GSS Over...

the GSS finally drew its curtain for 2006... but then hor... there is...

Malay...si...a... Tru...ly... A...sia... MEGA Sale...

JB / KL... here I come!!!!!

Double 7th Lunar Month...

this year there will be two 7th Lunar months due to the calculation of the calendar (some leap year thingy)... checked with my parents on the double 7th Lunar months...

1. the "spirits" will only be out for the 1st 7th Lunar month (i.e. from 25 July to 23 August 2006)... no extended holidays for them...
2. the 15th day of the 8th Lunar month (i.e. Lantern Festival) will be delayed by one month and is now on 6th October 2006)...

i can be quite superstitious when it comes to the 7th Lunar month... no sea / water sports... no flights... no hiking / mountain climbing... just to be safe... and probably no minimal late nights...

On Leave Friday... Grandfather's Death Anniversary...

my Director approved my leave for this Friday... it's my paternal grandfather's death anniversary... relatives will be at our place for prayers and to pay their respect...

my grandfather was living with us for a long time... since the time we were in St. George's Road... partly due to some irreconciliable differences with my grandmother...

when he was living with us in Hougang, he was in the same room as me... remembered he had a stroke and was hospitalised... and then he went into a coma... all my relatives visited him... i refused to cos i didn't want to see him in that state... but there's an old wives' tale that the dying will only pass on after "seeing" all the relatives and the people they like... the night after i went to visit my grandfather, he passed away...

the same happened to my maternal grandmother... she fell and was comatosed... my aunt was in Malaysia then... granny hung on until my aunt returned... immediately after my aunt came to visit her, she passed on...

sometimes we just have to believe in old wives' tales...

FARK MINDEF...

received an SMS about a notification from MINDEF... called the number and was told that it's busy... WTF... if the system is unable to handle that many calls, shouldn't they stagger the sending of the SMSes?? GNBCCB...

Rosary...

i bought this rosary when i was with my ex... every weekend, i will accompany my ex to attend mass... yes, my ex is a Catholic...

i carry the rosary in my bag wherever i go...

been keeping this rosary for the last 3.5 years after the breakup... someone asked me recently why did i keep it when i didn't believe in God (and the Christian faith)... i wonder why too...

anyone knows how does one dispose of a rosary?? simply throw it into the dustbin?? or do i burn it?? throw it into the sea?? or what??

倦了，累了。。。

我真的好累。。。
心身若倦了。。。

就应该是休息的时候了。。。

Cabaret

fun...
drama...
glamour...
glitter...
all rolled into helluva musical...

two love stories set in the pre-World War II Germany... a young and an old couple, contrasting attitudes towards love and marriage...

the other characters in the Kit Kat Club added mischief, colour, humour and fun into the otherwise serious plot...

Fei Xiang was the star of the show... strong and powerful vocals... and boy, this man can dance too...

Emma Yong put up a good performance for her role as a Cabaret dancer... her solo performance of Cabaret near the end of the show was the highlight of the musical... powerfully delivered with lotsa anger and feeling in it...

Karen Tan's voice was a little stretched, especially during her solo performance...

the ending was too abrupt and could have been better... reminded me of West Side Story... there was no happy-ever-after endings... and there was no grand finale that's typical in most musicals...

for hardcore fans... there's a TV programme called Front on Monday night at 9:30pm on Arts Central... they are gonna feature Cabaret...

Retail Therapy Weekend...

after Friday's retail therapy with mum, therapy continued into the weekend...

Saturday was spent lazing at home for most of the day, before attending Bodycombat at 4+pm... then it was late lunch at 6pm... goodness!! after that was late night shopping at Marina Square... bought a few tops from Baleno, bods and Fox Men...

the salesman at Baleno was so salah when he commented that i should be wearing "Medium" instead of "Small"... duhz lor... gave him that "fuck off" look after that...

wanted to go to Ai Qin Hai to listen to music but it was closed by 12am... duhz... no late night singing eh?? chatted with Shaun and Jensen at Carl's Junior until around 1:30am... home sweet home for a well-deserved rest...

Sunday morning attended Derek's yoga class at 11:20am... quite demanding for a beginners like me... but it was nice... while waiting for Kenneth at Cineleisure, i went to look at yoga mats at WOS... the Nike one looks cool but at an hefty sum of S$37... decided not to buy it as yet... probably when i'm more into yoga, then consider buying ba... was also looking around for "yoga music"... madness!!

brunch was at Holland V Ya Kun... Kenneth needed to buy flowers... saw some interesting ones, which names i cannot remember now...

Kenneth dropped me off at Plaza Singapura... and i was destined to succumb to the temptation of more retail therapy... was at this shop called ebase that was having sale of up to 70%... bought 5 tops and a pair of pants... i was the only customer in the shop, trying out top after top and bottom after bottom... amazing...

took the NEL home to have a power nap before rushing out again to meet Kenneth and Shaun for Cabaret...

the long weekend ended at 12:30am in the morning... got an important 9am meeting on Monday... yawnz...

Retail Therapy Success...

left the house with mum at 9:30am... breakfast was at Killiney Kopitiam... nasi lemak + eggs + bread + coffee... superb!!

first stop, OG... sale going on: 20% + 10%... good bargains... here's what we bought:

me: 2 Adidas tops... 1 Fila bag (@ 50% off)... 1 Lawman top... 1 Kicker top... 1 Surfer's Paradise bottom... 1 quilt... 1 quilt cover... 1 bolster... 1 pillow...

mum: 2 handbags... 1 pair of Mickey Mouse shoes for my nephew... 1 pair of shoes... bedsheets... floor mats...

next stop it was G2000... bought 2 pairs of pants... went to Timberland to try their shoes cos there's additional 20% storewide... but... their smallest size 7 was still too big for me... @#$%^&*...

dropped by John Little to get my inner shirts from Renoma... mum also bought a shirt for my younger brother... lunch was at Centrepoint food court...

therapy ended at 3:30pm... came home took a nap...

after dinner... watched American Idol DVD... saw the disc of The Worst... farnie sia...

Shopping With Mum...

finally going on leave on today... shopping with mum... undecided on where to bring her...

Taka?
Tangs?
Centrepoint (+ John Little)?
Marina?
Suntec?

Lunch @ SMU...

one word to describe the place: HUGE... and it's so empty, quiet and serene... despite being in the heart of the city...

lunch was at the Kopitiam... there are many shops there too... Biotherm, Mabelline, Watsons, 7-11, Killiney Kopitiam, and others... the gym was quite well-equipped... there were at least 10 threadmills... impressive...

incidentally, the duck rice seller charged me student / staff price, i.e. 20% off public price... hahahaha...

What Is My Spice?

finally, my curse of the bad movies ended this evening with The Mistress Of Spices... it was a lovely story... sweet and romantic... beautiful soundtrack... and of course, Aishwarya Rai is so pretty and charming...

it was stated in the movie that everyone has a spice... so what is mine??

sandalwood to forget about the (bad) past, that's certain... but what else??

i need some other spices in my life... definitely not in the romantic sense... just some peace and tranquillity... time for more Yoga to find my inner peace...

Retail Therapy...

last minute met Melvin for shopping at Robinsons Centrepoint... bought two pillows and two bedsheets... thanks for sending me home, mate!

had lunch and rested a while before attending my first yoga lesson at Cali Orchard, together with another Melvin... some of the yoga poses were very demanding, especially the warrior ones... was panting after that... thanks to Derek for the very informative session... and those tips on using the yoga mat and punctuality... of course the "cooling down" was shiok... though i can't really appreciate much at this point in time... will start to attend more yoga lessons from now... besides pump and combat and balance... yeah!!

met my ex-colleagues for dinner at TCC Cineleisure... my long overdue bonus treat... hahahaha... caught up with each other on the latest...

after that it was window shopping at Kinokuniya... before moving to HMV at The Heeren for another round of retail therapy... bought nine DVDs... *faintz*

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it's good to spend time with myself sometimes... i enjoyed it very much... yet there are so many things to do...

books / magazines to read...
DVDs to watch...
MP3s to listen...
movies to watch...

Expensive... Raffles City...

working in Raffles City has its perks (minus the cruisey shopping centre lah)... but it's getting MORE expensive... cos the new marketplace at Basement 1 opens TODAY!!!!!

there are now:
Ben & Jerry's
Ya Kun
Gloria Jeans
Ding Tai Feng
Japanese eatery
Nike shop
New Balance shop
Billabong shop
Crumpler shop
big big MPH
and many others...

was discussing with my staff that we can have coffee from 5 different places for each day of the week: Starbucks, Spinelli's, Gloria Jeans, Ya Kun & Coffee Club...

ARGH...

But guys, do check out the new basement!!

Tax...

finally the tax assessment came...
this year's income tax is more than doubled last year's...
is that a good sign??

Wednesday Lunch...

met up with Patrick for lunch at Sze Chuan Kitchen... nice!!

Sze Chuan Kitchen has changed their menu... my favourite is no longer available... :-(

time to look for a new makan place... hahahaha...

Sore...

the throat is sore and i'm holding on... (ala The Tide Is High...)

went to see doc this morning for the slight sore throat that started on Monday... yesterday was having runny nose too...

doc asked me to rest at home cos she doesn't have non-drowsy medicine for runny nose... *roll eyes*
told her i cannot afford to... have to work...
she prescribed anti-biotics... and lozenges for the day...
cough mixture and runny nose pills for the night...

got Thai revision lesson tonight...
hope to recover by tomorrow for ABT...

Go Go Yoga...

since i'm going to attend the Intro To Yoga class this Saturday, i thought that i should read up on Yoga first... borrowed these four books from the National Library during lunch... go go yoga...

Confessions...

of a gym junkie... here's my schedule for this week:

Tuesday - 8:50pm BodyPump @ Cali RP (Wai Han)
Thursday - 9:00pm ABT @ Cali Orchard (Wai Han)
Saturday - 4:40pm Bodycombat @ Cali Orchard (Christina)
Saturday - 5:40pm Intro To Yoga @ Cali Orchard (Derek)
Sunday - 1:20pm BodyPump @ Cali Orchard (Wai Han)

finally i can do intro yoga... yeah!!

i've a new name for myself... GYMMY...

Tuesday Breakfast...

dad not working today... and he went to the mama shop downstairs to buy breakfast... my favourite mee siam...

Monday Dinner...

didn't gym tonight... went home for mum's home-cooked dinner...




(from top: cauliflower with mushroom and prawns; kangkong soup; curry chicken; fish in dark soya sauce and ginger)

Omen...

was feeling down over the past week... for various reasons... work, love, lust, etc... this seems to have become an "indulgence" for me... something that i know i should get out of...

watched four bad movies in nine days...

the string started with Superman Returns on 30 June 2006... too much expectations for the movie, resulting in huge disappointment...

next came 4:30 on 5 July 2006... similarly, went to watch the movie with a lot of expectations from Royston Tan, since 15 was such a touching movie... from a certain perspective, the movie did portray the loneliness extremely well... maybe i wasn't in the right frame of mind to watch it...

third in the line was Thank You For Smoking... saw the trailer and thought it's gonna be a helluva fun movie to watch... but it was dry and boring...

finally, The Unforgiven... a Korean movie... something different... but the plot was ridiculously thin... the flashbacks confused the audience further...

---

fortunately the weekend was filled with great company and food glorious food...

Friday's dinner wat at TCC, Cineleisure... an obvious choice since the movie was there... then dessert was at Heeren's NYDC... couldn't find a smoking spot, ended up in the "No Smoking" zone... how inappropriate since we've just watched Thank You For Smoking...

Saturday's dinner was at Sun With Moon, after two gym classes of BodyCombat and BodyBalance... god workout... first time doing Balance... very unsteady... will do more of it... Sun With Moon never disappoints... they even gave us a room to ourselves... so exclusive...

after movie, we had dessert at Coffee Club outside California Fitness, while contemplating whether to club or not... by the time the plasma TV was switched on right in front of our seats, it was around 1:30am... gave clubbing a miss and headed home...

Sunday's dim sum at Yan Palace was cheap and good... met up with new faces of Meng, Kieran and Chris... and the dessert at JDC (Ji De Chi) was nice too...

before dinner, we visited the DFS in Orchard... very big place... first time that i've stepped into this place... nice boutiques... finally got to see all the branded stuff... LV, Prada, Dunhill, Gucci, Hermes, etc...

the weekend ended with dinner at NYDC Wheelock Place... the Pigs Can Fly is still so good... and the Mushroom Madness pizza was as superb as ever... my Fruitty Elephancino was served with whipped cream... told the waitress to remove the cream and i never get to see the drink again... and they still have the cheek to charge me for it... the NYDC at Wheelock was so over-staffed while the one at Heeren was so understaffed...

---

i wonder if all the bad movies and the great food and company even out each other...

but then today, i forgot my lock... no lock, no gym... bad sign?? or good sign?? or no sign?? you tell me... hahahaha...

BodyBalance Monday...

planning on doing the 9pm BodyBalance @ Orchard Cali... couldn't find my lock in my bag... cannot remember where i left it... @#$%^&*

is that a sign not to go for BodyBalance?? help...

Je Vais Tu Dire Un Secret...

bought Madonna's latest DVD, "I'm Going To Tell You A Secret", from Sembawang at 15% off...

watched it this morning... all 2 hours of it... including the bonus materials... very inspirational documentary of her Re-Invention Tour... as good as, if not better than, Truth Or Dare (her other documentary on her Blonde Ambition Tour)... nearly moved me to tears at some parts... especially the last part when she said her prayers before her last show at Lisbon... and the words that flashed on the screen after she did "Holiday": Re-Invent Yourself...

is that also a sign to tell me to re-invent myself?? socially, romantically and professionally?? i wonder... been feeling very melancholic this past week after listening to Madonna's live CD, featuring songs from her Re-Invention Tour... in particular the song "Lament", taken from her Evita soundtrack, never failed to bring water to my eyes...

"You Must Love Me"... also taken from the Evita soundtrack meant a lot to me... but over the years, i realised that we are living in a cruel world... what is love?? to quote Haddaway... "baby don't hurt... don't hurt me... no more..."

thanx to those who have been asking if i am ok... i think i am ok... just re-inventing myself... setting my priorities right... investing my time in people and things that i believe are important to me... and hopefully rewarding...

i love you all... amen...

Relationships...

in every relationship (not necessarily the romantic type) that we have with others, it always takes two hands to clap... no point hitting the air with your hand without having the other's hand to make the clapping sound...

sometimes we are sad when relationships don't work out... but it may be better to let them go, liberate yourself, and move on... life is too short to be tied down by any baggage...

but how many times are we able to do just that... i wonder...

Nobody's Perfect...

we all have our flaws... the challenge is to admit them, embrace them and make the best out of them...

glad to see that you are coping well with yours... or is it simply the "heck care" attitude that's helping?!

Thursday Breakfast...

mum prepared this for my breakfast today:



half-boiled egg (with dark soya sauce)... bread... Nescafe... yummy...

Lunch @ Wah Lok Restaurant Carlton Hotel

won a bet recently from a colleague... wanted to do lunch at Sze Chuan Kitchen (again??)... so decided to change venue to Wah Lok @ Carlton Hotel... the food was superb... no wonder it was so crowded... here's what we had:






(from top: deep fried prawn with baby squid, xia jiao (prawn dumplings), vegetables with 3 types of eggs (chicken egg, salted egg & century egg), siew mai, fu zhu juan, fried rice with crab meat, aloe vera with grass jelly and honeydew ice-cream (forgot to take pic when it was served) and gui ling gao)

for three pax, the bill was S$95... quite cheap leh... hehe...

left my wallet on the seat... realised it just before we reach Raffles City... went back to the restaurant... and lo and behold, the receptionist had it, all intact... not a single cent lost... restored my faith in the service industry of Singapore...

Blur...

while boarding the bus this morning, i had a shock... my EZ-Link card has turned black... quickly walked down the bus to check... it was my Cali Infinity membership card... left my EZ-Link at home... argh... went back to get it and was late for work... so blur lor...

Lunch...

last Friday's farewell lunch for Dorothy at Sze Chuan Kitchen, Raffles The Plaza... forgot to take pictures of the dim sum... hahahaha...

Gym Sunday...

slept at 5+am... and i was actually out of bed by 10am... amazing... sometimes i wish that my biological alarm clock does not function as effectively... everyone was surprised that i was able to get up...

did Bodypump with Kenneth at Cali Orchard... Wai Han, the instructress, was still as encouraging and fun... i simply love her Bodypump class...

met up with David for lunch at Lucky Plaza chicken rice stall...

bought my Biotherm set from Robinsons Centrepoint before heading home to rest...

another busy week at work waiting for me... how to perk myself up for the challenges ahead??

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been missing blading on Sundays since i started gymming... time to adjust my schedule... was looking at Cali's class schedule... maybe i should start to attend morning classes before work... or will i be too tired after class to even work?? lolz...

Min Jiang Saturday...

came into the office to clear some work on Saturday morning... realised that i do get things done better since no interruptions on Saturday mornings...

met Kenneth and Shaun for shopping... Shaun wanted a "wardrobe overhaul"... after lunch at Lucky Plaza, we started our tour de Orchard with Tangs... bought nothing here... next came Wisma Atria... Shaun only bought a FCUK T-shirt, with the words "no fcuking worries"... nice!!

at the Tangs underpass, we saw this HUGE Madonna advertisement on her new DVD + Live CD... i have not bought it yet... argh...

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dinner was at Min Jiang, Rochester Park to celebrate Shawn's 34th birthday... nice place... a bit small though... quite cramped up... this must be the first time that i had chinese cuisine with red wine... the food was good... but the service was lacklustre...






Thank God for giving me my friends, alcohol and Madonna...

Superman Sucks...

what a disappointing movie...
no plot... bad...
no acting... bad...
no special effects... bad...
unnecessarily long... bad...

only consolation is the pretty face and the tight outfit...
tsk tsk tsk...

Busy Week Passed...

another busy week had passed... was away in KL for audit from Monday to Wednesday...

Thursday was busy with meeting after meeting... did the mid-year appraisal for my staff...

Friday was busy again with meeting after meeting... in the afternoon, went to Suntec Convention Centre for a de-briefing on some BCP thingy...

K once mentioned that how come every time he called me on the phone during office hours, i sounded so "sianz"... told me to cheer up... i'm trying...

cherishing my weekend (tho i am back in the office at this hour on a Saturday morning...)

embracing the week ahead...

God bless me?!

Burnt Out...

started to hear comments that i am burnt out...
that i need a break from work...
that i need to go on a holiday...
that i need to take leave...

probably i am burnt out...