How long ago have you spent a weekend practically doing nothing?
Such a question is likely to invite incredulity and even loathe from the increasingly busy Singaporeans where no minute or second can be wasted. Many have their weekends long planned out with commitments back-to-back. If you do not have any plans at the start of Saturday morning, you will be branded as a boring or a lazy person.
Weekends are meant for rest. It is definitely not a sin to spend two whole days resting and doing nothing or meeting no one. This is especially when the past work week is as if you are fighting a war on the battle field. Even if the activities are not planned, a little spontaneity may even lead to surprises.
This is what I have done this weekend. Doing nothing in particular and chilling at home. Before you get the wrong idea that I have been sleeping my 2 precious days away, allow me to clarify. What I have done was with nothing planned and just followed the mood of the hour.
I spent a few hours reorganizing my MP3 files. To me, ‘tidying up’ is often a form of therapy. Cleaning up mess gives me a sense of satisfaction and happiness. It is not as if I have many MP3 files but typing out the titles and artistes names takes more time that I anticipate, especially when some of them are in Chinese.
The other thing which I have pampered myself with is to sit on the swing and swing the time away. Wow, it was a high feeling with the breeze blowing and admiring the sky. Any stress was evaporated at that instance.
Actually, when it seems like I have been doing, I think I have done a lot because I have allowed my body, mind and soul to take a break…
November 04, 2007
October 27, 2007
Hong Kong Noodles (车仔面）
When I saw the new stall at Marina Square foodcourt, I was very excited. I never really had the chance to try out the noodles when I was in Hong Kong despite hearing so much about it. Now, it was right at our doorsteps without having to travel far and beyond to taste it. It was a 'die-die, must-try' food.
The metallic thermal flask mug reminded me of the cafe (茶餐厅） in Hong Kong where such mugs were prevalent. The coffee-tea mix （鸳鸯）here had a higher tea content than the version in Hong Kong. The noodles were slightly spicy. I liked the radish best as it was succulent but not too soggy. The cuttlefish was a tad too hard. The fishball was softer than the local fishball.
Hmm... it definitely brought back fond memories of Hong Kong.
October 24, 2007
Teambuilding at Pulau Ubin
Since secondary school days, I have not been to Ubin for many years. I heard that the place had changed significantly. When one of the teambuilding organisers showed us some photos of what we would be doing, we were slightly concerned because of the 'high element' theme. Thus, it was both with anticipation and apprehension that we arrived at the jetty to begin our Ubin trip.
The jetty was certainly upgraded from the stone pavement with a hut version. Now, it was concrete with equipped with the latest security gantries and souvenir shops. The bumboats which could only sit a maximum of 12 passengers still brought back memories of the past. It did not feel like a working day at all with the sun, the sea and the trees.
(The new jetty at Pulau Ubin)
(Nice little huts which are chalets)
When we were brought to the bottom of the ladder for the climb to the first level, I almost wanted to back out. It was only a one-way direction. Once you started on the challenge, there was no way of retreating but to brave through it. My legs were already shaking while I climbed the ladder to the first level. The trainer joked that although we never brought our phones with us, we were vibrating with fear. Then, it was a few steps to the first cage for a temporary rest. From then on, it was walking on log, wooden planks, rope climbing before reaching the second cage for a respite with water.
(The Challenger Pyramid)
(Our Team standing on the log)
After the second rest, it was rock climbing, jumping across 2 hanging planks, rope climbing up to the last platform before flying fox down. When we first jumped off the platform for flying fox, it was slightly scary but soon it was replaced with exhilaration of flying above ground. The view was simply breathtaking.
(The flying fox)
When the whole team completed the flying fox, it was already 2 pm. We quickly headed off for lunch before the start of the afternoon session. Relative to the morning session, the afternoon session was simply a breeze. It was walking on steel ropes and balancing. It still not easily achievable but it was certainly less scary as before.
At the end of the session, when I looked at my limbs, there were many blue-blacks and rope burns from the physical session just now.
October 21, 2007
Baking Cookies
I longed to try some baking for a long time. Of course, I was never a culinary expert. I took a shortcut by buying the pre-mixed materials from the supermarket. All I needed to do was to add in the butter and egg to complete the entire mixture.
(Dough after mixing the flour, the egg and butter and ready for mixing into smaller droplets)First, I mixed the flour, chips, walnut, sugar, egg and butter to form a dough. Then I had to take little droplets of the dough and lay them on the baking tray lined with cookie sheet.
(Before baking)
Ok, time to send the cookies dough into the oven for their 'sauna'. According to the instruction, I had to bake for 8 to 10 minutes in a 190 deg celsius oven. My sister helped me monitor the cookies in the oven while I continued to mould my little cookies. After 7 minutes, my sister told me the cookies looked cooked. I told her to wait a little while more as the instructions was to bake for at least 8 minutes. I was worried that the outside might look cooked while the inside was still raw.
When she took them out after 8 minutes, the cookies were already burnt black. Oh no! how inaccurate the instructions were. What a waste to the first batch of effort. Fortunately, we had not put everything into the oven the first time round.
(The first trial which are badly burnt)
(The subsequent trials which are successful. Phew!)
It was also very fun making them. I would be more adventurous in future and tried on cakes and other pastries. :-)
Peranakan Joo Chiat
Joo Chiat is very well-known for its food. Many well-known food places are concentrated in the Katong - Joo Chiat area, such as Katong Laksa, Awfully Chocz, Chilli Padi, etc. Yet, what captivated me most was the Peranankan shophouses with the elaborate carvings of the flowers and leaves that framed the facade. The bright colours reflect the rich culture.
At the end of Tembeling Road (near Haig Girls), I spotted two houses with one painted red and another painted white side-by-side. It was a striking contrast. At the same time, it bore a familiar resemblance to the postcard distributed by STB recently for their project postcard. When I came home and did a comparison, I realised they were not of the same scene.
Here's the picture of Tembeling Road for your comparison.
At the end of Tembeling Road (near Haig Girls), I spotted two houses with one painted red and another painted white side-by-side. It was a striking contrast. At the same time, it bore a familiar resemblance to the postcard distributed by STB recently for their project postcard. When I came home and did a comparison, I realised they were not of the same scene.
Here's the picture of Tembeling Road for your comparison.
October 20, 2007
Yoga Philosophy
This was the second lesson and the instructor did not only go more indepth to the different postures, he also applied the philosophy of yoga to that of life. Attending yoga lessons was not only a cleansing of the body but also that of the soul and mind.
Breathing and Stress Management
A simple breathing exercise could help us focus our minds and release pent-up emotions so that we could maintain our calm and be more effective. How often do we allow our emotions to override our rationality and make a wrong decision? How often do we allow our emotions to disrupt our days? If we can manage our emotions better, we will be able to minimise the damages that we do unto others and ourselves.
Getting the Postures Right
In our focus on getting the postures, we often compromise our breathing or our muscles stretches. While deceiving others, we are also deceiving ourselves. If we cannot attain a certain posture this week, it does not mean that we will not be able to attain it next week or the week after. The most important lesson was to maintain our inner wellness through our controlled breathing. The purpose of yoga will be defeated if we do not take care of our breathing in an attempt to perform a certain posture. This can be extended to our daily lives. Sometimes, we attempt to show others how capable or successful we are but we forget that our personal development and happiness are more important.
According to the instructor, if we practise yoga on a prolonged basis, we would be able to apply the principles of yoga to our daily lives.
Breathing and Stress Management
A simple breathing exercise could help us focus our minds and release pent-up emotions so that we could maintain our calm and be more effective. How often do we allow our emotions to override our rationality and make a wrong decision? How often do we allow our emotions to disrupt our days? If we can manage our emotions better, we will be able to minimise the damages that we do unto others and ourselves.
Getting the Postures Right
In our focus on getting the postures, we often compromise our breathing or our muscles stretches. While deceiving others, we are also deceiving ourselves. If we cannot attain a certain posture this week, it does not mean that we will not be able to attain it next week or the week after. The most important lesson was to maintain our inner wellness through our controlled breathing. The purpose of yoga will be defeated if we do not take care of our breathing in an attempt to perform a certain posture. This can be extended to our daily lives. Sometimes, we attempt to show others how capable or successful we are but we forget that our personal development and happiness are more important.
According to the instructor, if we practise yoga on a prolonged basis, we would be able to apply the principles of yoga to our daily lives.
October 19, 2007
Ice-cream Treat to Chill Down a Friday Afternoon
Two quarters ago, it was Ben & Jerry’s. At 2 pm, we were full with anticipation of what type of ice-cream it would be this time round. Wow, Haagen Daz! My favourite! However, this did not come in the normal form that I was familiar with – the tub form. It was a stick.Oh…. How heavenly! The chocolate nut coating was firm but not hard, so it did not crumble with each slurp or bite, yet it was not so hard that it pained the teeth. The vanilla inside was creamy but not too sweet. In addition to vanilla, there was coffee almond and cookies and cream to choose from. We gathered around to have the ice-cream and chit-chat while we finished our ice-cream.
Hmm…. I must go to the supermarket to check if such ice-cream is on sale.
Hong Kong Café (茶餐厅)
It has been about 2 weeks since we last had lunch together. This time round, 5050 initiated the lunch about 2 days ago. Previously, 5050, KW and I often only decided on the day itself. It has been an unspoken agreement that Friday is reserved for our lunch gathering.
Being almost half a Hong Konger, 5050 naturally opted for Xing Wang Café (兴旺茶餐厅). Xing Wang Café seemed to have revamped its menu. I did not recall seeing so many choices the last time I was here. After coming back from Hong Kong, I seem to view such café in a different light – with a tinge more comparison to those in Hong Kong. Certainly, Xing Wang has a more modern décor than many café in Hong Kong. Although the type of food offered is similar, the taste has somewhat been modified to suit the local taste buds better.
I had the fish fillet mee sua (a form of rice vermicelli). 5050 had the wanton soup noodles (instant noodles kind and not the local mee we normally see). KW had the fish cheese baked rice. After finishing his noodles, 5050 still felt abit hungry, so he ordered a French toast. When it arrived, we nearly fell off our chairs because of its size. 5050 decided to make us share his calories and KW and I each took a quarter of the toast. The toast was quite well-done with a crispy skin and a soft buttery inside. It was sweet.
After lunch, we happened to pass by another new eatery. It would be one of the alternatives we can have for our next lunch. :-)
Being almost half a Hong Konger, 5050 naturally opted for Xing Wang Café (兴旺茶餐厅). Xing Wang Café seemed to have revamped its menu. I did not recall seeing so many choices the last time I was here. After coming back from Hong Kong, I seem to view such café in a different light – with a tinge more comparison to those in Hong Kong. Certainly, Xing Wang has a more modern décor than many café in Hong Kong. Although the type of food offered is similar, the taste has somewhat been modified to suit the local taste buds better.
I had the fish fillet mee sua (a form of rice vermicelli). 5050 had the wanton soup noodles (instant noodles kind and not the local mee we normally see). KW had the fish cheese baked rice. After finishing his noodles, 5050 still felt abit hungry, so he ordered a French toast. When it arrived, we nearly fell off our chairs because of its size. 5050 decided to make us share his calories and KW and I each took a quarter of the toast. The toast was quite well-done with a crispy skin and a soft buttery inside. It was sweet.
After lunch, we happened to pass by another new eatery. It would be one of the alternatives we can have for our next lunch. :-)
Helpful Singaporean
An insect stuck onto the back of my blouse without me knowing while I was on my way to work. A helpful lady informed me and helped removed the insect from my back. On one hand, I was grateful for her courage, especially in front of a hideous insect. On the other hand, I was slightly perturbed by the nonchalance of other fellow commuters. They have not informed or helped me despite the insect being on my back for a long while.
October 18, 2007
High Class Japanese Cuisines
It was a celebratory lunch for the completion of a project which was held at an authentic Japanese restaurant at a restaurant near the office. I have never known that there is such a hideout along Devonshire Road - Yoshida Sushi. The little waterfall at the entrance of the restaurant welcomed us while the cheerful “Irashyaimase” (welcome) from the Chef and the waitress greeted us.
There were set menus which were served with an onsen tamago (hotspring egg), a fish soup and fruits. There were also ala carte. We opted for the set. I had the shirayaki unagi (grilled eel) which was plain unagi without the teriyaki sauce – a welcoming change. It was the first time that I had onsen tamago. In other Japanese restaurants, usually the chawanmushi would be served instead. It was a soft poached egg served in shoyu (light soy sauce) and a little wasabi. It was so soft that we all drank the egg down instead of eating it with a spoon. The fish soup came in clear or miso. The clear soup was sweet with the light taste of salmon.
It cost about $50 per set. To a salaried employee like me, it was simply a luxury which I would not be able to experience and afford on a regular basis. Fortunately, this was on the boss. Hee hee.
There were set menus which were served with an onsen tamago (hotspring egg), a fish soup and fruits. There were also ala carte. We opted for the set. I had the shirayaki unagi (grilled eel) which was plain unagi without the teriyaki sauce – a welcoming change. It was the first time that I had onsen tamago. In other Japanese restaurants, usually the chawanmushi would be served instead. It was a soft poached egg served in shoyu (light soy sauce) and a little wasabi. It was so soft that we all drank the egg down instead of eating it with a spoon. The fish soup came in clear or miso. The clear soup was sweet with the light taste of salmon.
It cost about $50 per set. To a salaried employee like me, it was simply a luxury which I would not be able to experience and afford on a regular basis. Fortunately, this was on the boss. Hee hee.
October 14, 2007
A Day of Art Immersion
In celebration of the Hari Raya Puasa, the Museums of Singapore lined up many different programs which are related to the festival or which could allow participation by both the young and old.
It was the first time to Singapore Art Museum despite hearing so much about it. When we stepped into the courtyard, we were greeted by an aromatic waft of satay. Satay, one of the traditional Malay food, was distributed free to visitors. One of the overseas visitors was initially slightly apprehensive of the satay. However, he chomped into his satay in a more carefree manner after seeing the greedy swallowing of us locals. What a nice welcome especially when I was pretty hungry.
On the other side of the courtyard, a big canvas was put up for all the visitors to take part in painting a big mural of Singapore. We were occasionally distracted by the body-painting models parading around the museum.
Walking into the galleries, we were captivated by a pinkish corner with many small figurines of wedding couple stacked into many tiers like a cake. They look adorable from both near and far.
Each gallery has a different theme or a different featured artist. Hmm, I cannot understand the abstract art at all. I was more interested in the portraits of the older Singapore which seemed to offer a peak of the life of Singapore in the sixties and seventies.
It was not only an art immersion from the exhibits in the galleries, the beautiful architecture of the building and the colourful mosaic on the floor complemented the art pieces. It was a different way of spending a holiday.
It was the first time to Singapore Art Museum despite hearing so much about it. When we stepped into the courtyard, we were greeted by an aromatic waft of satay. Satay, one of the traditional Malay food, was distributed free to visitors. One of the overseas visitors was initially slightly apprehensive of the satay. However, he chomped into his satay in a more carefree manner after seeing the greedy swallowing of us locals. What a nice welcome especially when I was pretty hungry.
On the other side of the courtyard, a big canvas was put up for all the visitors to take part in painting a big mural of Singapore. We were occasionally distracted by the body-painting models parading around the museum.
Walking into the galleries, we were captivated by a pinkish corner with many small figurines of wedding couple stacked into many tiers like a cake. They look adorable from both near and far.
Each gallery has a different theme or a different featured artist. Hmm, I cannot understand the abstract art at all. I was more interested in the portraits of the older Singapore which seemed to offer a peak of the life of Singapore in the sixties and seventies.
It was not only an art immersion from the exhibits in the galleries, the beautiful architecture of the building and the colourful mosaic on the floor complemented the art pieces. It was a different way of spending a holiday.
Oldies, New Arrangement
We had just finished lunch and we were lured by Jacky Cheung’ ballad. We decided to walk into That CD shop, sat on the sofa and totally immersed in the melodious singing.
The next 2 songs completely swept us off our feet. They were oldies which were newly arranged and sang by the contemporary pop singers. Wow, we seemed to go back in time yet there was a new twist to the nostalgia with the contemporary arrangement. Apparently, we were not the only two who were hooked. There were 3 or 4 other patrons asking for the CD – High Society (Oriental) Vol 1 and 2. My mum was rather captivated and nearly wanted to purchase the CD. In the end, we decided against it because of the high price.
Nevertheless, the songs made a deep impression on us and kept ringing in our ears for the entire day. :-)
The next 2 songs completely swept us off our feet. They were oldies which were newly arranged and sang by the contemporary pop singers. Wow, we seemed to go back in time yet there was a new twist to the nostalgia with the contemporary arrangement. Apparently, we were not the only two who were hooked. There were 3 or 4 other patrons asking for the CD – High Society (Oriental) Vol 1 and 2. My mum was rather captivated and nearly wanted to purchase the CD. In the end, we decided against it because of the high price.
Nevertheless, the songs made a deep impression on us and kept ringing in our ears for the entire day. :-)
October 13, 2007
Destined to Fail as an Engineer
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I knew since a long time ago that I will never make it as an engineer. This belief was finally put to test today when I was assembling my new standing. I took an hour to piece together a fan. If I applied such productivity as an engineer, I was quite certain my boss would send me packing within a week. Fortunately, I ended up in a profession that was distant from engineering.The fan parts came in 4 main components – the base, the stand, the motor and the rim and blades. Putting the stand to the base did not take much time. Fixing the motor to the stand was manageable except I took ages to find a suitable screw and to tighten the screw. Then, it was fixing the outer rim to the motor. Despite looking at the diagram for many minutes, I was still confused on how I should append the rim. Putting on the blades and screwing them to the motor and outer ring was relatively easy. There came the most difficult portion – fixing the front rim with a tightening of screw. Putting the rim on was ok, but I was completely baffled by a small piece of plastic at the bottom of the rim. How should I fix it? What was the purpose? The last step was to screw everything up. Why did I need the screwing up? How did the screw help station the plastic? I kept fixing about before I finally got it.
Tah-dah! I finally got it about and running. It was the testing time. I tried switching on the fan. It worked. The different speed worked. The different mode worked. The oscillation worked. Yes! I did it!
October 12, 2007
Lack of Night Life in Singapore
I have always been a morning person rather than night person. Hence, inactivity in the night life of Singapore does not particularly bother me. It is also difficult for me to determine if there is truly no night life in Singapore since I am usually asleep by then.
I rushed from work to the Brain seminar at SMU without dinner. The seminar was from 7pm to 9.30pm. By the time the seminar ended, I was famished.
I rushed to Plaza Singapura to grab a dinner. OMG, the foodcourt has already closed. Then I went in search of a restaurant. I stood outside a Japanese restaurant and the manager told me that there was only ten minutes left for the last order. I charged in. I did not need 10 minutes to order as long as they allowed me more than 10 minutes to finish the food.
I ordered within 2 minutes from sitting down.
They took about 10 minutes to prepare the food.
I took another 5 minutes to gobble down the food. (I have always been a fast eater unless I am sick.)
The time I took from order to finishing the food was even less than the time they required to prepare the food. I digressed a little. Anyway, this was the first time I started lamenting about the lack of night life in Singapore – one could not even find a decent place to have a meal after 10pm.
Given the amount of OT we clock, it is not unusual to leave office at 10 pm. Yet, there is nowhere we can find food. For those who are blessed with family, their family members can help them pack food at an earlier time. Imagine if we are living alone, going home at 10 pm is almost equivalent to having no dinner. What a sad way to end a hectic day…
I rushed from work to the Brain seminar at SMU without dinner. The seminar was from 7pm to 9.30pm. By the time the seminar ended, I was famished.
I rushed to Plaza Singapura to grab a dinner. OMG, the foodcourt has already closed. Then I went in search of a restaurant. I stood outside a Japanese restaurant and the manager told me that there was only ten minutes left for the last order. I charged in. I did not need 10 minutes to order as long as they allowed me more than 10 minutes to finish the food.
I ordered within 2 minutes from sitting down.
They took about 10 minutes to prepare the food.
I took another 5 minutes to gobble down the food. (I have always been a fast eater unless I am sick.)
The time I took from order to finishing the food was even less than the time they required to prepare the food. I digressed a little. Anyway, this was the first time I started lamenting about the lack of night life in Singapore – one could not even find a decent place to have a meal after 10pm.
Given the amount of OT we clock, it is not unusual to leave office at 10 pm. Yet, there is nowhere we can find food. For those who are blessed with family, their family members can help them pack food at an earlier time. Imagine if we are living alone, going home at 10 pm is almost equivalent to having no dinner. What a sad way to end a hectic day…
Functions of the Brain in Our Daily Lives
“If the student has not learnt, then the teacher has not taught.” Everyone can learn but differently. When a student has not learnt, it implies that the teacher has not applied the right method to motivate the learning.
If you believe that the bigger the brain, the more intelligent the person is, you cannot be more wrong. The brain of Einstein is much smaller in proportion to his body size. The intelligence of a person is dependent on the density and connectivity of the neurons.
Is there any unutilized part of the brain? Our brain is a scarce resource. Once we failed to use certain functions, the part of the brain will be overtaken by other functions. For instance, a person who loses his sight will soon find that the part of the brain which used to control sight will be used to control his hearing and touch.
If you believe in subconscious learning, please stop doing that as a good night sleep is better for learning. A person who has a sound and dreamy sleep can learn better than someone who has not. During dreams and sleep, the brain will be organizing the memories and learning points. Brain power is a scarce resource. Playing music in the background to allow the brain to learn during sleep will rob resources for the brain to organize the memories and reduce efficiency of the brain.
Do you know that our brain matures from age 20? This is why we define minors to be anyone below 20 or 21 years of age. A tiny part of our brain governs the control that we exert to doing anything bad or morally wrong matures when we are 20. People below the age of 20 may not be able to control themselves despite knowing that they are doing something wrong.
Do you know that playing majong is a good way of exercising our brains? There was a 81-year lady who has a high brain power because she has been playing majong for 70 years.
The fact that our phone numbers are not more than 9 digits is not a mere coincidence. This is because our brains can only remember up to 7 +/- 2 characters at any point in time. If we are in the midst or remembering a phone number and someone speaks to us in a 9-character sentence, this new sentence will overwrite our previous memory and we will forget the number.
The number of hours of sleep you need is also determined by the brain. This is why some people need more hours of sleep to feel refreshed while some can just sleep for less than 5 hours a day.
On the more paranormal side, phenomena such as ghosts pressing on your bodies and seeing the light at the tunnel just before passing out are figments of our brain activities. Ghosts pressing your bodies can be explained by the relaxation of the body muscles while the brain is alert. Normally, sleep induces the relaxation of the muscles before bringing on the onset of dreams to prevent sleep walking. When you suddenly wake up, your brain is alert but the recovery of the body may be slower, so momentary loss of use of the physical functions, including difficulty in breathing is resulted.
It was a complete overhaul of the midwife’s tales on brain power. The seminar which was held at the SMU - School of Accountancy was not completely scientific and factual in nature. The main speaker was Professor Hong Lan (洪兰) of Yang Ming (阳明) University of Taiwan. The host of the evening was Doctor Li Qing from Institute of Mental Health.
If you think the whole evening was crammed with facts, you cannot be more wrong. In addition to overthrowing some of the myths on our brains, Prof Hong Lan also provided a philosophical perspective on the functions and characteristics of the brain. She tickled the crowd with anecdotes of her relationship with the elders in an attempt to encourage the crowd to understand the thinking of the elders. For instance, in teaching elders new skills, we cannot employ the same method as we use in teaching young children because we need to take into account that the elders have more wisdom. She also shed light on how a person’s character can change with damages to the frontal lobe. Hence, it is important to protect our frontal lobe as any damage is permanent.
Everyone is inclined towards being a pessimist as there is a small part of the brains which may make us feel that we get off the wrong side of the bed for the day. Yet, this part of the brain is important because it is meant to be a caution and to warn us for any danger ahead. Yet, we need to lead a happy life for the dopamines (happy hormones) to overcome this part of the brain.
If we believe that we can do something, we will be able to do something. This is because the brain signals that arise from thinking about something are often the same as that when you are really doing something. The brain activities associated with imagining one is running is the same as that when the person is actually running. Similarly, when we punish a person, the brain signals of the people observing the punishment is that of the person who is being punished. Hence, punishing one to warn to others is not without its wisdom. The autistics have difficulty picking up skills because their brains are not able to produce the same signals through observing what others are doing.
The external influence is more important to the development of the personality than DNA. The study of a conjoined twins revealed that two almost similar beings in terms of DNA could have vastly different personalities – the elder sister was outgoing while the younger sister was reserved. Moreover, their experiences post-birth should be similar as they had to be everywhere together. It was discovered later that the difference was caused simply by the behaviour of the parents towards the two sisters. The elder sister liked to smile more and thus attracted more attention and praises. This caused the elder sister to be more confident and outgoing. The moral of the story was that we should praise our students or children more so that they could develop self-esteem. This perhaps would be contrary to the Asian culture where compliments were often deflected in name of humility.
It was like going to both a biological and philosophical lecture. Yet, the stories helped us to understand a difficult topic in a layman and entertaining manner. It was definitely an enriching experience.
If you believe that the bigger the brain, the more intelligent the person is, you cannot be more wrong. The brain of Einstein is much smaller in proportion to his body size. The intelligence of a person is dependent on the density and connectivity of the neurons.
Is there any unutilized part of the brain? Our brain is a scarce resource. Once we failed to use certain functions, the part of the brain will be overtaken by other functions. For instance, a person who loses his sight will soon find that the part of the brain which used to control sight will be used to control his hearing and touch.
If you believe in subconscious learning, please stop doing that as a good night sleep is better for learning. A person who has a sound and dreamy sleep can learn better than someone who has not. During dreams and sleep, the brain will be organizing the memories and learning points. Brain power is a scarce resource. Playing music in the background to allow the brain to learn during sleep will rob resources for the brain to organize the memories and reduce efficiency of the brain.
Do you know that our brain matures from age 20? This is why we define minors to be anyone below 20 or 21 years of age. A tiny part of our brain governs the control that we exert to doing anything bad or morally wrong matures when we are 20. People below the age of 20 may not be able to control themselves despite knowing that they are doing something wrong.
Do you know that playing majong is a good way of exercising our brains? There was a 81-year lady who has a high brain power because she has been playing majong for 70 years.
The fact that our phone numbers are not more than 9 digits is not a mere coincidence. This is because our brains can only remember up to 7 +/- 2 characters at any point in time. If we are in the midst or remembering a phone number and someone speaks to us in a 9-character sentence, this new sentence will overwrite our previous memory and we will forget the number.
The number of hours of sleep you need is also determined by the brain. This is why some people need more hours of sleep to feel refreshed while some can just sleep for less than 5 hours a day.
On the more paranormal side, phenomena such as ghosts pressing on your bodies and seeing the light at the tunnel just before passing out are figments of our brain activities. Ghosts pressing your bodies can be explained by the relaxation of the body muscles while the brain is alert. Normally, sleep induces the relaxation of the muscles before bringing on the onset of dreams to prevent sleep walking. When you suddenly wake up, your brain is alert but the recovery of the body may be slower, so momentary loss of use of the physical functions, including difficulty in breathing is resulted.
It was a complete overhaul of the midwife’s tales on brain power. The seminar which was held at the SMU - School of Accountancy was not completely scientific and factual in nature. The main speaker was Professor Hong Lan (洪兰) of Yang Ming (阳明) University of Taiwan. The host of the evening was Doctor Li Qing from Institute of Mental Health.
If you think the whole evening was crammed with facts, you cannot be more wrong. In addition to overthrowing some of the myths on our brains, Prof Hong Lan also provided a philosophical perspective on the functions and characteristics of the brain. She tickled the crowd with anecdotes of her relationship with the elders in an attempt to encourage the crowd to understand the thinking of the elders. For instance, in teaching elders new skills, we cannot employ the same method as we use in teaching young children because we need to take into account that the elders have more wisdom. She also shed light on how a person’s character can change with damages to the frontal lobe. Hence, it is important to protect our frontal lobe as any damage is permanent.
Everyone is inclined towards being a pessimist as there is a small part of the brains which may make us feel that we get off the wrong side of the bed for the day. Yet, this part of the brain is important because it is meant to be a caution and to warn us for any danger ahead. Yet, we need to lead a happy life for the dopamines (happy hormones) to overcome this part of the brain.
If we believe that we can do something, we will be able to do something. This is because the brain signals that arise from thinking about something are often the same as that when you are really doing something. The brain activities associated with imagining one is running is the same as that when the person is actually running. Similarly, when we punish a person, the brain signals of the people observing the punishment is that of the person who is being punished. Hence, punishing one to warn to others is not without its wisdom. The autistics have difficulty picking up skills because their brains are not able to produce the same signals through observing what others are doing.
The external influence is more important to the development of the personality than DNA. The study of a conjoined twins revealed that two almost similar beings in terms of DNA could have vastly different personalities – the elder sister was outgoing while the younger sister was reserved. Moreover, their experiences post-birth should be similar as they had to be everywhere together. It was discovered later that the difference was caused simply by the behaviour of the parents towards the two sisters. The elder sister liked to smile more and thus attracted more attention and praises. This caused the elder sister to be more confident and outgoing. The moral of the story was that we should praise our students or children more so that they could develop self-esteem. This perhaps would be contrary to the Asian culture where compliments were often deflected in name of humility.
It was like going to both a biological and philosophical lecture. Yet, the stories helped us to understand a difficult topic in a layman and entertaining manner. It was definitely an enriching experience.
October 11, 2007
Karaoke Party
Sam, Brother and Senior have been talking about going karaoke for ages. Finally, we have settled on the date to go.
An invitation was sent out to the whole gang of Brother and Sam. I decided to join them for the fun of it this time, but I had to leave early. CY, Brother, Mich, Sam, Gary, KY and Senior were there.
I have not seen Senior for more than half a year. I thought he looked thinner and I commented on it. He asked if he had looked more handsome. I asked if I should tell the truth or not. Hee hee, I thought I would be able to outtalk him this time round. *Devilish grin* Sigh! I still failed. Guess what his response was? He told me that regardless of whether it was the truth, he was already married.
It was also a rare opportunity to hear the people I have known for one year singing the various familiar tunes. Suddenly, they metamorphosised into Fei Yu Qing, Jay Chou, MC Hotdog and even Snow Patrol. I still had difficulty singing in front of a big group of people, so in the end, I went out of tune and squeaky.
Nevertheless, it was relaxing letting hair down and laughter.
An invitation was sent out to the whole gang of Brother and Sam. I decided to join them for the fun of it this time, but I had to leave early. CY, Brother, Mich, Sam, Gary, KY and Senior were there.
I have not seen Senior for more than half a year. I thought he looked thinner and I commented on it. He asked if he had looked more handsome. I asked if I should tell the truth or not. Hee hee, I thought I would be able to outtalk him this time round. *Devilish grin* Sigh! I still failed. Guess what his response was? He told me that regardless of whether it was the truth, he was already married.
It was also a rare opportunity to hear the people I have known for one year singing the various familiar tunes. Suddenly, they metamorphosised into Fei Yu Qing, Jay Chou, MC Hotdog and even Snow Patrol. I still had difficulty singing in front of a big group of people, so in the end, I went out of tune and squeaky.
Nevertheless, it was relaxing letting hair down and laughter.
October 09, 2007
Lack of Aircon in Train Cabin
Was I an anomaly?
Was the train cabin simply too crowded?
I kept feeling very suffocated in the train cabin? I was definitely not imagining the turning down of aircon because I was tall enough to stretch my fingers towards the aircon vent. The air that flowed down was weak and warm. Was this an attempt to cut cost with the rising fuel cost? Or was this an attempt to be environmentally friendly as a degree increase in the temperature will go a long way in saving the earth?
Well, although I support and even applaud such attempts to manage cost and save the environment, we should still be mindful of hygiene and health impact. In a crowded train, good ventilation with sufficient airflow is important to prevent fainting and to minimize the spreading of viruses and bacteria.
Was the train cabin simply too crowded?
I kept feeling very suffocated in the train cabin? I was definitely not imagining the turning down of aircon because I was tall enough to stretch my fingers towards the aircon vent. The air that flowed down was weak and warm. Was this an attempt to cut cost with the rising fuel cost? Or was this an attempt to be environmentally friendly as a degree increase in the temperature will go a long way in saving the earth?
Well, although I support and even applaud such attempts to manage cost and save the environment, we should still be mindful of hygiene and health impact. In a crowded train, good ventilation with sufficient airflow is important to prevent fainting and to minimize the spreading of viruses and bacteria.
October 08, 2007
A Warm Morning Greeting
If you pass by Somerset MRT on weekday morning, you will not fail to notice her charming smile and chirpy greeting. She lightens your morning with the latest news for the day and her “Good Morning”. She is the epitome of someone who has a passion to serve.
For many who are handing out free papers or brochures, they often bear a look of death – black, somber and unsmiling. Contrary to the former, she puts on a radiant smile, greets everyone with a cheery “Good morning” and thanks anyone who takes the Mypaper from her. For the occasional non-Chinese who takes paper from her thinking that it is Today, she will even tell them it is a Chinese paper.
She motivates the morning crowd to face the day with new energy and to take pride in the work we do. I strive to look towards the new day with as much enthusiasm as her.
For many who are handing out free papers or brochures, they often bear a look of death – black, somber and unsmiling. Contrary to the former, she puts on a radiant smile, greets everyone with a cheery “Good morning” and thanks anyone who takes the Mypaper from her. For the occasional non-Chinese who takes paper from her thinking that it is Today, she will even tell them it is a Chinese paper.
She motivates the morning crowd to face the day with new energy and to take pride in the work we do. I strive to look towards the new day with as much enthusiasm as her.
October 06, 2007
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......
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.
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.
October 05, 2007
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*
October 04, 2007
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.
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.
October 01, 2007
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.
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.
September 27, 2007
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.
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.
September 26, 2007
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?
September 24, 2007
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.....
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.....
September 22, 2007
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.
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.
September 21, 2007
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.
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.
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.
September 20, 2007
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.
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.
September 19, 2007
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.
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.
September 18, 2007
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.
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.
September 17, 2007
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
September 16, 2007
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.
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.
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.
September 15, 2007
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*
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*
September 14, 2007
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. :-)
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. :-)
September 12, 2007
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.
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.
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.
September 11, 2007
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.
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.
September 10, 2007
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…
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…
September 09, 2007
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.
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.
September 08, 2007
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.
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.
September 07, 2007
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.
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.
September 06, 2007
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
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
September 05, 2007
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.
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.
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.
September 04, 2007
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.
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.
September 02, 2007
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.
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.
September 01, 2007
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.
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. :-)
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. :-)
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