Xmas Eve Party

The xmas tree at home. It is filled with so many presents for the children!!!

Capricci

Had Xmas Eve lunch at Capricci with a party of people. Capricci is located along tanjong pager road. It is rather a small place that can sit maybe 30-50 diners. The decor looks pretty cosy with a sophisticated feel though the little blemish at our visit was the the service that certainly could be better.

For starter, I have Minestrone soup ($10). Was surprised when the soup was presented as I have initially thought all minestrone soups are tomato-based. Here, the minestrone is a clear soup. Tasted rather good with all the vegetable goodness! Is rather refreshing change from the other kinds of minestrone soup that I am used with.

For main course I had Vegetali grigliati e gratinati al Parmigiano (Mixed grilled vegetable with Parmesan cheese au gratin, $22). My friends who ordered three course set lunch priced at $28 have Italian Crespella stuffed with bechael and beef ragout. I guess you get according to the price. Looking at their main course (left hand side), they were taken aback by the small portion. We were all laughing, a group of hungry guys eating that small portion whereas I, the small size fellow had such a big portion. Before I even finish half, they had finished theirs. It was rather stressful having many pairs of eyes looking at me and I quickly finished mine. The main course was a bit on the oily side for me.

Dessert was lava cake with vanilla ice-cream ($16). This is my favorite part of the meal. Unlike other lava cakes that have the chocolate oozing out once cut, this one was not that messy. The chocolate was rather thick and thus stayed in place. Though I felt sinful eating it haha...

Dream Potter

In today's show, the main character is a bubbly adorable gal who is partially blind and is said to be losing all her sight due to health issues in a matter of time. Her dreams are to bake a cake for her brother's birthday and to visit Disneyland together with her family.

Many people came forward to help her to fulfill her dreams. A lady that taught her to bake the cake, an airline that sponsored the air tickets to Hong Kong and a couple that sponsored the lodging and expense of the family trip. I am glad to see her innocent smiles and laughters. But ached knowing what will befall such a lovely gal.

However, her positive spirit is laudable and inspiring! It feel great knowing that there are so many kind people around too! 这些人真赞！

Book Review: Strength in What Remains

Just finished Reunion in Barsaloni by Corinne Hofmann and Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder over the weekend. Will like to share the latter story as it left a bigger impression.

Strength in What Remains gives the account of Deo, a medical student from Burundi who survived 2 genocides and escaped to New York with just 200 dollars, not knowing anyone there nor speak any English. He slept in open parks and abandoned places, working as a delivery boy in the initial years. Through his sheer hard work and the help of strangers, he eventually went on to graduate from Columbia as well as Harvard University. His journey is a testament of the human spirit. Not only of himself but also of the people who helped him. He went on to set up a clinic (http://villagehealthworks.org/) in his country. The clinic not only improves the health of the people but its presence is also a big step forward in rebuilding peace and hope in the troubled region.

Like to share some of the quotes from the book that left an impression on me.

"To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships."

Sadly this is true. When one is poor in a poor place, things are not as expensive and one does not feel much worse off as everyone is just as poor. In addition, poor people are known to be generous folks who share whatever little they have. However when one is poor in a rich place, it is very tough mentally as well as financially.

"You will not pay a penny for this road. We become so much sick because we are poor, but we are not poor because we are lazy."

The above is said by a Burundi woman who helped in building a road to his clinic. There is another woman volunteer whose three children have already died. She carried another sick child of hers as she works. She said :

“Instead of staying at home watching my baby die, I would rather come and join others because at least then my contribution can save someone else’s child.”

Its amazing the tenacity in human spirit. One can only imagine the sufferings they have gone through. Yet these brave people never give up and strives to be a beacon of hope to others!!

Hosted on the Patio

Hosted on the Patio is a 2.5 month old newbie restaurant at Alexandra Road. It is located at the ground floor of a low rise buildings with trees in certainly a tranquil environment that I instantly like.

The entrance has a wooden tree swing with white bird cages hanging from tree. There is a nice cosy bar area. Even though it's new, it seems very popular, thus even though I have made an reservation, my friends and I needed to sit outside.

We ordered Augus Beef Tartaki and Tomato & Capsicum focacia for appetizers. The seats outside are surprisingly not warm and quite cooling though it is too dark to take any photos outside.

For the main course, the waiter allowed us to move back inside once the prior group of customers left. He warned us before that the inside can be noisy with the blender sounds etc which indeed turns out to be true. However it is still tolerable though we need to speak a little louder at times to be heard.

I ordered penne primavera ($14) while my friends ordered spaghetti prawn aglio olio ($20) and grilled sirloin ($24). The penne has big mushrooms and my friend's spaghetti has quite a few big prawns. We finished off with raspberry parfait ($10).

The food is delicious but forgetable (at least for me because I am not really a foodie). I think the selling point of the place is definitely the ambience. I love it! :) Will definitely go again for the tranquility. I heard they have a live band playing every friday. Hmmm....planning my next time already :)

Recycling

This is what my house recycles in a month. Often, my mum and I are counting down to the days where Tzu Chi comes to collect our items.

I have certainly been more conscious eg trying to recycle the clean sweets/snack wrappers by keeping them in my bag to bring home instead of throwing them right away. But just learnt that they do not really recycle such plastic materials and so will have to throw away next time. However there are still a lot of things to recycle such as glass containers, plastic containers, papers, papers wrappings etc. Feel grateful that there is such an organization that cares about the environment! Thankful that they come to our area every month for the recycling drive else my place will be piling up with things! :) They certainly cover more items than some of our universities where the items to recycle through the recycling bins are very restrictive.

I still need to be more mindful of using wooden disposable chopsticks. Still guilty of using them. Surprised that some good restaurants still use them for sit down meals. Lets work together to protect our environment! :)

Cafe: Hatched

A delightful cosy cafe with character! Hatch, located at 26 Evans Road, near botanic garden. Hatch has a style of its own with the spiders web and gigantic black spider (not halloween just decoration). Most of the items in the menu are related to Eggs as the name of the cafe will suggest. However they have pasta dishes and Dory for dinner as well.

I ate Popeye Salute (poached egg on a muffin topped with spinach, served with mash potato and a grilled tomato) ($9) topped with sauteed potato ($2) and a fresh orange juice ($4.50).

It is delicious and I especially love the topping on the homemade mash that made the mash melt in the mouth.

My friend ordered mocha ($5.50) and the dinner's special-- Grilled Dory Fillet set that comes with grilled tomato and mash potato ($16).

What I liked about the cafe is really its character. Is like a breath of fresh air. Just that the location is not so convenient else I will probably go more often.

Halloween Party

The first halloween party...cobwebs, spiders, skeletons, balloons....

It took a long time to *coerce* people to join as they rejected at once when they heard it need costune...In the end to entice people, I just ask them to come, will buy hat etc for them... haha...

Even though final participants were quite different from what Giraffe, the initiator and co-organizer, orginally planned, it was fun! :) Hope Giraffe is not disappointed.

It is fun being with all of you and I hope we can look forward to such cosy and happy events more! Thank you for coming! :)

Quote

Share with you a quote that I recently saw. I am not sure who is the original author of the quote though.

"To make money we lose our health and to restore our health we lose money. We live as if we are never going to die and we die as if we never lived"

Worth a thought! Lets start living! :)

Travel Consultant

I feel like a travel consultant these days. This year, there is an unusually high number of our foreign colleagues visiting us. Have been *advising* some of them on what they can do in Singapore and in nearby countries. So much so, my colleagues and I joked we can open a travel desk just for our foriegn colleagues.

When all the dust settled down, when the tight schedule is over end of this year, I am considering going for a moderate long break next year. Picking up my backpack and going off for a month or two. Maybe to Central Asia or somewhere else I never been. Is been a while since I go for a break.

Live Concert

Just went for Coco Lee Concert in the Indoor Stadium with compliments from my friend! :) She had 2 free tickets at the last minute.

I love live concerts! The energies in live concerts are certainly different from listening to the songs on mp3 players. Even if I may not be a fan of the singer, I will buy glow sticks and sway along with the songs and cheer together with the true blue fans. It is fun and makes the atmosphere great. Call it positive externalities! :)

This year, I have been to two concerts, SHE and Coco Lee. Both very enjoyable! :) I especially love the SHE concert. Looking forward to going again!

Spring Cleaning

I like to buy different facial products. Every time when I go visit some countries, I will also often buy some creams etc that are supposed to be good. I also like to buy when I read good reviews from my friends or online. I am also fond of getting new products samples to try out. All the facial products are piling at home though. Just feel like hitting the bed when I get home after a tired day... I have certainly not been diligent in using them. Now I still have some Vitamin C creams that I bought from Thailand 3 years ago, and many others. My friends who bought together with me have finished them long ago.

Been adviced that products cannot be kept for long. I have resolved that I should do a quick spring cleaning and throw away those from years ago though is really hard pain (I spend money on them, but I reasoned is better to throw than for them to cause damage). Hereby I shall resolve too that I shall not buy unless I am planning to use them. For the sake of my wallet & also for the environment!

Small Size, Big Ideal

My 6-year old nephew came home from outside and came up to me and said he had something for me.... I was really wondering what could it be for an aunt that is not very well liked since I must be pretty stern in their mind. haha...

He came up and gave me a used plastic cup. "For recycling, Ah Yi", he said. "Di Di (his younger brother) threw his away but I kept mine", he added proudly.

Wow I am speechless and surprised! He is aware about recycling at such young age!!! I am not even close to this at my age in terms of conservation. Yes every little effort counts in a big way! Lets all put in our little effort for the earth. :)

Takumi Tokyo

It has been a jam-packed week. But I thought I could go out for dinner on friday for a break. Friday is supposed to be leisure time. The only weekday in the week I have nothing on in the evening. I went with a friend to Keppel Island. When I walked in, I saw a big cruise liner that was beautifully lighted, just like last time! Lovely! :)

As I have eaten at Prive Bakery cafe twice, I thought I can give other place a try. Went to Takumi Tokyo, a Japanese fine dining place. We were deliberating whether we should spend on an expensive meal. Hmmm...."i think i have to eat instant noodles over the weekend then" said my friend who is eyeing the set meal.

The place is nicely decorated! Looks like many Japanese diners, so I guess is authentic Japanese food. For a friday evening, capacity is about only 50% so I am surprised. The seating area is comfy and spacious.

After scrutinizing the menu and only taking the more affordable ones, my choice was Teppanyaki Mixed Mushrooms ($22) with Garlic Rice plus Miso Soup ($10). My friend, S, skipped the set meal and ordered Grilled Tiger Prawn ($15), Grilled Lamb ($15) and Garlic Rice plus Miso Soup ($10) instead. My meal arrived in 10 minutes. I was surprised at the mushrooms portion. Was kind of expecting more because I thought is $22. But I guess this is fine dining area, I should have know $22 does not go far in such places.

Waiting for quite a while, my friend's meal had not arrived. "They must be catching the prawn first" i joked. The manager walked past and came to apologize on her own initiative. She said that she will check. 5 minutes later, she came back with a complimentary small eel appetizer (i think) for S first.

It takes another 10 more minutes after that for S's dishes to come. Apparently grilled dishes take more time. I could not tell whether my dishes were nice as they have already turned cold from the waiting. S seemed to enjoy her dishes though. She finished everything on her plates. Even though the portions were small, we managed to fill our stomach.

After I asked for the bill, we were surprised to receive one small slice of Tiramisu cake each. Supposed to be from the chef, another complimentary item. The cake is delicious, not like the usual tiramisu cake. Light tasting. I preferred this with the red beans paste on top. The manager came over to apologize again, she said we can make a reservation next time so that they know they are expecting how many guests and the waiting time will be shorter.



My meal was about $45. Hmm... will need to tighten my food spending over the weekend. :)

Tea Time

The joy of drinking tea at Emporer Love @ Esplanade... I guess is the company actually! Thank you Tweet Tickle! :)

Hollywood Spectacular

To Universal Studio again! It was fun company with 3 other closed friends! :)

We went for the After Hour Entry, and paid $5 each to enter the studio at about 7pm. Taking the free shuttle there felt like we were all going on a Malaysia trip together. Really put us in a holiday mood! :) But luckily this time the ride was much shorter, only 10 minutes....

Dinner was italian food. They had a gigantic 20-inch pizza. As it was thin-crust, the pizza was surprisingly manageable. Price was very reasonable too, about $10-$15 for each person. And it comes with a soda and dessert.

Browsing the gifts shop later, one friend took it as a shopping trip to get birthday presents for a few friends. Indeed, she had a bountiful harvest, buying gifts for three people in a matter of minutes. Then of course, there was the Hollywood Spectacular that we were there for. It started at 9.30pm and the fireworks show was certainly entertaining and thrilling! A great night out and definitely well worth the entrance fee.

Think having the two integrated resorts have recently expanded the options of entertainment that we have! Looking forward to the circus and the other shows coming up! :)

Tough Day

Today is really a tough day. Many things went wrong.

Sometimes maybe going by the book bring more troubles than me. Those people who do not care about procedures and do it, in the end will get approval. While for those who follow procedures by getting permission first is sidelined. Sigh... is really a distorted world. I have already gotten verbal approval from the administration office and yet... Others never even bother to get approval, they just go ahead...

If I can turn back the time, I will not go and ask for approval first. Is too late.

Elusive

Recently, a number of friends around me seemed to be quite troubled by love related issues. It must be a trying time mentally for them. I cannot do much except to give them my mental support.

Love is elusive and we cannot control others to love us or to like us in the way we want, maybe sometimes only when we let go can we find happiness. It takes a lot of courage to love and please remain courageous to find the happiness that you want. Things happen to strengthen & build us up to where we are intended to go.

I sincerely believe happiness will be yours regardless whether the someone appear! :) GO GO GO

Stones into School

One of my bookworm friends ask me to recommend me a book yesterday. She was exasperated when again I recommended "Stones into School" that is written by Greg Mortenson. I must have recommended this book at least three times to her but she has yet to read it.

Most people may have heard of "Three Cups of Tea", the book written earlier by the same author that took US by storm. It became a bestseller and brought instant publicity for the author's cause - Bringing education to the girls in Central Asia. It is a much better way to fight terrorism though through arms.

While many people thought the earlier book was better, personally, I like this book more. Stones into School I feel give the much deserved credit to the local people. Their bravery, courage and solitude in forging ahead for the future of the girls are indeed admirable. They are the heroes for believing in the cause and willingness to brave their own safety in order to bring the projects to fruition. I am also inspired by the foresight of the village heads & elders who sincerely believe that there is a place for a school that includes girls. There is so much hope around and the local go through great lengths of hardships to overcome physical and financial difficulties.

I am also very encourged that there are people like Greg who recognises and groom the talented local people. Often, aid agencies employ foreign expensive experts who have no real local knowledge on the grounds working on development issue on the basis that they are educated while the locals are not. I am not so sure whether this is always true. Equipped with the right information, the locals can perform the work too and with the advantage of local knowledge.

The Beautiful Tree

Picking the book from the library's bookshelves, I was first attracted by the title. "The Beautiful Tree". Wait a minute, who is the author? James Tooley!!! Isn't he the author of the award winning essay a few years back that really impressed me for its new perspective on education for the less economically endowned group? I must read this.

"The Beautiful Tree: A personal journey into how the World's Poorest people are Educating Themselves" is a perspective book. It challenges the normal conceptions and pre-conceptions that development experts have on how to increase accessibility of education to the poor. It challenges that this can only be done through much more aid and getting more educated teachers into the public schools. The book shows that a possible way is private schools for the poor.

The book is insightful and sets you thinking. Is development really better by following blindly the route of the developed countries where not only are there cultural differences, the society framework may be different? Who knows better? Development experts from developed countries who may not understand the lives of the poor and just proclaim their developed path is the only path or the poor who are facing the issue everyday? More efforts can be made to understand the lives that the poor lead and find solutions that will work in their society framework. We certainly have a lot to learn about and from them.

I am on wireless now!

Wow so happy! :) Previously I am subscribing to two internet plans, mobile broadband and home broadband so that other family members can use internet (the mobile one) should they want to use since the home broadband device is in my room. The mobile one has been very under-used, once a month etc. Now not only can I save money, others can use the wireless broadband which is also at faster speed since is tied to the home broadband! :)

Also waiting for the National day promotions to maybe upgrade the broadband speed further. Think the telcos often roll out good promotions during National Day....3 more weeks.....

Melbourne Library

The library in Melbourne. Cosy and Clean, just like my favorite library, Jurong East Library. Nice, I like it! :)

Gifts

Recently went to a trip to Melbourne. These are all my achievements! :) Spent quite a bit of time getting them. Mostly for my nieces and nephews (8 of them). Some for parent & sisters and snacks for friends.

Can be quite a headache the choice of gift. Especially to balance usability and aesthetics. I was cracking my head, thinking about what I should get for them. Combing Swanston Street up and down. And for myself, I bought a lanolin lip balm for my cracked dry lips and manuka honey.

Deep in thoughts

Wearing the ez-link card over my neck, I waited for the bus. My mind on the many happenings in office that day. I saw my bus and boarded it, choosing a seat at the back of the bus. I was the lone person who boarded the almost full bus at that bus stop.

Strangely after a while, the bus seemed not to have move. I then noticed the bus driver walking towards me. He said loudly " I think you have forgotten to tap your card." I was hmmm.... embarassed. I stood up, apologizing and walked forward to the bus stop to tap my card. I walked back, laughing at my forgetfulness. I could hear some passengers talking about the episode. Brushing it aside, I soon settled back into my original seat.

The whole episode took maybe 5 minutes but I think the bus driver handled it very well. From his tone, he did not give me a feeling that he think I tried to take a free ride. He has managed to perform his duty, getting the errant passenger to tap her card. It was an embarassing incident though.

The Neverending Interconnecting Loop

Whatever we do, we exert an influence on people close to us who will go to to exert an influence on their close ones. There is an interconnection, a never-ending loop that make every individual a force that can be reckon with to change the world!

I guess that is why they said children take after their parents' characters. Especially true since children observe their parents' actions since young.

I guess that is why we especially like to be near joyous and cheerful people. They brighten up our life.

In our way, we can all brighten others lives when we act positively. Hmmm.. easier said than done. Is really not easy especially if the people around may not be exactly giving the positive vibes.... In our never ending interconnecting loop, lets try to find within ourself the positive light and give out a roar!!! A healthy roar that resonates with happiness and may its echo spread across the valley! :)

Elderly workers

Today I was at KFC queuing up to buy a meal for my nephews/niece. The queue was quite long so I had quite a bit of time to observe the kitchen behind. From the corner of my eye, I saw a KFC cap moving very slowly at the side of the Kitchen. On closer look, it was a very elderly KFC crew member. Her head was tilted almost 90 degree to the side (maybe due to weak bone). Her movement was very slow and I could see that she needed to support herself as she walked.

I saw her move slowly to the side. Then she opened some tins and started her work, scooping mash potatoes into the small containers. I ache when I saw her working as it must be hard on her. However I think we must be proud of her. Despite her conditions. she is working hard to support herself. And I am very glad that there are employers like KFC that are willing to hire people like her. Though they may not be as quick as the other younger crew members, they certainly can contribute to the workforce as well in their own ways. It also allows them a mean to support themselves.

Hopefully she is doing this work only to pass her time and that there are welfare benefits available for her if she need them or is unable to work.

I think in our everyday life, we do encounter many elderly workers involved in rather physically exhausting work eg those clearing the tables in the food court, dish washers etc. Many of them probably really need the jobs to support themselves and their families. It is a harsh reality, especially when you see them straining themselves physically. In the midst of our busy lifes. sometimes people may treat them as invisible. Certainly they should be appreciated for their work and contribution.

The harsh reality should also serve as a reminder to many of us that we should save for our retirement and hopefully next time when we grow old, we have a choice on what we want to do.

Travel gifts

Today I met up with my good friend that has just came back from a vacation in Japan. She was very thoughtful and gave me a paper back full of gifts from her trip (there were 5 different items). Wow so many... I am very touched by her thoughts of friends like me during her trip!

Actually before she went on her trip, when I met her, I was very thick skinned and told her not to buy anything for me (even though she did not say she would buy, but knowing her....). Wanted her to just go and enjoy her trip instead of worrying about buying gifts for others. Despite that, she still bought so many gifts! So thoughtful of her.

Actually, this is a difficult gesture for me to reciprocate. Whenever I go on trip, unless I see something that I think people will like along the way else I may end up with no gifts. Usually I will be buying snack items as gifts.

I am an advocate of travelling light and free. Hope my friend has enjoyed her trip trememdously and spend little time worrying about buying gifts for others. We will be just as delighted looking at great photos and listening to the travel tales! :) In the spirit of travelling, bring nothing back but wonderful memories.... (hmmm....This of course excludes shopping trips haha..

Kallang ROCKS!

Kallang rocks! It must be the first time in Singapore where there were 2 popular concerts held side by side together in Kallang. When I went Kallang yesterday, the normally quiet place was bustling with concert-goers attending SHE and Mayday concerts. One was held in the indoor stadium and the other at the National Stadium. The whole place was so alive and you could literally feel the energy in the air!

I was there to attend SHE concert. It was a sold out concert. Among the audience, you could see families and young people. Beside me was a young fan with her mum and beside my friend, was a teenage boy with his family. The boy was immersed in a book before the concert, and I truly thought he was just dragged along by his sister to the show. Once the show started, the transformation started, he was singing loudly along to most of their songs, I could hear his voice even though I was a seat away.

It was really a great concert! :) The concert opened with a bang as the group belt out a series of fast songs. What was great was the rapport that they built up with the audience. It was like a big sing-along session. A lot of people were familiar with their songs and were singing together with the group! The feeling was unspeakable to be singing together with so many people! Felt so surreal.

I really admire the very close friendship shared between the group members, Selina, Hebe and Ella! They enjoyed such good good chemistry with one another and made the show very enjoyable as they belted out their popular songs! :) Thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Conversation with a 5-year old

I was wearing a relatively baggy top yesterday and my nephew saw me. My conversation with him went something like this

5-year old: Why is Ah yi (meaning aunt)'s clothing so big?

Me: This is the design of the clothing.

5-year old: What is design?

Me: Hmmm... design is the drawing that people make before sewing the cloth. Is all right, Ah Yi is fat, so wearing the big clothing is ok.

5-year old: But Ah Yi is not fat. Is the clothing that is big.

Me: Wow, thank you!

I was a bit taken aback on his reply. My nephew is truly adorable when he is not naughty! haha ;> I think he really mean what he says. Hmmm...I can see him popular with gals when he grows up. :)

Letter

I kind of like opening my letter box every day as I never know what is waiting for me! Actually most of the times the letters I received are bills to be paid and newsletters. But still, I love the anticipation. We never know what surprise is waiting for us! :)

Just 2 days ago, I opened my mailbox and was surprised to see an alien letter addressing to me. Is from India!!!! Wow I never expect the letter indeed as I did not give the organization my address in the first place. A few months back, I made a small donation to this children organization in India and had only sent them an email telling them about the bank transfer I made. I received a reply from them and subsequently they said they will send me a receipt when they received my funds. I thought they were too busy so did not really bother when they did not send me via email anything as I guess they must be really busy with their work. Thus it is really kind of a nice surprise to me to receive the letter. They must have gotten my address from the bank transfer document. The letter is a very normal looking letter telling me about the work they are doing and the way they will use the donation but it really made my day! :)

Johor Shopping Trip

I recently went on a 2-day 1 night Johor shopping trip with 2 friends. It was fun and ....physically challenging too. We were on our feets for probably 6 to 8 hours straight on both days with meal times as our rest breaks. Was it supposed to be a holiday or a boot camp? haha. :)

It must have been a long time since I went Malaysia. Now the Malaysia checkpoint has moved and looks great!

Shopping was enjoyable. I did not buy a lot (1 cap, 2 pairs of shoes and 3 pieces of clothing), more of window shopping but the shopping deals looked great. I like Tebrau City, big and spacious and not crowded. We were there till nearly 11pm. City Square paled in comparison.

We stayed at Puteri Pacific that is just a stone throw away from City Square. Our hotel deal is a pretty good one as we booked it just 2 days before our stay so got it under last minute reservations deal online. Under the triple sharing package, we have 3 breakfasts, late check out at 4 pm, 1 complimentary pizza as well as snacks and drinks from the fridge in our room.

My friends are great shoppers and their company are fun. Love going with them! We also indulged in good food at affordable costs. Hmmm.... I better check the weighing machine now.... haha.

Earthquake

Today news is on a earthquake in Turkey. Not another earthquake. There have really been a number of earthquakes recently, in Haiti, in Chile and now in Turkey. Hopefully the earth calms down soon so that there will not be so many people left homeless.

Eye Shadow

Today we had to attend a birthday lunch for my uncle who is turning 79 years old. My niece who is going to be 4 years old was pestering my sister to put on eye shadow for her. When I heard it, I was shocked!!!! She is so young but already know about such things...... haha

Her aunt, me must be indeed too out of touch with fashion haha. I can count with my fingers the number of times I have put on eye shadow. I do not even know how to put on eye shadow myself. The few times that I put on eye shadow are due to the help from my sister or some makeup artists. They deemed me too unkempt to attend some weddings that I have to play sister role etc and other occasions so have decided to help me.

Nowadays children are more exposed to stuffs from the adult world. In the children concert, I saw that the teachers put on full make up for them already even though they are 3 or 4 years old only.

Either I am too out of fashion or they must be too in fashion haha :)

Life Transformers

Have you watched the life transformers programs on every monday? Is a show where the TV hosts will help families in dire needs clean up their places. Usually the stories are very heartbreaking, showing many families living on the edge.

There is one thing though I am perplexed. It seems that many of the families did not receive much help. Is it because they are unaware of the various help schemes that are available to them or the schemes do not cover them? Is it because there are not enough volunteers or social workers reaching out to them to inform them of the various help schemes?

One thing for sure, there are many opportunities to help/volunteer in Singapore. I know many Singaporeans including me like to volunteer overseas as the needs are more obvious there. However there are also a community in Singapore that needs our help. Lets us do something. Want to at least make it a point to volunteer once a month despite all our busy schedules? Let me know, we can arrange and do something together maybe. I think volunteering in a group or making the commitment together can help us stay in the program longer. We can harness the power of a group and maybe contribute in a bigger way! :)

Oceans are also make from drops of water. Though we may be very small droplets, but we are still the the integral composition of the huge ocean.

New Year Shopping

Chinese New Year is just round the corner. My dining table is already full of New Year Goodies as my mum has the tradition of giving New Year Goodies to relatives and thus we also receive a lot in return.

One day when I got home, I was stunned when I saw 5 cartons of oranges at home. Given that each carton has about 38 oranges, are we turning to selling oranges?? :) In a matter of days, they had disappeared though as my mum gave them away to relatives.

Given that there will be many people coming to my house, I decided to go with my mum to buy Drinks and whatever else that needed to be bought in NTUC yesterday night. I knew that NTUC has a free delivery service for purchase of over $150 and was thinking of using that service since we don't have a car. My colleague also told me his family recently used it for their New Year Shopping. Thus I was very happy when I piled our shopping cart with goods. Imagine not needing to lug the heavy shopping bags back home and just wait for them to arrive at home! Wow cool! :)

Our cart was soon filled to the brim with goods. We were queuing up at the cashier when I noticed there seems no display of the free delivery service at that NTUC outlet compared to others. Alas, upon checking with the cashier, this outlet unlike other outlets does not have free delivery service! Imagine my shock! Why does this outlet not have free delivery service when others have???

There was no way we could carry all the goods back especially since there were lots of drinks and other heavy items. My mum and I then worked on putting all the things back except for the essentials like fresh food. And of course, I had a good scolding from my mum. It is so funny though, one moment we were piling our carts with things and the other moment we were putting them back. What a day! It is fortunate though we discovered it before we pay else I will not be writing my blog entry now as my arms will have been sored. ;>

Happy CNY! :)

Cruise Liners

Today I goes to Keppel Island for dinner with my friend. Is my third or fourth visit there. Like it there, because it is close to the sea and is not crowded even on friday night. Even though we both do not drive, it is quite accessible. Is about only a 10 minutes or less leisure stroll from the nearest bus stop.

On our way in, we chance upon a large cruise liner, Silversea making its way out. My friend even takes a few photos of it. She says she likes going on cruises.

Hmmm... my impression of cruise is only food:). I could remember my one and only cruise experience that took place many many years ago. As the cruise package was all inclusive of meals and the meals were served buffet style, we seemed to be eating and eating. I fell sick from the food and that impression stayed haha. :) Though I guess now there must be more activities onboard a cruise, but I probably give it a miss for a while more. ;>

On our way out from Keppel Island, we meet another big cruise liner making its way out of the harbour. This time, it is Star Virgo. Wow this liner has all its lights lighted up, thus it looks very splendid while it skirts across the water under the beautiful night sky. It seems though it has just disembark its passengers and the lonely lovely liner looks forlorn and endearing.

What a day to meet with 2 cruise liners! :)

Vacation

I have already been fortunate to be able to go on vacations in the past. But it just seems so long since I went for one. It has been more than a year now from my last trip. Have been dreaming indeed of going on travel. But just been too tied up recently to go anywhere.

Since I cannot physically go on the trips, will have to depend on my day dreams. :) In my daydream, I am going to
-- Taiwan and staying at those unique guesthouses along its coastline that I saw on TV programs. Cycling around the relatively rural area of the country
-- Central Asia, along the famous Karakoram Highway
-- North east India
-- Xinjiang in China, visiting the Kashgar bazaar

Xmas gift trading house

This week all my colleagues have been very busy. Busy meeting up with buyers for the item they are selling on ebay. Hmm.. what are we selling??....

We are selling the xmas gift we have recently received from. Our company has a tradition of giving us a small electronic gadget every year. This year it is no difference, just that it is something we will normally do not use. Thus we decided to sell it so as not to waste it in the cupboard. Good for the planet too.

This time, one of my colleagues was quite ethuasiastic. He put it on ebay and managed to sell it. He then helped some of us including me to sell it. Literally all of us except our director sold the gift.

Office suddenly seemed like a bustling place this week as they passed the contacts of the potential buyers to whoever that still had the item unsold. Wow I am quite amazed at the power of ebay and the speed that the deals were done. It helped that most of us put the items up at very reasonable price, probably 70% of its actual retail price. It was fun and really its like a xmas gift trading house. :)

Who are we?

Who are we? Are we identified only by our jobs or do we really have a personal identity? I hope we are more than our jobs.

I have a few friends who are looking for jobs at the moment. One of them is going through an especially tough patch. I can empathise with her as I have been through it a number of years back. Back then, I was jobless for about 4 to 5 months. In order not to let my mum worry, every morning I will go to the library etc just like work as usual. It was tough as I literally hang out in the library for hours until I finally told her some weeks later. It was tough financially as I still forked out all the usual bills and also continued to give my mum monthly allowance like usual. As the months go by, it also got tougher mentally as questions arise. I think the mental questioning are really harder to overcome.

I sent out many resumes then and about after the 3rd month, I started to have more interviews. On the 4th or 5th month, I was simultaneously offered 3 jobs and I am at that company I chosen then for more than 5 years now.

My friend has been trying very hard to find a job and I really really hope she find something she like soon. She is such a great and capable person! I know because I have worked on projects with her. She has also always been a very supportive friend to me and how I wish I can be of more help this time than being simply useless at the moment.

It is a surprise when she mentioned someone told her that her current life is meaningless without a job. This is surely a big statement. I disagree totally.

Are we really nothing more than our job? I think some of us tend to get lost in the jungle. Maybe we should look at our life and evaluate ourselves. I hope we are not held hostage by our job. Even if what we are doing is our lifelong passion and, we should still have an identity besides our job.

I know my friends will get out of their ordeals well! Life is a journey....it may be trying now. But do hang on there. The pot of gold is just around the corner. You can do it! :)

VCD

Over the weekend I rented 2 movies to watch. One is The Forbidden Kingdom and the other is Hua Mu Lan. Like the Hua Mu Lan better. It is a movie by Zhao Wei. The ending is no fairytale ending which I think is realistic. At times I feel movies have a tendency to end in the fairytale manner which is clique. In an imperfect world, perfect endings may not often happen in real life. Thus we should try to enjoy the process of living rather than being too bothered about the ending.

The main character in the movie is a thoughtful, courageous and filial lady. She is also intensively loyal to her people. She is willingly to die for her people so that the war can end. In the end, she sacrified her happiness so that there can be peace for her people. The camaraderie and loyalty showed by the soldiers in the movie is indeed touching.

Conversations

I went with 2 of my good friends for a dinner at a Japanese restaurant that one of them strongly recommended. These are my good old friends that I know for at least 10 years and being with them is always comforting. Spending time with them is always my pleasure.

As our dinner progressed, our conversation topic turned into a really unusual one...... that of insects and animals. We were talking about our encounters with insects and were like comparing notes..... Some of us encountered two headed cockroaches, and then we also talked about leeches, snails, etc...

May sound grossed but is really interesting I feel. Sometimes we need to have other stimulating conversations. :) Am glad to have friends that we can talk anything under the sun!

National Library

I went to the Central Public Library on Monday evening. Was trying to see whether they have the recently launched "Stones into Schools" by Greg Morgtenson. The book is not in the library yet. I decided to fill in a feedback form to recommend the book and another book. They have the option for a reply. I casually clicked on it, just to test whether I will indeed get a reply.

And guess what, I received a reply from them by the next day! I was so surprised by their efficiency. I do believe I will get a reply, but the next day... That is really fast. I have to say I am very impressed by the service standards in our libraries. For example, if I visit the Jurong Regional Library at their opening time, I will be greeted by staffs standing along the entrance greeting us as we entered! :)