Budget or Actual Procurement

I wonder what the education system has done to some peeps. Or they don't grasp the concept between actual vs budget. Obviously, when one ask for actual contribution, you will give the ACTUAL amount you intend to contribute. Not a guesstimate..

Being tied up with work , an ambiguous reply like, "I will contribute abt $XX",  is sure a firestarter to the eruption brewing within.

Tsk. Let your one be one and your two be two. It's not gonna make the person's collating the information any easier if he doesn't clarify if "abt $XX" is
(a) "$XX";
(b) "less than $XX";or
(c) "more than $XX."

It's not like how much you wanna budget to say, for a trip. The messsage was clear - we are getting the thing the next day, so please let me know how much you want to contribute. An estimate of your budget is not very helpful right. what if your intention is less than? and you get billed more than? (anyway, by eliminating the "abt" can save you 3 characters in your sms.) Would the party be offended?

Anyway, just wanna be sure, i replied with "ask just to confirm, you wanna contribute $XX rite?". Maybe I'd stepped on the landmine again, but eh, oh well, the S-11 thingy is touchy to some, it's better to get things sorted. (Else, I'll have stepped on another landmine in the same location....) Oh well.. a mug with a crack, no matter what brand of superglue is used to mend the crack line will still be there.

Crab Fest - Black Peppered Edition

Finally, my crab-loving buddies of mine ventured out to a new (to us it is new!) "crab-out" venue. We tried the famous black pepperd crabs from Eng Seng Restuarant. Having read reviews online that queues formed very early before dinner, we reached the coffeeshop at close to 4pm. And we have the luxury to choose our table! * We were the first customer - sorta*

Other than us, the only patrons eating were two felines - eating their fish-shaped biscuits!

 Two HUGE crabs and a small plate of sambal kangkong (kangkong was ok.. just need some fibre u s were shared among the three of us .  And personally, I kinda like the buttery black peppered sauce.. :)The occasion was birthday dinner to celebrate Mr& Mrs Wang's birthdays! (both july babies!!):) Some pictures to document down the memory... :)

 

Two huge black peppered crabs! (abt 3.2 kg!)

Posing with biRthdae girl  

~ See how huge the crabbies were!!~

the shell pileup ~ mine!

Subsequent to the huge crab lunc-ner( it's lunch cum dinner for jac & i), we strolled to parkway parade.. ain't too far away.. prolly took us like 15 to 20 min? * I think* :)


Spent the evening catching up with the lovely fun couple.. :) @ olio dome outside borders... lovely place.. not very packed, but then again, it's a Sunday evening..

 

The drinks that we took and i like the cozy ambiance of the cafe!

Lastly, credits to my SE phone without which, there will be no pix uploaded here.. :)

i ♥ my w705. Yeah, iPhone has its cool/ fun applications, but I've a iPod, a shuffle, a digicam..  and my phone is a better cameraphone! :) * okie, it's only a 3.2 Megapixel but it has flash.. and better music player.. (alright, i'm still a loyal SE user!) but that aside, i may still consider a iPod touch ~ should the iPod decided to retire.. :)

Surprises....

I guess most people like (pleasant) surprise. I do too.. BUT I don't like to be kept in suspense..

A close colleague of mine, Y, (sad... only ally left in the team in less than 1.5 months time cuz my other buddy, W, has tender her resignation .. SObs! ) and I sprang a surprise on another colleague of mine - R. It was her birthday today and we bought her a slice of her favorite opera cake (with the bday tag and a candle). Needless to say, she was gleeming with joy. What a nice way to start your birthday right? sang her a birthday song (w/o the God is blessing you now part.. oh, ya, she's from chc too...) :)

Since I knew R like surprises - i popped R's pressie (nothing very exp,. but nicely wrapped) and my homemade card - which was born last minute last nite..(which explains why it was similiar to another earlier creation..read on and you will understand what I meant..  ) in her in-tray after lunch... She was very touched lo.. esp the card.. haha.. the limited edition hermione's creation (it was similar to another sweetie's whose birthday fall in july too.. but i just haven't get the chance to pass to her yet - including her xmas pressie... haha..). Glad to make someone's day.. felt like an angel.. :) The pix on the left is the card waiting to be given to the recipient. (Was in a whirlwind, hence didn't get to snap R's card. But the design is very similar.. just that this card has more substance written in it.. cuz it's for a good friend ma.. fellow resident of pasir ris.. ahha)


somehow, the office peeps didn't know abt this hidden talent of mine.. haha.. cuz think the only recipients of the home-madies will be my cgm/ close friends.. ? the privileged ones.. haha.. though some might have taken it for granted.. but oh well, it is something that i enjoyed doing.. and hey, it's on my tab one lo (though my ex-ex cgl felt that it was necessary to reimburse me for the cards made = at least for the raw materials.. the only season that i get reimbursed for the cards.)... And ya, keep those if you happen to own one.. haha. cuz it's limited edition and haha.. who knows I might become famous one of these days... ok daydreaming...(technically speaking , it's in the morning at the point in time I'm typing away... )

Glad to be angelic for a day.. and thanks kei for the sms.. yep, i was a semi-钟无艳 on thurs.. cuz i saw things that i don't  really like... and the disdain towards that was like my disgust towards 臭豆腐, very difficult to make it like it, let alone taste it (alright i tasted both the HK and Taiwanese and i detest both.. )..  sigh.. dun wish to elaborate... I'm not like xx (like how she blast out a really long post at the innocent writer who simply just rave abt iPhone..).

Time to sleep.. as much as i don't like it, i still have to go into office later.. to fulfill quota of eliminating cases or else ... head rolls (mine). Sigh.. a small team oso have politics.and its so petty.

497th

okie.. the SHAPE run result is out... Out of the 2553 ladies who ran the 10km, I am in the 497th position. Alright, I know i could have done better... still am within the 20 percentile.. not too bad la.. Aiming to slash the timing next time. :)

Some pix snapped during SHAPE run,with rongz' friends.

with the huge poster...

with rongz's cg mates and friends... (before they tore down the signage!)

Thin?

Certainly not an attribute that I associate myself with.. So I was pleasantly surprised that buttercup said that I sure look thin in the pic I posted on yesterday (the SHAPE pix).. So i print-screened for evidence. :)  lalala. :)

hmmmm not that I'm that thin though.. my arms still look huge! None the less.. I am happy that the pictures do not emphasize on the size of the arms!

okie... I am in the process of acheiving thin-ness .. fingers-crossed.

MCP OR Status Discrimination

Over the weekend, my department secretary enlisted my help to move the closed files again (which involved moving the files from the active area of the compactus to the 'close area' - all in the bid to buy time to microfilm cuz the old folks don't like to view microfilm when searching for info - I just recovered from the sensitive lungs and by right, I ought not to be in contact with the allergens.. AND it's NOT that there aren't able-bodied males in my department on duty. Not one by TWO (which represents 100% of the male population in my department). Mind u the paper files were thick and dusty (and both the secretary and i were super sensitive to dust.. and the secretary is close to 50 years in age? while the able-bodied males.. one in early 30s (the AM) and one in early 40s (the SM)..

Did they offered help? NO. Not one finger was lifted. They can even joked with us that oh, it's 1230 le, not leaving yet? - With still rows of files blocking the aisle - can you leave the office halfway? ANd please, out of the 3 hours in the office.. 15-20 min spent eating brekkie (they came in at late.. ard 915-930).. perhaps, chatting and doing some (minimal work) i.e. not of urgency.. cuz the AM (by physic is Not frail) actually asked.. "what are you all doing? Building pyramid?"

I was peeved... hey, if you aren't offering your physical strength, don't ask the obvious questions.. I replied "No la, we are just playing with dust!!" His senseless reply was "No wonder i see particles flying around!" the secretary and i rolled eyes..

Hello.. men are deemed to be physically stronger than women right? How gentlemanly you guys appear to others when the ladies were like shifting files while you are chatting away, eating breakfast and occasionally working... *btw, I think both are technically speaking believers.. doh* I guess its their status - cuz to them, those lower in the hierarchy oughta do the dirty job! Hello - my JD does not entails manual tasks too.. and please, everyone in the department use the files .. should u just offer your help too? Even the SM from accounts came and ask why don't you get the two guys to help? *(cuz in their department, everyone will chip in to help in these tasks.. - irrespective of title)

Nah, they are probably just males.. Not men.. merely males by birth (and stated on their identity card on the item "sex") Ego & pride - HUGE.

They may have the position and title, but not character. Huge turn-off!

Clarity

I guess things that were once blurred are getting clearer..
The density of the unknown is lifting...
I need to get the stagnancy out..
Need to be uncomfortable again..
Else, why do i need faith?

I crawled for 63 minutes

Shall i give myself a pat on the back or a whack on the butt?

Oh yeah, i OVER-drank again.. and in bid of the full bladder syndrome... I was slowly crawling back after I hit the return part of the 10km.. *still it's faster than the 1hr10min clocked on the standard chartered 08.

Reported my timing dutifully to e.. Was given a edict to rerun and clock under 45. *so evil* hey, i was on inhaler until Thurs.. :( and didn't really get to train much a couple of weeks before that... And okie... plus the coughing.. okie.. loads of excuses.. I could have push myself more on nicoll highway... but i was going like a real SLOW jog.. Sigh.. :( Maybe I should sign up for the GE run in nov for a retrial.. The competitive nature in me wanna do that.. AND a high chance that I will.. lalala.

I think I could have hit the 50min mark.. should i not drink like a camel.. sobz.. and ya, train my lower body muscle grp as well.. sobz.. okie.. redemption time in oct then! :)

will register for standchart 09 this weekend.. should be doing the 21km.. NO FAITH to do the full marathon yet. and the GE run too. sigh.. *but i don't like the fila tee*

But i was proud of the fact that I still cabbed down to JW after phototaking with rongz and her friends and served for choir.. ahha.. i still have the energy woa.. meaning.. i didn't give my 110% during the run.. guilty. lalala... next time, won't forecast to sing on race day. lalala

 

taken b4 the run.. :)  - I'm still alive and kicking.. :)

 

After the run.. messy fringe.. I should get a cap!

Looking forward to better timing @ the 21km next mth! SHould be better cuz nothing to compare with! HAHA.. But starting to run @ 530 is no joke.. the earliest ever did a run was during the MAD tekan days of training camp during my vnr days.. haha..but that was like a decade ago!! But i was like 10kg heavier than.. ahhaa.. lalala..

Shall resolute to sign up for the two runs this weekend.. :)

Up @ 4 AM

With a pierced left sole and nursing a recently recovered respiratory infection. I ought not be running today.. ahha.. but I guessed I should be fine.. haha.

Aims to finish the 10km by 50 min though e set the lower range of 45min.. *at least I've the excuse to fall on should i fail (see the first sentence.. haha)

Woke up at 4 to drink like a camel before a trip in the desert, made my healthy brekkie. and refuel my body..

preparing to leave now.. meeting rongz.. yay!

the long nite...

Hate the change in weather... always resulted me in having the nagging cough.. Sheesh.. the Shape Run is on this sunday..  hopefully the stuck in the throat feeling will dissipate asap.. *by faith*..

Went to the gym before heading to eugene's birthday party near home.. (oh yeah, it's just a stonethrow away.. . haha.. yep, I'm that near the rows of chalets...  Not the landed properties.. * Nah, my dream neighbourhood will be east coast.. :) * Can't help, I grew up in Marine Parade.. lalala..

Anyway.. it was a long day @ work and I was darned.. peeved.. the main source of work I oughta be doing can't be moved.. cuz I was bogged down with all the GST stuff - (which by right, is out of my position's JD ... and yep, it not all bright and cheery as it may seemed... lalala.. ) time to move? * afterall, one of the colleague that I'm rather close to has just tendered... and nope, she has yet signed on the dotted line of another offer.. just that she's darned unhappy - oh well - same source of peeveness as moi.. Sigh.. Afterall, a pet phrase of mine ~ Change is the only constant in life.

Anyway, I was very glad & happy to see Jieyin & Shujun @ the bbq . Else, I won't be like that kookaburra that sits on the old gum tree. (cuz the second line goes - merry merry king of the bush is he... ) Thank U gals.. :) And not forgetting Tristan..Okie, I am very human.. that 5++ minutes while was quite a torture.. cuz what u wanna avoid is @ your 12 o'clock! Doh... bit by bit okie..

Anyway, feeding other with the cooked food is more fun than eating.. * I am evil. I enjoying feeding others with what I can't eat! * lala.. *Side-track ~ Caught the evilness from e. haha.. he practically "tortured" me for the innocent one-liner status of my equinox lunch.. *

Cut my right thumb while washing the tongs.. with primitive hand soap.. and bare hands.. (no sponge!) It was oooooooouch.. Needless to say.. i bled.. haha.. but thank God there's kitchen towels and ice... it sorta halt the bleeding BUT right thumb decided to bleah again after I reached home an hour later @ 2. So..I cleaned the wound.. which was still ouch!

 

Clockwise(from top left): 1. The jagged cut from the sharp & oily tongs! 2. I applied aloe vera gel after cleaning it with antiseptic solution... 3. The only stuff found in my bathroom that can serves as medication - Aloe Vera Gel *since its supposedly a healing plant.. 4. Can't locate plaster - used a non-ahesive surgerical pad and surgical tape and secured it. 

One hour later.. it's less angry looking..

 

See! Just one red dash! 

Tired.. Going to tampines one later after work to donate my twenty pieces of pre-loved clothes.. (10+ of then were the unsold from the carboot sale..) It's the SWOP party ! Charity and recycle my sorta unworn clothes that is too big.. :)

Yay! I can eat more carbs today! :) getting ready for the run.. * I think my torture will begin after Shape run.* Sigh.. e is gonna "reconstruct" my lower limbs in preparation for the safra run i think.. sobs.. ahha.. *

Lunch @ Equinox

Nah, I've not turned into 爆发富 overnight and dine @ fancy resturant at will. It was my mom's birthday, hence, my bro & I took her out for lunch @ Equinox - (and solve the problem of the SG Flyer thingy, since from Equinox, you get the birdeye view of the Singapore urban landscape too..) Plus point - I'm a free rider.. haha or I can take it that it's a birthday treat, 4 months advance!)

Some snapshots.. :)

 

my appetizer! I dun take oyster.. so settled for plenty of smoked salmon & a few crab pincers and prawns.. Nice and succulent! :)

 

  

My yummy main course : Grilled Salmon in golden miso sacue (resting on a bed of mash -named in a fanciful name..)

Assorted desert - I <3 the butter bread pudding (the heap with the sliced peach).. And the mixed berries tapas is so good that I drowned three of them! :)

Strawberry & Orange sorbet with pecans & walnuts.. Yumz

more dessert! The dark choc moouse is great! :)

My sparkling Perrier with lemon!

Some snapshots of the view outside..

  I like the panorama view! *thanks to my w705! :)

  

 

I like this blink blink moet! :)

Ended up feeling very bloated after the feast - but seriously didn't eat a lot. I think my stomach has shrank.. haha :) At least, I ate minmal junk! :) no fried stuff.. just the sinful dessert.. oh yeah, I forgot to take pix of my choc foundue fruit! :)

down the memory lane

As chc approaches its 20th anniversary in August, it thereby also marked my 8th year in chc. :) *yup, I came (& responded) during the 12th anniversary, haha.. it's like my 8th birthday too.. :)

My zone leader, Steven,  gathered a few of us "old birds" (dialect translations of those who are of more senority level in terms of age, etc..) and we reminisce on the old times.. :) Pretty much agreed with what eugene said, that it's pretty amazing that how we are all connected to one another in someway.. I mean, most of us started out from different zones, and yet, we are all now in the same zone. :)

My contribution to the "retro" nite was a few of the printed pix (that were taken in the "film" era) of the last service @ hollywood theatre (before the shift to JW) and some random cg pix (with the N79/N181 era).. Pretty glad that to have some of them in the same room as I was - eugene & ivory. :)

relish the memories.. :) but ya, in these 7+ years, certainly was not a plain sailing journey.. with the plateaus and the valleys, and the mountains...but without which, it will be too perfect to begin with. No experiences will be wasted.. so yeah, the tears and the toil will not be in vain. :) lalala

Glad that I went instead of zombified at home - despite of my MC - difficulty in breathing.. was finally bought over by the fact that I need the inhaler.. so yeah, taken 6 puffs so far, getting use to it. * Determined to recover asap, since I got the run this sunday..*

time to sleep now.. :) tata

dilemma

Okie, received this message earlier in the day from jimmy. Alright, I fulfill the criteria - I am confident of learning that performance song - I learnt it last Tues. (Pretty easy song); I'd missed only 2 of the prac when the song was taught. Yet, the catch of the day - attendance is compulsory for next tues & wed.. (wed is no prob, the issue is tues)* The added clause - there would be a combined meeting next tues. *cgl said its up to me if I wanna attend when I informed her regarding the performance thingy.* And we are encouraged to be asked to be excused from the meeting.


Hmm, there lies dilemma, I wanted to be part of history - I don't foresee myself being in choir still come another 20 years... but on the other hand.. I don't wanna miss the meeting.. haha.. there's only one me and hence, I guess I know my priority. :)

But I've yet replied her.. 

Pushing the limits...

Did my final run for the week... ran a total of of 22km (8km on sun, 6km last evening, 8 km this morning..) Was not intending to run this morning but in anticipation of the feasts I'll have later ... *i'm going equinox for lunch! - celebrate mom's birthday.. *

I was actually trying to convinced my mind that a short run will do.. but somehow, a inner force within is not that pleased that since i'm at it, I might as well run the full distance.. Pretty satisfied with the timing in spite of the little effort put in - haha... so i should be ok for sunday...

But God reminded me.. if I can push myself off my physical limits, there are a whole lot more new grounds i could cover too....  just that I've yet done it before doesn't mean it's not do-able.. Faith is a reasoned trust.

okie.. ponder later... time to feast!

it's a small world afterall...

Didn't realised that a colleague @ work was my senior in dhs until last evening... Actually was not keen to hitch a ride from him cuz.. haha he's a man of few words and ya thought it will be akward to be in the same confined place with him till where he supposedly to drop me off - near his place @ kembagan.. oh yeah, he's kinda cute but that's beside the point.

Hmm the journey home was not half as bad I thought cuz ya, we did manage to find things to chat about cuz at least there were like common ground like.. school.. oh yeah... he too was from acc.. but amazingly, never saw him in the entire three years despite being the same batch... haha..

Was indeed surprised that I got a ride all the way back home - that I really didn't expect cuz it's like a bit out of the way since it's a detour of say 15 minutes? * not that i'm complaining.. :)

Being a curious cat.. Went back to dig out my year book... and ahha.. hey and pesto.. I located the class photo - and he looks kinda familar ... very studious indeed - very prefect like.. :) then to my horrors of horrors.. i flipped to the pages of the lower sec class - oh gosh... i was one big char siew bao then.. hahaha...
*glad that now i dun look like that now.. haha *

oh well, it's a small world afterall.. :) glad to find a dunmanian @ work. :) haha.. now i know why he so cheena.. - wa.. haven't heard my peers using chinese to describe fringe - which is 流海 .. :) recalling good memories of my sec sch days... :)

Black...

For once, I wonder why people kept asking why the shade on my face was the colour I donned from Monday to Friday... Okie, not many people, just three..

Eh.. I was just feeling tired on sunday..peeved that I overslept. Glad that I am not late for choir call time.. Dun think my face remained the colour of overcast throughout rite?

Nah, the seasonal situation doesn't bore an impact so huge on me that result in me trying to do a 包青天.

lalala... :)

@ pre-dawn hours

It's a few hours before dawn, and my stomach is growling .. but that's not gonna stop me from what I am gonna do after reading this post from pst Phil's blog.

I like what Pastor Phil said -
Thanks is about what He (i.e God) has done for me (personally)
Praise is about what He does.
Worship is all about Him.

Well said.  :)

Newton's Laws

Alright, I may not look like a Science student.., yep, despite of the fact I do hold a bac (acc), I only encountered accounting in year one ntu. oh yeah, was a science student until I decided I did not want to study engineering after jc ( my silly combi in jc being maths c, further maths, econs and physics). Physics being my least favourite subject of the three sciences (biology, chemistry and physics), was something that I don't really grasp. Alright, I appreciate the fact that the mechanisms of most of the day-to-day stuff involves physics laws (just that what makes the door open..) but that's not gonna make my day.

What stuck in my mind was the three laws of motion and in someways, the laws is applicable not just to the motion of objects.. but evident in other aspects of our daily lives.


Newton's first law ~  aka the law of inertia
Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

Yep, this law somewhat reminds me of my life... I was enjoying the easy pace of life (of doing nothing out of the comfort zone) until A Voice spoke..

Time to break away from the inertia.. :)



Newton's second law ~ F= M*A
The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors; in this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.

Sorta related to the above. The greater the encounter with God, the greater the impact it will have on your life - the more your life will move towards that very purpose in life.


Newton's third law
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. 

This law always come to mind when I am alighting the MRT. The typical scene when a train approach. Throngs of bodies form a line of defense in front of the door - as if to block the commuters who wanted to alight. A person with sane mind will know that in order to put more things into a stuffed box, you will have to take out some of the existing stuff in the box in order to put some other things inside the box.

Going by this line of reasoning, a good proportion of the commuters in singapore does not reason sanely. Else, why would they be blocking the doorway and thus preventing the alighting passengers from getting out of the train cabin that they are trying to get in. When does the 3rd law comes in? When one is getting out of the train. As the law states, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So when the kiasu passengers (who rushed in with the mentality to snatch seats) the moment the door opened - one can't fault the alighting passengers if on the way out, pushes themselves against the flow of boarding passengers who decided to push while they rushed in. So.. this is when the ungracious attitude was unrevealed. Sigh, it is BAD to the extent that the authorities gotta paste ads (with the famous TV character, Phua Chu Kang) to remind commuters to give way to alighting passengers. Sigh.. so primitive.

On the other hand, this law defies what I did on Tues nite. As you know, I stepped on the "land mine" unknowingly, and that exploded in my face. My instant thought was the chain of colourful terms or the array of spiky, thorny verbal ammunition I could have spout out (in accordance to the third law) as a natural reflex to return fire. But the other voice within won and allowed the cordial non-abusive exchange of words with the acidic fumes from the other camp. *though once the other camp vanish.. oh yeah, i heave a sigh of relief and let out that expletive word under my breath - in only a few decibel loud. - so audible audience - God and me. Alright, I won't fingerpoint but hey, its darn unfair to add unrelated stuff (though it may have pivatol effect to the tipping point). As the Chinese saying goes "指桑骂槐”- that's the idiom that ran through my head throughout the 15-20 minutes. But thank God for self-control .. but I won't be that silly to create a scene in public. Oh well, I did give a eye-witness account to the higher authorities - accountability.

Lessons learnt
- Mt 7:6 *not in that harsh manner but in the same line of explanation, when one can't/ don't comprehend, pointless to do highlight the fact.*
- maturity may not be positively correlated with age.
- innocence is not a virtue. Virtue is innocence tested.

I stepped on a landmine

unknowingly. And I was blasted for something I guessed that was unintentionally done. But totally unrelated to the innocent question asked.

Like for example, if I asked you " Are you taking the bus home?" Am I insuitating that you are poor and cannot afford to take a cab?  Or simply, it's just a question on the mode of transport to head home?

Amazingly, I did not react what xx did (like the accusation of the blondes) on the outlash I encountered after I stepped on the landmine.

I decided not to pull others into the disaster so i pulled out. Sorry asterix and the uber sweet gf.

Or else it might end up like the title of a book I used to read (auhor- Agatha Christie) Murder, she wrote.

Insanity

A quote from one of the smart men in history...

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

If the above stands, I must be insane. I think I am. So time to be sane? And do things differently? I think I am sick of the insane life.

Breathing....

something not to be taken for granted.. Alright, I think it's either the air quality or the excessive dust that resulted in me breathing harder than usual. Coupled with the running nose - it falls within the description of the influenza A, I decided to be civi-minded and not go to work. Turns out that yep, it's not the dreaded flu strain , likely just that my airways refused to breathe normally... Doc initially wanted to put me on an inhaler (I've always resisted that... never did that before - the nasal drip thingy was a tramatic experience for me), but I requested for tablets instead.. The side effects will be trembling & or heart palpiations.. :(

Since it's not the contagious flu as I'd suspected.. I went to catch a morning show @ ehub. Drats. (I've some movie vouchers expiring end july!) The boxoffice was flooding with human beings! Then I realised that it was youth day. :( (actually only two shows were screening at the neighbourhood cinema - the terminator & ice age 3). Thankfully the cinema hall wasn't packed - cuz it was the 11am show.

I was surprised that I was actually into the show and bought over by haha the optimus prime. :) *i like bee too.. :)  I wonder why I dislike the animation series while I was a kid - perhaps I was too bimbo then to understand the plot. Doh.. * little girls prefer cutesy cartoons like carebears.. cuz they are cute and cuddly.. the only compliant - it's a wee bit longer than I expected. :) still it's a great movie. I like thriller types show (but no no-brainer show please, oh well, but ben stiller's and adam sandlers' are exception I can bear..) and yup, until I decided to do something - always some part of the movie will speak to me to do that very thing I procrastinate to do..

Breathing... in.. and out... :) I have just taken the medicine again and gee... no trembling nor heart palpitating yet.. *fingers crossed*

Prive

Went to the Prive @ Marina at Keppel Bay after catching Ice Age 3 (it pays to catch the show in 3D! ) It was almost full but we managed to get a table by the riverwalk. :)

Like the ambience there.. :) great place to chill out. What was lacking was perhaps, live music? :)

Didn't capture much shots cuz it was rather dark and I was just using my camera phone.. :) simple nite, good company (haha incidentally my connect group), great fun. :)  like the saketini that I ordered.. pity that there wasn't much kick to it. :)

Red Friday

As much as I like the colour red, there are certain things I don't fancy but is closely related to that colour, such as red indication on report card( remember that red indications  = failure BUT I never have that in my report card before.. doh!), blood.  Definitely not the animal blood (such as pig blood - but I have never ate it before...it's so gruesome.. anyway.. it's biblical not to eat blood). Frankly, I will squirm @ the sight of blood..(but strangely, not mine.. I can clean my own wounds... ) Yup, I don't watch those scenes in OT with eyes open (but ironically, i like dramas with surgical themes - like ER, and the tbv drama serials - healing hearts 1, 2 & 3.. ) okie, the mere description of knife running through skin will make my hair stands...


Had been reading the twilight series.. into the final book now.. :) I can never imagine myself drinking blood. Oh yeah, I've tasted my own blood before. Don't squirm. I am sure most peeps would hve, when u prick yourself with a needle, natural reflex was to try stopping it with haha saliva. Don't really know where I pick that peculiar habit from.. maybe I've vampire streak in me.. hahaha like real.

Why the post on blood? Cuz that was the cause of my misery today. The xx-chromosome syndrome. Almost died on my way to work.. Stood all the way to outram and seriously i can feel myself going paler by the minute cuz ya.. was feeling cold - almost passing out. (Nah, dun think I am anemic though I've almost passed out twice.. once just after crossing the road - I think a dustbin save my day - i saw stars in a black backdrop and almost blacked out.. My guardian angel must have plant that dustbin there for me to grab on monetarily.. but i reckon the lack of food intake for more than half a day add to that. ) Anyway, probably cuz I was late this morning and did not take my brekkie which add to the awful cramps. I almost wanted to alight @ Eunos and take a cab home. But I didn't. DEADLINEs. I will be dead if I don't clear the pileups.  Glad that SOS is over, else,  i wonder how would i survive through. :)

Anyway, I violated the no carbs thingy and drank two cups of HOT milo after making it to office intact. :). Speaking of which I need another milo. HOT. :)

Nonetheless, looking forward to ICE Age 3 tonite with jess.. yay.. Catching it in 3D version.

Childish banter

Saw my rss alert.. xx's update... decided to read it out of curosity. It was a really long ... & colorful! Ironically, the topic was triggered by hair colour, but from a dude's peeve on artifically enhanced hair color.
And it all started cuz a dude decided to snap a picture of a stranger @ kopitiam near his home (And i think I know which kopitiam it was...haha) whom he thought does not fall into his perception of "natural beauty" and decided to blog about it. Cuz of her platinum blond hair & perhaps jumped into the conclusion that she's just another spg who hang ard causasian (cuz her bf was with her then). And he researched on her and bitch about her even more when he uncovered her identity as a famous blogger.

Sigh.. what's wrong with Asians colouring their hair? (Except that chemicals will do evil to your hair texture..) The non-blondes in hollywood do have their blond fun too.. so what's the deal? Is it mandatory that only yellow skins can dorn earthly tones while the fair skins can get away with all colours under the rainbow? Nah, afterall, the crown of glory belongs to the owner.. if you don't like the overall effect - then look elsewhere, why pick a fight with a gungho blogger who don't really minced her words.. (and yes, this is what I like about her.. ) and went on and on and even launch a challenge against her by letting her know what you had done..

Having that said, I won't bleach all of my hair - cuz fine as they are .. they will all turn brittle and drop dead - bleaching the streaks of them with peroxide once is suicidal for some of them.. haha.. unless the maintenance is sponsored (like xx ).

silly twit. Like fight a war with spears against an enemy when all it takes for the enemy to destroy you was by pressing a button to activiate the nuclear weapon.  Maybe he has not heard of the chinese saying "知己知彼，百战百胜" since he ain't chinese but xiaxue is.

as what dawn yang left on her twitter on this saga.. i sorta agree... that xx has done it again and she felt sorry for that couple,  and dawn thought that the worst part was "the immature lil kids who think what she does is cool."  which she was referring to was the comments left by her readers..  What's the point of the whole saga..? Juvenille.. but I guess this attract readers and in turn, ad revenues..

But, if I were her.. I guessed I would have just trace the IP address and track him down & oh yes, file a police report for infringing privacy for the photo taken on sly and publicising it on the web.  But then again, it would not be her style.. :)

Another sad example of NOT thinking before you act. But this has more adverse consequences.

Anti-kentang movement.. bye potatoes...

Potatoes.. one of my comfort food (together with bread)... are fondly part of my diet. Was walking past the supermarket aisle - the Ruffles, the Calbee are all screaming out @ me..  The digestives, the oreos, the cookies all knew my middle name.. Huh.. my lovely chocs too (okie.. i only like the DARK ones).. Wonder if I'm getting neurotic... hahaha... Recently, a lot of new foodstalls sprang up at the pockets of spaces below the MRT Station... a bakery/confectionery.. hotdog stall.. stall selling the economical beehoon/nasi lemak (and equally lemak side dishes - mostly cooked in HOT oil -i.e. fried) Walking pass the row of shops daily was akin to walking pass "sin factories"!

Vocabulary that ran through my mind as I passed by the various shops:

• Bakery with trays of bread (not forgetting the scent of freshly baked bread) "sinful", "fats.."
• Economical beehoon/nasi lemak stall - "deadly"
• Bubble tea - "empty calories"

Haha... seriously, I never crave for them anyway.. just that the veto against carbs & fats are just making them extra repulsive. I prefer the healthier version.. liked baked potatoes.. wholemeal/ multigrain bread.. & fruits & veg... I know that they are essential to the body, and certainly am NOT gonna ditch them.. i need my vitamins & minerals from the veg/fruits too... just reduction and forgo-ing the ultra killer starchy ones...

byee my lovely carbs...

Nah, I am not into the Atkins diet or those crash-diets... was juz given a directive (sorta) by "evil simpson" (See his facebook face is a simpson character!) to cut carbs (cuz gotta drop mass - aka fats - muscles are good.. fats are not) so as to improve my running time.. T_T" so i came to point blank of how difficult it is to eat sensibly again.. (after a long while of crappy consumption...) okie.. so i made a public declaration (sorta) of my "embargo" against the BAD carb in facebook. Never expect the immediate responses (or peeps will even reply to the status. haha).. and doing it in the likes of "parables", estelle bingo-ed on the underlying meaning...  oh well, at least I get a pat on the shoulder from the originator (or rather inspirator) of this "anti-kentang movement".. t_t"

Hopefully, at the end of this, I need to change the wardrobe again... as such, gss is not an attraction to me this year . ahha. cuz the clothes fitting now will be (by faith) loose fitting again.. haha.. And yes, it works only if I'm disciplined to abstain. :)

*no worries.. I do know of the extreme effect of over-dosage of proteins/ and the adverse effects of lacks of minerals & vitamins. thank God I studied biology and it was one of my fave subjects. :)

Eye-liner

what stems from this emoticon

~ an interesting replacement noun for the a natural occurrence that we humans, especially those who are more conscious of their appearance, i.e. wrinkles. - eyelines...

so applying eyeliners = applying wrinkles?

lol

the huge phone bill aftermath

Finally, I decided to visit the Singtel website to reece on the data plan thingy...

Guess what, I am actually under a dataplan with a monthly 200MB usage. Darned.. I must have exceeded 200MB by leaps  bound in the month of May to chalk up the $400 bill...

Oh well... :( let me monitor this month usage... I think it should drop drastically.. :)

time...

It may sounds like a cliche, but every second that ticks by, is one that you will not get to relive it again.

On the precious commodity like time, we oughta be mindful of how we utilise it. As a chinese saying goes "一寸光阴一寸金,寸金难买寸光阴". One can't really buy time, once you've spent it. ( I know some will argue that you can buy time when you are late - taking the cab instead of public transport... but hey the cash that is used to buy time is exchanged by the hours you worked- which is your life... which u don't get to relive it again once used.. )

Not being philosophical here, but was darned irritated why I'd allowed myself to sit through the darn CRAPPY movie *not to mention that there are a whole lot of crude jokes within* when I already had the inkling that it would be a time waster... Sigh, I told myself, for the sake of my friends, who seemed rather keen to catch a movie on Monday.. (though on hindsight, it would be wiser to book tickets online rather than try your luck @ the box office.. but I wasn't the organiser.. so thought, it would be well taken care of..) But with just the front row left for the ghost of the past gf (what we wanna watch originally... a FAR better choice than the crap show we settled for - if it was that in the first place, over my dead body - okie, then drag me to hell will be a far better choice...)

So, we settled for the land of the lost instead. BAD choice. Alright, it was crappy humour initially... but towards half way mark... I was counting down to the end of the movie. Not that I couldn't take crude joke... but seriously, the plot is totally off (a humugous crab edging towards suddenly plunge into a huge pool of hot spring and hey pesto - instant cooked crab that you can feast on for days..) ... and oh well.. the American Pie series are certainly much more interesting than this.. (though it's definitely much more crude... but much more entertaining.!)

Alright, never gonna waste time on crappy movie again (unless the cast is worth my hour or two of attention...)

And yes, that speaks for other areas in my life too...  Wonder how long it will take me to inch away from the comfortable lifestyle.... such as earlier this evening...  alright.. i wonder if I'd insisted that this season has yet expired for this area or... not is it really not the seasonal end yet? (oh, not those GSS end of season sale... t_t") somehow, its not as pleasurable as before... oh yeah, that refers to the GSS too...

And as I'm typing away, seconds tick pass... there goes my beauty sleep...

time is running out... and gee... it's 19 days to the SHAPE run and I've barely run 10km under an hour...  And gee... it's gonna be a long weekend... and i hope i can make it to zoe's one month bday on sunday!! :)