Monday, October 31, 2005

My Long Break from Work

Woohoo! Two days of leave give me six days freedom from work!

So, now at home, I’m thinking of what I can do in these few days. Wanna go shopping with Mama, visit a vegetable farm, do some sports (maybe kayak with Tian when she’s feeling well again) and do a mini cross-stitch.

WW and I were talking about the ways of communicating to one on your opposing views and opinions. No one likes to hear teachings of moral and may become more defensive to protect own beliefs. Thus, it’s a good way to just ask questions which are tactful and lighthearted. I like to preach my own morals to others, especially ones who are close to me, in hope that they exercise integrity and responsibility too. However, I overlook that everyone holds their own set of principles and I set for myself a stricter set.

I have a friend who very recently told me he would be going for a job in Kinokuniya as a retailer, working from bottom up. As a very technical IT grad, he would have fetched a higher salary being in the IT line, though the hours can be terribly long. I don’t think I will go for a more comfortable and slow-paced job in place of a hectic and stressful one. I believe in having excess for times of contingency. The idea of leading a somewhat more carefree life is so tempting though; I admit to daydreaming about it every now and then.

Hmm, it’s hard to find any kite-flying websites online. Any idea where to get a good kite? Something like a big black eagle that flap its enormous wings in the sky. Hehe, all the birds in the sky will be scared off by my eagle! Woohoo!

Sunday, October 30, 2005

Our Mountain Bike

We bought a mountain bike last evening, and cycled straight off to West Coast Park!



Our new mountain bike - a simple one, but bright, yellow and quite cool huh




Kites flying at West Coast Park. I particularly like these two - black shark and cutey bat! I want to buy a giant eagle kite.


WW and his Shimano. We're off to West Coast Park.


Me with new bicycle. Tks WW for the bike! :)

Saturday, October 29, 2005

If You Were An Anime Character What Would You Look Like?(Girls Only)

romantic girl
Ok you are a romantic anime girl and you love and
care for a lot of people.There is no evil in
you soul or your heart.Though sometimes people
don't feel the same way as you do you keep on
trying to change their mind.You love to help
people out and you are always happy.Keep on
trying to make the whole world smile because
you know smiles are contagious ^_^.Oh and if it
seems like there is nobody who could love you
as much as you could love them it doesn't
matter the thing is that the only thing that
matters is that he cares and loves you and it
doesn't matter how much well maybe it does but
don't set you standards to high cuz then you'll
find nobody


If You Were An Anime Character What Would You Look Like?(Girls Only)
brought to you by Quizilla

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Breaking out of your comfort zone

Nowadays I prefer having lunch with people I’m really comfortable with. They include (i) my working buddies Eden & Judy; (ii) IA colleagues (the whole gang); (iii) the new batch of scholars; and of course (iv) my dear sister if she happens to be in CBD. I’m still trying to get used to having lunch with my new colleague. It feels weird having to relax and enjoy the meal with her, but later have to be back in the office bugging each other on work matters. I still have this feeling I work better with male bosses. With the rest of my department’s colleagues (only four of them have more regular lunches together), I feel at ease and in fact, quite enjoy being with them. However, one of them is fasting for this Ramadan period and thus the four of us in the group goes out with our different lunch kakis more this month. Looking forward to having lunch as a small team again after
Hari Raya Puasa, which means my Malay colleague can jio and gather us for regular lunches, despite having to frequent Banquet food courts much more often.

I feel it hard to break out of my comfort zone. Even a simple thing like eating with certain lunch groups can make me feel the difference between doing something in my comfort zone and something out of it. Now after getting used to the current way of life, there will definitely be a certain extent of resistance when faced with new or possible changes. I like the routine of certain activities such as jogging once a week to Esplanade, having my breakfast downstairs twice a week, meeting dear WW every Saturday and even eating my waffles every Sunday morning. Can’t imagine how it will be next time if something turns my life “upside down” (like being posted to overseas for work?) and robs me of my little pleasures. But we can’t get stuck in present state of life for too long and get stagnant in it, coz the adage stands: The only permanent thing in life is Change.

Beer Burning in Belly

Today too, I met up with two friends, one of them I haven’t met for about two years. These two rich girls, Joan and Rachell (Fang Qi), have no airs but full of sincerity, thus me poor girl feel very comfortable with them. We had Belgium food at Ooster restaurant at Far East Square; quite a novelty especially when my lunches are usually at food courts or hawker centres. But spending $30 for a short meal (I had to rush back for a meeting at 2pm) was a little too lavish. Poor me so poor. But hey, I was introduced to the fruity non-alcoholic-tasting raspberry beer imported from Belgian! How exclusive can it get!

Oh a side-note: drinking beer before a meal whets up your appetite! During lunch today, I had my first try at drinking beer in the day. And Boy, was I feeling famished after my main course! What’s more, the volume I consumed with so little, at most 100ml.

Dream Car

WW’s parents own my Dream Car of 2003 now! Honda Civic! Yesh yesh, that was my dream car for quite a while and now I still dream of owning a Honda. The power and the vroom… oh unbeatable. I picture myself stepping on my accelerator, speeding ahead the rest of the pack at the traffic light, even cutting between cars on the expressways. Oops, can’t let WW see this coz he promotes peace on the roads, with the mentality that everyone has only one goal to achieve while on the roads – to reach home smoothly for a good rest. Yeah, my man has the biggest heart and the most forgiving nature. :)

Baaa..





Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by
alanna

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

My Double Saturdays

These few weeks I can’t help have the feeling that Sundays are wasted without going out or doing something meaningful. Perhaps it’s because weekends are so short and Mondays always seem so blue. We should treat Sundays like Saturdays and cheong as we would on a Saturday (except maybe to save the Sunday nights for ironing clothes). Life’s too short.

Now on a Sunday evening, the blues are starting to trickle in. But looking back at the two “Saturdays” that are about to pass by (I have only the evening left to iron my clothes!), there is less reason to feel blue, coz I’ve had a good time generally.

Saturday
Saturday I didn’t quite “cheong”, but spent time in a relaxing way starting with breakfast with WW and his family at Bukit Timah Food Centre. We had kway chap, which wasn’t quite my favourite but I’ve learnt to adapt. :) WW and his family were singing praises for the kway chap, while I was there trying to finish the small bowl in front of me. But hey, I wasn’t thinking of how sinful the meal was, and was eating merrily away. I just don’t have the habit of eating so much for breakfast.. yet.

The afternoon was spent at WW”s place. Both he and his sister were taking their naps while I diligently did some work at the balcony, soaking in the afternoon sun. The weather was perfect for napping; thus I understand why both of them slept their 3 hours away! After that we had our tea break at his living room area, sipping milo and hot teh and eating toasted bread. It’s like going back to those old days in University while we just got to know each other.

WW and I settled dinner at Bedok Blk 85 Food Centre aka Bak Cuo Mee place. MAN is hooked onto the Bak Cuo Mee there! Plus they have BBQ chicken wings done almost perfect, yummy “or nua” and lots more delicious food.

Sunday
Oh today’s quite a happening day! Our family, except Shou Bi who had to work, went to Bedok Reservoir to catch HSBC’s Wakeboard Competition. Quite an eye-opener and Tian was so smitten by the wakeboarders that she wanted to take up wakeboarding. Wahaha, kidding la, she’s more a watersports-lover than a wakeboarder-lover. The performances by the wakeboarders were fantastic, with some doing 360 degrees turn, some doing ballet dancing on the ski boards when being pushed along by the speed boat. There was also one performance by a group of 12, forming a four-tier pyramid on top of one another while they were on the waters. So superb! The feeling’s great too, bringing me back to those days in junior college when we attended such outdoor events. Somehow different activities are always linked back to those times when you most vividly remembered doing them, and doing the activity transports me back those previous dimensions. It’s like going back to old days, feeling the emotions of the past. It makes me forget I’m a white-collar worker now, and gives me the ever-carefree feeling.

Despite the happy merry day (in which I got a tan 2 shades darker!), there was a hiccup in the middle when I got really fed up and irritated. We were having late lunch at Bedok Hawker Centre and after the meal, Mama wanted to buy fried ikan bilis with peanuts from the muslim food stall. But the fatty bom bom woman there was slow, bochup and brainless. She used her hand, wrapped in a plastic bag, to scoop up a handful of peanuts. That was obviously not enough for my $1 purchase (what’s more, her hands are small) and she switched to using an oil-soaked tong to scoop my peanuts into the plastic bag, making it all oily. How brainless! I was getting all pissed up then, clutching my fists tight. My mum had to shout for me all the way from the other end at this untimely moment, making my blood boil more. She had decided to get the ikan bilis plus peanuts from another stall and wanted to tell me that. I was super duper fed up; firstly mad with that extremely lousy attitude of that fatty bom, secondly angry with mama’s indecisiveness.

I wonder how people can have such patience, being so tolerant towards slow service and lousy attitude. I can’t hold my irritation towards lousy service, especially at a crowded and noisy place. Perhaps my tendency to lose it is attributable to the fast pace I face at work; at work efficiency counts a lot.

Monday, October 24, 2005

Bull Run

Nah. I should be doing work now but I don’t care. This morning at 9:05, my female supervisor came over to set the target for the week. This is good, I know, but I need a little space especially on this blue Monday morning. That’s why I feel female bosses can’t beat male bosses; the females drive you up the path they want without caring a hoot on how you feel.

So far haven’t gotten a chance to update on last Friday’s Bull Run! It was fun!! I got to run competitively and as a team with three other guys from Data Centre. The last time I ran competitively was in JC times; very long ago (some six years ago..?!). Competitive running is very different from normal joggings; you have to cheong all the way and not let others overtake you.

Although it was a short distance of 3.2km for Bull Run, the run wasn’t easy. We had to don the company’s attire for Bull Run and wear on us heavy red jackets while running down the roads. Quite tiring! Luckily my team relay members were protective and took good care of me, their only female team mate. They squeezed out a space right in front of the pack at the starting point for me, gave me tips on how to outrun the rest and one of them even pulled my hand along when we started off, fearing I might be “trampled down” by the main pack behind.

Somewhere along the 500m distance, Jackie Chan was there beside the road cheering us on. He’s quite a motivation, spurring all of us to go faster than our usual paces. (We just didn’t want to get caught on the TV strolling away.) Come the half-way point, I was feeling heated up with the Red Bull boiling in my tummy. Dunno whether it’s regret I felt then, for daringly trying some energy-boosting drink I’ve never tried before. But I suppose it did give me some strength in my legs to last all the way. The other half of the run back to the Padang (our starting cum finishing point) was not too bad. At one point I overtook our CEO and muttered “Mr XX, go on!” when I passed by him. Wahaha. Dunno how he felt then. Maybe he noted down my bib no. to add in his no-promotion-next-year blacklist. Oh no.

Yeah. I enjoy the run so much that I’m thinking of joining marathons. But Tian told me it’s hard to wake up so early in the morning (marathon flag-offs are typically at 630am or 7am) and you don’t get to run with a team of people you know. Maybe the only consolation is your strong will to finish the whole distance and the pride from wearing their t-shirts during future jogs.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

The BFG

Well people like to read crap, therefore I try to write crap. True? Nah. I don’t blog for the sake of capturing an audience, though sometimes I blog because I like the outlook of my blog site.

Last night I was lying on my brother’s bed reading Roald Dahl’s The BFG, trying to grasp his life’s principles amid the seemingly childish contents. Don’t think I’m being a kiddy reading a children’s book ok, for Roald Dahl has a way of putting his skeptics and criticisms across in a harmless way. It’s interesting to do a re-read of the books I once placed as my top favourites, during my Primary school days. For example, in The BFG, the nine humongous beings in their Giantland ate human beings (the only kind one, named BFG, called them human beans). The kind giant paralleled the eating of human beings to us eating piggies and other animals. He also stated that we human beings are crueler than them in that we kill each other, while giants don’t kill their own kind. Furthermore, human beings set our own rules and accept no others, like how we reject absurd things as impossible. It was also funny how he paired up humans from various countries with their unique smells and tastes, such as the Englishmen tasting the most delicious and those from a certain country (can’t remember what, but the country name is linked with boots) having a booty taste. Quite corny.

Haha, so, if the BFG proves its worth, I’ll go buy the whole series ($80+)!

For now, I’m preparing to run off.. to Suntec for shopping!

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Little Happiness In Life

Tks my dear friends for the concern! Only we girls understand the dilemma when faced with the thorny weight issue.

It has been raining the whole day. It was quite a turn-off; that meant no trip to the park and staying at home for the entire Sunday.

Yesterday was good though. We went kite-flying at West Coast Park after having some light food at McCafe. Our kite (I named it “Moth-faced”) couldn’t sustain in the air after we brought it up by running across the whole field. There simply wasn’t enough wind. However, the beautiful sunset and the nice weather made up for it. And also, the great company. :) Heh, how about kite-flying again next week?

The pace at work is picking up fast, ever since the team lead has come in two weeks ago. I actually enjoy the adrenalin rush at work and am spurred on by work. They’ve got to reward me good come next year’s bonus allocation. How about a promotion? :) (But that’s only in September next year. Hmm.)

Well, couldn’t find much to write on blogs anymore. During working hours, I’m too tied up with work to do any personal stuff; after work I either go home to rest or go out with WW; weekends I spend them outside too. Usually when there are meaningful thoughts, I don’t have this channel to express them. Furthermore, thoughts are fluid; they don’t stay but stray. Nevertheless, there are things in life we should pause to appreciate.

The Little Happiness in Life

Delicious home-cooked meals at home everyday
Dear mama makes sure we don’t go hungry with her warm, nutritious meals prepared for our family everyday. The fact that she does cooking everyday makes her efforts even more visible in my eyes. Whose mama does cooking everyday now in these modern days?

My channel of voice for wind-down every night
Loving WW chats with me every night before I go to sleep, asking me about my day and making sure I am feeling fine and things are going good. It is sweet how sometimes my voice puts him to sleep or the other way round, with me falling asleep while he is still talking to me. Those are the days when either of us feels tired and sleepy from work.

Waffles for breakfast every Sunday
I’m still slim enough for me to enjoy waffles every week! And I live in a great neighbourhood with lotsa shops, including a confectionary, a 24-hours supermarket, 7 (!!) coffeeshops, a 24-hours coffeeshop which sells roti prate, teh and teh tarik, plus lots more other shops (even Watsons!). Heh, even the guy selling fish at the wet market gives me discounts every time.

From the above, I guess you could tell that I’m one with quite a routine lifestyle. Everyday, every night and every Sunday. These are the seemingly routine things, but which keep me going and motivate me through the boring workdays. On top of those mentioned, there are more to add: jogging to Esplanade with a colleague every Tuesday followed by treasured time-alone dinner at EastLink, breakfast of a pumpkin kueh and soy milk downstairs every Wednesday. The lunch appointments on every Tuesday and Thursday with the two dear buddies at work keep me going too. Yeah, life is indeed happy!

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

My persistent problem with weight

If on the heavy side, I get a physical problem; if on the light side, I get a health problem.

Why do I have to worry about my weight ALL the time??

Now when I thought jogging 5.5km, doing yoga and cycling/light jogging, all done weekly, would be sufficient to maintain my light-weight. But with more times sitting around in office, opening up of my appetite and more treats & good meals, the balance just doesn't seem to sustain. I really don't like seeing the scale hitting the next 'milestone', where the resolution gotta kick in again. This is such a difficult pivot to balance on!

Sometimes I wish I can happily eat my cake (cheesecake, tiramisu, ice-cream) and not have to care a hoot about gaining weight from it. If only I have the metabolism of a Hummingbird.

Boohoohoo.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Cantina: The Food and Wine Stop

Being the sweet and thoughtful girlfriend I am, I treated dear boyfriend to dinner at Cantina (http://www.cantinafoodwine.com/Restaurants/greenleaf.htm), an Italian restaurant parked in a rustic little park – Ban Guan Park, along Greenleaf Road. We ordered usual kind of dishes (no wild ones): Bruchetta bread, minestrone soup, sautéed mushrooms and main courses of spinach fettucine vegetarian (for ‘her’) and pork scaloppini (for ‘him’).

As can see, the greenish pasta whetted up my appetite, especially since I’m a vege-lover. The dishes were quite to my liking and did not give a bloating feeling. The portion was just right for me. However, the three big “chunks” of pork meat turned WW off, especially since he is a vege-lover (too!). WW doesn’t have much luck with the food he orders at restaurants; he is always getting something distasteful and unsuited to his food preference. I shall be his food advisor cum consultant. Nutrition and healthy eating are all within my area of expertise!

We came to the conclusion that Cantina is too noisy, kinda too al fresco for our liking and the food not really that delightful. We still prefer Al Dente and Spagheddies for their gastronomic pasta (can’t help but mention Al Dente’s Portobello Mushroom and Spagheddies Veggie Sizzilini. Drool!). Thus, high-class doesn’t necessarily mean you get better quality!

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Honjin Japanese Restaurant & Mon Petit Bar

Last evening we had a great time, yet again!

It was MW's promotion treat at Honjin Japanese Restaurant for the whole IA department, including JC and I, the ones who transferred out. Eleven (imagine!) of us savored the freshest sashimi (salmon, swordfish, tuna, yellowtail), soft-shell crab, tuna belly, tempuras and sake. Very lavish food indeed! If you like sashimi, go for Honjin's buffet. Quite a bargain @ $48+++, one-for-one for UOB credit card holders. Yay, I have my Ladies' Card now. :) But indeed for such a big group of us, it must cost MW quite a bomb. He is in fact very generous, and willing to part with his $$ happily. Very nice guy! WW joined the group nearing the end of the meal, accepting the invitation of my former colleagues, especially the head of the department. WW ain't as shy as I've thought. =P So happy WW joined in the fun and enjoyed himself!

We then moved on to Mon Petit Bar, along Robinson Road, for some beer-drinking. I was surprised to see the entire department tagging along, as a number of them actually don't drink! Such sportiness is commendable. We were playing all sorts of "beer-games" such as Indian Poker and James Bond 007, even though we all, being the guai gias, were unsure of the exact game rules. All were so immersed in the games and drinks that we didn't realise it was 1130pm by the time we got tired! Fun fun.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Photos for Viewing



Adorable Fluffy running around on the field. But she fell sick after the trip to Pasir Ris (last Sunday) with our family.
Mama, Shou Bi (with Fluffy in his hands), Papa with me at Pasir Ris park. It was quite a tiring cycling trip!
Soaking in the mesmerizing sunset at East Coast Park (taken from Bedok Jetty) with WW two Sundays ago.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Self-contradiction

I want to stay slim, yet am gaining weight and yet again, do not feel like exercising for the time being. I've procrasinated and dragged my regular weekly jog to (hopefully, if I have the mood) tomorrow. Somehow, my mind tells me it's not so possible.

How I wish I have mega-powered metabolism rate.

Monday, October 03, 2005

I love the weekends

Had yet another good time this weekend. First it was shopping at Orchard with WW, where I bought a Roald Dahl children book - The BFG, and working shirt and high-neck top from G2000. Wanted to get a watch (budget $480) but couldn't spot a worthy one. Dinner-time, we had steamboat at WW's place with his family to celebrate his mama's bday. I thought it would be a meat-based meal but was very pleased and happy to find lotsa fish, vege, scallops and abalone instead. Yum yum.

Sunday was a tiring but very enjoyable day as we (papa, mama, shou bi, fufa and I) went all the way to Pasir Ris Park via the park connector. Shou Bi and I cycled while Papa Mama went on their kooter and wheeler. Cool huh. We spent close to 4 hours getting there and back, having rest for a while in between. And ended the evening with claypot rice downstairs (me not bad leh, being the health freak yet starting to eat... claypot rice!). Family bonding! TP join us next time oki!

Hidden Place - Ann Siang Hill



It's a beautiful park by day, happening pub cum fine dining area by night. A place waiting to be discovered, as I did on Friday evening upon exploration. Classy Italian restaurants and jazzy pubs line Club Street, while the wooden plank-tiled platform and palm-tree-lookalikes stand on Ann Siang Hill. You can even view the city's outline, which dazzles come night-time. This is definitely a place for some romance, with candlelight dinners at Da Paolos followed by relaxing chill out at the pubs (that is if you have many bucks to spare). Although ang mohs throng the place (showing how "high-class" that place is), you are bound to enjoy its atmosphere.