*~ compulsive shopping disorder !! ~*

how? think me suffering from compulsive shopping disorder.. the only thing keeping me in control is my lack of time to go shopping. so what do i end up doing?? shop online!! eeek. just paid for a coach bag.. should be coming in around 2 weeks... *hopefully*

Cherriko's back!

Quick update!
Finally left borland~ sadly.. hmm and was such a mad rush in the last week cleaning... deleting.. clearing.. blah. >_<

started questing again in Hello Kitty Online

Graduated from Docent training to become a true docent on Halloween... cool DnD~ got some photos already on facebook, can try to spot me :D

Started work at Arigoo as a Solution Manager doing pre/post sales, demo, presentations and training of a cool Business Process Management tool!

Happy birthday to me little sister today! mmmm~

working 9 to 6 again! so gotta go for now :D
will be back soon with more updates and photos!

*~ The final Borland EQC Lunch @ Modestos ~*

Coach Lim recommended Modestos for our final EQC lunch~ 1 for 1 was a super good deal! On average a main course is about $20. So 1 for 1 is like $10 per person??


*~ Modestos ~*


*~ my lasagne, super big portion which i couldnt finish.. :P ~*


*~ Vege pizza ~*


*~ All that's left.. ~*

Many thanks to Ganesh for the treat he owed to PPM. hehee~

Where's my happy ending?

Feels like i'd lived through a fairytale.. and its time to snap myself awake..
Forgive me for my emotional ups and downs at the moment.. it's not easy...

Given 3 weeks to prep myself for a brand new start again :) Will be back when there's more to write..

Happenings @ EQC...

29 September 2009


*~ Satish Farewell buffet lunch @ Khansama, Biopolis ~*

The first colleague to leave in the transition team.. now we're down to 8~

2 October 2009

Keeping up with yearly EQC traditions.. one day before the actual lunar 15th day of the 8th month (mid-autumn) we had a small mooncake "celebration" in the smaller conference room this year. Thanks to Boss WC for sponsoring the ever so high class and tasty mooncakes from Raffles Hotel! ;D~


*~ highly recommended flavour ~*


*~ 8 pieces for $52!! ~*

I had 2 pieces so that would be $13 in my tummy~ yippee~ :D


*~ greedy "mr hoo" ~*

wahahaha~~

yep.. that's all that goes on in eqc these days... counting down till the end of the month..

*~ Chris's Wedding ~*

Another great wedding!~ :D
Amara Sanctuary Hotel Sentosa
26 Septemper 2009.


*~ Wedding Album ~*
Me trying to be artistic, also attracting more people to come look at the album~


*~ Groom talking to someone *~
holding his tummy in *breathe in*


*~ Chris & Sharon have their own poster! ~*


*~ The "gang" from the past ~*


*~ oooo check out the menu! ~*

Embarassed to say, there was sharks fin, but really nice.. :P sorry sorry.. i am still a nature and animal lover....


*~ ah-hua and her munchies ~*

Funny girl doesn't like good food la.. invite her to a wedding and give her peanuts, peas and milo. she'll probably be happier than if u served her lobster, sharksfin and abalone. ;) good deal yah!


*~ Peace! kahwai, me and yeeket ~*


*~ our patient waiter ~*

Nice guy, was willing to lemme take photos of the food first but i didn't dare la.. sharing the table with some other chris's friends. Not nice to make people wait right? :P


*~ as usual what we've all been waiting for ~*

Chris composed a song for Sharon, hopefully Sharon puts in the lyrics soon and we'll hear it again.. how romantic.. heee~
... and they lived happily ever after~

*~ Suming's Wedding ~*

*~ Ticket to the masquerade ball ~*




*~ Eugene & Suming ~*

Reminds me of Shao Han (favourite singer) ;) Unfortunately due to the horrible traffic i missed seeing her in person in this impressive gown.. took this photo from someone's album :D


*~ Lots of dessert... yummy! ~*


*~ The First Dance ~*


*~ Baby Eason & Me ~*

Looks pro right? Obviously i took this photo from suming's album. Photographer secretly took our photo while we were playing "bounce bounce" on my thighs.. haha~ Eason is soooo cute ya! Always smiling at pretty 'jie jie'.

Thankfully suming has placed me on a table with some familiar faces. Major & wife + the baby Eason, and a long-time-no-see secondary schoolmate Kemei!


*~ Me & Kemei ~*

Also managed to get bing to come attend the wedding with me, she'd also known suming since we were inseparable during sec school days. hahaha~


*~ Me & my sister ~*


*~ Finally... We had a photo with the couple! ~*

Lovely wedding and a lovely couple.
Wishing them a happily ever after...

*~ Happy 09.09.09 ~*

*~ A Sweet morning ~*

Tried to do a nice photo of it this morning.. always remembering that i need to compose my picture.. but still doesn't look pro huh.. :( The flowers are much nicer in real life.. :)

*~ Happy Birthday Cindy-chan! ~*

It was a tough choice between ILUMA @ Bugis or Seletar Air Base for some crazy spicy buffalo wings! Cindy would have loved that but my guess was she would love to have her friends more! So the choice was made, ILUMA it shall be!

Settled for dinner at Empire State, u can't miss it coming up the 4-storey escalator from the 1st floor. U land right in front of Empire State. :) Kinda similar to New York New York and the food turned out to be pretty good!


*~ Seafood Rings ~*


*~ Bday girl and her dinner ~*


*~ NORMAL Buffalo Wings ~*

me and xiao fu were undecided on our food so we decided to be funny and ordered the big burger to share.. its 4 times the size of a normal burger okie!?


*~ xiao fu's fist and our crazy burger ~*


*~ our burger close up on the fillings ~*

Happily catching up and eating and sharing job hunting stories and experiences...


*~ the gang! ~*

Ani's task was to secretly order some brownie! Nice it even came with ice cream and the brownie was heated! Just for $8.90! (candle also provided btw~ )


*~ time to blow out the candle! ~*

Running out of ideas of what to buy. luckily Coach Lim was quick in thinking and we figured getting Cindy-chan a new set of running attire might motivate her to continue her runs even when she's not at IBP anymore. :)


*~ hey! new running outfit~ ~*

Happy Birthday Cindy-chan! Glad u liked your nike gear! hope you can join us for run some time~ at least by end of oct :)

*~ EQC-LQM Gets Together! ~*

A long-awaited get together to celebrate our hardwork for all the mid-year releases..
Original plan was to wait for the all the products to be released last one being 5th august but that didnt work out cos of the acquisition and all.. BUT! a belated one is still cool!

Sally laid out the table with food we bought from IMM and Komala's~ She also prepared some nice cheese-cherry tomato-pineapple bites. :)


*~ super good! ~*


*~ everyone looking well rested and fresher than ever! ~*


what makes a party if there's no beer right? :D

Missing the team and the hard work we did :)

Swensen's Dessert Buffet!

Check out the Swensen's Dessert Buffet at ION Orchard!



Met up xiao fu and cindy together with tw and ani for a 2nd round of pigging out~ :P~


My melting sherbet sundae! :P

Nepalese food!~

Went with Cindy and Ani for Nepalese food one of those days where we had extra time on our hands to spare. :)

Finally got ani's help to name the dishes~


*~ Khana Khajana Restaurant @ 23 Upper Dickson Road ~*


*~ papad w pudina chutney ~*


*~ chicken tikka - a little pricey but SUPER TASTY ~*


*~ mixed chatamari (nepalese pizza) ~*


*~ gobi manchurian (actually adapted from manchurian style of cooking cauliflower)~*


*~ mixed naan ~*


*~ more mixed naan ~*


*~ daal makhani ~*


*~ the happy people :) ~*

*~ Claire Bear Stare! ~*

As expected from a girl of the family! :D I can't stop smiling when i see these pictures. Amazing how she figured out how to stick her little fingers into the holes of the stools and how she had the strength to carry 2 of them around the house. *lol*


SuperClaire


"xiaoyi! sit!~"

*~ High-lifers @ Goodwood Park ~*

After 2 weeks of wallowing in mud and pain and tears.. we've accepted our fate of becoming the high-lifers of society~ :D~


*~ ooo~ finger food! ~*


*~ Desserts ~*


*~ mango & pomelo.. always a favourite ~*


*~ eric, me, cindy, shiv, mart, ft ~*


*~ some life music ~*


*~ more Desserts ~*

For "just" ~$40.. the food was mmm~ delicious~ *wahahaha*

Don't i just love my ixus 110is? the food looks too yummy!

*~ Happy Pre-Bday Michael! ~*

A small get-together after our usual wednesday B-run and a simple celebration for mangO (simple cos we're all out of a job now yah..) hee~


*~ cindy & me after a 7+km run ~*


*~ TW, mang, me, cindy waitin for our dinner at Al-ameen ~*


*~ nook! just behind my place ~*


*~ cakes anyone? ~*


*~ love the mix-matched decor ~*


*~ my almoncino .. smooth~ mmm~ ~*


*~ here comes the cake ~*


*~ showing off the power of ixus 110 ~*


*~ aww.. look how "happy" he is :D ~*

The simplicity of life~ *contented*

*~ Goodbye Borland... Goodbye EQC ~*

My heart is broken.. i don't remember ever feeling so sad in long long time. I can't stop crying and can't stop feeling disappointed. I hope by the time I finish this post I would have found enough energy to put this painful week at the back of my memories..

July 27th 2009 (Monday)

The week started with Micro Focus's acquisition of Borland having been complete. Anxious that the signage was planned to be taken down in the afternoon, everyone rushed to take the last photos with our ever-so-beloved Borland..



*~ EQC main entrance ~*


*~ The girls of EQC ~*


*~ The Borland runners ~*

July 28th 2009 (Tuesday)

We received news that our Headquarters in Austin faced a huge layoff.. remaining headcount.. ~8?
Shermaine came to IBP, we rushed to take more photos...


*~ Together with our little HR ~*

July 29th 2009 (Wednesday)

The worst day for EQC - Enterprise Quality Center, EQC was cut..


*~ The EQC-LQM team ~*

Our last group lunch as Borland employees at Hans, Chevrons just opposite of our Strategy building.. We may all be smiling but if you look closely, u could probably see some swollen eyes..


*~ Lunch @ Hans ~*

It was a sleepless night for me.. i found my tears flowing uncontrollably while lying in bed... The efforts of many for the past 3+ years have been lost just like that. An uninformed decision to remove our center without ever understanding what values it came with, why it was an asset to Borland and teams worldwide. We've gone through so much.. only those that went through it will know.

Now...

My heart still aches, tears continue to flow.. once a happy and enjoyable morning walk to the office where i used to do some loud singing along the road to scare the drivers, turned into a dreadful, tearful, painful one on Thursday morning. (Thanks TW for the barley drink..) The empty office and the loss of happy sounds.. futing's heavy elephant footsteps in the morning.. cindy's whining "huh.. cheryl.. u know what happened??"... sally and vinayak's "good mornings" and alan's (my ever-so-respected manager) cheerful and motivating "GOOD MORNING!".. Until now I still can't face alan to thank him properly.. "boss, thanks from the bottom of my heart." I can't even find words to express it..

We've come a long way.. it's unfortunate that it had to come to an end but the friendships built will remain. We'll continue to strive and achieve more as individuals and who knows when our paths will cross again...

It is gonna be a tough 3 months as I continue to return to the once energy-filled, laughter-filled, EQC office to continue with my transition. Then it will also be Goodbye to Silk.. my "baby" SCTM and the great people and friends I've made from Linz... :(

*~ Dinner @ Togi ~*

Highly recommended by many people if you are looking for authentic korean food and an affordable price!


long queue at dinner time till about 8pm~ :P can't miss it..


Unlimited servings of these authentic korean appetizers, if you love kimchi, u'd love this!


Bibimap~ always a favourite for me~


Some noodles mixed in sauce~ YUMMY!


hmm.. some kinda pancake thing? ;P


i know this! Kimchi soup!!

Dessert time! at a nearby hongkong dessert shop also in chinatown.






Hmm.. don't know why i didnt take photos of ourselves.. got too carried away with the food and my new ixus ;)

*~ B-Run ~*

After much persistence and patience, atam has managed to move at least 15 people to have joined our B(orland)-Run some time or another.. and i'm proud to say i've consistently ran for 3 weeks in a row! About 6 times altogether over a time span of about 3 or 4 mths?

Started with occasional participation of about once a month.. the first time hitting a record distance of about 1km and walking the remaining 2km :) 2nd time i jogged 3km at walking pace :D~ 3rd & 4th times with much motivation for sporty Cindy, i managed 3km at a normal jogging pace~ *yay*

Then the excitment builds up~ got myself a pair of cool New Balance shoes at 40% discount with the rest of the B-people~ from $165 to $99!


*~ Grand opening of new shoes for my 5th run! ~*


*~ nope, not sponsored by New Balance.... ( yet :D ) ~*

5th run i managed a 3.8km by much encouragement thanks to teacher, for accompanying me half the distance while he went off to do his 8k, i turned and ran back to start.. hehee~

Cindy finally joined us again last week~ despite her resting for 2 weeks, she ran almost 7km! *faint* Thankfully again, this time i had ani and teacher to chat with me and i managed another 800m increment to 4.6km! *hurray*


*~ Yay! NB rules! ~*

This week's target distance: 5.2km (can't keep up the 800m increment.. but if i exceed it will be something to celebrate again hehee~)
Final target: 10km! *Ganbatte!*

*~ Da Vinci the Genius - An Inspirational Exhibition ~*

*~ Entrance to the exhibition at the Singapore Science Center ~*

Inventor, artist, scientist, engineer, sculptor, anatomist, biologist, musician, architect, philosopher ….. Leonardo da Vinci was all of these things!

Did u know? He was born an illegitimate but because of that he wrote with his left hand and in mirror-image! He was never taught so never corrected on this.

Super impressed at the simplicity of the motivation behind his works and his research. A simple solution to a simple problem! To measure humidity, he used a balance where on one side he placed some wax, and on the other a material that is ultra absorbent of moisture. so when the scale tips, we know that the humidity level has increased! *~tada!~*

I'm truly inspired now~

Unfortunately no photos were allowed but i sneaked 2 shots of the paintings which i had always been excited about~

Many thanks to Pascal Cotte, French scientific engineer and photographer of fine art, invented a 240-million pixel camera to photograph the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, allowing for the most accurate recreation of the masterpiece for the very first time in its original colour and the unveiling of 25 startling revelations.


*~ The Last Supper ~*

Did u know? Leonardo da Vinci spent 3 years observing people on the streets to capture the expressions which he could use in the painting.


*~ A blown up version of the Mona Lisa ~*
(with varnish removed digitally)

Did u know? The secret was that Mona Lisa was painted without eyebrows and eyelashes and that had remained a mystery. But they've found now that it could be that the painting deteroriated so much the eyebrows cannot be seen since now they've found traces of the possibility that Mona Lisa was in fact painted with eyebrows.

*~ Night at the Museum ~*

With nothing better planned on a saturday rainy evening, i made plans to meet david to check out the National Museum at night. How often do they block the roads in orchard so you can admire the museum from a distance in the night right?

One of the last albums taken with my Samsung NV3. :)

From across the road, struggling a little in the rain...


*~ Singapore National Museum ~*


Performance: The Loop of Fortune
By Action Theatre PAN.OPTIKUM (Germany)
Making its premiere in Singapore, The Loop of Fortune weaves the audience and the surrounding architecture into the plot of the performance, and uses associative images to tell the story of a man’s happiness and destiny.





Starting from Singapore Management University’s Campus Green, the performance shifts across the street to a large-scale finale in front of the National Museum of Singapore. The Loop of Fortune unfolds through acrobatics, acting, live vocals and seamlessly interwoven firework displays. The audience accompanies the protagonist through various stages of his life, different emotional states – the joyful and naïve feelings of happiness alternate with overconfidence and fear – and finally, the dawn of the awareness that it is neither necessary nor possible to oppose one’s destiny.

After the performance, we went to check out the exhibitions inside the museum, free entrance yah? ;)


*~ Exhibit: The Crystal City ~*
By Donna Ong (Singapore)
Crystal Glasses
Approx. H 0.7m x W 0.7m x L 21m

The skyline of a glass city stretches horizontally into the distance as clear turrets of glass rise vertically. Amber lights shine through their faceted surfaces, creating amorphous patterns that shift and change as the lights dim and brighten. This illusion of a glass city is created using ordinary everyday objects as crystal bottles, jars, cups, bowls and decanters.

Taking a walk into the Singapore History Gallery..


*~ Fascinated by an old singapore stone ~*


*~ Fascinated by the 1st Map of Singapore ~*


*~ Exhibit: The Tree ~*

By FARM (Singapore)
Steel, Timber, LED light tubes, Microphones
Approx. H 7m x D 10m

The Banyan Tree right next to the National Museum of Singapore is a grand old dame in its own right. It sits majestically on the Museum’s front lawn, seemingly holding fort to a place full of histories, stories and magic.
A contemporary reinterpretation of the Banyan Tree, The Tree is a reconstruction of a series of interlocking frames with lights that pulsate gently in the night. Hanging microphones simulating that of aerial roots will also detect environmental sounds and alter the lighting nature of The Tree – glowing intensely and dimming down with the rising and falling sound levels.


*~ Exhibit: The Beginning ~*
By Sun Yu-li (Singapore)
Stainless steel tube with LED linear light
Approx. H 2.1m x W 2.1m x L 5.8m

The Beginning is a stainless steel sculpture with LED lights; the spiral form of which resembles a massive DNA model glowing in the night. Sun Yu-li adopts the approach ‘sculpture as a place’, in which the work incites the viewer to move or explore within its space.

At the end, i still realised i'm not really impressed by the art.. hmm.. nevertheless fireworks still does its magic~ :D

*~ my ever-so-reliable Samsung NV3 ~*

Been wanting to get a new camera.. so upset by the Lumix LX3.. it's against my principals to get something to hyped up over.. and looks like too many people are getting it. Been checking the forums and its out of stock everywhere! They are raising the prices and removing the free add-ons bit by bit! no camera casing?! eeek.. Should i just go for an ixus... at least its candy-coloured.. :P~

hmm the guys could be right though that its the problem with the photographer and not the camera.. but .. but.. hmm check out Cindy's master pieces!









The guys are really photogenic!!

I can't believe i never played with the frames ever since that one time on the first day i bought the camera!! *g*

*~ ZOOLYMPIX Station 2: Kanga Roo A-Hop ~*

Another early morning.. had to be at the Zoo by 8.30am for the briefing~

A few fun facts about Kangaroos!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The actual meaning of "kangaroo" is "I don't understand"
When European explorers first saw these strange hopping animals, they asked a native Australian (aborigine) what they were called and he replied "kangaroo". The explorers thought that was the name of the animal.

The joey of a Grey Kangaroo is born 1 inch long!
It stays in its mummy's pouch for 300 days or more~



Setting up our Station at the Australian Outback


We're ready! Come and challenge to ROOs!


Caught a little wallaby on the other side of the path


"I lick my feet & chest when i feel warm"

By the end of the 8-day Zoolympix, this was our Hall of Fame. Can u believe a child could jump 2.39m?! In 2nd place was a girl maybe 1.4m tall and she did 1.9m at her first jump! O_O *embarassed*
We decided to "fight-it-out" among ourselves too! With the exception of Vanessa (also a child) who got herself a spot on OUR hall of fame too!


Who jumps further? the ROOs? the children? or the adults?

*~ Don't we love GSS! ~ *

"Coach" David Lim received some promo email about New Balance having a 40% discount for anyone with the condition that there are 4 people wearing 4 pairs of New Balance shoes! If you only have 3, then that gives u 30% discount. And you can't just be carrying it, you gotta be wearing the shoes!
And we were the first to turn up for the promotion! You guys are becoming more and more Singaporean!! (KIASU lah!)


*~ Proof that they were indeed wearing NB! ~*

NB in CityLink is really professional. I've never received service like this before. We took turns to "catwalk" in front one of the sales attendant so that she could analyse our feet-type. :P Then they went on explain which shoes were suitable, how cool! I have new Stability shoes!


*~ Total: 8 pairs of shoes + miscellaneous!! ~*

Of the 8, only one was mine.. getting scolded by michael cos i just recently bought a pair of shoes for B-run.. :P So now these are for running and my Nike is for badminton okok?? :)


*~ We're going on facebook! ~*

After 2 hours in New Balance.... we were starved..
Finally! My first time at Soup Spoon!! Cindy-chan has been talking so much about it, and we ALMOST gave up waiting but my little bit of persistence with Cindy's help paid off! We got a seat for 4~


*~ While waitin for the guys... ~*


*~ The chunky soups except for the pumpkin ~*

Adding $3.90 to the soup gives u a half sandwich + a drink~ The sandwiches looked pretty whole to me :P I was totally stuffed!


*~ The HALF sandwiches!!! ~*


*~ Say ChEEse! ~*