Christmas

WW got me a wonderful gift set, the one I saw and fancied when shopping with WW the other day. Didn't expect WW to remember it; I guess I gushed too much about it that it made an impression. Now the lovely pieces are sitting in a corner of the tv shelf, with the green-leafed wallpaper behind it as backdrop. And WW took the effort to develop and place a photo of us in the frame, which makes up one of the four white classy pieces. Love WW the hubby!

I didn't get anything for WW, coz really didn't think there was anything he needed or liked having as a gift. I did shop around but couldn't find anything worthy for him. So it's good that he picked this Silly Putty plasticine-like thing when we were at the toy shop. That is then my Christmas gift to him! Happy seeing him play with it so merrily like a little boy. :)

This Christmas I prepared only one gift (not counting WW's Silly Putty coz it was not prepared beforehand) and it's for Wong Tian. Tomorrow will be passing it to her. Let's see then if she likes it.

Only today I got to know that Mama doesn't like Christmas, for it was this day exactly 40 years ago that she got her leg amputated :( Poor mama. I don't think I'll be happily celebrating Christmas anymore going forward.

In the holiday mood

It was a nice shopping trip with tian yesterday. We went to suntec after work, had dinner at ichiban boshi which we subsequently condemned and decided to boycott, then went on to get a dress for myself and a sweater for tian. Bought a shimmery green tube dress which puts me in a Christmas mood. Thinking of wearing it for a fren's wedding two days before Christmas. The dress didn't come cheap though, but I realized price doesn't matter that much to me now, as long as it's not exorbitantly priced. We don't get enough time to shop, so why let a
nice piece go when you don't know when you'll be able to find another good piece.

It was fun to try on the loud accessories at the big warehouse-style fashion shop (didn't catch its name). Tian tried on the feathery hairclip which those classy English ladies at those posh parties wear, and I put on those urban jungle girl's hairband. Only in front of my dear sister can I do such foolish things and we will just laugh off at each other's novelty.

I come to realise that I'm a sucker for trying new things. It may be a good thing when I'm still young, but as I age on (haha sounds old yah), it may reduce me to a jack of all trades, master of none. Or it may just consume my time such that I can't do more of what I should be doing. For example, I'm taking bread making lessons out of interest. However, the course itself takes up time, with each lesson lasting five hours as we need to allow the bread to proof and to be baked. It would require even more time if I were to bake on my own at home. It seems too late to pursue the dream of starting my own bakery, for where would I get the energy? It's true that one should start out young, or you'd lose that drive soon after, especially after learning how difficult a world out there it could be.

MFE and Grahamies

It's being a very tiring week. No regrets tho, coz there have been pleasant happy moments spent with my MFE friends.

It was Chin Yee's wedding on Monday. The poor guy had to wake up at 3am to fetch his Teochew bride, but it's surely worthwhile for him. Caught up with some of the MFE guys over the wedding banquet, and it was a great catch-up as we hadn't met for a while. It was especially precious to catch hold of Aylwin, one of my good buddies whom I've got to know over the past one year in the MFE course, as he is frequently flying to Manila for work. And there's the usual joking around and sabotaging the groom with our special concoction. I suppose it's also coz they are a very smart bunch of people who do not have the airs, which makes me like hanging around with them. Add on the fact that we've spent teeth-gritting time together struggling through the terribly-intensive course, especially back in CMU. Those were the tough yet bonding times.

Last night a few of us, the Grahamies plus the frequent-visitor Gim Aik, met for dinner and drinks at Red Dot @ Dempsey. There was quite a nice ambience with its al-fresco dining, but the service needed improvement. Perhaps can introduce WW to the restaurant one day, but hopefully the service won't suck like last night. A few of us were lamenting about the uselessness of our course and how we could have advanced if not for the one year break from work to pursue MFE. Although some part of me agreed (I now lag behind my peers 2-3 years), another part was glad I made the move that took me out of IT into something more apt for me - risk management. But then again, work is still work eventually. Back to the Grahamies. If not for the course we wouldn't have known each other and I wouldn't have these friends for keeps. Last night's dinner was a farewell for one of the guys who's moving on to greener pastures in HK. And shortly after another one of the guys will be moving to Shanghai for work posting. The other lady is looking around for a new job while the last guy in the group just started his new role in an entirely new area. I wonder where each of us will be in a few years' time.

Work is tough when you don't have the energy to tackle it. Good thing the work week is coming to an end soon. I need my rest this weekend! Also need to mug for FRM exams next weekend, after which I'll be free!

It's a thursday

Thursday, the day before Friday. Where the happier days of the week are within sight and you can smell a little of the weekends freedom. What's the big deal about Fridays then? It's when people at work are more relaxed, where you get considerably fewer emails and consequentially less firefighting. See, being forward-looking can make your life happier.

On another note, weekends always are too short and are gone before you realise it. When is the next holiday? This weekend WW and I are going to check out a condo development. Not going to buy though, for prices are so exorbitantly high now. Singaporeans are pathetic little creatures, we pay so much for our living and slog like cows for work. It's no wonder we see straight faces void of life everywhere. Is there a way to break out of that?

Living in the moment

Heard this phase "living in the moment" from a friend a few days ago. He was describing a dog's life, saying that a dog doesn't bear any vengence and enjoys the moment coz they live in the moment. Shouldn't we humans do the same too? We don't have to worry about the future, and not carry over the burdens from the past.

Monday was my off day. I took the day off to catch up on my studying (for FRM). In the end I spent 5 hours in total on mugging, 1.5 hours in a morning nap (coz I slept late the night before and woke up early), and another half an hour in a good cooling run at ECP. It was productive, when I just had a cup of hot tea and some music to accompany me in Dome cafe. Before that I was at Marine Parade library, an even more conducive place for studying. It was like those days not so far back when I was taking MFE, where the day is free for myself till the evenings when classes start. And it was so enjoyable to do a run in ECP. Sea breeze in your face, greenery by your sides and sometimes a hunk or a lovely dog running past (heh).

I also fulfilled my good wife duties by fetching WW to and from work, heh coz I drove around in his car. It was quite a nice day spent. Next
time will get WW to take day off together, especially after the FRM exams in late
nov where then I'll be free from studying!

Lots of negative people around

Negative people spread their negativities around, and it'll take some efforts for a person striving to be positive not to be affected by it. Sometimes I laugh at the stupidity of those spreading the negative vibes, then remind myself never to be like them.

Take the neighbour who scolds her maid every morning. From our bathroom window, we could hear her thunderous words raining on the maid. This morning it was even more ridiculous. "Tell me, is making breakfast not part of your job? I am paying you salary to do your job and now has making breakfast become my job?" She went on in her demeaning and authoritative tone, as if it was a court scene and the maid was charged (the neighbour is a lawyer). We speculated the maid would poison or stab her to death someday.

In the office, there's this cleaning lady who slams the toilet cubicle doors very heavily every time she does her washing. It's so loud that people can hear her from the lift lobby, so one can imagine how scary it is to be in one of the cubicles when she does that. Then there's the dirty water she splatters from the neighbouring cubicle. Eeks.

Good that there are some positive people around. Last sat WW and I were invited into another of our neighbour's house, where we were treated with mooncakes and coffee at their little garden with the couple and their two girls. The couple shared with us the little lessons from their career lives and the wife was partcularly enthusiastic about the business - sale of negative ion garments - she is in now. I guess it's just personality that affects one's life and path ahead.

Wish there could be more such positive people around. There are increasingly more rude Singaporeans who make lives terrible for the rest. The world would be a better place if everyone was more pleasant.

Sea gazing

It is the time of the year when the sun sets early and the sky gets dark at slightly after 7pm. Tho singapore is a tropical country without seasonal weather, slight differences in daylight hours could be seen and felt. Feels kinda sad that the day ends earlier and the lovely sunset goes away this fast. But then gotta be thankful we're not in Europe where the sun could set like at 5pm.

I'm having the luxury to sit by the sea, to gaze out into the vastness and listen to the waves. We should take such breaks more often, to get in touch with our soul and unclutter our mind. I was at NUS for a symposium earlier today, and took the chance to come west coast park, the place WW and I used to come by while he was staying at west coast road. Reminiscent of uni days, just that I don't miss those days as much as before coz it has been quite a while (5 years) afterall.

Perhaps I should go venture to some seaside on my leave day two weeks later :)

Half-day leave, yippie!

Two months into the job and I'm feeling somewhat drained! I need my 15 mins of eye's wink on the bus every morning, which explain my sporadic blog updates. I wish I could sleep all the way to work, but there's still the Straits Times and Bloomberg news to read. But no complaints, work has been pretty stable these two weeks. Only gotta get used to the lifestyle. Doesn't quite help with my need for exercising two times or more a week.

Last Sunday we went to Li Bai Chinese restaurant at Sheraton hotel to celebrate my mum-in-law's bday. We had a hearty feast, in fact a tad too hearty for me. Our menu included a double-boiled herbal soup, roasted duck skin wrapped in thin crepe skin (quite a delectable appetizer), and abalone, mushroom, nai bai vege and sea cucumber all served as a single dish. Very rich indeed! The noodles were unique; they were made from fish meat. Lastly there were desserts and complimentary mooncake to end the eight-course feast. The meal was fantastic in taste, but WW and I are still not quite used to such delicacies. We prefer simple healthy dishes.

Today I'm on half-day to prepare for my all-famous cousin's wedding tonight. First up will be the shopping for accessories, then getting my haircut and styling (which will take 3 hours), then back niang jia to change and do make-up before setting off for the dinner. A packed day ahead, which hopefully won't end too late. Gonna be interesting to see how the wedding turns out. And hope everything will be smooth in the meantime and that we won't be captured on screen.

All the pent up frustrations

It has been a month since I started bringing work home to do. All these working in personal time, sometimes into the wee hours of the night, are taking a toll on me. There were times I felt like banging the table or throwing things around or just shouting out loud. These had inevitably caused some fear in WW, having to deal with such a frustrated and difficult me. I wish I could control my temper too, but it's hard given my demanding nature. I want to achieve many things at a time - finishing up my work, studying for FRM, spending quality time with hubby. It's the last thing that really prompts me to wonder why I just can't spend time exclusively with WW. Is this how work life should be? Only comfort is that testing is ending today, so hopefully no more work to do till late at night at home. Then in late nov I'd have finished my FRM and really have time to hubby and myself. Wonder how I'll view babies next time; will they be enhancing a couple's time together, or cause us to have less freedom?

Anyway, today is another day and the long weekend is ahead. Shan't give myself too much pressure in striving to be perfect. Now I'm on the bus heading to the office, at a pretty early timing. Woke up close to an hour earlier than usual so that I can be in office before 8 am to generate some reports. It's refreshing, to see the early sun, to have pretty much if the bus to myself and not have to squeeze with the crowds. Hope that marks the start to a good weekend and more time for hubby and my family!

Putting things in perspective

Last Sunday I was thinking to myself, secretly complimenting myself for being coolheaded and chirpy most of the times at home and in the office. Then, just as how things turn the opposite way once you thought about it, my short-temperness came back in the past three days. Kept feeling I was suay to have missed my bus, to lose my hairclip (tho it was found later), and other little irritations that occurred. Emotions are not easy to control, but I'll have to remember life is not all about myself now. Well just hoping better days will come soon and that I don't have to be so bogged down with work (just spare me with having to work during weeknights and weekends!).

Two months into my return to the workforce. Still finding it hard to squeeze time for shopping and personal grooming such as facial. I now have to fight for a timeslot with the whole world, unlike those student days where I could conveniently go for my facial in the afternoons. Sometime down the road, WW and I will have our flexi work life. Just can't follow the whole world for our entire working lives.

Wat a hiong week!

Tot things would go slower after our exco presentation on wed, but apparently things at work are still as busy as ever! I'm seriously sleep-deprived, having had to bring work home four days out of the five workdays. And this is not including the work to do over the weekend. Sob. That also explains why I don't blog as much in the morning now; I catch up with sleep on the bus on the way to work.

Nevertheless, I managed to catch up on exercising this week. Started my yoga classes again on tue. It took a while for my stiff muscles to warm up and I ended up with aching neck and limbs the day after. But good workout afterall! Good for relaxation too. Lastevening I managed to rush down to California gym @ bugis to join tian. We wanted to try out the Bodypump class, but coz I had to be 'welcomed' by the manager first (their dual sales talk), we had to miss the class. But ended up it might be better, since tian was totally exhausted after our run at the treadmill. Bodypump would have been more streneous. We caught up over dinner after that. Sister bonding :)

yeah weekends coming ahead. Hope I don't have to bring work home to do!

Work work work

Wanted to go for my swim on tue, but gotta stay late for work. Planned to go for my yoga yesterday evening, but gotta work late again. With such working hours, how so I get anything done? Haven't been to facial for 2 months now. My FRM progress is bad too, I'm still at Book 1. This weekend heck la! No more bringing work home to do!

Life's little reminders

Recently I've been reminded of the little subtlties and sensitivities in life. One is not to be self-assuming; you can't trust others except yourself to do things. The other is to be careful about what I say, for some words may just poke people in the unintended way. Which reminded me why I chose to be a quiet girl when I was younger. Maybe I should be like WW, crapping all the way and people won't take my words so heavily.

It's okay to be imperfect, but I just can't seem to take my own imperfections lightly. I get outright embarrassed when others point out my flaws. Perhaps I have a big ego. But at some point I also get tired of being or at least striving to be perfect. It's always easier to be wrong than right, flawed than correct.

I don't remember if there were such unhappy days when I was studying a year back.

Property bubble?

WW and I went to check out Meadows@Pierce yesterday. I was curious about its "dog running court" and wanted to see if it's a compromised small grass patch for the small doggies that the would-be residents would be rearing. The court itself looked okay - not too small but could be more spacious - but the gym facilities do looked quite pathetic. Nevertheless, the show units were impressive as the master bedrooms beat the size of most other new condo developments. In particular, WW was impressed with their roomy toilets. And it's amazing how fast the units were selling out; something like 70% in two weeks! Furthermore, that's for exorbitant (to me at least) prices of ard $900 psf. Singaporeans are rich huh. Well it will be like a dream come true to own and live in such a posh place, but we're not ready for it and won't want the great financial burden (as yet).

The rest of the weekends was again, too short. We had mahjong session on sat night, which I truly enjoyed. Went swimming with WW on sat afternoon under the strong sun, which I very much enjoyed as well. Did some work-related testing on sat wee hours, with the thunderstorm roaring beside me. Wished I were sleeping soundly in bed though (it was not till 4 am then did I went to bed). Sigh, busy work.

Hope this is a better work week for all!

TGIF again!

It has been a hectic week. I have been bringing work back home everyday since mon. There's end-to-end testing for a new system, thus we have to verify excel reports. But it was not all that bad, for I learnt how to use pivot tables and other shortcut functions in excel. The bad thing about bringing work home is not having enough quality time spent with hubby. This makes our weekends even more precious.

Last night I did a run with ex-boss at ECP. It was like those days before I left off for studies, where we used to run ard CBD after work. Somehow it made me feel like I haven't left the organisation at all and the time gap in between was just non-existent. I guess that's what work does to you. Numbs you and brings you into a consistent state. And then you get stuck in it, flowing along, till whatever the next big change is going to come.

Not going to think much now. Drinks tonight and Mahjong tomorrow!

Weekend is too short!

As usual, the weekend was kinda short, especially when we had a long one last week. This weekend was pretty busy, with me occupied with work and studying (for FRM). Spent some time at Cedele reading FRM book 1 (I'm slow!) , sipping green tea latte and eating a golden pumpkin roll. WW joined me after his haircut. He's independent and gives me my space to study :) Now I'm looking forward to nov when I can start to read my leisure books again.

Last night I dreamt of my big boss, about how friendly she was to me when I bumped into her at a govt agency. Maybe that will get translated into real life at work. But then I'd prefer dreaming about other things.

It's a dreaded Monday, may we all have a smooth and short day at work.

TGIF!

Nothing much to blog this morning, except that it's a good day coz it's Friday! It was hard to get out of bed this morning, perhaps coz my mind was still very much awake when I went to bed last night. I played half an hour's worth of Ranch Rush on my iPhone last night, simulated much brain power and thus couldn't get to sleep that easily.

There has been a lot of going-out this week. Mon was holiday, tues was a date with work (yucks), wed dinner with fellow MFE frenz, and yesterday I went out with some of my colleagues for pool. Happening colleagues huh. These few nights of going home late also made me realize that blowing hair at night does make it a good-hair day the following day.

Weekend is here. Now what should I plan to do?

My iPhone keeps me happy

Listening to my Chinese and canto music on iPhone, reminiscing the carefree school days that were not that long ago but somewhat felt ages back, surfing bloomberg news on the go, knowing exactly what time my bus will arrive, and playing the little mindless games. The little pleasures derived from the seemingly small, but powerful, iPhone. :)

yesterday was a busy day at work, kinda expected given the Monday holiday break. I left the office at close to 9pm, but was still feeling fresh and good. There are new things to learn and non-mundane stuff to do. Looking at how my colleagues are doing tho, it is important to be prompt and to have clear thinking which will translate into clear and accurate messages in writing. Judging from how things go, it may be tough times for one of my colleagues. Hmm.

Blogging on the go

This is the second time I'm taking bus 70 to work. The first try last week didn't work out well coz I boarded at the wrong stop, but today it seems good and looks like I'll be reaching office ard 845am, a timing I'd like too. Heh, except now I wish I could go toilet! Sitting in the bus for 45 mins early in the morning - not an easy feat.

Earlier this morning when I just woke up, I was feeling sour, thinking about my skipped chance for promo and how badly I'm lagging behind. But is there anything I could do or have done? I kept telling myself to think long-term. Wat is this lagging behind if you view it 5, 10 years down the road? I'm sure it won't amount to anything. All my competitive friends ard me tell me how they push for their own promo and how they advance. Where am I standing relative to them? I'm lucky to have WW to sound me out. I have more than work in my life to care about. Family and especially my hubby are more important to me. Why fret over work and these superficial aspects like promo and competition at work?

Little life lessons to be learnt all the time

It has been a month since my last update.

That's about the usual update rate now that I'm back to the workforce. Every work day ends on a tiring note, especially when it takes about an hour to reach home on the public transport. These days work gets busier and I can't afford to leave that early, but luckily not that late either.

Things at work are okay. I'm glad to have a good boss and nice teammates, but I can't help thinking how to perform my best at work, which only gives me more stress. So gotta learn to let go, relax, just be myself and not try too hard.

Saturday was Eden's wedding and I was glad to be her jiemei. The happy occasion turned out well, but I learnt a lesson about not to go along with assumptions and the need to always question and check things again. Cannot be lazy. I hope that serves as a wake-up call and I'll remember to apply that principle to life and work.

Windy nostalgic day, which marks the end of my freedom

Monday onwards will see me back into the corporate world, slogging out for a better brighter and (hopefully) wealthier future. After one year's of absence from work, my mentality has indeed changed, especially after completing the intense MFE programme.

I have not started work yet, but somehow I place more emphasis on pay and job rewards now than before. Maybe it's because of the slogging in the course, that makes me feel like we should be duly rewarded for our brains and hard (smart) work. There seems to be an air of arrogance in me, which isn't totally a bad thing for it gives me confidence at work (which is much needed given my lowly rank even after 4 years in my company). But this I gotta keep a check on and make sure it doesn't get over my head.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to work again! Sounds weird, but true coz I have nice colleagues and a working-friendly environment in my new department. Furthermore, I have a very good boss who is aggressive, concerned about subordinates' developments and personal welfare, dynamic and knows the market well. I can see that she is unlike other female bosses and she acts more like a male boss, which is good news.

In the past three weeks I've been stocking up on professional working clothes again. They're not the long-sleeved shirts though; those make me sweat a bucket. Custom-made my professional court shoes with pointed heels and pointed front (sacrificing some comfort in my big fat toes), which hopefully I can run (literally) in. Going to carry the professional Coach bag WW gave me (haha actually I bought it for myself in NYC using the sub-card he gave me) and strut my way to the office!

Only thing is my unglamness having to walk in slippers (most of the time hurriedly, knowing my habit of dashing last-minute out of the house) for some 13 mins across the big long overhead bridge to the bus stop in the morning. And I'll be busy wiping off the sweat upon reaching the bus stop and hoping it doesn't smear my make up. That's the thing in living in a more secluded area, but well, I have no complaints! :p

Back in Singapore!

Actually I was back more than a week ago, on 21 Jun. The past week has been more of rest and catching up on remaining school admin, and compounded with worries over school matters and H1N1 flu. But am I glad to be at home.

I've been missing the good things in Pittsburgh - the carefree lifestyle though we were saddled with schoolwork; the fun my housemates and I had luffing our heads off some of the other guys; having two fine gentlemen helping us ladies carry laptops every morning; the fine weather where I could run without much sweat and efforts; the me-time at Panera Bread studying away while blasting music in my ears; the cashier, drivers, waitresses greeting you with "How's your day?" and "Have a good day!", and so much more. I can't help but to compare that to the rudeness of the common folks in Singapore, where the drivers honk you for little things and speed up when you're turning into their lane. What have Singaporeans become of? I hope the graciousness cultivated from the US lifestyle stays in me and not let the impatience of Singaporeans get into me.

That aside, I'm happy to be welcomed back home with a lovely 1st year marriage anniversary present and a very sweet (more in terms of contents) card from hubby dear. Sometimes I think I'm the less romantic one, but I'll work at being a better romancer to hubby heh. I always feel I'm a very fortunate wife. WW is talented (yes, you're talented in many ways which you may not see in yourself), understanding, loving and makes me happy with his animated descriptions of events and people. For a (sometimes) serious person like me, that definitely helps lighten the mood and makes me happy even when I'm feeling down. What more could I ask for? :)

Next week would see me going back to work, after a year's of work absence. Am I looking forward to work again? I'm pretty sure the colleagues are nice and the working environment amicable, but gotta get used to the lifestyle of being cooped up in the cold office and not being able to wander around under the beautiful afternoon sun. Give and take la.. at least I can afford that lovely bag minted with a cool price tag, and more importantly, contribute to my families' financial well-being and thus life's comforts.

Beautiful Sunday

I'm doing my schoolwork in Panera Bread, a cafe near my residence. Went for a swim earlier in school with two of my housemates, did a good 50-mini-laps (25m) with alternating free-style in every 5 breaststroke laps. Swimming in a small-lap pool is a good way to train my lousy free-style. Today's weather is exceptionally good, with the sun in full force yet the air is not as humid as back in Singapore. I am bumming around in shorts and a small tee and slippers. How good can life get? :) (Except I still have that heavy project burden on my shoulders.)

Missing WW and badly want a good holiday with him. Before we get the chance to go on a long and far one, we will probably check out cosy ones at home (Singapore).

Less than two weeks and I'll be back in Singapore. Hopefully the weather would have cooled down a bit, heard the sun was scorching in the day and nights stuffy and hot. Then I can chill out with my dear at a cafe, sipping coffee, reading books that non-MFE related and truly enjoy myself. :)

Me studying @ Panera Bread :)

My MFE frenz - Jamie, Yii Hui (and her boy) and me. At MFE farewell hi-tea, Apr 09

Shopping - Abercrombie fleece sweater with a hood. It's most useful!

All my t-shirts from Abercrombie. Wahaha

Pittsburgh update

Got a nice sweet email from dad asking me how I was doing here. Tian just taught him how to send an email. Such a warm gesture from Daddy!

CMU term here is heavier than that in Singapore; we have homework everyday and I end up sleeping at 1plus am. We try to go out during the weekends, exploring parts of Pittsburgh and fishing out the more interesting places in this quiet city. Last Saturday we the Graham folks and GA went out to Southside for dinner @ Cheesecake Factory, which turned out to be one of the nicest restaurant I've been to in a while. The ambience and deco were good (the lights dimmed towards late night), the service excellent and the music soothing at a comfortable volume. I had chicken penne in wine sauce, which I savoured up till the last penne (not the chicken though; it was really quite a big serving). I don't remember patronising such a restaurant in Singapore, which is quite a waste. Was wishing WW were there too, then we could have a romantic meal together at a not-so-exorbitant price.

Lunch at pub along Walnut Street

Southside - a more happening district in Pittsburgh that's half-an-hour's bus ride away from our cozy home along Baum Blvd

With the guys in the same residential apartment Graham and GA in yellow (from Forbes apartment). All my classmates

The Cheesecake Factory, where we had dinner.

I like the ambience of Cheesecake Factory. Splendid! Tall ceilings with flowery paintings; ivory-maroon pillars and big big windows.

The guys (from left) - Gim Aik, Chris, Chee Wei, Rick and Yao Yang.

My order - sauteed chicken with mushrooms and onions on penne in wine sauce. YUMMY~!

Signature cheesecake - White chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Rich and sinfully delicious.

I want to go back to Cheesecake Factory! Why don't we have it back in Singapore?

Blogging needs the right emotions

Like right now, I'm tuning in to FM99.7 on Pittsburgh radio, listening to those sweet old love songs and songs of easy listening. It's an exactly 12 hours time difference here compared to Singapore, and now at 11.17am it's about the right time to get sentimental. It used to be 2am or so when I was back in the NUS halls, but I don't sleep that late these days (which explained also why I have been blogging much less after uni life).

Have been in Pittsburgh for close to a week now. School has been good - the regular 9am-noon lessons from Mon-Thu keeps us on our toes, especially with the weekly assignments due. Most of the afternoons so far were spent in school studying in our classroom. Some of the sporty guys often go for table-tennis, or a basketball game. Then almost the same gang would play Counter-Strike in class on alternate days. So far I've tried a few games on the pool table, but no table tennis coz my skills stand at the level in my primary school days.

Life's good, going back to those studying days where you can spend the entire day working out sums or programs. Then you'll take a break by going for a run, or take a short walk around the neighbourhood. Living on your own adds on the fun of cooking meals, and it's even better when there's a very willing chef in your apartment.

Tonight I'm having the whole apartment to myself and it does feel different to be alone and having the space to really think. It's like all of a sudden the numbness and indifference to the current environment around me are gone. I can feel better, which is a good thing coz I have been feeling pretty indifferent for the past few days, perhaps due to mounting school load.

Oh and I did a run yesterday evening around school. Conquered this slope that stretches endless (it seems) and had a good run, though my nose ran a bit after that. There was the sun, but wasn't too hot as it's not as humid as in Singapore. And now my legs don't feel arching either. Will try more running and include swimming next week. :)

Meanwhile I got to chat with WW and Mama+Papa+Tian earlier today morning. Glad to see everyone's fine and will try to chat with WW again tomorrow morning. For now, gotta sleep! Trying to kickstart a healthy lifestyle by sleeping and waking up at 7am every morning. Woohoo!

Mama's Recipe - 猪脚醋

I was learning this wonderful dish from Mama the whole of yesterday, starting with our trip to the dry market.

Ingredients:
- Old Ginger, one big piece (lighter, thinner skin)
- Vinegar, 1 bottle (dog brand, pink top label)
- 猪手， 一只 [Pig's front trotters, 1 piece]
- 猪脚劲，二十条 [Pig's trotters tendons, 20 pieces]
- Gula Melaka sugar, 2 round pieces
- 麻油 [Sesame oil]
- 酱清 [Soy sauce]

Cooking Steps:
- Boil pig trotters in pot, remove dirt while in pot
- Drain pig trotters with cold water
- Wash pig trotters and cut away hardened white skin, if any

- Wash, clean and skin chunks of old ginger, cutting away sprouts if any
- Hammer till loose
- Fry in wok with 麻油 till dry

- Fill claypot with a little water, ginger and about 1/3 bottle of vinegar over big fire to boil
- Put in trotters, bigger pieces first
- Top up the vinegar, to near the brim
- Cover claypot and bring to boil before simmering

- Stir the pot when necessary to avoid meat from sticking to the pot
- About an hour later, add the tendons. Timing depends on how soft you want it to be.
- Boil then simmer
- Nearing 2 hours after boiling, add soy sauce and Gula Melaka.
- Turn off gas and it's ready to serve.

Yummy 猪脚醋！！
黄妈妈绝佳秘方!

Random pictures

Pasir Ris Park with WW last Saturday

Studying in NTU Jan - Apr 09

Doing chim stochastic calculus stuff made me distracted

See the kingfisher on the branch of the tree behind our FTR classroom

NTU roads are beautiful, with green leaves shading your road. It's always a pleasure to drive around school, though school campus is not that big.Sis-in-law's doggies

Shasha headSuch an adorable Ally.
More pictures of Summer the Dog to be up soon!

Me with short hair! Looked just like Tian