When 2 of my 12 most important people come visiting :)

While I'm nursing my cramps at home, here's a super belated post when my friends come visiting during the first week of school. It's already week 7 going to week 8! & I really hate my cramps, anyone experiencing the same thing? It's one of my top 10 most hated errr things in the world, & I'm usually quite good with handling pain. Like if I were to go for facial and all, I love them squeezing all the blackheads and stuff and it's quite shiok? B-wax is also quite shiok to me, so can you imagine the pain from my cramps that get my rolling around my bed and not having to do anything but sit on my chair or lie on my bed? I feel like integrating into my bed to become one.

That aside, I'm always happy when my friends or family decide to come for visiting. No matter how busy I am or gonna be, I will always welcome them with open arms. It's like, they're here on holiday in my second home and I can get to show them around! Busy is not an excuse 'cos you can always do your stuff way before your deadlines, isn't it? So for the girls, I actually completed my assignment TWO weeks in advance. Hey, I get to enjoy and not worry about the damned assignment when the deadline comes looming too, so why not right? 

& so, Cheryl and Keli decided to visit me in Melbie, BUT the thing is, Keli doesn't know that Cheryl's gonna be here, and Cheryl arrived a day before Keli. HAHA imagine how we had to refrain from tweeting and uploading pictures onto instagram! It's a torture! 

Brought Cheryl to roam around the city and we had dinner, did a little of grocery shopping etc. 

My new profile picture with my new camera! It's cheap and SUPER GOOD. Like, way better than the canon's semi-pro! 

& then to the supermarket! It's always a MUST GO for all my friends and family, heh!

Honestly, it's my first time taking photos in Woolies, haha!

& there was a $1 Cadbury choc sale! Imagine all the chocs under Cadbury going for just $1?!?!

GRABBBBBBBBBB!

& Cheryl was so amazed by the self-check out machine, and she called me an NTUC aunty. :(

A mandatory self-shot in my apartment's lift. Boys will never understand this, haha!

& look at that big bottle of water. I simply grabbed it for our road trip the next day, 'cos it was cheap! Like $2? BUT never did I realize that it's actually SPARKLING WATER. WTH?!?! Everyone kept laughing at my bimbotic mistake, haha! This taught me never to be so cheapskate again. 

Our loots! HAHA, saying that it's for the road trips for the next few days.

2nd day!

Ok we look like we're wearing the same thing 'cos of the coat and scarf, but seriously, we're not!!

Picked Keli up from the airport, and Qiuling & Aly joined us in the trip too! :D

So happy for my friends to know each other, I've always liked mixing them together and letting them know each other 'cos it's so much fun!

Off we go to the lavender farm!

Lavender scones, which were meh~

Sadly, it was near the end of winter so there were only like, one row of lavender blooming.

A series of phototaking-for-a-lavender-farm-ad begins hahaha!

Silly poses are a must for us!

& then to a nearby small town for the famous pies there!

& because it was freezing, & the pies were so hot, it made it even better!! The pies were seriously SOOO GOOOD man!

Went home to rest our feets & off we go for dinner!

If you've been eating korean food and never had this, you're missing out, BIG TIME!!!

Order kimchi kimbaps if you ever dine in a korean restaurant, SO GOOD!

& then Argentine ice cream for deserts!

Trying out the paranoma effect on my camera, be prepared for more of such images hahaha!

Okay that's the end of day 1 & 2 for my gfs! 

Uploading the photos for the next few days! 

Why people spread untrue rumours about you.

Have you ever wondered about why people gossip, and especially speak of untrue and sometimes even absurd things about you or people around you? You wonder where you get their information from, how did they even come about saying such things or did they just spin off their judgements and pass them off as "truths" to the people near you?

It's fine to gossip. I admit I like to gossip too la. Who doesn't like finding out about new stuff, who's dating who, who just got married, who gained or lost a lot of weight bla bla bla. But it's the untrue stuff that people say, and false information that actually harms your "reputation" that gets to me. 

Funny how such rumours and tales made by gossip mongers always get around to you. & I really mean ALWAYS. You will find out about them in a matter of time, and no matter how long ago they talked about it, or how it could be irrelevant in today's time, you'd still feel a little indignant, whether for yourself or for your beloveds.

So I thought of some reasons why they'd do such things, especially when it doesn't even benefit them in any way. You know how in marketing, we'd tend to say that consumers buy benefits, not nec the product, and I wonder what benefit they get from doing such things.

They are aspiring script-writers who really want their talent discovered.

There you've got it. This has got to be one of the top reasons why someone would speak of untrue stuff about to you, and even more so come up with these absurd stories themselves. They need a platform to unleash their hidden talents, wants some attention shone upon them so that they can just stand out for a moment. Too bad when you got found out, you're just a small little pest irritating those around you.

They probably have nothing better to do.

"Hey what're you doing tonight?" "Nah nothing much just blending into my couch with a cup of coffee at home" "On a Friday night? C'mon Spring is here you've gotta go out man" "Oh wait have you heard of what XX has been up to? I've heard from someone that she's getting attached to his other guy blablabla"

They probably hate you a lot.

Or are just plain jealous of you. When you dislike someone, or are jealous of them, you just don't want them to do better than you. Then you'll start making up stupid stories and hoping that people will believe you. OR they just wanna make themselves seem superior to others by saying how ABC is stalking you, or how DEF is admiring you secretly because you seem to bump into him/her everywhere in school. Get a life dude!

They have no friends.

There seem to be a positive correlation between rumors and "interesting content", so these friendless people make up stories and spread them around, hoping to get someone interested to get a conversation started and hopefully make a friend or two from there. But yknow, people do know that those who gossip to you, will gossip ABOUT you, they'll never know if they'll be your next target and so you've given them a chance to know about your true self. There there, back to the same old spot of having no friends. Or just a ton of them on Facebook but in fact not even holding a proper conversation with them at all. 

These people just made my blood boil, especially when they make up stories about my friends, whom I know WAY better than them and know for sure that they wouldn't be doing such things. Who are you to pass such comments and judgements about my friends or people around me uh? Whatever it is, I'll just hope karma will get around to you soon enough and fuck you up badly. :)

In the meantime, having this little outlet allowing me to vent my frustrations is good enough.

Birthday post!

So I've just celebrated my birthday (no prizes for guessing my age because it's so explicitly pictured below haha!), and I'm so glad that most of my important friends and my family members remembered. This is gonna be a long long wordy post so I suggest you read on if you're really bored. Penning this down for memory's sake. :)

One thing that I hate about social media platforms like Facebook is that not everyone on your friends' list remembers your birthday but most of them will still write you a wall post to say "Happy birthday". Not that I'm trying to say that they're insincere or something, but it takes away the true meaning and the joy of receiving birthday messages. Back in those days when we all hold Nokia phones with the blue screens and all playing "snakes" on our little handphones, people who remembers your birthday are the ones who jot them down onto their small little notebooks, autograph books, or diaries. Back then, the number of messages you get could be counted with your fingers and toes (or you might need to borrow some from your best friend), and it was a simple affair of cutting a cake, blowing the candles, coupled with some handmade cards and small little handmade gifts like the box of paper swans that I still keep.

So this year, I've decided to disable my wall posts function. I don't get as much wishes as I did last year, but that's okay. Turns out that Facebook still doesn't give up and instead of having the small little box where you can type a simple "Happy Birthday" and it gets directed to that person's wall (you don't even have to visit that person's profile at all, goodness gracious), they put up this link that says:

"Click here to send Esther a message". 

For those who are always actively on Facebook, you'd have known that sending a private message equates to chatting to them person on FB chat. So not everyone would want to do so, but I still get some messages from my not-so-close friends, but they're friends whom I still meet up with when I get back to Singapore. This allows me to chat with them a little, catch up a little; it's this more personal touch and talking to the person up close that makes me feel like I'm still connected with them.

Then there're my very good friends who called me, sent me a message through my personal phone number. They're people who remember, or at least bother to pick up their phone to send me a text message. It's like going back to primary and secondary school, and I kinda like this feeling. You know that you matter to these people, and that's what it matters. I don't need 200 wall posts on my profile, I'm perfectly fine with just 20 people texting me, because I know at least that these 20 people will hold me close to their hearts. & that they bother. 

Then there're my very best friends who actually sprung surprises on me. I'm someone who, quote my friends, is very hard to surprise. I always spoil my own surprises, HAHA! But this time round, my friends got better and they really did surprised me! Although I did suspect here and there, but I just brushed it off me. 

Flew over to Tassie over the weekends (that shall go into another blog post) and my best friend threw a little surprise for me. I was truly taken aback because I was about to shower when she shouted for me to come down and take a look at Mai mai (her dog) and when I walked down, there's a cake waiting for me with them singing the birthday song! I was really really very touched and happy that I couldn't stop smiling. :)

Then there were my melbourne friends and cousin. I don't have a lot of friends here because honestly, I hate socializing and making new friends and stepping out of my comfort zone. So I'm really very blessed to have these people with me. Just a day before my birthday I went out shopping with Qiu and I was craving badly for a blackforest cake that I went into a shop and almost wanted to get a slice. And she went, "Eh this shop not nice one" so I didn;t get it. Spotted another bakery across the street and wanted to go when she said "I don't think they have la, don't bother!". I thought nothing of it even though I suspected a little but brushed it behind me. 

So on that day I was supposed to have dinner with them, and was waiting for my cousin to get back home from school. Was literally rotting at home and I was so hungry that I had 3 sandwiches and tons of eclairs and kit kats. Then my cousin suddenly came home, and behind were Qiu and Sarah singing Happy birthday song and guess what!! CARRYING MY BLACKFOREST CAKE HEEHEE! I was so touched because they actually went looking for it and reserved it for some time! Was so so so so happy that they went to such great lengths to get a cake that I wanted so badly for me!

Then we went for dinz which I enjoyed very very very much. Halfway through Kennedy was like "Did the jacket fit?" and I'm like "What jacket?!" and then... awkward silence. Ken decided to salvage the situation by saying "Neh Qiuling you know that day I told you my friend wanted to get a jacket..." hahahah and I couldn't stop laughing, and kept asking them what jacket on the way home.

When I got home I was so tired that I just showered and headed for bed. Next morning when I woke up, I was rushing for school and went to grab my coat when I realized, eh there's a new jacket on my rack ley?! Turns out they sneakily snuck the jacket and hung it on my rack before we went for dinner! & it was the superdry jacket that I loved and contemplated on buying!! :D

Went home that day after school & decided to pop by the mail room to see if my Asos parcel was delivered already. Got the card that the parcel was at the post office so I decided to drop by since there's still time before they close for the day. Went to get it, and the woman passed me a box. Those of you who shopped at Asos would've known that clothes usually come in the grey bag, so I asked the woman to double check for me because mine's not supposed to be in a box and she said it was the correct one. I was so puzzled and left the PO, holding the box and shaking it periodically.

TURNS OUT MY FRIENDS GOT ME MY BAG FROM ASOS! That I really wanted to get!! It was such a pleasant surprise and I really felt so touched and loved and blessed. What have I done to deserve all these special treatment?! The girls were really sweet and Cheryl sent me the whatsapp group chat, and I saw for myself how they;ve been planning and anticipating this surprise. Was so touched that I almost teared. 

Yknow how when you're studying in a foreign land, you tend to miss your friends and family more often? Simple words or texts from them will just brighten up your day, and I think I just hit my cap for happiness for the month! I'm easily contented and this was beyond what I've expected, didn't expect them to get me stuff and I was truly elated.

Just wanted to post this up, to remember how I felt when I was alone here, and how my friends managed to make me feel all the love from miles away.

If you all are reading this, know that I love you all! :)

First surprise in Tassie!

With my bestfriend!

& mai mai!

My blackforest cake yums!

& birthday dinner. Nothing beats a meal that reminds you so much of home!

This desert platter is THE BOMB. The banana fritters, sticky date pudding and mango pudding ARE THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD!

Those who made my day! <3 p="p">

& this is the bag that my lovely girls got me!

Thank you all for loving me unconditionally and making me feel like I'm the happiest girl on earth on my birthday. :)

& even though 2 of the most important people in my life didn't get to wish my happy birthday, I know you would if you could, and that you'll still remember. Just to let you know that I miss you, and I know you're happy with your own life now and that's all matter, even though we don't talk anymore. & for you, please visit me in my dreams soon because I miss seeing you and talking to you, even if it's not real. I just wanna feel your presence like you're here with me.