Forbidden Kingdom

Cheesy storyline.

The Lingo
To some, having the characters in a period movie set in China speak English is a refreshing idea.
To me, it sucks. It's just plain weird.

I mean "Yi Shan Bu Neng Chang Er Hu" literally becomes "One mountain cannot have two tigers". And to have the Jade Emperor in Heaven speak English too was just bizzare to me. Jet Li didn't seem too comfortable speaking in English. It's just really strange to me lah hahaa.

But I do admit, there were some funny moments with the English dialogue.

And well, there are the commercial aspects....English-speaking cast, Hollywood, English audience, Good money...you get the drift.

The Costumes
I have to say I like Jet Li's appearance in the show. I liked the way his monk character looked. Uber cool. Surprisingly suave for his age..;p

Jackie was a little strange. I mean, his clothes were way way layered. Layered with so much cloth he really looks fatter than he really is.
There was so much details on his one single body alone. Alot of cloth, alot of bottle gourds, a tattered cloth bag, and god knows what else.
And they had to give him dreadlocks to add to the whole mess of details on him. He was fighting and the hair was flying all over...Chinese kungfu master with an afro twist. *rolls eyes*

Li Bing Bing was sibei chio!
Though there were certain times when the white wig prolly needed more grooming than what was given. Sometimes it seemed like as if the white synthetic fibres used for the wig were squashed by something else. It was all wiry and messy.
The times when the hair was just flat and sleek were the times when she looked the most gorgeous...Her eye make-up was wonderfully done.

Liu Yifei was pretty, sweet but abit dull in clothing. They could have given her more colour haha.

The Jade Warlord..I liked his costume!! Very intricate! haha..and his black eyeshadow was kinda cool...

The Casting
I have no qualms about all who were cast in their roles. Only two.

One, the ang moh male lead didn't look very right for his role. Somehow I can picture someone like Orlando Bloom in the role more than this guy haha. This guy looked too young, too raw and errr too nerdy??

Two, Jet Li as the Monkey King was damn funny lah..haha..kinda salah. He tried too hard to act cute too?
There's a Hong Kong actor who I thought would make a better Monkey King. But I can't remember his name...Dicky Cheung I think??

The Acting
Can't say much about the acting. Liu Yifei was wooden. Even when she was supposed to be emo she looked wooden.
Li Bing Bing was cool~! I liked the way she spoke in Chinese...wow, super sultry, I like!!

Ang Moh was um, so-so. Jackie was well his usual self, comical and talented just older and mroe haggard in this show. Jet Li was cool...

The Moves
What can I say? Put two masters together and you get sparks...!
The scene between Jet & Jackie was gooooddd...I actually think Jet has better posture & stance than Jackie. Even when he was fighting in "The Warlords" he looked good fighting. He has this cool stature when he fights...I like~!! Oozes "macho man" to me. Hahha..

Some of the other fight scenes were lame, some were good...The special effects at the end of the show was interesting..:) In fact, the fighting scenes of the movie were the only highlight of the whole show.


Oh well, overall, normal show...nothing I would rave madly about haha.
Told my Dad if he wants to watch it, he better just watch it for the fighting scenes, and nothing else.
A 2.5 out of 5 for me.

the hubbers...

I really did go back to visit my ex-collegues at LHUB today.

1st stop was IP. Suaku.
Didn't know IP has changed so much. It looks more hip now.

Spent a short time there but did not get a chance to see Kris & Angela.
Apparently they were out for lunch..hmm..at 2-plus?

Ah San was heading for E2I so popped by for a ride along with him.

And I spent the next 4hrs in Redhill...from 230pm till 630pm.

Didn't expect myself to spend so much time there.

Was chatting with some. Spent more time nuah-ing in the MIS area and then in CertCentral with Ah Kok. Had tea with Shei Wah & Ah Kok too...Spent some time talking rot with Zee too haha..

Tiring trip though...with a dull headache pounding in my head..
Heng it went off towards the end...

==============
I'm really happy that Brian is doing well. He had a tough year last year. Glad his health his much much better. He looks less in pain too.

Greg came to look for me. Like what I told Ah Kok. Greg is still charming. But not as attractive as before? Lol. He has aged...alot. Over the past year.

Erik seems like a giant when I'm in flats. Wonder how Elaine can tahan talking to him.

Pong is still the same...a little "false"

Zee is still throwing out spittle. opps...but maybe lesser.. hehe.

Serene's voice is stil like a loudhailer haha.

Karen has lost so much weight!!

Cheong was surprisingly tender to me. Spoke to me like as if I was a long-lost sister or gf..

Mack is still as beng-ish haha. And he still associates me with Dragonfly. -_-''

Elaine still looks so petite but much more radiant after being a mom.

Lawrence is still as hyper and running around.

Jun scarily reminds me of Chiew Huey somehow or other.

Winnie is still as um... fair?? haha...

Ah Kok is still the dorty old man whom I can talk rot with or talk serious stuff with haha...

Cecilia still uses bright pink lipstick!

Sze Chin looks older.

Edmund still looks um...the same. i.e blur?

Ah San is still the undisputed "Kao-Beh" King.. haha...when he drove me from IP to Redhill, he was Kao-Beh-ing non-stop haha lol...

May is still as easily excitable haha..She was talking non-stop to me...=)

Shei Wah is still as laid-back. Still love the way he speaks and drawls on his syllables.. haa.

Aik Lee has put on abit of weight and looks better! Haha..

Yeow Hong is still as crappy & boliao ahha...but he's damn funny lah..

Mun Kitt is still as "kan cheong spider" in the way he speaks! haha..

Sharon is still as sweet.

Thien Thu is still as blur.

============
Chloe, the following transcript is for you:

Zee: So have you been keeping in touch with the crew here?

Me: Yup, more or less some of them. Chloe also lor.

Zee: Oh that's good that's good....*pause* So what have they been saying about me??? *expectant gaze with a twinkle*

Me: Nothing much lah. Just that they told me you're still as good-looking as before. *smiles widely*

Zee: Wah Lau eh!! Bu Yao Zhe Yang Jiang Wo Ley!! *Guffaws*
(Think he was acting shy only.. hahaha...;p)

Me: *laughs along* But you lost some weight lah, face sharper.

Zee: Really?? *touches his chin* Yah lah, I realised not eating things like curry puffs & snacks helps alot. See, my pants now loose liao. *drags out the waist of his pants to show me the excess inches it has*

Me: Wah lau!!


Blah blah blah blah...
Point is, it's a CEO talking haha...

food glorious food...

T'was a long long night...
Of trying to find food to makan.

We did not make any reservations.
Shokudo at Raffles City had a long queue. As did Seasons Reasons & Thai Express.

Went to Curry Favour along Stamford Road.
Kitchen was closed. No more order taking and it was only 845pm.

Went further down to Timre @ Substation. Full house with a queue.

TMD.

Gostan. Walked back to Raffles Hotel.

Wah lau. Finally.

Seah Street Deli had seats for the two hot & bothered & hungry souls...

Beef Baguette for him. Grilled Dory for me.

*burp*

sun & moon

The experience at Sun & Moon turned out normal yesterday evening.
I was at the Central branch, not the Wheelock branch.

Abit disappointing. Portions were small as well.

Vera, Weiqi, PQ & me.

Adjourned to Brewerkz after that and we had the buffalo wings which turned out disappointing as well.

Guess it was not a night to savour any gastronomically titillating foods.

I had the Irish Red Ale which turned out nice. Smoother & nicer than Kilkenny actually.

Tried a weird brew which had coffee & chocs flavours in it. Forgot the name.
No need to know since it's best to forget the drink anyway. ahhaa..

===========
Gawd, I have a bad headache now..

It's not a hangover. Think an accumulaton of a lack of sleep...sigh...

Pssssstt~!!

How come people are calling me ‘pssst’ these days??

Met Ginger & Sashi yesterday @ Raffles City and she called me by a ‘pssssst’.

Met Jim & CY when I was walking to work this morning and Jim called me by a ‘psssst’ too!

Zombified

I've been really blur these few days.
Tired as well.
Blame it all on the big auntie and her monthly visits.

Let me see, what dumb things did I do today?

• MSN-ed my colleague and wanted to say "Jane is back." I typed "Jane is black" instead. Was made the butt of jokes and my colleagues called me a racist.
• The ladies' washroom on my level needs an access pass as well. I was standing there stupidly tapping my EZ Link on the sensor box.
• Wanted to go to level 14 for a meeting. I ended up on the 1st floor, wondering how come the walls looked different.
• The ultimate thing was at night. Me & ahboy were going home from City Hall. I brought him to take the Westbound train instead of the Eastbound. Ended up at Tanjong Pagar instead. Wah Lau, I take the train everyday and I can still blurrily take the wrong train home. He was also blur though, haha, just followed me.

Hope I'm better tomorrow.

*pout*

Survival?

Do you feel sad when you see old people cleaning toilets, clearing tables, sweeping the floor, picking up rubbish from the roadsides....?

Do you feel awkward that they are clearing up after you?

Do you feel bad when they mop the floor and you step on it a second later because you have no where else to step on?

It's tough...when you're in your 50s, 60s, 70s.
To still be standing and doing menial jobs...To be fighting to earn a living.
And to be earning perhaps a pittance for the many hours you're on your feet.

Sigh.

SG's society has evolved to be like this over the years...

It's such a different scene in Thailand.
The cleaners are young and very much able.

I cannot speak though for other countries or even our dear neighbour.
I did not manage to observe this...or perhaps I have forgotten if this phenomenon is also prevalent in these places...

But.

Sigh.

Womenly Things..

The Power of Distraction
Walked past IORA at Suntec this evening after work.
And decided to pop by for a quick look even though I was aching all over.

Oh well, the power of distraction. eyes can be looking at one thing, brain can be thinking of something else and mouth can be talking about yet another thing.

Women, we're all good at multi=tasking are we not? ;p

The Sensitive Self-Conscious Soul
Was picking at a blouse and contemplating whether to try it on or not when a salesgirl came by and asked me if I wanted to try.

Hell, why not? "Ok" I said to her.

And then she asked me. What size?? S or M?

My heart went like? Huh? Cannot tell I am an S meh? "S Please".
I turned around and went to look at other things. She followed on my heels till we were about to reach the fitting room.

She turned and told me "I took both an S and an M. You see which one you prefer lor."

Thought I already said I wanted an S?? You mean I look like an M meh??
Keep insisting I need to wear M...bleah...

Oh well, no matter how ocnfident a girl is, there's always something in her which makes her self-conscious.
Sometimes it's easy to pick that thing out. Sometimes it's difficult.
But whetever it is, there's always something to unnerve a girl when it comes to her appearance.

The Cycle
Was aching all over today. Partially cos of TBT class yesterday.
And partially cos of the dreaded cycle.
Boobs aching, hips aching, thighs aching, neck aching, back aching, arms aching.

It was a wonder I could hang on from morning till 8pm when I got home.

The cycle which inflicts a certain amount of woe to every woman on earth...
It comes to torment and even when it leaves (i.e. menopause), it torments...

The Bimbo
Was on the MRT home and there was a typical ah lian bimbo in my carriage.
Blonde hair, black tube dress, red shoes.

Accessories = red belt, tiny mini fur-lined black bag, a red sony ericsson phone in one hand, and voila!!! she was toting an ah beng in her other arm!

Ok, to give her credit, her figure was good, skin was good, she looked pretty.
Overall still not too bad. Provided her mouth was closed.
Opened her mouth and a squeaky voice permeated the air much to the discomfort of my ears.

Her Minnie Mouse laughter throughout the journey brought me peals of inner laughter as well.
A good source of entertainment on an otherwise drab journey home. :)

Bimbos, what would like be without them?
Hell, there's a little bimbo in each and every one of us ladies too ain't it?

The Wonder
Women..we're such a lovely bunch of folks...

It's seriously a wonder how we play so many roles in society, within the home, within the family.
Kid you not, we're a strong bunch, if and when we choose to.
And believe you me, when it comes to girl power...nothing comes close!!

Moo Moo...

Mr Bull sms-ed me this evening..

Had a healthy lunch!! Lots and lots of vege! But I just dabao-ed chicken rice for dinner. Now I am back to square one :(

Haha, gosh, think men these days are pretty much more health conscious and vain!?!!

Mr Bull eats more vege than me, drinks more water than me, brushes his teeth more than me and well, eats more healthily than me!!

Haha...I'd better buck up!

It's only Monday!! Counting down to Friday!!

Overwhelming day.
Hounded by Finance, Technical, Reseller, Colleague, Auditor, Boss.

Went for Thigh, Buttock, Tummy (TBT) class today.
I feel stretched. Arms are slightly strained. But I feel good.

Went back to work after class ended at 745pm.
Left at 850pm.

Oh well. Reached home at 950pm. Took 10mins to prepare my dinner.
Yes, it's pasta again tonight.
And was seated in front of the TV and munching away by 1005pm.

Yet to bathe till cos AhBoy called. Adrian called later on as well.
Needed my help to get on the Web and retrieve some info for him.

I feel sticky but am lazy to drag myself under the shower.

Tsk.

I don't feel 100% full. Mouth is still itchy.

Hmmmm. Tahan.

Starting to sound incoherent.

Ok, time to bathe.

Scrub.

And smell lovely.

Then bounce into bed.

Then hide under the covers.

Then.

Then.

Then.

Zz.

The Universal Language

When you're in another country, do you act like you're superior than the rest of the locals there?
Do people adopt a holier-than-thou attitude just because their skin colour is white?
Or are people simply plain dumb because they're brunettes and past the age of 50?

We were on the road on Saturday night and it was perhaps 7-plus, 8pm.
It was dusk but there were still remnants of the daylight here and there.
Slivers of it trying to prolong their existence as long as possible amidst the encroaching night.

We were cruising along, rounding a bend & heading towards the Cavenagh Bridge.

And there was this ang moh, brunette, 50, big-sized.
She was attempting to cross the road to her male partner on the other side.
He had just hailed a cab.

We came by, so she quickly took a few steps back and got back up on the kerb and then.....
She started screaming at our car from where she stood on the kerb..
Ranting & waving her 3rd fingers at us.

Note. I said fingers. i.e. She was waving both her middle fingers at us.
Screaming like a mad bitch and glaring at us as we went by.

Felt like winding down the window & screaming:
"Si Ang Moh! KNN, you think this is your road ah?? Go back to that mother-f*cking country of yours and stop polluting my country with your stench!!!!!"

But of course these are always aftermath thoughts.
The whole incident lasted for only 10-15 seconds. Too little time to even react.

Ahboy's first reaction was "Wah Lau. Xiao."
And I fully agree. Hello?? There's no traffic light lor...and it's a road bend.
If you want to cross, do it quickly & carefully lah!! It's your own pasal if you wanna die in a foreign country in such a manner.

Oh by the way, she does not shave her pits.
It's horrible to be shown the finger for doing nothing wrong.
It's worse to be shown the finger, by a dumb woman with relatively hairy pits, for doing nothing wrong.

And oh, the 3rd finger.
How did it evolve to be a universal language?
I wonder....

Tres occupe..

Apr 26 - French test
study study study again...

Apr 26 - MayDay concert
what a splendid timing..just after my test!...

May 8 - Cooking Class
wagyu beef is on the menu..woo..steady...

May 9 - Scrabble Competition
this I am looking forward to...though I wonder how the competitors are from the other teams..
hmm mm...

May 11 - Mothers' Day
need to plan something with Adrian again..

May 13 - Board Meeting
sigh, I need to write 3 papers. One of which is a major policy paper..
need to rush & churn out minutes after that...zzz...

May 18 - Our Special Day
a short trip maybe? need to plan too..don't know if we have the time...

May 21 - 25 - KL Working Trip
argh, I don't feel like going!


All these & more...
Hope June/July is a more relaxed period..

So much so...

Is there really such a lack of news in Singapore?

So much so, that the embittered relationship of Li Jiawei & Ronald Susilao has been in the headlines for the past week?

There was a long article on their love-story-gone-wrong featured in the Sunday Times today.

Sheesh.
Can we move on to other things?

Is there really such a lack of news?

So much so that there was half-page article on ..oh yes, Sufiah Yusof again.
This time round, her mother started a blog on her side of the story...

???

Sheesh.
Can we move on to other things?

Is there really such a lack of news?

Here Chicky Chicky!

My first attempt at making chicken pies yielded quite okay results.
Not bad for a first attempt! :) *pat my back*

6 (edible) chicken pies were rolled out of Michelle's Kitchen this afternoon. Hehe.

But oh well, the process of making just these 6 little pieces of pies were (almost) an agony.

First attempts usually take longer. Today's session turned out to be a labourous 4 hours.

All because of a stupid power trip which too me about an hour to fix & settle. TMD.
And it has to happen when both my parents are out of town.

Was done with the fillings & preparation for all the pies and about to bake one as a test run when I heard a very audible "TACK".
WTF? The lights were out, the radio died, the electric airpot died, the fridge died, and my oven stopped working!!

HAR?? And my chicken pies were all still very very raw!

Had to clamber up a chair to peek at the circuit switch box. Fiddled with it for awhile...
Was half afraid I might end up frying myself instead.
But voila, this little girl managed to restore power to her home...and save her chicken pies!!

Was way way beat by the time the 6th pie was done.. haha..
But whee! It's an accomplishment!

Ahboy came over for dinner...a simple pasta with sausages dinner...
Of course prepared by the chef wannabe.
Dabao-ed 3 of pies home hee...

Timber!! Oh pardon...TimBRE!!

Was at Timbre with ahboy last night.
The new one at ArtsHouse, Empress Place...not the one at Substation.

We were lucky. EIC was slated for a jig there last night.
And we had relatively nice seats near the stage. Only thing was that it was a high table.

I've never liked clambering up onto high stools. *rolls eyes*
Was in a skirt last night, heng it was a long flowy one that still allowed this tomboy me ease of movement. Lol.

The opening song was Mrs Robinson...a slower, more subtle, sweeter version compared to the original version.
Had some nice renditions of common pop songs & those from the 1990s and even the Beatles & Red Hot Chilli Peppers..

Wanted to send in my song request too..."Drugs Don't Work" by The Verve..
But gave up when I couldn't get any of the waiters/waitresses' attention.
Dan, maybe not chio enough. haha.

Pity we didn't stay for their second set.
I was half-stoned midway through their frist set which by the way lasted from 10pm till 1045pm.

And aiyah!!! I didn't get to take Timbre's pizzas.. haha.
The heavy dinner before that sort of ruined my chances of sinking my teeth into one of their famous thin-crust pizzas...

p/s: I had my fav Capiroska drink and well, the driver had an Apple Juice... lol
Needless to say ywhen the juice came, the waiter thought it was for me.. haha...

mes amis

Given a chance, I would like to be able to nurture most, if not every, relationship I have.

With colleagues, with family, with each & every person who has touched my life in one way or another.

I think most people do too.

Problem is, sometimes, there's too many people in your life to really spend time to develop each and every relationship.

Wonder if it's my own problem or others face it as well.

I try to maintain or renew relationships.

But efforts are spread across such a wide net that sometimes it feels like as if I end up only according a small amount of effort to each relationship.

So what should I do?

Focus on some, let the rest rot?

Touch & go on all? Try my best to juggle here & there?

Do a rotation? Focus on one this quarter and another one the next?

.......

....

..

Mental Constipation Vs Verbal Diarrhoea

It's been a mentally challenging time since yesterday.
Brain was refusing to work today again. Body was asking for more rest and sleep.

Brain was working slower than usual. It took me more than an hour to craft 2 letters.
Gosh, on normal days it would have been settled in like less than 30mins?

Clear case of mental constipation.

Didn't help that I needed to go through a 32-page policy paper and compare it with an older version. Which makes it 64 pages of pure text??
Pages of words suddenly seem a tedious thing for my brain to process.

There are somethings on my plate which I know I need to do but simply refuse to start on them.
ISO & Audit.
Think the Deloitte guy will start calling for my head soon.

==========
Went for a nice nice dinner with See Soon aka Ah Kok.
It's been like 6 months since I last saw him?

He looked the same, albeit thinner. Haha, apparently lost weight cos he was sick.

And it was virtually a verbal diarrhoea session.
There was nary a quiet moment, except for maybe the minutes we took to scour the menu for nice munchies.

With a "Bacon & Spinach Quiche" & a "Beef Daube with Mashed Potatoes" between us, we talked the night away...
Mostly on updates with the old place, with updates on his well-being at work, updates on some common friends, and well some small gossips here and there.

I love this uncle.
Affectionately known as "Old Man" to me.. hehe. =D

Yeah, I love him for his wit, grit, sense, dependability, corniness, strength.

He's still driving his Airwave..sent me home.
Wah, think it's been more than a year since I took his car liao.
And yes, for the record, we were yakking away in the car too.
Right till my carpark.

Gosh, meeting up with him and hearing his updates on the old place has made me realise how much I miss the people there.

His avid descriptions of the work cubicles now and the colours and even the new corporate T-shirt made me so nostalgic I felt like going back there for a visit on Monday itself.

Which is impossible.
But I think Friday seems possible..hmm mm.
Maybe I should start making arrangements.

It's been on my mind for a long time to come.
To go back & say hi to those who brought smiles to my face just that 1 year ago...

And well, I miss the place of which I gave it its name and logo.
(Though together with Jenaline of course)

Maybe that's why I'm so attached to it...

Darn, I'm feeling so nostalgic. =(

Taiwan 24 Feb - 27 Feb..yes yes super overdue!! haha

Oh well, my Taipei working trip in end Feb..

Suddenly found the energy to load some pics here..hehe.

Terminal 3 Gate A 19.
It was the last gate and it took me a whole 15 mins just to walk there..

En route in the taxi to the hotel. A little gloomy.

My room 1030.

Was pleasantly surprised when I switched on the TV and voila!
They even programmed the TV with my name!!

My room & the comfy beds. Quite big lah. haha..

Touched down at 1-plus, reached hotel at 2-plus, unpacked till 3pm.

And then I was off to venture out on my own! Armed with a scarf around my neck & a trusty jacket in my arms....

Oh well, when you're travelling alone. It's a long lonely walk.

Streets were super quiet that day. Don't know why when it was a Sunday.

The strong breeze made me cuddle deep into my jacket. Easily 12-13degrees.

One question I have. Why do graffiti in different parts of the world, end up looking pretty much the same?

I've seen those in HK, SG, Taiwan, Msia, Vietnam. They all look the same. I've seen the US ones on TV and they look the same too. It's strange...

The last time I was there, the MRT system was using our EZ-link system.

They're using a chip system now. Very much like the size of a Majong chip.. haha..

When you don't have anyone to talk to on the train, you end up taking pics of yourself. Tried to be discreet. So my feet were my focus. hahaha...

The Meow Meow Shop. Gave the shop a wide berth cos I couldn't stand the music they were playing in there. It was just cats meowing all the way...coupled with some whiny woman half singing & half meowing in the background...*shudders* Seriously weird.

Apparently quite a fmous shop. There was a looooong Q snaking from it. "Original Shanghai Fried Bao"

Haha, another famous stall. The "XXXXL Chicken Cutlet Stall". Queued up for abot 10mins to get a piece of chicken cutlet the size of an A4 paper. For $2 only!! Cheap cheap!!

Loads of such little roadside stalls selling pork, chicken & duck innards and god knows what else. They end up looking all the same cos they're all braised & stewed in the same gravy. I'm not that adventurous in food. Didn't try...bleah..a lady tried to get me to buy fried duck tongue...eeeewww..

My hotel was near 2 big SOGO departmental stores. Once seen in Singapore but gone since 1996 I think??

They should start having such cute confectionaries in SG.

Little flowers

Little mice!!

While I'm at it, SG should also start importing such pretty drinks!! With interesting flavours!
Vodka with choya?! Cool~!!

And finally, I shall end with a picture of the Chou Dou Fu!!
Fermented Bean Curd...I still don't understand why it's a delicy. Oh well, one man's meat, another man's poison... :)

The thing that feeds & clothes me

Work is cajoling me into an irritable mood.

There are many things I need to do and I don't know how to go about it.

Needless to say, most of these things were inherited from the colleague who left.

There are other things that i know how to do but things are at a hiatus with the bosses (or other people) so I can't proceed.

Frowns are making their way onto my face.

Oh beware! Wrinkles... :(

But I do admit. There is a small sense of satisfaction when things get struck off your to-do list for the day.

I've taken to being a tea-addict too. Camomile, green, earl gray.

Mostly drunk when I'm sifting through documents, or mulling over how to craft an email.

And more importantly, to provide me with that little bit of warmth in the 15-degree igloo I have the honour of calling my office.

There is at least 2-3 documents to sign each day.

On some days, it can reach maybe 10.

And for each document, I need to check through thoroughly before I sign.

Previously, I was naive and assumed things would be in order so I just signed with only a cursory glance.

Afterall, if you can't trust adults to do things, then who can you trust?

But oh well. Naivete can only bring you so far in life and in work.

I was chastised by a boss for letting a mistake slip past my eyes. Up, down, left, right, centre

The days past have taught me to be more cautious and never to assume that things will be in perfect condition.

So the mindset now is : Assume there is a flaw.

Check. Check. Check. Before you put your big fat signature on that piece of paper.

One bright point today. My Budget paper has been approved by the Board.

Who would have thought?

The Finance idiot drafting a Budget paper and doing a price sensitivity study?

Haha.

And it's back to work tomorrow. Only mid-week.

Am suddenly hoping for the weekend to arrive in its full force and splendour.

Sufiah Yusof

Come on.

Leave the poor girl alone.

Let her do what she wants.

Whatever makes her happy. Whatever she chooses. Whichever way she wants to walk.

We're not her. We don't know how she feels. We won't know how she thinks.

Stop spilling her life out in the public over and over again. It's been 2 weeks. And she's still in the news.

Suddenly we see a whole slew of ordinary citizens and journalists turning into sociology analysts, psycologists, behaviourists, etc etc. Each wanting to provide his or her own assessment of how or why her life has panned out in this way.

Sheesh.

Bust-ed

"I must! I Must! I MUST increase my bust!"

For some strange reason, this crappy one-liner from an equally crappy song was playing in my head the whole of this evening.

And there's an image accompanying it.

That of Siva singing this song complete with cheesy hand actions tied to each phrase.

Wonder how is she now? This loud siren of an ex-colleague. :)

Lizzies...

Hmm, don't know about you all. But I seldom, as in really seldom, see lizards on the floor.
Let alone, on a tarred road floor, in a carpark.
Thought they're usually plastered on walls or ceilings? Hmm mm...

Was walking home from the bus-stop just now and a little baby lizard scuttled away from my feet, it was headed for the drain.

And I was wondering...Won't the tarred road be too rough for its soft underbelly?

Hmm mm...

===========
Worked late today again. 8pm.
Reached home at 9pm. Went for a super short run, climbed up my block of flats as well...
And realised, darn. I'm lazy. When was the last time I did this? Think months ago maybe?

Maybe that's why I couldn't even manage 13 flights of stairs in one shot.
Stopped somewhere at the 8th or 9th floor...huffed & puffed at a staircase landing for awhile before continuing on my somewhat slow journey to the top of the block haha.

But it's always nice & a little scary to be on the 13th floor.
Nice in the sense you have a nice view of the neighbouring flats and the trees below look like bushes really.
Scary in the sense that well, I couldn't help but think a little about how it feels for one who is on the verge of committing suicide.

I mean, it really takes a whole load of guts to push yourself off a building.
I reckon, the effort's split in such a manner : Physical Effort = 10%. Mental Effort = 90%.

But oh well, gory morbid thoughts aside.
I gave an uncle a shock when I trundled down the siatrs back my flat on the 6th floor.
He was watering his plants outside his flat on the 9th floor when I went "boom boom boom" down the stairs...hehe.

===========
My fate is uncertain for this Friday night. Lol.
Am still awaiting confirmation about a dinner date with See Soon, Devin and perhaps Winnie...the ex-LHUB folks who I used to hang out with quite often.

Oh well, if there's no date whatsoever, then maybe it'll be either OT or back home for a run or shopping on my own...

===========
The work day started out fine really.
But by evening 6pm I was getting pissed. One stack of papers on the desk and another comes in.
One email settled and another comes in. Wonder how the bosses can tahan haha.

I really don't know how exactly to put it across to a colleague that she has to put in more effort to check her work. Mistakes here & there. From typos, to glaring errors, to other mistakes.
My nerves were seriously rattled this evening.

But she's a nice nice lady.

Last week went by in a blur. I am not quite sure why though.
Sure work is busy as well...but perhaps for a good part of the time I was zombified? haha.

I can work better when there's less noise around me. Fridays are days when we can knock off at 530pm. I usually treat it like any normal day and leave at 6-plus...
But I was there till 845 on Friday night...doing some admin things, filing, clearing some other work. It felt good and it felt productive..

Dinner on Thursday night with Mr Bull was a little awkward at first. At least for me. Don't know why also, maybe I was a little tired and didn't have much to say to him in the beginning. Plus, I was freezing and shivering haha.

Things got better after that and it was back to normal. Food does make a person waarmer...:)
And a nice companion warms you up too! haha

===========
One of my bad habits. Think it's gonna be quite hard to get rid of it lol...

I get absolutely irritated when people use wrong grammar, use wrong tenses, use caps when they shouldn't, use punctuation where they shouldn't.
It's fine if you're doing something casual like engaging in a discussion on an online forum or chatting with your friend or just writing a friendly email...but for work documents, shouldn't there be a minimum standard?

Lol. Bad habit cultivated form endless editing & proof-reading during my LHUB days?
Maybe maybe.

Was reviewing some work documents just now. Documents which were drafted a few years ago perhaps, and definitely way before my time. Nevertheless, by the time I got to the 3rd page. I was frowning like some pissed off thug. Decided not to spoil my Sunday evening and threw the documents aside instead.

Blogging & Facebooking might be a better way to spend my Sunday evening... :)

===========
Kym invited me to ICB's 10th anniversay celebration on the 16th.

Wondering if I should pop by for awhile..but weekday ley..hmm....

===========
Missed the registration window for the official French exam conducted by the French Education Ministry.
Bleah...Now I need to wait for the next round which will be in November.

But I still have a school test up in 3 weeks time...Time to mug & revise again...
Hmm mm..This semester I'm a little bit more lost than the previous one. Jialat........... :(

I am...but me

I am riding
On the wings of an angel
On the tail of a rainbow
On the wisps of my dreams

I am surrounded
By the warmth of the day
By the coolness of the night
By the mystique of life

I am blessed
With the smiles of my friends
With the unspoken care of my family
With the love of those close to me

==========
I love these french phrases....cool...

"Quand le chat ne pas la, les souris dansent"
When the cat is not around, the mice dance!

"Il faut aller jusqu'au bout"
It is neccessary to go all the way (to the end)!

"Je me sens bien dans ma peau"
I feel happy about myself or....if you translate word for word then it'll literally read as I feel happy in my own skin..

==========
Had mee sua again this afternoon for lunch...I go through different cooking phases...
Then again, I only cook for myself when the folks are away either in Genting or some other place..

Right now, it's mee sua with minced pork that's been mixed with a heady marinade consisting of oyster & abalone sauce, tau jionh or preserved yellow beans for those not familiar with Hokkien, a little light soy sauce, a pinch of sugar and a dash of sesame oil...

And of course, there'll be lots of vege...but I've discovered that the best vege to use for this is plain old white round cabbage. It brings lots of sweetness to the soup. Carrots do the trick too and inject some colour to the otherwise drab-looking dish haha.

My past crazes range form soba to pasta to fried rice to fried bee hoon..
Now that mee sua was made for lunch...What shall I cook for myself this evening??

Sigh...hmm mm...

We did it!

Last night was a 1st again. Hahaa...we finally did it.
Me & ahboy went for a 4-hour K-session at Kbox in Kallang Leisure Park. Just the two of us.
This was after talking about it for more than 6 months, and after some suaning from me. Lol.

It was a mini David Tao-cum-Jay Chou-cum-MayDay-cum-Ah Mei-cum-Jacky Cheung concert...
Gosh, all the old songs, goes to show we both are really not that in sync with the new Chinese pop songs these days.. haha...
But I have to say, the sound system was good!!

And oh, definitely better than the one at Houganag Plaza. That place is condemned.
This is new, more comfy, cleaner, nicer ,smells better, blah blah blah...

==============
Visited Gran yesterday as usual before my French class.

She's looking ok these days. Both feet weren't swollen at all yesterday...
Just two weeks ago both her feet looked red & angry & swollen, making it difficult for her to walk. Gout attack.

When I was there, another old lady who was staying at the Home came up to me. She was dressed in civilian clothes and had some light make-up on and some accessories like bangles & necklaces...

She's a spritely old lady, aged 92 (same as my granny) who was still coherent about 6 months back. But yesterday, she wished my Happy Chinese Year. I asked her if she was going out since she was dressed so nice. She said "Yes of course!! It's the 2nd day of CNY, I need to go visit my relatives and see how they are doing!!"

Another old lady (this one has a clear mind) came by, gave me a nod and told me "She's been saying that for the past few days already...never mind her".

Sigh...it's scary when you see situations where the mind deteriorates so fast...Just a few months back, we could have proper conversations with her. And now, she's accusing my Granny of stealing things, saying it's CNY, saying it's raining when it's not..blah blah blah...

Sigh. I hope I won't be like this when I get old..

==============
The folks are coming back home tonight. And that's the end of my 2 weeks of solitude at home...bleah. haha...;p No more walking around half dressed..

==============
Tighten Thighs, Buttocks & Tummy...aka TBT.

My TBT class is starting again on Monday evenings...woot woot!

Thinking of whether I should start yoga on Wednesdays...Hmm...if so, then it'll be:
Mon - TBT
Wed - Yoga
Sat - French
As & when - Cooking

Hmm mm.....

Just read on... haha

To: My Most Trusted Confidante

I write to you with utmost urgency. I am David Toulousa Binkoe, Chief Operations Officer of the United Bank of Swindlersa, Cote D'Ivoire. A few years ago, my personal client whom I have known for many years entrusted me with US$15 million and asked me to open a fixed deposit in his name. Nobody else knows of his bank account expect me, as he did not want his money to be in the hands of his 3 ungrateful sons if anything happens to him. His wife died many years ago already. I did as I was instructed and opened the account for him with a tenure of 3 years. But a few days ago, I found out that he died of a heart attack.

His sons do not know about this account at all and the account will mature in only 2 weeks time. I have the power to withdraw it but I will need to do it quickly before the Board Committee of the bank finds out about his death. If they do, they will surely take the funds for their own purposes which are not of a good nature and I do not want this to happen. I cannot keep the money in any local institutions and I seek your most trusted help to park the funds in your country.

Please let me know that I can trust you by giving me the following details I need:

Name
Age
Telephone
Address
Bank Name
Bank Account
Country
Swift Code



Your Friend
David T. Binkoe

==============
I wrote the crap above in 5 minutes.

Can you believe the amount of junk that reaches my company's common enquiry mailbox?? Emails of the above nature easily number 5-10 a day. So you get people from Zimbabwe, Cote D'Ivoire, South Africa, Venezuela..and god knows where else...

Oh yah, I got one from China & 1 from Japan last week too..

Seriousy wonder if people really do respond to such emails...

If they do...all I can say is...."SHEESH!!!!"

me is back!

Just got back from BKK this afternoon...It was a sinful trip.. haha...
3 words...Eat, Eat and Eat!!!
One comforting fact was that we walked alot as well..and I mean ALOT....
On some days, we could be walking since 10am till 10pm with only a few breaks in between for meals and maybe a taxi ride or two...

It's a dusty town..everything's dusty..even when you touch the goods displayed at street stalls, your fingers end up feeling sticky & dusty...lol...

But that's a minor thing...It was a nice trip..
We were upgraded to a suite cos they ran out of superior rooms...2 of us in a suite...
1 living room, a dining area, a walk in wardrobe area and a bathroom bigger than my bedroom...

We had dinner with Ginger & Sashi on our first night there...coincidence?? Nah...found out they were gonna be there on the same days we were gonna be there! So pre-arranged a dinner with them... haha...

Somehow, I think BKK has more things to offer to Ah boy haha...
He made a suit & 5 shirts, got a pair of Levis, a berm, a polo-T, 3 singlets, a dress shoe blah blah...
Think the only time we really shop intensively together...is during such trips haha...

Back to work tomorrow...
Xianzzz...need to lug my lappie home tomorrow...There's stuff to be done using the office system at midnight tomorrow..
I need to activate some stuff...oh, that piece of thing is darn heavy...bleah haha..

Oh yah, I need to cut down on the number of meals I take and the amount of snacks I take...
It was an overdose of food in bkk man....

Need to catch up French too..missed Sat's class...

Did housework right from the moment I stepped into home this afternoon...wash clothes, hang clothes, wipe floor...
Tired liao..

The shell shall head to bed....

Last Thursday....

Last Thursday was a long long day...

Work was mundane with some operational issues springing up..
Something was clouding my mind..but I can't put a finger to it..It was like that the whole of last week, and perhaps the week before..I was doing things half-heartedly..and I couldn't ocncentrate..

Had lunch with Celia at Subway..lol. Just a year back and if she said "Subway", I'd have given her a scrunched face and said "No, let'ss go somewhere else".
Guess I'm a Subway convert now.. haha..

It was a hilarious lunch..as usual..with her around, there'd be lots of laughter and of course lots of gripe and gossip.. haha..
It felt good to catch up with her..and yeah, we both miss working with each other haha...

Met up with the sec sch gang for dinner...all of us met up at City Hall and dear old Eugene came by in his orange Honda Jazz...4 of us scrambled up into the little car and off we went..
The 5 of us..who interestingly, did not even hang out together as a bunch in sec sch..hell, I wasn't even in the same class as Eugene for all the 4 years there!
Still, these are the folks who I know I can count on anyday, anytime...

Finally, after speaking of it for 6 months, we had our dinner at Wine Network at Dempsey. Food was good...company was good..and a bottle of red wine was there to wash it all down..
Moved to Ben & Jerry's after that for desserts and white wine this time...
It must have been a first I think...for us to all go to Dempsey together haha...

We sent Ally back first...and at 12-plus, the remaining 4 of us, TH, Eug, PQ & me...
We were deciding between Zouk & KBox...and soooooooo we ended up singing in KBox in Hougang Plaza...why such a ulu place? Oh well..cos Ally stayed nearby and we went there straight after dropping her off....

I was stoned...it's definitely been a long long time since I stayed up late...Signs of getting old? haha...or signs of morphing into a homebody soon??
We were singing, laughing, stoning...and then voila...2am...the TV went bust...the mike went bust...the programme console went bust....

Oh great...system was down...We spent the next 50 minutes waiting and arguing with the manager of the place to get a 50% refund...
What a night..What a night...Started out great and ended on a "bleah" note...
Hahaa....