An Exasperating Discussion

It was the 4th day rolling (if we skip Saturday) that we engaged in yet another long drawn and even slightly argumentative discussion on the new project. By now, both my line manager and I could more or less ‘tune’ our frequency to each other.

I have tried for 1.5 day to rationalize the financial model and tie the numbers but to no avail. I gave up and finally called for help from my line manager. Soon after we met, I launched into a monologue to explain the entire concept. I was hoping to seek some views and buy-in that I was on the right track.

After about 15 minutes, he cut me off and remarked that when a person stopped schooling, the brain would also retard. You must be wondering why in the world he said that. After working with him for sometime, I could more or less get the HINT. He was simply hinting that he had no idea what I was explaining.

Before I had any chance to rephrase the concept, he suggested taking another short break by going coffee. I refused vehemently and stressed to him we had to complete the model. I continued my ‘long story’ about the model again.

He broke me off again about 5 minutes later and commented that he read somewhere that caffeine could stimulate the mind and that perhaps after coffee we would have better idea on how to work out the numbers. He was very persistence about his coffee. I refused to fall into his trap of taking breaks because I knew it would be difficult to get him to concentrate later. Therefore, I object to this ‘weird’ theory and told him that we would just lose our train of thoughts if we took a break then.

His reply?

He cheekily said that his train of thoughts had already ‘derailed’ ages ago.

I refused to relent and forced him to sit down and understand the concept. Finally, I asked if my concept worked mathematically. He looked at me blankly. I added that engineers were supposed to be better in maths than accountants. He rebuked that engineers were good in maths but not in financial maths.

I GAVE UP! Sometimes I do not know if I should laugh at his humour or be infuriated by his non-seriousness. Sigh!

I guessed some of his non-seriousness has gradually rubbed off me. When I finally tied off the numbers and sent the model to him, he asked me how I have managed to resolve the problem.

My reply?

It was a trade secret. *Wink!*

New Keyboard?

My docking station has finally arrived after much anticipated wait. No more plugging in and out all the cables everytime I need to go for meeting. No more keeping the cabinet when I am going home. I can just lock and go home. Hurray!

I was eagerly trying to set up and hook up all the cables and connections. Finally, it is the most critical part - to connect the keyboard. Ooops! Again? I cannot find the matching port!?!?!?

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Refusing to give up, I checked with my colleague who was using the same model as I did. Nope, I did not have stamps on my eyes. There is really no matching port for my keyboard. Sigh!

Maybe I should ask for approval tomorrow to get a new keyboard, at least one that has a UBS port that matches that of my docking station...

Work - Play Balance

I was stuck in a full-day discussion with my line manager today. It was meant to be a continuation from yesterday.

When it was close to lunch hour, he asked me to join him and his team, many of whom I have already worked with, for lunch. We have ventured to Xing Wan Café at Cineleisure. This was the first time I have been to the Café as it was usually crowded on weekends. Under their recommendation, I have decided to try the Chicken chop which was supposed to be quite good.

They were a rowdy and funny bunch with lots of jokes and harmless gossips of one another, like which were the prettier colleagues that they have spotted, the schools and their previous ECAs. This was when I found out that the line manager whom I have worked with on this recent project was my senior. What a small world! I realised that they worked hard and they played hard as well. I have enjoyed the lunch tremendously and all my worries were temporarily cast aside.

After lunch, we went back for more spreadsheet work and simulation. When it was about 3 plus, my line manager seeing my intense concentration again nudged me out of my analysis and asked me to go for coffee. Despite my repeated refusal that it would be more efficient for me to finish the entire analysis, he finally convinced me that we would be more efficient after a short break.

He was right. We worked better thereafter. Notwithstanding the race against time, the short breaks helped reduce the tension and made this rush less painful and dull.

Burnt Sunday

I was in office on a beautiful Sunday morning because we have to come out with the business case for a new project. The kick-off meeting was last Friday and the case is to be presented to management this Wednesday. This does not leave us with a lot of time. Hence, we have decided to get some work done on Sunday, at least there will be no disruption.

Somehow, when one works on a weekend, the weekend seems to shrink even more. Normally, weekend already seemed to pass by faster than weekdays.

It is MONDAY again tomorrow!!!!

New 'McDonalds' on the Block

After talking about it for weeks, my mum, my sis and I finally have time to try out the new McDonalds' in our estate. All my neighbours' kids have already been to this new McDonalds', except us. Shame on us...

This new McDonalds' comes with new McCafe, a drive-through and even a playground for the kids. It is situated at the end of the park. There are tables both indoors and outdoors and staggered on different levels. The top outdoor level is perched on a pavillion, overseeing the park and the trees - very alfresco style. There are ceiling fans to cool the outdoor place on a hot afternoon - very colonial. The whole decor resembles that of Le Amis at the entrance of Botanic Gardens.

It has been ages since I have had Big Breakfast. Somehow, Big Breakfast still gives me a very satisfying feeling and helps cheer me up on a grey Saturday morning. It is very relaxing to chill out with a languid breakfast on a non-working morning. The satisfying breakfast, the aroma of the coffee and the nice scenery warm one's heart.

I am looking forward to popping by more often, especially when I need to spend some quiet time alone or catching up with friends.

P.S. I bumped into an ex-colleague who happened to bring his grandchild to McDonalds as well. Hmm, I seem to keep bumping into ex-colleagues in my estate recently.

The Wrong Kind

In The Peak, Zhi Hang was the honest, down-to-earth guy who cared about his family, his friends and was the epitome of Mr Good Man. Sky was a charismatic Casanova who was quick-witted and constantly surrounded by different girls. Zhi Hang liked Xiao Yang very much and often stood by her. However, Xiao Yang liked Sky instead even though he was holding a torch for someone else.

Perhaps one would think that this was another complicated love triangle which is often found in dramas. Yet, in a way, it seemed to reflect the saying that sometimes we just fall for the wrong kind.

Hands up please, if you have ever rejected a boring Mr Nice Guy or Miss Girl-next-door who thinks the world of you, in preference of Mr / Miss Wrong who makes your heart flutter but does not know your favourite food. Hands up please, if you have ever strayed or thought about straying from your stable and long-lived relationship in search of something exciting but short-lived?

Is this one of the paradoxes in life? Or is this a test in life that we must pass in order to progress or even to ‘graduate’? We often ditch the happiness which is in our hands for something in the bush. Sometimes, we sink deeper and deeper into this muddle and sound advice will fall on deaf ears. Finally, when we realize our mistakes, amends can no longer be done.

Despite knowing the theories and morals, we still succumb to such mistakes repetitively. Is the pasture always greener on the other side? Despite seeing the enactment of someone else falling for the wrong kind and the associated consequences, we still throw caution to the wind when Mr / Miss Wrong comes along. Is the craving for something exciting an exhibit of immaturity or will this craving transcend all ages? Does this mean that our heart is stronger than our brains so that rationale gives way to emotions?

Life will be simpler if we can cherish what we have. Hurt will be lessened if we will follow our rationale and choose Mr Good Guy or Miss Good Girl. Being together with someone who cares for you and to whom you matter most is one of the greatest happiness.

I hope Xiao Yang will eventually realize the good of Zhi Hang.

New Notebook

I am still trying to get used to the ‘feel’ of my new notebook.

As it is a total change of brand, from Acer Travelmate to IBM Lenovo, the positions of the keys are all different. Previously, it took me a while to get used to Acer as I was using HP before I left my old job. When I finally settled in to Acer, I switch to IBM and must start the ‘adaptation’ process all over again.

For instance, the position of the <Fn> and <Ctrl> keys on the left hand side are swapped for both Acer and IBM. Thus, when I want to use the <Ctrl> key (mainly for the shortcuts for copy and paste functions) which used to be on the extreme left for Acer, I ended up pressing the <Fn> key on the IBM and getting fustrated on why the coping did not work. In another instance, the <PgUp> and <PgDn> are located on the bottom right for Acer but on the top right for IBM, again I fumbled when I tried to locate my <PgUp> and <PgDn>. Sometimes, when I press something wrongly and repeatedly (thinking that I have not pressed hard enough for it to work), a shrill warning sound is emitted. This then prompted me to realize my mistake but not before being embarrassed by the “beep” sound.

Moreover, I am used to have a finger pad to control the mouse. Now it is a red little dot which is hard to control.

I should not be complaining with a new notebook. Perhaps, in another week’s time, things will settle down to normalcy. Hopefully, my docking station will arrive soon and then it will save me the hassle of plugging in and unplugging every time I need to dislodge my notebook at the start of the day, to bring to meetings and at the end of the day.

I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Day After Tomorrow

We have always been reminded that mankind needs to act responsibly to sustain our environment. Politicians worldwide grapple with the delicate balance of economic advancement and being environmentally friendly. Despite growing awareness of the need to be socially responsible, issues such as pollution, animal extinction and global warming still constantly plagued mankind.

Day After Tomorrow was shown last Sunday. It drove a very clear message about how irresponsible acts in the pursuit of economic excellence has led to severe climate change – the dawn of an Ice Age. The greatest irony portrayed in the movie was that even when the climate shift was apparent, the leaders of the world were still blatantly ignoring the signal. As a result of their short-sightedness which focused on the more immediate economic rather than environmental benefits, many lives were lost.

Inadvertently, we have once again become more and more blasé towards environmentally responsible. Sometimes, we were reminded of the importance of maintaining our environment when natural disasters such as flood and drought ravaged some parts of the world. When haze clouded our skies, we started finger-pointing. Yet, it was also an acute reminder that a country's actions will bring about consequences that cannot be constrainted by geographical boundaries. Some of these reminders are short-lived and when situation resumes normalcy, we are back to our inconsiderate ways. Some may feel that their actions are too insignificant. Yet, when all these insignificant acts are aggregated, it can result in a substantial impact.

In addition to the message about being environmentally friendly, there is also a theme surrounding family and love.
Jack - the climatologist who has identified the impending Ice Age was so occupied and engrossed in his work that he is often absent in his son's life. Only when disaster struck did he realise how much he has missed and how much he would like to make it up to his son. Fortunately for jack, he has managed to rescue his son and be given a second chance to do more. For others, they may not be as fortunate. Sometimes, when we realise how much as neglected our loved ones, we cannot undo the regrets anymore because our loved ones may no longer be around.

We often hear the wise sayings or cliches that we should treasure people close to us and live today like there is no tomorrow. However, we are good at preaching it to others but not applying them to ourselves. Hence, this time round, I will be devoting this entry to myself, to do an internal reflection and ensure that I minimise any regrets before it is too late.

Ministry of Food

There seems to be an increasing popularity among the commercial outlets to adopt “Ministry” in their business name. For instance, we have Ministry of Sound and now we have Ministry of Food. Do not confuse them with the conventional Ministry that we know. You will not be able to find any Minister or public policy papers in either Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Food

Ministry of Food introduces fusion Japanese food where the ingredients may be Japanese but the way of cooking is Western or where the ingredients are more commonly found in Western cuisine but cooked in Japanese style. The décor of the restaurant is more contemporary where it is difficult for me to pinpoint to a specific culture or region.

For the traditional Japanese food cooked in a non-Japanese style, I have tried out the hot stone Unagi rice under my friend’s recommendation. Grilled Unagi is cut into small pieces and mixed with the rice in a hot stone pot. When it is served, the teriyaki sauce is added to the rice and the crew will blend the sauce into the rice on the spot. There is a sizzling sound, followed by waft of barbecue aroma. The rice is scalding hot and has to be periodically stirred with a wooden spade to reduce the burnt rice at the bottom of the pot. It is almost like eating the traditional claypot rice that we are all familiar with.

We have also shared an avocado, tofu and melon seed salad. The salad dressing is made from wasabi. It is slightly refreshing from the other salads that we have had. For dessert section, there is a variety ranging from traditional Japanese dessert, like rice cakes, rice dumplings to again fusion, such as ice-cream with sweet potato or green tea ice-cream served in red bean soup with dumpling. One of my friends ordered the oven-baked Japanese rice dumpling served with red bean paste. The chef has even made it into a heart shape for us. This drew many wows from us and delighted the chef and the crew.

The crew was warm and obliging, especially when we have asked them to help us take a group photo. She has even gone the extra mile to ensure that there were no other people captured in the backdrop. Just before the shot was taken, she has to fire orders to the other staffs to move away. She also did not complain and help us take 3 shots – 1 with flash, 1 without flash and another back-up.

It was certainly a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon with friends.

Girls' Talks

I met up with 3 groups of girls friends over this weekend. It started with meeting the musketeers – Ms Chan and Ah Peng on Friday night, my uni girls on Saturday afternoon and finally my sec school buddies on Saturday evening. It was a merry, rowdy, gossipy and of course, endearing way to spend a weekend. Coincidentally, I have Japanese food with them consecutively. Think I will steer away from Japanese food for the time being.

Musketeers
It was our monthly gathering again. However, we have not seen each other as a group for almost 2 months where we were either busy with work or vacations in December.

As usual, I was late as I was attending a colleague’s father’s wake before joining Ms Chan and Ah Peng. I was further held back because Ah Peng, being not quite familiar with Plaza Singapura area has confirmed a wrong location with me.

We started off with a quick updates of each other’s development, especially about Ms Chan and Ah Peng’s recent Taiwan’s vacation. Ms Chan was showing off the boots that she bought from Taiwan. Ah Peng and I were marveling at her courage for wearing the boots to an external meeting. To me, external meeting often means pant suit.

It has been ages since we last met so there was a lot of talk about, from work challenges, to style faux pas and to new drama serials. When Sakae Sushi was closing, we adjourned to another place for beverage and more talking. At 15 past 11, I surrendered and told them we need to call it a day as my yawns became more and more frequent.

Think next gathering will be in CNY period at my house. My house is the only house which the musketeers have not visited before. :-p

Uni Girls
It was almost half a year ago since I last saw them, as I have missed out their December gathering because of work commitments. There was so much updates and news bombarding around. It was not a full turn-up as one of them was having fever and another was already in US.

There were 6 of us. Our little girl has finally quit her job after close to 5 years and her last day would be next week. We were happy for her. She also looked more relaxed than before. Another has decided to take no-pay leave with effect from July to pursue her postgrad studies. Another has started temping after her postgrad studies and before she found her ideal job. Our pillar was serious about coming to some decision about her career by this year as she has deliberated over several options for some time already. Finally, the girl who has shared the same birthday as me has had a change in portfolio and was thinking about starting a family.

A few of us were particularly interested in postgrad studies. In fact, I have also been toying this idea for about a year. After working for a while, one longs to be mentally stimulated again. However, I have yet to have to courage to ‘take the plunge’, ie quit my job and pursue it full-time. Currently, there were simply too many other considerations. We were also busy getting tips from the friend who has just completed her MBA, like which school is good, passing GMAT, lessons’ pace, etc. There was also a piece of good news which she has shared – if one has obtained at least a second upper honours from the Bachelor’s degree, one can skip GMAT. Wow, if this is true, it will definitely be very good news.

Our pillar has recommended us a touching movie about the deep friendship of a group of girl friends. We are all supposed to circulate the VCD around, watch the show and pen down our thoughts and feelings. We will then compile these thoughts and feelings into a book as a wedding gift for the girl who is now in US.

So much changes within 6 months, so much to say, yet so little time. Some of the girls have actually needed to rush off back to work, meet other friends and attend church service.

We have parted with promises to gather for CNY for our traditional reunion dinner.

Sec School / JC Buddies
We are more of sec school buddies which are ‘carried forward’ to JC. Again, it was not a full turn-up as one of them has to attend marriage counseling. Nevertheless, we were again excited by the news of SM which was definitely the highlight and topic of the night.

Hui and I literally turned into ‘aunties’ when we heard about SM’s news, giving out our point of views on how she could handle the situation. The group of us was helping her analyse the situation and each giving our view and suggestion. I hope we have helped her instead of do her in with our non-professional suggestions.

We were also sharing about plans for the coming year – Hui’s marriage’s plans, Jen’s job search, Ah Koh’s health and career plans and SM’s trekking plans. We have exchanged updates on the latest development of individual’s friends who were not within this clique. We even branched into some gossips of our past school mates – like who’s who is in which company and who’s who is going out with who’s who.

We parted with more concrete plans for CNY. We are going to have a steamboat dinner at Hui’s house. =p

Event Organisers

Usually newbies are 'arrowed' to participate in the organising committee of events. It is no exception for my new company. I have been 'volunteered' by my boss to be a representative of my department for our annual Dinner & Dance.

One of the tasks is to select an event organiser (EO) to help with the event. Again, we are faced with budget constraints - a constant challenge for all events. Hence, we have to scrimp and save when it comes to programs, venue, food, etc. In another event which I have participated in my ex-company, we even had to make do without an EO, search for our own talent for emcees, plan our own pre-event mass participation games, and produce our own posters.

This is the first time I have met up with various EOs to hear them introduce their concepts and proposals. It is an eye-opening experience. From their vivid descriptions and photos, it seems like event planning is fun and challenging. All the EOs seem to exhibit alot of passion and creativity for their work. Their passions are influential and lead you into wanting to join in the fun of organising the activity / event itself.

It is also admirable for their love of their job. I hope I can have and sustain similar passion for my job. :-)

Skiving

My colleague has asked me to go for lunch together but I told him my schedule was bad for this week. Then he called me to join him for breakfast when I was rushing through my report, so he got another "No". Finally, he asked that we go for tea when we ended one of our afternoon meeting and I obliged.

Yet, I was feeling very guilty for skiving.

For those who have known me, you would have known that I hardly skived, not even for lunch period (ie I will stick to the one-hour). Hence, when I need to sneak out of office just to have tea, I was abit worried.

To mask my guilt as well as my skiving, I even bring along my notebook and was laughed at by my colleague.

Despite my timidness, it was still a good break to have a little respite as well as to catch up with my colleague where I got to hear about his daughter, food, ownership of car, etc.

Humourous and Humour-less

Pardon my poor pun. I guess by now you can reasonably conclude that I may be able to write for leisure but definitely will not be able to do it on a professional basis.

Many charismatic guys are humourous. Their abilities to lighten a tense situation or to effectively break ice with strangers often draw people to them. Hence, there is often the preconception that to be attractive, it is not necessary for a guy to be good looking but he has to be humourous.

Sky, one of the male leads in the Channel 8’s 9 pm drama serial, is one of the humourous, bordering on flippant, kind of guys. He has hordes of girls waiting to date him. He is someone whom we more commonly associate with a “bua-ya”. He always teases and pulls pranks on Zhenya, such that Zhenya is so upset that she views him as her number 1 nemesis. When Sky finally decides that he likes Zhenya and confesses to her, she refuses to believe him, thinking that it is another lie.

While we are being entertained by the bantering and bickering of Sky and Zhenya, it makes me pondered about the challenges faced by a humourous person. When one jokes around so often, others will not take him seriously after a while. It becomes hard for them to garner the required attention on a serious note. When he cannot effectively convey his message, being humourous becomes a shortcoming instead.

Despite empathizing with the difficulties that a humourous person is undergoing, it is still tough for a listener to assume that he is making a serious point in the first instance. Firstly, it can arise out of habit that we automatically assume that the person is telling a joke or is trying to pull our legs. Secondly, such reaction is also a form of self-protection. We do not want to end up being the butt of the jokes when the joker is indeed pulling our legs. Nobody wants to be laughed at for his stupidity or naiveté.

To be taken seriously, perhaps the humourous person has to be mindful about what can or cannot be joked about such that others can also make a clear distinction on whether to take him seriously. For instance, humour should be kept at bay when it is pertaining to professional issues, technical advice or matters of the heart.

However, it is easier said that done sometimes.

A Breather

Today is the first day for a week which I am able to see the sun when I left office. It was certainly a relief. Adrenaline can only sustain one for a short term. To be able to work effectively long term, we would still need to maintain work-life balance.

Farm Stay

This week, Japan Hour did a special on farm stays where often the hosting family would treat the guests as if they were family or friends. Although there were no expensive delicacies and no romantic ambience, there were warm reception, cosy environment and home-cooked food. In addition, the hosts even planned fun activities for the guests, such as going to the farm to select bamboo to make bamboo toys.

Perhaps for those who craved excitement and challenges, especially the cosmopolitan yuppies, a farm stay would just spell BORING out loud. A farm stay is often associated with slow pace, little activities and dull. Yet, it is a perfect sanctuary to wind down, destress and even recuperate.

I was reminded of my farm stay in Perth about 3 years ago. Many will not opt for Perth as an ideal vacation choice. Relative to the other parts of Australia, Perth is considered quiet and uneventful. If one likes theme parks, the sun and sea, one will go for Gold Coast. If one likes culture and city, one will go Sydney or Melbourne. Perth and the neigbhouring Freemantle are generally laid back.

When I was in Perth, I had stayed in a farm for about 2 days. It was perfectly relaxing. The bed was both welcoming and comfortable, even though it was a bunk bed. The food was delicious, even though it was a simple fare with fresh produce from the farm. There was a trampoline made from a natural hole in the ground. There was camp fire in the evening. The air was fresh in the morning with a cool breeze blowing. In the night, it was so dark that to make our way back to our farm house, I had to rely on the light emiting from my mobile phone. Yet, it was the first time I felt that the stars were so brilliant and up close. Whereas it is almost difficult to engage in any star grazing activity without the help of a telescope in Singapore; the stars were almost within reach and clear to the bare eyes in Perth. During the night, I had one of the deepest and relaxed slumber in my life, despite it being a foreign bed in a foreign land.

Often, an activity-packed makes one more exhausted from the vacation itself. There is pressure to line activities back-to-back to ensure that one fully maximises the time in the place. There are noisy night markets to shop around even when sleep is beckoning. Sometimes, a laid back vacation is the best vacation because it is where one really has the opportunity to relax and enjoy.

New Year, New Bag

The bag that I bring to work with is getting old, especially when I have subject it to severe climate changes (heavy downpour and harsh sun). Despite my mum's incessant nagging about the need to replace it, I have cast such advices aside. Finally, I have decided to retire it with the advent of a new year.

My old bag is very handy and suits me well. It is big enough to house all my 'barangs barangs', yet not too big to appear sloppy. Notwithstanding Ms Chan and Ah Peng's initial views that the bag looks abit auntie-ish, I am still proud of it. Perhaps an 'auntie-ish' bag suits my growing 'auntie-ish' personality. If Ms Chan and Ah Peng are reading this, they must be shaking their heads now. They are often exasperated at me for being proud of auntie-ish behaviour and often advising me not to aspire too hard towards being an auntie.

I am a queer person. I may not immediately wear or use something I buy. I will keep it until there is a special occasion, like New Year, Chinese New Year, etc, before I wear or use it, and likewise for the new bag I have just started using. I have bought this bag together with an excolleague during Mango sale 2 seasons ago, which works out to be a year ago. I guess you can conclude now that I am a keeper. *Wink wink*

Sometimes, even I am amazed at how long I have kept something I have bought before using it. Fortunately, my weight does not typically go yo-yoing too much, or by the time I have decided to wear my new clothes, they probably will not fit me as well as when I bought them.

I am still trying to get used to my new bag as it is smaller and things are more crammed. Although I have retired my old bag, I am still keeping it and will still use it for other occasions. :-)

Late Nights

I have been sleeping really late, relative to my normal standards for the past few days. If you think that I have transformed into a party animal overnight, you will be horribly disappointed.

Wed – 10.00 pm
Thurs – 10.30 pm
Fri – 11.30 pm

These are the times I left office. I seemed to be breaking my personal record daily.

I was not partying around, but I was certainly consuming a lot of party food – burgers, buffalo wings, pizzas and fries, consecutively for the past few nights. I must confess that this was the first time I have tried the buffalo wings from Pizza Hut and they were simply addictive. *Wink*

Although I am physically exhausted, I am not demoralized by this latest experience. Although the whole team (about 10 of us) had to stay late, we were still trying to keep our spirits buoyant with jokes, digressions and gossips while we rushed through the work. Perhaps these distractions had lengthened our discussion, but they had broken the monotony and drudgery of just work and work.

After a long, hectic and weary day, our ultimate challenge awaited us when we were going home. The irony was it was not related to work but the transport home. Despite calling different taxi companies for about half an hour, we still could not get through to either of it, especially when there were downpours on both Thurs and Fri.

Hence, to avoid wasting time, we had decided on Friday to continue with our work and to leave close to midnight, despite ending our meeting at 10.30pm. We expected that we would not be able to get through any of the hotlines of the taxi companies.

Sigh!

Peaceful Celebration

It was so normal and peaceful that I thought it would be quite misleading to call it a celebration. Basically, I have spent the whole day with my family and did all the mundane things which I like.

My sister made a deliberate effort to wake up early to have dim sum breakfast and to go shopping with me. I missed morning shopping which I used to do often and alone previously. Morning shopping trips were often the most fruitful. When we became exhausted, we decided to go home for MOS burger (one of my favourite fast food, though I still do not fancy fast food very much). For the dinner, it was at Crystal Jade - another one of my favourite.

It is probably due to age.

When I was younger, I was always excited about any upcoming celebrations, be it universal (eg Christmas, Chinese New Year) or personal (birthdays). I would start counting down to the days before they are due. My happiness degree would also be up by a notch at the beginning of those days. Now, they are merely another box in the calendar.

It was indeed a peaceful way of spending the day. Notwithstanding that there was no candle blowing, no partying, no songs, it was still a happy day. *Smile*

Romantic Wedding Dinner

There were 2 flights of stairs leading to the entrance of the reception. The area where the cocktails were served was cosy so that the bride and the bridegroom could mingle and catch-up with friends and relatives. Melodious singing from the Atrium Lounge below enhanced the relaxed ambience. One could even admire the singing ensemble by standing near the edge of the cocktail area.

The groom looked handsome in a dark suit. The bride radiated the glow of a happy woman.

It was the wedding dinner of Mich - my ex-colleague.

In addition to the romantic setting and ambience, the food was pretty unique. The cold dish was served with a short dance by the crew, ie they were holding the dish and dancing to the music before serving the dishes to each table. Instead of having Peking Duck or herbal duck, smoked tea duck wrapped in sweet pancakes was served instead. We were also pretty delighted by the dessert - ice-cream with mango sago. This was certainly a refreshing change from the usual yam paste or longan almond jelly.

The parents looked proud that the dinner was a success and that they have gained both a son and a daughter. The couple looked happily in love.

Mich, all the best to you!

It's Tea Time

Dear asked me out yesterday for tea to have an advance birthday celebration. She has also managed to get a few others to come along, including Ah Koh (Hui's way of addressing her), YR and Mr Lau. I have not chatted with Ah Koh and YR for a long time, though I have seen them briefly and coincidentally on Christmas Day when we were doing our post Christmas shopping.

We were almost having a tea party, except for Mr Lau who had coffee instead. The remaining 4 of us have a pot of tea each - 2 Strawberry Gardens, 1 Morning Dew and 1 Red Berry. It was perfectly idyllic to drink tea and catch up with friends, especially with more tales about MJJJ, customs and practices of a wedding (with Dear's coming up this year), and even how to manage one's work. The highlight of the day was a bet on the gender of a particular name. Everyone guessed it was a boy except me. Of course, I turned up to be the loser and have to finish almost the entire Rum-and-Raisin cake as the penalty.

We got abit bored with our own tea after a while and decided to do a swap. Dear refused to try mine and insisted that Red Berry remind her of a cough syrup (strictly visual). I tried Dear's Morning Dew because I have tried Strawberry Garden before. To avoid Mr Lau being left out of this tea exchange, we have offered our tea but he has declined.

It was a great way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon. It is a pity we cannot see each other more often due to everyone's commitments and hectic schedule. Sigh!

2 Gentlemanly Acts

Act 1

I was being wilful and should have been more appreciative.

Mr Lau has set aside time to meet us and even gotten a birthday gift. He is usually very busy and it is difficult to hear from him, much less see him. The gift was a cute blue Forever Friends cushion. I should have just graciously accept the gift and bring it home. Yet, I did not.

I told him to pass it to me another day because I was attending a wedding dinner that night. It looked funny if I were to carry it to the wedding dinner with me. He obliged and even offered to carry it for me when we adjourned from Coffee Club to the foodcourt. Despite his kindness, I even 'suaned' him that the sun must be rising from the west for his kindness. Oops! Actually, it was indeed meant to be only 'suaning' because he is usually kind and gentlemanly.

I seemed to take an old friend for granted.


Act 2
I took things for granted again the same night.

After the dinner, WK offered to send me home. Perhaps you would think that this is not worthy of any mention because it was a normal expectation of a gentleman. However, please note that WK lives in the west while I live in the north, so the way to my home is definitely not along the way. He has to specially make a detour to send me home. Moreover, he offered this without my asking or hinting (which I usually do and which he usually complains and refuses).

On the way home, he still has to subject himself to my 'suaning'. Although there was a third person in the car, the whole car was filled with both WK's and my bantering. At one point, he nearly could not bear my suaning anymore and threatened to drop me off the expressway. A pity PH was not around, or the car would definitely be rowdier and there would be an ally on my side (hopefully).

Just as WK commented that he missed the fun which we, together with PH, used to have at work, I realised that I shared the same sentiments with him. Well, this is definitely an aspect I miss most from leaving my previous workplace. It is hard to find someone at work who shares the same frequency (note: only same frequency but certainly different working style) as you and with whom you can talk rubbish to. I can even 'highlight' to him about the cheap price of live prawns at the new NTUC hypermart, though this actually drew immediate 'insults' from him about my being 'auntie-ish'.

Anyway, to clarify and set the records straight, WK is a gentleman most of the time, except when he is bickering with me. =p

First Work Week of the New Year

Although this has been a short working week, the working hours seemed to have extended for many of us. Somehow, we seemed not to have gotten out of the holiday mood which we have comfortably settled into during the 4 day of New Year's break (in my case, it was 6 days). Hence, the days felt longer than usual despite the workload.

The New Year started with a 'bang', not in the pleasant but more of the drudgery sense. It was time to review the expenditure portion of the budget. This triggered another series of scrutiny, rationalisation, perhaps even interrogation of assumptions and numbers. Phones are made to numerous parties and emails were flying all over the place. For those who have participated in any way in a budgeting process, I am sure you are very familiar with this phase.

We try to look on the bright side of things by taking pleasures in the little things in life. One of the 'highlights' of the week was the arrival of our 19" LCD monitor. Hurray! No more squinting at the small screen of my notebook which is clearly causing my myopia to deteriorate further. According to my bosses, they are belated Christmas presents.

I was trying to set up the monitor yesterday. Firstly, I could not find my docking station, so as to minimise the plugging in and out when I bring along my notebook to different meetings. I tried to make do with a multipurpose USB port, but it did not have the matching point for the monitor connecting plug. Sigh, I am left with no choice but to plug directly to my notebook. Hopefully, the pins will not give way after several plugging in and out a day, which seems to be happening gradually to my LAN cable.

After much hassle and when I was about to plug in the power, I realised, much to my chagrin, the power cord was too short to reach my power point. I would need an extension cord. Uh-oh, so I could not start using my new LCD monitor yet. Urghhh!!! These sort of dampened the excitement.

What to do? I guess I will need to go scouting for an extension cord during the weekend. I will need to bear with the small screen for a little while more. :-(

American Style Restaurant

The restaurant was tucked away from the main Orchard Road. The ambience and the food are very American style, even the servings were American portions.

I have not heard about this American restaurant until yesterday. The sauteed mushrooms are delicious. I have found the grilled salmon which I was having pretty normal.

However, the ambience was cosy and relaxed. It was definitely a great place for gathering among friends.

Count Down to 2007

Being an early sleeper, I hardly stay awake at the stroke of 12 for counting down to the new year for the past 26 years.

When Dear asked me to join some of our JC mates for counting down, my first concern was whether I could stay awake till then. Moreover, I have not seen some of them for ages, I was also worried that there would be many awkward moments when we run out of things to say to each other. With Dear’s strong assurances and reassurances that it would be a fun evening, I have decided to attend as it was rare that so many of us could make it that night.

We gathered at Lik’s house mid afternoon. From the afternoon to counting down, we were supposed to be engaged in board games. If you think of board games in terms of monopoly, scrabble or Uno, you will be appalled by the narrow range of games you have been exposed to so far. All the games that I have played (mostly touted to be rather brainless, but still proved to be complex to me) were previously unheard of. Although one game might not take long to complete, we often spent more time understanding the instructions and even asking questions along the game. After all, the fastest way to understand the game is to play the game itself.

Among the 3 games which I have played, I liked the Chess Game (I wonder if I have gotten the name correct) best. Chess Game is not a game about chess. It is a card game about slackers. At the start of each game, everyone was supposed to pick an occupation which would determine the number of slack activities you could engage in and the income you have to engage in such activities. Each occupation would also have a designated number of slack points to fulfill. Whoever gained the required number of slack points first would win. In addition, there were some sabotage cards for another player to sabotage the player who was on a winning streak, such as getting the potential winner to lose their jobs or to lose their slack points.

Needless to say, for someone who has not engaged in such intellectually stimulating activities (outside of accounting related) for a long time, I was forever on the losing end. Moreover, my opponents were all having higher IQ than me (I was not exactly one of the smartest in class previously). Fortunately, they were all patient and encouraging with my “anyhow” playing which were often based on guts feel rather than strategies.

We have also decided to emulate the practices of different cultures in their new year celebration, such as the Spanish’s eating 12 grapes or the Japanese eating mochi ice cream at the stroke of 12. We have decided that it would be rather difficult to do both at the same time. Eventually, we have decided to just eat the mochi ice cream and ditch the grapes instead at 12 midnight.

Then we proceeded to the rooftop garden at the neighbouring multi-storey carpark building to light our sparklers and create our own fireworks. We nearly went crazy trying to throw the sparklers into the air to create our own “fireworks in the sky”. Champagnes was popped and we toasted to the new year. I just did the toasting and passed the drinking part to Dear’s boyfriend since I was allergic to alcohol.

Welcome, 2007. Goodbye, 2006.



P.S. I have not been sleeping so ‘early’ for a long time that for the whole of 1 Jan 2007, I felt like I have not woken up despite downing 1.5 cups of coffee. :-(