Made two trays of shepherd's pie & I tray of apple crumble for sarah's mustard seed meeting. Fortunately one of the girls brought pasta otherwise may not have been enough. Cos sarah said the members would be bringing something & then she told a couple of them no need cos enough food. Well it was just nice, thankfully. They did say pie & crumble was nice...what nice people they are LOL. Hubby made his famous lime juice but the limes had no kick today leh...dunno why. Added more than usual some more.

Watched Robin Hood Men in Tights on cable this afternoon...lame lolol.

Sarah had another article in catholic news, small one on the harry potter series. She mentioned family in the article...sweet.

Meeting evon, simon & my godson for dinner tomorrow ! Gonna try botak jones again. Wonder if we will have to wait an hour again...??? Ohhhh the cheesecake there is gooooood !!

Lament for the day : maybe can start own business selling shepherd's pie & apple crumble instead of dragging my feet ???

Can't say that I enjoyed watching HP & the order of the phoenix. The book was better. The fighting scene was good but not much else. I am re-reading the book because the movie seems disconnected. To refresh my memory & cos I haven't got any other books to read for now. Am done with China Wakes.

The latest HP book is good though. And when it is made into the movie, I am wondering how it can be condensed to just a little over two hours. Can't cut stuff out as there are many connections to past books and introduction of new stuff.

Think its the best book...JK keeps the best for last. I was particularly touched by that little humanity in Snape. I always had a feeling he wasn't all bad, just misunderstood or deliberately wanted to be misunderstood. I wonder if there will be a continuation as the ending in the book seems to invite it.

Oh...Die Hard 4.0 wasn't that fantastic also. Fun to watch the action but quite unrealistic. Entertaining but not on my list of must watch.

Bought DVDs of Apocalypto & 300. Seen both on the big screen already but wanted to watch again. Those I would highly recommend !

Lament for the day : drag drag draaaaaaag...

Met up with Vic for lunch last week. Grumbled to him. Then he meets another old friend for lunch & puts her in touch with me. Was great to hear from yin. But a couple of days later, her mum passed away. It was cancer & they were expecting it. We went to pay our respects. The kids hadn't seen yin in 4 years & she said she wouldn't be able to recognise them as they have grown.

Sometime ago, I spoke about meeting old friends. And so I did with yin & some others at Matt's. I asked about john whom we used to affectionately call mahjohn. They told me where his shop was & what it was called.

Mahjohn cos some 20 years ago we used to pass time playing mahjong. We started off playing with no money & could do it over night lol. Then we graduated to 5 cents / 10 cents lolol. It was just a friendly game amongst friends rather than to hang out at pubs or clubs. We didn't have much money to go clubbing anyway lol.

Anyway I did a search online fo his shop & called. he recognised my voice...amazing ! Hadn't seen him in about 10 years ! Anyway we have met up a couple of times since two weeks ago. Got re-acquainted with his wife whom I met a couple fo times before long long ago & met his two pretty daughters. One of them ryan's age & the other is just in P1. Meeting up again this Friday.

My godson has started to walk !!!!!!!!! Hubby saw him last night & we will be meeting up with them over the weekend.

Sarah has a tale to tell about her new nokia N76. It sux ! She bought it on a Wednesday & it started to act up. Would go off on its own & would not be able to read memory card, contacts & battery life faded real quick. So off we go to nokia care centre on the saturday. One day later, told to pick it up. After she got home, same problem. So off to nokia again. After one day collected it back. But same shit happened. So daddy goes off to make noise ! Says this is the 4th time they were back & if they had to keep it a week, please go ahead to solve the problem. Keep saying nothing wrong. But who is going to compensate for the time to go there & parking. Why don't they just exchange one for one. Oh cannot, policy. Fine fix it then ! After a week, they call back & say they have to change motherboard. DUH !!!! At first they said it was sarah's memory card BUT when sarah uses it on ryan's samsung phone got no problem leh.

Lament for the day : I am still dragging my feet...

death & stuff...

To be accused of doing something which I didn't is beyond description ! The best part is that there is evidence of innocence. Like doing this will move me up the ladder. Quite stupid really when you analyse all angles, won't get me anywhere near the friggin ladder lol. It is entrapment. It is a farce. It is trying desperately to dig out something which doesn't exist except in the fanciful imagination of a small narrow mind. Okay lah, smart in wily ways lah I concede lol. Of course I am freakin fuming & upset. Not true maaah, how not to get angry. Ah well...bugger it ! As long as I know I ain't done it...fark it all !

Matt's death hit me some. A couple of things...he is a friend my age & yeah we were dating when we were much much younger. Though I was well aware of how ill he was, it was a shock. I cannot imagine how his family feels & I cannot pretend to know. The thing is that our age, we hear of our friends' parents passing away. For me, it is a first friend who died. It hits me greatly that it can happen to anyone, regardless of age.

I have been thinking of writing a list of what I want when I do die. Whether by accident or of a ripe old age. Sounds so morose & grim but death is a reality. I know I don't want mourning & wailing. Sadness is inevitable but I would like that to be over with quick so that those who are alive and left behind do not go through too much turmoil, regrets & unhappiness. Rather, it should be a celebration that when I die, I am no longer in pain or suffering. That I have lived my life to the fullest, the way I want to, with dignity & integrity. The only regret would be leaving loved ones. But we all eventually will have to leave our loved ones. It is the circle of life, to borrow a phrase. I said to Sarah that for my wake (why is it called a wake ??) I want happy music, the songs which I enjoy. I want bright colours, no mourning clothes & if I can get away with it, wine & beer made available. I be dead so the kids will have to figure out how to work the wine & beer in. Think I will write a letter which can be displayed for all to see that it isn't out of disrespect, but rather respect for my last wishes. Otherwise people think my living family are mad. I'm the nutty one. Sure, let there be some crying. But just a little quick cry & a prayer. Then life should go on.

Lament for the day : it ain't fun anymore...so I drag my feet...

Our friend died last night. Stricken by cancer we knew it would happen sometime. But it is always too soon. We last saw him in Phuket in February, it was a family holiday for both our families. We were supposed to have had makan session again after that but it, regretfully didn't happen. He was a free spirit & did his best to live life to the fullest inspite of being unwell.

To the family, our deepest condolences. We are truly sorry.

Bye Matt, have a good journey.

"Death is not the end
Death can never be the end.
Death is the road.
Life is the traveller.
The Soul is the Guide
Our mind thinks of death.
Our heart thinks of life
Our soul thinks of Immortality."

Busy with Harry ! He arrived yesterday so posts will have to wait.

Sarah's article appeared in a spread page in Catholic News last weekend. Proud moment for us all ! Of course we told all the family lah though she said no need lol. All the family are very proud of her. Then its honour's day this Sat & she gets 1st prize for English yet again.

Kinda busy at work...stuff keep popping up. But manageable & have met my datelines so that's good. But it is annoying when other folks don't provide us with the info in time or when the info has changed & they forget to tell us. Ahhhh well...

And so my birthday passed uneventfully. I have gotten to the stage and age where its no big deal becos I am a year older. The years just keep piling on & I so do hate the numbers ! Kiddos & hubby got me a nice peranakan style hand held mirror which I have placed in my display case. Sweet ! Plus the new Harry Potter book which will be delivered soon.

My staff got me some gifts though I had said not to. Nice crystal container for my knick knacks, another for my rings and a nice silver brooch. Pretty. Another colleague took me to a nice buffet lunch yesterday at merchant court hotel. Today was another lunch, indonesian. And I bought myself a nice silver bracelet as a treat for myself lol.

Have been doing abit of shopping with sarah...or is it alot ?? lol She has some nice new clothes, plus toiletries & perfume from bodyshop. I bought a couple of tops from esprit & at bodyshop, picked up my powder refill, gloss & a nice rougeberry perfume, light & fruity. My face scents are Happy for men from clinque, DKNY's Delicious & now this from bodyshop.

Watched Transformers last weekend & I was surprised to have enjoyed it. Its entertaining. I liked the transforming sequences, very cool. The storyline was a little bit weak & there was weak acting, like from the FBI guy who was reduced to his underwear. But other than that it was entertaining. I'm not sure if it should make it into my list of definitely watchable. I'll decide at the end of the post.

I am still reading China Wakes. I have been pre-occuppied with Fox crime channel plus other programmes on telly. It is not an easy breezy read but very interesting information about the country, policies, the way they manage the country or mismanage, the oppression, what foreign visitors see or are allowed to see & what they don't see. But to be fair, the book is not entirely negative. Written by two foreign journalists who were based there for a number of years, both of whom speak mandarin. I reckon the chinese government did not receive this book well when it was first published. I should finish this soon to get into Harry Potter when it arrives.

Lament for the day : the demise of the poor angsana tree...now beware of reckless speeding drivers.

Ok I stand corrected. Sarah doesn't want to make a case of the rumours & she says she is over it.

Sarah is taking English express. Somone in the school boo booed big time. I wrote to the principal a couple of days ago to ask why sarah couldn't do express english despite her topping her normal level since sec 1. When she asked her teacher, she was told cannot as she was the only one.

Apparently, since last Nov, she was earmarked to start 2007 doing express english. BUT no one told her. Infact, the class she was supposed to join had scheduled their english lessons to the same timing as her normal class so that she would not miss other subjects.

But when she didn't join the express class, they thought she wasn't interested. No one checked with her. On hindsight, I should have written in earlier as she has lost 6 months. Apparently the HOD told both english teachers of her present class & the express class. Her own teacher did not tell her & actually said that if the HOD did not see her, then cannot lor.

What a mess ! Go figure who screwed up. I told sarah to make it clear to the HOD who went to see her, the conversations which transpired. Her new teacher said she would make every effort to help her catch up. And the teacher said that if she does not do as well, it is not sarah's fault.

At least I feel better that there are efforts to help individual students to excel. It is heartening. As for why the principal did not answer my emails, the person who was manning the generic mailbox probably screwed up & didn't forward my mails from last Nov to her. Another cock-up. Waaah liao !

Today there was a weird incident. A man went to our restaurant for a meal. After he paid up & was taking the lift down, saw a poster that the restaurant would offer a $2 rebate for parking if they dined at the restaurant. So he went up again. Staff said no problem, just give us the receipt so that they could void it & provide him with a new receipt with the $2 taken off. He said no. Just take $2 to give to him. He insisted & made alot of noise despite the manager explaining & being as patient & as nice as possible.

The restaurant didn't ask questions. All the proof they need is flash a carkey, fill in some info on form (so that we can verify if there is a hint of cheating from staff). Don't even check if he parked at the building or elsewhere. Cos if park elsewhere then not entitled lah but gave customer benefit of the doubt. Only $2, don't make it so difficult. But also dun make it easy for staff to cheat.

This is a proper restaurant & we are a large renowned organisation which was listed for a number of years until voluntary delisting recently. Not some two bit corner stall that can easily take $2 from the till. There are procedures to follow. How to explain $2 missing at the end of the day when finance queries ?? Small amount but still it is not conforming to procedures & especially when it involves money. From $2, it can escalate. What if there are 100 customers like this ? $200 missing. How ?

Can afford to eat in a fine restaurant but think like that. So bladdy ugly. But the ugliest part is yet to come...

So he calls HQ & speaks to the lady in charge of marketing for the restaurant. She explains. He refuses to listen & says that to pacify a customer, the manager could have easily taken out $2 from his own pocket. What the fuck ???? No principles, no morals & so fucking cheapskate. He ends by saying that he still wants his $2.

He spent 15 mins at the restaurant arguing. So easy to take out receipt & have it voided & re-issued. Be done in 5 mins. Then take time to call HQ somemore. Unless he is planning to cheat his own company ?? Claim makan as entertainment with the receipt & pocket the $2 ?? Who knows, low enough to suggest that the manager take $2 from his own personal pocket to give to him, then dirty enough to cheat. Or he just got too much time on his hands.

Lament for the day : how low can a person go !

Someone told a new staff to be careful of me cos I am very close to the boss. HAHAHAHAHA !!! Yeah right ! I am the last one to sidle up & whisper into the big boss' ears & carry balls. Then another colleague was also said to be the same. LOLOLOL Such bullshit & quite juvenile if I may say lol. Yeah so I work with the boss on some projects but so do a whole lot of other people in the office. I wouldn't dare talk about office gossip to the boss. Plus where got time to play games. I'd rather spend the time more meaningfully....like shopping lah, eating lah, play computer games lah, read lah, watch tv lah, dig nose lah, scratch backside lah, squeeze pimples lah, fart lah, look for kutus on my dogs lah... Chey ! Got no fucking time to do all that where got time to chitchat with boss. Lucky people got eyes to see (then tell us about it heh heh) rather than listen to rumours. Damned bladdy funny lolol.

On a more serious note of rumours, some schoolgirls are really quite bitchy these days. The vicious rumour that has been passed around about sarah has me incensed. I intend to take this up with the school. If the school cares at all, they will take it seriously. If not, the topic of verbal bullying will go up to MOE & ST forum. Obviously the person who started the rumour doesn't know how close we are as a family & how our children do talk to us. Of course they don't tell us everything lah. But enough for us to have a strong relationship. So poor thing (read sarcasm) that this person or persons do not have the same relationship with her/their parents. Life must suck (or is it no life??) to have to resort to lies & rumours. Sad sad. Kudos to sarah that she doesn't conform to them just to be popular. She is her own person. But I know all this viciousness does affect her & we worry. We will need to stop this.

In other words, rather crudely; don't fuck with me.

Lament for the day : People who spread rumours have no lives or are cowardly or cruel or perhaps just plain stupid. Yaaaawn.

Heavy headed at work yesterday but persisted as it was Friday. Did visit the doc to pick up meds so that I could recover by Monday. Slept very badly last night, kept waking up to pee. And took me a while to get back to sleep each time...sigh. Sarah wants to do shopping tomorrow so hopefully I won't be feeling so badly with the rest today.

So channel 5 televised Exorcist : The Beginning on a weekday night at 10pm. How does that work when the movie was rated NC16 in the cinemas before ??? Are there extra snips for TV ? If there are, then there wouldn't be much of a story. Waste time watching & waste of airtime. Yes they indicated parental guidance cos of the horror theme but it means I can be sitting & watching with my below 16 kids. Plus its televised on national tv so isn't that an open invitation for everyone to watch ?

Why have movie ratings for the cinemas when such movies eventually make it onto tv ? Movies in the cinemas are censored already and have the various ratings which customers and cinema management have to comply with. So I don't get why national tv can screen such NC16 or M18 movies. I can't make sense of it.

I remember when the Da Vinci Code arrived in the cinemas & it was rated NC16. Checks were made at cinemas to ensure that no one below 16 was watching the movie. Some below 16 year olds were caught sneaking into the cinema halls to watch Da Vinci Code when they bought tickets for some PG or G movie. Articles have appeared in the press on how vigilant are such age checks in cinemas. Yet you get this NC16 rated movie on tv. So ironic. So contradictory. Something to ponder over & probably still not be able to make sense of. LOL.

A few nights ago was watching Fox tv crime investigation channel. It was about a man who had hired a hitman to murder his wife & physically disabled 8 year old son. All for their bank account. The wife & son had a 2 million settlement from a hospital which had carelessly & accidentally turned off the boy's oxygen supply when he was hospitalised for some illness. This left him paralysed and also brain damaged. Hence the settlement to provide for the round-the-clock care for the boy. The father who was separated from the wife wanted the money but of course he wasn't getting it. However, the judge did pass that if the wife & son should die before him, the money would go to him.

Anyway, all the evidence pointed to the husband who received a life sentence. The guy he hired was sentenced to death for the murder of the wife, son & also the nurse who was present in the house caring for the boy. In the hitman's home, the police found a book on How to be a Hitman. Its scary that such books are published & sold to the general public. It teaches you to stand how many feet away so that you don't get sprayed by the blood, how to make the gun untraceable etc. The hitman followed the intructions apparently.

Then the families of the wife & nurse decide to take the publisher of the book to court. However american law has the first amendment on freedom of speech which rendered case ineffective. But the families' lawyers persisted & eventually by some other events that happend, they received an out of court settlement.

The publisher's lawyers gave an example of publishing a cookbook. That it doesn't mean that the person who buys or reads it will bake a cake from there. How weak !!! Eventually someone is going to try a recipe otherwise why bother with publishing the book. So if someone somewhere who buys a book in how to be a hitman or how to make a bomb etc will eventually try it. DUH !! So much for laws to protect.

Yesterday was hubby's birthday & we went to shashlik, a russian restaurant that is run by a bunch of rather err matured men & women. Has been around for as long as I can remember & very popular. But don't expect exceptional service. Its the quality of food that makes it so popular. Their borsch soup is excellent as are their shahslik beef & lamb. As I wasn't feeling well, I had a big bowl of the soup & bread. Usually, we'd split the one portion of soup for two to share as we wanted to have enough space for their steaks. Ryan had a whole bowl of soup to himself, two pieces of bread plus a whole steak to himself. He did well to finish every morsel lol. Kids bought hubby a CD on jazz for his birthday.

Lament for the day : my birthday is coming soon too & I hate the number I am hitting. Good thing I don't look or feel it lol.