Goodbye 2010

It's the end of another year. Time always flies, doesn't it?

Looking back, so much have happened the past 12 months; I am thankful I am still alive and jumping and everyone at home is still well and we're looking forward to the new year. There's so much coming for me in January - close friend's wedding in Sabah, training in Scotland, seeing friends in London... What a great busy start and I hope all things will fall into places thereafter. I better find some time to do some spring cleaning before I get lots of loots back from UK :D It'll be Chinese New Year 2 days after I get back and I hope I can fit into the cheongsam top I bought for the occasion by then... LOL. No overeating in UK please!

So, actually I am writing this to give thanks to things that have happened this year, the good and bad... and no, I'm not setting new year resolutions. I guess my aim every year is the same, simple, to live happy, for me and for everyone I love.

Here's the thank you list (in no order of occurrence):

♥ Thank you ♥

I made many new friends and maybe 1 enemy @ SingTel.

I won Photoshop CS5 @ the Adobe Launch.

I won worth S$300 tickets to Riverdance.

I survived a bike crash in Taiwan.

I survived a maniac climbing onto my bed in the middle of the night in Taiwan.

I had a short and sweet time meeting someone new.

I realised some people are just not worth any time of our life, so get on with it!

I have a wonderful boss and apparently an exciting job.

I found long lost friends on Facebook.

I realised my obsession for DOMO.

I cut my fringe, enjoyed the bangs for a short while (looked young all over again, now I'm missing it).

I did pilates again.

I lived with a cat.
I travelled alone again after 5 years, the last in 2005.

I saw a friend I missed in Ho Chi Minh.

I travelled for the 1st time with my lil sis.

I bought my 1st Kate Spade this year and then got a 2nd.

I found my flip phone and it's Samsung.

My Blackberry has been good the past 1 year.

My Toshiba baby has survived me 3 years and still going strong.

My parents ♥ me. My friends ♥ me. I ♥ them.

I am happy.

p.s: I'll add more tonight if I think of more ;)

Now I am deprived...

Public holidays! I want more, I want more!!

Singapore, can you be a wee bit more generous??

Counting the number of public hoildays the people of Republic China get, the rest of us just want to bang our heads on the wall... Don't we all suddenly wish we live and work there? Make a guess?

31 freaking days in 2011!!!!!!!!

And that doesn't include their annual leave!??

I probably get the same days (31) after I add up my annual leave and Singapore's public holidays. Singapore is not the worst to be honest, we are on par with a lot of other countries that average about 10-11 days of public hoildays. But China, Tokyo and Hong Kong are obviously leading the numbers with 31, 18 and 17... Okay, now I'm envious (maybe not so much of Tokyo and Hong Kong as they work a hell lot!!). But from what I know, Japanese companies are not very generous with their annual leave, so that is perhaps fair with 18 days of additional holidays. So I guess this is why we see Chinese tourists everywhere when we go on our holidays, hahaha.

Perhaps you like to know how the 31 days come about? They have 3 consective days off for almost everything, from New Year's day to Labour Day to Dragon Boat and Mid Autumn Festival. Gosh, seriously, 3 days for a festival, we celebrate them in Singapore too, not as if we get any for them!! Then they get a week each for Lunar New Year and their National Day, they seriously love their culture and nation! We need that in Singapore too!

♥ Mum & Dad ♥

Sweet sweet love.

I feel the love. Mum made "yam" cake, it's like carrot cake (though it's not made from carrot but "yam" cake is made from yam). It's one of our favourite food she cooked, and so I am having that for lunch! I missed dinner last night as I caught up with a friend, mum cooked Mee Sua, also my favourite. Actually, practically everything she cooks are like my favourites, hahaha, except for certain things which are my sisters' and not mine. I told her I missed the Mee Sua and she said she can cook for me again tonight. Awww... so sweet.

I have been looking high and low for a watch, the type that looks solid and formal enough for work. Yesterday, I saw Dad's watch on the table, it looks pretty nice and its face isn't not too big for my wrist. I asked him if he would give it to me, without much hesitation, he said okay and asked how big is my wrist so he could adjust it. I don't know if it's his favourite watch as he has a couple, one of which we gifted to him 2-3 years back. I went home last night and he has already adjusted it for me, now it's my "office" watch. How sweet is that!

A lot of times, we thought family isn't an important part of our life. Years ago, I really had that thinking, especially when I was abroad and found it a hassle to call back home. I guess a lot of my friends still do now, some might, some might not. Some of my friends are happily living overseas, perhaps still like me in the past, we couldn't understand the parents' yearning as they didn't verbally express it. We dreaded coming home for good. But after quite a few years of it myself, I have adapted to living with my parents once again. Our relationship is better than the past somehow, I guess I have also grown wiser with the things I have been through. I speak to them, talk about their concerns, get them involved in my life and let them know what's happening... I used to think some things are better said to friends, but in fact, parents can be your friends too.

I have friends whom keep a distance from their parents. I guess it's different for everyone. For some, there's communication breakdown, for others, it might be some personal reasons. But there is one thing for sure, they love us, and I think there is no measurement for it! Even though they might be sometimes a little biased and like your sister or brother more, but at the end of the day, they are the ones who are willingly to make sacrifices for us. They are the ones whom will never push you away or say "No" to provide you a place of comfort and shelter when you need it most. They might not say it or show it, but they do care.

Frohe Weihnachten!

It's the time of the year again!  

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

A festive season filled with many wonderful memories of the past... This year, it's a rather quiet one; in the past years, I spent it at dinner with friends or held a mini party at home with the sisters. But both sisters are away, so I decided to take my parents out for a meal. (As one gets older, sometimes priorities do take a shift!) Just 3 of us at a nice Chinese restaurant named PUTIEN, they seemed to enjoy it as mum was still going on about the fried duck wrapped with yam on the phone. So here's some pictures to share our joy :)

Apparently this brand derives its roots from Putian, a town in the Fujian province of China. It began as a small restaurant in Singapore and has since expanded to 7 outlets, and needless to say, the prices have also increased tremendously. I have heard many good stories about the food and so I thought I shall take the parents there. It's my first time too!

The dishes are tasty and suit my parents' tradtitional tastebuds well, though the prices are a little on the steep side. That "Deep Fried Duck with Yam" costed $15.90, the yam portion was more than the meat! Not that we mind since mum and I love yam! Those "Homemade Beancurd" were smooth and silky, we really enjoyed them. We also got "Seaweed Soup with Wonton" (forgot to name that in the picture, it's in the centre), it was quite appetising and a perfect starter. Dad has to have rice at his meal times or he would go jelly on his knees, so we ordered the only rice item, the "Seafood Fried Rice" and it was quite the standard one like everywhere else. I like the idea of "Mee Sua" (also named "妈祖面线" in Chinese, what a nice name!) since I read a review that it was quite good, so we ordered it too. It came with seafood and wasn't the usual Mee Sua mum loved to cook at home. It came last, all of us were pretty stuffed by then, but it was so delectable that we finished it all. There was no room for dessert though I really would love to have one... haha.

All in all, it was a pleasant dinner! It will be a bonus if they have some cards' promotion, then we will go there more often ;) They only take reservations for big crowd, but I rang up earlier to put my name just in case there's going to be a queue, and it did turn out there was a waiting list. Fortunately, they managed to give us a table fast enough as the old people have little patience.

Let it snow, let it snow...

But let me go over, let me go over too...

The sight of Europe covered in white is so beautiful, but unfortunately not at all advantageous for the commuters. With flights cancelled and delayed for days, and the airports transformed into campsites, it doesn't sound at all exciting. Trains broke down, people trapped. Road blocked and cars abandoned. I hope my friend is able to fly back in two weeks' time without any hassle and I am able to make my trip there in a month's time! Snow, how can I not love you and hate you at the same time?

Be your own Santa this Christmas!

Christmas is a few days away... and suddenly my days are packed with lunch appointments. Out of nowhere. I can't meet most of the people I like to see, and so it shall continue into the new year. Today I tried to accomodate meeting two persons but didn't quite work out well, with only the lunch hour to spare.

The boss will be away but he has took the team to an early Christmas lunch filled with thin crusty pizzas. Boss called himself a pizza-monster, and he had 9 slices! Wooohoo. I had 5, came up 3rd in my team of 6, felt very guilty afterwards. It didn't help when he surprised us with adorable Santa and Snowman cupcakes. There's continous supply of chocolates and treats in the office from our business associates - the boss always brings them up for us.

Giving makes one feel very good, doncha think? Like the past years, I would pack small bags of chocolates, sweets and cookies to give away. I also gifted my new lunch buddy at work a small gift, it wasn't an exchange... Today I met my primary school friend for lunch and passed her a small gift too. She sure was surprised. I think surprises are always nice! I have got my surprises too! Thanks Ah man for making the way down to my office with a little red box, and when I opened it, I was delighted - it's packed with DOMO kun stuff! There's also a Santa in the office, making way to everyone's desks distributing little tiny bags, each with Ovalteenies, a chupa chupa & marshmallow. I don't know him, and I don't think he knows everyone, but I guess it's the season of giving... you know.

If you also feel like doing some good, why not contribute to Ronald McDonald House Charities by getting one of these McHappy Day bears for S$3! I just bought one over lunch, my 2nd McDonald's meal this month, I feel quite disgusted, LOL. Actually, it's not too bad since I quite like the fish fillet... so to lessen my own guilt, I got salt-free fries and diet-coke :) Hah. The first time I had lunch there, I saw Grimace, the purple bear, so I told myself I shall visit when they sell Ronald McDonald (which starts today!). I missed the Hamburlger which is also very adorable. The money also helps one of my good friends' daughter whom is benefitting from the charity, she was staying at the Ronald McDonald House when her daughter was undergoing clinical trial in New York. By the way, you don't have to eat there to buy this bear, you can just walk in and make a meal-free purchase.

Not sure where this picture source is from, guess I will copyright this to McDonald's.

Hello lucky days!

Someone just talked to me in German, I managed to make it out even though it was pretty quick the way he spoke. The strange thing is he isn't even German, he heard from my boss I could speak some, and so tested it out. Woah. I was obviously more stunned than anything and didn't reply him in German. It seems like boss and him are pretty good friends!

I am one lucky woman. Yes, I'll be heading to Aberdeen shortly for work via London, so I get to see Angela in London for the first time in 5 years! I can't wait to see her new place and am thankful she's more than happy to put me up! I can't wait to spend time together, to see London all over again like a tourist. It is also my first time on Business Class (And it's SQ!!! On my return, I actually would be on the new A380!!), I feel like I'm dreaming. Someone, wake me up! Everything is going on smoothly at work... since ages.. after a couple of jobs working with "shitty" people or great people with boring jobs, finally I found it. Good stuff are worth waiting for, and this is so true.

My boss is my guardian angel. It has been over 3 weeks and everything's perfect. He doesn't rush me into picking things up, he's more than happy to answer my questions, he's always bringing up chocolates gifted to him for us, he's very accomodating and made it possible for me to see my friends during my trip to UK, he's also super sweet to his wife... and everyone in the company like him. I have heard this from more than one person, and they are from all other departments. As I'm still on probation, I am surprised I am even allowed to go for overseas training, and even have days off during the period. Whoever says Tiger year is lucky for Roosters, my luck is only starting now... But I seriously don't believe in such horoscope forecast. I think I have been through enough "shit" to come to a point I can enjoy life a little. Thankfully.

A friend told me how envious she was. I can only say, open yourself to all the chances possible and you never know what might just come :)

Hopefully this will last for a while :)

Randomness XVI

A mixed of emotions.

One of my best friends is expecting a baby, hurray!

A guy I was romantically linked to in the past just broke up with his long-termed girlfriend, not that I am happy about it as I always thought they look great together... We might catch up again when I'm in UK for work (which is quite likely to come true). Not sure if that's a good idea!

A friend's wife is recovering from cervical cancer. I chanced upon her blog and her entries really made me feel that the world is so cruel sometimes. But she's such a strong and optimistic woman, even though she will not be able to have kids anymore, she still thinks of herself as lucky compared to the many worse off.

My sister is having fun in Hong Kong... and so will the other one next week! When's my turn?

My mummy is feeling low, and sometimes we just don't know what to say to her anymore... She's such a mule.

I have forgotten what it is like to miss someone... but I'm reminded again what it is like to look forward to seeing someone. How weird is this?

遇见怪脾的人 (16) - I hate pushing aunties

Today I made a rude remark to an auntie who was pushing behind me to dash to catch the train heading to Expo. (I was also boarding the same train, the train was there waiting, so why so kiasu!) She turned back to look at me and I almost wanted to show her my middle finger!

Giving

A week before, I dragged a few bags of things to be donated to the company charity event. The stuff collected would be tagged at discounted prices and be sold to the staff. The money then goes to 3 needy organisations.

I gave some clothes, books, neglected things left at home... and even a German language kit which I have no use for. It happened last Wednesday where the charity sale began. It was weird to see your donation on sale and at the same time I was buying some others' donations. I got some brand new scarves and pouch, which will make great Christmas gifts! What more, the money is going to a good cause :)


It's the season of giving. Even on the online game I'm playing I feel like playing Santa. I held an event thrice to give away extra furnitures to other players. You would be surprised how greedy some people can get even when you're being kind to them. They make demands, complain about the freebie, want more or pretend they haven't got it... Christ's sake, it's only a game and there are already such people, can you imagine the reality!? Guess some people just think they deserve something when someone gives it to them - do they even understand gratitude?

Riverdancing

Didn't I say good karma will be repaid?

Yay, I won a pair of A-reserve tickets to Riverdance. This year is the only year I seem to have won lucky draws! Remember the last time I won Photoshop CS 5 Extended at the Adobe launch... this is the 2nd time I win something worth quite a bit of money. Maybe there are a few smaller things in between... but yes, I have been quite fortunate ;)

Riverdance derived from Ireland with the first performance dating back to 1994. During those days, the tickets were sold out for weeks! A musical tapping into ancient Celtic mythology and Irish history, tells the story of the evolution of the traditional Irish stepdancing. Riverdance started out as a 7-minutes interval act for Eurovision Song Contest held in Dublin.

So it was on Tuesday night. I had quite a high expectation of it but it didn't turn out very well. In fact, the last dance Dunas which my ex-colleague took a bunch of us to, was so much better. Especially the Flamenco performance, it's nothing compared to Dunas which has totally took my breath away by surprise since I'm not really a fan of it. There was a lot of singing, stunning violin performance, a lot of good synchronised tap dancing but the solo performance was not impressive at all... The lead female was mediocre, but the male at least charmed us (the audience) with his X-factor ;) In fact, I would not pay the most expensive priced tickets to watch this performance. Like I told friends whom wanted to catch the performance, get a cheaper ticket sitting up on the balcony, it would do a good justice to the price ;)

The theatre at Marina Bay Sands was disappointing, the stage was small and the screen was only half the size, how spectacular it will be if it was a full size screen on the background! I still prefer Esplanade's!

Check out the Riverdance blog for more information, they're here till 12 December.

p.s: I just read that the female lead has only trained for the role for 2 years, probably explains a lot! Maybe it will get better in future! Let's hope so!

Freebies Movies

Thanks to the free tickets, I caught Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows (1) and Rapunzel in the cinema :)

Harry Potter was pretty slow and boring in the beginning of the 2.5 hours, and I actually dozed off!! Somehow, I managed to keep myself awake and it did get more exciting towards the end, especially how Harry was saved from the freezing waters. I'm not a big fan and I did not read any of the books, so I don't really have expectations to be met. It was cool and now I hope to see the last episode and finish the whole series (not that I remember the last few, LOL).

Rapunzel by Disney is lovely, it's as romantic as any animated film can get... One of my friends even swore to watch a 2nd time. I didn't really know the storyline till the movie, not one of my childhood storybook! It was about Rapunzel's hair which possessed magical power after her mum (the queen) drank the holy water from the magical plant. The evil woman whom had kept the plant to herself managed to trace them down and stole the baby after realising the hair would lose its magical power when snipped. She locked her up in the tower for 18 years and posed off as her mother, so she would have her all to herself to keep her youth. Watch it to see how the romance blossomed between Rapunzel and a thief who stole her crown... The most touching moment was them on the boat setting off sky lanterns in the middle of a lake, with all the flying sky lanterns in the background. I so want to go and light up a sky lantern myself now!!!


On the side note, I managed to watch Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind casting Jim Carrey some weeks ago. Seriously, it didn't sound like a Jim Carrey show, LOL, I was expecting someone much older, wiser and less comical. But it was a fascinating movie nonetheless, how bizarre it is to have the option to erase part of one's memory! To have an ex-boyfriend totally removed in your life, that's a pretty clean cut and easy way out, isn't it? ;) It probably will save a lot of heartache and wasted time grieving. Not sure if that's really a good thing, then it might get abused. It was interesting to watch how Joel (Jim Carrey) tried to escape from the erasing in his own mind... and it slowly revealed how he met Clementine (Kate Winslet) again after he was previously erased from her memory. Is that called fate? So somehow they still get to meet all over again... An awesome film :)

Shoes are the worst invention!

I hate shoes. I want to be barefooted. Why does the world make everyone wear shoes???? Who did? I just wish the ground is a piece of grassland with soft white sand and clear blue water on the other end, if life is only that simple :)

No Monday blues

And I deleted him away on my MSN. Best. ;)

I don't need more distractions in my life at the moment.

It's the Dinner & Dance coming Friday and I haven't got a single idea who to go as, I don't fancy any of the characters, can I just be me in super bright colors? I supposed. I served wine again last Friday, it's something the newbies have to do and to get to know people. My partner didn't like it but I actually don't mind it at all, I like any chance of moving around instead of sitting in front of the computer the whole day. What more, I also get to serve the cuties! Nothing to complain!

My boss is a very observant man. He noticed every single thing I do have on my table or whatever that I brought... Maybe it's an asset for his wife. LOL. He noticed my Advent Calendar recently, and an abandoned bear handphone decoration which I found in my drawer, so I took it out to hang it somewhere. Now I better carefully choose what I bring there ;)  My table is already decorated as if I've been there for some time, when I am actually only 2 weeks new! I also just received my business cards and have given 4 away! So come meet me to get one :)

T-Days

(Tues) Mid week of second week, I'm very sick of shoes hunting. A pair of comfortable black heels is like a hidden treasure, never can be found. I should just go back to my flats. Two days without Scottish accent is draining my energy rapidly. I don't know why. I prefer English accent but somehow the Scottish is replacing it well. It makes me laugh, speeds up my day. Things have been going on well, slow and admittedly boring at times, except for the weather which is dampening everything including my mood. I caught up with a long lost schoolmate, we haven't met for 17 years! Can you imagine it? But we already had 2 lunches and oh it sure brings back memories, not that I remember much. She used to be quite a loud and snobbish 12-year-old but certainly not anymore!

(Thurs) I'm getting edgy today, quite irritated by broken promises, snail-like progress and the rain getting into my shoes. For the past nights, someone I haven't talked to for years was online. Someone whom rarely was on msn was on for few consecutive nights. But I didn't speak to him, strangely I wasn't tempted to. I just wondered why. Talking to a few people in the company is inspiring, most people are nice, however some do show their quirks after a while. Yesterday, I received a surprise (a box of sun biscuits) from a friend in Taiwan, she made my day :) She got a mutual friend to bring it home for me. Aww, I'm so touched. Not many will give without expecting something in return. Unfortunately, there are already some in my life, they always want to gain something in return. I have to say I was too but in the recent years I have been trying to give in the acts of kindness, also to reap good karma. I can assure you it's being returned most times but in different forms :)