last 15 days.

time flies and it's my last 15 days left in chiangmai: the land of smiles. for sure i'm going to miss this place and everyone i met here. life is so relax and peaceful over here that i really dont want to go back. i dont want to go back to my stressful and miserable working life in singapore. i dont want to go back to reality. back in singapore, i hate writing letters, sending emails but over here in chiangmai, i'm still doing it here but somehow enjoying it. hahaha.

i met many people here from different parts of the world. the other day i happened to meet up with people from taiwan. boy was i so happen to talk to them. i started talking non stop to them in chinese and was telling them how happy i am finally able to talk to people in chinese. hahaha everyone here is speaking in thai and i dont understand. :(

moving off to indonesia, nia after chiangmai. i will be bunking at the orphanage there. i'm looking forward yet feeling........ i don't know.

september is going to be one crap month as the ever so irritating anniversary is coming again in october. boss already started having lots of questions for me about this year event. :( sleepless night again. and end of year is always f busy for me. i can already picture myself leaving office late every night. maybe i will just keep thinking about my year end manila trip. maybe this will make me happier. :) it suddenly dawned on me that 2012 is ending already. wtf. FAST OR WHAT. time to reflect what i did for the past few months and if i did fulfilled the 'goals' i set early this year. before i forget, i need to get my driving license! MUST.

even when i'm away for my 2 months break, i'm still providing work support for my colleague back home. i is so nice. i know. and she told me that she accepted a lot of volunteers! :O heard from her that social work department is really peaceful when i'm not around. shit. why is it not peaceful when i took over? the number of incidents happened when i took over is 123456789. i seriously bring shit to my department. please let it be better when i go back.

crap i realise i always turn really negative when i'm talking about work. i need to be think more positive, be more positive then things will work out well. I'M SO LOOKING FORWARD TO GO BACK TO WORK IN SEPTEMBER!!! :D YESSSSSS! hahaha.

10 days

survived my 10 days village stay in lamphun and now back to the city area.

gotta admit it was one interesting experiences and i'm thankful to my host family for taking great care of me, always making sure that i'm ok and with enough food to eat. confession, half of the time i have no idea what i'm eating. no joke. one morning my host family served us grasshopper! omfg. no didnt try it. me no balls yo. told myself no more gross food after my last experience with wormies.

my stay in village was really 'healthy'. waking up at 6:30am everyday and feeling sleepy at 9pm? crap. if this continue in singapore i wont be late for work anymore! that damn rooster kp non stop that it's really hard to ignore it. am seriously thinking of kidnapping one back to singapore. HAHAH. i gate crash a funeral. yea. was really shocked when i reach the place. am so glad to have another singaporean with me to experience such 'interesting' experience. somehow i feel like superstar there, with my host family introducing me to everyone.

people there were really nice. always greeting you with their biggest smile. and of course i smiled back to with my brightest smile. HAHAHA. so far the people i met in chiangmai were really nice and am really thankful for that. (:

anyway back to my work in lamphun, we rebuild the playground and pavement for wat sribangwan school and did some painting too. the folks from NTU worked really hard, MEE TOO HOR. it's so tiring and my musclessss. thank god i brought counterpain along with me. hehe. the answer to all muscle aches. my first time doing serious construction and damn i really respect those construction workers in Singapore who are doing it everyday for us without any complains. everyone please treat them nicer!! they are always out slogging under the sun building this and that for us, making sure we have a safe home to stay, place to play.

the kids were really nice. helping us out even on weekends! carrying bricks with us, working hard with us under the hot sun. heart them soo much. and no they didnt complain at all and i can seriously see them having fun. laughing non stop as they work.

removing and replacing the bricks was a challenge too. imagine carrying it and lying it one bricks at a time... and now i know why our parents always force us to study and making sure that we have a good education.

during weekend, host family brought us out to the city to visit various temples. and some nights the rest of the hosts invited us over to their house for dinner and gathering. so nice of them yo! we need to bring the kampung spirit back to singapore!

the completed work! (Love Beyond Borders) if you look hard enough you can see my hand print there!

again farewell was hard. a teary one as usual. kinda expected it after all this is the 123456789 farewell that i had since my short stay in chiangmai. already told myself not to get too attached to anyone because it hurts when they leave. (:

with my kuan po and kuan meh from lamphun! 

sent the NTU folks off on sunday and everyone in the village came tooooo! they are already talking about coming over to singapore to visit us. WOW.

my last 2 or is it 3 weeks stay in chiangmai. wtf. so fast suddenly. for sure i will miss everyone here. i dont want september to come. i dont want to go back to my 'robot', stressful life in singapore and i know september will be really crap because there are many events going on during that period. folks here are asking me to come back again next year to help out with their conference and be a staff. i'm seriously thinking about it but if i really do come back it means i will need to postpone my studies again. whaaaatttt.

dad is always asking me to go home whenever i call back and he dont even mind paying for me to change my flight back home. dad i know you miss me but im not done yet. not yet. (:

rainbow

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true"

Farewell

Teary farewell with the kids from new York. They seriously play a big part in making my first two weeks in chiangmai bearable. Because of them I'm not homesick. (:

Always hate to say goodbye and I believe and hope we will meet each other again somewhere.

In lamphun

Don't worry, im still alive! Haha.

Am currently in a village and bunking in one of the folk's house. It's a very nice experience, waking up to non stop kp-ing of the chicken everyday! Hahaha. Been waking up at 6.30am? Seriously i'm considering bringing one chicken back with me to Singapore so I won't be late anymore! Haha

My hosts are really nice, treating us well everyday. So nice that my other partner feels uncomfortable! Haha

Staying with me was another guy from Singapore. Im seriously very happy to have his companion. At least someone to go through all weird experiences with me! Haha.

facetime

facetime is awesome. keeping me connected with people back home and in other part of the world. :)

with LMS. he is in shanghai noooow.

quek in japan. 

folks in japan (sorry for unglam picture)

and liwen's 21st! sorry that im miss your pinky party. have fun babe. :)

second week here in chiangmai and yes im adapting well. i starting to fall in love with this place and the people here.

Wormie.

I must blog about this. This gotta be one of my biggest achievement level in weird food I tried. Not that I tried a lot... Anyway I ate a freaking worm yesterday! OMGGGOOOODOOO RIGHT. HOW BRAVE. I know I know.

And guess what? It freaking taste like potato chips. NO JOKE.

Street children project

visited the street children's accommodation area today and i'm really thankful for everything i have in my life now. a nice home to go back to at the end of the day, not having to worried about money issues in my life other than occasionally worried over not enough money to feed my shopping addiction. this is bullshit.

try imaging yourself living above the swamp. definitely not pleasant with those creepy bugs crawling around and not forgetting the smell from the swamp. one thing that i learn from them, no matter how bad their living condition is, their smile is always there. you should see how friendly they are, smiling non stop at us intruders when we visited them. they make me believe that we should never be tied down by our problems in life. or maybe to them all these are not even a big problem.

 "drying your clothes the 'natural' way"

 

i met a little boy there. he kept yakking non stop to me in thai and i have totally no idea what he is talking about. just went along with him, smile, acknowledge and repeat after him. a bit weird initially but we got comfortable with each other after a while. i think he got used to me eventually. i was making random noises and he started following me. nice. :) i need to brush up on my thai. i need to learn some simple greetings.

 "a doorway to a better future."

Learning Thai

no joke when i say i lost track of the day and time when i'm here. totally relaxing myself and not doing anything. well it gets a little boring sometimes after all i'm so used to my busy life in stressful singapore. :)

learn thai today with the teen from new york. it's fun and obviously very hard. cant get the pronunciation right. OMG. and i managed to know the youth better today. not so lonely after all! they were seriously crazily high and fun. 

 my name in thai.

 

met my host for my home-stay trip today. going on 17th July. excited yet worried. not sure if i can do it. that is for sure stepping out of my freaking comfort zone. 10 days out in the village staying in someone else house. alright chloe JUST FREAKING DO IT.

Visiting the temple

Temple visiting was not too bad today. but once it's enough unless it's those die die must see kind! HAHA. somehow i feel that all temple look the same. 

it's a beautiful daaaaaaaay!

 

you dont say?

 

 

over dinner today, one of the senior staff from YMCA shared about people not being able to get themselves detached from their phone. which is so bloody true. yea im guilty of that. even having dinner with a group of friends, you hand will still be busy checking out your phone. forever busy on social networking website. ahhh the whole damn phone is really taking over our life.

full attention no longer given to whoever is there with us. i thought that by coming over to Chiangmai, i will get less attached to my phone but NO! old habits die hard. again whenever there is wifi, i will just connect and FB, twitter all day long.

i.need.to.change.

landed.

The happiestthing that happened today was having someone there wait for you the moment youarrived at the arrival gate. Thank you GYM for blessing me and making sureeverything goes smoothly. :)

Another thingthat I’m super thankful for, a whole freaking room for myself in the hotelitself! Just nice enough for me and there is free wifi! I wont be thatdisconnected from the world after all! :D

Made a fewnew friends and glad that everyone here is really friendly and nice. Just cameback from partying with them. haha! Oh yea, 4^th July is independenceday! And I saw fireworks from the mountain. First time with a different view.

Apple toldme that students from New Yorkare here and NTU is coming too in Mid July! Gosh sounds exciting. Going to jointhem for home stay in the village.

And I wonderwhat’s in stall for me tomorrow! Shall continue to explore the area near YMCA. Thereis a mall there and my favourite 7-11! Im sure and hope I will lose weight. Onlyate freaking salad earlier.

And thatconcludes my first day here in chiangmai.

p.s.breakfast at 7:30am and I’m definitely going to skip that. I need to sleeeep.

transit

Holy shit, after all the kan-chiong ness and blurness, I’m finally waiting for my flight to chiangmai. Flight to Bangkok was delayed. Landed at 2pm and my boarding pass to chiangmai wrote flight at 2:35pm. Got a shock and freaking chiong out. Once out of the plane, I checked with the ground crew and crap that’s actually my boarding time. Flight is actually at 3pm. rush for nothing but still Thank you GYM!

The whole freaking airport is so long! Walked non stop and took me quite a while before finding the right gate. When I found the right entrance, I walked through the immigration gate without showing the staff my passport. And I swear the staffs were laughing at me! CUI. But still LIKE A BOSS! HAHAHHA

I need to stop leaving my things around. Almost left my freaking passport in the toilet. WTF!!

Anyhow 1 hour plus more to chiangmai!! :D

waiting waiting.

 *no, i'm not going to london. i'm on my way to chiangmai! :)

I is very brave. Embarking on my first ever overseas trip alone. Currently awaiting to board my flight to Bangkok, will transit there before going over to chiangmai.

I’m not sure what to expect or rather basically I’m going there without any expectation. So I wont be disappointed if things didn’t turn out “my way”.

Boarding at 12:25pm and im here way too early.

I hope I wont be sitting beside any weirdos later.

I cant wait to reach chiangmai.

I cant wait to start my little adventure there.

I need to be alert and navigate my way well.

Cannot get lost and be blur there!

Dad just called me again to remind me to buy a prepaid card and call home. Ahhh…

i’m going to try penning down my thoughts and little happening everyday. Please be discipline yo!

And please please folks at Chiangmai, please remember to pick me up later!

Leaving on a jetplane

All set and ready to go!

Finally embarking on my little adventure, first to Chiangmai follow by Indonesia to spread some love to the folks there. Pray hard that all will be good and I will come back safe and sound. Yes I'm going alone. It's going to be fun and I'm freaking sure about that. Missss me!

Rose

finally no more sunflowers!

my first attempt to paint a rose. HOW NICE NOT?

I love love love to receive cards! <3

turning 25.

spent my birthday visiting singapore flyer with mum and dad, followed by dinner at kushin bo. had a great time at flyer laughing at my dad silly attempts to create whacky face while taking pictures. and now i finally know where i got all my nonsense from! 

as you grow older, you tend to prefer simple and quiet celebration like this. :)

Continue: 25 things i'm thankful for

Thank you big booobies for finishing the list for me. Was alone in train and smiling non stop while reading what she wrote. Awwwww.

19. Good complexion and big eyes
20. Good contagious laughter
21. Good height (for walking thru a tunnel #likeaboss and for certain sports where ur height is considered best, like basketball/netball Centers)
22. Being born in sunny and safe Singapore
23. Having gone Korea before and then falling in love with that place
24. Being chubby and yet still pretty (DAMN YOUUU)
25. Last but not least, thankful you have a name that sounds like music to the ears and fits you!
姿 = 面貌
淇 = 水, so you have a watery look which, in other words, means your face is flowing with love

"HAHAHA THERE I COMPLETED IT FOR U! ❤" Sabrina CHEN.

25 things that i'm thankful for

i am officially 25 today. one quarter of my life gone that's provided if i really live till 100.
anyway like what the blog post says, i'm going to try listing down 25 things that i am thankful for. (i hope i can really think of 25)

1 - my mum.

no words can describe how much thankful i am towards her. my mum who selflessly gave everything to us, who provide everything for us without any complains, who tolerate all my nonsense, who make sure i have a home to go back to at the end of the day, who make sure that i will never go hungry, who make sure that i have a clean and comfortable place to stay in and many many more. without her, i wont be here sitting comfortably typing out this. thank you mum i love you.

2 - my dad

just like my mum i thank him for tolerating all my nonsenses and stubbornness. with him around providing for the family, i can go ahead and pursue my dreams without any worry. i can do things which many of my peers are not able to. thank you for giving me a happy family, a happy childhood. thank you for loving my mum.

3 - my job

with a job, i have money coming in. with money i can go ahead to plan for travels and buy as many things as i like. i am happy to be employed and doing something which i enjoy and love.

4 - my boss

without my boss giving me all these opportunities, i wont be who i am today. thank you for believing in me and giving me lots of opportunities to prove myself. thank you for nurturing me to become who i am today. seriously it's because of him believing in me, i didnt realise that i can actually lead and be a leader.

5 - my colleagues

i always hear of stories how colleagues plot against one another, how they backstab you. i guess being in a small and family organisation you wont face such issues. my colleagues are like my friends, my family. i'm glad that im able to bond with them and they even treat me like their own daughter.

6 - health

after working in this industry for 4 years, one of the most important thing beside family is health. no matter how rich you are, if you are not healthy then it's useless. i have seen how a illness change a whole family. i am thankful that i am born healthy and my families are healthy. please continue to bless us with great health and happiness.

7 - my dog

my best friend. it's always a joy to come home with someone jumping with joy whenever they see you. thank you for keeping me companying.


8 - my residents at work

for teaching me a lot of life lessons and making me believe that happiness can be that simple. thank you for teaching me the joy of giving. thank you for teaching me how to love a complete stranger. thank you for always brightening up my day with your smile when i'm tired and lost. thank you treating me like family.

9 - girlfriends of 10 years and more

im so glad that we are still stuck together now even after we graduated with everyone of us pursuing different dreams. thank you for leaving deeeep foot prints in my life and again tolerating all my nonsenses. thank you for always being there when i needed someone.

10 - my cousins

the people that i grew up with. the people that will never ever leave me no matter what. the people that will always be there. thank you.

11 - volunteer turn friend

i know i can always count on you when i need help for any event. thank you for always offering your help readily and thank you for being a friend to my residents.

12 - uni mates

it's really different when you whine to friends who understand what you are going through at work. i guess because we are all facing the same shit everyday? HAHA. thank you for listening to me and making me feel better. thank you for letting me know that im not alone.

13 - the la liang group

no idea how we ended up together but i seriously enjoy every meetup with all of you. all the endless laughters and jokes are what i need most. thank you for always bringing endless laughter into my life and not forgetting the non stop entertainment on whatsapp tooooo!

14 -  my iphone

for keeping me entertained and providing me with latest updates about news and my friends! yes i do stalk people when i have nothing to do. HAHAHA.

15 - home

that i have a place to go back to at the end of the day. my own room for me to hide away from the rest of the world. the place where i can take down my mask and just be the real me. a place where i can recharge before i face the world again.

16 - my ITE mates

they made my life in ITE so much fun. so much bearable. being the only one going to ITE among all my other gfs, it's hard not to be saaaaaad. haha anyhow it's over and i have move and preserve on with my life. i guess the greatest take over from my ITE is knowing them. :)

17 - my little corner at work

the place where i sloooooooog hard. the place where i can decorate and paste random shitsss! HAHAH. glad to have one place that i can call my own.

18 - ex colleague turn 'lover'

she treats me like her little sister. (:

i'm so depress that i'm going to stop at 18. CANNOT THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO ADDD ON. OMG OMG OMG. HOW CAN THAT BE POSSIBLEEEEEEEEEEE. :(