告别2008

转眼一年又过去了。

2008年应该算是快乐的一年。至少我可以肯定，前六个月是的。

此刻无法在台北跨年，难免有些遗憾。希望来年有机会可以在市政府看璀璨的烟花从台北101大楼“喷”出来。希望这时的遗憾，身在台北的Mark可以代为弥补。哈！

为了看现场直播，今年我们决定在家用跨年大餐。于是下午，我们从JP买了一些食物回来。摆在桌上的食物看起来还蛮丰富的！

再过几个小时，就要告别多灾多难的2008，迎来未知的2009……希望明年能少一些泪水，多一些欢笑！

元旦快乐！

生日快樂

對不起，其實我不記得今天是你的生日。

午後心血來潮，我靜靜地坐在電視機前，反覆看你。看著看著，有時忍不住發出會心一笑，有時竟然想哭⋯⋯

不想俗不可耐地認定這就是某種預感或緣份。我真的覺得，這純屬巧合。

人長大後，快樂似乎越來越遙遠。於是快樂變成遙不可及的目標，追求快樂變成理所當然的過程。不知道甚麼時候開始，快樂變成了奢侈品。雖然生活中能夠讓人感覺到快樂的事不算少，但這些小小的幸福往往被生活中大大的壓力和滿滿的牢騷掩沒。

雖然明知不可能天天快樂，但還是要祝福你，希望你能做到！

陳信宏，生日快樂！

走在陽光裡

12月的空氣，除去憂傷，依稀聞到一陣清香。

陽光折射下的世界，突然不再絕望⋯⋯

給仍在用文字築夢的你（們）

看SM的部落格，有種說不出的感動⋯⋯

十二、三年前的許多畫面突然浮現眼底。

我想我再也寫不出超過800字的文章。畢業後思緒變得凌亂，頭腦越來越不清醒。太多的想法，卻理不出頭緒，更無法靜下心讓一切沈澱。於是逃避成為最自然的反應，懶惰也變成最理所當然的藉口。

我承認是我太差勁，所以這些年來才會退步那麼多。那幾年用文字築成的夢，對我來說已經越來越遙不可及。

由衷敬佩仍然堅持文學之旅的你們，希望這份堅持會持續很久、很久⋯⋯

很抱歉，在這漫長的旅程，我先下車了⋯⋯

Journey vs Result

When my Nano lost 2 of my runs last week, there were only 2 words to describe how I felt.

抓狂！

That's a total of 12 km, 90 mins...... At that instance, I knew the outcome does matter to me A LOT. Although I have always tried to convince myself that 過程比結果重要, I can't deny that I have yet to master that ART.

雖然汗流了，卡路里消耗了，但我還是在乎這一切有沒有被紀錄下來。執著，確實是一切痛苦的根源！哈！

Our New Friend

The newest addition to our family ......


Cute right? A bit retro though. I have been thinking of getting a Care Bear for weeks, inspired by WQ's little princess.

We have not named him. For the time being, we shall call him "Ah Boy". Stereotyping @ work again. Well, we have a Piglet and you are right, she's called "Ah Girl"!

In the Mood for .......

COOKING!

As a traditional woman (haha), I regard the job of the home-maker a highly sacred one (*hint hint*). Honestly, I feel very guilty for not being able to cook dinner since I resume the role of an OL. Not that I am a good cook but nothing beats eating home cooked stuff. At least you can safely say that your food intake is low in salt and oil content as the chef (that's me in this case) has absolute control of what to add!

Laziness has a big part to play for not cooking. On weekdays, I am too "tired" to cook after spending at least 10 hours in the office; on weekends...... I need a break and seriously, most of the time we are not at home. How to cook?

Therefore, on Monday, the first time I am on leave (when was the last time I applied for leave electronically?), I decided to step into the kitchen again. As you can tell, I have no new tricks. It's the SAME OLD STUFF that I am cooking. The products are not very innovative but the process was truly therapeutic! I really LOVE it! I should be a housewife! (*hint hint*)

The first dish was minced pork with beancurd (or should I say beancurd with minced pork?)


Next, steamed cod fish


Xiao Bai Cai, Tomatoes & Fishball Soup


Dessert was the tiger-skin strawberry roll which I bought at Great World City in the afternoon.


The cake was SUPERB! I love the tiger-skin!

After a hearty meal on Monday (plus massive washing of dishes), I decided to play chef again on Tuesday. Since I had to work, I can only cook something simple and it's none other than - instant noodles! Ok, expensive Japanese instant noodles which we bought from Meidi-ya.


I'm sorry that we had to eat instant noodles. If only I am a house wife......(it's SOOOOO obvious, it's not a hint anymore!) Hahahahaha!

⋯⋯

無聲的告別，除了留下回憶，還有我們無法彌補的遺憾。

原來繼續活著，是需要更大的勇氣的⋯⋯

為甚麼不給我們機會，讓我們把勇氣分一點給你？⋯⋯

Too Early for Christmas

Yeah, I am on leave today!

I didn't make any plans for today. Thought I would just go with my "gut feel" but the heavy downpour this morning has kind-of restricted my movement.

It feels so Christmas with the low temperature...... I am beginning to miss the long Dec hols....... it's probably the only good thing I can think of with regards to my previous job. I really miss the hols!

I might consider going back to being a HDB tai-tai! Hahahaha. Then I can have long hols all year round! Splendid!

Right now, all I can think of is holiday, holiday and more holidays! The next one will only be on 8 Dec..... still a long way to go!

Deadly Sneeze

It feels weird to be at home at this time of the day. It's been nearly 5 months since my HDB tai-tai days ended. I wish I am at home to revive my tai-tai days today but I am not.

Yesterday morning, I sneezed while bathing and after that, I was unable to stand straight for a while. Had to hold on to the wall and slowly straighten my back. Amazingly, I was able to recover and went to work. But as the day went by, the pain got worse. The sharp pain would come as and when it like and I would not be able to move at all. Ha, to think I was able to bear with the sudden bursts of pain till the evening! I decided to take a cab to the clinic near my house after work. As "diagnosed" by my colleague, the doctor confirmed that I had sprained my back. I could have pulled a muscle. Luckily, it wasn't a case of slipped disc! The doctor gave me a day off to rest. Feeling better now, maybe due to painkillers.

When I "crawled" home from the clinic last night, I felt that it was the second longest distance I've ever travelled. I wonder what the speed would be like if I had measured it. That short distance took me almost 30 minutes!

I didn't know a sneeze would be so deadly! I have been sneezing all my life!

盲崇

因为一个尴尬的表情，我的双目开始搜索契机。

奇怪，这次的不期而遇并没有造成天崩地裂。若是以往，我想我会躲在一角偷瞄几眼，但这一次我竟然勇敢往前踏步，为的是看个清楚。

哈，并不是胆子大了，而是近视加深了，必须确定自己没认错人。

又或许是添了些许岁月的痕迹，所以有待确认方能肯定自己眼力尚好。

YQ笑说才子也会变老，也会发福。我默不作声！反正偶像是定格在某时间与空间的，所以偶像是不老、不死的！

盲目的崇拜？生活中有太多常规与定律，偶尔破格也无所谓吧！

（2008年10月25日）

进入倒数阶段

我努力克制不去点按眼前的链接……

不是怕侵犯版权，而是害怕失去那份惊喜。

想一次过为700天的等待画上句点，然后用一小时的生命去聆听他们的努力。

奇怪，等了那么久，最后的这几天却格外难挨……尤其是当知道地球的一端已有人抢先结束漫长的等待……

为何不同步发行？？？？？！！！！！

你不是真正的快乐……

???

What do you do when your boss asks you for feedback on a colleague and you do feel that there is something terribly lacking in that person? If you speak your mind, your relationship with that colleague could be jeapardized......If you do not, you may end up having to clear the mess created by the person......

This is TOUGH.......

Sleepy Saturday

I have been feeling very tired, to the extent that I have lost my interest in window shopping.

So today, I decided to "go slow". In fact, my initial plan was to do nothing, just rot. After breakfast, I glued myself to the TV for a while, before vacuuming the house. After that, I was back to being a couch potato. At 2 plus pm, I figured out that I should pay Zhou Gong a visit, which lasted for 2 hours! Then I watched YQ "kill" some silly characters with his Wii control before heading for my weekly jog.

I wish I could be more disciplined and meet my target of jogging at least 3 times a week. I haven't been able to accomplish that. Reason: I am usually too lazy to put on my running shoes after work. It's a lousy excuse, I know, but I have been giving in. As a result, I have been running only once a week. That's bad! Worse, I recently found out that the distance I normally cover is only a mere 4 km! I thought it would be something close to 5 km but I was wrong. Sigh!

And right now, I am trying to multi-task- watch Japan Hour and blog at the same time. At 8.30 pm, I should be working on the powerpoint slides needed for next week's "BIG" meeting. I really dread doing work on my weekends!

I think I am starting to feel a bit hungry and despite napping for soooooo long, I still feel sleepy. Am I transforming into a PIG soon?!

我的AFI

今天下班之前，我和同事被老闆叫進辦公室“聊天”。談完公事，老闆突然冒出一句：“You look troubled。”

“喔喔！是嗎？”我心想。或許是我還為不久前出的漏子耿耿於懷吧。

結論：演技太差，有待進步。

我得學會把情緒藏在心裡。這是自我保護的第一步。

後青春期的詩⋯⋯

真令人期待！

Strange Stranger

My colleagues and I went to a "far away" place for lunch today. It's about 15 minutes walk from our office.

The 2 of them went to buy food while I sat down to "chop" the table. Soon, a man (probably in his 40s) came and put his bag in one of the empty chairs. Politely, I told him, "Sorry, the seat is taken." There was no response. I tried again, this time in Mandarin. It seemed to work. He walked off with his bag.

Shortly after, the stranger came back with a cup of tea in his hand. Swiftly, he sat in the chair directly opposite me! I was stunned. I told him many times that the seat has been taken but he just stared blankly into space. I got quite angry and could sense myself raising my voice. Apparently, nothing worked. I gave up! I asked the ladies sitting at the next table if the empty chair was occupied. Luckily it was not and I immediately pulled it over to our table. Guess what I saw this time? The stranger was holding the styrofoam cup, filled with black tea, in his hand and he kept STARING at it!!!!!! There was a blank look in his eyes and I was a little frightened. He stared at the cup of tea for at least 2 minutes and then left without drinking it. I looked at the cup in shock and disbelief!

My colleagues finally returned with their food. I told them about the stranger and his strange acts. I decided not to remove the cup of tea yet, in case he suddenly came back. I was wrong. He never showed up, not when we were still having lunch.

What a strange encounter! I wonder if the stranger is sound? ......

PS: I don't know why we have to respect the "use tissue paper to 'chop' seats culture"? Why are we expected to understand that it means the seats are "reserved"? I am so tempted to just throw the packets of tissue paper away! I'm so mean!

Addiction

YQ has a new addiction recently. He is so addicted to RUNNING that I think it's getting a bit out of hand!

Ever since the Nike + ipod Sports Kit entered our home, he has been conscientiously monitoring his running speed and distance covered. Under normal circumstances, I would agree that running is a healthy sport and should be encouraged. But...... when it's closely linked to retail therapy, things get out of control. You should see the amount of "running related" things that have been bought over the month. They include running shoes, running tees, shorts, books/magazines on running, Pocari Sweat...... Is this NORMAL? I used to think that running is one of the cheapest sports but I have changed my mind. Hahahaha! So right now, "Kino" is no longer the buzz word. It has been overtaken by "Mizuno"!

Yesterday, he and his colleagues have even started a running club and their very own blog! The "virus" has spread!

Ha, I shall see how long his enthusiasm will last!

PS: YQ suggested that I take a photo of his running merchandise! Haha!

Exhaustion

It's been quite a while since I last spent my Saturday afternoons at home. I had initially thought of visiting HY today but I was too tired. Hence, I decided to postpone the visit to next weekend. I guess I have been tied up with too many activities over the past weeks and haven't really been resting enough. I really feel exhausted! Can't help but think that these are all signs of aging. Sigh!

A brief summary of what I have been busy with since last Sat:
1. Watched "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
2. Visited my mum
3. Dental checkup
4. Gathering with friends at my place
5. Massive house cleaning
6. Visited QQ with R, MJ and SJ

And not forgetting all the crazy eating sessions ......

Suddenly, I long for some quiet moments so that I can live in solitude. I need to hibernate for a while!

Hotel in Delhi

We arrived in Delhi on a Wednesday afternoon. The traffic was pretty smooth so within an hour, we were at the lobby of our hotel. It's situated near Connaught Place, one of the areas where the recent blasts occurred. I've been to Connaught Place previously. It's the main shopping area where you can find McDonalds. To me, Mc is an indicator of the state of "development". Hahaha.

Here are some photos of our Delhi hotel.

The Lobby - very "un-Indian"




The Mist - one of the hotel restaurants. We had 4 of our meals there!

The corridor to my room

My room - 606

View from my room - Sunny

View from my room - Rainy

Home Sweet Home

We touched down at 7.15 am this morning! Wow, this is my first landing at Terminal 3! I had wanted to window-shop before clearing the customs but knowing what the response of my colleagues would be like, I decided to keep my suggestion to myself. Upon picking up our luggage, I went to DFS to purchase Choya. I realized this is the 6th bottle we have at home! Oops!

It's good to be home! I guess over the weekend I would be busy clearing work as well as cleaning the house. Our small little place is getting very dirty AGAIN! If you have suggestion on how to maintain the cleanliness, do let me know! :)

After doing Part 1 of laundry, I checked my office mails and then headed off straight to slumberland! My colleague and I have decided to give office a miss today! Hahaha, wonder what the consequences will be when we are back in office on Monday! Maybe my boss will give us a scolding for not going back to work.

I vaguely recall opening my eyes at 12 plus but I wonder if that's my illusion. I officially touched down from slumberland at 3.20 pm and even now, my head feels heavy and my body is very heaty. When I am lacked of sleep, I can feel my body temperature going up and my lips "burning". Not sure if you react in the same way as I do. Feeling a bit sick. The supper served on board the SQ flight made me rather uncomfortable. Shouldn't have eaten the lamb in red wine at 3 am (Singapore time) and ended up puking in the cabin toilet later. I have only my gluttony to blame!

Wow, SQ flights are really superb! We were lucky to board an almost brand new Boeing 777-300ER which has the latest inflight entertainment system! I was happy to be watching "Sex and the City" but I think I dozed off here and there so I failed to catch the complete movie. I guess the "extra services" on board justifies the premium we have to pay for taking SQ flights. If not for business purposes, I don't think I will have the luxury to fly with SIA!

So now, I am going to clear my office mails and hopefully upload some photos! :)

Delhi

Delhi feels very different today! The air smells cleaner and the road is a lot better. The government is building a new Metro Airport Express line so in time to come, access from Delhi Airport to the city would be much more convenient. However, I don't think I will use the Metro service unless the price I have to pay for comfort travelling increases tremendously.

Our hotel is very, very nice. It's got a modern touch, feels like a boutique hotel and is totally different from many of the hotels in India. I don't even feel that I am in India! I glanced through the room-service menu. The prices are scary! I hope we will be adventurous enough to take a 5-min walk to the restaurant recommended by our colleague stationed in India. But I think we will somehow end up eating at the hotel and paying for ultra-expensive Indian food!

Supposed to be typing minutes but I like my room too much. Should be enjoying the one night stay here instead of working right? Hahahaha!

*Afternote*

There was a sudden "pop" sound. I walked over to the window to check out what has happened. The recent Delhi blasts have left us feeling worried and maybe even paranoid. Thank goodness, the loud sound was nothing but thunder! It has started to pour and I guess I am right, dinner would be at the hotel.

The restaurant's deco is nice! I somehow like modern deco, compared to the traditional one. We ordered northern Indian food. I had chicken tikka, butter naan and masala chai! This meal cost me almost Rs1000, which is about S$33! This is considered pricey in India. A normal meal at restaurants would probably cost Rs150-200! Ok, I guess it's a premium we pay for dining at hotels. It's the same logic why Chatterbox's chicken rice is many times more expensive than normal hawker centre chicken rice.

The waiter told us that after this period of rain, the season would change and winter would soon be approaching. I wish we could feel the seasonal change in Singapore!

Tomorrow is another long day. Time to zzzzz and enjoy my only night of stay in this room!

Incredible India

It's 9.30 pm, India time now. Here I am in a hotel in Kochi, typing using an IBM ThinkPad and watching Cartoon Network simultaneously.

We reached Kochi late last night and after an official visit this morning, we basically have a free afternoon and evening to spend. Hence, after checking and clearing our official emails, my colleagues and I decided to sign up for the free sunset cruise offered by the hotel. It's a 2-hour cruise and by the time we returned from the boating experience it's almost 7 pm.

Kochi is a nice place, less chaotic than Delhi and Kolkatta. Perhaps being located along the coast does enhance its "resort" feel. Although this is my 3rd time in India, it is the first time I set foot on the southern part. Where food is concerned, I certainly prefer northern Indian cuisine.

Tomorrow morning we will be flying off to Delhi. This is going to be my FIRST India domestic flight experience!!! I don't think I am looking forward to it but I will try to look on the "bright" side. Instead of focusing on the flight, I shall look forward to the butter chicken and naans!

当圣诞派对变成中秋联欢会

过去三年，我们都在平安夜开派对。今年轮到CH举办，派对的主题早在两年前已定下。然而，人算不如天算，先是MS会在那段时间坐月子，然后是CH会出国。结果，我们把圣诞派对改成中秋联欢晚会。

于是上周六，我们大伙儿来到遥远的油池一带提早庆中秋。

这就是早在两年前就已敲定的主题⋯⋯


今年一切从简，所以往年的“最佳服装奖”也取消了。不然，谁肯牺牲色相打扮成福娃就应该会获奖！

这是我们当晚的晚餐！除了CH亲自炒的猪脚米粉，还有HM熬的白木耳鸡汤、林志源肉干、Sarpino比萨⋯⋯


庆中秋当然少不了猜灯谜。这次的谜底全与新加坡有关，极富本地色彩！


大人们绞尽脑汁的同时，两个小孩儿也正开心地自我娱乐着！不知何时，义衡和舒庭竟为了一个橘色的桶争了起来！


九点钟左右，我们开始吃月饼⋯⋯


月饼太多，胃太小，大家都开始投降了！

正当我们准备下楼提灯笼时，老天却不做美，开始下起倾盆大雨！我们只好打道回府！

“Event of the Year”就这样画上了句点。不知明年的“主办单位”又会有什么另类的点子？哈哈！

Southern Ridges Hike on 31 Aug 08

大胃王成功出擊！

出門前還下著傾盆大雨， 來到南翔饅頭店時天空卻放晴了。氣候真是多變！



窗外的景色蠻美的，乍看下有點異國情調。忍不住多按了幾下快門。

等待Ban出現的當兒，我對餐具產生了興趣。


不出所料，我們又暴飲暴食了。我們三個惡鬼還真是能吃！

Ban點了一盤面，“面名”我忘了。

YQ的紅燒排骨拉麵

我的揚州炒飯

炸雲吞

蟹黃湯包

熱騰騰的小籠包⋯⋯

⋯⋯三籠不同餡料的！

逛了幾圈後，我們又到NYDC“歇腳”。我們點了Lemon Shiver。Ban竟然還吃下了一個 Irish cream mudpie！佩服！


好可怕的食糧！我們應該可以參加大胃王比賽了！！！

Nice Long Chat on a Friday Evening

I finally met up with RJ last night.

The last time we met was sometime in Feb. Both of us were still enjoying our "tai-tai" life then. I remember we spent the lazy afternoon at Ngee Ann City's Coffee Club, counting the number of LV bags in the cafe at that time.

Time flies. It's been 6 months and many things have happened within the short span of time. Well, both of us have put a stop to our tai-tai life. She is currently enjoying her new job (especially the shopping discounts that she is entitled to), busy online-shopping and enjoying her enhanced lifestyle as a result of their new car purchase! :) It's really nice to catch up with friends. We were so engrossed in our chat that I didn't even realize that we have spent 3.5 hours at TB's Coffee Club!!!!!

We have agreed to meet up again soon. Hopefully, it won't be that long. Should be before her Stanchart Run, I hope! :)

Ha, RJ commented that I have not updated my blog for a long time. Yes, I think I am not as diligent as before. Other than the cliche excuse "I'm too tired after work", I think the main reason is that I have nothing interesting to blog about. Other than working and eating, my life is quite empty. Perhaps it's time to do some spring cleaning - really need to clear the clutters in my mind and heart. Ha, it's time for me to reflect on my life (AGAIN)! :)

Eating Disorder

I have been eating excessively for the past 1.5 months.

At the workplace, we had a few birthday celebrations, treats by colleagues who got promoted and business lunches. So, at least once a week, we would lunch at some restaurants. It's pretty scary - to the extent that I want to puke. The after effects are not desirable too. Besides burning a big hole in my pocket, the eating sessions are adding kilograms to my weighing scale. Very bad!

Worse, on weekends, I continue to eat. It seems the natural thing to do when friends meet to catch up with one another. :)

For example, on Friday, we went to Labrador Park to celebrate Mark's birthday. It's my first time there. Really out of the way if you don't drive. We dined at the seafood restaurant. 

The seafood restaurant up on a "slope"

The "glass display" that fascinated Mark

Deep-fried Lychee with Curry Crab Meat

Shark's Fin - not very eco-friendly

Thai-style Fish

Scallop & Asparagus

Champagne Pork Ribs

Chili Crabs

Buns to go with the Crabby Sauce

Mango Pudding

Birthday cake from Pasticceria - Confetteria

After dinner, we went to Olive for drinks. After a few sips of frozen margarita, R started to open up. We decided to continue the entertaining "sharing session" at TBP's McDonalds. We sat there till 1.30 am before going home to zzzzz. I lost count of the number of times I yawned. Ha!

Then last night, we had dinner at one of the Jap restaurants at Liang Court. We wanted to eat at Tampopo but the queue was too long. Hence, we switched plan and ate at the Jap restaurant at B1 instead. Here's our order:



This afternoon, JX and N came over to our place. We had chwee kueh, assorted fishballs/fishcakes, mooncakes and strawberry shortcake! Another session of over-indulgence!

This cannot go on! From tomorrow onwards, I will detox!