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 ?

These candies are yummy !! Crunchy caramel coated with chocolate. Addictive. Bought a couple packs from Ikea.

Had gone there to check out some frames for a new exhibition at the gallery. Bought a sample frame, paper stuff & other stuff. Including 2 plastic doggy bowls in funky lime green for just 50 cents each.

My colleague was with me so we paid up & then the cashier just left the lot on the side of the counter. We blur. Then ooooohhhhh we realised, no more plastic bags ! Must buy or bring your own. Forgot. Next time must keep those type of canvas shopping bags in the car.

Had a huge Chinese meal at lunch. Was a farewell for a colleague & we had 20 people. One of our colleagues arranged for a car & van to take us there. Van door opens & 5 guys zip in leaving the rest of the ladies (with jaws hanging) & 2 other guys standing there. Sigh. So we shooed the remaining 2 guys in & had a lady sit upfront. Some of us ladies had to take a cab cos the car obviously couldn't fit us all. What gentlemen...sigh. Seriously. To top it off, at our table was a bossy annoying person.

Mio SUX !! Since we got it, half the time our house phones didn't work. First was no ring tone so we didn't know if anyone called. And I only discovered it by accident so who knows how long it had been like that. So they came to fix it. Worked for a couple of days. Internet access ok though, only house phones.

Now, cannot call in or out. Hubby spent almost an eternity on the can-I-hepchu-line. But it didn't get resolved. Girl was quite nice & helpful lah. Did her best. She heard me telling hubby that they better not charge for this call on his mobile phone & she said she would take care of it lol. I think she didn't have the records of what the technician did previously. Anyway, during the process, they accessed our comp with hubby's permission & were doing some stuff which he could see. I am uncomfortable that they can access our comp. Though this is with our permission, what happens if there is errant access ? Big brudder is watching ??

Lament for the day : Some people really really not shy ! I so paiseh that they not shy ! wah liao.

Only did half day at work. My stiff neck was bad & when I went to company doc which is in the same building as our office, he said it was bad lol. The muscles have "spasmed" from the neck to the shoulders. I feel like I have a six-pack there lol.

Got MC, cream to rub on, anti-inflammatory & relaxant pills. Dun like the relaxant, gives me that drowsy-but-cannot-sleep-spaced-out feeling. Doc said if this treatment does not work, botox next. I'm like "HAH???" So he enlightened. Botox was originally created to relax such muscle spasms. Then some smart alec decided that if it was good for muscle spasm, why not for cosmetic treatments like softening frown lines. Orrrrhhhh I see.

Left office around 2pm. Did some work at home but not much cos not comfy sitting up. It feels better now & hope it will be even better tomorrow.

Heh ryan got new phone. With his own money. Went to buy with his friend. Kena lecture from me. Cos he could have been conned. Then I ended the lecture with "hope you have some money left over to get me something for Mothers' Day" lololol.

Thinking of a family holiday trip together with Sherlyn & Victor. Told her maybe she should come to Singapore. She said she hasn't been here in 35 years so ya, that might be a plan. But she will be busy with her Music Education Foundation (see links) & will have to sort out when she can get away.

The pilots are asking for more pay again. Saying that it should be based on how accountable & level of responsibilities. So the bigger the plane that they fly, the more passengers it carries, the more they should be paid. Why hah ? Got to keep hand cranking the engine to keep it going meh ?

Lament for the day : Passengers put their lives in the hands of the airline, its pilot & crew. So like that how hah ?

Met ben, sam, daf & wee boon for dinner at seah street deli. It was filling but not fantastic. Ben had to leave earlier to pick up his wife & didn't get to share this huge chocolate cake. He didn't miss much. Dry & ordinary. Think the standard of the food has dropped. Had a nice catch up session with them so the company made up for a rather disappointing meal though sam said his chicken was good. Ben's BLT didn't even look good. Daf & wee boon's fish n chips & my quesidilla were so-so.

Had a couple of meetings today at the office one of which was with vendor on re-designing the ticketing webpage. Luckily the cinema colleagues were roped in as they had much to contribute on what they want. Dunno why colleague didn't want to include them in the first place till told the reasons. Ah well...

How I woke up with a stiff neck I dunno. So went for a massage at lunch. Still feels sore but I guess I'll really know tomorrow morning whether better or worse. Dun like seeing doc for this cos all I will get is painkillers & muscle relaxant which really doesn't do the job. More shiok with someone kneading the right spots :p Time for bed.

Lament for the day : sigh...such a pretty chocolate cake but unremarkable in taste. I can relate this to people too.

So Monday blues lor at work. Many emails to deal with but accomplished one major task for a publicity programme, which is good :>

Sarah called to say where she would be lol. Dad told her last night to please call us if she was not coming home for makan or if she was going to be later than expected. Mainly becos she is a young lady & we worry that there are weird people out there. Seriously weird.

In one of my posts I lamented about mispronounciation. Saying "tree" instead of "three" & "meuk" instead of "milk".

Sarah's friend says many people mispronounce "epitome" as "epitom". Yes must say the "me" at the end.

Someone told sarah "ode" is pronounced "oday". Its "ohd". 'An Oday to a Nightingale' lol...John Keats would shudder in his grave.

Then there is "ballet" pronounced "ballei", "chalet" is "chalei" & "valet" is "valei". So sarah jests "toilet" is "toilei" lol.

But please hah, not all words ending with "let" is pronounced "lei". Just like "vogue" is "vog", not "vogyou" & "argue" is "argyou" & not "arg" lol.

Then using "irregardless" instead of "regardless". Or choosing the wrong word or wrong spelling of a word to use like complement & compliment, access & excess, cite & site, consecutive & concurrent, elicit & illicit, stationary & stationery, affect & effect etc etc.

American & UK English spelling differ. Like color & colour, favorite & favourite, realize & realise, center & centre, theater & theatre, license & licence, program & programme & so on. I must confess...always thought irresistible was spelt irresistable. Or is it ???

You've just gotta love the English language lol. I am fine with Singlish...it is so part of our culture & being Singaporean. I speak it often with friends, family, colleagues. Just not for business & formal occasions. I don't write in Singlish for work but I do in my blog. We just need to know when not to use it.

May have dinner with friends tomorrow. Still dunno eat where. We'll figure it out.

Lament for the day : NUS has a full page colour advert in ST. Money can be put to better use like activities for the students. So should fees be so high ? SMU also.

I was browsing my bookshelf, found this. Some 12 years ago, my friend Mary gave me this book Things That Makes Us Happy, a compilation of contributions by Singaporeans on things that make them happy. From tah mee to family, friends & all things Singapore. At the back of the book, there is an empty page where you can fill in your list. Mine was written some 12 years ago. Sweet :>

Seen in the papers, a couple of sketches. Rather poignant captions :

Virginia : A day of horror.

Baghdad : Just another day.

argggghhhhhh I feel inadequate as a parent sometimes. I wonder if I was so difficult to understand when I was a teen. Or perhaps those were simpler days. My mum didn't care to pay attention to me. But well, I think I didn't turn out too bad. I wonder if paying too much attention could have repercussions instead ?? Somebody ought to write a book Parenthood for Dummies or Understanding your Teenager for Dummies. We have good kids, I know. I just sometimes overdo it trying to steer them in the right direction. I get exasperated. Perhaps I ought to let them handle the driving for a change, I dunno. I hear you kiddo. Sorry lah, just being a mum & cos I care.

Lament for the day : parenting is not a breeze.