@Song, the new posh bar at my neighbourhood. I'm living in District '10' of Beijing and I'm sure gonna miss it.

@Drum&Bell Tower Cafe....my bartender Hu Mi Shu (or Secretary Hu) never fails to call out Sister Xu and throws in a basket of free popcorn

Poohahahhahhaaaaaaaaaaaa

881...one bite together and we'll never be separated...

What do we do when the Song Birds are in town? They sing and I become the backup singer and dancer...

When your Malaysian Friend wants to sing chinese songs, yet he can't read Chinese. What do u do? U whisper the lyrics to him as he sings with gusto...

Karaoke is a Chinese National Hobby...even Lao Wais (ie. Angmos) who live here are drawn to it. After all, if can't beat them, JOIN them.

Elena sings...冰雨 by Andy Lau.

Clarissa Oon...Thanks for all the good times!

These would be etched in my heart....

Us discovering we can see each other's apartment and each other (if we want to) from our respective windows. Me opening my window, waved and shouted your name at 1 am.

Us chatting and more chatting about the men (or lack of) situation in Beijing, in Singapore...in our lives.

Us choosing and re-choosing each other presents for our birthday(s), for Christmas.

Us going thru the magazines and our long sessions on the ideal short hair-do for me (which I eventually cropped my hair, thanks to u...)

Us (ok me) laughing and creating jokes out of your Queen's English.

Us (ok me me) laughing at your delayed and sometimes super delayed (err...the record is one nite?) reaction to most things.

Us waiting for each other at 1115 hrs every Sunday to go to Church.

And of course all our bible study and prayer sessions.

And oh our trip to Harbin...how we stripped off our clothes ... to our undies... within seconds of entering the hotel room and nope, we were not into each other!!

And the parties at your place and the ones we went to...

Oh and much much more. When I think of Central Park, I would think of you. When I think of my life in Beijing, I would think of you.

Thanks for the lovely time.

Thank GOD for you.

Clare's farewell....at Alfa with MengTze, Vinny, Yasushi, myself and of course

Scene from In NO Mood for Love..

My Fav Dish at Alfa...Burger, eggs, salmon....and a glass of wine. Can I have my farewell here too?

Where do we go from here? This is the way we intended to be..we have it ALLLLLL...

This Way Please....

We are NOT FRIENDS, JUST COLLEAGUES.

This infamous lines were made by a then 'young and blunt' (accordingly to the dailies that blasted her words all over sunny Singapore) Fann Wong. I would like to think she was being 'insightful and honest'.

Her words can't be more apt for me and the situation I am faced with, in the last 18 months.

C'mon face it, there are colleagues you know you would NEVER EVER lunch with (except for company or divisional lunch), hang out with (except when both of you are attending the same event if you consider that as 'hanging' out) or even chat with (save for the times when your eyes meet in the washroom) for more than 2 minutes. These people are just your colleagues. You happen to work in the same organisation at the same time. Period.

Then there are those you lunch with, you hang out with, you chat with briefly only to realise they are not your cup of tea. Again, these are colleagues who are not your cup of tea. Period. Strictly speaking, yes, they are not your friends.

My is a little unique. I lunch with this person almost every day. I 'hang out' with this person almost everyday because we are at the same place (at work and at home as this person lives in the same compound) for at least 8 hours daily. I 'chat' with this person as we sometimes have to talk about work or we are in an enclosed area (ie. in the company's car) and I have to listen to her (thats chatting too. She chats and I make polite noises).

If I am in Singapore, would I lunch with this person, hang out with this person, chat with this person? If I can help it, a definite NO.

But looks are deceiving so I know nobody will understand. Except maybe ... Fann Wong.

In this picture, I can see my childhood apartment, my eldest brother's apartment, my parents' apartment and my future apartment, hopefully...

Mum used to bring me to Jardine Steps where the Cable Car Station is to look at the boats, ships...

Resorts World in the making...

I grew up in this area. Didn't expect my childhood hangout to be the site of my fav shopping mall now.

Happiness is spending time with people that matters to me...my niece, nephew, my colleagues and ex-colleagues...

Chef Scottie is in town!

Time for some snapshots...

When would the promised cuisine be ready?