my sister looks like pucca!

very interesting conversation with my 2nd sis (cha's) bf (wj).

background: he was at chinatown buying 大中国mooncakes for us, then he chanced upon this pucca lantern and he immediately bought it for cha, who loved it ALOT.


very kiddy don't u think? and the worst thing, it plays music (it's a small world) when it's switched on. very loudly! che (my youngest sis) and i were quite irritated when she insists on switching it on...

WJ 不要无嘉可归. says: haha yeah she (cha) told me. don u think she looks like pucca? abit.
car says: hahaha! of all things u say she look like pucca
WJ 不要无嘉可归. says: aha why??
ca says: pucca got funny hair
WJ 不要无嘉可归. says: but they both also got small small cute cute eyes when they smile mah haha
WJ 不要无嘉可归.. says: the cheek also similar
car says: haha! ok lah... u think cute can liao
WJ 不要无嘉可归. says: haha sorry! i got her the lantern then i think u all had to put up with the song haha
car says: haha erm yah... she keeps gg arnd playing it lor... the song's a tad bit loud.
WJ 不要无嘉可归. says: yeah she also said. maybe later i'll go tape tissue over it, or unplug the music later. WJ 不要无嘉可归. says: she say last time u and her went disney land then kept singing the song
car says: haha! u dun say. last time we went disney land, v young mah... so we just keep gg to sit the small world ride. i think we took it 3 times! and snapped like damn alot of similar pics. ok tt one is my fault
WJ 不要无嘉可归. says: haha! so cute.. den cheryl leh?
car says: tt time cheryl only like maybe less than 3 years old we v young lor tt time
WJ 不要无嘉可归. says: oh ok. hahaha nothing wrong ma. 小孩子 must behave like 小孩子

so yes. my sis's bf thinks she looks like pucca, a cartoon character. let's do some comparison:

cha and wj:


pucca:


hmmm come think of it, he may be right!

Daiso

Was at Plaza Singapura last night to have dinner with yun. Haven’t been to PS in ages, so explored the place before yun came, and ended up buying something v cute for tj to complete the whole family! Hehe. After she arrived we ate at this quaint little café situated in an antique shop, food wasn’t half bad though I wished there was a lot more of the food. Then we walked around more.

Yes Daiso is now in town! Hehe. For the uninitiated, it’s this Jap $2 shop, everything for 2 dollars! They have a gigantic outlet in IMM, but since I work in the East, no sense in me going all the way to the west right? IMM reminds me of the days when I’ll meet my mum after school or work to go grocery shopping with her at Giant. And we’ll spend an inordinate amt of time in Daiso. Fun! So yes, me and yun were just browsing through the shelves and shelves of stuff, some of them entirely frivolous, some totally not worth the money, but still fun to browse through anywayz. There was this section devoted to cutesy Sanrio products. $2 for a Hello Kitty mousepad/stickers/small container! Brought back memories of the days when we were young and Hello Kitty was so cool but so ex. Now that we’re financially independent, Hello Kitty merchandise starts becoming cheap. Bleahz. But we gritted our teeth and walked by the shelf, no point spending money on something tt will end up just gathering dust somewhere rite?

It’s very tempting to just put stuff into the basket since it’s soooo cheap. But yeah I resisted and only ended up spending 6 bucks. And I got this peanut butter gel thingie. Basically it’s peanut butter flavoured, but the consistency is a lot more liquidy, so it doesn’t stick to the roof of ur mouth. Not too bad. But yah I can get skippy peanut butter (the small bottle) at less than 2 bucks. Hehe.

So yes, counting down to the weekend! Then tj’s going off on Monday. Sighz. It’s like 1 week of high then one month of him not being around. When he’s not around, I suffer from 1 week of withdrawal symptoms, 2 weeks of getting used to it, and another week of anticipating his return… Oh well…

Fantastic Weekend

so yes, i'm back from my short getaway to Batam. was a good trip, spent time w tj just exploring a new place, enjoying and relaxing... nothing much to do in batam except chill, walk around, find things to buy, walk arnd trying to find our seafood restaurant... saying NO countless times to taxi drivers who wanna send us somewhere... all in all, relaxing and satisfying, and i return recharged though dreading coming back to reality. pictures will tell a better story i think.

ok first stop, we check into our hotel: holiday inn resort batam, a one bedroom suite which overlooks the pool. check out the living room.


after tt we proceed to our massage session at the Tea Tree Spa. quite satisfying i feel, enjoyed it thoroughly, i highly recommend spa sessions for everyone. v shiok! pics of the spa and the therapy room


i liked this spa place better than the asmara one i went in bintan, though the decor in bintan is better, it's very ex (SGD90 per pax, compared to the SGD113 we paid per pax for the spa package deal which includes the massage, room plus breakfast) so yes, batam is the poor cousin of bintan.

so yes, after tt we proceed to the city centre of batam, batam centre then nagoya to walk around. batam is pretty backward still i feel, and there's pretty much nothing to buy in the stores, and prices are also quoted in SGD at some places, meaning they're tourist traps. batam is also the first place we went without knowing much about the place, without really searching the internet for places to go to, and well they pretty much dun provide maps too, so it was just asking around, walking aimlessly... but tt adds to the fun of it too, we discovered many delightful old-school places, not to mention a supermart where we stocked up on the essential goodies like keropok! and not forgetting the most impt part! food!

Es Teler 77 (they also have branches in S'pore, @ Cineleisure i think)


Love the nostalgic glass bottles that the drinks come in. Tehbotol (bottled tea) and coke


Satay from a roadside stall. satay in indonesia is served with the gravy poured on it. only SGD3 for 20 sticks + ketupat!


Roadside stalls selling food and fruits



Next stop, our seafood dinner! Seafood is cheap in Batam, chilli crab, sambal prawns, calamari and fried kailan, for only SGD 18! and it's fresh and not msg-laden.



after tt there's nothing to do in batam, so we went back to our hotel to watch tv and chill over cheap beer. a can of tiger beer only costs abt SGD1.

next morning, we went for buffet breakfast, then went to the jacuzzi in the spa. since we signed up for the massage session yesterday, we could use the jacuzzi, it's sheltered and heated. so v shiok, we just relaxed and took photos. and since the spa was very empty, hardly any guests, so we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.



This is some balinese statue at the poolside, we happily used it as a towel rack, very funny. i took more photos of the hotel and lovely pool but i haven't uploaded it yet.



finally, some yummy pokka milk drinks tt we can't find in s'pore. the melon milk is v good!


yupyupz. all in all, i enjoyed the trip. great company (thanks dear), it wasn't tt expensive, only SGD118 per pax nett for massage plus room plus buffet breakfast... and the hotel was quiet, not many guests so it felt like we were the only ones there... it was a tad out of the way (we had to take 30-min cab ride to the city centre, cost us SGD12 each way)... but yah, nice to just relax and chill and do nothing but recharge...

going off!

started off a miserable day, nose was running like mad last nite, sorry gals, it was fun catching up! hp u didn't catch my cold... totally didn't wanna come to work tdy, but bo pian cos had meeting, and it's like 4 times a year so i better go.

but it's great cos we finally booked our batam trip! haha. first time i so super last minute, we just booked tdy and gg tm. hope for good weather (or at least no rain) and we're off to spa tm! hehe.

abit high now, better be a gd girl and go eat my medicine soon. seeya when i get back!

Memories of mid-autumn festival

Mooncake festival is coming up, was quite excited abt it until the tea party just now in my office. My boss cleverly went to buy 8 mooncakes, but there were only 7 ppl. Common sense will tell you tt it can’t be done. Not to mention he bought like double-yolk mooncakes which I don’t eat. Forced myself to eat 3 slices. Urgh. Mooncake overdose.

Going JB by bus on Sunday to buy more mooncakes. How are we gonna carry all the boxes of mooncakes while squeezing on the bus is beyond me, so I wisely volunteered the services of tj. So I also don’t have to carry so much! Hehe.

Anyway yes. Mooncake festival. It’s a nice one for me cos my mum likes to organize these mooncake gatherings with my extended family, though not much mooncakes get eaten cos the adults will gossip and play mahjong, while the younger ones will go out and play sparkles, walk arnd the neighbourhood with lanterns etc. Very fun! Those were the days. Being the dajie, I’m entrusted with the responsibility of the safety of my little cousins, so must make sure everyone’s safe. Then as years go by my little cousins are not so little anymore. But we still do this once a year, though in the recent times we always end up walking to the park with lanterns, burning them in the park, then coming home without lanterns. Destructive boys I tell you… Looking forward to this year's, though I’ll prob won’t be eating much mooncakes!

Thank Goodness it's finally coming to an end...

I'm referring to the IMF of course. well with all it's supposed benefits to singapore this event has certainly brought s'poreans TONS of inconveniences, esp those who work in the suntec area. i've been diligently avoiding tt area except last friday where i got to catch a glance of MY favourite policeman in action =)

so yes. we've gone all out of our way to make this meeting a success. now please end peacefully and let my policeman go home! until now the poor boy still doesn't know if he'll be let off tonight. let's hope for the best!

mooncake party later. gonna be overdose i tell u...

which phone shd i get?

i need (ok more like want) a new phone. lost my phone on a cab a few mths back =( and never gotten arnd to getting a new one, so was getting by on my old Sony Ericsson T610i, which though is laggy, and has a sucky camera, was pretty chock-full of features for a phone of tt time, bluetooth connectivity among others... but then again i dun really use all of the cool features there...

so yes, current phone lemmings have been reduced to two: both SEs, bad experience with my lost samsung phone of less than 3 mths, maybe not fated with samsung, plus i found their user interfaces not as friendly as SE (maybe i was just too used to SE le) so yah presenting the two models: SE K610i and SE K800i.

SEK610i

specifications
user reviews

pros: cheap ($138 for singtel with some yellowpages buying guide magnetic strip (i don't have this, anyone have this to spare? please?), 2Mp camera, expandable memory, sleek-looking...
cons: no radio, not as chock full of features like the K800i

SEK800i
specifications
user reviews
pros: 3.2M camera! w red eye reduction, xenon flash, best-pic (which is good for taking 8 simultaneous shots, after which u choose only 1 to save) comes with free 256 M2 card, radio etc. tons of features like photoblogging etc which will come in handy IF i so choose to use them
cons: no optical zoom (erm this is still a phone), pricey ($398), looks bulky

how ah? for one, i erm not so tech-savvy to use all the features, but then a 3.2M cameraphone really is too zai le. but then for the price difference (of abt $260) i can get an ipod nano, or top up abit more to get a digital camera... how ah? tough... comments please?

what my name means

There are 8 letters in your name.
Those 8 letters total to 36
There are 3 vowels and 5 consonants in your name.

Your number is: 9

The characteristics of #9 are: Humanitarian, giving nature, selflessness, obligations, creative expression.

The expression or destiny for #9:
The expression that you exhibit is represented bythe number 9. Your talents center in humanistic interests and approaches. You like to help others as you were intended to be the 'big brother or big sister' type. You operate best when you follow your feelings and sense of compassion, and allow yourself to be sensitive to the needs of others. You work well with people, and have the potential to inspire. This suggests that you could successfully teach or counsel. Creative ability, imagination and artistic talent (often latent) of the highest order are present in this expression. It's possible that you're not using or developing all of these capabilities at this time. Some of your talents may have been used at an earlier time in your life, and some may still be latent. Be aware of your capabilities, so that you can make use of them at appropriate times.

If you are able to achieve the potential of your natural expression in this life, you are capable of much human understanding and have a lot to give to others. Your personal ambitions are likely to be maintained in a very positive perspective, never losing sight of an interest in people, and a sympathetic, tolerant, broad-minded and compassionate point of view. You are quite idealistic, and disappointed at the lack of perfection in the world. You have a strong awareness of your own feeling as well as those of others. Friendships, affection, and love are extremely important.

Undeveloped or ignored, the negative side of the 9 expression can be very selfish and self-centered. If you do not actively involve yourself with work that benefits others, you may tend to express just the opposite characteristics. It is your role to be very involved with other people and their needs, but it may be difficult for you achieve this role. Aloofness, lack of involvement, and a lack of sensitivity mark the low road of this expression.

Your Soul Urge number is: 11

A Soul Urge number of 11 means:
With the 11 Soul Urge, much of your thinking and interests relate to the abstract, the spiritual, and utopian dreams. You are motivated toward idealistic concepts, and the sharing of your ideas and concepts with humanity. This number is not one that is giving in a material or a practical sense, but rather one who desires to help mankind with a more abstract commodity such as religion, spiritualism, occult studies, or even psychic abilities.

If you possess the positive 11 Soul Urge traits, you have a dream of the perfect world; you are highly idealistic and inspirational. Your inner strength and devotion to your beliefs are extremely strong. You have a very good mind that is especially well equipped to handle the higher, more abstract forms of thought.

If there is an excess of 11 energy in your makeup, you may possess some the negative 11 traits. There is a tendency for the 11 to produce considerable amounts of nervous tension which is bought on by a very high level of awareness. You may be too sensitive and overly emotional. In some cases, these sensitivities and emotions are quite repressed, and this tends to add even more to the sense of nervousness in the makeup.

The strong 11 is not a very practical person because of the extreme idealism; often, there is a degree of self-deception present. There is usually a rather fixed idea of right and wrong held by those showing strong 11 traits, and with this very often is a resulting attitude of inflexibility.

Your Inner Dream number is: 7

An Inner Dream number of 7 means:
You dream of having the opportunity to read, study, and shut yourself off from worldly distractions. You can see yourself as a teacher, mystic, or ecclesiastic, spending your life in the pursuit of knowledge and learning.


hmm... does tt mean i shd change jobs and go be a teacher? someone pls tell me if it's accurate. i dun really think so. but then i did tj's and found his v accurate. hmm...

anyway if you wanna try, click here. then tell me how your’s goes

Been thinking a lot abt this issue lately – The balance btwn work and life. How do you really achieve tt?

So far my work doesn’t require me to stay late, though I do bring home less critical work/reading material. My boss is alright abt this, and seeing how freaking far away my workplace is, I’d much rather go home on time thankyewverymuch. I’m lucky in tt sense, I don’t get paid much but at least I don’t have to work long hours, which compensates it IMHO. Of course I also have colleagues in other Div/Dept who work late, like till 8pm kinds, and since a lot of ppl in my grade tend to stay back, I sometimes feel like a slacker for going home on time.

But yah, how does work take the life out of you? Two ways: 1) requiring you to work insane hours 2) requiring you to go overseas…

I guess the insane hours is self-explanatory, you work late, go back late, miss out on spending time with ur family/friends/pet/google box etc. hence you don’t have a life, unless you really absolutely LURRVE your job then in which case it becomes your life.

The 2nd point requires abit more explanation. For some, (and even for me) getting posted overseas is a fantastic opportunity, you get to go a foreign land to absorb their culture, work with ppl of varying nationalities, learn a lot more abt yourself, living expenses included. Plus not to mention tt it’ll look great in your CV as well. But yet at the same time, you lose out on your family, friends and even the great food in this little red dot/island. And if you have a significant other, it makes a huge strain on your r/s no matter how strong it was before. Trust me on this one. Have been thru two long distance r/s, one didn’t make it, the current one is going to be on and off indefinitely…

I guess it depends on your priorities in life. Which makes it hard because we tend to measure our self-worth by comparing with other ppl. Currently, I feel like I’m not doing well because I don’t need to do OT, I’m not as busy as a lot of other ppl and hence I’m not useful, kinda morbid/masochistic but it’s true.

Bah. Am rambling on and on and am going totally out of point. I hate tt my brain doesn’t function well these days. It sucks when I just go blank when my boss asks me something, but if someone else asks me I am able to answer (even if I have no idea wat’s going on, I still have some sense in pretending tt I know wat I’m talking abt) Must be going senile/lack of mental stimulation. .

Arghz…

... ...

words elude me...

have this weird knot in my stomach tt refuses to go away. it's late but i'm not switching off the lights to go sleep yet, cos i'm afraid of the tears that will come... it's already welling up somewhere, threatening...

how shd i put it? i'm happy he's back, but yet... it's just... i dunno how to put it. i know he tries and i know how he feels towards me. but i also know tt this will be a long road of being by myself, of being strong, of not being to share alot of things with him. and this might be very far ahead, but i also dun want my kids to grow up wishing their daddy could spend more time with them...

maybe i shd just get used to it... i know it's hard. was talking to my trainee oil trader friend, who was still at work at 10pm on a friday. he stays in late very frequently and while he's gg to work or gg back he still takes readings home... and i ask him wat his gf feels abt all this... and he says she's v unhappy abt it. but then he loves his job and he feels tt he can be good at it, and therein lies the dilemma. and it sounds oh so familiar, because i'm at the receiving end, and i know it's hard. but it's also hard to have to wait, to put my life on hold because i really dunno where u'll be next mth, or whether u'll be spending my b'day w me... and tt sucks, ALOT

saying this here cos i dunno where else to. and probably i'll be feeling better tm. but yeah, maybe this is life and i shd just get used to it... don't feel bad abt this, i'm not trying to make u feel bad. i support u in ur career aspirations, i really do... and i'm trying too...

=)

Suddenly blogging has become part of my daily routine. Wonder how long it’ll last. Happy happy happy! Tj’s back, a little paler than before (his mum and my mum say he grow fatter! Haha damn funny) and he came back with lots of stuff for me and my family. Very thoughtful of him so was quite touched. Thanks dear, you didn’t have to bring so much stuff back but I’m glad you did.

Just glad tt he’s home. Don’t feel like working today cos leaving for airport at 10 for some simulation test, then after tt I’m going to high tea buffet! Half day but then the test is prob gonna drag so will eat into my half day.

Ok till then!

lunchtime appraisal?

2nd post in a day. Need to get this off my chest. Went for lunch with Boss (B), he drove out to Changi Village then we ate at some Jap food place, the food was ok lah, not fantastic… So only me and B today, then at first we talking abt work. Fine. I don’t like really that, but what else to talk to him about? Then later he started asking me tons of questions. Like what do I think about a particular work issue, how do I find my job/workplace etc. The 2nd question abit hard to answer, I mean I like my job, but I don’t love it, I wish certain things were different abt this job, abt my company, abt my pay, but I’m all right with it in general, was trying DAMN hard to be politically correct and finding smart things to say, but difficult to do tt while I was trying to eat a hot bowl of noodle soup. (I mean common etiquette is not to talk when you’re chewing right?) Then he just kept asking lor, so many questions that I can’t even reproduce them here. Which got really tiresome, lunch is supposed to be relaxing! Not stressful! hy calls it lunchtime appraisal. which isn't tt off the mark if you ask me...

Starting to feel like maybe B doesn’t think much of me or the way I work/the quality of my work, and I feel… sianz and lost… sighz…

Dreary wet morning (again) but at least it wasn’t pouring so it’s not that bad. Kinda sleepy still but it’s slowly wearing off. Meeting SVP later. I hope to get it over and done with already, but he’s just too busy so it keeps getting rescheduled. Happy happy happy cos TJ’s coming back! As I speak his plane is probably taking off etc. So by this evening I’ll get to see him!

Kept watching the Terry Fox Run 2006 advertisement on TV last night, thought it’ll be a good idea to join. Any takers? So far yun has expressed interest. Let me know if you are! It’s on 17 Sept at Sentosa. For more details, click here.

Arghz, the morning is going really slowly. Quick quick come back!

10 reasons I’m glad it’s a Monday

1)Because I woke up 10 min later, I get to sleep an additional 10 min.
2)Since I forgot to bring my work files (I brought them home to work over the weekend) I don’t have to do them today.
3)I’m “off” from 2pm ‘cos of briefing session and meeting my SVP.
4)I get to meet SVP and have to update him abt some of my progress.
5)Another busy week ahead which means time passes by faster.
6)There’s America’s Next Top Model tonight.
7)One week before IMF, so one week closer to the end of all in-your-face “please smile more to ang mohs” campaign.
8)Less than 2 months to my b’day! *hint*
9)I’m on half day on Wed, going high tea buffet! Suggestions anybody?
10)One more day till he comes back! Yippeeeee!

Everyone Loves the Cat!

Go watch! Just makes you go "awwwwww"