On Half day MC today and slept whole day. Its not good to work half way and have to leave for MC . Cos its not nice but no choice , im really feeling terrible.

This years been a relatively good year. Lotsa ups and downs.

Jan :

AE first photoshoot .

We were still new to studio shoots and initially it took us 3 hours to set up the lightings and everything.

After that everything got well and took us only 5mins . All thanks to our other half. The boys are our photographers etc..

March :

BKK trip . Lunch at Le Normandie was fabulous !

and the month where we start the paris hilton and celebrities craze in AE.

And we got Charlotte too !

She’s a joy and brought so much life to the family.

MAY :

got our new house !

and my birthday !

June :

Got a job and also expanded Agneselle’s manpower from 2 to now 6 due to increase in orders and also to improve mailing efficiency .

June was the busiest period.

September :

Celebrating my boy’s bday !!

and also the month we emptied our savings to pay for the house.

the first time im left with $0 .

Nov :

Highlight of my life.

Trip to NZ and also where the proposal took place.

10-12 day :

Lake Tekapo.

Its a wonderful town. Quiet and peaceful for a holiday retreat.

somehow i realised the most enjoyable times were during my student life.

I can dress up like i used to , go shopping and go out to have fun . But AE and work tied me down totally. I hardly go out , im too tired to dress up and i looked older? and tired.
i haven pluck my brows for 6 months , haven do a body scrub for 3 months and i looked so unkempt. I feel like damn lok kok

Girls at my age now shld be either working and before that having fun etc..but i gave up my social life and put my whole heart to AE. Trying to improve , better designs and change of styles. But somehow dunno y people still prefer the more safer styles/looks which are more basic.

Meeting with Agnes soon after her trip to genting. Planning for AE 2010 for clothes and hopefully to reach out to all customers so we can interact with them more instead of staying behind the computer screen. We are not irresponsible or arrogant people who ignore emails and dont reply them etc. we do reply all emails one by one and do not delete any w/o replying them. Cracking our brains for the designs , ideas and plans.

i have like 1000 over photos of the vine yards , mountains , sheeps , cows etc but too many to load !!!

16th Nov was the best time of my life.

The day he knelt on his knees and put the ring on my finger asking me to marry him.

Its like a fairytale. A beautiful one.

I was overjoyed.

Maybe to some , proposal is just a proposal  but to me its a special thing.

The things he did showed me how much he wants me in his life and how much i meant to him.

I will always remember on our first and 2nd date before we got together.

1st date

2nd date.zz

haha and i realised his head is soo much bigger than mine lah !

I got to know him from school and a party at st james which i went with my SIM mates to support Cherie and Xiaowei in Queen of Queens and that time i wasnt thinking that much and enjoying my single life though.

Few days ago he told me what attracted him to me 2 years back at St james really made me laugh out loud. So funny haha.. i wont tell u what is it !

We began chatting online almost every night and i found out we have so many things in common and to share. Then suddenly , i kept my com on every day and waiting for him to come online while i do other stuff. And he too waiting at the other end. Somehow we started chatting what we want in life and expect in a RS.

haha this was what he drew and we web cam often ! Went mustafa just to buy webcam to see each other everyday while we were studying !

And i can still remember the very first time we actually chatted on the phone. haha the reason he gave for calling me was hilarious and i knew it was an excuse but i just give face lah..pretend i dunno anything..then slowly he asked me out for a movie – Good Luck Chuck , dinner at chijmes and Nye. After the 3rd date , he brought him to his place to watch movie and we went cold storage to shop for tidbits. So daring huh..3rd date and already asked me to go his into his room and close door somemore. But i trust him and his parents are around so im fine with it.

After that , we met up every single day and one day he brought me to the HDB flat at farrer park 40th floor near his house , we chatted and hugged before he asked me to be his girlfriend. Of cos i said OK ! haha

We got together after 5 dates and only 2 weeks after we get to know each other but still the relationship is strong and the bond is there. I wont say or blog much abt how we met etc cause there’s somethings we want to keep for our own memories only.

He is always there for me esp for AE when im stressful and i was depressed. Im actually tearing when im typing this whole post cause thinking back and looking back the the pictures. The relationship is really beautiful.

And i bet the girls are waiting for this !

Going back to emails now

There’s so much to do and yet so little time.

Worst , im still down with non stop cough and flu though the fever subsided.

Blogging half way and the flu medicine takes effect.

Shall continue tml.

Drafting down the memorable moments of 2009 .

And haha just managed resize the 3000 pics taken during the NZ trip though i never managed to post all of them up cause SO MANY and it took me like 3 days to blog one day trip in NZ.

So busy lately with preparations for Xmas and CNY posts next year.

Im already planning ahead for 2010 what i wanna do and what i must achieve .

Sounds ambitious huh ? I just need a goal.

gonna crash now before i dozed off again !

cya tml !

Oops !

Entered the wrong linked in the previous post !

Heres the correct one :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastzlee

Previous Post

Day 6 and 7 :

New Zealand..

Arrowtown , Salmon farm , Glenorchy and taking the Gondola !

…

Lunch at Winnie’s – Queenstown.

Sun tanning in the cold ?

Arrowtown .. gosh i love how peaceful this town is.

The remarkable sweet shop !

love the brownies and marshmallow fudge .

Lotsa candies and sweet gummies.

Chinese gold mining heritage walk.

Heritage cottages.

Glenorchy – one of the places featured in Lord of the Rings.

Big roses.

love the colour of the water …turqoise…

Salmon Farm.

Fresh half a salmon sashimi at only $26 !

Cheap and fresh !

\

baby just loaded some photos into flickr :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastzlee

looking back at the photos taken during the trip and the proposal photos just bring a big smile on my face and lighten all my stress !

Im in town almost everyday after work and wkends to settle some Xmas gift stuff and presents. This month is a very stressful month for me. i dunno , i have lotsa things in my mind and im glad i have my boy to be there for me in helping me to think things through.

Went town yesterday to grab the lucky draw prizes for the company’s xmas lunch at Conrad hotel. Im looking at the NZ photos. haha and im abit lazy to blog for day 6 and 7. Think i shall do so next few days and finish till day 11 by next wk. And you can see the beautiful sceneries at Lake Tekapo , Glenorchy etc.

After the photoshoot yesterday , went back to his house to put all the stuff before we head down town.

Tired after the shoot.

And we got Charlotte her bay toy !

she loves toy..once u got her a new one , she doesnt want her old one anymore.

Now Eeyore’s hair on the hair and tail were all bitten by Charlotte.

Tired…gotta go now !

Day 5 : Queenstown -> Te Anau -> Milford Sound cruise.

Te Anau is a small little town and the souvenirs are freaking cheap. Bought scarves , gloves etc from there at NZD 10. So cold early in the morning. The coach dropped us off here for coffee and breakfast.

I love snow cap mountains..very nice !!

Went to Mirror Lake for phototaking.

now you know why is it called MIRROR LAKE..

We joined the BBQ bus and made lotsa friends from everywhere ! Mexicans , English , Swedish etc…The Mexicans are very friendly.

The BBQ bus dropped us off at this nature walk / trail while it parks outside and the driver cooked our lunch !

Damn creepy. Does it remind you of the elves garden in Lord of the rings ?

Yucks ! GROSS !

Ahh as you walked in , you will find a peaceful lake. Full of mozzies and sand flies.

Somehow the one below looks like a face + Bull ?

The red bus is the BBQ Bus .

The coach driver.

Tender BEEF Kebab + Sausages + Potato salad and Macroni + Coleslaw..YUMMY !

Everyone lends a hand to help out in settle up the seats . And we made friend with a scottish guy and still keep in touch. We will play host when he comes to SG next Jan.

This waterfall is nice !!!

Then the coach bring us to fill up our water bottles with spring water from the mountains. ITs drinkable and it tastes just like mineral water.

I was trying to fill the water upstream cause some idiots stepped into the water down stream. Im stepping on the rocks .

Its all natural spring water.

So clean…

Mini Glacier . Managed to get up close to one..its snow fight time !

Milford sound cruise..Lady of the sounds..all the natural waterfalls , blue penguins and seals..love the mother nature !

After the whole cruise , it was 6 hours coach ride back to Queenstown !!!!

Shagged out and we went back to cook dinner and back to sleep !

During the whole trip , we made lotsa new friends on the plane , coach and cruise. Kept in touch with some via emails and facebook. Some of them are coming to SG in JAN and we are playing host and bringing them around SG and to our house. Its cool to made friends from around the globe. Different countries different culture !

Finally a long wkend and haha didnt thought of going for short getaway to bkk or bintan though. So  no need to “eat” into my leave days..

Verified emails till 3pm and get ready to go town for some xmas shopping !

Went to buy Michelle’s farewell gift from Precious Thots.

Shoppingg !

Got a pair of pearly white heels from GUESS with GUESS VOUCHERS .

This set of fruits costs $168. Asked the sales staff how come so ex ? She said its because only one apple pear tree so that all the nutrients goes to that ONE apple on the tree. That’s y so ex..so 6 apples = 6 trees .

SO huge ! $3888..nice number eh..

Went Valrhona Chocolates to shop for the lucky draw prices for our dept’s xmas lunch.

Service is very good. FREE sample and we bought quite alot and we got more free samples w/o asking for it.

I love dark chocolate. The more bitter the better..dun like those with milk or peanuts.

This set is ex $138..cos of quality of cocoa beans.

Yummm…wanted to buy some chocolates for myself but ex…so didnt.

After that , we went for dinner and back home to pack BOs .

Sat :

Woke up at 6.30am and get ready to head to the airport to send Michelle off. We will miss her and she is like a big sister to me and my boy.

hope she likes the figurine.

after that , went back to sleep before heading for photoshoot.

And..i forgot to bring a dress over for the photoshoot ! Omg..too many things on hand and in my mind alr..

These are what i like.

Im addicted to these 2 songs !

Bad romance by Lady gaga and 3 by Britney Spears.

DAY 4 :

Off to QUEENSTOWN !

Its a sleepy 10 hours bus ride from Fox Glacier to Queenstown. But of cos , there are several stop overs.

We went to a salmon farm for breakfast. Its a small one compared to the one we went on the 9th Day of our trip.

I forgot the name of this place. But this is another one the stopovers.

Im sleeping throughout the whole journey and as you know , NZ has lotsa sheeps , lambs and cows..haha i love all the baby lamps ! they are so tiny and adorable.

The coach brought us to a FUR FACTORY.

Possum furs ! They used the fur for shawls , scarves , tops , beanies , gloves and even hmmm nipple warmer and belly button warmer ? haha this is quite funny though..took pics of the latter 2.

Possum traps sold at NZD15

Full Possum furs and skin.

The whiskers on the toes and face are still intact. Possums are pests to the Kiwis cause they destroy the crops. You can even see road kills and dead possums ran over by cars as you drive.

That’s deers’

Next stop over ! Time for lunch ! We have fish and chips and there are cute little lambs near by but when i tried to walk near them , they ran away.

Nice waterfall and lotsa mozzies ! i kanna bitten on my face lah..and till now its still on my face…the mozzies and sandflies there are huge and ferocious.

Loving the turqoise waters…

Our all time fave – JONES FRUIT STORE.

You can find amazing fruits that are cheap , fresh and nice over here !

and small little bites too ! I wonder y does a Razzcherry cost so much ? $31 for a pack of dried Razzcherry. Theres free fruit tasting as well. We bought lotsa Golden Kiwi to eat. It tastes diff from the kiwi in SG. Golden kiwis are sweet and the flesh is soft.

Sleeping on the coach while the rest went to shop for fruits.

After an hour ride , we reached our destination – QUEENSTOWN.

ahh now theres more things to shop cause there are several Aussie brands which sells chic summer pieces.

Our apartment and we are staying here for 5 days 4 nights before we self drive to Lake Tepkapo on the 9th day of our trip.

The apartment is fully furnished with all utensils , vacuum  and everything you need etc..just feel like home.

The balcony .. Perfect place to chill but not to have your dinner outside cause your food turns cold within a min.

Town centre..SHOPPING TIME !

i bought shawls , teddies , chocolates , manuka honey and sovenirs here…Luckily i brought a handcarry bag to stuff all of them in.

Lord of the rings tour shop. lord of the rings were filmed in NZ and we are going to explore some parts ourselves !

its a long and tiring day. we went FISH AND BONE for dinner. Cynthia introed this place and the food are yummish !!! Kinda like queenstown cause i can do some SHOPPINGGGG !

Since we had our own kitchen , dining area etc and utensils , we decided to cook dinner for the next 2 days ! And im learning how to shop for groceries

Its been a long day..after all the shopping and dinner , we went back to sleep and have to prefer for milford sound cruise next morning at 7am !

*
*

finally TGIF and its a long wkend ! woohoooooo…

Alot of things to settle like buying xmas gift for the gift exchange and stuff.

I have lotsa things in my mind now and have been talking and discussing with my boy. Now..cannot intro him as my bf..he’s my fiance now.

And my bro brought his GF home..like finally..his first gf at 22 and she’s 19.

I have my aunt’s bday dinner to attend to , Soka meetings ( my boy introed his religion to me and i think it helps me to calm down and be less stressful ) . Wkend is so packed and i do not have many long wkends !!!!! sometimes i just wish to stay at home and nua whole day not doing anything.

I have to meet my boy and see Michelle off at the airport in the morning, photoshoot tml , my aunt’s bday dinner and soka meeting at night. BAM! 10 hours gone and then its sunday alr…..

Kinda tired now..settle emails till 4am in the morning.

Taking a break today. Ciao !

Day 2 :

I think these pictures are very nice ! haha forgot to load them to my com !

My boy’s photography skill like not bad eh ?

Pancake rocks

Powdery sand and crashing waves.

Sunset !

Day 3 :

A guide took us to the Jade Factory , Gold Room and Fox Glacier from our hotel in GREY MOUTH

Firstly to the Jade Factory.

where all the crafting , cuts , designs and polishing are done.

Backyard full of Greenstone aka Jade.

After the jade factory , we went to THE GOLD ROOM.

New Zealand is still active in GOLD mining and can find gold shops in mostly every town.

I love thie pair of earrings..but the price damn ex !

A jade table..kinda interesting !

The gold nugget quite heavy.

And yay !

i bought a pair of gold earrings at 50% discount !  Love it !!

Wahaha love at first sight..my boy really knows my taste esp when it comes to clothes , earrings , bags ..etc and everything .

After all the shopping , we went for GOLD PANNING.

Trisha from the Gold mining museum thought us GOLD PANNING. Really tedious and needs lotsa patience just to get that few specks of gold.

Me , baby and his sis did the gold panning and we found our gold and greenstone aka jade.

Even though the few specks of gold couldnt even buy us a cup of coffee .

And we get to keep them in a bottle !

Thats my jade and gold .

Off to Franz Josef Glacier Walks.

It was raining and freezing..finall i get to wear new boots.

Glacier aka Moving Ice. You can wiki to know more about Glaciers.

Our yummy lunch by Lake Matheson . Yummish with generous serving of fresh chicken and mushrooms . Plus , its cheap too !

Pies….Yummm

Lake Matheson / Mirror Lake

Unfortunately , weather was bad that day and breezy , so we couldnt see the mirror reflection of the mountains.

Off to Fox Glaciers which is 5 mins drive away !

The lake is rich in minerals hence the colour.

It’s a long and bumpy walk to the terminal face of the glacier. Raining and freezing hell.

The glacier is damn huge lah..And read the news about 2 Aussies was killed and crushed beyond recognition by the tonnes of moving ice early this year cause they went too near to the glacier and unfortunately , the ice moved and crushed them to death.

I looked so puny beside the stones and rocks .

Almost to the terminal face..still a long way to go.

All of us were tired alr. This pic is so random and we didnt plan it. haha

Finally at the terminal face and we couldn’t go any further than this point.

Now , we have to walk all the way back to the car.

Trying to mimick those ancient chinese kung fu show . haha dont u think the mountain looked like those in Chines kung fu movies ?

Yay ! We walked all the way to the terminal face and now we are back to the start.

Damn shag.

After a long day , we went back to our hotel ( Glacier country hotel ) for dinner and sleep.

Totally knocked out and the heater wasnt working and we were

wearing 3 layers to sleep !

***

Ah !! I was there 2 weeks ago.

I have couple of friends said that NZ is boring and nothing special.

Because there isnt any place for you to shop. All you see everyday are mountains , lakes , trees , sheeps , cows , rocks and grass. But i find the place very laid back , everything is slow paced and relaxing.Away from computer , work , emails , deadlines etc..away from the concrete jungle. But of course its a good place for holiday but not to stay forever. Heng ah …no shopping there because there are not a single shopping centre. You only find sovenir shops selling the same old stuff everywhere..wools, possum furs, manuka honey and other typical sovenir stuff. My whole expenses for this trip plus the wool stuff i got for my parents are about $500 for 12 days. Considering our currencies are almost on par , food and accomodations are pretty cheap and the sovenirs too !

Maybe i want to explore the north in future !

Anyway, damn suay lah..i forgot to charge my cam for the photoshoottt on sat !!

So , for this coming collection , i cannot choose what to launch . Instead , gotta launch whatever pics that i have taken before my cam went dead.

I managed to crop and edit these 2 designs only cause i had a long day today.

I have 4 more designs to edit and crop tml !

hopefully i can post the preview up soon !

And probably a hint what will be up for next wk’s collection too this coming wkend !

my boy says i looked abit more ” bah bah” already. YAY !!!

All the beef , lambs and burger in NZ !

And ive been snacking alot in office..its really scary…

Day 2 : 9th Nov

Me , seb and his sister went to the casino in the middle of freezing and cold the night before . There was a mini no limit texas holdem tournament ( I won some money ! ) and the next day we were struggling to wake up very early at 7am to take the Transalphine train ride along the west coast to GreyMouth . Arghhh i took a video of the ride and the cute lil lambs and sheeps but …. i deleted it accidentally ! Shucks ! Well , the ride was 4 hours . We went to the viewing deck to take pics and videos. It was freezing cold such that my hands were numbed and my feet too.

I shall let the pics do the talking..or else i will keep repeating the same sentence again :

” TRANQUIL AND SCENIC”

In the train..

Yes..i GAINED weight..can u imagine i cant wear the XS dresses anymore hahaha.

Imagine all the steaks , lamb chop / shank , honey spareribs , sandwiches , burgers etc..

View from the window seats..

I didnt expect the weather will be freezing cold cos it’s already spring and the national weather forecast webbie says wear 2 layers with light jacket will do. So i brought only ONE puffer jacket which i bought from Zara. haha ended up i have to wear that jacket for 12 days to keep me warm and cozy…. I was wearing one thermal , long sleeve and normal jacket and im already shivering. My hands and feet went numb.

Finally we reached our destination and motel. Since we move from town to town and need a place to sleep only , we decided to opt for motels instead.

The town in Grey Mouth.

Time for lunch !!

Bacon and Egg sandwich.

And then to the Pancake Rocks which overlook the Tasman Sea.

That’s me

and his sis..

My boy was too engrossed in phototaking..he was our cameraman throughout the whole trip. I think after being AE’s official photographer , he developed a little interest in landscape photography ?

Photographer busy cleaning the cam lens…

This section looks like mini great wall of china . haha

Blow Holes ! Waves was so strong that it causes blow holes where the weather spurts out between the pancake rocks.

nice shot !

We caught sight of a lost baby seal.. so poor thing ! hope it found its mummy soon !

After Pancake rocks and Punakaiki , we went back to the town for dinner.

All shops were closed by 5pm except for cafes and restaurants which closes at 11pm.

It was already 8pm and sky still so bright..

Sun sets between 8.30pm – 9pm and it only turns dark here at 10pm.

Before our dinner , we decided to go for grocery shopping for tml’s break fast !!!

The muffin looks good and big !

We got couple of ice wine , dessert wines , snacks and bread !!

And spent 2 dollars on this ball thingy and was hoping for a cute little bouncy ball though.

Went Jones to give his family a good treat.

The dinner was SUPERB !

My cam low batt and shall load up the pics of the food later at night.

After dinner , we went back to our room for the wine and a good chat about Charlotte. Poor Charlotte was taken care by a dog sitter cum dog walker. I think she will be wondering where were we and thought we abandoned her . This is the first time she was away from us for so long.

After the catch up and wine session , we went back to bed to prepare for next day. We are heading to the FOX GLACIER !

Day 2 was pretty short cause most of the time was spent travelling to the other town .

I wish i could turn back time and go back there again !

***********

Now its back to reality and more work..

I want to thank everyone who msged me / comment / emailed me your blessing and well wishes. Sorry if i couldnt reply all your smses but i do read them.

i think i will need a week to blog about the whole trip . I want to keep them as memories and when im free , i will browse back and read them over again and again.

Its 8am now..my body clock was screwed. i woke up at 3am ( which is NZ time 8am ) and i couldnt sleep and i have to report to work at 9am ! haha and…Im still in holiday mood.

While i was away, thank god i have Agnes to be there for Agneselle. It wasnt easy to handle one full post alone. Ive done tat before and i went bonkers. Luckily we have our invoicers and packers so we can concentrate on the emails. Will like to Thank the customers for their understanding and patience.

I have lotsa outstanding pics to take for next post. Im not sure when will it be.. But it will be a gorgeous post. A couple of unique colours and designs coming up. Its my dad’s bday today and im taking day off from everything for the photoshoot and the bday dinner with my family. All the dresses and tops are damnnnn chio and now im quite lost what to launch hahaha..

Have a good day everyone !