MM - Makes Me Wonder by Maroon 5 *

I am in need of a great song to kick start a brand new week and a brand new month. Love this song by Maroon 5 and love Adam Levine as judge on The Voice and since I have yet to feature this awesome number on Music Monday, here goes.

By the way, Team Adam on The Voice this year doesn’t appear to be as strong as last season and I have a feeling The Voice 2012 will emerge from Team Cee Lo! Let’s see if my prediction comes true. Until then, have a good listen and I wish you a productive day and an even greater week!

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.





PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

MARIUCA LOVES

Work First, Travel Later!

With all the jobs I’ve been receiving and taking in recently, one would think that I’d be able to afford a nice vacation abroad and stay in beautiful modern apartments in New York right? Well, you would be wrong if you’ve been thinking that. With the amount of bills I have to pay every month, a huge chunk of my earnings goes to my expenses. And what’s left will go to my vacation fund while the rest remains in my account for rainy-days withdrawals!

Unlike B and those of you who are working full-time 9-5, I don’t get a pay check at the end of every month. Sometimes, freelancer copywriter me gets paid only after months of working. Other days, I get paid within the week of finishing my job. It all depends on the arrangement I have with my clients of course.

Currently, my work plate is full. With three on-going projects keeping me awake at nights, I truly have no idea when I’ll be done. Copywriting jobs usually require plenty of changes; bouncing back and forth between the advertising agency and the client before it goes back to me for copy finalization. I’ve completed my end of the bargain so right now; I am playing the waiting game. Only when the job is complete and good to go for printing, will I be able to relax for real and dream about my vacation in USA, whenever that will be.

So wait for me New York! One day I will return and I will be back happily staying in gorgeous New York apartments, shopping in Saks Fifth Avenue, dining in HRC, NY and visiting the Statue of Liberty. Just give me some time to collect more moolah and find the right time to leave all my work and worries behind to truly enjoy a vacation like no other; one I know only beautiful bustling New York will bring!

Have a great weekend folks and thanks so much for stopping by today. Oh don't forget to check out my casino night in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore too!

-FCC Scoreboard point for my FIRST commenter-
LADY JAVA

Cool Night @ Marina Bay Sands!

Busy, busy, busy! If it’s not work that’s keeping me sleeping in to the late hours of the afternoon due to staying up all night, it is me busy building my city on CityVille. I am currently so into CityVille on FB that I’ve neglected all my other games that I was previously playing including the super cool Slotomania no deposit bonus casino games I was into before discovering CityVille.

Speaking of casino bonuses and games, B and I had a blast on our last casino visit @ Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. We’ve heard so much about this new casino that we just had to pop in and check out what all the hoopla was about.

I wish I could have taken photos of the casino; there was really so much to see and ooh and aah about. The casino is huge and security was tight. I was stopped by security on the first night, asking to see my passport to make sure I was over 18. At first, I was a little worried to have been stopped by security. But when he asked for my passport to make sure I was of the right age to enter, I was more than pleased to oblige! With a beam on my face, I happily handed my passport over before skipping, hopping and jumping into the grand Marina Bay Sands Casino!

There were plenty of casino bonus, fun and games and the place was packed. Free drinks were everywhere and after I had a cup of coffee, I’d have mineral water, followed by a soft drink. All for free of course! The ladies room inside the casino is super clean too by the way, which was great because with so many free drinks to enjoy while happily playing slots, roulette and black jack, trips to the ladies were a must! By the way, I didn’t do too great that first night but B made up for my loss with his win!

We ended up leaving way after midnight but taking a cab back to Studio M Hotel was not a problem. There was a long queue at the taxi stand right outside Marina Bay Sands but there were also plenty of cabs waiting in line to pick up passengers. We waited for less than 5 minutes before being driven back to our hotel.

Oh, I managed to take this shot as I was going up to the escalator to the second floor of the casino. Of course I was very discreet about it hence the blurriness!

-FCC Scoreboard point for my FIRST commenter-
FOONG

MM - U Got It Bad by Phillip Phillips *

I just love watching American Idol this year! The overflow of talent this season keeps me going and waiting eagerly to watch the remaining top Idols every week. I have quite a few favourites this year. Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet are the obvious favourites to win and deserving too since both idols are simply amazing! Every week, these two continue to deliver flawless performances to keep me smiling and entertained.

My personal fave however is … Phillip Phillips and it’s not just because I have a not-so-secret–crush on him! Isn't he oh-so-dreamy by the way?

Phil Phillips, what a cute superstar name; befitting this soulful dreamy talent and I am hoping he would be one of the two still standing in the finale! Please vote for Phil Phillips, thanks America and Happy Music Monday!

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.





PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

MARIUCA LOVES

Stressed

Having a major Triberr (social network) issue right now, which is pissing me off but there’s not much I can do about it. To some, my plight may sound trivial and not worth stressing over. But for perfectionist Virgos like me, we tend to get really restless when something goes awry in our usually smooth-sailing life hence the stress.

Like I told my friend Emila on Twitter, I’m gonna de-stress with comfort food and lots of them! When I am stressed, I tend to pig out (hence the yo-yo dieting and weight) and as bad as that sounds, it does help to calm me down.

I am also stressed with work that is waiting for me this weekend. Annual Report season is back, which I love because I get more opportunity to make moolah but one period that I also hate because these would be my busiest days of the year. I have to work on a 10-page Chairman Statement and if you’ve ever written one, you’d understand the headache this very important piece of document can give!

Stressful Mess

So, apparently, I am stressed about work, keeping up with my MMO blog activities, and now this unnecessary Triberr issue is adding more weight to my burden. What I need right now besides comfort food is another vacation and a really long one at that! A week-long stay in Rome apartments sounds perfect right now, don’t you think?

What do you guys do to de-stress? Do you indulge in sweet delicious comfort like me then feel a little guilty at first before the food warms you up inside and slowly you start regaining composure again?

Or do you plan a nice long getaway like me and travel somewhere far away; leaving all your worries behind luxuriating in beautiful apartments in Rome, and only deal with your problem after your vacation is over?

Do share your de-stress indulgence with me. Who knows I might pick up one or two new ones to help me relax more? Thanks for reading and have a good weekend!

-FCC Scoreboard point for my FIRST commenter-
MONICA

Heading to Europe?

Received a message on FB from my good friend Shyam asking me about my European Escapade and how I went around booking our hotels for that trip. Does this mean she’s happily planning a trip to Europe and looking to stay in some gorgeous apartments in Berlin, London or Paris?

Well, I’m not sure if she’s headed to Europe for real but if she does, I’m definitely gonna get her to get me some stuff from London! So if you’re reading this Shyam, here is my advance notice, save some space in your bags for my stuff YAY!

If you are an ardent follower and reader of my blog here, you would have probably read in my many travel posts about the 4 different hotels B and I stayed in throughout our two weeks in Europe. I loved all the hotels but my favourite has got to be Novotel London, Paddington simply because the hotel room was huge with a Double bed AND a sofa bed. Plus the hotel is fairly new so everything was clean and very modern.

Oh the Internet service was great too, super speedy although I gotta say between London and Amsterdam, the latter was most speedy when it came to Internet speed. I was amazed at how fast I got connected while in Amsterdam and I wish Malaysia’s ISP would take note of this and give us the same super speedy internet speed here soon.

Hotel Novotel London

Spacious and Gorgeous

Since I love hotel stays, I am happy to assist my friend in securing the best deals on hotel stays in Europe. We’re meeting up for lunch next week (thanks for picking me up Shyam) and I guess we’ll discuss her vacation then. I must remember to ask her to check out Only Apartments as well. One of the most popular accommodation sites online today, I see their ads all over the Net! Love that they love advertising (great advertisers advertise everywhere for maximum exposure) and I will definitely recommend this site not just to my friend Shyam but to all of you planning a vacation in Europe too. Check out the beautiful Berlin apartments for super saver booking online!

To my friend Shyam and to all vacation planners out there, have a great time planning your getaway and I hope to return to beautiful London one fine day!

-FC Scoreboard points for my first commenter-
LADY JAVA

MM – Waiting For a ✩ to Fall by Boy Meets Girl *

Busy but pleased to have worked on and closed several new jobs for this month. Also received good feedback for work done so work wise, it is shaping up to be a great month.

Busy but happy to spend tonight with B and tomorrow is also a public holiday. Yes, I love living in Malaysia!

Busy but happy to be able to steal some time playing my latest game craze CityVille with blog buddies LadyJava and Nessa! Anyone else playing, please feel free to add me on FB. Make sure to leave me a message saying you want to be CityVille friends on Facebook and I'll happily add you!

For that, I am in need of a feel-good song to match my pleasant mood and here’s a great number from the good old 80s. And speaking of 80s, didn’t you just love the 80s theme on American Idol last week? Happy Music Monday people!

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.





PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

MARIUCA LOVES