Craving for Japanese Food

I ate little for breakfast because of the yoga lesson. I ate little for lunch thinking that we were going for high tea buffet. in the end, we forgo the buffet and decided to go for early dinner instead. By early, I meant really early at around 430 pm. Suddenly, we had craving for Japanese cuisine and decided to patronise Suki Sushi the second time.


No queue. Good. The last time we were there, there was long queue. The last time we were there, I came late so did not have time to enjoy the meal. Now, I could finally take my time to browse through the menu, soak in the zen-like decor and taste the exquisite sushi. There were so many choices - paper steamboat, sushi, maki, teppanyaki, don, etc.


Here's sharing of some of the food we had. It's not too much, is it? Opps......

First Class of Yoga

I have not been so nervous for a long time.

Will I be the only one who cannot follow the instructions of the teacher?
I am very inflexible even when I was in school. Quoting a guy friend who used to have flexibility issues, “I can sit but cannot reach”. He is a guy. He can afford not to pass his sit-and-reach. Who has heard of girls failing? I did not fail but I barely passed.

Will I injure myself?
I may not be super frail or fragile but I am super clumsy and blur. Sometimes, I know I am injuring myself but I will react a moment too slow to stop the injury, so I always end up with serious injury. Moreover, my recovery speed is slower than normal, even my GP cannot believe what I always take ages to recover from the common ailments.

Will my classmates laugh at me? Will the teachers scold me? Will the teacher disallow me from joining the class because I don’t have a yoga mat?

I have thousand and one questions on how the session will be.

When I stepped into the class, I was one of the early few. The trainer appeared friendly. People started streaming in slowly. Most of my classmates were young teenagers. When almost everyone was in, the class started.

The teacher was patient in explaining about breathing techniques and the sequences of each poise. Yet, for someone who was foraging into yoga for the first time, no matter how detailed he had explained, it was difficult to put together the poise. Of course, my arch and stretches were not as beautiful or effortless as the trainer. In fact, in a couple of posies, I ended up feeling slightly twisted and locked.

One hour flew past. I seemed to have barely started before it was the end of the class. I will try to practise at home to be more ready for the next session.

First thing first, I will go and get myself a mat so that I can at least be ‘equipment-ready’ for next class.

Long-Awaited Gathering for the Musketeers

It was ages since the musketeers last met. I could not remember the last time we met, at least a month before my Hong Kong trip. It seems like we have been missing out on each other’s lives for months. For one reason or another, we have always been busy with something so that we ended up not being able to meet.

Finally, we are meeting. The first thing was to find a decent place where we could answer the calls of our growling stomach and sat down comfortably for a night long’s talk. Sushi Tei was our first choice but there was a horribly long queue. We decided to switch places. Finally, we found this small eatery where there was a 15% promotion for UOB cards. Ah Peng and Ms Chan went for the fish and chips while I chose the spaghetti goreng (stir fried spaghetti). We also ordered a seafood tofu and cake in a cup to share.

After a long while, the food was finally here. I was already starving so I gobbled down my food while Ms Chan and Ah Peng continued talking. Needless to say, with that speed of eating, my dining etiquette was momentarily thrown out of the window, unlike Ah Peng and Ms Chan.

Anyway, the focus of the meeting was not meant to be food but that of catching up. Ms Chan shared with us the latest focus and development in her life, while Ah Peng remained mysterious about our probing of her latest development. There was so much to say with so little time. There was only one solution to this problem – meet more often. *Grin*

Saddest Thing to Hear

"I will not be able to participate in your tomorrow."

This was what Richie said when he was about to separate from Xiao Bei.

Who?

Richie and Xiao Bei were characters from the Taiwanese drama serial which I was watching recently - "爱情魔法师" (Magical Hairstylist of Romance). Richie was aware that Xiao Bei cared more for Ya Si. Moreover, he seemed to bring more tears than happiness to Xiao Bei's life. Thus, he decided to set Xiao Bei free.

Regardless of whether it is between intimate lovers, closest kins or best friends, the statement is still filled with extreme sadness. It reflects an ultimate moving out of another person's life with no recourse or reconciliation.

Sigh! I hope I will never need to hear that from anyone to anyone.

The last Quarter of the Year

1 October, the start of the last quarter of the year, the last leg of 2007, the panic button is pushed. Oh dear! There are only 3 months left to complete the resolutions for the year. I am scared of looking back to find that I again let time slip past without knowing what I was busy with.

We do mid-year review for the financial performance and projection of the business. We do mid-year review for our work performance. Yet, sometimes do we do a mid-year review of our personal goals. The pursuit of personal goals is often shelved when we are preoccupied with our career goals or sometimes due to pure procrastination. For many, it is definitely a combination of both.

There are two main priority goals this year for me. These two are in addition to the perennial goals of spending more time with family and friends and having more personal time. These two goals are to travel and to pick up new hobbies / skills. I have traveled to three cities in two countries this year (Bangkok, Hong Kong and Jiangnan and Shanghai). Hmm, so I can proudly put a tick against the item of traveling. Task completed. Of course, this does not stop me from planning more trips next year.

On the second goal of picking up new hobbies/ skills, I have yet to make substantial progress. My original plan was to learn driving but I gave that up as I still had not saved enough for a car. Then I dabble into photographic but I must admit that my skills still stagnant at the novice stage. I have wanted to pick up yoga for some times, but often put that on hold with heaps of reasons like no time, cannot commit fixed schedule, etc. Finally, I decide to wait no longer. Signing up will discipline me to commit to attending the classes. My first lesson will start on Saturday. I am looking forward to it.

Alright, I must plough through my memory to think what other goals I have set up and yet to accomplish. It is time I start to do something about it. Don’t laugh, you should also start examining your own resolutions. Let’s take stock again on 31 Dec. It’s a date, don’t forget.

To View or Not to View

Honestly speaking, it does not qualify as thriller since it is aired at the primetime TV slot of 9pm. Yet, my heart beats faster when the killer is near and I cover my eyes when the psychopath approaches the victim. In short, I have a love-hate relationship with the latest Channel 8 series.

The plot is exciting with much audience engagement. When I follow the development each night, we seem to be drawn into the whole mystery solving business. I seem to participate in the clue findings, the speculation and the anxiety. Just as I think the resolution is near, there will be another twist which overthrows the previous assumptions.

So much excitement is not too good for the faint-hearted, especially just before bed time. However, I still cannot resist the temptation to watch more as we want to know who is the real killer. I am torn between continuing watching and having a good sleep.

What do I do? The best is to continue watching but cover my eyes and ears when some of the more gruesome parts come on screen. Notwithstanding, it is still one of the best TV serials which I have watched, at least it is a good deviation from the local family drama.

Little Red Hearts

For the past 2 to 3 weeks, readers of Today would have noticed the advertisements which taught readers how to fold little red hearts. For each red heart folded and dropped into the post box, SingTel would donate $1 to the beneficiaries.

This was not the first year that the campaign was launched. Yet, this was the first time I spent about an hour gathering the papers I had, cutting out the red rectangle and folding them into red hearts. It was not a difficult exercise but required some patience and instruction following.

I dropped the red hearts into a box which was set up at office lobby to facilitate collection of hearts from staff. I was surprised to find that the box was nearly filled. On some of my colleagues’ tables, there were also small hills of red hearts.

A little effort from us could go a long way to helping those in need. We might not be wealthy enough to make generous sums of donations but we could definitely pitch in efforts to help.

Did you fold any this year?

Durian Curry Puff

Monday blues. It was made bluer by the tonnes of work that awaited me when I returned to office after a 2-day absence.

Finally, it was end of the day - the time to reward myself a little. After dinner, I have decided to pamper myself further with a small dessert. Duh-duh, the choice of the day was durian curry puff from 1A. I have eyed the curry puff since it was first advertised on TV about a month ago, so what better day to try it than a day flooded by blues.

Although it was slightly expensive because it cost $1.60 per piece, it was cute with crispy skin. The durian filling was soft and fragrant. When I took a bite, the hot durian melted in my mouth and filled my mouth with the strong flavour of durian. It was heavenly, especially when I was quite a durian lover.

After finishing the durian curry puff, I kept smiling and smiling all the way home. Eating the durian curry puff was blissful and satisfactory. It certainly made my day. Even now, as I was recalling the smell and taste of it, I could not help smiling and smiling. Ahh.....

Hidden Food Mall

I thought I have been quite familiar with the eating places, especially food court along Orchard Road since I worked in the vicinity. Today, I discovered a food mall which I never knew existed. The food mall was hidden at the back of Lucky Plaza. Amazing.

It offered a variety of local fare and international cuisines (eg Western, Japanese and Korean). We tried the handmade noodles, hotplate noodles and claypot rice. My favourite was still the handmade noodles. It was definitely above average.

The foodcourt was definitely an alternative eating place for those working in the area or for the shoppers.

Helpless Colleague

I should not have asked her to call me if she had any problems. It was opening up a floodgate. Knowing that I was in a course and might not be convenient taking calls, she still called me at all times and for many times.

On the first day and the first time she called me over the next 2 days, she asked me where the files were. I controlled my urge to start saying that I had already told her the night before and saw her taking her taking down the names of the file. I took a deep breath and told her. After all, she was covering for me and sometimes in our nervousness and anxiety to get things done, we could have lost ourselves totally.

Then she called me a second time to ask me what she should do as one of the line managers was late in submission. My patience hang thin. Come on, she was not a green horn when it came to working. Furthermore, she used to have subordinates. This sort of question was practically an insult to my intelligence. Anyone would know that if your working partners submit late, we needed to chase them and pressure them because all of us had deadlines to meet. If the matter did not resolve, then it was time to escalate.

The ultimatum came next. in the second day, she started calling me the moment I switched on my mobile to the end of the day. I did not pick up the phone because I was in the course and it would be rude if I constantly was on the phone. Furthermore, it would defeat the purpose of going to the course when half of the time I was on the phone. There was once she called me 6 times and within intervals of 10 minutes.Hence, I ended up getting a total of more than 10 missed calls from her in a span of 1 day. I lost track of the exact number of missed calls as I chose to ignore her calls towards the end of the day when I realised that she was not calling me because it was a life-and-death situation but more of the convenience of it. Ermm, there was such thing as caller ID and when someone did not answer phone, it could mean that he/she was engaged? She should have stopped at one call and I would return the call later at a convenient time. Yet, she did not. She simply blasted my phone off and flooded my call registers with her number.

There came a point where I was so angry and fustrated with her inconsideration that I wanted to just rant at her for her no sense of simple logic.
1) There is such thing known as caller ID. If I never pick up the call, the caller ID will register and I will call you later.
2) There is always a limit to patience and helpfulness. When you need to do something, consult your notebook first instead of immediately calling me. If I have wished for you to call me at each and every point of your work, I will not bother wasting time going through things with you.
3) If there are things which I have not mentioned and you need to know, you should calm down and think. The reason I never mention certain things is because they appear to be simple logic to me which I thought will be an insult to both you and I to assume you do not know.

It has been ages since I last met someone who was as helpless as her that I felt like ranting out at her, so helpless that she even needed me to help her find her sense of logic. Unbelievable.

Noise Level in MRT

I never really noticed how noisy the train cabin was until today. I was listening to my MP3 when I realised I could not hear naything because the music was submerged the conversations of the passengers and the movement of the train on the rail. I had to turn up the volume to almost maximum in order to make out some music.

The ear pieces were next to my ear drums while the noise in the train cabin was some distance away. Yet, the sound level of the noise in the cabin had overtaken the MP3 music.

It was no wonder that we seemed to be getting deafer and deafer at a younger age. Maybe we should start a campaign on how to maintain the noise level in the train cabin down as part of the Courtesy Campaign.

English

My colleague - Ping and I had just attended an English course. Attending course was always relaxing as we could learn something new, skip office and go home on time. The past 2 days were good breaks from the hectic work schedule. Play aside, the course was also a good wake-up call for some of our deeply rooted wrong speaking and writing habits.

It was also shocking to discover that what we have been taught in school was wrong. Our trainer had previously sat in for some of the classes conducted in schools. From his observation, many teachers had inculcated the wrong rules, especially grammatical rules to the students. The biggest language problem for Singaporeans was grammar, but the focus in school was often vocabulary. How true. We spent time on learning spelling and newer and longer words. The time spent on grammar was mainly restricted to making sentences.

Moreover, during those times, some rules taught by the teachers were wrong. For instance, did your teacher tell you that "to" must be followed by a present tense? Did your teacher also tell you that the use of tenses were determined by time? If yes, these rules were wrong. Did your teacher tell you what were transitive and intransitive verbs, phrasal verbs, gerunds or infinitives? At least, I never recall learning these.

Firstly, whether "to" should be followed by present tense would be determined by whether the "to" was use in context with an infinitive or as part of the phrasal verb (ie as a preposition). Wait a second, what were infinitives, phrasal verbs or prepositions? "To do", "to read", "to sleep" and "to eat" were infinitives. "Look forward to" and "committed to" were phrasal verbs. "To", "on", "in" and "for", etc were prepositions. Hence, "to" might not be followed by present tense as it could be used as both an infinitive and preposition. Thus, "I look forward to seeing you" but "I like to read". Frankly, I never knew about them until now. All the time, I was aware that "looking forward to seeing you" but it was picked up from my reading rather than knowing the reason behind it.

I was often confused about the use of tense, especially with reported speech. I recalled my teacher telling me that a verb in a reported speec had to be present tenses. For instance, "He said that I jog alot." My English trainer told her that the use of tense had nothing to do with time but with the words we used and the consistency of the tense in a sentence. In the previous example, it should have been "He said that I jogged alot" to be consistent with the tense of "said". Certain words like "last", "ago", "just" would be followed by past tense while "since", "recently" would be followed by present perfect tense. We should seldom use past perfect tenses unless they were associated with "previously".

At this point in time, I was hopelessly despaired. It was almost as if I was learning the language from the basic once more. Unfortunately, this time, it involved wiping out all the previous rules. This increased the difficulty as old habits died hard especially habits of more than 10 years. It was a slap onto my face on how bad my English was. This was not the end. It seemed that the way our writing was also in dire state.

The concept of "fog index" was introduced to us. It was basically a measure of the number of sentences and three-syllabic words in a sentence. The higher the fog index, the more difficult the reading of the writing would be and the less effective would be the communication. The trainer's message was strong and clear. No matter what our qualifications were, we should always write at an "O-level" graduate's level, fog index of 11. This meant that we should restrict to an average of 18 words in one sentence and avoid using difficult words if the meaning could be conveyed via simpler ones. Oops, how often was I guilty of peppering my writing with some bombastic words here and there in the failed attempt to elevate my writing skills.

When it came to speech, our Singlish was also disapproved by the trainer. It was not just in terms of the "lahs" and the "lohs" but also the use of too many acronyms, too many repetitions and wrong stress of a word (Colleague: it should be Col- league (Core-lick) instead of col-league (cur-lick)). He shared an anecdote of buying a coffee from a coffee shop when he first arrived in Singapore. He asked for a coffee and the assistant's reply was "can". Huh, coffee was sold in cans here? He repeated his order that he would like to have a cup of coffee. Again, the reply was "can". Actually, the assistant probably meant "Yes, we can serve you your coffee". Then, it was also wrong to say "red in colour", "big in size" as "in colour" and "in size" were repetitions.

I should really pay more attention to the way I speak and write from now on and also keep in mind the rules that were taught in this English class. Old habits die hard. Please feel free to point up to me if I ever lapse and make any of the mistakes mentioned above.

Hui's Wedding

Hui was the first among us to walk down the wedding aisle on 16 Sep 07. The sisters were very excited when we reached her house in the morning. Then it was down to the task at hand – to prepare the necessary props for the ‘sabo-ing’ of the groom later.

Finally, the groom has arrived with his brothers. Onion was very sporting in many of our demands, including eating raw bittergourd, chili padi and lemon. One of the questions which he needed to answer was to crack a series of number codes. To be frank, I had no idea how to go about doing it myself. Although he managed to get the code, he did it outside the time frame which he was given. Therefore, he needed to be ‘punished’. The punishment was gross – raw eggs with lemon juice and chili. Eek! The sight and the smell of it were already revolting. His brothers were rather unhelpful. None of them helped him. In the end, Onion swallowed most of it himself.

After Onion entered the main door, he had a final task before he could meet Hui. He had to sing Hui’s favourite song – Angel by May Day. Being not familiar with the song, each verse sounded exactly the same so that when he delivered the entire song, it sounded more like a poem than a pop song.

Alright, the fun was over. It was down to serious business. First, it was tea ceremony at Onion’s house. Then, it was to Hui’s house to change to a Kwa (Chinese bridal gown) before heading back to Hui’s house for lunch and tea ceremony. After lunch, the sisters and brothers headed back home for a rest so that we could be ready for the wedding dinner.

We reached the hotel at 6 pm. Well, this was when I realized that there were 2 hotels at Cityhall – Raffles the Plaza and Swissotel. It was also the first time I went to a bridal suite (which happened to be a presidential suite) as well. Wow, the view from the 66th floor was simply mesmerizing. Who said Singapore did not have a great view. The view far surpassed that of Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong and the Bund in Shanghai.

Sharon and I were part of the reception team, so we headed to the function rooms to be prepared for the work coming. Many guests were school mates whom I had not met for a long time. Many had changed beyond recognition. If I were to meet them along the streets, I would not have recognized them. There were also many Hui’s colleagues invited. They were typically well-dressed and certainly more well-dressed than the other guests.

When all the guests had arrived, it was time for the marching in of the bride and bridegroom. Onion and Hui gave a succinct speech. Dinner started soon after.

(The sisters and emcee took a photo together before the start of the dinner.)

The food was good. It was so good that we were very full when it was the dish before the dessert because we needed to save some space for the dessert. The food was certainly refreshing. It was one of the best dinners I had for a long time. The cold dish was an assortment of maki, ham, prawns and squids. We could see the Sharks’ fins in one consolidated piece. The abalone was not in pieces but in one whole. The crispy chicken was lined with prawn meat below its skin. The dessert was bread pudding. The food was traditional in the choice of ingredients but fusion in the preparation methods.

This was indeed a nice finale to the wedding of Hui and Onion. From now on, they lived happily ever after.

The End.

Suki Sushi

Suki Sushi was the latest Japanese restaurants to be opened in Ang Mo Kio. In celebration of its opening, it gave promotion on its ala carte menu of 40%. My mum, my sister and I headed down to Suki Sushi to try out this new Japanese restaurant on Tuesday.

The queue was long. Many could have been drawn to this restaurant because of its attractive promotion. We tried out its paper steamboat, an assortment of sushi, chawanmushi (steamed egg), teriyaki tako (teriyaki-sauced grilled squid) and fried tofu.

My favourite were the paper steamboat and teriyaki tako. The salmon slices in the paper steamboat were thick but soft and the soup was clear but tasteful. The teriyaki tako was soft but chewy. As one chewed, the sweetness of the squid mixed with the saltiness of the teriyaki sauce was heavenly.

It was a satisfactory dinner. We would be sure to come back more often to try its other dishes.

A Good Man

It is strange certain memories can become blurry and be buried but suddenly be resurrected because of certain triggers and reminders. Some people are almost forgotten until someone else mentions his / her name. Notwithstanding the reminders, images of them may still remain blurry and encounters with them seem centuries ago. It is almost as if it belongs to a previous life, to the extent that you wonder if the existence of the person is real or a mere figment of our mind.

He was an ex classmate of mine. I could not even remember how he looked like exactly. Despite being classmates for one year, we had never kept in touch. I reckoned even if we met each other on the road now, we would not have recognized each other or even taken a second look.

There was this sudden jolt of memory mainly because one of my friends mentioned about him recently in our gathering. Then, it started off a few of us saying that we knew this person as one of our classmates and agreeing that he was one of the nicest persons we have ever met. Yes, even till today, I still felt indebted to him and I would raise both hands in support of him if we were to vote for the nicest person around.

We used to end our lessons pretty late, around 7pm. Many of us stayed quite far from the school where the journey home would take at least 1 hour. At around 7 pm, our stomachs would normally be growling in hunger. Normally, I would succumb to their protests and ate my dinner in the coffee shop outside the school. He and another guy would sometimes walk past me en route to the MRT station. They would stop by to chat or they would play their game of chess while I finished my dinner. Both of them did not eat as they were going home to eat home-cooked meals. Then, we would walk to the MRT station together and took train home. They both lived in the east while I stayed in the north, so we could keep each other company for at least half of the journey.

Of course, they never accompanied me all the time. It was perhaps only a couple of times. Although I could not remember the exact details already, their company had made those dinners more enjoyable and less lonesome.

In the second year, I was performing on stage for one of the celebrations. He was one of the photographers. He managed to take a photo of us while we were on stage. Normally, such photos would just go into the school’s newsletter and none of the performers would get a copy of the picture. He has extended a photo to me and refused to accept my payment.

In fact, he was also very nice to any other classmates. Most of those who knew him also remembered his niceties, humbleness and helpfulness fondly.

No longer can I remember his face, nor will we ever try to keep in touch. School days seem ages ago as if it was another century totally. Yet, his helpfulness will always remain as a fond memory of the rather stressful study life.

Though I sincerely hope I have never become any nightmare in his memory. =p

Ratatouille

I scratched my head first wondering how to pronounce the word and what it meant. Was it English, Latin, French, Italian or German? I hoped the answer would unravel in the movie.

Remy was a rat which had a developed sense of smell. His passion for enjoying great food led him to want to make great food. He found his dreams at Gusteau, the famous restaurant founded by the French chef of the same name. When Remy’s talent was discovered by Linguini (reminded me of the pasta), Linguini decided to engage Remy’s help to ‘survive’ in Gusteau Restaurant.

The story was motivational. It highlighted the joy of finding and pursuing your passion. As long as you worked hard, dreams could come true no matter how far fetched they might look initially. If it was your dream, you should not give up easily despite facing many setbacks. Remy was chased, betrayed, belittled and even ostracized in his course of becoming a chef, but he never gave up. Success awaited you if you persevered. Success awaited Remy in the end when he cooked freely in his own restaurant.

By the way, Ratatouille was read as “rat-a-too-ee”. It was a french cuisine which was known as peasant food due to the inexpensive ingredients, mainly potatoes, in the dish.

Taking Compliments Graciously

Brother has difficulty communicating to me throughout the meeting because he was getting used to my new look. Actually, I have not changed anything except by merely tucking my hair behind my ears. When he complimented that I looked better, I dismissed him immediately by suspecting that he had some underlying agenda, eg made me do more work for him, or got me to do him some favour. He reprimanded me for not learning how to take a compliment graciously.

Asians often find it difficult to take compliments graciously. When we get complimented, we will dismiss it as “You flattered me…” or “I am just lucky…”, etc. Some of us may wonder if the compliments precede a request or some other underlying motive. Few of us simply thank the complimentor instead of being wishy-washy about the entire incident.

Perhaps this is associated with the Asian society where we value humility. When we perform well in school and work, we attribute to luck instead of our own skills or hard work. When others compliment about your obedient children or doting husband, we will need to add in comments to rebuke such compliments, for instance, they were only nice in front of guests, etc. We thought that by doing so, we will appear humble rather than gloating over our fortunes. We thought that this will make those who have less feel less upset about their situation. In the eyes of the complimentor, it will just emphasize the incident and make the complimentee appear hypocritical.

So the next time one hears a compliment, just thank the person giving the compliment and perhaps we can try complimenting something about the other person. There was this saying that a compliment a day can lift one’s spirits. However, this should be done with sincerity and truthfulness.

The Downside of Being Single

On most times, I am happy being single.

This is definitely not putting up a brave front. I enjoy the liberty associated with channeling my energy to work during weekdays, spending time alone on weekends to unwind or meeting up with friends decadently over shopping or good food. I do not need to feel guilty for not spending enough time with someone, slow in my sms replies or simply just wanting to stay at home and sleep the afternoon away. For the time being, it suits my current lifestyle.

There is never one clear-cut win-all solution. Life is never ideal. Being single does sometimes bring about its own set of issues, just as being in a marriage may be wholesome and fulfilling at most times but there can also be trying moments. The last weekend was an all-time low which somehow made me slightly regretful of staying single.

I was desperately trying to get out of the house and to talk to someone, outside my immediate family. I first asked to meet the musketeers but both of them already had some form of commitment. Then I asked Dear who declined me initially because she needed to attend a housewarming. I could not ask Hui because she was busy with her wedding preparation. I do not usually hang around singly with any of the unigirls, and yet it will be almost difficult to coordinate a get together with just a few days’ advance notice. Moreover, most of them would be spending time with their husband or boyfriends, except for Margaret who was then overseas.

Sigh, it looked pretty destined that I would have to spend time alone. Fortunately, at the eleventh hour, the housewarming which Dear needed to attend was postponed, so we decided to meet up.

Suddenly, it seemed like it was more and more difficult to find a friend who did not need to meet their better halves on a Saturday afternoon. On most times, I can be rather occupied with my own activities where it may even difficult to arrange a meeting time with friends. Yet, that particular weekend, I felt especially lonely.

While chatting to Dear, I was sharing with her my aspiration to travel the world, yet the difficulty was in finding a companion. Hence, I have more than once contemplated the notion of traveling on my own. She warned me the danger of doing so. This was yet another problem of being single and not having enough single friends. My attached friends would want to travel with their boyfriends while my married friends would need to take care of their kids. Hence, it was perhaps imperative for me to learn how to travel on my own in order to carry out my dreams of seeing different parts of the world.

Life is great as a single most of the times except in such few moments where one suddenly desire companionship and there was no one I could turn to. Yet, do I regret being single? I guess not, especially when I know that I have not found my soulmate. Maybe it’s time I start meeting new friends who are single so that we can rely on each other when our married / attached friends are unavailable. *Grin*

Ease of Company from Long-Time Friends

It has been months since I last had lunch with 5050. With my project paper which has recently been approved and his new project starting, both of us were pretty busy with our work. Finally, we have agreed to meet for lunch again. This time, it was not Sab who joined us but KW. KW, who is our mutual friend and is my senior, has recently joined our department and we have talked about having lunch together for weeks.

We have decided to have our lunch in a Vietnamese restaurant. It was always easy to relax in the company of people whom one has known a long time. At the minimum, we knew which subjects were taboos and how far we could carry a joke. For instance, one of the long standing jokes which we had was the lateness of 5050 and my earliness. 5050 joked that saving more time on my journey just led to me spending more time on my work. I constantly joked about his nonchalance despite being late and boldness of going for breakfasts despite being late.

With KW and 5050, it was also easy to share about some of the aspirations that we held with respect to work, the difficulties and challenges in work and even the work itself since we have shared the implementation of some projects together previously.

Anyway, the lunch treat was on 5050 for getting his confirmation. We agreed to take turns and the next would be mine. :-)

Another Quake Scare

Many of us were still in office. My boss was leaning against her table.

Suddenly, I felt the ground and table shake.

Giddiness swept over me. To ensure it was not my own hallucination, I asked my boss and my colleague if they felt any shaking. My boss jokingly dismissed the possibility of earthquake and told me it was probably because she was leaning against the table. Yet, after she stopped, I still felt the ground shaking. For a while, I was concerned it was because the building was about to give way. I told her straight that the ground was still shaking.

My colleagues outside heard me and shouted that they also felt the shaking. Then we immediately rushed out and a commotion ensued. Some of my colleagues quickly logged on to the internet to check if there was an earthquake.

Another disaster has hit Indonesia – off Sumatra. It was measuring 8.9 on the Richter Scale. No wonder the tremor felt this time was stronger and for a longer period than previous.

In fact, for the next 2 days, there were numerous quakes and aftershocks attacking Indonesia.

Office Warming Ceremony

The renovation of the office has completed for more than a month.

A office warming party was held to celebrate the new office and the move of some of our colleagues back to HQ. It was timely for the ceremony before the start of fasting month for the Muslims.

We joked that the office warming ceremony was delayed as we have since more than warmed the place.

Change of Porfolio

Although this is only my second job in 5 years of working life, I have numerous changes of portfolio, almost one every one to two years. I started with doing billing and collection for 2 years before moving on to account payables for 1 year. Then I have moved on management accounting for a year before a short stint in financial accounting of a couple of months, overlapping with management accounting.

Now, after handling the data centre business for 1 year, I will be passing the baton on to my new colleague, while I will take over the submarine cables business for about 2 months before moving on to a new business.

Upon hearing my impending transfer, CY and Brother both asked me the same questions:
- Was it a voluntary change?
- Did I feel that the change was for the better?

My answers to them and to myself were the same.

It was not a voluntary change as it was initiated by my boss, even though she did speak to me prior to confirming the change to hear my views. I grabbed the opportunity without much thinking. So far, I have never let go of any change that come along the way because it has never easy to ask for change on your own which I had tried before in my old job.

I rationalized with CY and Brother who were concerned if the change was for the better, in terms of career prospect. To tell the truth, I cannot tell at this point in time but I have decided to keep an open mind about it. A change means the chance to get out of my comfort zone and to pick up something new. At least I can only tell if it is for the better after I give it a trial. Nonetheless, I will definitely gain in terms of picking up new skills and learning to work with a different group of people.

Certainly, I will miss CY and Brother and a few others with whom I have built up a great working rapport. I will also miss the control and independence which I can exercise because of my familiarity with the product. What awaits me will be a steep learning curve and information overload. It is also timely to dispel any complacency that I have built up with growing confidence of my product.

Ganbatte, to myself.

The Art of Mentoring

ET - not the cute alien who chants “home” with a bright light emitting from his (or her) finger. It is the initials of my new colleague. We had difficulty pronouncing his name and decided to nickname him using his initials. With him joining the team, he became the only thorn among the roses. Let’s hope he will not feel too left out.

I was made his buddy because he would be taking over my portfolio. Well, to be frank, I have never been a particularly good teacher. First, I never know how should I go about teaching. Should I say more or less? Being passionate about my work, I have the tendency to blabber on which can get abit boring at times. If I say less, will he think that I am withholding information deliberately? How should I strike a balance between the two?

Patience has gradually becoming one of my shortcomings. Since I started working, I have gradually become more and more impatient especially when I have to constantly repeat myself. Unintentionally, I seem to add “As I have told you before…” as punctuation for my statements. When I become aware of it, I had to bite my tongue immediately from saying out loud “I have told you before”. On other times, “I have told you before” flew out of my mouth before I could even think about it.

How should I make my buddy feel more at home? Should I ask him intermittently whether he needs help or should I take a more hands off approach? By taking a more proactive approach will it make him think I am checking on him? If I abit more standoffish, will he mistake it for aloofness?

Urgh! It is so tough. Some people have the innate ability to guide and coach, while I think I need more work on it…

MP3

I have never been a gadget type of person. Neither have I ever been a trendsetter. When people are listening to discman, I was still holding tight to my walkman. When people are busy snapping pictures with their camera phones, I was contented with my dual monotonic, non-graphic phone. When unlimited broadband was the rage, I still dialing through my modem.

MP3 has been one of the few gadgets which I have coveted for a long time. It has almost become an essential for everyone. Yet, I am slow, a typical follower. People have already moved on to MP4 while I was still hankering after a MP3. Being a music lover, an MP3 will definitely be a great companion. There was fleeting thought to buy one in China when I was there for a holiday because the local brand – Aiguozhe, offers adorable MP3 at competitive prices. I have shelved the thoughts for fear of the inconvenience of after-sale service. I have thoughts of buying one at the Comex 2007 a month ago, but $99 for a 1GB MP3 still sounded expensive to me. Phillips’ Annual Sale Carnival was a great opportunity for me to source for more affordable MP3.

Finally, I spotted a model which looked decent, within my budget and reasonably sized. It was a Phillips GoGear 1GB in black. It looked handy and portable and with a radio tuner. It fulfilled my basic requirement. I hesitated no more and decided to make a grab for it.

Finally, I am a proud owner of a MP3. I look forward to enjoying our time together.

Mooncake and Japanese Fair

Mooncake Fair
Dear was searching for a present for her mother. We walked past the central square at Ngee Ann City and decided to look at what variety of mooncakes were on offer this year.

There were throngs of people congregating in front of each counter especially the more popular stalls such as the Sheraton’s Li Bai, Raffles the Plaza and Raffles Hotel. Dear and I were sampling some of the mooncakes. Our favourite was strawberry snowskin with cranberry – the sweet and sour blend was indeed refreshing.

There were also several stalls which were selling mooncakes from Hong Kong. Some of the well-known names in pastries and confectionery have also joined in the line of supply of mooncakes, such as Four Seasons Durian and Chinatown’s Tai Chong Kwok. The well-known sauce maker – Kwong Siong Tye (Guang3 Xiang2 Tai4) is a fairly new name to the mooncake industry. At least I do not recall seeing its mooncakes in previous years.

Isetan Japanese Food Fair
The aroma of the fried seafood was beckoning to us from afar. We were trying to take a peek among the crowd. There were small pieces of the seafood for us to sample – fried shrimps, fried fish, fried softshell crab and fried squid. Dear and I were giving thumbs up for the fried shrimps.

Blurness Attacked Twice in a Month

The phone must have dropped onto the floor when I rushed to put my things on the table. Before I moved on to another meeting, I realized that my mobile phone was not with me. Panic. I searched the entire table but still the mobile phone remained out of sight.

More panic. I tried calling myself. My phone was in vibration mode. No vibration anywhere. Ultimate panic. Just then, I saw the phone on the floor. As the floor was carpeted floor, the vibration could not be heard. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, I picked it up quickly and rushed to the next meeting where I was already grossly late for.

The same thing happened again today. I moved to one of the syndication meetings. Midway through the meeting, the phone rang and I spoke over the phone for a couple of minutes. Then, the meeting ended and I moved to another room for another syndication meeting. Before I left the meeting, I realized I could not find my phone.

Panic. I looked downwards on the floor and around me. No phone. More panic. I sent an email to my colleague in the previous meeting room to help me check for my phone. After the meeting, I immediately went back to the previous meeting room to start a search, but to no avail. I retracted back to the last meeting room to check but was also unable to locate the phone. More and more panic. I went back to my table and started calling my phone but no one was picking up the phone. Just then, my colleagues all came back to office which meant that the meeting rooms would have been vacated and allowed me plenty of space to do a more thorough search.

Before I made my way back to the meeting room, I decided to ask my colleagues if they had happened to see my phone. HL initially feigned ignorance of my phone. When she heard that I wanted to rush back up to the meeting room to do another search, she hinted to me that LC might have helped me collected my phone and was pulling a prank on me by not returning to me.

Sigh! Fortunately, it has been found by her. I wondered what would happen if I had really lost the phone.

My boss saw the distress I was in and thought that I must be in need of some tonic to boost up my brains and dispel my blurness, so he has given me a bottle of chicken essence when I found my phone.

Sigh! It was indeed a bad scare.

Another Sinful Feast

It has been ages since we last had our department gathering, so we decided to take things in our hands. During one of the forecast meetings, we dropped big hints to our bosses that it was timely for another department gathering. Our bosses left the planning and the dates to us. With the impending forecast coming, it was better to organize it soonest possible.

Date: 6 September
Time: Lunch
Venue: Hyatt’s Straits Kitchen
No of persons: 13 (eventually only 12 turned up as YM needed to rush her project paper)

Straits Kitchen offers a range of local fare from Malay to Chinese to Indian, ie more high class hawker food. If one is a fan of local food, one will certainly be wowed by its variety all under one roof.
- In the Malay corner, there is satay, otah, nasi lemak (with fried chicken wings, buah kelak chichen and sambal prawns.
- In the Chinese corner, there is stir-fried lettuce, fried carrot cake, cha kway teow, roast duck and chicken, Hainanese chicken, prawn noodles.
- In the Indian corner, there is naan and curries.
- The local snacks corner offers rojak, sambal stingray, gado gado, muah chee and pancake (mee chiam kueh).
- The dessert section includes an overwhelming variety of kuehs – mainly made from rice floor and with coconut syrup, including the famous teochew yam paste.
- The drinks counter produces a colourful range of bandung, sour plum, barley, pineapple and apple juices.

However, our favourite was still the tropical fruits ice-cream and sorbet. Personally, I find the soursop sorbet the most refreshing especially after the strong-flavoured main course.

We were so full after the lunch that we decided to walk back to office despite the strong afternoon sun. I have to confess that we did have a strong urge to go shopping during the walk back... =p

Lure of the Strawberry Cake

While waiting to collect my cake, Brother text me over Sametime asking if we could meet up to tie up some of the loose ends of the project paper. I told him flatly that it was a no-no as I needed to leave after I collected the cake...

Brother: For who?
Me: What is for who?
Brother: The cake, of course.
Me: Me lah. Buy cake is to eat, so definitely for myself.
Brother: Huh?
Me: Heard this auntie makes very good cake. Finally managed to place my order.
Brother: Really? Can I take a bite?
Me: Of course not. I am very selfish one. If you eat it, it means I have less to eat.

Post conversation note: Ok, I admit I was selfish and juvenile, but I have a sweet tooth. Moreover, it was only half a cake, so I ought to save some for my family. Brother refused to give up.

Brother: Ok, let me put my negotiation skills to good use. How about you let me take a bite of the cake, I will throw in a gossip a week?
Me: Nope. I am not a kay poh.
Brother: It is outside the company grapevine which is very accurate. HOT GOSSIP!
Me: No. I prefer my cake.
Brother: You selfish!

Finally, Brother gave up.

No one could tempt me into parting with my cake, especially when it was a cake which took 4 orders before I could get a taste of.

Much Awaited Cake

There has been a lot of hype around the cake that the Auntie makes, especially her durian and mango cakes. Both are ‘heaty’ cakes which I will usually steer away from. She also makes strawberry yogurt cakes. One is too big for me, so I have decided to take half, but who was willing to share the cake with me.

Finally, I found YM who was willing to share the other half of the cake with me. Excitedly, we placed an order for strawberry yogurt cake.

The first time, the Auntie could not make all the cakes in time and strawberry yogurt cake order was ‘sacrificed’.

The second time, the coordinator among us forgot to place our order, so it was another disappointment.

The third time, the Auntie could not make any cake as she was busy making mooncakes.

We were already on the brink of giving up. Finally, we got our order squeezed in but she delivered the cakes one day late again due to the inability to deliver the orders in time. The cakes were to be delivered around 6 but we only got the cakes at 7.

Angie who has ordered the tiramisu cake decided to cut the cake there and then and all of us tucked in to the cake. We were a certainly rowdy bunch oohing and wowing over the look of the cake. Our boss heard our merriment and walked out thinking that a birthday party was in the making. In fact, it was just our excitement over the cakes. It was followed by a frenzy to search for paper plates to search the cakes in. When we got the plates, we realized we were missing cutlery. Vern who has bought many stirrers to take her chamomile tea passed out the stirrers instead. We were joking that it would take us 10 years to finish the cake using the stirrer.

It was a happy way to end yet another long and stressful day. The cakes and the mini gathering with the laughter helped dispel the stress of the day. Finally, it was home sweet home.

Jinxed?

It has happened for the past few weeks. Every time I have decided to go out, it will start to rain.

A couple of times when all of use decided to go out to eat to lift the spirits a little, it started to rain just before lunch hour and going-out plans had to be shelved immediately. On weekends when I was going out, it would start to pour when I stepped out of the door. Last Sunday on my way to HL’s house, it started to rain when I stepped out of the house. It stopped while I was in the train. It started to rain again when I walked out of the train station to walk to HL’s house.

The rain seems to be discouraging me from going out.

When my colleagues asked me to join them for lunch again today, I explicitly warned them of the recent phenomenon. They brushed the concerns aside. Just as predicted, it started to rain when we reached the lobby. Again, we would need to lunch in.

One of my colleagues was extremely sweet. She joked that this was merely a coincidence. If it rains the second time we go out, we will try for the third. If it rains the third time we go out, we will try for the fourth. We will try until it never rains.

HL's Home

LC has just gotten her flat and was sourcing for ideas on how to go about decorating her new house. Somehow, somewhere, we got wind that HL's house was ID-like (interior designed-like), so LC was eager to visit HL's house to get inspiration. HL graciously organised a get-together at her house.

HL's house was situated at high floor in Tiong Bahru. The location was superb, in terms of convenience (practically a stone's throw from town) but also in terms of view. The theme was mainly purple and grey which gave a cool look. The layout was minimalist yet practical. Of course, the girls' favourite was still her walk-in wardrobe which was carved out from an adjourning room to the master bedroom.

HL has also shared with us her wedding video which included several humourous shots of the day's events. Her wedding shoots also steered towards more natural themes - no studio shots were taken. It was a good gathering where I knew more about my colleague than just work dealings.

Dao and Blur

When a bunch of long-time friends gathers, especially girl friends, it is not unusual for us to trade gossip about who and who that we have known or laugh out loud at our past stupidities. This is more so for us who are already very used to seeing one another in her most depressed, embarrassed or jubilant moments.

Strangely, most of what happened in school days have become a blur, including some of our school mates and teachers. Characteristically blur, it is not surprising that sometimes I pass by people who have known me but whom I have little recollection (especially for those who have since blossomed to smart gentlemen or pretty ladies). On other occasions, I recognise the person who just simply could not recall his / her name. It certainly does not help that I cannot even remember where or when I have met the person or how we have become acquainted.

Enough of the digression. I guess it is another sign of age where I seem to blabber on without noticing.

Sharon was sharing with the group about my blurness. I guess certain traits are innate. *Wink* We started off by jesting about each other's 'dao-ness' (Dao: (Hokkien) means arrogrant and aloof). We were complaining about our non-acknowledgement of each other despite being Japanese classmate, frequently sharing the same bus and meeting each other at the same bus-stop. We always needed to transfer buses at the stop opposite Far East Plaza to reach Newton. We have subsequently ended up sitting beside each other. (At this point, I was wracking my brains very hard - have Sharon and I ever sat beside each other?)

Nevertheless, it seemed like we use to go home together after classes. Once, Sharon was feeling dizzy after class, so she sat down en-route to the train station and hoped to steady herself before continuing with the journey. By the time she had regained her stability, it appeared that I had already gone out of sight. I had simply walked on and failed to notice the absence of Sharon! This was mid-nineties when mobile phones were not as prevalent. If we had missed each other, there was no way we could have contacted each other. At this juncture, Hui was already laughing incredulously. Moi? I was turning red from embarrassment of my blurness and my abandoning my friend when she was in need.

Well, this was not the end. Fortunately, I was not the 'star' in the other stories.

Back to the "dao" part. Apparently, I was not the one who thought Sharon used to be dao. Hui shared the same sentiments. I used to stereotype her to be an arrogant princess, especially with her jet black hair and porcelain features. Of course, it eventually turned up to a huge misunderstanding. While my stereotype stamped more from the exterior, Hui's misunderstanding of Sharon was more incident-driven. It appeared that when one of the Japanese class was cancelled, Sharon did not inform Hui despite them being in the same class in school and in MOELC. Hence, the misunderstanding that Sharon was a selfish person.

Fortunately, these misunderstandings were cleared soon after or we would not have shared close friendships for so many years. Yet, when we looked back at our pinafore days, we could not help laughing at each other's stupidity and blurness then, albeit fondly.

Celebration of Birthdays and Hen’s Party

It is time to countdown to Hui’s wedding. We, the sisters, have to start our planning on the tricks to play on Onion. The ploys that we use for Hui’s wedding are likely to be ‘adapted’ for Sharon’s in 2 months’ time.

We met for Hui’s belated and Sharon’s advance birthday celebrations. As usual, we are always late in birthday celebrations, so we ended up celebrating birthdays belatedly.

Given that Sharon, Jess and I always seem to have a heaty condiment, we have opted for Japanese cuisines. We believed that the selection of healthier food is of greater variety than western cuisines. This is probably one of the reasons for settling for Japanese cuisines most of the time as the selection offered is likely to cater to the different whims and fancy of the group.

Sharon has brought along her wedding photos. Always a little princess among us all (she is in fact the youngest among us), she really resembles a princess in the photos. Haven’t seen Randall for a long time, he has also grown broader and fairer in the photos. Randall used to be thinner and tanner during school days while he was training for sailing. Sharon, being an animated speaker, was sharing ‘behind the scenes’ jokes and hardship while we admired the romantic shots. For instance, one particular shot required her to tap her feet in murky water which she has initially been reluctant to do so because the water appeared to be infested with mosquitoes. Eek! Fortunately, the photos turned up to be rather romantic. In another shot which they were sharing champagne on the beach, she has confessed that it was actually chrysanthemum tea in disguise. Hee!

We cannot believe that Sharon and Randall have been together for 10 years since JC1 while Hui and Onion have been together for 7 years since Uni 1. And we have been buddies for 18 years since Sec 1, even though when we try to recall our school days, the happenings and images are becoming more and more blurry.

In 2 weeks’ time, Miss Hui will become Mrs.

In 2 months’ time, Miss Sharon will become Mrs.

The two youngest among us are putting on the wedding veil and move on to a new phase in life where they will not only be responsible for themselves but also for their life partners. It will soon be Mrs Onion and Mrs Randall. :-)

Fierce

I was ‘reputated (or should I say infamous) to be the fiercest among all my peers. Many Product Managers have suffered at my hand – the two most well-known being M and Brother. Brother, being on closer relationship with me, has sometimes asked me why I was so fierce to him on those days when he faced a tirade of scoldings from me for not doing his work.

For those who have the ‘misfortune’ of to work with me, they know that I will never hide my disagreement. However, I believe I am not being unreasonable. Strangely, those who have ‘suffered the worst fate were those with whom we have built up a good working and lasting relationship. 5050 was the one I quarreled most in my ex-job, but he has since become one of my trusted working partners especially in terms of IT projects. In fact, he is also one of my most trusted friends as I know he is always candid in his opinions, not just in terms of ideas for work but also my people relationship skills. Even till today, if I ever have any IT problem, the first person I will consult is still him.

Now, Brother is another person. In fact, we have started on a bad note. After clearing the misunderstanding, we are better aware of each other’s working style and expectations. We can now share information more freely with each other, including the occasional jokes and gossips.

Yes, I proudly admit I am the fiercest among the group of accountant. Perhaps I am trying to defend myself for my fierce attitude. Yet, I can openly confess that I hold no grudge and bear no hard feelings. I am more of a task oriented rather than people oriented person. In my rush to get things done, I may be quick with my words but they are never meant to be personal nor lasting.

I am glad for 5050 to have tolerated me in the past and Brother and M for tolerating me currently.

P.S. Although none of the above mentioned will ever see this, I just feel like thanking them, especially when I suddenly received a ‘thank you’ note from Brother. For a while, I was worried, thinking that maybe he has tendered and thus the expressed gratitude out of the blue. Fortunately, it turned up to be a false alarm.

Truth and Lie

Lie

It sounded so real – an astrological phenomenon in ‘x’ number of years, ie those that you would only see once in your life time.

We would see 2 moons because one of the planets would be so near earth that the reflection of light from the sun would create the illusion of double moons. The speed with which this was forwarded via email was fastest that you could say ‘hippopotamus’.

It turned up to be a hoax. Apparently, it has always been forwarded in August since a couple of years ago.

Truth

Red moon eclipse was real. The day after the two moons was to appear, there was really a red moon eclipse. Unfortunately, it was difficult to see in Singapore.

Shortly after I forwarded the lie, I received email from Brother with 3 URLs stating that it was not real. Oops, I was also one of the culprits, or should I say victim, who has aided in this widespread lie.

The day after the two moons was to appear, some of my colleagues who have received the forwarded email asked if I have seen the moons.

Regardless, I have ended work around nine or later, so I could not attest to either the truth or the lie with my naked eye.

Therapeutic Menial Tasks

Some people opt for spas while others prefer to sweat it out to de-stress. Me? I prefer to do something – something that cleanses. Nope, I am not taking about long showers. In fact, my record holding shower time barely stretches beyond half an hour. Neither am I referring to facial. My tolerance of pain is low when it comes to face.

I prefer to
a) spring clean
b) file my feet
c) iron clothes

Alright, may the third has nothing to do with cleaning, but it is more to do with putting something in order.

Spring Cleaning
Getting rid of unwanted stuff and organizing the remaining so as to achieve a more organized space. Perfect. It is always difficult in the beginning while we go through the motion of deliberating should we or should we not continue keeping. Once we get into the momentum, hmm most things will belong to the ‘throw’ category, especially when we know that we have retained them for yet another year without ever touching them.

I am quite a garang guni, ie I keep things for a long time. My A-level-and-before notes and textbooks were only thrown away last year because I moved into a smaller space where space is the scarce resource. I have kept them year after year thinking that maybe I will need to ‘consult’ them. Yet, year after year, they remained in my drawers gathering dust (no cobwebs, because I cleaned quite often, so spiders did not have a high chance of survival). Let me share with you a secret. My university notes are still with me, even though I almost never refer to them since I graduated. Shh……

Spring cleaning helps to remove the unwanted stuffs, including stress. A cleaner environment brings immense satisfaction. Sweat out to improve the home is definitely a worthy cause. Hey, I am also an advocate for minimalist (aiming, but not attaining it yet).

Filing My Feet
As age catches up with me, dead skin gathers at twice the speed. As the saying goes, there is not ugly woman, there is only lazy woman. Our feet have to carry our weight and support us in our life journey, so we must really take care of them.

Filing my feet is another therapeutic motion. The “sa-sa” of the file on my soles and the flakes of dead skin falling out remove the grim on my feet and the stress in my mind - another thoroughly brainless motion that results in another useful outcome. I am not saying that my feet become baby soft after this manual task but at least the calluses are less visible.

Ironing Clothes
Flattening the creases can be frustrating, but full concentration on this task at hand helps block away our mundane problems. It is as effective as mediation. It also helps to train one’s patience. Speed can work against you in ironing. If you go too fast, the flattening is not permanent and creases can form easily. If you go too fast before you straighten the fabric, you may end up forming a crease with your iron which is even harder to remove.

While one sweats with the ironing, the stress is sweated out. The complex thoughts are given a rest. After the exercise, one seems to have a clearer mind.

The above may sound abit unorthodox, but it works for me. Do you have your own unorthodox ways of de-stressing? Perhaps you can share and next time, I can give those ‘remedies’ a trial.

Jie Mei’s Lunch Out

It has been a long week. We were tired from meeting the numerous deadlines. There was only one word to describe us – “Sian” (tired).

We have not had lunch together for a long time because one of us would have lunch meeting or projects to do. It was a Friday – wind down mood. After discussion with Angela, we decided to initiate a jie mei men’s (Chinese, means sisters) lunch out. There were ten of us in total. Almost everyone could make it, except for two.

Just as we were looking forward to a walk along Orchard Road, it started to pour. This called for an immediate change of plan. We decided to go to our canteen for lunch instead.

As we adjourned for an earlier lunch, it was perfect timing to try our famous Korean food – most shiok for eating there and then because of the sizzling hot plate. Normally, there would be a long queue for the food. No queue was apparent as we were there at 1130, 1 hour before the official lunch hour.

It was a good 1.5 hour of catching up. We would have stayed longer if not for my boss looking for me to attend to a conference call at 1 pm.

Secret Dreams

It was a day where the entire team had headed off to the Quarterly Communication session while the three of us stay put because we had meetings.

Again, our favourite topic – travel, surfaced. Hong Kong seemed to be the choice destination of the year with four (including my boss and I) in our team of twelve had gone to this shopping paradise for vacation. Planning for a vacation is always the most exciting as we anticipate the impending fun. Reminiscing about our most recent vacation is second-best as we transport ourselves back to the places of happy memories.

One of them was sharing about a farm stay in Taiwan and how she wished she could stay there for a while without coming back. The friendly farmers, their slower pace in life and the simple and wholesome lifestyle attracted her immensely. The three of us were busy nodding our heads. Yes, this was also our ideal lifestyle. After enduring prolonged hectic schedules, such living would be a welcoming change.

Perhaps we sounded a tad too unabashedly laid-back, even though we are only in our late twenties to early thirties. Instead of forging ahead in our career, we were secretly dreaming of seeking recluse in a farm. We longed to take a year off work and travel the world. Sometimes, we would stare at our notebook screen and questioned the meaning of work.

I have always envied others who could drop everything to trek around the globe. Their independence and courage are what I hope I will acquire over time. I admire those who can even stay and work in a foreign place and truly immerse themselves in the different culture.

Am I an escapist? Am I bored with my life?

I don’t know. What I do know is I want to find out how it is in different corners of the world. What I am certain of is I want a taste of a different lifestyle? Perhaps I will be soon bored with the too-simple lifestyle, having been an urban kid so far. Perhaps I will get weary of travel and prefer the settled feeling since I have never been the most adventurous person.

Yet, I will never know if I never try. Perhaps one day, these will not be secret dreams anymore…

Colourful Languages

Living in a multicultural and multiracial means that life is never monotonous, especially in the culinary and lingua aspects.

We always display our languages dexterity through our daily expression (both spoken and written), with a predominant English statement peppered with a smattering of Malay and Dialect. Sometimes, we may also be speaking in our mother tongues but replaced certain vocabulary with their English counterparts, mainly because at the critical moment, the mother-tongue word simply eludes us.

Some of the more creative ones even included our own local expression which involves a combination of different languages. Common expressions include “Buay Tahan” (Buay = (Hokkien) cannot, no, not; Tahan = (Malay) tolerate, bear).

Brother is again one of the most ‘outstanding’, in terms of coming out with incredulous expressions. Some of his recent inventions nearly caused me choking on my laughter. Imagine if I had laughed out loud reading my emails, my colleagues would have thought I have gone insane from the workload, so I had to control my laughter. I am not certain if they are his inventions or if he has simply heard these expressions somewhere.

Buah Long Long
- In normal context, it refers to a tropical fruit.
- In Brother’s context, Buah Long Long refers to a behaviour, eg, That XX really knows how to act, don’t know how to do but always buah long long in front of bosses.

Zhoon Zhoon Jiak Bee Hoon
- In normal context, zhoon zhoon and jiak bee hoon are separately used. Zhoon zhoon (Hokkien) means accurate. Jiak Bee Hoon (Hokkien) means eating rice vermicelli.
- In Brother’s context, this refers to so accurate that it is unbelievable, eg, Your business case shows $ x. Mine also shows $ x. Zhoon Zhoon Jiak Bee Hoon!

His inventions can even rhyme in Hokkien! They may not be those which will make it to Collin’s or Oxford Dictionary, but they are simply harmlessly funny and colloquial.

With such expressive languages, who says Singaporeans are boring.

Marina Square Food Court

I always hold a soft spot for this food court, not so much for its local delicacy but more for its view.

The food Court overlooks the Esplanade to One Fullerton to the skyscrapers which line the southern bay of Singapore. Dining is not just a commodity but has evolved to an experience. A nice view will lift one’s spirits and enhance the entire dining experience. Hence, there are people who are willing to pay a high price in exchange of a good ambience.

At Marina Square Food Court, one needs not pay a hefty price for the experience to soak up the city view of Singapore in the comfort of one’s T-shirt and shorts.

Escalator Scare

It was the peak hour crowd.

The escalator was filled from end-to-end with people with minimal space from person to person.

Then someone fell at the end of the escalator. People who are immediately behind do not have time to react and tumble over the person. People slightly behind panicked. It was either move upwards in the escalator or be squeezed and pushed to fall in front. Looking behind, there is no leeway for escape. The entire row of escalator was filled with people. People behind were oblivious to the happening and remained in their line.

I am nearing the end of the escalator. The commotion in front has not cleared. The poor person who fell remained at the foot of the escalator. The fall and injury seems imminent.

Just at this critical moment, someone pressed the emergency stop button and the escalator stopped so that all the people could file to safe ground orderly and slowly.

Phew! It was such a scare.

Although I have escaped injury-free, there were a couple of people who were not as fortunate.

The next time you took the escalator when there was a lot of crowd, please try to keep a safe distance from the person in front. If one is feeling unwell, or who is carrying bulky items, please take the elevator as a safety measure for oneself and the fellow commuters.

Different Lives, Growing Apart

We might be a close-knitted clique in school, always huddling together when we had breaks. We might help each other cover up when one of the girls skipped lectures. We went shopping together for our wardrobe of working clothes before we graduated. We posed in one another’s graduation photos.

However, different life and working experiences seem to drive a wedge in the bond.

I am not saying that we are no longer close. Notwithstanding, we still share the same food when we meet and conscientiously meet for one another’s birthday celebration and wedding dinner, ‘frequency’ has slightly misaligned.

We no longer like the same things. Sometimes I don’t even know what they like these days and birthday gifts now conveniently take the form of vouchers. We no longer are concerned about the same issues. I am concerned about work load and job prospects while they are concerned about marriage, kids and in-laws issues.

Does this happen to all friendships?

Are friends groups of people who happen to meet at a certain place at the same time and have the same interests? When they gradually move away from each other in pursuit of their own life goals, the bond has also weakened?

Few friendships can withstand the test of times despite putting in efforts. When we undergo different life experiences, our personalities, interests and thoughts change. In the past, we could read each other’s mind and help each other finish her sentences. Now, despite explicit expression, I may not even understand fully the message conveyed.

Do you experience the same?

I am sure I am not alone because a friend has once shared with me similar sentiments…

New Keyboard and Mouse

After procrastinating for many many moons, I have finally bought my mouse and keyboard.

My mouse is small and retractable and wears a cute read coating with pink flowers. My keyboard is slim and in glistening black.

Too used to the keypad of the notebook. It takes a while to get used to the feel of the new keyboard and the location of the various keys. Prior to this, it means that you will hear me pressing the key pretty often.

SSO @ Vivocity

In celebration of the National Day, SSO will be holding 2 free concerts. The first was held at the Vivocity amphitheatre last night.

Crowds gathered at the amphitheatre long before the start of the concert. When we reached half an hour before the start of the concert, the seats were all taken up. We could only stand behind.

Familiar tunes from Carmen, Midsummer Night’s Dreams and even a medley of the local tunes of Home and Chan Mali Chan reverberated throughout the rooftop of Vivocity. Many members of the audience tapped their feet along with the familiar melodies. The Solo performance of Violinist – See Ian Ike captivated the crowd as he delivered Carmen.

Who says Singaporeans are not supportive of the Arts and Music? The strong crowd at the SSO concert has already proven the statement wrong. *Grin*

Another Gathering at Central

The second half of the year is often my ‘peak’ in social calendar sense. Well, many of my friends are born in the second half of the year. Now, they also choose to get hitched in the second half of the year.

It was the celebration of Margaret and Lisa’s birthday. The unigirls often like novelty in terms of places for gathering. So far, we have never been to the same venue twice. They have also introduced me to various places where I have never known existed - from Esmirada’s Mediterranean dinner to Da Paolo’s Italian pasta; from a priceless view of Singapore night scenery from Equinox to a girlish time at the Tea Loft. This time, it was at Central @ Clarke Quay.

Although it was not the first time I have been to Central, they have yet again introduced me to something different. Lunch was Japanese-Italian fusion cuisines at Pasta Café de Waraku. The seats overlook Singapore River and Clarke Quay.

While the girls opted for the cream sauce pasta, I have decided to give the Wafu sauce a trial. Wafu, when translated to Japanese, stands for Japanese style. It was a clear based, slightly salted Asian sauce, sprinkled with garlic. My choice was a scallop and asparagus fettucine with Wafu sauce. The garnish was also familiarly Japanese. While for authentic Italian food, paisley and rosemary and other herbs might be used, dried seaweed was used.

Dessert was at Paisley and Cream. The bright pink coloured walls attracted our attention. Hanging on the wall are many pictures of Audrey Hepburn, including those for Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

(The bread pudding and the cheese cake which we shared)

With this birthday celebration, the next one will be in a month’s time for SL and Vim’s birthday. We can celebrate the birth of Nat’s baby in October and Lisa’s in December, together with MX’s birthday. During this ‘interlude’, Margaret will be flying off for a 3-week plus vacation in Europe, while SL continues her busy MBA schedules. Till next time…

There’s No Place I’d Rather Be

It is another song perfomed by Kit Chan after 10 years. It is one of the few (or even the precedent) songs which does not feature the word “Singapore” in its lyrics. Nonetheless, it is a song certainly deeply felt by many, especially the more mobile workforce of these days.

We may have traveled far and wide, immersed ourselves in various cultures around the world, be captivated by the beauty of the different seasons. Yet, it will always be Singapore who is constantly in our minds. At this point, many may have started shaking their heads, especially if one felt that there are many inadequacies of Singapore. Precisely. Regardless of whether one feels that Singapore has done well in certain areas or needs improvements in others, the fact that one has been making comparisons show that Singapore has always been in our thoughts.

How can we not?

We may be awed by the long history of one of the oldest civilizations of the world – China. We may be tempted by the tantalizing aroma of the fish and chips of Australia. We may go wild with the sleepless cities of Hong Kong and Taipei. We may look forward to skiing in Switzerland.

Often, we miss the richness of the multi-culture of Singapore while we admire the Chinese history. We miss char kway teow alongside the fish and chips. We miss our family and friends while we party in Hong Kong. We miss the warm climate amidst the cold of the snow.

There’s no other place I’d rather be.

Happy National Day

There are many firsts to this year’s NDP.

First time at Marina Bay
First time on a floating stage
First time there is performances on the sea
First time there are fireworks coming out of the pinnacle of buildings

I like this year’s parade, even though I am watching in my living room from the TV, seemingly very detached from the live ambience. Yet, I could still feel my patriotism rising and my cheers with the fireworks. My heart skipped a little when the skater missed a step and fell, but it soon turned into respect when he quickly stood up and continued with the performance.

Besides the performance, there are also touching stories of the compassion of fellow Singaporeans.

An elder Singaporean who has recovered from cancer has wished to see NDP live but has always failed in the ballot. Due to her long-fought illness and age, she wondered whether she would ever get to attend the parade in her life. Upon hearing her stories, fellow Singaporeans who have had the tickets donated their tickets to her to help her fulfill her dreams.

Good work, Singapore; good work, Singaporeans!

Helen’s Farewell

Another colleague is leaving us for greener pasture. In the current job market, everyone tends to want a new challenge every few years. Although we may be sad when your ‘comrades’ who have braved through demanding deadlines with you leave, we are also happy for them having found a better job.

The farewell party is being held at Carousel at the Park Royal Plaza at Scotts. It has been more than a year since I last visited this place. The place has since been renovated. The buffet spread has also changed from a more local fare to international style. Now, the food counters can be found at 3 corners – one for the cold dish, one for the warm food and one for the desserts. The ambience is cozy. The staff are helpful.

There is good variety of the cold dish and the desserts. The hot food pales in comparison to the former. The cold dish includes sushi, sashimi – with salmon, tuna and yellowfin. There are also cold crab, crayfish, prawns, mussels, scallops and a few other shell fish. The salad bar is equally tempting. The hot fish has a good blend of Western and Asian cuisines. The Western selection includes chicken pie, roast chicken, steak and pasta. The Asian cuisines included Chinese dim sums, Malay briyani, Thai sweet and sour fish, etc. My favourite are the slightly spicy mackerel and the garlic prawns.

There is a chocolate fondue at the dessert counter, in addition to a wide selection of cakes and fruits. My favourite is the fruit yogurt mousse. The slight sourish taste is a refreshing change from all the sweetness.

All the best, Helen.

Bottle Tree Park

I have vaguely recalled being introduced by a “City Beat”-like TV programme to this place. Bottle Tree is a kind of tree found in the Australia. The owner of the park who has deep fondness of the tree has decided to bring the tree to Singapore. It is so named because it has a thick trunk that resembles a bottle.

(Bottle Tree)

Bottle Tree Park is a private park with a seafood restaurant and a fishing pond off Yishun. The park is visible when one takes the MRT between Yio Chu Kang and Khatib stations.


(Rambutan Tree)

The park is like an oasis among the concrete jungle, with very ‘kampong-like’ surroundings. In addition to the fish pond where both adults and children have a whopping good time fishing or netting fishes, there is also a small field where vegetables are planted. In a short distance away, the rambutan trees are flourishing with succulent fruits.


For those who have grown up in the eighties, we have neither seen vegetables which are still in the soil or rambutans which are still swinging on the trees. The trip to Bottle Tree Park is a trip back to nature.

Secondary School Friends Gathering

It has been a long time since all of us could turn up together. Before we graduated, we had naively imagined a more frequent gathering after we started work. Never did we know that we have less freedom in our time as a working adult compared to as an aspiring student.

A few of us were the more “sua gu” (mountain tortoise, country bumpkin) bunch. Although Chjimes as a hip dining area has been around for many years, we have yet to set foot in Chjimes. It was the first time for a couple of us. It was also a pleasant surprise to discover Esmirada amidst the many eateries. I have fond memories of this Mediterranean restaurant which was formerly at Orchard Hotel, especially of its plate breaking dance before the close of the restaurant.

Well, the ambience was definitely good and conducive for a quiet catching up with close friends. There were many types of cuisines being proffered within each eye-catching decorated and themed restaurant. After a tour of the place, we settled on western cuisine in a café where the waitresses were dressed as maids – black dresses with white aprons and blond wig with a white head scarf.

As night descended and the skies darkened, the candlelight created a cozy environment for reminiscing of our school days, our recent developments and admiring the wedding photo shoots of Hui. As Jess and Sharon are teachers, hearing them share about how different the students these days are made us wonder if we have behaved similarly during our uniformed days.

Linda, who has missed many of past outings, has commented that we still looked the same. Likewise, we have said the same of her. Somehow, we reached the conclusion that certain things do not change. This comment drew mixed feelings from me. I wondered if it was for the better or worse.

- In a time where change is the only constant, by remaining the same, have we fallen behind times?
- Perhaps we may look the same on the exterior, we are no longer the same in the interior?
- With age, we are supposed to look more mature and wise, does this mean we are still looking very idealistic and juvenile?

On the other hand, allow me to be more thick-skinned in the interpretation of the above comment.
- Perhaps this means we still look as youthful as before?
- Despite being inundated with work challenges, does it mean we have not since closed our hearts and become totally jaded?

Regardless, with so many girls gathered on one table, we were back to the rowdy bunch we were back in our blue-pinafored days where we seemed to have endless to say to each other. Unlike the past when we could say all we want to each other daily, now we could only summarise what to say during our rather infrequent gatherings.

New Workstation

After 2 weeks of enduring glue and paint smell, the work was finally completed. It was time to move to our new seats and new workstations.

At the new workstation, we will no longer have tall and single partitions. It is more open concept. The disadvantage is that we will no longer have as much privacy. Moreover, discussions at our workstations will no longer be viable because there will no longer be visitor chairs.

The advantage is that it will be new furniture. No more collapsing cabinets. No more drawers where the keys cannot be found. In addition, a more open concept will also mean easier interaction with my peers and colleagues. In the past, we are isolated in our cubicle during working hours. Now, we can just stand up and talk to each other.

The biggest headache was the move.

I decided to move all my things to the new place and just haphazardly placed them on my table for the time being. The new worktable is large enough to accommodate all my ‘barangs barangs’. After all the things were moved, then I would slowly pack them into the drawers.

When my boss walked past my table, he jokingly commented that I was messier than him. Well, not for long. I was a fast packer. Within 30 minutes, the things were neatly placed in my drawers. I stressed it was indeed neatly placed. I did not just chuck them into the drawers and just closed the drawers shut.

Then, it was my time to tease him back. Good-naturedly, of course. After all, it was end of the day, we could definitely wind down with some jokes and laughter. *Smile*

Happy 1 Year Anniversary

Happy Birthday to you, blurqueensj.blogspot.com!

Alright, I confess. It is cliché to say time flies. Yet, I am sure you share this sentiment deeply with me. So, just indulge me a little and let me shout out loud.

TIME FLIES!

Hey, this is better.

Looking back at the past one year, I was in better control of my time. This is especially so between work and personal life.

Note. This is not to say I have a more lobo job.

In fact, on the contrary, I face more pressing deadlines and even longer hours on work days. The deadlines are really “drop dead” deadlines, no negotiation allowed. Once the meeting time with senior management is arranged, it can never be moved unless it was moved by the senior management’s PA. All efforts would have to be channeled to meeting that deadline. I never have to work beyond 10 pm previously. Now, working beyond 10 pm and beyond is extremely normal during budget time. Starting meeting at 8 am in the morning was almost unheard of in my ex job. Now, it can be the only way to secure time with your bosses or the senior management especially with their tight schedules.

Notwithstanding the adrenalin rush required to meet the deadlines, this adrenalin seemed to “spill over” to the “play side. Well, another cliché saying is apparent – “Work hard and play harder”. *Grin.*

I managed to go to more places for leisure, be in local or overseas. I have gone to two countries and three regions (Hong Kong and China are in the same country) in a single year. Well, rather ashamedly, at the age of 27, the places I have been to are so few that I can finish counting with the fingers on my two hands. Traveling brings about new exposures, challenges and experiences. It nudges me out of my comfort zone and widens my perspectives. I cannot help but chuckle to myself how I have given in to my long-suppressed ‘vacation bug’. It was almost as if I have, quoting my ex-colleague, ‘taken revenge’ for my deprivation. In my previous job, I have only traveled to three times in four years.

I also got to meet my friends more often, even though I still have not quite succeeded to seeing some friends as often as I wish. Time is always the scarce resources. To tell the truth, I am still desperately trying to improve my balance between family, friends and personal time. Some friends may still feel neglected but I am still trying to make up for lost time. Hopefully, they have not given up on me yet. *Praying hard*

I also have time to pursue other interests. At least, I have started a blog and managed to maintain it. Writing helps me to express my thoughts on the various issues that I have been confronted with. It is an avenue for me to be open about likes and dislikes. It is also a ‘memory stick’ for the sights and the adventures. Simultaneously, it becomes a platform for sharing of thoughts, especially through the comments friends left for some of the entries. Some of these comments might not have been posted on the blog but informally through chit chat.

Enough of me and my thoughts.

What about you? How was the last one year for you? Was it exciting? Or was it a year filled with drudgery and menial tasks? Was it a memorable year?