ADRENALYNNE

洗衣狂

2011-11-28T19:26:00.001+08:00

There's whitening laundry detergent for whites, brightening detergent for coloured clothes, then there's also detergent for delicates like silk n wool.

Today, I found what I've always wanted, detergent for black n dark coloured laundry!!!

是走火入魔了，还是，算挺正常吧？

I Dunno What To Say

2011-10-24T15:52:00.002+08:00

I am also at a loss of words.

Which explains the lack of updates on my blog for the pastfew months.

I think it’s a reflection of my mental and emotional state –that a normally opinionated person brimming with crazy ideas has become so dullthat nothing inspires her to do anything anymore.

Don’t wanna blog, not really gardening fanatically, can’tbear to invest anymore blood and sweat into production… I’m not even in themood to quickly get my house ready for that long awaited (by everyone else) housewarming party!!!

I am just SO UN-inspired.

The recent trip to LA did nothing to get me out of this rut.If anything, it made me even more sure, that indeed I have hit a bottleneck, andcan’t see a way out of this.

It’s a terrible realization.

I can’t live life if I don’t love it. And right now, I amjust stuck in a rut, feeling totally uninspired.

And I don’t like this feeling.

Santa Monica 的天空。很蓝

2011-10-04T11:30:00.002+08:00

不需任何电脑软件的修饰。

这是早上10点多，在酒店旁的海边随手用手机拍的照。

加洲气候。得天独厚。

据说Santa Monica的天空一年到头，天天都那么蔚蓝。

真美丽。

Mooncakes That Make You Laugh

2011-09-18T19:09:00.003+08:00

Last year, the girls had a Mid Autumn gathering at my old place, complete with mooncakes, tea, and little Tricia playing with her musical lantern.

This year's gathering was a little belated cuz no one had time to plan, but it happened anyway, at my yet-to-be ready new place. And little Tricia was here too, without her lantern though...

We HAD to have this gathering cuz I had to show them "interesting" mooncakes that I had brought back from Hong Kong.

I mean, have you seen mooncakes that look like this?!??!!

We sure did have a good laugh, especially while we were cutting the mooncake up. It was really too funny.

And eating the sliced up ass just felt weird but absolutely hilarious.

Butterfly Visits

2011-09-08T14:00:00.000+08:00

A pair of pretty butterflies come visiting this morning...

(the other one is resting somewhere else)

My First (Over) Ripe Cherry Tomato

2011-09-07T23:33:00.000+08:00

The inexperienced tomato farmer didn't know when to harvest the cherry tomato, resulting in this...

An almost exploded cherry tomato... bursting in organic goodness!

Test

2011-08-30T22:31:00.001+08:00

Test

Two Elections In A Year

2011-08-25T11:03:00.000+08:00

“I have spent so much time nowadays (listening to discussion/arguments about the Constitution), my plants are all dying..” says a feisty Ivy Singh-Lim speaking at a Presidential Candidate’s rally.

I totally concur!

Elections are bad for my plants and household chores.

But election period also brings out creativity best among Singaporeans.

I love watching localized spoof videos!!!

Currying On... For the Love of Curry

2011-08-18T08:58:00.002+08:00

Eat ang moh food also choose the one with curry base.

Don't ask me why... it was an instinctive decision!

Tomato!

2011-08-17T08:44:00.003+08:00

My first tomato!

Very green and camouflaged within my mini tomato plantation.

Not easy to spot at all, unless you're the gardener who takes care of it everyday!

Hope all the other pretty tomato flowers will eventually bear fruit!

Who will get to it first when it ripens? The squirrel, or me?

Can't wait for my first harvest!

More Curry!

2011-08-16T14:16:00.003+08:00

Had fish and chicken curry at a colleague's house last Friday .

Mmmm... curry is so delicious and fragrant. I want more!

Maybe I should have vegetable curry this week!

The Squirrel

2011-08-11T10:24:00.001+08:00

This is the resident squirrel climbing it's favourite frangipani tree outside my house (not my tree)

It looks really cute from far, but looking at it close up, it struck me that it kinda resembles a rat...

It's quite shy, I haven't seen it around since it got discovered by me eating my flower.

I sure hope it stays that way. And that it doesn't have an appetite for bitter, neem coated fruits and flowers!

All Neem-ed Out

2011-08-10T10:03:00.006+08:00

Ahh!!! Time for organic pesticide!

Love this new spray that I got. It's abt $15 if I don't remember wrongly, considered mid range I guess, cuz there are powerful looking European brand sprays that go up to $50, but I thought I'll just try this one.

And up till now, it sprays beautifully. Powerful and wide spray. Very good.

The peacock flower tree has been getting the sap sucking mealybug which is really annoying. (Mealybugs look like white speck of cotton, so if you don't really look hard enough, its easy to miss or dismiss them as nothing).

What I hate about it is also that it attracts ants due to its apparently sweet secretion. So its kinda of a double whammy. I can accept ants in the garden, its part of the eco system, but too many ants, and that spells trouble!

For the past months, I have been removing every mealybug I see by hand, and I have managed to control the population somewhat.

But I think its time for more action so I gave the whole garden (tomatoes at puberty included) a good spray.

It's totally organic so no need to fear about being poisoned while spraying, or consuming the products.

And hopefully the bitter neem taste on the plants will deter the squirrel too!

睡了晚好觉！

2011-08-01T13:30:00.002+08:00

I slept really long and well last night!

Check out how many deep sleep cycles I had!

Had a very tiring weekend helping my parents move house... so when all was finally done on Sunday noon, I already 只剩半条命.

And I was sneezing non stop some more.

So by 8pm, I decided to pop some medicine and just sleep...

Good to finally have a good night's rest!

My only grouse is that I had set the alarm at 7am, so it woke me up about then, while I was still in a deep sleep cycle, so I didn't feel as refreshed as I could have been.

BTW, if you're wondering what this is, its a sleep cycle app on my iphone which I bought at my sis's recommendation.

It tracks your sleep cycle, and tries to wakes you when you are in a light sleep state, rather than when you're in deep slumber... Unless of course, you are in a long deep slumber period at your preferred waking hour, then you have no choice but to get woken up...

But at least, their yoga-esque, zen-like waking up melodies makes it slightly less annoying...

Lavender and Lime

2011-08-01T08:03:00.005+08:00

There is some action in my lavender pot.

Is it a lavender seedling or just some random weed? I really can't tell because it has been barren for more than 3 weeks (planted it on 9 July, together with the Marigold - that is doing damn well by the way...)

And this is my lime seedling is which is doing really well, albeit a little slowly. Some plants really like to take their time...

But no matter!

I'm prepared to wait 8 years in this house till it bears its first fruit!

Squirrel!

2011-07-29T08:59:00.005+08:00

I saw a squirrel scurry away upon seeing me this morning.

Upon some inspection, I saw this… a half eaten heliconia flower!

Hmmm.. its going to have a field day come harvest time for my tomatoes!!!

This is my new heliconia marginata that I am rather excited about. I haven’t been able to find it in nurseries for a long time.

And suddenly, it also dawned on me...

I found an apple core (the apple flesh was nibbled clean) lying on the floor some weeks back. I was extremely puzzled then but I didn’t really pursue it as I really couldn’t see who could have thrown it onto my roof terrace.

Not my neighbours, and definitely not the husband.

He doesn’t eat apples.

Mystery solved now!

Squirrel is quite cute. But once it starts stealing my tomatoes, maybe I wouldn’t find it so cute anymore!

Key Lime Sprouting

2011-07-22T10:07:00.006+08:00

I know… this seedling looks like all my other seedlings right?

But I’ve waited for this to sprout for a very long time!

This is a Key Lime (I think… ) It’s the ping pong size lime and not the smaller one (Kaffir Lime) more commonly grown here. I bought some of the fruits a month ago and decided that I shall grow it.

The first batch of seeds didn’t sprout anything. After 2 weeks, I cut another fruit open and tried growing this second batch of seeds.

Finally… after more than two weeks, I have two tiny little seedlings.

It is growing rather slowly, taking its time from the seed cracking to reveal some life inside, to it actually growing upwards and sprouting these two tiny leaves.

Quite excited. Hope they will grow up nicely into saplings and finally into a key lime tree.

From my research, it may take 8 years for a key lime tree to start bearing fruit!

We’ll see.

So exciting!

大兴土木！

2011-07-21T13:46:00.005+08:00

I knew it! I knew it!

I was hoping to be proved wrong, but unfortunately, no such luck.

If only I could predict other things so accurately!

Construction follows me everywhere. Even when the property bubble burst in 97, that didn't break the spell for me!

Living in my parents place, I lived through my 'A' levels with the construction of a school just behind my window. After that was completed, a neighbour moved in and rebuilt their house. That took another year or so. I can't remember.

Fast forward to three years ago, when I got my first apartment.

Shortly after we moved in, a neighbour started major renovation works. As the unit's windows are less than 10m across from mine, imagine the agony I had to endure.

Just as this neighbour's renovations was over, someone bought over an old house just behind me (one back alley away) and rebuilt it from scratch.

That meant enduring another year of construction dust!

Now, in the new place that we have just bought and moved in, the construction of a condominium unit next door is driving me crazy (with all that early morning and late night works, not to mention, the dust!!!) but I seek solace in knowing that it will be over by the end of this year.

But, very dangerously, just behind me, as in... DIRECTLY behind my unit, there is a lone old bungalow that has been left sitting there uninhabited and undisturbed for many many years.

The first moment I laid my eyes on that house, I knew that it would not remain like this for long.

Not with my "construction" luck.

Now, barely 2 months after I have moved in, last evening, I spotted some construction workers walking around in that site.

And my worst fears were confirmed when I received an email noon time, requesting for access to my unit for the contractors to do a "pre construction survey" of that house.

History repeats itself!

Just as the neighbouring unit's construction is about to come to an end, a new one will begin, just right behind me.

I love this.

I really love this.

Wherever I go, construction follows.

There will be no peace in my life!

Marigold Sprouting!

2011-07-11T09:26:00.009+08:00

I planted these Marigold seeds two days ago, on Saturday morning. (First time planting Marigold, quite amused when I saw what the "seeds" look like.)

Super surprised and happy to see them sprouting this morning. I could hardly believe my eyes! (Esp since I have an eye infection, so I almost missed it while watering)

My newly sprouted Marigolds in the mini farm.

The main actor in this part of the farm being the tomatoes. I am planting basil and marigold by the side as companion plants cuz apparently these plants help tomatoes grow better.

Compare the difference in growth between the seeds that were sowed in the open (full and direct sunlight) compared with the seeds sowed in a pot that is left in a bright and shady place.

Some seeds (like chilli) do better in a bright and shady place, but from what I've learnt recently, not tomatoes, and not marigolds either.

1st Train @ Woodlands Train Checkpoint

2011-07-06T09:29:00.004+08:00

Pictures of me doing the live report for Good Morning Singapore and Prime Time Morning, from Woodlands Train Checkpoint last Friday.

(This pix was taken while I was having great difficulty listening to instructions from our studio director Lynda, as the train behind me was noisy and interfering with our signal)

Nonetheless, this was one of those rare occasions where I actually have pictures of the team in action.

Us having to wake up at 3am was nothing compared to the ICA team who had actually worked through the night.

(There really wasn't much time after the last train was driven out of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station by the Sultan of Johor and having to standby to wait for our arrival in the wee hours of morning. )

Thanks to cameraman Nat for managing to whip out his camera and take a couple of pix in between standing by for live cross and monitoring our live signal!

5.41am Woodlands Train Station

2011-06-30T06:31:00.001+08:00

Train dropped some passengers off at woodlands and proceeded to send the rest to tg pagar. From tomorrow onwards, all incoming trains will terminate here.

First train out of Woodlands

2011-06-29T15:10:00.003+08:00

Steam poofing out from its old metal chimney.

Lush tropical greenery in the horizon.

A white cow with a black patch over its left eye grazing in the meadows as a slow train chugs along rusty railway tracks.

I love train rides.

It’s good for the urbanite’s soul.

You truly relax and enjoy the journey instead of being stressed out from rushing between one destination and the next. (As if we don’t rush around enough in our daily lives already!)

This is a train ticket for the first train out of Woodlands Train Station this Friday.

I won’t be able to catch it, but I’m keeping the ticket for posterity.

I’m a little disappointed that it’s not the nice big old style ticket (like the one I got when I took the KTM to KL last year) but this humble little ticket carries with it some historical significance.

Much as I have spent half my life loving the fact that this old choo choo train cuts through my neighbourhood, and thinking how lucky I am every time I spot it, I also do appreciate the political implications from this landmark deal.

I’m most pleased that the beautiful Tanjong Pagar Railway Station will be preserved, and I really do hope that The Green Corridor will somehow work out. Especially that cozy little stretch nestled between Commonwealth and Portsdown, where I used to cross many times a week during my secondary school days.

That place just oozes with my childhood memories and I’ll be very sorry to see it go.

Lemongrass Roots

2011-06-26T23:29:00.004+08:00

Roots! Roots!

I see some baby roots coming out from the lemongrass stalks that have been put in a glass of water and left to stand for a week at my makeshift dining table...

Rooting very nicely!

Next thing I did, was to go check out the two batches of lemongrass stalks that I've planted directly into soil, one in a sunny location, and one in a shady location.

All of them rooted even more nicely than the ones in the water!

So wonderful!

Looking forward to nice bushy, healthy lemongrass plants in my mini farm!

The Grand Art of Taiji

2011-06-24T16:16:00.003+08:00

The incident of "The Bomb That Nobody Wanted to Dispose" came up in a conversation with some friends.

While they discussed how ridiculous they thought the incident was, I just felt a strange sense of nostalgia on seeing this public display of the ancient art of Taiji.

Except for the fact that a bomb is potentially a lot more dangerous than a crocodile, I personally feel that my taiji story is more superior, simply because it involves a lot more parties taiji-ing here and there, in a short period of time.

Very powerful.

Read about "The Crocodile, Drain And the Taiji Champions" here:

Apple Green or Lavender?

2011-06-22T00:10:00.003+08:00

Hmm... What colour to upholster the dining chairs that we are about to fabricate?

It was quite a straightforward thing at first, we were going to go ahead with a cream colour like our sofa, or maybe a conservative colour like taupe.

Then, just ten minutes ago, we suddenly decided that it was too boring.

And after flipping through books of fabric samples, we narrowed down to these two colours: lavender and apple green.

Hmmm... can't decide, can't decide.

Think must wait till morning and see how the fabric looks in daylight.

Update: Daylight came and suddenly the light aqua blue colour looks really good. We might just go for this.

Mr D.I.Y

2011-06-21T00:05:00.000+08:00

Tired of people destroying our house while they attempt to fix it, the husband decided that he will be Mr. D.I.Y.

We went on a shopping spree to three hardware shops over the weekend. He even bought an electric drill since he figured it cost just a little more than hiring a handyman to come hang our paintings for us.

While I did my gardening, he cleaned up blobs of cement carelessly dropped and left to harden by the workers on the outside floor.

Hope he managed to sort it out.

I didn't check, too busy playing with my new washer/dryer!

Now I have 1 washing machine (my old one), 1 dryer (left here by the previous owner) and 1 new washer/dryer!

I am so pleased. Muahahaha!!!

Farming

2011-06-20T09:56:00.005+08:00

On top of transplanting old plants and potting newly bought ones, I also tried to grow some food yesterday!

This is what I tried to grow: cherry tomatoes, ginger, bittergourd and lemon grass.

Planting them is relatively easy. Its just a matter of putting the seeds and bulbs in the soil!

But preparing the ground took a bit more time. I had to put up something up for tomatoes and bittergourd to climb up as they grow, before adding more soil to stabilize the structure.

Also, as I intend to grow more food in that planter, I had to divide the ground first to ensure the plants grow in their own beds and not interfere with other vegetables.

Actually, I've never had much success with growing food so this is still quite an experiment for me. I've changed soil though, so hopefully that makes a difference (I successfully grew rosemary for the first time - after so many attempts over the past 2-3years - with this new soil!)

So, I'm growing them in many different ways - direct sowing/planting into soil (and the harsh climate), as well as putting them in germination pots in a bright but shady area. I've also plonked some lemongrass into water to see if the roots will grow out.

Let's see what works and what won't.

Gardening

2011-06-19T08:24:00.005+08:00

Finally, some time for gardening.

Apart from transplanting my old plants, I also bought some new plants to play with!

Check out this asparagus fern. I think its damn cute!

Scratches Scratches Everywhere

2011-06-19T01:27:00.007+08:00

Contrary to what some may think, I am not terribly uptight if things around the house get spoilt.

I mean, its really no point trying to preserve everything in tip top condition, if that means you have to live in constant state of fear and heightened supervision.

(I'm the sort that will peel plastic wrappings off phone and laptop screens immediately rather than leaving it on for as long as possible until it drops off naturally. )

And as much as I love my house, a spill mark here, a scratch there... these things happen over time and that's something I can totally deal with it.

The main point is... "over time".

And an even more crucial point is - if the damage is caused by myself, my family members, my guests, my friends' little children... stupid as it seems, I'm cool with that.

Now, I'm currently damn annoyed everytime I see my stainless steel sink and the mysterious scratch marks that have surfaced in the weeks after it has been installed (I wash like 4-5 cups in that sink a day, and I suspect the workers have been squeezing their big dirty pails into the sink to fill it with water - urgh!), and the floor that has been scratched by a "professional cleaner".

"Professional cleaner"? I want to laugh.

A team of two aunties and a foreign worker came to clean the house. Hired by my contractor.

The two local aunties were not bad. No surprise there.

But the foreign worker? Wah, he must have a special talent that no one else in the universe has, because he was the "window cleaning guy". While the aunties cleaned everything else, the supervisor told me, this guy will clean your windows and doors.

Frankly, I don't think you need much skills to clean windows, but someone really ought to tell the guy that it is NOT just about cleaning the windows. It is also about knowing how to take care of the house you are cleaning. So that the rest of the house is not destroyed while you clean the windows.

Just three hours in my house, and my floor is scratched. A mere two days after it has been polished and left to dry. Wonderful.

And let's not even begin to count all the nonsense my contractor's foreign unskilled labour were capable of.

These people basically treat your house like a public toilet.

All they are concerned with, is to appear to finish what they are supposed to do, in a manner that is most convenient to them (let's step on the owners' brand new furniture with our dirty feet because we are too lazy to get our ladder out from the lorry! let's drop paint mark all over the floor because we are too lazy to cover the floor and hope nobody sees them! hey! there's a can of coke in the fridge, let's drink it!)... and when they are "done", that will proceed to sit at a corner of the house and talk on their phone till the supervisor arrives to pick them up. End of work day! Balek kampung!

I never had this problem with my last renovation (The workers were either old, grumpy, chain smoking ah pehs, or young, tattooed, chain smoking ah bengs)

So you hire cheap, unskilled labour. You think you save some money. But if your cheap unskilled labour is unable to perform up to standard and you end up spending time and money re-doing things and compensating for damages, is it all worth it?

I know this "but no locals are willing to do it" argument only too well.

Perhaps it is really true? I really wouldn't know.

But just thinking out loud.

If you are willing to pay people properly, perhaps you may find that there might be some guy out there who is willing to use his brains when he works, who is willing take up the job. And then you may realize that perhaps you only need to hire ONE local guy to do the job that even three foreign labourers together, cannot complete competently.

I really don't know.

What I do know, is that cheaper may not be better.

And I am now more convinced than ever, that the next time I hire someone to carry out works for me, I am willing to pay a premium if that assures me of quality work.

Peace of mind is really very important.

Attitude

2011-06-18T23:52:00.008+08:00

Work attitude is really very important.

Everyone around me is constantly expressing shock at our patience with our contractor for having delayed our works for ONE WHOLE MONTH... and counting.

Especially since we had such a smooth renovation the last time round, and this job is so minor compared to our previous one.

And also because we are really not known to be the most patient people in town. And we are so irritatingly perfectionists some more...

"How can you guys stand it?" everyone asks.

It's a very good question.

I cannot even begin to describe my frustration and anguish at the constant delays, especially since alot of times they were completely unnecessary - a result of untrained workers who do one thing and spoil two other things.

It has been an extremely painful process. And it is still very painful for me.

But you see, while we are extremely annoyed and sometimes downright angry with the contractor, his attitude really makes a difference.

If he had tried to deny fault, to find excuses, to not answer our phone call/sms/email, then yes, we would have blown our top and fired him immediately.

But, this guys has been downright apologetic. He never denied that it was his fault, he never tried to find excuses, and he always tries very hard to make things work. But unfortunately, his workers always fails him, and his sub contractors do no better.

So yes, for the past one month, I have been writing him lists and lists of things to do, and he completes one task by one task very slowly and painfully... so much so that I feel a need to pop a bottle of champagne everytime I come home to see a side of the wall finally painted (yay! just 3 more sides to go!)

Can you feel my pain?

And dilemma?

Cuz, how do you crucify an honest chap who is really trying his best? Even if his best is sometimes not good enough?

Still Living In A Dumpsite

2011-06-06T22:40:00.003+08:00

And thus begins, the third week of living in a dumpsite.

The first week was quite an adventure.

The second, still tolerable.

Now, it is unbearable.

Waiting for the final touches to be finally fixed or done, only to discover that someone had gotten the dimensions wrong... again! And we have to wait for ANOTHER few days for it to be sorted and fixed. Before you know it, one week would have passed again...

Waiting for the nitty gritty things, like paint marks on the floor, here, there... to be cleaned up...

If they really put their minds and coordination skills to it, all this can be completed in 2 days. Yet, it has been two weeks, going onto the third.

We're running out of clean clothes to wear, all this moving boxes around the rooms to accomodate works here and there is wearing my patience thin.

Very thin.

Living in A Dump Site

2011-05-23T18:51:00.002+08:00

This picture was taken just abt 10mins ago, at 640pm when I returned to the new place I now call home. Someone is removing the false ceiling so the existing aircon can be cleaned later tonight. (The husband took half day leave to be at the house but alas no one came to do any work till 5)You may also notice all the unfinished cabinets in the background. This was all supposed to be completed before the polling weekend. My boxes cannot be unpacked. My laundry is accumulating. I am just trying to deal with all this as calmly as I can. Life still goes on. Even if you live in a dumpsite.

All Sold! Almost...

2011-05-23T08:33:00.005+08:00

With the exception of my chandelier and TV console and my queen size bed frame, I have sold everything I wanted to sell in my garage sale!!!

Thanks to friends and family for helping me spread the word!

We arrived at our old place at 9.55am and there was already someone sitting outside the house waiting for us! And it was a flurry of activities after that with people from the neighbourhood popping by every 15 mins or so...

By 11am, we've sold most of the stuff... even our curtains!

This is Nina, our curtains buyer. She is also my ex ex ex-boss.

She actually choped three chairs from the online preview and when she came down, she was quite taken to our thick, block out curtains, and we also convinced her that she needs to buy our elephant stool.

Which she did. So that's four chairs she bought at a go!

Including a vintage piano chair that the husband really likes.

We bought it for $10 at a garage sale from a French family living in a colonial bungalow at a posh neighbourhood. After that, the husband spent another $50 refurbishing it till it looked like a damn well kept vintage chair.

However, we don't really have a place to put it in our new place so we decided to find a good home for it.

We're really glad Nina decided to take it (at $10!) so we can always go visiting our old chair when we visit Nina.

Garage Sale!

2011-05-20T19:29:00.002+08:00

This is the third time I am moving house in three years and I do not want to move house ever again!!!

At least... maybe, for the next ten years.

Seriously, moving house is back breaking work, especially when it happens right after a super taxing elections period. It’s crazy!

I finally managed to get one week off work and I’ve been busy packing, moving, vexing over delayed renovation works at the new place, half unpacking things into unaffected areas, and preparing to sell things from the old house.

There, the signs for my garage sale has just gone up.

If you’re interested, you can take a look at what I have on sale here.

It's this Sunday and you can email me any enquiries you may have, including my address.

And, see what I’ve had to use to secure the sign board!

Ribbon from shopping bag!

I’ve moved everything over to the new place, but they remain sealed in boxes all stacked up high, so I had to make do with whatever little things there are left in the old place.

Quite glad my brains are still working after this hectic month!

Run-Up To Polling Day

2011-04-20T11:56:00.004+08:00

Check out my breakfast this morning.

I'm going to stuff my face as much as I can from today onwards.

Especially since I am going to be a runner on Nomination Day itself, and will probably be doing a lot of running around during the campaign period...

So in the run-up to the Big Day, I have to try and stock pile some energy...

Just like how animals eat a lot before they go into hibernation in winter. Haha.

F.I.N.A.L.L.Y

2011-04-19T16:20:00.003+08:00

It has come.

Nomination Day: April 27 (Wed)
Polling Day: May 7 (Sat)

The Waiting Game

2011-04-19T08:38:00.002+08:00

Is today going to be the day I've been waiting for since Aug/Sept last year? The reason why I've not not been able to take leave for an overseas holiday? The waiting game can be really exhausting and I just hope it will come and be over soon.

1400 litres of soil

2011-04-04T12:32:00.002+08:00

Know what 1400L of soil look like?

This is what 1400L of soil looks like.

(I definitely did NOT make the delivery guys' day...)

This is for a new gardening project that I'm going to get my hands dirty with! If work does not get in the way...

Plant Snobbery

2011-04-03T23:10:00.003+08:00

I think I just committed plant snobbery.

We were walking past our (now rather unkempt) garden and the husband marvelled at some new plant that had started growing by the perimeter of our garden.

I remarked that although its flowers look alot like that of basil's, but remembering (bitterly) how a few pots of basil had died on me despite my TLC, I doubt the real thing can grow so well all by itself, and based on that reasoning, I promptly dismissed it as a mere weed. Albeit a basil looking weed.

Now that I think of it, I'm not sure if I was too quick to jump to conclusion.

And so what if it really was a weed? Why am I being such a plant snob?

There are lots of useful and/or pretty plants that used to be classified as weeds - neem, dandelion, clover, mimosa (I loved to play with them as a kid!)... just to name a few.

And so what even if the weed isn't pretty, edible or useful in any way or form? You gotta respect a weed for its toughness and knack for survival in the harshest of environment.

It's no nambly pambly squishy strawberry.

And if it were a 19 year old Singapore NS boy, it probably wouldn't have, or need a domestic helper to carry his backpack for him.

Office Got Radiation!

2011-03-25T17:29:00.001+08:00

Gems in the Storeroom?

2011-03-18T15:45:00.004+08:00

Just read this piece of news:

A small oil painting originally bought for £65 in 1964 and discovered in a Suffolk village has been sold for $132,000 (£82,000) in Australia.

And I wonder...

Will any of the forgotten pieces of painting all wrapped up and collecting dust in my storeroom yield me a windfall some day?

That’s reason enough to banish those frequently recurring thoughts of selling them off cheap in a garage sale.

Mushrooms Growing In the House!

2011-03-17T10:34:00.003+08:00

A result of leaky window, heavy downpours and negligent home owners.

The wood flooring has been compromised and mushrooms are growing inside the house!

Have you ever seen anything like that! (And in case you are wondering, no, this is not where I currently live, thank goodness!)

The miracle though, is that... no termites were found!

Or I would have had a chance to see the termite-sniffing, pest buster beagle at work!

Fried Newspapers

2011-03-02T13:13:00.001+08:00

Look what I found in my packet of mixed rice. Eat fried newspapers, grow knowledge! Want some?

Sending A Parcel Overseas

2011-02-27T23:50:00.005+08:00

I never thought that sending a parcel overseas could possibly be so troublesome and expensive, what with possible custom duties, regulations and all.

I'm feeling a little daunted now, after having gone through the list of declarable and prohibited items on the delivery companies' websites.

Hopefully, those rules are much more relaxed when its delivery of a gift between two individuals, rather than goods being sent from company to company.

I will find out tmrw when their customer service pple return to work. Fingers crossed.

You see, I have really wanted to attend my friend's wedding in Hungary this coming weekend. It would have been so fun to meet up with old friends, and also explore Budapest.

(I always thought it was quite a pity that I spent two years in JC studying Eastern Europe in the post WWII era, but have yet to actually visit any country there. This would have been the perfect opportunity, tho it would have been a little too cold for my liking)

Rewind to a few weeks ago, while we were constantly being told to clear leave, we were also discouraged from going overseas due to ...erm... a particular mammoth local event happening anytime.

So, no chance of me attending the wedding ceremony, but 人没到，心意一定要到，so... if all goes well, my heavy, fragile gift will be on its way to Hungary tomorrow night.

Update: It REALLY is as complicated as it seems!

If I were to send a gift to someone in Hungary exceeding the value 22 Euros, my recipient has to prepare an attorney’s letter so that she is able to receive the gift. And if my gift falls under the very broad category of precious metal/precious stone, then my recipient will have to get a broker to facilitate clearing of customs!!!

I can forget about surprising my friend. Even the attorney’s letter is not a big deal considering how she is an attorney herself, but to get a broker? In the week leading up to her wedding?

I don’t think my pressie is going anywhere, anytime soon.

Lizard in a pot

2011-02-25T23:23:00.001+08:00

My everyday kitchen encounters. Gross.

Some Jam for your Pie?

2011-02-22T18:25:00.001+08:00

Evening rush hour. Crawling back to office on PIE after filming. Famished!

Happy 元宵节with Exhibit A

2011-02-18T11:17:00.009+08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Exhibit A, two-month old Lim Bok Bok.

She is currently out of action as it is feeding time... Please be patient as she will return to the enclosure shortly.

It's really quite hilarious.

Upon arrival at HY's house, you will immediately see Boks.. er I mean, Jing'en's cot placed in the middle of the apartment, behind closed glass doors.

Almost all of us had the same initial reaction: "This is like the zoo!"

Haha. No wonder we are friends.

We had steamboat dinner at HY's place last night to (kinda) celebrate 元宵。

It was originally planned to be at my house, but considering how Jing'en may not like to be in a strange environment, we decided its prob easier for me to bring my vegetables, hotpot, extension cord etc all over, than the other way round.

At least my pots won't cry, pee and ask for mama every half an hour.

That said, I think Jing'en put on her best behaviour last night.

It must be because she enjoyed our company.

She was happily watching us as we ate and it almost seemed like she was lapping up all the latest gossip. 有前途！

She hardly cried; peed and pooped just one time each, and got fed twice for the entire duration of the dinner.

We like her. She's a cool baby.

And she looks so much like HY (tho Boon will insist that we are all wrong, and that she looks like him really)

Can't wait for toddler Tricia to meet baby Jing'en soon!

I Just Ate My Fork!

2011-02-17T15:59:00.005+08:00

OMG! I just bit off a corner of a plastic fork, chewed and swallowed it! OMG!

Lousy fork. Strong teeth!

Snap! It's A Clean Break

2011-02-10T10:15:00.002+08:00

Without warning, the relatively new plastic holder for my office access pass just snapped into two on its own.

It snapped, dropped off my neck, and onto the floor. I almost didn't even notice it!

At least that's a quick death compared to the slow torturous one the previous plastic holder went thru, held up precariously by a patchwork of scotchtape for months.

In any case, I think its time to upgrade to more high class leather holder. Hopefully it will last longer. Maybe even outlast my stint here. Haha.

No Post-Bak Kwa Heatiness!

2011-02-09T23:50:00.004+08:00

Chrysanthemum Tea is the champs!

Bak Kwa is my fav and actually, only CNY indulgence.

I've been gorging on bak kwa daily since the third day of CNY. (First two days of CNY, I was still desperately recovering from pre-CNY work fatigue)

Wary of becoming heaty and feeling like crap (as is usually the case), I've been making a big pot of chrysanthemum tea every morning to go with my bak kwa. I chill whatever's leftover and have it when I come home at night.

It works!

And it works damn well! No 虚火, no pimples. YAY!

This must be the first time in my life that I'm not suffering from my CNY Bak Kwa gluttony!

I love being old and knowing how to take care of myself!

妈妈我长大了！

A Bunnilicious CNY Party at Work

2011-02-08T12:50:00.011+08:00

There is a "dress as a bunny" competition and the office is teeming with bunny ears.

This is my outfit - it's called "兔"然发财- the rabbit and mahjong tile being an integral part of the outfit!

Love my mahjong tile! Went back to my parent's place this morning specially to get it!

Behold... the Frontline bunnies...

Soo Hua is here to join in the fun too!

And guess what?

I won the first prize in the lucky draw!

Here's wishing everyone a very huat bunny new year too!

大家一起"兔"然发财！

开工大吉！

2011-02-07T12:48:00.003+08:00

哇！有红包拿！

There I was, grouchily transcribing the first out of my six tapes, on the first day of work after a gloriously looong CNY break... and the boss (the guy who shares same birthday as My Melody) appears out of nowhere to give me an angpao!

Wheeee!!!

*waves angpao in the air*

开工大吉！

Yay!

The Blue Bird Returns!

2011-02-05T01:13:00.004+08:00

Day: Eve of Lunar New Year (2 Feb 2011)

Time: While frantically vacuuming floor before going to work (abt 12 noon?)

I randomly looked out of the window and caught sight of a blue bird. It looked like the same one that visited my garden just before CNY last year!

How amazing!

Chinatown

2011-02-02T17:22:00.002+08:00

Its drizzling and sunny at the same time. Oh, and windy too. Not safe to put fake lashes now. Esp when squatting in the middle of road. Mascara will have to do.

Chinatown

2011-02-02T17:17:00.004+08:00

Drizzling now at chinatown? Will it rain? Or will there be nice cool fine weather all thru the night? Watch tv tonight to find out!

Post production

2011-02-01T22:54:00.004+08:00

The team had begun post production as we were voicing the later segments.

Time: 10.52pm.

Chinese New Year begins for them once they are done with the post production for this story.

For me though, its another long day at work tmrw, ending at abt the same time like now... if I'm lucky...

So, I'm leaving first. Ta!

Done!

2011-02-01T22:48:00.003+08:00

Finally!

Voice finish last segment.

Time: 1050pm.

Interrupted!

2011-02-01T22:13:00.004+08:00

Voicing for second segment gets interrupted!

This is going be a long night...

(LL's face is pixelated cuz not that flattering pix of her, and obviously, didn't have time to keep retaking pix until it was perfect since the most impt thing was to focus on the job on hand!!!)

Waiting...

2011-02-01T22:03:00.002+08:00

...for my next 'customer'.

Can I voice second segment now?

Finally...

2011-02-01T21:50:00.003+08:00

Voicing first segment...

New Discovery

2011-02-01T21:23:00.001+08:00

While waiting for script to be vetted, pictures to be edited and re-edited, so I can finally voice the programme... I discover mobile blogging on my phone. Still waiting. Waiting. Waiting.... Waiting since 6pm.

Wedding Lunch

2011-01-31T14:26:00.005+08:00

Attended an ex colleague’s wedding lunch yesterday.

It was all cold and wet outside the hotel, but warm, happy and very glamorous inside the ballroom.

Our table came to the conclusion that attending wedding lunches on weekends is really quite enjoyable!

Maybe it helped that we really enjoyed each other's company too!

Enjoying Life’s Little Moments

2011-01-26T16:04:00.002+08:00

Even if they’re really dumb.

Like this:

Had an intense day today editing from morning till afternoon, so when I was finally done, I thought I could do with a cup of tea. But of course because I was feeling lazy, I dumped the tea leaves straight into the cup even though I had TWO tea strainers right in front of me.

Just felt lazy.

And then I realized, there was no way to drink my tea (without the tea leaves) unless I scooped those floating leaves up with my spoon.

So… I ended up having to do that.

But guess what, it became a fun and relaxing thing to do.

Life’s like that right, when things don’t turn out well, you can either despair and rant, or you can choose to see the lighter side of it. You can’t really control what happens in the big bad world out there, but the least you can do, is to control how you see and react to things that don’t really go your way.

看。开。一。点。

At least that’s what I’ve finally learnt, after surviving thirty years of being intense.

Wormwood Flowering?

2011-01-23T12:58:00.002+08:00

I think... my wormwood is flowering!!!

How exciting is that?!!!

Pretty Busy Bee

2011-01-20T00:33:00.004+08:00

I've been busy.

Busy Busy Busy.

Working in the day, working in the night and working over the weekends.

It's a dog's life.

Maybe your pet dog has it better than me.

But well, it's all gonna be worth it if I get to clear all my off days immediately after Chinese New Year.

So I'm not really complaining. (Yet).

But, the package that arrived on Monday was calling out to me to be unpacked.

Yes, I've been so busy and tired that I didn't even have the mood to admire and get excited about my new eyelash orders!!!

I ordered alot more of my favourite design since it was limited edition and I didn't want to be caught without a stash.

I had half a mind to buy up all of Fion's stock but that seemed too selfish, so I ended up only buying up 20% of her remaining stock.

I also got Fion to recommend me another normal wear lash design which she thinks is suitable for me (#405), as well as some individual pieces of dramatic, fancy lashes to try out just for fun.

See!

Nice!

I love them all!

Not sure what they'll look like on me though.

Guess we'll find out in time to come.

And though busy as I may be, clocking in less hours of sleep... BUT water drinking and facial mask application has not been sacrificed.

I'm really determined to keep my beauty ritual and have put up a beauty calendar on the wall of my make up corner as a constant reminder.

So even if I'm working like a dog, I will be a beautiful dog.

My Melody in the Year of Rabbit

2011-01-18T22:08:00.006+08:00

We surprised/shocked them with a My Melody cake on their birthdays last year.

This year, we tried to do the same by setting up a My Melody formation on Eugene's office desk on his birthday.

(The other birthday baby, Swan is currently on leave)

We had to make sure we came into office early - before he came in - in order not to miss his reaction. LL even came back on a off day, just to see it!

And it's totally understandable if you have no idea what we are achieving through this.

There's no purpose one!

It's purely a senseless and funny thing to do, converting his desk space into My Melody's universe, to amuse him (and ourselves) when he unsuspectingly strolls into the office on the morning of his birthday.

There, My Melody's home.

Our favourite is seeing My Melody having her bom bom.

And that's the supermarket.

Can you see what's in My Melody's trolley?

A calmly surprised but highly tickled Eugene silently inspecting My Melody Land on his desk.

I think he really didn't know what to say, so he just thanked us for our efforts.

!!!!

Thank us for our efforts leh! So officious!

Muahahahahha!

Killer Stilettos

2011-01-13T13:12:00.002+08:00

Be glamorous. Even when you’re fuming.

Here’s a selection of pretty dangerous heels to kick people with.

My personal fav is the gold colour one. Yours?

No Money Today

2011-01-10T13:29:00.009+08:00

I forgot to bring my wallet again!

It happened once last week and I've already used up half of my coin stash in my office drawer.

Today, we went out for lunch (an extended Frontline editorial meeting) and I brought along whatever's left from my coin stash - all of $3.60, in coins.

No I don't have six fingers. It's just my right hand supporting my left hand when I took this pix. Don't ask me why.

Which was enough for my meal except that I bought tissue paper from a blind man, so now, I have nothing left.

I think that means... no tea break for me today!

Beauty Regime - Midweek Update

2011-01-06T11:36:00.008+08:00

I think I have done ok, but there is still room for improvement.

For the past three days:

I’ve drank enough water (I keep a 1.5l bottle filled and finished everyday, on top of all the other liquid I consume outside – I can already feel the difference on my complexion)

I’ve cut down on my nightly C.S.I marathon viewing. (I used to watch 3 episodes a day from 9pm - 11.40pm, now I just watch the 9pm or 10pm one. )

However, I’ve still not managed to sleep at 11pm. (I keep trying to stop all Internet surfing by 1130pm, but I end up finishing at 12midnight, and by the time my beauty ritual’s complete, its almost 1am.)

My poor liver.

Well, at least I did the full beauty ritual.

Then last night, I had dinner with the girls and got home at 10plus.

So late! Plus, we had a bit to drink (even two glasses of champagne can be quite dehydrating)

So... it's Mask Time!

And I went into dreamland as a fair maiden with supple skin. Yay!

Next week, I’m going to work on the sleeping hours.

And if this beauty resolution thing rubs off on all my friends too, we can have another one of our smashing parties again at the end of 2011, and it’ll be called – “We are so beautiful” party.

Sounds like fun already right?

Let’s work on it cuz beauty is hard work!

Beauty Resolutions 2011

2011-01-02T16:53:00.016+08:00

Being beautiful has always been very important to me.

Alas, the course of true beauty never did run smooth and almost always, sloth got into the way.

The Lazy Girl with Messy Hair

My New Year Resolution for 2011 is therefore to stop being lazy and start being truly beautiful!

To achieve that, a great complexion is essential.

But with increasing age, radiant, supple, blemish free skin is no longer a given. So this year, I am resolved to put in lots of effort to make it happen.

I am going to be disciplined about
(1) Exfoliating and using facial masks once a week
(2) Drinking loads of water every day
(3) Trying to sleep at 11pm
(4) Vacuuming the floor more often and packing up things around the house, especially my dressing room and my vanity corners, cuz a pretty and neat house makes me feel happy!

See, I started #4 already, by shifting things around to make storage space for my new lashes!

It’s important to put things in a easy to reach place so that there will be one less excuse not to use it. (The only reason left would be sloth)

And to ensure I keep to my resolution, I took stock of all my masks right at the beginning of the year.

I bought a few new boxes of masks during the Christmas sale season and got one box of exotic looking Taiwanese masks from my sis as pressie (Guess what I gave her for Christmas? A box of masks as well!).

So, there are a total of
Eye masks – 17 pieces
Face masks – 31 pieces

Which means, if I use one face mask a week, my current supply will last me till end of July! And if I use my eye mask once every two weeks, these will last me till August!

WOW! Didn’t think they could last me for so long.

I'm also going to drink lots of water everyday.

I started this last year, when the husband made the very astute observation that I really don't drink much water. (I used to be able to get by everyday with just 1-2 cups of tea, some soup, 1 fruit juice and a sip of water here and there. Very bad!!!)

So this year, I WILL drink enough water everyday, and not when I can remember it.

Equally important, but no doubt a bigger challenge, I will try and sleep at 11pm everyday.

You see, according to TCM docs, your body has a natural detox programme that kicks in while you sleep, which is why sleeping and waking up at the right timings are critical to good health (and complexion).

Here's the timetable:

9pm - 11pm: Your lymphatic system (part of your immune system) starts to detox. You don't have to be asleep at this point, but you should be in a relaxed state of mind.

11pm - 1am: Detox for liver. You need to be in deep sleep for this to happen.

1am - 3am: Detox for gall bladder. (Gall bladder stores bile juice, which helps emulsify all the fat particles you have consumed in the day. So I'm guessing, if it's not well detoxed, then your bile juice may not be emulsifying your fats as effectively as it should)

3am- 5am: Detox for lungs.

5am - 7am: Detox for large intenstines.

End of detoxification.

From 7am - 9am, that's when your small intestines are at it's absorption best so ideal time to have breakfast.

So you see, if I can have my daily dose of 8 hr beauty sleep from about 1130pm to 730am, drink enough water everyday, plus all that facial products that I slather onto my face everyday, surely my skin will become fabulous!

So here's to 2011...

... where I'm going to be scarily beautiful!

My Fabulous Eyelash Party!

2010-12-31T23:06:00.010+08:00

Play a game with you.

Are you able to recognize whose eyes these are? (Ok, at least, try and find mine)

You know, many husbands didn’t even know what happened.

SY’s husband, who is our old JC friend came to pick her up and he couldn’t even tell she had falsies on.

And my husband, who was sitting across KY, Bei and YL during post party dinner, said: “but all your lashes are very long already what. Why do you need to put fake ones?”

We smiled and said... these are the falsies. *flutter flutter flutter* Very long but natural looking right?

He was quite amazed.

Heh.

Anyway, turns out that my eyelash party has generated quite a fair bit of interest among friends, sisters and friends of friends, and a couple of excited female blog readers, so here’s a looong entry, full of pictures detailing everything that happened at this awesome party.

Now, although this is an eyelash party, but being the enthusiastic party planner that I am, I find that party decorations are extremely important. You need something to get people into the right mood, the moment they arrive, right?

The party started at 4pm and I wanted to make sure no one would miss my house in broad daylight.

OMG, I love the tape to bits!

Then there's the afternoon tea snacks. Nothing oily, flaky or you know... things that will dirty our hands and distract us from the real agenda of the day - learning to skillfully stick the falsies to our lids.

So I got loads of mini muffins in various flavours and some tiny packets of skittles, for people who just need to chew on something sweet as they nervously embark on this delicate task.

The lil plastic cups were also lovingly tied with different coloured ribbons by my party partners in crime (a.k.a those BFFs of mine) so people wouldn't mix up their cups.

I mean, we had to focus on sticking those eyelashes right?

Seriously, if not for the party, I would never have realized that I own so many portable mirrors!

Three of the standing round mirrors are from my dressing room, two are from the office, and I bought two from Daiso just for this occasion.

How crazy am I?

And now... the party...

It all started because of my frustration at never managing to buy fake lashes that suit my eyes (that is, to look beautifully long and curled yet natural at the same time).

So I asked my makeup artist friend Fion, who also owns a blog shop selling falsies, if there was anyway I could try out her lashes before I buy the perfect pair. I suggested that perhaps if I could gather 4-5 friends who want to learn to put on lashes, would she be ok to come down to my place and give lessons and help us pick out lashes suitable for our eyes?

Well that was how it started out, and after I put the word out, the attendees of my party ballooned at some point to 18, excluding me!

In the end, we had 14 people turning up that day, not counting myself and Fion.

There was a five bucks token fee for attendees which I think is totally reasonable, considering how Fion provided samples of her many lash designs for people to try putting on.

She also brought along glue, eye lash applicators and these cute little plastic cases for people to store the sample lashes as they can be reused a few more times.

Fion even provided handouts on how to put on, remove, and take care of your falsies!

Very pro!

We started at about 430pm with about 11 people.

Quite a good size actually, cuz any more, it would have been a tad too crowded (not to mention, noisy) in my living room.

Everyone was really excited about the hands on session.

Especially after Fion's very detailed lecture on the fine art of sticking those falsies on the lids. She also picked out the lash designs which she thought was most suitable for everyone.

I was personally over the moon at having finally found the perfect natural looking long lashes that didn't make me look like a giant cockroach with feelers on my eyes.

Now, we all have pretty lashes and pretty eyes!!!

The fun bit about this entire thing really was the bimbotic atmosphere.

There were a few girls who kept trying and failing at their attempts to stick their lashes on, but there was always someone around to keep cheering them on.

Bei and YL, for example, were on the verge of giving up many times, but with KY and me waving the pom poms, they perservered and finally managed to get the falsies on.

Their success was met with screams of excitement and breathless exclamation of how beautiful their eyes looked with the lashes on.

I love the air-headedness of it all. Woo!

As night fell, some of the girls left (with gorgeous looking eyes) for their dinner appointments while some other girls (YY and my sis) joined us after work.

(Check out my lighted mirror. I love love love it, and many of the girls found it really useful and wanted to buy it. My party really has the making of a succesful Tupperware party lor! haha!)

Anyway, by then, I've tried out three different lash designs, lower eye lashes and have decided on the perfect day and night lashes for myself.

The lashes that I thought (and so did all the girls present) were perfect for a glamourous night's out happened to be a "limited edition" design so I bought all 7 boxes that Fion had brought along with her. (I also bought glue and eyelash applicator from her. I had always thought the applicator was some sort of a farce but after trying it out, I realized that it's really useful!)

There! You can see in the pix below, the three pairs of lashes that I tried on.

In the end, I bought 2 boxes (10 pairs in a box) of lash #1, and 7 boxes (individually packed--> so that's just 7 pairs) of lash #3.

And you can see how different my sis's eyes are from mine.

There's this particular design that fits most people's eyes, including my sister's, but totally looks like feelers on me. (I used to have this put on my eyes during my news reading days, and they look alright on camera, but if I had to go out and meet people face to face, I always looked like a total freak!)

And oh, thanks to this shot of me taking pix of my sis's eyes, or I would never have known how uncomfortably close I had to get to my subjects to get these super close ups of their eyes!!

My sis and me.

Different eyes. But we got the same smile.

We also goofed about a bit.

So did everyone else.

Absolute madness. Completely fun.

And finally, my favourite photo...

...of my crazy friends.

I've not had so much fun in a long long time.

What a great way to mark the end of the year!

Goodbye 2010.

Hello beautiful 2011!

Eyelash Party - Perfect Lashes. Found.

2010-12-30T23:14:00.014+08:00

The Name of the Game was to find the perfect pair of lashes.

That was my goal.

And I'm so glad I found two excellent designs that suited me to a tee - one was for an "au naturale" look for daytime wear (above), and the other was for a glam night's out (below - group photo).

The best thing about these lashes, is that if you were to be standing right in front of me, unless you are a pro, you wouldn't be able to tell they are fake.

You would just think I have very beautiful, thick, long lashes!

I love them!

And for many of my eyelash virgin friends who attended the party, they got a detailed step by step intruction on how to wear lashes from Fion the expert (pictured in the pix above, making a funny face), got hands on practice, and also tried on and found lashes that made them look like they had amazingly but naturally occuring eyelashes.

Best of all, we had such a great time.

More photos tomorrow. Too tired now, after a whole day of party madness.

Eyelash Party - Starting Soon!

2010-12-30T16:10:00.005+08:00

Deco done.

Table set up. Done.

Afternoon tea snacks. All ready.

Guests. Some arrived and chatting.

Party should be ready to start soon anytime.

So fun!!!

Diseases from Cat Feces

2010-12-29T19:38:00.008+08:00

In case you are not informed about the potential health hazards of coming into contact with cat feces, and think that I'm just some loony clean freak kicking up a big fuss over nothing, here's the low down on the crap from cats.

Cats can carry numerous parasites and diseases in their fecal matter, including Cryptosporidium (a parasitic disease that infects the gastrointestinal system), hookworm, toxocara, and the worst of them all: Toxoplasmosis

This parasite is especially dangerous for pregnant women who can become infected with the parasite and transmit it to their fetus. The parasite can cause abnormal birth defects and miscarriage.

Now, before we sound all the alarm bells and get super paranoid, here are some mitigating factors to consider:

(1) Not all cats are infected with this disease
(2) Not everyone who comes into contact with infected cat's stool will in turn be infected.

It's just a risk. And some studies say, it is a low risk.

But this is not a risk that I want to have, lurking in my house. (Whether or not I'm pregnant, or if I have visiting pregnant friends)

And especially since:

(1) These are not even my pet cats! I didn't choose to be around these cats. In fact, if I could exercise my rights as a human being, I would very much prefer not to have them around me at all, thank you very much.

(2) I know someone who has been infected by this parasitic disease during pregnancy and lost her baby as a result of that. So the risk feels very real to me.

(Like I've recounted this story before in an earlier post, someone I know's 6 month old foetus was seriously infected by this parasite and had to be delivered prematurely. The baby lived for half an hour and died in the mother's arms. Worse, this mother's subsequent pregnancies ended up in miscarriages.

This tragic incident has left a deep and indelible mark in my life)

Unfortunately, this is an unsolvable problem for now, because

(1) No way to stop the horrible cat loving neighbour from feeding cats outside my house. The whole neighbourhood is at war with her but she doesn't care. The cats continue to eat outside our houses, and shit inside. Lovely.

(2) While the cats are fat, ugly and bad, I still don't think it is right to trap and send them to death.

(3) I'm not really a dog person either, so getting a dog for the sole purpose of keeping the cats out, is not an option either. The poor dog will feel so unloved!

So, in the long term, the only solution is to move out of this stray cat infested neighbourhood.

But in the meantime, I can only continue to rant like a lunatic on my blog, whine non-stop to the husband, and complain to any family member or friend who is not annoyed by my cat rants by now.

So, please just bear with me.

One day, this will all be over.

I hope.

The Cats Did This!?!

2010-12-29T17:59:00.005+08:00

WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTO OF POSSIBLE FELINE EXCREMENT

Just back from a short holiday to Penang.

Has it been raining in Singapore for the past two days?

I'm only guessing.

Cuz we came home and found to my horror, THIS pile of foul looking mess next to the car!

URGH!

And the short legged cat was still happily lounging under the car, super reluctant to run away despite realizing that I have noticed its presence.

URGH!!!

It must have been raining so badly in Singapore the past few days, and/or it got so lazy, that it doesnt event want to crap on the lawn anymore!

Just do it anywhere!

There are ants climbing all over that pile of thing. I'm not even sure if its crap or vomit but it sure looks gross.

Here's a closeup of this shit. Not for the faint hearted.

I'm so annoyed.

I really am.

And on hindsight, I'm doubly glad that we changed our return flight to the earlier one, so we got back home in daylight.

Or else, there would be a high chance that one of us would have stepped right on it and brought it all the way into the house.

Gross!

My Flashy Christmas Pressie

2010-12-24T21:15:00.008+08:00

I finally found time to buy an external flash for my G11!

I mean, the whole point of buying a prosumer camera is so that I could fiddle around with lens and flash so I have been meaning to do this for a long time, but just kept procrastinating.

The reason is rather embarrassing. I have this unexplainable phobia of talking to camera salesmen. I always feel that they are out there to cheat me and I am super intimidated and paralyzed by the thought.

So, I asked some of my pro friends to recommend what’s suitable for an amateur like me, I researched a bit for various options, and finally got Lock to help me make a few calls to enquire for price and to get them to set it aside under his name.

So all I had to do just now, was to zip into the shop, ask to pick up Lock’s order, pay, and run out of the shop. It was a very quick affair. I was in and out of the shop in less than 5 mins. Woo!

And there you have it! My new flash!

It’s really a mere coincidence that I bought it on Xmas eve. But well, I guess it does make a nice little pressie for myself!

Couldn’t wait to test the flash out. But I was also not very sure of what to do, so I randomly chose a corner of the house and took a shot of it without flash.

Then, I took it with the camera flash.

And then, with my newly bought flash.

Too powerful. The pix's totally overexposed.

So I decreased its power a little, and took another shot.

Looks pretty much the same as the camera flash hor?

I decided to turn off the lights and see how the flash would work in a low light condition.

First, a shot without any flash.

Then one with the camera’s flash.

And with the external flash (with decreased intensity - same setting as before)

Hmmm… actually, not even sure if I’m testing it correctly.

*shrugs shoulders*

Too tired for any more experiment. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Merry Xmas!

2010-12-24T15:17:00.001+08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’m still at work though. We’re going to have a week of common leave next week so we have to produce two stories this week. Which is why we’re working a full day today.

But it’s definitely worth it.

Happy Holidays!

Well, helloooo Bokky!

2010-12-21T22:40:00.002+08:00

Looking fresh after a grueling 23hr labour -- that's HY and baby Bok Bok!

Well, hello there little Bok!

Oh what big eyes you have, Bok Bok!

You know, I would have very much preferred to introduce little Bokky by her real name, except that her parents haven’t really quite confirmed it yet (tsk tsk).

So, little Bokky-doodles will have to remain as that for a little while more…

Now, look what's for dinner!

It's the hospital's idea of a nice celebration dinner for the new parents.

Quite a nice touch, except that Bok Bok had to be fed first, before the parents got to eat, and that was one hour later!

It's not easy learning to be parents!

Bok's here!

2010-12-21T00:36:00.002+08:00

Announcing the arrival of Bokky Lim Bok Bok!

She's like a mini celebrity of sorts, with the documentation of her delivery eagerly followed by a bunch of excited aunties and uncles thoughout the day.

It's a highly entertaining and hilarious FB status update thread with Bok's Papa getting increasingly witty as the minutes tick by.

I'm posting it here for posterity... and Bok can read all about her birth when she is older.

Fav Tea of the Moment

2010-12-20T19:22:00.005+08:00

It's horrible that I'm getting fussier and fussier about the quality of tea that I drink.

It's a sign of age, I think.

Anyway, I was extremely delighted to taste a fabulous tea yesterday at Bok Bok's parent's place. I sipped and savoured while Bok's mom contracted mildly away.

I remember seeing it at some supermarket shelf before but was pretty sure that it wasn't sold at the Cold Storage near my house.

I came home that night, randomly picked up a magazine on the floor and saw an ad for this brand of tea with a list of retailers that carried it. (It is destiny!)

It is indeed not available at the Cold Storage near my place, but... I was pleased to find out that a neighbourhood shop (which is closer to me than cold storage) actually sells it!

So I rushed off to get it right after work.

At $14.95, it's alot cheaper than I expected it to be. (I mean, each tea bag is individually packed in an elaborate aluminium foil, and the ingredients are supposedly organic)

There are 20 (silken, no less) sachets in each box, and to top it off, the store was even offering a 10% discount!

And as I was paying for it, the cashier took out a sachet of Earl Grey and taped it to the box so I could try another flavour!

Now, that's sweet!

Waiting for Bok Bok

2010-12-19T21:21:00.009+08:00

I don't know about you, but I've never had tea with someone experiencing contractions and on standby to go to the hospital to deliver her baby anytime soon.

This is HY, heavily pregnant with Bok Bok and experiencing mild and infrequent contractions.

If you haven't guessed, Bok Bok (Bokky Lim Bok Bok, 林木木) is the fetal name of her baby girl, just like how Tricia was known as Tomei Toh, when Bei was still carrying her.

We had decided to meet up one last time on Sunday for an all-adult gathering while Bok Bok is still kept warm and snug in HY's tummy. (Notice Tricia's absence?)

We were going to meet outside, but two hours before our scheduled meeting time, HY asked us to meet at her place instead as she had started to experience some contractions and the doctor told her to go home and standby with her luggage so she could to rush to the hospital for her delivery, which can happen anytime within the next 12 -24 hours. Who knows?

But that didn't stop us from having another one of our usual boisterous gossip sessions. Top on the agenda was filling her in on all the nonsense that happened to us at YL's bro's wedding in Phuket.

One last photo of us together before HY's life change completely with the arrival of Bok Bok.

Bok Bok! Your kaypoh 姨姨's are eagerly anticipating your arrival!

See you soon!

Update (20 Dec 1138hrs): After 9hrs of pain, HY has opted for epidural. Expecting the baby in another 8 hrs or so...

Update: Bok's daddy has been giving updates via FB status. KY's latest comment ~ "This feels like the rescue of the Chilean miners. I'm glued to your status update" ~ totally cracked me up.

Wedding Crashers in Phuket

2010-12-16T20:25:00.005+08:00

Ahhh! Beach weddings are always so pretty.

That's the second time I'm attending a wedding at the same beach in Phuket, except that this time round, I'm attending neither as a friend nor family.

Cuz it's YL's lil bro's wedding!

And we very much invited ourselves there, by proclaiming many many months ago, that we had every intention of gatecrashing the wedding.

So much so that her brother started including our names in his guest list, and despite our violent protests, YL's mum insisted that we be issued wedding invites (so much for gatecrashing!)

Now, that's YL and her beau looking lovely together.

And these are her crazy friends, all six of them. Woo!

Now, I've never received such a wedding favour before.

(They bought their wedding date, the draw date was on the wedding night itself, and halfway through the wedding, someone went on stage to announce that we missed the prize by one number)

The wedding couple and the wedding crashers.

It seems that there are less and less friends' weddings to attend... in fact, the only wedding that I know of in the coming year, is my own baby sis's wedding!

You know, everytime I mention my siblings to this group of old friends (pictured above), the immediate image that comes to their mind, is the one where they first saw the lil uns: the two scrawny little Pri 4 and Pri 6 kids in their NYPS uniform, sprinting exhuburantly across the Hwachong canteen and towards me, shouting very loudly DA-JIE! DA-JIE!

And whenever we try and imagine that one of them is going to be married next year, we just shake our heads in disbelief.

How time flies!

Back to Work

2010-12-15T10:52:00.004+08:00

Back from attending a wedding at Phuket over the weekend.

Got back on Monday and spent the whole day sleeping and trying to recover.

Still coughing a little, but the runny nose that has plagued me since the last day in Phuket has now subsided.

Will post more pictures soon.

Humour in Adversity

2010-12-09T12:35:00.002+08:00

Ok, adversity’s a bit of an exaggeration there.

The girls are going on a trip this weekend, but before we get to enjoy ourselves in the sun, sand and sea, all three of us are having a terrible time at work this week.

There was a quick email exchange these few days to settle a couple of administrative things about the trip.

I love how our emails are always hilarious (and never whiny, even as we give the full gory details of our painful life at work). There’s no letting up on the wit, even in times of great stress and fatigue, and I think that’s really cool.

I love my friends!

Back to Cybershot

2010-12-06T17:23:00.004+08:00

I finally got my act together and bought a new phone yesterday.

The Nokia E71 has been getting on my nerves for the past year, hanging for no reason, turning itself off for fun, and the camera quality is pre-historic.

I'm now going back to the old trusty (limited) range of Cybershot phones

The one that I just bought is an old model. Got it brand new without contract from the Sony shop for just $199. It has cybershot quality camera with xenon flash light and I think it is going serve me very well. (Just like it’s predecessors. I love them. I will never change to another make ever again!)

Once I manage to get all my contacts transferred in, and actually be able to start using it, that is.

Yes, Nokia is determined to annoy me right till the end.

There’s simply no easy way of transferring the contacts batch by batch to another phone. After fiddling with the two phones last night, I finally decided that the only way to do it, is to Bluetooth the contacts over one by one. (My sim card only has capacity for 250 numbers, so I have another 200 over to manually transfer over.)

What a wonderful parting shot, Nokia E71.

Tricia Wants Spaghetti

2010-11-30T08:40:00.002+08:00

Tricia knocks her head... again.

She seems to have a new injury everytime I see her. Maybe she is shooting up really fast (she's really tall for her age) so her sense of balance is constantly being challenged...

YL had a Thanksgiving dinner at her place and Bei & Tricia had just returned to Singapore from Taipei and attended our dinner straight from the airport!

While YL stuffed and roasted the turkey, I was in charge of preparing child friendly food for Tricia - Spaghetti.

That's her new favourite food, and apparently she was demanding to eat 意大利面 for every meal while she was in Taipei!

Tricia is a happy tot after the spaghetti!

The More Expired... the Better

2010-11-22T19:35:00.003+08:00

I have an endless supply of expired milk.

Lucky me!

I read somewhere that the more expired milk contains more lactic acid, which works as an exfoliant to get rid of dead skin cells.

Grrrreat! I will have soft and tender feet in no time at all!

Let's Orlee Ordut!

2010-11-22T02:01:00.006+08:00

My father just came back from a trip to our ancestral village in China. Together with my uncles, they brought back a Hakka dictionary.

I'm extremely curious about the dictionary, and whether or not it contains all these funny sounding hakka phrases that I hear my relatives use all the time.

Phrases like: Fooji-maga, Orlee-ordut, Pipa-kitkat, and... (my father was delighted to teach us a funny sounding hakka word today to add to the list) - Likia-seemong.

He even spelt it out for me: l-i-k-i-a, to ensure it was pronounced properly!

Ok, so if you are Hakka but have no clue what these phrases mean... you are not alone.

The term I am most familiar with is Fooji-maga, and I have checked with a couple of Hakka speaking friends and they have no idea what that means.

Somehow I think that these phrases may be unique to our clansmen only, so if you dunno what they mean, its ok!

Just take it that we orlee ordut!

Off Day

2010-11-18T15:42:00.003+08:00

Finally managed to clear one off day today.

Guess what that translated to?

One glorious day of washing loads and loads of laundry and cleaning the floor.

Lovely. I'm totally loving this.

After I decide what my fourth load of laundry will be (will it be rugs? or jeans?), I'm gonna pack the storeroom and hopefully got time to cook soup.

Really miss days like this.

Apple Trees and A Warm Blanket for Xmas

2010-11-12T19:08:00.005+08:00

I just bought some apple and peach trees to give away as Christmas presents!

On top of that, I also got some warm blankets and winter boots for children in Burma and Mongolia. Hopefully, it will bring these few kids some warmth this freezing winter.

And I’ve dedicated these gifts to my girlfriends. It’s like my "virtual" Christmas gifts to them.

Which means to say, a kid in Mongolia is supposed to receive a pair of winter boots soon, courtesy of Bei and little Tricia. (I wonder if Tricia will be able to grasp the concept of charity at the tender age of 2? )

Actually, I can’t really remember when I last bought any of these old friends of mine, a Christmas gift.

You see, with the exception of my little sister and brother, I hardly give Christmas presents to anyone.

Too smurfy for my friends and I, I guess.

And after all, what my friends and I really want (like, maybe… a property), we can’t afford to give each other; and things we can afford to buy for each other (luxurious hand creams and exotic perfumes), are just frivolous stuff that we can do very well without.

But the apple and peach tree saplings for families in Lesotho will give these families some food in time to come, and the warm blankets for kids in Burma and winter boots for kids in Mongolia will provide some comfort in winter.

Dedicating these little gifts to my friends is also, in a way, helping to spread the message of giving to the less fortunate during the festive season. Hopefully, they will be motivated to give other gifts (a goat for a family in India, or a toilet for a village in Thailand?) on their own, or dedicate other gifts to their friends, thus spreading the message even further.

In addition to the apple trees and blankets, I also bought "providing shelter for street kids in Indochina" on my own account.

Since I’m priced out of the local property market and cannot afford a place of my own, it puts a smile on my face knowing that I can give a few street kids out there a permanent and safe place to live.

I’ve also bought “providing medical and psychosocial help to abused children” as I think abusing children sexually is the most perverse and vile thing in the world and helping these poor kids is definitely my pet cause.

So, though I have no idea what "psychosocial" help is, and how the money I give is going to be used exactly, I think you just gotta find a charity that you trust will use your money responsibly.

It's easy to be skeptical about charities nowadays, especially one that produces fancy brochures and all. But, fanciness aside, this organization does a fairly good job communicating their needs and imploring for aid.

According to their website, they spend a total of 18% of the donation they collected last year on admin, communication and public education. Personally, I think that’s an acceptable percentage.

Well, in any case, if you think its really cute to buy apple trees as a Christmas present, or you want to do more serious stuff like building a culvert (you know, something like the one we have in Orchard Road) in Cambodia (that will cost you just S$125, by the way) or build a school in Laos (for S$50,000), do take a look at the online Gift Catalogue.

Have fun browsing!

Expired Milk?

2010-11-09T00:00:00.004+08:00

I've done it many times now - throw away milk that's past its expiry date even though it still smells alright.

It's such a waste, but I also wouldn't want to risk drinking something that's past its expiry date.

So luckily I found a way to put it to some use.

Pour out the expired milk, add some hot water...

And give my dry, tired feet a good soak...

Shiok shiok! And skin feels really soft afterwards!

To Be A Vase

2010-11-08T00:32:00.003+08:00

I was glad that my crazy, busy, stressful week of production was finally over on Friday.

On Sunday, I came back to work again as I had a tiny role to play for the recording of the "finals" for the International Varsity Debate.

Very long never hang out with Wenbei already. She's the host for the programme and this is us at the backstage, waiting for the judges' verdict.

While she was the host, (or, in Mandarin, 'chairperson' of the debate) my role much simpler. I was to escort the guest of honour(s) on stage, and pass them the trophies that were to be presented to the participants.

Basically, I was to be a "vase", as they say in Mandarin.

Quite fun la... I mean, afterall, I've never been a vase before... or at least, that's what I think.

After the recording, we had a celebratory dinner where everyone could finally relax after a very tensed and stressful week.

Except for my poor fellow Frontliner LL who had to film and do interviews while the rest of us sat back, ate and had a lot of fun.

Ok la, NOT so poor thing la... she only went filming when the courses she didn't really enjoy were served.

Now that's what I call... working smart!

2010国际大学群英辩论会 will be broadcast on Channel NewsAsia from 23 Nov 2010 onwards.

Stunned

2010-11-01T17:37:00.004+08:00

I can't believe it. My day just got from bad to worse.

How to survive this week?

I wish I can just fall asleep now and wake up only next week. Urgh!

Busy Sunday with the Kids

2010-10-31T22:37:00.004+08:00

Ah! I finally got my wish and had the chance to introduce my two favourite toddlers, Jayda and Tricia to each other.

The occasion was Jayda's baby's brother's full month party. Lynda booked a party room with a gigantic playground, and little Tricia was invited to play!

I'm extremely pleased to report that Jayda and Tricia (whose birthdays are just one week apart) got along very well at this first meeting.

Baby ZZ has also grown up a lot since the last time we saw her and was having a ball of time in the ball pit.

Jayda was having so much fun playing that she rejected SH and my repeated appeals to accept the pressie that we got for her!

After that party, where I spent half the time chasing after Tricia and Jayda, the husband and I went to visit the Simpsons and caught little Molly in a jolly good mood.

That meant she was very generous with her smiles and kisses. Such a little darling!

We heard she wasn't very excited about Halloween's, hating the halloween costumes that her mom tried to dress her up in, but she was quite happy to carry the pumpkin bag as we went out for a walk in the neighbourhood.

Which inadvertently led us to a "trick or treat" moment, where a boy in the neighbourhood lept out of his chair and started shouting "trick or treat" at the top of his voice when he saw a fellow angmoh kid walking by his house carrying what looks like a Halloween paraphernalia (her pumpkin bag).

I think the boy must have been bored stiff the whole afternoon, waiting at his front porch for another angmoh kid to walk by. Molly got a lollipop and a bar of chocolate very easily from the kid.

That kinda sums up Molly's first Halloween... and actually, mine too!

Red Booties

2010-10-25T23:11:00.008+08:00

My sis (the smurf) says I'm not a real Gargamel because *gasp* I don't own red shoes!

So, I went out and got myself a pair of red shoes.

I love these new red gargamel booties alot, but they're rather difficult to match with clothes, and can only be worn on days where I know for sure I won't have to go out filming.

Like today, when I'm stuck in the office for half a day for training!

Recuperating From A Week of Madness

2010-10-25T00:11:00.003+08:00

Last week was crazy, because... on top of regular production work like filming, transcribing, writing script, editing etc, there were many other things that I had to do too, like writing parliament news on Monday, half day training on Tuesday and Thursday, and...

...being the emcee for Frontline's boss's wedding dinner.

That esssentially meant that Thursday was extra crazy. Editing on Thursday morning, rush off for training in the afternoon without lunch, and then rush off immediately to get ready for the rehearsal at the hotel.

When my emcee duties were over, it was inevitable that I had to discuss script with my bosses so that I could make the necessary changes the following morning.

Our table made up of the Frontline team and our video editors. Everyone was like, "WAH! Can don't talk about work here?!!" but... there was really no other choice.

So we continued discussing how to amend the script, while everyone around the table got up and started to harrass us with paparrazi shots. It was really funny, actually.

I think the video editor assigned for Friday's editing (bottom left corner of the pix) was slightly stressed when she saw that the discussion took quite long...

Fast forward to Friday.

At about 7+ pm on Friday evening, when everything was finally settled and sorted, I couldn't help but have this feeling of disbelief. Cuz after all that psyching up to survive the week, it's a little unsettling to know that it is finally over.

But yes, I was very happy that the scary week is over.

I was too tired to do anything elaborate to "celebrate" the moment, (the girls were going to another Ocktorberfest session) but I really wanted to savour the moment to do something that I've not really done for the past few days, which is to laze about, and eat and drink at a leisurely pace.

So I bought pizza, and put my frozen mug to good use.

On Saturday, there were loads of housework to do, but I just did the essential, lazed abit, and then went to play with Tricia at another friend, Sharon's new place.

The boy in the picture, Sam, is Sharon's son.

Sharon's new living room is like a transport hub with Sam's six different types of toy vehicles.

It was quite fun to see the two kids play. They managed to get along very well with each other.

As for how I spent Sunday... ever conscious of the fact that the new week was looming ahead... I persuaded myself to not do too much housework and instead enjoy the dull tranquility of the afternoon.

I did make myself some supper (leftover food from last week) and discovered how much I love my new steaming insert for the wok.

It's going to be so much more convenient to steam things from now on!

This Week

2010-10-18T15:25:00.005+08:00

...is not going to be an easy week.

I've anticipated this from last week.

I'm experiencing it since this morning.

But I know I will survive.

Somehow I will.

Cuz... there's just no other way.

*shrugs shoulders and buries head in work*

The "Real" Ocktoberfest party

2010-10-17T22:09:00.001+08:00

Last weekend's random beer party at my house was obviously not enough to satisfy us.
Personally, I have no love for beer. But, I do love hanging out with these people!

KY got us a table for this one day only beer buffet through her contacts at the Mandarin Orchard.

Perhaps because the waiters all knew who got the table for us, or maybe their service is really just so damn good... we were plied continuosly with beer (even before our glasses were empty) and food the whole night.

Lock took a photo of us (and two of KY's frens) with my recently repaired camera equipped with that blinding flash!

Oh, all our complexion look so good!

And then KY's frens took a pix of us sans flash, showing what the real lighting condition at the alfresco area was really like.

Somehow, I like this photo more.

More "mood" without flash, don't you think?

In any case, I'm reminded how I love this old camera of mine. It was really the right decision to get it fixed.

Random picture of KY with funny face.

Following Lock, she's the next person to have slimmed down recently. (I'm not exclaiming things like "OMG! She's looking good!" cuz IMHO, she's always looked good)

But it seems that not only has she lost weight, she no longer has any more cellulite!

Too dark to see, but I'm sure we'll find out more on our upcoming trip to Phuket (if it really happens)

Plant Tree Shoot Shooters

2010-10-16T20:55:00.003+08:00

What a day it was!

Planted some trees in the morning and shot some shooters in the afternoon.

Huh?

You see, Mediacorp organizes these CSR activities from time to time and naturally, this was the one activity that interested me the most.

I was so surprised that out of the 80 odd people that turned up this morning, almost half were from our news and current affairs dept (including video editors and cameramen!)

I was originally grouped with some of the cameramen but as Hong Ping, a video editor from the news department, was standing next to me during the briefing, we decided to just pair up and plant the saplings.

We planted two saplings! The first one was a tiny one, and then, we went for a much bigger one the second time round.

After we were done, I went home, ate and bathed, then went back to office to meet my camera crew and leave for a shoot.

When I say a shoot, I mean of course, a filming session.

And what were we shooting today?

Our Team Singapore Commonwealth Games gold medallists shooters!

It's amazing how such a dilapidated training centre with obsolete facilities located on the edge of the island (you drive through cemetry after cemetry to get to it) has produced such a haul of gold medals this season.

If you're curious to know just how bad the conditions are, tune in to the programme this coming Friday!

Wonderful Weekend

2010-10-11T11:22:00.008+08:00

Had a wonderful weekend doing household chores without any work-related troubles looming at the back of my mind. What a great feeling!

I also finally managed to do some grocery shopping. Haven’t been to the supermarket for more than a month!

Don't you just love a well-stocked fridge?

Got us some biscuits for all those late night hunger pangs.

And because I hate dealing with unfinished biscuits in their half torn wrappers so I tore everything out, packed them nicely into boxes and put them in the fridge.

I’m confident the husband will duly finish everything before they become not crispy.

And while I was at the supermarket, I saw a particular brand of beer that was selling a set of four bottles of beer that came with two pint glasses!

I love this sort of things (exciting free gifts with purchases, especially when they are real beer glasses) so I decided to be frivolous and buy them.

And in order to celebrate this joyous occasion, I proceeded to summon everyone for a totally random and last minute mini beer party that night.

I love how sporting my friends are.

Beer hats courtesy of YL who had attended a real Ocktoberfest party somewhere else that night.

Lock came from a wedding dinner so he was wearing his newly tailored shirt and pants.

He has lost soooo much weight!

This is what people mean when they say someone has 瘦了一圈. He has lost 30+ kg since he started on his weight loss programme at the start of the year.

30+kg... that is almost the whole of me!

I mean, we’ve known each other for more than 10 years and this is the slimmest he has ever been. And he is STILL losing weight!

By the way, this is a picture of him at 2010 New Year’s Day party at my house vs. him currently, 9 months into his weight loss plan.

I’m not sure if the difference is so great in the picture, but in real life, it is AMAZING.

And the best thing is, he is on a very sensible (and obviously effective) weight loss plan. Weights at the gym everyday and watching his diet (it helps that he works at home and eats mummy’s home cooked food). No newfangled diets and crazy dietary restrictions. Life is still pretty much normal for him, just a lot healthier.

I mean, afterall, he was about to have beer at my house.

YL skillfully pouring the beer after Lock’s colossal failure at his attempt.

Look at how much froth he created!

My beer froth was really two fingers thick! Expert!

But... no matter what, bottled beer still tastes lousy compared to draft beer. So I only had one bottle.

This is in line with my mantra nowadays... since I don't drink much anymore nowadays, I should NEVER waste time and liver bile on lousy drinks!