NDP 2007

thanks to delvin, tj and i got to attend the NDP combined rehearsal yesterday.

it's everything the NDP is, big hoards of ppl, sitting aimlessly in the hot sun waiting for the good stuff to happen, new NDP songs that gets tons of airplay now but will be forgotten after august 10, and mostly, lots of fun.

granted, it was a rehearsal so there were lots to iron out, we didn't get running commentary so didn't know the story behind each mass display, but i enjoyed myself alot. the new location made it all the more interesting, and there's always the nationalistic pride when you see your national flag flying in the central business district.

pictures:

delvin, adeline, and her jap tuition kid and mum who braved the sun and crowds to experience s'pore nationalism at its best


i dunno wat this star's for, but it looks cute and i love the clouds in the sky. pretty!
national flag flying past the best view of s'pore, with pretty clouds in the background.

the sweetest thing

The previous post got some ppl asking questions (very perceptive you guys) so yeah, I believe that the following pictures will explain it all… Lunch date at Jaan (Equinox, Swisshotel Stanford).

Lovely view, great food at great prices. And the best dessert ever, arriving in a black box =) on a chilled plate, with the magic words written in chocolate.

I was quite stunned, so the events that followed were kinda in a blur. He popped the question (on his knees of course) with a lovely, single stalk of rose. The ring was gorgeous, just the way I liked it (we did go ring window-shopping before that). So I just nodded my head, and he put the ring on… Only moments later did I realize that I forgot to say “Yes, I’d love to”, just like the way I’ve been mentally practicing to say.

It was quite a lovely surprise, the lunch was scheduled at the last minute, so he must have rushed through with all the planning… with help from the helpful staff at Jaan, though they screwed up the instructions abit, were kind enough to execute the whole thing for him.

Didn’t get to announce it earlier ‘cos the ring had to be resized and we wanted to tell the important ppl first before announcing it to the world.

More pictures:

yes, i'd love to

absolutely... =)

The Promotion Theory

My boss’ theory on promotion: we must show that we are doing over and above what is expected of us before we can get promoted, even if we do our own job well, it’s not enough for a promotion unless we prove we can perform the work of a manager, otherwise there’s a chance tt we’ll be promoted into incompetency, not good for the company.

To explain his theory more clearly, I’ll draw this analogy. A Primary 5 kid, takes an exam. It doesn’t make any difference if he scores 1/20 or 20/20 cos he’s only doing what’s expected of him. To far exceed expectations, he should also hand in an essay on top of doing the test. And to get promoted to Primary 6, the Primary 5 kid has to already be doing P6 work right now. Even if he shows he can do his P5 work v well, it’s not enough, cos what if he can’t handle P6 work when he gets promoted?

Batam 2007

Since TJ was at Batam on course and had the weekend off, Mich (his colleague’s gf) and I decided to go Batam to pay our boys a visit. The interesting thing is tt Mich works in the same company as me too! And we have a few common friends, so had lots to talk about, esp since she’s a chatty, bubbly girl, but then next to her I feel older somehow (she’s one year younger)

We arrived abt 5pm on Saturday. This time around, we stayed at Hotel Harmoni, an ok hotel in Nagoya, close to a few seedy nightspots and some spa places. Tj had already been staying there for the past two weeks. Nothing much to tell this trip around, didn’t take many pictures too, it was quite a fun trip, lotsa oily food (I tried to hold off the chili but thankfully my tummy was ok)… we had a great seafood dinner for SGD 10 per person, went to an ang moh bar to have beer and play pool for free, then headed off to some place with a live band, but the sound system was so lousy (read: super loud) tt we decided to head off for the night.

On Sunday, we woke up for crappy hotel bfast, then went for a nice and cheap spa session. Only SGD 40 for 1 hr massage, ½ hour body scrub and ½ hr steam + Jacuzzi session. A bargain if you ask me. The place isn’t as nice as the one in holiday inn, but at that price I can’t complain much…

On the whole, a great trip, went back with a dozen of J.CO donuts. Why don’t they come over to S’pore? Not as good as Krispy Kreme, but not half bad either…

just plain suay

this continues the previous entry on the suay day tt i had on Wednesday.

woke up at 3am, super nauseous and all... ended up both puking and diarrhoea-ing... then couldn't really sleep after tt...

nauseous feeling continued in the morning. i was scheduled on for an exam (some RM thing) but i felt i was in no shape to take it, lack of sleep, sick and all, so tried calling the offices to postpone, but they told me since it was the day of the paper, there was nothing they could do abt it, and advised me to call US (the hosting org) and see wat they said. i tried, but it was like maybe 10pm there, the customer service hotline was already closed. so bo pian really had to go for the thing, if not lugi abt SGD250

decided to go see a doctor to get medicine b4 the paper @ 3.30pm tt day... ended up waiting 1 hour just to see tt doctor, feeling utterly crappy cos the aircon was super duper cold. diagnosis: gastric flu... i already had all the medicine tt he gave me, only useful thing was the MC, which wasn't bad, cos i could convert my leave to MC.

so went back, ate medicine, slept a while... totally not into studying the thing already. woke up, tried having lunch, and proceeded to puke it out 5 min later, tgt with the rest of my dinner. so i guess the stupid medicine didn't work. nauseous feeling continued, thankfully the diarrhoea stopped...

time to head down to jurong east informatics centre for the exam. took cab down, cab driver didn't really know where it was, so i ended up dropping way too early (he couldn't turn in), walked in the wrong way (i didn't see the entrance so ended up walking the really long way in). 15 min in the hot sun, feeling puky really felt like shit... plus i didn't really know where the hell the stupid entrance was... but finally i made it there...

the test centre was a dreary place, aircon was musty, it was dark, v conducive for sleeping... plus the lady didn't allow me to bring water in, cos the rules say so. i thought: huh? it's just a bottle of water, my bottle is transparent for goodness sake... so i said i was running a fever then, i needed the water... but she said no, you can come out and take ur water if u want... crap, she scared i pour the water and spoil the computer meh? so yeah, the sick feeling got worse by the minute, i tried my best to do all the questions to the best of my ability, but the questions were so crap and v confusing after a while (guess i wasn't in the best of mental state). i once took an exam in NUS when i was having severe gastric, and got C+ for tt stupid module. so yah, no surprises when i found tt i failed the exam... sucks...

walked to jurong entertainment centre to draw money from ATM (not enough money to take cab home). got on a cab... and it was a slow, jerky ride cos of the jam... finally made it home, and ran to the toilet to puke again, since i already puked out EVERYTHING, there was nothing left except to gag...

didn't dare to eat anything after tt, so it was honey water and more rest for me.

just suay i think. thinking y this year i'm having such lousy luck...

the only good thing was: i went back to the doctor tdy, got another day's MC and stronger med (which i totally didn't eat), and went back to keng... haha! still dun dare to eat too much and avoiding oily, spicy, dairy... got hokkien mee craving now!

the irony...

after wanting to fall sick for the whole of 2007 (half of it gone liao still never), i end up falling sick when i'm on leave, the day of my exam somemore... i hate the feeling of puking... and still having diarrhoea now... =(

Almost kena conned…

During lunch yesterday, I received a call from NBYN Image Consultants informing me that I’ve been recommended by a friend to receive a free makeover session. I can “leave all my cash and credit cards at home and just go and enjoy, after which I can bring home two shots for free…” Sounds almost too good to be true right? So I asked her for the name of my friend who recommended me… she told me it was a list whereby the recommenders name need not be written down. Didn’t think too much of it, and she asked me to come down on Vesak Day for the shoot. Since she told me it was trial only basis and I was in a good mood, I decided to accept, but requested to shift the date to next Tuesday since I was on leave whole day but had nothing to do in the afternoon. Then my handphone went flat and I didn’t put in a spare battery until 1 hr later, during which I received abt 8 missed calls, cos she needed to get some details from me…

After about 2 hrs (I wasn’t around to pick up the phone) she called, then asked for more info… What I can remember of the conversation is below.

NBYN: What age group are you in? 25 – 29?
Me: No. 24.
NBYN: May I have your occupation?
Me: Executive
NBYN: Can I have your full name as in NRIC and fax number so I can fax you the invitation?
Me: (gives my full name). Can you just email me the details?
NBYN: Sorry we don’t do emails.
Me: All right then (gives fax number). Do you all do Resume-type photos? (I don’t have a professional one taken, thought since I was there, might as well do it)
NBYN: Oh you mean those passport size photos? Oh we don’t do those…
Me: Erm ok. What do I have to bring for this shoot?
NBYN: Oh we will do two styles: Casual and Fun, you can bring 2 sets of your own clothes, or we have costumes that you can wear…
Me: Huh? What kinda costumes?
NBYN: Oh we have Korean, Western etc etc costumes…
Me: Ok (totally not interested in those). Then I’ll see you then… Bye…

I received the fax, and found out that the company is called Naughty by Nature. Weird name I feel, so I went to google it. And found tons of bad reviews in forums, blogs etc. To summarise, many many people have been called by this company since 2004 cos they’ve “won some shopping centre lucky draw (when pressed they can’t name the shopping centre), or was recommended/referred by friends”. If they realize that you’re young, e.g. someone told them she was 21, she can’t go unless she brings her parents along (presumably so she can have cash to pay for the package). If you bring friends with you, they can’t wait there for you, unless they join you for the shoot (so you won’t have someone to drag you away). Though they say the shoot is only for 2 hrs, it takes up to 6 hrs and they don’t let you leave in between. And the standard of the makeup and photography is lousy, the photoshopping sucks and the printing is bad (photos with white background got stains at the back). They’ll hard-sell you and give a lot of pressure for you to sign a “lifetime membership” and to give you your photos (price varies, approx $2000) if not they’ll delete it on the spot (or they tell u tt they delete it). Some readers were asked to dress in skimpy/revealing outfits and give sexy poses. There was one who was even told to remove the top of the gown and even the bra (and pose behind a pillow). But who knows if they really delete the photos (or what they do with it after?)

I usually take forum postings with a pinch of salt, but if so many people are complaining then there really must be something wrong. To me, the “I don’t do passport photos” was weird, cos it’s additional income for them, especially if I don’t end up purchasing anything. Of course there’s no such thing as a free lunch, when you go for free facial/spa package of course they’ll promote their packages. Totally understandable, but there has to be a limit somewhere, and the more I read, the more I feel disgusted. So yes, though I have an appointment, I’m not gonna turn up, and I’m not even going to call them to cancel the appt, since as what I’ve read, there’ll be tons of people there (50+) getting conned at the same time, so I think they won’t miss me. And if my phone rings non-stop, I’ll just not pick up…

In the meantime, if you’re free on Jun 5 afternoon, let me know?

interesting wedding

Attended a very interesting wedding over the weekend. TJ’s cousin was getting married to a guy she met while studying in China. She’s been living there for ages so I’ve yet to meet her.

Since she’s marrying a foreigner, there were two separate wedding dinners, one in China, the other in S’pore. They held the China one first, so the pictures were on display as a slideshow during the dinner itself. The similarities were there, gathering of family members to congratulate the couple, decorating the house, taking of studio photos…

the interesting thing is this: in S’pore the couple offers tea as a sign of respect to their elders (and also for the elders to give them angbao to recuperate the “loss” associated with holding a wedding). In China however, they offer CIGARETTES instead. So there were a whole series of shots whereby the couple (more often than not the bride) would be placing a cigarette in the elder’s mouth, and she’ll be lighting it… tt kinda thing. The highlight of the pictures was that she did the exact same procedure (ciggie and all) for her mother, who totally doesn’t smoke. There was even a shot of her puffing (not sure the term, I just know tt she was blowing smoke out)…

TJ’s cousin definitely met with some resistance from her family (esp her parents) when she decided to marry this guy… but from the whole ciggie thing it is clear that her parents have given her support ultimately, which I felt v sweet.

But the wedding studio shots were still v tacky… (u shd see her hairdo in some of them. *cringes in horror*

Ouch!

Was doing some random stretching thing at office, then suddenly felt pain… oh shoots, turns out, I pulled some muscle in my upper back, when I look down and sideways my neck hurts, and my shoulder too… =( but rubbing deep heat does help a lot, but can’t they make deep heat tt doesn’t smell medicinal? Feels old to be bothered by aches and pain… like auntie liddat

One year down the road…

Exactly 1 year ago, I joined this company, a huge change from my basic degree and my previous job. I had to learn everything fast within the first three months, with practically nobody to guide me, and I was the floater without any friends too… Then my colleague AT joined the dept from the neighbouring dept, and it got better I learnt a lot abt the workings of this organization, not to mention making fast friends with my lunch kakis… that certainly helped to make time faster and more enjoyable too… My CCA also helped as I got to work with a bunch of crazy young ppl to plan fun activities…

After about half a year, I started getting used to the workings here, and learnt abt the long rivalry between a few bosses here, how they’ll make things difficult for each other, making it v difficult for us small fries. Not to mention it’s v difficult to work w my boss in the first place, a v petty guy who says one thing and preaches another, who goes arnd in circles and takes his time on things, then when it isn’t done at the end of the year, turns around and points his finger at his staff… my appraisal was totally unfair and a mess, and while at tt time of appraisal I was super motivated to prove him wrong, I’m not sure I wanna do that anymore…

Thankfully, the recent good news made it tt much easier to hang on (at least until july) but I’m starting to look out for the next better thing I wanna do with my life. With rumours of our dept expanding and AT’s coming maternity leave, it’ll certainly change the dynamics around here… Hopefully not for the worst, the period she’s gg away is the 2nd busiest time of the year…

Growing Up (and Old)

My lunch group decided to have fun during our otherwise boring lunch breaks, so we were tasked to find photos of us growing up at various stages of our lives… around 5, 10, 15 years old. So yes, I went flipping through my albums trying to find something tt looks presentable enough to show…

Through all my flipping, I realized a few things:
1) I look the cutest from age 0 – 7, and my mum really loved to dress chalene and I up…
2) My teenage years were awkward, plagued by acne and lousy haircuts, not to mention toot dress sense in a communist school
3) I looked best when I was 21 – 22, tt was when I was still slimmer and was growing my hair out. And non-humid weather (i.e. in Canada) really suits me…

We had such a laugh over the photos, it’s really quite amazing how much we have changed, and yes, how much we’ve grown…

Running

Major attitude change at work brought abt by some event, and not in a good way. Was pretty affected by it but after some reflection, I’m glad to say I’m over it… What won’t kill you will only make you stronger, right?

Finally dared to put myself on a weighing scale, and I didn’t like what I see… so the target now is to get myself more exercise, and eat better to try to shake off the weight. The reason is part vanity and mostly health. Cos like it or not we are getting older and metabolic rate is slowing down etc. Don’t wanna end up riddled with disease later on in my life… plus now tt I’m exercising more, I feel more fit and my skin seems to be improving too =)

Previous weekend was spent exercising and studying, this weekend was spent w friends, spidey (didn’t really like it), squash and tennis (ok my right arm is still aching but that was great fun, we shd do it again), wine, donuts and chit chat, shoe shopping at Queensway (bought my most expensive pair of running shoes to date, I’m so motivated to run more!), yummy dinner and tv sessions at home…

Four Ways to make a Bad Job GOOD

interesting article.

click here

am trying to work on no. 4 by eating healthier and exercising more.

now it's just no. 3...

Penang

This is about my wonderful penang trip with my wonderful tj.

Day One
We took a night bus last wednesday, quite uneventful, pretty amazed at how I could totally knock out and sleep through like at least 3 pit stops, which just goes to show how tired I was. Arrived at the bus station around 7am, way too early to go to the hotel to check in, so we decided to grab bfast and figure out our way there... which we did, took a bus to komtar, the tallest building in penang georgetown, and pretty much where everything is centred. since all buses go to komtar, it becomes our focal point and we went there EVERYDAY. we walked to chowrasta market for bfast, and walked around abit. then i cleverly saw Jalan Burma, which my research told me is the address where the 2nd best tau sar piah shop in penang. so we walked along the road to find Hin Heang. which was actually quite silly, cos we were at 26 Jalan Burma, Hin Heang was at 126A... so yah, you could imagine how far we walked, with all our luggage in tow too... but it was worth it as we finally found it in the end, and bought tau sar piah, yummy pepper crackers (i only bought one packet :( though)... and luckily there was a straight bus there to our hotel.

we stayed at paradise sandy beach, a lovely hotel and supposedly the best in tanjung bungah
area where we stayed. check out the lovely pool.
we lazed around the poolside/beach for the afternoon, before heading to batu ferringhi night market for dinner. batu ferringhi is the most happening beach in Penang, but I didn't really like it there as I felt it was a tourist trap for the tons of foreigners. so we retired early for the night.,

Day Two
The good thing about Paradise Sandy Beach, is the delifrance bistro. Our daily free buffet breakfast is at the bistro, which means fresh croissants every morning. Yum! Our agenda for the day was to head for the penang tourist centre in komtar, to get more maps and info before we head out exploring on our own. it wasn't tt easy to find, which makes it less appealing for tourists, but we got a great 1 hour introduction from this girl on attachment there, and she gave us lotsa maps and a good insight into penang. plus since it was on the 56th floor, we got to take bird's eye view pictures of penang.

We only wanted to go Penang Hill today, but since we were too early, we decided to go in search for yummy food. First stop: the best penang char koay teow @ Lorong Selamat. We walked like 20 min in the relentless penang sun, queued up a further 20 min for the fried noodles but it was well worth it (ok tj was the one queueing while I just sat and waited).

The old lady frying the char koay teow (tt's how they spell it. ) she wears safety goggles too!

After 20 min, pure bliss!

We also tried the chee cheong fun (in penang they serve it with prawn paste instead of sweet sauce) and the ice kacang. I love the ice kacang too. It had sarsi in it, and the atap chee and the giant red beans are damn soft. Yum!

We adjourned to Swatow Lane for more food. We tried the assam laksa and rojak. The laksa is very very good. The rojak came with lotsa fruits and prawn paste as well, tasted quite caramelly.

Swatow Lane Hawker, looks old outside, but surprisingly it's spacious and air-conditioned inside

Assam Laksa

After food, we made our way to Penang Hill by bus. It was approximately 45 min bus ride, and we stopped at Air Itam and walked to the railway. Where we took a 30 min ride up 830m to the top of penang hill. Quite a scenic ride, just that it was warm (no aircon ) and it was crowded. Penang hill is lovely, it was cooling and the view was good. Not a bad place to chill out and just chat…

Check out the railway. Super old but still does the job...

Us inside the railway

It was late so we headed off, took our first cab ride to New Lane Hawker Joint, a conglomeration of 3 coffeeshops, with lotsa yummy food to try. We had the lor bak (like fried ngoh hiang), Yong Tow Foo and Fried Oysters. Both good. The soupy yong tow foo is fresh and healthy (esp after all the artery clogging fried food) and the fried oysters… I didn’t care much for the egg, but it came with a lot of very fresh oysters! Yum yum.

Day Three

Walked way too much, decided to laze by the beach and catch some sun before we headed out. The beach wasn’t half bad, but due to the presence of jellyfish, nobody ventured to swim there, and A LOT of foreigners were just lying there sun-tanning. We took some lovely photos too!

After tt we headed off for lunch and sightseeing. Our aim today was to cover the historic sites in Penang. We saw the penang clock tower, Fort Cornwallis, walked by the city hall, visited the Penang Museum and went by the Cheong Fat Tze mansion. All the buildings in tt area were old and had tt distinctive british architecture. Very lovely.

Penang Clock Tower. It really is slanted, happened during WWII.

The cannons in Fort Cornwallis

The City Hall

But it was too much sun and not enough food (somehow there wasn’t any food place open around tt area). So we decided to head off for more food =) On our way back towards Komtar, we unexpectedly passed by Kayu Nasi Kandar (one of the best in Penang) so we absolutely had to go in to try. Nasi Kandar is their version of curry rice. We had yummy chicken bryani and roti canai (tt’s how they call their roti prata). Both very good.

Recharged, we made our way to Gurney Drive (first stop Gurney Plaza for some aircon and shopping), then Gurney Drive Hawker Centre for our real dinner. Love it there, tons of food, open air, by the beach…

Day Four

Our last day in Penang. So we checked out, but left our bags at the hotel, and went in search for things we wanna buy back to Singapore. Naturally Ghee Hiang tau sar piah was on the top of our list. We got 3 big boxes, 2 small ones, 2 bottles of sesame oil, another box of biscuits… haha! Very happy with our loot, we walked on to find lunch at New World Hawker Centre, quite near to Swatow lane and lorong selamat too.

Inside Ghee Hiang

Since we were very tired from walking around that much, we decided to pamper ourselves on the last day in Penang. We went Prangin Mall (next to Komtar) to get our foot and shoulder massage, and a pedicure each! Hehe. Tj says I’m trying to turn him into a metrosexual. Check out his lovely feet

We rushed back to the hotel by bus, got our stuff, grabbed a quick dinner and finally headed home… All in all, a fantastic trip with my fantastic man =)

Things I’ll remember about Penang

The nostalgic bus system. We went everywhere by bus. Cheapest way to get around, and to experience how the people live too. Their buses are not as comfy as Singapore’s but quite cheap (around RM1.50 per trip), and most of the times the aircon is not really working. But we meet nice people on the bus. It was packed (peak hour when we made our way back to the hotel) and we were both carrying tons of tau sar piah and the two pairs of shoes I bought. One very nice Indian lady put her plastic bag on the floor and offered to carry my tau sar piah (she put it on her lap). I was very touched…

View on the bus

Bus terminal at Komtar

How the buses look like

The nice people in Penang. People in Penang were really very nice, from the Indian lady on the bus, the shopkeepers in Komtar who offered to take us to the tourist centre (when we couldn’t find it), the lovely girl at the tourist centre…

The yummilicious food. Penang really has great food and a very colourful culture if you care to walk around in their small streets…

Waiting for lunch and the weekend

Realized tt I haven’t blogged in a month, so I shd thank you if you’re patient enough to be reading this. Rest assured, this blog is not dead yet, just that the author is currently facing a dearth of creative ideas and maybe lack of social life.

Tt mostly means I’m quite busy at work, or too busy having fun. So yeah, planned and went for a holiday during good Friday weekend, which means I was busy clearing all my work and commitments before that. It was totally worth it, as the holiday was a good break from it all, and I’ll blog abt it in a separate post, stay tuned.

Came back from my break to find that all the work tt I was rushing like mad to churn out, was still stuck with my boss. colleague and I were pissed off at how he sat on it for so long, and made us scramble in the end like every other time. And of course tt led to some arguments along the way. Glad to say tt I stuck to my guns for some issue, and the big boss agreed w me =).

Thing I can’t stand most abt him: he preaches to us tt we shd admit our mistakes when they occur, and not try to cover them up… but then time and again his actions speaks of covering his backside and covering his mistakes… which is very dangerous cos the work we do and papers we write go all the way up to CEO, and if we get found out the ramifications can be great.

So yeah, after the storm lies a small calm, and now I’m here blogging and chatting w colleagues thru email, and planning for wat I’m gonna do in the weekend. =)

FSRC

At work, I'm part of this recreation committee in my division, we organised an event involving an amazing race type contest running around city hall --> clarke quay, followed by lunch in some hotel. quite fun and i think overall quite a big success. here's the photo of my committee members

Way Back Into Love

We caught Music and Lyrics over the weekend. I absolutely loved the movie cos it was funny and sweet... The campy 80s music were hillarious! And Hugh and Drew can carry a decent tune. Can't get this song and another "Pop! Goes my heart" out of my head. Think I need to go and get the soundtrack soon...

Way Back Into Love

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need `em again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not somebody just to get me through the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I wanna do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end

Czenthia Design

my youngest sis and two friends decided to make and sell jewelery. v pretty and cheap! go take a look and show support ok? contact them if you want anything and quote my name, can arrange for meet-ups etc. (i can't guarantee got discount though, but the items are really quite cheap)

will put it up as a permanent link. do show some support so she'll stop bugging me to buy! haha!

http://czenthia.blogspot.com/

just whining

It’s been a very long week. Tons of papers to finish, appendices to do and format, and got to deal with the PMSy boss. Which is actually a lot worse. I don’t mind having tons to do, bringing them back to do during the weekends (which I’m doing now) just that I’d feel a lot better if he showed that he appreciated it. And not give us attitudes like “both of you shouldn’t expect to go home at 5.30 sharp everyday, the officers can but not you… yesterday I came back after my course and did work until 8.30…” Yes, I go home on time everyday, but if times are busy (like now) I actually bring work home cos it makes a lot more sense that way. If I go home by public transport, it takes me easily an hour MORE to get home, time which could be spent doing work/resting/catching up with my family. So now, anytime I do work at home, I’ll send him the completed file from home at night, rather than save in my thumb-drive and send it to him the next morn in office.

My colleague's on MC again, pregnancy complications. She feels bad that she's left me to cover her work for her, but while I do resent it abit, I'm glad that she can rest, cos she's been so stressed out working late, which could be affecting the baby. But yah, fighting a war is always so much better when you have allies.

That day, my boss got whacked left right and centre by my big boss. big boss told my boss 2 mths ago what he wanted but my boss insisted tt his way is correct, and only did cosmetic changes, which of course pissed big boss off... "I give all my managers leeway to do their own things cos I don't wanna breathe down their necks... but this really worries me..." I've already told my boss wat big boss wanted, but he refused to listen and insisted on doing his own way... sighz...

Stressed, demoralized and to make things worse: I just got confirmed. Meaning 3 months period if I wanna resign. Arghz. Only thing tt keeps me going now is the fat bonus we’re all expecting in July. But tt’s still 4 months away…

It’s gonna be longer weeks from now since my weekends are all burnt.

guess where this is?

as part of my CCA, the Committee I'm in is organising a road race around city hall area, so last sunday we went to recce the area, to take pictures to use as clues to the places they're supposed to go... kinda like amazing race... got quite a few nice shots, and if u look at tt u might think i just went overseas on a trip. come on, take a guess at what these locations are...

Botanic Gardens

Haven't been there in a while, went there over the weekend 'cos tj's parents wanted to bring a family from china there. had to wake up way too early to get there, but it was refreshing to feel the sun, see blue skies and feel the refreshing morning breeze, but afterwards it got way way way too hot. the orchid gardens were lovely though, i highly recommend a visit

love this pic though quite a bit of shadows. see how brilliantly he smiles now tt his teeth are done?

in the VIP orchid gardens

a japanese willow tree, unfortunately the bark was filled with carvings

the two naughty boys

singapore's national flower: vanda miss joaquim

by a mini waterfall

white fairy orchids, love it's white simplicity

in the mist house, with tons of colourful orchids

Simplicity works best

A summary of Vday. Basically a scam for lovers, over-commercialised, as if a bouquet of flowers (overpriced), a box of chocolates (also overpriced), a mass-produced set dinner (normally western food) can display how much you actually love someone. Nonetheless, girls will always look enviously at those who were lucky enough to receive a huge bouquet of flowers from their significant other.

This year in an effort to avoid the crowds tj decided to cook me a vday dinner at his bro’s place, which means his bro and dasao were automatically invited. He went to buy food in the afternoon and I arrived early evening to help.

It was a simple dinner, mushroom soup with baguette, salad with vinegarette dressing, boiled new potatoes served with herbs, sour cream and bacon bits, black pepper ribeye steak, walnut cake with baileys. Sounds like a lot, but easy to prepare (especially if you buy canned soups, premixed packets and ready walnut cake). Most importantly, it tasted great and it was fun preparing the food together. Lots of great wine and company made the dinner even more special.

Looks great doesn't it?

Memories of CNY

Though not as romantic as Christmas, I’ve always loved CNY for it’s traditional (and sometimes obiang) festivities. I mean who can resist all that yummy new year goodies, new clothes and ang bao? Not to mention Bak Kwa and pineapple tarts, the best inventions EVER.

Even the associated “irritants” like spring-cleaning, superstitions and the recent invention of techno-CNY songs that assault your ears when out shopping for goodies, are somewhat bearable and add to the festive mood. While out shopping at Chinatown last Friday, I discovered (to tj’s amazement) that I can remember A LOT of CNY songs, even down to the lyrics! Either I remember lyrics really well, or my communist primary and secondary school background is showing it’s evil roots ;)

My family is pretty big on superstition and tradition. So while we don’t really do well on ang bao earnings (cos for our family, ang bao is just a token sum), we have tons of food (we pray like a lot of times to the different Chinese Gods) and even have a gathering i.e. gambling session.

CNY is also a time when my deceased grandmother would “visit” us, especially at night after we baked all our pineapple tarts there’ll be this characteristic smell tt will float past her room so that everyone there would know that she’s back.

Now that I’m older, part of the new year preparations fall onto me. Helping my mum buy and prepare new year goodies, some home improvement mini-projects around the house, and yes I’m still supposed to clean my room.

One week left to CNY. Let the mad rushes to cut hair, buy clothes and shoes, stock up on food and goodies, clean the house, change money to put into ang baos, wash and polish the cars etc. continue…

Two different directions

The two facets of my life are heading in different directions.

Socially it’s great, having lotsa fun during the weekends, meeting up and catching up with a lot of friends. Lindy hop, chilling out, attending junmei’s wedding (congrats babe, really happy for you), cha’s bday (eh weijia is really sweet, don’t bully him ok?) and of course the upcoming Vday, CNY, and our 2.5 years anniversary… =)

But work wise, it’s becoming demoralizing. My pregnant colleague’s pregnancy is in danger, she’s still in her first trimester so everything’s quite dangerous, and she hasn’t been feeling well in a while (fever, no appetite i.e. puking out whatever she’s eating and she always looks pale and washed out). She had complications in her first pregnancy so naturally she’s worried. Last Friday she started to bleed quite a lot, so it was very scary cos of the risk of miscarriage. Thankfully the baby’s still fine, but she’s now on one week bedrest MC, which might be extended depending on the situation.

I really wish her well, she’s been trying hard for this baby (7 years?) and she really wants it, and when I see her suffering so much then I realize the greatness of a mother’s love and the sacrifices they’re willing to go through.

Thing is she’s been very hush hush about her pregnancy ‘cos she doesn’t wanna explain to others and I think cos she was worried that it might not be stable etc. so ppl start asking me what’s going on with her but it’s not really up to me to tell, and I don’t really like to evade other’s questions, or lie for that matter. Second thing is that my boss used to give her a lot of work but now that she’s not around he’s conveniently cc-ing me in all her stuff, which I don’t mind covering for her, but I have this feeling that she’ll be leaving the company soon, leaving me with all the work, plus my dept just took on an additional portfolio handling the affairs of another subsidiary… Before she joined my department she was very willing to quit and be a taitai and try for no. 2 already… plus she doesn’t like working with my boss…

Then yesterday out of the blue my other colleague (in the neighbouring dept, one of my lunch partners) tendered his resignation after 6 months. He was weary of this environment here and how his boss is being difficult, even controlling when she wants him to take his leave, so he was so fed up he tendered. A bit unexpected for me, my other lunch partner saw it coming but didn’t think it’ll be so soon, and she’s stressed out too cos her section is seriously shorthanded after one staff went on indefinite MC for depression, and now that he’s gone she’s gonna take over his stuff too… she really needs a break cos I can see how she always looks stressed out now…

I need a real holiday… complete with the beach, a spa/massage, good food and shopping… BKK anyone?