Recovery......

Dear son saw the GP earlier for a change of medication since the usual ones don't really work well for him this time; guess the cough virus is more stubborn.

(remember to stop the music on the right side of the blog first)

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In the evening, he resumed his "play wild" mood and behaviour once again.......the victim, who else? Mummy........

Guess what's he wearing on his head?!?.

Cough Cough

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Our dear son is down with cough since yesterday and fever kicks in this afternoon.
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Although unwell, he was still seen entertaining himself by snapping pictures out of Mummy's cellphone camera; gosh when and how did he know how to set to camera mode
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(One of his artistic shot)
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His condition is under observation, will monitor and see how it goes. Hope he get well soonest. The frequent cough sounds irritating.

If I look into the mirror

I'm a VERY vain-boy indeed, I wonder who I take after more.......Daddy or Mummy?
(remember to stop the music on the right bottom of the blog first)
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Hehehe....you be the judge?

Good Pedicure, Is it the technique or something else?

Why don't some ladies out there be the judge?

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For those who frequent nail bars for pedicure services, just be my judge. What could really result in a bad pedicure? Is it the skills of the manicurist or is it the brand of the nail lacquer used?

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The nail bar I regularly patronise uses O.P.I. nail lacquers and they are located in J.B. My pedicure usually last me at least min. 3-4 weeks, unlike the one I did at NailzStory, it only lasted me 5-6 days despite my usual living habits.

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Unconvinced, I took time specially to 'experiment'. I wanted to know whether it's the nail technician's skill/nail lacquer/my lifestyle or simply just my toe-nail texture that fail my earlier pedicure experience.

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Hence, I booked my pedicure appointment on 15 Jan 2008 at my usual nail bar in J.B. Thereafter, my living habits were as per normal, I go to work, did household chores etc etc. I started to take some pictures on the exact 1 week of my pedicure.

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Now, let the following pictures tell us the findings of my experiment:

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(Still looking very healthy & shiny, 1 week after the pedicure service)

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Obviously 1 week later, the colours are still vibrant, smooth and no visible chippings or fading of nail lacquers observed. Click on the pictures to enlarge to see it more clearly.

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Still dubious, I took some more pictures to make a comparison between the previous 10th and the present 10th day after the pedicure.

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(Previous, done at NailzStory on the 10th day after the pedicure service)

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(Present, done in JB on the 10th day after the pedicure service)

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Obviously, anyone can note the difference between the 2 pedicures from 2 different nail bar.

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Through the experiment, I'm very convinced that my living habits, environment and toe-nail texture is not the factor that will cause a failed pedicure. I'm very confident now that O.P.I nail lacquers do live up to their reputation for "always been committed to providing customers with the finest quality in products and services" I have developed absolute trust & pride in using this brand henceforth.

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So, what else is left....obviously the skills of the nail technician. At this point, I don't think I need to prove anything and Yes, I'm boycotting this nail bar.

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The reason? From the return response, I don't think the operator handled my feedback very well and did not seem to take feedback positively. I was even more disappointed that when I spoke to the person in charge of that shop (Joanne), I was asked at point blank "What do you want us to do about it (the ruined pedicure)." instead of being offered at the first instance if I can go back to the shop for them to take a look at the ruined pedicure. Probably that will be a more professional way in offering Customer Service, don't you think so?

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Guess what my return response to (Joanne's) question was? "I'm not asking for a free service but I thought I should notify you since you're the person in charge of this nail bar." (She was dumbfounded but return with "OK")

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Oh Well, treat it as a few cents worth of experiment and I do hope other ladies out there will not experience the same. Most importantly ladies, do stand & voice up if the service is bad. It's not about being petty but more of, you paid for the service. So expect service in return.

On my ruined pedicure, NailzStory says......

"Thanks for your email and the efforts of trying to reach Joanne over the past few days to notify her about it. I has checked with Joanne and confirmed your session which was done on 4 Jan’08. Noted the picture is taken on 14 Jan- about 10-11 days from the session and the first toe to chip is on 9 Jan’08 – 5-6days from the session.

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Referring to the several possibilities stated in the below email:
- The selected OPI color is of inferior quality (unlikely since it's from authorized supplier) – The chance is v v low that the product is inferior quality as we gotten it from authorized supplier. But still we will reflect this matter to them cos it will cause us to lose our reputation despite using the real product.
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- The manicurist is not properly trained (in view of this young person working on part-time basis) – The manicurist is young and indeed on part-time but she was trained for 2-3mths and she has actual working experience of a manicurist for 9 -10mths (excluding the training course she went to). She’s a long-term part-time staff and work at least 3-4 days of a week and she also has her own fair bit of regular customer who only request the service to be done by her. And there’s never any complain of her services or skills till today. Therefore we are pretty surprised that you find her not proper trained but we will monitor her and shd there be any 1 more complain of similar feedback, we will consider terminating her service. Lastly to highlight, most of our staff are trained in beauty / nail school with cert and with at least few months actual working experience before joining us.
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- The pedicure service is not done properly & in a rush (I mentioned recalling that I did not receive a top coat after my nail color. Only the cuticle oil after the drying) - We have checked with her. She is very sure the top coat is definitely applied even though that day is a rush. Cos the staff all practice top coat immediately after color. Unless there’s any damage to the color on 1-2 toes in the process of drying up which need touch up, then they will re-apply col n let it dry again then put top coat. But in your case, she remembered there’s no damages in the process of drying up therefore she is very sure the top-coat is applied immediately after all toes been colored.
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We are not trying to find excuses and push the faults to others. But will need to share with you that there’s a lots of possible factors that will contributed to the fact whether the nail polish will last or not. In actual facts, a lot of other factors will also affect the nail polish to last or not beside product used and skills. Some factors / examples to share from our past experiences that causes nail polish to chip or peel –
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Some of us will have nail plate that tend to be more dry or oily which also cause nail polish to chip fast than others.
Environment – ex. some will also involved doing housework etc which most of the time in touch with cleaning chemical or even some most time in very cold working offices will also causes the skin and nail to be very dry etc
Living habits – there’s some living habits for example – wearing sock to bed OR accidentally knocking into things OR the type of shoes cos some shoes might be open but for example – Birkenstock style or other alike design of sandals – the design is to let the whole legs rest within in therefore the front part of if is high up which will hit the toes as we walked.
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All above are just some examples and experiences we had and also it may not be applicable for your case.
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In general, toes’ colors do last longer than hands’ color due to our hands is always in the action. However due to the actual facts of possible chipping and peeling of nail polish is rather wide, therefore most nail salon like ourselves are most willing to do free touch-up of the color within 2-3 days cos most of time it likely due to color not entirely dry when they left the shop or they accidentally hit into something which is very common.
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But I believe there’s none of nail salon operator in current market dare to guarantee that color will last for how long and the exact period of it will be lasted as everyone is different physically, staying / working in different environment and having different living habits. As all the factors will always changes with time, therefore the period nail polish lasted will also vary sometime.
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Lastly we also do not deny that the possibilities might be on the product or the skill of the manicurist. Therefore we will reflect the matters to the authorized supplier and monitor and gather feedbacks of other customers. And for the staff should there be any more complain of customers finding her not proper trained or etc, we will consider terminating her service with Nailz Story otherwise might cause other customers to lose confident in us and lose another good customer like yourself.
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We would like to extend most sincere apologizes for your disappointment and appreciated your feedback. Hope you can come back and let us do a free revanish of all the toes’ colors at your convenient time. Please do not hesitate to contact Far East Plaza’s staff for your appointment. I would be notifying all the staff on this and they would be standing by for your call and appointment.
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Regards
Vincent Lim

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New "Friend"

My buddy Poh Ong & I made a lot of new friends today, thanks to our parents, who brought us out for a morning outing.

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We're both amazed not only because our newly made friends have a big appetite (since they keep eating whatever we feed them; Unlike us, they all live in Hay's Goat Farm!
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Hence it's our first-time contact with the goats, both of us made sure we feed our friends with a lot of HAYS!! - So they'll remember us better than any other children you see......hee hee

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Here here, some more hay for you?

I forgot to bring my passport.....

and ended up missing my SQ flight that was taking off from Terminal 3!
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(Departure Hall in Changi Terminal 3)
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Haha.......jokes aside, I wasn't supposed to catch a flight from the Airport Terminal 3. I was visiting it for the first time in fact with Daddy, Mummy, Uncle How and Aunty Hong.
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(Happy Happy Me)
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T3 is indeed very impressive (at least for me). I was given the opportunity to exhaust my energy in view of the ample "running" space;
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(Check in counters)
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an opportunity to "feel" nature right on my fingertips (ruining the lovely Orchids as I lay my hands on them...opppsss),

(Lovely White Orchids)
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I enjoyed running around the spacious compound so much but was a little disappointed when I couldn't see any aeroplane that Mummy promised me earlier. Guess that was because of the darkness that all of us couldn't see anything at the Viewing Mall.
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Leaving with no choice since it's also way past my bedtime, we cut the visit short and decided to return again on a bright sunny day so we can see those mega SQ planes. Oh yes, and to remember to bring along my passport too!
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Before we make our move, I'll better dial a long distance call to my friend in far far away land to inform that I won't be catching my flight though.
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(Hmph......What's the number?)
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Getting into Lunar Fashion

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How about trying on my Lunar New Year clothings? Need to know whether it still fits you know!

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Otherwise, I gotta start losing those fats.
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Pedicure Disappointment

I had my pedicure done on 4 Jan 08 afternoon with my girlfriends at Nailzstory, at their branch located at Far East Plaza Unit05-83.

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It was planned for a few of us to enjoy a Hen's Gathering, before our dear ole' friend May marries the next day. The bride herself also got her manicure & pedicure did specially for her BIG day.

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(Ruined pedicure)

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To my greatest disappointment, one of my toe colours actually came off on the 9 Jan 08; this is the 6th day since the pedicure service was done. This has never occur to me in my past pedicure experiences and I'm talking about using O.P.I nail lacquer here.

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Yes, I'll never use any other nail lacquer brands except the ones from O.P.I. I trusted that label since my past experiences lasted me for slightly more than 3 weeks. At times, even almost a month.

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I've spoken to the person-in-charge of that nail saloon & followed up with a written email to inform them about my disappointment. I told them I was shocked that by the 10th day, almost 4 out of my 10 toes are ruined. The picture is taken on the 10th day in fact and I regretted that I did not immediately take a picture of my ruined toe on 9 Jan 08.

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I've not been wearing covered shoes or been doing any outdoor activities since my pedicure service. There could be several possibilities:

1) The selected OPI colour is of inferior quality (unlikely since it's from authorised supplier)

2) The manicurist is not properly trained (in view of this young person working on part-time basis)

3) The pedicure service is not done properly & in a rush (I mentioned recalling that I did not receive a top coat after my nail color. Only the cuticle oil after the drying)

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I'm not asking for compensation of any sorts since I don't like to be labelled as a "Cheapskate Singaporean" but I'll be interested to see how they respond to this.

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Sometimes, the rod kicks in

Yes (sob sob)........Mummy just caned me.

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(3 hard lashes)

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3 times to be exact, on my right thigh. Can you see those marks? Ouch!

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Well, while Mummy was trying to shower and at the same time 'supervise' me, I was caught playing with the phone electrical cables near the wall electrical point.

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Not only did I not heed her verbal warnings, I went on to strip myself naked. I was trying to join her as I would like to shower too but I know I showered earlier. Hee......cheeky me.

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Of course, Mummy wouldn't want to have me shower again at 9+pm. She gave several verbal warnings for me to stop mis-behaving but I continued to stretch the tolerance band. I refused to listen and started playing with the water hose, spraying water all over the toilet floor.

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Alright, I probably deserve this lesson. Once Mummy came out of the shower, she headed straight to grab her magic rod. She swung it 3 times straight at my thigh. I WAS STUNNED. I realised that I shouldn't TEST her patience and started wailing.

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Poor Me, Mummy simply ignored my wailings. Not only that, she brought me to my MOST HATED CHAIR at home and ordered me to sit down. Well you see, this SPECIAL CHAIR is for naughty children who doesn't take or listen to instructions. It's placed at a corner and I HATED it MOST.

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(I don't want to sit SPECIAL CHAIR)
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I pleaded with Mummy and told her I don't want to sit down. I was left crying for a good 10 mins before I finally stop my sobbings. Then Mummy came over and 'negotiated' with me. I was told that I can leave the special chair ONLY IF I behave myself. Of course I promptly agreed.

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Mummy finally 'release' me and I guarantee you, I BEHAVED VERY WELL after the canning saga. Not even the slightest mischief.

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[Mummy] Guess sometimes the magic rod is REALLY needed to do the job (Although not at Mummy's wishes).

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We have Guests at our place today

but GOSH!!!
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You know what, Mummy & Daddy forgot to take any pictures since they were busy preparing, serving, eating then washing up after dinner.

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Our visitors were Uncle How and family, Uncle Larry & family which includes my good friend and flght-mate Poh Ong. They were invited over for a sumptuous dinner lovingly cooked by Daddy at our humble abode this evening. Note: DADDY CAN COOK!

;-)

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Well, since there's no picture taken of our guests (it's not the most important information anyway) BUT just know that I'm the one who opens the door for them when they arrives for the yummy......Ha Ha Ha.....

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Cheezee!!
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It's May's Wedding Day

I just cannot describe this feeling. It's like I just got to know May in school and now, I'm attending her Wedding!

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My dear ole' classmate from secondary school, May is marrying Leng today.

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I'm just so excited about this good ole' friend's Wedding. It's hard to say that feeling but here, I really wish her & Leng Marital Bliss, have a child soon! (hee..hee, so I can tell myself to buck up too)

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All the best to you both! Congratulations Mr & Mrs Chia!

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Breakthrough in Crude Oil & Gold

Just like to pen down a record breakthrough.
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On Nov 27, 2007, we read in the news report that "Crude oil will continue testing the US$100 mark"
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Today upon Asian market opens from the overnight of US Jan 2, 2008
Our mouth went wide open upon hearing this piece of morning news
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"Oil, Gold Near Records as Dollar Drop Lures Investors"
Oil reached a record $100 a barrel yesterday and gold soared to its highest ever.
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Man!! where is this market heading to?
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Source: Reuters NY
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Welcome to Year 2008

HELLO 2008!
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(The delicious BBQ food)
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We had a new year eve BBQ and count down blast to 2008 last night. It was lovely & heartwarming spending the countdown with our close friends. Did you enjoy welcoming 2008 as much as the House of ANG folks and their friends did? We hope so you did.
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We mentioned about celebrating something else didn't we? Yes yes, our dear Ms Wong's birthday is also around the corner so we decided to "double" surprise her. By throwing a New Year Eve for everyone cum Birthday Party for her.
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(Preparing for a pleasant surprise)
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We had the pleasant surprise all planned out. Already pre-arranged with Mr Chua, we booked the function room & BBQ pit at their condo in advance without Ms Wong's knowledge, brought food and had all the guest invited to meet at a specific time in the function room on New Year's eve.

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(We're going to shout out loud "Happy Birthday")
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When the time arrives, we quickly switched off all the lights in the function room. The plan will be for Mr Chua to bring the family down for a walk and slowly lead them near to the function room. When the 'star' is close enough, we'll all spring out and shout "Happy New Year & Happy Birthday".

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Well, we all successfully did it! Just look at their expressions. Hee Hee

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After the surprise, we started settling down to eat and drink; some of us went to get more food cooked at the BBQ pit so we can all sit down, indulge in the food, followed by a round of poker.
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(Enjoying each others' company on a New Year's Eve)
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While the children gets their entertainment from throwing lizards at us ladies.........and placing lizards on their heads!
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(Happily showing off their lizards)
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and trying to scare Aunty Ivy. Well, it's no use boys, Aunty Ivy is only afraid of cockroaches!
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Before preparing to countdown to 2008, we gathered everyone to sing a Happy Birthday song for Ms Wong and enjoyed the yummy Black Forest cake lovely purchased by Janet at Bengawan Solo.

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(Happy Birthday Ms Wong!)
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Not long after, we tuned ourselves to Channel 5 (believe the countdown programme is held at Vivo City), waited and counted down. Then, it's Happy New Year!

One of our close friend sent this sms message which reads meaningfully like this:
"A New Start
A New Chapter
A New Beginning
Forget the Bad
Cherish the Good
Wishing you a Very Blessed New Year ahead!
Happy New Year 2008!"
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Shortly after welcoming 2008, the gang friends decided to call it a day and departed for home. As for the ANG folks, we decided to stay for the night at the Chua family's humble abode.

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We sincerely hope everyone had a fabulous time welcoming 2008 just like we did.
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1 January 2008 - On New Year's Day
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Our Little boys woke up late at 9.30am since they both slept at past bedtime last night.
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(Playing the DOH)
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Both took their breakfast and started jamming the house with TOYS. Of course, after getting bored with their toys, they are as usual up to a lot of mischef. In order to prevent them from bringing the house down, we borrowed some cartoon time.

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(Watching "Nody" on Disney Playhouse Channel)
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Not only they are close playmates but FIGHT-MATES as well! So on New Year's Day, we made sure they KISS and MAKE PEACE! kekekeke..............

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(Happy New Year folks!)

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