Just watched Curse of the Golden Flower. I don't watch Chinese movies often & this one impressed. Gong Li's ample breasts did not overwhelm the storyline lah. Dunno who said that. Got show of breasts but not in your face to distract. A tragic but quite a strong storyline. Lavish sets, scenes are quite stunning, good fight sequences, great use of colours & opulence. I thought Chow Yun Fatt & Gong Li played their roles well. I have always preferred the latter to Zhang Ziyi. Doesn't matter if this movie hasn't got a hunk to drool over becos it was good. Besides, sometimes hunks are distracting lol.

When I watched Memoirs of a Geisha in the cinemas, I didn't care for Zhang Ziyi in her role as Sayuri. I liked Gong Li as Hatsumomo, so drama-mama & bitchy. Really made me dislike Hatsumomo lol. But of course I thought the book was better.

Hubby text me this morning. He be home for dinner & he gave me the menu lol. The food he was having the last couple of weeks must suck lol. He has just landed, called to ask if I wanted anything from the airport. He will pick up my one of my two favourite scents, DKNY's Delicious for men. The other I like is Happy for men by Clinique. I am a men-scent person lol. Men's body odour does not count.

heng ahhh, no need to doll up for his home-coming. Married 17 years so has seen me at my worst & more.

Lament for the day : Those boyfriends who have not seen their girlfriends without make-up, quite poor thing lol. Maybe the girlfriend lagi poor thing lol.

Ahhhh I had to clear & do archiving for my office mailbox as it was bursting. Hope I didn't delete some shit I would need in the near future.

Sarah's friends are here baking cookies again & they will be back tomorrow too. Cookies smell really yummy but they didn't get my hint when I went down & asked hopefully, "need taste test or not ??" Ne'ermind, be like that. I can buy my own Famous Amos choc chip cookies. bleaaah ! lol

Chatted with them over dinner. Both are older than sarah, one waiting to go into uni & while waiting, is a relief teacher.

What is the definition of "relief teacher" ?? Giving relief to the fulltime teachers & it would seem so in more ways than one (read : kena bully). Scarier still, the relief teachers are not given a training stint before actually teaching a class. So they are thrown into the lion's den. "Nah here ! Teach literature...Shakespeare". Poor relief teachers gotta do research & hope they are teaching the right stuff. Thought they would have some training on the syllabus, be armed with materials & teaching processes, that they would buddy the fulltime teachers for a couple of days or so then will be on their own. Thought wrong. Not very organised system leh. But not surprised lah lol. (For the full story, read old posts lol).

Lol ryan brought up 2 cookies for me so I take back the "bleaah". I also take back the "bleeah" cos I just remembered that they said I look young lolol. If only they knew that the memory isn't quite up to scratch lol.

Other than office email box resembling a size XXXL trying to fit into a size L, work was fine. Just a couple frustrating moments with a colleague. Each time I have to deal with him, I feel my hackles rise, my body stiffen & my face tense. Like I just had botox shots. I dunno what botox shots are like, just thought it sounds quite drama to illustrate. The colleague thingy is a helluva a looooong story. I think I should write a book on anecdotes about the people & situations which I encounter at work.

Just put up my designer friend's link on my blog. He designed my wedding dresses. My mum, aunts & I get our party dresses from his boutique. He has really lovely stuff. I kept my wedding dresses which are really pretty & even fashionable till this day. I didn't go the traditional route, all were short dresses & even my wedding dress can be used as a regular short cocktail outfit.

Hoping sarah could wear them when she got married. Cannot. She taller & bigger boned than me. Guess only the veil can use lor. Of course I can't fit into them anymore. My ass is double the size for one. I won't even mention the rest of the body parts.

Lament for the day : I know what middle age spread feels like. And it ain't fat or cholesterol free. lol.

I am all
Its 'bout bladdy time !! So long, farewell sanjaya lolol !

I am also bladdy stuffed ! I wonder if a stuffed turkey feels like that. Turkey dead got no feeling...sarah would say. Anyway, had a very nice dinner at True Blue peranakan restaurant. One of the venues in our regular HOD makan sessions. Food was good plus really nice ambience. The restaurant is on the 2nd level of a shop house along East Coast Road, just opposite Katong Mall. The 1st level being their little 'kek' shop. Located close to my favourite laksa, durian puff & tau kwa pok place. When we speak of katong, it is all in terms of food. Restaurant has all the charming paraphernalia of peranakan culture.

I am a quarter peranakan; my dad's father was full peranakan. There is nothing peranakanish about me...cannot speak the patois, cannot cook or bake like the the peranakan do. Abit hopeless.

My dad's mum was chinese hokkien. Her mother, my great grandma was from China, possibly Fujian & had bound feet. I remember her with her tiny feet in silken handmade shoes, shuffling a little unsteadily along. But she was very healthy & lived into her mid-90s. I was told that she had never let any of her family members see her feet unbound. And I remember she slept on a thin mattress on the floor & her pillow was a wooden block even though she had a proper bed. My mum's side of the family is full chinese.

Hubby's side of the family is also interesting. His mum is Dutch Portuguese & his dad was Thai Filipino. Both his parents were born in Singapore. So this makes our kids a little bit peranakan, chinese, dutch, portuguese, thai, filipino. The surname is of filipino descent, possibly spanish ? not sure.

Watched a docu on feet binding sometime ago. It wasn't very pleasant & was a very painful process as the feet were forced to stop growing & the bones all unnaturally bent. I remember the pictures being quite gross & can't imagine how men in those days would find it attractive or erotic. The feet probably stank when unbound.

A couple of sarah's friends were over baking chocolate chip cookies which they will sell in church. I had a taste heh :p It was good :> They'll be back again tomorrow evening to continue. And I will volunteer to be chief taster lol.

Lament for the day : aiyoooo...one of the Miss Singapore Universe semi-finalists is "twenty-tree" years old & is studying "teatre management". Wah liao !

Someone passed me a magazine. This heading caught my eye. Read the article, incident happened in the UK. Woman now in her mid 20s, was sexually abused by her father between ages 8 & 13. Her father has since been arrested & she has written a book Daddy's Little Girl. Terrible that her mother & brother didn't believe her. Even more awful that the father could do this to his own daughter. He never heard of whorehouse meh ?? Must be severe syphilis of the brain just like Mr 10-Wives who raped his own daughters. These two ought to be introduced to the charms of Lorena Bobbit.

Really horrified & sorry to read about the shootings in the Virginia uni where 32 innocent people were killed. Its too bad that the korean student who did this committed suicide. He took the easy way out, the coward.

Not much at work except work. Which means, time flew by too quickly. A couple of fun events to organise. Be nice to work with our charities on these.

Someone said to me that Gerard Butler has uncle face. I think he is pretty hot lol. Cheeey ! so old drool over those young farts type for what...I can't even name them.

Lament for the day : I should start counting the number of people who pronounce 'three' as 'tree' & 'milk' as 'meuk'.

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 ?