Went to orchard to watch Wild Hogs. Only front row left arrrghhhh. When I checked online a couple of hours earlier, there were a good number of seats left. Sigh. Its Saturday, I forget. So we walked around for a bit instead & browsed in the apple shop. Headed to Plaza Sing but carpark full so we went to Beach Road as hubby wanted to get some fishing stuff & pick up reel he sent for servicing.

Walked around the Arab street area & there are some nice funky shops. Went into one store that sells collectibles & antiques. Saw these little square boxes of face powder. I have not seen these in soooo long ! My grandma used them. I am told that some people still use them. I was also told by the store assistant that I could use this to clean silver jewellery. Errr so why would I put it on my face hah ?? lol

Anyway I was so tickled to find these that I bought 2 to put in my display case & one to see if it really cleans my silver jewellery lol. I also saw two pairs of miniature char kiaks & asked how much. "Sorry, not for sale". bleaaaah ! I would so like the mini char kiaks.

One shop had chapteks which brought back memories. In another shop, we saw some nice floormats. I don't know what the material is called but its those brown bristly type & there are some cute phrases on it. BUT ! $69 each. How to use as floor mat outside the door ?? Some stores' items are quite pricey as there are alot of tourists in the area. I saw a number of nice things I wanted but so pricey....sigh. There was this old wall clock, but very ex leh ! Ah well, nevermind, got my powder lol.

Picked ryan from cath class & then popped over to Changi Village to the fishing tackle shop. Sarah was out for dinner with friends. Then headed to Kembangan to meet Carol, Dyran & kids for dinner. The kids are really soooo adorable & little Tasha, now 4 months old is such a pretty little thing. And so sweet & amiable too. I had nasi lemak but the rice got no kick. Not fragrant & not lemak enough. Went over to their house for a bit to chat, then picked sarah from J8 & home.

After his shower, ryan crashed. Asked him why he was going to bed so early. He says tired from running around & playing with Jarrod & Trisha lol. He was the perfect kor kor today, played with the kids & very patient. On some days, he is like "aaarrrghhh can you ask Jarrod to stop following me" lolol. Jarrod loves his kor kor ryan.

Lament for the day : they don't make chapteks like they used to.

lol my dog is greedy, so intent on the lollipop. Actually he gets fixated on certain things. For example, Sarah has soft toys on her bed which he can easily get hold of but he doesn't. Until one of us picks a toy up & he wants it. Put it out of reach & he can sit there for the longest time. Better attention span than the kids lolol.

I dun geddit. Why are the pics taken with my E65 so blur ? The N70 seems to take better pics & both same, 2 megapixels. Above pic was taken with E65 & pic on left with the N70. Th husky photo in one of the previous posts was with the N70.

Was browsing the stomp site. There was a pic of a lady eating a pack of durians on the bus. Can't imagine why no one told her to stop especially the driver. Smell is dead giveaway esp in aircond environment. Another pic of an uncle on the mrt, bags on seats & wet umbrella opened on the floor to dry. Worst is the playground pic where a family hangs their clothes out to dry on the monkey bars. I would throw the baju away. Its a public place not their personal backyard. Idiots !

Lament for the day : dieeee...next week will be horribly busy & only got 2 of us.

I was right about Chris & Phil. I have no idea what is happening on Prison Break II. Missed a number of episodes.

Verrrry busy at work..........

hah ! Sarah forgot piano lessons today so teacher sat & had something to eat with us while waiting to go to her next lesson across the road.

The phuket trip is off. Hubby not able to go cos of busy work schedule. Looking at mine now, same lor.

The irritating ringtone thngy I lamented about last evening is still happening. My assistant who is malay says she can sing the chinese song by heart lol.

Must remember first wednesday of the month at supermarket is no plastic bag day lol. Friend went to buy munchies & pad then realised no plastic bag lol, had to pay for it.

My friend Hayden sent me email of his new collection. Very nice ! If anyone is reading this lolol, see links.

Lament for the day : I wonder if anyone apart from family reads this blog ??

Busy time of the year. And it will be even busier next week as I have to tear down an existing exhibition & put up the new one. Its always fun doing this but loads of work.

Then there is this 'big' project which is to be announced as well as our other local projects. Plenty of press stuff to do.

Kiddos' exams have started. Sarah had a dream that she failed her English & woke up crying. Told her not possible lah.

Melinda is really good but she has to stop looking surprised leh. Its getting old. Or is it just her facial expression that is like dat ??? Enjoyed Lakisha & Blake's performances. Jordin not so good tonite. Even if she is booted off, dun matter cos probably already has a contract. My vote to go is Chris & Phil.

Scanned a photo of Sherlyn, Victor & me somewhere in Europe. Emailed it off to Sherlyn. Lol plus one of Dilip.

Lament for the day : In the office, someone has a chinese song for mobile ringtone. Loud, irritating & it keeps ringing....sigh.

Roots by Alex Haley. I have been searching for this book. My bro can't find it in the labyrinth of mum's store. Searched national library. Very few copies & not available. Tried ebay even & hit a US$392 first edition hardcover. Errrr no leh, I just want to read & keep an ordinary copy. Can't afford the collectible. Aiyo...may have to order. Have asked uncle if he could help us buy the dvd of the series. This is something worth reading & watching again.

Had lunch at toa payoh & saw this sign at the coffeeshop lol. We were having our favourite rojak. The engrish not so right leh lol.

Took a walk around & got the screen protectors for ryan's mobile phone & mine too. This place is really busy. Soooo many people out & about.

Picked up some kueh kueh for tea. Ondeh ondeh...yum...the type with the moist gula melaka that squirts out when you take a bite. And this pink & lime green kueh-kueh that is dipped in orange coloured sugar. Can't remember what the sugar & the kueh are called in chinese. I remember when I was young & staying at my late grandpa's (mum's dad) house in tiong bahru, a hawker with his pushcart would come by our street everyday selling these. He had a steamer on his cart so the kuehs were steaming hot & ohhhhh so soft. These are mini ones that I bought & actually feels a little stiff. They don't make 'em like they used to.

I also remember the Indian man balancing a big basket on his head who would also come by the street. Putumayam...steamed rice cake made to look like flattened beehoon. Dip that in the oranged coloured sugar & shredded coconut.

Kueh pie tee is best nonya style. Not those that you get at the coffeshops. No standard ! My late grandma (dad's mum) made super shiok pie tee, popiah & mee siam. Pie tee shells homemade somemore. Every CNY openhouse & everyone would look forward to makaning her pie tee, popiah & mee siam. Beeeeeeeeeest ! My mudder can make good popiah but seldom get to eat leh. Her pound cake also supposedly best. But I dun remember leh.

Errr, anyway, I like my carrot cake in the black sweet style in pieces not flat & white. Hawker centre at toa payoh got yummy black carrotcake. So happy I found it. Drooooool ! Now craving for nonya pie tee, black carrot cake & putumayam.

Lament for the day : Not pregnant, just greedy.

This is the mess someone made of the bulky items' refuse bin. My neighbours & I pack our bulky items to be discarded either in trash bags or carton boxes. Some idiot comes along, takes it all apart to see if he/she can salvage anything. Yes take what you want but don't make such a fuckin mess !! I've seen a couple of these people checking out the bin but never witnessed anyone making the mess. Should have a cctv & catch the asses ! The poor cleaners have to deal with this shit.

Went for executive medical check-up. My colleague who was scheduled for 8.15am had to wait till 8.30am for the staff to arrive. And to think they called us, beseeching that we arrive early or on time as they had a full schedule.

Then with so many rooms available (they were only seeing our company's staff), they draw blood & ECG in one room. Person taking the blood can be in one room & the other person doing the ECG in another. Rather than have everyone wait wait. So silly...they called me into the room for drawing blood. She tells me to go out to reception after that. Less than a minute later, they call me back in same room for ECG. Huh ???

Then same colleague who was first on the list had blood drawn as the last item in the check-up. Duh !! So I commented to my colleagues that the previous place where we did these exec checks took urine & drew blood first, then let us have a drink, toast & biscuits in their lounge. After the staff heard us talking, they did the blood first lol. The same person who did ECG provided the drinks in styrofoam cups & packet biscuits (2 pieces inside type). lol

There is no lady doctor. We had to request for one to be available. We really don't get it...why a company that does such executive check-ups has no female doctor ? The lady doc they arranged was only available on 2 fixed dates. wtf ??

Think they screwed up one of the appointments. I was there at 8.45am for my 9.15am appointment. Another colleague came in at 9am & they couldn't find her name on the list even though she quoted a staff's name who took her call to fix the schedule. Fortunately someone cancelled so they slotted her in. When I left about 10plus, she was still waiting, not even done blood yet. Aiyo, if cannot see the doc yet cos it isn't her time then draw blood first lah so that she can have something to drink/eat. We all had to fast for the blood & urine thingy.

Later in the afternoon, bumped into a guy colleague as I was removing plaster from arm from blood being drawn. He asked what that was for & I said the drawing of blood at med check-up. He said, got meh ? He just came back & no one drew his blood. wah liao.

I wasn't able to do pap smear...blame problem of the 2 fixed dates of female doc. Anyway one of the staff told me to go see my own gynae. Excuuuuuuse me, our company paid for the package that includes pap smear. Sheesh !

Yes, it was a pissy morning. But it got better, did alot of stuff for a Monday lol.

Was talking to boss about my E65. He was planning to buy one. He already has this sophisticated phone that could do so many things but he doesn't like cos so bulky. So I said, "get a blueberry lah" with all that confidence. Lololol, he couldn't stop laffing & said that this remark is gonna last at least a week of jokes. Blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry...all the same lah lolol.

Lament for the day : movie marathon on tv sux !

Green bean soup...long time didn't have this ! Chinese style, minus the gula melaka or coconut or whatever others put in to improvise the taste. Just the green beans, water, rock sugar & ginger. Yum ! That was my lunch.

That made me think of sweet potato soup & the sweet potato porridge which my grandma used to make. Long long time since I had these. Must ask cora to do.

Kids having tuition; ryan doing chinese & sarah math. Exams start next week after labour day hols.

I watched a 4 hour marathon of Heroes on Star World & there was 3 hours of CSI on AXN at the same time so I was really torn lol. Tonight, HBO is screening King Kong. Coooool. Better than the local dance show finals on ch 5.

Hubby's fishing trip to phuket from 11 May has been fucked up. While he was away for 2 weeks in Taiwan on exercise, friend going along was supposed to book the tickets. All details given. Hubby only knew it wasn't done when he asked. Now friend says not a good idea to go cos monsoon (????) etc. Maybe he didn't tell wife. So we had to tell rickie cancelled. Rickie & hubby disappointed. Hubby & I will go after the kids' exams on our own to see rickie & go on that fishing trip. We have a 1-for-1 ticket waiting for us anyway from our credit card which needs to be used soon before it expires.

The 50 cents funky lime green doggy bowls.

Check out the gorgeous eyes on this husky.

Lament for the day : Its only polite to inform people earlier if there are changes in plans.

Just watched Fracture. It is no surprise that I liked it. Cos I like Anthony Hopkins. He was calculating, sardonic, devious in a charming sort of way. Just like he was charmingly evil in Silence. But it really is a good movie, my liking Hopkins aside. Ryan said, "I thought action movie" but he sat through it, immersed & riveted.

A strange couple on my right. Yes there was some clever dry humour but they seemed to be laughing, too loud & long. There was a court scene where Hopkins mentions "fucking". Yes it was a little funny, in a cynical way. Dunno why they laff & laff like this was a comedy.

I've always liked the older actors...Sean Connery (especially post 007, too many to mention), Anthony Hopkins (Amistad, Nixon, The Bounty, Elephant Man etc & best in Silence of the Lambs), Harrison Ford (Star Wars & Indiana Jones), Al Pacino (The Godfather, Meet the Fockers, The Recruit, Scent of a Woman), Robert De Niro (Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, Wag the Dog, Frankenstein, Untouchables & many more), Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting, Patch Adams, The Birdcage, Hook, Dead Poets Society), Denzel Washington (Bone Collector, Malcolm X) & Morgan Freeman (Seven, Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, Shawshank Redemption).

But I also like Johnny Depp (he's yummy in any role lol), Gerard Butler (him too lol), Edward Norton (Illusionist & excellent in American History X), James Cavaziel (Passion), Viggo Mortenson (LOTR & A History of Violence), Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Prestige).

Sarah, Ryan & Lionel were late so hubby & I had dinner at sakae sushi which was disappointing. Dunno leh but seems like standard dropped. Regret that we didn't eat at food court instead. Kids had hotdogs, nachos & popcorn during movie after which we had supper at the prata shop along Thomson. I think sugar is free in that shop. Our coffee & iced milo were quite sickeningly sweet & we needed to top up with water. Hubby had a bomb prata which is prata with butter & condensed milk. I dun mind dipping my prata in sugar but the bomb is yucky !!

Hmmm I thought saying the word "bomb" in public is illegal ?? (see past post on bomb word incident at airport)

Lament for the day : Fracture is not a mr bean slapstick pleeease...sigh.

Case 1 :

Guy drives into a mall carpark, claims he decided not to park & couldn't reverse as there are cars behind, & that there should be a facility for turning around. Parking facility does not offer grace period as this parking facility's exit can be used as an escape route from gantry. Claims that by not parking, has not accepted offer of parking facilities. Sends 2 emails to insist on refund of...get this...$1.05. This is a private building & by entering, you have accepted the Ts & Cs. Who provides an extra lane for turning around at entry ? Rates, Ts & Cs are building's perogative so long as they are within reason.

Case 2 :

There is a special promotional rate of $4 during weekdays for senior citizens at cinema. When cinema dropped price, less 50 cents, claims he was cheated cos senior citizen's rate is 50% off & he is still paying $4. Its a promo rate for goodness sake, offered as a gesture of goodwill & not mandatory. Never ever said it was a 50% discount. Can be taken away anytime. Insists that he is owed 75 cents. Dun listen to reason. Arrogant & rude. He was told to collect 75 cents, emphasized that it was not from company (out of personal pocket), from office. Never came & that halted all the mindless, irrelevant faxes.

Case 3 :

Guy finishes watching a movie, goes to the gents. Then comes back & says he left his wallet in the cinema. Supervisor lets him into cinema hall although other patrons are already there. Allegedly gets his wallet, claims $50 note is missing. Accuses cleaners. Supervisor interrogates & checks cleaners. Nothing. Then customer asks for customers sitting inside to be checked. Is he stupid or what ?? Then when told not authorised to do so, asks for 2 complimentary movie tickets. What the fuck ?? Supervisors did not give in. Good for them. He says he will make police report. Make lor. He thinks police will come & check staff & customers meh ? Everyone has a $50 note so how ? Openly trying to cheat. In the first place, maybe didn't even lose wallet.

And these are just 3 cases. I have heard many many MANY incidents from my colleagues about ugly customers.

Lament for the day : there are always articles & complaints about poor customer service. How about the ugly customers who are rude, intimidating, unreasonable & try to cheat ?