w_e_n_'s Journal

At Vivocity
Gary and I took leave today to go visit the Vivocity. I must say that the Harbourfront Station is very much livelier after Vivocity has started its operations. This station was really like a dead town 2 years back when I went Sentosa during one of those long NUS term breaks. Yea…those were the days.

There are many stores which I like that are found at Vivocity. For instance, Tangs, Esprit, Marks and Spencer etc. Today happened to be the grand opening of Vivocity so there were many special deals offered by the stores. Esprit had a 10% storewide. Dear bought for me a sweater that costs $89.90 (so after discount it was erm…still around $80 lah =p) But I love it lots =) Feels really warm and cosy in it cos of the wool lining it has. Dear bought for himself a blue long sleeve striped shirt that costs $60 plus (after a 30% discount) And not to forgot, I also got a floral print spagh top that costs $19.90, as shown on the receipt. (This spagh top is supposed to be $29.90, so even after the 10% discount, it should be $20 plus but duno why the cashier key in as $19.90 =p. And mind you, I only discovered it when I got home so please don’t accuse me of being dishonest k! =p) The bill exceeded $150, which entitled me to the ESPRIT PRIVILEGE CARD! Yipeeeeeeee! This is one of those much-coveted cards which I always wanted to have and wow it really came unexpected cos I have all long thought that it will be out of my reach. Hehehe…with this card I shall have a 10% discount all year round and 20% for Jan 2007 (my bday month!) That’s the good part. The bad part is that I shall have to accumulate up to $600 spendings till Dec 2007 for free renewal. I think that’s something which is definitely for sure, out of my reach.

After the splendid shopping spree at ESPRIT, we went to catch the Xmas movie of the year “Deck the Halls”. It was a great show! And it’s really great, especially when we watched it for free! Haha! (used movie vouchers won by Dear at his company’s outing day)

Dinner after the movie was at Mount Faber. We reached there by cable car. It was dear’s first time on a cable car so he was quite excited. But the mood was somehow dampened by me when I started to get giddy due to heights.

But nevertheless, it was a wonderful day after all.

Current Mood: happy

My trouble with the blowing fans at parties
Went for a Hari Raya Open House at my boss’s house yesterday. Luckily I got Gary to come along with me cos my colleagues were not there yet when I reached there at 4.30pm. It was not a boring session for him as some of the guests at the table where we joined happened to be in the same field as him – the oil industry. The only difference was that they were all a generation ahead of him, most of them in their late 40s. But nevertheless, it was an unexpectedly enjoyable gathering. The food was very much to my liking – lontong, taukua fried with chili and long beans, basmati rice (the usual spread that u see at Malay stalls) Desert was kueh lapis, kueh bangkit, butter cookies, pineapple tarts and cakes. Yummy! Now comes the silly part: I got up from my seat to clear the plates and walked past the stupid fan, which blew the paper cups down the floor, spilling whatever little drink that was left in the cups. Gary hurried to get serviettes for me to clean up the floor and while I was doing so, boss caught me in action told me not to worry too much about the mess. So damn malu! Hate being caught in such embarrassing situations!!! Anyway this is not the 1st time that I walk past the stupid fan that blows my cups and plates onto the floor. The other time I remembered was at Gary’s niece’s 1 year old birthday celebration – the mess was not as bad as yesterday’s as the cups were empty. After the reoccurrence of this incident yesterday, I must make it a point to siam the fan at parties next time!

Current Mood: angry

On MC
Im on MC today ie. Long weekend as tmr’s Hari Raya Puasa. (Yey! =p) Lost my voice after a bad sore throat last thurs. (This lost of voice was real damn timely yeah! Hahaha!) Just came back from the doc (another doc, not the one who failed to cure me). His name is Dr Chia, who gave me a fresh dose of antibiotics after commenting that the antibiotics administered by the previous doctor was too weak, which aggravated my condition instead of curing it. Dr Chia was quite friendly too. He told me to sms him if I had any more problems. (Doesn’t make sense right? If im not well, I will go to him again for another consultation. Sms him for what?) Well whatever, the most important thing is that I got a day off from work! Yeah heheh…that’s the privilege that you enjoy when you are working. I remembered when I was schooling, I was not very inclined to miss school for even a day, fearing that I would lag behind my classmates in school work. So unless im so damn ill that I can’t get out of bed, I will still drag myself to school, attend those important classes then go home to rest. But of course, can’t take MC too often.
The 14 Days MC Entitlement is merely a ‘for-show’ thingy meted out by MOM. HR personnel are on the watch-out for regular MC takers. In fact, on the average, I was advised by pple not to exceed half the limit ie. 7days max. Abuse it and it will reflect on your performance appraisal at the end of the year! For your info, this is my 2nd MC after working for 10 months. Sounds reasonable yeah…

Current Mood: crappy

Ziling's wedding
Ziling’s wedding is finally over! I was looking forward to it since the beginning of the year when she announced her plans to get married. So incredible to witness a friend of my age getting married, considering the fact that we just graduated a year ago. And to add on, she’s the 1st friend of mine (1983 batch) to get married. This is certainly something highly unexpected from friends of our batch since we have just embarked on our 1st job (the next phase of our life upon graduation) and she is already 1 step ahead of us onto the next next phase of her life, to tie the knot. Looking at her wedding pics and the graduation pics of some of our honours year mates simply left me astounded, which set me into imagining the kind of life that she will begin to lead from this moment, such a far cry from that of our counterparts.

Looking back, it was indeed an honour for me to be selected to be her ‘sister’ on her big day and to be able to be involved in her wedding preparations, despite some disputes along the way. It was a good experience no doubt, which will serve to be of use to me when my very own big day arrives! Hee =)
At this juncture, please don’t ask me when that day is going to come until I get LTCL (diploma in piano performance). That’s my short term goal for now. Please wish me all the best.

Current Mood: optimistic

A Busy Sunday
Today was an eventful day for me. Woke up at 8am and went for my morning jog, had breakfast with my parents and after a quick bath went to teach piano at my neighbour’s place who lives 2 houses away from me. (Yeah I have 2 students who are my neighbours. They are 2 sisters, very talented and brilliant girls) I received their results on Saturday night and they did pretty well as expected.

After that, I went to attend a workshop at Yamaha Thomson. Intended to leave at 6pm for Zilng’s house but got persuaded by Mrs Chong to stay back for the piano recital. So the whole thing ended at 7pm and I rushed down to Bedok to meet up with the sisters. Gave a lift to Charmaine who had an appointment at Siglap at 8pm.

I reached Ziling’s new home (the Baywaters) pretty late as I was a little lost along the way. (Bedok is not an area which Im familiar with =p) Felt a little out of place when I was there cos they seemed to have finished up most of the stuff and they were like preparing to leave already. Sighz… this was how I spent my Sunday, torn apart between committing to appointments and pursuing my interests.

I dropped by at Gary’s house on my way home. It was a pleasant surprise for him as he thought we could not meet up today. I went up to his house for a drink, chatted and talked to his mum. That’s the good thing about driving around; you feel more accomplished for being able to run multiple errands in a day.

Having anticipated that today will be a rather hectic day for me, I took morning leave for tmr so that I can have time to rest and recharge myself for the week ahead.

Current Mood: accomplished

To the dentist
Im very happy today. I don’t know why. Probably that’s cos im on leave tmr. Hahaha… Later after work, going out for dinner to celebrate dad’s birthday. Maybe later afternoon im taking time off to go to the dentist to wash my teeth. Haven’t been to the dentist since the free dental checkups in secondary school days!!! That’s a good 10 years of not having professional care for my teeth! Oh my, that’s sounds so sinful. But anyway, I conscientiously brush my teeth everyday, do not drink coffee and floss my teeth twice a month. Yeah, that’s my secret to my sparkling white teeth! =)

Current Mood: cheerful

My first time taking leave =)
Finally can start taking leave after finishing my 6 months-long probation. Shiok! Hahaha…took half day off yesterday afternoon to reward myself =) I spent a relaxing afternoon eating, shopping and going to the library@esplanade. Though I was all alone, I still enjoyed myself very much. Im the type who will make the effort in allocating a part of my life for exclusive moments to myself. I seek solitude in my home the best, especially when im lazing around in my room and amazingly the bathroom hee hee... after all that's a place where all of us are at our most natural! Also, being attached doesn’t mean you have to do everything with your other half all the time. I firmly believe in striking a balance between spending time with loved ones, friends and family =)

Anyway enuf of going off track, the main purpose of this blog entry is to share my joy with those who read my blog - I shall have 27 days of annual leave for next year 2007! Shiok sia! That's cos Im allowed to carry forward half of my annual leave entitlement to the following year. Dun think i will want to finish off the full 18 days from now till Dec since I already had 3 overseas trips last year. I shall use up the 9 days this year for short getaways. Think it's a great idea yah! =)

Current Mood: cheerful

Prelude to the Great Singapore Sale
I had a great time today with Gary shopping and eating out. We met at 2pm after my workshop and headed to Tanjong Pagar food centre for lunch. I had cockles laksa while he ate fried hokkien mee. Desert was the famous peanut Ice Kachang. Food there was incredibly good and cheap!
After lunch, we walked to the MND Complex to collect his Ez-link card that was confiscated. This morning on bus, I saw the very same bus conductor who confiscated his card...ARGH!!!
On our way to City Hall at Tanjong Pagar MRT underpass, i got this brown polka dot skirt at only $10 from This Fashion, Love it lots! =) I have alwez wanted to get such a skirt but alwez got put off by the exorbitant prices. I simply relish the feeling of being able to get my stuff for a steal at rocking low prices! Hahahaah....
We made a stop over at Esplanade to get some scores for myself. As usual, Gary will be sleeping on the sofa while waiting for me. The sofas are placed at a cosy corner facing the sea. Normally, the librarians will be on a sprawl to catch those who doze off at the sofas but surprinsingly, there were none in sight today.
Then came the highlight of the day - Dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Singnet subscribers get to enjoy the 1-for-1 promotion from 10-18 May. (Yes today is the last day) This restaurant is one of our fav food hangouts but it's quite ex so we dun really visit it often. With this promotion on, we will not give it a miss for sure! The new menu was superb. We ordered Peking Duck Pizza - Peking duck sauce spread over a thin pizza base, topped with bits of skinless duck meat, onions slices and crispy fried wanton skin. Super delicious! Think this is the only restaurant that serves this kind of pizza. The 2nd dish was Pan fried Shanghai Linguine. It tasted like those chinese noodles (the typical last savoury dish served at wedding dinners) but replaced with linguine. Somehow it was weird, being able to find asian flavour dishes in an Italian restaurant.
We had a slow walk after the heartening dinner to our last stop of the day - C K Tangs - where I managed to get superb stuff at a steal AGAIN!!!! =p Hahah...
I got a pair of lovely green TANGERINE slip-ons for $9 and a pair of heels at $21 after a hefty 70% discount. Shiok rite...hee...
The day ended with our usual "quiet talk" at the park behind my house. =)

Current Mood: satisfied

Char Siew Bao
Im feeling so damn tired now. Din sleep well cos the whole night I was so traumatised by this grueshow show last nite over Channel 8. It was about this poor chap from mainland who came to HK to seek jobs. He got hired by this boss who runs a dim sum restaurant whose char siew baos are very famous. His boss iil-treated himm, paid him peanuts for loads of work and refused to pay him his earnings that he won from their gamblings sessions. This dragged for several years and until one fine day, the poor chap couldn't tahan anymore and killed his wicked boss and his family members and made Char Siew Bao out of them. Gross rite...I think I will abstain from Char Siew Bao for a period of time...

Current Mood: nauseated

Happy!!!
Gary got offered his coveted job at Exxonmobil! He just called to inform me a few minutes ago. Both of us are so damn thrilled over this piece of good news! I'll be going over to his house tonite after work to share his joy. I had already planned to visit him tonite to have a late bday celebration. It was his bday yesterday but we din really celebrate much cos he had a paper this morning. I have specially ordered a cake for him, a durian cake, according to his wish. Now it's double celebration for him tonite. Im very very happy too! Yipeee!

Current Mood: jubilant

It's Thursday already - again!
1 week just passed like this again! Im so darn sleepy now... Not in the mood to do anything. Im tasked to complete a paper for Chairman to present in August for some event... Took me 2 weeks to do research and now with all the info on hand, it's the organisation of the points into a coherent speech. Will aim to complete by tmr, hopefully...hahaha
Im looking forward to tmr. I will be going to Esplanade to see Aunt Eunice's rehearsal for Saturday's performance on Missa Solemnis by Beethoven. She's one of the choir members so got free tics for the rehearsal to invite me. Gary is busy preparing for 'the last exam in his life' so I'll go alone...Im such an understanding & independent galfren yeah!
Will drop by Fullerton Hotel to get the Crunchy Manjari Chocolate Cake from Post Express Deli which is on promotion now at only $10! yes only 10 bucks..what a fabulous offer... for your info to all the choc cake lovers out there, this I-S Magazine 10th Anniversary Cake promotion will end tmr 21st April. Sorry for those who miss this offer if you read my blog after tmr =p This promotion has actually been extended for another week due to the overwhelming response, and tmr's the final day.

Can't wait to sink my teeth into this heavenly delectable cake tmr!

Current Mood: excited

A Short week that passed really FAST!
With the Good Friday Public hol this week, it really makes this 4 day working week an enjoyable and relaxed one! Today's finally the Thursday that we have all been looking forward to since Monday. I could still remember dragging myself to work on Monday but the mere thought of the long weekend ahead spurred me on. Well, today was a bad day to start off with cos i din sleep in a good position last nite so i woke up with a stiff neck and a slight headache =( Im feeling better now after lunch. OH yea...discovered a great snack at Toa Payoh Lor 1 Coffeeshop: Durian Pisang! Haha...no that's the name i gave, it's not called durian Pisang actually...it's simply called fried durian fritters...exactly like goreng pisang but replaced with durian so i called it Durian Pisang. Delicious! Yummy =) especially for a durian lover like me...
Im gonna try my vidal sassoon curler tmr. (it has been left untouched and unopened since i bought it in Dec 2004!!!!) Lazy me right...aiyo... my hair is pretty long now, the right length for trying the curler on it =) If it turns out to be disastrous, i'll jolly well go to the hairdresser to have those ugly tresses trimmed off! Hee...

Current Mood: calm

Earrings are going cheaper and cheaper!
Can u believe that a pair of chandeliers with Swarsvoski crytals are going for only $1? Yes, it's happening at Toa Payoh HDB Hub Mall Area now! I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw these earrings dangling from afar, selling at such a ridiculously low price!!! And of course, typical of me, someone who simply cannot resist such bargains, bought a few pairs of them. Yay! 3 more to add on to my collection. and oh yeah.. that reminds me to get a cabinet for my earrings soon. Then i can hang them up in pairs neatly in rows so finding them wouldn't be a chore anymore, especially during the morning rush, when I practically go frantic having to dig thru my drawer for the other one. And most of the time i simply have to settle for any complete pair that I have managed to find, which is most of the time, unmatching with my outfit =p

Current Mood: contemplative

How I celebrated V-day
No expensive dinners, flowers, whatsoever...just a simple and sweet picnic at Fort Canning =) I prepared sandwiches while Gary brought pizza, champagne and grapes. We went there straight after my work and picked a good spot under the tree, laid out the feast and chatted over wine and grapes until it was dark. We lighted the candles and put them in plastic cups as it was windy. I loved it lots...
I bought a pair of Guess watch for the both us. It came totally unexpected for him cos i haven't bought him a gift for a long time ...opps =p...so when the Guess watch Box unveiled under the wrapper...he was like HUH! ...and what's more ...i purposely used a Watson's gift wrapper, which gave him the initial impression that it was some cheapo stuff from Watson's...hahah...naughty me =p
Think both of us look good with the watch =)

Current Mood: calm

Pineapple tarts making day
Had a great time making pineapple tarts today! =) After teaching Francine, I drove to Phoon Huat to get the pineapple fillings then headed to my Grandma's house. Had a quick lunch then started our baking session for the day.

Aunt Geok Ling happened to be here today. She just got back from her Korea trip and bought lotsa korean tidbits back...hehee...her presence was a great sigh of relief for me cos another free helper mah!! last nite I was still worrying if Grandma, the maid and I would have difficulties coping a not...

Being pregnant, Aunt Geok Ling was not suitable to oversee the baking process so she just sat down to prepare the pineapple fillings and wrap the pastry over it. The maid was very good at it too...with her deft fingers and her natural flair for making such pastry stuff, she easily picked up the skill of making this forever popular CNY goodie.

We finished at around 3pm and then the kids started coming to sample our pineapple tarts... and you know typical of kids, they will run around like mad, dropping the crumbs all over the floor...ARGH!!!

After this, i drove to Kaiwei's house for another baking session. I had told him to prepare the pastry beforehand so that when i come, we could just start wrapping the pastry over it. Unfortunately, he got the proportions for the pastry wrong and it turned out to be super crumbly...cannot use at all... luckily he had extra ingredients so we were able to make a new dough on the spot... BUT.... Kaiwei got the proportions for the dough wrong again this time round...instead of 3yolks and 1 egg white, he remembered it vice versa..so the pastry turned out tasting very EGGY...but overall the texture was fine and his family loved it lots! =)

I'm really envious of Kaiwei. He got the following things of his OWN:
1. A car
2. A fridge to store all his cooking and baking stuff
3. A super big bedroom with 2 pianos, (1 grand, 1 upright), a study desk and a comfy bed.

Sooooooooooooo shuang...

Current Mood: envious

My 23rd Bday
The celebration started in the afternoon at 3.30pm. It was just between Gary and me. I went to his house for the surprise he had planned: A DKNY watch which we both liked quite a lot. Thanks dear =)
Then we sat down and tried to finish the huge D24 durian cake which he ordered from Emicakes. It was real yummy (and expensive too =p)
We took bus 27 to Tampines, a place we seldom frequent. At first, i thought it will be a day that belonged to just the both of us, until my mum called to ask if dad and her could join us for dinner =p I was quite surprised that Gary readily agreed to their request. " Can't steal their daughter away yet", Gary commented.
It was raining like cats and dogs and our shoes were all wet...yucks ... getting around was quite inconvenient too as we had to carry umbrellas everywhere. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed today =) with dear and my parents...

Current Mood: happy

Bored at work
Im soooooooooooooooo bored! There's nothing to do. My sup simply gave me info to read which i finished yesterday and so now im looking for things to read. Im falling asleep...
I can surf the net but can't make it too obvious cos my sup is just sitting behind me. Blogging is quite safe cos there aren't pictures so it's still quite acceptable.
Though it's only my 2nd day of work, im already on quite good terms with this clerk (the executive assistant) and she told me that it's always so free during this time of the year and i must learn how to keep myself occupied and look busy. So lame rite...hahaha
Tmr there will be a welcome lunch for me =) We'll be going to a restaurant at Tanglin Mall. It's called Tambuah Mas, serves Malay food. (Big boss is Muslim, no choice) It's ok for me cos I happen to like spicy food very much.

Current Mood: sleepy

The Great Shopping Spree
It's the time of the year again when U2 is having its annual heavily discounted sales. All the more with the U2/G2000 privilege card, it's definetely not something to be missed! However this year, i din buy as much from U2 compared to last year. Since Chinese New Year is around the corner too, I also stocked up clothes for CNY in addition to the usual smart casual fashion. I was particularly pleased with my buys from JOOP. I bought 2 jackets and a racer back for only $19.90 each. The price was unbelievably low!
I spent about $200 in all for a total of 14 pieces. Good price yah!

Current Mood: satisfied

Back from HK and Shenzhen - My experience with the Business class air flight
Finally back in Singapore after 4 days and 3 nites of holidaying. Din really enjoy this trip cos it was more of 'to accompany my grandma to a wedding'. Not much of shopping and sight seeing. However, this trip was well rounded up with a treat from United Airlines - free upgrade to Business Class seat for the return journey! This was my 1st time on Business class seat & it was really GOOOOOOOOD! A total of 7 of us had the chance to be upgraded to the Business class seats as there were no more Economy class seats left(due to late checking-in. Now i know the advantages of checking in late yah! Hahaha...)
Being a 1st timer, I really embarassed myself totally when I was served by the air stewardess. The meal tables for Business class is not those where u turn open from the back of the front seat that kind. It's found on the hand rest of your seat, where u press a button and then the table unfolds automatically. I was so paiseh when the air stewardess came to serve me my meal and told me to bring up my meal table cos i duno the table worked like dat! Haha!
Unlike meals for the economy class, a napkin will be spread over your meal table and you are given stainless steel cutlery to eat with and glass cups to drink from. I had cod fish with asparagus sauce.
After the meal, I laid back the seat to about 150 degrees, lifted up the foot rest and sleepily flipped thru a copy of the Straits Times that was handed out to the passengers. Just when i was about to doze off, the flight attendant alerted us to prop back the seat to get ready for touch down. Hmm...too short a flight to enjoy the comforts of travelling in a Business class flight...

Current Mood: nostalgic

Hotel Nikko Tokyo or Nikkon Hotel?
It brought back great memories when i was watching the new 9pm Ch8 drama just now. Hotel Nikko (the correct name, which Jacelyn Tay mistook it as Nikkon Hotel) was one of the hotels which i stayed for 1 nite when I went to Japan in May. I recognised it at first sight while my mum couldn't recall it at all until I had to jerk her memory with "the hotel that had the kimono for us to wear to bed, the hotel linked to the big arcade...remember..." Then she could recall vaguely...
The drama also captured scenes of the bustling Tokyo streets, which I really miss so much. In fact, I only had half a day to shop in the streets so obviously that was not enough!!!
The last 2 days of the tour were spent in Tokyo; the 1st day at Disneyland (that took up the whole day already), then the 1st half of the 2nd day for shopping in the streets, then by late afternoon had to prepare luggage for journey back to Singapore. I will want to go free and easy to Tokyo again to do my shoppping! =)
I will try to catch this drama every night. Totally love it esp with all the hunks and babes =)

Current Mood: giggly

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