Arggggghh why can't I edit my settings?? I want to change book image. And this post page is all weird. Can't use the align para buttons, the bold & italic buttons, can't preview. But can add pic & use ctrl function for bold & italics. Wassup leh !?!!

My new toy ! From hubby & kids for Mother's Day. Its a really cute shuffle & comes with a personal message inscribed from them. I can easily clip it to my blouse. Very cool ! I like the size better than the nano & the clip on function. Coooool lime green. Have put in my songs heh. Hubby can have the nano to himself lol.

Kids mid year exams over. Sarah is out watching Spiderman 3. Ryan will take a short short break & then he needs to work on revisions & chinese.

Hubby away fishing in Batam. Since his phuket trip got screwed up he has been itching to go out to sea so he found some kakis to go with. Left this morning & will be back tomorrow night.

Mio still sux ! And I will continue saying this till they fix our phone line grrrrrrr.

Sorry that Lakisha left. I thought Blake would go & we would have a good fight amongst 3 gals. I guess Lakisha would already have a recording contract in her pocket already so it probably still ends well for her. I think it will be between Melinda & Jordin.

He can really jump !

Lament for the day : nothing really, cos I have a new toy heh. Already grumbled above anyway.

Mio still sux !! lol

It has been really busy at work. It is that time of the year where we have many activities & projects going on at work. Its good though. I'd rather this than boring long days.

Set up pics at gallery yaaaaaay ! Picked up the statues to accompany the pics as well. Will probably add on more pics along the way. Setting up the statues & doing the lighting tomorrow.

Our domestic help, cora, who is in her 50s is retiring. She has been with us for a good 8 years & we can see that she is tiring & slowing down. She has been really great with not only the kids but also with hubby's fam & mine. We will miss her when she goes. It will be next year that she leaves, when her passport expires & the thought of getting a replacement is scary. Btw, she has been working here for so many years she ought to have PR status. She was some 10 or 12 years with another family here before us.

I had an Indonesian maid for one month & that was enough. The lies, the stealing, the bangladeshi boyfriends, threatening our kids not to tell, feeding kids biscuits, cup noodles for lunch while we were not home...bitch ! We are fairly easy going employees I think. So calling that one a bitch really says something about her.

Our very first maid from Sri Lanka was with us for 2 years & she was alright till she became cocky. So we decided not to extend her contract lest she became bolder. But she did love sarah & came to see her when she returned to work here.

Our second maid, nora, who is Filipina, was with us for 4 years. Oh before that we had one from Myanmar for a month. A very nice girl but not cut out to look after kids & that wouldn't do cos the kids were really young then. Anyway, nora who was with us for 4 years returned home becos of poor health. We still keep in touch with her & she is always asking about the kids.

Then along came cora, our current help. About 4 years into her contract she had to go home for a major op. She wasn't sure if she wanted to come back.

That's when the bitch came.

Fortunately I decided to call cora & she was happy to come back to us. We have been really lucky with domestic help except for that one bitch. We aren't looking foreward to getting the new one when cora goes but what to do...sigh.

Lament for the day : hubby is annoyed cos windows vista sux !

Mio still sux !!! This will be the 3rd time a technician is coming to "check phone line". And dunno how many times hubby has called the help line. Wtf ? House phone work, dun work, work then dun work. Most of the time, dun work. And we have to use our mobile phones to make calls. Wtf !!!!!!!!!!

One of hubby's friend said that some technician told him can't have more than one phone if using Mio. If this is true, Wtf ???? Never said so anywhere when we signed up. And its our perogative if we want more than one phone. We only have 2 phones hooked up. One in the bedroom & one downstairs in the living room. And we want to put in phones in the kids' rooms using same line. So how ? Instead of improving services, its regressed. Ahhhh crap !

Lament for the day : mio sux !

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.