2009 is a bed of roses

i must say that life has been good to me thus far in 2009. i really enjoyed last week. friends are free to meet up and hence, i'm hardly bored.

met XIU and CHARM twice last week. always wonderful to meet them. we went to our usual hangout - newton - on monday. we had the usual - stingray, chicken wings, deep fried squid (for me). lols. and then we went for drinks at 2am at holland village and then bought beer from 7-11 and sat at the hawker centre and talked the night away till 4am.

on thursday, charm and i met for dinner at asian kitchen at citylink and then we walked to clark quay, where xiu joined us at indochine. a few interesting points. one, indochine is a complete ripoff. we knew that all along but they just got worse. an indignant charm told the waitress to convey that message to the management. she never seemed hotter!! two, singapore is in recession. it was a thursday night and clark quay was deserted, absolutely deserted! we bought drinks and noodles from 7-11, sat by the river, ate, drank, played silly games and talked the night away. till 5am this time.

i had so much fun. i tied a cherry stalk with my tongue for the first time, charm taught me a new trick. woohoo! it's unbelievable that we are j7 this year. it sounds so silly to count but in a sense, it helps us keep track of the number of years we have been friends. it's remarkable how we've stuck by one another all these years. it's so good to have close girl friends. they give the best advice (don't worry girls, i will keep u updated...u keep me updated too! ;-) hehe.) ! xiu has left for new york. jo's in london. i'll be going to beijing. charm is staying put here in singapore. i really wonder when the four of us will get to hang out once again.

spent a good part of wednesday with YUJIE and JAVIER. it was such a good day! wahaha. yujie and i had agreed to meet on wednesday. on tuesday, evelyn told me she was off to work on wednesday and hence, it would be a good day to visit javier. so we decided to! the day started with javier calling me and bugging me to hurry down to his place. hahaha. he asked me to go at 3pm. at exactly 3pm, my phone rang, "uncle aaron, are you coming? very long leh!"

hahaha. we had so much fun. javier is a growing boy who is learning how to cope with the world around him. sometimes he negotiates, sometimes he throws his tantrum. sometimes he's just playful (yujie...remember javier's "earth, moon, finish!"?) we took him at lot1, had macs, went to the library, popped into cd-rama where he gave me a scare when he complained of pain when i knocked his foot into the wall...thankfully it was nothing. we went to kiddy palace where javier picked a toy out for jewel and then one for himself (a mini sax). finally, we packed kfc for him to eat at home.

we were exhausted but the day was not complete without javier learning how to sing 无乐不作!! hahaha. the three of us were shouting our lungs out at "5, 4, 3, 2, 1!!!" and then singing the song. javier had lots of fun. and his uncle aaron and uncle malay were really tired.

but despite the fatigue, we decided to continue with our workout. to the gym! whee! and then after the gym, bowling! i achieved my highest score ever...a humble 152, but it was my best score ever! though yujie and i were playing using each other's names and so my score was recorded under his name...bleah!

saturday morning started bright and early at 6am. SEBASTIAN and i took a roadtrip to kl!! the north-south highway is wonderful. the drive was smooth and quite enjoyable although taxing. we reached kl before 12. but spent a terribly long while searching and searching for the right way to get to metrojaya times square where we intended to shop. stopped for lunch before that at some interesting chinese restaurant. but anw, times square is wonderful. there must have been 12 or 14 levels to the place and several wings. i bought like three pairs of shoes (one for shijun) and like three pairs of jeans (one for shijie) and like three shirts (one for shijie) and like two jackets (one for someone else) and like two tee shirts and one polo shirt and one new suit (for myself) and like lots of dvds (a few for yujie). ain't my brothers lucky? they sure are!

sebastian got a haircut, which i must say, was excellent. he looks so much better right now! we had dinner at the chicken rice shop (which has a branch at vivocity). i ordered so much food. i needed to fuel up for the drive back. driving through kl at night was a nightmare. oh the jam! but once we got to the north-south highway, all was smooth. the drive back was more stressful cos it was at night. and i get very tense when there are many cars so i turn the stereo off because i'm very sensitive to noise (seb and yujie would know this well). but after a while, it was fine. so the music came back on. but after a while, seb was nice enough to turn the music off and chat with me so i wouldn't fall asleep. loooooooooong chat because of the looooooooooong distance we had to cover. really enjoyed myself.

monday night! dinner with MICHELIA! firstly, sorry i was late. lols. but anw, the great thing about michelia is that i only need to pop the ceremonial "how's jia ming?" and wait for her "same old same old" (she usually says alive and kicking but that actually means same old same old), before saying, "great, now it's my turn!! i talk, u listen!!" hahahahaha. a very enjoyable night. somehow i always get new insights when i talk to her. she has this ability to make my brain function the way i would like it to function all the time. lols.

met DHRUV for dinner tonight. he's back for a short while from cornell. as usual, we talk about anything and everything. he updated me on the situation in the united states. boy oh boy. obama has big tasks on his hands. hopefully the american economy, and by extension the world economy, picks up by the end of 2009.

ahwells. is my year a complete bed of roses? don't be daft. i am facing horrible problems. but well, friends sweeten the bitter pill.

ah yes, yujie and i were trying this lion dance thing today...and he damaged two belt loops on my new jeans! hehe!!