Pple at MND seem to indulge in long lunches, even though we're supposedly busier than the stat boards. But then again, I suppose it depends on which division you're in, cos our next door CC girls always end up "fasting"... Or only go for lunch when it's really time for tea. And then some ppl "complain" that Housing Div ppl can go home on time... I suppose it's all relative. But seriously, even when we're busy, colleagues and I seldom torture ourselves by skipping lunch... Something good to keep up! :)

Well, the variety of food places here is certainly wider than at Toa Payoh. If one's adventurous, there's certainly no lack of new places to try out. And just last week, several eateries in this new Maxwell Chambers building opened shop... Only gripe is lunch crowd doesn't seem to diminish despite more eating places around.

Yesterday I also decided to create an UP effect by ordering many many balloons for dt... Was rather excited about how it would all turn out -- and I wasn't disappointed! :P Perhaps the most anti-climatic thing was that the buyer seemed way more excited than the recipient... heh.

The cheeky acrobat of Duxton hill ;)

M.N.D...

Hehe, i'm in the D&D comm again... but everything is in-house, so I'm putting my photos to good use.... Came up with the following publicity banner... nice? ;P

F1 weekend

It's my first time going for F1... We were seated at the Bay Grandstand yesterday night; but still kinda far away from the cars for me to capture any very good shot (no zoom lens either)... So very sadly, my best picture last night turned out to be of the poetic moonlit (F1 lights-lid?) Victoria Theatre.... Actually it looks a bit eerie hor ;) Maybe I'd have more luck tonight.. And hopefully the haze wun be as bad..

Wedding buffet@The Line, Shangri-La Hotel

The dinner yest was Part II of the Sat wedding, and the dinner buffet at The Line was really yummy... Hee, as usual, I was most taken by the wide selection of pretty desserts, and went quite camera-happy taking photos of these sweet treats... Managed to capture quite a few shots before most of the guests and other diners streamed into the restaurant :)

Dinner set-up @ Table 3

Pannacotta with raspberries...

Oreo Cheesecake - hmm, looks a bit deceiving lah.

Berry Yoghurt Cake -- tastes as good as it looks!

Creme Brulee galore!

Quite unfortunately for me, the above is only but say 50% of the desserts I tried... The oysters, prawns and salmon sashimi were also really yummy! Time to exercise today...

Cupcake fetish

Attended a wedding dinner yesterday evening, and the cupcakes on our tables were so lovely...

青花瓷

I know I very slow but I only found out the title of this Jay Chou song when watching "我要唱下去” on TV after dinner... It must be the most difficult song to sing@karaoke! But it has such beautiful chinese-poem lyrics... I shall learn this song one day + the meaning of the lyrics hehe.



青花瓷

素胚勾勒出青花笔锋浓转淡
瓶身描绘的牡丹一如你初妆
冉冉檀香透过窗心事我了然
宣纸上 走笔至此搁一半
　　　　
釉色渲染仕女图韵味被私藏
而你嫣然的一笑如含苞待放
你的美一缕飘散去到我去不了的地方
　　　　
天青色等烟雨 而我在等你
炊烟袅袅升起 隔江千万里
在瓶底书汉隶仿前朝的飘逸
就当我 为遇见你伏笔
　　　　
天青色等烟雨 而我在等你
月色被打捞起 晕开了结局
如传世的青花瓷自顾自美丽 你眼带笑意
　　　　
色白花青的锦鲤跃然於碗底
临摹宋体落款时却惦记著你
你隐藏在窑烧里千年的秘密
极细腻 犹如绣花针落地
帘外芭蕉惹骤雨 门环惹铜绿
而我路过那江南小镇惹了你
在泼墨山水画里 你从墨色深处被隐去
　　　　
天青色等烟雨 而我在等你
炊烟袅袅升起 隔江千万里
在瓶底书汉隶仿前朝的飘逸
就当我 为遇见你伏笔
　　　　
天青色等烟雨 而我在等你
月色被打捞起 晕开了结局
如传世的青花瓷自顾自美丽 你眼带笑意

Butter Pork Ribs

Mmmm... I love the butter ribs at Two Chefs at C'wealth Ave... They are utterly sinful, but also irresistably yummy! It's the cereal prawn equivalent, pork-ribs style hehe. Sigh, I was intending to jian3 fei2 today one...

Today I co-organised my first PS gathering at our MND karaoke lounge... The turnout was surprisingly quite decent; and the delifrance mini pastries and Jpops (Mini versions of donuts from J.Co -- My co-organiser commented maybe they are the "holes" from donuts "recycled" into another marketable product) were quite popular! Hmm, unfortunately order too little food and I didn't really get to eat what I bought... Maybe I shld order a box of Jpops for myself one day hehe. They are really quite cute and bite-size. I suppose the snacks matched the largely-girly crowd's taste buds... Which leads me to my next point..

That the crowd at MND is so much younger as compared to HDB. We recently seem to get at least one "sweet young thing" a week. That aside, for once most ppl seem about my age, except for the bosses. Gone are the days when lunchtime talk revolved around kids falling sick and kids gg to sch :P But only rewind a bit lah, colleagues talk abt getting married and getting their own place... I suppose that's still more befitting for my age than all the nursing/rearing kids talk ;)

Still gymless...

The gymless me decided to try out Fitness First at Capital Tower yesterday evening... And i spent close to an hour fighting imaginary enemies in a Bodycombat (something like kickboxing) class yesterday evening, tog with like a ton of other adrenaline-charged sweaty companions... Though class was not bad and quite a good workout, somehow the crammed studio and high density of fellow exercising humans put me off quite a bit... So after session I decided to sneak off before the sales executives come bugging me to sign up for a package. Alas! The careless me left her driving licence behind (had to exchange id for locker key) and had to go back today to pick it up... Luckily I only had to listen to sales pitch for less than 10 minutes. I suppose I appeared clearly disgusted with the unreasonably high 'membership entrance fee' and 'admin charges'. Why would anyone in the right mind pay $500 to become a member at the gym. Though it's currently slashed to $9, such a ridiculous marketing gimmick failed to work on me...

So I'm still gym-less... The "informal" bike club i joined havent open shop leh... heh :P

Clueless

Once in a while, I'd lapse into the what should-I-do-with-my-life mode. But nothing never really happens in the end. I'm too inertia-ed to act on my whims. I'd frequently think abt this nagging question after reading an article abt some inspiring personality who has made some v admirable/remarkable contributions towards the poor/ needy in some developing country. But then I'd soon forget all about it till the next inspiring role model interrupts my status-quo-life again. And it's a vicious cycle- little ideas well up in my head, and these waves of intended action recede and disappear soon enough, traceless... And before I know it, I let trivial worries take up my attention and sap up energy to seriously think about bigger goals in life.

I need a breakthrough of sorts! What is there for me to pioneer! On hindsight, I cannot help but think what the Z&C gang once said abt me is rather true - i'm the half-boiled sort... where's the determination to follow thru?

Change

I discovered this gem of a Jap drama some weeks ago when family was channel surfing on cable TV... And I've started watching this jap political drama right smack on the eve opposition party DPJ wins the elections in Japan :P And surprise, surprise, Kimura Takuya plays elementary sch teacher-turned prime minister.. His life very good, always end up getting these fun, meaty roles... Not sure how realistic this drama is, but well, definitely a fun way to learn more about Japanese politics I say :) Can watch everything FOC at mysoju.com!

And a good way for me to relearn my Jap... :)

I'm Gymless...

My gym membership ended two weeks ago and I'm now gym-less 'cos I was too cheapo to pay for an unlimited package just to access the AMORE Living at Tampines One... Sigh, can feel fats accummulating already. If only there were HDB club-houses... Maybe HDB can branch out into the health business and set up affordable, accessible gyms in the heartlands... Maybe we can have void deck gyms, managed by Town Councils... And then the Town Councils would come to me at MND and curse at the idiot who thought up such a silly idea :P I suppose this is me putting on the "spoilt resident" hat, wishing facilities were all at her doorstep. But sigh, seriously, me needs to find a new gym that wun bust my budget... I suspect I'd end up gg back to AMORE, having to settle for the Bugis/Park Mall branches... :(

I've a friend (W) and an ex-boss starting grad sch at Berkeley this Fall. Apparently my PS' daughter is also gg to Berkeley and would be taking the next week off to escort his daughter there... So envious :(

So W is staying in Albany; and would be within walking distance from Solano Ave/ Ranch 99 and El Cerrito Plaza... Sigh, even mere mention of these functional places conjures up fond memories... Even routine activities like hopping into my lovely ex-car to go grocery shopping at Trader Joe's... Or driving to Jacqui's place to hang out... Going to Oakland D&A for the 3-vege-1-soup Chinese dinner that would only cost say $5 per person? Even gg for classes (that you chose and wanted to do) was nice. Sigh, dun think already... one needs to accept reality and move on :P

Hehe maybe I should take off and go studying again one day...

I found the long weekend and day off extremely restorative... Despite having to drag myself out of bed early Thurs morning, I was surprisingly awake and energetic even after tennis in the evening... If only the work week were reversed -- such that we get 5-day weekends ;P

Though I freely indulged in the buffet spreads during the weekend retreat, I hope I made up for it by exercising quite a bit too... And somehow after coming back, I feel a bit more pysched in keeping fit :)

A welcoming entrance...

View of the pool with lazing vacationers on deck chairs...

Walkway leading to the rooms

Desserts! There were yummy looking (and yummy tasting for the most part) desserts everyday.. heavenly ;)

I thought this pond was a mutant grass patch that supports water lilies... Yeah, it was that covered with those green thingies... maybe duckweed?

Laze, eat and sleep

Had a lovely lazy long weekend in Club Med Cherating (Malaysia) where life was comfortingly piggish ;) Hehe, I shall indulge in fantasy world for another day before returning to hectic pace of work on Thurs...

Public Enemies

Rodents, crows and pigeons have managed to top list of "public enemies" lately... Actually I dun really notice them very much, but they are apparently quite a nuisance... leading to complaints after complaints and MPs asking questions on how Town Councils carry out enforcement. You birds and rats have also created trouble for me cos I have to provide inputs on you to MEWR...

One day countdown to weekend getaway! :)

I finally get a decent weekend this time round! I'm really a lazy, like-to-do-nothing bum at heart, but somehow circumstances have led me to lead a rather fulfilling and somewhat action-packed life of late. So it's been a work-hard/play-hard week and a half. In btwn my busy work schedule, I've managed to: Check out Changi Village, indulge in simple $1 yam ice cream from ice-cream truck uncle and cycle at East Coast Park last weekend... This week I managed to lunch at Il Lido, Sentosa (farewell for boss), check out french bistro place at Shaw Centre and Ion Orchard (which seems like a decent shopping mall, unlike the chapalang Orchard Central... sadly, many stores there will NEVER be within budget). Also fully worn myself out with Labrador Park "games night" yesterday. And cos starchy food selection at Amoy is making me fat, I disciplined-ly dragged my tired self to gym class this morning...

And before the week ends tmr, I would also have watched Public Enemies, play at Drama Centre and attended boss' wedding@Goodwood Park hotel... Hmm I need rest!! Thankfully, that should come next weekend, when I shall be unpatriotic and slip away for a short getaway... :)

Relish, Cobbler Uncle, BHS Uncle and the Teochew Porridge Grandma.

Life this week (so far) has been a lot less insane. It would be great if it can remain this way, then I'd be sufficiently occupied at work, yet not too drained to do stuff after working hours.

Checked out Relish at Cluny Court yesterday evening... Have been wanting to try their burgers since a while ago, but somehow never really got down to it. The deco was quite simple, but fun and quite tasteful. Especially like their white wrought iron gate front and the white little antiquish "reception table" with curvy legs... The burgers were quite decent, but somehow I still prefer their sister restaurant Wild Rocket, with the best strawberry cheesecake ever. Somehow the version at Relish just didn't taste that authentic and shiok :P But it's quite pricey for such a sparse dessert... Perhaps I can learn how to make it for myself one day.

I've also been wanting to blog about the interesting Maxwell characters I meet around my workplace. They are mostly ordinary old folks, but somehow they each add their own special touch to the place. Character #1 is Cobbler Uncle. Every morning without fail he sits by the sheltered linkway linking Tanjong Pagar MRT to Amoy Food Centre... With his stash of rubber soles and other tools... He's usually working on one shoe or another, and I'll occasionally see a customer sitting patiently while Cobbler Uncle breathes life into the broken shoe... Such individuals/ trades are such a rare sight today, and somehow I feel happy that he's still fiercely guarding his simple trade/skill... Well, at least that's what I assume it is. Maybe Cobbler Uncle really laments everyday why he has to set up stall every morning to earn a living. But somehow the peaceful look on his face suggests otherwise...

Character #2 is Blast-hokkien-song Uncle. I've only bumped into him twice, but that was enough to leave a pretty deep impression. He's really quite a character because who on earth these days wheels a funny decorated cart around (with flower sticking out, collected cardboard and other paraphernalia). BHS Uncle seems to stick around only in the evenings, and this evening he was parked at the little park btwn Tanjong Pagar MRT and MND Complex... enjoying his little piece of hokkien-song infused territory... One day I shld try to figure out what his cart serves as... perhaps he peddles merchandise...

Character #3 is Teochew-porridge Grandma. Who sells teochew porridge at a stall at Maxwell Mkt... Their teochew porridge is quite yummy :) The best thing is that all the liao4 is always cut into pieces by this teochew-speaking old lady. E.g. When you order things like fishcake, or dao3 pok4, she will lay that piece of liao4 on her round wooden chopping board, swiftly cut it into more bite-sized pieces, before transferring it to a dish for her hungry customers... Dunno leh, somehow I think she very li4 hai4... I wonder what I'd be doing at the age of 70...

Hee ok, enough blogging for today. Perhaps next time I can blog abt the Haig Rd market hawkers... :P

I'm just not cut out to work very hard. Why do bosses ask for things over the weekend all the time! They should just go hire more ppl to share the work.

Though life feels a bit tough during this transitional period, am so thankful for support from loved ones... Every Sunday I am also reminded how wei2 da4 mum is. When I came home this evening with empty stomach, she instantaneously cooked me my fav instant noodles. While eating, quietly watched her help sis make "Little Indian" headbands out of vanguard and colored paper; cos sis needed those for her schoolkids' performance. Somehow her careful gluing of these technically "not her business" strips made me really touched..

Today... I'm halfway done.