Last Day of May 2016

Didn't know that today is the last day of the month already. Until my friend message me early in the morning saying that it's the last day of May. Then I'm like "seriously?" and quickly checking the calendar. LOL!

So fast it's already mid of the year already, means I'm going to be one year older soon! 
NOOO! Can't I just remain this age and not grow any older? 
My friend was saying one year ago we were talking about things we want to accomplish by this year before our birthdays. But then look where we are now? Accomplish some but not some others. Same same but different in some way I guess? How I wish I am forever 21!
Forever 21 to be the carefree and happy girl always~ without having to be troubled by age. :P

So... Where exactly did the time go to? 

Hmm.... Let's just start with this past half year...
For the past half a year, some things have happened that resulted in life changes. Some of it that had more impact in me will be learning and exploring new things, taking up another job offer and resigning from my previous company (aka my comfort zone already). 

Have been in my new company for 2 weeks already and I'm still in the process of learning on-the-job at my new workplace and it requires some getting used to. Of course everything will be different, such as the environment, the job duties, the people, etc. Starting everything afresh and it totally reminds me of how I felt when I joined my previous company previously. HAHA! That, my ex-colleagues will know:P 
In the meantime, I shall keep fighting and hope for the best in my new job and career.

And as for the learning and exploring new things, one example will be taking up a 3 months Ukelele lessons of which next week will be the last lesson already. It was pretty fast paced with learning different strumming methods and songs every week. But then..... I still can't play the ukelele while singing. My coordination is not there yet - if I sing and play the ukelele at the same time, my strumming will go haywire and my focus will be on the singing part only! HAHA! I guess I am not the only one. All of us find ourselves struggling when the teacher start singing. But we are improving. Not like the first few lessons where we are all like lost sheeps (strumming go haywire) when the teacher started singing.

Other than this, there's also some others. Overall, it was fun experiences and also sort of an "alone" time to do something of my interests. Some of my friends were amazed at my independence in registering for such classes by myself. HAHA! They were like "Sherry, you changed". Is it? But isn't it the same as registering for volunteering work alone? Like last year's Sea Games. Of course it might be scary attending such classes/ volunteering work alone for the first few days initially. But after that few days, it starts to get better:) 

But maybe it's true that I am dependent on others usually. I would of course choose to attend classes or other activities with someone I know rather than alone most of the time. HAHA! So maybe that's a little step I am taking to independence? But regardless of these things I do/ lessons I attended, I am still dependence on others! :P    

Before JUNE comes around tomorrow, a song to listen to:

Hello Kitty Cafe Singapore - Orchid Garden

Recently there's the hype over the newly opened Hello Kitty Cafe - Orchid Garden, which is located at Changi Airport Terminal 3 Arrival Hall. 

Hello Kitty Orchid Garden
Changi Airport Terminal 3, Arrival Hall Central #01-22
Operating Hours: 24 hours daily

Because my mum was a Hello Kitty fan herself, we intended to bring her there. But our initial intention was not that soon, maybe a month later or so, due to the crowd. When it first opened doors on 12 May 2016, the queue was that bad that the minimum queuing time was around 4-6 hours! What we didn't expect was that my dad actually suggested we go there on 14 May! My dad knowing my mum likes hello kitty, will always go such extra miles for her <3. Will I ever find someone who will treat me that nice? Hahaha!

So... there we are at Changi Airport Terminal 3 Arrival Hall at 10.22pm on 14 May 2016 (Saturday).

Look at the crowd queuing outside the cafe. Note: This is just one portion of the queue. There's people queuing on the other side too! Too bad I didn't get to capture the whole queue.
(I had blurred the image a bit to hide out the faces of the people)

The cafe is just a small scale one - maybe that explains why the waiting time is pretty long. Limited space to fit a lot of people.

Interior of the Cafe

The area for 2-seaters
Pretty stressful to be seated here I feel. Since the queue is just beside you. People are like staring at what you ordered and all. I know that since I am also part of the queue who is looking :P

The Table for 2

The Hello Kitty-shaped shelf with the merchandises for sale.
Too bad the limited edition plush toys were already out of stock!

The interior of the cafe is filled with orchids and portray a feel of dining in a garden setting. Theme definitely fits Singapore being a garden city. A pretty nice place. But we felt that as compared to other Hello Kitty Cafe, this is a bit disappointing. There's only 2 Hello Kitty figurines placed inside the cafe for diners to take photo with (refer to the pictures below). 

First Hello Kitty Figure

Second Hello Kitty Figure

The cafe actually open 24/7! And we found out that they actually offer different menus! By the time we queued and finally got a seat, it was already 1.45am! 3 hours plus of queuing! Sinful supper!! 

And the menu as shown below shows their Midnight Menu. When it was nearing our turns, the staff walked around to tell the people queuing that some items on the Midnight Menu were unavailable - which is their Coolers and some of the Sundaes :( We actually wanted to try their coolers! Seen many people ordering that but we have no fate to try that. 

Kitty's Apple Pie Tea (Kitty's Favourite) 
Fruity flavoured tea with a tinge of apple and cinnamon which my dad ordered

Hola Nachos! (Kitty's Favourite) 
Quite a few people ordering this and we decided to order this as well. Not too bad dipping with the cheese! Yum yums!

Ice Speculoos Latte (Kitty's Favourite)
Actually wanted to try their coolers. But they have run out of it so this is my next option!
I have no idea what the drink was when I ordered. I just ordered due to it being the recommendation. Haha! It had a rich aftertaste that I can't put a description to what exactly it tasted like. But it's not those that makes you go "urghh" definitely.

Cowabunga! Wagyu! (Kitty's Favourite)
I like the beef with the rendang sauce! I do eat beef, but seldom eat. But I like how tender the beef is, and even so when coupled with the sauce!!! 

Big Breakfast Surprise (Kitty's Favourite)
Find this not worth ordering actually as compared to the rest of the dishes we ordered.

Let's Do The Salsa
We saw many ordering this and it looks really tempting so we ordered it as well! 

Overall, I would say this is a comfortable place to be dining at with the interior floral and garden concept even though it do not have much kitty stuff as compared to other Hello Kitty cafe. The food tasted not exactly awful, in fact a few dishes tasted well! But my conclusion is that I find it not worth it to be queuing for a few hours just for this. Maybe I will wait till the hype is over before thinking of heading back there to try their other dishes.

If you wish to visit this cafe anytime soon and want to avoid the long hours of queuing, you may consider heading there like in the wee hours of the night like around 3am. The queue is definitely much shorter! 

Afternoon Out At Coney Island (11 May 2016)

Taking a few days break before starting on the new job. It's too short for a holiday and also quite tiring if I do travel overseas. So I shall just make do with being in Singapore. 
Have never been to Coney Island even though have been hearing about it. So decided to explore together with a friend who happened to be on leave. And there we go~ 

We went there on a Wednesday afternoon (11 May 2016) - basically not much people around. Getting there by Public Transport: Taking Bus 84 from Punggol Bus Interchange (Punggol MRT Exit C), and alighting at Punggol Road End.

Signage to show you the way

When we arrived, the sky is already turning very dark on the other side, away from Coney Island (lucky thing). We got ponchos in case it really rains before proceeding on our way.

Dark clouds looming

Arriving at the Coney Island entrance
A mandatory shot with the gates recommended :)

Really peaceful inside where you are surrounded with trees and greenery. And you get to see the nice view from the beaches. While we were exploring halfway inside, it actually started to rain heavily. Lucky thing we bought ponchos, but we were still drenched! We do not have the map of the place and just went ahead to explore aimlessly without knowing where we will end up at. If you want to be on the safe side, you can search the map before coming in. But if you are those who likes taking risks, maybe you can try exploring without the maps. Just go in and figure out your way around:)

But anyway, we explore away from the main path - into the Earth Track. This I only know after that afternoon. And it is definitely not a good place to be cycling at (given a 2 wheel bicycle beginner like me), or even for those with prams. The route is pretty rocky given the unstable track. This route is suitable for trekkers on foot. For those who are cycling, you may use the main path which you can still pretty much have the access to the beaches and at the end of the path, you can exit to Lorong Harus Wetland! 

Anyway, the rain got so heavy and we are having a hard time with our bicycles, we decided to ditch the bikes, parking it aside (since there's nobody else around so reduce chances of getting stolen) while we explore ahead via foot. We will redeem them on our way back. HAHA! After a bit of exploring (didn't get to take much photos due to the heavy rain!), we then come across the Main Path! Back to cycling on the Main Path instead after that, with the rain getting smaller~ 

Great fun we had except for the heavy rain part which brought us many inconveniences and we didn't get to take much photos as such. It will be nice to go back there again when it's bright and sunny!! 

 I always have a thing for such nice and beautiful scenery places :)

Last Day At Work (10.05.2016)

Finally it's my last physical day at work yesterday. Cannot believe that it's that fast. It seems like I had just tendered my resignation not long ago! Mixed feelings and have not been able to sleep like since 2 days before my last day. Too much things running inside my head.

A photo of my nearly empty workstation. Reminds me of my empty desk when I first joined 3 years plus back.

At first I thought I can just leave without any worries. Like others say, "You already resign le, don't bother already". But then I just can't. I still know that a part of me is still back in office thinking if I had missed anything out in my handover and all. The least I can do is to ensure proper handover which I tried to do the best I can already but still there's still some worries around. Need to keep that in check. 

But other than that, the main thing that I will miss, is definitely the colleagues and environment. And the convenience of the office communicator for communicating to the various organisations. 

Main part will be the colleagues! Colleagues are closer to you since you spent most of your time with them other than your family. You see each other often enough to not drift apart from each other. All the fun and laughter you all shared, and all the crazy stupid things you do in front of them. If I have to list them out, I think this post will be never-ending! Too many already!! They are the ones who make work interesting and worth looking forward to coming to work everyday! 

I do hope that we still do keep in touch nevertheless and bringing our friendship to a different level!

A farewell song my colleague dedicated to me via whatsapp: