VL-CHRONICLES: 2012

PROUD MOMENT

My girl's happiest moment, and her parents' proudest, happened to be captured in the papers... release of PMR results on 19-12-2012.

Jumping for joy!

That's my girl! Sharing her proud moment with her schoolmates.

December 2012

BEIJING'S HISTORICAL SITES

While the people of Beijing may not be the type I want to hold, it's historical sites, however, are indeed sights to behold.

The Great Wall

Temple of Heaven

Inside the Summer Palace

November 2012

BEIJING'S SAVING GRACE...

My 3 words to describe Beijing? The people are rude, loud and unfriendly!

Beijing gives out a very mixed signals, as if it couldn't decide whether it wants to be modern or remains old (ancient). The process of trying to remain ancient (in order to attract tourists) by refurbishing old buildings but with new (fast) technology without a thought to maintain it ancientness resulted in characterless structure built with standard sized blocks trying to pass off as 'ancient'.

A good example is the Beijing Putong, the 'old' city of Beijing which was the most disappointing part of our holiday. The ancient city's surrounding walls are currently being rebuilt using standard-sized, ugly grey blocks with no thoughts of what bricks or stone blocks might look like during ancient times. Even the door knobs, instead of wooden ones or metal ones used during olden times, were the current, cheap goldcolour-coated type which we get from our neighbourhood stores! These same ugly grey blocks were being used in the other touristic places where patch-up work are being done, like the Summer Palace.

Nevertheless, Beijing still has it's saving grace, one of which was the chinoiserie cottage industry that we came across while on the way to the Great Wall. Seeing the workers patiently working on each piece of artwork, which is so labour-intensive, and each piece being produced so exquisitely makes us appreciate why such art pieces are so expensive. Sadly, we could only salivate over each one, but cannot afford to buy...

Other beautiful pieces:

Having seen what we should see of Beijing, I doubt I will want to go back there for holiday again although what we saw were indeed impressive.

November 2012

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THESE...

Loved ones who make life worth living for...

Friends who make your world goes round...

(with Andy, Lenny, Sherry, Sue Anne, Siew Wan, Joyce, Kwee Eng, Chryslyn, Mun Wah (whom I last met when I was 15!), Janice and Shak)

And those who add the occasional laughter to your life...

THANK YOU ALL FOR MAKING MY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION A BLAST! :D

Note: It is with regret that I did not take a picture of myself with my sisters who were with me the night before so that it can be posted here, although I'm sure there will be other occasions for me to do that.

(P.S. Am putting in the name of the adults in case we forget each other's name when we look back in our old age! :D)

August 2012

WISHES THAT TOUCH THE HEART...

A picture paints a thousand words...

With loved ones, family friends and colleagues-turned-friends like these, what else can one ask for?

From the one most dear to me:


Finally got my Swarovski turtles! TQ to my dear daughter who knows my heart! :D

From the young ones of a dear family friend...


Somebody who's not acting her age! OMG! :D

And from my great bunch of ex-Sunway colleagues and 'tou-tais':

8 August 2012

WHAT IS SHE TRYING TO DO? ~.~

Little Kiki is a constant source of amusement and joy with her various antics. The following is her favourite stance whenever she came across a tree trunk that caught her fancy during our regular walk in Gasing Hill. What do you think she's trying to do?

(I wondered if she knows she's a female, not a male, but even then males only lift up one leg, not both hind legs! Maybe she doesn't want to get them dirty ... :D Or maybe she's diligently practising to stand on 2 front legs after winning the competition for cutest pooch by standing on her two hind legs!)

June 2012

... AND THE WINNER OF 'THE STAR' APRIL 2012 CUTEST POOCH CONTEST GOES TO...

Kiki, the world's most adorable min-pin! :D

April 2012

ANOTHER HOLIDAY, ANOTHER WATERFALL...

After many months of lull and no camping trips, both adults and children were getting restless this recent March school holidays. So it was with much eagerness that we greeted a suggestion by one of the members to take a day walk to a new place that the rest of us have not been to. We were forewarned that the walk is moderately tough and takes anything between 2-2.5 hours. With this 'warning' in mind, some with knees issues decided to give it a miss. So it was on a beautiful morning that around 20 of us decided to go ahead. The walk was long, but not as tough as we thought - maybe because of the warning, we were more than mentally prepared.... :D Nevertheless, there were 2, 3 slopes that were really long and steep that left a few of our friends panting at the back. However, it was cheerful news when we were told that despite this, all of us made it under 2 hours which, according to our leader, was pretty impressive! :D

And the falls that met us? Made all the huffing and panting well-worth it, and already there is talk that we will go back again, maybe during the next public holiday - together with the others who missed it the first time around.