Thursday 20 December 2007

Moved to new office & settled down. Quite a small corner for both of us. Old office was more spacious but what to do, lack of space in the new place. Neighbours are a fitness centre & hair salon. And the music they play are annoying. They compete with each other on loudness & we suffer. Sigh...So I bring the ipod lor.
Have finally confirmed my Christmas menus. Christmas eve dinner just for us the family, Christmas day we will have visitors because mum-in-law is with us & then on 28th when kids friends come over.
Chicken pies, shepherd's pie, devils curry, sugee cake, apple crumble, roast chicken etc...I'm gonna be sick of this food & probably not want to see it till next Christmas.
Ryan is re-considering the drum set. He was wanting to buy a set but now thinks (and we agree) that the money he is saving for the drums would have other better uses.
He is happy with his sec 1 school posting, first choice anderson. We have heard many good things about the school & how it is very academically strong. Friend said alot of the students may speak mandarin there too although their english language is just as good. So this will be useful for ryan to boost his 2nd language.
Sarah is doing through train & she is thrilled. Doing her Eng O'levels next year & my friend who is an english tutor is teaching her to help her catch up for the lost 6 months. I still think the school screwed up big time on this one !!!!!

Sunday 9 December 2007

hah ! I have been neglecting this blog alot. LOL bladdy FB has me hooked. I like the interaction with friends laaaah. Blog no interaction. Its just me muttering rubbish LOL.

Well, back to work after the two weeks of hospitalisation leave. Was experiencing some discomfort for the first week at work but has settled down now. Don't even remember that I had an operation lol.

We are now packing at the office to move to new premises. Went to see my new office. My assistant & I have a very nice corner, with a view. At long last a proper office space. I have moved from one office spot to another 3 times in my 3 years plus at this workplace.

Unfortunately our joy was short lived. We were told some changes. There was a store for safes but we were told space not big enough & they will move two of us to the store area & build a store at what was our office. So they will knock down that storage space which is dammed freaking small to see if they can fit two of us in. If can, dunno where our cabinets are going. Very interesting. I dunno. I give up. No mood liao.

Christmas is a coming ! I am done with gifts for the family. Wrapped up too !

Now its the parties...on Chrstmas day when the family comes over to see MIL who is staying with us till end Dec. POssibly a party for the kids' friends on 28 Dec. Dunno if we will have friends over.

Problematic...have not figured out the menu for all the parties.

Sunday 28 October 2007

Geez...its been a while ! Been hooked on FB & pogo lol.
Got me new laptop. A nice Dell, but good enough cos I never get to use the ones at home. Hubby is on one & kids are on the other. I bring my office laptop home but think its better to do my personal stuff on my own notebook.
Now let me see...what have I missed on blogging....
Work sux...
Live the Dream sux...
The operation sux....
The pain from the op sux...
BUT being home on MC till 7 Nov is awesome !
My first experience at surgery...
First of all, my op was scheduled for 4pm but I had to check in at 2pm for the post op prep which took less than 10 mins. Then I had to wait. The nice thing was I had my own room, TV & toilet.
And so the time comes & the nurse walks me to the operating theatre waiting area. The doctor administering the GA comes to see me. An ang mo & he asks the list of questions & explains the procedure. I tell him I am nervous. We chat for a bit.
Then he goes into the operating theatre. I am sitting at the reception area waiting for my surgeon. Then the head nurse walks me into the theatre & the anaesthecian asks if my surgeon is coming. Head nurse says yes...he says from where...Jurong ?? hurhurhur
I am asked to hop onto the bed...they give me a stool & I jest that I need a higher one. They laugh. I talk alot...bladdy nervous lah. Ang Mo anaesthecian & his assistant chat with me while they are trying to find the spot in my vein on my left hand. Two nurses stick monitors on me, whole lot happening left, right & even at my feet. I am freezing & I tell them. So there is a heater under the bed & they even blow hot air under my sheet. Nice. Then an oxygen mask is placed over me & I breathe. Oh ya, they poke twice before they got my vein :p POOF I am gone.
When I awake I am in the room...cannot remember what happened in the recovery area. Hubby comes with Sarah & we wait till I am less woozy, change & go home. I get this whole bag of painkillers & now that the local anaesthesia on the operated area has worn off, I know why I need so much painkillers LOL.
Its the third day after the op & I still feel pain & discomfort. Puked big time just now & I still have this slight numbness at the tip of my tongue. Appetite is bad too.

Saturday 6 October 2007


MIL's birthday tea party today st sis-in-law's place. I've just finished baking chicken pies. And we are picking up some donuts to bring as well. Made extra pies for hubby & kids to try. Passed. Lol.

My diva at the office tried to tell me what to do...sigh...like I dun know what I am doing. Deep breathes, be patient. I was told that one afternoon, someone popped in to get something & she was sleeping lol. No wonder she hates it when I drop into the room to physically search for things myself. Break her afternoon nap lolol.

Monday 1 October 2007

hahahaha just saw sarah's christmas wishlist.

Hey sarah & ryan...my wishlist...a new laptop so that I don't need to use my office one at home...how ? hahahahah
I'm on leave for two whole days. But one day has already flown by too quickly...that sux ! lol be nice if I could turn back time & start the weekend all over again lol.

Family dinner last night at tambuah mas for godpa's birthday. Before that, made a trip to donut factory to buy each family a box of donuts lol. The queue was about 20 mins...not too bad. Anything longer & I would have bought bak kwa...no queue maaah.

hmmmm sarah has a christmas wish list....maybe I should have one too !

Lament for the day...if only I could time travel back :p

Wednesday 26 September 2007

Yes the results for the soloists are ABSURD as Ken said. WTF !!!!!!!!!!!!! Robert was sooooo sooooo good. I was hoping he or Fendi would make it to the last two for a really good fight. Now I hope Fendi will win cos the other two, sorry nothing personal, really cannot cannot make it ! This show now is a farce where the soloists are concerned.
hahaha here I go criticizing Live The Dream contestants. Robert & Fendi are good. The other two should have gone home long time ago...both boring & out of tune. There were a couple of soloists who were more deserving. I think rani was pretty good. For the groups, Cats In The Cradle are good. After the Rain is wah liao...quite jialat. By Definition & Revelina pretty ok too. Leave it to audience votes sure haywire. Same like singapore idol...sigh. I may not be able to sing but think I am discerning enough to know who can sing & who cannot. Shona is there cos she is cute...marketable. Unfortunately voice nothing to rave about.

Lament for the day...oh here we go again !

Sunday 23 September 2007



Dinner last night was at Lau Par Sat. Wanted to have satay & heard that stall no 1, fatman satay was there & good.

It was nice but I was a little disappointed, not as good as I'd expected. Infact, I think the one which used to be outside Sembawang Shopping Centre (until the centre closed) was the best I'd had. Oh well...

Finally watched ratatouille & it was a nice fun movie. Enjoyed it. Have been a little sceptical of animations since Madagascar which was lousy. My fave new animated movies would be Lion King 1, Shrek 1 & Finding Nemo. This is excluding the original disney animations like snow white, cinderella, pinnochio etc etc.

Dinner tonite was at Lavendar street food court....the wanton mee. Shiok ! Today's queue was long as usual but service was really really slow cos there were only two of them today. Usually there are 3 of them. Wonder why they don't get help.

Oh, donut factory & munchy's taste not much different, just diff flavours. I like different flavours from the two...chocolate mint from df & oreo's from munchy's.

Lament for the day...think I will get sick of donuts soon.

Friday 21 September 2007

Yesterday we had donuts from munchy's. It was pretty good. Think J Co is better. Sarah says donut factory better but I wouldn't know.

Kids out at church studying...well at least I hope they are.

I need to colour my hair...sigh...the whites are showing arrrrghhhhh ! If got time, will go tomorrow.

Haven't used any of the vouchers I changed from my credit card points...some shopping due tomorrow perhaps ?

Another gantry on CTE from town back home. WTF ? If you want to reduce the traffic, don't fucking issue so many COEs lah & make cars so affordable. Go home kena one gantry never mind, now two ! We re going home for goodness sakes ! And wtf timing may be extended some more. Ya lah, the intention is to get us to take public transport and I don't mean taxis, take bus or mrt. So that can faster cover cost for new lines & make more money & oh, not forgetting covering the wage increases.

Didn't surprise me when gst went up after the elections & now all these policies. We have to work until we dieeeeee with the amount of money that we have to fork out. I reckon my generation will barely smell our CPF...sigh. At the last elections, if I remember right, one of the speeches indicated that their win was a clear signal of the citizen's support for the pap. But err...in the last few elections, got more & more people voting for opposition leh.,,,si mi signal hah ?? In this next election, we shall see what sort of signal lor. My parents' generation have always supported the pap because of how they built the country up but this generation is slowly dying off. I was a supporter too. It will hardly be surprising to see support & confidence wane.

Aiya, simply put... don't fuck up what you have taken so long & hard to build.

Lament for the day...dunno can smell or not...sigh. May only be given enough to buy walker, dentures & adult diapers...

Tuesday 18 September 2007

Ahhh I now know where the donuts our neighbour gave us are from. J.Co Donuts from Jakarta. They are really very good ! Sarah says that The Donut Factory is awesome but just thinking of the queues...quite a put off. I hear that Munchy Donuts are good too. There is one opposite Ryan's school...need I say more lolol.

Donut factory is opening up in Novena Square, Munchy's is opening one at cineleisure & when browsing the J Co website, see that its coming here soon.

There are donuts stores sprouting up everywhere. Wonder if this is like the bubble tea or rotiboy or even the strudel fads ? Dunkin Donuts didn't do well but then the donuts are nothing compared to the ones I just mentioned. Not tried DF or Munchy's yet but J Co donuts is, to me, wicked good !

Wonder why Krispy Kreme donuts have not made it here ??? Must be franchise very high.

I had rotiboy in JB long before it made it here. I wondered then why no one brought it in. Lo & behold ! It came & went ! Competitors began to sprout up too. And then they all died a natural death. I guess the difference with rotiboy & the donut shops is that the latter has alot more flavours. Rotiboy is just the one. So the donut fad will last, at least for a longer term than the rotiboys, paparoti, mamaroti & whatever else roti.

The only roti that has lasted for eons & will continue outlast all is the mother of all rotis...Roti Prata lolol ! I also love my yu char kuay, ain't a fad that would fade too...best dipped in coffee !

Lament for the day...indulge & I'll look like a stuffed donut.

Thursday 13 September 2007

How terrible, two earthquakes in Indonesia. Fortunately a tsunami did not follow in its wake. Cora felt the tremors from the second quake while watching tv in the living room. I was upstairs in the bathroom & felt nothing.

Have been having off & on headaches today, even right now. And feeling very tired. Perhaps its the weather.

Army guy with the gun & bullets should be charged & punished accordingly. Lets not spare the rod....I believe it was 18 strokes. And the family kicking the press...well duh...they shoulda known that it would have been caught on at least one camera.

Another colleague is leaving the company...another HOD....sigh. wtf.

Ryan did fairly well for prelims. Quite happy he didn't get a U grade for chinese. Not a bad accomplishment.

Lunch on Sunday with the family, someone kena 4D (sigh...not us leh) & treating. Shaslik here we come !!

Yesterday one of our neighbours gave us a box of deeeeleeeeecious donuts...different toppings on them. Looked online & there isn't a store here. Think they went KL & bought from there. Yummy ! Then today, other neighbour gave us homemade ngoh hiang. Lol...they all returning the favour from the fish we gave. Which really isn't necessary.

Lament for the day...still sux. Lol.

Saturday 8 September 2007

Haven't redeemed our credit card points in ages & did a check tonite. Had over 9000pts so redeemed $170 worth of vouchers for shopping & dining. Not bad at all. Now in midst of checking all other rewards programmes for our cable & mobile phones. For mobile phones we are using all 3 service providers lol.

Its that time of the month & I feel really crappy. So darned tired when this happens. Feel very drained...must be old age also ugggghhhhhh.

Quiet Saturday. Sarah went tanning at Sentosa but dunno what kind tan she got as it was raining this morning & then cloudy all day.

Am now reading Scarlett, sequel to Gone With The Wind. Not sure if I like it. Just a couple of chapters in.

Lament for the day ... it still sux !!

Wednesday 5 September 2007

Sweet n sour fish all the way from Sabah for dinner lololol.

Sunday 2 September 2007

The verdict : Tastes good :> But can't get them into blocks. Dunno why....sigh. A few did come in pieces but the rest will have to eat with spoon lololol.
Met up with godma & an aunty whom I have not seen in years yesterday for lunch. Chatted & caught up till almost 4pm. It was a nice get-together. Then dinner with kids at botak jones (again!) cos the kids wanted. Bumped into my cousin, his wife & son. Baby sooooo cute !


Found the coconut candy recipe in an old recipe book from godma. Made it just & we shall see how it turns out lol. It looks & smells fine lol. Hope it tastes good. We shall see. Verdict later.

CSI Sundays !

Thursday 30 August 2007

Pace is picking up at work. I have a full next week. Will take my mind off why work is no longer as fun as before. I still like what I do but well...I have lamented why before. Not gonna go there again. Will get really agitated & visualise the face before me making me so want to puke & be downright rude (read : potty mouth). lol.
Lunch was a BLT sandwich with foccacia bread....haven't had that in a while. So it was good. In the evening, headed to arab street to get the baskets for press conf & then home as it was already past 5. I am looking for the old fashioned coconut candy in small blocks in colours of green, yellow, pink to put in the baskets as giveaways. Am told may still have in chinatown so must make a trip there. Maybe tmr for lunch though I should do it off my lunch break & definitely not on my personal time after work or on a weekend. I didn't think this way before & wasn't calculative. I'd go the extra mile & more. But now... screw it !
Lament for the day : Screw it !

Tuesday 28 August 2007


Yep yep hubby came home with a shitload of fish ! The group caught an estimated 500kg. Got lots of Garoupa lah, coral trout, leather jacket lah. Gave away to our entire floor of neighbours & they were happy. Not the first time we give them fish fresh from the oceans. So much so that one of the neighbours bought us yummy swiss roll cakes from Kandahar Street. Gave each neighbour 2 or 3 fish, gave godparents some & we still got alot for ourselves. There was one 3kg muther kerisi bali & the bladdy head/tail stuck out of our freezer compartment door. This one hubby gave away to a friend, let him de-scale lah, de-gut lah & clean the fish LOL. Too much work lol.

Some huge ones & some table sized. There was a part of a chinaman fish (??????) hubby brought home...it was portioned out to share with his other fishing kakis. BUT one kaki called & warned that becos the fish eats coral, can have poisonous elements. So we were told to throw away lor.
Took leave yesterday & half day today. Did some errands, Cora's work permit extension etc, went to see a friend who was in hospital & had heart sugery to repair a leaking artery. His wound was all the way from below the throat down to the belly. Just like a bypass. But he is being discharged & looks well.
Oh watched Hairspray. John Travolta in drag was really funny. One huuuge mama ! The voice cannot run though. Fun movie. Enjoyed the music even though singers & the acting not so fantastic. No need to think so much, just sit back & relax type. Got a bit of morale in the story also.

Note to Lica : see...I don't just watch gory movies :p

Friday 24 August 2007

Hubby is out of town fishing ! Back Sunday.

Work is still so-so & I do so want to get out. When opportunities arise & when the time is right, I will. The heart & passion has fizzled out all becos of one person. Oh trust me, it ain't petty. When integrity is questioned especially when one has not done any wrong, it farking sux ! As far as I am concerned, my integrity is intact with all the proof. I now know how others in the same boat feel. Actually the whole situation is ridiculous & smacks of desperation...the other party lah.

What is that phrase ? When you point one finger at someone, don't forget the other 3 fingers point back at yourself. The thumb doesn't work if you are wondering why only 3 fingers point back lol. The thumb is to stick up the ass lololol.

Lament for the day : Dunno who is playing games leh.

Saturday 18 August 2007

It has been a bad weekend thus far. Last night I felt such a dull ache in my heart. Wretched & wrenching. And I am not feeling any much better today. No desire to do anything useful or meaningful.

Even more pathetic is that I am re-reading half blood prince & watched the harry potter series all over again today. Just to keep my mind off things.

Work is so-so. It has degenerated to be described in such meagre terms. Sadly all becos of the one.

Lament for the day : Shitty...just that one word.

Tuesday 14 August 2007

Hmm no laffing matter...poor baby. Sarah fell down. There is a small drain along the pathway & for some stupid reason, the grating was removed. Right in the middle of a pathway ?? wtf ?? Her whole left leg went in. No broken bones, at least I dun think so. Glad she didn't hit her head or face.

Thing is her sense of humour hasn't abated. Told us she fell infront of 2 schoolboys who helped her up...said they were quite cute too lol. Well the boys have a story to tell...hey this IJ girl fell for us...right at our feet ! Oh, the boys were very responsible, they covered the drain with the grating. Good going boys ! Offered to stay with sarah for a bit but she told them no need. Think she wanted to cry but not infront of them. If I were her I also dun wan to cry infront of 2 cute guys...or would I ??? Can't even remember being 15 how to remember what I would do bleah !

Doc says its her ligament, thankfully no fracture so no need for x-ray. 2 days MC & then no PE or bowling till end next week. If not better then have to extend the excuse. Ligament is no joke cos I have a ligament problem with my knee. Can't bowl cos its the left balance knee & going down the stairs pull & little sharp pains. Old age also plays a part. bleah !!

Done re-reading HP & the order of the phoenix. No wonder I didn't enjoy the movie. Want to re-read half blood prince. lol must be in this mood for potter. Potty for potter lol.

Meeting was fine, no hitches. Everyone was in a good mood. After that spent too much time answering emails...ugh. Its such a drag but I still do what I am paid to do & do it properly. Whatever it is, I still take pride in doing work well. Perhaps the passion has lessened a tat but oh well. Not gonna give anyone reason to bitch. But it is still a drag.

what did I say before ? I am having a bad day & I'm not even PMsing LOL.

Lament for the day : Go for meeting feel guilty cos of sarah....dun go meeting, may kena poked by some people.

Monday 13 August 2007

Met with simon, evon & godson clovis last night for dinner in an amk coffeeshop. Decided not to go to botak jones. Maaan ! My godson sure can yell lol ! He has started walking & after dinner, let him walk around for abit. He was hurtling so fast I was afraid he would fall. His dad said "wait till he starts to run" and sarah said "this not running meh ?" lolol.

Saturday 11 August 2007

Made two trays of shepherd's pie & I tray of apple crumble for sarah's mustard seed meeting. Fortunately one of the girls brought pasta otherwise may not have been enough. Cos sarah said the members would be bringing something & then she told a couple of them no need cos enough food. Well it was just nice, thankfully. They did say pie & crumble was nice...what nice people they are LOL. Hubby made his famous lime juice but the limes had no kick today leh...dunno why. Added more than usual some more.

Watched Robin Hood Men in Tights on cable this afternoon...lame lolol.

Sarah had another article in catholic news, small one on the harry potter series. She mentioned family in the article...sweet.

Meeting evon, simon & my godson for dinner tomorrow ! Gonna try botak jones again. Wonder if we will have to wait an hour again...??? Ohhhh the cheesecake there is gooooood !!

Lament for the day : maybe can start own business selling shepherd's pie & apple crumble instead of dragging my feet ???

Wednesday 8 August 2007

Can't say that I enjoyed watching HP & the order of the phoenix. The book was better. The fighting scene was good but not much else. I am re-reading the book because the movie seems disconnected. To refresh my memory & cos I haven't got any other books to read for now. Am done with China Wakes.

The latest HP book is good though. And when it is made into the movie, I am wondering how it can be condensed to just a little over two hours. Can't cut stuff out as there are many connections to past books and introduction of new stuff.

Think its the best book...JK keeps the best for last. I was particularly touched by that little humanity in Snape. I always had a feeling he wasn't all bad, just misunderstood or deliberately wanted to be misunderstood. I wonder if there will be a continuation as the ending in the book seems to invite it.

Oh...Die Hard 4.0 wasn't that fantastic also. Fun to watch the action but quite unrealistic. Entertaining but not on my list of must watch.

Bought DVDs of Apocalypto & 300. Seen both on the big screen already but wanted to watch again. Those I would highly recommend !

Lament for the day : drag drag draaaaaaag...

Tuesday 7 August 2007

Met up with Vic for lunch last week. Grumbled to him. Then he meets another old friend for lunch & puts her in touch with me. Was great to hear from yin. But a couple of days later, her mum passed away. It was cancer & they were expecting it. We went to pay our respects. The kids hadn't seen yin in 4 years & she said she wouldn't be able to recognise them as they have grown.

Sometime ago, I spoke about meeting old friends. And so I did with yin & some others at Matt's. I asked about john whom we used to affectionately call mahjohn. They told me where his shop was & what it was called.

Mahjohn cos some 20 years ago we used to pass time playing mahjong. We started off playing with no money & could do it over night lol. Then we graduated to 5 cents / 10 cents lolol. It was just a friendly game amongst friends rather than to hang out at pubs or clubs. We didn't have much money to go clubbing anyway lol.

Anyway I did a search online fo his shop & called. he recognised my voice...amazing ! Hadn't seen him in about 10 years ! Anyway we have met up a couple of times since two weeks ago. Got re-acquainted with his wife whom I met a couple fo times before long long ago & met his two pretty daughters. One of them ryan's age & the other is just in P1. Meeting up again this Friday.

My godson has started to walk !!!!!!!!! Hubby saw him last night & we will be meeting up with them over the weekend.

Sarah has a tale to tell about her new nokia N76. It sux ! She bought it on a Wednesday & it started to act up. Would go off on its own & would not be able to read memory card, contacts & battery life faded real quick. So off we go to nokia care centre on the saturday. One day later, told to pick it up. After she got home, same problem. So off to nokia again. After one day collected it back. But same shit happened. So daddy goes off to make noise ! Says this is the 4th time they were back & if they had to keep it a week, please go ahead to solve the problem. Keep saying nothing wrong. But who is going to compensate for the time to go there & parking. Why don't they just exchange one for one. Oh cannot, policy. Fine fix it then ! After a week, they call back & say they have to change motherboard. DUH !!!! At first they said it was sarah's memory card BUT when sarah uses it on ryan's samsung phone got no problem leh.

Lament for the day : I am still dragging my feet...

Thursday 2 August 2007

death & stuff...

To be accused of doing something which I didn't is beyond description ! The best part is that there is evidence of innocence. Like doing this will move me up the ladder. Quite stupid really when you analyse all angles, won't get me anywhere near the friggin ladder lol. It is entrapment. It is a farce. It is trying desperately to dig out something which doesn't exist except in the fanciful imagination of a small narrow mind. Okay lah, smart in wily ways lah I concede lol. Of course I am freakin fuming & upset. Not true maaah, how not to get angry. Ah well...bugger it ! As long as I know I ain't done it...fark it all !

Matt's death hit me some. A couple of things...he is a friend my age & yeah we were dating when we were much much younger. Though I was well aware of how ill he was, it was a shock. I cannot imagine how his family feels & I cannot pretend to know. The thing is that our age, we hear of our friends' parents passing away. For me, it is a first friend who died. It hits me greatly that it can happen to anyone, regardless of age.

I have been thinking of writing a list of what I want when I do die. Whether by accident or of a ripe old age. Sounds so morose & grim but death is a reality. I know I don't want mourning & wailing. Sadness is inevitable but I would like that to be over with quick so that those who are alive and left behind do not go through too much turmoil, regrets & unhappiness. Rather, it should be a celebration that when I die, I am no longer in pain or suffering. That I have lived my life to the fullest, the way I want to, with dignity & integrity. The only regret would be leaving loved ones. But we all eventually will have to leave our loved ones. It is the circle of life, to borrow a phrase. I said to Sarah that for my wake (why is it called a wake ??) I want happy music, the songs which I enjoy. I want bright colours, no mourning clothes & if I can get away with it, wine & beer made available. I be dead so the kids will have to figure out how to work the wine & beer in. Think I will write a letter which can be displayed for all to see that it isn't out of disrespect, but rather respect for my last wishes. Otherwise people think my living family are mad. I'm the nutty one. Sure, let there be some crying. But just a little quick cry & a prayer. Then life should go on.

Lament for the day : it ain't fun anymore...so I drag my feet...

Tuesday 24 July 2007


Our friend died last night. Stricken by cancer we knew it would happen sometime. But it is always too soon. We last saw him in Phuket in February, it was a family holiday for both our families. We were supposed to have had makan session again after that but it, regretfully didn't happen. He was a free spirit & did his best to live life to the fullest inspite of being unwell.

To the family, our deepest condolences. We are truly sorry.

Bye Matt, have a good journey.

"Death is not the end
Death can never be the end.
Death is the road.
Life is the traveller.
The Soul is the Guide
Our mind thinks of death.
Our heart thinks of life
Our soul thinks of Immortality."

Sunday 22 July 2007

Busy with Harry ! He arrived yesterday so posts will have to wait.

Wednesday 18 July 2007

Sarah's article appeared in a spread page in Catholic News last weekend. Proud moment for us all ! Of course we told all the family lah though she said no need lol. All the family are very proud of her. Then its honour's day this Sat & she gets 1st prize for English yet again.

Kinda busy at work...stuff keep popping up. But manageable & have met my datelines so that's good. But it is annoying when other folks don't provide us with the info in time or when the info has changed & they forget to tell us. Ahhhh well...

And so my birthday passed uneventfully. I have gotten to the stage and age where its no big deal becos I am a year older. The years just keep piling on & I so do hate the numbers ! Kiddos & hubby got me a nice peranakan style hand held mirror which I have placed in my display case. Sweet ! Plus the new Harry Potter book which will be delivered soon.

My staff got me some gifts though I had said not to. Nice crystal container for my knick knacks, another for my rings and a nice silver brooch. Pretty. Another colleague took me to a nice buffet lunch yesterday at merchant court hotel. Today was another lunch, indonesian. And I bought myself a nice silver bracelet as a treat for myself lol.

Have been doing abit of shopping with sarah...or is it alot ?? lol She has some nice new clothes, plus toiletries & perfume from bodyshop. I bought a couple of tops from esprit & at bodyshop, picked up my powder refill, gloss & a nice rougeberry perfume, light & fruity. My face scents are Happy for men from clinque, DKNY's Delicious & now this from bodyshop.

Watched Transformers last weekend & I was surprised to have enjoyed it. Its entertaining. I liked the transforming sequences, very cool. The storyline was a little bit weak & there was weak acting, like from the FBI guy who was reduced to his underwear. But other than that it was entertaining. I'm not sure if it should make it into my list of definitely watchable. I'll decide at the end of the post.

I am still reading China Wakes. I have been pre-occuppied with Fox crime channel plus other programmes on telly. It is not an easy breezy read but very interesting information about the country, policies, the way they manage the country or mismanage, the oppression, what foreign visitors see or are allowed to see & what they don't see. But to be fair, the book is not entirely negative. Written by two foreign journalists who were based there for a number of years, both of whom speak mandarin. I reckon the chinese government did not receive this book well when it was first published. I should finish this soon to get into Harry Potter when it arrives.

Lament for the day : the demise of the poor angsana tree...now beware of reckless speeding drivers.

Thursday 12 July 2007

Ok I stand corrected. Sarah doesn't want to make a case of the rumours & she says she is over it.

Sarah is taking English express. Somone in the school boo booed big time. I wrote to the principal a couple of days ago to ask why sarah couldn't do express english despite her topping her normal level since sec 1. When she asked her teacher, she was told cannot as she was the only one.

Apparently, since last Nov, she was earmarked to start 2007 doing express english. BUT no one told her. Infact, the class she was supposed to join had scheduled their english lessons to the same timing as her normal class so that she would not miss other subjects.

But when she didn't join the express class, they thought she wasn't interested. No one checked with her. On hindsight, I should have written in earlier as she has lost 6 months. Apparently the HOD told both english teachers of her present class & the express class. Her own teacher did not tell her & actually said that if the HOD did not see her, then cannot lor.

What a mess ! Go figure who screwed up. I told sarah to make it clear to the HOD who went to see her, the conversations which transpired. Her new teacher said she would make every effort to help her catch up. And the teacher said that if she does not do as well, it is not sarah's fault.

At least I feel better that there are efforts to help individual students to excel. It is heartening. As for why the principal did not answer my emails, the person who was manning the generic mailbox probably screwed up & didn't forward my mails from last Nov to her. Another cock-up. Waaah liao !

Today there was a weird incident. A man went to our restaurant for a meal. After he paid up & was taking the lift down, saw a poster that the restaurant would offer a $2 rebate for parking if they dined at the restaurant. So he went up again. Staff said no problem, just give us the receipt so that they could void it & provide him with a new receipt with the $2 taken off. He said no. Just take $2 to give to him. He insisted & made alot of noise despite the manager explaining & being as patient & as nice as possible.

The restaurant didn't ask questions. All the proof they need is flash a carkey, fill in some info on form (so that we can verify if there is a hint of cheating from staff). Don't even check if he parked at the building or elsewhere. Cos if park elsewhere then not entitled lah but gave customer benefit of the doubt. Only $2, don't make it so difficult. But also dun make it easy for staff to cheat.

This is a proper restaurant & we are a large renowned organisation which was listed for a number of years until voluntary delisting recently. Not some two bit corner stall that can easily take $2 from the till. There are procedures to follow. How to explain $2 missing at the end of the day when finance queries ?? Small amount but still it is not conforming to procedures & especially when it involves money. From $2, it can escalate. What if there are 100 customers like this ? $200 missing. How ?

Can afford to eat in a fine restaurant but think like that. So bladdy ugly. But the ugliest part is yet to come...

So he calls HQ & speaks to the lady in charge of marketing for the restaurant. She explains. He refuses to listen & says that to pacify a customer, the manager could have easily taken out $2 from his own pocket. What the fuck ???? No principles, no morals & so fucking cheapskate. He ends by saying that he still wants his $2.

He spent 15 mins at the restaurant arguing. So easy to take out receipt & have it voided & re-issued. Be done in 5 mins. Then take time to call HQ somemore. Unless he is planning to cheat his own company ?? Claim makan as entertainment with the receipt & pocket the $2 ?? Who knows, low enough to suggest that the manager take $2 from his own personal pocket to give to him, then dirty enough to cheat. Or he just got too much time on his hands.

Lament for the day : how low can a person go !

Monday 9 July 2007

Someone told a new staff to be careful of me cos I am very close to the boss. HAHAHAHAHA !!! Yeah right ! I am the last one to sidle up & whisper into the big boss' ears & carry balls. Then another colleague was also said to be the same. LOLOLOL Such bullshit & quite juvenile if I may say lol. Yeah so I work with the boss on some projects but so do a whole lot of other people in the office. I wouldn't dare talk about office gossip to the boss. Plus where got time to play games. I'd rather spend the time more meaningfully....like shopping lah, eating lah, play computer games lah, read lah, watch tv lah, dig nose lah, scratch backside lah, squeeze pimples lah, fart lah, look for kutus on my dogs lah... Chey ! Got no fucking time to do all that where got time to chitchat with boss. Lucky people got eyes to see (then tell us about it heh heh) rather than listen to rumours. Damned bladdy funny lolol.

On a more serious note of rumours, some schoolgirls are really quite bitchy these days. The vicious rumour that has been passed around about sarah has me incensed. I intend to take this up with the school. If the school cares at all, they will take it seriously. If not, the topic of verbal bullying will go up to MOE & ST forum. Obviously the person who started the rumour doesn't know how close we are as a family & how our children do talk to us. Of course they don't tell us everything lah. But enough for us to have a strong relationship. So poor thing (read sarcasm) that this person or persons do not have the same relationship with her/their parents. Life must suck (or is it no life??) to have to resort to lies & rumours. Sad sad. Kudos to sarah that she doesn't conform to them just to be popular. She is her own person. But I know all this viciousness does affect her & we worry. We will need to stop this.

In other words, rather crudely; don't fuck with me.

Lament for the day : People who spread rumours have no lives or are cowardly or cruel or perhaps just plain stupid. Yaaaawn.

Saturday 7 July 2007

Heavy headed at work yesterday but persisted as it was Friday. Did visit the doc to pick up meds so that I could recover by Monday. Slept very badly last night, kept waking up to pee. And took me a while to get back to sleep each time...sigh. Sarah wants to do shopping tomorrow so hopefully I won't be feeling so badly with the rest today.

So channel 5 televised Exorcist : The Beginning on a weekday night at 10pm. How does that work when the movie was rated NC16 in the cinemas before ??? Are there extra snips for TV ? If there are, then there wouldn't be much of a story. Waste time watching & waste of airtime. Yes they indicated parental guidance cos of the horror theme but it means I can be sitting & watching with my below 16 kids. Plus its televised on national tv so isn't that an open invitation for everyone to watch ?

Why have movie ratings for the cinemas when such movies eventually make it onto tv ? Movies in the cinemas are censored already and have the various ratings which customers and cinema management have to comply with. So I don't get why national tv can screen such NC16 or M18 movies. I can't make sense of it.

I remember when the Da Vinci Code arrived in the cinemas & it was rated NC16. Checks were made at cinemas to ensure that no one below 16 was watching the movie. Some below 16 year olds were caught sneaking into the cinema halls to watch Da Vinci Code when they bought tickets for some PG or G movie. Articles have appeared in the press on how vigilant are such age checks in cinemas. Yet you get this NC16 rated movie on tv. So ironic. So contradictory. Something to ponder over & probably still not be able to make sense of. LOL.

A few nights ago was watching Fox tv crime investigation channel. It was about a man who had hired a hitman to murder his wife & physically disabled 8 year old son. All for their bank account. The wife & son had a 2 million settlement from a hospital which had carelessly & accidentally turned off the boy's oxygen supply when he was hospitalised for some illness. This left him paralysed and also brain damaged. Hence the settlement to provide for the round-the-clock care for the boy. The father who was separated from the wife wanted the money but of course he wasn't getting it. However, the judge did pass that if the wife & son should die before him, the money would go to him.

Anyway, all the evidence pointed to the husband who received a life sentence. The guy he hired was sentenced to death for the murder of the wife, son & also the nurse who was present in the house caring for the boy. In the hitman's home, the police found a book on How to be a Hitman. Its scary that such books are published & sold to the general public. It teaches you to stand how many feet away so that you don't get sprayed by the blood, how to make the gun untraceable etc. The hitman followed the intructions apparently.

Then the families of the wife & nurse decide to take the publisher of the book to court. However american law has the first amendment on freedom of speech which rendered case ineffective. But the families' lawyers persisted & eventually by some other events that happend, they received an out of court settlement.

The publisher's lawyers gave an example of publishing a cookbook. That it doesn't mean that the person who buys or reads it will bake a cake from there. How weak !!! Eventually someone is going to try a recipe otherwise why bother with publishing the book. So if someone somewhere who buys a book in how to be a hitman or how to make a bomb etc will eventually try it. DUH !! So much for laws to protect.

Yesterday was hubby's birthday & we went to shashlik, a russian restaurant that is run by a bunch of rather err matured men & women. Has been around for as long as I can remember & very popular. But don't expect exceptional service. Its the quality of food that makes it so popular. Their borsch soup is excellent as are their shahslik beef & lamb. As I wasn't feeling well, I had a big bowl of the soup & bread. Usually, we'd split the one portion of soup for two to share as we wanted to have enough space for their steaks. Ryan had a whole bowl of soup to himself, two pieces of bread plus a whole steak to himself. He did well to finish every morsel lol. Kids bought hubby a CD on jazz for his birthday.

Lament for the day : my birthday is coming soon too & I hate the number I am hitting. Good thing I don't look or feel it lol.

Thursday 5 July 2007


arrrgh...the diva !! Dunno how she got around to the big boss, we reckon via email & managed to get her way in some things. She told me not too long ago..."I thought I better check with you, go through the right channel...." Chey ! Say only, bypass me twice already !!!!!!!!!!! Bugger it lah.

Ryan's new guitar ! Last weekend Swee Lee had a sale, up to 50% off for their musical instruments. Ry sold his electric guitar & wanted to get something better. So instead of buying second hand from an online forum, we took him to Swee Lee when he told us of the sale. Loads of nice guitars but soooo pricey, we thought. Till Ry asked the sales person if the prices were before or after discount. It was before & the guitar he wanted was 50% off, brand new. Aiyo ! How not to buy ! Good thing is Ry saved his own money plus he had cash from the sale. We topped up a little & he picked up an Epiphone Les Paul (or something liddat) priced at over $900 before discount. Very good deal compared to a second hand one he was looking at which was going for some $400 odd. For that price, you get it brand new. Ry had already told the dealer not to reserve it for him so no harm done on that end. But now Ry has no money to buy birthday presents for hubby & me lol. Or anything else for himself lololol.

We like the idea that the kids save up to buy an item they desire. They learn the value of money & don't expect us to fork out whenever they want a luxury item. It is a good habit & we strongly encourage it. Both kiddos have been jamming together & have been enjoying it. Their task is to learn Samba Parti or Breezin' by Christmas for us lol.

Work has been fine lor. Sometimes a little bit exasperating. But mainly it is just ok. Not happy doo dah, yet not horrific hell. It fluctuates close to the latter sometimes like all work place, though not often. But heavely bells don't ring either. Garden of Eden perhaps where sometimes the serpent rears its ugly head ? Typical of all workplaces lol.

Another celebrity visit end of the month & this one (whom I dunno but vaguely heard of), I am told, will invite the hordes of adoring & the curious. Uggggh !!

Got the kids new mattresses as their's are at least 10 years old. Had to visit a few places before we made a decision. And I was pretty surprised that they cost quite a bit ! Not the pasar malam type lah but not the high end type either. The better than pasar malam type is averaging $200 per piece. Also ordered a new headboard for Ry's bed. Sarah doesn't need one as her's is nice & still fairly new. One of the shops we went to had all these mattresses brands advertised on the building & happily we went in. The lady asked us what budget & we said $200. She promptly showed us one that was $400. Harloooow ??? Ask budget for what hah ? One of those that don't listen, just out for a quick sale. And when we asked for a certain brand which we knew was in budget, she say dun have. Then why the brand advertised hah ? Asked is anything in our budget, dun have. Wah liao, then dun open mouth & ask what budget lah. Just say, "our mattresses are priced from what-what upwards". So we don't waste each other's time. But maybe she was bored cos there was no one else in the shop & now we know why lol. It is not an obscure furniture shop. Sigh...

Tomorrow is hubby's birthday. Dinner at Shashlik...yum ! Borsch soup here I come ! Ryan's face lit up when we mentioned it. Didn't know what to get for hubby so asked him is I could pay partially for his over $200 case for his reels. Phew ! He said yes. Heng aaah...otherwise sure end up buying a shirt lah or a tee lah or a belt lah or cologne lah. Gifts for men are a little more boring. Women have so much more choices and possibilities lol.

Not posting as much as I would like as am usually tired from facing the comp when I get back home from work. Plus now we have new channels on cable lololol. So yeah...beeeezeeeeeeeee !

I still haven't found a cheap exercise bike. Don't need the fancy type. Simple one that does the job will do. Second hand also can. Went to cash converters but honestly, alot of the stuff quite icky ! Got no exercise bike anyway. I need the exercise bike for exercise lah & also to improve knee condition. Can't do high impact so start slowly on the cycle & shall see how it goes.

Oh I had a dizzy spell this morning. Do not know why. But it did not persist. I don't think it was from hunger as I did have breakfast.

Hmmm cigarettes went up & it is more than the 2% Gst increase. Their calculator must be different from mine. And so I have begun to cut down.

Lament for the day : I think I feel a cold coming on...yuck !

Thursday 28 June 2007

Had meeting with diva yesterday together with her ex-boss so that we get everything straight & on the record. I did my piece on work processes etc. Her ex-boss grilled her on a few items diva brought to my attention which were inaccurate, clarified & verified it was previously discussed & agreed upon. Guess diva was trying her luck with me lolol. As the archives contain some important and valuable items as well as one of the servers, we mentioned that there would be a possibility of a camera installed.

LOL it was funny & annoying the reaction. "I don't like a camera looking at me ! I don't want a camera pointed at me!!!" Very adamantly. I patiently explained that our entire office except this room hasn't got a camera & it is not to look at her but to ensure that no one fiddles with the server or anything else in the room. And I had to explain that no one is sitting there looking at the TV screens for all the cameras. Its not like in the movies...duh. If anything should happen, we can look at the tapes & then find out what happened.

Let's just say the entire meeting was a little exasperating & I felt like I was dealing with a child though she is older than me. We all work for an organisation which has procedures & policies. It ain't no mum & pop shop. These policies, procedures & even SOPS ensure that all is in place, employees don't take advantage or be taken advantage of. Its not strict rules for goodness sake so why be so resistent. Infact we have been very flexible with her. Guess she doesn't want to be caught sleeping or playing card games on comp lor.

Lament for the day : ughhhhh I am tired of the divas & prima donnas around me.

Monday 25 June 2007

Arggggh !! Office diva ! And she reports to me. Restructuring threw her my way. I had one diva before but she is gone now & here comes another. They grow on trees or what !?!! Told her she needs to give me a weekly report & she goes crying to someone asking why, we dun trust her, we checking on her...

Her job is simple, she records on comp & stores away items we want to keep for historical record. All she needs to do is cut & paste the information onto the template I created for the weekly report. What is the big deal ? She says when she was hired, it was meant to be a stress-less job, no rush, no datelines, as she pleases. Who is rushing her ? Still stress-less what. I didn't set any datelines, I just want to know progress so that my boss also knows what's happening. As I am custodian of this particular section, it would be ridiculous if I knew naught of what is happening.

And it is not as she pleases. We all work for a boss & it ain't her own hole in the wall shop. I was told that other people have heard her chatting long on the phone, playing card games on comp & worst of all, snoring !!!!

We are all required to give weekly progress reports to our boss. So I need to attach her section to my own report. I need to know her work progress, my boss needs to know our progress & his boss needs to know everyone's. Sheesh ! Imagine me going to the president whom I report to & say the same thing. Wah liao !

Becos she is a contract staff on project basis, she is not entitled to staff benefits as was agreed when she was hired. But she has been bugging people for free movie tix. And not everyone wants to give them to her as they want to take their families. A number of people are tired of her hassling them for tix & other freebies. She has not asked me. One day, she waylays the president, bypassing me, to ask him. Unfortunately for her, I happen to be walking by. Fortunately for him, he knows pretty well she isn't entitled but he says to check with HR. So she calls me & says she had better go through the right channel & check with me first instead of going to hr. Duh...didn't she already go by the wrong channels ? sigh

She tries to buy favours & that is scary. I dun like that. So when she gives me something, usually makan, I will make sure I return the favour so that we are even. My other assistant has also wisened up to this ploy.

Yes physically she is a little hampered as she is a bit heavy & so her legs can't quite take her weight. But she is not handicapped. There are things which we will do for her but there are things which we choose not to as we are well aware she can do it & we do not like being taken advantage of.

These & other things, been accumulative, in just a couple of short months.

I need to draw a bolder line between being friends & work. You can't mix it up. But some folks are blind to it. I need to be less nice, less accommodating & more of a bitch cos I get taken advantage of. So a friendly warning, don't fuck with me.

Lament for the day : I have had a bad day & I am not PMSing grrrrrrrrrr.

Saturday 23 June 2007

I just realised that my book Roots is about 30 years old ! Anyway, colleague who went to the States found me dvd on the series ! Made me real happy. Was S$62 with the taxes in & it is the 30th anniversary edition with extras. Heh...we've started watching already. Was up intrigued till 3am this morning ! Awesome. Hubby saw the audio tapes at Borders which was S$70, couldn't find dvd or cd or even the book anywhere. Glad I kept the latter :>

There were weird people at the gala premiere. The general public I mean & it is to be expected. Arggghhhhh ! Everything went well. A couple of disgruntled public who weren't allowed into the private party area but it is a "private party"....sigh. One lady kept peppering us with questions, where is the star, what time she is coming, how old, where she is staying, what movie...then one guy armed with camera wouldn't go away, wants to meet her personally. Though I was taking care of our chairman, I didn't even get to meet her personally. So duh !!! I had my 5 mins of fame on the red carpet lol. Then at the end of the evening when we re-opened to the public, our buffet line was attacked by the public which was no surprise. They happily helped themselves, no invitation needed. I am sure by the next morning, our congratulatory bouquets of flowers would have been stripped naked. Then while we were hanging around waiting for the premiere to end, we saw a very young couple seated at our internet kiosk area smooching like no tomorrow. Gross lah !

Some re-org in our org structure but no shuffling. Just re-defining some sections. Not major. My department remains unchanged.

Took half day off on Friday to help hubby with kids' wall shelving.
Fixed up the kiddos' new desks. Very nice. Ryan's wall shelving was done yesterday & it looks good. Moved the furniture in his room a little. Sarah's shelving will be done tomorrow as hubby is involved with NDP thingy today.

School starts on Monday ! Ryan just went off to cut his hair & I re-coloured Sarah's. She had it highlighted during the hols which isn't allowed at school so have re-coloured the whole head a dark mahogany. Turned out okay.

Gonna continue with Roots.

Lament for the day : Slight migraine...aiya that time of the month grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Monday 18 June 2007

Went to changi village for lunch yesterday cos we felt like having the famous nasi lemak. It was cheap & the fried chicken wing was good. But the rice was sadly lacking...not lemak enough. No smell, not enough coconut & pandan. The chilli also not so good. The otah was ok, the ikan bilis is not fresh crunchy. Quite disappointing. Sarah tried the Anything drink. It was like a coke flavour but dam lousy. Was like diluted coke & this we tried before pouring into the cup of ice.

These are the signs we saw at changi village. We were trying to figure out if "queen" was misspelt ?? The singh tailor sign very cute, proprietor baboo singh :>

Then there was a new shop which was selling army stuff. Hubby says not genuine army stuff. Then we saw a M-16 rifle on one of the shelves, priced at $318. And get this, PLASTIC !!!! So obvious !! We weren't even close enough to touch but can see its plastic. Wah liao...like something from some toy shop ! Incredulous that would be priced like that.

Headed to ikea, loads of parking space...we like ! But when we got inside the store, it was pretty crowded. Ordered the tables, shelves, drawers & bought some other stuff. The goods arrive on Wednesday. Picked up a pack of swedish meatballs from their market corner, plus the sauce for the meatballs & the jam. Fixed that for dinner. Yummy & quite filling. Got sauce leftover, froze it & will use that for mash. Can have bangers & mash.

Working late tomorrow, gala premiere & official opening. I need to take care of the board & media.

Sarah needs to fix her hair colour back cos school starts on Monday. Her highlights will be too obvious.

On Saturday went to dyran & carol's place for dinner. Dyran's birthday & to celebrate father's day. I brought a yummy mango cake from prima deli...all overlaid with fresh mango. Dinner was simple, chilli dogs, lye chee from cambodia one of the friend's brought, chips with onion sour cream dip. Booze of course.

Then the rain came. So we all went under cover.

After which we lazed & the boys started to jam with their guitars. Ryan brought his amp & electric guitar. For the first time he joined in to jam. And he had fun. Now he knows how fun it can be rather than playing alone. He learnt to follow nick & dyran cos he didn't know alot of songs, cos he only plays rock. Now he knows that to jam & really have fun, must improve on the repertoire, some old songs as well as the new. And the classic evergreen songs which every guitar player must know.

Over the weekend in the newspapers, a bulgarian busker was arrested for immigration charges, not for busking. A blind busker in the same location as the bulgarian complained that the public gave the bulgarian more money than to him. Errrr hubby say...he blind how he can see the other guy got more money ???? So true lolol

SCV kena from me. On Sunday morning I called cos our new package of channels were not activated. I rang on Friday evening & was told would be activated within 24 hours. Long phone call with the customer service who was very helpful in assisting me to tailor our channels. Anyway, I called on Sunday morning before heading out to lunch.

Boo Boo One
: The customer service staff asked me what packages I want & I am like HAH ??? You dun have our history meh ?? Dun have. Grrrrrrr so I repeated the convo I had with other customer service on Fri nite.

Boo Boo Two
: This girl then says, due to technical problem that's why not activated. Wtf ?? If she doesn't have my record of request for change, how to have technical problem ?? So I tell her exactly that. She says she will get customer care consultant to call me. For what ??? She kena me blurr oredi lor.

Boo Boo Three
: Anyway, someone did call & said will activate it by that night "since this is an urgent case". Well hellooooo...I didn't say it is urgent. I asked for it on Friday night & was told 24 hours but it wasn't done. Told her that.

Boo Boo Four
: Then she says that they have record of my request for change but the customer care staff's system can't retrieve all the info. HAH ??? I said that is laughable becos SCV is cable tv, broadband & mobile.

So so laughable cos they have all this technology & they can't get simple info. Just say that it was a mistake & overlooked. Why try & slip in those SOP answers here & there. Don't gel maaaah ! Sigh sigh sigh...

Caridee won America's Next Top Model !! Yaaaaayyyy ! I dun like the other girl cos of her personality.

Long post...making up for the days that I haven't been on lol.

Lament for the day : arrrghhh I watched Congo again cos kids never watched it before. Amy is cute though.

Friday 15 June 2007

Fashion statement lol. When I get to her age (60s), I wouldn't want to be caught dead dressed like that. To each his/her own.

It has been a busy week of prepping for opening & press articles. The latter turned out great ! Big official do on Tuesday night & then after that we can breathe. Will pop down to the cineplex tomorrow & check out the sights.


Tomorrow night, a party at Dyran & Carol's to celebrate Dyran's birthday & fathers' day. Its just an excuse for a party lol.
Sarah is at church camp & will be back tomorrow night, in time for the party. Got her godpa a nice wine-red tie from zara. And for fathers' day, a nice biege linen shirt from there also.

Sarah got me two packs of sunflower seeds a couple of days ago. Sigh...am hooked on it again, butter flavoured sunflower seeds. Very yum leh.

Changed our package for cable vision & dropped the sports channels cos they have increased it too much. Plus we don't watch it much. Took up the movie & family packages. Paying a little more but getting more channels which are very interesting. It will be activated within 24 hours. Looking forward.

Watching SWAT now with ryan. Hubby is on a boys night out with old army buddies. He didn't drive.

Will probably go to ikea on Sunday to order the desks & drawers. Then to a fathers' day lunch perhaps. Or lunch first then ikea. Our weekends aren't usually planned. We just go with the flow.

I've finished reading The Good Women of China. It is written by a former radio presenter in China. She had a programme which explored the lives of Chinese women and relates tales from women who annonymously left their stories on the phone recording system & through interviews with some women. Sadly none are happy endings...different stories about how the women were oppressed, crushed, used & brutalized. The author no longer lives in China. She wouldn't have been able to pen this book if she did.

Have a friend on holiday in the US. She dropped me an email to ask if I would like anything...told her tar pau Johnny Depp & Gerard Butler lol. Have asked her to look out for the old tv series Roots. Can't get it here, only the audio CDs are available at Borders...duh.

I finally did my hair...its been almost 3 months since I had a nice trim & colour to cover the whites. Didn't realise till my stylist checked the records. Kept it much the same, just neater & no white hair lol.

Is this sentence, which is a signage, wrong & bad English ? "Please do not touch display". I had a discussion with a colleague on this. Her kids & hubby said bad english & that it should be "please do not touch the display". But I think both are acceptable. It is not bad english like something so glaring as "please do not touched display" or "please do not touching display". Straw polled a few other colleagues who agreed with me. Ah well...

Lament for the day : just been too tired & brain dead to blog more frequently.

Monday 11 June 2007

Went to Ikea at tampines on saturday to check out desks for the kids. Love the spaciousness of the store & the hassle-free & free parking. Such a breeze compared to the one at Alexandra road. Then went over to Courts to see what they had for desks. Nothing interesting. Ikea had much nicer designs & we have decided what we want. Will go on the weekend to order.

Then went to visit nephew in the hospital as he is down with dengue. We heard later in the evening when sarah text him that his blood count had improved. Glad for that.

Neighbours' son's wedding was at Legend's. Food was not so good but that's expected of wedding dinners anyway. Enjoyed the video of the day celebrations; the bride & groom had to do funny stuff to get into the in laws' homes. Doesn't happen to the bride usually but she got saboed. Funny ! We heard all the laughter & commotion in the morning.

Sunday was company family movie day. Watched Shrek 3. Think first 2 installments better. It was funny but the "better out than in" joke is getting a little stale. Still watchable & I'd rather Shrek anytime to Mr Bean.

Browsed around gramaphone & then had a light lunch at billy bomber's. Dunno why we were so tired & when we got home, took a nap. Naps don't usually happen for me on weekends. It was only an hour but felt longer so must have been really tired. Was refreshed when we got up.

Met simon, evon & godson for dinner at jalan kayu. This place called jerry's. Pretty good. Clam chowder was yummy & so were the buffalo wings & deepfried mushrooms. Didn't order a main course for myself, just picked & that was enough. Buuurrrrrp....better out than in...lol. Clovis is a cutie pie, happy duckie. Hubby finished his meal first & carried him out for a walk so that his mummy & daddy could eat in peace. When hubby came back, he said his arm numb lol cos clovis is a big baby !! And he is not even one. Takes after his daddy lol. Dessert was tiramisu & they do make a mean one ! Didn't spare on the alcohol. Simon said as good as mine with a hint that he had only tasted mine once lol. ok ok I get the hint lah wah liao.

Lament for the day : dreary mondays !

Thursday 7 June 2007

About a week ago I was on leave to collect ryan's report book. After that met godma & sarah at centrepoint to shop. As we queued at the taxi stand to go home, I spot an ex-colleague Shyam with her 2 sons. We chatted and reminisced.

Then yesterday I receive an email. The name was familiar but it could have been just someone with the same name. Anyway I ask. Lo & behold, it was someone I knew, an ex-colleague Fiona who was together with Shyam & me.

Coincidence or what with meeting 2 ex-colleagues in a span of a week or 2 !

The new gatsby ad is driving me nuts ! I have the tune in my head which is an old song by the stylistics. It keeps going on & on & on in my head "I will give you gatzebeee, gatzebeeeeee, gaztzebeee..." Wah liao !

Had a farewell lunch for a colleague today. Nice ! Till we were interrupted. Oh bleaaaaah !

Okay I have figured something to wear for wedding dinner this Saturday lol. Haven't dressed formal in a while so didn't know if I could fit in my nice evening dresses. Fortunately, yes. Cos Sarah can't wear them which is a pity as they are by Hayden.

Lament for the day : gatzebeee...gatzebeee...gatzebeee

Tuesday 5 June 2007

I thought my tagboard was dead till sweet Lica tagged me lol. Nice to know you pop in occasionally to read my rantings & ravings lica :>

Today was busy...back to back meetings in the morning till 1pm & then the last one at 4pm. The last meeting was satisfying, sorted out some grey areas. Plenty of projects to keep me busy & that is good. Would get bored otherwise.

Popped over to neighbour's for a short visit to tell them we are attending their son's wedding this Saturday. They borrowed some of our chairs for their morning celebrations & we told them to ask us for more chairs if they need. We have nice neighbours !

Argggghhh Nets is charging a higher admin fee. Nets claims that it is how the retailers package their offerings. Helloooooo...if you are making things difficult for retailers then the difficulties are passed on to the consumer becos the retailer will include the increases in their prices. Already gst going to increase & now this. Good that Case is looking into it.

When GST goes up to 7% on 1 July, it would be interesting to see how many errant retailers will take advantage by increasing prices & yet not absorb gst.

CSI time !

Lament for the day : chronic upper back ache !

Monday 4 June 2007

Went to Shashlik for lunch yesterday with godparents, uncle, aunt, hubby & ryan. hehehe sarah missed it. 5 of us bombarded her with text messages. She was out at church lol. The borsch soup is like something awesome ! Not my first time lah, upteenth time already, but they do have the best borsch soup I have tasted. A single portion of soup is quite huge so we usually share the soup, have garlic bread & then the main course. If have whole bowl of soup, no space for main course. Ryan so liked the soup that I gave him half of mine...sigh. Then he had the shashlik beef & I had shashlik lamb which was very very yummy. No bomb alaska cos the pastry chef was off sick :<>

So I tried to talk to sarah just now about what happened. I still have no idea & she doesn't want to say...sigh. Now I will have sleepless night wondering what happened.

Dunno why some people so bladdy rude in their emails. One was sent to a colleague & it was rude. Then an enquiry was sent to me by the same person in a rude tone. Then I heard her complaining when I walked by. LOL. I don't really care.
Office politics & bitching...its all quite normal.

Watched Just Follow Law last evening & was pleasantly surprised to be entertained. Not awed but it was quite funny.

We are now watching Royal Wedding starring Fred Astaire & Jane Powell. Sarah is into this old movies phase. This was released in 1951...even I not born yet lol.

Colleague who unfortunately has just resigned, lent me a couple of books The Good Women of China & China Wakes. I'm loaning her Roots (1977 edition) & Peaceful Warrior. I really want my Pearl S Buck books which I think are lurking in some dark corner of a shelf in my mum's store.

Lament for the day : I wonder what' s bothering her...siiiiiigh.

Friday 1 June 2007

Went to my cousin's baby's first month party yesterday & saw all the family. As some of them had not seen sarah & ryan for a while, they were amazed at how much they had grown. I realised yesterday that though I was not the oldest cousin (3 others above me), our kids were the eldest. Next was 12, 9, 7, 6 & then come the babies. My cousins all married even later than me & had babies later. And we used to think that we should have had the kids earlier.

After we dropped my mum off, we went to vivo. Good grief! It was crowded, parking was a bitch & if it were not for some of the stores which I like, I would never bother to go. The place is huge...I got lost for a bit as I couldn't get my bearings. Had left hubby & kids at the bookstore when I wanted to pop into a store. Not many shoppers...alot more browsers.

The signages when we wanted to have dinner were of little help as they don't describe whether it is a makan place or a retail store. Then those which sounded like food places don't tell you what kind of food. It was really annoying having to walk around & around to find something which we wanted to eat. We eventually settled for carl's junior which does have great burgers. Big portions to share. We went to earle swensen's once before & it was just a glorified version of swensen's. The quality of food did not warrant the prices honestly.

Sarah picked up a couple of items from zara & I didn't cos there were no small sizes for the jackets I liked. Picked up a couple of nice tops from S & M as well as knickers for both sarah & myself. Plus their yummy sinful cookies.

Our pet peeve now is the newspaper delivery man. The two dogs go nuts every morning he delivers the newspapers & hubby found out why. The asshole would start slapping the pile of newspapers on his thigh making noise as he comes by our way at 6plus in the morning. You dun need to slap the newspapers on your thigh. Its obviously deliberate to irk the dogs & get them barking & to amuse himself. One morning after hubby found out, he stood at the window & watched. Guy didn't do the slapping routine when he saw hubby.

Its really annoying to have the dogs bark in the early hours. They never used to with the previous delivery person. It has been months with this one. I will either complain to the company's boss or just switch delivery companies. But before that, hubby intends to take bandit out on a leash & stand outside to wait for the guy. Won't sic bandit on him lah but will probably tell the fucker off.

Yes yes by all means do the job. Its an honest job. But don't be a bastard & irritate the dogs. If he continues after hubby tells him off, we may switch delivery companies or he may have to change profession.

Lament for the day : why do people have to amuse themselves in such an inconsiderate manner.

Tuesday 29 May 2007

wah liao ! Supersized migraine. So I stayed home. It has been reduced to an ache in the neck...not good either.

Finally wrote a letter to my friend Lynn in the UK. Have known her since I was 12 & she 15. We started off as penfriends & have kept it up all these years ! Some 30+ years of friendship. She has been to Singapore 3 times & I went to her wedding in Manchester. She knows our entire family & I know her's. It has been an awesome friendship. But she hasn't quite graduated from letter writing to the computer. She occasionally emails when she gets a chance to go on a comp. But I have been rather remiss in writing. We used to do weekly letters. I have been on email with her but not as frequently.

I wrote her an 8 page letter last night & my fingers were cramped ! I didn't type okaaay...handwritten ! And so she will be pleasantly surprised cos she nags (only a little lah) that she doesn't hear enough from me. And I am guilty so she has a right. Am also sending her a CD of photos. Got a few old ones from her trips here in 1983 & 1986 lol. She will be suprised. Her last visit was sometime in 1997/98. Then I went to UK in 2000 for her wedding in August. Matron of honour some more ! I loved the visit !

Cora is going to retire soon & will go home to the Philippines. She has been with us about 8 years. And we will have to look for a new maid as she will go home October next year as that is when her passport expires. I am so not looking forward to a new maid.

Had an Indonesian maid a few years back when Cora went home for an operation & we didn't know if she wanted to come back. That Indonesian was a slut...got Bangladeshi guys calling her within a week. They would pretend to ask for a different person if one of us picked up the phone when we happened to be home. One day I pretended to be her & had a rude shock ! The guys had been passing the number around. And, her name is Lena, not even pretty ! Tomboy looks. She threatened the kids who were young then that cannot tell mummy & daddy about the uncles she would meet downstairs or she would whack them. She stole, lied, her sister got into a bus accident, died & lived within a month she was with us. Fed the kids bread, biscuits, packet noodles for lunch. Sarah said she didn't clean house only on weekends we were home.

Then we rang Cora who said she sent us a letter which we never received. She wanted to come back to work with us thank goodness. So I sent Lena back to the agent & told the agent everything. Just one month & so much crap. From the grapevine, Cora had also heard all about the stuff Lena got into !! Bladdy bitch ! Good thing we didn't keep her longer or she would start inviting men home & I have kids, plus a girl to boot. I hope Lena never gets to work here. If I ever see her with a new employer, I would have no qualms telling the new employer. Better they know than rudely find out ! Yes break her rice bowl but why not when she she lied, stole, threatened my kids, didn't care for them, had boyfriends. Very glowing testimonial meh ?? Yes yes still heated up when I think back about her. Bitch !

Cora is already in her 50s & so she should rightly retire. We will ask her if she has anyone she would recommend. If not, we will need to take on a new maid. Haven't decided what nationality. If they up the salaries of Filipina maids, we will not be able to afford them. May have to stick to Indon or Sri Lankan.

My mother in law has a fantastic Sri Lankan. We were contemplating having MIL stay with us & we also take over her Sri Lankan maid who is very used to us & loves the kids. The kids too like her much. But MIL may not want to cos she may be happy moving around every two months. But she is getting old & the moving is not too good for her. I know my sisters in law would be happy if she stayed with us permanently lol...hubby said that too.

We could do without a maid & get someone part time to clean house but I dun like the idea of leaving kids at home alone while we are at work. Ah well...we shall see.
I msgd drey a couple of days ago & didn't get a reply. LOLOL. I am finding this all amusing now.

Tomorrow very busy day...8.30am, 10am, 11am, 12.30pm, 3pm & 5pm meetings...sigh. Lucky migraine today !!! Its the monthly hormonal thing lah so I should be better tomorrow. Every few months, I get the supersized migraine, fortunately not monthly.

Lament for the day : the web of deceit is a tangled mess that can eventually be unravelled.

Saturday 26 May 2007

Hah ! earl wins. Well lucky for him then. He made the right move ousting Yau Man cos if Yau got into the finals, Earl would not have won. I still find what dreamz did detestable & deceitful. As for cassandra...haha...hopeless case. No one paid her any heed in the reunion. Forgettable. Dreamz is in his own world...dunno what he is saying. You fucked up & lied means you fucked up & lied. Dun beat around the bush.

The book...is DONE !! It was an awesome read. Sometimes I had to re-read conversations becos of the manner in which it was written; the same way it was spoken in those days.

Hubby out meeting fishing kakis & then off to fishing pond with dyran. I was contemplating going shopping but the thought of the crowd during GSS seems intimidating.

Godson went for a minor op to remove his extra thumb. The op was sooner than expected cos the surgeon had an available slot. He is doing fine. His mummy sent me a pic in his walker, topless like tarzan sucking other hand while operated hand was bandaged. It is good that he gets the op at this age as he will recover faster & I suppose there will be less pain.

Yesterday took half day leave, went to ryan's school to pick up report book & meet with teachers. He did good in his math, eng & science, scoring above average & doing A's for these. He did not get a U grade for Chinese !!!! Which is a good improvement. So form teacher didn't say much about other subjects, just about chinese & how to target for better when PSLE comes. Bought form teacher & chinese teacher Canelle cakes which I hope they enjoyed.
Canelle does awesome cakes. Can't give teachers gifts as they have to declare but perishables are ok so I decided on the cakes & also knowing that they would be busy, may not have time to eat lunch.

Having dinner with godson & his parents tonite. Looking forward to seeing him.

Ahhhhh poor sarah down in the dumps from her blog but she is ok now. Just left for church. Yesterday GPP bought her a bought her a pair of orange pants from M & S lol...what a bright colour but pretty though.

We haven't been stressing her as parents, at least I don't think we have, becos she is sensible & responsible. We trust that she will not get into any messy situations. But we do nag her on keeping up with her studies, spending less time on the comp so that she can sleep early & rest, keeping her room neat... But I dun think its excessive nagging. Most times we allow her out so long as she tells us where & she gets back by curfew. We like that she spends time with church friends, some of whom are alot older & would look out for her. Its sad though that she doesn't get along much with her classmates. Even sadder that normal classes are seen as less capable.

Recently, a mother wrote in ST forum about the elitism attitude of some students in a convent school. She didn't say which & well, it is quite apparent where sarah is at. Though she qualified for express, she decided with our support, to head for normal. Unfortunately the school pays more attention to the express girls. Doesn't this breed elitism ? The normal classes are just left to be & the subjects combination doesn't leave them much room to excel in what they may want to choose to do. For example, sarah would have loved to to Lit but it is not offered for normal classes. Instead forced to do Principle of Accounts. WTF ? I wrote 3 times to the principal...twice on email & one hand-delivered letter to appeal to allow sarah to do Lit. Guess what I got ? ZERO reponse ! This is NOT the convent school that I remember & now I know why must of my ex-classmates chose other schools for their girls. I am totally disillussioned.

Some normal class students may have a bo-chap attitude but there are those who do wish to do well. Ignoring all of them then reduces their chances of doing well. Shouldn't normal classes be given even more attention to be nurtured & encouraged ? But I am delusional. The educational landscape claims equality & nurturing based on capability. I really don't think so. It seeks only to cultivate & develop the cream of the crop. Nevermind those who are in normal or even technical, let them grope & wing it on their own. Screw up then too bad lor. Who ask them to be in normal or technical. Well helloooo...DUH how the hell did the different castes system of education system come about ? Immaculate misconception.

Lament for the day : I think I shall write the principal again...