embarrassing my boyfriends with the birds and bees stories.

Here's wishing a very HAPPY ?? Birthday to the most beautiful, self-sacrificial, generous, cheeky, young at heart, open minded, down to earth (but i'd rather still take sound advice from Dad), jokerish and loving Mum in the world!

hint: ?? = >21yrs

xoxo, *a*y g*o*e

happy birthday k!

I prepared this entry on the 30th of april because I knew I wasn't going to bring my laptop on the road trip and so decided to upload all the photos into an entry so I could conveniently post the entry once I found internet access.

Thing was, during 85% of the road trip I was tucked away in acres and acres of German countryside where the village people would probably think that 'The Internet' was a bane that would disrupt the peace equilibrium.

Sorry, the birthday wishes came in late, but better late than never right? Right! hurhur. mao.

Its been an amazing 6 years of friendship. Thanks for toning my tummy in JC where laughing at your stupid jokes was equivalent to the energy exerted doing 300 crunches. Thanks for offering me stups/retarded advice which I know I will regret, but hell with it if makes the situation seem so much better for that moment. Thanks for the hockey tips and Harvy norm jokes. Thanks for the heart to heart void deck chit chats. Thanks for being my loyal companion in playing the see-who-can-throw-more-seng-buay-seeds-into-the-dustbin-game. Thanks for giving me tips on how to be a little more feisty (sorry poh, points to kams). Thanks for always being so spontaneous with our doubs date jet setting on sudden whims and fancies to KL and Bangkok. Thanks for always being so honest and frank with me. Thanks for being my car ride chit chat sit on the right only (i'm expecting more lifts from you!) buddy. Thanks for not making any silent moment seem awkward. Thanks for not being petty when I call your Dad 'Hamburgs'. Thanks for making me seem responsible next to you. Thanks for always leaving behind the 'sian kams' after 10 minutes of our GGW sessions (think zouk out 2007) and unleash the 'wild kams' in no time.

Despite our ups and down,

thanks for the crazy memorable moments.

happy 22nd birthday kamseedoodles!

xoxo, c

Germany road trip

With the line up of public holidays in the Netherlands like Queen's Day and Liberation Day, Shermanator, Rong, Poh and I decided to exploit the holidays to the fullest. Which explains why we went all out and rented a car to go on a Germany road trip! According to recce Sergeant Poh, we will be taking the Koblenz, Mainz, Frankfurt, Munich route.

For the next one week, it will just be the 4 of us and our ah-beng rolex GOLD Volvo s60 cruising down the unbeaten path.


About the car, we were expecting to collect a swanky Mercedez C class or sporty Beemer 3 series, but instead the Volvo s60 was eagerly waiting for us in the Sixt car rental parking lot. Don't get me wrong, the car is nice. But the colour - don't even get me started. Oh my goodness gawdy, gross and bengsish to the max! Apparantly the people at Sixt beg to differ, they were like boasting that they got us a 'GOLD', emphasizing the word 'GOLD' car.

Haha, well I guess as long as it works, all's good for me.

See you in a week! :)

keukenhof!

Just a short introduction about Keukenhof and then I'll shut up and let the flowers speak for themselves.

The Keukenhof is open only for a peek-a-boo-play-hard-to-get 2 month period each year during Spring. Located in The Netherlands about a half an hour bus ride away from the Amsterdam Schipol airport, Keukenhof boasts a bountiful collection of gorgeous magnificent flowers and sensational splash of colours. I swear there are some exquisite colours I have never seen before in my life! Say between the dark blue and light blue continuum there are like about 15375328649 other shades of blue! Serious!

Keukenhof receives over 750,000 national and international visitors annually and that is definitely not hard to believe. The Keukenhof which has a a park concept, offers the opportunity to see millions of bulbs in flower, entertaining flower shows (ie: flower arrangement classes), glass houses with flowers on competition to competes which flower will be THE flower of the week (like the pros will come and rank them upon a 1-10 scale, there silly me was taking ten million photos with a flower I thought was very pretty and then when I saw the rating it was only like a 7.6 - jaw drop to the feet kind!), and is the largest sculpture park in the Netherlands. There are like SOOO many flowers there and each one has their own unique name, kudos to whoever comes up with all these names. Check out for some cool names in the pictures like '(Suma) Cum Laude', 'Fancy Frills', 'Lady Jane' etc. The HUGE ass orange tulip named 'Giant Orange Sunset' is THE biggest tulip in the WORLD!!! OH MY guess what, Keukenhof is THE most photographed place in the world. Shaun, Weims, Nabs, Jac, Jh... you guys will love it! The camera lens that some of the visitors there use are INSANE, I think its like your ultimate fantasy! The lens there can like can stretch to close to 1 metre long costs ten million dollars kind! Hardcore!

Visiting the park on a mid week Wednesday with the 6 of you was the best! Basking and enjoying the full glory of Spring together made everything all the more surreal. Its like TULIPS galore there, hmmm even the word galore is an understatement!! Mum, to be honest, the thought of plucking a tulip for you and parceling it back did cross my mind (I mean who would even notice 1 tulip is gone amidst the millions of tulips right?), right. But my fingers were shivering and I couldn't bear to disrupt the peace. Hahaha

Everything there looked soo freaking perfect with each flower strategically placed. For example, we overheard a Keukenhof guide telling a visitor that Flower X was placed next to flower Y just so as to bring out the true essence of flower X. It must have took months of planning to create that impeccable experience. The crowd there was very international because beauty like this transcends all boundaries.

Keukenhof is the closest to what I imagine heaven to be like. My utopia, my perfect rapture.

You know usually when you take a picture you have to like aim properly then okay 1,2,3, shoot? At Keukenhof its like ANYHOW close eyes aim and take also DAMNNNN nice. ANY picture taken at the Keukenhof will look like an art piece because of the striking colours, period. Even using my humble digital point and shoot camera, I think there is a 100% chance I will win a SMUSAIC photography competition with those photos, hands down. Haha errr jokes?

WARNING: please mentally prepare your eyes for some rich, vivid, vibrant colours ahead! Editing done on photos - Zilch, to showcase the flowers in their full honest glory. With that said, put on some classical music, spray some floral scented perfume in the air (guys, go borrow from your mum/girlfriend/sister/auntie) and you're ready to go :)

a thousand words is not enough to describe it,
you got to see it to believe it.