Stop.

As I'm writing this, I am still in the office waiting for a friend to meet me for dinner. And I've actually just finished clearing workstuff for the day. I should STOP working till this time of the night, especially at my office. At this month of the year. It can get quite scary.

And as I'm working, I should STOP eating the junk that my colleague and I have stocked up in the office because I have been planning to hit the gym after work since.....dunno when, and I haven't done it yet. I should STOP procastinating and finding the "after-work-tired" excuse and just hit the gym.

Someone just mentioned that I should STOP and think properly about freeing myself from the chains that bind me.

I should STOP letting things that shouldn't affect me, affect me.

So please STOP telling me things that I don't need to know, ok?

There are a lot of things that need stopping. Right now, I need to STOP writing this post and go meet my friend, cos she's messaged me to say she's arrived. :)

British Takeaway with Chinese tea...

Here's what I had for lunch today. And sometime last week. And sometime the week before. The contents of the bag are extremely sinful. Today it was Spicy Calamari Rings and Beer Battered Fish mixed in Salt and Vinegar. Other times, it was Extra Spicy Cheese Curry Chicken with Cheese Dip. Sounds yummy right? It is! And if you're there, make sure you try the Fried Mars Bars with Ice Cream. It must be the next best dessert after my home made cheesecake. :p

Ok, so with all the deep fried stuff I had, I figured the best thing to do was make myself a cup of "Long Jing Cha" which I had bought in Shanghai. Not sure if it really helps after eating oily stuff, but my colleague who also had Chippy's for lunch went to make tea too! So I guess there must be some truth in it. haha.

All thanks to YJ for introducing this British takeaway to me. Now I'm addicted to it. Bump into you again after a good 12 years, introduce something healthy la!

Of Heels and Bikinis

Today was one of those embarrassing days when the sole of my heels decided that it had had enough walking. It gets most embarrassing when you enter non-carpeted grounds, cos while one heels sounds oh-so sophisticated when it lands, the other spoils it by creating sounds of metal nail scraping against the tiles. Sigh. If you have yet to experience that, you are one lucky lady. This must be the third time this year it has happened already. Perhaps I should enrol in a grooming course that teaches one to walk in a more lady-like fashion, and prevent one's heels from getting caught in between tiles and 'longkang' grills! Thank goodness it happened only in the second half of the day.

Then, just as I was about to work on the last of my documents for the day, an invitation came from YJ to attend some Reef Bikini Contest at Red Dot Museum (this must be a favourite among event companies these days; every other event seems to be held there). Hmmmm. To spend a Wednesday evening watching a bikini contest and being reminded of how not slim I am didn't seem very inviting. In any case, I was tired and CSI's on AXN tonight. :) So, I gave it a miss.

If I really wanted to see bikini clad women, I can always just log onto the net, cos some people post pictures of their bikini-clad selves there you know. Really. I never bluff. Not saying it's a bad thing. Just that now the whole world knows that you've lost weight and "Hey look! I've been working out and I can fit into a bikini. Yay!" "Anybody wanna sponsor me a bikini?" Bwahahahah!

Whatever Happened to the Floats?

Root Beer Float. What ever happened to them and the joint which served them? Didn't manage to keep afloat I guess. A pity, cos Root Beer Floats are yummy and the closest to it I can get now the canned form of the drink. Without the ice cream. The last 'float' one I had was probably 9 months back in Bangkok. You can get almost anything and everything in Bangkok la actually.

Today...Tuesday. A little better than yesterday. Made a lot better by the fact that my buddy (we cover each other's stuff when the other goes on leave) at work came back from her week long vacation. She got me thinking twice about taking a WHOLE week's leave when she opened her inbox though. 300+ mails!!!!! Scary.

Anyway, hope work gets better with the week. If not, there's always the vending machine near the guardhouse, and vanilla ice-cream at the supermarket across the road.

Did I mention that I'm glad MacDonald's milkshakes are back? Yes, I am elated. :)

The simple pleasures of life.

Purples' Monday Blues

Mondays. For me, Mondays in the past year always start with a 3 hour (at least) long meeting. Terrible way to start off the working week, ain't it?

Today was no different.

Meeting.
Take phone call.
Clear emails.
Lunch.
Paper work.
Send email.
Internal firefight.
Return missed call that came in during internal firefight.
Become fishmonger for a while.
Paper work.
Reply more emails.
Entertain more phone calls.
Wait for knock-off time so that I can go play Bingo.

Finally, home.

The trip home was horrendously arduous. I left the office and headed to catch the train to Paya Lebar as I had to pick up a pair of glasses (2 pairs actually) I had made. Only I didn't realise that the optician's was in between stations. Had I realised that earlier, I wouldn't have tried walking. I made it there anyhow before it shut its doors (officially at 6pm, so you can imagine how fast I walked since I left after work!).

When I was done, I realised I was like not here not there in terms of time and place, and a bit hungry from all the walking. So I decided that I should screw tonight's Bingo session (though the stakes are good!) and just go home. You see, I was hungry, wasn't sure what bus to take, was in the middle of 2 train stations, and with the fare hike in cab fares, it just wasn't worth taking cabs during peak hours. So, I headed towards home-direction and walked to Eunos station to buy some food back for Grandma, Yati and myself (no dinner cooked at home today). Then I took the bus back.

In the midst of it all, I message Mommy saying:"No car is very poor thing and troublesome you know. Kena take bus, wait so long for it, and the one that came no air con. Can die!" A very unsympathetic "Ya lor" was her reply. Whoa! How come like that????

I shall have an early night and prepare for tomorrow. It'll only be Tuesday...

Changi Village

Woke up then met Shades of Pink at the 'aunty shop' at East Coast for our cycling trip to Changi Village. My third attempt at it, the last one being almost a year ago. When she asked me some time back how long I took the last time, I replied "About an hour there and another hour back". Her eyes widened and she went:"One hour? You cycle liddat ah?" (she acted out the cycling motion in an extremely 'seow' and fast manner). It was then that I realised that an hour to her was too short. I personally think it's a bit too long (a bit paiseh to tell people one hour also).

Anyway, we made it to Changi Village in.....an hour, and YJ met us there for brunch. Between Shades of Pink and I, we had chicken chop hor fun, beef noodles, orh-ni with pumpkin fritter (see pic), tapioca fritter, kopi peng and 3 glasses of sugar cane. This girl can really drink! Didn't go toilet some more. Anyway, for all you orh-ni fans, you've got to try this fritter thing. It's damn yummy lor. After having our fill, YJ asked: "You guys going to cycle back after eating all these? Can make it ah?" Shades of Pink told him to check out tomorrow's Straits Times for any unfortunate reports on us. YJ said: "Ya, tomorrow's report will read 'Girls found along Changi Coast Road drowned in puke. But they were smiling'." So in order to keep that story off the press, we waited a while before heading back.

The trip back was not as tiring as I had expected, and we were blessed with good weather. Pretty scenic too as we took the path along Changi Beach. Until we reached the East Coast stretch where the wind decided to blow against us! And then the 'sng-ness' set in. This was evident when Shades of Pink went to purchase a pair of shoes at one of those stalls along the MacDonald's stretch, when sitting down and getting up to try on the shoes became an extremely difficult task. It was quite funny, really. Unglam la.

Oh, check out this one-of-a-kind sign we came across while cycling back. It reads "NO WOMAN. NO GAMBLING. NO FIGHTING." Has anyone seen that before? Makes you wonder what goes on in there. Did they have catfights in there before, hence the 'NO WOMAN' part of the sign??? Or was it fighting off loansharks, hence the 'NO GAMBLING' part???

Purchase or Get Sponsored?

No explanation needed to explain the title of this post, but here's my take.

In my line of work, I would much rather people purchase from me, than seek a sponsorship from the organisation. A no brainer because, in this case, I get money from it.

Now, we talk about being on the other end, where the decision lies between purchasing and getting a sponsorship for something. Frankly, if the 'something' we're talking about is within one's means, I'd say, 'Purchase'. If it is beyond one's means, then I'd say 'Save up, then purchase'. Unless, of course, you are Cindy Crawford, Anna Kuornikova or Michael Schumacher, where people seek to sponsor you for watches. There's a difference.

But of course, there are always the men in the street who will still try their luck at getting a sponsorship despite being able to afford it. Yao Guis. We all know people like that I'm sure. :)

Kudos to you if you manage to get it, but quite 'lau kui' if you don't and people find out about it right?

Aunty-hood

Went blading one of the weekday evenings last week with Shades of Pink and was chatting about random topics. One of them which we find hard to fathom is that of the yellow faced aunty. We were running through the list of people we knew who have the good fortune of meeting the "right one at the right time" and have since settled down. So the conversation went from 'who's married' la, 'who has married who' la, 'how come this one married that one' la to 'who's preggie' la etc etc.

Then we came to the 'after give birth already why liddat' topic. The 'why liddat' refers to how some of the people we know transformed into the yellow faced aunty after marriage and/or childbirth. We came to the conclusion that marriage and childbirth brings with it greater responsibilities, and less time for oneself. Thus, the transformation. Looking at real life examples, the 2 phases in life sure comes with a LOT of responsibilities. Ok, to be fair, there are also the lucky few who do not undergo that transformation process. So to all those who are married or are going to, have given birth or are going to, do that self check once in a while please.

Speaking of aunty-hood, I was reminded by a friend yesterday to keep MYSELF in check from aunty-hood. Here's how the conversation on cars led to the gentle reminder.

Me: The other day I went for a movie preview and it was some Lexus club event. Every other car in the car park was a Lexus lor.

Him: Is it? Have you seen the new Lexus? Very nice! The other day I saw 2 at the same time with the same number. 1966.

Me: Oh, you got buy 4D or not? Then buy 6169 also cos it was my old extension.

(Only later did I realise that my old extension was 6164. 6169 was my colleague's! And the reason why I suggested buying is cos the last time my cousin and I saw 3 cars with different permutations of the same 4 digits, the number came in first prize that week. Dunno which permutation though. Didn't buy anyway.)

Him: Aiyoh, I can just imangine you a couple of years from now you know. You probably would have like a stack of 4D chits in your handbag type.

Aiyoh, shocked lor. I've not reached that stage yet, but I can be caught loitering at Singapore Pools sometimes lor. Just SOMETIMES hor. Especially during the last month! Luckily the World Cup is a 4 year event. Better keep MYSELF in check though. In terms of age (not behaviour) 4 year multiples do take me closer to aunty-hood...

Back to "School", but Not Quite.

Funny how my workplace is now where my alma mater used to be. Not that I ever studied there, cos by the time I was enrolled into Primary School, they had shifted location all the way to Toa Payoh (TP). Then, some of us who started off at the new grounds always wished that we had had the opportunity to have had at least had a year at the old compound.

Funny also that though I live in the east, I travelled all the way to TP for a good 10 years of education. Then when I started my first job, which I was grateful for cos it was in the east, this company shifted back to TP!

Then, one day, my wish came true! When I started at my current job, I found myself back at the original grounds of the place which moulded 10 years of my life. Only now, the place lacks the girlish innocent laughters, the carefree environment, and the sight of people playing five stones along the corridors. Instead, in its place are policticking, a stressful environment, and sights of people scurrying along the corridors, rushing from one meeting to another. And ECAs have now evolved to OT.

Recall how when we were younger and the adults used to tell us, "Enjoy your school days. It's the best time of your life." And we always thought:"Huh? Enjoy? How to with exams and all? Mad!" Then, only when we are all grown up and immersed in the real world, experiencing the ugly side of the world that reveals itself little by little every day, do we begin to appreciate and see truth in what they said.

True, the thought of sitting for exams sucked (Chinese aural!!), but I must admit that I did enjoy my shool days. 10 years of it, to be precise. Perhaps it was the institution which made the difference. I'm not sure if the experience would have been the same had I been enrolled in a different school. For those of you from the same institution, I'm sure you couldn't agree more. :)

Ok, time for CSI. Sometimes when I watch this program, I wish I had studied forensic science. The telly makes it look so darn interesting and fun. The culprit is almost always never the first person they suspect. It's usually the 3rd or 4th person.

Ageing has its benefits.

Attended a friend's wedding dinner over the weekend and imagine the elation I felt when i glanced through the menu to realise that the dessert was orh ni! Orh ni is like the best dessert ever. I messaged Shades of Pink to share my joy, (think she loves orh ni too) and she very matter-of-factly reminded me of the caloric content of the dessert. To which I said: "Fat fat la, got justification, getting old." It's a valid one cos one's metabolism slows down with age isn't it? Piling on the kilos is simply inevitable. And, yes, I'm not young. :)

Funny how the nicest of foods are always the most sinful. Like the suckling pig you see in the picture. I'm not really a fan of suckling pig, but this one was really yummy. For those who are planning a trip to BKK, make sure you check out the suckling pig at this restaurant called Scala.

Question: Is it possible for 2 people to consume this whole pig (amongst other food)? For those of you planning to leave a comment, be nice, cos believe me, it's possible lor.

Oh, the orh ni was disappointing, by the way. Don't know what happened also. One of those attempts to modify the recipe that resulted in disaster, i think.

SUMO

Had this acronym used on me by my cousin some time back whilst in the midst of complaining and wondering about life and past events. Basically, it means, "Shut up, Move on."

MOVE ON.
Hmmm. A little tough sometimes, but not impossible. Comes with time, I guess. Like what Shades of Pink once said, and I quote: " Sometimes, when you think you have forgotten and that you have gotten on with life, but ACTUALLY, you still remember, and you realise you still do, the realisation hits you darn hard that you get thrown off balance." I guess that's what really happens each time something eats at me. Sometimes, regardless of how good the memories are, I wish I had a huge, gigantic eraser to eliminate certain parts of my life. Unfortunately, we all know that it's just NOT possible. I guess that's where the "MO" part of "SUMO" comes in. Everyone hates to fail, hates to give up, hates to give in. But sometimes, the wiser decision is to just walk away and move on. Easier to just let it all go and accept that there will always be stuff that we will never understand, than to drive ourselves crazy trying to understand them. What's important is not to miss out on the present by looking back and wondering why some things happened. And then, look back again and wonder why we wasted all that time looking back and wondering. Life's too short for 'what-ifs'.

SHUT UP
Shutting up and not talking about the past is a leeeeetle bit harder to do, being the person that I am. Sorry peeps. So, if you find me bitching (trust me, I'll keep it within the bitchy-funny mode) about you, no hard feelings ok? It's my way of moving on and finding some humour in whatever life throws at me. Haha. C'mon, we all have our own way of handling things, don't we? ;p To my friends (you know who you are) who've always been there to help me find the humour and more importantly, the brighter side of life, thanks a bunch!

And to my cousin dearest, I think it should be "MO" to start with. The "SU" will come in later.

Healthy Diet?

My colleague and I decided today that we should start eating healthily as we had been having fast food for lunch the past week. Our office is within walking distance of Macs, KFC, Mos Burger and Burger King, so you can imagine how convenient and fast it is for us to get fastfood. Well today's lunch was extremely healthy. Fruits and yoghurt off the shelf at the supermarket. MEIJI yoghurt, to be specific. Here's what transpired during our supermarketing:

Me: Ok, we buy the cut fruits from supermarket. For the same price as the food court, got more variety.

Colleague: Okok.

Me: Then we go and buy the Meiji yoghurt to pour over the fruits ok?

Colleague: Can finish or not?

Me: Can la can la. Fruits only what. The yoghurt very nice one.

(on the way to the fruit and yoghurt section, we passed the tidbit section)

Me: Eh, want to buy Pocky and Collon or not?

Colleague: Huh? Thought we supposed to 'jian fei'?

Me: Orh. K la. Then dowan la.

(still along the way, we passed the frozen food section)

Me: Eh, we brought that kettle-boiler thing to office right? If we buy the potato wedges, then we fill the kettle with oil, you think can deep fry the wedges or not?

Colleague: Eh! You really very greedy leh! Of course not la! But maybe you boil the water in the kettle then we can buy the 'bao' and steam lor!

Ok, so I was being greedy is it? But all we were having for lunch was yoghurty fruit leh. I'm sure some of you can identify with my "eat-fruit-for-lunch-so-can-snack-abit-on-tidbit-later" theory. See, if we had snacked after eating, say, a bowl of mee pok for lunch, the guilt will be there. However, with fruits for lunch, the snacks somehow seem less sinful. Correct or not?

Bingo

For all those who are under the impression that this is an old lady's game, set a date with me for a session of Bingo at the club and you might change your mind. I actually have fun every alternate Mondays playing Bingo. On some lucky days, I actually make money from it. Heh. Only bad thing about it is that it has replaced my gym session.

Anyways, Bingo is a little like mahjong. I'm only saying so cos I've noticed how alert these little ole ladies are, and we all know how mahjong keeps the brain active. In order to win a round of Bingo, you have to form letters of the alphabet on the card by closing numbers called out, and letters like 'M' and 'R' are not that easy to form. The best part of it is that the prize money for a certain round snowballs if nobody wins it. Right now, it stands at $1,200 on the 62nd call. Not difficult at all (on average, most games are won by the 60th call).

So, if you're looking for me 2 Mondays from now, you'll know where to find me. :)

Thank God for Girlfriends.

Girlfriends. They must be amongst one of the best gifts from above. Had a pretty bad Fri last week, but all was better after time spent with two of my girlfriends over the weekend. We usually meet at Siglap for after-dinner coffee. This time, however, we decided to meet for dinner at a 'tze char' place at Kembangan. As always, we caught up with what was happening in each others lives, why some things were such, and as usual, had to have a bit of the usual therapeutic bitching session. As one of my other friends puts it, when the 3 of us meet, we will be hatching some spell, nonetheless. Funny, he makes us sound like witches. Anyway, these 2 other 'witches' and I go way back to primary school, playing with Cabbage Patch Kids (this was THE in thing then) at recess time. We weren't that close after, but as fate would have it, we met again in JC, where we did lotsa crazy, unimaginable things, like performing "Phantom of the Opera" in the canteen. I shan't go into details, but I'm sure you two know what I'm referring to.

Well, with work and all, we probably don't hang out as much as we used to or would like to, but i'm glad for all the effort we make to keep in touch and grateful for how you 2 have always been there to lend an ear. Especially the times when you guys make me see light in the dreariest of situations. Even if we have to be witchy-bitchy about it. Heh.

Ok, now over to my other girlfriend at work, who's also my listening ear for office gripes, my lunch buddy and, most importantly, my snack buddy. haha. Look at what we just bought from across the office! Imagine what my weight would be if I downed all these myself! I say again, "Thank God for girlfriends" :)

A Lizard's Life

Found Jaime last night in the kitchen engrossed with one of her reptilian friends. She followed Lizzie across the wall, behind the door and waited till she finally reappeared to run across the kitchen floor. The next thing I knew, Jaime had Lizzie in her mouth, and was running out of the kitchen. "Outside! Not in the house!", I yelled. She transported her reptilian friend into the garden as I stood at the front door, waiting to see what she would do next. She laid Lizzie on the carpet grass, looked at her, and then back at me, beaming with pride. (You see, it isn't everyday that Jaime gets to be this close to her reptilian friends). Seeing that Lizzie was not moving, I said: "Ok, let's go in. No more already." She came towards the house, then decided otherwise, ran back to the grass and rolled over Lizzie with her body. Happy with her accomplishment for the night, she called it a day and came back into the house.

Jaime's my Golden Retriever, by the way. Tonight, she will have to find her other friend, an amphibian, who occasionally appears in my garden. Keroppi.