Little Thoughts

1) Nice Weather
A strong cool breeze blows in the morning when I walk. It is almost if I were in a temperate country. Although the sun shines brightly, it becomes chilly when there is a gust of wind.

I like this climate. It makes walking enjoyable and no more a sweaty affair. It helps to bring a spring to your step as well.

2) Morning Crowd
The morning crowd seems to worsen considerably from December to January. I used to be able to get into the train cabin and still have a comfortable space around me; now, I encounter difficulty squeezing into the cabin. I used to be able to get my copy of Today when I reached the train station near my office; now, the papers are fully distributed when I reach the train station.

I check my watch. I am still keeping to my previous routine for going to work. Is this due to people clearing leave in December or is this due to the booming economy?

3) Intrusion of Privacy
The passengers are literally packed like sardines in the train cabin every morning. My above average height (in my heels) often allows me to easily look over another person’s shoulder. Hence, sometimes I get to free-ride on a person’s reads or writes which includes SMS.

I do not mean to intrude on another’s privacy. However, being packed close, it is almost difficult to look anywhere else except in front where the person’s SMS will be shown to me in full view.

Therefore, if one wants to read or write any personal messages, it is best not to do it in a crowded train if one views accidental read of the message by a third person as an intrusion of privacy.

Simple is Beautiful

I was intrigued by the trailer as the theme of simplicity is refreshing. I have always reminded myself to catch the program when it airs. However, I have always forgotten about it completely when Tuesday comes. Then I lament about my forgetfulness the next day. On the Tuesday which has just passed, I have managed to catch it when it was aired.

This program is a welcoming breath of fresh air amidst the spate of reality series. It is an informative program which shares tips on D-I-Y via the happenings of the main character and is delivered in an almost diary-like, narrative style. The tips shared are simple to apply for both beginners and slackers.

There is a theme / event for the episode to link the DIY tips. For instance, it was a picnic date on last Tuesday, so the DIY tips centre around the preparation of food suitable for a picnic. The recommendation was Japanese food, as a change from normal sandwiches and sushi typically taste better when cool. This reduces the hassle of keeping the food warm. In addition to sharing information on the ‘hows’, the program shares the rationale for performing certain steps. For instance, vinegared water has to be prepared when making sushi because sushi are made with hands and vinegared water serves as an antiseptic for the hands.

For people who are big on DIY or those who crave for something uniquely made, Simple is Beautiful is definitely a must-watch.

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. :-(

Last Day of 2006

This is the last day of 2006. Have you done your reflections on what you have done well and not for this year? Are you satisfied with what you have achieved? Do you have any regrets?

Tomorrow will be a new year. Are you prepared for the coming 2007? Have you gotten your resolutions ready?

If not, get your pen and paper ready to jot down your resolutions, in preparation of the new year.

Oops, I better run off to get mine done as well.

Happy New Year!

Fitted Bedsheets

Kudos to fitted bedsheets!

I cannot imagine how life was before the advent of fitted bedsheet. Changing bedsheets must have a pretty fustrating experience with the degree of fustration increasing with the size of your mattress.

I was changing my bedsheets 2 days ago. Prior to this, I have not changed bedsheets singlehandedly and unaided. My mattress is only size single but rather thick. I was having such a hard time laying the bedsheets over the protector and the mattress. By, the time, I have gotten one side straighten, the other side would have loosened. It was certainly a physically exhausting experience.

Hence, before there was fitted bedsheets, the older generation must have undergone a tougher time changing bedsheets. Sigh!

Hypermart

Recently, there are many hypermarts sprouting out in many parts of Singapore, from VivoCity at Harbourfront, Ikea and Courts at Tampines to the latest member – NTUC Hypermart at Ang Mo Kio.

I joined the crowd today at the new NTUC. It is indeed huge with everything under the same roof, from the normal groceries which we have seen in other outlets, cooked food (peppered roasted chicken and sushi) to electrical appliances (including LCD TV, washing machines, irons) and apparels (men’s short sleeve shirts).

I was naturally attracted to the food section. The variety offered is simply amazing. Mushrooms offered range from the smallest Endoki to the largest Portobello. Crabs offered include the normally-seen flower crabs and Sri Lanka crabs to the seasonal hairy crabs. There is even a live seafood (live prawns and fish) section. (Some of my friends are going to "tsk tsk" me for being such an auntie when they see this.)

Despite its size, it was still packed with people. Many seemed to have traveled far from other parts of Singapore to participate in opening of one of Singapore’s most familiar names.

I am pretty excited about this latest mall as it is a stone throw from my home which means I can do most of the shopping here in future instead of going to town. Hurray!

In the Mood … for Shopping

Since the middle of the month (with the start of Mango sale), I have been on a shopping spree.

This is partly due to the festive mood and the many tempting sales. Generally, everyone was in the mood for buying with the impending Christmas season. The merry-go-round sales and discounts offered by the boutiques and departmental stores were determined to attract the dollars from our wallets.

I admit I am a rather cautious person when it comes to making purchases, ie I hardly go on impulse buying. Sometimes, I even go to the extent of making several comparisons or making repeated trips to ascertain that I really like the item and that it is the best value for money. I hardly go for the best with tight budget constraints. To some of my friends, this is a rather silly move as I spend more time and effort which more than offset the money saved. Notwithstanding, this actually accentuates the fun of shopping with greater satisfaction for getting the best with the least dollars.

The last time I have gone on such a massive shopping spree was 4 months ago. If you have known me for a long time, you would have known that this period is often the peak for my shopping. The post Christmas sale is when I will start ‘stocking up’ on a lot of things. It is often during this period I will indulge myself a little, especially so because during this time I can find things I like, especially in terms of the colours (more solid) and style.

This year I again have successful buys from Mango, G2000, Robinsons and Isetan. Their sales followed one another. Sigh! This also meant that my wallet will become thinner after the holidays.

Words That Light Up Your Day

Now is the time when you will receive many SMSes from your friends sending their well-wishes for the year. There may be friends whom you do not keep in touch on a regular basis, yet their wishes still warm your heart.

Similarly, I have received a SMS from a friend whom we have not been able to meet up more frequently because of our hectic work schedules. We are also not those friends who keep in touch regularly via SMS or emails. In fact, we hardly contact each other except when we are arranging any gathering. Hence, it was a pleasant surprise when I received his SMS.

Many friends are concerned about my well-being, especially how I am settling down in my new job. He is no exception. After months of trying to get out of me where I am currently working, he seemed to finally give up. He added that it did not matter anymore as long as I was happy. This suddenly threw me off guard and I was instantly touched by his words, especially when he is the sort who often teases and "suan" me.


To this friend,

Likewise, where you are working is also not as important as knowing that you like what you are doing. No matter how tough it can get, as long as we find meaning in and enjoy what we are doing, it will keep us going. Good luck.

Cozy Christmas Gathering

This is the first time I have spent Christmas eve with 3 of my closest friends - Hui, Jen and Onion (Hui's husband). We have decided to have a combined house visit cum pre-Christmas gathering at Hui's newly renovated house. *Grin.* Moreover, we had the honour of sampling the results of Hui's first culinary experiment, though I must admit I was initially abit worried.

When we reached Hui's house, she was only mid-way through the preparation of lunch. To keep us entertained in the meanwhile, Onion decided to first show us around the house. The house was quite spacious and windy. It was well-kept and cleaned with no visible mess. Kudos to Hui and Onion for being so conscientious in their household chores.

Soon, lunch was ready. Since it was Christmas eve, Hui has took the liberty to prepare an all-Western meal. We had mushroom soup and vegetarian pasta. For someone who is quite picky with her food, I must say that Hui has made a valiant and superb attempt at whipping up something which not only looked presentable but also tasted palatable. Although the mushroom soup was slightly saltish, it was well-cooked with no starchy globs. The French fries might be abit burnt, but they were still crispy. The spaghetti was springy but not hard. The tomato sauce was sweet and sour. Although most of the ingredients were semi-prepared when purchased (eg the sauce from Prego's, the canned mushroom soup), it was definitely still a remarkable effort. *Applause*

After a filling lunch, we have proceeded to dessert. What is Christmas without a log cake to commemorate the occasion. Knowing that I am a person who always try to avoid heaty food at all expense, Hui has decided to get smaller chocolate log cake (since I won't be eating much). Then, we popped the sparkling juice which Jen has brought to toast to good health, wealth, prosperity and, of course, world peace (Each of us was supposed to think of something to toast to and Onion took the easy way out by toasting to world peace).

Then, it was snack's time. Hui brought out "Hello Kitty" biscuits and "Famous Amos" cookies. We munched along while we chit chat about the coming new year, about the latest films and about cooking utensils and household products (eg vacuum pots, moth balls, roach prevention cabinet liner).

With Hui's very successful first attempt, we have decided that we should have such home-cooked meal gatherings more often. Jen has volunteered that she would prepare soups next time round, while I would try to make "Siew Mai". Hui has even asked her mother's friend to impart some baking skills to her and I have invited myself to the cooking lessons.

Maybe we can organise more of such gatherings, where each of us will teach the other 2 the recipes that we know so that we can be better cooks and can have more variety to our cooking. *Wink*

Merry Christmas

(Giant Christmas tree at the lobby of Ngee Ann City, dated 25th Dec 2006)

Merry Christmas to all my friends and may all your dreams come true. :-)

A Heartwarming and Cosy Wedding

It was one of the best wedding I have attended. Best, not in terms of grandeur nor food, but best in terms of the sincerity and cosiness. It was simple and relaxed, yet meaningful and heartwarming. It was the wedding of my uni classmate cum excolleague.

The couple displayed immense support for each other for the wedding. They were planning and coordinating almost everything themselves, except with the help of one of their friends as the main program coordinator. They have to call their own makeup artists and photographers, assigned jobs for their friends, coordinated with the venue captain, contacted the registrar and even prepared their own marriage certs.

There was a short but solemn solemnisation ceremony followed by a lunch reception. There was no elaborate fanfare with the couple rushing around the tables to take photo shoots with everyone. There was no long and draggy "yum sengs" which often drew little enthusiasm from the floor. As it was a lunch, there was also fewer guests who had to leave quickly before it became too late for public transport. Almost everyone stayed on for the dessert. Some had even stayed on for chit chats after the dessert for a leisure catch-up.

The couple has adequate time to mingle with the guests and even acceded to requests from guests to take individual photos with the them. They could stop at some of the tables to give grateful hugs to their close relatives or to surrender to the pranks pulled off by their buddies.

There were several touching moments. For instance, when the groom gave a thank-you speech to both their parents and friends or when the couple had their tea ceremonies and tears flowed down their parents and grandparent's eyes.

Hence, it was simple but meaningful where they could really share the most important moment of their lives with people who mattered to them.

First Time Being Wedding Emcee

It was a solemnisation cum wedding lunch. When my uni classmate cum excolleague first approached me to be the emcee for her wedding, I was honoured yet reluctant.

I was flattered that she has thought so highly of me. I was reluctant because this was not like any other presentation where a fumble only means a lost chance of promotion or a bad scolding from boss. Any fumble robs the new couple of a perfect wedding and life-time regret remains. I was even more apprehensive when she wanted me to do it in Chinese. Speaking in proper Chinese (ie with no rojaks of other dialects or languages) has proven more and more difficult. The last time I have made any serious attempt to pronounce the Chinese words distinctly was 10 years ago during my Chinese oral exams. However, after some persuasion, I relented. Since there was another emcee to help out, the assignment might not be as daunting. At least, I will not be the only one standing there facing the whole floor of expectant faces.

We have initially planned for a pre-event rehearsal but we could not agree on the time to meet. Finally, we decided to meet earlier on the actual day itself. Given my blurness, I have better had more prior preparation. Hence, I spent about 2 hours last Sunday at home reading through the script aloud to get all the pronounciation right, especially the "with H" and "no H" and "with G" and "no G" sounds.

We gathered at 9am yesterday at the venue. The groom called a meeting after all the helpers have arrived. He briefed us the program and everyone's task. Then we were off to the stage for rehearsal with the program coordinator.

It was the first time I have met my counterpart. He was the primary, secondary cum JC classmate of the groom. He and the groom were also from the same university but different faculties. He was literally the joker of the group. It was indeed a wise choice of the groom to select him as the leading emcee.

During the rehearsal, he was busy adding in sidelines, jokes and practically his own script (which involved jokes about the groom, Star Awards, etc). The jokes relaxed the tense and nervous ambience. Unfortunately, we were more occupied laughing and playing a fool than doing real work, including the groom. There was a scene where we were supposed to announce the arrival of the groom and bride. The groom held the hands of the bride and skipped down the aisle. Despite the other emcee's playfulness, he turned to serious practising of the script when the groom and bride retired to the room to change and do their make-up. We were both doing last minute running through the script to minimise tumbling over the words which happened often during our initial rehearsals.

Finally, it was the start of the real show. There were some events which did not happen as expected which caused us to do last minute improvisation of our prepared script. For instance, the registrar went up to the stage before we invited him. Then, we were also abit lost about when the registrar would finish his speech and that we should announce the end of the ceremony. Mid-way through, it also appeared that the position we were standing blocked the views of some guests and we had to keep moving around between our speeches and the photo montage. Notwithstanding these surprises, we have managed to deliver our speeches with no hiccups and the new couple and their family were impressed and happy.

This was the first time I am the emcee of a wedding. This is also the first time I feel that I have really participated in the wedding. This is also the first time I have witnessed the support of friends and between the new couple to make the wedding really successful, not just in terms of showmanship but in terms of meaning.

It is fun and I am glad I can be of help to my friend. I am touched that she has seen me as a friend to have invited me to be part of the most important event of her life.

Extended Wing of Centrepoint

Although the extended wing has opened for some time, I have not been there. For the recent times I have been to Centrepoint, I have zoomed straight to Mango. Reason? Mango is having their end of season sale now.

We were there to get the remaining gift for my boss. We have decided to get photo frame finally.

Anyway, the extended wing has a very newly painted smell. There were boutiques like Gap, Nine West, etc. We happened to stroll to Gap and we were entranced by their kids' collection. Some of the kids' T-shirt have an accompanying adult version, so that both the mum and the daughter can wear the same T-shirt. :-)

The shortcoming is that the extended wing is not linked to the main building ,except at the fourth floor via Robinsons and at the basement. Thus, it is troublesome if one wishes to move to the main part of the shopping mall.

Joy of Sharing

To many of us who are on 5-day work week, today almost felt like Christmas Eve where many are already in holiday mood.

Having received gifts in advance from some of my colleagues, I have made a last minute decision (last night) to get a small gift for everyone in my unit. It was literally preparation at the eleventh hour.

As you are probably aware by now that my gift wrapping skill is perhaps equivalent to that of a kindergarden student, it will be a tall task to finished wrapping 10 presents in one night. This is on the premise that I could get presents for everyone. Being uncreative, realistic and bordering on laziness, I have decided to opt for the easiest way out.

1) To be ‘equitable’, I will get the same thing for everyone.
2) To minimize any need to exercise my rather incompetent wrapping skills, the gift must be preferably presentable by its own.
3) It should be something practical and will appeal to all ages and personalities, given that I may not fully understand the likes and dislikes of my colleagues.

Tah – Dah. I found it!

It comes in packs of 3 and with characters from Winnie-the-Pooh ‘gracing’ its exteriors. There were the playful Pooh bear, blur-blur Eeyore and funny Tiga. They were simply adorable and I fell in love just by looking at them. Alright, we should not judge a book by its cover, though we are always inadvertently drawn to cute objects. I am clueless about its taste, but I guess cookies will not taste too badly.

Once, I reached office, I started giving out these tins of cookies. My colleagues also started to distribute their gifts. Soon, our tables are piled or lined with many gifts wrapped intricately (except for mine). Having them on your table brightened the day and enhanced the festive ambience.

We also had a Christmas lunch today. Despite the food was mediocre and it was relatively quiet as many were already on leave, it was still a fun experience eating ham and log cake, singing birthday song (it was a colleague’s birthday) and having lucky dip (I got a cup and miniscule bottle of honey from Crabtree & Evelyn).

The joy of sharing and gathering was heartwarming indeed.

Sleep Patterns

I came across an interesting report in Today about sleeping patterns. Contrary to popular belief, a person's sleeping pattern is not soley determined by habit and discipline but it could be genetically encoded. Hence, it may be next to impossible to change sleeping patterns. This means that if you are a 'morning' person, it is tough switching to a 'night' person and vice versa. We can only attempt to delay sleep by exposing ourselves to bright lights or exercising before sleeping time.

I must stress that this is NOT an excuse that I have cooked up to justify my sleeping hours but rather it is a scientifically proven fact. Strangely, there seem to be more people being genetically coded as a 'night' person than a 'morning' person...

Clingy Girlfriends

For once, I stand on the side of the guys.

I have witnessed another episode of clingy girlfriend drama. Initially, I thought I was extremely sensitive that day to get the feeling. When I chatting to my friend today, surprisingly she shared the same feeling.

This clingy girlfriend was hugging to her boyfriend for the entire evening. It was as if she was declaring to the whole world "This is my territory. Do not trespass". I do not know if it was her usual way of showing affection or she was deliberately trying to fan off any potential threats. The most amusing of all is I cannot decipher whether she was not confident about herself or her boyfriend, especially when it was meant to be an all friends' gathering.

My friend and I were reminding and cautioning each other that should one of us caught the other in such an act, she must try to warn, scold and stop the other.

This time, I am on the guys' side as I seldom see a guy displaying such possessive behavour. Unfortunately, it is often associated with the girls. Sigh!

Home Gathering

I was invited to a friend's friend's (very distant relationship) home for a pre-Christmas gathering last night. I was abit worried initially as I am not exactly the most outgoing person in the world. You can tell this by my need to go for EQ course to improve my interactive skills. Regardless, a promise is a promise. If there is really no one to talk to, I will just concentrate on the food or TV.

Initially, I thought there would just be about 5 to 6 people. It turned up that there were more people and among them, one of my colleagues. This colleague was the JC classmate of the host of the gathering.

There were 2 new born babies (about 3 months old) joining us in our gathering. They were the centres of our attention for the night, especially the baby girl. The parents were busy catering to her various demands - hunger, change of diaper, sleep, etc. The baby boy was the steady one, playing the perfect host and entertaining all the guests. Not once did he cry the entire night despite seeing so many foreign faces at once. In fact, he was busy smiling and laughing at his 'girl friend' (the baby girl). They were simply adorable. However, I declined when the baby girl's father offered the girl for me to carry. I still have qualms trying to hold them in my arms, as they are so vulnerable and I am so blur. Dropping non-living things on the floor may be embarrassing but not fatal. Dropping living things on the floor will be murder.

I have not been to any home gathering for a long time. The ambience was warm and homely. Although the faces were new, they have made me feel very welcome and at home. It was great meeting them. *Smile*

First Ride

Although Mr Lau has gotten his car for some time, I have not had the honour of getting any ride until yesterday, despite our living about 2 streets away, according to his mum. Being blur and direction sense hopeless, I do not know how far his house is from my house. In the first place, I cannot recall how to get to his house.

Well, I must conclude that he is quite a safe driver. Despite the hot weather and the long jam, I did not get any car sickness. *Smile*

On the day he was getting his new car, Dear and I were messaged and called him several times. We were excited about it. Since both Dear and I live in places along his way home, we were dying to be among the first to sit in a brand new car. Unfortunately, he was probably too preoccupied with getting used to his new car to reply our messages or return our calls. We went home on our own, disappointed.

I heard about his car from Dear on and off (like the car getting 'kissed' twice), but I have not seen it until last Saturday when I was returning Princess Hours to him after hogging it for about 2 weeks. It was a cobalt blue (my own definition as Dear told me Cobalt is not this colour) car. He was sitting inside the car while I passed him Princess Hours through his windows. It was too hot for any small talk. Anyway, we have known each other for so long that I have never bothered with small talks anymore. Even if there is any attempt of small talk, it will most likely end up as 'suaning' and words sparring. It was mere a 5-minute event, so I did not have a good glimpse of the much-talked about car.

Yesterday, as I was walking to the MRT station, he saw me walking by in his car and asked where I was going. When it turned up to the same destination, Mr Lau offered me a free ride. Finally! A chance to have more time to admire his car!

Although his parents were around, he still maintained his usual 'humorous' self. When he made a wrong turn to the car park, he has even commented this was a lesson to be learnt, ie if I ever need to go to the car park, I must remember that that was a wrong turn and avoid making the same mistake. Sigh! Isn't this an extension of his professional self or a manifestation of his job hazard?

In short, his driving skills are good. I have previously sat in cars which I felt nauseous at the end of the car ride. His parking skills are also good. It did not take too long for him to maneuver into the parking space. *Wink*

Christmas Tree

There is a real Christmas Tree which has been placed at the lobby of my office. Every morning or night as I walk past it to go to or to go off from work, there is faint pine fragrance in the air which constantly remind you that Christmas is near.

I have never seen or cannot recall ever seeing a real Christmas Tree, so I never know that a real Christmas Tree can be so enchanting and heart-warming.*Smile*

Tall vs Short

Do you always feel inferior or awkard about your height? Don't be, because tall people are intelligent and short people are smart. *Smile*

The above statement was meant to be an ice-breaker at the EQ seminar. When the trainer paired us up and wanted us to decide among ourselves who was the more intelligent person, we could not decide. Being Asians, it was already not in our culture to fight to be the more intelligent person. Moreover, intelligence could come in different aspects. It was tough to assess and conclude who outshine the other for intelligence. The trainer then told us that the taller one was the intelligent one while the shorter one was the smarter one. Thereafter, he went on to support this observation with real life examples.

It was meant to bring a smile to our face, but the message was clear. Regardless of how tall or short you are, there will always be another person who is taller or shorter than you. Hence, there will always be another person who is more intelligent or smarter than you. It is important to keep an open mind so that you can always learn from the next person who is either more intelligent or smarter than you.

EQ

A few of us decided to sign up for a free seminar on EQ while the bosses sweat it out at the budget moderation with CEO.

I have been wanting to attend EQ courses before I switched jobs, but sadly, I have not been able to attend any so far. It was supposed to be experiential learning, so there were many activities lined up since the start of the course. There were also many anecdotal illustrations which were hilarious. We did not have any time to stone or to doze off.

A Missed Handshake
One of the most important message that was shared was that of a missed handshake. We may not remember what another person has said or done but we definitely remember how the person has made us feel. Alot of unhappiness or grudge can arise from a trivial "missed handshake". A "missed handshake" can include alot of acts which basically create an impression upon us that the person does not like us, for eg, when your boss does not smile at you when they meet you at the corridors.

Hence, if you notice that someone has been giving you the cold shoulders, you may want to talk to the person to determine if at some point in time, you have "missed a handshake". If yes, it is time to do service recovery and bury the old hatchet.

Love Yourself
Some people complained that they are unhappy because they are stuck in jobs or with bosses they do not like. They complained that they need to support the family so they needed to bear with the less than ideal job or working environment.

The trainer told us that this arose because these people did not love themselves enough. If they did, they would not have put up with these nonsenses. if they love themselves enough, they would value their dignity and would choose a job that may result in less monetary rewards. However, they would be happier and would be able to bring greater happiness to their family.

Listen to Your Heartbeat
The trainer has asked us to feel our heartbeat. We had some difficult time trying to find our hearts to get the pulses. It is important to feel our heartbeat as it tells us if we are feeling angry or upset. If we are, we will need to calm down. When we are going through an emotional outburst, we often end up doing things that will cause hurt to another party and which we will regret later on.

Hence, we should learn to understand the emotions which we are going through and to control them. We should also learn how to feel for others so that we will not always act in our own interests.

It was truly an insightful and entertaining half-day seminar.

Christmas Shopping Again

Today, it is more of a personal mission than a group mission. I sort of needed to get some Christmas gifts.

I am visiting 2 friends this weekend, so needed to get them something. For one of them, my friend has specifically warned me against getting vouchers, though I was quite tempted to do so. In the department of getting gifts, I am not exactly those whom you will define as creative or imaginative. I fall into the category known as pragmatists euphemistically.

I already have in mind what I wanted, so I just needed to walk briskly to the place, make a selection and pay for them. Sigh! There were so many selections. In the end, I spent more time deliberating what designs I should be getting. Nonetheless, I still took the whole hour of my lunch break and had to quickly grab a burger on my way back to office.

P.S. I cannot divulge what I have gotten because one of them may be reading this. =p

Gifts from Bangkok

My sister has came back from a short vacation in Bangkok about 2 weeks ago. This was a postponed trip because of the military coup previously. Instead of shopping for herself, she has ended up with more purchases for me.

She has bought for me:
1) 2 tops
2) 1 T-shirt
3) 1 pair of shorts
4) 1 skirt
5) 1 pouch
6) 1 bathrobe (for swimming purposes, so that it will not be so cold walking from the pool to the changing area)
7) 2 pairs of earrings (though we can share this)
8) 1 pair of flip flops
9) 1 pair of shoes (which was a size too big)

In fact, other than the shoes, everything else fits. It was almost as if I have been to Bangkok myself. Feeling abit ashamed, I have decided to reimburse her for all the purchases.

Dust

I spent the last hour dusting and cleaning my room. My vacation leave towards the end of the year is not likely to be approved because of budget. Sadly, I will not get my routine break at the end of the year to do spring cleaning. Hence, I have better do abit of cleaning as and when I have the time on weekends.

Today, I have started with wiping of the cabinets, wardrobe, table top and window ledge. I have only cleaned the exterior. I guess cleaning the interior now is not especially productive when I have not cleared away the unwanted and old stuffs. I have cleaned the same places just about 4 months ago on my short break in between jobs. It was unbelievable how much dust has accumulated only in the short span of 4 months, especially at the corner areas. The water which I have used to wash the wiping cloth was murky and grey. Now, the room felt cleaner.

I still feel that cleaning is a very therapeutic process. Instead of going to spa to relax, maybe you can try cleaning. You can relax and at the same time you get some cleaning done. It is killing two birds with one stone.

Hui

She has seen me cry and vice versa.
She will be totally frank with me about my shortcomings and chide me when she thinks I am in the wrong.
She will stand by me when she knows I am in trouble, including dishing me advice on how to fight office politics and providing references to each other in job applications. *Wink*

Although we have been in the same school for 6 years, Hui and I have never been in the same class. We knew each other because we were friends of friends. We started to hang around each other more during JC days. We were the early birds and our classrooms were beside each other, so we have spent many mornings chit chatting to each other. That was when friendship between us strengthened.

Hui called me when she was undecided about which faculty she should enroll herself in. She called me again when she was undecided on whether she should switch firms. I could not give her the answers. I could only help her rationalize the answers which she should already have. Similarly, I have consulted her when I was undecided on whether I wanted to change job. Both she and Onion (her husband) visited me and spent half a day helping me decide.

Once, to spring a surprise on me on my birthday, she and Jen have even visited me late at night just to send her birthday wishes to me.

Many friends have gradually reduced their time spent with the clique when they became attached. On the contrary, Hui invited Onion to join us in our outings, so that Onion could know all her friends and vice versa. Simultaneously, she could spend time both with Onion and us – killing two birds with one stone. We did not lose a friend when she became attached, but we gained another friend (Onion) in the process.

In fact, Onion is the only husband/boyfriend among my friends which has become another old friend, instead of just the partner of a friend. Sad to say, for some of my oldest friends, I have only met their husbands/ boyfriends only on a couple of occasions. Other than some demographic (eg age, profession, name, etc) facts, I know next to nothing about them.

Whereas for Onion. I can be perfectly open in front of him, just like I have been with Hui. He has joined Hui in hearing about my complaints and my lackluster singing. He has joined Hui previously in rallying for me when I have finally decided to change job. He tried to stifle giggles when I went out of tune at Kbox.

Hui has stood by me for so many years and I hope I can reciprocate this support in the future years.

Thank you, Hui.

Afternoon Swim

I like swimming in the afternoon. Firstly, it is not as cold with the sun. Secondly, the pool is prettier when you are underwater with the sunlight filtering through.

I just came back from a swim. There were very few people in the pool, possibly because people were in town doing Christmas shopping or away overseas on vacation.

It was a very relaxing swimming. The quiet of being underwater provided similar effect to that of meditation, though I have never successfully meditated before. When I was tired, I stopped and rest at the pool side. As I closed my eyes and rest on the ledge, the warm breeze and the sun temporarily took away the hustle and bustle. It was as if I was on a beach relaxing.

There is one caveat to this though. I ended up looking more tanned because of the afternoon sun. Even an excolleague who has not seen me for about 3 months commented this when she met me a few weeks ago. Sigh!

Reconciliation Woes

Is this going to be a complaint session? Guess what? You are absolutely right!!!

One of the job hazards of being an accountant is at some point in time, regardless of which aspect of finance or accounting work you are doing, you will need to engage in some kind of reconciliation activity. It can involve tying numbers from one source to another, tying numbers among schedules, or tying numbers between years. It can come in ALL forms and formats and from ALL sources for ALL periods.

Since I started my first job about 4.5 years back, I have always been involved in different forms of reconciliation. From reconciling manual records to system records, system records to system records, sub ledgers to main ledgers, payments to statements of accounts, etc. To me, “reconciliation” is often associated with lots of headaches, nightmares and dread.

A change of working environment and a change of work scope did not relieve me of this drudgery. Now, I have to do reconciliation among similar sources, ie between manual records, between manual record and system and between systems. In addition, I have to reconcile numbers before elimination, elimination and post elimination. For someone who has not had consol experience, I practically was clueless on where I should start (Consol is a accounting term used for aggregating the accounts of related companies).

My latest challenge? To reconcile last year balances to this year’s and to quantify the financial impact of the changes in various parameters. This took me 2 weeks to do. I even had to come out with a simple example to determine how the numbers change with each parameter, so that I know what to subtract and what to multiply.

I hate reconciliation! Urrghh!!!

Stiff Neck

I have been having a stiff neck and tight shoulders for quite some time. I wonder whether it is due to my sitting or sleeping posture.

To seek some relief, I have been getting my mum to rub “Yoko Yoko” on my neck and shoulders for the past few days. It is really amazing. The ointment worked so well that I slept very soundly for the entire night and I refused to wake up in the morning.

For a long while, I always have stiff neck and tight shoulders. I have changed pillows, tried to stretch around after staring at the PC for some times and even tried changing my sleeping posture. Some of these helped for a short while. Some practically have no effect at all.

Suddenly, I thought of my FYP mate who was really good at shoulder and neck message. She has only helped me message twice – once during JC days and once during Uni days. Her massage was really comfortable. Too bad, I have no kept in touch with her after Uni days.

For all we know, she may have opened her own massage palor, given her entrepreneurial spirit. *Wink*

Budget Grief

This is the first time I have encountered such a candid response to budget queries. Maybe they were dying to get rid of me after my incessant pestering and harrassment or maybe they were cornered and had to come clean.

For the past 2 weeks, we were busy reviewing the numbers and calling our line managers to check their assumptions. They grumbled and complained about our 'interrogation' while we grumbled and complained about their nebulous responses which seemed to say alot but mean nothing. Finally, the revenue budget is coming to its tail end. We are in the last leg of the race to do a sanity check of the numbers.

When I was doing a projection of some of the revenues from past trends, I noted some deviation between the submission and my projection. When I pressed the line to share their assumptions and to explain for the variance, the line managers blatantly told me that they were being conservative.

Hang on!

Thank you for being so forthcoming with me, but a budget is supposed to be realistic not conservative!

A budget is supposed to be providing an outlook of the next year's performance so that the company can better allocate its resources. A conservative budget can lead to wrong decisions. It is not meant to be cushioned so that one can always outperform expectations.

Sigh! I must really drill down more...

One Musketeer Away

Ah Peng just flew off to Taiwan for her holidays about 4 hours ago. She will be out of action for a few days. We are one musketeer less for this week. Ms Chan will also be flying off for her holidays end December. I am the only one stuck here. *Sob, sob*

Ah Peng, enjoy yourself. See you next week.

Christmas Shopping

I admit we were slightly atrocious today, but it was all done for a good cause. The 6 of us took a 2.5 hour lunch break today and wondered all the way to Takashimaya.

We were on a mission.

We were getting Christmas presents for our bosses and the Junior Officers (JOs) in our Department. In total, we needed to get 9 presents with a budget of $10 per person.

The Event Hall of Takashimaya was bustling with the pre-Christmas crowd. There was so much selection and many were simply so adorable that we were more occupied looking at things we liked rather than what we should be getting as presents.

We finally decided we would get some rather glamorous looking handphone pouches for some of the Junior Officers, it was yet again a difficult round of deliberation - what colours to get, what sizes, what handphones they were currently using. Some JOs were more practical, so handphone pouches might not be a good choice for them. It was tough decision on whether we should get them towels or mugs. Apparently, Aussino towels come in a set of hand, facial and bath towels for slightly above $10. In the end, we decided on cups for the rest of the JOs. For one of our bosses, we have decided to get hand cream from Crabtree and Evelyn.

This was actually the promotion period for Takashimaya, so we saved about 10% when we used Takashimaya card.

Sigh! For the other boss, we have yet to decide on what to buy because he seemed to have everything. Maybe we could brainstorm while we wrap the presents during lunch on Friday. ;-p

Slow Culinary Skills

I am well-known in my family for being slow and blur. Maybe this is a chicken and egg issue. I am slow because I am blur. As I am slow, I appear more blur. It is pure vicious cycle.

I treated my mum and sister to dinner yesterday to cheer them up. After the dinner, I asked my mum whether she has found the dinner satisfactory. She replied positively and added that food would taste especially delicious when someone prepared for you. Sensing the BIG hint, I willfully replied that if she liked, I could cook for her.

Suddenly, my "beloved" sister interrupted that if I were to cook, they could probably have the first dish at 9 pm and maybe the second dish at 10 pm. I am not blind to the sarcasm that she was driving at. I retorted that if she wanted the first dish at 9 pm, I probably would need to start preparation from 12 pm.

She was not exaggerating and neither was I being humble. I am really that slow, forgetful and blur - an extremely potent combination in the adverse manner when in the kitchen. My mum has become so exasperated and has literally given up on me the few times she has tried to teach me how to cook. She ended up watching out for me instead of taking a break.

My best friend - Dear, has informed me today that one of our friends has fallen ill and alone at home. He was too weak to go and pack, so he has to cook instant noodles for dinner. He happens to live in my vicinity, so Dear was hoping I could help him a little. It was definitely beyond my expectation that when I jokingly asked Dear if I should cook for him, she has actually felt that it was a good idea. My first response was no way was I able to achieve that. In fact, I said the same to the unfortunate friend as well.

Apologies to him for sounding so callous, but think he will end up in a more dire state waiting for me to finish cooking. He probably would not get his dinner even by tomorrow morning and this was provided the "dinner" was edible and poisonless in the first place.

I am really quite hopeless and slow when it comes to cooking. I guess the best I could do is to pack for him. The caveat is I have better not lost my way in reaching his house, given my blurness and poor direction sense. "Sheepish Grin"

Christmas is Around the Corner

Christmas will be here in around 20 days.

Have you bought your presents? If not, you may need to start thinking and acting real soon to beat the crowd (thought my friend felt that it's more like joining the crowd instead).

Have you already made plans on how you are going to spend Christmas eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day? If not, you may want to start planning for the slightly extended weekend.

Have you seen the Christmas lighting along Orchard Road (stretching to Cityhall)? If not, you may want to pop down for a stroll this weekend (personally, I prefer a stroll for admiring the lightings than by driving through).

Christmas is just around the corner. :-)

Peace

In war, no one is a winner, regardless of whether you have managed to protect or extend your interests.

This was a strong message brought across in "A Battle of Wits". In summary, "A Battle of Wits" is about wars between a big and a small country. Ge Li helped the small country put up a strong defence. However, his success and the trust and respect which he has garnered from the people attracted unwarranted jealousy from the King of the country. His opponent decided to put up a last fight which has resulted in more deaths among the people. The opponent opined that whoever lived to see the next day is the winner. Yet, Ge Li felt that many innocent lives were taken when they became the pawns of the generals. In war, no one is a winner. If peace has ensued, no one needs to die.

Sometimes I felt that people in the current era and generation seem to have a better life. To some extent, we seem to take peace for granted at times. The biggest takeaway from the movie is that there is a high price to pay when we go into wars.

P.S. Fortunately, this time round the dialogues are in simpler Chinese which I still can understand. This time, I watched it at GV North Point. Frankly speaking, I have not been to North Point since it first opened many years ago. *Wink*

National Library Tours

Last week, I went to Central National Library. This week, I went to the new Bishan National Library.

It was not the first time I went to Central National Library. The last time I was there was a few weeks after its official opening. Thereafter, I have never been there again. It was by chance we have decided to visit it. Our original destination was Raffles City but the long traffic jam caused us to change our minds and we made a turn to National Library instead.

Today, it was yet another "accident" that we landed up in Bishan National Library. We have wanted to go to Causeway Point but a wrong turn made us change our minds. We have decided to go Junction 8 instead. While there, I decided to pay the National Library a visit. Afterall, it was brand new and I have never been there. It was a 4-storey building which was bright and spacious, with many drop-floor glass panels and ample sitting areas.

Maybe tomorrow I should drop by my nearest branch to see if there is any interesting read. =p

Bilingual?

Singaporeans are becoming more and more bilingual. In the past, distinction between the mother tongue and our first language - English was clear. This was evident from the media which we were exposed to. On Channel 8, you would hardly see anything in English, except for the subtitles. In the Chinese newspapers, you would not see any English article.

Nowadays, the distinction has blurred. Sometimes, we will see Chinese show trailers (in Chinese) on Channel 5 or English show trailers (in English) on Channel 8. We will also see English articles in Chinese newspapers or Chinese articles peppered with English words. Some columnists can write well both in English and Chinese.

Singaporeans sometimes have been criticised for speaking improperly, especially when we tend to mix a language into another in our conversations. This was sometimes perceived as inappropriate especially in more formal settings or in front of foreign delegates. There seemed to be a shift towards mastering one language rather than attempting to be bilingual which was encouraged when I was still in school.

Personally, I still feel that I have benefited from having English and Chinese as my first languages in secondary school. In daily conversations at more casual settings, sometimes a certain situation or feeling can be more aptly expressed in one language than another. For instance, when we want to encourage someone, we often use "Jia1 You2" in Chinese. If we were to express this in English, despite wracking through my brains for a long time, I cannot find a synonymous phrase. The closest I can think of is "Keep it up!' but somehow it lacks the punch as the Chinese version.

Or maybe my failure to come out with an appropriate term in English is a sign of my poor grasp of either language?

Horoscope

“A chance encounter will bring you wealth. Take advice from your family before going into business ventures”
“Tensions between you and your loved ones are likely. Keep calm and refrain from acting on impulse.”

Sounds familiar?

Are your days guided by these snippets of advices dished out for your signs daily? Do you fervently search for the latest prophecy when you grab hold of the papers or a glossy magazine? Will your mood be affected by whether it has been a “happy” or “sad” day prediction?

Some of us steal a glance at the latest prediction covertly out of curiosity. Some of us openly read the predictions as if our success or failure of the day depends on the forewarnings. Our interests are often piqued when we come across the horoscope section, be it the Chinese, the Western or the Tarot. Regardless of whether you are a believer of the horoscope, your smile will inevitably be wider when a lucky day is predicted.

I used to be an ardent fan of the horoscope, always wanting to know what the stars have to say about the current day, week, month or year. Be it growing maturity or increasing cynicism, nowadays I take such predictions with a pinch of salt. This does not mean that I discredit the accuracy of the predictions, but that my mood and decisions will not be driven by the predictions, ie adopt a more blasé attitude.

Sometimes, the predictions become self-fulfilling prophecy. For instance, when you read that you will have a bad day, it somehow gives the day a gloomy start. The low morale adversely affects your confidence which also leads to higher tendency of errors and misjudgment. This compounded the likelihood that something will go wrong. When things go astray, we then blame it on the bad luck as predicted by the astrologers.

Once you read the horoscope, it is almost impossible not to be affected by the predictions. The solution to ensure one’s mood is not influenced by any prediction is to avoid reading any horoscope. If you still have a dying urge to know what the stars are forecasting, read only at the end of the day, unless you have so short-term memory that you forget the minute you read it. "Wink"