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....

I wanna go Melbourne tooooooo.....

I have to applaud my Dad for learning to embrace technology. My dad’s 66 this year.
He sent me an SMS this morning which reads:

Arrived liao. At Sing time 6.30am. Cleared immig oredi. Now getting rental car. No slp last nite….zzzzz! :(

I was laughing to myself when I read it. I cannot imagine a 66 yr old uncle typing such an SMS message. Using the words “liao”, “oredi”….giving me an unhappy smiley face... haha.

He knows how to use the Net too...to do research. But of course, after much tedious “training” from the daughter…

My parents just flew off to Melbourne late last night. Hence, the SMS content is of such a nature…For the trip, he spent quite a considerable amount of time trawling the net for information on Melbourne. What to eat, what o do, what to see, where to go. Lol.

Hell, he’s hooked on YouTube lor…He watches YouTube more than me!!! He surfs the Singapore Pools website on a daily basis for statistical updates on his football matches before he places his bets.

The only thing he is stopping at is buying things online and conducting business transactions online Eg. Buying movie tix or paying for bills online. He still doesn’t trust payment gateways…haha.

Oh well, as for my Mum, she’s pretty advanced in her SMS use too...just that she does not know how to use the Net… haha. Oh, and she’s 58 this year. :)

===========
I thought since it was sunny these few days, I'd send my office jacket for washing.
I brought a thinner one from home to replace it...

I sent it to the laundry this morning.
And voila....now after lunch, the skies are overcast..heavy grey clouds are covering the sun...
What a nice timing. *rolls eyes*
Sheesh.....Am gonna freeze this afternoon I am preety sure....

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BKK akan datang!! count down...

3 more days...

Hehe, packing hasn't started yet...
Interestingly, Ginger will be there as well...on those same 4 days that I will be there...
Maybe I'll give her a ring and see if we can meet up for dinner..
Hope the man is receptive to the idea lol.

===========
Am abit bored these few days in office. Sort of a little lull period this week...
Plus, the big boss is not around...haha...so no arrows to puncture my back...

===========
Ok, I just bought a bag on SAturday again..hmm...
Better keep it hidden from the man...Else there'll be complaints....;p

But anyway, there are standard answers to give... ahha..=D To which the man's replies would interestingly still be the same. haha...

Standard Answer #1
Man: "This is new right?? Wah lau!! Buy bag again?? When did you get it?"
Me "Ah? Yah sort of new lah...no lah, bought it a few months ago liao..Just that haven't use..."
Man: "Wah Lau!! Your cupboard is overflowing lor!! Big, medium, small, pouch...all you have!! Heng you're not spending my money!!!"

Standard Answer #2
Man: "This is new right?? Wah lau!! Buy bag again?? When did you get it?"
Me: "No lah, bought a few months ago liao...Use liao, just that you have not seen it yet..."
Man: "Wah Lau!! Your cupboard is overflowing lor!! Big, medium, small, pouch...all you have!! Heng you're not spending my money!!!"

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The man is complaining about spending time in reservist...with nothing to do...and many long hours to while away...
And as usual, the man is complaining about getting fat...

SAF feeds them well...morning breakfast, lunch, teabreak..dinner...
And with some other kopi breaks thrown in between...

===========
Bleah, ok, this lady shall go and do some work liao.. Hehe.
Been nuahing too long today... ahaa....

Oh yah, I am officially a confirmed staff liaozzzz..........
Probation over!! 6 months already...soooo FAST!!

Call me the Cooking Shell...

Wahahaa...whee!! Just came back from my cooking class at Raffles Hotel...
We learnt Hainanese Chicken Rice, Braised Pork Belly & Seafood Otah!!

It was fun..albeit abit long-winded...and it overran for an hour...meaning...it ended at 11pm when it should have ended at 10pm.

Couldn't tahan..I hitched a cab ride back home...and it cost me $18 bucks...TMD.
Kinda tired & blur by now...

Maybe I'll blog about it tomorrow during work...

Oppsss...did I say during work??

Oppsss....did I say it again??

Une Femme Heureux

Sometimes, simplicity is best...

Simple dinner, simple hours spent together, simple night, simple chatter....

Made my Wednesday night a beautiful one...

We were at the China Square foodcourt.

He had Bitter Gourd Soup with Rice. I had Bak Chor Mee.

We took the train home together. He took a longer route home by dropping off at Bedok instead of the usual Paya Lebar. Had to wait for bus 31 which would go a big round before ending up at his place.

Never engage a sick man in a verbal escapade. Haha, he seems to perform well under medication.

Gave me 2 goodnight kisses on the train. Something which he doesn't normally do. Maybe the medicine made him different from usual haha.

Oh well. Lovely night!

I'm a happy little girl..!

Bleary Bleary

Oh, what a Tuesday...Came into the office...sat down for only about 45 mins...and then..
The phone rang..."Boss wants to see you now"...
Sigh..early in the morning...nothing good...
And so I spent about 20-30 mins in there..calculating some figures, getting nagged at abit..and generally feeling edgy the whole time through...

Came out, gave a sulky face to a colleague haha...went back to my desk...and immediately there was another phone call..This time...from my immediate boss...the previous one was this boss' boss. He wanted to see me too...since when did I become so "popular"???
Went in again...kena nagged at abit for 10 mins...then came out again...

Consecutive...not a good morning...Operational issues...80% not my purview...but now it is...so bopian gotta do...

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TH treated me dinner today haha lol...cos I helped him buy Chivas from the DFS when I came back from Taipei...hiakzz...

Poor bloke failed his JLPT4 and was kinda pissed about it haha..
Apparently it's a once in a year exam...so he'll have to wait till end of this year to take again..hmm mm..

===========
Cold night again..at the rate this goes...my fingers, toes & nose will freeze for at least half the day man!! haha...

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Argh..jealous!! Henry has left for Melbourne liao...on his F1 study trip!!
Wonder if he'll get me anything this time hehee...

Tax...oh..the bloody thing is here again...

It's a little bit of a hassle for me...cos in 2007, I changed jobs twice..
And so I have like 3 employers within the whole span of that year....Quite heng lah, at least 2 of those employers are under the auto-inclusion scheme so I don't have to bother too much about keying n my income and blah blah blah...

Unfortunately, the middle ocmpany, the one where I worked for only 3 months...is not under the schem...
And therefore........As per usual practice...I have to search high & low for my SingPass...log onto the Mytax portal...and file my tax..................

Good thing is, next year, I probably do not have to do a thing at all....

Why do we have to pay tax??? =(

Is my $$ being used to buy over shares in UBS, Citibank, Merril Lynch????
Is my $$ being used to build a sports complex in NUS??
Is my $$ being used to give Orchard Road a facelift??
Is my $$ being used to pay more policemen to conduct ring-fencing???

Was my $$ being used to (horrors!!) pay for the Fedex expenses used to bring Singapore's bid proposal (in a TIGHTLY SEALED BOX of course) for the Youth Olympic Games over to Switzerland??
Was my $$ being used to build up the Internal Security Department, whicn turned out to be not so secure after all??
Was my $$ being used to contribute to the salary increments of the men in white??

Okok, I am exaggerrating here..but oh well, who knows...??

I might own a 0.00001% share in Merril Lynch, Citibank and UBS.....
Eh, DUN PLAY PLAY!!! Me is Minority Shareholder leh!!!! hahhaaa....

Avril est apres Mars et avant Mai...

AVRIL is after March and before May.

It's been a long time since I've listended to Avril Lavigne...
I would usually skip her album on my MP3 and move onto Jay Chou's "November's Chopin" which is coincidentally just after her album...

And she happens to be right after David Tao..so today, after David finished his last song...Avril started singing...and I didn't bother to skip her...

It was a refreshing change..hearing here again after quite some time...Angsty rock..is that what you call it? Feisty rock? Whatever..it got me going...on the train.. haha..given a chance, I'd head bang right there and then...

But I have to say, haha...music really affects a person emotionally and physically man.. haha..
She started singing sometime when I was at Bugis I think...
And by the time I reached Tampines, I think my stomach was producing more acid than it did when I boarded the train at City Hall.. haha lol..Too much angst perhaps? hahaa...

p/s: for those not in the know...avril means "April" in French...

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Hurrah, I submitted my 2nd draft of the Budget & Sensitivity Study paper this afternoon...
Hope it doesn't get thrown back again with 70-80% changes needed to be done..

*crosses fingers*

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Wah....*touched*
Henry went to BKK for a business trip..and he got a Little Miss Sunshine T-shirt back for me!
Hahaa..it's the washed-down series...with those "washed 100 times" kind of look and feel..printed letters were half worn off that kind of look...

But I like it...and the colour's nice...sort of a corss between pink and orange.. haha dunno how to describe..maybe I'll wear it back to BKK when I go there in 3 weeks time! haha lol...

Think he got if for like 6-7 bucks sing dollars?? heee...

Yay! Got people sayang me in office!! hahaha lol...(cheap thrill.....)

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Sigh..ahboy is sick again....fever of 38.3C...
Just went to see a doc at 8pm...and after that, all he wanted to do was just to go home, eat his da-bao-ed porridge, pop his pills and go to bed...Didn't even want to talk to me.. lol....

Hmm mm...it's only mid-March...he's fallen sick for like 3 times this year already??

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And I'll be a good Samaritan and lug a bottle of Chivas Regal to office tomorrow...
Need to pass it to TH...goondu aske dme to get it for him when I was coming back from Taipei...

Come to think of it...I like Chivas....
With green tea...hmm mm... haha lol...

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The weather's weird...Sunny for 2 days, then rain for a few days....then sunny again...
What a cold day today...

Was wrapped in a jacket, with a throw from Ikea covering my legs...and another jacket covering my lower arms.. haha lol...

facial today~!

Skipped facial for quite a long period of time..due to festive seasons, due to travel..and due to the fact that I couldn't get a slot at the facial place on weekends!

Anyway, went there this morning..and um, I think my beautician had to spend alot of time on me.. haha..poor lady's about 7-8 months pregnant..and there she was hovering over me..
I think I expended alot of her energy today haha...
She was pulling, stretching, squeezing, pinching, wiping, prodding, scrutinising, swiping, poking, massaging and patting at my skin...

So much so for not going for a few months...accumulation of grime, pil & whatnot is reallly not a pretty picture.. haha..

She gave me a short shoulder massage...and commented that my neck & shoulder muscles were really quite "hard"...i.e. I'm pretty tensed up in that region...sigh...
Maybe I should jio ahboy to go for anoher shoulder/back/foot massage session again...lol...

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Ok, shall grant myself some Scrabble time before I go read up on my work documents...
Brought home 2 stacks to read up on...and play catch up...

My finance paper got thrown back with so much scribbles from the boss that I really need to
sit down and take some time to look through...Hope to get this settled & cleared by tomorrow!!

mon samedi~!!

Been talking about losing steam since earlier this year...
But oh well, I just started my French 2nd semester for this year...hehe.

Peer pressure.. haha, it's nice learning with a bunch of people whom you have known for the past 6 months at least...I've known Eric since May last year!!

L'annee dernier, j'ai pris le cours de francais parce que j'ai eu le temps...
Maintenant...je prend le cours parce que mes amis??

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Went to check out the new restaurant/pub at Pasir Ris Park..the area which used to be Fishermen's Village..
Well, not entirely new...think it's been there for a few months but not many people know about it.
There's two restaurant/pubs there. One's called Summer Breeze...this one is more casual & cheaper I think...

We went to the other...looks more atas..and of cos, prices are correspondingly more atas haha..
2 Earl Grey's and a plate of onion rings mixed with chix nuggets & fish nuggets cost us about $20-odd....
Watched the 2nd half of the FA Cup match between Man U Vs Portsmouth there....
Woohoo!! Man U lost and is out of the semis...hiakzzzzz ;p

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Went to Vera's housewarming just now at Chai Chee...nice little space..3-room but very well-ventilated...8th storey and unblocked view...woohoo...

Ate a little...chatted alot with her, Weiqi, PQ & Weihao..
Damn funny listening to her stories about her inflight experiences...And damn funny listening to Weihao's "Customs" duty stories...

Did you know..technically for locals coming back to Singapore after a trip...if you're carrying goods/items valued at more than $300, you're supposed to declare them? And subsequently, you need to pay 7% GST on those items??

I have been travelling for quite a number of times since 2006....and quite frankly, I didn't even know there was this "rule" in place...But of cos, it's not a hard & fast rule...heard that Terminal 1 is stricter than T2 or T3..hmm mm...

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Went to ICB with Kym & XL yesterday....Dan & YL joined us much later...
This quarter, the 1 for 1 promo is for TuBorg, Carlsberg & San Miguel (not the light one)...
Itchy backside, had 3 bottles of Carlsberg...and lots of pizza and chix wings...Not alot of booze...but for a non-frequent drinker...perhaps enough to cause some "damage"..haha

Woke with a headache this morning...one killer which lasted till 7pm in the evening...only subsided after 2 doses of panadol...

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Oh, Suntec was a big big mass of congestion yesterday. Cars stuck on roads, pedestrians weaving here and there...people carrying boxes, people pushing trams...wah lau...mad house.
Even City Hall MRT was bloody packed..

The IT Fair has definitely caused a frenzy man..
For those who are going...level 3, 4 & 6...have fun squeezing!!!

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And cos of the IT Fair, by lunchtime yesterday, all carparks in Suntec were full...
Needless to say, all, if not most of the eating places were packed to the brim with long queues snaking out from the eateries...

And so, the bunch of us...about 6 pax...trudged out all the way to Liang Seah Street to have our lunch.. haha...
It was a zi-char place...along Tan Quee Lan Street. Think it was called "Xin Liang Ji".
Zi-char stall but almost 90% of the pax in there ordered its fish noodles...Apparently quite popular & tasty..came highly recommended byt he rest...so in the end, all of us took the fish noodles...

Some took fried fish with milky soup with noodles, some took fresh fish slice with milky soup with noodles, some took a mix of fresh fish slice & fried fish soup with rice...
But the overall comment was the same...SHIOK AH!! haha...

Go try if you have not before...They also have fish soup with XO...hmm mm...but think that one costs close to $8 a bowl...

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Ok, going to do my homework before I head to bed...
Tata...=)

tra lalala lalala it's Friday!

Was reading My Paper this morning..and these are just some stuff I gleaned from it...
Gosh...so what is retained most in my mind are the gossipy things??

- Man gets killed by police officer in stand-off at Outram MRT
- LeBron James netted 50 points to lead Cleveland Cavaliers to a win over the NY Knicks...
- More than 32,000 vehicle owners were booked for parking on footpaths in 2007
- Warren Buffet is now listed by Forbes as the world's richest man!! Bill Gates has finally been overthrown! Hurrah! hahah...
- Torres is a hero... haha lol...he was the best thing to have happened to Liverpool over the troubled last few years man..
- Errr...$40m facelift which was planned for Orchard Road has hit some snags cos some mall owners are worried about the impact it would have on traffic flow..especially when walkways are closed or narrowed.....
- Oh yah, some Malaysian finance & securities firm donated $1.5m to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra...wah lau eh....

Errrr....errr...I think that's about all that I managed to remember hahha...

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Speaking of which, $40m just to revamp Orchad Road.
Sigh, would the $$ have been put to better use if it were used to help the less fortunate and the needy in Singapore?

Oh of all organisations to donate $$ to...why donate $1.5 million bucks to the SSO??
Couldn't that M'sian organisation have donated the large sum to a welfare home or hospice or children's home or a drug centre or some other centre??

I mean, I'd rather see old folks, young kids, and other more needy people get that $$ rather than the SSO...
I have nothing against the SSO...just felt that the $$ could have been donated to a more needy charity....
Sigh........

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Ok, enough of ranting..back to work...need to accomplish alot of things today...

Strangely, though workload has increased..I feel happier...Hmm..???
Hahaha the perverse me hahaha!!!