zzzzz

oh yah...sighzz...
i have impulsive buying...for books....

i have an overflowing shelf...and 9 books which I have not read yet......

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cooking dinner for sweetie on thursday ...wheee....
what's on the menu??
hmm mm.....

watercress soup....which some new things....he'll be my guinea pig..
pork chops in a tangy orange juice & dark soya sauce gravy...

mashed egg tofu with minced meat & chestnuts & maybe some carrots slices....all wrapped in cabbage & steamed...

=)))

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lotsa unfriendly female faces in the new place....
either look dao..or look bitchy...or look simply unfriendly...
come to think of it....those who approached me & said hi...were all guys...aw man....3 of them...

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am in love with a new chinese song...well, not so new lah..maybe about 2 months already??

Su Da Li's "Xiao Qing Ge"
Little Love Song....

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miss my pals in lhub...

1st day at work

two words.

Culture Shock.

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one more word.

tired.

not cos of work (though I OT-ed till 730pm...tmd..dumb boss)
but cos I had to go grocery shopping. food supplies at home are running low
nothing to cook with liaozz.. haha...carried 3 bags worth of stuff from NTUC...

came home, cooked, watched the 9pm last episode of Mars & Venus...

did housework, packed my room....
till now...

signing off soon..

zzzzzzzzz

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oh yah...my dear ex-lhubbers....
my seat is actually facing the 8th floor carpark of international plaza!! hhaaa....

argh...

was drowning in barley water n either mee sua or porridge for the past few days....
and my dad has to order KFC and munch it in front of me....
tmd...bleah...

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i think i should be fit to go out tomorrow liaozzzz
finally...

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cherry & I have 2 rendezvous dates!
one's mahjong!! the other's pubbing! hahahahha

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Why do I have this feeling. I will not last long in my new place?
It's this serious nagging feeling at the back of my mind.
Been there since 2 months ago.....

Shit. Have I gotten myself into another shithole?

my goodbye message...sent on friday afternoon....

Dear All,

Sunrise, sunset…through the vestiges of time. Alas, it has come to be time for me to bid goodbye to the beautiful folk of LHUB. For those of you who do not already know, today will be my last working day with LHUB.

It has been more than a 3-year journey for me, since stepping into here as a fresh-faced eager beaver in early 2004. From the Computer Training Centre days to the birth of LHUB and now to the days of growth & conquests for LHUB. It has been, without a doubt, an enriching journey watching LHUB grow from a 20-pax meek bunny to a 150-pax charging elephant.

And it has also been an honour to be a part of the team, working alongside all of you. For those whom I have had (and will still have) the honour & priviledge of calling friends, confidantes, “cheong buddies”, “makan” buddies, karaoke buddies, “roadshow” buddies, etc, I want to thank you for blessing me with all those good times to mark my memories by. Having you all around has brought much smiles & laughter to me. No need for the name game here, guess you all know who you are. =)

I won’t have the chance of running the race with you anymore, will be plodding along my own path from here on. Here’s wishing each of you all the best of times ahead and here’s wishing LHUB the very best in its future undertakings & conquests!

sad shell

2 week long hiatus...
partly cos I was busy...

and then when I was free...My net connection failed me AGAIN........

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lemme see...so many things which I wanted to write about....
But I can't really remember already.. haha

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Daniel called me about 1.5 weeks ago...Felt good to hear his voice after 6 months? haha...
Crystal clear man....From Sydney to SG... haha...

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Was sick...from 11th May...till now....
First it was fever, cough, sore throat....
Went doc twice for it...

Then yesterday...it was terrible....Couldn't get out of bed...the moment I stepped on my two feet, I felt like vommitting....
retched the wholed ay but nothing came out...
Did eat anything...

By the time I dragged myself to the doc at 4pm...I was chided for not eating anything..said I was dehydrated & sugar level was super low...
Bleah.........

On strict soft diet now...mum & dad not in SG....poor little me.....cooked porridge for myself......

monday bluesssss

haha...provide me some pointers man..
How the hell do you teach phonetics & grammar to another person...who doesn't have a common language with you? And can understand only a smattering of English?

Gave Santi her first spelling test today...did good...till I gave her numbers to spell..5 & 4 seems to be her bane.. haha
She got stuck on spelling 55, 85, 41, 44...
It became fifety fife, eighty fife, fourty one, fourty four....
A mistake common enough...Will test her again tomorrow...hee...

We have reached a thousand in numbers...am teaching her large numbers...cos well...rupiah is in huge numbers right??

Gave her some nouns today...I, You, We, They, He, She..
These are nouns right? Or pronouns??? Errrr......I think pronouns right? Which are still part of nouns...errrrr..........ok whatever.....hahahhaha

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Ok, word is getting around...Got some calls & MSN messages from concerned colleagues who found out I'm leaving....

Jeremie was so cute...his first sentence when I picked up the phone..."Who bully you?? Tell me, I go whack the person for you." hahaha...
Caphine couldn't understand my reasons for leaving...
Mun Kitt was whispering to me like as if leaving is a crime and supposed to be a hush hush affair...
Kris was well...shocked...
Diana was feeding me with Boasters choc biscuits saying that she won't get to stuff me anymore...
Lawrence came by in his usual chirpiness and promised to arrange a big farewell makan for me..

Speaking of which...my mealtimes in these two weeks are getting booked quite fast...lotsa farewells & catch-ups....
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday lunch times are booked..Wed dinner booked...
Friday night dinner booked too.. followed by a chill session with friends..

Next Tuesday, Wednesday lunch times are booked liaozz...Next Thursday dinner booked liao.. haha

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Cherry is taking facial classes!!!!!!!

I volunteer to be "washed" by you!! But like I said..I dun wanna be the 1st on the list....hahahhha...
The 5th 6th, 7th ,8th, 9th or last person on the list sounds nice though..after you've honed your skills.... hehe...

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Small small world...
tinylava aka Alvin Tay...MSN-ed me this afternoon....told me that Eddie's gf ia his colleague.. hahah

Too busy to ask him how he found out...
Will ask him when I have the time...

Teacher Sng

It is quite fun. I've embarked on a little project: Teaching my maid English.

She already knows Bahasa Indonesia...can read & write in that language...
She speaks a smattering of English but cannot read or understand English words.

And so...I've taken the liberty to teach her...
Starting all the way from the basics...the alphabet.
Started on the alphabet on Friday night and I think she's doing good so far..

Started on numbers today. She can count in English but doesn't know how to write...
Gave her the list of numbers...tomorow I'll give her a spelling test..haha...

And then after that....it'll be hmm mm...simple possessive nouns and simple grammar...
Simple sentences after that...maybe she can borrow Marc's books..hmm mm...

Feels good to be able to teach people things...

samedi soir = saturday night

The first piece of news when I touched down in SG on Friday evening was that Gran was in hospital. AGAIN. Mild stroke.
They didn't want to tell me when I was still overseas. Only asked me to call home when I touched down. Thought they just wanted to know I am back home in SG safely...
Didn't quite occur to me that there was anything out of the blue.

Blimey...should have realised something was up. They don't usually ask me to call home when I touch down.

Apparently happened on Thursday morning. According to mum, dad & Santi (our maid), Gran & the maid were in the washroom getting ready for her bath.
She was unbuttoning her blouse when she got abit wobbly...

Santi managed to grab her and sat her down on the toilet seat. She was sweating profusely, head tilted to the left...started drooling and speech was sluured. RED ALERT.
Santi called out to mum who was cooking in the kitchen. Rushed in. RED ALERT.
Called out to dad who was in his room reading the papers. Gran's left arm & leg was immobile. Fingers on the left hand were cramping up. RED RED RED ALERT. Sure signs of a stroke.

Ambulance came and whisked her away to CGH....

Diagnosis : Mild stroke. Cholesterol levels which are way out of control i.e. fucking high. Blood pressure which is fucking high too. Enlarged heart (there's such a condition???)

Remedy : Can't do much cept to prescribe her a type of blood pressure medication which thins the blood out so it doesn't clog any arteries. Con side = if she suffers a cut, the bleeding can't stop. At her grand old age of 91, operations are out of the question.

Visited her today. Seems perfectly fine. Just that the stubborn streak in her is still prevalent.
She couldn't remember what happened in the bathroom...only remembered the ambulance trip.
Insisted that nothing happened..that she was not wobbly. That she did not have a mild stroke. That she was perfectly fine.

Oh well..the grand old dame is like a bloody mule.

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Suddenly realised I miss Lydia. Was wondering how she was doing in Jakarta when I remembered that hey, she's got a blog ain't she?
Went around digging for her blog URL and voila!
Spent the past 45 minutes reading her posts from DEcember till now. haha..

Seems like the whacko is having a great time there.
Of course there are some downs to complement the ups...(What are ups when there are no downs right?)

Glad for her that things are going well...Think she snagged a Prince there too.. hmm mm..
She's coming back on June 8th..Gonna grill her to bits then...
Muahaha...of cos with the help of the other duckie girls...

I miss her bitchiness & shrill shrieks!!!

For those who have not been following me through the months...Lydia is teaching in an international school in Jakata now on an 18-month contract...One of a kind girl with a wonderful grasp of the English language...combine that with a bitchy, quirky sense of humour and a gu-niang-like stance of things at times... ahhaa...
www.suanmeifen.blogspot.com

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Can anyone get inebriated on green tea? Cos I feel this way now.
Head heavy, groggy, tummy queasy...

Could be the panadol I popped an hour back?
Very slight fever...hope it goes away by the time I get up tomorrow morning.

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Went for French class today again, after a one week semester break if you can call it as such.

Surprise surprise. I am not in Pascal's class anymore...gonna miss the man..the crappy fella.. haha...he's taking the advanced class this semester.
Checked the notice they put up near the reception desk. I was in a class taught by a certain Benoit. (Pronounced as Ber-nwa)

Trotted off to find the classroom. 230pm came and voila!
It was not a Caucasian who stepped in but an Asian guy...think I looked quite agog...cos he looked at me quizzically...
He waltzed in and started spouting French like nobody's business...Aw man...French slang to a T. Utterly French in all ways. Mannerisms & expressions. Think he must have grown up there?

He looks Vietnamese though. Tanned and slightly stocky. Maybe less than 1.75m tall?

I miss Pascal! And having him call me Mimi! hahaha..

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The Sng family will be celebrating Mother's Day tomorrow...at a seafood restaurant in East Coast Park.
Red House Restaurant..(Do I hear you going...?? "high cholesterol...tsk tsk"...)
Bopian...Empress couldn't decide on what to eat. Passed the decision to the Prince...Prince made the decision...And the poor little Secretary had to dutifully go make the reservation.

Guest list:
Emperor Sng
Empress Sng
Prince Adrian
Princess Mei
Little Prince Marc
Princess-cum-Secretary Shell
Knight-in-Shining-Armour Choy

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Ok, am not feeling too good now...
Supposed to have done some work...
CMI.

Off to bed...

Till the next time...

Hong Kong

It was a short trip..Could have been a day longer..but well..I screwed up my schedule plans...
Sigh...Long story...Shall not elaborate here..

Tourist to the core
Anyway..hmm mm...I was a tourist to the core...
Snapping pics. Visiting tourist spots. Haggling at night stalls.
And of course, looking bewildered when people spoke to me in Cantonese.

Feel like telling them.
"Doll, I am not a Hong Kee..opps.... a Hong-Kong-er..."

Language
People will always start speaking tome in Cantonese..needless to say it was of cos I'm Asian.
Got a kick out of replying in English to some stall owners or the staff manning retail outlets.
Some responded in good English..some others stuttered...

Ok I am bad I know...
Chinese was still the main mode of communication... :)

I hate reading food menus though.
It's damn stressful when you're trying to figure out what the hell they have and the waiter is impatiently ticking his pen away on your table.

Foodie
Think my cholesterol levels have shot up..
Prawn wanton, roasted goose, preserved eggs...
Fried rice, fried popiah, chicken pies...
Eggs, eggs and more eggs...
Instant noodles, luncheon meat...ham..
Har how, siew mai, chee cheong fun...*burp*

It's funny though..the dessert stalls seem to have grown much much lesser than when I was there 3 years ago..hmm mm...
And I can't find any stalls selling roast pigeons...cos of the bird flu maybe??

Couldn't find those stalls selling snacks & traditional food stuffs for tourists to buy back home.

EXERCISE
I walked so much in these 4 days.
More so than what I've walked over the past month or so.
Climbed more steps than what I have done in the past 12 months.
And of cos, cursed so much than what I have done hmm mm....over 2 weeks in SG?

Service & Courtesy
Haha...reason for the cursing is that...some of them are just really not courteous...
They bang into you. No sorry.
Their bags slam into you. No sorry.
they cut your queue. No sorry.
Their kid runs into you. No sorry.

Food stall owners take your orders like they don't need your business to survive.
Retail staff give you a high and mighty attitude.

That's right...aattitude...
Mouth says : "Sorry, we only have this colour."
Look on the face says : (If you want, then take. Don't want? Then leave for all I care.)

But I have to say that the Giordano staff is still tops....more so than in SG....=)
Very nice people... haha...most of the Giordano outlets...

The Chinese tourists there...are also one of a kind.
Speak loudly, jostle for seats in the trains, step on your toes without saying sorry.
Kids run all over the place, and the list goes on.

Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum
I hugged Andy Lau, Leon Lai, David Beckham and erm, Lee Kuan Yew.
I slobbered over Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Bae Yung Jun and Brad Pitt.
I was pally with Pierce Brosnan, Pavarotti and erm... Einstein and Hitler.
I sang with Miriam Cheung, Jay Chou, Michael Jackson and the Beatles.

Ahboy fought with Yao Ming & Muhammad Ali.
He slobbered over Twins, Michelle Yeoh...and of cos Andy Lau.

Man...it was fun... ahhaa...

Weather
Cooolll...Even when the sun's out..it's feels cooling..
Unlike humid SG..you don't get oily & sticky so fast..
Even at night while thronging the pasar malams, you don't really sweat...breezy...
Not wonder the peeps have such good complexions..guys included...bleah...

Fashion & Shopping
Surprisingly...I think Taiwanese girls are more daring & funky in their dressing..
In fact, I think more SG girls doll up than HK girls.. hmm mm....

I have to say..cute Hk guys are not so easy to find.
But when you finally lay your eyes on one. Woohoo!!! It's a sight worth waiting for... haha...
Girls..hmm mm...so-so...I prefer our local girls...haha..

Not much shopping was done till the last night...
You can call us dumb though...we bought things from Giordano & G2000. haha...

Spirituality
3rd day there was a very spiritual one...
Went to 3 sites of worship in a day...The 1st was at Wong Tai Sin Temple and the last two were at Lantau Island..

Cllimbed about 15 storeys maybe? To see Asia's biggest Bronze statue of Buddha...
Worth the effort...It was on the top of the hill, overlooking the sea...kaozz...breathtaking haha...

Po Lin Monastery has so many different nooks & crannies filled with artifacts & statues...
I felt so awed & even a little hmm mm....emotional...

delusion & denial...

Come to think of it.
You can call it delusion? Or denial? Both I think.

Delusion : kidding yourself that the shit is not there..well, at least not for those few days
Denial : I'll throw that pile of shit there..hopefullywhen I come back, it'll miraculously have disappeared.

Spending $1000 for a short short short trip.
To buy that few days of carefreeness (hopefully)

And the moment you touch down at the sirport.
You know you're back in reality.

Time to don that life-jacket again. Maybe I'll put on a mask & tank as well..
To help swim through murky waters, floating jetsam and the ubiquitous shit?

Man, I am a depressing creature...
Pardon me.