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Sunday, December 31, 2006

Happy New Year!


i juz got tis new year msg from birthday alarm and i tink it's so sweet!

i oso happened to b checking out the countdown program on channel 5.

there's a timer on their website but it read as -1 days, -4 hours, -33 minutes and -19 seconds left until Countdown 2007

as i watched, the seconds kept INCREASING and it went from -32 minutes to -33 minutes when the seconds reached -60 seconds

i m wondering if my mind has shut dwn for the nite coz it doesn't make sense to mi?

is the timer counting dwn at all? how can the time to the countdwn get longer??

The Curse of the Golden Flower






in the end, we caught tis show.

was planning to go orchard but luckily i called the telephone booking hotline at 6 and tickets were sold out so we didn't make a wasted trip.

went to causeway point instead but left wif first row seats for nite at the museum,


the show was better den i thot though i didn't like the ending. gong li and jay chou were my fav characters.

i was touched by the display of love tat jay had for his mother, gong li which prompted him to participate in the coup though he was loyal to his father.

mi was moved by the amt of heart pain he showed when he saw her forced to take the medication and being poisoned slowly.

the most touching part was when jay had to choose bet having his own life spared or serving her the poisonous concoction everyday and he chose to take his own life.

how can a mother not be touched by tis display of love?

and did the king enjoy true victory? well, the coup failed but he lost his ex-wife, queen and all 3 sons in one nite, even causing local jay to take his own life by forcing him to betray his mother. so, if losing everyone closest to u count as victory, den he won.


























gong li is so convincing and plays the role so well.

wif the lavish costume and head gear, it was impt for the actress to carry herself well to command the respect and power befitting a queen and not let the costume 'wear her' and overcome her instead.


gong li's acting was simply excellent. she was very expressive and displayed the many different emotions very well. the fotos dun do her acting justice at all.

zhang ziyi can't hold a candle to her at all. her acting is very flat and 2 -dimensional. most of the time, she wore the same expression and i can't depict whether it's anger or hatred...it all looks the same.

though i dun like chow yuen fatt's character, his acting was beli convincing too.


Saturday, December 30, 2006

Curry Fish Head


amy (yeo) came to haf lunch wif us and we decided to go for curry fish head which we haben been eating for a long while.

the fish head was huge and very nice. i luv the assam style gravy.

and i ran into tracy having lunch wif pei kim and daniel. so heartless...nbr jio mi!

haha...incidentally, tis was the day of the blackout





A Year In The Life


I like tis article i got in daily indulgence and exactly wat i had in mind for the long wkend. to take some time out and reflect on the past yr and rejoice over everything accomplished.

I totally dig the part abt 'Think about what you've done as a mother and as an individual'

all too often i hear ppl tok abt wat their family plans on doing and i'll question wat THEY wana do as an individual. mayb take a trip, learn a skill or something.

beyond all the other roles tat women play, be it mother, daughter, workaholic or good friend, i believe i need to tink abt myself as nuthing else but juz mi and wat i wana do.

it's about actualli living ur own life and living for urself and not using everyone else as an excuse. the world will not stop orbiting wifout ur 'sacrifice', for those hoo tink they are living for someone else and being all 'noble'


12 months.
52 weeks.
365 days.
8,760 hours.
525,600 minutes.
31,536,000 seconds.


There are only a few more days until the end of the year, and we aren't going to let you get away without a little reflection on days -- and minutes and seconds -- gone by. It's time to reflect on 2006.


You've probably got several hundred goodnight kisses under your belt, as well as a couple dozen boo-boos to mend and tears to wipe away. You've probably overused the same chicken and rice recipe a few weeks straight, and you've probably gotten through more than a handful of rough mornings with the help of instant coffee. You might've remembered to watch one or two sunsets but -- go figure -- many more sunrises. You might have spent more than you saved, but you no doubt saved every last picture of your family on your digital camera, which took you roughly a year to learn how to use. You most likely tried to make every moment -- and there were many of them -- count.

Think about the big things -- the family vacation to somewhere other than Disney World, a promotion at work, no more visits to the emergency room -- along with the little things -- finally having time to finish a book, daily "I love you" exchanges, still being able to help with math homework.


Think about what you've done as a mother and as an individual: Count out the amount of Daily Indulgences you actually indulged in and how you've begun to reclaim "me" time.
Whatever you reflect on, we're certain that despite whatever hardships you've faced, you are 365 days wiser and a whole year happier. (And if there's anything you aren't happy with, well, you've got three days to fix it...)

Map


mi got a piece of the lab map for x'mas...keke

tiramisu

hq mentioned she wanted to make tiramisu...wow! sounds yummy!

i got tis recipe off the web...looks simple enuff for mi even...a muz try

Ingredients
6 Egg yolks
3 tablespoons Sugar
1 pound Mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 cups Strong espresso, cooled
2 teaspoons Dark rum
24 Packaged ladyfingers
1/2 cup Bittersweet chocolate shavings, for garnish

Total Preparation Time: 15 to 30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Actual Cooking Time: 2 hours
Number of Servings: 4
Origin: Italian

Preparation
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of espresso and mix until thoroughly combined.

In a small shallow dish, add remaining espresso and rum. Dip each ladyfinger into espresso for only 5 seconds. Letting the ladyfingers soak too long will cause them to fall apart. Place the soaked ladyfinger on the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish, breaking them in half if necessary in order to fit the bottom.

Spread evenly 1/2 of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers. Arrange another layer of soaked ladyfingers and top with remaining mascarpone mixture.
Cover tiramisu with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 8 hours.
Before serving, sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Guess where is it



keke, make a guess

Water fun at vivocity





went to vivocity again on x'mas day and the kiddos had some water fun on the 3rd level.

though i haf now been to vivo a few times, each time, i concentrated on a certain area.

tis time round, QQ had a xtra change of clothes so she could play to her heart's content.

can u spot QQ & YY in the pict? hehe

we had lotsa fun on level 2's open play area too. i luv the innovative play stations for kiddos coz a lot of the activities help to build their confidence or encourage them to play along wif the other kids. definitely a big draw for mi to revisit.

Bad case of stomachache



tis happened last mon coz i was telling HQ & siew koon abt it after our belly dancing class.

mum et moi bought so many fresh tomatoes from giant at vivocity and i had craving for spaghetti on mon. so mum made a small pot of tomato paste for my spaghetti using fresh tomatoes and minced meat...totally delicious!!

but i was too greedy and finished the entire pot of tomatoes. in the middle of the nite, i suddenly had a bad case of gastic / stomachache. it was so bad i thot i was going to die. i started imagining thing like mayb i'll need to go for scope and mayb it's stomach cancer or Appendicitis.

since all i noe abt Appendicitis is tat the pain is so excruciating tat one will not be able to take it, i decided to brave it out and juz see how bad the pain can get.

it was very very bad but i'm a tough cookie as dr neo puts it. and all tis while, i contemplated if i should wake mum up to apply some ointment for mi poor stomach...ok, i'm spoiled.

the next morning, i was thankful to b still alive though my tummy still felt quite tender. the feeling was like '劫后余生"

hangout @ Mt Emily





marie brought charis et moi to wild rocket at hangout @ Mt Emily.

i luv the deco and ambience. so quaint and cosy!

such a charming boutique hotel!

my onli regret is my choice of main coz i find the flavour of the laksa 'cai' in my laksa pesto linguine too strong for my liking. though i muz say the use of the laksa 'cai' to bring out the laksa flavour is truly ingenious!

i was at first apprehensive abt ordering tis main as the thot of laksa gravy wif coconut milk is abit too much for mi to take.

charis et marie's orders of the crabmeat spaghetti are simply brillant choices. i tried some of their noodles and fell in luv wif the tomato sauce. imagine creamy tomato sauce and not the usual tomato base.

i was in two minds abt ordering tis too but i thot i haben got over my terrible stomachache from the other nite.

the funni thing is after visiting upper wilkie rd for the first time in my life, i saw upper wilkie rd in the news tonite too. haha, though for all the wrong reasons.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Neptune




juz saw the neptune being featured in tonite's news on tv

gosh! i didn't realise tat it's closing dwn and the whole overseas union house will be demolished in 2 days' time. though i dun hold much fond memories of the place and haf onli been there on a few occassions, i still tink tat it's such a pity tat my kiddos haf nbr been to the biggest chinese restaurant in singapore. and it's famed for its topless performances in the past.

mi decided to try to bring the kiddos there and see it in its last glory.

from its website :

Ever wondered what it is like to be feasting at the biggest Chinese restaurant in Singapore?

Located ten minutes away along the picturesque waterfront of Collyer Quay, The Neptune provides fabulous dining and more…

Relish our tantalising a la carte Cantonese dishes, like our famous Dim Sum served in traditional trolley-cart style.

To see to your every need, we also provide banquet services for your private functions.

Every night at The Neptune is truly remarkable.

Address: 7th Floor, Overseas Union House Collyer Quay, Singapore 049321
Reservations: 6224 3922


Opens daily:
Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm (Mondays to Saturdays)

10.30am to 2.30pm (Sundays & Public Holidays)
Dinner (Private functions only): 7pm to 10.30pm (Last order)


Stress levels high



mi been feeling kinda stressed tdy.

maybe the continuous wet weather has finally got to me, and managed to dampen my spirits.

and the stress level is always high before i go on leave coz i wana make sure i finish as much of my stuff as possible. i hate going on leave wif loose ends.

i was planning on taking leave for YY's first day of skool. but i was oso contemplating to WFH since i won't b spending much time in the skool itself. i had some probs wif my VPN the other day tat went unresolved so the possibility of having to re-install my VPN stressed mi further.

thankfully, my ROVA worked juz now....phew! wat a relief!

so many things to complete before my dear YY goes to skool !! tat i decided to put it dwn in a list...actualli it's more like the 101 other things tat i wana do too tat's getting mi all flustered. hopefully i can report on my accomplishments over the long wkend and start the yr rite !

things to do over the long wkend
alter school shorts
alter PE shorts
wrap books in plastic cover
label EVERYTHING in YY's name
organise YY's wardrobe (managed to clear out QQ's last wkend...wat an accomplishment!)
organise my wardrobe or at least part of it...it's a mammoth task, i noe.

but first thing first, tomolo i haf a movie date wif YY. a treat for him before he starts primary skool....eragon or nite at the museum??

QQ doing gymnastics

Kiddos in the house

YY showing off his double eyelids



the title says it all

Sunday, December 24, 2006

X'mas treat







i saw alacarte's special lunch buffet for x'mas and decided to gif QQ & mum a little treat tdy.

the x'mas tree at m hotel

below : the huge spread. i juz luv the apple crumble.

























post lunch, we headed back to whitesands to get some stuff from popular for YY













QQ at Ya Kun roti, enjoying her kaya toast.

Fone switch



mi decided to switch back to my V3.

though the sony ericsson took better picts, i actualli prefer the handling of the v3. it fits nicely in one hand and can be flipped open easily.

other factors for my switch :

  1. the sony ericsson needed a special cable for pc connection which i find to b a pain, especially when i wana charge my fone in the office coz i dun usually use the travel charger.
  2. the pc connection was not always good and i would get the 'not connected' msg. despite reconnecting the fone, i can't get ard tis.
    i do get prob wif the mobile phone tools connection wif v3 too. but i noe tat resetting my fone will ALWAYS resolve it so at least i haf a solution.
  3. the naming conversion of the fotos was making my storage of fotos such a chore.
    typical of sony, all fotos start wif DSC and the biggest prob is i haf 2 sony devices tat take picts. all my P8 fotos oso start wif DSC and i get asked if i want to over-write my existing camera fotos when i upload fotos from the T610i...wat a pain!!
    i muz say tat i so much prefer motorola's naming conversion of DD-MM-YY_HHMM is SO MUCH SMARTER!!
    wat is the likelihood of u taking 2 fotos at the same min??
of course, the v3 still haf its shortcomings eg. pathetic memory space, poor pict quality but i would rather live wif all tis den use the T610i. mi is actualli in high spirits tdy due to mi switching back to my v3.

and the red edition is so....nice!!





Shopping at Giant






the tea selection at giant vivocity....mostly twinings but no peppermint...aiyah, was at whitesands ntuc tis afternoon and forgot they carry peppermint...%^&*















i was surprised to see King Rooster brand oil. i vaguely rem tis brand when i was little but i haben noticed them on the shelf for a long time. mayb i juz wasn't paying enuff attention.

anyway, QQ calls tis 公鸡牌

i was trying to b too smart and told QQ to recognise knife brand and boat brand oil. den i happily pointed to duck brand and asked her if she noes wat brand it is...

her answer : 鸟牌...pengz!

Camphor sachet from BBK



mi luv tis camphor sachet from BBK.

the smell is quite strong and can b over-powering if u dun like the scent.

but beli effective unlike some car or house fragrance tat dun work beli long.

it'll get flatter and flatter den the scent is all used up.

i onli managed to find tis in ONE stall in JJ mkt so really muz b fated to b able to buy it. 12 for 100baht...definitely a good buy!

One of my fav shot of QQ




the reso sux coz i download tis from yahoo fotos

but tis is still one of my fav shots of QQ

Friday, December 22, 2006

X'mas prezzies



mi been rushing x'mas prezzies for dot & marie these few nites...as usual, i started too late and can't finish on time.

anyway, i decided to chill and gif them their prezzies post x'mas and pre new yr.

pretty happy wif wat i'm creating and hope to remain productive in my crocheting. muz rem to take fotos of my completed fruits of labour.


QQ the little fatso

i was looking at my old fotos on yahoo and i couldn't resist it when i saw tis pict.

i showed QQ and my mum tis and my mum couldn't recognise her own granddaughter!!

gosh ! 真的是女大十八变



Power Failure!!

My office was impacted. i didn't realise the extent of the blackout.

my initial thot was someone had used unauthorised equipment tat could haf caused a power trip on my floor.

when i realised other floors were also impacted, i thot mayb it was a building specific prob...we had no idea wat was going on till i saw tis piece of news at 6pm (after the power had come on, of course)

Thursday December 21, 5:29 PM

Singapore says power restored after brief outage


SINGAPORE, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Singapore's energy regulator said power supply had been restored across the island following a brief outage late on Thursday in various parts of the city-state.

The power outage was caused by the tripping of two power generating plants at Senoko Power station, which supplies about a third of Singapore's energy needs.

"Power has been restored at 1640 hours (0840 GMT)," a spokeswoman for the Energy Market Authority told Reuters, adding that both generators were being repaired.

Senoko Power Ltd. was unavailable for comment. Singapore had reported brief blackouts earlier on Thursday afternoon, affecting mostly the northern and north-western parts of the island.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Toastbox Delights




had tea at toastbox at vivocity.

mi had my hae bi hiam while mum had pork floss. the otah is again sold out.



below, QQ enjoying her kaya toast







Globetrotting Parents Spend $20,000 for Family Holiday Trips



true true...i believe in tis saying "读万卷书不如行万里路". there is nuthing more enriching den immersing in a cultural experience.

kids should b exposed to as many cultures as possible to expand their minds.

fortunately, we stay in asia where travel is affordable and there's so much to see and do.



December 13, 2006


Today Taylor Donovan, a student from Kailua, Hawaii, will leave for an expedition to Antarctica, the fifth continent he's visited.

In June, he goes to Asia and by this time next year, when he's 16, he'll be in Africa, completing his tour of the world's seven major land masses.

``You do get a different perspective when you go to other places,' says Donovan, who first went abroad with his parents at age nine to New Zealand. ``If you stay in your hometown, you see the same things everyday. It's kind of boring.'

Donovan isn't alone. Children of Americans with household incomes of $150,000 and more are traveling internationally for the first time at a younger age than did their parents, who went abroad at age 19 on average.

Today, about two-thirds of children 17 and under in such families have already been outside the country, according to American Express Co.'s Platinum Luxury Survey of affluent U.S. households released in September.

Families like the Donovans, who are medical industry executives, see school-holiday periods as golden opportunities to explore the world together. This year they are heading to Europe, the Seychelles and offbeat islands of the Caribbean such as Anguilla. The richest rent their own villas and charter yachts, travel experts say.

``We see a real shift of the family wanting to include the kids,' when going outside the U.S., says Mark Belles, executive vice president of sales at Virtuoso, a travel agents' network based in Fort Worth, Texas. Families want to enhance their ``most precious commodity, which is time spent with the people you love most in your life,' he says.


`Special Time'

That's why Annette McEvoy, a 56-year-old vice president at Gap Inc., and her husband are taking their 11- and 19-year-old daughters to St. Barthelemy, part of the French West Indies, on Dec. 25 for five days.

``It's just being together and having a special time away,' says McEvoy, a New Yorker who first went abroad at age 19 and took her daughters to the Caribbean as toddlers. ``We take them everywhere.'

Dorothy Polash, who didn't go abroad until her forties, initially took her two daughters on an international trip when they were five and eight years old. This year, she and husband Peter, are taking their teenagers to Brazil.

``The girls are great, great travelers,' says Dorothy, who lives in Woodside, California, with her husband, a 59-year-old retired software developer. ``They love to go everywhere, see it all, eat the food.'

Virtuoso, which oversees North American bookings for Virgin Galactic's space flights, has seen a ``double-digit' increase in U.S. bookings for international family holiday trips this year, Belles says.


Pattern Change

Travel is among the first three ``passions' of well-off men and women in the U.S., according to the American Express Platinum survey of 1,457 such people. Three-quarters of the adults say they include their children.

In the past two years, there's been an ``amazing change' in family-travel patterns, with parents and children wanting to go further afield, says San Francisco-based American Express travel agent Maggie Eskicioglu. She planned a two-week trip that began Nov. 25 for a couple with four children aged four to 10.

Their destinations: Paris; Salzburg, Austria; Budapest; and Lucerne, Switzerland.

``It used to be just London and Paris,' she says, adding that trips often last a month. ``Now people are visiting temples in Cambodia, seeing Hanoi, and stopping in Bali. They are looking to build cultural experiences.'

Her two-week European tours for families of four start at $13,000, Eskicioglu says. Most of her clients travel in business class and stay in the best hotels, spending about $20,000, she says.
Pizza in Italy

Parents want their kids to play with children from other cultures, and practice the languages
they are learning in school, says Eskicioglu. ``I also get a lot of cooking class requests, like authentic pizza in Italy,' she says.

To minimize the hassles of traveling with children, the well-to-do take nannies, hire private jets and reserve hotel suites, travel experts say. They also get dedicated on-site concierges.

Fifteen-old Taylor, who is interested in marine biology and studies Japanese, says he found his first trip abroad with his parents to New Zealand ``a little scary.' Now, ``I'm kind of pushing them' to go places, he says.

Other kids feel the same. More than a quarter of 1,000 U.S. teens aged 13 to 18 said they were ``passionate' about travel, according to a September survey by the Harrison Group, a Waterbury, Connecticut based research firm.


`White Continent'

That first trip Donovan took with his parents cost about $21,000. The ``White Continent' voyage they begin today, at more than $35,000, is their most expensive yet. It will take them to Santiago, Chile, then to Ushuaia, Argentina, where they will board the National Geographic Endeavour.

The ship will cross the Drake Passage between Cape Horn and the Antarctic Peninsula. Passengers will kayak through ``berg fields,' hear ``Antarctic seltzer' -- gases that escape from dissolving ice -- and study penguins and whales.

``We want him to have a lifelong passion for learning,' says Carol Donovan, 48, an administrator at a Honolulu medical clinic where her husband, Charles, 54, is a medical editor. ``Travel is probably one of the purest forms of education.' ``We live from trip to trip,' says Carol, who traveled abroad for the first time at age 16. ``Had I known, I probably would have started Taylor even younger.'


Wednesday, December 20, 2006

YY in (my) Oakleys




check out YY in (my) Oakleys...isn't him cool?

QQ at Vivo

i like the water features for kids at vivo...more free form, unlike bugis junction.
yes, QQ got a little wet and had no change of clothes...keke






















she's abit grumpy at seeing the scenery (facing sentosa)
and we realised tat she can squeeze through the railings quite easily...!!
her head and body can actualli fit bet the railings, sideways!!

pls b careful if u bring kiddos there...gosh!

Cute guy





the guy from samsoon show is poster boy for tis korean comestics shop in vivocity.

i like him wif the long wavy hair look

not as boyish but cute nonetheless.

a man in suit promoting makeup, no less.









Book It: Story Time



It's hard, as adults, to think about life's luxuries and not get envious of those tooling around in flashy cars, sporting their bling and dropping dollars on five-star dinners and designer duds.

It's comforting to know that your kids are still at the age when none of that matters -- all they care about is you, a good hug and a tattered blanket they've had since they came home from the hospital.

This indulgence doesn't come with a price tag, and it's a luxury you don't have to put down a second mortgage to enjoy.

Today, read to your kids.

You won't get much further with the book on your nightstand, but that can be an indulgence for another day. Plus, we know you love the reaction you get when you read in all those funny voices and when you have your little ones help you pronounce those "big-kid words."

If that's not all, the act of reading a good children's book -- classics such as Charlotte's Web or Where the Red Fern Grows are standards -- offers big-time benefits you just don't get with a Rolex or a pair of diamond studs (which, ugh, depreciate in value the minute you buy them).

  • It improves language and speech development as well as vocabulary and pronunciation.
  • It increases attention span -- which, as a result of the MTV generation, is getting shorter and shorter -- and it fosters creativity and imaginative thinking.
  • It prepares children for school. For those entering preschool or kindergarten, the act of listening to what someone else is saying will help them in structured situations such as storytelling and focusing on one central person in the classroom.
  • It offers bonding experiences between the parent and child because those moments will be perceived as "our time."
  • It helps develop a routine for children. If reading is done before bedtime, for instance, it makes for an easier time falling asleep.
  • It promotes a lifelong love of reading. As children who've been consistently read to get older, they are more likely to read on their own.

Who needs bling when there are books? Really.


Wet Wet Wet



the weather has been so, so wet...rained over the wkend and the rain hasn't stopped since mon afternoon.

the roads r getting flooded !

tis was taken when i was caught in a bad jam turning onto upper changi rd from simei. the trunk is blocking the slip road. accident involving a motorbike

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Happiness



i saw tis and muz post it coz so many ppl complain abt how miserable they are yet do not do anything abt it.

while others r juz so pessimistic whenever they encounter setbacks.

we are resourceful, tat's y we are fire fighting everyday. if we r rendered helpless by difficulties we face, are we expecting someone else to come along and solve the prob?

i disagree strongly wif not taking ownership of one's own happiness. nobody else but urself can decide to b happy!

and yes, being happy is a choice and not juz a result of circumstances or sheer luck


Happiness is not something that others can take from me.

It's something that I would have to throw away on my own.

There will be times when things don't turn out the way I want them to.
My best friend at work may turn out to be a power-hungry corporate animal who backstabs me at every opportunity.
The promotion I worked so hard for may go to someone else.
My partner might decide to leave me, a day before we are due to go for a vacation together.
I may lose most of my savings in a market crash.

These are things that can happen to the most loving, compassionate, careful and reasonable person.

But after the initial pain and shock, the decision whether or not to let myself languish in despair is entirely up to me.

I can allow misfortune to form the bulk of my life, or I can choose to leave what's past in the past, and move on.

I can also choose to be an optimal thinker, that is, enhance and elevate my experience of the world in my mind, so that my experience of every day can be a wonderful one.

This involves cultivating a deeper appreciation of things. Even the simplest and most mundane.

French novelist Marcel Proust wrote that "the real voyage of discovery consists of not seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes."

Yes, we all know a leaf is a leaf is a leaf. We could write a sonnet about a leaf and it would still be just a leaf.

But then our experience of it would be dramatically different. We would see what others cannot. We would savour keenly what others only catch a hint of. We would sense the beauty of life which others have neglected in their constant disregard and contempt.


Pi Dan Su from HK



check out the Pi Dan Su from HK tat i got!

one whole century egg in the puff pastry and wif ginger too....beli special and nice!