Tanto tempo

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-01T14:27:00.003+08:00

Another year has passed by us so quickly. I still feel like I have not done all that I have wanted to do... and my common gripe is always being so busy at work that I have no time for other things. Will that ever change? Can I do something to change that? We'll see.

I have made one little resolution for the new year. I think every year I am over ambitious and say that I wanna accomplish this and that.. so my resolution is to less of an ignoramus and gain knowledge.. in terms of general knowledge, about Singapore, financial management (my own of course) and anything that interests me of course... This has been triggered by the fact that I have been in contact with so many foreigners through out the year.. mostly due to work.. and they ask me questions about Singapore.. I find that I cannot answer them. Are they much wiser than me because they are older and have had more years to accumulate all this knowledge or is it because I am plain ignorant and do not wish to learn more about my surroundings?

Hopefully this resolution is not too hard to keep.. I have been trying real hard to read more.. picked up books at the library last month.. and I'm working on it.. slowly but surely.. I will get there

uninspired

2010-12-28T23:03:00.002+08:00

I have been uninspired of late. That and I've been super busy, which explains why I haven't blogged for more than 2 months.

The second half of 2010 has been an eventful one. Really many things happening. I had a pre-wedding photo shoot, went to Montreal and New York for the first time in my life, had to have a wedding banquet and not die of anxiety attacks, amidst a busy work schedule.. and going to Europe with hubby for the honeymoon and officially living together with Simon.. All this in less than half a year.. It is a lot to take in!!

Oh and yes, I am using the prize I won from the workplace Christmas party.. to type out this blog at this moment! My very first laptop and it's an Apple Macbook Pro.

So many happenings, and how is it that I am still uninspired? I don't understand...

Decisions decisions

2010-10-10T08:37:00.003+08:00

After much contemplation, I have finally decided where I wanted to go for our first wedding anniversary but the place is closed on Sundays! Argh.... Is it because it's an Australian restaurant hence the boss is so laid back he wants his Sunday off?

Sleepless sunday

2010-10-04T00:52:00.002+08:00

I'm having another sleepless sunday.. I don't often have problems sleeping 'cos work takes up most of my energy. but once in a blue moon I will have some problems falling asleep on Sunday..

I have decided to learn something new.. and I know I know, I seem to be a person who cannot keep herself committed to something for long.. in some areas anyway.. I contradict myself.. I can be committed to going to gym, going to my weekly spin sessions.. but yet, when it comes to interests like baking or cooking.. they do not enjoy the same commitment and attention.. I can't seem to the same level of energy for all these things as I am not able to sustain the level of interest and it sort of comes and goes.. as it depends on my mood.

My current in thing is of course.. Muay Thai.. which I missed 3 weeks of it.. but managed to squeeze in one session last week! Happy that I did it.. though during the class my shoulders were killing me and after my lower back was aching.. I love to feel the ache.. cos it means I did workout some muscles!

I often complain that I am busy and don't have time for everything.. but I sometimes still feel restless and feel guilty if I don't seem to have utilised my free time fully. I cannot stand waking up late on weekends cos if I wake up late, then half the day would be gone and my precious weekend is also "wasted".. since I can't sleep now, I decided to learn something new today.. and hopefully I can keep up with it..

I just went through a quick lesson of French online. I did want to learn French.. a long long time ago in secondary school.. but my parents objected saying that Japanese was more practical and useful in the working life.. Being the stubborn me.. I said, fine, no French, then I won't take any 3rd language. Hm.. if only they would know that I one day would work for a company which has a HQ in Montreal?!?! Hahaha.. who would have expected that right?

Hot and humid in Singapore

2010-10-03T23:57:00.004+08:00

I can't believe how hot it is tonight! Is it just me who is sweating at home after her shower?? I have to go have another...

Or is it I became accustomed to the cold weather in Montreal and NY and Have to re-adjust my body? I was walking in the streets of Montreal with just a normal work wear, a work jacket, a scarf, leggings if I am wearing a skirt or dress.. The weather was slightly chilly.. but I guess I never felt it that much as I had to walk 20-25 min from my hotel to the office =P so by the time I got to the office I needed to take off the jacket! The Montreal colleagues were wondering how come I was fine walking about the office with no jacket!

The funny thing I observed about the NY trains and buses was that it was often colder on the trains and buses than on the streets. How can that be? I really don't know.. but I have a feeling that they had very little heating on them and maybe the aircon was on?! Montreal trains however.. were nice and toasty. A good relief once we get off the streets.. and I think the trains really have to be built that way because I hear that it can get quite cold in Canada during winter...

Collector of sorts

2010-10-03T21:13:00.004+08:00

I have no idea how does one accumulate so much junk?

I hate it. I hate having to throw out things.. being the sentimental person I am.. it's really tough to get rid of "things"... I need to keep telling myself, they are just THINGS...

I just downsized my soft toy collection by a few soft toys.. my dear calls me cruel.. and pity the soft toys for being given away.. of course, when I asked him if he wanted to lug all of them to our new home.. then he shook his head and said no. by the way, some of them were leftovers from my sis...

I also downsized my keychain collection by at least half.. keychains I've collected since I was young.. it's amazing how I look at some of the keychains and wonder how I got them in the first place?!

Need to keep encouraging myself, even if it is a small accomplishment.. getting there in tiny steps..

Waiting to return home

2010-09-20T09:03:00.003+08:00

This is my first time in the SAS Business Lounge. I must say, I could get used to this.. flying business class... unfortunately.. who knows when I will get to travel on it again?

I have to say, I enjoyed being in Montreal much more than New York.. Definitely, having good company on a trip helps and at Montreal I got to meet many people from other countries and also to meet up with a colleague who was working in the Singapore office and moved back to Montreal recently. It's always nice to see familiar faces.

I have come to the conclusion that I don't like cities that are too BUSY.. just like how I always preferred Melbourne over Sydney. New York was an eye-opener.. but I don't think I would like to live there for long periods of time. I like being laid back.. and enjoying life.. rather than always rushing..

Cannot imagine the amount of work I would have to return home to.. amount of emails I get sometimes is scary.. I will have to face the reality soon.. =(

Montreal!

2010-09-17T21:35:00.003+08:00

Montreal's been great.. pace of life is slow.. much slower than Singapore.. I really enjoyed being here.. I'm sure I won't say the same if I was here in January and the temperature is minus 20 to 30 deg Celsius. Heheh.. but it's fall now and it's lovely!

I can't believe that I was the last to leave the office yesterday.. by 4.45pm everyone was gone.. I feel so sad as I am often the last to leave the Singapore office and was the last to leave the Montreal office?! What the? I really should start leaving the office earlier and stop working late nights =P

Now I'm leaving to go to New York! Exciting days for me..

quiet

2010-09-05T17:51:00.002+08:00

my blog has been so quiet lately.. i can hear the crickets in the background..

*crickets chirping*

however, thankfully, it is not because there is nothing exciting happening in my life.. to the contrary, there is too much happening.. such that i do not have the time to blog.. also, it doesn't help that the PC at home died a few months ago. i have to use the work laptop at home..

so many things to do.. i finally booked my hotel for my 2 nights stay in new york! i'm so excited.. going to be in montreal in less than 3 days time!! first time in canada, first time flying business class.. first time taking such a long trip on the plane, first time i'll be in new york.

wedding plans and things have been keeping me busy.. thank goodness i have help from Mel, she keeps me in check and thinks of things i'll never think of, accompanies us to meet the wedding band coordinator.. when we are choosing our wedding photos.... really don't know what we'll do without her.. the wedding is in less than 3 months.. i hope we are well on track to getting all the preparations done..

i should aim to update this blog more often.. maybe i need a data plan.. or better yet, an iphone?? *hint hint to dearest hubby?* kekek...

honeymoon ideas?

2010-07-25T15:31:00.002+08:00

Where oh where shall we go for our honeymoon??

I would really love to go to Europe... it's every girl's dream honeymoon destination.. but we've only got a 10/11 days.. and I'm afraid of the cold? Europe will be so cold in November!!

How how how??

Monday blues

2010-06-14T23:22:00.003+08:00

I have the Monday blues. Even my newly bought skirt from Bysi was having the Monday blues. It was so creased that I felt like hiding in shame from all the lines on it.

Sometimes I question my very existence and what it is that motivates me to go on. Why do we have to work so hard just to get that salary every month?? Why are we doing the things that we are doing now?

take the lift down to go up

2010-06-08T22:18:00.003+08:00

I was rushing to get to the gym the other day.

Once I got to building, I waited at Basement 1 for the lift to bring me up to the 3rd storey. The girl next to me was also waiting for the lift to go up. The next lift took an awful time to arrive, but it was going down. Being much wiser than me, the girl took the lift going down. And the stubborn me, I thought, I don't believe I wont be able to catch the same lift going up and thought "what goes down MUST come up right? Unfortunately, I was wrong!! The UP lift never came and the next lift was another DOWN lift. Argghhh!! So I decided to ride the lift going down to go up. One of the passengers in the lift then commented the lift was having a bad day and he had to take the lift going UP to go down. Apparently, the lift was not stopping at every floor.

I couldn't help but post this. Sometimes I feel like that. That we have to go down to go up and not everything will happen the way we think it will. Funny.

exhausted

2010-05-21T23:06:00.002+08:00

Not sure why, but i've been feeling so exhausted from work, my weekly activities.. i took a sick day during mid week because i woke up with a body full of aches and awfully sore throat. What has amazed me even more is that I spent most of the day sleeping! Sleep is really a luxury and I only get to sleep such long hours when i fall sick.

on a cliff called karon

2010-04-24T11:27:00.000+08:00

we're in phuket! our hotel is on a cliff and not so near the beach but so far the service has been good and environment seems nice. feel so lazy and chilled out. the taxi driver was laughing at why we chose to stay on a hill and so far from the beach. whatever...

Eating cat meat!!

2010-04-18T19:49:00.002+08:00

A TV chef in Italy was suspended after he talked about eating cat meat on a TV show.. Serves him right!! How can he even think of eating cat meat?! He even commented on how eating cats was popular in the 30s and 40s. Grrr...

Thankful

2010-04-18T18:04:00.003+08:00

Don't know why, I seem to have a lot of thoughts and feelings in my head/heart.. yet when I wanna post an entry, I can't seem to put everything down in words. Step by step.. I need to work on doing this right. Work on expressing my feelings and thoughts down on my blog. After all, one quarter of 2010 has passed and I've only posted 10 entries??

In an attempt to blog more often, I shall start with writing what I am thankful for in the past week.

Last week, Brenda called me in the morning while I was on my way to work. It was an unknown number as she had called for it to be blocked.. I answered the call with a "hello", not knowing it was going to be her, she said "I'm back". There I was wondering, who is this girl calling me at 8plus in the morning and saying I'm back? Hahah.. I probably sounded confused and she replied, "it's me" Hahaha.. like that helped to answer the mystery in my head? Ok, so I did recognise that voice after awhile and realised who it was over on the other line. It was Brenda who was in Abu Dhabi as her hubby is working there.. She came back as she got a job offer in Sg. I was so happy to learn that her office is in Suntec. One more lunch kaki!! It also means that she'll be here to attend our wedding dinner! Yipee.

Yes, I am thankful for having one more friend in the same country as me.

劉力揚-禮物MV

2010-04-18T16:29:00.001+08:00

Confessions of a drama queen

2010-04-18T14:58:00.003+08:00

I've been hooked on Jerry Yan's dramas recently... After I started watching Down With Love which he stars with Ella Chen from S.H.E. It's funny because most Jerry fans would have caught on the craze over him from the time he was in Meteor Garden.. but I never fancied men with long hair.. with the exception of Brad Pitt in Legends of the Fall.

He is quite dashing and he has a very charming smile. I've been raving on and on about Jerry Yan in front of my dear.. so much that my dear has formed a dislike for him. Saying how Jerry Yan is not good-looking at all.. and has an ugly smile.. hahah... To try and spite me while I watching the drama on TV yesterday, he even asked my mum if she thought Jerry Yan is good-looking? His plan of course back fired because she said yes, she thought he is good-looking =)

And yes, I've been going around telling friends that I think he good-looking and how I am crazy over him =P Jerry is not Mel's cup of tea.. and another guy friend said he did not think Jerry is good-looking at all. Which prompted me to say, but he's got great hair... and his reply was, that's cos he's got a hairstylist to style his hair everyday! Quite true la.. I wish I had a hairstylist to do my hair everyday. Some days I just don't know what to do with my hair as the curls are growing out.

I've also discovered that Jerry's hair was quite atrocious in the earlier days... So hilarious..

His bad hair days will not stop me from liking him.. heheh...

Phuket phuket

2010-04-02T15:37:00.001+08:00

We are planning a holiday!! Yipee... The last one we had was a holiday to Melbourne in June 2009. As usual, my mum said, Melbourne again?? Why don't you go somewhere that you've never been? Don't care... I love Melbourne and they were having cheap flights then!

Anyways, we are planning to go to Phuket.. Original plan was Bali, but the flight timings are no good. I decided to take only 2 days leave cos I wanted to save more days for my honeymoon, which I don't know if I can take it?! =P

I realized that there are many beaches at Phuket. Which one is the best??! So many choices... I've gotta do some homework before we book.. Don't wanna stay in a dodgy beach resort. The resort can spoil your whole holiday if it's not good.. Any suggestions?

Inertia

2010-03-28T21:34:00.003+08:00

I don't know why... Been feeling so lazy on weekends ever since I started work at my new company.. is it because I no longer have to work on weekends? Or is it human nature to be lazy and not want to do anything?

2 days for a weekend is too short.. My new boss said he had heard of an accountant/finance personnel in an overseas office having a one-day work week.. how I wish I could have a one-day work week too!

Spice Garden Walk and Morning Tea

2010-03-07T19:27:00.005+08:00

We went to the Spice Garden at Fort Canning yesterday to have a walk and morning tea organised by at-Sunrice. This was my birthday present to Melissa as I thought it would be more fun and fruitful, rather than buying her a physical gift, which I do every year.

The walk was conducted by Chef Wilson and he brought us around the garden, introducing the common spices to us. The names, the functions and the appearances of the spices. He covered some interesting spices and herbs such as the Sichuan pepper, blue ginger, yellow ginger and the normal ginger, rosemary... he also showed us the pandan plants, a.k.a. screw pine plant. I swear, if I saw the plant on it's own without any signboard, I would not know it was pandan. I only recognise it when it is in a bundle sitting in a pot of sweet dessert.. =P (By the way, I think pandan is not a spice? But since it was there, he might as well show it to us.)

We learnt a few interesting facts about the spices there.. and had the chance to see a tamarind tree, durian tree (no durians though), cinnamon tree, nutmeg tree.. We found out what it looks inside of the fruit.. the first layer being the skin, when removed, shows a red exterior called mace and this mace covers another black layer and finally, below the black layer lies the nutmeg that we usually use for cooking. We also chewed on a bit of the leaf from the Sichuan pepper plant, as the chef described, we would feel a numbing sensation on our tongues.. and we only took a little piece to chew on!

All in all, it was a good session.. We went back to Fort Canning Center for a light morning tea and I believe we also fed the starving mosquitoes at Fort Canning.. I ended up with more than 10 bites on my arms and legs! Maybe we were the morning tea for the mosquitoes?!

Timmi is going bald!

2010-02-07T21:57:00.005+08:00

Ok, so it's not so bad as really going bald.... but she does have bald patches on her body and we noticed it when we went to visit her last weekend.

Asked Boon Choo, who the person who helps us liaise with the cat shelter owner.. (my dear calls her the cattery liaison.. she had noticed the patches on Timmi too and suspects that Timmi has been licking herself out of stress or she could be having rashes.. My poor kitty cat... Must be too stresses from being in the cage with all the other stray cats..

Please hang in there, we will bring you home when our flat is ready.

I can't believe it

2010-02-07T16:39:00.002+08:00

I can't believe how some people can just choose to be so mean. Our friendship of almost 10 years obviously meant nothing to her.. She just removed me off Facebook like that! With a click of a button. How easy for her!

New phone

2010-01-27T00:39:00.004+08:00

My new company got me a business phone, which I could choose from any Singtel phone available. So long as the phone cost less than S$300. Since I've already got a nokia e63, I thought I should try and get something different. Different as in, a touch screen phone, non qwerty keypad. Hence, I decided on a samsung jet 8003. The budget was not enough for an Iphone obviously.

Like what winnie mentioned, a touch screen phone really takes some getting used to. Especially when messaging. I really like messaging with my qwerty keypad. The e63 has very "crunchy" buttons, that are nice to press when messaging. I think after this phone, I'll probably never switch to any other kind of phone.

Ok, so seeing as how I have a business phone that I have to carry around with me.. I decided on a more "fun" phone with more functions and a bigger screen. My dad of course, begs to differ and thinks I could have gotten a better phone, be it the brand or the model. Sheesh, he's not the one who has to use it and he nagged/complained for a fair bit on the design and functions.. Blah blah blah. I bet he will have his views on what car to buy, if ever we get a car! Fortunately, his views apply more to gadgets and he had no complaints on who I decided to marry =)

Happy 3 months anniversary to us!

2010-01-10T14:47:00.001+08:00

We have been married.. for 3 months.

My dear is probably on his way to the hotel in Shenzhen.. =P no time to celebrate as he flew off this morning...

Pineapple tarts

2010-01-10T12:34:00.005+08:00

I tried baking pineapple tarts for the first time last night. I tend to bake late at night.. and really finished the 2nd batch and washing up after 2am.. ..

Haven't tasted them, but mum had 2 last night... and it passed her test.. hahaha.... says the woman who thinks that all cookies/biscuits must be crunchy. I think I had some cookies that were soft to bite.. and she always questioned why they were so soft?

Been a bit disillusioned lately. The chocolate cookies I baked recently were just so-so. Before that, I think I baked some mixed fruit crumbly muffins.. which weren't fantastic either.. Which leads me to doubt my skills in baking..

It's all in the recipe being used, which of course determines the ingredients.. whether you use butter or oil.. and that impacts the texture of the cookie/biscuit/muffin.. There are so many recipes floating around on the internet. People don't own cookbooks anymore? I myself, I like cookbooks with lots of photographs.. perhaps the photographs sold the book.. and why don't the food taste as good as how the photos look? Is that the trade-off?

Anyway, thankfully, my mum has this book called Singaporean Cooking with recipes by this lady called Mrs Leong Yee Soo. Apparently, she had many years of experience in cooking Nonya food. This was published even before I was born and I think it's no longer available in bookstores. It doesn't have many photos, but the recipe worked! I would like to try the other recipes in the book... I hope I can find all the ingredients though. The recipe for pandan chiffon cake called for some screw pine fruit.. what is a screw pine fruit?

Possible choice for a wedding singer

2010-01-01T19:32:00.006+08:00

One night, we went to Wala Wala at Holland Village to watch Kewei from Yours Truly.

We like her, because she is quite versatile and able to perform quite a wide range of songs. She can sing jazzy tunes, pop songs and even rock. She could perform quite a few of the song requests made at the pub.. I'm quite impressed.

Going gaga

2009-12-03T22:32:00.003+08:00

Our Dinner and Dance is this coming Sat and the theme is music celebrities...

I am going as Lady Gaga, or at least try my best to go as her... I just need to find out how to keep my wig on and put on fake eyelashes without glueing my lids together.. =P

I like the white dress, but I think it's gonna be hard to wear that more than once.. and also, where can i find something like that?

Well, let's see how it goes... I still need to find shoes!! I can't find the shoes that I have in mind!

You know it's time for a new phone when....

2009-11-28T21:34:00.002+08:00

1) People comment how big the screen and phone is,
2) People tell you your phone looks like a calculator,
3) People tell you they have not seen your phone before eventhough it's a NOKIA.

Hello Kitty

2009-11-01T22:15:00.000+08:00

I've been feeling so depressed at work lately.. cos there's simply so much work to do and people are leaving.. Leaving and no replacement.. means more work for myself.. So I've been working.. weekends.. and late nights.. and still trying to squeeze in gym workouts 3 times a week.. this leaves me with no time for any other things.. Just the other day, I had my dinner at 10plus at night and I fell asleep while still sitting up on the sofa... it's that bad!

I decided to buy a Hello Kitty calculator to cheer myself up. It does help. Every time I see the ultra pink calculator.. I wanna laugh.. it's TOO cute.. perhaps too cute for my age. But I don't care.. haha...

I was seriously considering this model and another model.. where the calculator is in the shape of a cat face. Even the buttons were shaped like a cat face.. but I decided to moderate myself.. hehe.. a calculator in the shape of a cat face will probably get even more laughs.. and maybe my clients and managers won't take me seriously.

At last

2009-10-25T20:04:00.003+08:00

Married at last.

It feels surreal at times. Surreal that I am married. But I get reminded of my new status whenever I look at the wedding band on my ring finger.. Reminded when I bring up my dear in a conversation.. and he's no longer my boyfriend or my fiance.. but my husband.

I just wish he ain't so far away from me... I miss you my dear....

MJ's Pespi Commercial

2009-10-17T12:55:00.001+08:00

Watching this reminds me of the time when we were in school and MJ was coming to Singapore to have a concert.. the tickets were hard to get or sold out and Pepsi had a contest that had his concert tix as prizes.. To enter the contest.. we had to drink Pepsi and collect the tabs from the drink cans... Some of my classmates were drinking lots of Pepsi just to join the contest.. =P

Getting cock-eyed

2009-09-27T23:45:00.001+08:00

I wonder why I keep buying the wrong color for my eyeliner.

Quite a long time back, I bought eyeliner from Sasa. I specially went to Sasa to buy BLACK eyeliner. The next day, when I took off the wrapper and scrutinised the eyeliner, I realised I had bought green eyeliner! Crap! Actually, on normal days I hardly use eyeliner, but on the days I wanted to use it.. I reluctantly used my dark GREEN eyeliner for my eyes. By the way, I think it's a house brand eyeliner. It sucks. Don't ever buy Sasa house brand eyeliners.. I could tug and pull at my eye with the eyeliner and barely see any line drawn in my eyes. Which by the way, it is not recommended to use too much force on the eyelids as the eye area is very delicate and too much tugging and pulling may cause wrinkles.

Alright.. so the GREEN eyeliner sits in my makeup pouch and I rarely use it.

Little did I expect what I would realise today. Today, when I was doing my makeup for my colleague's wedding dinner, I decided I shall use the Australis brand black eyeliner which I bought some time back and never used it. I happily thought that I would like to have nicely lined eyes for tonight.. Lo and behold. I took a look at the packaging... The colour was called Blue Haze!! What the? Am I not fated to use black eyeliner? I couldn't believe I bought the wrong colour again!

Luckily, the dress I chose to wear tonight is blue. I quite liked the smoothness of the eyeliner and how I was able to draw a dark line quite easily. In fact, I was able to create a nice dramatic effect on my eyes by covering more than half my eyelids with this BLUE eyeliner. =P

Sigh.. I'm quite irritated with myself and I think I need to open my eyes wide when I am buying any form of eyeliner again.

Bye bye Timmi Baobei

2009-09-19T13:07:00.007+08:00

It was a sad day.

I accompanied my sis to the cattery in Punggol. We sent Timmi back to the cattery. This was the very same cattery that my sis had adopted Timmi and Booties from. I'm not quite sure how long she has had the cats, but it did seem like a very long time ago that she first told me she was bringing them home.

A few weeks back, my sis called me to inform me that she had made a decision to send Timmi back to the cattery as Timmi and Booties were constantly fightly. The fights had become more aggressive of late and she found them hard to handle especially with the baby in the house. Turns out that both cats want to be the Alpha Cat and my sis couldn't give either one any attention as my sis' life, schedule.. eating, sleeping time revolves around the baby. The cats were low on the hierarchy. And seeing as how my sis favours Booties more than Timmi, Timmi was the lowest ranking being in the house!

I was sad to hear the news and I felt helpless. I cannot take Timmi in as I am still staying with my parents and they don't like pets. Previously, my dear and I had talks with my sis on adopting Timmi once our new house is ready, but we weren't definite as we both are quite busy and work late nights very often. In addition, our new flat is situated more than 10 storeys above ground. What if Timmi decides to jump out of the kitchen window or balcony one day when she sees a bird?

My dear and I felt we had no choice but to let my sis send Timmi back.

However, last Thursday, my sis announced that she was taking her back on Saturday itself. There I was, thinking that I could still visit her house and see Timmi one last time before she was sent back to the cattery. My dear is in China for work, so definitely he would not have the chance to see her again. The thought of never seeing her again, I couldn't stand it. So I told my sis, we will look for someone to look after Timmi till our new flat is ready. She then told me, we could pay the cattery to look after her and take her back when we are ready to move in.

I had mixed feelings when I saw Timmi again. I was happy to see her. I even shoo-ed Booties away when Booties tried to stop me from giving Timmi any attention. Booties did that many times.. whenever my dear and I visited, Booties will come over to us, even though it was Timmi I called. Timmi will then be afraid to come over as Booties was already here, marking us as her territory.

It was a sad farewell because I don't know when I will get to see her again.. Poor gal, I wonder if she could sense that she was going to be sent away. Perhaps when we took out the carrier, both cats could sense something was wrong. We called for Timmi and she went into hiding behind the sofa. Finally, when my sis put her in the carrier, she started meowing loudly. She meowed when we were in the taxi to the cattery. Poor darling.

Finally, when we reached the cattery, she was put in a cage located in a bigger compound filled with cats. The reason why she was put in the cage was so that she could get used to the new environment again, before she can roam around with the other cats. She was silent in the cage. A contrast to the cat I know. The very affectionate cat that meows constantly to gain my attention.

Actually, I feel it's safer that she is in the cage, some of the other cats had scars on their faces and bodies, signs that they had been fighting with one another. Even when we were there, some of the cats were hissing at each other.. chasing each other around. My dear Timmi, please don't get into any fights. I don't want to bring a scarred cat back to Boon Keng.

We will come visit you soon, when my dear returns from China. We come look for you...

Something's missing by John Mayer

2009-09-10T23:28:00.003+08:00

I stumbled upon this music video when I was listening to music online the other day. I asked this colleague of mine.. she happens to be 4 to 5 years my junior..

I asked her "What radio station do you usually listen to online?"

She said "I don't listen to radio."

*eek* Does that mean I am old-fashioned for listening to radio? I happen to like to hear deejays talk over the radio.. Not all the time, but morning radio talk does perk me up.

So I asked her, "What do you listen to then?"

She replied, "Music from Youtube."

Ok, so suaku me... I said, "Oh. But I don't like it that I have to select the music video and click on a new video once the current video has ended."

Her reply was "You can search for a certain artist and click on PLAYLIST. From there, you can select the playlists available and let it run on AUTOPLAY."

Then I said, "Ok. That's great. Thanks."

Geez. Can't help but feel ancient. But never mind, I'll still try my best to keep with the times.

That is when I stumbled upon this song that I heard for the very first time. Something's Missing by John Mayer. It's great. I love acoustic songs. Just something to share.

Amazing Apollo Bay Part 2

2009-09-06T23:32:00.003+08:00

I really like this series of photos I took of my dear.. this was along the way to the Apollo Bay Lighthouse. We were driving along and we spotted some horses grazing on grass. I think they must belong to someone.. My dear was excited to see them and so he stopped the car so we could take photos of them. His brown jacket matches the horses!! Hehe..

Just the other day, my dear was telling me about whenever he's feeling stressed at work, how he likes to think about the times we spent in Melbourne, especially days spent in Great Ocean Road.. Life in Oz is definitely more laid back.. perhaps it's because we are there on holiday and that makes it even more relaxing and less stressful. There are days I wish, that working life is more balanced and less stressful in Singapore. I guess, ultimately work-life balance all depends on the many many factors, such as yourself, your employer and the nature of your job, etc. Even after returning to Singapore after the completion of my degree and I have been working in Singapore for more than 4 years.. I still have people ask me why I didn't stay on in Melbourne to live/work after my graduation. They also ask me why I don't go back there to apply for PR. The reason is very simple.. because my dear is here (or at least 25% of the time when he is not travelling for work =P)

Farewell to boss

2009-09-06T23:06:00.000+08:00

We recently celebrated a few things in one night.

We welcomed (unofficially) our new associates to the department. I say unofficially cos it wasn't really the main agenda, but it happens that the new associates did turn up for the dinner.

We congratulated those who were promoted. The tradition is that the people who jumped a grade had to pay for the dinner while those who were promoted from 1st year senior to 2nd year senior didn't have to pay. Yay! I've been waiting for my turn to have this "free" dinner for a long time..

We bade farewell to our partner, Adeline. She's been in the firm as long as I have been on this earth. Let's not mention numbers ok.. She's been a great boss to all of us. Always good-tempered. Very friendly. A very reasonable lady. We will definitely miss her. I guess, with such a good boss leaving us, we sorta forgot about the other agendas for the night and it was mainly about her that night. Not that anyone minded that.

The most memorable part of the night was her giving her speech on how she would miss coming in the office as it has become a habit for so many years and that she's been around for so long that so many staff have come and gone.. she wouldn't remember everyone's name but we should say hi to her if we ever bump into her on the streets. The managers also bought her a cake and wished her a happy retirement.. that she should have a retirement wish. As soon as she blew out the candle, she laid the knife into the cake with one stroke. After which, she said it so naturally, like a true boss.. "I suppose someone else will take over and cut the rest of the cake." =) Of course, someone did come over and take over the task of cutting and distributing slices of the cake. The rare few times you will catch managers doing the "dirty" work and serving us subordinates with cake! ;p

Happy hair day

2009-08-24T10:13:00.004+08:00

A very satisfied customer of Hair Waves in City Square. My color + treatement + trim cost me RM350 and the shampoo RM 92. In all it was RM442 (SGD 180).. which caused my dear to exclaim how much it cost to have all that done.. but I told him.. it is considered cheap! If I did all that in Singapore.. I would be terribly broke by now..

Don't you just love it after the hairstylist helps to style your hair, blow it straight?? Two days later, my hair is curling in all directions.. =p

One night in JB

2009-08-22T22:56:00.003+08:00

Heheh.. it's not "One night in Beijing"... which conincidentally, short for Beijing would be BJ, opposite of JB.

Anyway, I'm here to visit my dear (as he is here for work) and get my hair done. Color+ Treatment+ Trim. The works!! I'm very satisfied with the service.. might come back here again to have my hair done nicely. Oops, I'm "cheating" on my hairdresser, Simon, from Hair Inn. Cannot be helped, the foreign exchange between RM and SGD makes it more attractive for me to do my hair here..

Will post the photo of the hairdo later...

How many days without coffee

2009-08-21T00:45:00.004+08:00

I usually have 1 to 2 cups of instant coffee, that I bring from home or get from the dispenser in the office. I have gone for 2 days without the coffee because I think that somehow the milk powder in the coffee gives me gas and hence is making me bloated/ feeling fat.. also because I think my sugar/milk intake is still too high... hence seeing no progress with weight loss even though I go to the gym 3 times a week!

Actually... I started to take my coffee/tea without sugar since I started studying in Oz. I still follow that habit, just that I can't resist my occasional Masala Tea from Mr T or Teh Tarik from the Indian Stall in Clifford Center's Banquet. These contain sugar and/or condensed milk. They just wouldn't taste good if I asked for no sugar or the non-sweet version. It's pointless. However... drinks like that are really just adding on to my calorie/sugar intake.. no value added, except to satisfy my cravings. So I will also avoid buying the Teh Tarik!! No Masala Tea cos Market Street building is undergoing renovations.. and Mr T is not in operation till it's over.

Wonder how many days can I go without the coffee and teh tarik?

Save the date- 13 Nov 2010!

2009-08-19T23:54:00.003+08:00

We have fixed an auspicious date for our customary wedding!! The red book (they call it the 'tong shu') for next year was just out and on last last Saturday (8 Aug) we went to someone who could read the book to get the date. Once we got the date, we "chop chop curry pok" and made the decision that very day that we would have it at Orchard Parade Hotel...

Earlier that very day, we also went to Orchard Parade Hotel again to speak to the banquet manager and have a look at the package and premises. The food, the location and other factors were quite suited to our criteria, so we didnt hesistate much and placed the deposit last Friday. (I just informed Clement, who is living in Melbourne now.. but am very glad that he said he's been there and had the food there before. He thinks it's the best food he's tasted at a wedding dinner!!)

I'm informing my friends already.. especially those overseas.. so that they can plan their time and hopefully be able to attend the wedding next year. I know it's a tad early.. but better early than late!

Please save the date.. Input in your mobile phone calendar, organiser, write it on a post it and stick on your mirror.. circle the date on your calendar. Whatever it takes!

P/s: for benefit of Jin, "chop chop curry pok" means to be quick or do something quickly =)

One dress fits all

2009-08-15T23:16:00.008+08:00

We just went to Jazz Bridal today to have a look at the dresses available for solemnisation ceremonies. Mel was kind enough to accompany us for the appointment.. a girl's opinion is much appreciated when it comes to dresses..After at least 7 dresses (I didn't keep track), I finally decided on the one I would wear. I tried dresses with empire line cut, A-line tube dresses, halter neck.. There was one that had a pretty laced up design at the back.. but the length of the dress wasn't right. So I asked if there were any poofy dresses.. When we saw The Dress, we thought it looked different and unique (as what Simon would say of the dress. Unique often means.. "I don't know.. it's just different?).. When I tried it on.. I quite liked it.. and both Mel and I thought that it had a Sex and the City feel to it. It's a tube dress with a poofy bottom, lots of layers of tulle .. a black sash around the waist and diamante on the top of the tube.. I feel like a ballerina in it.. hahah..

By the way, when I searched on the internet on the wedding gowns worn by Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City movie.. I remembered that she did not wear any short dresses in the movie... and it occurred to me.. it's the tutu that she wore for the segment that is played at the beginning of every episode!
We didn't take any photos (unfortunately) so I can only post pictures of similar dresses.. It will look like the one below.. only more poofy!!

As the bodice of the dress I chose is short, I will look a bit fat around the tummy, unless I can lose some inches around the waist, then they can nip in the waist to make it look smaller =P The lady who was helping me with the dresses even asked if I intended to lose some weight to reduce my waistline.. I can't believe the sizes of the dresses when I was trying them on. Who are they making these dresses for? Are the girls in Singapore really so skinny? For those who don't know, how these bridal studios work is that the dresses will be altered to fit the person who is wearing them.. Magic tailoring.. One dress fits all..

Exactly 2 months away

2009-08-10T23:00:00.000+08:00

It is exactly 2 months away from 10-10-2009, our date of solemnisation.

After much effort, time and white hairs (I told my dear that he will be marrying the bride with white hair).. we have finalised the venue, the florist, the photographer and even the solemniser! We went wedding band shopping this long weekend and are having a customised pair from Soo Kee Jewelry.

Still left with the nitty gritty as I will be making a trip down to the Yacht Club again to look at the colors of table cloth, see the chairs to be used, see the room they will be providing us with... I spent the whole afternoon today listening to potential songs for that day.. It seems like there still remains quite a lot of things to do.. but the major decisions have been made. It's the details that are killing me!! Details details details...

Next Saturday, we'll be going to the bridal studio to look at dresses... I think I know what kind of dress I want. Will they have what I want?

Butterflies at Penang

2009-08-02T23:35:00.007+08:00

I've never been so close up to real live butterflies.. it's a great experience to see them fluttering around.. sucking the nectar out of flowers.. I observed that as they suck the nectar out, their wings open and close. I was trying to capture the moment when the butterfly's wings were spread out.. so I had to wait.. and held my breath, trying to keep the camera steady.. and click! Managed to capture the right moment!

When we got to the souvenir section, like I expected, I saw many items made out of butterflies. They had called them "expired butterflies". Butterflies in key chains, pen holders, display ornaments.. they looked pretty, but I said I wasn't bringing/buying any dead insects.. and I stuck to that principle! So, I bought a magnet.. Like what I usually do for my other trips.. the fridge at home is filled with them on the door.. Will I ever run out of space to display them?

I also bought a small plantling (or seedling??). It's an orchid.. oh, which reminds me, I haven't watered the plant!!

Baby who loves to touch everything

2009-08-02T01:24:00.004+08:00

For the benefit of those who have not met my niece and my dear who is overseas now.. this is the latest video of her.. Fresh from the oven..

I just saw her on Friday night and was feeding her porridge so Sis can have her dinner.. and she was wanting to touch the bowl, the spoon.. flapping her hands in front of me.. till finally, when I was caught off guard, she knocked the spoon right out of my hand! Porridge on myself, the floor, the highchair.. and the spoon was lying on the floor =P

Babies are so curious, hence the constant need to touch and hold objects.. One thing I learn is to keep my hair tied up when I'm carrying her.. she loves to grab hair.

Which comes first? The dress or the shoes?

2009-08-01T23:30:00.004+08:00

I was at Far East Plaza with Mum and Dad for dinner today. Most of the food places are up at the highest level.. like how most malls are designed. The food is usually at the basement or top level. Perhaps it's to make you look at the things the shops are selling before you get to the food. So we walked past many shoe shops. I was already looking at shoes at Tangs. In particular, I was looking for shoes with a bit of bling bling.. need them for the solemnisation and thought I should look out for possible options for shoes..

I always thought I should get/choose the dress first before I buy the shoes.. Cos I'm afraid I won't know what kind of dress I will pick.. We are going to look at dresses on 15 Aug..

So I took some photos at Tangs.. for future reference..

And some more..

None of them were compelling enough for me to buy on the spot.. So I thought I would think about it and come back if I had no other better options...

After we got to far East plaza, I forgot how much I used to like to walk around.. looking at what each little tiny (cramped) shop had to offer. Far East Plaza was the place I used to come as a teenager. It is the place where people who wanted to set up their own boutique or fashion line will start off. There is plenty of accessories, shoes, bags and clothes. Some nice ones.. mostly streetwear, but if you look hard enough.. you may find a good dress/top/skirt for wearing to work, a dinner party.. or to the beach.

There is this one shop, Anna Nucci, which seems to specialise in shoes with alot of bling.. Perhaps all the girls there were gonna get married soon??? Saw quite a few pairs.. that were quite pretty.. better than the ones at Tangs.. They were having discounts.. so I couldn't resist.. I had to buy the shoes first before choosing the dress =P After all, I know I can't go with bare feet to the solemnisation dinner..

Took the photo in black and white.. it's my first time using my camera to take black and white photos!! Looks good eh? New shoes always look good...

Monday Blues

2009-07-27T11:59:00.002+08:00

I am suffering from the Monday blues.

I just came back from Penang last night, spent the weekend with my dear. So technically, I should feel happy right?? So happy until I don't want to come back to work.. so this is the low after the high.

To combat these blues.. I called up the spa to find out if there is any last minute cancellations so I can do my facial today. It always feels good to pamper yourself.

Lucky lucky me, I can go for facial today! Yay!

The Climb by Miley Cyrus

2009-07-23T12:24:00.004+08:00

I'm embedding and posting a video on blogger for the first time!! I didn't know it was so easy...

Anyway, I like this song by Miley Cyrus very much. It's very uplifting and we heard it on the radio many times when we were on the road in Melbourne. Also heard it when we went to watch Hannah Montana, the movie. My dear had no idea who Hannah Montana was before I "dragged" him to this movie. It's not like he had to pay for it.. we have a mutual agreement, whoever who wants to watch a movie the other is not so keen on watching will have to pay for the tickets. So usually when we watcha sappy romance comedy, I pay. When we watch an action movie, he pays.

Yes, I'm not embarassed to say I watch teen movies. I even watched Hillary Duff's The Lizzie McGuire Movie on the flight back from Melbourne. There!

Must see Penang

2009-07-22T14:09:00.004+08:00

Just found out, Penang was listed as the No. 2 must-see destination by readers of the NY Times.

I’m going to Penang for the weekend to visit my dear as he is on assignment there for 3 weeks.

Get to go on a mini holiday! I haven’t been to Penang since I was in secondary school. The only one time I went there was with family and my dad drove up from Singapore to Penang to attend his cousin’s daughter’s (my cousin too?) wedding. I was young then and did not know much about travel.. just went along with whatever my parents did.

Penang is an island on its own. Known for its good food, heritage and beaches. It so happens that there is an event going on this weekend, George Town Celebrates! George Town and Melaka were listed as World Heritage sites on 7 July 2008. There is a whole long list of events happening throughout this Sat and Sun, 25 to 26 July 2009. Free boat rides, exhibitions, food, arts and music festivals. What a nice coincidence! Not sure what I can cover in one weekend, I’m still searching online on what kind of activities we can do.

There is a Penang Butterfly Farm, the world’s 1st live butterfly and insect sanctuary. Anyone who knows me well enough will know I like butterflies.. especially to have them as decorations. I might want to visit that.. We simply do not have enough nature or wildlife in Singapore (though the butterflies aren’t very wild as they are in a sanctuary). But no dead butterflies or insects as souvenirs please. It’s just creepy..

I remember my dad bought this key chain from Hainan Island, with a beetle preserved in some kind of resin. >_< We also went to some tourist spot in Hainan where they were selling some souvenirs, paintings and crafts.. there were paintings made fully out of real butterfly wings. Apparently, it is an art form there. How many butterflies did they have to pluck the wings off to make those paintings?? Ouch.

Pet peeve

2009-07-22T11:37:00.002+08:00

I’ve got a pet peeve. (Actually, I think I have many.. but I shan't bombard my blog with all of them..)

I dislike toilets that have reflective tiles and gaps between the cubicles. I can’t help but look at the other cubicle and think that the person beside me can see my reflection too. Even if it is a blurred reflection, I can’t help but be conscious and wonder if the other person is looking over too. I wish designers of these toilets would think of this when they are designing the toilet and perhaps they should use toilets like these too!

I also dislike toilets that are all too quiet and everyone can hear all the unmentionables going on in the toilet, be it big or small business. Of course, I think this can't really be helped.. One must sorta expect to hear all kinds of funny sounds when they are in the toilet right??

Don’t mind me, I’m bored. I’m blogging about toilets.

Starry starry night

2009-07-21T01:26:00.003+08:00

Meeting up with Mel.. was good.. as we had a chance to try out Starlight Yoga together.. facing the sea from Vivocity. There wasn't too many stars in the sky, but at least there were a few.

It's a different experience, exercising under the sky.. where the instructor was a replacement for the regular one, and she kept asking us to look at the ceiling. Later correcting herself and asking us to look up to the sky. The weather was good, not too windy or humid.. the surroundings were peaceful. However we were interrupted by the occasional horn from the boats, as were were near the Harborfront ferry terminal. The whole area did not belong to True Fitness, so we spotted some curious onlookers from the far corner.. towards the end of the class there was a group of rowdy teenagers.. wish they would move away or shut up! Disturbing our peace and relaxation!

I might go for the class again.. if only Vivocity wasn't so far from home. It took me more than an hour to get home.. and by the time I got home, it was already 11-ish!! Terribly late for a Monday night.. and going to gym so frequently can only happen during off peak period.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2009-07-20T13:45:00.002+08:00

Mel and I are going to try out starlight yoga at True Fitness Vivocity today. It starts at 8.30pm and I guess they call it starlight yoga because it's outdoors and you do it on a patio or balcony-like area just outside the gym. It will be the first time I am doing yoga outdoors, hope there'll be stars tonight!

Ooh ooh and today marks the 40th anniversary of the first ever moon landing by Apollo 11!!

Plans to proceed as usual

2009-07-19T22:05:00.006+08:00

Despite the realisation that we need not do the solemnisation so much earlier than the date we can get the keys to our new flat, we decided to go ahead with it. After all the researching, calling and looking around, we have made our choice.

We decided on the Galley by the Straits.. it's a restaurant at the SAF Yacht club in Sembawang and the spot we picked is just by the sea, the Copacabana. That's the name of the little raised area we are going to have the ceremony and dinner.

We changed our initial plans to have a buffet dinner instead of a buffet lunch.. This way, we won't have to worry about the afternoon heat and we may even get to see the sunset! The photo with the buffet line is in a day setting, but ours in the evening.. so it should look better than this..

We are still in discussions.. but after much thought and negotiation, I think the menu is pretty much settled.. Now for the decorations and what kind of flowers we want!!

Been looking around for possible ideas for themes.. not sure what I want.. but I saw a very pretty centerpiece using orange roses floating in water.

My dear likes pink roses better.. which is nicer? Orange is very lively and bright.. and it signifies passion and excitement.. Pink roses symbolises gentle admiration and are very elegant.

Suggestions anyone?

The older the better

2009-07-16T14:19:00.003+08:00

In this day and age, most people like things that are brand new. Like new clothes, new cars, new house.. as opposed to having second hand or used items... There is one thing that is good as it gets older. Friends!

Just had lunch with a classmate from junior college. One who I have not seen for 9 years.. We were close at one point of time.. but just lost touch. Don't ask me why, because till today I don't know why.

He still looks the same as he did in college.. which I told him so. He commented that sometimes when he sees some ex-classmates on the streets and he thinks some guys don't age very gracefully. Maybe they don't bother to maintain their looks. I posed him the question, if I still looked the same. His reply was that I looked more or less the same, just older. WHAT??!! I know that is the truth, that I am older than I was 9 years ago, who isn't? But guys should never tell a girl she looks older. Haha.. I guess he sorta realised his "mistake" and wanted revise his response. He said I look like an updated version of myself. >_<

Updated. Better than outdated?

.....

Nevertheless, it was nice to catch up with an old friend. Old friends are hard to come by.

To all my friends who are overseas and OLD, I miss you all!!

The White Rabbit

2009-07-13T00:37:00.011+08:00

We went to The White Rabbit for brunch today. It was not really planned.. but we were at the botanic gardens earlier and since it's pretty nearby, we decided to check it out.

I think I got to know about it from seeing my friend's photos on Facebook and it seemed like a place with a nice ambience. Yes, most of the time, nice ambience sorta means the food is pricey too. The restaurant is located nearby the Dempsey Road area.. every restaurant in Dempsey is pricey. Dempsey is not an area for people who should be saving for the tons of money they are about to spend for their wedding and not-so-cheap HDB flat.

But yes, the greenery (was it bamboos?) that created a tunnel-like feeling before we went in gave me a serene sense of being.

On the inside, we see stained glass windows. The restaurant used to be a chapel.

Before we went inside, we did not know what kind of food to expect.. but I sorta had in mind.. it should be Western cuisine. Nowadays, with fusion food and all, food may not be so clearly defined to be that of Chinese, Italian or Japanese. Yeah, so true enough.. the food is Western-ish. They were serving brunch, so the menu was a combination of breakfast items and also lunch items. Like Spruce, the White Rabbit also had Eggs Benedict on their menu. Perhaps Eggs Beendict is a must for any brunch menu.

The Eggs Benedict (S$23) were average. We chose the smoked salmon combination (they also offered ham as the other option). Both my dear and I agreed that the Eggs Benedict we had at Spruce were better. Could it be cos the eggs were more runny? Spruce's was cheaper by a good S$5 too!

We also had their Ricotta Hotcakes (S$14), which was simply pancakes and berries/fruit on them. Why they were called Ricotta Hotcakes, I don't know. The pancakes were not bad, they tasted pretty fluffy. I must learn how to make fluffy pancakes.

We don't go out for brunch that often.. but due to special circumstances, we have ended up going to one this month again. This meal set me back by a whopping S$58! Other than the Eggs and the Hotcakes, I had a Cappuccino and he had a pot of tea, so that's really quite a lot ain't it? We should really stop spending so much on brunch.. =P

argggghhhhhhhhhhhh

2009-07-10T15:46:00.001+08:00

Argh!! I just found out from my colleague who is getting married soon, that we no longer need to produce our marriage certificate 3 months before collecting the keys to our new flat. She says that we only need show proof that we have booked a wedding package for the banquet at a hotel/restaurant and that is sufficient for us to collect the keys!

For those who don’t know, the HDB rule is that we need to show the marriage certificate before we get the keys. That is what the agent told us when we were making the deposit for our flat. That is also what HDB tells us.

Some stupid rule that is, traumatising young couples, making us think that we need to go through the solemnisation ceremony before the actual wedding dinner!! The main reason why we wanted to get registered earlier is so that we can collect the keys whenever the flat is ready, which is expected to be sometime next year or the latest Jun 2011. Though we know that we want to have the actual dinner sometime at the end of 2010, we don’t have an exact date for the wedding dinner yet. Sheesh.. should we still go ahead with the solemnisation as a separate event? Most people tend to do it on the same day so that they can save the hassle of inviting people twice and also saving a bit of money as having to organise a separate event costs extra money and time, not to mention extra stress. I swear I am getting more white hairs =(

How? How? Now that we have invited friends and family, looked high and low for venues, even called a licensed solemniser... Should we go through with it?

It's FRIDAY!!

2009-07-10T13:31:00.006+08:00

Time seems to pass by so quickly. Perhaps it's the preparations for the solemnisation that are keeping me so busy and constantly thinking of what I should do and what I might have left out. In addition, I've got to do the planning for my audit engagements for year ended 31 Dec 09. Planning for audit engagements seem to be much easier than planning events.

I've emailed and contacted quite a few pple from the various places we are interested in... but I'm quite sad, no one is replying.. why so slow??

Anyway, we did our first site visit and the place was Forrest @ Orchidville on Wednesday. The food wasn't very impressive.. photos are always deceiving.. hehe.. I think also because what we saw is the normal restaurant setting and the place will always look better with decorations, flowers and a bit of tidying up. We went there at night for dinner.. and as the taxi was turning into the small lane from Mandai Road, the lights hung on the trees along Orchidville gave me the feeling I was in Malaysia... some kampung style place.

Our dinner was not that great either. We had oatmeal soft shell crab, which was too salty. The kailan with garlic was normal and the sliced pork was too sweet and oily. In fact, it was a pricey dinner. S$43 for both of us.

After the visit, the place is not really in the running for the solemnisation, but maybe one day we can go there to buy some orchids.

Wedding Preparations- KISS

2009-07-05T19:38:00.006+08:00

KISS stands for "Keeping It Small and Simple". Not gonna happen.

It turns out that getting married is never a simple thing.. It should be right? However, it is not. It's a lot of coordination, planning, organising.. making boo boos along the way.. having to learn about what's required, how we should go about it.. Oh my, can't we just sign the papers and tell people we're married?

Just a simple thing like getting registered.. requires effort.

We only recently found out that the Registry of Marriages (ROM) is not open on Saturdays. All this while, I thought we could have it done there on Saturday.. and I distinctively thought I saw the operating hours on Saturdays to be until 12 or 1pm. Must have been dreaming. Sheesh.. so the mad rush to look for a solemniser, look for a venue.. and book a time with the bridal studio to have my make up done.

Finally, the big diary/organiser that my mum gave to me at the start of the year, is put into some use. Ironically, the organiser has 3 big words printed on the front "Managing Time 2009". I'm always one who starts off using an organiser religiously in months of Jan or Feb, and realises the book is too damn heavy to put in my already overloaded handbag. Also, I think I am very bad at time management at times... only doing some things at the last minute or when I feel very motivated to do it.

I've been starting to use the organiser again.. to record the dates I go to the gym and also the progress I am making, weight-wise. And no, I am not trying to lose weight just cos I wanna look good in my wedding photos... I am trying to lose the extra weight I have gained from the irregular meals and lack of exercise due to the busy work life that I have. Right now, I am also using it to record important dates like when I need to complete tasks for the wedding or the up and coming wedding shows. No, it is not easy.

No, it doesn't help that my dear has got a new job and he's not going to be in Singapore half the time.. We have to plan the trying of ROM outfits to the date that he is in town and appointments with the bridal studio has to be booked in advance. The whole monh of July is not available, hence I will only get to see dresses on 15 Aug. That's more than 5 weeks away!

Also, things like wedding shows.. well, I think it will be weird if I turned up alone.. when all these shows at restaurants/hotels are priced per couple.. like S$38/couple.. will they be able to give me a 50% discount if I went alone? Not that I want to turn up alone.. cos it will be like a single going for a Couples Event. So, I asked Mel if she would like to join me.. she thought it might seem a bit weird if two of us gals went.. but I said.. if anyone asks, we're having a lesbian marriage!

Solid food

2009-06-21T18:41:00.005+08:00

As promised, more pictures and updates on Yusayrah.

Baby niece is starting to eat solid foods. Babies can start eating solid foods from 6 months old onwards.

Look at her facial expression after downing a spoon of mashed banana.

Sis thinks baby doesn't really like banana. This is the second time she's trying. The first time, the banana oxidised and turned green quite rapidly... She rejected most of it the first time. Perhaps Yusayrah is not used to the sweetness of banana. She loves rice cereal though.

Brunch is my favourite meal

2009-06-21T17:22:00.006+08:00

I don't know if brunch can be considered to be a meal on its own, but heck, it's my favourite.

My dear's birthday is coming up next week, but since it falls on a weekday, we decided to celebrate it in advance. We left the selection of the venue to me, because I wanted him to have a surprise and not be able to anticipate where we were going to eat. Another reason is because I'm footing the bill, as a birthday treat to him =P

And so, I decided, on a new place that I myself have not been to. I stumbled upon it in the newspapers the other day. How timely, for a review of a place that serves great brunch! I intended on having Sunday brunch (I usually go to the gym on Saturdays and brunch always seems to be associated more with Sunday than Saturday). To my dismay, Sunday was fully booked! Thankfully, there were still available slots for Saturday.. so I took it (had to go to gym today instead).

The place is called Spruce, a restaurant-bar-bakery located at Phoenix Park along Tanglin Road. A nice, quiet place.. and from the reviews I have read of that place, most say it is a nice change from the over-priced Dempsey Road.

I requested for a table inside and a good thing also, because it was a sweltering hot day yesterday. The outdoor seating looked fairly relaxed and comfortable, so we might try that the next time we go there. Perhaps when we are not experiencing a heatwave in Singapore.

We both had cappuccino. Their house coffee is Giancarlo from Melbourne, Australia. Drinking it reminds me of being in Melbourne again....

I had to try the "Eggs Benny on Corn Waffles", recommended by the article of course.. bacon, hollandaise sauce over two poached eggs on waffles.. finding little bits of corn as I work through the waffles.. Mmm.. Yummy.

My dear had a big breakfast.. forgot the name of the item.. but it was good too. I'm sure it satisfied his craving for a good brunch since the last time when we had brunch at Brunetti along Lygon Street in Melbourne. He loved the bread for its freshness and crispiness.

Finally, our dessert!! I told him we had simply HAD to try it. I'm a sucker for sweet pastries and what's more.. a Cinnamon Roll. (whatever happened to Saint Cinnamon's? The chain selling cinnamon buns in Singapore? I miss their cinnamon buns..) When it arrived, it looked so good and I could smell the wafts of cinnamon.. Slurp. I was literally scraping the icing off the plate with my knife and spreading it over the roll.

Overall, we had a great experience. The service was good, the servers were topping our glasses with water frequently. Our plates were cleared on a timely basis and I was impressed by the fact they gave us a fresh set of cutlery and serviettes for our cinnamon roll. And they provided sharing plates! Very nice. Our breakfast came up to S$54, inclusive of service charge and GST, but it's a nice way to pamper oneself once in awhile.

Will the Gracious Singaporean please stand up?

2009-06-16T22:44:00.003+08:00

After a day at work today, I went for a session of yoga at True Fitness. It's quite silly actually.. I wanted to go for a session of spinning or bodypump, but I ended up going for yoga cos I had forgotten to pack my running shoes in my bag this morning. *slap forehead*

After yoga, I proceeded to Raffles Place MRT station to take the train back home. I was tempted to "bounce", but I didn't cos I thought there wouldn't be many people in the train at 8pm and would most likely be able to get a seat. By the way, for those who do not know what I mean by "bounce", it is a term that my dear taught me, to describe the process of taking the train South to the terminal station, which is Marina Bay (it's just the next stop from Raffles) and waiting for the train to turnaround and go North. Many people do that to get a seat in the train.. and "bouncing" from Raffles usually adds on approximately 10 minutes to your journey. I was lucky. I got a seat.

Just as I was settling down and took out my Today newspaper to read on the train.. the train arrived at Dhoby Ghaut. If I had a seat on the train/bus, I sorta made a habit of looking around on the train/bus to see if there was any one who needed the seat more than I did. I looked up and saw this old man who was standing. I stood up and gave up my seat to him eventhough I was not sitting in the "reserved" seats. "Reserved" seats are those near the doors and are meant for people like pregnant women, old folks, adults carrying babies/children and the handicapped. It's quite irritating, I have been on trains and buses where people are just oblivious to the older folk or the quite obviously pregnant lady rubbing her swollen belly. What is happening to our society?

Ironically, in a place like Hainan island, where it is more backward (it is a bit less developed other cities in China like Beijing or Shanghai), where people still spit on pavements, where the people do not seem to use deodorant... the passengers on a bus got up and gave up their seats to my parents or any parents carrying their children. Without hesitation. This was quite heartening to see. And what's more, they did not need any signage or any "reserved" seats on buses to prompt them to do so. They did it willingly.

Will the Gracious Singaporean please stand up and give up his/her seat?

The True Spa experience

2009-06-14T17:37:00.003+08:00

After going to so many spas, I have come to expect that if the spa offers a discount or freebie, that is only to lure you into buying their packages. That is how my membership with FIL Spa started anyway. I have no major complaints about FIL Spa, I have been their member/customer for over 4 years now.. but I'm still paying instalments for the packages.. it sorta shows how I need to curb my spending on treatments and packages..

What I really wanted to talk about was True Spa. Not sure how they got my number, must be from one of my credit card companies (damn the credit card companies for giving out our information so easily!) or from True Fitness, which I joined recently. I should really go find out if it is legal for them to obtain our contact information through these means...

So ok, True Spa. Someone gave me a call, when I was in Melbourne 2 weeks back.. a good thing I didn't pick up. I found out they called me when I rang them up when I got home from my holiday. If I had picked up the call when I was overseas, paying roaming rates, I would have blasted the person over the phone!! Being the persistent, pesky sales people they are.. they have to be persistent.. to be in this line.. they called me again. This person called me and told me I was entitled to a free massage. She didn't tell me what kind of massage it was and she didn't tell me why I was given this free massage. I naturally assumed it was cos I joined True Fitness recently and since they were both under the True Group, they shared the information of their members freely. Alright, so I asked for an appointment on a Saturday, 4.30pm. Miraculously, they had a slot! I would never be able to get a weekend slot so easily with FIL, unless I book in advance some days ahead or if there were cancellations.

So, I went ahead with it, mainly cos it was free. I went, feeling guarded and with expectations, that they will try to hard sell their packages to me after the massage. What I went without, was my credit cards.. hehe. I'm not kidding, I took them out of my wallet before I left the house.. The branch I went to was at Cuppage Terrace. The branch looked new and it is decorated nicely. I was directed upstairs where there was big room full of cubicles, each with some customers and consultants. Many of which, I think, were informed that they had a complimentary massage. I also found out, that the couple sitting next to me had no idea what kind of massage they were going to get till they got there. I was thinking to myself, "if you are going to give someone something for free, you should at least tell them how long it is going to be and what kind of service they are going to get!"

They were giving out 30 minute back, shoulder and neck massages out for free. Just what I needed! How fortunate. The massage was not too bad.. I think the masseuse had quite a lot of strength.. she looked quite petite and was shorter than me. She was kneading me, like I was dough.. perhaps I had too many knots in my back and shoulders.. she decided to turn me into putty. I am still aching now (the massage was yesterday).. especially at spots where I think she used her elbow to work on my muscles..

The highlight of the whole experience was, when I came out, waiting for me was the consultant and a cup of tea and a plate of fruit with 2 slices of fruit cut up into smaller pieces. It's pretty standard, the cup of tea.. however, this was the first spa I've been to which gives you fruit after the treatment. Then comes the sales pitch. The consultant asks me how I liked the massage and told me how much the prices were... the normal ala carte price is s$110 per 60 min massage.. but now, they are having a 30% promotion, I could get a 60 min massage and a 30 min hydrobath at S$77 per session. But I would have to purchase 48 sessions to get that price! No way I was gonna sign up for another package... Money doesn't fall from trees you know. So, as I was chewing a piece of the very juicy watermelon...

I told her, "Nah, I'm not really interested in a package for massage".

She then asked, " How about for facials?"

Me: "Nope, don't think so."

Her: "Is there any other spa services that you may be interested in?"

Me: "No, I'm still paying my instalments for my other package at FIL. I don't wish to spend more money."

Her: "How about if the instalments were less than $100 a month?"

Me: "No, don't think so."

Her: "Alright then. Please follow me this way."

Surprised, I put down my fork on the plate and followed her.

As she showed me the way out, she said "Watch your step."

I didn't get to finish my fruit and tea!! But anyhows.. I thought it was quite funny... Wonder how many people does she do that to? Relieved to get out of there, she was not as pushy as I expected.. if she got more pushy, my last resort would have to be to tell she I didn't bring my credit cards.. keke... =)

End of June holidays

2009-06-14T16:17:00.003+08:00

I've always associated the month of June with the June school holidays. The month when schooling kids run free and taking vacations overseas get more expensive because parents take their kids for holidays at that time. I haven't had a June school holiday since I left university. This year, I decided to take my long break from May onwards.. and my 5 week break is coming to an end. Boohoo.

On the overall, it's been a relaxing break. Getting away from work and going abroad.. spending money.. catching up on sleep, TV and exercise... spending more time with Sis and my cute little niece, catching up with friends. As you can see, one thing I didn't catch up on was blogging =P mostly cos I was out of the house alot and when I was at home, I really didn't want to be on the computer..

I'm ending this break with mixed feelings. Sad because it's the end. I don't get to go out when everyone else is working anymore. No more shopping when malls are empty and quiet. Yet, I sorta accept it, that I have to return to work, because life of bumming around indefinitely will never be possible unless I strike it rich one day and win the lottery (first I will have to start buying the lottery for that to happen). Also, having too long a break tends to make you feel inert and not know what to do next. We can't spend all day watching movies, TV or window shopping in malls. (Or can we? hehe)

Work will not be too predictable when I return, as I will be starting my secondment to the tax department. I've been seconded there till the end of August. Don't know what to expect, except I heard that the working hours should be better than the audit department.

Alright. Time to psych myself up. Back to work, back to reality.

Kitty land

2009-06-04T15:02:00.004+08:00

I am in the midst of organising my photos.. and I couldn't resist putting up these photos.. I have a folder named "cats" just for cats... they're so adorable..

I saw 2 different cats sitting on the same motorcycle on 2 separate occasions.. the owner parks his bike near a lift landing at a nearby block.. I wonder if ever saw these cats sitting comfortably on his bike.

This is the naughty orange cat.. but she's my favorite cos she's so affectionate to me.

This little kitty followed me to my doorstep but I couldn't let her in as my parents don't like cats and are always threatening to make my sister's cats into cat burgers..

Amazing Apollo Bay Part 1

2009-05-28T23:54:00.000+08:00

This post should have come before the Penang post.. seeing as how my dear and I went to Melbourne in May 09 and I was in Penang to visit him at the end of July.. but better late than never??

As usual, we couldn't do without the trip to Great Ocean Road. Special request by my dear, but I don't mind since it's such a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city.

I took a series of photos of the face of the Nokia phone I brought with me. The E61 was sent for repair.. this phone was the one I was using before the E61 came along. It indicates the suburb that the phone is in and you can see the time from the right hand corner of each snap. The first one looked the best because that was when we stopped for lunch at Torquay, I could leave the phone on the table and take a very good still shot. All the other shots were taken while my dear was driving.. so it was hard to take a good close up shot of my phone without the reflection. Torquay is considered to be the earlier part of the Great Ocean Road coastal drive. As you can see, we took 2 hours to get to our destination, Apollo Bay, where we had booked a night's stay at one of the apartments.We had a view of the ocean from the apartment. It also had a balcony and a BBQ pit which could be used for barbeques, but it was almost winter when we went, so we would be nuts to sit outside in the cold!

For the first time, we came across a real fireplace and it really took us quite a while to get the fire going. Our warmth during that night depended on it. The room got a little smoky at times and very warm... when the wood looked like orange embers.. it was even better than any electrical or gas heater I ever used!! It was a great experience.

Actually, this is my umpteenth time to Melbourne and my dear's second time. This is the breathtaking view from Marriner's Lookout.. even though it was my second time up there, I still enjoyed the view very much.. you can never find such views in Singapore. Better yet, no entrance fees and it's all natural!

Yusayrah

2009-05-25T15:14:00.002+08:00

I should be posting more pictures of my baby niece.. but I havent got that many... some in Dad's camera.. some in bro-in-law's camera..

This I took with my now defunct E61i. She's 3 months old in this one. Right now she's past 6 months and starting to eat solid (mashed up) food.

Will take more pictures when I return from Melbourne..

Weekend warrior

2009-04-26T00:12:00.006+08:00

I've been making sure I go to the gym every Saturday for my BodyPump and Spinning class. I don't miss the classes unless I have a very good reason.. However, I missed a weekend lately because I was really sick for quite a few days. I just spoke to an ex-colleague today (she goes to the same gym as I do) and she was surprised that I still made an effort to go to the gym every Saturday eventhough I still have to continue to work on the weekend.. This is a commitment I made to myself.. and if I only workout once a week, I must not miss this ONE and ONLY workout that I have. (The instructor calls me a "weekend warrior" as I only work out once a week on weekends!)

I realised that I don't have much energy when I'm in the class after I had a rough week at work.. Lack of sleep really does kill your energy levels.. So today I struggled with my classes again.. pushing my arms to lift the barbell.. and not let it drop on myself.. Grunting out in pain when I feel I cannot go any further.. Pushing my legs on the Spinning bicycle trying to get myself through to the end of the class. Somehow, even with the tiredness, this is what I look forward to every weekend. Being in the class with good music and working out the body, getting fitter. Not to mention, I really like this instructor now.. She is very motivating, constantly telling us that we can do it, that we will only get what we give. It's quite true, the result we can get, is only as good as the effort we can put in. Which applies to everything else in life, not just exercise.

Crumbly mixed fruit muffins

2009-02-15T23:09:00.004+08:00

Blogging can be time-consuming and at times.. I'm just plain lazy or not inspired to blog.. From now on, I shall try to be more disciplined.. and look for more avenues of inspiration!

And yes, I find that keep baking the same ol' stuff.. or similar stuff.. which is good in a way, cos I'm perfecting that particular thing before I move on to something new right? What can I say? It's human nature.. to stay in that comfort zone.. knowing that you can do something well..

Yes, so I baked muffins.. AGAIN. The variation here is that I tried to make a crumbly muffin.. or at least a crumbly muffin topping. There is mixed fruits and almonds in them and on the outside it's oats, almonds and some brown sugar. Sweet!

Finally found it!

2009-02-11T00:11:00.003+08:00

It's a tiered serving stand..

I had to post this!! The other day I was just telling my dear that I wanted to get something like this for our new house. For sure, this is a must. Now if only I can find somewhere in Singapore that sells this, if not I will have to order this online...

Tea party

2009-02-10T23:37:00.006+08:00

I was bored.. and decided to surf around.. looking at pretty pictures of cupcakes, crockery, cookies..

I think there was this one time I googled for tea sets.. and I came across this online store Rosanna. I think her designs are really unique and likeable.

Typically, I like things with flowers, though not all types of flowers. It depends.

Dessert plates with cupcake designs. Imagine serving cupcakes with these... Yummy.

The series below is named Le Gateau.. One can hardly go wrong with white.. as long as the pastries looks good...

La Patisserie. This somehow makes me think of having chocolate fondue. Don't know why.. Must be the strawberries on top.

Looks all so pretty.. but should be expensive too. Most of the items above are either sold out or not available yet.. but when I clicked on the other items.. I think it was like $40 for 4 mugs.. or $48 for 6 bowls.. That's considered to be a splurge for tableware. (Pssst.. My birthday's in January next year.. there's time for you guys to save up.. hehe.. Kidding.. )

Banana and almond muffins

2009-02-08T13:49:00.006+08:00

I made some banana and almond muffins.. to bring over to my dear's Big Aunt's place. First time I was trying out this recipe.. the previous few times when I baked muffins I always used plain flour with baking powder. This time, the recipe called for self-raising flour and baking powder.

Being the first time with this recipe.. I happily loaded the muffin cups to the brim.. not knowing that the muffins will overflow.. resulting in a muffin that looked like the "Elephant Muffin" (you know, the Elephant Man.. who had deformities around his face.. and his nose grew bigger and had rough bumps.. so they named him the "Elephant Man"... ) anyway.. that muffin didn't look so pretty.. so I didn't capture its photograph. Fortunately, I only put in 2 muffins in the first "test bake".. so the rest of the muffin batter was not wasted. My dear helped me to remove some of the batter and we placed it in fresh cups.

Anyway, the muffin crust tasted nice.. The part I was not satisfied was that I couldn't taste much of the bananas in the muffin. Must use more the next time... I used my favorite kind of banana.. what my mum calls the "Pisang Raja". Banana with very thin skin, has a very ripe exterior when ready. Ripe meaning it's got quite alot of black spots.. and it's fat and medium sized. Apparently it is good for making goreng pisang with...

I can't take a photo of the bananas.. as there are none left. The bunch we bought yesterday.. I only used 3 for the muffins.. the rest were gobbled up by me and my family! Next time maybe.

Happy birthday to me

2009-02-05T23:02:00.005+08:00

I know I know, it's February already.. And I am only posting these pictures now...

My dear and I went to Club Chinois for a celebration for my birthday as well as to try out the food at Club Chinois (it was a potential venue for our wedding banquet).. I've read some rave reviews about the food at Club Chinois.. and also since it's under the Tung Lok Group, I would think the food should at least be abvove average right?

Well........ It wasn't too bad... we had the Chinese New Year set.. They were offering that as it was (still is now actually) the Chinese New Year period.. hmm.. a tad pricey for the small portions.. Appetite wise, I'm fine with small portions cos I don't have a big appetite and I was pretty full at the end of the meal. Value for money wise, well... You take a look at the portions yourself to judge.. The set was S$68++ per person.. so it came up to S$170+ for both of us.

When we first got into the restaurant, they served us shredded barbeque pork as our starter.. that was S$6 and not included in the set.. The mandarin oranges served as a decoration I suppose, but we ate one at the end of the meal..

And so we decided to take the 6 course set meal, partly cos the ala carte items seemed so pricey.. like a portion of noodles is S$12 per person??! and also cos we didn't know what to order if we went ala carte...

Our first course, raw salmon.. Normal.. nothing much to say about the fish.. it's like sashimi.. but I did like the crispy anchovies they had on top of the salmon..

Me and my dear.. The staff there offered to take our picture.. I gotta say, their service was good.. though it better be, for that price!

Our second course.. shark's fin. A bit too salty for our liking.. My dear didn't like it cos it had sea cucumber in it and perhaps that made it taste different from the normal kind we have at wedding dinners..

Our fried noodles with big fat juicy prawns.. This I liked.. the prawns were very fresh..

Our favourite dish.. Crispy skin roast chicken. The best I have had in years... Usually when we attend weddings, the roast chicken would not have crispy skin and it would just taste like the normal kind of chicken you have at a "shao la" place.. Can't seem to find the English words to describe "shao la".. but it's just what we call the roasted stuff.. roast(ed??) chicken, roast(ed??) duck, roast (or roasted??) pork, char siew.. etc..

Hehe, the portion is tiny though.. not enough for my meat lover boyfriend!

Finally, the dessert. Frankly, I don't what it's called and what is inside.. All I know it was refreshing.. and hmm.. could be bird's nest? I don't know.. but I liked this too.. However, I sorta know what I wanna have at my own wedding.. Orh Ni!! Which means yam paste...

Our conclusion after the meal... we will continue our search for suitable venues.. food is pretty important, but the location must not be compromised.. Oh well.. continue looking

Happy Chinese New Year

2009-01-27T13:58:00.004+08:00

I like Chinese New Year cos of the long holidays that we get, assuming we don't have to work over Chinese New Year. I might look at some work later on tonight.. but this year and last year have been quite alright. Compared to one year (2006 or 2007?) when I remembered I went to the office on the 1st day of new year to finish up some work.. following that my whole year was quite hectic. Having to work over Chinese New Year sorta symbolised how busy I was gonna be for the rest of the year. Hopefully the Year of the Ox will be a good year for all of us.. a better year than the Year of the Rat.

Here's wishing a Happy Niu Year to everyone! Stay healthy and happy!

Almond cookies for sale

2009-01-18T19:30:00.005+08:00

We sometimes talk about how I should start selling/ advertising for my baked goodies on my blog.. and see if anyone wants to order them.

I also realised that I did not post any pictures of my specialty. Almond cookies!! Not that I want to brag, but I took a whole tupperware to office the other time and I had very good reviews. Such as how it tastes like it's bought from stores or how it melts in your mouth! The most satisfying part of baking is when people enjoy eating what you have baked.

My dear even has a picture of those cookies I baked for him as his screensaver on his mobile phone. Heheh, shows how good they are right? However, these almond cookies are very time-consuming.. I spent more than half a day to bake about a 100 over of these cookies.. Precious time spent in the kitchen and looking at the oven. I must strive to be more efficient and see how I can improve the methods I use to bake these almond cookies.

Anyone wants to order them @ 50cents a piece? I will only have time to bake just before Chinese New Year, perhaps 23rd January... Hopefully I can finish my work and not have to work over CNY.

P/s: Sorry Vic, currently not able to ship overseas.. hehe.. Think the customs overseas might disallow it.

Tarts and Cookies

2009-01-17T09:49:00.005+08:00

Su helped her mum to bake pineapple tarts and almond cookies.. she passed some to me the other day.. Another obstacle to eating healthy =P CNY is coming soon.. I am gonna have a hard time resisting all the cookies and treats.

I've always wanted to try baking pineapple tarts.. but never found the time.. to buy the ingredients.. and I think there are so many receipes out there, I wouldn't know which recipe is really good till I try. Baking is like that.. I think 70% success rate depends on the recipe, 30% is how you carry out the steps.. let's say if a recipe require you to whisk eggs till they are light and fluffy.. I think that everyone's idea of light and fluffy is different.. it all takes experience.

Just like what happened with the choc chip cookies... The recipe seemed like it had potential, but it turned out cakey. They were more like choc chip cookie cakes.. There's still some leftover at home. After one week, if there's still some more left.. means it's not in popular demand.. haha

Housekeeping

2009-01-12T00:46:00.003+08:00

I've been doing a little housekeeping on this blog.. trying to reduce the no. of labels.. be a bit more focused on a FEW topics rather than many topics. Tried to put up a new blogskin, but failed miserably as I don't know HTML script..

Oh well, the least I could do is tidy it up a little..

I realised this is post no. 6 of 2009 and I only had 6 posts in 2007?! How pathetic. This shows how busy I was with work and studies then.. that I did not blog at all. 2007 was a bad year, at least when I was still with the ex firm and like was simply about work work and study.

2008 saw a slight improvement, I guess you can see from the no. of posts.. I set a new record of 99 posts! Heh.

How will 2009 be like? I can't say for sure.. I am a senior now.. will be more busy than last year, but I will make an effort. Make an effort to bake more, cook more.. and do more.. I may try to bake more and give out my baked goodies as birthday presents.. That's more special I think.. Something home made.. (if time allows of course). So dear friends.. if you read this, please let me know what is you favourite baked cookie/biscuit/cupcake/pastry.. and I will try to make it. If it's a cake, please gimme an easy one. The last time I baked a cake for Jin, using Jamie Oliver's recipe.. it didn't turn out well at all. Sorry Jin =P

Muffin mania

2009-01-11T23:27:00.003+08:00

I got frustrated and depressed.. that I have to work on a Sunday.. so I decided to bake. Just like how this character in Grey's Anatomy, Isabel.. bakes lots and lots of muffins/cupcakes.. when she's depressed. She will bake so much that her whole house will be filled with muffins/ cupcakes..

Of course, I didn't fill my house with muffins. I don't have enough flour or chocolate chips to do that. I only had enough choc chips for 4 muffins.. and so I made a personal invention, the fruitcake muffin.

Double chocolate chip cookies.. this time made with butter and real chocolate!

My new invention. The fruitcake muffin.. with glace cherries, almonds, raisins.. Don't know about the taste though.. but we'll find out soon enough cos the baked stuff don't last long enough in my house.. Thanks mum and dad for being my official tasters! My dear, his bro and his dad are the part-time tasters..

Distracted

2009-01-11T15:40:00.005+08:00

I am working on a Sunday... or trying to.

I seriously think I need to consider a career switch. Something that will allow me to pursue my interests.. My eyes light up when I see pretty decorated cupcakes, cakes.. cookies (I just noticed they all start with C).. or anything to do with food.

I just googled "cupcakes" and this was what I saw. It's so pretty...

It has butterflies!! I love butterflies! Will someone make me a wedding cake that looks like that?

Many Many Things in my head

2009-01-11T14:14:00.003+08:00

Preparing for a wedding.. is a BIG project. It is a challenge. Getting everything done.. and given my hectic schedule.. It's time-consuming. Really.

Sometimes I don't know where I should begin. But somehow, the process has already begun. I don't know if we have taken the right approach.. anyway, I guess if things are happening, decisions are being made.. it's a good sign right?

We just booked our wedding package with the Jazz Bridal Salon yesterday. I had to "drag" my dear to go to Central Mall with me.. He was a little reluctant after we went to the wedding fair at Suntec last week. That one was really focused more on photography trips overseas... like Greece, Taiwan or Paris. The photos we saw were fab, however, taking that kind of package from a shop that is located overseas.. well, it would mean we have to take a separate package for the Actual Wedding day itself. Means... More money spent?? So there goes that idea, although it was really tempting.. Sales people with these bridal shops have to be pushy I guess.. but it is sorta tiring to have them talk to you at length.. when at the end of the day.. you might not take up the package at all.

One thing's settled.. some sort.. Now we need to decide on the DRESS, where we wanna take photos, when to do the photo taking, etc... More decisions =P

I have some ideas now.. My dear wants Sentosa.. Which I guess is a really common place for couples to go.. The beach there is the nicest you can get in Singapore.. I don't mind.. I'm keen on seeing the Butterfly Park and The Sentosa Flower Show. It's an annual event, so if we like it this year, we can use the location next year.

Working torwards my resolutions

2009-01-02T15:17:00.004+08:00

I spent the afternoon trying to sort through some old diskettes.. I realised that diskettes are a lousy means of back up. The reason why I have these are cos we used to back up our work papers in diskettes (in my ex firm, that is). I decided I shall get rid of them. Those that are corrupted, I dispose. Those that are still usable.. well, let's see if anyone has any use for them. I highly doubt so =P

In case anyone wants to know how this constitutes working to my resolutions, it means I have lesser junk and unwanted things.. hence I will be more organised at home!!

New Year's Resolution 2009

2009-01-01T18:20:00.003+08:00

I sat down at the table today and decided I shall set my new year's resolution. My dear asked me last night what my resolutions for 2009 are, I told him I haven't set any yet. He said isn't it late already? If you wait till tomorrow, you can start setting for 2010.

It's not too late.

Here they are..

Career Resolutions:
1. I will have a better work-life balance
2. I will learn more
3. I will take control of my performance
4. Work faster

Personal Resolutions
1. Being more organised and disciplined at home and at work
2. Going for regular walks/ exercise every week
3. More time to be spent pursuing my own interests, such as baking or cooking
4. Eating healthily

I've been reading everywhere, websites.. and other people's blogs.. that if one puts up their resolutions on the wall or somewhere they will look at every day, subsconsciously, we will make an effort to achieving the resolutions. I shall put them up on my wall...

Happy New Year everyone!

Wedding preparations

2008-12-28T22:25:00.007+08:00

I don't know why, even though I said I have been busy... and in denial.. denial of the fact that eventually I have to start wedding preparations and planning.. because it will cost a lot of MONEY!! I started to look at venues for ROM and banquets.. Perhaps I'm denying the fact that I brought work back and I didn't really wanna do the work, so escaping from work by doing something else?

I did see a nice venue at Seletar Country Club.. however, the place is pretty inaccessible by public transport.. so when I tested the water by asking if my parents would mind country clubs, my dad automatically thought of how inconvenient it would be for guests to get there =( oh well.. I will still find out more about that place before I strike it off the list.

Indulgence

2008-12-28T18:22:00.004+08:00

Tis the season for indulgence.

Festive seasons tend to be the time when everyone's diet plans are all ruined and we indulge ourselves in chocolates, cakes and sweets. In fact, over-indulge. I'm guilty of it. I even gave chocolates to friends as Christmas presents. Baked cookies for Su. Coincidentally, Su just gave me some cupcakes baked by her mum and Mel gave me some cupcakes baked by herself. Death by cupcake. I'm still trying to work off the extra pounds I gained from the last Christmas and new year.

Actually, I was watching Animal Planet the other day, they have this program called Downsize My Pet. The pet featured in that particular episode was a Dalmatian that weighed a hefty 44.9kg! In addition, it often gave out smelly gas due to the rubbish (pizzas, meat, etc) that its owners fed it. To help it lose weight, the vet recommended that it be taken out for 2 walks a day, everyday. Of course that is in combination with a proper nutrition and other exercises to keep it active. In 8 weeks, it lost a whooping 8.2kg and 15cm off its midsection! Maybe I should start taking 2 walks a day and eat properly. I don't think I'll ever lose 8 kg though =P

Anyways, since I am on the topic of these baked goods.. the funny thing is.. Su called these cupcakes, then the very next minute she said her mum baked pound cake??

Melissa called hers cupcakes in one minute, but the very next minute she was calling them muffins. Stop confusing me gals!

What's the difference between cupcakes and muffins?

Answers.com has the definition of muffin as "A small, cup-shaped quick bread, often sweetened."
whereas a cupcake is "A small, cup-shaped quick bread, often sweetened." Hmm.. not much of a difference there.

I have photos of the cookies I baked for Su.. the first photo is a bit "chao ta" so I didn't give them to her.. and the other photos show the cookies with pink icing and the final product, with icing and sugar frosting. In the bottom 2 photos the cookies look a bit pale.. and I'm usually not used to "pale" cookies.. but I guess pale is better than burnt? Mum's comments on the cookies (she called them biscuits!!) was that they were not crunchy enough??

Timmy and Booties

2008-12-25T04:11:00.003+08:00

I couldn't resist it.. Previously I posted a photo of Booties, I took that photo with my mobile phone..

Here's some more photos of them 2 adorable but lazy cats...

Booties on the coffee table..

Timmy on the sofa.. showing her tummy

Timmy on the cushion that used to belong in our house.. but we gave them up so that the cats could have one cushion each! She is so adorable.. and she meows in response whenever I call out her name..

The Cat Terrorist

2008-12-25T03:03:00.005+08:00

I am being terrorised by a cat in the neighbourhood. I think she's very cute and affectionate towards me. However, she is also very naughty. She's scratched me twice or thrice before.. and she has scratched me again today.

I've been wary of her since the last time I saw her.. and now I feel like I'm being terrorised. I say that because she will follow me, even up the stairs.. and as she follows me, she will rub her head against my feet or legs. I get scared cos I don't want to step on her paws when I walk and also cos I'm scared she might attack my legs anytime.

This clip was taken before with my phone I got to the top of the stairs.. If you watch it, you will realise that she moves if I move. At the very beginning, she practically runs to me from the bottom of the stairs, up to where I am standing.

I took such a long time to get to the doorstep cos she kept following me. Eventually, when I got to the door and opened the gate, I don't know why she stood in front of the door and grabbed my legs. She bit me! After the bite, she proceeded to scratch my foot! I don't know why she is behaving this way... but I feel terrorised and am beginning to think that I should bring a small bottle of water with me everywhere I go. This is a trick my sis taught me. She told me that cats don't really like water. She has 2 cats and the neighbour's cat from upstairs likes to come downstairs to sit outside her corridor. The cat will provoke her cats and they will get very agitated. In order to chase the other cat away, she will spritz the cat with the spray bottle she uses when she irons her clothes. This method has proven to be very effective. I have managed to chase some other cats that have tried to enter my house after following me home. Cats hate water and they hate baths!

I can't believe that I am saying this. I never had to fear that strangers will follow me home yet here I am fearing a cat may follow me home and attack me on the way! Someone please help me!

Xmas time again

2008-12-20T12:33:00.008+08:00

How time flies. It's xmas time again. It's the second xmas I'm spending with these colleagues..

As usual, we had our xmas department dinner. Where we pig out at some restaurant in a hotel and have our gift exchange.

This year was different cos someone devised an idea to put up a "xmas tree" which was actually made of cardboard and we were meant to put our xmas wish on little pieces of paper and clip them on the tree. This was a way to make sure most of us could get what we wanted and the person who picked our names out of the bag didn't have to ask us directly.

I think the top choice for most people to wish for was vouchers. You could tell who was going to get vouchers by looking at the size of the present.. One colleague asked for $15 cash as the minimum amount to spend for the gift was $15. He was happy that he got his wish.. I wished for a book on home and decor OR a book on baking cookies.. so I guess in a way I was still going to get a surprise as I didn't know which I was gonna get.

I couldn't wait to open my gift.. and I did so when I got home! I like it.. it's got many pictures.. like I requested.. quite a few recipes inside.. just wondering which one I should try out first.

My baby niece

2008-11-30T22:54:00.004+08:00

In order to meet with requests for pictures of my baby niece, I went to facebook to download her picture.. I don't have any on my camera yet because when I wanted to take a picture of her, she was sleeping. Mum said something about how it's not a good idea to do so when she's asleep.

I haven't seen her since she was 2 days old.. but I should think she'll still be as cute the next time I see her.

The Ho Chi Minh Experience

2008-11-30T21:56:00.013+08:00

As usual, work has been keeping me busy.. so the photos we took in Vietnam have been delayed..

There is quite a lot to say about our experience there, but the most memorable was of course the traffic situation there. It was frightening to cross the roads there, much much worse than Bangkok. I dreaded it everytime I had to cross a road..

The very first day when we arrived, we got out of the cab and realised that the hotel was on the opposite side of the road. Sharon and I just stood there, by the pavement, wondering how we were to get to the other side of the road as the cars and motorbikes were moving so quickly. Suddenly, out of nowhere, this Vietnamese guy comes up to ask us where we needed to get to. We told him, thinking that he works with the hotel and was somehow expecting us because we made a reservation. He then grabbed our wrists and led us across the busy road.. We were stunned that the vehicles sorta avoided us or slowed down for us.. and also glad we didn't have to cross it on our own for that very first time.

Later, when we got to the hotel, we realised that this guy didn't work for the hotel. He does "this" very often though. Bringing lost looking tourists to the hotel and then asking the hotel for money for this "service" that he provided to them. I'm just glad I got across that road!

I took the above video from the pavement. Looking at the number of motorbikes at the junction is scary enough. Very often, the big roads didn't have traffic lights... they had zebra crossings, but it just doesn't make any sense because the vehicles would never stop upon seen pedestrians. We just had to cross at will and hope they will slow down or stop for us.

Booties

2008-11-09T23:44:00.003+08:00

This is Booties, my sister's cat. It's really hard to take pictures of them (she has 2 cats) when they keep moving away from the camera.

I had fun playing with them when I was staying over at sis' place and also when I go over to visit.. however, having pets require commitment and time.. something which I think I don't have enough of at the moment.

My dear and I are considering having a cat when we get our new home, but I worry about having it stay on a high level. What if it wants to climb out of the window? We will then have to make sure we grill up the windows and not leave the balcony door open when the cat is out and about.. Hmm.. how do people rear cats in high level homes?

My niece is out

2008-11-07T20:54:00.003+08:00

She is out!! Born at 7.13pm. She is 3.1kg, 54cm in height and her head diameter is 32cm...

And blowing bubbles with her saliva as she was being pushed to the nursery. So cute..

Waiting

2008-11-07T11:25:00.003+08:00

We are waiting for the baby's arrival. She was due on 5 Nov, but she is not out yet.

Sis went to the hospital last night and we are expecting her (my niece) today!! I'm gonna be an auntie..

Double Choc Chip Muffins

2008-10-27T01:29:00.005+08:00

I made muffins for the first time on Friday night. I felt like baking, but didn't know what to bake.. so I decided I should finish the chocolate chips I had left over from baking chocolate chip cookies sometime back. I learnt that muffins are definitely much simpler to make, as compared to the amount of work that went into my almond cookies.

The end result was not too bad, but I couldn't really taste if the muffins were sweet enough as I am still recovering from a sore throat. My dear commented that the muffins were a bit dry. Maybe it needs a little bit more oil. That aspect, I guess I can only fine-tune with more practice. I also learnt that the muffins only "cracked" when placed on the top tray of the oven. The below photo was taken of muffins I placed in the middle of the oven.. which I later shifted to the top tray, but it was too late, I couldn't get them to "crack"!

Of course, the "cracked" muffins looked more like the conventional ones that we usually buy from the store.. the "cracked" muffins looks more yummy eh?

Money money money

2008-10-26T02:41:00.003+08:00

Suddenly, when I start thinking about the amount of money we will have to spend on the wedding banquet and etc.. I am feeling put off...

I know, I had a post recently on how it's not cheap to have a baby... It's not cheap to have a flat or a wedding. Sigh, worse still, the wedding dinner is not really what I want. It's more of something we have to do to please the parents and conform to social norms. We don't have a choice!!

It's all happening so fast, yet it's gonna take so LONG

2008-10-21T23:49:00.004+08:00

I read my previous 2 entries and it must seem so disjointed. I talked about seeing second hand flats in Simei and then later jumped to say we placed a deposit for a new apartment in Boon Keng.

Well, yes. We were considering resale flats in Simei. We saw 4 units in all. They were all very spacious, but they all had another thing in common. They needed alot of renovation work. Of course that would mean more money to be spent on renovations.

Towards the end of the day of house hunting, we had arranged to meet my parents at the showflat at Boon Keng, cos they had advertised on the newspapers for walk in selection. We saw the place.. we liked it! The location is good.. it comes with the fittings.. it's pretty pricey.. but I think it's worth it. And we did consider our options.. and realised that if we wanted anywhere near an MRT station in a mature estate.. even Simei, would cost us at least S$500k (house and renovations!) and all that for a 20 year old flat?

Yeap. So we both are looking forward to being home owners.. the wait will be 2 and a half years.. so meanwhile.. I'm still stuck taking my feeder buses and spending one hour to commute to work!!

82 million seconds away

2008-10-20T21:15:00.003+08:00

The hunt is over.

We are 82 million seconds (or less) away from our new apartment in Boon Keng.

I can't wait!

Sunday is Simei day

2008-10-19T02:10:00.003+08:00

I have been staying over Sis' house in Simei for the past few days as her husband is away in M'sia for work. He was worried to have her stay alone as she is near her due date. Staying in the East is kinda nice. Different after staying in the North for so long. It's also nice cos her place is 5 min walking distance from the train station and it means I don't have to wait and take the feeder bus to the station!! Quite happy about that.

My dear finally had the chance come and visit her house and her 2 cats. Like me, he loves cats.

Anyway, we are looking for a flat.. and we decided to sit down and look at the classified ads on prospective places to stay in. We circled all the ads that fall within our criteria and so happens that there are quite a few units for sale in Simei. So Sunday is Simei day.. we shall zoom in on the flats in this area and see if there are any nice units around.

In a perfect world

2008-10-14T23:41:00.002+08:00

In a perfect world, there will be no such thing as overtime.

Maybe I am too idealistic. I yearn to have work life balance in audit. Especially after going thru 3 days' of a course called Project Management by a trainer from Learning and Development. The trainer gave me hope. Hope that I may one day achieve work life balance in a hectic, ever demanding audit career.

I brought work home. It's not peak period yet. What am I doing?!

Alcoholics anonymous

2008-10-12T23:52:00.002+08:00

My sis always said that I may need to go for AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings. I used to drink alot, especially when I went on those work trips to China. Dinner always lasted for 2 to 3 hours with lots of beer-drinking. And depending on the occasion, if the big bosses were around, or the lawyers and underwriters (these clients were trying to IPO) were at the dinners, then the client will ask for the "bai jiu" and red wine to be brought out.. Bai jiu (or Chinese white wine) is really lethal and only a small amount can make you drunk as it is more than 50% in alcohol content.

I always made it through those nights.. the worst that it ever got was me being REALLY REALLY sleepy at the end of it.. and falling asleep in the hotel room without taking off my contact lens or washing up. I drank so much beer and was so good at it that I got a nickname out of it. I was the Beer Princess.

However lately, my stamina for drinking has deteriorated greatly. Last last Friday, we had a welcome night at Zouk for the newly joined associates. As I was quite happy that I made it through my LAST CA exam, I drank to celebrate!! I had what I thought was just a moderate amount of tequila, mixed with one glass of red wine and one glass of vodka lime. That was it. I was tipsy and I didn't even know it. Worse still my dear had to come to pick me up from Zouk cos I was a goner. *sheepish*

Ok, so he made me promise that I'm never gonna get so drunk anymore. Alright, so I'm giving up my throne as Beer Princess.. No more over drinking.

No more exams in the near future!

2008-10-05T11:46:00.002+08:00

Yes! I have passed the last paper... No more CA exams in the near future!!

Selamat Hari Raya

2008-10-03T01:08:00.003+08:00

Every year during Hari Raya I visit my aunt (mum's sister) and we have the usual fare. All the kueh kueh, cookies.. beef rendang, lontong, fried chicken, sambal prawns, etc..

Yes! I finally had my kueh makmur fix at my aunt's place. Been craving for it for so long!! For those who don't know what kueh makmur is, they are cookies covered with icing sugar, filled with peanuts.. and usually leaf-shaped.. OMG, I just found out that they are made from ghee and butter!! Yikes.. no wonder I've been feeling "fatter" than usual. Somehow my body is just very sensitive to whatever I eat.. If I overeat or have very oily foods, I tend to have a bloated stomach that will refuse to subside for days... I will have to work out harder at bodypump this saturday!