Weekend Update ~ Singapore

Other that I had a flight delay back to Singapore on the cheapo Jetstar plane last Wednesday night, I actually had a nice weekend long weekend back at home catching up with my friends and family. :)

On Thursday, we had lunch with hubby's mum and uncle at my favorite prawn noodle shop on Upper East Coast Road. Then we visited hubby's birth place and childhood home on Onan Road which was to be torn down to make way for some private apartments. It was really rundown and I could feel that hubby didn't like living in it at all. The stairs leading up to the apartment was to him the scariest part of the place when he was young.

We went to some dog farms at Pasir Ris with D in the afternoon. Saw some pretty cute puppies but somehow, none of them were comparable to my Coffee and Cookie. I loved the Golden Retriever puppies that I saw but we do not have the kind of house for them...too bad. I would really love to see how Coffee and Cookie will interact with a Golden Retriever. It will be such a funny sight to see a big Golden Retriever being chased by the tiny Toy Poodles. Imagining the scene is making me smile... :) We didn't buy any puppies but the best part of the trip to the dog farms was a chance-meeting with a Malaysian van with the best durians on sale. It was really tasty eating durian out in the open, the unique Singapore experience.

We had supper with some old colleagues on Thursday night at East Coast Lagoon. Had some very tasty local treats such as satay, tulang, fried oyster omelet, cockles, BBQ stingray, etc. It was such a feast!

On Friday, hubby had to fly back alone because of his classes on Saturday but we managed to squeeze in a lunch with his whole family. His elder brother whom we have not met for a long time came too and I could feel that hubby was more than happy. MIL was really happy too, almost forgetting that her younger son was leaving that afternoon...I thought she didn't even say goodbye to him...

After hubby left for Hong Kong, I met some of my good frineds from school on both Friday and Saturday over some very good food again. Laksa, durian desserts, frog porridge...Yummy! I also managed to window shop at Ion, the latest shopping mall in town. The building structure was kind of special, but I thought that it was not very shoppers friendly inside. It was easy to loose your way inside the mall.

Sunday morning was spent quietly at home with mum and son before the flight. D is so fascinated with the yo-yo at the moment, he can do so many tricks with his yo-yo that I felt a little impressed. Now, if only he can put as much dedication in his studies and piano practices... N was out on a study group with some of her classmates and probably showing off the handphone that I had bought for her the day before. She's in puppy love now and I hope she enjoys her youth as much as possible.

Stinky as a rotten egg

Just came home last night from Singapore and I am still trying to snap myself back to the cruel reality of having to finish up my team assignments and having to concentrate on my work. I have not been productive at the whole morning since sitting here at my desk. I am just trying to figure out what I should do first...prioritise, prioritise...I have already put off writing my weekly report; since it was just 3 days of work last week, I single-mindedly decided that I can don't write anything this week and leave it to next week.

It was kind of a tough week for me. My boss in HK announced to me last Thursday that he has decided to take the VMI Support function out from my department and the woman who is handling it will be retrenched. It was 2pm when he announced it to me and I am suppose to disclose to this woman at 4pm the very same day. It was difficult, especially when this woman is sort of a friend whom I used to meet outside the office. I should have expected this to happen, she was one of those many "old" colleagues that the new management has targetted to cut. They are expensive and unproductive, if I am the boss, I will also choose them to cut.

In order to prevent any bad feelings, I decided to disclose the news to her before the offical time. She took it quite hard, asking to be released immediately from her position even though the company requested her to do a handover of jobs in a week or two. And since I also do not want her to create anymore trouble for me, I released her. She left before the day was over without clearing her things. She came back to the office the next day, but not until almost everyone has left the office. The HR personnel did not agree to do handover with her as she was officially off-duty and told her to come back during office hours. She refused and called me on my mobile to complain to me and requesting me to help her if the HR personnel call me. I was on my way to the airport to catch a flight home and I was totally upset by her. She is really such a bad egg! Why can't she just do as per the company's rules? Why must she give so much trouble to us? In the end, she insisted to pack her stuff and asked a junior staff in the department to help her handover her pass and handphone card to the HR department instead. That's the most annoying part, this junior staff is already helping her with her work and standing in for her to do the transfer of jobs to the Accounting department.

I am very angry with her and I am more angry with myself for choosing her to join my department 1 year ago. I should have just let her be retrenched there and then, why should I bother? I understand that she has pride, but this is not the way to handle things. She is being compensated fully and she has the responsibility to make the transfer go smoothly. In this way, she will only be known for her rotten egg ways and not for any good she has done over these 16 years she had worked in the company. It's such a pity.

Weekend Update ~ Operations Management Final Exams

Completed my 7th subject with the final exams for Operations Management and I have 11 more subjects to go. I was kind of disappointed with the exams question though because it was a really stupid question. Instead of requiring me to write a report using the concepts and theories that I have learnt in Operations Management, it asked me to find data on the trend of Toyota's recent recalls and from that information, find the root cause to the quality issues and recommend some quality management program to Toyota. Most of the theories and concepts we studied in Operations Management comes from Toyota and now for the final exams, I need to recommend Toyota something new? It's ridiculous!

Anyway, I downloaded the question at around 9pm on Saturday night after coming home from dinner with hubby and basically got so fedup with the question that I slept through it. I woke up at around 7am to do the paper and submitted by 1pm. I don't know how but I managed to squeeze 1900 words out and after that I was totally drained...

Cookie in a soup bowl~

I put Cookie in a soup bowl and took a picture of her. She fitted right in! How cute! She is so tiny!

I gave the 2 of them a bath yesterday in the bathroom sink and they smell great after that. Then I had them on my bed for the whole afternoon while we watched TV and study. Unfortunatelt, they are still not toilet trained yet, so I did get a little pee on my sheets. But I am fine with it, it's part and puzzle of having pets. My mum would freak out though but I seriously think that man and animals can live very well together. Everyone should have a pet! It's heathy!

Bundles of Joy

The two tiny toy poodle puppies have added much joy to our humble home which is now offically a "doggy house". They have been with us for the past 5 nights and so far they have been sleeping through the night. They wake up very early in the morning though...6am on the 1st day, 6:30am on the 2nd day, 7:15am on the 3rd day, 6:30am on the 4th and finally 7:30am this morning. We have decided to give them a late night feed so that they can sleep until later in the morning and I think it is working...

Here's a picture of the 2 of them! :)

Weekend Update - My Tiny Toy Poodles~

I am sorry Oreo, I won't be taking you home... Oreo is the name of the blue toy poodle that I had decided to name when I set off to Causeway Bay yesterday evening intending to take him home. M and his wife came to fetch us at around 5:15pm, they are really sweet, they both love dogs and they wanted to see the puppy that I have mentioned to them the whole time we were bowling on Saturday night.

After arriving at Causeway Bay, I decided to take them to another pet shop selling some tiny toy poodles imported from Taiwan. I know Mrs M loves small dogs, so I thought she would love to see those little darlings. I wanted to make a comparison too, just to make sure that I wouldn't make the wrong choice. The shop owner recognized me from Friday, he picked up the sweet little girl that I had carried and handed it to me almost immediately. Oh, she is so small and so sweet and so cute! Such a little darling! Then another boy was frantically trying to catch our attention, jumping around, playing and disturbing the rest in the cage. Hubby thought that he was so funny and so he brought him out too. Then I was thinking to myself, why not I get a boy and a girl? Both of them will cost less than Oreo alone! Besides, they are in my original intented colour of choice!

We went to see Oreo anyway. He was as usual very active and happy to be brought out of his cage so that he could run around and play with the other adult poodles. There were several other adult poodles around with really beautiful thick coats of fur. Oreo is very, very beautiful, but somehow, I feel that it belong to owners with bigger homes, homes with a spacious living room for it to run around, and that is definitely not my house in Hong Kong. If I am in Singapore, I will probably take him home with me, he will enjoy playing with the kids and running around the house.

I couldn't make up my mind, so we went off for dinner, I needed everybody's suggestions. Mrs M said she prefer the tiny ones, *me too actually*, hubby said he would like to have a boy and and a girl, *NICE*, Mr M said having 2 will be more fun than just 1, *I'm convinced*. So in the end I bought 2 tiny toy poodles instead. \\^-^//

And I have named them Coffee and Cookie. My little darlings!

What is stopping me?

I have fallen in love with this dog which we saw in a pet shop at Causeway Bay. It was really a coincidence that we found this shop after coming out of the MRT station on Friday evening. We were intending to go to some of those pet shops along the streets to see some puppies. We always do that, it's one of our favorite "pass-times" in Hong Kong. We spotted the sign "Gaite Poodle" almost immediately coming out of the station and we decided to check it out. It was on the 2nd floor and after the shop owner opened the door for us, we saw just 2 poodle puppies for sale. One was in the teddy bear colour and the other was black, at least to me it was black at first sight.

However the information written on the cage was "blue toy poodle" and after being showed closely, he was indeed bluish. His coat of fur was amazing! So thick and yet so soft to the touch! I have never touched a coat of fur as fine as his. He was obviously very healthy and very smart. Oh, he is such a sweet, sweet darling! I wished I could bring him home immediately!

To bring him home, the price tag is HKD33,000. Is the price tag stopping me? I would think not as I think he is really worth that kind of money. Then what is stopping me? I guess it's the responsibilities involved. Can I take good care for him? Do I have enough time to play with him? I am working and studying and out of the house most of the time, so how am I going to make sure that he will be happy in my home? Hubby is not helping even though he likes the dog a lot too. He is sleeping the whole Sunday away...I wish to go see the dog again. I am feeling really terribly miserable now, almost like I am being jilted and out of love now... Can I ever forget him?

Sweat palms and feet...

Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...literally and was late for work due to not being able to get a taxi even after walking a few blocks away. I hate it when the school term starts in Hong Kong, all the taxis suddenly just disappear! And it was such a humid morning, I started perspiring and of course my hands and feet are dripping with sweat now....

I have always been suffering from excessive sweaty palms and feet since young. It's hereditary, my dad had this problem and so I have it. It is not life threatening but just terribly inconvenient and bothersome. Because of this problem, I cannot do many things that involve using my hands such as sewing, knitting and I definitely cannot be in the service industry where I will need to provide services to clients with my hands such as a beautician or a hair-stylist. In Singapore, guys with my condition will be exempted from handling arms during National Service, I heard. I can understand that totally, the riffle or machine gun would just slip through my hands!

The condition gets worse when I am nervous, like when I was taking exams during my school days, I had to put a hand towel under my hand when I write. If not, the examination paper would be ruined with my sweat. On the social level, I avoid shaking hands with people I meet and I never hold hands with the boys I dated. Can you imagine how difficult it is? Anyway, I am glad that I am working for a Japanese company and Japanese do not shake hands, they bow. Perfect for me.

I almost forgot, today is our 5th aniversary! Happy Aniversary, darling! These 5 years have been wonderful!

Who's the real woman?

Who's the real woman? Should all women have perfectly made-up faces, boobs, slim waists and curvy bottoms? Who decides what a woman should look like?

Weekend Update

I think a 2-day weekend is too short...maybe I am just being lazy but I bet many people out there agree with me.

Went to meet hubby for lunch at his school on Saturday afternoon and explored the campus a little. It was really a fine campus with some very beautiful views of the sea. The weather was a little too warm though, if not, I would have spent a nice leisure afternoon near the sea reading my notes while waiting for hubby to finish his afternoon lecture. Anyway, I spent the afternoon at the coffee shop on a very comfortable armchair with a nice cup of cafe latte. Lazy as I was, I managed to finished what I had intended to read. It was at least 15 years since I was in a campus environment and surprisingly, I did not feel out of place. I think the next time I go there, I will bring my notebook and read inside the library while enjoying the view of the sea.

It would be great to stay near the campus at Clear Water Bay or Sai Kung but going to work in the morning will be a struggle...

Best Score - 223!!!

I made it over 200 again! It's 223 tonight on the 5th game! 5 strikes in a row! \\^-^//

The feeling was fantastic! Could really feel my heart pounding hard after the 5th strikes. It was a very enjoyable night at the alley. Can't wait to go again on Wednesday. :)

Weekend Update - Bowling Buffet

There was a bowling buffet event at MFBW on Saturday night for HKD198 per person for 7pm until 12:30am with unlimited games and a buffet dinner thrown in. We thought it was too good to be true so we made reservations for that event weeks ago and went.

It was indeed a good deal I must say but maybe also because it was such a good deal, it attracted many unprofessional players and none of the usual league players. 4 of us were arranged to play in one lane and the ones right beside us were a bunch of casual players who didn't know the rules and neither the manners. It was quite a rowdy night but we manage to play 12 games each in 5 hours. Best score for the night was 184.

Next time, we will just book for 6 and get 2 lanes instead.

View from my window

I really like this view outside my window...I can sit here all day, looking out and seeing how the colours change gradually. I heard there are plans to build a cultural center at the bay where theatres like the Sydney Opera House and the Singapore Esplanade will be built. And the yacht club is going to be there too. I can already see a couple of yacht parking there now. I wonder if I will still be in Hong Kong when they are all completely built.

Girlfriend from hell...

This video of an angry girlfriend hitting her boyfriend at the groin repeatedly during a fight in public was being filmed and posted on STOMP in Singapore. Apparently it has since caused quite some public opinion about the shocking behaviour of the girl. Many said that it is not the right way to treat a guy no matter what wrong he might have done, especially not in public. She could have hit him in the car where nobody could see, she could have done it at home, blah, blah blah.

Message? Do whatever you want, just don't get filmed...

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/news/35250.html

Made it!

I forgot to take a photo as I was overjoyed, but I have made it to 200 for the 1st time on Wednesday night! It was a great night at bowling. Total games played 8, and I was scoring 160+, 170+, 180+ and then I made it to exactly 200! *Happy* \\^-^//

Weekend Update - Movies

Didn't go bowling this weekend but stayed at home to catch up on my readings and submitted my assignments. I am into the last 4 weeks of the Operations Management module and is starting the Financial Reporting and Statement Analysis module this week. I am glad that hubby is also starting his studies at HKUST because I won't be the only one struggling with readings and assignments then. :p

While studying, we watched 3 old movies on HBO, "Juno", "Heartbreak Kid" and "You've Got Mail". I especially like "Heartbreak Kid" which was about this guy (Ben Stiller) who fell in love with another woman on his honeymoon. It was hilarious! But I think the same kind of situation does happen to many people. Not as extreme as in the movie maybe but haven't you have the feeling that the person you are with is not really the right one but you are just going through the motion? And when the right one comes along you just can't wait to jump out of the old relationship? Then you will become the heartless one, the bad guy, the fickle-minded one, blah, blah, blah.

"Can 2 persons fall in love and stay in love forever?"

"What should one do when he/she feels that he/she has made the wrong choice in marrying the wrong person?"

"To what extend should the marriage vows but kept?"

Although all 3 movies had different storyline, they all have breakups and divorces incorporated in their story. Juno's parents were divorced and the couple who was going to be the adoption parents to her baby also divorced in the end due to differences in their pursuits. Both Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in "You've Got Mail" broke up with their respective boyfriend and girlfriend. I think life is too short to be feeling sorry for yourself. So, in my opinion, it is really okay to walk out of that rotten relationship and start life afresh. I am glad for what I did. :)

Best Score - 20th August 2009

This was my best score last night playing 18 games in 6 hours at MFBW with my new bowling ball, the Wild Thing. And yes, I think we are crazy but it was great fun! :)

We reached the bowling alley slightly after 6pm and started the 6-game package each on lane 13 and 14. After that, we moved on to lane 21 and 22 for another 4 games each with M and his wife. We didn't care about dinner, so we each ordered the house chicken burger from the alley's cafeteria which was delicious. After the 10th game, we took a 10-minute break and started playing another 8 games each from 9:30pm until mid-night! That's when I scored my best ever 192. In fact, I was playing quite well from 10pm last night because I finally found the line and the correct delivery of the ball. I was scoring above my target of 150 continuously for 6 games! I guess my next target will be 170 and hopefully, I can score about 200 in the near future....

There will be no more bowling for the next 2 days at least.

Weekend Update - Completed 6 Subjects! \\^-^//

I have completed 6 subjects for my MBA this weekend with the final exams on the Data Analysis and Decision Making module. Yippee! And I have 12 more subjects to do...

On Friday evening, hubby and I went for a photo-taking session at CoverGirl because hubby was interested to make a magazine-looking album out of our photos. There was a booth at MK's station offering the photo-taking session at an attractive promotional rate, so we went for it. The package included 3 costumes and image designs for me but hubby had to wear his own clothes. I couldn't find anything I liked for the casual look, so I wore my own. But for the gowns portion, I chose a wedding gown and a Victorian style gown. We had fun! Maybe next time I should bring mum. Can't wait to view the photos!

After the photo-taking session, we went bowling again at MFBW. Played around 8 games and my average scores were still around 130...no improvement yet with my new ball. I have to work harder, the league will start mid- September. I hope I can average 150 by then. Hubby has been making very good progress with his new ball though and he is very serious about the game now. M has also bought a new ball and is making good progress. Mrs M is also maintaining at the 140 range. Looks like I am the only one still lacking behind now...gotta work harder!

On Saturday, accompanied hubby to HKUST for his post-graduate program registration. The campus was really far away from the city and the view of Clear Water Bay was really good, but it took us more than an hour to reach there by bus and MTR. The registration took less than half an hour though and after that we went to Diamond Hill's Hollywood Plaza for a late lunch. We would have gone bowling again if I didn't have exams....but we are going again tonight after work! :)

Migrate to Singapore for an education?

Had a tough time waking up this morning...it was cool and rainy outside. "Oh why can't I just sleep in?" And it's a slow, sleepy, lazy morning at the office...ZZZZZZzzzzzzz

Had dinner with the old man last night. It has been around 2 months since we last met him for dinner and since it was his birthday week we decided we were going to foot the bill. We updated him about our new purchase and he also updated us that his daughter-in-law is pregnant again. How productive! His grandson is not even 1 year old yet! Anyway, old man told us that his son might want to migrate to Singapore for the sake of education, or they might move to Hong Kong island to be near all the prestigious schools. And his grandson is already enrolled into some pre-school program with a 3-year waiting list costing more than 10K a month! Goodness! Is this even necessary? Or am I too "not caring" to my children? Maybe I should be pushing them more? I wouldn't know...

Castration for Rapists

What should we do to punish rapists? Especially those who were convicted, jailed, released and then went around raping again? I would think that castration will be the best solution but in Hong Kong, they just give the rapist a life sentence...*sigh*.

Am I being too harsh? But these rapists are obviously dangerous to women! And since they cannot control themselves from repeating the same terrible crime even after serving their sentences in jail, then I think it would be best to give their "manhood" the ultimate life sentence instead. It's not as if they will die from it! Maybe they can still be of service to the society once they are removed from their beastly nature and start to live like a normal human being.

I did some searching and apparently, in Czech Republic, they do castrate repeated sex criminals! And they do it voluntarily! So it will be like..."Do you want to stay in jail forever or do you want to be castrated and go back into the society?" Give the criminal a choice? Is it necessary? Why not just castrate and throw them back into the society? Why use tax-payers' money to feed such beasts? Is the law suppose to protect innocent citizens or to protect the criminals' rights? Why do we have to be so humane to these criminals? I really don't understand...

Weekend Update - Flu and NDP

Been down and out with flu for 3 days last week from Wednesday through Friday...runny nose, cough and high fever...39 degrees on Thursday night and I thought I might have caught the H1N1 virus! Called the family doctor on Friday morning and she told me to go to the government clinic for a test. So, I dragged myself out of bed and took a shower...after that I felt better almost immediately! Thank God! I didn't go to the clinic in the end, so I really won't know if I had the virus or not...but I was better since Friday afternoon, so I guess I am safe now.

Watched another spectacular NDP online last evening and was again touched to tears. I always cry at such events! I guess I would be crying even harder if I were there in person! I wonder if N, who was one of the performers, had cried? I love the stage this year! Especially the "cubes" at the 2 sides of the stage! The theme song was beautiful and of course the fireworks display was as always mesmerising. I am so proud to be a Singaporean! And all thanks to MM Lee!

This is my 5th NDP away from Singapore and somehow, being away made me appreciate the NDP and also my home country much more. So, what's so special about Singapore? We are a country who didn't fight for our independence yet we emerged stronger than the country who abandoned us. We are a country so small you cannot find us on the world map and yet our name is so big that it is ranked among the top cities in the world. And we have great food...I miss the food in Singapore...

My highest score so far...

I am posting this up just so I don't forget...My highest score achieved using the Columbia 300 White Dot passed down from hubby was 182. And I scored this on 1st August 2009. :D

I am quite happy with myself as prior to May 2009, I didn't know how to bowl at all. I didn't know the stance, the 4 steps approach and definitely did not know anything about how to spin the ball...It all started when M invited us to bowl at Olympic one fine Saturday morning. It got hubby itching because he was playing quite well even with the house balls.

Then hubby showed me the picture of the Hello Kitty bowling ball from Brunswick...I fell in love! Honestly, not with bowling but with the ball. So we went in search of the ball in the weight that I wanted and found it at a pro shop at Causeway Bay. There, hubby also bought a Columbia Momentum Swing in 13lbs. The new balls made us both itch more and so we started to play almost everyday at our apartment's clubhouse for the whole of June.

Now, we have graduated from the lousy lanes at the clubhouse and moved all our gears to MFBW. We both got our lockers and have even put our names down to join the league there! Addiction level = VERY VERY HIGH...

Weekend Update ~ Bowling

Went bowling on Saturday and literally bowled the whole afternoon away at Mei Foo Bowling World (MFBW) with hubby...13 games each from 12 noon till 4pm. Then hubby bought another ball at the pro shop, met up with M and his wife, P for dinner at Tseun Wan before heading back to MFBW again for another 3 hours of bowling. P bought a new ball too and she played so well with her new ball that she broke her own personal high scoring 199 points! Watching her play, I was screaming "I NEED A NEW BALL!!!" in my head.

Then last night, I finally got myself a new ball! It's the Wild Thing from Brunswick and I love it! I am still trying to find the best position and line for my new ball though but I loved the way it smashed the pins down when it turned in right. I just need to make sure it turn in right all the time from now.

I need to go bowl again... I am addicted...

Holiday Wanted

These are the pictures taken at Sentosa just 26 days ago but it feels like a long time and I desperately want another holiday already!

Family Time Happy Time

Time really files when you are having a good time...June had flew passed and so did half of July. Since completing my final exams for Finance 3rd week of June, I had tried to spend more time with D when he was here in Hong Kong. We played games with him and watched late night movies with him on NowTV. He had commented that he liked spending time like this with us and we were only too happy to oblige. I guess it's because we don't get to spend a lot of time with him most of the year and whenever he is with us, he's on school holiday, so we are all indulging ourselves.

Early July we went back to Singapore intending to attend N's musical performance to be held at the Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel. However, the concert was cancelled last minute due to a confirmed case of H1N1 in N's school. Poor N, totally upset and cried like a baby. Her principal gave all the performers a day off and we decided to go Sentosa for a night. Activities at Sentosa included going on the Segway Tour which was really fun, watched the musical fountain, night swim at the beach and another 2-hour long morning swim at the hotel's beautiful pool.

Then on the last day of our trip, we bought another apartment at our new place! No, not the one right next door that we had hoped to buy but another unit 2 floors up and it's a 2-bedroom unit which is bigger and better. Hubby and I are really happy about it because we will then be able to move everybody into the same apartment block. And when we go back next time, we will not have to travel 3 corners of the island to meet all our family members. Mum and the kids are also excited about it. N was already drawing out the design to her room... :)

Nice long weekend...

This has been a long weekend for me as I have sick leaves for both last Friday and this Monday. I am not feeling sick but I have a terrible skin infection on a piece of scratched skin on my left foot. It all started last weekend at the wet market of Mongkok where I had an itch on my foot and I started scratching it until it was red and tender. I didn't think much of it until it became so painful and the skin was practically rotting that I went to see the family doctor. She told me that it was serious and gave me an injection plus anti-biotics to take for 3 days before going back to see her again on Monday. Then on Monday, she gave me 4 more days of medicine...really didn't think that it could be so serious.

Is it because Hong Kong is really dirty that I get all kinds of strange infections or is it because I am getting old? "Getting old"...I really hate to admit this. Will I be much healthier if I am living in Singapore instead? I guess I will never know as I have been living here for the past 4 years and I will be staying here for another year at least. The secondment contract is signed today.

I went shopping with mum on Friday afternoon at the fashion wholesaler, had dinner with the family including grandpa at the Thai restaurant in Elements and bought the sexy Nespresso coffee machine as my anniversary present. Hubby was happy that I have chosen the coffee machine over bags or shoes or diamonds. To him, it's a new toy where the whole family can use.

I started to download my final exams for Finance on Saturday afternoon, while D and hubby went to Mongkok to buy games and collect D's 11th birthday cake. It was crazy, I had absolutely no idea how I was going to answer the questions! The paper was really difficult! I needed my textbook but it has been left in the office...Hubby went back to fetch it for me while I continued to scratch my head. After 18 long hours of head scratching, hair pulling and eyeball rolling, I finally submitted the paper.

We celebrated D's birthday on Saturday night, after having California pizza for supper. D had chosen the cake himself at Maxim's and I think it was nicely done but somehow, they had spelled out his name funny with a capital L in the middle.

D's "Soccer Boy" birthday cake.

Father's Day Special Tea Set @ Elements

Sunday dinner @ Yamada.

Five years on...

Okay, 3rd anniversary is officially over but the wonderful sweet feeling of love is still lingering inside me...and it's Friday already! This week just flew by! Hubby and I celebrated our anniversary with a delicious sushi dinner at Elements. It wasn't a romantic candle-light dinner and there were no flowers but I enjoyed myself very much. Before dinner we went shopping for each other's presents. It was easy for me, Hubby just wanted a new electric shaver but I couldn't get anything that I like...so the present is still pending. ;)

Over dinner, we talked about our disappointment from not getting the apartment next door and consoled each other. We talked about our achievements these past 5 years together and what we want to achieve going forward. It feels really good to be sharing your life with someone you love, doesn't it? These past 5 years have been my best years so far and I am looking forward to many more good years to come. Thank you, darling. I am truly HAPPY. :)

FATE?

I am feeling better now, after sobbing for awhile last night about the loss. No point crying over split milk anymore. We have lost the deal 3 years ago and lost it again for being too conservative and for not having the power to decide on our own. We just have to wait for the next opportunity to come knocking and I hope the next time we will have more control and power on our own and won't have to listen to someone else's opinion. I think that I would prefer to regret my own decision rather than to regret having listened to someone else's. Maybe I am being wilful again which I have always been, but I always believe that one should have control on one's own fate and not wait for things to happen. People always say "It's fated, what is yours is yours and what is not will never be." But if one does not make the effort to do something, will one succeed just because it's fated? No, I don't believe so. Fate gives us choices to make and how we make them is entirely up to us. I have made some mistakes in my life so far but as long as it's my own decision, I have no regrets. I guess it's human nature. A child who fell down on his own won't cry so much but if he was being pushed, he will surely cry his lungs out and will take a long time to calm down. Reason? On top of the pain he felt from falling, he felt angry for being pushed.

Anyway, it's my wedding anniversary today, 3rd anniversary and hubby whispered to me "Happy Anniversary" last night as he was coming into bed after playing on the PS3 with D. It was way past midnight so technically, it was June 11 already. I have met hubby 5 and a half years ago, been together for 4 years and 9 months and married for 3 years exactly. So did fate play a part in our union? I would say yes, fate opened up the opportunity but after that, it was entirely up to us. Fate brought him to me, created an opportunity for us to get to know each other better through work, but if I hadn't been so bold and he hadn't been so daring, we would not have been together. Our story is well-loved by most of my girlfriends who even said that it would make a good romantic movie. Interested to find out more? I will blog about it in another post. :)

Dream Crashed

My dream has been crashed...the dream of buying that unit next door so that my family can move in together...I was told that the unit has been sold just recently. And this news has to come just a day before our wedding anniversary. SUCKS!

What's new?

Front-page news this monring: "ACID SLAP IN THE FACE"! Yes, there was another acid attack in Mongkok yesterday...the 2nd in a month and to think that we were all there at Mongkok just Sunday afternoon! Surveillance cameras have been installed and switched on hours before the attack but so what? The culprit(s) is obviously challenging the Hong Kong police. "Catch me if you can!" Seriously, this must have been the 3rd or 4th acid attacks since we have been here?

A male teacher has been procecuted for having sex with his student and she was only 12 years old! Teenage girls age 14/15 are attempting to rob taxi drivers with knives. Another teenage girl was giving oral sex services on public bus for money to buy bag! School children taking drugs...What kind of a world is this!?

Called N last night around 9pm and she was still on a bus going home from her dance practice. She is having 2 dance parctices everyday at school. One session in the morning for the Asian Youth Games' performance and another session in the afternoon from 4pm~7pm for the school's musical. Looks like she's working really hard and we will all be there for her musical performance in July. It will be held at the Jubilee Hall at Raffles Hotel and I am so looking forward to it! I miss her.

Random Thoughts_Staying on in Hong Kong

Oh boy, I realized that mum and D have been here for more than a week and I have been enjoying myself a little too much...I haven't been studying enough! At the end of the week, I have 2 DBs due (1 for Finance and 1 for Data Analysis) and a final assignment due for Finance. Then next weekend is the final exams for Finance! I have been struggling with these 2 subjects and it doesn't help when the family is here...I just want to spend more time with them instead! Maybe taking these 2 subjects this time was really a bad idea... :p

For the past week, hubby and I have been going home to tasty home-cooked food with nutritious soups, no need to think of what to eat after work which is one thing we both dread. Around 6pm everyday, D will be switching the TV channel to the videocams in the lifts and watch out for us. It feels really good having someone waiting for you at home! And every night after dinner, we have been going bowling for about 2 hours and then hubby and D will be stuck on the TV playing Winning Eleven on PS3.

The aircon in the living room is spoilt and we have it checked last week. According to the aircon servicing man, the compressor is spoilt and he needs to assess to it. However, in order to access to the compressor which is set at the external wall of the room, he would have to break the glass window and replace a new one after repair. I don't believe the design of these Hong Kong apartments. How can they have the compressor at such an inaccessible place? It is so wasteful but I guess it's just the way it is. The space in the apartments is just too precious to be wasted on aircon compressors. Besides, how many times do people need to do repair works at the aircon compressors anyway? We have moved in for 2 years and this is the 1st time. I hope that I do not have to do it again in the next at least 2 years after this.

Oh yah, it's been decided, hubby and I will be staying in Hong Kong for at least another year.

Beautiful Sunday

Store selling turtles, tortoises, eels and frogs...

The fishes and prawns are really fresh!

Mum and D are here with us and so it's a beautiful Sunday today. The whole family woke up around 10 am and had rice dumplings for breakfast. Then we went to the bowling alley at our condo clubhouse for 3 hours of bowling. Yes, mum and D bowled too. D was learning fast from hubby and his target for the day was to win his grandma. :)

After tea, we went to Sham Shui Po's wet market in search of some live seafood to cook for dinner. It was totally awesome. There were so many different kinds of live seafood to choose from and they were all reasonably priced. On top of the usual fishes, abalones, scallops, clams, sea snails, crabs, prawns, lobsters, crayfishes, there were also eels, catfishes, turtles, tortoises, frogs and snakes! We were of course not so adventurous as to attempt to cook turtles and snakes! We just got ourselves some abalones, scallops, prawns, vegetables and fruits. Dinner was fantastic! So good to have mum around! The only one missing is N as she has to stay back in Singapore for her dance practices. I miss her...

My Hello Kitty Bowling Ball

My Hello Kitty bowling ball (10lbs), the prettiest ball in the whole shop!

Hubby brought me to Causeway Bay after work today in search of my 10lbs Hello Kitty bowling ball and after a long walk from the MTR station, I was a little skeptical about finding the shop on Haven Street. Hubby had searched for this shop on the web and it would not be surprising to me that the website may not have been updated. But we found it somehow and the best thing about it was that they had the exact weight I wanted. I was ecstatic! The very first bowling ball of my own and it's a Hello Kitty! Hubby bought his 3rd ball there too and he can't wait to try out his new ball tomorrow. :)

My Hello Kitty ball at the drill...

Ouch!

My Hello Kitty ball sitting proudly at home!

Somehow, I feel that the ball is too pretty to be thrown onto the bowling lane...

My new addiction...

I am addicted to bowling now...have played consecutively for the past 3 days, 12 games in total and even scored my own personal best at 153. :) It all started about 2 weeks ago when hubby and I decided we ought to do some sports after work everyday, to help me loose weight precisely. So far, other than going for golf practices, we hardly do any other sports. We hate going to the gym, hubby doesn't like yoga and I can't play basketball, so it didn't take us long to decide that bowling will be good for the both of us. Golf practice is boring if we don't go to the green and it's too expensive and time consuming to go to the green often. We can only go once in a month at best? Bowling is different, we have 2 bowling alleys within walking distance from our place and we can also bring D when he comes over during his school holidays.

In order to play a good game, I have sort of perfected my 4-steps but still have to work on the throw. I have decided that I will need a bowling ball of my own and I want to have a Hello Kitty one. ;) We went hunting for the ball yesterday but have no luck. I guess I may have to settle for just anything available at the pro shop and place an order for the Hello Kitty one as a 2nd ball. Whatever it is, I think playing some games everyday is working for me. I am wearing a pair of pants which I couldn't zip up 2 weeks ago...still a little tight though but I think I am getting there.

Talk about loosing weight, I just received a call from one of the slimming centers telling me that they are looking for "slimming ambassadors" from the public as part of their promotional programs. The slimming package will be given to me for free but in return, I will need to attend their promotional events at least 4 times in a year. In the event, I can choose to be filmed or not to be filmed. For eligibility, the lady asked me if I am over 110lbs and told me that I will need to go to one of their slimming centers for assessment with the slimming consultants. Just the other day when I was inside the MTR station, I was checking out the slimming advertisment billboards and was wondering if I would need to go to one of them to help me loose weight. Coincidence? Should I really go for it? Will it be a scam?

Hmm...

Random Thoughts...

Spent Sunday at home cleaning up the kitchen in preparation for the arrival of my personal cook...yes, my mum will be arriving this coming Saturday and she will be using the kitchen a lot to cook some wonderful home-cooked dinners for us. My mum is not that great a cook, to be honest, she just makes good soup but that is good enough for me. Eating out for all meals everyday for most of the year really makes me long for simple home-cooked food, even if it's just steam fish and stir-fried vegetables...

While I was cleaning the kitchen, I kept thinking of how I would like to buy the next door unit to our new place so that I can have a dry kitchen there for baking and have a counter top for coffee. Then it will be great to have a Nespresso coffee machine to make the perfect latte every morning. However, I received a sms this morning from S and she was telling me that the property market is moving up in Singapore. I wonder if the economy is really recovering or is it just a technical adjustment? Will I be able to get that unit? Should I pay whatever the seller want or should I wait and see? Hubby was saying that he doesn't want the anxiety but mum-in-law is confident that the prices will fall after lunar 7th month and I am still in the state of wait and see...

The Other Woman...

Went out with my god-brother C and his girlfriend S yesterday. C is married, his wife and son are in Singapore...yes, S is the other woman. Apparently, they have been having this on and off affair for the past 10 years at least and 2 years ago, C decided to buy an apartment in Hong Kong and live in with S. I have heard about their relationship from my godmother who was very upset about it. As a wife myself, I am of course disapproving of C and S but I was curious to meet S. I wanted to know what kind of woman would an established man like C fall for. I had thought that she must be a very sophisticated career woman who could assist C in his business or something but it turned out that she is just a very simple woman. She is better looking than C's wife though, but she was from mainland China and she cannot understand English. We had to converse in Cantonese the whole time when we were together so that she wouldn't feel out of place.

S has come from Chengdu 20 years ago, was once married and has a daughter who is studying in L.A. She is working as a stock broker and is helping C with his investments. The whole time we were together, C held her hand, served her food, referred to her as his wife to the waitress and looked really happy. He also praised her culinary skills and said they will invite us to have dinner at their home sometime. I couldn't help but wondered how would his wife feel if she finds out. Or does she care anymore? I am sure she must know something! Although I do not know her very well, I feel sympathetic towards her...but I think she has herself to blame. How can she let her husband stay oversea alone? Men can't take loneliness and they won't stay lonely, not especially when they are rich.

After saying our goodbyes for the night, hubby and I couldn't help but analysed S. We both agreed that she was quite different from C's wife who is a teacher. So, what makes S attractive to C? Her looks? Her culinary skills? I think it's because they have similar interests which is the stock market and also because she can accompany C on his business trips. I think it is very important for couples to have common interests and also to be together as much as possible. If not, be prepared to have a broken marriage...

Diamonds again

image source : www.debeersgroup.com

I have completed my 4th subject (Managing International Business) yesterday after working 15+ hours for the final exams. 4 down, 14 more to go...The task was to write up a report for De Beers' global business with recommendations on how the company should move forward from now. Last quarter results for De Beers had been badly hit by the on-going economic crisis, the demand for diamond roughs had dropped, pushing the prices down. De Beers had closed the Botswana mine for 50 days and laid off more than half of its staff in UK...So how should De Beers move forward from here? De Beers is involve with the whole value chain of the diamond business from exploration, mining, sorting, cutting, manufacturing to retailing. Each process add value to the diamonds with the mining and retailing being most lucrative for the company.

It was interesting reading up on diamonds, so much to learn about diamonds. It was my 2nd case relating to diamonds, the 1st was Gem Diamonds, a diamond mining company for the Marketing Management's final exams. Did you know that diamonds are at least 990 million years old? And some are even 4 billion years old! So they exist on earth even before life began? And most of the diamonds can be found in South Africa. Before polishing and cutting, a diamond is just a piece of rock but with remarkable craftsmanship, diamonds can become so brilliant! I know most guys will think that diamonds are over-rated but most girls love diamonds. Why? I think it's the famous slogan by De Beers, "A Diamond is Forever" and their concept of the diamond engagement ring that have made diamonds a symbol of love and fidelity. That was great marketing. But anyway, precious gems including diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds have been used to adorn jewellery and all sorts of accessories by royalties and the wealthy for centuries. So, in times like this current economic crisis we are facing, how do you market a luxury item like diamonds?

4 Steps

Just came back from bowling with hubby at the bowling alley in our condominium. There are just 4 lanes and the house balls are crappy, so not many people play there. We had the whole place to ourselves which was good because hubby was able to teach me how many steps I should take before I throw the ball out. I never knew how many steps to take and how to throw the ball out. Bowling to me was just a game I play for fun but today I broke out a little sweat trying to perfect my 4 steps and throw. It is a sport indeed. :)

There is a problem though, I think I strained the back of my left thigh muscle...it is quite painful now.

17 Again?

Watched "17 Again" with hubby last Friday after work. It was quite a funny and interesting movie...the male character of the movie was a heart-throb and a very promising basketball player who was attempting to go to college on a basketball scholarship when his girlfriend disclosed to him that she was pregnant. He gave up college and married her instead but felt that he had made a bad mistake and his life sucks and was hoping that he could "re-live" his life again. Miraculously, he became 17 again! In the end, he found out that he regretted regretting his life and tried to win his wife back. Heart-warming ending. :)

The movie made hubby and I asked each other what we would do if we have the chance to "re-live" our lives again from 17. Hmm...interesting, isn't it? Hubby said that he would probably choose not to give up bowling for basketball. As for myself, I think I would have chosen to go into show business instead. I had a brief encounter with that opportunity and I let it go, opted for the "safer", conventional choice of study and then get a "normal" job. Anyway, I think my life would have turned out very different if I had chosen to go on that path. I may even regret it more then? Some people say that it is all pre-destined, everything happens at God's will but I am one that choose to believe that the decisions I make at each point of my life somehow shaped my life until this day. I have many choices and each choice leads to something different...there will always be many "what if" but it really makes no sense to think about them as what is done can never be undone.

Anyway, although I honestly do not regret what I did, I think it would be great to be 17 again. For one, I didn't have to struggle with my weight at that age. I didn't have to watch what I eat, I didn't have to worry about what to wear because I looked fabulous in anything I threw on my body and even more fabulous wearing nothing! ;p

New Look

I spent half the day updating the look of my blog...like it? Anyway, I have also included photos of celebrities that look like me, courtesy of MyHeritage. It is quite a fun website! By the way, the photo I uploaded to check for look-alike celebrities was a photo taken during my birthday in January this year...so don't think that I have cheated. :)

Random thoughts...

It has been such great weather these few days that for the first time the other night, we witnessed the Disneyland fireworks from our 2nd bedroom window! Amazing! And we are situated at least 30 minutes's drive away!

We are putting our apartment up for sale and so far there were a couple of viewings and each time potential buyers came to view our place, I didn't feel like selling it anymore...hubby told me that he has the same feelings. I guess we are quite attached to Hong Kong now.

Today, the "antenna" of my department came back to work after being away for 1 week. We call her "antenna" because she is good at receiving "news" that is happening in the office and reporting back to us. Today, she found out that 3 more of our colleagues in other departments have quit. 1 of them is a sales manager and has worked with the company for many years. He quits not because he has found another better job but just because he cannot take it any longer. He has been posted to work in our Shenzhen office 2 years ago and he is really not happy there. He requested to come back to the Hong Kong office but there is no position for him here anymore. My company has decided to move all sales operations into China and keep only the supporting department here in Hong Kong. It's an organisational change that is not easy for everyone. *SIGH*

Great Weather

We have been enjoying fabulous weather in Hong Kong these few days, especially over the weekend. It has been between 22 to 30 degrees Celsius and breezy. The sky is clear blue and the air is fresh and dry. So, it's warm but not humid and that's the best for me. :)

Here are the photos taken over the weekend~

Orchid-looking flowers I spotted on the way to Olympic City.

View of the garden at our condominium.

View of the container harbour from my bedroom window.

View of Hong Kong Island from my bedroom window.

Mother's Day

My daughter made a few slides for me using MS PowerPoint and sent it to me via email. This is the last slide and I thought it is really sweet. In the other slides, she told me that she appreciates what I provide for her and she looks up to me as her role model. "A strong, independent, beautiful and successful woman". *smile*

Tsim Sha Tsui

For comparison, I took some photos of the main shopping street in Kowloon, Hong Kong. This is Canton Road where major brands like Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Swaroski and so on have huge shops here. Even the DFS Galleria is here. But unlike Orchard Road in Singapore, there isn't any big, shady trees but just 3 small, skinny trees and some pathetic flower pots along the narrow pathway. Notice though that the dustbin/ashtray is also right beside the flower pots.

Only 3 pathetic looking trees along the pathway.

The main feature of this road are the extremely big advertising banners.

Orchard Road

I have not been to Orchard Road, the main shopping street of Singapore for quite awhile but this trip back, we went there for a walk, just to see how much it has changed or hasn't changed. And I am truly happy to see that Orchard Road hasn't changed, there are still so many beautiful trees along Orchard Road!

There are many changes to the buildings along the 2 sides of the road though. Paragon had a face-lift and so did Wisma Atria, Mandarin Hotel is now known as The Meritus Mandarin and Crown Prince Hotel is Park Hotel now. There is also another mega shopping mall under construction right beside Wisma which will probably be opened end of this year? But the trees are still there lining the walkway of Orchard Road.

Everytime I went back home, I get very impressed with the amount of greenery I see in Singapore because I am really deprived of greenery here in the city area of Hong Kong.

Here are the photos of Orchard Road~

At the traffic lights between Paragon and Ngee Ann City

Infront of Ngee Ann City after crossing the road.

Outside Wisma

The view of Paragon across the road from outside Wisma.

Wall's Ice Cream Cart.

King's Ice Cream Cart.

There were at least 4 of these ice cream carts along the walkway between Ngee Ann City and Wisma Atria! Fancy ice-cream on cones, ice-cream in cups or ice-cream sandwiched in bread?

Me and my shoes...the 4th pair

Finally it's Friday and I am wearing the 4th pair of new shoes that I bought at Charles and Keith. It's a casual pair suitable for a casual Friday. 4 days of work this week and a pair of new shoes for each day...what else can a girl ask for? New shoes always make me feel happy. :)

Front view of both feet...I like the band that goes round the front!

Side-view of the right.

Side-view of the left.

Rochester Park

Having lived in Hong Kong for the past 4 years and going back to Singapore mainly for Chinese New Year celebrations with the family, hubby and I have sort of lost touch with many new places-to-go back home. Of course we have our friends to keep us informed and we would always find time to check these places out whenever we went back. So far, over these 4 years, Dempsey Park has changed, new discos and pubs have sprung up near the Vivo City and suddenly, Rochester Park comes into existence.

Hubby has heard so much about it from his friends and we decided to have a look. It was too early in the evening when we were there and most of the restaurants and pubs were still closed but we strolled the area anyway. We liked what we saw and will definitely go back there again for dinner and drinks sometime. :)

All the restaurants are actually refurbished old Colonial Houses (Black & White Houses). These houses are huge and usually double-storey with large gardens. I wonder how much is the rent? It would be wonderful to have a place like this and make a 「私房菜」"private kitchen" which is so popular in Hong Kong out of it. I think this kind of dining concept may hit it off well in Singapore too! Let me know if anyone out there is interested in this kind of business, ok?

At the entrance to Rochester Park.

In the beautiful garden of "One Rochester"

Another restaurant with a beautiful pond in the garden.

The one and only Chinese Restaurant "Min Jiang" (Back).

The beautiful setting of "Min Jiang" (Front).

Me and my shoes...the 3rd pair

How will most of you shop for clothes and shoes? Buy the outfit first then shop for a pair of shoes to match the outfit, right? But I always do the opposite. I will always buy shoes first and then think about the outfit. Like this third pair of shoes I bought from my 20 minutes shopping spree at Charles and Keith, I didn't even think what I wanted to wear with it! Yesterday night I had quite a hard time trying to find an outfit to match it. I have a dress which match the shoes perfectly but it is too sexy to be wearing it for work...so I had to choose a pale pink suit instead. Anyway, I realised that I do not have many white or light-coloured outfits as I have been putting on weight, most of the clothes I buy these days are black...you know what I mean. *sigh*

Front view

Side-view of the right.

Side-view of the left.