Sick Me

Yesterday I was shivering in the office, fighting against the cold air-con, combating hard against a fever, cough, cold and headache. Though it was a hard day having to bear with all the flu symptoms, there were small acts which made me feel warm and cherished. Tian came down to CBD to have lunch together with me, and dear WW called me earlier than usual to check out on how I was. At times of sickness, you hope there is someone caring about you and I'm happy that I have my loved ones by my side. Muack! :)

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

I'm not particularly an ice-cream lover, but.. CHERRY GARCIA! You scored 74% SWEET, 59% CHUNKY, and 62% UNIQUE!

cherry sweet cream base with cherries and fudge chunks Awesome...you are one of my personal favs: Cherry Garcia. You fall in the middle on all measurements- sweet, wild, and unique, but not overwhelmingly so on any of those. You make a good friend, able to share your unique perspectives on things, and able to have fun without winding up in jail or something. Good job.

Link: The Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Flavor Test written by weered1 on Ok Cupid

What do you look forward to when you wake up?

What do you look forward to everyday when you wake up in the morning? Work days are boring. I look forward to lunches with friends, then after the lunch, to knock-off time when I get to go back home and rest. On other days when I have specific programs or dates, there is that something more to anticipate. On days when I go jogging at Esplanade, I look forward to the dinner at Eastlink (Tampines interchange foodcourt) and having a good time to myself, sipping teh slowly and nibbling my food bit by bit.

Well, is there nothing at work worth looking forward to? Then how can one motivate himself through the minimum eight hours at work? Some people have fun-loving colleagues to mingle with, who bring joy to their boring hours at the salt mines. Too bad I don’t have colleagues who are like me, young and non-family-committed (yet). So we can’t go to the pub or hang out together. This is one thing I must applaud IA, since they have all sorts of people in there yet manage to bond as a team, going for drinks, bowling, karaoke and dinners every now and then.

Mondays are indeed hard to go by. I wish I was in the shopping mall, browsing through the shops now. I want to buy stuff, try pretty clothes and get presents for my loved ones. Why am I trapped in this miserably cold and artificially-lit place? Boohoo. Maybe later take MC and go off, if not to shopping, then for home. I miss my bed!

Lucern - Today versus yester-year

Last year in July when WW and I toured Lucern, Switzerland.



Now, after tormental floods in Lucern.

Rsepect me for my Big Bucks?

Last Thursday and Friday my company's IT department, which has a full strength of around 130, set up a bazaar within our own office building and invited the whole of our company down. Lots of efforts are put in on the organizers and stall-owners, but all are for a good cause - The Bull Run funds. I chipped in a small part by giving shoulder massages, $5 per session of 5 mins. My "customers" commented that I'm quite pro ok! :p Then when the EXCO members came down to render their support, they had to buy up lots of stuff coz a trolley was pushed in front of them and they gotta fill it up somehow! All for the sake of face? Most of them (anyway there are only five) are very generous, donating without second thoughts and dropping $50 notes without asking for change. I bet they spent more than $500 each during that short half-hour. That's why to be at the top you need not only have charisma, but also the generosity to part large amounts of your money without the heart pain. (But then again, they are paid big bucks!)

Friday night I headed to Singapore Swimming Club with my colleagues from IA for some bowling and karaoke. In between the two, we had dinner at the restaurant in there. I tucked into nigiri set with sashimi and inari sushi. Yum. And the best thing was that the whole night of entertainment was free! Dunno if they are claiming the costs to an entertainment budget, but at that point everything was written-off by the boss. Wahaha, so small fries like me get the "freeload".

Gimme more work pls!

I feel so sian having nothing much to do at work! Gotta wait for the Team Lead for my QA team to come in before we can start on solid work. And that is somewhere in Nov/Dec! What am I to do in the meantime? I want to kickstart my project!!

Should I go jogging tomorrow or go for a meditation class? :)

Oh, don't call me a rac***. Today I had lunch at Banquet, a halal foodcourt which sells the usual dishes at any other foodcourts, except that all are halal. And this is not the first time I've noticed this: all their dishes and utensils are SUPER FILTHY! Very poorly-washed and bits of food are still left (in fact, stuck) on the forks, spoons and chopsticks! PUKE! And my logical reasoning is that Malays do the dish-washing and never bother to clean them thoroughly at all! Especially since the utensils are shared with all the stalls. My reasoning is not without rationale ok. I see at least one Muslim at each stall, be it a Chinese food stall or Malay food stall. I dislike going to Banquet foodcourts, but will have to bear with it when having lunch with a Malay colleague. Must bear with it.. bear with it... bear...!!

Freedom From Work (at least for 2 days)!

Not having to report to office work is damn shiok, especially when you got to walk in the early evening sun!

I am on a CMMI course at Beach Road for these two days and get to go off at 530pm. Damn shiok! Usually at work can only get to go off at around 630pm or later. There are only eight participants in this course - two females (me inclusive) and four Indians (the other female included). Why are there so many Indians in the IT line?? Then I realised some of them can't exactly understand the points brought up in the discussions and could be very deeply-entrenched in their own point of view. Hehe, rac****? But alright la, I still chat with some of them and can hehe-haha (new terminology) together.

The lunch was wonderful! I thought we had to go out to get our own lunches, but instead we were ushered to the hotel restaurant which serves a buffet spread! They even have salmon and tuna sashimi! Yum yum. But now that even fish is found to contain cancer-causing chemical substances, we had all better be careful and avoid ALL meats. Let's all go vegan.

Yeah yeah. Had a jog round the park (4 rounds) in the evenings coz I got to come back home early. It feels great, and now that I've burnt the fats away, I can look forward to the buffet spread again tomorrow. Tau suan tau suan....

Wants and More Wants

Miss Nottoz is drawing up a mind map! What mind map is this for? For MN herself! I chanced upon this book at Borders which describes how mind maps can be applied in all aspects of your life, and how we can get our priorities right using mind maps. So, shall see if this really works.

One month to getting my first work performance bonus in my career life, I’m so excited! Dunno how much it will be (blame it on stupid slow HR), but I’ve decided what wants to satisfy!

1) Classic Swiss watch (I’ve wanted one for ages!)
2) Roald Dahl’s children books
3) The Economist subscription
4) Laptop for me to do my work and surf the Internet during weekends at McDonald’s drive-out
5) 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle

And I still want to save $5k after giving treats to both families! Achievable?

What a group of professional tai-tais

I can’t believe I get tired so easily! These few days I have the tendency to doze off at work and don’t have the strength to run around that much anymore while playing with Fluffy. I have been feeling so drained these few days, despite staying guai and going home after work on most of the days. Perhaps that habit is what makes me more tired, now that my energy level does not get tested.

Last night WW and I were out for dinner at Yogi Hub, a semi-high-class vegetarian restaurant located near Tekka Mall. They sell organic and vegetarian food, including brown rice set, pesto pasta, pumpkin soup, chips with salsa and fruit salad, just to name a few. We enjoy the food there coz it’s healthy, tasty and pretty appetizing. The only downside is the price. It could be quite expensive, especially for the starters which cost around $7-$8 for a portion for two. Well, that’s the price you pay for scarcity, such as organic food. Over at Yogi Hub we spotted a celebrity and some really high-class tai-tais! Not to mention the die-hard vegan advocate ang-mohs we see every time too. While we were settling into the restaurant, we saw Xie SG walking out. It was not the first time we saw him since he and Ah-Fong are close friends.

Then, in the middle of our meal, WW pointed me to a group of 50-, 60-plus years-old tai-tais. There were about eight of them (I didn’t want to turn back and look too much, didn’t want to let the gang feel even more superior about themselves), all with heavy make-up, sparkling big chunks of diamond jewellery, ultra-branded shoes ($3500 LV sneakers-like shoes on one) and clothes (a scarf that looks like an authentic 100% silk-made one on another). They spoke proper English with deliberated accent and slowness. At first I wasn’t able to catch what they were saying and thought they were foreigners instead (wahaha). Oh man, I wonder what they do during their free time. And how could they be sooo rich? Unfair unfair.

Back to reality, I very much appreciate the good life that I have. I have a loving boyfriend who understands me very well, gives me the freedom I need in not restricting my actions and decisions, gives me a good massage when I feel tired (although that may be less that what Ally the Schnauzer gets) and whose character and thinking match mine so well. What more could I ask for? :) I also have my supportive family, teaching me the right values (although you don’t exactly call selfishness a good value; Mama doesn’t quite like us borrowing our stuff out coz she feels people don’t take care of them), letting me run free as long as I have my principles instilled. Moreover, you could hardly find a Mama who cooks for you everyday anymore, but my Mama does just that. Plus she does the clothes-washing, house-cleaning and all. Wonderful Mama! Papa also contributes to the family; he insists on working even though the pay isn’t that good and that his health is no longer as well due to the fatigue from work traveling. Poor Papa. I hope their healths are kicking good always.

Huang Tian shares things with me magnanimously, unlike me who is calculative and always throws a mini-tantrum when I couldn’t find the clothes I want to wear. She also gives in to my requests all the time, taking time out with me when I have no company. She’s my other-half, my dear twin sister! Lastly in my family there is the youngest child Shou Bi, the naughty yet sensible in the family. He gets hooked onto playing the online game Gamebound and neglects his two poor hamsters by leaving them in a cage full of unchanged smelly sawdust soaked in their own urine. But guys are like that, can’t blame. Nevertheless, Shou Bi is very smart and full of ideas. He’s a guy who dares to try and is one who goes for things even if it may have to be done by him alone. That’s the Wong Family spirit!

The Cream Puff Temptation

Would you eat a cream puff that has 560 calories (10x an apple’s or 2x a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin) and 47 grams of fats?? Crazy! Stuff it into my mouth and I’ll puke it out. Luckily, that was for a cream puff filled with heavy whipping cream. There are other brands of cream puffs with slightly healthier fillings, like the 1-ounce cream puffs with 80 calories and 5 grams of fats sold by a US food company Omaha Steaks. I read that cream puffs are making a comeback! People simply love “comfort food” and won’t mind the extra calories. Just look at how popular Rotiboy, Bakerzboy (new outlet selling extremely tasty cookies for “exorbitant” prices, according to a friend) and Beard Papa’s are. So if you want to make it big, you can start a wave of cream puffs craze again. Here’s the secret recipe at the left column.

Damn easy.

This afternoon I met my Group Head together with my current direct supervisor for a work discussion for my Group. As the Head’s desk is quite open and visible, anyone who has discussions with the Head can be seen by all the other colleagues on the same floor. My guess and sixth sense tell me that a number of colleagues from the same Group are talking about me, about how I get to be beside the Head on a lot of occasions. To them, it may seem weird that I, being with the Group for only one and a half months so far, get to handle these higher-level tasks and have the chance to be exposed to management meetings, though I may only be taking down notes and minutes of their meetings, and at the most only helping the big boss do a planning task. This is, in my interpretation, a good way of exposure to management issues and topics which my direct boss and big boss are presenting me with. In a way, they are glooming me for bigger roles to come and I thank them for valuing me highly. :) And hee, secretly I’m feeling happy that I get this bit more attention and that the others have noticed it. Evil me.

Monday Blues

Sleepy dreary Monday morning. Always falling asleep in the MRT train on my way to work on a Monday, without fail. Why do we have to wake up so early for work? 7am in the morning and the sun is not fully up yet.

Damn cold now; cold-air is bad for the body. Going for a free lunch with Thomas, previous SGX scholar, as the meal is on him for me borrowing two candlestick books. Tummy feeling weird though, bet I can’t eat much. Suggested Lotus Café, a cool café with fusion food like steamed fish with rice, sandwiches and pasta.

Boohoo, when is 6pm approaching? I wanna go home and have yummy dinner with family. Today shall leave at 615pm! One of these days must go back to Tasty Town for spinach pine nut pesto with WW. I miss that place!

Willy Wonka

It's interesting to read others' blogs, but I ain't have enough time. Newspapers waiting on the coffee-table, TEC Group Meeting minutes still undone on my PC and I haven't done my Sunday yoga.

Yesterday was a good and pleasant Saturday spent yet again. I drove from home to WW's house in his car, reached at 330pm sharp via ECP. The scene was great along ECP, encompassing the East Coast Park, Tanjong Rhu, Marina South, Benjamin Sheares and the CBD view. I like the feeling of being on a highway, especially for the ECP expressway which weaves high up on the bridges. Then, I spent some time with WW and his mum and sis at their house, taught his sis one Chemistry question (WW’s mama must be thinking how smart I was, though it’s all taiko) and then headed for the market nearby for teh and afternoon bites. Coming evening time, we walked to the nearby park; WW did his pushups of 20 and I walked around, basking in the evening sun. Dinner, comprising very healthy and yummy dishes of stir-fried cabbage, stir-fried cauliflower and mushroom, and braised fish, was settled at his house with his mum and sis. I think I ate more vegetables than any of the rest, but with rice as little as a cat’s consumption, heh.

We then headed off to Fort Canning carpark (free parking, wonderful), walked past the underground to Plaza Singapura and watched “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (I termed it CatCC for abbreviation’s sake). It was my desire to watch the show, after all Roald Dahl’s children books were my favourite! I like them so much, reading some of the many such books he had written, while I was in Primary Three. I attributed my short-sightedness to Roald Dahl, thanks to his marvelously-written stories. At first WW did not seem so keen to watch CatCC, thinking it was some kiddo movie with a stupid plot to fool little kiddos. But hey, sure there was some crap in the show, but which turned out to be funny and hilarious! WW pretty much enjoyed the show in the end, especially seeing those oompas loompas seeing and dancing. Wahahaha, it was so damn funny. There was a lot of propaganda in the story too, for example there were two girls agreeing to be best friends on the surface, but deep inside they were just putting up false acts. The main song in the show is still ringing in my mind, “Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka, the amazing chocolatier..” Check it out! http://chocolatefactorymovie.warnerbros.com/index.html

Ms Nottoz Works Hard

Yes! Ms Nottoz stayed back till 1040pm on Thursday, and has brought work home to do during the weekend! Ms Nottoz also went jogging all the way to Kallang River, Coast Guard station via Esplanade from her office, all by herself. Why pia so hard? I think she's trying to prove to herself that she can achieve her goals and always challenging herself. And it must be due to the opportunities her bosses give her to spur to greater heights! That is why work recognition, employer's placement of trust and confidence in an employee is so important.

While enjoying her work even though it can get tough at times, MN still dreams of running business with MW (aka Mr Wonderwen). Opening a European-styled bakery or developing a vegan concept, reaping in small profits and taking things into own control rather than having to answer to anyone. How does that sound? Slogging for own establishment, seeing it grow and racking brains out to market own products. The results will be so visible and tangible! Unlike slogging away... for a promotion or a good bonus? Not much personal satisfaction, right?

I realise I hardly describe the people around me, other than my loved ones (family members and WW). Oki, firstly, my good friends. Now that most of my friends have started work, we do not meet up as often as used to be, especially compared to studying days when we met in school almost every weekday for lessons. I have a number of cliques garnered from my different phases in life. In primary school, I was closer to my twin sis Tian Put (hee), and also lost contact with some of the closer friends I had made in lower primary. Thus, I'm glad to be in contact still with Stephie, largely due to our fate to meet again in Junior College. And happy to announce that she's blissfully married to XZ, for half a year so far. :) Then, in secondary school, I got to know the Feng Gang (although three out of seven in the gang, not including myself, were in the same primary six class as me) which hangs out together even up till now. We meet up rather frequently, celebrate one another's birthday and see each other through these eight years so far. Tomorrow we'll be gathering for brunch at Kalland MacDonald's, the place we used to hang out in those good old days. Also, there are more - Ker Sin, Minfen, Sher (whom I'm still very close to, coz we met again in Uni and JC), Zhouyun, Angela (she's also my Pri 1 classmate).

Well, I will introduce more friends of mine in the following blogs to come. For now, gotta start doing my minutes so that I can enjoy my lunch later, and the rest of the weekend waiting to unfold!

Rush Rush, off to offsite

I’ve another 7 minutes to blog! Although my desk is still messy and my things unpacked, I don’t quite give a care. Later together with TEC Group Function Heads and Team Leads, I’m going to Fort Canning Lodge for an offsite. And what are we doing? Self-assessment! Which is what I helped for IA a few months back.

These two days have been busy for me, running around, trying to get slides approved and amended. Well, at least later it’ll be fun, being with the TEC folks and getting to see how their meetings go. This morning I had breakfast with TEC Group Head and Function Heads to minute their performance planning discussion. At certain points, I could have contributed to their discussion but instead, I was hesitant and missed out on the chances. Why do I always keep my mouth shut? Should have just aired my views and maybe made an impression. But it could have backfired with an amateur feedback and view.

Yay. I’m taking Monday off and thus have a long weekend to look forward to! Going to spend time with family and WW, take a long good break and just dump work all aside! Lalalala

Ugly Singaporeans

This morning while waiting for the MRT train, there was a lady (young student) moving in in front of me. And I thought only old women or aunties do that. Cutting in just to get a higher chance of finding a seat in the train. So ugly.

Potluck to celebrate our First Year in SGX

Happy Birthday! It is the first year anniversary of work for the graduating batch of 2004 SGX scholars. Together with two of my buddies, J & E, I had a good time during lunch today. We had a potluck session, with each of us preparing a dish. I happily made use of my salad-making abilities (haha, which was easy for even a kid) and whipped up a dish of mango salad, filled with mango (of coz), raisins, sunflower seeds, cherry tomatoes and lettuce. It's not because I wanted to take the easy way out by making fruit salad ok, I truly like fruit salads for their health value. J made sandwiches of various assortments - ham sandwich with honey, nutella sandwich and peanut butter sandwich. She was generous in her spreads, giving us double or triple layers of them in between the yummy gardenia bread. Sorry for not being able to appreciate the thick layers though, I'm a health freak! :p I gotta admit those are yummy nevertheless. Then, E made very nice mash potato! Didn't know she could make that and it was delicious and healthy. Beats those sold outside, even KFC's. I like the part about mashing potato with its skin, which provided even more nutrients. Tks buddies! I had a very enjoyable time, eating and chatting away without a care.

One year into SGX, I'm getting more used to working life. I do miss the people back in IA; they are a really sincere and warm bunch. Over here in P&G, there are fewer people and most of them have to rush around for work. Couldn't really chat up with them much, except for our secretary (she also helps out in the major project our function is handling now), who is very approachable and friendly. Work-wise, I'm given lotsa opportunities to mingle and work with the heads in TEC Group. The exposure and chances given by my bosses are very much appreciated; I'll work hard and absorb as much as I can. Tks bosses! Partly due to the fact that there is only one solo member in my team (that is me alone), I have to pick up the ropes and learn new stuff, sometimes on my own (as my boss is quite busy too). There are the softer skills and project management skills that I get to pick up. Those prove to be challenging and I like that. Basically if colleagues in the company are willing to help one another, things will be much easier to deal with.

This evening I went jogging with the TEC Data Centre folks. There was one guy who, in my opinion, is very childish and immature. He keeps teasing me about me being different from the rest, that I'm a scholar and run faster than the rest and so on. Just because I was in IA before and did some audit interviews with him before, and that I'm in QA now, that doesn't justify why I should get such treatment from him. So, it's better for me to stay away from the gang, despite their function head's encouragement for me to join them in their weekly jogs. Hey, I can go on my own jogs anytime! Don't have to hear such niao comments as if I owe him something.

Nevertheless, a comfortable and pleasant dinner made up for all the unpleasantness during the jog (or more accurately, the walk back to office after the jog). I settled for kway tiao (their fried bee hoon was finished up again!) with mashed pumpkin, and bought a warm cup of teh at EastLink, the foodcourt along Tampines Interchange Linkway. Sitting there eating my food bit by bit (I must be the slowest eater there), sipping my warm teh was the most independent moment I have and enjoy every Tuesday evening.

Happy Day! (Tks to my long-awaited TOTM)

So, yesterday was good news day. :)

Other than that, I had a day filled with distaste and cold sweat. The Feng Gang met up for dinner at a cozy restaurant situated at Milenia Walk. It was to celebrate XH’s birthday, to pass her the birthday present, and also to give Tian hers. Poor TP. She got her belated present close to half a year late! The gang didn’t had time to shop for Tian’s present during the shopping together that time in February. Subsequently there was no chance for us all to go on a shopping trip together with Tian for her present. So this time Jun asked Tian what she wanted (which was a Nike sports shorts) and Tian got it duly! The marathon-runner can fully utilize her birthday gift now.

The gathering was okay; everyone was kinda tired and restless. The food, on the other hand, was HORRIBLE! I can’t help but to convert the word to upper-case. WW had a main course of chicken scallopini, which was drowning in butter oil. I had grilled Norwegian Salmon, hmm, so-so but also with lotsa oils. I dared not eat too much and passed more than half of my salmon around the table. WHAT KIND OF FOOD IS THAT? I wonder if MF is trying to p***** its customers. On the safe side, I would choose the place to eat the next time we gather, or if the suggested restaurant looks dubious, would eat something first then settle on salad while having dinner with the rest. Saves $$ and can avoid having to drink oils. I so prefer eating with WW at Crystal Jade restaurants, Yogihub, Spagheddies, HANs or Al dente restaurant. Call us choosy eaters.

After the dinner, WW and I walked to Funan the IT Mall coz his car was parked at the carpark there. Dunno where Tian and Tong went after the dinner, they disappeared so fast! I drove WW’s car back home, while WW helped me look out for the narrow carpark lanes and walls. It was scary! The carpark was dilapidated, the walls scratched and flooring bumpy. The entrances and exits were filled with slopes and humps. Gotta insert cash card twice too though it was scanned already a first time. Was quite stressed then and almost broke into a cold sweat. But good that such narrowness was manageable which gave me quite a fair bit of confidence thereafter. I must say WW’s driving skills are not bad too, especially when it comes to tight carparks like these. :)