I got problem

I found myself getting slightly irritated/upset over small incidents that happened over the past few days, making me wonder if I've grown more disagreeable (for the worse...) or more opinionated (for the better?) recently. Coincidentally, they all happen to be service-related. On Friday evening, met up with some JC friends at Cafe Cartel. Now, they have this system of writing down orders on sheets of pre-printed paper, which is then passed to waiter/waitress who processes it. But then because we didn't all arrive at the same time, each person who arrived late had to individually put down her order on a separate order sheet, pass it to the waiter... who in turn churns out a new bill... After 3 changes of the bill, I got somewhat upset over what a blatant waste of paper this system was...I almost wanted to submit a SSS! only that this wasn't public sector haha. But they didn't have feedback forms. maybe coupled with the relative lack of attention we got from the busy waiters/waitresses, was thus pretty dissatisfied with service.

Then on Sat afternoon I received my credit card bill from DBS, who conveniently enclosed this 07/08 rewards booklet for DBS cardmembers. However, cos I have a POSB Everyday Credit Card, was pretty surprised that I was sent rewards booklet too. I never thought POSB credit cardholders were given the same privileges, so I assumed that we were suddenly eligible and happily called up the Customer Service hotline to check my points... but was informed by officer on the line that only DBS cardholders were eligible for the points... I guess I felt rather cheated and so expressed my dissatisfaction that if so it was misleading to send us rewards booklets too. I felt sorry for the officer who had to politely accept my negative feedback(cos having served unhappy lessees b4 I know what it feels like), and thereafter concluded that it was a marketing gimmick that has failed on me. hmph!

Then just now after class I went to Cedele at Wheelock Place to get vouchers as a prez for a colleague. Cos it has pretty decent (and supposedly healthier) pastries, sandwiches and meals etc. However, was pretty surprised by staff who informed me that the vouchers were sold out, and that they had to order them. According to her, none of the other branches had any more vouchers today either and the earliest I could get any was tmr or Tues. Thought it rather unusual that vouchers had to be ordered... And I was a little sad cos I would end up giving a belated gift. But yeah, couldn't help but wonder why Cedele is unable to readily issue vouchers on the spot. Maybe i'm just a naive consumer with no business sense, but having no ready supply of gift vouchers at your stores certainly runs the risk of having potential customers walk away empty-handed??

Yeah, so I was a problematic and demanding customer this weekend.

The 2-day LO-Systems Thinking course I'm attending turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment. After the CDD officer who recommended it heaped praise on the trainer some 2 weeks ago, I kinda expected this really good trainer, but on the contrary, I really don't quite like her. Dunno why, but it does disturb me when I find myself disliking ppl, cos I deem myself a pretty agreeable person. So towards the end of the course today I was like drifting away and wondering in my head, why do I not like her...? This trainer is supposedly pretty popular, having coached numerous organisations; and has previously even out-sourced her own expertise in this area to the govt of Botswana. And I have to give her some credit for being pretty eloquent and being a good presenter. But it was really surprising for me to find out that she was rather demoralising (several times during the session when participants answered the questions she posed, sometimes instead of being encouraging, she somewhat put down answers she wasn't looking for and appeared to be only seeking 'correct answers' she had in mind). During a Q&A towards the end of the day, when one participant highlighted the similarity btwn another systems theory she learnt and the one the trainer was teaching, the trainer appeared pretty defensive about the superiority of the sch of thought she was introducing to the class and in my opinion was unable to conceal her annoyance when such comparisons were made.. as if other theories would poison/pollute what she had taught for the day! Thought it was rather unprofessional and immature for (SUCH) an experienced trainer to react/ respond the way she did, cos in the first place shouldn't the trainer be encouraging and open such that all the participants feel comfortable learning and questioning what was being taught to them?

The ideas introduced are actually fairly interesting, but unfortunately I have a rather unfathomable dislike for the trainer, who also happens to have this plastered-on fake smile at times. How, no incentive to attend tmr...! Hai, perhaps I should be more mature and give the course another chance :P

Taiwan-bound in 3 weeks!

Deprived of a Sept holiday in Japan, my wanderlust led me to book a budget air tic to Taipei, for a short 6-day trip to Taiwan over the National Day holiday. Thought I was a little crazy to act on a whim within like 2 days, but I know that if I don't 'grab' my chance to go away, I'd prob never get to until next year... so... even though air tic was a lil ex (travelling over national holiday) + I will be stressed (cos forcing oneself to go away during a busy period is never easy) the mini 'break' in Aug is still something worthwhile! (to keep me sane for rest of the year) Once again though, I incurred the wrath of my why-you-like-to-travel-so-much Dad. However, think he's more or less resigned to his fate of having a disobedient daughter. Hopefully he'll get more immune with time lah. I guess his only gripe is that I'm flying there alone. But will be staying with a college friend who has returned to Taiwan briefly for the summer... so I shouldn't be too 'endangered' from travelling alone :) Maybe I'll just like eat, shop and laze while in Taipei...

What's in a bun?

The last thing you'd guess is probably pork-flavored cardboard. Someone sent me this article... Not sure how true this is, but I was REALLY grossed out...

A busy 6 months ahead

There goes my planned holiday in Sept. This was a logical conclusion reached after reading an email at work on Friday. Was somewhat upset that my much-looked-forward-to, still imaginary holiday in Japan has been prematurely murdered :( Briefly moaned to a colleague at work, who found it amusing that I was not upset with the additional work I had to do, but rather at the thought of not being able to go on my holiday. Should I then plan for an alternative destination somewhere closer in Aug??? :P

Have also been nominated by fellow project team members as the 'Team Leader' for my project team (comprising 6 HDB staff from diff depts, working tog on a topic Management is interested in for period of 6 months) Cos members were like... you're scholar ah, sure can one... Am not so sure whether i'm that kind of "sure-can" scholar; but I suppose i'd rather take on the responsibility than to have no one fill the vacuum. However, i) I am the youngest and most inexperienced member in the team and ii) I'm quite clueless and directionless with my own topic now, so am dealing with a mild crisis as to how to actually lead team to do a good job with our topic... Perhaps ppl who know me better are also wondering how come I this kind also chosen to become leader haha. Actually I am asking this question myself, but rather than overwhelming myself with such self-deprecating thoughts again, I'm more curious as to how to really do my TL job well... I figured it might be a slightly head-achey but good challenge to be dealing with :)

One year old at work

Though one year can just creep by so quickly, it's also amazing how many things happen over the course of one year. Exactly one year ago I was this innocent fresh-faced new HDB recruit starting work somewhat excitedly (though also a little apprehensively), wondering what the organization I'm prob going to spend my next 6 years in had in store for me. One year later, think enthusiasm has been doused a little, reality of working life has sunk in; and just today I wondered if I've taken on more responsibilities (than I can comfortably handle) for the rest of the year?
On the other hand, one year also saw my empty wall transform into a treasured personal space for bluetacking photos; friendships/relationships with a few colleagues have also gradually blossomed... and much as I complain about work, I suppose I would not say I regretted starting out at ERU...

Work-aside, I suppose nothing very much has changed in my life... Still as forgetful... still rather clueless about what I really want in life... however feel like when friends start working, you end up with not many ppl to hang out with... also, everyone around your age appears to start getting engaged/married... then you fear the fate of a poor + friendless + jia bu chu qu single whom the govt denies the right to purchase new flats.... ;P

It finally happened!

Ask any female colleague of mine and they will tell you that the unevenly tiled ground around Toa Payoh (esp at the coffeeshop areas) is a minefield for ladies' heels. My high heel finally got stuck in one of the MANY ground crevices at Toa Payoh.... so stuck that the whole slipper came off in the middle of the bus interchange. (This isn't the most hazard-prone zone though) Anyway, it was funny rather than embarrassing, cos there it was, my brand new pretty slipper firmly stuck to the ground...the little flowers adorning the sides looking sweetly out of place. Good thing it wasn't crowded though- I immediately scooted down, half bare-footed, to yank the heel out of the narrow gap btwn floor tiles... and luckily it came off quite easily ;) Ok lah, was unglam for 5 seconds. This has been an adventurous day for my new white slippers. This morning, upon stepping out of my Dad's car, I unwisely decided to take a short cut through some undried muddy ground and got some wet sand on the sides of my slipper, immediately staining it... good thing my attempt to wash away the dirt later in office salvaged most of the 'damage'... Today was also one of those days I decided to be more lady-like and wear a dress... but alas! I still can't prance around very naturally like those well-seasoned ladies who somehow manage to perform daily acrobatic acts of stilettoing. Oh well, I should be at least consoled that my feet only occasionally go through the pain and stress many other ladies put their feet through :)

It's time to plan ahead for my next holiday soon, cos after 2 colleagues go on maternity leave in Oct my only chance of taking a long holiday would prob only come next year... Plus I have my JLPT test in Dec... It's sad that I'm not allowed to travel alone.... Anyone wants to go to Japan in Fall ....... ? ;)

Went on site yesterday, and I still find it rather grueling to go on-site so once-in-a-blue-moon, cos would usually have forgotten all the special policy cases/ experiences accrued from the last site by then. It's such a cheem science to have to browse ppl's info/resale history and such; then have to advise them on their replacement flat/other queries on the spot. We seriously need a SERS Policy 101 to initiate all new officers... even after a year on the job I still feel inadequate. Today's also one of those down days at work. Our relationship with our working partners in other units seems to be going downstream... and I this tiny fry appear to somehow kenah the misfortune of writing things that make these bigger shots mad. aargh. what to do. Small fry is at best messenger only... On such days I get so frustrated and wonder what's the point of doing all I do. Consolation though is that I at least have one or two colleagues to complain to... Actually after my two recent trips to Vietnam and Krabi, I can't help but wonder... why is is that people in slightly poorer places with simpler lifestyles appear to be way happier than ppl in richer places?? Sometimes, we Singaporeans slog all our lives, but at the end of the day, how many ppl can claim to be truly happy and satisfied with their lives? It's so scary to even think about this, but perhaps even scarier to NOT think about this and just blindly work... work... and work...

Princess at home

Cos btwn 9.30 am to 12 pm or so every Sun I'm usually cramming in Japanese grammar/ doing hw last min, I'll just have a quick lunch b4 rushing off to class. This afternoon mum cooked me fried yi fu noodles after I remarked earlier in the morning that I wanted to eat that (I usually request for instant noodles :P). My plate of noodles also came with a cup of orange juice. This orange juice tasted really fresh and sweet, with pulp and all. Only upon bringing my plates to the sink after my meal, did I realise the juicer beside the sink... and I suddenly realised that my mum had made me fresh orange juice. Upon guiltily thanking my mum and confessing that I intended to get her to buy this brand of orange juice again (cos during my meal I had assumed that it was from NTUC or something) she playfully replied, "you dare to ask me what brand ah... Mummy brand orange juice!"

Then while on the MRT today I realised that I forgot to bring my staff pass though I was going back to office. Frantically tried to recall if any of my colleagues would be in office today/ stayed in the vicinity, but figured it would be inconvenient to borrow their staff passes too... so sheepishly called home to report my forgetfulness. (I ought to be slaughtered and have probably been permanently black-listed by my parents as the most forgetful person ever) Mum said she'll think of something... So after my Jap lesson, Dad drove down to give me my staff pass, without any reproachful words on my absent-mindedness (I'll usually get a earful or two). Instead, I was told to be careful, since I might be the only one in office... and throughout my 2.5 hrs stay I got like 3 calls from a paranoid Dad who was worried that it might be dangerous alone... that with no air-con the ventilation might be very poor...

I occasionally do get annoyed from too much 'attention' from my parents. Yet how can you possibly, truly blame people who whole-heartedly wish for your well-being? I frequently wonder what the past year in sg (settling down and adapting to worklife) would have been, without their lil daily acts of love?

yesterday was a good day and today was a bad day.

Yesterday: The highlight of my day came at 11pm, when my colleague and I enjoyed roti prata supper at The Roti Prata House near her place. It's been a LONG time since I had late-night supper with anyone; so chilling out (albeit after a REALLY long day at work) felt really enjoyable and memorable. Coupled with the late night drive on the highway, I suppose it also brought back fond memories of driving at night and occasional late night suppers at Berkeley. Since we had a SERS announcement today, my colleague, the OIC for this site, had to give a briefing to GRLs yest night. I was supposed to help her set-up the equipment and stuff, but ended up staying for the whole briefing as the chinese ppt operator cum clicker. :P Thus ended up skipping dinner... But it was interesting to witness the entire meeting, chaired by my DD and Adviser Mr Arthur Fong. Was particularly impressed by the MP, cos he was REALLY personable and appeared very sincere. Showed no airs, and extremely patient when explaining certain aspects of SERS to the grassroots leaders... though it was a brief, one-off meeting, he easily earned my respect...

Today: Got called back to office to work on some urgent matters, and other depts were not very cooperative in assisting us by giving inputs urgently ( that's what ppl are usually bu4 shuang3 about)... Even got like a mild hung-up by another unit head..! so uncalled for. everyone deserves some basic respect and even if you are busy/tied up/stressed with something, it doesn't give you excuse to behave as such. However upon reporting this to boss, led to some shooting of arrows among bosses... Jing1 cai3 but pretty scary... Also had to deal with another unhelpful case in which other depts' this-doesn't-fall-in-my-work-area attitude resulted in unnecessary back-and-forth shoving of responsibility. Then spent my last 2 hours at work nicely doing up a table for boss. Seriously drained now. Need a holiday again!

Last Sat, my mum finally got her wish to get a family portrait taken at a photo studio. At like 8am in the morning, I got pulled out of bed by mum... cos everyone had to get ready for the 45 min drive across the island (to IMM) for our appointment. Goodness knows why we had to take THE PIC all the way in the West, but anyways, since that was what she booked i just went along with it. After all, my job was just to don my "inherited" graduation gown and look happy :) It turned out to be quite fun lah, cos the lady there helped to put on light make-up (something I'm seriously underqualified at and dun really fancy doing :P) and so i got to look pretty for the whole afternoon; and the photographer was quite fun to work with. There's so much nitty-gritty details that contribute to a well-taken picture... like where/how to place your hands, position your body etc etc. It's cool to be able to master such stuff. Was also very amusing for me cos mum, wanting to look nice for the photo, ended up wearing some funny gown that the photo-studio chose for her... I hope that decision didn't 'backfire'... oh well, I'll know when the photos are ready in about 2 weeks' time :)

Krabi (4) - my cool friends!

Of course, this trip wouldn't have been possible without Shu and Joyce... Below are 4 pics of us I really like:

Shu and I at Bamboo Island beach. Like this a lot cos we just appeared so happy!

Joyce and Shu at Bamboo Island beach... Look how clear the water is ;)

A cool pic taken by Shu while we were heading back to our resort (on the right hand side in the background)... I like the line on the road and how it cuts the pic into half nicely.....!Cheers! pic of the pseudo midnight pj party the very last night. Cos we look a bit siao in this pic, I have to censor a bit by making it smaller haha. We loitered at the local supermarket for at least 1/2 hr that night and came "home" with like ice-cream, yoghurt, sweets, beer and other junky stuff. I was sad when our mini getaway ended... :(

All I've done all week was basically work, work, and work! I so need a personal masseur right now... to soothe my aching back :( I suppose the only (but quite a huge) consolation is that there are a few of us in this together; and having a great team of people to work with makes such a huge difference. I've become pretty cosy with my behind, diagonally behind and next-door neighbor all cos of one huge paper we have to write. Even joked about knocking down the partitions, so that I don't have to climb onto my table numerous times a day to pop my head over to talk... ;) Come to think of it... my behind neighbor and I prob top the climb-onto-table-to-talk list in our unit hehe. There's also another mystery I have yet to unravel.... how come we're all exhausted by 10pm whereas boss, who easily stays up till 11pm nightly to clear our work appears even more energetic than any of us??? I even got briefly suaned for complaining about a backache at a 'young' age... I suppose there are really supermen in this world. ;)

Krabi (3) - Monkey encounters

Finally! My collection is complete. :)
Our half day outing to Ao Thalane was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. We all woke up late; and thus missed the morning kayaking tours; also couldn't really go to the kayaking site further away. Ended up going to this place some 1/2 hr lorry ride away... and according to our guide (featured below) the tide was so low in the morning that it wasn't really possible for tourists to kayak anyways (the mangrove area can be really shallow at certain spots). And turns out that... cos almost no one goes kayaking at like 2pm in the afternoon, we had the entire area to ourselves! So it felt really peaceful and exclusive :)

I went in the same kayak as the guide... and hehe I get to tou1 lan3 from time to time!
Shu and Joyce in the other kayak....

Ah, one of my many cosying-up-to-monkeys experience. Well, when we first rowed out, there weren't any monkeys though our guide kept making noises to attract their attention. Then it all started when he found his 'pet' monkey. She swam across (enticed by the basket of pineapples) from the mangrove plants and then sat quite tamely just beside me/ on the basket/ all over our kayak. I've never had a monkey sit so close to me so it was kinda cool. Imagine its tail thumping on your leg :P Well, I don't have much affinity for monkeys to be honest, but when it was so close-up, I somehow couldn't help feeling a little awww.... Shu and Joyce too got their fare share of cosying-up-to-monkey experiences, though sometimes it came in the form of monkey scrambling-over-your-limbs to pick up pieces of pineapples thrown onto the kayak from the adjacent kayak (by our guide) :P

Our guide knows this wild monkey so well that they could even get 'intimate'... haha. Well, the picture is a little misleading, but our dear lil monkey here is actually more hungry than over-affectionate (trying to eat a piece of fruit that our guide has put in btwn his lips...) One of the things that keeps our guide in this area is the ability to remain close to nature. I think I can see why, even though I can't really imagine doing this for a job. It was an enjoyable back-to-nature kinda outing :)After the first monkey leaped onto our kayak, another one followed suit as we kayaked on... and what shocked me was the lil monkey clinging on to the mother.... its hair was all wet. And mother and baby monkey sat right next to my thigh and stole my water bottle...! Our guide says monkeys dun like saltwater very much either; and thus he fed it bottled water ;) The next pic was taken by my friends when we were kayaking through the limestone cliffs.... it was awesome kayaking through the towering structures.

Krabi (2)

Still haven't consolidated pics so am blogging with some other random pics in this post :)

If you look a little more closely, you might be able to tell that these flowers were actually carved out from soap. Went exploring shops along Ao Nang Beach the first night after dinner and the Thai lady hawking her soap carvings on the street (bigger dyed flowers) skilfully carved out three white flowers in less than 10 min for each of us (for free!). It was really sweet of her. Took this pic in our resort room against a cushion.

One of many many monkeys we encountered on our kayaking trip at Ao Thalane (more on that in a separate post). Monkeys love Thai pineapples....
So does Shi Min! (though I've never been a fan of pineapples) Our guide brought along several pineapples and he had superb pineapple-slicing skills! The one i'm holding up (as well as those on the tray) was almost perfectly shaped like a gear...! I've never tasted such sweet pineapples till this Krabi trip. Not only were they fresh, they tasted even better than your typical preserved and sweetened canned pineapples.
On our third day, after lunch on Ko Phi Phi Don, we had some time to wander around the island. Say maybe one hour. but the three of us were stuck in front of some shopfront for at least 15 min.... cos there were THREE unbelievably cute kitties lazing around. So the three of us were like scooting down and trying to take pics of them for like the longest time. Ppl must have thought that we were mad.
I ended up with quite many kitty pics. But looking at this one, I suddenly realized maybe the puss-in-boots in Shrek isn't that unrealistic after all.... :)

Krabi (1)

Had tremendous sunlight overdose the past 3 days or so and was unsparingly bitten by omnipresent mosquitoes. But... Krabi was fun! i guess cos we had unexpectedly good weather, not-so-many fellow tourists and good company. Though beaches were a little overhyped, I still enjoyed driving/kayaking/speedboating through the many many limestone cliffs/islands all over Krabi. Such amazing works of nature :) I was rather upset at having forgotten to bring along my specs for the trip, but it somehow made me more used to my daily disposables, so i suppose it was a blessing in disguise. This trip will also bring back yummy memories of sweet thai pineapples, close encounters with daring monkeys and... my virgin attempt to snorkel :P

Haven't taken many pictures with myself in them in a while. still trying to exchange trip photos with friends, so in the meantime will blog with "non-ppl" pics. First, beach photos... Though I visited several beaches, you realize after a while that your pictures all start to look the same.....

The famous Maya Bay at Ko Phi Phi Ley, where The Beach was filmed. It was one of the nicer beaches, cos the sand was really quite fine and pristine here. You could even sit in the shade beneath the limestone cliffs on shore.
Beach at bamboo island. Only after taking this pic did I realize that I might have inadvertently intruded on a Caucasian couple... they weren't kissing, but up to your imagination what they were doing.
Another picture at Bamboo Island. The waters were really clear here...
Ao Nang beach, about 5 min walk away from the resort where we stayed at.

And so I was 'rebellious' and did all the things I was 'forbidden' to do... but cos weather was great (too sunny, actually) and activities seemed safe enough :) Ah... it's back to work tmr morning though, so had better turn in like now.

*Gone Krabi-ing*

Happy holiday to me! I'll be back on Tues night :)

11 months into work, I think I finally feel like I'm finally 'one of them'. I mean, I guess I have been on good terms with all my colleagues all this while, but only recently did I feel like I'm actually starting to know them well enough to be a little 'bad' to some of them ;) Or like do naughty things... tease ppl etc. Not sure how this happened though, but I'm really happy it did. Have also taken to tou1 lan2ing in other ppl's workstations sometimes ;) Work-wise, I am also starting to take things in my stride-- even when I do things wrongly, not as well as I would have wanted to (getting upset as a result) I've learnt how to control emotions better... And for better and for worse, I've recently become a little more gungho in making my opinions known.. just a little bit. But when I get a little outspoken, I get amusing comments like...."wah, cannot tell Shi Min is like that...." Yeah lah, I know I look very meek. :P

3 days countdown to my trip to Krabi! No one believes me that I dun have a swimsuit, esp cos swimming/snorkelling is pretty much what you can do there... Hai. Shall attempt to dig up my 5-yr-old swimsuit and hope I still fit (too late to jian fei), else I'll really end up alone on the beach while the other two are somewhere in the middle of the ocean marvelling at sea creatures... :(

Listen to your mum

Ting ma ma de hua is another mummy-inspired song by Jay Chou. I've stopped looking out for Jay Chou's new cds etc since perhaps a year ago but i'm positive I've heard this some time back. Never really bothered to find out title of song till I borrowed sis's DVD to watch... and ta-da... rediscovered this song and cannot resist playing it again and again :) However, it's one of those songs that few ppl can master and disastrous for KTV. You can watch the MTV here! (a little blur but it's free)! Thought it was kinda silly to have Jay Chou and the little boy waving their hands (somewhere in the middle of the MTV) for nothing... and wonder if his beigy flowery jacket was really given to him by his mum... if NOT he should have replaced it with something less obiang :P Nonetheless, really liked the deco of the room, what with astroboys, teddy bears, interesting posters and toys. Also got to see what Jay Chou looked like when he was a kid (towards the end).. He resembles his mum...and hey! from prob age 2 onwards, he already had his look.... :P

Lazy Thursday

My day started late today. Wanted to get the family to go watch Shrek 3 with me, but it only opened today, implying crowds at the box office, thus sis voted against it. As such lazed about the house the entire afternoon. Finally managed to pick up my JLPT 2 notes towards lunchtime, only to be distracted by a DVD movie my sis borrowed from the library. Surprisingly, this 1987 movie (Qiu1 Tian2 de4 Tong2 Hua4, i suppose the title rings a bell since there is the TV serial Korean by the same name) starring Chow Yun Fatt and Cherie Chung was highly enjoyable. And touching. It apparently won Best Picture some time back in the 1980s. Set in NYC in the 1980s, it actually took me quite a while before I figured out where the film was set, hai, quite lousy. :P Though some parts of the romantic drama was kinda predicatable, still really liked Chow Yun Fatt's character -- a fobbish Chinese "ringleader"-type of figure. Hilarious during the typical fob scenes but really endearing at the more 'tender' moments. Tis a pity he seems to have taken up more ornamental roles in those big-name-director/Hollywood productions these days.

Give me anything.... whatever...

If you've been watching TV recently (or just keeping your eyes open in general, since these ads are all over the place), you prob would have noticed the two silly telly ads on a new local product- Anything (carbonated soft drink in 6 flavors) & Whatever (6 non-carbonated types of tea). My mum has been getting rather irritated with these ads (You can watch them at their official website here) , and calls them "wu liao", but i guess the concept behind this product is somewhat interesting. According to the managing director of the company, he came up with this concept cos ppl always say they can have "anything" or "whatever" when asked what drinks they want. I think I can somewhat empathise with that. However, I tend to think that most ppl DO NOT really mean it when they say they can have anything/whatever. Like, they have these few drinks in mind, or these few beverages they always drink, but am prob not dying for anything in particular. Anyway, just for the novelty of it, my colleagues and I went to NTUC after lunch to get a few cans of these beverages (It's buy 5 get 1 free now at NTUC!) and I tried a Whatever. I believe I got White grape tea, but thought it tasted kinda bland. The can has very general ingredients (so as to keep under wraps the identity of the drink) but I was just curious... Doesn't like AVA require detailed nutritional info etc to be displayed on the can? Seems somewhat unSingaporean :) In any case, I think such unpredictability is a little too much for me. I do not like buying cans of things whose contents are a mystery... If I'm craving for something, I'll need to tikam (for a long time if I'm unlucky) before I can get the drink I want. Somewhat of a torture if you just want a familiar favourite drink eh.

Flower jargon

Someone from the WWW just came to my website and identified two of my 'flower' pics! That was pretty cool :P To be informed of the scientific names of my plant subjects. Was also told by this Mr/Miss Botanist that the 'orchid-like' flower I snapped in HCM City is actually not an orchid, but a Trumpet Vine. Upon looking at my own flower pic again, I realized the difference. When on my National Orchid Garden tour, our guide told us a simple (and usually accurate) way of identifying an orchid. He said something like orchids usually have this lower 'lip' petal that looks diff from the rest of the petals. Which is true-- my flower pic didn't have that extraordinary 'lip-like' petal. :P

To the Botanist who left those comments on my blog... Thanks for those educational titbits. Haha though I wonder if you were so mortified to see the flowers either unidentified or incorrectly named that you thought you should educate this ignorant girl a bit.. :P Do you work at the Botanical Gardens?

Confessions of a mini shopaholic

The Great Singapore Sale has started! And I've bought 6 things in the past 2 days. Oh dear. Sale will be on for almost 2 months...! i will need to avoid the shops from next week onwards... else will really go broke. Sales are evil cos they cheat ppl into thinking that the merchandise is worth buying when in the absence of one, you might not have bought the item(s). I really tried to be more discerning when shopping and conscientiously considered the above when making all my purchases. Sadly that still didn't eliminate that many candidates from my list haha. To absolve myself from the sin of extravagance, I consoled myself that these were all pretty value-for-money purchases, and that I'm just buying everything at one go now... and that if i didn't buy these things at the START of the sale, they would all be gone (or i'll be left with display pieces) if somewhere later this or next month I decide that I do want to get them... :P Aiyah, in any case, my life is so unhappening... need to pamper myself from time to time.....

For your frivolous info, here is an incomplete and biased list of ongoing sales I can recall off the top of my head (as at now and might not be 100% accurate :P) ...

1) m)phosis: 50-70% sale.
2) ZARA: No sale. Boo.
3) Mango: 10% off
4) BHG (formally SEIYU, goodness knows why they changed to such an awful name): think 20% off, but >20% on selected items
5) Esprit: 10% off only if you have Citibank Credit Card
6) G2000: Up to 50% Sale. Think additional 20% off if you have DBS credit card
7) Little Match Girl: 20% sale storewide
8) Pazzion: 30-50% off older collection
9) URS: 10% off (+10% if you have UOB Card)

Hehe, shall look out again when I go walk walk in Orchard after Japanese class :)

Heavenly chocolate fondue

went with colleague to a HDB-organized food event at Swiss Culture Restaurant earlier this evening. It was a pretty good bargain cos for $20, we got a soft drink, creamy pumpkin soup, cheese fondue for appetizer, black pepper steak for main course, chocolate fondue for dessert and a tiny glass of tiramisu for dessert-after-dessert. Cheese fondue was yummy, but the chocolate fondue really won me over. The chocolate was just so good that I couldn't resist drinking spoonfuls of it.... a fellow diner at my table followed suit :P Ah... so sinful. To be fair, I haven't really had choc fondue anywhere in Singapore before, so there might be better places that I'm unaware of... but if I were to choose one thing to have here, I'll definitely vote for the chocolate fondue :)

Two good movies

Priceless (Hors de Prix)
Caught a light-hearted "romantic comedy" starring Audrey Tautou (who acted in Amelie) this evening. I think she holds an uncanny resemblance to Kirsten Dunst, but maybe like a dark-haired version. You can watch the trailer at the above website, though if you're French-illiterate (like me) you prob wun really be able to navigate much there... Anyway, thought the show was quite entertaining... and you get to see all these expensive items that the super rich can afford.... so it was kinda eye candy too :) Makes you wonder how many ppl really get married/ attached for love?

The Painted Veil
This i watched some time ago in two parts on my flight to HCM City- half on the way there and half on the way back. That I liked it so much despite having my movie "cut" into two says something doesn't it? Excellent dialogue and acting... (I loved this bit whereby Naomi Watts character tells her mother, "The idea that any woman should marry any Tom, Dick or Harry regardless of her own feelings is simply prehistoric"). Feel that the characters in the movie really develop and grow on you... Even the disgust I felt for Edward Norton's character turned into some kind of affection towards the end.... haha. I shall get the VCD when it's available; it was on screens some time back in Jan :)

Was in a rather foul mood this morning, due to various little things that have been bothering me. And then was late for my morning aerobics class thus decided to take taxi to Simei... which led to Dad commenting that I had poor time management blah blah. Then coupled with his 'There are huge waves and it's tsunami season at Thailand- you should not be going there' last night, I somehow lost it and said something hurtful like why do you have to interfere with everything i do... then hurriedly left house. If there's one thing I did right after coming back to Singapore, it's probably signing up for an aerobics/gym membership. Find that exercise purges like bad thoughts and destresses and felt quite a bit better after the hour-long workout. Then regretted losing temper in morning, cos after all parents are just concerned. Sigh, but am feeling too proud to apologize. Sometimes we keep hurting ppl who matter a whole lot to us, but yet we can't bring ourselves to say sorry. Then you secretly hope that they are aware that they are actually very impt to you...

NParks tour

Day 2 of MND Induction programme and was brought round Botanical Gardens in work clothes and heels (ouch) by NParks representative. Was pretty educational and even got to tour their herbarium... preparing plant specimens is no simple business! And, did you know that our $5 note features an ancient Tembusu tree that can be found in the Botanical Gardens?? haha. maybe you already know that and I'm just ignorant. :P Saw this tiny leaf near their 'cool house' in the National Orchid Garden. It's so cute. Love the curls and the pretty veins on the furry leaf itself. Then while in the cool house I saw some tourists and decided to be friendly. So I asked where they were from. Was pretty surprised to hear 'Iran', cos I didn't have the impression that we get many tourists from there. So I tried to strike up a conversation and told them that Shirin Ebadi (Nobel Peace Prize Winner) came to my uni to give a talk before. But somehow they couldn't get my English so didn't really manage to carry on with conversation.... Nonetheless, I mo ming qi miaoed got grabbed to be placed btwn two big-sized ladies in their picture. Felt like a zoo exhibit for a minute, but whatever lah :) then disappeared to rejoin my own group after picture. I don't usually get the luxury of having such random lil experiences on a proper work day :P

I'm participating in this MND Induction Course today and tmr; and will get to visit the National Orchid Garden tmr with like 30 other relatively new recruits from other stat boards under MND... today was fairly unexciting but hope tmr will be better. And it had better not rain again! Weather's been really weird- when it's not scorching hot it pours...
***
Finally visited a non-chain Japanese restaurant (2nd one after my resolution earlier this year to sample 'independent' Japanese restaurants) at Cuppage Plaza just now. Food was decent but sadly I still can't decipher many things on the menu. Shall return next time to sample other items. Also had sake ochazuke but strangely all the chazuke I've tried in Singapore can't seem to measure up my first (Teaism) ochazuke back in Washington D.C..... but the funny thing is, I believe the Teaism branch (aside from using fresh salmon) actually uses an instant mix for its ochazuke! But i think cos it's like very salty and flavorful I love it :) Perhaps the real thing's not really supposed to be like that... Later adjourned to Cathay Ben and Jerry's for my all-time favorite Dublin Mudslide. I actually try not to eat Ben and Jerry's in Singapore cos it's exorbitantly expensive. $4.50 for one tiny scoop when back in Berkeley I can get a whole tub (and eat it anytime I want) for the same price! hmph :( very bu gan yuan.

good thing that this past week has been relatively less busy for me and I was able to gradually recover despite the blasting aircon at work. So i went from croaky coughs and blocked nose on Tues to almost full-recovery on Friday! i feel so happy to be healthy again. Also spent the first half hour of Fri filling my workstation wall (I sit at the corner) with more pictures, and when I gave one colleague another sunflower pic, she reciprocated with a tiny sunflower bouquet later in the afternoon! totally made my day. somehow felt like i ought to treat myself post-recovery and after working relatively hard for things i don't feel much for.... so splurged on hair yesterday evening and went shopping all afternoon today. hehe. Great Singapore Sale why aren't you here yet. hai. Time to 'buck up' a bit next week... cos have done nothing much at all this week at home; skipped Japanese last Sun and neglected study since my mock test before leaving for Vietnam; and have been sleeping as much as I can... though it feels GOOD to be lazy once in a while, must exercise both mind and body again soon!

Suddenly fell quite sick over the weekend, what with a bad cough and persistent fever. Not sure what caused it, but glad that i'm much better today. This episode also made me realize that falling sick is never a 'personal affair', esp not for me in Singapore... even when you try to hide your illness by secretly taking pills from past consultations, it's easy to get found out by parents... and i guess i was suddenly sick enough for them to be sufficiently worried! Work also gets affected when you go MIA. Had better take better care of my health from now on!

Flowers!

I somehow manage to take pics of flowers on every trip; and this trip is no exception :)

Cheery sunflowers in bloom... You prob wun be able to guess where I took this pic -- Changi Airport Terminal 2! I didnt know they had a neat sunflower garden tucked away in one corner...

This picture's a little blur -- but I think you can still see the animal. Well, we were on our way to Ben Tre Province to take our boat ride and stopped on the way for a toilet break. This toilet strangely had many pretty orchid-like flowers outside... While we were happily snapping away, my tour guide plucked one flower and started, to my horror, peeling away the petals and stigma... But before I knew it, he had transformed the flower (shown below) into a cute white rabbit! I instantly fell in love with this flower-rabbit... hai. if someone made it just for me I'll be happy for a few hours... :P

The original flower. Dunno what kinda flower this is, but it's probably an orchid? So pretty... :)

Faces of Vietnam

Aside from Vietnamese women dressed in flattering figure-hugging ao dais, I also came across many "ordinary" folks- hawkers along the streets, people toiling away in handicraft workshops, friendly waitresses in restaurants... though communication was still a prob in many instances, I felt that most people I met were all quite friendly and helpful. Was particularly impressed by how many Vietnamese working in touristy places spoke Japanese! (some even better than English). Anyway, hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did taking them :)

This was snapped in a hurry while on my tourist van. And the expression of hardship on the lady's face still makes me feel a little unsettled whenever I look at this pic. According to my mum, those huge fruits on the ground contain our atap chees (those white chewy things you get in your ice kachangs)...

Rice paper production in action. Lady was really skilful and nothing tore... I still can't figure out how something so thin can be so "untearable"! These wet sheets were later put under the sun to dry...
Lady packing coconut candy into packets... Every single candy is wrapped up in white wrappers by women with superbly nimble fingers... This 'coconut candy factory' was on one of the islands tourists were conned to go to haha. Basically the tour guide brought us on a Mekong River boat trip-- a not-so-picturesque boat journey spanning one whole afternoon and island-hopping btwn 4 rather obscure islands on the river. But since you've already paid for it, why not just be happy and make the best out of it? :P
Worker polishing a piece of lacquerware-art. There were many such lacquer-art on sale in HCM City.... and I never expected the production process to be so arduous and labor-intensive till I got to witness for myself what went on behind the scenes... This man was quite friendly when I somewhat guiltily asked for a picture... just cos you know... i'm like "capitalising" on ppl's hardship by taking a picture.

Little boy squatting by the road beside a scale at his grandma(?)'s durian stall. There were several informal stalls selling fruits etc when we were on our way back from Ben Tre Province, the place some 1.45 hr bus ride south of HCM city, where we took our boat cruise...

Vietnamese women taking a lazy afternoon nap in a wholesale Market in Cholon, Vietnam's Chinatown. Erm, thought it was rather odd that they just sprawled out like that....

Soldier at the Cu Chi Tunnel demonstrating how soldiers could disappear into the extensive system of tunnels underground. This was one of the 'holes' and seriously after he placed the wooden plank over his head there was no trace of him at all. Amazing how resourceful and innovative ppl can get during times of war. Somehow this guy reminds me of a plumper version of Julian Cheung... and his silent upward stare (at tourists photographing him) makes me a little uneasy... cos he feels so submissive.

My HCM "motorcycle diaries"

Ho Chi Minh City has to be the motorbike capital of the world... Nothing there fascinated me as much as local folks zipping around on their motorbikes... day in day out... everywhere... rain or shine... Given HCM City's status as Vietnam's "economic powerhouse", witnessing some 10 times more motorbikes than cars on the roads (or more) was truly surprising to me.... Cars certainly appear to be a rare commodity- the occasional 4-wheeled vehicles i see around are either taxis, tourist vans/buses or public buses...
Motorbikes have such a HUGE presence in HCM City that the gas stations are primarily motorbike gas stations... 'carparks' frequently only have entrances only big enough for motorbikes to enter... Local markets even sell ready-made hats/face masks to gear motorcyclists up for the weather/pollution etc. No doubt motorbiking seems like the most convenient and cheapest way to get around...but it sometimes appears really dangerous too -- with 2 or 3 passengers on one motorbike being a very common sight. But perhaps it's also necessary-- ppl really don't seem very well off and you probably have to make do with what you can afford. On the other hand, I couldn't help but feel that motorbiking can be a good bonding experience-- for couples/ families/ friends.... there's this element of navigating treacherous roads together? I for one would probably cling on to the person in front for my dear life if put on one of the motorbikes for my very first time.

Tourists also dun have it easy... Crossing roads have never been as challenging for me...! there are pathetically few formal pedestrian crossings and frequently motorbikes do not adhere strictly to traffic rules... From time to time these tourist security guards will bring you across the road, but most of the time you'll have to rely on yourself. well i do believe that motorcyclists actively try to avoid pedestrians but sometimes they only manage to stop when they are like 30 cm away from you... So to sum it up getting to the other side can be harrowing at busy times of the day even if you make it over unscathed! It also doesn't help that I sometimes had a squealing mum clinging on to me :P Prob not too great an idea to bring your toddler or grandma.

After so much blabbering, I shall let the pictures tell the story :) I actually took quite a few pics, but cos most of them were taken while "on the move" from my tourist van many turned out blurry. These are some of the better and more interesting ones...

Colorful motorbikes on sale in a shop...
The "garang baby" model -- kids are frequently placed in front of the motorbike and this is one example... The kid in this pic even has a veil over his head, i guess to filter out the polluted air..Garang baby No. 2... Actually I feared for this kid's safety... The lady (presumably the mum) is riding with one hand... I really take my hats off the Vietnamese. dunno how they manage.
The "Sandwiched Baby" model... Another place to put your kid is in btwn two adults... The mother-carrying-newborn shown above is not very common... I saw many kids sitting in btwn, or better still... standing in btwn on the seat!People also somehow manage to transport all kinds of things on motorbikes - Our CPU warrior being an excellent illustration. Seriously -- travelling at high speed while holding on to a not-so-light CPU with the other hand... certainly takes lotsa skill.Last but not least, motorbiking in foul weather. It drizzled a little on the 3rd morning and while in my van I saw many motorcyclists stopping along the road to put on ponchos and other rainy-day gear. I couldn't help but wonder what happens to the millions of motorcyclists in the city during heavy downpours...?

Shi Min is off to Ho Chi Minh City tmr afternoon for a 4-day respite with mum! haha and proudly declaring that I have yet to even pack... am too lazy now to do anything now after a busy week at work.... should be fine lah cos it's just a short trip and it's not like winter or anything. hopefully trip will recharge me a little... and hope to get some interesting shots too :) will be back Tues!

I think I am beginning to understand why some colleagues have so much leave balance, that some people even have to carry forward their 2005 leave balance to 2007. Because there's sometimes no incentive to go on leave. Not when going for a break comes at the cost of tonnes of emails in your inbox and lotsa catching-up to do. So I really admire those ppl who really make the effort to go for (often much-needed) breaks. Sometimes I can't help but question... why is there so much work to be done at times? Why is there so many things to go around?? who churns out things and why do they keep increasing if people cannot manage and are forever missing deadlines? I have yet to make sense out of all this. One colleague also quit recently.... so in this "sunset period" she has appeared to be relatively freer than most of us. Couldn't help but fantasize a bit that such a choice was readily available to me. Hai, and somewhat embarrassing when boss actually not-so-subtly remarked just now (I believe with ref to some of my recent assignments)... "eh, you have quite a few typo errors"... Where has my heart flown to?

I have been extremely clumsy lately -- have been bumping into many many things in my way... Even when exits/doors/railings etc were obviously not blocking my way, I can blindly walk into everything. Good thing they weren't severe enough to cause a series of blueblacks on my arm... Also somehow managed to walk into the partition separating workstations when exiting one colleague's workstation. When the 'exit' technically has enough room for 2 persons to stand side-by-side. My bumping caused a minor earthquake of the partition; she and I both also couldn't stop laughing at me, cos it was the 2nd time i've done it when walking out of her workstation... Why haven't I been able to walk straight these few weeks??

Tonight I also have bloodshot eyes from unsuccessful pinching of contacts... :( having disposed of old permanent contacts, recently finally got down to getting disposable dailies for occasional use. But slippery nature of these disposables has made them extremely elusive for my untrained and "rusty" fingers... Well, i finally managed to get them out, but not before rupturing many blood vessels.... sigh. now i dun dare to put on a new one again :P maybe I should consult my optician on best pinching techniques...

Sunrise

I usually dun have the luxury of watching the sunrise, but caught sight of the beautiful vermillion sky early this week when having breakfast. And thus rushed to balcony to capture the pretty sky. So here it is... nothing beats just sitting there for a few min and marveling at the beauty of nature. This picture has somehow diffused the orange and reds. It's been a busy week for me, with our on-site registrations and house visits again. And without really realizing it it'll be Friday tmr! Hopefully I'll zip past the next busy week and then get a well deserved tiny holiday next Sat cum weekend.

On some days I'm just struck with the harsh reality that there are so many aspects to life... esp after I started working and got to witness people at different stages in life. I get 'reminded' that there are and will be many things I will deal with and face at later stages of my life, whether I like it or not, cos these are just things that will soon not or later come up. Last week, the sudden demise of a colleague's father came as a slightly shocking piece of news to me. Earlier this week, I also found out that a colleague was pregnant. Then, a day later when I found out that another recently-married colleague was also pregnant, I somehow couldn't suppress my unfounded surprise and apparently had this look of disbelief on my face (aiyah i mean it shouldn't be so surprising, but I guess I was like in shock for 3 min cos suddenly find out about 2 pregnancies in 2 days mah). Since my antennae was always either spoilt or half-working, I tried to confirm with this colleague (who divulged the news) that there were no more pregnancies I ought to be aware of; to which this colleague amusingly remarked, "you know, this kinda thing is ongoing... but for now I don't think there are anymore lah, unless got accidents..." Anyway, moral of story is it somehow made me wonder if I'll ever like step over to other stages in life, or would I always remain as status quo? And made me wonder if ppl actually progress to other stages ready and well-prepared for the new 'challenges' ahead? How do ppl decide or know that this is really what they want?

Pepper Crab Outing

The first outing of our 'singles club' was an outing to a kopitiam place called Eng Seng Restaurant at Joo Chiat Place, famous for its pepper crabs. There were originally 11 of us, but our group shrunk to a mere 4 after many casualties arising from having to stay back at work etc/ family commitments last min. I was tempted to stay back to finish up my work too, but alas! decided to go ahead with the outing planned weeks ago. So, after the last member of our little team managed to get off work, we rushed down in a taxi for our food :P The crabs here are so popular that they run out by 7 or so on Fridays, but we managed to call up the coffeeshop beforehand to reserve some crabs. Nonetheless we were told that they will be 'given away' if we didn't reach by 7.15pm. Thus the mad rush. When we reached, there was a long line and we were told that even though we had reserved our crabs we still had to join the queue to wait for tables. Auntie there taking orders also seemed a bit pian1 xin1 and appeared to take orders first for her shu2 ke4s... Nonetheless, when we finally got our food, everyone tucked in immediately. The crabs were yummy, esp with the rich pepper sauce. But cos I haven't had pepper crabs in some 5 months or so I don't have any basis for comparison. I should check out more places.... We also ordered cheap but good chicken wings from an adjacent store; and adjourned to Parkway Parade after dinner for durian ice-cream dessert.... aaah... I'm still feeling bloated from my dinner cum supper!

On some days I get so demoralized and frustrated at work, but I realize that I'm not the only one who feels this way. Boss gets his fair share of frustrations and I bet his job is way more stressful than mine. So are some other colleagues'. But how do these ppl manage it... ? And even though I'm 9-months-old at this unit, I am nowhere near competent at what I do... it's really quite pathetic but I sometimes console myself (excuses, excuses!) that this is natural given that I never chose to do what I am assigned. Sometimes I feel so pent-up but yet I can't blog indiscriminately given that evil regulators lurk out there waiting for you to say something incendiary and then alert authorities to have you put in jail (ok i am exaggerating). Maybe I should talk to my frowny care-bear instead. Work-aside, I have also been feeling unhappy about various things in my life but things don't just happen whenever you wish for them to. Nonetheless, I concede that you have to work hard for things you want. After all, life becomes easily becomes boring and unchallenging if you get EVERYTHING without doing anything.

Totoro in HDB Estate
Jeannice recently gave me a tiny Totoro from Hokkaido... which i've put up on the windowgrille of my new room. And on a slow Sat morning I was inspired to come up with some silly pictures below... Globalisation has brought Totoro to the HDB estate.The view from my window, with Totoro watching over me ;P

A good friday

Yesterday marked my first night in my new room! yeah.. about 4 months after I announced that I would be getting my own room :P didn't get a whole lot of furniture... only a simple bookcase that doubled up as a side table; a bedside table cum drawer and a new wardrobe-- cos my sister's and my clothes were literally spilling out of our old wardrobe. since it's impossible and wasteful to just dump all old furniture, also reused some old pieces and so room looks kinda like an odd fusion, but still ok for my liking... hee... will decorate my walls over time. it's fun to be able to do up your own room... and to 'mark the occasion', i went out shopping for lil things I could get; and found a cool cushion cover (which i now find a little scary actually cos it's a half-face-half-motifs design) at The LIFESHOP at Raffles City, at half-price. (It's a cool furniture/lifestyle store, but sadly, most items are way above my budget...)

Also volunteered for the first time as an usher/ticket-puncher at the National Museum. task was quite simple, and caught bits of a very interesting Syrian whirling dance performance. at the end of it all, was also asked by staff to be one of two girls to present bouquets to the director and main performer... that was really quite random, but since no one knew me anyway and it's just presenting of flowers, i did it quite unreluctantly haha. but yeah, quite a good experience overall. not to be blasphemous or anything, but it was really a 'Good Friday' on the whole...

The Lives of Others is an excellent film. The first 20 min or so was a little hard to get into, but soon you'll get really drawn into the whole story... I love how it ends... I think not reading any synopsis (or a really brief one) would make the film more enjoyable/more impactful... pls only read the plot summary on wikipedia after you've watched it! Catch it at the Cathay Picturehouse before it goes off the screens ;)

2Q resolutions

I find it hard to introduce changes into my normal routine; cos whatever self-improvement drive I choose to embark on would inevitably eat into my sleeping/resting/bumming time... but perhaps small steps will help? And so, the 3 small things I set out to do are ONE: Be a more conscientious Japanese student and stop doing homework only at last min. This i've been trying to 'implement' over the past 3 months or so but haven't been very successful. It beats me why I bother spending $300 for each semester, only to remb sufficient grammar and vocab to do my weekly test. More discipline!! Also splurged on an electronic dictionary last week; if I don't study harder I suppose i'm really throwing money into the drain :( TWO: Exercise more. I've come to appreciate the importance of exercising, but I don't do enough of it. But... this will take time lah. slowly slowly... shall aim to eventually exercise twice a week or something. Should also be a good way to force myself to get off work more punctually. THREE: This is not really a resolution, but I've been trying to think about what things really matter to me/things I enjoy. Under the influence of that inspirational book i read some weeks ago, I have been trying to figure that out... so last Sunday I revisited the good old Bras Basah Complex and all the arty shops there... feels a little like finding things you've lost. Gone are the sec days where I could spend literally 4, 5 hours in the art-room just drawing one thing, or putting together a little part of my art project; yet not feel that time has been 'wasted'. Sometimes you wonder, have certain things been 'rightly sacrificed' and why have they been sacrificed?

Why are rubber bands red

today was our annual staff conference and each staff was given $1.50 coffee allowance. Since not everyone can fit into our auditorium, we are given the choice to watch the live telecast at various spots within the dept. But we didn't. (Ppl however get a kick out of watching things like our DCEO modeling our new corporate uniform on stage-- that was during another recent award ceremony :P) anyway, so our support staff suggested getting nasi lemak for breakfast instead, and so this morning everyone gathered at the table for a brief nasi lemak respite (haha more like inertia to work cum form of escapism)... and cos diff ppl had slightly diff choices, some packets came tied in blue-colored rubber bands (quite rare)... when we were finishing up someone asked me to pass a rubber band (to secure the trash) and it suddenly struck me as I was handing over the good old red rubber band to a colleague -- why are rubber bands usually red?? When i posed the question to colleagues, one claimed that cos the rubber seed is reddish... then another interjected -- but latex is white! no conclusion was reached though. well, in Singapore rubber bands i've seen are mostly red; some yellow. So why red? when I reached home and quizzed my Dad, his guess was that since most things aren't red it's more visible when rubber bands are red. I think that sounds like a logical reason... but then... why not purple?? not many things are purple. why not orange?? why red?? is it also cos red is primary color that's easy to 'mix'? what's your take? :)

I find it so hard to do things I dislike but have to do... though it's a natural tendency for all of us to do what we like.. it's a sign of weakness not to be able to do things you don't want to yet have to. I need to become stronger... !!

Film-crazy!

3 film-related snippets in today's post. I watched The Adventures of the Prince Achmed at the National Museum yest evening.... made by German filmmaker Lotte Reiniger, it's apparently the first animated feature to have a worldwide release; and the first surviving full-length animated feature in movie history... the National Museum commissioned a local musician to do a soundtrack for this silent animated film and it was pretty cool, cos she performed 'live', too. Was awed by how she created such a magical animation film with lotsa craft (intricate and beautiful paper cuttings) and minimum technology...
Film snippet no. 2 is that the Singapore International Film Festival is coming up! can check it out here...
Last thing is that I'm going to show a documentary for colleagues over lunch! i've blogged about this before... it's Joyce's cool final year project, Singapore Standard Time... :)

Holiday in sight

keen on a holiday in Vietnam and forced by Dad to take a packaged one (esp cos I'm going with my mum) I braved the crowds yesterday evening and went for the NATAS fair... It was, expectedly, very crowded. and place was quite badly littered with flyers.... well, that's not entirely surprising considering that visitors are greeted by a line of flyer-distributors once they enter the exhibition. The omnipresent flyer-distributors are also stationed near the escalators; alongside the queue for buying admission tics etc etc. Aiyoh, wonder how much paper is going to be wasted... someone should put a recycling bin or two outside the exhibition hall. Hmm, anyway, and so I'll be going to Ho Chi Minh in a little more than a month's time! yay. but yeah, very short getaway lah. but at least it's something to look forward to :) better go and "chop" some leave come Monday morning...

I've always felt unlucky about getting one of the oldest CPUs in the unit, which can only take the low-speed USB drive... and which has caused me a fair bit of inconvenience. But my luck seems to be improving... I got my chunky monitor replaced by a brand new 17-inch LCD monitor screen yesterday; and was told that I would soon get a new CPU, too! yay :) Well, I don't get chio Fujitsu laptops like some other lucky civil servants *ahem* but yeah, one should not be too greedy huh. Also just got myself a new Japanese CD... I quite like some of the songs, but very unfortunately I really don't like how the Japanese-Korean-studied-in-Hawaii singer looks.... I seldom have such a problem, and singer is not like ugly or anything... she just has that hiao2 look which I cannot really stand (thankfully you can't really tell from pic on the cover else I will have to face this look everytime I play my CD) and as such I don't think I will buy any of her other albums.. least not till I can get over this. Hai, i can't believe this is coming from me :P haha but i tried....!

throat has been 'acting up' again of late, perhaps due to insufficient rest and me trying to do too many things even on weekends. as such dryness, and feeling of something stuck in my throat has unfortunately returned. that got my dad worried again, so he accompanied me to the doctor once again to check that nothing's wrong with me. luckily, doctor said symptoms might just be 'remnants' of my sore throat last week, and that I should get better with time. She prescribed me more medicine, and I now have a full range of throat medicine, ranging from anti-inflammtory pills, mouth gargles to numbing lozenges... hmmph. I guess I am well-stocked for similar ailments in future. And I'm officially on a full MC today! figured I should just rest well once and for all. however will miss out on Swensen's treat this afternoon, which boss is giving, having been officially given Management's stamp of approval as unit head. Nevermind, I shall rest well and try to make full use of the free time today -- these days it's so rare to have an entire day of personal time!