fast facts: germany
The Federal Republic of Germany is Europe's most populous and richest country. With more than 82 million people, Germany's citizens enjoy a high standard of living, with universal health care, low crime rates, and high investment in infrastructure and education.
Germany's People
More than 91 percent of people are ethnically German. Turkish is the next largest ethnic group, at 2.4 percent of the population. The remaining 6.1 percent are mostly Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Greek, Russian, Polish and Spanish.
The largest religious affiliation is Protestant with 38 percent. Next is Roman Catholic, 34 percent, and Muslim, 1.7 percent. Those unaffiliated or practicing some other religion are 26.3 percent of the population.
Government
Chief of State: President Johannes Rau (since July 1, 1999)
Head of Government: Chancellor Angela Dorothea Merkel (since October 27, 1998). Merkel, who holds a doctorate in physics, is simultaneously the first female Chancellor of Germany, the first citizen of the former German Democratic Republic to assume the chancellery of reunited Germany, and the first woman to lead Germany since it became a modern nation-state in 1871. She is also, as of 2007, the youngest person to be German chancellor since the Second World War. Merkel, considered by Forbes Magazine to be the most powerful woman in the world at present, is only the third woman to serve on the G8 after Margaret Thatcher & Kim Campbell and in 2007 became the second woman to chair a G8 summit after Margaret Thatcher.
Legislative Branch: the bicameral Parliament consists of the Bundestag (Federal Assembly) and the Bundesrat (Federal Council).
Economy
After the U.S. and Japan, Germany is the world's most technologically powerful country. Nevertheless, the generous social benefits system has begun to take its toll on the economy, and the government has already begun cutting back on some services. The high unemployment rate of 10 percent or more continues to be long-term problem because of the high contribution rates for social programs on wages. As Germany's aged population increases, the country will struggle more to meet citizens' demands.
National HolidayGerman Unity Day - October 3 - celebrates the unification of West and East Germany on October 3, 1990.
Capital City
Berlin is Germany's capital city. Once divided, reunited Berlin now has the seat of the German Government and Parliament. The old "Reichstag" or Parliament Building has undergone renovation, complete with a beautiful glass dome. The old Potsdam Square in the middle of the city is now called "Daimler City."
scribbled at 11:15 am
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The Federal Republic of Germany is Europe's most populous and richest country. With more than 82 million people, Germany's citizens enjoy a high standard of living, with universal health care, low crime rates, and high investment in infrastructure and education.
Germany's People
More than 91 percent of people are ethnically German. Turkish is the next largest ethnic group, at 2.4 percent of the population. The remaining 6.1 percent are mostly Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Greek, Russian, Polish and Spanish.
The largest religious affiliation is Protestant with 38 percent. Next is Roman Catholic, 34 percent, and Muslim, 1.7 percent. Those unaffiliated or practicing some other religion are 26.3 percent of the population.
Government
Chief of State: President Johannes Rau (since July 1, 1999)
Head of Government: Chancellor Angela Dorothea Merkel (since October 27, 1998). Merkel, who holds a doctorate in physics, is simultaneously the first female Chancellor of Germany, the first citizen of the former German Democratic Republic to assume the chancellery of reunited Germany, and the first woman to lead Germany since it became a modern nation-state in 1871. She is also, as of 2007, the youngest person to be German chancellor since the Second World War. Merkel, considered by Forbes Magazine to be the most powerful woman in the world at present, is only the third woman to serve on the G8 after Margaret Thatcher & Kim Campbell and in 2007 became the second woman to chair a G8 summit after Margaret Thatcher.
Legislative Branch: the bicameral Parliament consists of the Bundestag (Federal Assembly) and the Bundesrat (Federal Council).
Economy
After the U.S. and Japan, Germany is the world's most technologically powerful country. Nevertheless, the generous social benefits system has begun to take its toll on the economy, and the government has already begun cutting back on some services. The high unemployment rate of 10 percent or more continues to be long-term problem because of the high contribution rates for social programs on wages. As Germany's aged population increases, the country will struggle more to meet citizens' demands.
National HolidayGerman Unity Day - October 3 - celebrates the unification of West and East Germany on October 3, 1990.
Capital City
Berlin is Germany's capital city. Once divided, reunited Berlin now has the seat of the German Government and Parliament. The old "Reichstag" or Parliament Building has undergone renovation, complete with a beautiful glass dome. The old Potsdam Square in the middle of the city is now called "Daimler City."
Saturday, September 29, 2007
some backlog
taking the opportunity to clear some backlog, while my tray of banana walnut muffins (filled with white chocolate chips) are baking in the oven. and the only reason why i'm home alone on a saturday evening and not out painting the town red is that the bf is attending a wedding dinner, and parents are out for their weekly karaoke session. oh how sad. on a positive note, i haven't been baking for the longest time, so maybe it's about time i start again... and i'm interested to sign up for a cupcake decorating class too! that will be during year end after we're back from japan and when i start clearing my leave (yes, last year's leave to be precise :P).
anyway, these were taken last tuesday at west coast park. remember i said earlier i wanted to carry my doraemon lantern... although the sky was gloomy when i left office, i'm glad it didn't start pouring. we made our way to west cost park after dinner (which is a stone's throw btw), and mind you, there were many groups who came well-prepared with picnic mats (with mooncakes and chinese tea i'm sure), and many of the trees were dotted with lighted lanterns. it was a nostalgic moment watching the children play with candles/fire around the playground.
scribbled at 9:03 pm
.::.
taking the opportunity to clear some backlog, while my tray of banana walnut muffins (filled with white chocolate chips) are baking in the oven. and the only reason why i'm home alone on a saturday evening and not out painting the town red is that the bf is attending a wedding dinner, and parents are out for their weekly karaoke session. oh how sad. on a positive note, i haven't been baking for the longest time, so maybe it's about time i start again... and i'm interested to sign up for a cupcake decorating class too! that will be during year end after we're back from japan and when i start clearing my leave (yes, last year's leave to be precise :P).
anyway, these were taken last tuesday at west coast park. remember i said earlier i wanted to carry my doraemon lantern... although the sky was gloomy when i left office, i'm glad it didn't start pouring. we made our way to west cost park after dinner (which is a stone's throw btw), and mind you, there were many groups who came well-prepared with picnic mats (with mooncakes and chinese tea i'm sure), and many of the trees were dotted with lighted lanterns. it was a nostalgic moment watching the children play with candles/fire around the playground.
Monday, September 24, 2007
seth is one month old!
scribbled at 8:14 am
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Sunday, September 23, 2007
our weekend
just came back from visiting two babies, so you can imagine how exhausted i am. it was another activity-filled weekend. these pictures were taken in chinatown on saturday evening - the initial plan was to carry our lanterns and enjoy the street light-up and decorations around chinatown and the singapore river. we didn't do it in the end, since there weren't many people carrying lighted lanterns (only a couple of kids, our skin not that thick)... so we're postponing it till the actual day itself, which is tuesday night! and xp is right, it'll probably be at west coast park. i'm sure there will be lots of kids around playing with fire and sparklers, that was what we used to do in the past at the void deck, a particular corner would be dirtied with the unburnt candle wax the next morning. i still love the traditional paper lanterns, it's amazing how they can turn so pretty with just a glowing lit candle. i guess this is why mid-autumn festival remains one of my favourite chinese festivals. it better not rain on tuesday night. :-)
scribbled at 11:45 pm
.::.
just came back from visiting two babies, so you can imagine how exhausted i am. it was another activity-filled weekend. these pictures were taken in chinatown on saturday evening - the initial plan was to carry our lanterns and enjoy the street light-up and decorations around chinatown and the singapore river. we didn't do it in the end, since there weren't many people carrying lighted lanterns (only a couple of kids, our skin not that thick)... so we're postponing it till the actual day itself, which is tuesday night! and xp is right, it'll probably be at west coast park. i'm sure there will be lots of kids around playing with fire and sparklers, that was what we used to do in the past at the void deck, a particular corner would be dirtied with the unburnt candle wax the next morning. i still love the traditional paper lanterns, it's amazing how they can turn so pretty with just a glowing lit candle. i guess this is why mid-autumn festival remains one of my favourite chinese festivals. it better not rain on tuesday night. :-)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
if you were born in the 80's in singapore
apparently this was taken from facebook:
Descriptions of the group
You would remember:
You grew up watching He-man, MASK, Transformers, Silver Hawk and Mickey Mouse, Ninja turtles, Carebears, Robocop, My Little Pony and Smurfs.(Polly pockets too!)
You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You would squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug. (sometimes they gave the pink tablet thingy.)
You hated or loved the school nurse (she was either pretty or mean).
You know what SBC stands for.(Singapore Broadcasting Company!)
You paid 40 cents for cartons of Chocolate or Strawberry milk every week in class.(And the noodles in the tuckshop was just 10 cents or 20 cents. 50cents for big big bowl with generous ingredients and noodles!)
Everyone's wallet used to be the velcro type (*blush*)
It was cool to have pagers in primary school
SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushionwere red. The big red bell gave a loud BEEP! when pressed.(Yes yes yes! And they've this strap of bell on the ceiling.)
There were still bus tickets and bus conductors would come up to check them.
Envelopes were given to us to donate to Sharity Elephant every Children's Day.
You've probably read Young Generation magazine.You know who's Vinny the little vampire and Acai the constable. (There's this chinese magazine also which i can't remember what it was called.)
You know what PETS are and the hidden animals in all the text pages. You hated penmanship.
Writing lines and caning hands were common, esp if you failed chinese spelling (caning was actually allowed. no shit). (Me ish good student. hiak~)
You were there when they first introduced the MRT here. You went for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery. (Yes! And i always bug dad to bring me for a ride.)
Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.
Gals were fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie Dolls. (I was a boyish girl and played with Transformer, Ninja turtles etc.)
You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.
You bought tidbits called beebee (20 cents per pack, 10 cents in MGS), and mamee (30 cents), that had a different sticker in it every time.(Doraemon snack too!)
You carried a lunch box to school but either threw away the food or brought it back home again.
You watched TV2 (also known as Channel 10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.
Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven were probably the thickest story books you thought you would ever read. (Enid blyton too!)
KFC used to be a high class restaurant that served food in plates and had metal forks and knives. (I dont remember this, anyone?)
The most vulgar thing you said was asshole and idiot and THE MOST EXTREME WAS 'chicken pie'...you just couldn't bring yourself to say the hokkien translation.
Catching and pepsi-cola was the IN thing, and twist was the magic word. (Plus zero-point. )
Your English workbooks were made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow.
You came to school 15 mins before the bell every morning just so you could copy someone's homework.
CDIS was your best friend.
The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellized characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you math.
Waterbottles were slung around your neck and a must everywhere you went. (With those plastic removable straps that costs just few bucks.)
Boys loved to play soccer with small stones or tennis balls in the basketball court.
Girls played five stones and boys played with marbles.
Science was fun with the Balsam and the Angsana being the most important plants of our lives, guppies and swordtail being the most important fishes. (Chapter 6 or something was the topic related to sex?)
Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, immortalized in our minds from school textbooks.
(xiao hua, xiao ming from the chinese textbook too!)
We conducted experiments of our own to get badges for being a Young Zoologist/Botanist etc.
Every Children's day and National day you either got pins or pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or useless plastic files with 'Happy National Day 1994'.
You wore BM2000, BATA, or Pallas shoes. (Bata! and swan brand socks.. haha)
Your form teacher taught you Maths, Science and English.
You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes. (awwwhh.. mommy used to pamper me like that. sigh)
There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday (you hated them).
Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $2 or more for pocket mone everyday.
You saw Wee Kim Wee's face in the school hall.
Boys liked catching fighting spiders, earthworms or tadpoles.
Collecting and battling erasers was a pastime for boys. (The flags type!)
Class monitors and prefects loved to say, "You talk somemore, I write your name ah!"
You got booked for muddy shoes in class.
There were at least 40 people in one class.
You brought every single book to school, even though there was a timetable.
There was a pro-yo/bumblebee, digimon craze at some point in time. (haha.. i was sucked into that too but can't pull the stunts off.)
scribbled at 11:33 pm
.::.
apparently this was taken from facebook:
Descriptions of the group
You would remember:
You grew up watching He-man, MASK, Transformers, Silver Hawk and Mickey Mouse, Ninja turtles, Carebears, Robocop, My Little Pony and Smurfs.(Polly pockets too!)
You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You would squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug. (sometimes they gave the pink tablet thingy.)
You hated or loved the school nurse (she was either pretty or mean).
You know what SBC stands for.(Singapore Broadcasting Company!)
You paid 40 cents for cartons of Chocolate or Strawberry milk every week in class.(And the noodles in the tuckshop was just 10 cents or 20 cents. 50cents for big big bowl with generous ingredients and noodles!)
Everyone's wallet used to be the velcro type (*blush*)
It was cool to have pagers in primary school
SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushionwere red. The big red bell gave a loud BEEP! when pressed.(Yes yes yes! And they've this strap of bell on the ceiling.)
There were still bus tickets and bus conductors would come up to check them.
Envelopes were given to us to donate to Sharity Elephant every Children's Day.
You've probably read Young Generation magazine.You know who's Vinny the little vampire and Acai the constable. (There's this chinese magazine also which i can't remember what it was called.)
You know what PETS are and the hidden animals in all the text pages. You hated penmanship.
Writing lines and caning hands were common, esp if you failed chinese spelling (caning was actually allowed. no shit). (Me ish good student. hiak~)
You were there when they first introduced the MRT here. You went for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery. (Yes! And i always bug dad to bring me for a ride.)
Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50.
Gals were fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie Dolls. (I was a boyish girl and played with Transformer, Ninja turtles etc.)
You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.
You bought tidbits called beebee (20 cents per pack, 10 cents in MGS), and mamee (30 cents), that had a different sticker in it every time.(Doraemon snack too!)
You carried a lunch box to school but either threw away the food or brought it back home again.
You watched TV2 (also known as Channel 10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you.
Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven were probably the thickest story books you thought you would ever read. (Enid blyton too!)
KFC used to be a high class restaurant that served food in plates and had metal forks and knives. (I dont remember this, anyone?)
The most vulgar thing you said was asshole and idiot and THE MOST EXTREME WAS 'chicken pie'...you just couldn't bring yourself to say the hokkien translation.
Catching and pepsi-cola was the IN thing, and twist was the magic word. (Plus zero-point. )
Your English workbooks were made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow.
You came to school 15 mins before the bell every morning just so you could copy someone's homework.
CDIS was your best friend.
The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellized characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you math.
Waterbottles were slung around your neck and a must everywhere you went. (With those plastic removable straps that costs just few bucks.)
Boys loved to play soccer with small stones or tennis balls in the basketball court.
Girls played five stones and boys played with marbles.
Science was fun with the Balsam and the Angsana being the most important plants of our lives, guppies and swordtail being the most important fishes. (Chapter 6 or something was the topic related to sex?)
Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, immortalized in our minds from school textbooks.
(xiao hua, xiao ming from the chinese textbook too!)
We conducted experiments of our own to get badges for being a Young Zoologist/Botanist etc.
Every Children's day and National day you either got pins or pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or useless plastic files with 'Happy National Day 1994'.
You wore BM2000, BATA, or Pallas shoes. (Bata! and swan brand socks.. haha)
Your form teacher taught you Maths, Science and English.
You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes. (awwwhh.. mommy used to pamper me like that. sigh)
There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday (you hated them).
Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $2 or more for pocket mone everyday.
You saw Wee Kim Wee's face in the school hall.
Boys liked catching fighting spiders, earthworms or tadpoles.
Collecting and battling erasers was a pastime for boys. (The flags type!)
Class monitors and prefects loved to say, "You talk somemore, I write your name ah!"
You got booked for muddy shoes in class.
There were at least 40 people in one class.
You brought every single book to school, even though there was a timetable.
There was a pro-yo/bumblebee, digimon craze at some point in time. (haha.. i was sucked into that too but can't pull the stunts off.)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
baby mikel liew, finally
finally out of his comfort zone on 16 september 2007... weighing 3.72 kg. check out those thighs! congratulations, daddy&mummy! visiting baby seth this coming sunday for his one month celebration, bet we're going to have lots of kiddo fun from now on, and more la teh sessions at home perhaps after tucking the babies in? btw, i found out that i was 6 lb 12 oz when i was borned, that is equivalent to 3.06 kg, and according to my mum, i was quite an average-sized baby girl at that time.
scribbled at 8:54 pm
.::.
finally out of his comfort zone on 16 september 2007... weighing 3.72 kg. check out those thighs! congratulations, daddy&mummy! visiting baby seth this coming sunday for his one month celebration, bet we're going to have lots of kiddo fun from now on, and more la teh sessions at home perhaps after tucking the babies in? btw, i found out that i was 6 lb 12 oz when i was borned, that is equivalent to 3.06 kg, and according to my mum, i was quite an average-sized baby girl at that time.
Monday, September 17, 2007
gotta give this a miss
David Copperfield - World of Wonder
Amaze. Conjure. Magic. Escape. Illusion. Watch it all come true, every night.
Long hailed by audiences and critics alike as the greatest illusionist in the world, David Copperfield is back to woo Singapore audiences again, after six long years. Witty, engaging and supremely entertaining, David Copperfield has elevated the ancient art of magic to new heights and redefined it along the way. He has made the Statue of Liberty vanished, walked through the Great Wall of China, flown through the air and made audience members disappear and reappear in places they would never expect.
Catch the master illusionist, David Copperfield, in his new Asia tour “World of Wonder”, on 2nd and 3rd November at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Date: 2nd & 3rd November 2007 (Friday & Saturday)
Show Time: Fri: 4pm & 7pm
Show Time: Sat: 3.30pm & 7pm
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium
Ticket pricing: $148, $128, $98, $68 (excluding $2 SISTIC fee)
SISTIC ticketing hotline: 6348 5555
scribbled at 7:03 am
.::.
David Copperfield - World of Wonder
Amaze. Conjure. Magic. Escape. Illusion. Watch it all come true, every night.
Long hailed by audiences and critics alike as the greatest illusionist in the world, David Copperfield is back to woo Singapore audiences again, after six long years. Witty, engaging and supremely entertaining, David Copperfield has elevated the ancient art of magic to new heights and redefined it along the way. He has made the Statue of Liberty vanished, walked through the Great Wall of China, flown through the air and made audience members disappear and reappear in places they would never expect.
Catch the master illusionist, David Copperfield, in his new Asia tour “World of Wonder”, on 2nd and 3rd November at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Date: 2nd & 3rd November 2007 (Friday & Saturday)
Show Time: Fri: 4pm & 7pm
Show Time: Sat: 3.30pm & 7pm
Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium
Ticket pricing: $148, $128, $98, $68 (excluding $2 SISTIC fee)
SISTIC ticketing hotline: 6348 5555
Sunday, September 16, 2007
in about a month's time...
scribbled at 11:34 pm
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Thursday, September 13, 2007
i want to shop!
scribbled at 9:09 pm
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Tuesday, September 11, 2007
remembering 9/11
an article taken from the new york times
september 11, 2001 is a day that will always be remembered, as a tragic day, and a day that changed america, and the world.
scribbled at 10:08 pm
.::.
an article taken from the new york times
september 11, 2001 is a day that will always be remembered, as a tragic day, and a day that changed america, and the world.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
it was another saturday spent at vivocity, this place is starting to draw in the weekend crowd. i didn't carry my camera with me, so these were taken with K's sony ericsson k800i. chocolate fondue is always a fun party food, the one at swensens is served with sliced fruits (bananas, strawberries, cherries), brownies, wafers, and five tiny scoops of ice-cream. the portion was just about right for us, although it was meant for two.
scribbled at 11:57 am
.::.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
project management
an interesting article found here:
The mental model of nimble project management
Nimble project management is based on the mental model that states all projects are nonlinear complex adaptive systems. As a result, the nimble project manager would approach a project making the following assumptions:
1) It’s appropriate to invest the time upfront to understand the goal of the project without needing to plan every step along the way.
2) Nothing makes up for, or replaces, good people—staffing is everything.
3) It’s imperative to create a project structure that facilitates good communication—opportunities need to be communicated as well as risks.
4) Nimbleness requires knowing when a situation needs to be controlled and when it needs time to evolve.
5) All projects are unique in some way. Investing the time upfront to understand the uniqueness helps establish the initial area of order.
scribbled at 10:48 pm
.::.
an interesting article found here:
The mental model of nimble project management
Nimble project management is based on the mental model that states all projects are nonlinear complex adaptive systems. As a result, the nimble project manager would approach a project making the following assumptions:
1) It’s appropriate to invest the time upfront to understand the goal of the project without needing to plan every step along the way.
2) Nothing makes up for, or replaces, good people—staffing is everything.
3) It’s imperative to create a project structure that facilitates good communication—opportunities need to be communicated as well as risks.
4) Nimbleness requires knowing when a situation needs to be controlled and when it needs time to evolve.
5) All projects are unique in some way. Investing the time upfront to understand the uniqueness helps establish the initial area of order.
Monday, September 03, 2007
a peaceful lazy sunday
i hardly have the time to update this blog these days. i'm thankful so long as i don't have to reply to e-mails over the weekend, and that was exactly how i felt last weekend. since we devoted the whole saturday morning to sports, and then slept the rest of the day away, we decided to stay out the whole sunday. we headed for harbourfront/vivocity, had a late lunch at sakae sushi, enjoyed our chocolate milkshake at coffee club (eh, a more luxurious alternative to macs but not by choice), went for our head and shoulder massage (which entitled us to free parking, by the way), shopped at animal (a uk brand that's pretty simliar to hollister and a&f) where i bought a white hoodie (hooray, another jacket for japan! the bf's going to help lug all my jackets there, haha! :P) and black halter top (with printed pink flowers, love this!) and finally watched the new pixar animation, ratatouille (i like this rat chef)! phew, what a sunday. anyway, it's back to work for two days, before i take a short break by going away on course.
scribbled at 8:33 pm
.::.
i hardly have the time to update this blog these days. i'm thankful so long as i don't have to reply to e-mails over the weekend, and that was exactly how i felt last weekend. since we devoted the whole saturday morning to sports, and then slept the rest of the day away, we decided to stay out the whole sunday. we headed for harbourfront/vivocity, had a late lunch at sakae sushi, enjoyed our chocolate milkshake at coffee club (eh, a more luxurious alternative to macs but not by choice), went for our head and shoulder massage (which entitled us to free parking, by the way), shopped at animal (a uk brand that's pretty simliar to hollister and a&f) where i bought a white hoodie (hooray, another jacket for japan! the bf's going to help lug all my jackets there, haha! :P) and black halter top (with printed pink flowers, love this!) and finally watched the new pixar animation, ratatouille (i like this rat chef)! phew, what a sunday. anyway, it's back to work for two days, before i take a short break by going away on course.