Let go...and let God!

I have been locking myself at home for the past 3+ weeks, trying to complete what i had to complete.

The situation was so bad that no matter how much I've completed, more and more kept piling on me.

I was totally overwhelmed with the sheer volume of it.

I completely despised my situation then. And i was totally devastated over the lack of time in hand.

Yups, i'm drowning so badly that i had an emotional breakdown a week ago.

Prior to that, I've tried to balance my emotional turmoil by catching up with my girlfriends to talk about things.

It's been a while since I've left the grotto to attend social calls.

I took a few hours off my Sunday about 2 weeks ago to chill at La Bodega.

It felt so good to be able to update Mich and Shukz on what's happening. And it's so comforting.

Nothing beats a good girly chat followed by delicious tapas and major retail therapy. I felt better during short few hours, until i had to cut the outing short cos I was due to return home to start doing 'whatever' i had to do again.

And depression set in again...

Heck, i even felt guilty for stealing those few precious hours. Stupid or what?! Signs of losing it eh?



Hanging out at our usual Sunday joint...

Eating our fave tapas..

Shopping at the usual places...

I thought I was alright...until last week.

My body finally gave up and i had a nervous breakdown.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. For a good one hour, i just cried and cried.

It was a first for me.

And it was very scary. I never knew I was so exhausted.

I've reached the point that I realised it wasn't healthy to go on like this.

I can't control myself for doing the things I don't like to do. I was almost not 'me' for the past 3 weeks.

It wasn't a pleasant experience at all and I don't wish for anyone to go through this.

I'm so thankful I've got so many supportive friends. Many have been praying for my situation.

Just last Sunday, I went back to church. From then on, I've learnt to cast all my burdens unto the Lord again.

Day by day I'm learning to let go..and let God!

Tony Leung + Carina Lau

Jul 21, 2008 - TVB's most celebrated couple ties the knot in Bhutan. Finally.

Both Carina Lau and Tony Leung have been my idols for eons and I'm truly ecstatic to hear this great news.

The couple have been together through thick and thin for 19 years.

Here are some pictures I've received via forwarded emails, for your viewing pleasure.








It's nice to know that fairytale exists...

Adventures in Shanghai 2008 - Part 4

It's funny how when we first arrived on day 1, it was raining cats and dogs.

Same thing happened on our last day in Shanghai too. It was a Monday morning, and our plan was to squeeze in as much as we possibly could.

And the rain was pretty daunting for us.

Our plan for the day:
1) Yu Yuan (again) to feast on the xiao long baos.
Yes, you're probably wondering why we bother since there's Nanxiang here in Msia as well. It's different i tell ya.
Since when Nanxiang in Msia have premium and super premium dining areas? The premium one costs a min of 25 yuan per head, whereas to dine at the super premium area (which means, you don't have to queue at all..cos nobody wanna pay so much) costs 60 yuan per head.

2) Then off to the Bund to savour the view @ Puxi

3) Followed by shopping and dim sum lunch @ Super Brand Mall @ Pudong
Nicole told me that there's a huge H & M branch here. And the HK dimsum at Tang Kou (its English name is Tang Palace) is pretty good (cos i was telling that i've been craving for good HK dimsum and for once, i didn't wanna eat Shanghai dimsum).

4) Then off to the Fabric Market
To collect our tailor-made items.

5) Finally to Shanghai Science & Technology Museum underground bazaar to buy those stuff we missed out. I needed to get another luggage. :P

Those were ALL the places we wanted to go and things we wanted to do.

In fact, we planned to start the day bright and early. We were leaving the hotel at 8:30am.

But, damn the rain, we couldn't get a cab at all.

Even our concierge couldn't call any. At this time of the day, in this weather, the cabs are really in demand and they can be very choosy.

Many cabs we hailed by the roadside didn't wanna go Yu Yuan as it was too near.

Gosh...I think we waited for a good 30 mins (felt longer though) before we finally found a good soul willing to pick us up.

A lady delivering newspapers to our hotel

Shucks, i didn't have an umbrella. As it was drizzling, i stood in the rain, sharing a brolly with Christine, trying to hail a willing cab.

We arrived at Yu Yuan much later than planned. The delay was also contributed by our frequent shopping stops. We found a store that was selling pretty cheongsams. I bought 2 cheong sam tops and 1 cheongsam there.

Oh, btw I bought an umbrella (black + white polka) as i couldn't tahan the annoying drizzle. It's gonna be raining the whole day at the rate it's going la.

We tried the basic xiao long bao. Gotta admit the tapao version is not as good as the premium ones. I reckon the skin was slightly thicker. Nonetheless it was still good. Super juicy and value for money. 12 yuan for 12 (that's 1 big steamed basketful).

Huge ass teapot.

Was so so so so soOoo disappointed. Thanks to the weather and pollution, the pearl was not visible at all.

Sigh, and i wanted to take a picture of me holding the pearl (if you know what i mean la).

We were so turned off, we decided a little retail therapy would do us good. So off we headed to Pudong, where the Pearl Oriental Tower is. And right next to it, is Super Brand Mall.

Look at the buildings and structures.
Like i said, Shanghai emanates very strong European feel.

The Oriental Pearl Tower, up close and personal.

I'd definitely recommend this place for shopping. It's got everything under 1 roof. Everything...

After spending all my money at H & M (yups, if you think I was possessed and went crazy at the Pearl Market. Think again. I spent a lot of moolah here..Why? Cos it's one of my fave shops around), we went to Tang Palace for a dimsum feast.

Nicole mentioned that everything is 50% off from 11am - 3pm.

We couldn't believe it. So we double checked with the waitress.

No such thing la. However, they're doing a special promotion. From 11am - 3pm, all "Small", "Medium" and "Big" dimsums are at a flat rate of 5 yuan per basket.

However, their tea can be pricey.

A pot of tea costs about 55 - 80 yuan. And a cup of tea is 15 yuan.




I was super tired from shopping. I spent about 2 hrs at H & M.





My damage for the (earlier part of the) day. 4-bag full of H & M clothes.





XO fried cheong fun





Baked char siew bun





Char siew pao, steamed vege dumplings, prawn dumplings





Gyoza




Century egg + pork porridge. This one is a special dish, it's not on the 5 yuan special. Cost about 30 yuan.

I seriously loved this porridge. Fact, i love most porridge ala HK style - those powdery smooth kind.




Fried radish cake







We ordered a pot of rose tea. Here, the lady skilfully did a step-by-step demo on how to boil, filter and pour the tea.











Actually I was really stuffed after all those food. But I can never say no to desserts. Especially egg tarts.




We realised Shanghainese love pumpkins. So we decided to try this fried pumpkin cake. I literally had a gastro-orgasm on the spot. I was so high. :P

The cake has egg yolk custard cream oozing out as you savour every bite. It was da bomb of the bomb!!!





Off to Science and Technology Museum after collecting our clothings from the tailor.




The Science n Technology Park is really huge. And very very clean.
















I got what I wanted from the Science & Tech Museum bazaar. Another trolley bag. :P

Oh, btw I'm wearing a dress which I've just tailor made.





Guess what the 3 of us were doing at Le Meridien....





We borrowed their restroom. Hehe...

What to do? We didn't wanna enter a dirty loo.








We really had no idea where to have our dinner. So we decided to check out New World shopping mall (along Nanjing lu) for food.




And i spotted these...
Hello Kitty accessories in gold.





Our dinner...at a taiwanese/chinese fast food outlet.





By the time we reached our hotel, we were bushed. It was a really long day. In fact, it's been a really hectic trip.

Oh, dun think you this candy cane retro salon light is just so darn cool?

Thus marks the end of Shanghai trip.

Hope you've enjoyed it.

Up next, Hangzhou post.