Charice

Another jaw-dropping performance from this multi-talented girl. She even shows her dancing skills. This girl has got a God given talent...extraordinare!

Youtube Link below:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lUUh8YI_PwM

Xmas day '07

Glad to have finished on time from work yesterday. Felt something's coming as throat felt a bit itchy. Prepared something for the evening...set the table to look festive...invited friends for a dinner. I knew I will not be well, but still tried to celebrate Christmas. Had a nice dinner and watched Black Diamond on DVD. Fell asleep on the sofa.

I woke up on Christmas day with a full on cold! Nasal passage congested and feeling run down. Sent text messages to all my loved ones to greet them a happy Xmas. Just spent most of the day snoozing and watching lots of programme on telly. Nothing special really...just missing Xmas back home.

j

Talented Filipina

Charice Pempengco's performance at Ellen Degeneres' show. Superb!! Click on the link below for the youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXKFTWL_uQ8

j

Oxford Trip December 7-8

Have been hybernating for a few days and being lazy. Exactly a week a go, I was busy preparing things for our 2 day trip to Oxford. Made some brownies to take with us and immitated Pret a Manger's chicken jalapeno wrap which is sooo scrumptous!

Anyway, Friday last week, after borrowing my friend's Tomtom, we headed off to Oxford. Drive was relaxed thanks to the satnav technology... travel took just more than an hour ( i didn't drive cause i don't know how to!!) Parked the car at the Linton Lodge Hotel before heading to Oxford City Town Centre. Not much difference to other towns, still loads of people doing their shopping. Sat on a bench in a shopping mall and nibbled on the chicken wraps and brownies which i made with a choir singing christmas caroles in the background. After the quick late lunch, we started our shopping spree!

Walked around the shops until we stumbled upon the covered market. Lotsa nice little shops in there which sells lots interesting produce which ranges from cakes to dead rabbits! Yes....rabbits! That was a bit of a shock for me seeing up side down dead rabbits complete with furs and all. In between those hanging dead rabbits and wild birds is a nice christmas garland....just to make it more christmassy i guess!

In the evening, we decided to go to the cinema to watch Beowulf. Initially thought I will not like this cartoony movie. Loved the movie in the end! Worth seeing!

Saturday was a bit of a downer due to the poor weather. Just to cheer ourselves up, we headed to the retail store Bicester Village. Selling mostly designer items but managed to grab a few bargains! Bought 2 pairs of Timberland shoes from £24-£28 each (original price of £80) Whoaaaa! What a great find! Journey home wasn't too bad considering it was sooo wet.

It was a very nice 2 day trip to Oxford. I surely would like to visit again. Only downfall is the high cost of bus fare compared to London.

Look at these cakes!

j

Boiler up and running!

Finally! After living in an Antarctic-like flat, boiler's been fixed today. Can now have a proper shower with hot water and walk around the flat with less clothing(i meant with just a shirt and pyjama). Engineer had to replace it with a new fan. Packed my portable heaters back in the boxes and in the cupboard they go!

Im in a happy mood now, playing Usher's CD in our home theatre system to celebrate.

j

Boiler break down

That was a really nice Korean meal on Saturday. Went to Kingston town to do a bit of shopping. Returned home to find out that our boiler broke down. Saturday evening...yeah, agent's office already closed, doesn't sound promising.

Feels like living in Antarctica at the moment. Wearing a jumper and a hoodie in the flat. Managed to clean our old bin which has a 40 litre capacity, boiled 4 kettlefulls of water and 2 large pots under the the stove...it takes all of this just to have a decent old-fashioned/primitive way of having a bath! Brings back childhood memories back home!

Rang the agent today, they said they will send someone to repair the boiler. Knowing how slow they do some sort of action, i bet i'll still be living in the Antarctica for a day! Tempted to hire some siberian huskies and buy a sleigh :) This saga continues....

j

Nice Korean Restaurant

Went out for lunch last Saturday for my friend's birthday. Original plan was to go to a Japanese restaurant but not really sure if there's one in New Malden. Drove through the high street, saw Yo Sushi and a few seconds later, drove past YAMI. Looked at each other and said...should we go there instead? To be honest, we've dined at Yo Sushi for a couple of times now, nice japanese cuisine but we wanted to try something new. Off to Yami we went.

On the menu being explained by the Korean staff (in English)...all he really did was to read the things in the book. Almost about to say "yes i know how to read!"..being well-mannered I decided not to. Just nodded constantly. I also felt like dining with Oprah Winfrey as he really probed us with lots of questions!!!

Ordered deep fried battered prawns(no cruelty to animals tho) for starters; as most Korean restaurants do, had 5 plates of sorts as freebies(some are really spicy); Grilled chicken and grilled eels...yes, eels!! plus purple coloured rice for the mains. They all tasted really nice, the food was just right! No too filling and really delicious! Didn't have time for desserts as our parking ticket almost run out...besides, i don't want the Korean staff to read the menu again for me.

Most impressed by the retractable exhaust thing that sucks most of the smoke during grilling. Also noticed this small button attached to the wall, don't know what this is for really. Didn't have the guts to press as the Korean staff might explain it again by reading on the manual in English!

YAMI: 8/10

j

WOW!

Found this clip from youtube of a young kid ( i think she's 15 yrs old) from the Philippines. Her name is Charice Pempengco. She won 2nd place in a singing competition in Manila. Great singing voice! One of a kind talent. Click on the link for the youtube video. Type her name and watch more of her videos singing songs of mostly adult singers. Amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8URcIuPtYF8&feature=related

Nightmare week

No posting here for the past week. I unexpectedly worked for 2 weeks straight including weekends. My work colleague didn't realise he was on last weekend and booked a flight to Ireland. So decided to do his weekend and just did a swap. Glad I've done that, so now I don't have to work the weekend before Christmas!!! Woohhoooooo!!!

Finally finished my Xmas tree and the lights are complete now. Im really in a festive mood. Took another shot of the decors and bid goodbye to my partially lit xmas tree!!!

j

X'mas decors

Feeling christmassy today so I decided to get my our old xmas tree out the cupboard. Went earlier to Woolworth's to find a cheap 100-bulb clear xmas lights...bought one for £3.95...I've got an old 100-bulb clear ones as well. Just thought I wanna increase my electricity bill this time of the year!!! :)

On my spending spree last Thursday, I also bought some nice xmas tree decors from NEXT...black and silver ones. Also bought a digital automatic plug/socket and set it on at 17:45 til 22:00 every night...i like seeing the christmas decors lit when i look up my window on my way home from work. Also brought my little Santa's out of their boxes.

When all sounds ready to be assembled, i found out that the xmas lights I bought from Woolworth's is not working...tried to swap bulbs round and changed the fuse. The darn things still ain't working! Fingers sore... really not happy!!!

Still decided to finish the Xmas tree. Turned out very nice in spite of only half of the tree is lit with lights. Will return the thing to Woolworth's and demand for an exchange so the upper half of the tree will also look nice.

j

Spending spree

I'm on lieunar day today so decided to head to Kingston town aiming to buy a few things I need. Bought a black short trench coat from Topshop, black and silver X'mas tree decors, small gadget thing from Curry's, Fantastic 4 Rise of the Silver Surfer DVD and some toiletries from superdrug. All in all, I nearly spent £100!! Then I was soaked as the sky decided to open with a heavy downpour!!! Back home now, just killing time before i go out again to meet my work colleagues for a nice Thai dinner.

j

Monday 05/11/2007

First day at work is not too bad afterall. Nothing has changed...same people, same problems, same cramped old room, no available space in my work email (have to delete rubbish messages) ,blah blah blah. So, nothing to write in here. The "thing" that we are expecting to happen today did not materialise.

At the end of this uneventful day, I discovered a new Nectar card when i opened my letter box! Got me all excited...NOT! How pathetic!

Will watch some fireworks tonight out my window.

j

Sunday 04/11/2007

I hate Sunday evenings... have to go to work again the next day. This time it will be much difficult 'cos I have been off work for 10 straight days! Gone are the days when I get out of bed @10 am the earliest. Back to the old routine of getting out of bed..use the loo... shower... dress up... have marmalade on toast, coffee, and a bowl of cereal (while watching BBC news) ... pack my lunch...brush me teeth...pee...walk 2 minutes to work. Geesh, that's my daily routine (in that order too)!!!

Just realized that I only need to be at work for 3 days this week wooohooooo!!! I'm on lieunar day Thurs and will be on study day this Friday! This week will not be bad afterall!

j

Giant Parol (Xmas Lantern)

Giant Parol of Pampanga, Philippines.

Amazing display of talent and ingenuity of Filipinos.

These photos are taken from Flickr (thanks guys!) Click on the link for the story behind the Giant Parol http://www.geocities.com/balen_net/lanterns.htm

To watch these Parol's in action... click the link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVk0Z0qG3wE

j

Lion King The Musical

Seen the Lion King musical last night. Completely enthralled by the music, voices, spectacular scenic design and costumes! Loved every minute of it. My favourite characters (in no particular order) were Zasu (the hornbill), Timon (the meerkat) and Pumbaa (big-mouthed warthog). They were really funny and the way those puppeteers gave their dialogues, sang, and control the puppets at the same time was really amazing..pure talent I may say.

One of the people in the audience didn't manage to control him/herself (not sure) and took 3 photo shots with the camera and with the flash on! I'm sure a lot of people have raised their eyebrows. Can't believe he/she did that!

The first musical I've seen was Miss Saigon back when it was staged in Manila, Philippines. I have bee living in the UK for 5 years now and this is the first time I've seen one in London. I will surely watch more!


Before seeing The Lion King, we had a very nice meal @ Pasta Brown. Ordered prawns with garlic sauce for starters, and linguine with langoustine for main course. Didn't realise their serving is massive! There I was, trying to finish this big bowl of pasta..I failed the task! Should've ordered a kiddie size hahaha!(none available tho). Once again, didn't have room for dessert.

Pasta Brown: 7/10

Took another photo of London as we walk along Waterloo bridge before catching the train back to Kingston. It was a very nice sight before ending a Friday night.



j

Public Transport

Was stuck in the tube yesterday evening! Journey home from Langley to Kingston took

2 1/2 hours!!! Apparently, there was a signal failure on the District line @ Gloucester road. Tube was motionless for approximately 45 minutes (not really sure exactly!!) and then went on to the next station. Ding dong, passenger announcement!! District line service was cancelled! WTF!!!?? Waited that long and then this!!???? Got my ass off the seat and took another line en route to Waterloo. Really fuming!

Went straight to Burger king to buy a nice chicken royale meal (Biggie size) then dashed to platform 4 to catch the train to Norbiton...guess wot? No seats available!! Grrrrr!! There I was standing in the train holding a paperbag containing my dinner in one hand and a large cold drink on the other..nearly had a frosbite!

Really thankful that I don't have to use the public transport everyday. It's expensive and very unpredictable...i guess this applies everywhere you go. Oh well,that's the joy if you don't drive.

j

Night out in London

Went to this fantastic Thai restaurant called PATARA @ Greek Street Soho, London last night. Really nice ambience, very welcoming staff (a requirement in restaurant business!), nice toilet facilities( really loved the dark wood finish and the wooden sink!) and very nice exotic food.

Ordered duck wrapped in leaves and assorted dumplings with a really nice tasty dipping sauce at the side for starters. Can't help myself taking this photo as you can see. The lady who was sitting beside our table laughed when i took this. F#*#*ng t**t should learn how to mind her own business! Nearly ruined my night...tried my best to ignore her.

Main course included fried sea bass with tamarind sauce and an 8 inch red chilli on the side PWOAARRR!!, chicken with pineapple and other garnishes ( i can't remember),Pak choi and shitake mushroom cooked with oyster sauce and a nice portion of egg fried rice (really healthy...NOT!!!). I nearly forgot my name as these food are really yummy! Didn't have enough room in my tummy for a dessert in the end!

Headed straight back to Waterloo to watch the Transformers movie in the IMAX cinema! I was gobsmacked! Really awesome! Feels like you're part of the film. The only drawback is we sat a bit close to the screen at aisle J..had to turn my head to see wots going on the right and left hand corner of the screen. We have to book a farther seat..maybe aisle P will do! Alright, Beowulf is next on the list.

Reached home before 12 midnight. Had a really fantastic time. Will definitely do that again.

j

I'm getting good at using superlatives!

Patara restaurant : 8/10

Expensive Day offs!

Been off work for almost a week now...just had to take some of my annual leaves before i lose them prior to the turn of the year.
Just find it more expensive when I'm not @ work.I always tend to go out more, buy stuff i really am not sure I need, £2 out from my Oyster card (£6.70 when i go to London), pay average of £10 for lunch (coffee not included).
Thinking about it, I do enjoy these things. It's a nice opportunity to get away from my hectic day job (sometimes night when I'm on-call). A few more days and I will be back to our cramped office which is presently shared with the CRS people!! Just heard that a major thing will happen on Monday when I come back!!! Not really happy :(

**CRS - Care Records Service...all documents in the NHS will be computerised...well, thats what they're planning to do!

First timer

Can't believe that I will be joining the bandwagon! A couple reasons why I am...

1. I've noticed that my memory is recently getting rusty... will be nice to look back and read my daily (hopefully!!!) entry to remind me of what i did that day. Sad, i know.

2. Love taking photographs of merely anything. Will be nice to share them to people round the globe..am I being too ambitious?? As if people will be interested :)

3. I have to think of more reasons.

j