Sunday, October 29, 2006

Hallo Halloween

Stole this interesting picture from a friend's friend.
Halloween's coming! Why ain't I invited to any Halloween party? Hmmf!

Friday, October 27, 2006

Retail Therapy!

Woke up this morning, walked to the wardrobe and spent a few seconds deciding which outfit to pull out. Decided on a simple white knit top and cream pants, but when I was about to step out of my room, I then realised the matching cream suit was in office waiting for its dry-clean. In the end I had to spend another 5 minutes or so fitting into other outfit combinations. So fed up.

Thus, this evening I made it a point not to stay late in office and ran off at around 645pm towards the shopping mall. In a relatively short time of 2 hours, a total of close to $200 was expensed in return of 5 pieces of clothing. I got a white top and a white skirt from Ness, a boutique which sells nice knitwear with splendid colours. This season they sell bright-coloured tops such as purple, tortoise and lime green. Oh did I mention I don’t quite like wearing black? Many a days this week I was left with no choice.

Then me went on to get pieces from SENSE and G2000. Almost all were knitted pieces, which save me the trouble of ironing. Comfy, warm and fitting pieces, but which most probably won’t last too long (all will 起毛soon). But then again, beautiful things don’t last long, do they?

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Running in the Rain

Concurrently reading 3 books – The World is Flat, The New Singapore Dream, and SmartInvestor. Can tell how greedy I am huh, and the diverse interests in many different areas.

Just now was running along Esplanade with two of my fellow colleagues. We set off despite the looming dark clouds overhead and the downpour earlier in the afternoons. And almost as if expected, the raindrops fell on us a few minutes into our run. It wasn’t easy running in the rain, especially when it got heavier and blocked your nose. So I stopped after a while, and we made our way back cutting half our usual distance.

The last time I ran in the rain was post-JC days at Bedok Reservoir. It was those crazy days when I had only one aim in mind – to stay slim. Those days when I had only one tau sa pau for lunch, and a light dinner at home. Well, everyone has their teenage/youth days, right?

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Let's just say I'm going through some changes now. Change in mentality, change in mindset and attitude.

Quarter-life crisis?

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Seeing the Sun in the Eye

Don’t know if it’s good that we can see straight at the sun without any eye shield, as the particles in the air are thick enough to provide us the layer of protection. Somehow this haze reminds us of human’s vulnerability; how we are like small ants which can easily get drowned in a pool of water. When a shroud like the current haze comes along, where can we hide? If DPRK decides to shoot a nuclear missile to whichever country, how can the people run for their lives?

To me, we are like characters in The Truman Show – in a world big enough to encompass the whole Earth, with a blanket of atmosphere that controls the environment surrounding us, controlled by an unknown power out there beyond this shrouded world which directs the happenings in this Earth we live in.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Off Day Returns

Ended up being a fruitful day. Helped Mama colour her hair, helped Papa settle some Town Council stuff, visited the dentist (and paid 73 bucks).

And in the afternoon did some shopping which reap some good “returns”:
- Balmain watch. The first watch since Secondary school days that I’ve bought for myself. Since Sec school, my watches were from friends and relatives. So this Balmain is quite an iconic item for me.
- Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat. After starting on his Lexus and the Olive Tree, I got interested in his books and theories on Globalisation. Some reviews on this recent book of his stated his views could kinda predict how the world will turn out in the future.

Also managed to buy a button short-sleeved top for work wear. Happy to get the two items listed above; shopping does induce high spirits!

Monday, October 09, 2006

Weekend round-ups

Short updates. Aiming to sleep by midnight.

Again, another weekend has passed and I’m feeling so blue thinking of the start of another workweek. That escapism feeling is somewhat seeping in gradually again. But me shan’t be deterred by work, coz from work we get happiness, albeit indirectly. That financial independence and freedom!

This weekend was indeed fruitful. On Saturday, together with WW and his family, we had breakfast at Bukit Timah food centre and then ventured to the North, where we took a morning stroll along Sembawang Park’s beach. Glad his mama liked it. In the afternoons, we wanted to check out the Premier (my mom’s interest really) but decided otherwise upon seeing the snaking queue at the entrance. Hooray!

Come dinner, family and I had zi cha downstairs. We ordered crocodile meat, froggies’ legs, oyster omelette and boiled kalian with oyster sauce (this dish upon my special request). Quite special dishes right? At a pretty affordable price of $40 for 4 persons. Mama papa are so understanding to want only a decent yet nice meal as a treat from me.

Today, WW and I met after our individual lunch at home at Marine Parade area. Did something special and checked out a new place. Quite exciting; it’s like starting a new phase of life, but of course we are just simply checking things out. Perhaps for future reference and for the fun of it =). And I’m happy to introduce a traditional confectionery to my dear man. Teh that comes with a tinge of bitterness, round buns toasted and spread with kaya and butter, and heavenly-baked butter almond cakes – all very yummy. I was secretly rejoicing at WW’s look of satisfaction eating that kaya-toasted bun.

Come dinnertime, I met up with Joyce, Tong & Nee at Suntec. We settled for Fish & Co. after some deliberation (those ladies are very considerate and always think for my health-conscious preference). And an after-meal tea/coffee session at our 老地方 – Siglap CoffeeClub. If you have any good recommendations for after-meal tea in the East, let me know, so we can break out of frequenting our old hangout place!

Hmm, thinking of taking one day off work next week. Perhaps a Friday to go out with Mama Papa, about time to bring them out (though they are very independent now, compared to previous times) and show them new places. Show your love to your dear ones.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Fine-Dining – not so fine after all

WW and I were looking forward to a nice meal at Al Dente at Colours by the Bay (Esplanade), an occasion to splurge a little after getting bonus. I ran by the place last Wednesday on my regular run, and saw the lanterns and romantic dim lighting at the open-air dining area, so thought of booking a place for Saturday dinner. But turned out the restaurant was disappointing.

First, we were met with a rude waitress at the door, who was speaking quite impatiently into her walkie-talkie. Then, after ordering our food, we waited for 40 minutes and our appetizers were not up yet. I definitely was losing my patience and wanted to remind the waiters, but tolerant WW trusted they had placed our orders in the right hands and continued waiting. Ended up they really missed out our orders after we really couldn’t wait anymore and questioned them.

After the hour-late appetisers, we had to wait close to another hour for our main courses, which was quite annoying as our stomachs had to go from hungry to semi-full to hungry and lastly to full from the main course. Quite a torture! So what if there is ambience? They don’t value and respect their customers, and thus has lost us forever. We weren’t the only disappointed ones; an ang moh couple left after having their appetisers, having waited too long for the main dishes.

When you go into a service industry, take note that customers are your top priority. Lose them once, and you lose them forever. No more Al Dente at Esplanade!

Happy Four Friends

Fortunate to have found these good friends in the same company, having them to go out together, enjoy our days off from work, and getting them to share my joys.

Last Friday we went Mong Hing Teochew restaurant for a good meal, courtesy of the one who so feels like splurging this period. We had steamed pomfret, braised beancurd with yam, goose meat and sea cucumber with fish maw, and ended the meal with oi nee (yam paste). Yummy dishes! A pity lard puts me off totally and all the dishes were laden with lard. But once in a while, and good thing was that they served pu er, the strongest cleanser out of all Chinese tea.

J & J didn’t eat much, but all in all we had a good time together. YN drove us to Changi road where we stopped by and watched airplanes take off. Some people may not see the joy out of airplane-watching, but I find it so magnificent. Engineering feats can bring humans such wonders.

After that, we headed to Siglap for tea at CoffeeClub where we ended up chatting about things like having lesbian friends and what criteria my dear friends look for in a guy. In all, we spent more than six hours together, yet it felt insufficient. The night seemed somewhat young still, but on our watches it ticked 1230am. I suppose we will have to look forward to more such sessions, and in the meantime, hope normal working hours ticked as fast, or even faster, so that merry times will come again soon.