Back was bad today so went for massage during lunch. Told my masseuse to give me a more relaxing massage which he obliged. I usually have a massage where the pressure is pretty intense as I like my tight muscles worked on. But not today. A more relaxed massage yet working on my problem spots. Not the gentle swedish massage...that type no shiok. Anyway, feel better some. Must drink plenty of water to flush the toxins. When he hit the spots at the kidney...wah lau, can cry man. And also the nodes at the butt. I think they are called nodes unless butt cheeks got muscles ??

I can't believe Idol. What the fark ?? I was right. What Sanjaya did got him more votes...sigh. DUH ! Singing competition leh, what the hell happened ?? Every season also liddat yet I still watch lol. Sucker. But I know I am not the only one...got loads of frenz & colleagues who are suckers too lol. Makes it fun to rant & bitch together. And mostly we share the same opinion so we cannot be dumb & deaf.

Have been doing some research to work on a presentation. Very wide scope of research so was pretty brain dead by the end of the day trying to write & piece it together. But its interesting as you learn something new. Cannot say what project is as has not been announced to press. Heh !

The flesh eating parasite is pretty scary. My godparents told me about a friend who encountered this when in HK. Don't think this incident was ever publicised. Pays to be cautious with any bite & react immediately to the symptoms as you never know.

Was watching a docu on Phantom of the Opera a few days ago. People of certain vintage will remember the actor who was cast as the Phantom in the stage production in 1986, Michael Crawford. He was a skinny comic actor on a British sitcom, Some Mothers Do Have 'Em & played the role of Frank Spencer. Some years ago when I found out he was the original Phantom, I was amazed cos in the sitcom, he had a nasally voice, was blur, wimpy & nerdy lol.

Anyway, he had fantastic reviews when the show opened in London & subsequently also in Broadway. The docu interviewed some other stars & people in the industry & they were all there to "see Frank Spencer" & to see if he could sing lol. They were highly impressed. He won a number of awards for that role both in the UK & the States. He was 44 when he first played the role of Phantom & retired from that role when he was 47. That is pretty awesome.

Sarah Brightman didn't fare so well with the press. She was apparently to them, not pretty enough & did not have a fantastic voice. We all know how she got the role...she was married to Andrew Lloyd Webber at that time. And he wrote this for her. I am not too fond of her voice in the role as Christine. A bit too operatic. It should have a less shrill quality. But heck, what do I know. Apparently, there was one occasion that Brightman was not well & her understudy played the role. Understudy was good & then the very next night Brightman was back on stage. That's what the docu said lah.

The girl...forget her name, only remember Gerard Butler lol...who played the role of Christine in the 2004 film version wasn't fantastic either. I understand she was 17 or 18. Anyway, very pretty & nice voice but acting one dimensional. That's my take lah.

My first experience with opera was Aida. I must say I was quite taken in. But I had to swivel my head from stage to screen for the translation. Still a good show.

Les Miserable was very good too. Joseph & the Amazing Techicolour Dreamcoat was very entertaining. Most recently watched Notre Dame. It was okay. We picked up the CD of music. Sarah commented that the singers sound exactly the same as they did on stage. Surely the singing on stage is live ??? This was at the indoor stadium. There was no orchestra pit. At least I didn't see one ?? The attendance was not too fantastic also. We were invited to move nearer at there were a good number of seats unoccupied.

You know, the most expensive seats to a concert or show may be closer but doesn't look the most comfy. First got to tilt head up towards the stage & the seats are just normal plastic or banquet chairs. Dunno...I never paid for such expensive seats.

Our last concert was tooooo long ago. It was the Eagles...fantastic ! Of course saw some friends at the concert lah cos same age group lol. Same like at Bread concert lol.

Ryan still has fever coming & going but at least its not high. Still on his meds & tried to suan me about not going to school tomorrow. Not a heartless mum lah but he was eating very well today & didn't seem lethargic. In anycase, he will get good rest this weekend.

Lament for the day : will Jesus Christ Superstar ever play here ?

Not much today. Spent the morning in JB for work & was back by lunch.

Ryan went to the doc & is off sick from school tomorrow also. Messaged his form teacher to let him know & then had his Chinese teacher messaging me as well. Good people. Good teachers. And caring. Ryan is better today but will still need to rest to recover completely.

Didn't get an answer to my letter which I sent to the Ministry. May not get one. It doesn't matter, situation hasn't changed except Ryan is getting tuition from someone who isn't out to make a fast buck. Plus the CL teacher at school is working with him after school.

Watched Idol on Star World of course. Had a good laugh over Sanjaya. He was different, not so boring. A little bit more entertaining. But still, cannot make it. Methinks someone else may be booted instead of him. I'd like Lakisha & Melinda to make it to top 2. The latter just gets better & better.

Haven't heard from Matt in a bit. Think he is still out of town. He told me when he would be back but as usual, I forget. The age thing lah. The remember is not so good as one gets older.

Anth is fine. Messaged her yesterday to check if she was okay. Told me she made her decision. Glad for her. She needs a break. Go on a holiday & do nothing. I wouldn't mind going with her lol.

Heroes is a pretty good series. Dunno abour Fashion House. The trailers don't tickle my fancy. Heard good things about 300. Will watch with hubby. Actually I wanna watch it for Gerard Butler lol. I hear he is barebodied most of the movie :p

Also excited about next Harry Potter book. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. Kids not so excited but its okay cos I will get to read it first. Its amazing how JK Rowlings gets her ideas.

A bit tired. Brain dead. May be flu bug catching up to me. May be cos of the early morning I had. But most likely cos I am an old fart. So time out before I babble & blubber.

Lament for the day : Can't think of one.

ahhhhhh Ryan has caught the bug from Sarah. Now nursing a fever of some 38 deg C. I knew that was going to happen. Wonder if my aching muscles are a sign that I'm catching the bug too...sigh.

I kept mulling over what I posted yesterday. Why was there a need to impress. I still don't get it. I tried to delve a little deeper, thinking through all that had transpired & tales told. And I still haven't figured out the reason why. I offered an opportunity to clear the air but that didn't happen. Perhaps I am reading too much into it & becoming too suspicious. So no more pondering. Not worth getting a headache over.

Interesting debate going on TV. I tend to agree that the system breeds elitism. There must be a reason why everyone rushes to sign their kids into the "better" schools. If not alma mater then have to volunteer or pray that the school got no balloting.

As for the specialised schools like the arts school or sports school. You would have to be extremely talented in the field to be able to get in. There are pre-requisites I am sure. That is already the beginnings of breeding elitism. I'm not saying that its bad. Its all good because you have a specialised school to nurture the talents which cannot be done in mainstream schools.

But for some reason, its the tone & manner in which its expressed. Like "Oh my daughter is in the Sports School" or "Oh I am in the Arts School". Its the tone thing. Ohhhh I am guilty of that too cos I am proud that my kids are in the schools that they are in. Their schools not the "best" lah (if you can define best) but the more established ones. Plus my alma mater so definitely top of my list no matter what people may say. Bleah !

Tomorrow I'm off to JB for a morning event & back to the office after. Have to meet my colleagues in the office at 7.30am & then drive there...yawn ! So that means early to bed because old people need the beauty sleep & the bed rest lol.

Sarah didn't bowl today. As I posted before, she had an injury which prevented her from attending full training. So it was only fair that the reserve take her place. But she was there to support. She said her coach & a teacher-in-charge said sorry but she doesn't think any apology was necessary cos she wasn't in good form. She just wants the school to do well. Besides there are other tournaments & next year. Very excellent attitude if I may say so. Must be my genes LOL.

Sarah was doing research in euthanasia & popped in to tell me that there is a euthanasia church. I googled. Its commandment "Thou shall not procreate". And its 4 pillars : suicide, cannibalism, sodomy & abortion. I didn't go beyond that front page of the website as it disgusted me. WTF ????? Should never be allowed on the www. I seriously think that there must be some international laws on what goes on the www & an organisation to police it.

The dictionary defines euthanasia as Mercy Killing ; "the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing to die, as by withholding extreme medical measures, a person or animal suffering from an incurable, esp. a painful, disease or condition".

So go figure.

Lament for the day : There are some really weird things going on in the big wild world. And I don't mean a mass orgy.

Sarah stayed home from school as she was really ill. Her temp was almost 39 deg c. Mum in law was also under the weather & had not gone to church yesterday which is very unusual for her. I decided to take leave today just to ensure that Sarah's temp didn't skyrocket & also I needed to visit the dentist. She is on the mend, thankfully. No doctor visit this time. Just off the shelf flu panadol, lots of gargling with salt, warm honey lemon & the remnants of the antibiotics from the bee sting.

Dental visits used to scare me till I was in my 20s. Yes, that bladdy long ! I remember vividly till today...I was a child & there was this huge dentist, wearing glasses, dressed in white. He was holding this syringe with a needle as thick as friggin pencil lead !! And it hurt like hell when he used it on me.

I remember screaming in pain & fear. Dunno pain more or fear more. I think I might have been hysterical ?? I remember being held down by the dental assistant or my mum or someone, who knows. And I remember how the dentist was looming above me twisting & turning with something that looked like pliers from dad's toolbox. I sumpah, he had this crazed gleeful look on his face. Maaaaan !

For years I refused to step into a dental clinic. Who can blame me. I mean, I was a CHILD for pity's sake & kena such a monster. Imagine...I am still small (I like the word "petite") so can you imagine how much smaller I was at 6 or 7 ??? Sure terrorised what. Worst still, the dentist didn't try to be kind by talking to me softly & gently to alleviate my fears before he did his work. He just plunged right in. Jab, jab, twist, pull, twist, pull, twist, pull. Wah liau ! No foreplay lol. Like some horror movie -- The Demented Dentist. I think I am not alone in my tale of terror. If I am then I would be really depressed :<

I had no choice but to visit the dentist years later when I had a toothache. I was amaaaaaaaaazed at how thin the needle was. Could barely feel it. And everything was a breeze. Since then I faithfully go for my checks annually. Even bravely endured a few weeks of root canal. Damned good if I may say so myself. BUT, somewhere deep down still got some niggling fear lah. So I go to the same dentist. And he was very good with our kids when they were young. The first time Sarah went, he spent half an hour hahahaha or more coaxing her. It was only to pull out one milk tooth. His wife assists him & she too was very patient.

For someone who didn't have any epidural or painkillers through two births, quite funny to think that I was scared of dentists for so long & still harbour abit of that fear. heh.

Its quite a blow to find out that your friend isn't what it makes itself out to be. The untruths revealed. Not dogged sleuthing. Just accidental discovery, being at the right place at the wrong time. Or the wrong place at the right time. Whatever. Busted !

Makes you wonder what else has been intricately spun & woven to create a lavish fairytale. And worse, what exaggerations may have been regaled that have caused unhappiness & misunderstandings. And all the tales told, one upon another, pile up till it forgets what might have been said & done. And when that happens, doubts begin to simmer & boil. Till soon, erupts like Mt Vesuvius !

More disappointment & disapproval than anger at this point. No use for the latter cos not worth the effort.

If your friends need to be impressed by you just to be your friend, then they ain't no friend. With true friends, you can just BE.

Lament for the day : ice balls aren't what they used to be.

Interesting article today about the Lim inheritance & the search for the aunts. Did I read right that the inhertance was in excess of S$100 million ??? I can imagine the fraudsters that would come a knocking. So if no relatives are found & the money goes to the state, what does the state do with the money ? As its not rightfully theirs, maybe the money should be put aside and distributed annually amongst charities.

So my bro in law may be getting married. Good for him cos I think he is a very nice guy & I like his girlfriend. One relative said to me "Awwww you won't be the only daughter in law anymore". I honestly don't mind. Being the only daughter-in-law hasn't made me feel special nor have I been treated special. Neither have I been pressurized. Its been good & I get along well with my in-laws. My sisters-in-law are closer to each other which is expected as they are sisters. It just would be nice to have another sister-in-law who is a daughter-in-law like me.

Speaking of in-laws, I forgot to mention that mum-in-law is with us for these 2 months. Easter Sunday will entail a party at our place for the family as she is here. I better start thinking of the menu. Something different from the usual mee siam or laksa or curry chicken. Chialat !!

Sarah has been susceptible to the flu alot lately. She woke up this morning with a sore throat, cold & cough. Now she has a fever. First the injury to leg, the bee sting & now the flu. And tomorrow is back to school to boot. She's been downing warm honey lemon & gargling with salt water. The latter, I swear, really works well for sore throat. The antibiotics she is taking for the bee sting should help & we've given her some panadol flu tablets. And she ought to drink more water which she doesn't.

I realised I have not talked about my godson. I've been made grand-aunt 3 times over but never been a godma. So it was a big BIG thrill for me when hubby & I were made godparents to our good friends' son. He is such a cutie pie with a wonderful disposition. Smiley all the time except when hungry & wanting to be carried.

And Sarah -----> its not hornet's nest. Its a wasp nest & it wasn't huge lah. About 4 inches long lah. But there were pupae & a worm....very very icky.


Lament for the day : I wonder if I could be related to those millions...........

WaspUp

Uggghhhhh! This morning as we were leaving to send Sarah to training session, a wasp flew in through the dining room window & settled on the window grill. So I told hubby to get rid of it. He said leave it. Till he saw it was building a nest. So I panic lah.

We got back into the house, hubby got hold of insect repellant spray & zapped the bugger. He zapped the nest too. It flew off, flew back in. Zap again. Flew off, flew in. Then it decided to fly into the living room, so I was hopping around trying to avoid the darn thing while hubby was zapping it. I think it eventually got woozy & dropped dead somewhere at the carpark. I hope.

Weird that the wasp came in just after Sarah got stung by a bee at camp. Anyway, my fear was any allergic reactions if any one of us got stung.

Ryan's ipod is a goner. He had it in his pocket & while going upstairs, slipped & fell. Ryan is fine but weight was on on the side with the ipod in the pocket. The inner screen was cracked & it didn't work. Screen black. Took it to Cineleisure ipod shop & was told that they don't do repairs, just one for one replacements if it was still under guarantee. Which it no longer was. Goner for sure. Ahhhh I almost forgot...when hubby approached a counter to ask about repairs for ipods, the woman told him with a smile..."please go to recession". LOL.

Had makan at NYDC at Heeren after Ryan picked up a couple of CDs. Nice place to watch the world go by. Some skincare product had a marquee out there & some promoter girls & boys were trying to get people to go into the marquees to test or buy or whatever. We were observing that the promoter boys & girls (in their late teens or early 20s) were mostly hanging around & talking to themselves. Didn't seem to be making much effort unless there was accidental eye contact with passers-by.

Sarah won't get to play in the tournament that is starting next week. She had injuries on her left leg & had missed some training sessions. Her coaches felt it was best not to have her play so soon incase the injury recurred. She was limping a tad. So her reserve is playing instead. Sarah says she is fine with it. Maybe she is a teeny bit disappointed but she knows the reasons make complete sense. And she is happy that Mags gets to play. We too think its best that she sits out at this point as she has just recovered from the injury. Best not to aggravate & let it fully recover. She sent her head coach an sms to reassure him that she is fine with the decision as she wants the team to do well. I didn't have anything to do with the sms but read it later. And I like what I read. Good girl !

Went with hubby to a fishing pond with friends & nephew. Nephew's wife was there too & it was nice just to sit & catch up as last we had seen her was in January. She has 3 kids who were with grandparents for the day so it was nice for her to get away for a bit. Before we went, I had an important question for hubby : got toilet or not. He said got, even got sofa & can bring family & do bbq. When we got there, no can do lah. Got clean toilet but fishing area was hot, too many mosquitoes, not conducive for kids, no space for bbq & best of all...the "sofa" was a single old armchair. LOL. Apparently nephew also told his wife that there was a sofa...men lol.

Hubby didn't get a single bite for the 2 hours. I am convinced I am the jinx for him. Bought him a fishing reel many years ago & he never caught a thing with that reel. Eventually, hubby gave me ten bucks like he was buying the reel from me. The very next time he took it out,, he caught a fish. Sigh...what to say ???!! So I must be the jinx lor as it was the first time I was at fishing pond with him. Probably the last time he will ask me to go lol. And he will never ever invite me to the deep sea trips I am sure LOL. Fine by me. Rather go shopping, do hair, have massage or laze at home than be seasick.

Kids are at their piano teacher's place for dinner. Teacher does this ever so often for her students. She is really good with kids. Very patient & teaches them well. Coincidentally, she taught my cousin years ago. But we didn't know that when she first started teaching our kids.

Dinner was The Prata House at Thomson with the fishing gang. Guy who cleared the table for us, took our orders & served us was impressive. Not only do work very fast but got good PR skills somemore. Never met a friendlier prata man ! Must have attended GEMs programme !

Lament for the day : men don't know the difference between a sofa & armchair.

TGIF

It was a goooooood Friday cos I met with Eve. It was really super to see her again after all these years. When I hugged her, I felt soppy. Almost wanted to tear. Loads to catch up on; spouses, kids, ex-boyfriends, old friends, who from school we've seen, who we wondered about. Brought back many many memories.


Yeah we look the same except that the faces are a little more lined & there's gray hair which we have cleverly got covered. Actually I thought Eve looked pretty good. Doesn't seem to have put on an ounce ! I on the other hand...


We reminisced about the old days. What we could remember hahah. I mean as one grows older the memory gets shot lol. But I think we did very well with some of the names & incidents.


There was a girl in school who was on the badminton team with us, one year our junior. She spent alot of time with us after school playing badminton & squash. We were badminton & squash mad. And we were pretty good too. Really. Anyway, Jeannie was her name & we, especially me, wondered what happened to her.


Then there are friends from out of school. The boys we used to hang out with. Probably pot bellied old farts now lol. The house parties which we used to go to & the days when we could dance the night away, literally. In those days, we didn't go to discos cos we couldn't afford it & I reckon there weren't that many anyway. Only the Sin Po Po Bar type. So house parties were the in thing. DJs were friends or friend's friend & it was cassette tapes (what is cassette tapes hah our kids will ask !??!), disco lights were a few people with torchlights covered with coloured cellophane paper waving them around.


hahaha no lah, that last bit is a fib. Disco light was one solitary revolving light. If we were lucky got the silver ball ball thing. Of course there was the mandatory slow music lah. The disco lights would be turned off for effect hahah. But mostly Eve & I would go grab a drink & cool off & chat. If we liked a guy, we would oblige with a slow dance.

I don't remember booze in those days. We never did booze or smoke anyway when we were teenagers & were still in school. And our parties were drug-free (bring back those old days maaan!). Music of course was disco lah. They still play songs from our time you know. I love the music of that period. And also that of my parents era.


I knew my hubby when I was about 17 so Eve knows him too as we used to hang out together. He would remember some of the house parties. I wasn't dating him then though he claims (and still does) that he had eyes for no one else. Anyway hubby & I got together as a couple in our mid 20s. Then we go "apply HDB flat" hahaha. I digress.


The most happening in those days at Orchard Road was MacDonald's. We would meet friends at MacDonald's which was at Liat Towers. Think it opened in 1979. Kids who hung out there were called the "MacDonald Kids". Lucky Plaza wasn't little Philippines then & it was still the old Tang's. The old Plaza Singapura was also another hotspot to meet back then.


We would eat at the National Library food corner, have Red House chicken pie, go to Magnolia Snack Bar, have Waterloo Street indian rojak, mee siam & bandung and the coffeeshops along Victoria Street. There was the library bus stop, Yamaha bus stop, Bata bus stop, the bookstores in the old shophouses along Bras Basah Road, the old Rendezvous. Climb up all the way to Fort Canning for squash. Go for badminton training at the telecoms centre along Bukit Timah Road...dunno why we travelled so far. Go to East Coast beach on weekends. It wasn't so crowded then.


In those days got no MRT. Have to tar bus. Bus no aircond somemore. Kena surrounded by other sweaty schoolkids was terok. Kena the sweaty army boys was lagi terok. Bus drivers were like rally drivers. With our schoolbags & racquets we would sway, totter & just about fall over. Some unlucky person would occasionally get poked by our racquets.


Then if you were really unlucky you would kena one cheeko man on a crowded bus. He would pretend to be so squished & move closer & closer to you if you were sitting on the seat along the aisle. Such cheekos would pick on innocent schoolgirls. He would then rub his crotch on your shoulder. I kid you not. Anyway, I kena before. But I was stupid in those days, didn't know how to react & just kept moving nearer & nearer the person seated next to me. Think the lady seated next to me got the picture & glared at cheeko till he moved away. Dunno where the bus conductor was at that time.


These days the girls are more 'garang'. Sarah told me about an incident with one of her classmates while they were out at J8 or somewhere like that. Her classmate turned around & yelled at the guy. Embarrassed him infront of a crowd. I say WELL DONE GIRL ! Pity she didn't kick him there.


That wasn't my only incident. I was at the bus stop after ECA (ECA=Extra Curricular Activities, equivalent to CCA today). A well dressed Indian man with glasses was one of the few people at the bus-stand. Neat, long sleeved white shirt & dark pants. Seemed so decent. He carried a black file which he held infront of him. Stood near me & angled the file, then kept looking down & then back at me. Looking down & back at me. I was stupid still. So I looked down. I saw his pants unzipped & penis hanging out. Fortunately for me my bus came at that point. I couldn't scramble fast enough on it. Told all my school friends to watch out for this character at that bus stop next time. You know, with all the showing he might have done, I hope his thingy got caught in the zipper a few times at least. Or hopefully he had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a Lorena Bobbit (google if you dunno who she is).


Sarah's bee stung leg is recovering with the doc's meds & cream. It was best to see the doc incase it wasn't a bee & some other weird insect. Would have been funny if she were stung on the lips...bee stung lips hahaha. Sheesh, that was lame. Well at least she is not in pain & itching at the same time now.


Laments for the day : Why is Sanjaya still in ? And why is Survivor not on tonite ?

Iduh !!

Arrrrggghhh Sanjaya is still in ! Dunno what else to say except wah piang !

Sarah came home from camp with a bee sting on her leg. Its swollen & painful. Hopefully it isn't a serious bite from some other insect. Hard to tell but she did pull the stinger out. She's a happy cookie since we had the talk last night. But happiness shortlived cos she has that bite & swelling. Pooooor baby.

Hopefully son is making progress now with Chinese tuition. Too soon to tell but I have my fingers, eyes, toes, legs crossed.

Why do people procrastinate ? Honestly, get the job over & done with & its off the "to do" list. Then can move on to do other things. Here's my beef...

We a had a team that took part in a tourney & received rewards. Captain was handed the rewards to distribute as is fitting since that's what captains do. Decide how it should be distributed, make suggestions on how it may be used etc etc.

Anyway, it wasn't done immediately. Infact, members weren't informed of the rewards. Not everyone was aware that we received rewards.

After a couple of weeks one of the team members who knew, called me to enquire what happened. So as vice-captain I wrote a group email explaining how the rewards came about & requested the captain to let us know how would the rewards be distributed. Got a response from captain on when to meet to collect as he was going to be at this place for a game at such a time.

Obviously not everyone free to travel there. Which is expected. So 6 outta 10 didn't get their rewards. The 4 who did were the captain himself & the other 3 who were there for a game. I was one of the 4 as hubby was there for a game as well & picked it up for me.

After that last arrangement, for weeks the captain didn't contact the rest. Well, I didn't know at that time. CNY came & went. And we are now into March (the rewards came end January). Then one of the members tells me that he still didn't get his rewards. Sigh. So I send an email this week to remind & offered to take over the task. Which received a response.

Captain emails sorry he was hospitalised for the last 3 days. We are all sympathetic. And he says he will do it & asked members for their account numbers so that he could make the transfers. So all was hunky dory.

So I thought.

Today I get an email from the captain asking for MY account number (I received my rewards already) so that the rewards can be sent to me & distributed. In other words ask me to do lah.

This pissed me off royally. Off went an email response. Few points :-

1) The issue is not the 3 days of hospitalisation. More than a month as passed for this to be done.

2) Plenty of time to contact the members. 10 members only, not 100. And to boot, 10 minus 4 leaves only 6.

3) Cannot say dunno how to contact members as captain & vice captain has everyone's mobile numbers. Plus we have a group email.

4) At the very start, if don't want to do or got no time then say so. I would have done it as vice-captain.

5) Why only respond when I send emails to query.

6) Should have accepted my offer made in my second email. Instead, didn't & say will do.

7) Must have realised damned lecheh, so conveniently send me email to do. It wasn't even phrased a request to assist.

I refused. Just because I did my job as a vice-captain while we were active doesn't make me a sucker all the time & a girl Friday. I did it then for the team. Heck, I have my own assistant at work but I don't take her for granted. Made my point & told captain to deal with it himself. My offer to take over is off the table as it was not taken up in the first place.

Captain sends apology email. Too late in my reckoning. And I'm not the one to apologise to. Its the other members.

Its not the money issue. Its not a large amount at all. Cannot run away & buy house in JB or Thailand. Maybe (not sure) can buy budget ticket to Bankgok plus a few dollars left over. That's how unsubstantial the amount. So to set the record straight, we are not making accusations of that nature.

It just all boils down to plain old responsibility. There is no rocket science involved in the division of the rewards by the way. Not getting such a little task done in so many weeks means it ain't priority & procrastination. But when it involves other people, it should be priority.

So that's my issue today. I am such a grumpy old sod.

On to happy stuff. Hubby signed up for Mio last evening. Along with it comes a promo to buy a mobile phone at a good price. After I traded in my N70, I paid just $28 for a newer model. Too coooool ! I would have been a stupid cow not to jump on it anyway.

Time out & tomorrow...TGIF ! Plus I get to meet Eve tmr. Now that thought perks me up quite a bit !

Idle Night

So its Wednesday. American Idol day. Which is on right now. Beats watching The Dance Floor. The Dance Floor got more viewership than the American dance show So You Think You Can Dance. That's really quite amazing. But the American show got an early time slot if I remember right. Folks weren't home from work yet or were at the dinner table. I thought that show was pretty good when I did manage to catch it. The dancers were sensational.

Hubby is not home tonight, at work, on duty. He was supposed to have gotten together with some old army kakis for makan & drinking session. Too bad he couldn't make it as I know he so wanted to meet up with old buddies.

Now in their 40s, the boys (yes they will always be boys to the wives & girlfriends) keep in touch & meet up. A riotious party erupts whenever they get together & invariably, tales will be related of their stint in the army, their exploits and adventures.

The wives and girlfriends who were often included in the gatherings would roll our eyes & lament, “here we go again” & then whisper the punchlines to each other. We have, afterall, been married to them for many years and we are very familiar with a good many of the tales told. Some unprintable lolol.

But you know, all this points to the remarkable camaraderie and friendships developed and nurtured for some 30 years.

The army today is alittle different than from their time. Their experiences in the army and from each other have made them sturdy, honest, down to earth, constant. And of course they all have a wicked wicked sense of humour. And when they are together, you can skip watching sitcoms.

I must mention the most colourful character of the group is like Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up. His antics continue to this day. His bare butt adorned in just a g-string will forever be etched in our minds. And let me tell you, it’s a 40-something year old butt, not a 14 year old one that we saw ! He is hilariously funny. Something spawned from a Robin Williams & Borat consummation.

Sanjaya performed Ain't No Mountain High Enough. And it was utterly boring ! Truly, Sundance should not have been booted. Sanjaya is very cute but undeserving to be in the top 10. Voters still dun get that its a singing contest. Arggggghhhhh! Melinda & Lakisha...AWESOME !

I just had an open one-on-one girl-to-girl talk with my daughter. It was very very sweet. I am enjoying this relationship very much as I never had this openness and sharing with my mum. It was a different generation.

Tuesday's This & That

It was terrific to meet Anth after such an age. Food was forgotten with all the catching up & I mean reaaaally catching up. Much has transpired in these couple of years. Somewhat shocked to hear the news, was totally unexpected. Its heart rending to see a lovely friend in such a dilema. Contrary to when the last we met, it was in a state of near euphoria. Felt a little bit useless to be just listening. Tried to be comforting & offered my thoughts. At the end of the day, I know she will know what to do as she is a her own woman. Strong, courageous & sensible.

Booked a date with Eve, makan session on Friday. Sooo looking forward. I wondered to hubby if I would be able to recognise Eve & vice versa. He says she looks almost exactly the same, except for a few gray hairs hahaha. Eve...when you read this, thump him when you next see him. Be consoled that I have more than a few gray hairs. But I got it all covered...literally.

Last week I went for a lunchtime massage session at my regular haunt near the office. Whilst waiting for the room to be ready for my session, a man (late 40s) popped in for reflexology. Regular customer from the sounds of it. A couple of minutes later, a lady follows him in. Young (early 20s), dressed up, made up. I don't mean to be prejudiced lah but I figured her for a "China girl". And when she spoke, I was right. Dunno why lah but sometimes you can just spot them.

Anyway, he gets a call & its his kid. He says to kid that mummy is in the office & to call her there as she was not with him. I was NOT eavesdropping. The reflexology is in the common central area maah. Plus the place not very big. Even in the massage room later I could hear them.

So I don't get it. When there is all this adverse open talk and experiences about what China women are all about. Why do men still fall for it ? Hubby says when you ask the men, they will say "no lah, she is not that type".

And how do the girls do it ? The twisting of the men round their little finger ? Quite skillful leh I must say. Wives have such a hard time just trying to get hubbies to pick up their pants & drop them into the laundry basket.

They aren't exactly demure nor do they have the best of manners, plus got agenda. I guess it all comes down to the fact that they are pretty (most of them anyway), have tight butts, perky breasts & of course, offer bedtime frolics.

When you think about it...the girls get pocket money lah, shopping money lah, pretty jewellery lah, driven around lah , some even have a paid for place to stay lah. At the end of day all this is payment for sexual favours. I am convinced, must be sex & to parade around with a pretty, young China girl on the arm so that peers will be jealous. Can't be the intelligent conversations.

I have absolutely no doubt that not all women from China are that type. I have met some who are genuine about their reasons to be here. Unfortunately the errant ones out number the good, thus the stereotyping.

There were some ladies from China (late teens to early 20s) who attended English classes at a school near my office. There were loud conversations in the ladies room, the cars who swung by to get them & men who picked them up. Even a teacher reluctantly admitted to me that they had other agendas as they were not in the least interested in the classes. The school isn't there anymore.

Speaking of manners earlier, I had one occasion where two of these "students" jumped queue for a taxi. My Mandarin is not the best lah but I managed to say they are rude & they saw me waving down a cab so they shouldn't grab my cab. From the looks on their faces, I think my Mandarin sounded Greek. So much for my fervour in expressing my unhappiness.

The ladies loo is also another story. Its much cleaner now since the "students" departure. I used bemoan to my colleagues "dress so nice but dunno basic toilet manners". Stuff that we have seen there is truly, truly horrific.

'Nuff said.