am back from my blue-sky holiday..but more on that in the next post
in other news...we're ONE! cant believe how time flies when you're having fun..and had fun we did alrite.
so many things learned, experienced, discovered.
so many losses, wrenching painful heart-breaking losses, shared together.
so many things done, so much more yet to do.
i've said this before, and i'll say it again...i'm forever thankful for being given the opportunity to know you, to befriend you, to have you as my other half.
thank you for loving me, teaching me, cheering me on to be the best that i can be.
i love your eternally cheerful disposition. i love how you crack me up with your stupid jokes. i love your ever-enquiring mind and the many bits of knowledge that you have which never fails to suprise me.
i love YOU
our next year will definitely be an adventure of sorts. challenging...yes, but a challenge we'll ace through for sure, insyaAllah
here's to us sayang :)
we're ONE!
sunny day
so the other day we decided to wake up early early and ride about town. what better way to start the day than eggs and toast! decided to check out the sixth avenue joint that he’s been talking about….similar to ya kun but nicer he said..
then off we went with the wind in our faces. but thousands more had woken up way before us and congregated in town apparently, and by the time we got there, many were already on their way back!
and guess whose sweaty sticky self i bumped into exiting from the ladies with her ears all plugged up oblivious to anything but her own world?? the lady herself! the one whos been chronicling her journey in the masochistic world of long-distance running for all to see and left people like me feeling a tad guilty (just a tad) for not being as driven in the pursuit of that perfect weight
she’d completed her half-marathon..well done! next year full marathon ok :)
as for me, i just might (might being the operative word here) decide to take part in the triathlon next year. i HAVE been swimming every other day the last few days…does that count for something? :P
sleep
so today marks the last day (for a while at least) i'll be having the bed all to myself. he's away the past few weeks, and i must say that it's been liberating. a fren said that it's akin to being single...minus the desolation that accompanies those who are lonely. we are alone, yes, but not lonely. do i make sense? nevermind.
strangely enough i've been deprived of much-needed sleep these few days. strange because i'd expected to sleep even longer since i had the luxury of space - me the puny one on a queen-size bed(!)...yeyyy! but yes. the tv and the net were too distracting...and so i allowed myself to be distracted by them. have i mentioned that youtube's addictive? make that potently addictive. and it doesnt help that the football matches were all shown at ungodly hours....
speaking of which, i'd never thought there'd come a day when i'd be supporting isr.ael in a match. and i didnt! i did 'not support' russia, i did want russia to lose, but it's not the same as me supportig is.rael ok. same same but different. i stayed up to not support russia, and in the end, i was rewarded with england being kicked out? thanks. so whats the point of me staying up all those nights again?
and so now i'm severely deprived of sleep, and i'm still here. i HAVE to get rid of my panda eyes so that i'll look ravishing later today when i pick him up from the airport, but i'm still here! it's a big mistake having your laptop in bed - or at least thats what the experts say...something abt not doing any non-sleeping activities in bed cos yr mind will be conditioned to not go to sleep even after you're ready to sleep cos you're in bed and being in bed = doing your non-sleeping activity
ok now i'm rambling. i have to sleep!
oh but before i go a shout out to the top psle student wif the highest score ever in the history of the psle...woohoo! you go girl! melayu boleh!
ok i have to sleep. nites!
the latest it bag
speaking of all things green, fancy carrying this bag about town?
going green
this wasnt inspired by the go green movement thats been in the news recently, but ever since we've moved to cg we've been separating the plastic bottles from the glass ones from the paper carton boxes from the metal cans from the rest of the rubbish in our kitchen trashbag - our very small contribution to making this world of ours last that little bit longer
(sidenote: i find this a bit hard to reconcile initially cos we all know that dunia akan kiamat eventually so why go thru all that trouble to stop the inevitable? and then i realised that just because something's inevitable doesnt mean that you cant do anything to make your life and the life of others better. it's just like dying - we all know we'll die someday but that doesnt mean we go around trying to kill ourselves. hmmm ok my attempt at explaining's not going anywhere. back to topic..)
it helps that the recycling bins are close by. every once in a while we'll trudge down to the bins wif the various things and the pile of newspapers, and we'll often get curious stares from patrons of the food centre beside which the bins are located. and very often we'll find the bins empty. either the recycling companies have been very diligent in clearing the bins, or people have not been making use of the bins.
IF people have not been making use of the bins, i can understand why. it's really no easy feat separating your trash. as i'm writing this, there are 4 empty coke bottles, 2 olive oil glass bottles, 1 orange juice carton, 1 milk carton and 1 pasta glass jar waiting to be disposed. they're all sitting 'nicely' beside my waste bin, and they make an unsightly mess. there are times when im tempted to just dump them in the bin, and i've done that on a couple of occassions. so, recycling is hard work.
a japanese friend we know was happily showing off her rubbish chute when we went for her housewarming. this rubbish chute is similar to the ones found in hdb flats, you know, the ones wif the small door covering a hole that leads straight down the chute. "you just open the door and throw yr rubbish!" she said gleefully, demonstrating this by throwing a piece of tissue paper down the chute. and i tell you, she was deliriously, positively, happy about it.
it was all very amusing, but we couldnt understand why. then she explained that back in japan, they had to separate their rubbish (it's a law or something). in fact, the rubbish collectors would even refuse to collect your rubbish if it's not separated. which was why she was soo happy wif the rubbish chute - throwing rubbish wont be such a chore anymore!
maybe rubbish throwing has been made too easy for us singaporeans. perhaps if we had been MADE to separate our rubbish, it'd be second nature to us and we wouldnt think twice about recycling.
we'll continue wif our 'hard' work. hopefully it'll be second nature to us some day.
it's been crazy
there are a million and one things left for me to do, i've yet to upload the tons of photos from my camera, and yet i'm here, offloading. hahha
its been a crazy couple of weeks. at work, we had this huge event that never failed to give us a major headache every couple of years. and preparations started way before, wif reports to be done ad nauseum. what have we done the last few years? what will we be doing the next couple of years? and more importantly, how will doing all these things help WORKERS?
it's easy to be carried away by the numbers game, but it's hard sometimes to know what it was you're working towards cos it's all so macro and big-picture. i yearn for the time when i could do what i do best (at least i think i'm very good at it), which was....getting down and dirty fighting for the common man. the satisfaction is immense, and you dont have to do reports and projections for that. you just do your groundwork, fight your fight, and move on to the next case. will i ever be given the opportunity to go back to this? chances are..nope...cos they need specialists...and being at the wrong place at the wrong time kinda made me one.
and then of cos there's the hari raya visiting, and receiving visitors to our place. it's been crazy cooking for them, tho we're not complaining cos we love feeding our guests. but since there's only 2 of us, you can imagine how crazy it's been. have i mentioned that it's crazy? hehhe ok thats like my favourite word of the moment.
anyways..the other day as we were leaving the house we bumped into a few 'unearthly' creatures
since many of my neighbours are foreigners, they really got into the whole halloween trickortreat thingy. i know halloween's not exactly our thing, but it was fun seeing the whole neighbourhood transformed, wif candles and pumpkins and cobwebs and skeletons and witches and monsters running everywhere...heee
being the housewife | raya greetings
so it's been more than a month since my last post. it's not for lack of ideas, i can tell you that. i've gone "i shd blog abt that!" so many times i've lost count. then life hits you at full speed and by the time you're done you'd be too tired to do anything else but vege or sleep.
drying news | sofa set for sale
i hate it when i have to use the hairdryer to read my news
it's 220 in the morning and we're both still up n about, high from the ride to and from hy.de park where we met our motley group of riders and then some for a catch-up and sharing photos session. quite funny if you ask me. one second you're in the mosque performing the terawih and the next you're surrounded by people whose beverage of choice is the one thing you're abstaining yourself from.
anyways, the photos of our trip are up if you're interested.
we're both inspired to do something abt our lawn, which has been neglected for some time now. theres a bit on gardening in st's life today (or rather...yesterday?) which had us all excited. we've been wanting to grow our own herbs for the longest time (jamie oliver anyone?), but we never got around to doing it. our jaunt to hyd.e park sealed it for us. the grounds were nicely done up, with lush greenery everywhere. they even hv a pool at the back! which reminded me of my neighbour's...which was sadly torn down when they moved away...
the possibilities are endless it's gonna be a lot of work, but we hv to start somewhere. and seeing as to how raya's coming in a few weeks' time, it's as good a time as any to start yah. so...jalan kayu nurseries here we come!
have a great ramadhan y'all!
about that negaraku hoohah
i was wondering what all the fuss was about. afterall, it's not uncommon for the man on the street to make his gripes and grouses heard, even if it's in the form of a video that's posted on youtube for the world to see.
i finally got to see it, the one with the english translation. i found it initially amusing. who couldnt identify wif corrupt officials and inefficient government right? but then he started making fun of race and religion, to the point of being insulting.
and i was insulted. incensed even. how dare he made such remarks and expect to get away wif it! imagine if this had been abt m.ajulah singapu.ra. he'd prolly be charged wif sedition from the word go.
he's apparently apologised. twice. but i wonder if he'd really meant it. i suspect that people like him will not change their positions quite so readily, no matter how much counselling they get, cos this is deep-rooted - one's perception of other races, other religions.
judge for yourself. watch the video.
then again, don't.
pottery finale
why we chose to rent
a friend was lamenting abt how some american guy who bought his home last year is making her all jittery abt making her property purchase decision
".....for some time now we have been reading up on the US sub-prime housing loans which came to the very much expected crash last week..now some of my colleagues (boy was i surprised a lot of these science teachers have been tuning in to the world of $ ) started talking to me about another possible downturn in the economy, exposure of our economy to the US, MAS chekcing on local banks on exposure to CODs..the interest rate in singapore, singapore dollars pegged to cant remember what and baskets of goods..
acck..now i wish i had done the minor in business in my last year in uni..coz i cant remember that much of my econs..we were fine and confident coz we have worked out our sums and will be getting a relatively small and comfortable amount of loan so that our mortgage will be nicely paid off by cpf only. so we will be meeting the lawyers today but now i have a sinking feeling and a big question mark on how the american with a bad credit rating who bought his house on a sub-prime rate will affect our purchase.
so the science teachers are advising me to hold?
hold or let go n buy a new one?....."
Since i AM a bizad grad i shall put in my 2cents worth..ehem.. :P
All things being equal spore's economy's supposed to be on a high for the next few years. we're gona hv f1 next year, a sure boost to the economy. and we have the marina ir ready by 2009? n the sentosa ir ready the yr after that? so all these are supposed to be money spinners for the economy, hence the rosy picture.
We've been doing a lot of house-hunting ourselves...partly cos we were worried abt the rising property prices. we figured it's gonna go up n up for the next few years, so better buy now when the price is high, rather than later when the price is higher. but the ridiculously high cov is putting us off. we're NOT gonna be spending so much money ABOVE valuation for a place just becos the property market’s super hot right now. what’s gonna happen when the market comes crashing down? Which will happen one day eventually cos these things go through a cycle, no? we’d be paying through our teeth then for something that’s gonna be worth two-thirds of what it was?
So our house-hunting has sorta cooled down now. nothing to do with the us mortgage crisis, just our unwillingness to fork out so much money
But the US mortgage crisis is scary eh. we’ve always lulled ourselves into thinking that we’ve decoupled our economy from the US, after the unfortunate incident of the asian financial crisis. But the reality is that we’re still as linked to the US economy as we were back then. And even though the issue is as remote as it could ever be – whoever thought that a company’s unwise decisions to give mortgage loans to those who are not credit-worthy would affect us millions of miles away! – we’re feeling the repercussions now.
Which brings me to my main point: rent
Attended a workshop last week and the trainer was telling us that it’s very bewildering how everyone’s rushing to buy a home the moment they got married. And that before they even knew it, they’d be ‘upgrading’ to a bigger flat. A few years down the road, upgrade again to maybe a condo, then again to landed property after that. Owning a piece property seems to be our endless pre-occupation – the bigger the better. and may I just add – the more expensive, the more mired in debt we’ll be? Sounds pessimistic, but it’s true. How many of us truly have the means to own our home? There’ll be those lucky souls who’d pay off their homes with cash in hand. But the rest of us have no choice but to finance our home with a loan, and the loans will just add up after every ‘upgrading’ exercise. The end result: living in debt for the rest of our lives.
Which is why we’ve chosen to rent our first home. Some of the older folks, and even a few of the younger ones, have questioned the sensibility of our decision. After all, rental eats away at your disposable income, and you’d end up having less money to spend on other essentials like food, bills and such. BUT, renting our home also means that our CPF has not been depleted as yet, and could be made to work even harder than the measly returns that we’re getting at the moment (that is, if you invest yr cpf monies).
Plus purchasing a piece of property is such a grown-up thing to do isnt it, and we're just not ready to be grown up as yet. And stop sniggering there...we know we're both no longer in our 20s, but we still feel young yah :P
We will of course eventually make our first property purchase, InsyaAllah. The lease to our current place expires in 2 years' time, and we've already been told that there'll be no chance of renewing it cos the govt's taking it back (though we never take NO for an answer, so we're still hopeful..hehhe). There's still time till then to make the purchase.
It’s kinda liberating zipping across town on the triumph at 4.45 in the morning. The cold wind against my face. The occasional odd folks we met on the road.
The destination – Jurong. The task – to drive the wish and its load to melaka, for an onward ferry journey to dumai, which is in Indonesia btw (in case you’re as clueless as me)
We made it back home by 2pm. Not too bad eh, this chauffering thingy.
In a few days time, we’ll be zipping across town on the triumph again, at 5.15 in the morning. Only this time, we’ll be zipping across the border too, and exploring roads and trails we’ve never explored before. I cant wait!
potty potter
i finally got my hands on a copy of this. no you havent got it wrong... it IS the half-blood prince that i'm referring to, not the deathly hallows that everyone's excited about. i've never bought a harry potter book in all my life, and i remembered resolutely sticking to this when the book was released back then.
now i cant wait to get my hands on the final book. anyone wants to lend it to me???
i cant believe it’s august already
“You mean we’ve only got 5 months left till the end of the year?” – my exact reaction when spider pointed it out to me yesterday. Whatever happened to the 7 months? How how how now? There are TONS of things to do, TONS of things to be completed, before we embark on our huge project next year. And there’s still the house to do up.
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Our neighbour across the driveway served their notice way before their lease expired, and held a gar.age sale yesterday to sell off their humungous collection of items. Being the nosey cheapo neighbours that we were, spider and me had already ‘choped’ quite a few of their items way before they even went on sale. Yes we’re kiasu like that. So anyways, yesterday was the day when we had to pay up and lug the items back to our house. And boy the house was turned to a dreadful mess, not that it wasn’t messy enough to begin with.
The neighbour was amused. She asked if we enjoyed decorating, and we sheepishly said that we’ve wanted to do that since day one but never got the time. “today is as good a time as any to start, since your house is now a mess” – said she in a straight face, though I swore I could hear the note of amusement in her voice.
But she’s right of cos. Now’s as good a time as any. The big mess totally revved us up. We were awake till 2am this morning moving things around the house. For one, our corridor’s much cleaner and less cluttered. The bbq grill is now neatly placed just beside our newly acquired cupboard, which now houses some of our shoes, soil, fertilizer, helmets, gardening shears, and charcoal. And there are now just 2 shoe racks outside, when previously there were 5. We’ve removed the plant-less pots with the dried-up soil (note to self: get going on yr planting already!), and have introduced 2 more additions to our VERY MODEST collection of plants, again courtesy of the gara.ge sale.
The inside of the house is another story. We have more furniture than we have space. we’ve tried moving things around, but it’s still work-in-progress. The space where our dining table used to be has now been converted to our tv-cum-lounging space. And it’s reasonably done up now, with 3/7 of our newly-acquired sofa set placed nicely there. but of course this would mean that we’d have to put the dining set at the place where the tv used to be, and the old sofa is still there. add to that the other 4/7 of the sofa set which still has no space to call its own, and the coffee table that comes along with the set, and you can imagine the mess the house is in right now.
Like I said, it’s work-in-progress. A headache-inducing, back-breaking, muscle-toning, work-in-progress. But hey, at least I get my exercise.
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It’s amazing how similar our mental models are.
Name the first flower that comes to your mind –chances are, it’ll be rose.
Name a piece of furniture – chances are, it’ll either be a table, or chair, or bed.
And the waiting game entry has everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, asking “so so so, are you pregnant??”
Well, the waiting has ended. Alhamdulillah, I can breathe easy now.
And no dearies, I’m NOT pregnant. We’re not ready, and we’re not trying.
When we are, ready that is, we pray that God will see us worthy to be blessed with kids
And when we are, pregnant that is, we’ll definitely be sharing the good news with those who care :)
the waiting game..
..is unbearable. am i? or am i not?
i really hope i'm not. then again, it’s a GOOD thing isn’t it, and who am i to refuse a good thing when it comes knocking my way?
the waiting game is unbearable
ode to a tree
this grand old tree was chopped down on sunday. i couldnt help but feel all riled up abt it. spider was angrier - after all the tree was just across from his workplace.
what made it even more 'remarkable' was the reason given for chopping it down - that it could pose a danger to road users because they've not been observing the speed limit (!!). err...come again???
July 18, 2007
A parting letter from Ang Sar Nah
My dear beloved humans,
By the time you read this, I would not only be dead, but I would also be mutilated to unrecognisable chunks of wood and heaps of sawdust. It's okay, because life still goes on. There was no way of turning back.
I've lived a fulfilling life. I've stood tall for over a hundred years. I've seen the development of Pek Shan Teng from a humble Cantonese cemetery to what Bishan is all about now.
As a young sapling, I admit to competing with the other trees to get sunlight and nourishment. I must say that I have been lucky on a few occasions.
Some of my fellow friends like Rain Tree and Frangipani were uprooted in their teenage years to make way for graves.
I was lucky. I was out of the beaten path and was spared the changkols and saws because where I stood, the fengshui was not exactly ideal for the departed to rest.
Graveyard diggers, coolies and undertakers would seek refuge under my shade after a hard day's work on the hilly cemetery grounds.
Every Qingming in March/April, hordes of families would dutifully come over to Pek Shan to pay their respects to their dearly departed. Some families would even leave food and plant joss sticks around me.
I suppose they were paying respects to me, or honouring me. Come to think of it, it was funny how I was revered by the masses of religiously-struck humans. I appreciated that. I continued to flourish and grow. I've received many guests on my leaves and branches. Did I mention a tiger once used me as a scratching post? A travelling hornbill from Sarawak roosted on my branches for a few months to recuperate from the long journey.
I've even had the honour of being the home to a colugo (flying lemur) that gave birth to twins!
Then the Government decided in the 1970s to develop Pek Shan Teng. First, it renamed the area Bishan, in line with the hanyu pinyin efforts then. The heavy machinery came and exhumed the graves of many Cantonese ancestors. The cemetery in some areas were levelled. Again, I was lucky to have missed the excavation and clearing of the land.
Then I also witnessed a geopolitical shift in where I was supposed to be located. Not that I was transplanted, but the Government on one hand said I belonged to Bishan, then one day mentioned I belonged to another GRC. Last I heard, I think I belonged to Aljunied or Marine Parade. In any case, I witnessed boomtime in the 80s when Bishan experienced a huge surge of residents coming to live in the New Town. I also saw Raffles Institution and later Raffles Junior College moving just a stone's throw from where I stood.
Urban sprawl was also the reason to expand the transport network. Braddell Road became more congested as it was the main trunk road that brought the Bishan residents to other parts of Singapore. Planners decided to widen Braddell Road as part of the Outer Ring Road System. Cutting across underneath was the Circle Line MRT system. The drawing plans had me demarcated as an 'obstruction to road widening plans'. Someone wanted me to be felled. I was already more than a hundred years old then, and I've seen everything - well, almost.
But there was someone else who championed for my existence and fought his way to get me saved. They came up with an ingenious temporary traffic scheme so that traffic would be diverted safely around me while they kept to the posted speed limit of 40 kmh. I mentioned that I've seen it all, including the few reckless and irresponsible drivers who would violate the 40 kmh limit. They would zoom past me, thinking that the diversion made a good Formula One-type of chicane or dogleg.
I prayed for them, and for the many other responsible drivers who were endangered by these selfish and reckless punks.
For two short years, I literally stood in the middle of the road, relishing once again my stay from the chainsaws. I've got the policymakers to thank.
But they decided to overturn their decision, amid the international call to 'Go Green' and to 'Save the Trees'. How ironic.
Now they blame me for being a potential hazard to drivers who speed and don't adhere to simple safety rules to slow down.
Who's going to watch over them now? Who's going to pray for these irresponsible drivers?
I don't want to point my branches to who's at fault for 'near misses and accidents'.
I'm but a 'lucky' tree to almost everyone who sees me standing on that small island in the middle of Braddel Road.
Like I said earlier: there's no way of turning back. The decision was made to execute me and to allow for 'free flow' of traffic. I was once told that I was a good reason for traffic-calming measures in the area. I guess it's not the case now.
I am only an Angsana Tree - a tree gone by the time you read this - but I have a few things to say. And this is the only time I'm mentioning anything to anyone in my more than a hundred years of living on this planet.
Please educate your drivers and enforce your rules with the right frame of mind, and with professionalism. There is always the easy way out in coming up with solutions, but there are many other more innovative ways. I have submitted to the fact that I need to make way for national development. At my expense, I will do my part if that's the only choice for the sake of safety.
Alas, I'm disappointed that the very issue of responsible driving is not addressed. It's too late for me to fathom how my demise will result in safer driving when the very root of the problem is not addressed on a national level. Oh, well, life must go on.
I appreciate the nature lovers who have tried their best to keep me alive, but my time has come to bid adieu to all my friends.
Please continue to pray - on my behalf - for the selfish and inconsiderate drivers who endanger the lives of others.
Finally, please drive carefully.
Your friend,
Ang Sar Nah
Timber anyone?
777
so the dust has settled. its been a couple of weeks. we're back to work. and everyone save a few is oblivious to my grief, not that i mind, but yah sometimes i just want to be left alone you know. you dont really feel like joining in the jokes, or being up to date with the latest office gossip.
but jokes and gossip's part of everyday life, and essential if you want to get your life back on track. so yes, we're ok now. life goes on.
i couldnt resist making an entry today :)
we sorta entertained the idea of getting married on this very date, but rejected it straightaway after realising we'd have to wait even longer before getting hitched. great decision if you think about it now. his mum's able to see the last of her children settle down before breathing her last breath. my grandparents got to see me get married before they left us.
we planned on riding to mersing today, but we woke up this morning to a storm, so our plan's kinda scuppered. we're still in two minds about making the ride there, but you never know
loss
There’s the double-bill wedding and the kl trip that I’ve yet to talk about. And my befday treat. And our bid to purchase our first home. But all these will have to wait.
My mother-in-law passed away last Sunday evening. And my grandfather followed suit in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Probably to join my grandmother, who passed away 2 months ago.
I think of all the lost opportunities to do good to my grandparents, and I cry. Have I made their lives comfortable these last few years? Have I made them happy? It’s too late now to learn from nyai how to make her famous minyak urat. And will I ever get the chance to taste su’un daging masak kicap as wonderful as hers? Or her rendang daging, which she’d faithfully cook for us everytime we get together, even when she wasn’t feeling well? Atok is forever reminding us to stay united together, that blood is thicker than water, and that no matter what the problems are, we’ll be able to overcome them if we stay together. Will this legacy of his remain now that he’s gone?
I think of my late mother-in-law, and I cry. I was slowly getting closer to her, but 6 months was too short a time for me. Have I made her happy, or did I disappoint her in any way? How do I be a good daughter-in-law, when there’s no parent-in-law to be good to? I wish I had told her earlier that I’m forever thankful to her, for bringing up a son as wonderful as him. I wish I could tell her that I’ll be good to her son.
I wish I could have shown my kids to her, and to atok and nyai.
But these are wishful thinking. They’re gone now, as He had wanted. It breaks my heart, but all things must come to an end, and I am redha. We’re all redha.
Semoga roh atok, nyai dan mak dicucuri rahmat sentiasa, insyaAllah.
back on d running track
I had my afternoon jog during lunch today, after many weeks of absence. Am all inspired after witnessing for myself the myriad of people who slogged themselves out to complete the race last weekend. The look on their faces when they crossed the finish line was priceless, and I got to thinking, if they can do it, why not me. So…jogging today. And maybe swimming tomorrow? We’ll see hehhhe.
In the meantime…enjoy the pics yah!
some cheer our way
It’s been close to a month since the last entry. We had one more incident in the family since then – my poor cousin had a head-on collision with a bus while on her way to school. Yes she rides, and yes it’s eerie cos it’s close to the death anniversary of our other cousin, but no she didn’t end up THAT way. She’s now thanking her lucky stars that she had somehow miraculously escaped certain death – all courtesy of her trusty helmet. And though she was lying unconscious in ICU for 3 days and had her head completely shaven off so that they could insert tubes into her brain, she’s now finally home, intact, and recovering. Yes it’s gonna be a long, drawn-out process before you’re finally back to normal but we all know how strong you are dearie, so hang in there and keep fighting ok!
My grandfather’s getting better now, in fact much much better, alhamdulillah. He’s able to move his left hand and leg now, and he’s even starting to walk again! His speech’s no longer slurred, he’s able to feed himself…he’s really improved by leaps and bounds. And strangely enough, the episode has brought home to me the importance of insurance, most specifically el.dershi.eld, which is something that I’m looking at currently in the course of my work. Coincidence? Perhaps. But I’m definitely able to appreciate this more. And i’m more convinced that people should not be opting out of this when they’re given the option once they turn 40. But that’s a story for another day.
We’ve been so occupied these last few weeks that we kinda forgot that we’re gonna have another wedding in the family come early June. 2 of my cousins are getting married! Now that things have settled down, we’re all gearing ourselves up for the big event. It’s not often that we have a double wedding yah. The family has really bonded together in this difficult time, and I think we all deserve some cheer in our lives right about now. Even grandfather’s looking forward to it :)
As for me, I’ve been busy with work, and family. But we managed to squeeze some time in between to rough it out in the open seas. THAT was an adventure I’d not soon forget. We’re heading someplace near this weekend, since he’ll be there the whole of next week for work anyway. We’re opportunists that way :)
those 2 weeks
My grandfather was hospitalized on 11 april 2007, after a bad fall in the toilet. He suffered a stroke on his left side of his body. I wasn’t prepared for the scene that greeted me when I visited him in hospital that day. Gone was the strong, dignified-looking man who had the whole family – all 12 children, god knows how many grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren, under his command. He was a pale version of his old self. He was very weak, his vision was blurred, his speech incoherent at times. He was totally dependent on others to move around, even if moving means lifting his leg, or scratching an itch, or changing his body position in bed. I was heartbroken. I was humbled. Such is the power of God – to reduce a man to such a state.
And then a few days later, on Saturday 14 april 2007, my grandmother, his wife, passed away.
She passed away peacefully, while in her sleep. It was mid-afternoon, and I was bringing the laundry in when I received the news. It took some frantic calls before it was confirmed. Yes, my grandmother, my beloved grandmother, has passed away. Who would have thought? While we were all concerned with my grandfather, it was her who was taken away from us first.
In retrospect, it was perhaps fortunate that she passed away when she did. If my grandfather were not hospitalized, we would probably not get to see her in her last few days. It’s precisely because of our daily hospital visits that all her children staying in Singapore, most of her grandchildren, and all her great-grandkids got to see her in her last few days. Alhamdulillah. Whoever would have thought that that huge hug I gave her that Friday night would be the last with her ever?
It has been difficult these few days. I suppose the whole family’s not been able to go through the whole cycle of grief cos we have our grandfather still to look after. So we soldiered on. Even while her body was on the way to be buried, some of us were accompanying our grandfather back to hospital. And keeping him company there, which meant that we were not around to accept all the condolences passed our way. We act like things are normal. We talk positive and sound positive. Just so we could lift up our grandfather’s sagging spirits, so he can get better.
But we can’t be there all the time, and we feel guilty for it. I feel guilty when I leave him at night at the hospital, but life has to go on. And then I feel selfish for thinking that. Which makes me feel guilty all over again.
But really, the best thing I can do for him, and for my arwah grandmother, is to pray for them. Pray that my grandfather gets well soon and is blessed with good health for many years to come. And sedekahkan al-fateha to my arwah grandmother, semoga rohnya dicucuri rahmat.
Alhamdulillah, my grandfather appears to be getting out of the melancholy that’s been engulfing him the past week. All might soon be well, insyaAllah….
the off-peak warriors
Read abt the opc phenomenon in st the other day (opc = off-peak cars. These cars can only be used from 7pm-7am on weekdays, from 3pm on Saturdays, and the whole day on Sundays). Apparently there are now 25,000 of such cars on the road today, more than 3 times the figure just a decade ago. I remembered way back when the opc was first introduced, my dad bought himself a brand new opc car – a proton saga. We called it the ‘batman’ car, cos it can only move about at night. We had the proton for only a while – that was a period when my dad was changing cars like he was changing his shirts. I thought the opc phenomenon had died down, cos we didn’t see many of those on the roads back then. Which made sense cos even an opc car then would have cost a bomb – the coe prices then were not as low as they are now. With coe prices at record lows now, an opc car could cost as low as $25,000 (for smaller models like d kelisa). which makes it all the more affordable now. which would also explain the rise in the number of opc cars on the road.
Our swift is an opc, and we’re damm happy with it. Some have asked why we had bought an opc when we could jolly well afford a ‘normal’ one, and our response has always been: “why not?”
We got a straight $17,000 discount off the price because it’s an opc. And our road tax is just a mere $80 compared to the $880 that we’d have to fork out every year if it’s ‘normal’. I don’t drive to work - there’s no way I would do that cos parking would cost me $250 a month (yes my office parking is EXPENSIVE, even for staff), and that’s before all the erp and cbd charges that I’d have to pay. And spider doesn’t need to drive cos he has his trusty bike which he would still insist on riding even if we have a ‘normal’ car. By the time we go anywhere, it’d be after 7 anyway, when we can use the car. And even then, we sometimes take the bike cos riding on the triumph is just so nice and parking is never a headache with a bike, right?
Which begs the question: why do we even get a car in the first place?? :P
Well, the car does come in handy when we have stuffs to carry. Like when we do our groceries. Or when we do our shopping. Or when we had to transport my stuffs from my home in simei to cg. And it comes in handy when we’re driving people around, like my mil for instance, or my nieces and nephews, or even my own brothers. And it comes in handy when we’re tired and don’t feel like riding on the bike – cos riding on a bike requires a lot of concentration from you yah, not to say driving doesn’t lah, but it’s relatively easier.
There are instances when you need to use the car during the ‘peak’ hours though, and that’s when the opc coupons come in. these coupons cost $20 each, and they look real ugly cos they’re huge and gaudy. But that’s precisely their purpose I suppose, since they’re meant to be spotted easily on the roads.
All in, we’re very happy with our opc. It does the work, and most importantly, it’s cheap! My only wish is that they allow the cars to be used on Saturdays from 7am onwards, instead of from 3pm onwards as is currently the case. That would be happiness! :)
it's summons time!
A few months ago, during the hari raya season, my mil was feeling rather thirsty, and badly needed something to drink. So my bil stopped the car at the side of the road and went to the 7-11 nearby to get her something to drink. A cisco officer came along, saw the car, and promptly went ahead to make a summons, totally ignoring my mil in the car who was desperately trying to catch his attention by calling out to him and waving her hands at him. Now we have no qualms with the fine – we did something wrong (parking at a double yellow line, even if for a really short time for a perfectly good reason with a person still in the car, is definitely WRONG) so we ought to be fined for that, but what really pissed us off was the attitude and behaviour of the officer. He was clearly bent on making the summons, and was so ‘intent’ on his job that even the cries of a helpless old lady in the car would not move him. What if my mil was crying to him for help?? Would he have helped her, or would he ignore her as he did then? My bet is on the latter.
This morning, we decided to have our breakfast at the cheese prata shop, beside fong seng. There were many cars parked along the road, though there were jagged yellow lines, but that’s ok (or so we thought) cos apart from the cars parked there and the occasional traffic, the road’s close to empty. What do you know, a few minutes into our breakfast, our friendly cicso guy comes along in his trusty scooter to give summons to all and sundry. It was irritating. Damm irritating. Yes technically the cars weren’t supposed to be parked there, but were they obstructing traffic? What traffic?? It was a lazy Friday morning, a public holiday morning, and there was definitely no heavy traffic. You know…once upon a time there used to be this little thing called “give and take”, but this is non-existent in the vocabulary of those cisco guys. To them, the more summons they make, the better. Probably cos they’re paid according to the number of summonses they make. And so I’m bloody pissed.
And what about the incident a few days ago of the guy who were harassed by 2 cisco officers which was reported in the papers? Apparently the guy caught the officers parking their vehicle illegally, and so proceeded to take a picture of the offending vehicle with his camera. What do you know, the 2 officers then confronted him and insisted that he delete the photo. The guy refused though, cos he insisted that it was within his right to take photos in a public area, and he stood his ground (yeyy for him!). the cicso guys kept harassing him, and threatened to call the police. In fact, both parties threatened to call the police (again, yeyy for the guy!!), and so the police were called in. to cut the story short, the police ruled that the guy did nothing wrong by taking the picture as it’s in a public place, but that the cisco guys did nothing wrong either for parking the vehicle illegally cos they were allowed to do that in the course of their work.
My beef is this: why did the cisco guys act in such a high-handed manner, insisting that the photo be deleted?? They knew they did nothing wrong by parking their vehicle where they did, so why should they harass the guy? My only conclusion: they did that because they thought they could. They thought wearing the uniform gives them the power to incite fear in others. If I were in the guy’s shoes, my guess is I would prolly meekly heed the officers’ requests, thinking that I’d done something wrong. Or even if I thought I did nothing wrong, I would still accede to the officers’ demands cos I just wont want to aggravate matters. So I’m mighty proud of that guy who bravely stood his ground. We need more of him around so that the powers that be, real or otherwise, would not indiscriminately inflict their powers on us. So yes…YEYYYY for him!!
hippy me | domestic helpers
I just read somewhere that cg was once voted singapore’s hippiest spot by a prominent female magazine. Hmmmmm…so I’m a hippy eh? Hehhhe
Anyways, theres been a bit of a buzz around the place lately, what with the government’s plans to reconvert the place to a hostel..and the petition put up by the residents, including us. We’re kind of unaffected actually cos we know we wont be staying there for long….but there’s no harm in lending your support to the common good yah. Though at times it does feel a bit sayang to know that the place will not be available to us for much longer, should we choose to renew our lease. We’ve decided not to have the wooden platforms at the yard cos our stay’s there not permanent anyway – it’s just gonna be money down the drain.
Both of us have been wanting to start on a little project of ours, but we’ve not gotten around to doing it yet. Which is frustrating. But there are tons of things to do at home, and by the time we reach home it’s already late and all we have time for is to eat and vege at the couch. And there’s nothing much we can do during weekends either, cos our relatives keep popping by to spend time there since they love the place so much. Not that I’m complaining – like I said previously, I love it when there are people at my place. but sometimes you just want to be left alone yah so that you can finally unpack all those boxes and do up the place properly.
I still want to do the project though. Let’s hope we’ll find some time this long weekend to finally do it.
______________________________
Read about the plight of domestic helpers in the papers last weekend, and it just pains my heart. Many of them have sacrificed being with their husband and kids so that they can earn enough to keep the family going. If only we can start according them the same respect as we accord all other professions. They’re here to work, not to be slaves. What is so wrong with giving them enough food to eat? Can you survive on just one slice of bread a day? I cant fathom the doings of some of us sometimes. And what about the often debated issue of giving some time off to your maids? Do YOU want to be locked up in your office the whole time you’re working there, even if the office is equipped with all the comforts of home? If you cant stand the idea of that, why should your helpers be treated any different?
This brings to mind a lengthy email that I sent to my boss – the big boss, about two years back. I’ve never written to him at this length before, but I was compelled to let him know how I felt cos I felt really strongly about it:
Hi [big boss],
Thought HRW did the right thing by releasing the report. Yes Singapore got some negative publicity from it, but I personally feel that many Singaporeans need to be given a jolt to wake them up to what's happening. It might just be that the report is blowing up the issue, and that instances of maid abuse might be considerably lesser than reported. However, this should not stop us from acknowledging that there is a problem.
It's just shameful that some maids here are treated the way they are - no off days, waking up before the rest of the family and working the whole day through till everyone has gone to bed, being shouted at for every wrong thing they do..the list goes on (and I've not even included instances of physical abuse!). Some Singaporeans think they 'own' their maids because they've paid good money for them. Many fail to realise that these workers are just that - workers, and should be treated as such, just like how Singaporeans as workers themselves would want to be treated by their companies.
As the [………………………….….], we should not be silent on this. We have the […........], but perhaps we might want to be more vocal in this issue? There was a guideline by Case(?) that suggests that maids be given 1 day off a month - perhaps [we] can push for that to be a statutory requirement instead. Yes abuses of this requirement would be hard to monitor, but at least something is in place to protect the maids. One recommendation made by the HRW report - that the $5,000 bond be removed, might be a good idea. Singapore employers paranoid of losing the $5k bond and hence impose ridiculously strict restrictions on their maids might then have less of a case to do so if there's no bond to lose.
One simple step which could go some way is to stop referring to these workers as 'maids' - the term is loaded with too many negative connotations. Many hv started using the term Foreign Domestic Workers (FDWs), but this is too much of a mouthful to be effective. Perhaps we can start referring to them as 'domestic helpers', or 'hired help' instead?
Just my 2-cents' worth...
swamped
met up with one company at 10.30. then gobbled up lunch and made my way to tuas for another meeting at 1.30. the rain was pouring so hard i was amazed and very thankful that the cab driver could see what's in front of him, cos i certainlty couldnt. then rushed back to the office for another meeting with yet another company at 3.30. and one last meeting at 5.20.
these are working meetings. you do work, not sit-one-corner-and-pretend-to listen-but-you're-actually-dozing-off kind of meetings. these are meetings where you have to talk and talk, and negotiate, and propose, and come to some agreement between the parties involved. the kind of meetings that drain you, and make you thirsty, damm thirsty.
i'm tired. i'm swamped. my desk is a mess. and i desperately need a massage.
i'm heading home to bed. and that warm embrace.
gonzo
I saw gonzo the other day. For the uninitiated, gonzo’s this guy I went out with for some time back when I first started working. You can say he’s my first ‘serious’ relationship. Looking back, it was laughable how naïve and susceptible I was back then to even the slightest attention from people of the opposite sex. I was extremely flattered that he wanted to go out with me, and therefore ignored the fact that he was EXTREMELY brash and cocky. Puspawangi, remember that time when I was crying my heart out at your bed in the hospital because of him?? Ridiculous eh when we think of it..hahha.
So anyway, saw him having dinner with his wife and son a few tables away from me and spider. And I told spider, that’s the guy who made me cry…who made use of me to while his time away…(I later suspected that he was probably in between relationships, or his girlfriend was not in Singapore during the period)...and who just stopped calling me when he had no more use for me.
And spider asked if I want him to go up to gonzo and give him an earful or even a bashing, cos he’d do that for me. And I realized that all things, even the bad ones, happen for a reason, and I didn’t end up with gonzo because I’m SUPPOSED to end up with spider. I felt like kissing and hugging him right there and then. Hehhe. Which I did, the hugging anyway, cos cannot kisskiss in public hokay wait the makciks around will shake their heads in disappointment and lament what’s gone wrong with the young today cos we look young like as if we’re dating even though we’re married already but we’ll keep ourselves in check so that makciks wont dosa for no reason. Muakakakaka
By the way, gonzo is short. And he’s not funny. And spider looks way better than him…hahh! Ok bitchy moment over :P
moving house
Had the doa selamat cum housewarming for our family on saturday. Tiring yes, but kinda fun too. I realize that I like having people over. Makes the house more lively. And we had an impromptu bbq at night...hahha!
Like I said…I’m still recovering from it all. There are tons yet to be completed, books and clothes yet to be unpacked. But you know what, I’m happy. I have my own place, my own set of rules. It comes with a whole lot of responsibilities– cleaning, washing, making sure the place is all locked up before I go to work, etc etc, but it is still MY place, OUR place, and we get to do whatever we want with it.
I’ll invite you girls over some time.
sleepy
been rushing around like mad for meetings, slept at 4 the last couple of nites, all for the event this morning. and now it's all over.
i'm happy. and sleepy. am heading home to sleep.
to puspawangi (kuakuakua)...happy belated befday girl!
the quake
the building swayed a bit, chairs shook a bit, and then came the evacuation announcement. fortunately this was just before 12, so everyone just went off for lunch.
oblivious me was too busy zipping around town going for meetings to partake of the drama, but was finally informed by the ever helpful colleagues who seized me while at lunch and warned me not to go back to the buidling becos "got evacuation one". and then i got a call from dad, who caught it on the news, and who cautioned me not to go back to the buidling cos you never know what'd happen next.
went back anyway, and i wasnt stopped. heard some more accounts of the tremors from other colleagues. all juicy yah (cos our poor singaporean lives are so lacking in drama), but i wonder if they spared a thought to the poor residents actually caught in the middle of it all. got back to my seat, steeling myself to get some work done.
and then i felt giddy, like as if a gentle wave just caught me. and then everyone around me said that was another tremor! waited for another announcement on the pa system, none came. till a few hours later. the police has advised that no evacuation is necessary, and that building tenants can choose to declare the rest of the days off at their own discretion.
which they did btw. heard of at least one tenant who dismisses their staff for the day. but not us. nooo of cos not us. the bosses were all somewhere else anyway, so no decision was made.
and so we toil in this glass cage of ours. which is thousands of times better than being stuck in the wreckage of the aftermath of the quake. i'm not complaining.
let's hope not many lives were lost.....
I want my sleep back!
Came super early for a meeting, only to realise that it’s been cancelled! Arrrgh! I needed that extra sleep man. Yes I had earlier replied that I couldn’t attend the meeting, but that does not mean it’s ok not to let me know that it’s cancelled, because it’s NOT! Arrrghhh! I want my 1 hour of sleep back!!
spalugecarousel weekend
Treated spider to some pampering for his birthday. Been eyeing the place myself, and I needed an excuse to spend all that money. Heeee.
It was a weekend of decadence. Too much food, too much fun. We’re now obviously back on earth, our work commitments looming ahead of us.
To my dearest spider.....
Happy birthday sayang. May this next year be the best yet...
cny hols
Sprained my ankle playing captain’s ball. On an uneven grass field. In slippers. But it was great fun. My dearest cousin hilmy was practically mauled by us in our efforts to prevent him from catching the ball. Hahha.
As usual, east coast park was transformed into a malay village during the cny hols…and it’s amazing how ingenious we malays can be. We have tents of all shapes and sizes being erected here and there. And generators, GENERATORS mind you, for the lamps and the fans and the tvs that were brought along to the beach.
My aunt was the mastermind again for this year’s edition of the great charcoal fest. We had a total of 5 tents pitched (6-men tents at that), 1 gazebo-like tentage, 2 safari beds, god knows how many director chairs, and all these coming from the little storeroom of hers in pasir ris. Amazing how much stuff can be stuffed into that small hole.
And we had food galore. Satay, otak-otak, chicken wings, rojak char kway, roti john, mee hoon goreng, laksa, nasi lemak, pizza, cold potato salad, hot potato salad, epok-epok sayur, jemput-jemput pisang, jemput-jemput bawang, samosa, hot dogs. And there were oranges, oreos, chickadees, twisties, chocolate cake from polar, even sembuih hahha. Just thinking of the food is making me dizzy.
food galore
the laksa gravy..yummy yums!
We’ve started staying at cg more regularly now. We’re taking over the tenancy officially next week. Which leaves us with not much time. My folks n grandparents finally visited the place proper, and I have a feeling dad is grudgingly changing his opinion of the place. He had earlier said that the place look so kampong, and that he could easily get a better place for much lower at kembangan. But that’s precisely why we even got the place, cos we’ve fallen in love with the whole kampong environment that is cg. I cant believe it’s possible, but I’ve been waking up early in the morning to do the laundry and hang them out at the clothes line. Yes! The very idea of me missing sleep is unthinkable, but I wouldn’t want to miss the feel of wet grass on my feet early in the morning when i'm out hanging the clothes to dry. It’s just so…heavenly surreal. We were greeted by a small toad at our doorsteps the other day…yet another example of how kampong cg can be. Hv I said that I love the place? Heeee
Am finding it super difficult to come to work today. Thankfully, there’s a friend around to entertain me with her stories..hahha. and what do you know..the work day is over! Time to head home y’all!
i did not pass out this time round
warm blood..anyone?
all wrapped up in green. i realise that there's some effort by the nurses at colour-coordination going on here. had sthg pink to go along wif my reddish-pink top the last time round..hehhe
happy holidays y'all! am looking forward to 4 whole days of non-work. here's to charcoaled food, frolicking in the sun, a whole lot of hauling things around, and hopefully some zipping around on the bonneville :)
of soto and adams | mad jacks
Had soto ayam after my gym workout just now, and my stomach’s still rumbling from all that chilli. Hadn’t had soto for the longest time. We’ve kind of decided not to patronize the mee soto stall at adams anymore. The food made spider sick 2 days before the wedding…hmmph! And the makcik never ever smiles. Funny how there’s always a queue for her food even though her service sucks, then again we were guilty of patronising her too despite her sulks and her curt way of dealing with customers. Not anymore though, not after the diarrhea!
But that doesn’t leave us with much choice. There’s really not much halal food on offer. You have the nasi lemak stall, the mee soto stall (out!), the rojak stall, the nasi ayam stall, the nasi padang stall (which is always closed by evening), the claypot stall (which I’ve never ever frequented…hmm why is that?), and countless Indian stalls selling the same fare. Errrr okay when I list them down like that it does look like a lot, but seriously, the options are not appetizing. Why is there no hor fun or char kway teow or stuffs like that? How come theres no laksa, or gado2? Or even chicken wings? YES why are there no bbq chicken wings sold there?? Any hawker centre worth its salt would sell bbq chicken wings, but there’s none there! And there’s no stall selling things to munch on, like goreng pisang or epok2.
If you feel like having western food, there’s an eatery across the road from adams. Our first taste of mad jack’s was there, a few months back. And we were far from impressed. There were many dirty dishes left on tables unattended, probably because the outlet was undermanned. Plus I just didn’t like the place, something about it that was missing, something I couldn’t place my finger on. We chanced upon another outlet at jalan kayu a few weeks back, and decided to give the eatery another try. Our verdict: the ambience here’s definitely better than the one at adams. I love the rustic, laid-back air that it exudes, probably cos its located in jalan kayu (in the middle of nowhere as some would have said) and not alongside the busy busy adam road. I love that the outlet’s occupying one corner of the row of shophouses, which means that it is able to have 2 open sides, instead of the usual 3 walls and 1 open side (for the entrance) that the other outlet and most other eateries have – makes it look more open, less claustrophobic. Food wise, it’s ok. Not great great, though they claim to serve the best fish & chips around. And the portion’s super small, was kinda expecting more for the money that I’m paying.
my fish & chips
his chicken burger
the jalan kayu outlet
we discovered a lovely little road very near the outlet, out of bounds to vehicles. decided to follow the road to walk off the oil-laden meal that we had, and what do you know, we came upon an lrt station that looks so out-of this-world i didnt even know it exists..hehhe! so now we know...if you ever want to go to the eateries at jalan kayu but have no transport of yr own to get there, just take the lrt to tanggam!
the lovely little road to.....
tanggam lrt station!
I left for work from cg this morning, and what do you know, I reached the office at 9! Of course this is something of a feat for me, being the 9.30 sorta girl that I am (hey I make it up by going back later. Come early leave early, come late leave late. D office is flexible like that)
Waking up in cg is like waking up in another country altogether. I love hearing the chirping of the birds, joined by the chorus of other early risers from the animal/insect kingdom that, I hear, puts up their full symphonic performance without fail every day of the year, even when it’s raining. I had doubts about the journey to work though. Needing a bus to take me to the train station to take me to town is not exactly very straightforward. Not as straightforward as walking to simei station n taking the train from there. But hey, i saw a lot more people (cute guys galore!), and apart from the annoying fact that it’s super hard trying to get onto a full train heading to town from newton, the journey to work’s pretty fine actually.
Am slowly assimilating myself to life in cg. We spent a good part of our weekend cleaning up the place. We’ve decided to just sleep there these few days, instead of going to cg after work, cleaning up, then going to simei to sleep. Mum was kinda sad that her girl’s moving away so soon, which was quite amusing actually, but I suppose I get where she’s coming from. I kinda miss having my brothers to disturb anytime I like too. But it’s impossible to really grow up until you’ve left the nest. Ah well.
Am going for my run now. tatas!
of girls & heroes & dramas galore
Yeyy for the girls! Spider finds one of them too much of a nyonya for his liking..and I kinda agree. BUT they’ve gone that far and they’ve put their brains to good use (like taking a short cut to the entrance of the park after finishing their task instead of going back the way they came from!). being the first all-female team to win this in the history of the amazing race franchise, is no mean feat. So…congrats girls!
I nearly screamed in frustration at 1.30am in the morning when the episode ended in a cliffhanger. I was that hooked. And now I just cant cant cant wait to see the rest of the episodes. And I suspect that this time round, reading the recaps off television without pity won’t do. How on earth do ppl download their fave shows from the net ah?? I must learn!!
And why was I watching heroes at 1.30 in the morning when I could have watched it at 9? Cos there was something of far greater ‘importance’ happening roundabouts then. Yes, am referring to THAT match, the infamous one with plenty of tackles, plenty of falls, a dubious decision, and best of all, 17 looong minutes of nothing. Very the drama one. Yes it was a dubious decision by the referee to award that penalty, BUT this doesn’t give the thais d license to walk off the pitch and not continue wif the match. it’s a soccer match for god’s sakes. Dubious decisions are made all the time, but we don’t see teams walking off in protest everytime a decision goes against them! Totally appalling, that behaviour. And I’m amazed d referee allowed them to go that far. All this drama means one thing….a SUPERBLY CHARGED match on Sunday…n you’ll bet you I’ll be in front of d telly catching it in all its sandiwara glory.
Am hitting the gym in a while. Didn’t do my run during lunch cos I didn’t wana miss out on all the office gossip..hahhha. exercise still important lah but must spend time with colleagues during lunch too otherwise how to know the latest news/scandals in the office right? All that running has done me some good. Have managed to lose a few kilos already. At the rate I’m going…you think it’s possible to go back to my right-after-nus-days’ weight of 45kg? muakakakaka yeah in my dreams!
i MUST not be a bus
Another 4km run. Another banana juice, this time mixed with carrot. And sliced fish soup for lunch.
I hope I can keep this up.
It’s amazing the things one can do for vanity. Hahha. I knew I had put on weight after the wedding. All those indulgent meals, and chocolates, and potatoes (I love potatoes!) mean extra kilos galore! And true enough, when I weighed myself at the start of the year, I’ve gained 2 kilos, and have crossed the 50kg threshold. Ah well, what’s 2 kilos right?
But I weighed myself again last Sunday. And horror of horrors, I’ve gained another 2 kilos! Am I officially fat??
And so I’ve no choice but to start exercising. Seriously of course. For I’ve ran on and off the last couple of weeks, but that didn’t seem to have worked out much. I have to exercise hard and lose those extra kilos, I HAVE to! There’s no way I want to prove my aunties right by gaining weight.
You see, every lady from my dad’s side of the family, and I mean EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, gained weight, ie REALLY PILED ON THE FATS, after they got married. I’m not kidding. And my aunties have gleefully told me that I cant escape this fate of mine – it’s in the genes they say. So…I’m determined to prove them wrong. I MUST I MUST I MUST NOT BE A BUS – my fren’s constant mantra..hehhe…and mine too from now on.
So…. I’ll be running intensively now. and maybe I’ll start swimming again on weekends. I’m hoping that this wont fizzle out by the end of the week. And am hoping that I have more of my mum’s genes in me – she’s still very slim and pretty now, even if I say so myself.
I hope I can keep this up! Go bozy go!!
on a high
Ran 4k during lunch n now I’m on a high. Got re-acquainted wif banana juice again after that. I love banana juice!! (but I love spider more..hehhe!)
Speaking of high…followed him on an odac trip to ubin 2 weeks ago. The last time I was there was for my obs trip…n that was like AGES ago. This time round, it was more of a ‘relek’ affair. N I absolutely loved cycling round d island…with its little kooky trails and all. Had myself a free mud spa session while I was there…thanks to d generous amount of mud that’s splattered/plastered all over my legs n feet
re-living our childhood days by playing pick-up sticks. even d sticks were old-school. i like!
the morning sky from my makeshift hammock
our breakfast at d coffeeshop just before the jetty. sells to-die-for kopi. really i'm not kidding.
a welcome sight after all that cycling. though we ended up not buying anything from there.
me n my bike
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me n my good frens met up last Friday evening for a catch-up cum bitching gossiping cum look-at-photos session last Friday at amirah’s grill. Great affordable food but lousy service, you’ve been warned yah. Sometimes we wonder why we even bother to keep in touch, all 5 of us, and I wonder myself too. but when we do, don’t you think we’re much the better for it? Yes we might not be terribly close anymore, but I sense that we can still depend on each other for support. No matter our flaws, I think it’d be too much of a shame to just let go of this. So I’m really glad that things turned out great that day. Here’s to our frenship gals!
And oh…even though I might have publicly dissed some of your wedding gifts, pls know that I’m in fact really touched by all the effort you gals hv put in getting n packaging those gifts. Really. So thank you gals…from d bottom of my heart :)
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It’s really a wonder how time flies. Had lunch with a colleague in town the other day..which was a rare event since we’ve both been posted to different outfits. He was talking abt his frustration wif the housing board..how he’d tried all the means to getting a new flat (balloting, walk-in, built to order) and failed…finding himself $40 poorer in the process. And I stopped him halfway and said “can you imagine, 5 years ago, when we were having lunch at roxy square, exchanging notes on the latest club haunts, the best diving sites and bitching of our boss and our dismal love life that 5 years on, we would be bitching abt the hdb??” it’s surreal. I look at him, and me, and thought that we pretty much looked the same. And yet, we’re not. Our circumstances are different. He’s now ready to be a father (a father!), and I’m somebody’s wife.
My point is? I donno. Blame it on the high from all that running…and all that banana juice. I love banana juice! And I love running! I love how it makes me feel. I love how it makes me look. Nothing can beat the glow of a person who’s just exerted herself. Then again, they say nothing can beat the glow of a pregnant woman. Hahha! Since I’m not pregnant, I’ll stick to getting my glow from exercising then.
I have tons more write about but I think I’ll stop for now. ciaos!