b & j free cone day today ! I was meeting someone on work matters & realised it when I saw the snaking queue. All the way up to the 3rd level. Mainly students but some working adults plus those who would queue for free anything. Heard some kids even queued up 3 times ! I was watching & everyone was really well behaved & the security were directing the human traffic very efficiently. Nothing ugly like the incident a few years back for some hello kitty toy ! btw, hello kitty is ughhhh.

Called sarah to ask if she was having a free cone somewhere & she was with friends at the united square b & j. Told her to come meet me so that we could go home together after I was done with my meeting. She called ryan to meet her at united square as his school is just across the road but he said a teacher told them they could not go. Sarah said he sounded really sad lol. Friend of mine got her an ice-cream which she shared with me.

I had travelled from the office for the appointment scheduled for 4.30pm. At 4.30pm the person I was meeting called to say she would be late, 5pm. Then at 5.10pm, she called to say she was tied up. What to say...sigh.

In the midst of all this waiting, I got really pissed off becos a couple of the gallery's expensive display acrylic cases were moved from its storage area & were seriously damaged. I found out by chance when I realised they were not in the usual storage space while waiting for appointment to turn up. They were all intact when I last saw them in the old space. Anyway, I asked to see the new storage space & then, wtf !!!! No one said anyrthing about the damages. No choice but to report this. Not one of those things which we can quietly let slip away.

Lament for the day : why the hell did they keep quiet about the damage.

geezz, its Monday. What can I say. Before I knew it, t'was past 6pm. wah liao, yes lah, that means I was busy with work.

The coffee in the vending machine in the office sux. And the brand of satchets I picked up from 7-eleven also jialat. So after lunch we went to the supermart, picked up my heart's desire old town kopi & I am now a happy ducky. Good coffee in the morning is such an important kickstart to my day :) But I haven't had the afternoon cuppa in months. So many contradictory views of whether caffeine is good or bad. Wadever lah, still must have my kick in the morning.

Sarah had a migraine today & she says she wants to go to a specialist. Told her to google for info on triggers of migraine. I get them too, once a month, but it started just a few years ago due to hormonal changes. Yes lah, age lah. Anyway, told sarah not to be dependent on meds. Also told her that I have observed that during holidays & weekends I don't hear her complaining about migraines lolol. Maybe school & homework are triggers lolol. Hubby's siblings get migraines. He is lucky he doesn't. Reckon this could be hereditary.

Other than that, she is not so stressed now. Chatting with me as I blog & interrupting my flow of thoughts lol. We were on the subject of the phrase "I love you". Told her to blog it. She says she doesn't want to tell her godpa about her blog as he will tekkan her lol. Maybe I can blackmail her :D

Lament for the day : arggggh the weather sux...rain, then hot & humid.

Sloooooooow day. Kids had tuition. Sarah stressed out cos spending alot time on math & no time to study other subjects. SA's are first week of May. Ryan not stressed at all. She just has to plan her time, prioritise & spend less time on other things till SAs are over. Other activities & friends will just have to wait. She'll just have to sort it out. If I nag she will get agitated but if I don't, it'll will be like I don't care. Sure school & studies can be no fun. And I understand its harder now then before. But education is such an important aspect as it will make or break your future. She knows it cos I've heard her tell her brother. Hopefully it'll pass & we can put it down to a one-off exams anxiety attack.

Another article on man with the 10 wives & 64 kids today. Reporter wondered if the neighbours could have helped prevent the situation. How ? They wouldn't have known what went on behind closed doors. Complain that too many people living in two apartments ? Dunno if that would've helped. I still say the wives could have prevented it. Instead they even went so far as to work out a timetable on when the daughters would 'service' their father. I really cannot fathom this & gets me really worked up.

If one thinks that they were sooo pooor things, hoodwinked by their husband & kept under his thumb, bullshit lah. Its 10 women vs one man & its 2007, so you go figure lor. Plus they are educated women. Duuuuh ! They are far worse than their husband cos they let it happen. They do not deserve an iota of compassion. Sorry lah, but they are just sooooo fucked up, lower than the lowest. An embarrassment to womanhood. The epitome of stupidy.

I can go on about what I think of the bastard & his wives but it would take up too much space & most of what I want to say will be filled with expletives. I really feel sorry for the kids though & I hope they can get through this unscathed.

Lament for the day : why do people have children & then violate their trust.

This is the distortion pedal which we got Ryan for his birthday. And these are the number of guitars at home. Not counting the piano, bongos & tambourine. Nobody plays the bongos & tambo. Nuts.

Hubby is fine. We were texting this morning & he is on R & R for the weekend. He'll be home next Saturday. Yayyyyy !

Checked office mail & then played online games for lack of anything else to do. Watched dvd of the Wicker Man. Stupid movie. May watch curse of the golden flower later or tomorrow. Wonder what the fuss is with gong li's ample assets & costumes.

Kiddos at cath class & then mass. MIL watching TV downstairs, too loudly but she can't hear too well.

Watching Nat Geog on UFOs & abductions. How come only happen in the US.

Lament for the day : hot hot humid day...only on the notebook & perspiring. wth ?

I had a pear & 4 crackers for dinner. Had a huge lunch today. Salad, tortellini stuffed with cheese in cream sauce (ooohhhh sinful), gelato & coffee...sigh. And I had some chocolate later too. Guilt guilt guilt all over my face & waistline lol. Always get special treatment at this Italian restaurant cos the chef is nephew's friend whom I have known since he was in school lol. He doesn't call me auntie J when I go to the restaurant cos I would smack him lol.

The owner came by to say hello to our table. He travels here from Japan once a month as he has restaurants there as well. He is such a riot, a real funny character. Had us in fits of laughter. Flirted with all of us but not in the sleazy way. And we flirted right back. He loved it lol. No no no, he not good looking at all. His manager at the restaurant is quite aloof so to meet the friendly & nutty owner was fun.

Warmed up the car as hubby is away. I never learnt to drive. I would make a lousy driver. Would be impatient, blast my horn, make rude signs & probably scream obsceneties at anyone who got in my way lol. Safer for the other drivers that I don't drive anyway.

Wait ! Not true. Matt taught me to drive...in reverse lol. Matt & Lu would so remember this hahaha.

Survivor tonight. Went to the website. Why are we one episode behind ???? We are usually the same as the US. Chehhhhh ! Now I know who is going out tonite.

Lament for the day : Aren't chocolates healthy ?? :p

Comfort food ! Yes I need that after a slightly frustrating morning at work. I was editing a 20-page document & when I was done, I hit Save. It hung & I lost everything. No recovery even. Damned machine !!! Had to start all over again.

The rest of the day was fine though. But its been awfully humid, even now after the rain.

Great that there will be an Indiana Jones 4 & Sean Connery will be in it. Didn't know he was 76 & Harrison Ford is 64. I've liked Connery from long before & especially his post-007 days. Hope IndiJones 4 will be good, unlike other sequels. Heard on the radio that there's to be a Da Vinci Code sequel. How's that possible ? Or were the blokes on the radio just ribbing. Didn't like the movie. Mistake to make another. Like rocky should have stayed retired. Good movies coming these next 2 months; spiderman3, pirates3, harry potter, shrek3, fantastic 4 & transformers. Looking forward to pirates, hp, shrek & f4.

Spoke to Ryan's friend, Leo's mum today. Ryan has been to their place a number of times to jam with Leo. So I thought I would call to say thank you & hope that Ryan wasn't a nuisance. Very nice Filipino lady & glad that I called. Its good to not only know our kids' friends but also their parents. We had a day for both kids to invite their friends over last Christmas season but Leo couldn't make it. Now that I've sort of met Leo's mum, I think she would be a little more relaxed in letting him visit us for a change. Be nice to meet her too.

Sarah's friend coming over tomorrow to bake a surprise cake for her mum's birthday. Think she is buying the ready mixed type. Chocolate cakes are so hard to do. Mine flopped all the times I tried. So now just buy lor when I feel like chocolate cake.

Was talking to a colleague about our executive health screening & she got to the subject of poop which we had to produce for tests. She was worried that she couldn't "do it" there lol. The last health screening we had, those who couldn't do it then had to bring the poop jar back the next day lol. Anyway, HR had the poop jars from the clinic & we could bring it on the day we have our check. Colleague, first screening for her, wanted to know how much of a sample she had to produce & we told her to fill it to the brim. We are wicked lolol.

Dunno how from chocolate cake switched to poop jars. I'm random, what can I say.

Its been nice being in touch with Sherlyn. Saw her pics on her website & she is looking good. Brings back memories of our trip & the various characters on the tour. Actually it was just that one guy lol. He was very friendly but I think a little overly so with me. Noooo he didn't get physical. Sherlyn would have clawed him if he did lol. He wrote to Sherlyn once & asked after me, think he wanted my address too :p

Oh bugger, Sanjaya still there.

Lament for the day : Oh Dilip where art thou ?

Looking through some recent pics to send to a friend & saw the one on left taken from our Feb Phuket trip. Predator made out of nuts, bolts, screws & metal scrap pieces. Seen in other photo are the ones we have at home. Scorpion & 2 Predators which are about 8 inches tall. Have another piece of guy fishing but that one isn't such a detailed piece of work. Amazing pieces of art.

Hmm I guess the whole island is abuzz with the pay raise issue. So what do I think...if this avoids breeding corruption so be it. But make sure the job is well done. Good to hear that PM is donating his increase to charity. Whether anyone thinks its a publicity stunt or to pacify the public, it doesn't matter. Its still a nice gesture.

Latin night is supposed to be fun on Idol but no one has wowed. Not even my faves. Aiyo Sanjaya ! I don't dislike the boy, he seems very cute & sweet. But as a singer he is truly truly undeserving to be there. Seacrest introduces Sanjaya as "the embodiment of latin passion". hahahah damned farni ! For those who blur, sarcasm lah duh. Slow song cannot, fast song also cannot, new song cannot, old song also cannot...terok. Cowell said he "wasn't horrible" tonight. Still doesn't mean good.

Who's the voice behind the new Nokia advert on TV ? He sounds really bored & want to mati.

Something about Korean singer Rain on Star news...like I know who he is. I just wanted to say that hubby knows someone called Cloud lol. Swear ! So everytime we see him, we make cloud jokes. Not to his face but I think it might go whoosh over the head anyway. When he walks past, "Oh passing cloud" lol. Lame but funny, I think.

Sarah just asked me what's the definition of paganism. I said that its the worship of idols...and I don't mean American Idol. hahahahah. I'm gooooood !

Time for Heroes.

Lament for the day : Nice doesn't cut it lah, Paula.

Some years ago, I was in the UK for my friend's wedding & after a week there, went on to see some parts of Europe on my own. It was safe. It was a tour bus so I wasn't really on my own.

I met with an American Chinese lady & her teenaged son in the tour group. Sherlyn & Victor were really sweet & let me hangout with them on the tour. Actually, they watched over me & protected me from a slightly lecherous (when he was drinking) man from India. He wasn't that bad (I think ?) but I didn't want to find out lol.

Anyway, Sherlyn & I kept in touch for a while. When hubby, kids & I were in LA, I should have contacted her & gone to San Fran to meet with her. But we were a little pressed for time, wanting to do so many things...Disneyland, San Diego, Universal, sightseeing, shopping etc etc. Then we lost touch cos I messed up with my address book.

While rummaging through some old stuff, I came upon on an email address.

Took a chance & sent off an email last night. Today I received a reply from Sherlyn. Awesome !

She has retired from teaching & now runs th Purple Silk Music Education Foundation in Oakland, CA USA. Read about it on www.purplesilk.org It is impressive.

The friend's wedding in the UK I mentioned earlier...she was my penfriend since I was 12. Lynn lives in Manchester which isn't as dreary a city as most people make it out to be. We have kept up with the writing though a little less frequently these days. We were doing weekly letters before. Anyway, I like emailing while she doesn't. She prefers the old fashioned way of communicating by letters.

From penfriends, we went one step better & met. Lynn & her now husband Martin came to Singapore twice. Met our families, kids & friends. I went to their wedding as their matron of honour. Though that was the first time I'd met her family, I felt like I knew them because of the many years of writing. And who said that the British were aloof. They are warm & friendly, treated me like one of their own & were definitely party animals at the wedding. Lynn's mum is one mean singer. The Connie Francis type & genre.

This got me looking for old photos...

An English wedding in Manchester & William Wordsworth's Dove Cottage in Grasmere, Lake District.

My knights in shining armour & delicious fish n chips.

Versailles & gargoyles at Notre Dame.

Luxembourg & Lucerne.

San Diego, Disneyland & Tijuana.

Hubby with friends & fishing in Perth.

Gold Coast. How little the kiddos were.

Lament for the day : I saw a photo of my friend's son & he is now a grown man. Where have the years gone !

Home today. Sick. Bad throat, bodyache, slight cold & a fever. Now got migraine. All the water during the weekend when I had signs didn't help. Oh crap ! Didn't have time to go to the doc as was busy working from home. Company has new panel of docs & not within walking distance. Lecheh. Will see doc at the office tomorrow instead, more convenient.

Sarah is sick too & came home from school. Mine is due to immune system not as strong as before. Plus everything falls apart with age. bleah. Hers is probably due to lack of sleep. She is up too late every night. She is sleeping now. I should try to get some rest too.

Hubby left for taiwan for exercise. About 2 weeks away.

Bandit is a love sick fool. Coco is in heat & he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't mount her. He just follows her around, smells her, whines, lies down & looks at her with mournful eyes when she is lying down away from his reach. She is cranky. Growls & snaps at him. He doesn't give up but still doesn't know what to do. He ain't got no balls, literally.

Not much in the mood to blog...sianness.

Pic of one of birds that 'live' on our roof. Hubby has christened them Gomez & Morticia Addams. This is Gomez. Morticia was under roof thingy with the nest. She popped her head out after Gomez flew off.

Lament for the day : no one to send me to work & back for 2 weeks :p