Bading 2013 goodbye

Finishing up some bits of work (mainly paying salary), and it dawned upon me that on the last day of the year, I should give thanks for all the goodness that came over my way this year.

The opportunities, the friendships, understanding, family love and support, progress, growth profits, happiness, health.
I give thanks for all the goodness that has been bestowed upon me.
Not forgetting the obstacles placed in line throughout the year, that made me stronger and better, wiser and bolder.

Looking forward to 2014 and all that might come forth to shape me into a better Daphne, so that I may fulfill my purpose and destiny in the shortest possible time and maximize coverage of what I can do in this universe.

Thank you and good bye 2013.

xoxo
Daphne

On a side note, I seem to have lost my appetite today, and the unhungry feeling is all too familiar to me. 

Reminds me of old times that I've battled alone. It's nice meeting personal old friends.

But seriously the logical answer would be that I ate too much throughout the festive weekend.

Haha.

However if this feeling stays, I might just end up looking super trim again! 

;)

Again and again

Again and again

When will it ever stop?

I've finally got my answer after years of questioning. 

Tonight, my dear, we close off another chapter of my life and look forward to new adventures and happier times. 

After all, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I'm thankful that moving on is always easier than looking back.
I'm also glad that there's a part of me that always do my best - which is why moving on is always easier that way. For there is no regrets left to look back for.

I'm thankful that my guts have always proved themselves more useful than anything else in the world.

Especially so, for people who never deserved my time.

It's better late than never.
Closing 2013 and looking forward to 2014 with a big happy bang!
It's already proving to be quite exciting for me as it is!
So much to share, but the time is not right. :D

Confessions of a mask junkie and her Trixie

Oops I did it again. 

Crossed over to Johore Bahru for a quick shopping session. 

I had the intention to stock up for the coming Chinese New Year, to stock up on Shoes, clothes and other what nots. 

Unfortunately, I ended up getting nothing planned, but just tons of food in the belly, and lots of mask. 

I'm in love with Mr Naruko's face mask, and the shop carried an entire range of stuff that I have never laid my eyes on before. 

So I bought them all! 

I bought the loose pieces at a promotional price of $1rm per packet. 

Woohoo!

Well, that's 60 pieces in total, not counting the current ones at home.

How am I going to finish using them? 

I'll worry about them later. 

:D

Trixie, was begging for food as usual, whenever I have food in my hands. 

I decides to feed her some milk froth from my cup of steamed milk, and managed to snap a few pictures of her attempting to clean up the froth from my cup. 

Priceless moments captured. 

:)

For now, I need to sleep off all that travelling and walking that I did for the day. 

It was exhausting to wake up extremely early, just to make my way into JB. 

The immigration portion exhausted me the mostest. 

Goodnight time!

Raspberry pink purple ombré Christmas

My tree's up! 

Been procrastinating for over a week.

I would usually time line the home tree to the lights at orchard when time permits. 

But November was considerably busy, seeing that I was mostly out of Singapore, I'm proud to say that the tree's up anyway! 

I'm still in my pink and purple phase, coupled with glitter and aurora that would NEVER go wrong.

Ornaments checked!

Tinsels checked!

Lights checked! 

Here we go!

Without lights 

And even the home screen of my phone is set according to the theme.

Obsessed with color scheme much?

Tralalala 

Please let it be a happy Christmas.

November kitties

Going on to november's trip to china, I would say that November is by far the most exciting trip ever!

Why? 

You'll have to read on then...

Here we go, heading to the airport..

With natural sunset as photo filter. 

Woo~

This Bally advert caught my eye. 

The husky is soooo tiny! 

Travelled with the pops this trip, and this is what greeted us, when we landed. 

Check out his luggage. 

Hahaha

Luckily my big and baby purple luggage is safe as houses. 

Only dad's perished. 

Was supposed to claim insurance, but I became too busy to remember. 

Never mind la. I didn't claim for my injured baby luggage either from the road  accident the previous time. 

Torn and injured adds character to my luggage also ma. 

I guarantee that if I were to put gold bars or diamonds in this bag, it wouldn't be stolen. 

Hahaha!

We came home, and was greeted by everybardy! 

So welcomed and loved!

This is Toots, the princess and spoilt brat of the house.

She only loves me whenever I have food with me.

This is Oranje (daddy lovingly refers to her as meimei).

She's heavily pregnant, and the reason why it's the most exciting trip for me EVER!

Pardon her for looking grumpy. 

She's usually uber friendly with me, but being close to delivery, she is often moody and grumpy.

I would be grumpier, if I were in her shoes..so many babies in the tummy. 

Life sucks..

Toots looking fatty and living the high life as usual! 

Did I ever mention that she cleans herself whenever she's free. 

She's damn vain.

Catherine brought me out to a cafe restaurant on 11.11.13 

11.11 is apparently the Single's day celebration in China.

For me, special day or not, I'm just happy to not be eating Chinese food.

Pork chop with pasta! 

Ima happy girl!

And while Catherine ordered chinese food. 

Congee and her forever greens. 

Every meal of hers has to be accompanied by at least one platter of vegetable.

East vs West.

That's so us. 

But our friendship is special this way. 

I'll talk my gibberish Chinese, and she still manages to understand me, though I must say that my Chinese has since improved leaps and bounds by now. 

Even the momma and Claudia is impressed with adjectives that I punctuate in my daily conversations with them. 

My Chinese teacher would be weeping tears of joy if she hears me conversing now. 

But my written Chinese is entirely terrible still.

---

I was anticipating Oranje's delivery every freaking night, and I slept at 4-5 am consequetively, because she kept showing signs of possible delivery. 

Extremely sleep deprived! 

I gave up on the fourth night of waiting up and went to bed. 

I woke up at 7.21am to empty my bladder, and she kept meowing to me. 

I thought she needed comfort and attention, so I sat on the tiny stool with my eyes semi closed, and patted her for what seemed like 5 minutes, before heading back to bed. 

I heard her meow constantly, and wondered... Is she in labour?

But after so many nights of fake labour I'm exhausted. 

So I laid in bed and listened. 

She managed to wake the dad up, 

I heard daddy talking to her and then dad said aloud to me,

妹妹要生了！

Omg papaya! 

I jumped out of bed in my PJs, called Catherine and she rushed over in her PJs as well (she lives in the same estate, just a block away).

In a matter of minutes, oranje gave birth just like that! 

Nov 12 2013

Works out to be 11.12.13

Sure knows how to choose dates to give birth!

I took this picture when the baby landed. Welcome to earth little kittylet!

Oranje chose the laundry area to give birth to her second baby and I'm not very brave when it comes to this, so Catherine was the midwife.. She cut their cords for them. 

I didn't even dare to hold them initially. 

So she held them and I took their pictures.

Aww look at how sweet they are, snuggling together!

Oranje gave birth to 4 babies this time, and I laid them out according to their birth order. 

Left to right, Tiger, Bambi, Whiskey and Simba (lion/baby unique)

This would be their mugshot!

Also in birth order..

Tiger

Bambi

Whiskey

Simba!

My favoritest baby would be Bambi. 

Why?

I have no clue. 

I just love her, the moment I set my eyes on her.

I named her Bambi and my dad calls her 啊花 (flowery one) 

Wooooooouuuu T.T

She's got the most orbiang name of her litter. 

Bambi Lee ah hua. 

Whyyyyyyy!

Look at how tiny she is. Palm sized.

Possibly the only outfit of the day this entire trip taken in the office.

But I dress pretty everyday alright, pictures or not.

We have another pregnant cat in the house, and she's Grey!

She's due to give birth 20 days after Oranje.

Her maternal instincts kicked in, and she decided to take care of the kitties too!

Look!

The 2 mamas coexist and took care of the babies together. 

So sweet right?

Toots, the carefree fatty winking. 

That's like her throne. 

She doesn't give a damn about anything most of the time.

Here, we have Hachiko! He's my original favorite, because he's very polite and loyal. 

Whenever I call him, he'll always appear at my foot without hesitation. 

He can compete with Trixie for quickest response time. 

I took this picture with him on a Sunday evening. 

Camp in Pajamas day.

Who cares if I look like shit. 

Off day means no need to dress up. 

#woes of a fashion designer

This would be the greedy cats waiting for daddy to feed them their daily treats.

The ladies had first dips to the food. 

Unique (being the baby) would also get first dips with the treats.

I discovered Unique, sleeping on the floor like this, one of those nights. 

So cute!

Stress got the better of me, and I grew this uber huge pimple on the left cheek by the nose. 

My face looks extremely dirty! :(

It's like an insect took a shit on my face, and I forgot to clean it away.

:(((((((

---

After all the kitty birth excitement, it was all down to work again. 

Was in the midst of compiling my mix and match coordinates catalog for my spring collection.

From casual pictures taken in a corner of our showroom....

Catherine decided that we should just up the project by a few notches, and We moved on to our neighbors' studio next door to get the pictures taken, since they had a free slot available.

Ahh better lightings, so much more professional!

My staff jokingly call these 2 shots the "boss" shots. 

It's the outfits that makes a person I tell you.

My favouritest dress of my collection from the garden soirée series.

That's about all the preview that I'm willing to showcase.

Since spring isn't here yet. 

I'll update my last trip for 2013 soon. 

Gonna drown my system with lots of  water and hope the sore throat and fever would go away.

My body's got this thing for falling sick whenever I'm on idle mode.

And the weather transit between winter to summer isn't very helpful.

:(

Well sick or not, still got to work in the evening. 

I will survive. 

Personality test

Bored, I clicked on one of those personality test that I found on my facebook live feeds.
This one's a pretty straight forward test. You're either rigid or flexible.
Punctual or late sort of questions.
Hahaha.

Since I've finally dragged myself to start clicking on my Mac (Laptop and gadgets sabbatical are vital for me during my transits from China/Singapore, I'm usually not very keen to think about work on either side, just so that the transit would merge better? and just so that i'd get proper rest without thinking about one or the other)

Right!
This is apparently what I am, according to the test.
Idealist (yeah, my mom always says that i'm too idealistic, while she's too realistic)
;)
and I do have a problem with Hierarchies and authorities, quite spot on what!
Filing here for future personal reference.

The Spontaneous Idealist

• My Type
• Career Advice

Spontaneous Idealists are creative, lively and open-minded persons. They are humorous and dispose of a contagious zest for life. Their enthusiasm and sparkling energy inspires others and sweeps them along. They enjoy being together with other people and often have an uncanny intuition for their motivations and potential.

Spontaneous Idealists are masters of communication and very amusing and gifted entertainers. Fun and variety are guaranteed when they are around. However, they are sometimes somewhat too impulsive in dealing with others and can hurt people without really meaning to do so, due to their direct and sometimes critical nature.

This personality type is a keen and alert observer; they miss nothing which is going on around them. In extreme cases, they tend to be oversensitive and exaggeratedly alert and are inwardly always ready to jump. Life for them is an exciting drama full of emotionality. However, they quickly become bored when things repeat themselves and too much detailed work and care is required. Their creativity, their imaginativeness and their originality become most noticeable when developing new projects and ideas - they then leave the meticulous implementation of the whole to others. On the whole, Spontaneous Idealists attach great value to their inner and outward independence and do not like accepting a subordinate role. They therefore have problems with hierarchies and authorities.

» Get career advice for your type

If you have a Spontaneous Idealist as your friend, you will never be bored; with them, you can enjoy life to the full and celebrate the best parties. At the same time, they are warm, sensitive, attentive and always willing to help. If Spontaneous Idealists have just fallen in love, the sky is full of violins and their new partners are showered with attention and affection. This type then bubbles over with charm, tenderness and imagination. But, unfortunately, it soon becomes boring for them once the novelty has worn off. Boring everyday life in a partnership is not for them so that many Spontaneous Idealists slip from one affair into another. However, should the partner manage to keep their curiosity alive and not let routine and familiarity gain the upper hand, Spontaneous Idealists can be inspiring and loving partners.

Adjectives that describe your type
spontaneous, enthusiastic, idealistic, extroverted, theoretical, emotional, relaxed, friendly, optimistic, charming, helpful, independent, individualistic, creative, dynamic, lively, humorous, full of zest for life, imaginative, changeable, adaptable, loyal, sensitive, inspiring, sociable, communicative, erratic, curious, open, vulnerable

As a Spontaneous Idealist you are one of the extroverted personality types. You enjoy working in a colorfully diverse group of people who interest and inspire you. Working in a “secluded room” is not your thing. Your sense for the motivation of others is almost eerie. You constantly observe that which happens around you and have no problems noticing all sorts of things simultaneously or communicating with several people at the same time.

Your enthusiasm is contagious to others and that is why your colleagues and friends all appreciate you as an important member of your team. Your articulateness and your sensitive ear for nuances in conversations with others obviously play a role. For you, this team-oriented environment is very important because you need to receive positive feedback and recognition like other people need air to breathe. It would be practically impossible for you to contribute everything you need to maintain your high ideals, by yourself.

Variety, challenges and fun are important ingredients of your area of responsibility. You appreciate receiving new stimulation, meeting new people, and continuously collecting unique experiences. However, too much routine, too much detail work and the necessity to stick with one project for a very long time is not your thing. Your strength are creative problem solutions, discovering new ways and opportunities, the conceptualization of new ideas on one hand, but not so much their concrete implementation on the other. Ideally, you have a staff of capable colleagues that takes over your concepts and runs with them.

December oh December

I apologise for the lack of entry for the past month.

I did a quick tabulation, and I'd say that the dog has not been groomed or showered for nearly a month! 

Which works out that I've been away for approximately 20-25 days! 

December has always been one of my favorite months, due to the festivities, lights, decorations and holidays. 

Hmmmm..

So where do I begin? 

Since I'm just back from China, I'll just load up random pictures of my trips as far as 3 months ago yeah? 

We'll start with Unique the long haired Garfield. 

He's growing up to be such a handsome boy!
I took these pictures of him when we brought him over to the office.
Fella helps himself to the office like he's the boss!

That's Unique lounging in daddy's room.
When daddy's not in the office, the Cat would sit on his chair, and when daddy's seated on the chair, Unique would help himself to the tables all around the office!

Look at how naturally my papa is smiling in the background. He's happy when surrounded by cats, and ever so grumpy whenever he's required to take pictures. Why? I don't know!

Confirm chop! He's a cutie pie that needs a slave.

His fur alone is a killer to maintain.

I give up brushing him, whenever I'm over. 

--

We ate at the Japanese restaurant downstairs the apartment that the daddy used to live in. 

Never eaten baked sharksfin before, and so the adventurous daddy decided to give it a try.

This is how it looks like...(the gap! Was because I stole a slice of it, and later remembered to take a picture of it!)

Baked pufferfish. 

It's was okay, but it tasted as if it was dipped in stale drain water, before it was baked and served.

My cha soba was normal. Nothing to rave about. 

While this has got to be the curliest tako sushi I've ever met/eaten in my life. 

Reminds me of a lizard's tail! 

The remaining assortment of sushi that I've ordered remains to be boring and conforming. 

Hungry girl decides to cease her pictures and focus on eating!

:) 

This Lunch platter that I ordered was one of the biggest mistake ever!

I usually judge and order my food based on pictures. 

My dependence on pictures in deciding my meal-to-be from pictorial illustrations sort of failed. 

Reading Chinese Menu isn't my forte.

This looked alot like fried rice with pork chops to me from the pictures. 

Look at it, it really looks like a tasty fried rice from afar what!

Turns out, it's what I call pork chop with hamster's (Multigrained) rice 

At least that's what I'm used to calling the multigrained rice

*wails*

Whenever the mommy decides to be healthy, she'll cook multigrain rice for carbs. 

Eating it reminds me a lot of hamster feed that I erm...used to feed my hamsters?

They'll gnaw on it with 2 paws holding on to the grain of whatever... 

What my mom feeds me, and what I feed my hamster, I'd say that they are almost identical aesthetically. 

Cooked or uncooked. 

Tsk.

And here in China, i mistook multigrained rice for fried rice. 

Best Retarded move. 

I love the noodles from this shop!

The fried chick peas are quite addictive. Crunchy and tasty!

I considered attempting to buy an entire packet of fried peas from them just for snacking purpose. 

But just a little shy to ask if its for sale.

I'd usually eat them first, before starting on the noodles!

The sour spicy soup base is pretty decent.

*salivates*

---

Went for a short event, and had to sit through some talk on behalf of the father whilst he galavant away to another state for other business matters.

The event started with some drum performance that looked extremely promising.

6 girls in psuedo sexy glittery outfits.

Hmmm..

And halfway into the drums, I realised that I could do better than the entire prancing entourage, and I started dozing off. 

Oops. 

I'm never made to sit still, unentertained, and remain fully awake. 

Somewhere into the talk and presentation, Catherine prodded me awake and suggested that I take a stroll around, on the condition that I do not wander away too far from the hotel premises. ( she's like my minder/mother whenever I'm over.) 

Wooo~ Freedom time!

*Escapes to the toilet*

Happy like a bird!

Escaped to the garden 

I have no idea what the goats were supposed to serve in the garden.

Feng shui, I suppose?

My signature's somewhere, if you can spot it, it's probably the only visible english word amongst the crazy chinese scribbles.

Company Banners. 

I'm still in love with Sylwia.

She's gorgeous.

And my coat that I'll never get the opportunity to wear in Singapore.

We went shopping after the sleepy presentation, until late. Rushed for the last bus home. 

---

Random outfits of the day.. I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures of what I wear..

especially when the sleep quota dips..

Some of my spring fabrications that I've selected for my coming collections.

Fatty cat at the convenience store.. that I always visit. 

Like me, he's always in a state of comatose whenever he's still.

Dad shifted apartment subsequently, and we were helping to shift 7.5 cats during  one of those nights that I was there.

Amidst the bustling around, Unique helped himself to the empty litter box, and he hoarded the box until we shoo-ed him away!

Silly furry baby.

This is Toots hanging out at the balcony of the new place! She's the princess of the lot, and a spoilt brat by character! 

I also noticed that her paw is dirty (because the new place wasn't properly cleaned up yet), otherwise, she's usually super super clean by nature.

Dirty paws is extremely unacceptable for Toots. She'll lick herself until it's white again.

Ahaha

I love her eccentric character, and She's one of daddy's favorite cats, which explains for her behavior.

I came back to Singapore shortly, and went for a badly needed haircut. 

This is how I looked after, with 2 faint fake moles on my laugh lines.

The end!