Tools to Liberation

Freedom of time, trustworthy bicycle and a free-spirited heart.

Off I went in the morning, with me and my wilder side, to explore the Bedok South area!

Eastwood Park Playground along Bedok Road. I had a crazy time on the swing; been a long while since the last swing! Found it hard to slow down and get down the swing tho.
Quiet playground for the private houses around the area. This is near the Hyflux water treatment plant and is an area my reliable "schoolbus" passes by every morning.
Still chirpy at 930am
The houses around Jalan Kathi, Bedok Road. So many balconies, I like!
Terraced houses along Bedok Garden. I'm a sucker for balconies.
New park connector beside Bedok Camp
Hmm where shall I go?
The Guards House opposite the park connector. Previously never knew what was inside. Now I know =P
To walk or to cycle?
Quite a long distance to ECP! The golf course was beside.
Breakfast on the breakwater - teh from East Coast Park hawker centre and bo-ping sesame bread from home. And of course, my reliable bike.
Quiet time by the sea. Shiok to be out during the weekday. But unlike that guy, I don't have the patience for fishing.
More tired after two hours of cycling
On the way back, passed by Bedok South Ave 2. Flats in Bedok can be very beautiful too!
Winding cycling/walking path beside Blk 34
Blk 10E, Bedok South Ave 2
Uniformity. And Lego-yellow colour.
Wahaha, the PIE's under my feet again. This time I was along Simei Ave. The bridge was shaking quite violently, honestly.
Weehee! Going home!
The lunch I bought back on my bike for my family. Yummy YTF! =)~

Enjoyed the bike exploration trip very much! I want another one soon!

Christmas Shopping!

Before I start wrapping up the X'mas gifts, I've taken photos of them, posted on my photoblog. Gifts for around ten of my good friends in under two hours of shopping, not bad huh. But I've yet to find those for my closest ones, coz theirs will be more difficult to find.

Such is the joy of giving! I recalled last year Takashimaya had dark blue paper wrappers; this year they have violet ones, in the same print. So lovely. May they have burgundy ones next year. =)

No work = lotsa happiness

It’s the start of my week-long break, which I know will pass by fast enough. But today is the first day – Monday, and I’m happy, although I’m bogged down with a terrible and fast-developing cough and a fever with headache. Was supposed to go shopping for Christmas gifts, but I had to stay at home to recuperate in case this illness aggravates and the whole of my Freedom Week gets wasted.

Last Thursday, together with family, we chiong-ed IKEA at its first-day opening (we spent a whopping 8 hours there!), where sis and I got for ourselves a new wardrobe, a recliner leather chair and wall cabinets. Time to jazz up our room a little with new furniture, especially since we gave our room (and house) a new coat of painting a few weeks back.

Mirror doors for our wardrobe

I was spending most of the afternoon in my newly-done up room, relaxing and dozing on the recliner chair and feeling the sun rays beat on my face. Wah, it was quite hot and a little too bright for comfort in the early afternoons, but now at evening time the sun was just right. Quite a nourishment to the soul.

人生应该包括多多享受！

HSBC versus DBS

This comparison depicts the underlying principle of delivering on promise. But before that comes around, I want to contrast the services of these two banks, with regards to their credit operations.

This September I applied for DBS Women’s Card, and waited a long two months plus for the card’s arrival. The process was tedious – I had to get an application form at its bank branch, attach copies of my CPF statement as well as my IC, and send it through snail mail. The acknowledgment letter did not come within two weeks; I had to call to enquire about the application status. Lousy.

Last week I applied for HSBC’s Gold Card through online application. Off-hand information was required, but this ain’t information that proves hard to remember. After navigating through four pages of the application form and less than five minutes’ time, I clicked the Submit button and printed out the confirmation page with ease. Together with this copy, I attach a copy of IC and sent it via snail mail to HSBC. I didn’t even have to print out my CDF statement; I simply provided HSBC the permission to access my CPF online statement for a grace period of five working days. Smooth-sailing.

Yesterday, I opened my letterbox to find the cards themselves delivered, right to my doorstep. All and all in within a calendar week. Amazing, isn’t it? While for DBS, I had to wait more than two months to get the card, while in the midst of waiting, I had to call relentlessly like I was chasing for some debt owed to me. So what if they are the biggest bank locally? I’m going to terminate that card and give the business to some other banks.

There were other occasions when I couldn’t get DBS customer officers, and had to wait super long for a simple task performed (yet still in the end, that wasn’t done!). A simple request to link my credit card to my savings account for withdrawal proved so difficult for them. No relevant application forms online, staff couldn’t perform the task, delays and drags in the middle and staff ignorance (stupidity?) like sending a form which required another form (which they didn’t provide me) – all these point to the overall inefficiency of DBS.

Well, if they have a blog unit that sieves out customer feedback via blogs, they had better act on customers’ complaints like mine. And meanwhile, kudos to HSBC!

The Joyous Season is Coming!

I’m listening to Christmas Carols, getting into the mood of fun, joy, sharing (and more relaxed work!). Gift-sharing is a joy; you won’t know what you’ll be getting. That’s why I don’t like telling people exactly what I would want, but at most drop a hint or two.

This year round everyone in office is lazy. Nobody bothers to put up the Christmas tree and to hang the ornaments on their workstations. I realise we still have our Chinese New Year ornaments hanging on our lights overhead. There is a huge Christmas tree set up at the entrance of DBS Tower, elegantly dressed in burgundy and gold. That indeed is the spirit of Christmas! Maybe my company should place one beside the bull and bear, a tree splattered with greens and purples. Heh.

Cycling (yes, in the rain, again)

Photos from the McCafe tea this morning:

McCafe, Parkway Parade

====================================================
I made it! Out of the house without the rain coming down yet, that is. I had to pump my bicycle tyres thus cycled to the nearby bicycle shop. This short route slowed me down say 3 minutes and gave the rain the chance to catch me and Fluffy. But, not for very long. The rain reduced to a light shower where we could proceed without becoming a wet duck.

Went onto my usual route till the new condo Baywater, then side-tracked into Bedok Park and went all the way ahead till the entrance of PIE. Looped a little back to the big traffic junction at Bedok Reservoir and Eunos Link, then cycled along the park connector beside Blk 600+. That stretch can be a little dangerous, yet it was superb and exciting; full of up slopes and winding down slopes. Some evil soul placed a big rock in the middle of the path somemore, good thing I was on high alert mode.

Spent a little while to get to Telok Kurau Park along Siglap Park connector. Happy to be back though coz the Sunday before last WW and I were there together for a stroll. This time round it was Fluffy with me, and that little wild dog just liked going near canals thinking there would always be cats in there. Didn’t stay long before heading home as it was nearing dinner time and the rain was starting again. Poor Fluffy was drenched, all cold and not like me, who had to cycle hard and therefore didn’t feel cold at all. Heh, she was shivering at one point, but I thought doggies should be strong, if not, then should be trained up to be. I still gave her a hot shower at the end of the day to make up for her chilling ride!

On the overhead bridge crossing over to Kembangan area. In front was the Starville condo.

Dark clouds looming!

Wahaha, PIE's under my feet.

Fluffy with wet hair. Wahaha.

===============================================

Photos from last week's dinner with family, to celebrate Shou Bi's birthday.

Zi Cha dinner at coffeeshop downstairs. Papa Mama.
Me and Wong Tian, color-coordinated.
The birthday boy!

=======================================

Photos taken from Pine Court Chinese Restaurant, 35th storey of Meritus Mandarin.

Leave Days are Sweet

Yay, leave days are always so good as they mean freedom!

So morning set off to SingPost building CoffeeBean for an appetitising meal of muesli parfait. Very yummy, but sadly few CoffeeBean branches offer it. So I was there for more than an hour, concentrating and typing away on my reliable lappie. Ah, what else but work again.

Happy Christmas time is coming soon. See the tree at the left side?
Me with laptop and breakfast (and work, brr).
CoffeeBean merchandise

I headed on to Parkway Parade, this time to McCafe (favourite café!) for tea and more work. Managed to finish up some documents before the battery ran flat on me. There was this small group of young Japanese kids sitting at two tables in a corner of the al fresca area of McCafe, eating their packed lunches. They have the same lunch boxes, the same food – macaroni with white bread. It’s interesting to see how independent they are, and how sensible they are to find themselves a small corner so as to be more discreet (after all they are not having MacDonald food). I suppose they live in hostels, away from their families and closed ones. No choice but to learn to be independent.

Now I’m back in my comfy newly-painted room. Wanting to bring Fluffy out for a cycle together, but I can see the very dark clouds in the North seeming to drift here. No rain no rain!

Happy Birthday Shou Bi!

It's Shou Bi's 20th birthday tomorrow, and I'm teasing him that he's no longer a teenager!

Papa, Shou Bi, Mama and Me!

Got him a rich chocolate cake from Four Leaves

Now it's Wong Tian with Fluffy

I would think it is one of Shou Bi's best times of his life now. He has just finished his NS duties at Traffic Police, and now has more than half a year to start of university. In this period, he's taking his time to find a temporary job while taking his driving lessons. The rest of the time is spent playing computer games and helping out in painting the house. Good life hor? Sis and I gave him some hundred dollars as birthday present too. My lucky brother!

Digging Deep

I like digging, reaching deeper and deeper into the bottom of my heart, my emotions, till a point when it feels like the limit. Pouring out my innermost knots, but not to anyone (no one likes sharing miseries, I realise), but to the surface of my shell so that I can chew them over and savour them long.

Those heart-wrenching love ballads evoke more sorrow emotions. I just have to close my eyes and can see so much of the carefree life I used to lead. The Game of Love brings me back to PGP days; I could see the layout of my room and desk so clearly, and feel the sweet old days so vividly. Roxette’s songs make me feel so distinctly the same ironic emotion twists I went through then. Those times, times when you sing out to yourself till a point when you feel like weeping.

What goes down comes up eventually, after it hits the bottom of the pit. It’s a cycle, after all.

Why oh Why?

Me with chio babe Xiuling at Bull Run

We got ourselves wet from running in the rain, but it was fun at the same time because otherwise you would not know how it felt with rain hitting on your face.

Me becoming philosophical these days again. I threw myself a lot of WHY questions, but still can’t find any answers. However, I cannot pretend life is good and smooth always and thus not ask.

Bull Run 2006

It started with heavy dark clouds looming overhead, followed by heavy downpour which lasted close to an hour but reduced to a drizzle for our annual Bull Run event. My company organises this charity event, targeted to help out 13 charity organisations, and which involves financial institutions and listed companies.

Every year they would invite overseas ambassadors to grace our event and this year we’ve got Richie Ren (任贤齐), the Taiwanese singer. I caught a few glimpses of him in the VIP tent earlier on, but no big deal. :p Last year’s ambassador was more popular; Jackie Chan’s popularity was unbeatable (unless if it’s 金城武！).

This year I joined a team relay (but actually more of team work – all our times were added together for placing) with three male colleagues. It’s a coincidence that two of them happened to be in the same secondary school as me, and so we just teamed up for the Bull Run 3.2km race but it’s more for the fun of it. Last year my team, with another three of my previous Data Centre colleagues (who are with HP now), came in second and won for ourselves $280 in all.

Also, this time round we have the very young ladies for the top three ladies’ positions for my company. First was a lady around my age, petite and sweet; we couldn’t tell she can run so fast. Second was my junior from DHS and a fellow scholar, a young lady who does her midnight jogs and yoga during weekdays and swimming during weekends. Third was my dear buddy at work and fellow scholar too, who also jogs every morning without fail. What does this go to show? Determination, perseverance and hard work pays off. Haha, but I still won’t want to run everyday.

All in all, the event was fun and allowed some mingling with colleagues. After the event, JY, Joyce, Nee and I went down to Orchard for some winter shopping and for late dinner. These ladies are tired out from the run and headed home for a good rest after our dinner. We’ll have a whole-day outing the next time!

A Day @ Vivocity

Fountain outside the main entrace of Vivocity
My view from CoffeeBean, taken in the evenings when I was back there a second time in the day for tea and to finish another piece of work on my lappie.
It's a rather small area for dining and drinking. I had to take a five-minutes walk around the mall before getting a seat.
Morrocan Mint (finished) - my favourite CoffeeBean tea so far
View of HarbourFront Centre. Will businesses there survive still?
Tangs advertisement. To me, Tangs is like another Robinson, not quite a big deal after all.
Flags of vibrant colours - is Vivocity that vibrant?
Proved to be a good shopping haven, at least for me. Spent around $150 on shopping, including a trendy dress for Mama.
View of the main entrance, taken on a bench where I was escaping from the coldness in the shopping mall.
Foyer on the 3rd storey where shoppers can see out to PSA, Sentosa.
Whirling staircases

Mama (oops with eyes closed)
Boat that hacks tourists money

Papa Mama on the rooftop garden. Just the right place for a break from the cold cold airs in Vivocity (their air-con is free!)
Looking like the coastal beach behind Papa Mama
On the rooftop still.

Considering the pictures are taken using my 1 Megapixel Nokia 6111, the outcomes are not that bad, right? But gotta bear with the vertical photos not being properly aligned; I can't rotate them!

One precious day of freedom!

On leave tomorrow!

Have planned to get some "ME" time. To leave the house with Wong Tian early in the morning (I like spending mornings out) and head off to Vivocity. Shall slump myself into the CoffeeBean couch for perhaps 3 hours, savouring their Museli Parfait while typing away on my snow-white Asus. But it won't be 3 hours of messaging or surfing of Internet, coz I've got some work to do. Boo. But still beats doing it in the office while I get distracted and disrupted with so many other urgent but unimportant things.

After which I shall head for the retail shops; time to stock up on new pieces for the bursting wardrobe Wong Tian and I share. I need to get a beautiful dress for Li Ling's wedding dinner too, which most probably will come from BLUM. (Sidenote: She's the fourth lady, in my JC class of 10 ladies, to get married!)

If Mama Papa decides to head to Town or anywhere near, I'll join them after lunch. Then back home to nua on the bed, see the sun set with its rays on my bed or perhaps go for a run to release some endorphins.

Lalala, just having this one day without working can be so joyous!

Hallo Halloween

Stole this interesting picture from a friend's friend.

Halloween's coming! Why ain't I invited to any Halloween party? Hmmf!

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?

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?

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

Quarter-life crisis?

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.

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!

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.

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.