Denamania

Anyone still dropping by?

2011-02-25T12:15:00.001+08:00

It's been ages since I last blogged. Hmmm wondering if anyone still drops by?

First week at work

2010-07-10T10:27:00.002+08:00

End of first week at work, lotsa things to revamped and improved as the whole dept is kinda new. Well, the mgrs and above typically work OT but I suppose it's just an interim thingy until we get things more stabilised.

The boss and the team is nice people to work with, work is challenging, working hours a tad long for now but at least, things are better than my previous employment.

Moving house next Friday, excited but first I have to get the contractors to rectify the screw ups they made out of the carpentry, sigh.

By the way, this song kept popping into my head like an addiction. Damn!

Some updates

2010-06-07T21:25:00.002+08:00

Some quick updates from where I left off previously.

1. Currently preparing for exams. First paper on Wednesday. Geez, exams are always not easy. Oh well, oredi completed nearly 50% of the course, so I guess will have to bite the bullet and just get it over and done with.

2. Renovation is underway and should be ready in another month's time. Lots of coordination to do and lotsa things to buy. Bit by bit, our love nest is taking shape and really looking forward to moving in.

3. Finally, managed to get a new job and getting the hell out of the shitty work place. I can't stand a place where there's no proper procedures of doing things and the so called management runs the place as if it's their playground. Totally not professional and do I dare say, that there isn't much corporate governance? Anyway, glad those I cared about and me is out, so the rest can rot there for all I care.

4. Went for our photoshoot in Korea and some of the pix are oredi in Facebook. Went to select the actual photos for our album and as expected, topped up some cuz really, once you look at the photos, it's really quite near impossible to have to give them up. But no choice, budget constraints so we only topped up enough to have just one decent sized album and had to say 'goodbye' to the rest =(

That's it for now. Should have more time to blog once my exams are over and my reno is nearer completion.

Tea time @ Marriott

2010-04-30T19:57:00.005+08:00

Dunno if there's still anyone reading this neglected blog. Paisei lah, too busy recently.

So finally, ROM done, Korea photoshoot done, HDB appointments done.

Still undone, collection of keys, miscellaneous payments such as conservancy charges, TV license, transfer of PUB, 动土, confirming of details for renovation, shopping for appliances and furnishings, photo selection, moving in, preparation for customary, preparation for house warmings.

And in the midst of all this, studying for exams, work and hunting for work (but more on these later). Most of the photos are already on Facebook, so if I'm too busy/ lazy to blog, then at least the updates are in Facebook =)

So ya, finally on Sunday, we managed to catch some time of to relax and so we decided act 高贵 and went to have morning tea at Marriott's before meeting our contractor for our house renovation.

Since it's morning tea, we decided to just 意思意思 order a bit can already.

A dunno what cake but something chocolatey

Chocolate chip muffin

My favorite: Cheesecake

Rose petal tea (I think) for TSO

And as usual, coffee for me

See how happy TSO is?

You would think that this will cost me a bomb, cuz there is no way TSO would be so happy if she's the one paying.

And yeah, the reason you dun see my happy face here is because I am indeed paying, supposedly all $40 of it, only I ended up paying only $10 for everything.

Hahah yupz, only $10 for all the cakes and drinks, all thanks to Citibank's $30 off voucher for some promotion that the bank had =)

Haven been updating my blog

2010-04-07T22:21:00.002+08:00

Realised that I haven been updating my blog lately.

Now with facebook, it is faster to post pictures and send and receive updates, it makes blogging a bit of a chore.

Hahah but of cuz, I'll still continue to update as there are limitations to facebook as well. People likes to see changes in status, adding of photos but not to read chunks of text.

For those of you who are still reading and haven been to my facebook yet, I had just come back from Korea, doing my wedding photoshoot. The pics are in facebook oredi but I'll still blog about the experience when I have more time =)

As for the ROM pictures that I promised in the earlier post, well, they are in facebook oredi =)

ROM-ed

2010-02-27T18:51:00.002+08:00

Thank you all for taking time off to attend our ROM.
More pix soon =)

Pass lor, phew

2010-02-22T15:45:00.001+08:00

Phew, finally passed the performance mgt and tax papers.

6 down, 8 more to go.

Counting down to 25th Feb =)

Weird names

2010-02-13T20:22:00.002+08:00

I tot names like uPapa is weird.

And now there's an iPad?!?! WTF? So it's gonna be down for maintenance once every mth?
Or there's gonna be a heavy flow/ light flow data bundle? Or it comes in ultra thin version?

And wats next? LeCondom???

Just one small portion done

2010-02-04T20:50:00.002+08:00

Recently busy finalising stuff on reno.
Still along way to go, cuz the initial quotes all very expensive and beyond budget, so still need to keep working on cutting down excess in order to contain the cost.

The only thing we managed to secured thus far is a mattress. Hahah, went courts with TSO with the intention to look see look see nia but in the end, we bought s Sealy mattress cuz first of all, its on CNY sale so we got close to 50% discount.

Second, the salesperson was kinda helpful and sincere although a bit beng-nish. Hahah and lastly, we can begin paying 24mth interest free installment and can delay the delivery till Jul/ Aug, so in a way, we can settle one portion of our would-be-huge-liability.

Just one small portion of a mega project done =)

A bit sian

2010-01-28T13:39:00.002+08:00

It's farnie each time I came to Tokyo for work, I have to work later than while I'm in Singapore.

And that translate to -> dinner after work and then back to hotel

Cuz the shops here closes at 8pm or latest 9pm. Food stalls and restaurants open till 11pm though.

And one more thing, stuff in Tokyo is freakingly expensive =X

A dinner for 9 cost me 43,000yen and that's about SGD700.
Good thing its on company's tab but that also means I have to watch my expenses or I'll have hell from the bosses when I submit my expenses, hahah. No more fancy dinner =(

Off to Tokyo

2010-01-25T21:32:00.002+08:00

Off to Tokyo in 12 hours.

7 hours flight, 10 deg celsius, 2.5 days of training a new staff, month end closing.

Throw in some authentic japanese food and some sake, it couldn't be that bad.

Should I?

2010-01-19T21:26:00.003+08:00

From Accounts Payable Manager to Market Data Manager.

Should I or should I not? Is it really an opportunity?

Maybe it'll be more enticing if there's pay adjustment. Hahaha we'll see.

Will this finally mark the end?

2010-01-14T19:21:00.002+08:00

Finally, after close to 2 years of lock down, we managed to trash things out.
This should haven taken place months ago when the entries were posted but for some intricate twist of fate, the aim was never achieved until now.

Nevertheless, be it miscommunication, different perspectives, timing difference or distortion during transmission by another party, it doesn't matter now.

With the handshake, I really hope that we can now put the past behind and work towards repairing what had been unneccesarily damaged before.

Self righteous prick

2010-01-12T20:55:00.003+08:00

It is amazing how some people can be still so self righteous despite everything that has happened.

And I did remember specifically directing subsequent posts to YOU hoping that you will come to your senses or for air it out if you feel strongly about it like 'family', oh but no, you chose to keep quiet and now claimed that you did not know about the posts.

C'mon, all your excuses may seem sensible at first read but it's actually just cover ups. And it's always harping on the same things, interference (when it's my business), lying where in actual fact, you proved not worth being confided in.

Granted the fact that all 3 of us may have different views and it is hardly an easy task trying to determine who is right and who is wrong after all this time, I have proposed a solution to get this settled over and done with (which I'm sure your bf would have told you), without the need to clearly define who is right or wrong.

But you choose to at this moment to 'air your views' so that you will not be misunderstood. Misunderstood by who? Us? Your bf? Your friends who read your blog?

Looks like there is no way this can be resolved. Just too bad that you still live in your little fantasy world where everyone has to understand and follow your views. Your bf maybe, but definitely not me.

Splurging

2010-01-09T16:33:00.003+08:00

Just when we were hell bent to be prudent in our spending, we ended up splurging on an expensive brunch at DOME.

A flat white coffee and a ham and cheese crossiant with some greens

And a 'Big Breakfast' set

for a whopping $31

But thanks TSO for the impromptu staycation :) Love ya

Beauty regime starts

2010-01-03T11:08:00.004+08:00

Since I tend to have clogged pores and due to that, my outbreaks usually come in clusters, like 2 or 3 pimples growing next to each other, forming gigantic acnes, TSO ordered me to ditch the cheapo Watson-type facial care and

to invest in high-end over-the-counter-in-shopping-mall-type of facial care. (Although she paid for these lah, Isetan Katong got 25% for the first $100 spent, using HSBC credit cards but that ends today)

And so, to neutralise the clogged pores, I'm to use exfoliating scrub twice a week, the cleanser everyday (that I can live with), and either the hydrating moisturizer or the anti aging perfecting fluid (the small bottle, but that's a sample).

According to Lancome, aging kicks in for males from age 30.

And so, if this works for me, then no more cheapo-Watson type facial care ever again.

Not sure if that is a good thing or not. Hahah

Lamest Vampires

2010-01-01T11:29:00.006+08:00

Finally, I got to watch Twilight and New Moon at the comfort of my home, via the internet.

Made me kinda glad that I didn't spend $40 and 4 hrs watching the shows at a cinema.

It's not really a guy show cuz first of all, the action is kept at a minimal. The show's all about a new gal in town's crush on the so called 'cutest and hottest' guy in town (who belongs to the mysterious Cullens family), and how she eventually fell hopelessly in love with him, even though she knows he lusts for her blood.

That's crazy, right? Is she so desperate that it doesn't matter the other party is a freaking monster who can't keep his mind off sucking you dry???

And secondly, the guy is not even man enuf. Sure, he's a 17 yr-old-in-appearance vampire who is actually 109, but he looked surprising weak and constantly in pain (never mind that he is faster than stronger than an a mortal and can read minds)

Not sure if it's due to the fact that he's a vegetarian vampire who feeds on animals' blood and not humans' and thus , quote 'feels like you are eating toufu all your life, full but never satisfied' or he's having a serious bout of constipation when he was 'being turned' and thus gotta stick with it for the rest of eternity.

Even when he's showing off to the girlfriend by running at break neck speed up a hill or leaping from trees to trees, he still has that constipated look. Even the girlfriend looks bored of his expression.

These 3, on the other hand, looks cooler and more like my kinda supernatural powers induced vampires, which by the way are the baddies, as usual.

Somehow, the Twilight saga reminds me of my all time favorite vampires, although by the time it hit the 3rd installment, everything hit rock bottom, and it really sucked (pun intended)

p.s. The werewolves are much cooler than the sickly Cullens, wish they feature more of these 'underdogs' but what's with the hair?

Some updates

2009-12-27T21:28:00.002+08:00

Ho ho ho, Merry Xmas!

Hope you guys had a smashing Xmas. New Year's in a week's time so there will be more partying and more eating and drinking to come.

Damn, and to think that I have just slimmed down a little =(

So anyways, just enjoy la, 2010 will be a very busy year le. For those who are wondering how's the wedding plan's coming along, this is the tentative timeline:

Jan: Getting our wedding band, confirming solemnisation details, getting suits/ dresses

Feb: Solemnisation @ SG Flyer's VIP Lounge

Mar: First appointment with HDB

Apr: Photoshoot cum honeymoon (phase 1) in Korea

May - Jun: 2nd appointment with HDB and taking over keys

Jun - Aug: Renovation and moving in

Sept: Customary (but no big bang dinner, too much hassle and not to mention expensive too), so most probably will be just dinner with family and relatives @ Peach Garden.

Oct - Dec: Settling down and house warming for friends and relatives =)

Not only are we gonna get really busy but we are gonna need lotsa $$$ too. Ti Gong Poh Pi Poh Pi ar =X

Exams over

2009-12-15T20:26:00.001+08:00

Finally exams are over.

Not very confident of passing but oh well, worry abt it later.

Holidays are near!

First paper down, a sense of deja vu

2009-12-08T14:52:00.002+08:00

One paper down, one more to go.

Sigh, had this funny deja vu feeling when I did my tax paper. Not becuz its a re-sit, but the questions are still as ridiculous and tricky as usual.

Just hope my results will not be as deja vu. Last time round I failed by 8 marks, can only rely on some divine intervention to push it past 50 this time.

One more to go, gotta hang in there.

2 pieces of good news

2009-12-05T13:17:00.002+08:00

2 pieces of good news for the week:

1) TSO got degree-ded. So that now means she's an accountant liaoz =)

2) HDB just approved our housing loan so that means lesser cash outlay, although that doesn't much as we still need the $$$ to cover reno and other wedding stuff =(

Looking at the time line, it's gonna be a busy year ahead.

Those reading this, dun say I din warn you, you have approximately 9 mths to save up. Hahaha

Final Fantasy XIII

2009-11-29T17:20:00.001+08:00

This trailer kinda rekindled my urge for gaming.

But before I can get my hands on the FFXIII, I'll need to get my hands on a PS3 first =(

Finally found a new home!

2009-11-24T21:19:00.005+08:00

Finally, one good thing that the gahmen has done recently is dishing out harsher punishments on loan sharks and errant borrowers.

And this is good news especially for people like us who are left with no choice but to hunt for flats in the resale market.

Recently, in our house hunt, TSO and I came across 2 units whose owners are asking for just a mere 20k COV instead of the usual 30k-35k range. And we thought that we could have struck a good deal until the agents pulled us aside and warned us that these are actually Ah Long Chu!!!

WTF!!! On closer inspection, we noticed tell tale signs such as the grills had a thicker than usual coat of paint and spy cameras fitted near the entrance. Although one of the flats belonged to a Malay and we could possibly ask for below valuation prices, we felt that it's not worth taking the risk.

I mean in theory, the loan sharks should leave us alone, since the ones who borrowed from them are Ah Mats and we are Cheenas but you can never be too sure right?

Luckily, we came across a nice 9th level corner unit over the weekend and we paid what we thought was a decent and fair price for it.

Although we would have to re-reno the whole place, but considering the big area (122 sq m compared to the usual 190 plus sq m 5rm flats) and its ideal location (in between Rivervale Mall and Rivervale Plaza and its close to my parents), 27k COV seems reasonable enough.

Problem of cuz is we would have to secure a housing loan soon and most probably, we would have to take a reno loan as well. But oh well, we'll be having our own place in about 6-8mths' time!

In the meantime, however, our past time would be pouring over home decor magazines for ideas on how to do up the flat.

Feeling abit sian

2009-11-18T19:57:00.001+08:00

There were times when I feel very committed abt work and can't stop thinking abt office even when I'm leave.

And then there were times that I just wanna take a break away from work.

This is the time.

But exams are dangerously near. Sigh.

End of the day, again

2009-11-16T19:39:00.005+08:00

Another epic blockbuster about the world coming to an end.
As far as such movies go, the special effects were awesome but the story plot lacks orginality.
Same earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and a bunch of ordinary people turned heroes when the time calls for it.

Not that I'm saying this movie sucks, on the contrary I quite enjoyed all 157min of it.

Just that maybe the film makers can think of some other ways that the world can come to an end, instead of natural disasters.

Even viral epidemics seem a bit stale after a while, cuz most the time, this would involve scientists experimenting on some virus for a bio warfare and some jackass decides to steal it and selling it to various gahmen and then somehow, the virus is leaked, whether intentional or not.

If not, then it would be some scientist discover some new strains of dunno wat virus in some rain forests in the Amazon then got infected and before you know it, it spreads like the H1N1.

For a change, maybe can have something along the theme of Final Destination bah, hahah although I'm not sure how Death can take on the massive task of taking everyone on Earth instead of a few teenagers at a time.

Or how about something more subtle such as a biological crisis whereby humans slowly lose the ability to reproduce, make it all living things. Then slowly but surely, the end of the world will come. But hor, how to fill 157min of screen time if the world takes a few generations to be wiped out?

Well, until another Steven Spieberg comes along, I guess I'll have to be contented with nature themed way of ending the world. But then, can please dun everything oso start and end with the big U S of A?

Finally, everyone's home n safe

2009-11-14T15:53:00.001+08:00

Finally, TSO and me and breathe easy.
The last 2 weeks took a toil on everyone due to both of mums being hospitalised for various reasons.
At last, both mums and back home and safe.

The fish bone that starts it all

2009-11-11T10:25:00.003+08:00

Never underestimate what harm can be caused by swallowing a piece of fish bone!

Youngest cousin till date

2009-11-07T22:20:00.002+08:00

My youngest cousin till date: Little Earnest @ 1mth

Simi O Cheaper, Better, Faster?

2009-11-07T16:54:00.003+08:00

WTF???

So everyone else must be 'O Cheaper, O Better, O Faster', but the gahmen must be paid top dollars?

If I'm better than the rest and faster then the rest, then WTF must I be cheaper???

Really a case of 'Ai Qi, Ai Pi, Gor Ai Tua Liap Ni'

2009-11-04T20:36:00.001+08:00

It looks like no one really gives a damn that HDB is in a so called 2bn deficit

Belated Bdae Post Part 2

2009-11-03T20:04:00.005+08:00

Belated Bdae Post Part 2
Part 2 was the next day, our usual staycation. This time at Swissotel Merchant Court.

The view was really nice from the balcony. Ideal for a cuppa and relax thru the lazy afternoon. Too bad, it was drizzling =(

Luckily the weather cleared in the evening so it was nice and cool, heheh we tabao-ed crabs from Jumbo next door and enjoyed the burning chilli and black pepper flavours in the comfort of our air conditioned room while basking in the hustle and bustle of a Clarke Quay coming alive on a Friday nite.

Thought of getting beer to go along but then TSO wanted to try sake, so we got a bottle from the supermarket at Liang Court. But she took one sip and then decided that she is not a sake person.
Needless to say, the bottle was left unfinished, cuz I'm not too much of a sake person either, hahah

Here's various shots around the room. And of cuz, we still preferred Pan Pac, in terms of the layout and cosy factor.

And my pressie? I got my most expensive wallet till date. TSO said there are basically 2 types of wallet: 会存钱的 or 会花钱的. And becuz the previous one she got me happened to be the later type, she was hoping this new one will help me save some money.

Actually, I'm wishing that this wallet belongs to the 3rd type, the 会生钱的 =）

Belated Bdae Blog Part 1

2009-11-03T19:11:00.003+08:00

Belated Bdae Post Part 1
A much belated post, after close to 2 mths, hahah.

It seems like TSO and I have gotten into the habit of besting each other when it comes to celebrating bdaes for each other. Although it adds sparks to the relationship, we better watch it or else we'll be really broke in another 2-4 birthdays' time.

Lunch was my idea though cuz somehow, I'm not used to the idea of getting pampered on a all expense paid day, although I should probably try getting used to it =)

So anyway, lunch was at Tony Romas.
The must have Starters set.

The quarter chicken and quarter slab of ribs didn't taste as nice as my previous visits though. The meat tasted like they were cooked for quite a while and was simply been heated up when we placed our order.

After lunch, the program started proper. Turned out that I'm been treated to a couple spa treatment, complete with jaccuzi and facial. Woohooo, first time I have been spa-ed.

The whole place got a very Javanese feel smell, with all the lemongrass and spice.
Not sure if we were allowed to take pictures so I managed to sneak a few pics around the area when we were left to change.

It would be a perfect spa experience if not for the fact that one of the 按摩女 attending to us was an Ah Tiong. The Ah Tiong 按摩女 was kinda funny when she told TSO 把衣服给脱了. I almost burst out laughing.

So we were given a body scrub and then a steam bath, hot shower, and then we were left alone for the jaccuzi =)

Got lights one somemore, hahah

After which, we were been given a full body massage. Erm, normal maasage hor, no special one. Hahaha, TSO not that generous.

The last item of the day was facial. Although I'm the so-called Star of the Day, more attention was being showered on TSO. While I was immobilised with layers of dunno-wat on my face, I heard a lot of whisperings and pressing of calculator and more whisperings of 怎么样？很好吧？

Oh well needless to say, we or rather TSO ended paying for more than just the couple spa package that day.

Swenson's icecream buffet

2009-11-02T22:25:00.003+08:00

Sometime ago, Swensons had this icecream buffet at ION Orchard.
And of cuz, TSO, being the icecream lover that she is, we just couldn't miss this.

Since we had not been to icecream buffets before, we were naturely thrilled and amazed by the wide selection of icecreams/ yogurts/ gelato and fruits and cakes and toppings and sauces. Everything that you need to create that perfect combination.

Of cuz, we had fun creating and eating our creations (we were too excited and it's not until our like 3rd helping that we remembered to take pictures)

Of cuz, we have always heard of how Singaporeans always stuff themselves silly during buffets in order to make their money worth, and of cuz I can't say that we were not guilty of that sometimes.

But there are others who take it a bit too far, like whoever left this puddle at the entrance of the Gents. Apparently, the poor must have been piling on scoops after scoops until he realised that he has gotta go.

Oh geez, who would ever eat icecream till they puke???

Needless to say, me and TSO stopped at our 3rd helpings after our little toilet break.

Shingz and Boomz

2009-10-31T17:28:00.002+08:00

What the Shingz? How did somehow like Ris Retard Low managed to get the crown?
Must have given the judges a smashingly Boomz time.
In my opinion, she doesn't even qualify to be called bimbo.

15 years

2009-10-31T17:11:00.002+08:00

15 years ago, we were still mugging for our O levels.

Fast forward 15 years to the present, most of us are parents.

Kinda hard to imagine but despite all, somehow, each of us still retained a portion of our younger days.

I wonder how it would be given another 15 years?

Hahah this is what gatherings do to me.

Priorities vs Time Management

2009-10-28T21:58:00.001+08:00

Priorities + Time Management = Work Life Balance

A disturbing and touching show

2009-10-27T22:26:00.005+08:00

What would you have done if you have a daughter dying of cancer and the only way to possibly save her is to genetically conceive another so that the sibling can be a doner?

What would you have done if you knew that you are born with the intention of being a genetic doner for your dying sister, having to go under the needles countless times to donate cells, bone marrows and even a kidney?

What would you have done if you knew that your days are gonna be numbered and yet, those closest to you are struggling, fighting along with you even if it's taking a toil on them?

Can't say it's a real tear jerker or particularly disturbing but it's one of those shows that definitely leave an impression and sets me pondering.

Worth 3 and a half pop corns out of 5.

p.s. Hahaha I finally get around to collecting my GV membership card and movies on Tuesday cost only $6.50.

p.p.s. Cameron Diaz aged a lot since her days in Mask and Charlie's angels. Tsk tsk, time flies.

Love Hate Relationship with Durians

2009-10-24T00:57:00.003+08:00

It's almost like taking drugs.

Heavenly when you are in the midst of it, and just couldn't stop and keep wanting more.

But suffer the after effects.

And I'm not talking abt SEX.

Talking abt eating durians - can't stop once started but dread that awful heatiness and the durian smell thats stays in you afterwards: breath, pee, fart and mayb poo, not neccessarily in that order.

My love-hate relationship with the thorny fruit.

But then, it seems that the King of Fruits has some SEXY properties too. An excerpt from Wikipedia :

The Javanese believe durian to have aphrodisiac qualities, and impose a set of rules on what may or may not be consumed with it or shortly thereafter.A sa ying in Indonesian, durian jatuh sarung naik, meaning "the durians fall and the sarongs come up", refers to this belief.

The warnings against the supposed lecherous quality of this fruit soon spread to the West — the Swedenborgian philosopher Herman Vetterling commented on so-called "erotic properties" of the durian in the early 20th century.

Hahaha like I told TSO, it'll be the ultimate test of love having to kiss after a durian feast, horny-inducing fruit or not =X

Jaywalking - SG or FTs

2009-10-19T19:23:00.002+08:00

If you look close enuf, should be able to tell that these are not quite locals, rather the so called FTs (Foreign talents) and this should be Orchard Road bah.

Actually, no matter wat road, Orchard Road, Little India or even carparks, they will stroll like nobody's business. Some even has the cheek to stare at you if you so much as tap your horn at them.

Wat is the Chinapore coming to? Sigh

Finally back on

2009-10-18T18:21:00.002+08:00

Haven got around to getting a new lappie yet (still recovering from paying car insurance, road tax and expenses and also no real good bargain at the moment), so using TSO's LG netbook at the moment, so photos will hv to wait.

Nothing much happened recently oso lah, TSO gave me a smashing bdae celebration which included a staycatio, a all paid couple spa (jaccuzzi inclusive) and a super expensive pressie (in my opinion lah, hahah)

Went Korea office to conduct training and spent nearly a week there.
Although not much time to really go sight seeing and have fun, but my colleagues had been wonderful, bringing me places to savour as much Korean cusines as we possible can within that 4 days.

Haha actually felt very heartwarming cuz although we have been working together for over a year, but usually we only correspond via emails and phone calls, so we actually built up some good rapport during this trip. Hope everything will be smoother from now onwards.

So yeah, photos later.

Just had a BBQ last nite with Betsy and gang (thanks Betsy for organsing) and attended a wedding of one of my volunteer friends. It's always nice catching up once in a while =)

Many have been asking about my wedding plans. Well, we got the photoshoot package settled, auspicious dates for 2010 settled, but then the most important aspect haven't been settled yet and that would be getting a flat.

The recent Oct HDB balance of flats sale has been crazy. The odds of getting a flat is about 1:10 so most probably will have to target the resale market next after the results are out. Enuf bitching about the exorbitant flat prices, gross under supply and all the crap the shortie minister and his minions say about us being too choosy and them having more than enuf flats of every type and pricing for us using their god-knows-from-where-and-equally-crappy statistics.

Now buying a flat is as difficult as tio 4D or ToTo liaoz. Can't believe it =X

Vicious cycles

2009-09-17T10:21:00.003+08:00

Birth rates not enuf, bring in new immigrants.

Spend 10mil to help them settle down and integrate into society so that they can contribute and hopefully help regenerate our population. And becuz we dun hv enuf babies, we have to bring them in so that they can help support our aging population (as in they will be forced to give me money so that I can support my parents?!?!)

Never mind that I have to think hard how to translate 'McSpicy meal upsize and change coke to coffee and can I have curry sauce?' into mandarin. Steps will be taken to help them improve their English. (WTF???, What kind of foreign talents are they if they cannot speak English?)

Dun worry that they will be here to steal the rice bowl of citizens cuz the gahmen is regulating the influx of these new citizens. 70% of them are transient anyway, so meaning they will fuck off sooner or later, so let us be more gracious.

And oh, the gahmen will make sure they distinguish citizens vs new immigrants aka PRs in the past, say for eg. NIs cannot get new HDB flats cuz these are subsidised housing for citizens.

Ah, but we dun want to be so strict that they dun wanna come, so they can get resale flats. And of cuz, no one is gonna stop them for offering high COVs since the HDB has 'affordable' flats for people of any income level, many choices one, just buy one you can afford, never mind your family size or whether you are newly weds or wat.

Cannot wait for BTO go for resale lor, pay the COV only what if you can afford the cash lor.

To help you gauge whether you can afford, HDB helpfully let you know that the norm is that you will have to fork out about 26% of your income to finance the flat for the next 30 years mah. Have 30 years to slowly pay what, why worry?

And back to COV, maybe the gahment din realise that the PRs are freaking cash rich whereas the typical SG is not cuz we have to contribute 20% of our income to CPF. Let market forces decide lah, if high COV still got people buy means they can afford mah, so no nid worry one lah.

So if no money to buy resale, have to wait long long for BTO lor.
In the meantime, put off marriage if it results in unacceptable birth rates? Neh mind, bring in more NIs to rejuevenate. Afterall, 70% will eventually go away.

And apparently, it seems that I'm not the only one complaining.

Maybe I'm worrying too much cuz our dear gahmen always have our best interest at heart. We'll be just fine =)

Step 1 done

2009-09-04T18:51:00.003+08:00

Step one completed. Managed to secure a photoshoot package from Whitelink.
Supposed to be 'branded' as far as bridal studios are concerned and supposedly, the choice of many celebrity couples, including our first Olympic gold medallist in ping pong.

Anyways, TSO managed to get a good deal from the forum for a $3988 package which we paid only $3088 and includes the following:

- 1x Wedding Gown (Made-to-Measure, “MTM” / Exclusive)

- 1x Evening Gown (MTM/Exclusive)

- 1x Tea Dress (MTM/Exclusive)

- 2x Gent's Jacket (OTR Rental)

- 1x Pants (MTM & to Keep)

- 1x Pants (OTR rental)

- Hair & Make-up: Trial (can use for ROM), Studio, Actual Day and Night

- Studio and Actual Day Bouquet + 6 corsages - Bridal car deco + 2 following cars deco

- Photography: Studio + Outdoor (outdoor is 2 locations, using your own car as transport); studio & outdoor to have 5 outfits & 5 stylings in total

- FOC Rental of 1 ROM dress + 1 jacket + 1 pants + ROM make-up and hairdo

- 2x In-laws jackets (OTR rental FOC)

- 1x Guest book - 8x10” table-top with frame

- 48x 3R photos (with 6 poses) + 48x cardholders

- 4R Mini album with 20 poses

- 20x24” canvas photo with frame OR 3-in-1 8R photo with frame

- 12x18" with digital design (32 poses)

Actually tot of doing an overseas shoot but too ex lah, for the same price do-ablle but then wun be covered on actual day.

So with the photoshoot package taken care off, next will be date selection, banquet and flat, not neccessarily in that order. Still an awful lot to do =X

p.s. In case anyone of you are interested, the actual package may differ already but usually you will get better deals during road shows =)

Fail liao lah

2009-08-19T22:09:00.002+08:00

Sigh, finally I have got a taste of how lethal ACCA is.

Results:
Corporate and Business Law: 73
Performance Management: 44
Taxation: 42

Farnie thing is, I went for fewer than 5 classes for law but I religiously attended as many PM and Tax classes as I could.

Maybe I should have opted to become a lawyer instead =X

Anyway, no more class and self revision for the retake this Dec. No point going thru the same lessons again (and at my own expense, this time).

10 modules left till completion. Super sianz!

提亲，success

2009-08-16T22:45:00.000+08:00

Finally, the time has come for me to pop the question to Uncle.

We were seated at the table and waiting for the food to be served. MMIL then gave me those raise-the-eyebrow-which-hinted-for-me-to-start-smile but I was still trying to calm my nerves leh.

Halfway thru the 山水鸡 later, I decided to 豁出去了.

'Uncle, 我又东西想问你.' Wah lau eh, sounded quite lame leh

'什么事?' This was asked with a smile so it kinda calm me a little.

'我和TSO想在明年接近年底结婚，好吗?' There, felt my face burning

'好啊, 我没有意见, 你们年轻人看着办. 简单一点也ok. 不要看我酱, 我也很modern的'

After which he went back to eating. I was happy that mission was accomplished but dunno how to continue from there leh. Hahaha, MMIL and TSO then helped me out by updating on some of the stuff we had discussed.

Woohoo seems like both our parents all prefer something simple and none of those troublesome traditions to follow, so it's pretty much up to the 2 of us.

Stage cleared.

Next in line, getting a flat (will opt for HDB half yearly sale and resale at the same time) and planning for photo-taking. And once we have the keys, renovation and finally the big day =)

Hmmm some additional $$$ would be nice. Ti gong po bi ar, heheh

Prelude to the 提亲

2009-08-14T21:43:00.001+08:00

After collaborating with my future MMIL (mama-in-law) on the venue for dinner, it was time to 'date' uncle. Hahaha note I did not say PPIL (papa-in-law) and that shows that I'm closer to TSO's mum than dad, cuz well, he is a bit stern although at times when we do chat, it was quite ok.

So well, TSO and I were in the living room watching the 7pm Korean show which I was hoping to draw some inspiration when MMIL commented that their mandarin was so cheena and wished me good luck cuz that aint gonna help me much.

So much for encouragment.

8pm, show is over. MMIL making calls in the room. TSO and I in the living room. Uncle in the bedroom.

It's now or never, I thought. And so I took a deep breath and took baby steps towards the bedroom.

'Uncle, 这个礼拜有空吗?'

'有，作么没有空.' =X

'一起吃饭好吗? 瞒久没一起吃饭了' Tot I sound a bit lame here

'好啊. 吃什么?'

'三盅两件?'

'好.'

And there. Done. Felt akward but well, still accomplished the mission.
TSO later told me Uncle told MMIL that I'm gonna treat dinner and it's something she likes, to which she replied 'Of cuz, I'm the one who gave him the suggestion.'

-_-

提亲

2009-08-08T14:04:00.001+08:00

Now that I had successfully proposed to TSO, next comes the next part: 提亲

Although the prospective in-laws had been involved in our discussions on flats (more about this later) and stuff, still must properly ask the father for her hand mah rite?

But I'm having butterflies in the stomach.
Can't help but think of all those scenes from soapy Korean shows where the son-in-law to be usually goes

"伯父，请把她交给我吧！我一定会让她辛福的!"

and followed by the father-in-law's reply "就拜托你了!"

Hmm sounds a bit cheesy hor?

Finale

2009-08-02T13:22:00.002+08:00

Finale - BBQ with family and friends

The grand finale of the master plan, a conspiracy between TSO's siblings, my future MMIL and Sis for a surprise BBQ for TSO.

I remembered she mentioned before that she liked the idea of celebrating her bdae with family mah, so her wish is granted =)

Special thanks to the above mentioned and A&J for helping out with the coordination part for me =)

And ya, out of so many parts hor, this is the only part that TSO did not suspect until the final minutes. Woohoo!

Part 3 - The P plan

2009-08-02T12:24:00.008+08:00

Part 3 - The Dinner and the P Plan

At around 7pm, we proceeded to the Zenden for our 4 course dinner which is part of the package.

I found the ambience of the restaurant quite ok leh, a refreshing change from the usual all white with a dash of red kinda settings

Before dinner is served, we tried to act classy by ordering a Kir Royale and a merlot. Hahaha cuz it's included in the dinner mah

While waiting for dinner to be served, I jokingly told TSO that this is where in TV shows that the guy will propose to the gal hor.

To which TSO said ya lor, but so cheesy, not very romantic de. Of cuz at this time, the in house musician started playing on her flute to the tune 冬季恋歌.

Then I said, like now then cheesily romantic le lor, but TSO replied 'Ahem, this is a sad song leh'

At this point, starter was served and so we tucked in.

The cream of mushroom soup was deliciously creamy although it looked a bit like lobster bisque to me

Can't do without some greens so I ordered Caesar Salad which was ok, as far as caesar salads go

Next, the main course. Grilled beef medallion for me and

Scallop pasta for the lady

The food was nice but we were kinda full by now, no thanks to the nugget meal at MacDonalds that we had earlier during our walk at Liang Court =(

Was kinda struggling by the time we had our desert. Tiramisu which was ok lah

but the Poached pear with icecream wasn't quite to my liking cuz the pear was 'plumishly' sour

Hahahah so back to the topic on proposal. Actually, as much as I wanted to hide, TSO once again managed to guessed it and so all the comments about the hotel not romantic lah, cheesy settings lah is her attempt to make it difficult for me.

But hor, in the end when I played it cool, she finally 憋不住 and asked 'Are you gonna propose or not?' Hahahah of cuz in the end I did but also not immediately.

This part is between the 2 of us but all I can say is instead of 跪下 propose，I 趴着 propose instead. Will leave it to your imaginations lor, hiack hiack hiack.

And so, presenting the little piece of mineral that gals go ga-ga over and guys burnt holes in pockets over,

A 0.6 carat triple VG diamond which binds her to me forever =)

TSO later told Sis she said yes cus the diamond was irresistable and too good to forgo =X

Hahaha but I also clever, propose on bdae so next time, bdae and anniversary together can save one more pressie =p

Part 2- Building the momentum

2009-08-02T11:24:00.010+08:00

Part 2 - Building the momentum

Part 2 of TSO's bdae pressie was a 'Lovely Affair for 2' at Gallery Hotel.
It's a boutique hotel which I find was something different from the ones that we had been to so far for our staycations, but TSO spoilt le lar, said she still prefers the likes of Pan Pac and Conrad =X

Something really weird is they print the room number not on the doors but on the floor. We were still wondering how come the recep knows where the rooms were when there was nothing on the doors wor

Actually, the ideal of rose petals on bed sounds very romantic hor? Well, except that the petals are fake ones.

Compared to these one year ago from Pan Pac (but of cuz I had to pay 100 bucks extra for this wor). No wonder she keeps saying she prefers Pan Pac -_-'''

But they did make up for the petals with some heart shaped chocolates and chocolate coated strawberries (which we ate only like the next day and so din taste really nice)

And balloons

Here's the rest of the room

and the shower room

Heheh, the petals here are real though, but we din immediately jump into the tub lah, must change water first mah hor? Hehehe

Ah, must better now with the bubbles eh? Next, *censored*

Since dinner was at 7pm, we decided to go walk walk at Liang Court. Haven been there in ages. There was this super big Japanese supermart at the basement which has really some interesting Japanese foodstuff. The sushi and the sashimi really look super yummilicious, unlike those that we usually see at NTUC or cold Storage sushi counters, but I paisei take photos lah, in case the staff think we mountain tortoise, neber see sushi/ sashimi before

But the following is a must take, dun care if people think we sua ku or not cuz where else in Singapore can you find places that sells:

6 peaches for SGD99 or,

a rock melon for SGD89, or

a small bunch of black grapes SGD 85, but

this has got to be the most ridiculous, a small freaking bunch of green grapes for SGD129!!!

Crazy nihon jins >.<

Part one completed

2009-07-31T00:21:00.003+08:00

Part 1 - The Prelude

Part one of TSO's bdae celebration was successfully completed.

The pressie was pre-ordered from the web (special thanks to Valencia for helping me with the order)

The packaging is jus ideal to throw TSO off course as for once, she could not guess wat's inside the box (of cuz I wrapped it up with wrapping paper la, just that my wrapping skills needs to be very much improved so I better not show the end product, heheh)

A 8GB iPod nano, something she has been wanting for a long long time now

Actually wanna go surprise her at close to midnight but I worried it might be too late and then she went to sleep and switched her phone to silent mode so, armed with her favorite strawberry shortcake and a bouquet of Alstromeria, I celebrated TSO's bdae 2 hours early.

If you peeps remember my post on flowers in Feb, I had almost run out of ideas on what flowers to give, this is about my last bouquet of 'unique' flowers. But TSO said the colors look too much like 假花 =(

Anyways, part 1 of bdae surprise was considered a success. More to be updated, hehehe

Birthday surprises for TSO

2009-07-27T21:51:00.001+08:00

TSO just cannot patiently wait for her bdae surprises to be revealed.

So far, I'm pretty good this year cuz last year, she had already either guessed or coerced, tricked, tortured me to reveal almost everything!

With just days to go, will I succeed in revealing the surprises as and when I intend to or will the same fate await me?

Smelly ah nek

2009-07-25T01:52:00.002+08:00

Hahah, caught this during one of my long journey back to the north east.

Is it me or are the 2 ladies trying very hard to block off unpleasant odour emiting from somewhere nearby?

Cannot be they wanna fend off the H1N1 but too stingy to buy masks right?

Wedding heritage

2009-07-19T22:12:00.004+08:00

Was walking around Jurong Point and came across these figurines.

The National Heritage Board was putting up a road show on the wedding ceremonies of the different races in S'pore.

Either the gahmen is trying to promote racial harmony or it's trying to boost birth rates again.

1st time zhnging my car

2009-07-13T21:17:00.005+08:00

Ever since I saw my bro's Latio got zhng-ed with LED lights hor, I got a bit gian-ed but tot aiya, dun waste the money la.

But then ever since 小橙 got bumped and I got him back after repairs, I kept having this nagging tot of go zhng oso. Hahaha, mayb he wants me to make it up for him for getting his butt bumped bah, spooky .

So anyway, I went to this guy that my bro introduced. A very friendly guy who's into this as a hobby. Since he's an engineer by profession and offers life time guarantee, I decided to try zhng-ing my car for the very first time.

Decided to go for the usual grill and pole lights at first but then got pyscho-ed into lighting up the interior oso. Partly oso becuz when I told TSO I wanna zhng car, she said 'Zhng lor, but I sit inside car and you zhng outside I oso cannot see.'

So then, the zhng-ing started:
First, the zhng-er needs to wire up 小橙

And after like eons (actually abt 3.5hrs, geez), the insides were done.

TSO said the strips were too long though (it reached about shoulder height on all 4 doors) and were a bit too glaring =(

Onto the grill and the pole

I had wanted to do all red but as he ran out of red bulbs, he gave me white ones and arranged to change once he got the reds

Actually the whites looked ok lah but then I'm worried it might be too glaring for other road users cuz I usually cursed at those drivers who has glaring headlights when I looked into the mirrors.

So now finally, it's perfectly done up, except for the strips in the front seats.

Heheh, hope TSO will get used to them.

p.s. For those who think that I have gotten into the zhng-car-sydrome, dun worry la. I ain't got that much money to zhng and besides, there's nothing more for me to do maybe except for changing a new set of rims but nah.

A very tought one week

2009-07-07T21:15:00.002+08:00

It has been a tough week, with lotsa tension and anxiety.

TSO's darling boy has been vomitting and refused to eat or drink and appeared really sick. A visit to the vet and an ultras sound scan later, he was being diagnosed with intestinal cancer and due to his existing heart and kidney condition, going for surgery is a definitely no no, since the risk is too high.

The vet gave him between 1 week to 3 months and it was devastating news to the family.
For a while, we thought we would lose him within the next few days but he seemed to be getting stronger now and even got back his appetite. And although he has to take a cocktail of about 16 pills daily, but at least it can help to keep him with us for a while longer and make him as comfortable as possible till the time comes.

How lame can this be?

2009-07-05T13:11:00.001+08:00

This is the excerpt of the advert from Zuji.com, a travel website (I think), trying on ride on the wave of the Transformers movies.

How lame can the marketing people be? Zzzzz

Honda is weaker than Kia

2009-06-20T18:20:00.000+08:00

After last Saturday, 20th June is really quite memorable.
Firstly, it's me and TSO's monthly anniversary (Our first date was on the 20th).
Secondly it's Betsy's bdae (now I'll always remember your bdae)
Lastly, it's the first time I kanna accident (touch wood)

We were on the way to SAFRA Jurong for KTV when the accident happened. I was entering into SLE from TPE towards Woodlands, just before the Yishun exit when my rear got bumped by a Honda Civic.

The traffic was kinda heavy and there was a built up of vehicles on the slip road. I almost bumped into the vehicle in front myself as no one really expects the traffic to come to a standstill, plus it just started to drizzle.

So after braking and just as Betsy was commenting on how we almost kissed the butt of the vehicle in front, I felt an impact on my own butt. Luckily no one was hurt.

And then it was the usual exchange-contacts-take-photo-make-calls routine.

Surprisingly, though the impact was quite strong, my dear old 小橙 suffered minimum damage. In fact, just the bumper was hit and just nice hor, cuz my rear suffered minor damage during parking due to the low body kit and although not serious, it's an imperfection mah. Hahah talking about guys being obsessed with their cars.

Just a few nights ago, I was nearly kanna bumped by a speeding car on the same expressway and I was joking to TSO that it would be nice if I got hit, then can change the bumper. If only I was so 准 when it comes to buying 4D.

So anyways, this is the damage that I suffered.

The Honda got it worse, hahah
And it appeared that the driver was a 3rd party and the insurance was under the wife's name who happened to be the female passenger. Her face was black throughout the incident and this silly Betsy still go and smile at her, hahah. Lucky we din kanna walloped.

In case you peeps wanna bet on 4D, still got chance lah, cuz Sunday din come out yet.
Those who know my car plate should noe what to do la hor? The white one is 8564 in case you wanna bet too,

p.s. Who says Korean car not good? At least it's built strong eh? Mwwahahah

2009-06-16T21:29:00.002+08:00

Sian, been down with the full 'flu package' for about a week plus now.
As usual, started with sore throat, then fever followed by persistent chest cough that kept me awake for most nights.
Almost coughed my lungs out.

But finally, the worst is over and I'll be back to my usual self soon.

Sick, one day b4 exam somemore

2009-06-07T17:28:00.001+08:00

Sick, with flu and sore throat.
Geez and one day before exams somemore.

Tsk Tsk

Study till pek cek

2009-06-06T13:40:00.001+08:00

Study till pek cek. Hahaha, got the 'nb, just get it over and done with' feeling already.

Mayb it's this attitude that I have never been putting in 100% in my exams and thus always get so-so results.
Bo bian la, aim is to pass oni mah.

2 more days to go. Gambate

避风塘

2009-06-02T20:46:00.005+08:00

Somehow this name reminds me of those 琼瑶 novels:

男：表妹，咱们私奔吧？

女：不，表哥。那不行！

男：你不想和我一起？

女：不，表哥，我要！

男：那好，我们今晚就在避风塘。不见不散!

女：嗯！

*shivers*

Anyways, the service staff really hor, I think 90% all from China, cuz those that attended to our table all got this Ah Tiong accent. but then I noticed that Ah Tiongs working in restaurants seem to be more service oriented and more professional than Ah Tiongs working in MacDonalds or those heartland bakery/ bubble tea shops.

Wonder if there's any difference in pay, cuz I heard from my friend who used to work in MacDonalds that they pay the Ah Tiongs there like $2.50/hr nia. No wonder they say you get monkeys when you pay peanuts.

The food there seems to be ok, although the chicken was a tad too salty for our liking

Veg was normal. Stir fried with garlic nia but a whopping $8

The best of all 3, the duck porridge.

The total bill came to about $30, including drinks, wet towels and peanuts (no pun intended). A little too expensive for a 20min worth of 私奔 time, heheh

8 more days

2009-06-01T10:56:00.001+08:00

8 more days to freedom.

Tsk tsk, getting too old for this kinda excitement/stress.

How did I ever survive all those examinations?

Fish curry by bb

2009-05-31T22:29:00.002+08:00

Another dish added to TSO's CV: Curry fish head.
So engrossed were the mum and TSO in their chat that they forgotten to add salt.
Hahah but ok lah, at least this time round, I dun have to help out.

Just for laughs

2009-05-27T20:48:00.002+08:00

Too much frustrations recently.
Good thing that something came thru the email that at least made me luff for a while.

Another week more till exams

2009-05-22T19:48:00.002+08:00

Another week to the commencement of exams and two more till the end of the exams.

Hmmm, it's being a while since I have this feeling. Hahaha dun remember feeling stressed even when I was doing UOL.

Could it be pride at work, since this is a company sponsored course? Paisei if waste company's money mah.

Looking forward to 8 June.

3rd party

2009-05-19T23:03:00.003+08:00

To people who are shallow (or in my opinion, people who are shallow) tend to see 3rd party in the following scenario:

A and B are an item. C comes along and then all of a sudden, A is together with C, and this to D is a clear cut 3rd party case. WTF???

Who the fuck is D to judge if it is a 3rd party case?

Does D really know what happened in between? Do A and C and B for that matter owe D any explanation? Is it fair for D to judge, even though D has experienced some personal 'tragedy'?

'Oh, I'm the victim of a 3rd party case so I detest all whom I think is a 3rd party.'

Sorry lor, your sad story touches my heart but that's about it, get over it.

How can D be so sure that at some point in time, he/she is not a 3rd party in some sense? Are you very sure that you are not the cause of breakup between your current partner and his/her ex?

'Oh, at least he/she broke off and had a 'clean' break before we are together.'

Sure, everyone says that.
How long was the breakup before D gets together with his/current partner? How can D be sure that he/she is not one of the reasons they did not even try to work things out in the first place? Self justification is such a pathetic thing.

Now consider this:

D for some reason does not like certain members of the current partner's family and keeps silent during family gatherings, often causing awkward silences. The rest of the family continues converations and generally having a good time and D felt left out.
Thus, D often have fights with the partner, accusing of being left out and the partner talking to people D does not like.

And apparently, D does not give a damn of the awkardness he/she is causing the family due to his/her choice of keeping silent in front of the so called 'people she dun like' To D, it is ok cuz he/she is being his/her 'real' self and not 'acting' to be friendly when he/she dun feel friendly.

Now let me ask a stupid question but it seems pretty obvious to me that D is now the 3rd party right? Maybe not in the strictest sense but well, D seems to be causing quite a disruption in an otherwise 'harmonious' situation mah.

Moral of the story:
To people like D, pls fucking grow up. The world does not just revolve around you.
There are many things in life that are not to your liking or against your so called 'morals'.
So? Get over it.

You may choose to be indifferent or think that you are right in doing the things that you are doing, that's not wrong but do pause for a moment and think if you are being selfish for not considering the feelings of those around you.

2009-05-17T11:19:00.003+08:00

As I was out to bfast on Sunday, captured this first video on my S8300.

Birds gang fight. Hmmm is it for territory, position as leader of the flock or for the attention of a female bird? Anyway the fight lasted for a few minutes and then suddenly, all 8 birds or so decided to call it quits and flew as a flock together, maybe go catch some worms or something.

Home facial by TSO

2009-05-15T10:44:00.002+08:00

Home facial by TSO.
OMG, this looks soooo uncool.

p.s. Pix was taken by TSO when me ish w/o me specs nor contact lens, if ur wondering how come my eyes look kinda drifty.

Sian: Exams and Work

2009-05-12T23:48:00.002+08:00

Super sian and tired recently.

Exams coming in 3 weeks, although have started revision but somehow haven picked up the momentum yet.

Staffing matters, real headache. All I can say is, if by some miracle I survive June, I'll still have to get thru till Sept. Ti Gong Po Bi lor.

Last night, my trusty Sony Ericsson (forgot the model) went dead on me, and TSO immediately went online and got me a Samsung S8300.

Super touched.

Freakish big strawberries

2009-05-09T10:19:00.001+08:00

Stawberries so big they look freakish =X

Gathering with Carine, Kim and Shiaoling

2009-05-02T09:28:00.008+08:00

After my post below, Unlce Kim sent us this rare photo of POTN and Pinkie. Hmmm, must have taken while I was calling TSO outside cuz you can barely make out my reflection on the left, hahah looks spooky eh? Like a paranormal sighting hor?

==================================================
It's being a while since I met up with Pinkie, Uncle Kim and Princess of the North.
We're supposed to be having quarterly catch up sessions but I had missed the previous 2 sessions, meaning it's being a year since the last time we met.. oops, sorry peeps >.<'

So anyways, the Princess of the North suggested a simple dinner and then a chill out session at the Wine Hut at Mohd Sultan. Hahaha, Uncle Kim must have cringed whenever 'wine' is mentioned as an after dinner activity cuz the dude is not a fan of anything alcoholic. But then at the end of the evening, it seemed that he is progressing rather well, all thanks to our training =p

Dinner was intended to be a light one cuz we are planning to have finger foods later at Wine Hut but we were taking it a bit too far when 4 of us shared 2 bowls of Karage (is it the correct name for fried chicken?) Don.

People around us must be thinking 'Surely the economy ain't THAT BAD?'

The light dinner was quickly compensated later with calamari, sausage and a chesse platter.

And since we can never remember what we learnt about wine or the wine that we drank previously, we decided to take pictures so that we have something to fall back on next time, instead of keep asking for recommendations cuz

a) it makes us look amateurish and

b) some staff do not noe their stuff but most importantly

c) staff who noes their stuff tends to give long lectures (Like a certain wine master at Vino Vino, or is he known by another fancyful title? See, I can't remember shit when it comes to things about wines)

We had Chilean wines this time and the white is much nicer than the red which in POTN said, is very 'siap'

p.s. No pix of of us were taken as Pinkie and POTN are camera shy and it does seem gayish if I only take pix of me and Uncle Kim

p.p.s. It amazing that we had known each other for almost 7 years (come July) since our days back in MOE

p.p.p.s. TSO is jealous that I went drinking with friends till late. Heheh I'll bring you next time ok? Just the 2 of us =)

What the fuck?!?!

2009-05-01T22:24:00.002+08:00

Some lazy bastards have been pushing NTUC carts back to their homes after grocery shopping but simply do not have the courtesy to return them, and apparently, judging from the number of trolleys lined up, the assholes wun stop until the Hougang Mall NTUC runs out of trolleys.

Nothing much to update

2009-04-23T14:23:00.003+08:00

Nothing much to update these days.

Work has been busy, with additional load and colleagues going on wedding and maternity leave, it's gonna b a tough 4 mths. Not to mention exams coming in a month's time.

Heheh, also been planning something with TSO but there's quite a lot to consider so I guess, we'll still need some time and if 天公 pobi pobi and let me tio 4D or Toto, that will be quite helpful, hahah.

Gal's best friend, man's worst enemy

2009-04-18T15:22:00.003+08:00

Diamond, a gal's best friend, and the worst possible enemy to the guy's wallet.

But I suppose the guy will succumb to this evil to make his gal happy.

p.s. In case you peeps start asking me questions. Nope, I'm not getting this =p

Paint job

2009-04-14T21:15:00.005+08:00

Weekend was spent painting bro's and my room. Only 2 rooms but it's damn tiring can?
Started off with Keith's room, though not much of a change. He still sticks to blue, lighter shades but still nonetheless. Boring. Hahahah.

So here's Dad and him, very much like contractors eh? Decided not to 自拍 cuz I looked super '崔' that day.

TSO arrived in the afternoon to help paint mine =)
Of cuz Keith and parents helped out too and so this is the end product, at least mine got change color lor, muuuhahahha

Shifted the stuff a bit to change the 风水 but still haven tio 4D leh

paint job

2009-04-06T22:47:00.002+08:00

Dad walks excitedly into room, shows paint chart to TSO and asks: 'Do you think these 2 shades of green looks nice?' (Of cuz not in English lah, but my lappie for some reason cannot type in Chinese so I have to translate)

TSO replies: 'Yup looks nice'

Dad continues to be excited: 'Ya, can start plan plan le mah. Give the room a new coat of paint, then you guys can think of how to redecorate and convert this into bridal room first, while waiting for your flat'

Hmmm... is that an obvious hint to me or is that an obvious hint to me?

Quality wkend spent

2009-04-05T11:50:00.002+08:00

Due to my wkend classes for the past month, hardly got time to stay at home and TSO felt bad cuz she said very long time din cook for the parents oredi.

And so, she stayed over on Fri nite after class, so that we can go marketing in the morning and cooked lunch. Heheh, after 30min in NTUC, this was what we got:

The fish looks very creepy, the eyes very human-like hor? As if it was very shocked at being caught and cut in half before it got time to say 'What the fish?' (Hahaha ok that was lame..)

And one hour later, our master pieces. Heheh, I tot we improved a lot oredi although I added a little too much oyster sauce for the tofu dish.
Oh, the dark soy sauce pig trotter was contributed by dear o' mum
After lunch, TSO helped me cleared my room and we went thru the letters and the cards that I received during my school days. Hahah, it was fun la, although I got 'suan-ed' quite a bit =X

Comm with snr mgt???

2009-03-31T23:58:00.003+08:00

Imagine during your work review and your boss tells you 'One area you need to work on is on communication with the senior management. This is something you will find useful to learn, especially if you are looking at moving onto a more senior position.'

Did he mean what I think he means? Looks like besides hardwork, one really can't ignore 'the other factor'.

Hmmm looks like really must communicate more so that I can decode correctly what was being communicated to me.

sunway Lagoon Part 2

2009-03-31T00:01:00.006+08:00

Hahahah just realised hor, there aren't many pix that I can post here.

So can oni let u peeps see the scenery pix lor, the lovey dovey ones must be censored =p

At the entrance, you have to buy tickets and then get this wrist band which must be worn at all times. Cuz there are 5 parks in total, Extreme, Amusement, Water, Scream and Wild Life. And you can choose to go for any combination and upgrade along the way which is why the writstbad is a must wear at all times lor

As you can see, the park is actually big lor and it took us a while to decide where to go first

Since TSO is afraid of the more challenging rides such as the 360 deg pirate ship and, erm actually, she is afraid of anything that goes up into the air and then swings back and forth like a pendulum.

But to be fair, she is game for roller coaster although it was being closed for maintenance works. Sianz.

So actually we took most of the not-in-the-air rides and of cuz the water rides oso lah. But since my camera is not water proof, I had to leave it in the locker and hence no pix =(

The only high high in the air stuff that we tried is this 400m long suspension bridge that god knows how high. Actually hor, my knees got a little wobbly initially but then after a while, I got used to the height. The trick is dun stay too near the edge and gek kiang look down.

This Scream Park hor, seriously I think not really worth the price tag la, can go can dun go. We din try the Wild Life cuz it's basically a zoo more for kids. The Extreme Park looked kinda interesting, got flying fox somemore and those 3 wheeled motorcycles (is it called ATV?) that you can ride thru a jungle track but we din have time for that either.

Or rather, we wanna spend sometime dipping in the pool and sun tan, hahah cuz I think I'm getting too fair liaoz.

All in all, Sunway Lagoon is a good place to go for a short getaway. We sure had a good time =)

Day 2 of injured little pinkie

2009-03-30T23:14:00.002+08:00

Day 2 of my poor little pinkie. Visibly swollen and discolored.

Tso is worried that I may have broken the bones but although it looks scary, I'm quite sure no bones are broken.

But it feels a bit tight though, as if it's filled with fluid, and I can't stop squeezing, rubbing it and feel the pain.

Think I'm a sadist.

Casualty at playing basketball

2009-03-29T23:15:00.002+08:00

Price for underestimating TSO's prowess in basketball:
A swollen pinkie.

Hahaha today was the first time we played together (me after some 10 years after my poly days) and I din expect she could 'steal' my ball. And she can shoot well too wor.

It's cool to have another common hobby

p.s.
When TSO 'stole' the ball from my possession, she did so with more strength that I expected, so when the basketball rebounded, the poor pinkie was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Not that TSO is violent and twisted my pinkie in order to gain possession la.

Sunway Lagoon Part 1

2009-03-29T11:53:00.007+08:00

Okies, here it is. The Sunway Lagoon Trip. Heheheh as usual lah, I'll try to post as many pix as I can so even though this is a 3D2N trip nia, think I'll have to break it down into a few posts.

Credit goes to TSO cuz she managed to get us a good deal for this trip. 3D2N accomodation, return coach rides and free admission into 2 out of 5 theme parks at only SGD510. But of cuz since we dun wanna be caught in the custom jam coming back on Sunday, we booked a one way Jetstar flight back at about SGD70 for 2. Plus the cost of RM75 for taxi to the airport, total damage to the wallet is about SGD600 for 2 =)

And so, after collecting our tickets to our holiday, we boarded the coach at 8am at Golden Mile Tower and began a 6 hour ride. The ride is actually bearable cuz there isn't much traffic. There was a slight delay at the M'sia custom though. And I was actually a little pissed at the bo chup attitude they have. Think we spent like 45min thereabouts in the queue, waiting to get our passports chopped and then I realised that the 'white card' I had was outdated so I got to fill them up again.

So felt a little pek chek but this is the only buay song part of the whole trip so not that bad lah.

This is the hotel that we are gonna be staying for the next 2 nites. I forgot to take pix of the lobby area but this is definitely much nicer than the one in Genting that I have been to last year.

There is a club next to the hotel but we din check it out lah, cuz we are very guai ppl, not party animals, hahahah.

For those who likes shopping, there is a mega mall (think Vivo City but slightly bigger) just beside the hotel, with an ice skating rink, a bowling alley, a cineplex, an arrow shooting range (though not impressive lah, targets small nia, not those long range de). While we were there, there are sales everywhere but the price is almost the same as in SG lah, although there are still some good bargains out if you look hard enough.

We forgot about the shopping part so we just brought overnigt bags and not luggage, so there is a limit on how much we can shop (lucky for my wallet, hahah), and so we ended up with just some clothes nia.

Here's the club. Looks something like the one at Esplanade hor?

For those who faithfully reads my blog, here's a lucky number for you. Although I have not kanna, maybe it's different for you lor

The room really not bad, very nice and cosy (the bed la, hiack hiack)

The TV is jus those normal CRT and not the LCD flat screen but ok lah. We hardly spent time
in the room watching TV anyway.

But I was surprised to find there's a bathtub wor. It's always nice to have a bathtub in the bathroom.

Hahah ok, that's the end of part 1!

Day one was spend shopping in the mall so there's nothing much to blog about la.

Expanding waistline

2009-03-27T23:21:00.003+08:00

I noticed there is one thing not affected by recession and will continue to expand and progress, regardless of whether 'revenue' declines or not. Or maybe, it has pass the breakeven point so from hence onwards, it's in the super growth phase.

I'm referring to my waistline. No matter whether I eat alot or eat not alot, whether I work out a lot or I sleep alot. It seems to be increasing. Not exactly my waistline cuz I'm still ok in my size 30 (size 29 if I'm lucky) but the flabs seem more prominent esp if I'm sitting down.

Nabei! Dun tell me this is the curse of hitting the big 3-0???

No mood to blog

2009-03-26T20:18:00.003+08:00

Hahaha suddenly out of inspiration to blog.
Sian to be back for work cuz still in holiday mood, although its almost one week oredi.

March isn't a very good month cuz its not all that smooth sailing at work. No screw ups la, just troublesome stuff to handle.
Finally, the long awaited bonus is here but the amount is miserable. But then again, better than nothing lor.

And nope, not gonna blog on Sunway yet cuz the pics are still with TSO.

Off to Sunway Lagoon

2009-03-19T09:02:00.002+08:00

Off to Sunway Lagoon in another 24 hours.
Hahaha, bad economy so bo bian lor, holiday oso need to cut cost.
But ok lah, its being 7mths since my Taiwan trip so really in need of a holiday.

Actually took leave today but there are some work that I still can't get my mind off so later gonna go back for a few hours and see if I can settle them.
Such a good employee go where find leh? Hope the bosses appreciate lor, hahah

Welcome Little Delwyn

2009-03-16T20:10:00.004+08:00

4th March 2009 marks a very special day.
It's the day Little Delwyn came into this world.

Being colleagues with 大姐大, I was there with her thoughout the whole pregnancy, and so her birth made me kinda excited and happy. Hahah can't really describe the feeling but it's like having another family member. Yup, we are that close.

The little cutie is so adorable that she brings smiles to those who comes into contact with her, even while she's sleeping!

Hahah but I can only watch la. Cuz new borns are so soft and fragile, I dun dare to carry her yet. Maybe when she's a little bigger la.

Love triangle

2009-03-15T09:21:00.003+08:00

A friend sent me this link on the saga of Glenn Ong vs Jamie Ong vs Jean Danker

Hahah after reading the news, I can't help but wanna say or rather blog about this.
There sure are people who will be surprised at the split and then go about speculating what exactly went wrong between Jamie and Glenn.

Well they did appear to be all lovey dovey before the relevation that they are seperated and going thru divorce. And then now it seems that both had found their respective love again in a span of weeks.

So, are they posing a bad influence on their fans? Did they 2-timed each other one after the other or simultaneously? Did Jean and the other CEO came in between them and caused a break up of what seemed to be a happy marriage? Do they love each other? How come dun try work things out to save that 5 yr marriage? And is Glenn Ong a baddie, what being a 2-timed divorcee and sporting tatoos all over his body?

Seriously, it's their personal lives and if everyone involved know what's good for them, why should we bother? Does it make them strangers to their fans/ friends all of a sudden? That they dunno them anymore? Hmm if I think you are their royal fans/ friends, you would wish each of them all the best and hope they are happy. Afterall, who is to say what's right or wrong in a relationship, besides the 当事人 themselves?

But if you are the type who go 'Eeeee, so fake. I dun like them anymore'. Well go f yourselves. Who are you to judge them anyway? Get real man, look around yourselves, and wake up from the 琼瑶 era. Or maybe you need to go thru the same shit to gain enlightenment.

Super duper pissed

2009-03-06T01:09:00.002+08:00

Was super duper pissed in office today by one of those who belong to the group who believes they are holier-than-thou and whose ego are much bigger than their heads.

I can't believe some adults can still go about writing emails and whine to the whole world when they do not get their way like kids throwing tantrums when they are refused a toy.
I dun mean to insult his intelligence but then a simply concept like no payment without proper approval seems to difficult for his tiny pea-sized brain to process the meaning.

To be honest, I nearly lost control and got tricked into engaging in an email war which does not serve any purpose. That moron actually dared me to reply to all if I have anything to say about his accusations.

But then again I preferred not to stoop to his level and decided not to.

In the end, I managed to get the message across to those who mattered without engaging in those petty email exchanges.

Hahaha lesson learnt, it pays to keep your cool and those who cracked the first shot and made a hoo haa about it may well end up as the loser and worse, as the saying goes, die liao oso dunno how he died.

Lunch made with Love

2009-03-02T23:46:00.006+08:00

Having to go to class from 10am to 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays for 4 weeks in itself is already a torture liaoz.
The fact that I have to lunch alone sux more, especially when there aren't really a lot of choices around Centrepoint besides expensive restaurants or fast food outlets. Other more okay places are usually swamped by the freaking ah tiongs.

So well for the 3rd-consecutive-weekend-class-lunch-break so far, I was walking out of the lift, thinking of just getting a sandwich or two and a cuppa for lunch when I saw TSO at the lift lobby. Heheh, of cuz I was surprised and happy to see her cuz I dun have to lunch alone le mah =)

But that's not the only surprise I have wor.
Cuz she whispered after a peck on the cheek that she had made lunch for me. Just the tot of her making food and bringing it all the way to Somerset is heartwarming enuf lor, but hor, it's not just any typical cooked food lor.

a) It's nicely packaged.

Japanese style.
You know when you watch those Japanese serials when the gal puts in so much effort into packing lunchboxes and not jus chuck everything into just any plastic tupperware or ziplock bag, you will usually go 'Wa lau eh, need to be so troublesome meh?'

But upon actually receiving a nicely wrapped lunch box, I have a totally different feeling le wor. Now I understand why Japanese gals put in so much effort into preparing lunch boxes =p

p.s. At this point, I was already touched beyond words

I began to slowly unwrap my lunchbox. And it's of no coincidence that everything comes in matching design and color.

b) TSO actually went in search of each single piece of item seperately. (Matching as it seems, this is not one whole set leh, everything is bought seperately)

c) It's one of my favorite dish, diced potato and luncheon meat in ketchup and nuggets. Hahah simple but really very nice leh.

And needless to say, I finished everything, right down to the last grain of rice, feeling blessed and loved with every mouthful of food.

Hahahah, you people may feel I'm being mushy but hey, not every guy gets to experience this hor. I think I deserve the right to brag about it.

p.s. To the gals, I dun speak for all guys but I think the vast majority of us will love our gfs to bits if we receive this once in awhile.

p.p.s To the guys, if ever ur gf packs you food this way, you are one hell of a lucky dude and make sure you treasure ur gal. Well, that goes for me as well =p

So, to TSO when you read this, I love u to bits. MUACKS

My ass is not fat

2009-02-26T21:04:00.003+08:00

I do not have a big butt and neither is it heavy >.<'''

Sianz

2009-02-23T20:49:00.002+08:00

Been thru the first of my 8 weekend classes which starts from 10 am till 5pm.
Besides having basically no life for the next 3-4 wks, it's super tiring as well.
Worse than full time studies back in the poly days.

Good thing I'm not paying for it.

I passed.

2009-02-19T23:07:00.002+08:00

Hahahah I passed my exams, Though only at 64% even though I'm only doing one module last semester but who cares? I passed =)

But then damn, Saturdays and Sundays are burnt for the next 3 weeks cuz of my intensive make up lessons for the lessons I missed in Jan, no thanks to the SAF.

Anyways, looking fwd to 20th March, heheh

The real reason why Ho Ching left Temasek Holdings

2009-02-17T22:51:00.002+08:00

Now we know the real reason why Ho Ching left Temasek Holdings, hmmmm

Vdae

2009-02-15T12:11:00.007+08:00

Days before Vdae, TSO saw someone at the MRT carrying some weird looking floral and commented that how cool it would be to receive wild flowers rather than the usual common flowers such as lilies and roses.

And so, it suddenly gave me an idea on what my Vdae bouquet will be!
Tada....

Eustomas!!!

I wonder how TSO came up with those 3 options in the tagboard. Like I said, she always has this uncanny ability to spoil whatever surprise that I'm planning. But then again, it's I 自找 one lor, 假利害 la, give simi clue >_<'''

Heheh and coupled with wild flowers as 配花, the bouquet really looked better than what I expected it would turn out to be. And hor, I din just suka suka get TSO just any wild flowers ok?

Got meaning de lor, heheh =)

And here're my Vdae pressies.

TSO woke up early in the morning and went marketing for her master plan.

Next she spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon 'experimenting' on this 爱心草莓奶油点心 (literally translated, cuz it's made of strawberry and cream and in the shape of a heart mah)

Got the 吃在口里，甜在心里 feeling wor =)
Yummilicious!

And that's not all. I oso got a 10-page Scrapbook of Love

Thank you dearest, for the wonderful pressies.

Very 感动ed.

Another Vday

2009-02-13T20:53:00.000+08:00

It's that time of the year again when guys have to rack their brains on whether or not to get flowers for their gal.

Like I had mentioned so many times before, no matter how a gal tells you she dun like flowers and that it's a total waste of money, the fact remains that she's waiting for you to surprise her with a bouquet so that she too, can show off and parade the streets with her 'trophy' on 214.

And should you, the guy decides to get your gal a bouquet afterall, do not think that you will be ok just getting her ANY flowers. Marks will be awarded for originality, creativity and of course, size does matter.

If you think getting her with a single pathetic stalk of red rose is sufficient, think again. It's gonna be as bad as not getting her flowers at all.

Life gets more complicated if, within a short span of less than a year, you have given your gal an average of one bouquet every 2 months.

So, in deciding what to get her for V-day (as usual, TSO said she had got enuf flowers and asked me NOT to waste money, hahah but you know la), I had to do a mental stock take of what I had gotten her so far (remember, marks awarded for originality and creativity)

Very first bouquet: Sunflowers
There's a story for this though. Well I have actually planned to give her the first bouquet on her birthday and I had wanted to make sure I got her her favorite flowers, and so I asked a friend to sound out TSO. The clever gal guessed the reason the moment the friend asked her 'What flowers you like huh?' cuz she asked her back 'Dennis asked you to ask one huh?'

No surprise liao mah. So, me got her the bouquet way BEFORE the birthday, and caught her totally by surprise. Heheh, and of course she was over the moon.

So now, she was damned sure there will be no flowers for her birthday.

Well, she was wrong =)

Here comes the White Lilies

And as part of her birthday celebration (Heheh I shall not reveal where we went although A&J guessed it, or rather A guessed it. Wonder how in the world could he have known but anyways, that's not important), she got her 3rd 'bouquet' of flowers in the form of a heart, made of red and white Rose petals

And then there was one time where I got her another 1-stalk sunflower to cheer her up when she was feeling down.

And then a bouquet of orange Tulips (forgot to take picture) for I-forgot-what-occassion cuz it was quite impromptu. Wanted to surprise her mah, so got idea le then quickly go get.

And then more recently, cuz I made her angry mah, so gotta appeased her with this bouquet of Gerberras

So now chiam liaoz lor, out of ideas of what to get le, how how how?
Ah, but I managed to come up with another species of floral to add to her collection.

No clues hor, TSO. Slowly slowly wait lor =p

Ok lah, one clue:
I dun think you know how to pronouce the name of this flower.

Hahaha

OPC can drive full day on Sat

2009-02-13T15:32:00.000+08:00

Heard the gahmen is considering letting OPCs like mine to drive full day on Saturdays soon wor.

The aim is to attract more people reduce driving and give up their existing full plated cars. And the gahmen even willing to give cash rebates for the 17k or watever is the balanced amount instead of the usual paper value to offset against new purchases.

Got so good mah? I sense more ERPs or a sudden hike in road tax leh.

We'll see.

The axe has been brought down

2009-02-12T22:37:00.002+08:00

After months' of restructuring, rumours and fears of retrenchment and whether there's any shred of hope left for bonus and increments, the axe is finally upon us today.

Well, it's kinda normal for brokers to be axed during bad times but when the time comes for the back office people to be axed as well, it kinda affects people, esp when one of them happens to be someone in your clique. Well everybody is in somebody's clique so it's never pleasant, not even if that someone is someone you dun like.

Like the saying goes, when ur neighbour gets axed, its recession but when it's ur turn, its depression.

But then again, look at the bright sight of things, we have survived the onslaught.
Take each day as it comes and treasure what you have.

Life is too great to keep worrying about things that have yet to happen.

One more day to the end of the week and hope you peeps have a wonderful 214 =)

Tua kang

2009-02-11T21:39:00.001+08:00

Tis adds a whole new meaning to the term 'TUA KANG' (to boast), hahaha

Bloody Ah Tiongs

2009-02-02T21:38:00.002+08:00

Sometime ago, I blogged about our little island being infested with ah neks and ah tiongs.
Looks like I'm not the only one being pissed about the infestation.

I wonder who approved their work permits and wat was the HR thinking when they employ these 'foreign talents'?

I think in time to come, we may see foreign talents from some rural tribes in Africa cuz they too will be 'cheap and good'.

Gotta work hard to lost the fats

2009-02-01T22:41:00.002+08:00

Ok, it's time to stop indulging in sinful CNY goodies and start hitting the gym.

Restarted my work out on Friday after some one month's break (kept putting it off due to Xmas, New Year, in-camp and then CNY) and I din manage to even carry as much weight or did as many reps as usual, but my body is already aching like hell.

TSO has started to poke her fingers into my getting-to-be-too-soft-for-comfort tummy and asked if my chest would slowly turn to breasts if I dun start training soon >_<'''