Thursday, July 26, 2007
the "MACHO" cat
soon after, there was a mini-commotion.
cheryl: "wah kinki you're so macho"
mum: "kinki! you're so cruel!"
curious, i opened the door, to find a dead mynah lying there. i jumped a little at the strange and unexpected sight, since he has never brought home anything dead. was kinda "flattered" cos i read in cat books that cats sometimes drag home dead animals to "feed the family" and since he left it outside my door means he loves me v much. then i realise it was just because my mum shouted at him while he was outside my door that he left it there.
and the culprit just happily sat at the stairway preening himself and looking pleased, while we debated on how he managed to kill the bird and how finally he's not a wimp, while waiting for the maid to clear up the mess. after a while, he still gave us his "puss-in-boots" look tt melted our hearts...
i took a picture of the dead bird but haven't uploaded it yet. will upload when i'm free.
Monday, July 16, 2007
ewan and laura
idea 1) laura had someone dancing a lyrical dance to a hymn... v lovely and graceful. so i told yun who was sitting to my right, tt at my wedding ade and her can come up with a dance. she immediately started to cough/laugh. tt came out weird...
ideas 2-4 onwards come from yun.
2) no speeches longer than 5 min *yawn*
3) need to find talented friends who can sing
4) find a song tt tj and i sound ok in
idea 5 courtesy of laura
5) hold my wedding somewhere near national day period near the marina area so there's a chance tt there'll be fireworks after my wedding to erm celebrate for me
ok pics!
the wedding was getting too long and it was a tad too humid outside on the ACM balcony, so we left for clarke quay to join the FAGs for a night of partying!
last photo of me alone! haven't taken solo shots for like ever... kinda like how it turned out
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Quite an exciting July for me. First week was spent on course, then all the meetings, then organizing a fundraising sale, attending a wedding this weekend, going to KL the next, then the submission of quotations for this big project we’re doing, and OBS for a whole week! Hehe.
OBS is like such a distant memory… I last went there 8 years ago? Quite looking forward to it especially as I heard tt it’ll be lotsa eating and sleeping (and they charge 1.2K per participant!) So taking the opportunity to try up my fitness level, so I won’t suffer that much during OBS. Hope I get to lose more of tt dreaded flab!
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Sunday, July 01, 2007
NDP 2007
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:
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
the sweetest thing
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.
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:
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
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.
Batam 2007
Since TJ was at Batam on course and had the weekend off,
Thursday, June 07, 2007
just plain suay
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!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
the irony...
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Almost kena conned…
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?
Monday, May 28, 2007
interesting wedding
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*
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Ouch!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
One year down the road…
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…
Monday, May 14, 2007
Growing Up (and Old)
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…
Monday, May 07, 2007
Running
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…
Monday, April 23, 2007
Four Ways to make a Bad Job GOOD
click here
am trying to work on no. 4 by eating healthier and exercising more.
now it's just no. 3...
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Penang
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
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
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 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.
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 Clock Tower. It really is slanted, happened during WWII.
The cannons in Fort Cornwallis
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
Recharged, we made our way to
Day Four
Our last day in
Inside Ghee Hiang
Since we were very tired from walking around that much, we decided to pamper ourselves on the last day in
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
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
View on the bus
Bus terminal at Komtar
The nice people in
Friday, April 13, 2007
Waiting for lunch and the weekend
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. =)
