Victorine - Diary of Life

Me and sis suddenly decided to travel to Hongkong on our own. It was quite a rushing plan since it was free and easy. We made the plan just in one weekand here is the summary

It was quite a rush, but everything was just as what we have planned.

Day 1

We departed from Changi Airport to Hongkong International Aiport at 8am (Cathay Pasific, return ticket 427SGD/person). Nice ^^ but so expensive :p

As recommended by Ella, we stayed at Park Hotel (164SGD/Night), at crowded Tsim Tsat Shui disctrict. It’s a crowded yet convenience place, located near MTR, and u also can walk around since there are lot of eating places and shops there.

Madame Tussaud

After taking our lunch that was already quite late that time, we went to our 1st destination, Madame Tussaud, a wax museum. It was not so difficult to reach the place, we already prepared our map and informations printed from the internet ;). We took MTR to Central Station, then walked around 10-15 minutes towards Peak Tram Station. You can see the direction all along the road so no need to worry.

We took the Combo package which cost us 180HKD/person (Peak Tram + Wax museum + Sky park)

Day 2

Lantau Island

To reach there, you can either ride on Cable Car or by bus, the station is located near Tung Chung MTR. That time, we didn’t take cable cars, coz a day before, we wacthed on tv, there’s an accident happened, one of the cable car was broken and crashed down, luckily no one was injured. So, we decided to take bus which cost us 35HKD (return). The journey took about an hour, quite far but worth it!

It was a foggy day, we couldn’t manage to see the Big Buddha Statue clearly But it was a wonderful place, wonderful statue, how come they managed to put such big statue there. Felt so happy to be there, I didn’t forget to pray in front of Big Buddha

Ladies Night Market, Temple Street, Fa Yuen Street (Mongkok MTR)

It was really really really a crowded area, I just wonder whether all Hong kong people were gathering there at night, hehehee…. Just like in the movie, seeing this place, remind me of fighting scenes in Hongkong’s movie ;p It’s a must visit place, so don;t forget to put it in ur schedule. Anyway, if u want to shop, just be prepared, coz it’s not easy to bargain with those sellers, especially when they can only speak Cantonese ;p

Day 3

Morning walk around from Tsim Tsa Tsui area till Yau Ma Tei MTR. Around 11am, we went back to Hotel to get ready to go back to Singapore.

On our way towards the airport, we stopped at Hui Lau Shan, a famous Dessert shops there. Slurrp, I love dessert

Still got a lot of places that we can go, but we only plan for 3D2N trip. But it’s ok, hope we can visit HK again someday, with more people of course :p More people More Fun and Less Worry

It was fun, especially the wheather in March is still cold (around 21C). Anyway, next time better takes tour if you want to travel It will save lots of time and you don’t need to worry u’ll get lost, plus traveling by ur own will sometimes even make u spend more. Unless u have already visited the places for few times

O yes, going there makes me want to learn Cantonese even more :p Anyone want to teach me?

It’s the 1st day of the year 2009.

Me, sis, Boei i and Alfin; 4 of us went to Marina Barrage, a dam built across the 350-metre wide Marina Channel to keep out seawater, forming Singapore’s first reservoir in the city and 15th reservoir. It has 3 benefits: as water supply, flood control and lifestyle attraction. (source: click here)

The architecture is fun! We enjoyed the view there, mostly is about ‘water’ but it is all well designed. I don’t know, some of u, might find it too simple, not much attraction, but I do like it, I like the design, I like the view, and I like enjoying the wind there (just make sure you visit there at the right time, hehehe)..

We saw a couple was taking wedding pics there. Well, tell u what, I ‘created’ a dream there…. to book the whole barrage and held my wedding party there, hahahaha, What a wishful thinking :p

Ok, back to reality

You may also visit Sustainable Singapore Gallery, there you can see the barrage model and see how it works.

There u can take a free pic and send it directly as an e-postcard to ur destination mail. It’s free, so don’t put a high expectation on it, hehehe..

To get there : Take free shuttle bus from Marina Bay MRT Station

Marina Barrage

Free admission

Operating hours : Monday to Sunday (10am to 6pm)

Sustainable Singapore Gallery

Free admission

Operating hours : Weekday (9am to 6pm) Close on Tuesday

Weekend (10am to 8pm)

For newest update, please refer to its website : www.pub.gov.sg/marina

This was the event that I had been waiting for since last year I didn’t join this event last year coz the schedule was not fit.

*********** tulisannya menyusul, hehehe ************

A 13 years old girl, Jenna, made one wish on her birthday, “to be grown up”. Her wish came true, just as what she had always wanted to be, she became a 30 years old woman when she opened her eyes.

Anyway, that was one of the movie (Suddenly 30) that I watched in 2004. Is anyone of you going to make the same wish??

One of my collegue asked me this quest: ” How old are you?” “In which year were you born?” I grinned and answered her quest. She then said like this “Don’t laugh wor, time pass really fast, in a blink of time you will be 30’s soon.” And asked me “It’s scary to hear this ‘3′ number, rite?” I said “Nope, I am not scared” That is my spontanious answer without thinking too much ;p So……, guess what am I thinking now, hehehe.

There were few times when we chatted together, they would say that “So nice huh, you are still young”. And I would answer them “You were all young once, rite” ;).

Back to the quest. Is it scary or not?? Now, I asked myself that quest, after thinking for a while, here is my answer “Of course, it is scary, I am going to turn 30?? Isn’t that too fast? I am not ready yet!” Anyway, none of us will ever be ready to get old However, I have never regretted what had I go through, I just wondering whether I have done my best at my age now.

Actually it’s not the matter you scare or not, it’s a cycle that you have go through. It is scary but you have to recall those times that you have passed. There are lots of worthy moment along you path, those things can courage you to walk forward to find and create more and more worthy moments for you and for all the people that you care. Walking forward means we still have the chances to feel more and more valuable things.

It will even more scary if you just let those ‘times’ fly away without doing useful things. So, don’t be scared, just do ur best, girlz!

It’s something that I have always want to write about, ‘Roaccutane’ (Isotretinoin).

I didn’t have the pic of roaccutane that I bought, so I googled and pasted it here.

Not all people know what it is, it is a kind of medicine that u take to solve ur acne skin problems. Me, myself took it for about 2 times in a different year, each times took about 2 to 3 months. I took it based on prescription from two different dermatologists. The first time I took it was when I was still in university, at that time I didn’t know what it was for. But it did well on my skin, it became dryer and not much pimples anymore (Actually my skin is not that bad, only too oily and few pimples, but my skin is very sensitive, easy to get red so I always go for doctor to solve my skin problem before it get worse).

The second time I took it was about 3 years ago, it was prescribed by a doctor in North Jakarta. At first I rejected to use the same medicine, I told the doctor that last time I used roaccutane, my skin got very dry and my lips skin also peeled a lot. I asked whether this medicine had side effect and whether it was a right choice to use it again. And you know what’s the answer I got, she said in an annoying voice,  like this ” So, u want to cure ur skin or not, or u want to to use contraceptive pills?” Me and my mom were shocked by the answer but comment nothing coz we thought she’s a professional so she must know what she’s doing.

So once again, I took the medicine for about 3 months (this roaccutane was surely not cheap and costed me a lot), but then I felt something’s not right with me. It was once again worked on my skin but I started to complain the other things. Then after some time, I started to doubt whether it was caused by roaccutane that I was taking.

Then I googled around and search for the side effect of taking Roaccutane (pasted from here), and here is the summary of the side effect:

• Dry skin (causing inflammation, scaling, itching, increased skin fragility)
  
• Dryness of the mucous membranes, eg lips, eyes (causing irritation, conjunctivitis), nose (causing nosebleeds) and throat (causing hoarseness)
• Headache
  
• Increased liver enzymes
• Disturbances in the composition of the blood (eg increased cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar; decreased red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets)
• Pain in the muscles and joints
  
• Mood changes, strange or abnormal thoughts, anxiety, depression, suicidal feelings
• Hair loss (alopecia)
• Visual disturbances (eg blurred vision, cataracts, colour blindness, decreased night vision)
• Inflammation of the surface of the eye (keratitis)
• Breathing difficulties due to a narrowing of the airways (bronchospasm)
• Nausea
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
• Abnormal reaction of the skin to light, usually a rash (photosensitivity)
• Bone disorders

Text in blue color was what I really had and felt at that time, at least those were the effects that can be felt physically. Just hope it didn’t take any side effects inside me. I often got headache and my vision often got blurred, especially in the evening (I am a programmer, that’s why it was really annoying).

I was so angry to know that, I was sure my skin condition was not considered severe at all, I only wanted to prevent it from getting worse, I just didn’t understand why the doctors just gave me that prescription without explaining what it was for and what were the side effects. I think as a patient, we need to know what are we dealing with. And the worse was the doctor didn’t even try to know their patient’s condition before giving me the prescription. How if I was pregnant at that time? (this medicine is strictly forbidden during pregnancy, please refer to here to know who can use it) How if I was having mental illness? (Hey, it can also cause depression and suicidal feeling).

Roaccutane really did well to treat severe acne but the point is not every people really need it. Tips before u started to take a medicine: “Googling  and re-think whether you really need it”. At least, u have to know and learn what’s the side effect first before u decide to take it. Just remember, take it at ur own risk!

I might not reveal which doctors that I went to, they should have their own ethic code. Just beware and think twice if the treatment is using oral treatment. Now, I don’t use any medicine anymore and use facial treatment instead. And I do feel it is more reliable than taking pills that ‘might’ take ur life too.

Anyway, this is based on my own experience and I only want to share it with u all

“Do you have symbol of Love?” I was once asked my friend about this (C, do u still remember?? :))

I think most of the couple has their own Symbol of Love :). Love is something that can’t always be described with words. It would be sweet if you have something that can describe your love, although only u and him/her know what it means

It can be :

‘Songs’

Musics connect people, and it can also works on your relationship. He/she tries to get to u by asking your fav songs? It might happen on u

Anyway, songs is one of most  popular ‘excuse’ to start a relationship :p

‘Special Ocassion’

Special occassion that made you together, that can also be your symbol of Love.

‘Gift’

Something special that’s given to u to accompany u.

Gift is more likely to be something that’s hugable or touchable, like dolls, books, or even pets.

Last but not least, it can also be an ‘Imaginary Character’

Symbol of Love can be anything, anything. It is something that can remind how ur love is start, how ur love give u sweet times, sad times, happy times and unhappy times. It is something with a deep meaning.

In a sad moment, think of ur symbol of Love, it will cure ur Love

In a happy moment, think of ur symbol of Love, it will tighthen ur Love

In an angry moment, think of ur symbol of Love, it will refresh ur Love

It’s not too late to start, create ur very own symbol of love And hope it will bless ur love ever and after

Soooo, what’s urs?

Today is a special day so me and Jimmy decide to have a special dinner

At first we planned to eat at Feast@East, but we were at City Hall and didn’t want to waste our time getting back to  east side. So we scrolled around Marina Square, Suntec City and Raffles City, I was quite picky since I was trying to look for a place that was cozy enough yet affordable. Jimmy prefered buffet dinner so we could spend time talking but I was still full at that time (we had our lunch at 2 and it was only 6 pm at that time).

After quite some time, we found a nice place, you can called it candlelite dinner The place is called Aerin’s.

It is located at Raffles City, Market Place. The place is quite unique, it has ‘its own’ little waterfall. So we can eat and enjoy the fountain at the same time. And the price I think quite reasonable for such place.

So,  here’s our order :

Appetizer: Pumpkin Soup

The soup was only so-so, besides of sweet taste, there was no other taste, so I thought it was not really recommended at all. But I do like the small bread that come with the soup. Anyway, you can buy such bread at any bread store ;p

For main dishes, we picked dishes with ‘Healthy Choice’ logo attached Trying to eat good in a healthy way, hehehe.

Jimmy’s Main Dish : Chicken XXX (forgot leh :p)

I got lots of critique on this dish, first It’s not good looking at all, you could see two triangle bread and chicken drowned inside the red sauce. Secondly, we could only taste the sauce which taste like tomato sauce. These two points can tell you everything, I was quite disappointed on this dish. The good point was only there were lots of garlics and other vege inside, that’s why it has ‘Healthy Choice’ label on it.

My Main Dish: Fillet of Snapper

I love fish, this dish also got ‘Healthy Choice’ Label. Quite a simple dish, first layer was smashed potato, second layer was french beans and on its top was a slice of fish fillet. The taste was also quite simple, not really special but it was quite ok for me :).

Dessert : Warm and Cold Dessert

This the best part of all It was warm brownies with cold ice cream on its top. The brownies was nice, I could taste the bitter sweet chocolate and the ice cream was also nice. Perfect match! Yummmmy, Plus it was very nicely prepared.

Summary: 50:50 I will probably come back to this place.

We spent about $65 for this dinner. Not bad Anyway if we went to buffet, we would have spent around $80 and ate till we really really had to crawl to go back :p

+ Affordable candlelite dinner

+ Good services

- The fountain is quite noisy, unless if u don’t mind :p

- The foods was so-so (except for the dessert :p)

As u can see from the title, it’s durian day! At least, this day is coming, me and my sister booked for one day trip to Durian Plantation at Tangkak, Malaysia. This is my second trip to Malaysia and the first time trip for my sister.

We took bus to Kembangan  (This event is organized by Kembangan CC) at 6.15 in the morning, we supposed to wake up earlier so we don’t have to be in a rush ;p. We were then, proceed to Woodland checkpoint, though it’s weekend but it’s not as crowded as Dora told me before. After that we took breakfast at Johor Baru (JB) and shopping at Yong Peng. Not really much to tell, coz there’s nothing really special there.

We were so excited after we reached durian plantation, there are about 3 or 4 bus coach when we arrived there (1 coach is about 30-40 people). So, we had to compete with more than 100 people there, hahaha, no lar, I don’t like to eat like I have never been eating for few days :p. Anyway, there were plenty of durians of different types for you to choose (I am not really understand bout durian type, whether it is D24, D26 or D99 or whatever, I only know sweet taste and bitter taste durian).

Durian Truck

U can really eat till u drop

As we had predicted before, we didn’t know how to start and how to get our durian ;). Later we found out that there are peoples waiting to help us ‘open’ the durian and we had to pick our own durian from a truck. How can we choose a durian???? We only know how to eat, hehehe. Me and sis then took one of it and asked them to open it. We then being told that it was Durian Monthong, a wellknown as an expensive and nice durian in Jakarta, but here we found out that Monthong will be the last choice for SIngaporean. Hahahaha, we have been fooled all this long, but it’s true, u won’t like Monthong anymore if you try the other durians here.

After sometimes, seeing peole tasting so many durian, we could only questioning how did they get it, hehehe. I think some aunties and uncles there also noticed us, later they get us a lot of durian (from different types!) for us to try. We were really phaise, but at least we tried those durian at last! hahaha. The taste was sooooooooo nice, my favourite one is bitter yet mouth watering one :). And we really ate till we drop, we gave up at 7 or 8 pieces (please note it’s piece, not the whole durian :p). I thot we are not qualified enough to be a big fans of durian, some of them are really creamyyyy so u were not be able to eat much.

And at night we had seafood dinner at Orang Asli (included in the package), also not very special to me. After dinner, we went back to Sing and arrived at about 11.30 p.m. We didn’t really take much picture here, since we were busy eating durian

We planned to go to east coast by walking thru the park connector today. So, I woke up at 5 something on the morning (after I snoozed my alarm till the last reminder ;p). I took bath, to tell the truth I almost convinced myself to had a wash only coz we would go to the beach anyway, but then my conscious told me that I had to take bath, hahahaha, this is my secret :p

After taking my bath, I tried to wake my sister and Stecia up (Hey, we supposed to have morning walk).  After a few times and they still not moving at all, I started to feel angry. Then when they started to wake up, I took my bag and walk by myself. It’s still dark, I supposed to take bus to Kembangan and walked to East Coast myself, then I changed my mind :p. Coz…. I was too afraid to walk alone, hahaha, it’s still dark you know :p.

I sat at the bus stop and called Jim2, I knew he must be sleeping at this time (Jakarta is one hour earlier than Singapore), but I got no one to call. I was so angry, because we already planned everything a week ago, I hate when people don’t keep their promise. Don’t promise, if you can not make it! I even cried coz I was in bad mood (I made mistakes on my job ;p so I was still upset).

After the call, I went to Kopitiam near my living place to have breakfast. Not long after that, my sis and Stecia kept calling me and said they were on the way to Kembangan and asked me not to be angry. Hahhaha, at least they did the right thing :p

So, we then took bus to Kembangan and walked along the park connector. I was still angry, of course, how could I changed my mood that fast. Anyway, today is mom’s birthday, so I called her to be the first to greet our birthday mommy :). When, my sis talked to mom, I heard she told her how they made me angry :p. After I chatted with mom,  I didn’t feel really angry anymore. I guessed my anger management is quite okay, hhahaha.

From our living place to Kembangan is 3 bus stop away, and we took about 2.5km to reach East Coast Park. The park connector is really well built, very comfortable and easy to walk thru. So, lucky them that I was not angry anymore. If don’t, how could we have such nice pics

Nice park connector

‘Feeding’ Stecia

(Me and Stecia; pic by Colleen)

Okay, now everyone can see that I am getting fat here T_T

LovE From the EasT

(Me and my sis; pic by Stecia)

This one is the pic that we dedicated for our birthday mom, I didn’t put any effect on the light or anything, I only added some characters and pearls to create a Love shape. Happy Birthday mom (please refer to www.lovca.com for detail)

Hello World! Classic words for the 1st time blogger :p

I was supposed to start writing 2 weeks ago, but lazy me, kept making excuses :”no mood, no inspiration, no time”, hahaha..

O yes, haven’t introduced this blog yet, same story with the one at my sister’s blog, www.colleen.lovca.com, LOVCA stands for Lauw Oscar Victorine Colleen Ascor accordingly. We are 4 siblings from Lauw family. Lovca was not actually our main choice for the domain but at least this name still uniquely combine our names together (please refer to www.lovca.com for the complete history).

Once again thanks to Mr. Jim2 (www.jimmyauw.com) for sponsoring the domain :D. He had no choice other than creating me one, I urged him to create the domain asap, but once it’s created, I wasted my time by choosing the theme, until now I haven’t made up my mind which theme will I stick with :p. And this is also one of my smart excuse for not starting to write. Once I said to Jim2 “Haiya, why don’t you give me a dead line, so I can be more motivated to write”. So, he gave me time until last saturday (12 July 2008). Ding dong, Still, I end up writing nothing, and spent my weekend googling almost all available themes (no lar, not that kin ciong ;p). So, that’s it, another week passed and my blog is still as empty as before.

Urgghhh… still very lazy to write, sometimes inspirations keep buzzing around my mind, but just dont know how to pour it out. Need more time to adjust to this new activity, lvh picks an old man words, 習慣成自然 (xi guan cheng zi ran), from habits to natural….

With Love,

Victorine