mf's mini world of mf-ism

Lounging in my PJs (again)

2012-02-12T20:01:00.000+08:00

I haven't stepped out of this ~~building~~ apartment since Friday... Well, what's new? :p

Anyway, this relatively warm winter seems to be becoming a normal one after all. It started snowing on Friday just as I was returning from the clinic. Within a few hours, the temperature went from 1C to -12C!

This weather and all my hormones are making my nose worse these days. I'm really not getting much sleep at night. And once the day breaks, I find it hard to stay in bed to try to go back to sleep, partly cos of my nose and partly cos of insane hunger. So I've been waking up pretty early these days. After breakfast, I'll laze on the sofa or creep back into bed to read stuff on the iPad before waking Sito if he has no school.

Yesterday morning was quite funny. After waking Sito at noon (!) and a very long stage 1 (lazing in bed), he made an ultra fast transition from stage 2 (sitting up in bed) to stage 3 (off the bed) - and he proceeded to make the bed with me in it! I was very tickled :p

Had chee cheong fun for lunch. Of cos it wasn't enough so I made some bread rolls to eat with peanut butter :p Later, Sito got hungry too but he doesn't like peanut butter so...

Yes, bah kwa bun! :p He had two of those, yummy...

Woke to a very sunny morning today. So sunny that my neck was burning as I was brushing my teeth cos the sun was coming through the window *.* So sunny that my bread rolls were warm when I got to the living room! :)

Sito didn't sleep well but had to wake for a morning meeting. So we went back to bed after lunch :p and I had three hours of blissful sleep! Sito reminded me that I woke somewhere in the middle and told him to go drink the barley! But I must have dozed off quickly after that so it still felt like continuous sleep. I was so grateful! Seriously, I haven't slept for more than two hours at a stretch for a long time..

Really should get back to my afternoon naps.. Forgot to nap in the past week cos I was busy planning for our holidayS :) Be going away the first weekend of March, then spring break, then another weekend in April.. Details later! :)

A new discovery at 17w5d

2012-02-08T16:01:00.000+08:00

I hesitate to put my kid's genitals on cyberspace but since HE wasn't shy at all...

Yes, it's a boy!

First thought: No stress for dragon year cohort P1 registration at the alumni phase!

So, Sito's guess is right. And apparently my dream too.

A few weeks ago, we had dinner with WSY and her husband and they said that in Korea, their dreams would tell them the gender of the baby. There's even a book with such interpretation! Of course, take it with a pinch of salt la.. She dreamt of a tiger which supposedly meant a boy but they're having a girl.

That very night, I had a strange dream of a cartoony crocodile trying to eat a little girl. WSY checked online and found that it meant a boy. But I was unconvinced. I kept feeling it was a girl due to this chart I found early in the pregnancy and what the TCM doctor said. But Sito had one data point - obviously a more accurate one - which was the darkening hair on my belly *.* "Must be the testosterone!"

Well, we would have been happy with either boy or girl, so long as it's healthy. I couldn't wipe a silly smile off my face as we walked out of the hospital =D So nice to know baby's gender!

Anyway, this sonographer was very nice. She took a quick look and told us that baby's heart was going at 157 bpm and that things looked normal on the surface. We'll do a detailed assessment in two weeks' time. The main purpose of today's visit was to check my cervical length, very good at 3.8 cm; it should be more than 3 cm. But the placenta is currently rather near the cervix so they'll monitor its position later as it can move as baby grows; too near may complicate natural delivery.

Second thought came from Sito, which wiped the smile off my face: Shall we delivery here or in Sg?

Maybe as a girl, I'm not in the best position to say this. But something must be wrong with our NS when our men don't want their sons to serve NS!

I'm pretty sian cos I want our kids to be Singaporeans! And I don't want to stay here until August! And I'll feel much better in the hands of my gynae in Sg!

Well, I intend to buy our one-way tickets after the detailed assessment. We'll have two weeks to think about this..

In the meantime, show off a cute shot of Sito Jr - "buru buru buru"

:)

An unquenchable thirst

2012-02-05T23:08:00.000+08:00

Very very thirsty since dinner. Tried miso soup, soy milk, 1% milk, water. Nothing helped.

Please don't tell me I need beer *.*

Guess that leaves only one thing - sleep.

But I'm pretty disappointed that water didn't do the trick. A couple of days ago, I found that I was able to take water again without feeling gassy. My fluid intake is now no longer restricted to Pepsi, milk, soy milk, tea, Milo and the pathetic half cup of warm water I bluff my tummy into taking every morning. I can now have water at any time of the day! Yeah!

I have been reading two pregnancy books from J - in Chinese ok... So I don't understand the names of minerals and certain foods. But otherwise, I find the info quite interesting and different from my Mayo Clinic book. Besides the usual, the Chinese versions also give food suggestions using ingredients familiar to us, like goji berries and black fungi! I like :) At the same time, I notice that the Chinese versions tend to be more paranoid, like cannot take cold foods.

Um, I've been taking a lot of cold stuff leh.. Especially drinks when I had morning sickness. In fact, I still want cold drinks now. I feel better drinking cold stuff unless it's tea but my teas are not all decaf... And I've been having lots of ice cream too :p I guess if it's edible and generally not harmful to a normal person, I should listen to my body and eat whatever I like, right?

miso: Right!

So there, I'm going to have some soy milk* and go to bed :)

* Btw, soy milk in the local supermarkets is not soy milk. Really. At first, I wondered if the Sg soy milk was very processed, it being so smooth and yummy. But no. T made some soy milk from scratch - i.e. real! - the other day and it tasted like the soy milk in Sg. I was reminded of Ah Yee's homemade soy milk years ago... So, never buy soy milk here unless it's an Asian brand or unless you want to feel gross *.*

Sprawling in front of laptop..

2012-02-04T22:46:00.000+08:00

Am feeling sick the second night in a row. From overeating. Yes, my fault. Serves me right :(

We had Prima Taste laksa last night:

And you know, usually in Sg, I don't finish up the laksa soup. I finished it up yesterday.

And you know (again), usually in Sg, laksa itself makes a meal, if I have laksa at all. I also had half a big plate of bacon, chicken and cabbage stew.

This morning, we had breakfast at Le Peep with some friends. I ordered this big plate of scrabbled eggs with spinach and chicken, potatoes and an English muffin, and a flask - yes, a flask and I must have had 60% of that - of decaf coffee. And I stunned bits of Sito's pancakes.

Just now, we had the leftover laksa soup with some rice and noodles and separate meat and vege, followed by fruits, keropok and Yan Yan.

Now, I'm burping both coffee and random parts of dinner.

And my tummy is so big - all my fault, not baby's! - that I couldn't bring myself to give myself a pedicure in the bathroom just now. You know, pedicure, must bend over a bit. Tummy in the way *.*

It's been such a lazy Saturday. We hopped back into bed after breakfast to catch up on more sleep. Then I did some chores while he carried on sleeping. Finally woke him up to drink some barley. Then we stayed in bed chatting and playing games on the iPad. Wonder if we would be able to have such lazy weekend afternoons when we go back to Sg.. Maybe before baby is born cos after that, we'll be at its beck and call!

Back to food... Some stuff we've had since the last food update..

Sito tried to recreate 沙河粉 with chicken and prawn stock. Didn't look like it but it was quite nice!

Now, check this out - rojak ingredients!! Just you tiao, taupok, cucumber and bean sprouts. The peanuts were actually honey roasted peanuts from a can - I rolled a water bottle over them in a ziplock bag to crush them..

And I even used a plastic plate to make it look more "hawker centre"! And those were toothpicks, not satay sticks - purposely didn't take in the whole toothpicks :p

Got the "exotic" ingredients from Argyle last Saturday. We were wondering why Argyle was so crowded that day until we walked out of lunch into the LNY parade! Didn't expect to see lion dance and dragon dance here!

Think we happened to be in Argyle for the same parade last year but we caught only the firecracker part, if I remember correctly.

And on Argyle, on our way home from our previous trip there late last year, we found a "magical string" on my coat - got Sito to take a video, quite fun!

Looks and personality

2012-02-02T16:05:00.000+08:00

Whenever we talk about how baby would look like, I would say that I don't need our kids to be good-looking; I'd rather them be friendly kids and happy adults.

But last night, we had a long conversation in bed, and an old adage came to me: A little beauty goes a long way.

I think "beauty" here refers to more than just good looks. Good looks are just one part of the whole beauty package. I recall a line from Sex and the City: Sexy is the thing I try to get them to see me as after I win them over with my personality. Well said, Miranda.

In situations as trivial as ordering food at a hawker centre, some beauty could get you better service, more vege, a little discount. Uncles and aunties like the pretty girl, the handsome boy, and also the funny OL and the plain young man who always strikes up a conversation.

And in situations that do matter, like landing a job or chasing skirts, the first impression can sometimes really make or break. And guess what the first impression is made up of?

I love looking at Sito. I always think he's good looking. But he says I'm subjective. Fine. He is no *insert name of yummy celeb*. But oh my, he charms me no end :) So that's his success in chasing skirts :p

But I'm certainly objective when I say he looks good in work wear, especially a well-tailored suit. Now that's a very good first impression before he opens his mouth and shows his smarts to interviewers. Oh yes, smarts are still important!

Yours truly looks good in a suit too, btw :) But not everyone does. For example, thin people. Really, I just realised this after years of fussing over my tummy! On the other hand, someone with some meat or muscles (oooh!) fill up a suit nicely.

And sometimes it's more than the clothes. A guy down the hall thought his beard would make him look more knowledgeable and reliable to prospective employers, but was told by his friend - bluntly - to shave it off. He took the advice and got a job! No more Shaggy! Of course he's also smart la... Oh, much of our conversation was actually on interviews as it is recruiting season right now..

So does this mean people who look and/or come across as less impressive are at a disadvantage?

I've had the opportunity to be part of an interview panel last time at work. First impressions seem to correlate with eventual success or failure. There was this pretty fresh grad, smart answers but rather tai tai and fragile - can she tahan the hours? We put her through to the next round but she gave us up. A mousy middle-age guy came for a higher-level job. Asked him the usual stuff but his replies were as mousy as him - rejected.

At the same time, we had a lot of interviewees who impressed at first sight but crumbled upon further scrutiny. On the other hand, I remember vividly, we had a timid and quiet fresh grad who looked lost and then looked like she was going to cry with each new question! But she managed to give sensible replies despite obvious stress. And she didn't cry. She was eventually hired.

I guess it takes the whole package to be considered favourably in job interviews. But a good first impression will give one person the edge over another if they both have the same aptitude.

So, baby, we don't need you to be very good looking - actually, you won't be cos your parents are the yummiest couple around hoho! - but some amount of looks will be much useful to you! Good luck in your development! *pat pat*

A beautiful winter day

2012-01-31T16:27:00.000+08:00

It's such a pleasant day today that I walked 30 min home instead of taking the bus after tutoring at the elementary school. A squirrel obviously thought the same as it ran from a lawn to a tree - I haven't seen these furry cuties since late last year! Although a frozen and very dead rat was spotted just outside our building a couple of weeks ago *.*

Now our windows are open and the breeze is refreshing. And driving out the smell of fried luncheon meat from our apartment :p I don't even feel cold wearing a sleeveless top sitting at the window. And my decaf genmaicha remains warm.

The trees are still bare. Some big piles of snow remain in the carpark downstairs. Otherwise, this could have been a spring or early summer day.

Stay, you beautiful weather, please stay :)

Thinking about my housewife/working mum-transit

2012-01-27T22:00:00.000+08:00

Some work stuff came up for three consecutive days.

Wednesday, I dreamt that Sito and I were both consultants but for different companies. I carried my poor baby everywhere with me and at every hour until I got fed up and came up with some system (god knows what!) that allowed me and subsequently the whole company to have better work-life balance!

Thursday, I prowled SGDI to check out the departments in my old office which had been revamped in the past year. I realised that I may have a problem at the end of my no-pay leave.. All the positions appeared filled. Non-MAs/AOs will probably be there to stay. MAs/AOs will be posted out but they may be replaced by incoming ones. So will there be a role for me?

Sito suggested trying MOE. Bigger ministry. There are probably vacancies? Possible. Education is close to my heart. And it's near home hoho! I mean, 做生不如做熟, but if the 熟 has become 面目全非 (revamped already), I may be better off in the 生 right?

Or maybe I should heed the "advice" of that dream and look outside the public sector...

Friday, i.e. today, got a nice message from TC that they all missed me! Nice bunch of people but too bad I'm not interested in what may kill me - stats! No, it doesn't make me stronger *.*

I've decided that I will go back to work (forgot to publish this last week - be nice to me and go read it :) ), but I'm seriously wondering what kind of job I'll be in comes 2013. Should really tidy up my resume and tune my housewifey brain a little. I'm really rusty now. Having such a relaxed and laid back life for such a long time has slowed me down. And I've never been quick to begin with! How to field questions from bosses like this?!

Being pregnant doesn't help. I don't know why but this afternoon, I used four cups of rice for one packet of chicken rice mix instead of my usual three. And I almost cooked four cups of plain rice. Luckily I caught myself before I washed the rice because all these were for a dinner of four and one serving is typically half a cup!

Anyway... Yes, I'm already thinking of work - the job itself, how I'll re-adapt to work, how to manage work and family. Will need to talk to some people by mid year and make some decisions. My to-do list upon returning to Singapore is getting longer every other week!

15w6d and happy!

2012-01-26T14:13:00.000+08:00

When I was suffering morning sickness, I commented that the fear of morning sickness could make me stop at one, although it seems that people keep having children because after the delivery, they forget how difficult a pregnancy can be.

Well, I was wrong - I've already forgotten the pains of morning sickness!!

Granted, I still can't drink plain water without feeling gassy and I now have a constantly dripping nose. But I haven't puked for three weeks and the last time I felt nauseous was two weeks ago. The nose, well, it isn't like I haven't dealt with that before so yes, I'm managing.

The biggest setback is that I can't sleep through the night since about week 12. I'll keep waking and if I'm lucky, I doze off pretty quickly but mostly, especially if I wake around 5 am, I'll stay awake trying to make at least one nostril functional until the sky lights up. Tmd.

So for about a week now, I've been trying to nap in the afternoon. I even set an alarm to remind myself to sleep and another to wake me two hours later. Unfortunately, I'm not used to napping and if I manage to doze off, it would be only for about 30 min. Well, better than nothing!

This morning, I was tossing in bed, hoping to sleep until noon cos I was so tired! But suddenly, I got hungry. Very. Hungry. I couldn't wait to brush my teeth! And I skipped my half cup of warm water with lemon and went straight for the oatmeals. This was the second time this week. Am I going to start gorging myself henceforth?? Hmmm, I don't mind.. Haha!

Skyped with Jo the other day. She said I seemed to be showing already. Alas, it was just my spare tyre! All these years, I've always been pulling in my tummy muscles to keep looking slim - vain :p But since the morning sickness started, I felt so bad I couldn't be bothered anymore - just let it loose! Now I'm all natural!

But she was right - I should continue to keep myself pretty! So I'm going to freshen up even though I'm just going out to run some errands. And for dinner with the girls tonight, I'll doll up like I did for LNY eve! Only that I WILL remember to cleanse and detox my face properly this time!

Overall - happy :)

大年初一喽！

2012-01-23T11:15:00.000+08:00

Check out our dinner party last night at T's place!

S (T's husband) is soooo lucky.... I told Sito I also wanted a wife who could cook well :)

Oh yes, it was the same group as Christmas, except that R was replaced by his newborn son :)

It started raining heavily just as we left the party. I must have caught a chill somehow cos this morning I started sneezing again. Or it could be because I slept late at 1 plus. No, it wasn't because I was 守岁-ing; I quit doing that when I got sick of the LNY show years ago. (And if it's good, there's the repeat telecast the next afternoon! Why suffer panda eyes??) I was up watching 步步惊心 :p It's such a good show! I think I'll finish it tonight...

And I called back of course, partly obligatory. You know, after last year's episode... But well, managed to tell Mother about little baby:

mf: 你要抱孙了！
Mother: 谁？
mf: ...

难道是那两个未娶未嫁的弟妹么？！

Anyway... I also spoke with Ah Yee who still sounded the same and very busy with the festivities. Now no more Grams to help with the steamboat... And of course Yan who is back in Sg now - so envious! Don't know when I'll see her again.. Won't be able to go to her wedding reception this April - trying to reduce long flights - and next year, I hope for her that it will be her turn to be unable to take long flights :)

I'm now sitting here with a thick layer of detox cream mask on my face. Should have done that last night cos I put on makeup for the dinner. Now I'm suffering an emerging pimple with a potentially devastating radius on my nose :( You know, I just want to blow my nose without feeling more pain than there already is. Of course it's best if I don't have to blow my nose at all but it doesn't look like that's possible in this weather and with my hormones wrecking havoc. Bah.

Just sent a message to remind Sito to buy milk on his way home from school. I'm too lazy to go out for just a gallon of milk :p And yes, I'm still in my PJs. Going to read more blogs before Sito comes home for lunch. I'm pretty excited about cooking today - first day of the new year ma, must cook something nice! Nothing exciting for lunch though, cos I have leftover sausages for pasta - my version of 年年有余? :p But for dinner, we're going to have mapo tofu!! Found a new bottle of spicy bean sauce from one of the graduates last June - more spicy dishes to come!

Happy 龙年!

2012-01-22T12:31:00.000+08:00

Yeah, it's Lunar New Year! :)

Yes, "lunar" instead of "Chinese". That's been the trend for a while, although the abbreviation LNY will still take some getting used to...

In multi-racial Singapore, I believe it isn't just the Chinese who celebrate this festival. And, it's the more accurate translation of 农历新年 anyway.. Hope we don't see any more horrendous translation of "Chinese New Year" to "中国农历新年"!!

Making our usual Sunday lunch now - porridge :) Tonight, we'll be heading to a friend's place for a big dinner! Can't wait to welcome the dragon year!

Happy dragon year! 恭祝大家新年快乐，万事如意，龙年行大运！Huat ah!

miso interviews mf

2012-01-19T11:54:00.000+08:00

I have been waking up in the middle of the night. Sometimes I'll doze off. But I'll wake again. And I'll lie there watching the sky turn bright.

Had some thoughts during those sleepless hours in the past week. I'll organise these thoughts with the help of miso..

Years back, I said that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mum. But after all these months of being a housewife, I think maybe I cannot stay at home. There are only so many dramas I can watch! It's quite a chore trying to think of things to cook. And in Singapore, I don't really need to cook. I'll be more bored! But maybe it's because baby is not in my arms yet - less things to do... Anyway, I figure that to keep myself occupied - and for practical financial reasons of course - I should get my ass back into the workforce.

miso: So, what is your motivation for work?

Our kids. I want our kids to have a better life than I ever had as a kid. And when they grow up, they should be able to have their own life without worrying about their parents' financial needs. Having an income additional to Sito's is a means of doing that.

miso: So will you be looking for some high-paying jobs?

Money is just a means of providing for our kids; it's not everything. So I must balance income level and time. Sito may be travelling lots. So I must be around for our kids. I'm hopeful *fingers crossed* that my old department with its increased strength will be less hectic than before. After all, my unit has been split into three!

miso: So... You're motivated by a desire for public service too?

Um, not really.. Maybe when I was younger.... I know that the work can have a positive impact on the country, on many people. Unfortunately, no matter what we do, it's never enough, and/or there will always be people who are unhappy. And unhappy people tend to be louder. There is just too little positive feedback for public service to be a motivator. It can only be a cause to believe in. Motivator, no.

Besides, I don't earn hundreds of thousands :) Which lead me to a thought on the ongoing debate over political salaries - it reminded me of that GP discussion in JC1 on the meaning of life. It was such a long and pointless discussion! No one was satisfied with any answer. Yet we all went on living, didn't we?! I'm being practical - there are more pressing matters than frivolous discussions on philosophical ideals and principles.

miso: Earlier, you mentioned a better life for your kids. So you believe in social mobility?

When I am a product of positive social mobility, of course! My parents were hardly educated; among the three of us kids now, we have two degrees and two poly diplomas. We went from under the 10th percentile of household income to about the 40th percentile when MZ and I started work. My current household was doing even better before we left our jobs in 2010.

But I had a little discussion with a friend lately. Social mobility, especially economic mobility, can be easily wiped out in an instant say if old parents with no CPF and little savings succumb to any major illness. That's why we must work hard to also ensure that we do not burden our kids in future. The whole 养儿防老 thing is bullshit. I must make sure that I'm the last generation in my family to fear its repercussions.

And, social mobility varies from generation to generation. My generation has gone much further than my parents' generation because they started at a low base. We can help our kids go the furthest they can, but realistically, I cannot expect them to achieve another quantum leap in standard of living. Well, unless they work on Wall Street or become amazing entrepreneurs or something along those lines. I can hold only such aspirations for them but not such expectations.

miso: What if your kids are not smart?

Then I hope they're willing to work very hard! 就算扫地也要扫到最干净！That's what we said when we talked about this a while ago.

But I had a little rethink this week. My little girl from the tutoring programme came back from winter break unable to tell "no" from "on"! Now I'm seriously wondering if she is dyslexic... I could hardly communicate in English at that age but I could actually read a story book. Maybe she isn't making enough effort..

So, the bigger question for me is whether I can be patient with kids who are not like me, be it in terms of um, intellect (I believe I do have some smarts!) or willingness to work hard. I guess I won't know until it happens.

*** some days later ***

miso: You idiot! You forgot to publish this!!

*.*

I eventually clicked "Publish" on 27 Feb 2012, when I was trying to make a reference to this post but couldn't find it... Guess my smarts are limited *.*

Getting ready for home!

2012-01-15T02:10:00.000+08:00

We just had a slice of bah kwa while examining the MRT map. Sito kind of moved along the Circle Line twice in the past few years :)

These days when I have nothing to do (which is often!), I will think about things to do when we get back. First and foremost, combine eating and catching up with friends! Breakfast, brunch, lunch, hi-tea, dinner and supper! I've already very kiasuly thought of where to go for certain foods...

Amoy when I go back to office: Two stalls of wonton mee, fish soup, fruit juice, fish ball noodle soup, Ipoh hor fun, seafood hor fun - all within two facing rows! And of course bah chor mee, char kway teow and teh halia..

Tanjong Pagar where we took our wedding photos: Dim sum cos I like their big fat guo tie!

Maxwell - looks like I must go back to office often: Economy rice, vegetarian economy rice, Ho Kee porridge, prawn mee, mee siam, cookie stall

Blk 409 when I go to find Mother: Glutinous rice, economy bee hoon, nasi lemak, fried carrot cake, roti prata

Downstairs: Crystal Jade dim sum and la mian xiao long bao, Sushi Tei, zi char, Breadtalk, Each-A-Cup

Besides eating, I also want to do foot reflexology at Chinatown, facial at Amore, pilates somewhere, and shopping! Oh, and I want to take the Circle Line to places where we've always wanted to go, like the Korean BBQ place at Pasir Panjang, Labrador Park for a stroll etc..

Then there are 正经事 to do too, wrt our apartment and baby, and I've already written out a task list with specific deadlines. Must be prepared :)

And looking around our apartment now, I think I need to start packing certain things. There are so many things I'll love to bring back but we may have a luggage issue... See how la..

Sito is still reading off his iPad. So nice to have finished all his homework for next week :) Now we're just relaxing with some background music.. Gonna join him on the sofa now!

I heart Singapore :)

2012-01-14T22:08:00.000+08:00

This morning I saw a picture of ramen posted by MT, and I got so emo that I teared when talking to Sito about it. So we googled for ramen near us and found it! I was saved!!

I had tonkotsu ramen set while Sito had a tempura udon set, both of which came with a side of California maki. There was free flow ice water and hot barley tea. And before we left, we bought decaf genmai cha and a small tub of azuki flavoured ice-cream which turned out to be very good with real azuki beans!

A bowl of steaming ramen made me realise how much I had taken Singapore for granted. All kinds of cuisine are so easily accessible - yes, I'm ruled by my tummy now. And a new Malaysian Food Street just opened at RWS! As I continued to click through on CNNGo, I also found that I don't know my country very well - there are so many food places to try and so many things to do and explore.

I've been reading too much trash online from fellow Singaporeans, strangers who sound like they hate (living in) Singapore, trolls on certain forums and blogs. Even among my friends, I often see negative Facebook posts about Singapore.

On the other hand... Sito went to a Singaporean gathering last night. It was quite late so I didn't go - cold! But more than 10 people were there, and guess what? Only four were born and bred Singaporeans. The rest were either immigrants, or what we call "associates", i.e. those who have studied and/or worked in Singapore. And then there was this guy who turned up simply cos he likes Singapore! I beamed just hearing about the evening :)

So my sample isn't exactly statistically representative.. But it just makes me wonder why it seems that Singaporeans have more negative feelings about their own country? Because we see the everyday things more clearly? Or because we're hooded by our daily family and work demands?

In the past, I had felt frustrated living in Singapore too. Hot outside but freaking cold in the office and in the malls etc. Unable to get cabs at night. Too much work to enjoy life.

But after being away for more than a year, I'm seeing Singapore in a different light. Before Sito got his job offer in Sg, I was pretty happy about staying here. I never really missed Singapore. But since we knew our destination this summer, I just can't wait to get back!

I think I'll never want to leave again. Except for the occasional vacation. The recuperative vacation after each vacation can only be home in Singapore :)

A letter to my DS

2012-01-11T22:43:00.000+08:00

Dear Digestive System,

I'm sorry that you're facing some external interference that's causing you to malfunction at times. I'm suffering with you too, you know?

There's nothing much I can do for you right now except to support you by sending healthy foods and drinks your way. At the same time, I would appreciate some reciprocal support fom you as well. For example, while I eat regularly and moderately, you can move the food in one direction and more quickly. And, 没事胃痛一整天，可以不要吗?!!!!

Oops, I'm sorry I yelled but yesterday was really uncalled for - I was a good girl and yet you did not respond kindly to anything I ate. Please do not disappoint me like that again. I promise that in a few months' time, I'll reward you with all the comfort food you want. Before then, let's work together for a healthier you and me, ok?

Best regards,
:) mf

Swinging moods

2012-01-09T04:37:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was such a fine day! I was up and about the whole day except for the hour or so of post-lunch slump when we were nua-ing in bed - love our weekends!

But greediness got the better of me last night - I finished up a whole packet of soy bean milk cos I was so thirsty. And shortly after that, I felt sick and went back to my whine seat - the good old sofa.

So there I was, grouchy for quite a while and Sito couldn't do anything about it. That is, until he decided to have a snack - instant noodles! I took a couple of bites and suddenly felt good enough to go to bed.

But my sleep was short-lived. Woke at 1.30 am feeling extremely mang zang - haven't felt that mang zang since the very long assemblies in secondary school! Kicking the duvet did not help. Sito made me take a little walk (10 steps hoho!) to the living room and lie down on the sofa. Almost fell asleep there.. Love my whine seat! Too bad it'll break my back if I sleep on it for too long..

Went back to bed eventually but it was a fitful sleep. I was drifting in and out of sleep for most of the night, with a silly nose that alternated between being blocked and dripping.

When his alarm clock finally went off, I had been awake for some time and sneezing my head off. Woke with a cold :( And I haven't been having enough fluids - what if I get dehydrated?!

The sneezes were bad and blowing my nose made my heart race. And I had to cancel a tea this afternoon. I felt really frustrated, argh!

Then I remembered my TCM doc's words a while ago when I had to stop taking her herbs which worsened my morning sickness - she said I could make goji berry tea to drink at home. If I can't drink plain water, maybe I could drink that? I used to do that in office after trying it at my spa.

So here I am, my thirst quenched by half a cup of hot goji berry tea, fed into my system teaspoon by teaspoon :) The goji berries are all fat and swollen now, very cute. And cos I didn't use boiling water - I used hot water plus one minute in the microwave - they are still whole and not nua nua. I can keep topping up until tonight!

And somewhere along the way, my nose has miraculously stopped dripping!

Feeling better now... I don't like to feel mang zang or sick. I want to be happy! (Time to find another drama to watch!) Hope that this additional hydration can help me sleep better henceforth... I would really, really love a good night's sleep!

On my birthday

2012-01-08T15:00:00.000+08:00

Woke up very early this morning cos I couldn't go back to sleep after somehow waking up at 6-ish.. After watching the sun rise and nua-ing a bit in bed, I got up to a lot of love on my phone and FB :)

I snuggled into bed again at 11 am to wake the husband..

Sito: Happy birthday! *sleepy*
mf: Thanks! Your wife turns 32 today!!

A couple of days ago, he said that 32 sounded much older than 31. What to do? I AM getting older!

Still, I really really hope time can go faster this year :)

In fact, I think I've always wanted to time to go by faster. When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up and leave the house asap. Even now in my 30s, there are so many things to look forward to even as I grow older.

But well, things can't be rushed. I'll be patient and live in the present and be happy. As Mum said in her FB message, 一定要幸福! :)

Rainbow baby* :)

2012-01-08T14:37:00.000+08:00

On Saturday, 5 Nov 2011, two days after knowing that we would be going back to Singapore, I woke up feeling like I HAD to take a pregnancy test. So I did. And like the last time, the double lines gave me a wonderful surprise :)

Pregnancy test at 4w1d:

I hoped that unlike the last time, this pregnancy would result in a healthy baby..

:)

I've been writing down my feelings and thoughts in the past two months in a pregnancy app on my phone but haven't got down to posting here partly cos we wanted to wait a bit before announcing, and partly cos I was - still am, a bit - suffering from morning sickness.. Here they go, all at one shot! After this, I'll probably update as and when I have something to say..

PS: Could be a bit TMI :p

Monday, 7 Nov 2011 - 4w3d

I HAD to test again. This time, the test line was darker. Good.

But I wondered how come I didn't feel my boobs hurting like the last time.. But this time wouldn't be like the last time...

(And the girls started feeling sore the next day...)

Wednesday, 9 Nov 2011 - 4w5d

Um, I HAD to test yet again. The test line remained dark. Good.

Off to TCM to for more acupuncture. I think I have 缘 with TCM :)

Also went to a clinic 30 minutes away to get a proof of pregnancy for insurance. It turned out to be a urine test too - the difference between that and my tests was that that had a doctor's signature backing it. Oh, and I weighed 127 lb, less than 130 lb at home :p

I had absolutely no appetite. And when I ate, I had a lot of flatulence, oops. In company, I couldn't um, let go, and that hurt *.*

Then came the painful pimples... Sito said maybe it would be a boy - different hormones... But all the signs - website, feeling, etc - all said it would be a girl.. We shall see.. Anyway, a few days later, I told this baby that I would gladly take all the pimples from him or her. Just be healthy.

Wednesday, 16 Nov 2011 - 5w5d

I was feeling like shit last night. Like rather mang zang. There was nothing I wanted to do.

Just now on the bus back from TCM, I felt a little sick. I was burping a lot. Morning sickness? I'm quite happy to have morning sickness. I like some constant indication that this baby is doing well.

The next few days and weeks confirmed that it was morning sickness! At first, I would feel sick only when I started to get hungry, i.e. before lunch and before dinner. I would be burping lots and feeling tight-chested. Then it changed. I would feel sick almost all the time. When we went to Milwaukee the next week, we found that if I could eat something every two or three hours, I would feel less yucky. So for two weeks, I force fed myself *.*

Baby, can I have all the pimples in the world instead of morning sickness? Please?

(Update 9w2d: First new pimple in some three weeks! But morning sickness remains...)

Saturday, 3 Dec 2011 - 8w1d

I had my first puke. Needless to say, it wasn't pleasant :( And I found tiny red spots on my face after that - seemed that the force of the puke broke some capillaries!

At first, when I just had the nausea and no puke, I just lived with it. But with this first puke, I got worried that I might become dehydrated... I haven't been drinking plain water since the nausea hit - it makes me sick! I end up drinking Pepsi *.* and later soy bean milk. Coke doesn't help for some reason.. I haven't had this much Pepsi since I was a teenager!! I stopped cooking for quite a while cos I couldn't stand the smell of starch being cooked. So during that time, it was Chipotle or Chinese takeout or just a big cup of Jamba Juice.

After that first puke, I also had a most torturous night trying to sleep. The burping didn't help. And I suddenly got this horrible back ache. And that marked the beginning of bad nights. These days, I would usually go to bed by 11 pm or so, but fall asleep only after 2 am.

After that, I puked on the bus to town, on the train to town. Thankfully I had a plastic bag on me. Just had to carry a bag of puke until my destination.. The worse bout was 11-13 Dec 2011, that was 9w2d to 9w4d. I puked every morning! According to websites, the HCG hormone peaks between weeks nine and 12. Hopefully the daily puke signified my peak?

Tuesday, 6 Dec 2011 - 8w4d

We met baby for the first time today :)

When I first saw it, it was just a little dot in a black hole. Then, another angle, and there it was!

Ok, this wasn't the best shot. We could actually tell that the head was on the right side, and there were little dots near the big body which I presumed were the buds of the limbs :) And I thought baby was moving a little.. It could be that it was just floating about in "bed"...

And we could see the heartbeat AND hear it! It was so fast! 173 per minute! (Hope the Pepsi had nothing to do with it!) Based on forum chitchats, high heart rate probably means a girl :p Told my TCM and she said back in Beijing, they used to guess the gender by the strength of the pulse on both wrists - a stronger right pulse indicates a girl and I do have a strong right pulse hoho! But she said many times they got it wrong too..

Anyway, based on the ultrasound, cos my period was crazy, due date is estimated to be 14 Jul 2012 :)

Then we saw an old doctor at the hospital who explained everything in great details before sending us on our way to schedule future ultrasounds and to do blood and urine tests.

Took almost two hours with hardly any waiting time!

We walked 30 min back from the hospital, and along the way, we had a nice little chat, the exact content was forgotten but it was about baby. Happy :)

Thursday, 15 Dec 2011 - 9w6d

Today, I feel kind of good. And I'm grateful.

This is a 100% Singaporean baby. I've been thinking of Singaporean food for the past two weeks! So deprived...

mf: Eh, your baby always wants Singaporean food..
Sito: But I don't like glutinous rice.
mf: And I'm not craving for your fave hokkien mee...
Sito: Then not mine..

WHAT?!

Ya, we're crazy :p

I'm so grateful that I'm not working - I've stopped wearing a bra :p Need to leave the chest area free to heave when I burp or puke *.* With the cold, I just wear more layers.. And I'm very very grateful that Sito is not busy. He has been taking care of me since morning sickness started ruling my life - doing laundry, preparing the humidifier, buying meals and groceries, cooking small things, giving me a back rub :)

Oh, have I mentioned my new boobs? One day when I stepped out of the shower, I saw myself in the mirror and was wowed! I called Sito in for an, um, inspection, haha! But sorry, can see, cannot touch!!

Tuesday, 20 Dec 2011 - 10w4d

~~Morning sickness is officially over!~~ Yeah! I've been feeling kind of good since the weekend, and I started cooking on Sunday! On Monday, I even went out for tea with C! Quite happy about it :) Strangely enough, my cravings for Sg food are also going away with morning sickness..

Thursday, 29 Dec 2011 - 11w6d

Such a happy day!

We had our first trimester screening done. When the sonographer put the thing on my belly with oh-so-lovely warm gel, we were so surprised - me cos we saw the baby immediately and Sito cos he thought the baby looked big! And best of all, baby was moving its limbs furiously! So cute! :)

We had a good time ogling the baby from different angles as the sonographer tried to capture various shots of our active baby. She said baby would be awake for 15-20 min and sleep and another 15-20 min and repeat the whole thing again. So fun!

We had a little chat with a genetic counsellor after that but we had no further questions since the scan gave normal readings. I was then sent for a blood test - just a little prick on my middle finger and the nurse doing it was so funny and nice. Ah, lovely afternoon.

Now I have three pictures of the scan on the desk as I type, and more in the CD from the sonographer. Show you one with baby's alien face and moving arms :)

Wednesday, 4 Jan 2012 - 12w5d

So I thought morning sickness was over. It wasn't. I puked in the 12th week on our way to Chinatown for dim sum. I puked this Monday and Tuesday before bed. I'm now feeling kind of good so far. So I hope and hope that's it! Please........

Sunday, 8 Jan 2012 - 13w2d

Yeah, I turn 32! :) And with no more craving for Singaporean food, we headed out for pasta :)

I've been having lots of soy bean milk, averaging one Yeo's packet every day or so. I ration each packet carefully so that I have something to sip on every few hours and I don't overdo the sugar... Just now, I had some water and it didn't feel too good in me. Guess I'll stick to other beverages for a while longer..

And the past couple of nights have been kind of kind. Less difficulty sleeping, but I still have trouble staying asleep cos of my blocked nose.. Hope I get to get some good sleep soon!

After the first visit to the hospital, we're having our regular prenatal care at a clinic nearby. Been there once so far. Every time I go, I'm probably seeing a different resident. Yes, resident, like if you go to KK as a subsidised patient. And I'm not comfortable at all, especially after she did a really rough PAP smear and pelvic check! I've never had such a painful experience down there and I spotted for five days after that! It's all free due to my state insurance for unemployed pregnant women but thanks, we'll pay my nice doc in Singapore to deliver our baby! So what's left to do now is to get the OK to fly - wish me luck! :)

* From a baby forum:

A rainbow baby is a baby conceived after the loss of a child. "Rainbow Babies" are the understanding that the beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. When a rainbow appears, it does not mean that the storm never happened or that the family is not still dealing with its aftermath. What it means is that something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and the clouds. Storm clouds may still loom over but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of colour, energy, and much needed hope.

End of year musings, and food, mostly food

2011-12-29T23:14:00.000+08:00

I thought I was 30. But no, I'm already 31, and only a few days shy of 32.

I realise that time doesn't care about anyone, much less me. I could be very busy like around 2008, and time flies. I could have done nothing like this year, and time flies too.

原来我们是如此渺小、如此微不足道。

The only significance of what I've done can only be felt by those close to me. And I suppose that's enough - enough for me to feel happy with my n decades of life despite the indifferent passage of time...

Yada yada... So the above is the obligatory reflections for 2011.. Which I've kind of done this whole year through mf-ism right? :) I'm in a happy mood so, moving on!

Here's a recap of recent activities.. All about food :)

We had a potluck dinner on Christmas eve - a gathering of nine from five different countries!

Our dinner, sans soup and cake :) That's my baked pasta right there between the bread!

Now going about a week back.. I was craving for some Singaporean noodles right.. But we didn't have kway teow and couldn't use the Prime Taste char kway teow pack. So I made my version of mee goreng! Using egg noodles :)

Then one day, Sito was out with a friend so I had an idea to make okonomiyaki! The original recipe is a lot more complicated but well, as the name suggests, it's anything I like right? :p (Btw, this was taken on the frying pan - not fully cooked yet!)

And after a trip to the Korean supermarket, I realised that my freezer couldn't take everything... So I must get rid of a packet of noodles.. Solution? Mee rubus :) Using Prima Taste la.. And red chillis instead of green chillis :p

And on Tuesday, we decided to go to Chinatown for dim sum - it wasn't fantastic, but it was something familiar.. But the best part of the trip was getting our hands on a pack of chee cheong fun! The next day, we steamed the rolls, cut them up and tossed them in some oil, soy sauce and hoisin sauce! Sito's idea :) And we conveniently have a huge bottle of sesame seeds and frozen spring onions :) It was VERY good :)

And yesterday, I decided that I was getting dehydrated (more on that later) and so I must have porridge. But Sito doesn't like porridge so I call it "the humour-mf congee" :p It was good ok!

And tonight, we just had char kway teow :) Besides the chee cheong fun, we also found kway teow :) But it got mashed up pretty bad in the dish :p We even bought 220g of bean sprouts on the way home this afternoon - for US$1.50!!

Not sure what we're doing for new year. Maybe just nua at home. Maybe we'll hang out with friends. See how. I'm all for nua-ing though hoho! Anyway, I'm in the mood to cook so I'll probably be back with more food pictures :)

Have a good start to 2012 everyone! :)

mf's teh challenge

2011-12-22T21:53:00.000+08:00

I lived right above a coffee shop for more than 20 years. Yet it wasn't until 2006 that I learnt about the different ways to order coffee and tea at a coffee shop. See this post and item 3 at the end of this post.

In the past two or three weeks, I was thinking about milk tea. Here are my past attempts before today..

Teh
Steep a Lipton tea bag in just-boiled water. Add sugar and milk.
Verdict: 3/10 = fail!

Teh halia 1
Boil grated ginger in a cup of water for 10 min. Steep a Lipton tea bag in the ginger water. Add sugar and milk.
Verdict: 1/10 = fail!

Teh halia 1
Steep a Lipton tea bag in just-boiled water. Add milk and instant ginger and honey mix.
Verdict: 4/10 = still fail!

I think it's because those teh's I made were all angmoh teh - I used breakfast milk instead of condensed milk! I need to get condensed milk!!

So fast forward to today... This afternoon, a few of us went to the Korean supermarket to buy food for the party this Saturday. Besides groceries, I also bought some Korean fried chicken and decided to make nasi lemak for dinner.

(Wait, I'll get to the teh..)

Very yummy - garlic chicken and sweet and spicy chicken! $18.77 for 14 pieces!

And the resulting dish :) Got little charred bits in the rice :) And got curry vege leh! Made using tikka masala paste though, haha! And wonbok instead of cabbage :p

So, it occurred to me that I should have some teh to go with the nasi lemak! *brilliant*

But! I have also brilliantly forgot to buy condensed milk!! Argh!! So I googled and found ways to make condensed milk! :) But! Most recipes require milk powder which I don't have. The one recipe that uses breakfast milk takes too long to boil it down.

But :) I also realised something - if condensed milk can be made from boiling down milk, and we add that back to a cup of teh, then I could just steep tea in milk la! *BRILLIANT!*

So I poured a cup of milk into a pot and when it got hot, I dumped the Lipton tea bag inside. I thought to steep it longer since I couldn't and shouldn't bring the milk to a rolling boil. And here's the wonderful result :)

Verdict: 8/10 = pass!! :)

Well, it's more 茶奶 than 奶茶 :p But after a while, the colour got darker and the taste got stronger. Then I realised that it wasn't teh. No, it was teh-C! :)

Ok, to be honest, I've not had teh-C at a coffee shop so I don't know if it tastes exactly like teh-C but I think it's like the Lipton tea with evaporated milk and sugar that Mother used to make every time we had fried rice! (And sidetrack - we also had fried rice and tea on National Day cos we wanted to watch the parade and the usual dinner would take too much time to prepare and clean up!)

So now I've found a teh I can make here. Will experiment and see if I can make teh halia :) But I think I'll use 2/3 milk and 1/3 water the next time - it was such a filling drink!

I don't stress over gifts

2011-12-17T15:18:00.000+08:00

I'm feeling slightly guilty about lying in bed on a beautiful Saturday afternoon when I'm feeling well and alive. So I decided to move away from googling Sg food to reading WSJ. And an article caught my attention - Is it irrational to give holiday gifts?

Think I wrote about giving gifts before. Anyway with Christmas coming up soon, I'm seeing a lot of sales in town and online, people carrying bags of presents, and hearing of people getting stressed over holiday gifting.

This last part, I really don't understand. Stressed over buying presents? Should giving be a joy?? This really defies the purpose of gifting. I never know what to buy so I shan't even begin to think about buying presents! Naturally I don't expect presents too.

But I must say sometimes I feel guilty for not bothering with presents. Or even cards. Like today we got a really lovely card from our friends and neighbours. It's so sweet of them! I sent them a note on Facebook to thank them and set up a date for tea.

Another thing in the mail was a parcel containing my double order of Sophie the Giraffe! (And a computer game for Sito..) I really like this baby toy and apparently babies like it too so I got them for two friends who will probably have their baby showers soon. I had earlier bought two for two other friends. I guess this is partly practical and partly paternalistic gifting? It's quite expensive in Sg so I think I'll buy more to bring back to Sg for friends who give birth in the next two years hoho! Oh, and standby one for ourselves!

I'm very free

2011-12-16T15:00:00.000+08:00

I'm quite sick of seeing foreign newspapers calling Singapore a "tightly controlled city state".

All these years of living in Sg, I've only felt "tightly controlled" by Mother when I was younger. By country? No! I'm free to do whatever I want!

(Please don't give me nonsense like we cannot have protests or strikes etc. I appreciate a peaceful life.)

There is a concept in Montessori education - freedom within limits. Simply put, a child is free to do anything as long as he's not hurting/disrespecting/disturbing etc himself or others. It's believed that left on his own among good people and a conducive environment, a child will naturally be constructive and happy to learn and help others etc. If there's a disturbance in his environment, he can also (learn to) help himself and others.

Unfortunately, all I can see in our society, from online at least, is that people only know how to complain and point fingers instead of giving constructive feedback.

Anyway, this stems from reading various reports on the north-south line MRT breakdown on Thursday. Public transport is close to my heart cos I don't drive. It's such a terrible incident, exposing plenty of shortcomings in the system - contingency planning, communications and even basic safety. Everyone was scolding the authorities and calling for the resignation of the top guy. Woman in this case.

But the most important thing is to find out the cause and fix things to prevent future incidents instead of assigning blame! I always find it ridiculous for the top guy to quit upon disasters because hey, shouldn't he take responsibility and fix things? Letting him quit is like relieving him of the difficult job and throwing the job to the next poor guy! Sometimes, 解铃还需系铃人! Fix it, then you may quit, because Singaporeans aren't a very forgiving people.

Actually I like taking trains compared to buses, not just in Sg but everywhere, especially in unfamiliar places because train stations are usually marked so I know exactly where to alight. But it's so hard to understand what the driver is talking about. It is usually very muffled and has to fight with the din in the train. In fact sometimes at the station when there's some announcement, it also takes some effort to make out what the chap is saying.

One exception is this particular driver on the CTA red line who speaks loud AND clear. While other drivers are muffled, he knows how to speak properly into the mike. And the bonus is that he's always greeting passengers with a cheerful "good evening good evening good evening!" and once, "may the force be with you" at the final stop! For regular reminders like not leaving anything behind, he jazzes things up with examples of things passengers leve behind, like wallet, phone, burgers and children!

Anyway, specifically for the MRT, I think the ground staff are the most important people in emergencies. First of all, they need to be trained to speak properly. No need for all four official languages - just focus on good and clear English. And while they're at it, upgrade the sound system too. Training the ground staff is just one aspect. Sometimes, waiting for the central authority to tell them what's wrong takes too long. Passengers need immediate reassurance so it's really up to the staff to do something but that depends on the amount of autonomy given to them and ultimately individual initiative.

Ok, vented. Going to do some reading while waiting for Sito to return from golf. With my Jamba Juice :)

The noodles of my childhood..

2011-12-15T20:16:00.000+08:00

Oops, more on food...

Well, in the past few days while I was lying on the sofa unable to do much except browsing with the iPad, I have been reading a lot about food. Singapore food in particular. All because I have a copy of The End of Char Kway Teow in my hands.

The author, the blogger at http://ieatishootipost.sg, was in town in October for Sg Buzz and of course Sito and I went to support. My colleague, actually ex-colleague, asked me to pass the book to someone in Chicago but I haven't got his/her contact yet so I ended up reading the book from cover to cover. And that being not enough, I went to the blog too.

It's actually very torturous - can see, can drool, cannot eat!!

Which leaves me only one activity - write about it lor :)

As I went through the pages of the book and the blog, I couldn't help but remember a few things from my childhood. And coincidentally, they are all noodles..

1) Char kway teow

So we went to find Grams every other Sunday right. After the provision shop closed at lunch, we would go back to the flat. And sometimes the adults would give us money to go buy some afternoon snack. And this was no candy or ice cream ok. Our favourite snack was the char kway teow from the coffeeshop!

The uncle's stall was at the edge of the coffeeshop. The bunch of us kids would hang out on the sidewalk in front of his stall while waiting for the char kway teow. He had this large metal sheet in the shape of 凸 in front of his big wok. I couldn't see or remember very well now but I think he used to break his eggs into the noodles and throw the shells towards the middle of the metal sheet!

I still remember that when playing cooking as a kid, I used this tiny chair with a backing as my wok because it resembled the metal sheet haha!

Anyway, the uncle was very nice to us. I think he must have known us from the provision shop. We used to order some four packets, without clams. I remember this because once he asked us, like that how much? And of course I had to geh kiang and answered first..

mf: $6.30!
Uncle: Wrong!

*.*

The char kway teow was soooo good! Each pack was packed very flat in one of those beige wax paper, stacked on top of one another and tied together with red raffia string. I remember holding it too close to my leg and suffer a little burn!

I was still a kid when one day, we found the uncle sitting in the coffeeshop, drinking kopi and not cooking anymore. Cos his son told him to retire. Good for him, not so good for us. And after the coffeeshop underwent renovation or the precinct underwent upgrading, I didn't see him around anymore.

Until today, I still remember his char kway teow - not the exact taste of course, but that it was very very good. Cos of this particular char kway teow, I always have a soft spot for this sinful dish. But I can count on one hand the number of times I had char kway teow in the past 10 years - vain, what to do? Control la!

2) Wantan mee with tiny wantans

When I was very young, in kindergarten or early primary, my paternal grandmother used to buy this wantan mee with tiny wantans when she came to visit. I really liked that! Sticky noodles drenched in tomato sauce in a plastic bag, many mini wantans dancing in the soup in a separate container.

I forgot all about it until one day in my early 20s when I was at a friend's place in the east. We bought some Fei Fei from nearby and the familiar taste whacked me in the face. My grandmother used to stay in that area so maybe that was what I had as a kid!

Haven't had that for some 10 years now. I've been having the Hong Kong style wantan mee or Pontian type in recent years. I just like wantan mee so all these are yummy. And it's easy to make - see! But somehow, I just cannot forget the childhood taste..

3) Fishball noodles

On occasions, we would have lunch at the hawker centre near the AMK library. It must have been after a trip to the library and before we discovered Macs :p

I don't quite remember what it was but it was always mee pok for me and mee kia for the rest. I figure it should be fishball noodles! It was nothing memorable except that that was always a treat cos we didn't get to eat out a lot in those days.

In more recent years, I prefer to have yellow noodles with my fishballs. Somehow it's tastier. Especially with cut chillis!

4) Laksa

Now there was a very good laksa stall at the hawker centre near the market. It was just so good! But later they moved to the other hawker centre near the other market, I think, and I seldom had it again.

When I was in secondary, there was a period of time when I loved to have this laksa yong tau foo at the hawker centre near the library. Must have been after Japanese class or something, cos otherwise I would have had lunch at home.

I still like laksa, but I think I can also count on one hand the number of times I had laksa in the past 10 years... Sinful...

5) Kway chap

Ok, this isn't something I'm craving now. But as a kid, I used to eat a lot of the kway from the kway chap. It wasn't until my mid 20s that I realised that kway chap actually had a lot of ingredients *.* I don't like pork innards but I don't mind having the kway with the soup again :p

6) Maggi mee

Last on the list - maggi mee! We used to have that for lunch quite often. That or yucky macaroni soup. Or worse, fried mee tai mak! Hate that! Anyway, I was just telling Sito that I used to add ketchup to the soup noodles :p Sounds quite gross now but I loved it! Sometimes I added chilli sauce too :p

But I gave up maggi for Myojo after a while. Somehow I prefer Myojo. Later at work, I always had a stock of Nissin cup noodles in my drawer for emergencies. Now we have lots of Sapporo and Nong Shim!

But no more ketchup or chilli sauce in the soup please!

Good day!

2011-12-15T15:16:00.000+08:00

I haven’t felt this good for more than a week! And it’s so good that we went out for lunch :)

Sito had a sesame chicken (ABC Chinese food!) lunch special while I had 炸酱面 with what looked like fettucini but wasn’t. His came with 酸辣汤 and I had most of it – yum! We both couldn’t finish so guess what’s for dinner tonight? :)

Just last night I was daydreaming about going to Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao in Holland Village. Seriously, I can’t wait to go back to Singapore!

And yesterday evening, all I could think of was glutinous rice. You know the type sold at hawker centres? White sticky rice with steamed peanuts, mushroom bits, fried shallots, and sometimes Chinese sausage bits. I spent a long time ogling at pictures and googling for recipes, and then just now at Whole Foods, I found no glutinous rice, sighs...

But we got another cantaloupe! I just cut one up earlier this week – my very first whole cantaloupe! Like so sua ku :p – and it was so juicy and sweet! I have four pieces of that left in the fridge. ~~Will have them after posting this.~~ Ok, they’re gone! I hope this second one is as sweet and juicy, if not more so! *greedy*

On another note, I’m quite behind in my blogging. Too many unfinished drafts. Maybe later... In the meantime, check out the super long page on Oxford – did that up a couple of weeks ago but I totally forgot to mention it!

December

2011-12-07T21:31:00.000+08:00

This is usually my favourite month - ~~off-peak at work, relatively quiet office,~~ pretty Xmas lights, festive feelings!

But so far, I've only had one happy day this month - yesterday. It was a really happy afternoon! We walked in the cold for 30 min and chatted about happy things. So happy that I didn't do anything else besides feeling happy for the rest of the day =D (He had to study, bleah!)

Other than yesterday, I'm just ill, especially the weekend. Oh, the weekend was bad! And there was a terrible backache that kept me up almost the entire Saturday night!

I've been having the same lunch since Monday - chicken/pork burrito with hot sauce and vege from Chipotle. I find that it makes me feel better, combined with (forced!) feedings every three hours all the way until I go to bed.

But this evening, I felt sick again, and dozed off on the sofa until Sito came home with dinner. Poor guy, he's been cooking or eating out cos I haven't been able to cook much... And it's exams week!

Ah well, enough complaining, enough venting.. Actually I just wanted to say that we had a very happy afternoon yesterday :) I hope the rest of the month will be happy too!

PS: Give me a white Christmas!!

The rojak man

2011-11-30T14:53:00.000+08:00

I was looking at recipes when I suddenly thought of the rojak man who used to park his motorbike right downstairs. It was no common motorbike. It had a big wooden box behind the seat, which opened up into a workspace and contained all the equipment and ingredients for the yummy dish.

It was usually evening time. There was still light but fading. We would be playing or something, and suddenly, "bibo bibo!" And off we ran to the kitchen window, looked down and there he was, the rojak man, in front of his box, ready to make rojak!

We didn't get to have it all the time but sometimes, we got money to go buy a pack or two. And it was really fun!

First, we had to queue with other kids and aunties in the neighbourhood who got there faster. Then, when it was our turn, we gave our order and - this was the fun part - stood right next to the uncle and watch him work.

I still remember his wooden bowl, then at my eye level, which was dark with the sauce from previous orders. In his wooden box were the various ingredients - tau pok, you tiao, cucumber, pineapples, peanuts, sauce, chilli, and I don't know what else!

I loved the sight of the rojak being stirred furiously. I loved hearing the sound of the metal spoon scrapping the sides of the wooden bowl.

Then very suddenly, it was done. The middle-aged uncle would pour the rojak into a plastic drawstring bag, throw in a couple of satay sticks, collect the money and turn his attention to the next customer, while we would run back, very very eager to tuck into the snack of the day!

I think I would like to have some rojak now...

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T21:13:00.000+08:00

It's Thanksgiving today. I never thought much about it until the last cooking class when the lady spoke about it before she went on to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal for us. It's a time for families to get together. It's a time to give thanks, as its name suggests.

Indeed, I have much to be thankful for.

It's been a turbulent year, full of happy and joyful thoughts and hopes, full of sad and dark hours, full of friends and growing friendships, and full of uncertainties of what lies ahead. Through the good and bad, we have grown a little.

I had a good conversation with a friend today at the Thanksgiving feast in school. She said she often forgot to live in the present. She also told me that she thought I was the happy-go-lucky sort. The truth is, when I'm careless, I can fall into the dark side, and be pessimistic and generally negative about what the future holds. It's a timely reminder to not worry too much and simply 活在当下 and live every day as it is.

Because every day is a blessing.

The most boring trip ever...

2011-11-23T16:02:00.000+08:00

We randomly picked a spot nearby for a short holiday - Milwaukee. We decided not to drive so we took the Metra to Chicago and changed to an Amtrak, which turned out to be really comfortable.

But, gee, it was really boring after the first day!! I think we could have done with one day instead of three *.*

Monday, 21 Nov 2011

We couldn't check in early so we headed to the Harley-Davidson Museum!

Entry was $16 but students get a $4 discount so Sito flashed his student card :) But we spent the $4 on an audio guide, which wasn't terribly useful.. They have free lockers so we could leave bags and coats at the lobby - convenient service.

There's an area full of bikes for visitors to sit on. It's really cool! Check out my husband on a Harley-Davidson!

I picked a 小绵羊 - MUCH easier to get on and off...

We looked through the history of the company. This shows the minutes of the first meeting of the company - got template! (Oops, occupational hazard..)

They also have some interesting advertisements. Look at this - first you date comfortably, then you have a kid and still travel comfortably! (Occupational hazard again? :p)

But the most interesting thing we found was that back then, it was a culture of "everyone has it or is doing it, so should I".

We thought the company flourished through the wars by supplying many of the vehicles. I think this particular model was never used but I thought it was cool :)

Then there were various races - curved slopes, uphill etc. And the racers had to wear shoes with iron soles because they would drag the feet as they turned.

See, Sito became a racer for 10 seconds :p

I like the gas tanks very much. So pretty :)

This customised bike is very pretty too!

Oh, there was a kids' area with leather caps and jackets. Sito couldn't fit into a jacket.

I could! But the jacket was a bit too short :p

There are a few more games and hands-on areas, like in the engine room and test lab area where we customised our own bikes and emailed the picture to ourselves :)

And we went to this restoration area. Outside the gates was this sign :p

This is totally random - one of the two water towers on the grounds was very festive :)

We finally checked into Hampton Inn and Suites. The room was spacious, and we found that they offered hot breakfast, all for $96 a night! Quite happy with this choice. If only they had a fridge in the room..

Anyway, dinner was at the Old German Beer Hall, where Sito had a beer and we shared a giant pretzel and a bratwurst platter. The burtwursts were just boiled; might have been yummier with a bit of browning on the grill...

The pretzel was amazing with cheese topping. And it was huge! I was holding one of the small holes - you know, a pretzel has two small holes and one big one right? Yep, huge pretzel.. Good ending to a good day..

Tuesday, 22 Nov 2011

No photos to show today - we were supposed to go to the Discovery World but figured that we didn't need to spend $16.95 for a science museum. Didn't help that we saw only school kids there hoho!

The Milwaukee Art Museum is just next door but we are not the artsy kind, and we could get into Chicago museums on museum free days so we decided to walk through the city instead.

The day before, we already experienced a bit of the city since our hotel was downtown in West Town. At 8 pm, we met just one single person on the streets. And he said hi and asked us for money *.* We were hoping that it might be better in the day today - more people, more 人气...

And we were sorely disappointed.

We went to the Historic Third Ward - nice buildings, nice streets, nice shops, but there was hardly anyone around. We eventually got to the Milwaukee Public Market - finally, some people! But it was not very big and we left soon...

Then it was East Town. There were more people there but not a lot of things to do. We had chilli at Real Chili - it was quite good except that I regretted going for all beans instead of a mix of beans and spaghetti..

So in lieu of any other thing to do and see, we popped into the shopping centre across from our hotel. And we bought socks for Sito :p I also got a couple of children's books for upcoming birthdays among the kids here. Then we bought a grape Icee - omg, Icee! - and went back to the hotel to watch TV *.*

Dinner was after many episodes of Friends, at the food court in the shopping centre across from us. Lazy to go any further :p Strangely, "Cajun Grill" serves Chinese food... Anyway, it wasn't too bad - we do like angmoh Chinese food haha!

We soon retreated back to the warmth of the hotel. And we decided that we would go back to Evanston the next morning instead of later as planned.

Wednesday, 23 Nov 2011

What a good feeling to be back in Chicago! The many tall buildings, the many people on the streets, the sounds of the cars. Yes, I'm a city girl :)

Sito brought me to the Chicago French Market where he went for dinner often during his internship. It was so nice and so much better than the Milwaukee Public Market! We will go there again :)

So now we're happily home in Evanston. Got ice cream on the way home from the train station. Got our mail and parcel before the lobby closed for the Thanksgiving holidays.

Really, after this trip, we truly appreciate our little town and Chicago! We'll enjoy this place before heading back to an even better city, Singapore!

Happy birthday, Sito! :)

2011-11-19T16:06:00.000+08:00

We celebrated Sito's 31st at Morton's last night, like last year except that this year, we went on the exact day and our menu had his name instead of Mr Low!

They gave us a photo of us, and I took a photo of that:

Sito's face wasn't swollen. He just had some bread in his mouth - so cute :)

We're going to Milwaukee next Monday, be eating more!

Depriving kids of candy, among others

2011-11-15T19:39:00.000+08:00

A while ago, this topic about how to prevent kids from eating unhealthy food like candy came up in a conversation with two other couples. I don't think Sito and I had talked about this before that but we both disagreed with totally depriving kids of such things.

When I was a kid, the only time I could have candy or sweet drinks was when my paternal grandmother bought Doraemon for me or when I was at Grams' provision shop.

And boy, when I was at the provision shop, did I eat and drink and play with abandon!! Crackers of all sorts in those metre-tall containers, chocolate, sweets, packet drinks, sodas in glass bottles, icicle pops, Super Elastic Bubble Plastic! I wouldn't miss that fortnightly treat for anything!

Then when I was finally able to go out on my own with CY, we would go to KFC after going to the library, again every fortnightly I think, and I would order a large soda on top of yummy fried chicken and fries or mashed potato. The cup looked like a freaking tub!

My bad eating habits continued to adulthood. Sometimes I simply cannot stop myself from eating chocolate or ice cream or nuts, and it can be very scary.. Yes, I'm very lacking in self-discipline in this area... I help myself by choosing dark chocolate so I consume less sugar and buying mostly raw almonds and cashews to avoid excessive oil and salt. Ice cream is trickier... I need Sito to be around to remind me to stop *.*

Sure, it is not good to indulge kids in sweets. But it's not good to deprive them totally too. Otherwise, they would be like me, no sense of self-control once no one can control them! Instead, we should help children make the right choices and eat everything in moderation.

In general, I'm against over-controlling kids. Because I was a very controlled kid. Or perhaps I was too stupid to be defiant. My later display of defiance by overeating is just detrimental to health. Man, I really hated all that controlling when I was a kid! Not just candy, but also whether I could go out, what time I must come home etc.. Yes, I hold a lot of grudges. Yet another reason to not control kids without reason!

Eat and shop and eat again!

2011-11-11T23:24:00.000+08:00

As mentioned, our hotpot dinner :)

The potstickers saved Sito from starving as we waited for the stock to boil. After taking the photo, we had the great idea of adding crab sticks to our oden selection :p

Think two of us finished three quarters of that plate...! It was so shiok to have hotpot in this weather!

And I had an idea to start yet another blog today - a food blog!

Nah, I'm not going to start taking photos of food with a mighty DSLR camera, or become yet another food critic. I just want a place to sort out my recipes, currently in quite a mess in my Mac.. If you want to try some of my recipes, check out "mf's eats": http://mf-eats.blogspot.com

Anyway, the TG this week was the marketing TG.

I wasn't here last year when Sito "bought" loads of snacks, kitchen towels, wet wipes, ziplock bags and washing liquid. Sounds good right? This year, both of us had "money"! But we didn't get a huge variety of stuff. We were only interested in practical stuff like tissue and clorox wipes. So we got those. Lots of those! And toothpaste - now we have five tubes for eight months here!! Got some candies with "loose change".

And since I'm going anti-chronologically... I went for my second cooking class this morning. It was a thanksgiving menu today. Check out my roast chicken, mashed potato, sweet potatoes and apples, bread stuffing and pearl onions! Oh, and the token vege, broccoli :p

Then dessert was pumpkin pie. I was sooooo full I couldn't sit upright, jeans were in the way :p And I didn't even have seconds!

At the class, I felt really inspired to buy a roasting rack. Just found one on Amazon. Going to buy it! :)

Super Marios!

2011-11-10T22:22:00.000+08:00

Oh, almost forgot this! Yesterday, I passed by three groups of Super Marios in Chicago. I wanted to talk to the first group but I was rushing to catch a bus. Watched the bus leave from behind in the end, darn!

Anyway, that was a promo for Nintendo's Super Mario 3D Land. "Put put!"

But... Does Super Mario have a tail??!

It snowed!

2011-11-10T16:58:00.000+08:00

So happy to see the first snow of this winter!

It arrived earlier than last year - I left for Singapore this day last year and it hadn't started snowing yet.

I was saying that we would have a hotpot dinner on the day of the first snow but Sito just left for an event in school, so we will have our hotpot dinner tomorrow instead :)

Feeling lazy now. There are dishes to be washed but I'm ignoring them.. There is no fresh vege in the fridge but I'm not going to the supermarket when it's so cold. I think I shall go nap for a while :p

拈花惹草 - literally

2011-11-09T23:44:00.000+08:00

The girls went on an excursion to the Chicago Botanic Garden!

It was a pretty nice drive. At one stretch, we saw nice houses. In fact, "nice" is an understatement. Some of them look like castles!

Lovely fall colours on the way up - preview for the botanic garden?

I have a brown thumb. I'm not a fan of plants. But I took a lot of pictures that day. Things just looked so tranquil, like what greeted us as we walked through the reception:

They even have a bonsai garden! The little sparrow posed for me :)

But the main purpose of this trip was a fibre - well, they spelt it fiber :p - art show where our cooking class teacher was exhibiting an embroidered apron. But this is my fave apron that day:

With the above detours, we missed getting seats for a fashion show showcasing handmade shawls and cardigans and aprons. So we hung around outside the auditorium waiting for the models to walk by - some of them did. But the greatest find was this cute little statue - a little mermaid!

What is the little mermaid looking at? A shell! :)

We left for the outdoors. It was a little cold - by Chicago standards; it's freaking cold by Sg standards! - but it was a beautiful day!

Somehow, I was rather taken with this scene, with bits of bright blue sky peering through the yellow leaves:

And this was fun! I took a quite shot and stepped away - brown thumb, remember? Better not get too close :p But they were trying to capture the pretty flowers for quite a few minutes!

Pretty willow tree, with the sun shining through thousands of tiny gaps:

Pretty and pink! But I had wanted to focus on the brown bit in the middle - see that? It's the underside of a spider! Yucky but I couldn't help it :p

M's sharp eyes caught sight of this - check out the "disco voodoo lily"!

Then we found gigantic pumpkins! 150-200 pounds each!

My Pinky II camera didn't do this scene justice.. It was brighter than this. The geese were taking off from the pond!

Tired and hungry, we headed for lunch at Walker Bros - look at my yummy lunch! Chicken crepe with chipotle sauce, served with potato cakes and two huge servings of applesauce and sour cream!

Four happy girls :)

It was so satisfying....

And shortly after, it was the Asian Food Festival in school. This year, the Singapore stall expanded to include Malaysia and Indonesia, and the food was good and cheap from a Malay auntie in the area! Plenty of other yummy food too but I could hardly eat :( Only pinched a little from Sito's plates.... But managed to da bao some curry puffs and agar agar :)

Then, food again! We were supposed to have dinner with some Singaporeans (and associates!) but we were late due to the school event.. Just as well since we weren't hungry anymore! They were having a BBQ - gotta wear coats to grill the stuff on the balcony! The highlight of the night, however, was me winning a board game, heh heh :p So this guy developed a board game called Dash - not on the market yet but it was quite fun!

These are the game tokens - I played the haughty 红头巾, alongside a Chinese High boy, PCK and I can't remember the other two...

And my favourite picture - guess what the thief has stolen?

Ang ku kueh!!!

Halloween!

2011-11-08T20:42:00.000+08:00

Ok, posting is quite late cos I just uploaded my photos :)

There was a Halloween do at McManus on Sunday, 30 October. From 6 pm, the kids went trick-or-treating in the building. I could hear giggling from outside :)

Went down at 8 pm to watch the pumpkin carving competition. Didn't stay to the end but I found these in the lounge the next day..

Franky, you look cross :p

This is my favourite!

I got to carry S for the first time! And she was in a bee costume - super cute! And soft at six weeks!

Psst: That was also a feeble attempt at dressing up - as Little Red Riding Hood!! Got "I ♥ Sg" some more *.*

And here's the reason I didn't stay to the end - went up to heat up dinner for Sito, who came home from the fateful interview that gave him a job in Sg. So handsome! So charming! Oh my husband :)

We had wanted to get costumes but he got a call for the Sunday interview so no mood for anything else already. Last year, we didn't do anything too. But we sure had fun!

Grrr!!!

Stole the head from our friends - presenting, Beauty and the Beast! With the peasants :p

And since I'm posting old photos, these are from 2004!

Ahhh!!!

Ok, less scary - with Na the gypsy, XY the house pet..

.. and Sito the zombie, no less!

But we were just novices playing with makeup compared to this serpent man! Yup, he was holding a snake protruding from a strategic part of his costume!

Did it again in 2005 but I posted - my friends all came with better costumes :)

Musings on a home alone Sunday afternoon

2011-11-06T14:33:00.000+08:00

Winter is surely coming but its arrival has been hastened - by an hour - with the end of daylight savings. It's only 2.33 pm but it feels like 5 pm! Three more hours before Sito returns from a workshop in school..

I've recently changed my seat from facing the window to next to the wall adjacent to the window so that we can keep the window slightly ajar and not freeze my nose off, although my right hand is now quite cold *.* Putting the cup of hot jasmine green tea between the window and me doesn't help, heh!

So my view of the outside has changed a little - now I see the backside of our aircon unit! But I also get to see Sito at his desk even out of the corner of my eye :) I used to sit with my back towards him.

Anyway, one third of the trees outside are now bald, and the rest are gently shedding their yellow or orange leaves. There's a cold breeze right now but I think the weather is already rather kind today. I went out this morning to get milk and it felt very good - cool and dry.

For the past five hours, I have been doing two main things. Spent some time looking at housing policies and prices in Singapore since we're going back (yeah yeah!) and need another apartment to accommodate either us or my in-laws. Our little flat won't take all six of us! I have an idea that I'll discuss with Sito later..

I'm also researching for our thanksgiving trip - taking a break to blog now :p I'm going to propose going to Milwaukee. Will send Sito an email for, um, for his consideration, pls..!! I bet he'll first have verbal queries, then after verbal clarifications from me, he'll reply the email with "Approved." - haha! Ok, this is our little joke of our old work...

Will be back soon to post some photos from the past week!

回家了！

2011-11-05T11:18:00.000+08:00

那天在学校等他一起回家，他一出现就急急拉着我的手臂，边拉边走向大门，却又很平静地说着：“回家了，回家了。”

哦，好啊，这就回家了，要煮饭了⋯⋯

当我们走出校门，远离群众时，他加上一句：“可以回新加坡了。”

他上个礼拜面试的一家咨询公司刚给他电话，通知他录取了！昨天晚上，我们也收到了有关的email。等他们把正式的录取通知寄来，他签个名，寄回去，下一个回去的就是我们了！

好兴奋！真的真的好兴奋！虽然我也不反对留在芝加哥，但最终还是新加坡好，生活方便，日子过地也好，还有家人朋友。知道可以回家了，还真松了一口气。

真的，可以回家了 :)

Instant noodles galore!

2011-11-02T23:23:00.000+08:00

See how I sayang my husband?!

I counted 20 packets in there - and there was another pack of five in another plastic bag!

But I'm limiting Sito to one packet a week, max! So including our existing stock (oops), we would have instant mee until near graduation.....

PS: Can't post this on Facebook cos Mum is our Facebook friend and she will not like it.. Oops, naughty us *.*

On my own

2011-10-31T00:21:00.000+08:00

Watching 結婚できない男 now, literally the man who cannot get married. He is single, socially awkward and lives in a nice apartment by himself, and loves to cook and eat meat and is a neat freak who doesn't invite people to his place.

But he doesn't seem to feel lonely. He is always doing things on his own:
1) Having yakiniku at a restaurant
2) Going on a local bus tour
3) Watching fireworks

And people around him find it strange that a person should do all these alone. The female lead is also single and finds it difficult to eat alone in a restaurant so she often eats at ramen stands.

Now I find that strange. Why can't we do these on our own?? And when the 40-year-old female lead considers buying her own place, it means she has "given up on marriage" *.*

Eh, I've considered getting my own place leh... Let's see what I've done on my own all these years...
1) Watching movies - at a theatre; I watch dramas on my own most of the time
2) Having meals at food court, hawker centre or at my desk in the office
3) Reading/Studying at some cafe
4) Shopping
5) Holidaying - Scotland, Switzerland, Japan, Taiwan
6) Singing karaoke at KBox - that included lunch so I turned on analog when I was eating :)
7) And yes, watching fireworks! That just happened a few months ago on 4 July - watched fireworks from my window :)

I don't think I've eaten at a restaurant alone; I'm too cheapo, don't want to spend too much when I'm eating alone :p

The thing is, I think there's nothing strange about doing things on our own. Alone doesn't mean lonely. Yup, sometimes it can be boring - like when I was in Scotland in January, it was so cold I didn't feel like doing anything! - but it's so convenient to do things alone! No need to arrange with people, no need to plan anything, no need to feel bad if planned activities turn out to be boring... Just do anything I like at the moment!

But of course I do enjoy and treasure time with Sito :) Just saying that I find it's nice to (be able to) do things on my own :)

Pick apples, bake apples :)

2011-10-26T18:14:00.000+08:00

The girls went apple picking at Apple Holler on Sunday!

This map came with the tickets:

We had an admission ticket and a hayride ticket. Luckily I took a picture cos they took them away when we went in!

Oh, the Golden Goat Bridge, haha! The goats can walk up a ramp to the spot above "BRIDGE" to eat the food sent up using the ropes.

My wonderful apple cider donut! It was so rich it felt like a cake!

And that's eight of us on the hayride! (minus the photographer CG)

And we went through the enchanted forest! :) See them cute little things hanging on the tree??

I was happily holding on to an apple - it was pretty green so not too visible...

But this is super visible!

And there were apples everywhere... Some had a few human bites missing while some were uneaten, having suffered the unfortunate fate of being imperfect to be taken home or falling down as a neighbour was taken...

That's KF reaching for a much coveted shiny apple while S supported her!

Introducing - the Desperate Housewives of Evanston! Hohoho! (Btw, I'm happily watching the latest season on Hulu!)

And back to the entrance area, we did fun, silly things :)

Including finding our way through a corn maze - built with real corn!!

My loot! :) The paper bag contained another apple cider donut - for Sito :)

Eight of us had two of these fantastic dutch apple pies... Heavenly!

This was just next to our bench. I bought a pint of apple cider to bring home. But Sito didn't want *.*

Eight of us again! (minus CG the photographer again..)

Pumpkins galore! Outside a Trader Joe's on our way back.

I just had to display all my apples on the coffee table for a, um, group shot :p

And on Tuesday, I took two to make these lovely apple cinnamon and walnut muffins!

Ok, three of them didn't have the walnut toppings because I wanted to know the original taste of the muffins!

They turned out much less sweeter than expected. Think I'll use the sweeter apples and milk instead of apple cider when I bake again later this week.. Still have lots of apples left hoho!

I'm just so tired...

2011-10-24T22:31:00.000+08:00

It has been a busy quarter for me so far. Kellogg classes, Spanish classes, volunteer work, socials. And today, negative vibes have drained all my energy. My chest feels like it's going to burst.

Hopefully sleep will help.

Dear, can you....?

2011-10-20T18:17:00.000+08:00

Waiting for the baked salmon to be nicely browned before I start to cook the rest of dinner. Let me recount something that happened last night...

So Apple 4S comes with Siri. After watching some random stuff on Youtube, I chanced upon a video on a guy asking Siri random questions like, what is the meaning of life? (If you click through, check out the Singaporean version too.)

Sito had watched that before but he watched again with me. Then I started my going-to-bed ritual of moving my water bottle to the bedroom etc.. And when I walked out to the living room again, I saw Sito playing a Facebook game. And quite immediately when he sensed me, the following happened:

Sito: Dear?
mf: Hmmm?
Sito: Can you fill my water bottle for me?
mf: Huh, I become your Siri?!

*.*

This afternoon, after doing some other random thing for him, this happened:

Sito: Will you marry me?
mf: I already did!!!

Hoho!

我的头发很乱

2011-10-19T23:04:00.000+08:00

我的头发很乱（上）

这几天，头发不听话，怎么吹怎么梳都乱。把它绑起来，马尾也乱糟糟的，但起码我看不见 :p 已经近两年没有做负离子直发了，久违的自然圈再度涌现。哎，真怀念以前笔直又无需打理的长发！

我的头发很乱（下）

今天，下雨嘛，我就撑着伞走向车站。但走没两步，忽然间一阵风从背后吹来，把我狠狠地往前推了好几步！可怜的伞也被刮反了。

后来下了车，又开始撑起伞走向目的地。走没两步，那可怕的风又向我吹来，可这次是从正面袭击。忽然间我竟跨不出脚步，得使劲儿一蹲一大步地逆风而行。又忽然间，风向一转，从右边刮过来，把可怜的雨伞刮坏了！:(

伞是歪了，但勉强还能遮雨。就是风实在是太猛了，我只能把伞给收了，只有淋雨的份。雨，其实不会很大。可是绵绵细雨加上狂风，竟变成雨针，一针一针打在我脸上，痛！没有伞遮头，头发也随风起舞左右前后乱飞，又湿湿的粘成一大条一大条的，丑！真的被风吹又被雨打得不成人形！

可是，回到家，头发自然干后，诶，怎么变得这么好看呀！

明天，我就沾点儿水，把头发吹乱，再随手一刷，看看效果如何 :) 说不定我会爱上这自然圈呢！

Teaching

2011-10-18T15:57:00.000+08:00

Went for my first tutoring session this morning at the local elementary school.

It's a cute little school with just three floors. Each classroom is labelled with the number of the teacher-in-charge. I was brought to the classroom of Ms G who introduced me to my student, K, who is in first grade. Ms G went through some of her materials with me before K's classmate led us to a little room downstairs where we spent the next hour.

K has problems with reading and maths. I only managed to go through the reading with K today. She could read alright but she seemed to be reading without really understanding. And she couldn't write the alphabet properly. While she did some colouring, I looked at her maths file and all her mistakes were in those that had a lot of words, e.g. she couldn't draw the correct number of apples as instructed. Perhaps her reading problem is impeding her maths. I've decided to make some simple reading materials for the next class - I have some of my Montessori stuff with me! :)

This school uses the University of Chicago syllabus, and I found some really cool resources for maths at their website. I can't seem to find similar stuff on the MOE website, but the syllabus for primary one is not too different - counting, simple arithmetic etc, which means Montessori is really fast because five-year-olds will learn multiplication, which means I can use my Montessori stuff on K :) But Montessori materials for maths are difficult to make from scratch.. See how..

Thinking back, I knew I wasn't able to understand more than ABC when I first entered primary one; I had to ask my classmate what was going on when the teacher said something and everyone started opening their books! But I don't remember how much maths I knew by then, only that I had to memorise the multiplication tables when I was in primary two. Well, I turned out ok right? Hoho!

Anyway, this tutoring programme is also my exercise programme - it takes 25-30 minutes to walk there! One round trip is like watching an episode of drama on the treadmill :) And speaking of drama, I'm resisting starting another one (yes, I finished one - 流れ星 - over the weekend!) because this is one busy week and I don't want distraction! *disciplined*

But I'm going to keep writing.. Haven't finished what I set out to say yet.. Long-winded, I know :)

So, teaching. As a kid, I wanted to be a teacher. One of my favourite playacting games as a kid was to play teacher to my siblings and cousins and friends, using the glass door of a cabinet as a white board by sticking a piece of white paper behind. Needless to say, the adults were not very happy to find ink on the glass! But hey, it was water-soluble ink!

In the first few months of JC, I found a part-time job as a maths tuition teacher to a primary two girl. I quit when I got busy with school work and frequent rehearsals for our CLDDS performance.

During JC, I remember giving Na a crash course in - was it complex numbers? I think I failed that time haha!

Right after JC, I went back to NJ as a relief teacher for four months, teaching Further Maths to three first-year classes. That was my first proper job. Of course, I didn't give lectures. But I had to attend staff meetings and for team meetings, I was the one taking notes cos I was the most junior *.* Before that, I had applied for a teaching scholarship. During this teaching stint, I had the opportunity to review my application, and I decided not to teach. I really enjoyed the interaction with the students but it was just so tiring! I had to say the same thing at least three times a week, and for more difficult stuff, I had to repeat many more times in class and later during consultations. I knew I couldn't survive long. I really admire those who have taught for many years!

One of my three classes in 1999 - can you spot me?

And then in Oxford during my MSc year, I helped a friend with her BA statistics. We were in the same year but she took a gap year. I saw her work before - all A graded! Except for statistics. I think I must have been quite good back then!! Different story now ~.~

And between that and this tutoring programme, I earned my Montessori diploma. Some teaching training at last but I did not do any practicum.

Oh, and have I mentioned I married a teacher? ^_^ Sure, he's no longer teaching but sometimes you can still hear the teacher in him :)

So, there, my long relationship with teaching and a teacher. I really hope I can make a difference to K's learning in this year.

Talk about weather

2011-10-16T11:51:00.001+08:00

We are wondering why many international students want to stay in the US rather than returning to their countries.

"What's so good about the US?"

"Well, they're comparing China or India to the US. We, on the other hand, are comparing Singapore to the US. Despite all the silly complains I read online, once you live overseas, you'll find that Singapore is waaay better."

"There's just one thing I don't like about Singapore - the weather."

"Too hot for you, I know..."

"Not just that.. If it could be like Hong Kong.."

"But summer in HK is damn hot!!"

"No, I meant some variation.."

"Got what - the rains come in June and December..."

"*.*"

"Now we have floods too..."

"Sometimes we have earthquakes..."

"And sometimes haze..."

Hohohoho!

Sito finds it funny that I laugh at my own silly comments :p

Anyway, I just recovered from a flash cold*. This has nothing to do with the weather, although it definitely is turning cold. Just read an article saying that this winter is going to suck real bad. Last winter was already very bad with the CNY snow blizzard!

* Flash cold = slept too late on Thursday, fell ill on Friday, recovered on Saturday
Normal cold = kena rain or wind or sick person one day, fell ill the next day, recovered 10 days later !@#$%^&*()

Goodbye, my HP laptop...

2011-10-14T03:28:00.000+08:00

At 3.24 am, I turned off my work laptop for the last time.

I felt a strange sense of loss. I've stopped work officially for a few months but now, I'm really not turning this laptop on again. It's like a chapter of my life has closed.

And if I have the chance to return to my office, it wouldn't be this laptop anyway, so let me say this:

However much I've scolded you, my dear laptop, for being slow, I understand it's because you're overloaded with programmes; I really appreciate you for staying with me through so many tough days and nights, never crashing on me. Thank you...

Update 11.51 am

I woke up feeling FREEEE! Still feel a pang of sadness when I see the laptop bag on the couch but well, once I send it off this evening, I'll put an end to this chapter and move on to a year full of TV dramas and socials! And learning, let me not forget that..

Chicago Marathon 2011!

2011-10-11T11:43:00.000+08:00

So I went downtown on Sunday for the marathon again! As a spectator of course :) We were supporting L and K!

Some people organised a bus from Evanston but of the 30+ who signed up, only a few of us showed up. So it was a rather quiet journey and we reached the 13-mile point at about 8.00 am.

First stop: Lou Mitchell's Restaurant! That's C and me waiting for our breakfast :)

Source: C

My pecan pancakes without the pecans! They poured on the pecans a while later, on top of the four fluffy pancakes that were the size of my face! We must have had some three or four cups of their coffee..

The toilet queue at Lou Mitchell was too long so we headed for the Union Station.. That's me going down into the station rather quickly cos I really needed to go :p

Source: C

Took more pictures in the station while waiting for M and Y to join us but in the end, cos Y's husband was faster, they went off to the 16-mile point while we left for the 13-mile point.

Source: C

Guess what, we waited until we received a tracking text that L had gone past that point! We must have missed her :( K's pace was similar so we probably missed her too :(

So we took pictures :p

Source: C

Then we turned towards the 16-mile point, hoping to catch them this time.. And guess what, we didn't *.* But L saw us instead!! We then ran after her to catch her from the front hoho! Quite fun to be running a bit!

Source: C

Don't know how both of us could be so blind.. Ok, C could be distracted by her camera but I had no excuse - another friend actually saw me twice at both points when I didn't even see her at all! *.*

Finally met up with M and Y. They saw K run by in a flash about 15 minutes before L. Check out my 大根足 :p

Source: C

We started walking towards the finishing point so that Y could meet her husband. Passed by the brown line which goes above the ground.

Source: C

As we were walking too slowly, Y rushed on ahead as it was getting late. So the remaining three of us took random pictures, like at this strange thing in the middle of the pavement!

Source: C

C had to go back to Evanston for an event and I was tired so we left early while M waited around to meet up with Y. Just before we parted, we saw the sign marking the starting point of Route 66!

Oops, my getup was very aunty ^_^

It was a very fun day :) And combined with the trip to Mitsuwa on Saturday and the amazing weather, it was a perfect weekend!

Girly trip to Mitsuwa and Ikea

2011-10-08T17:14:00.001+08:00

What a beautiful autumn day today! And I dolled up a little to go out with Y and M to...the supermarket hoho!

It's a really nice supermarket - went there once with Sito in July but we went there after lunch nearby. This time, the girls went there for lunch - Santouka ramen!

It was an early lunch and I had breakfast so I couldn't get the rice bowl combo that M and Y had, sighs.. And they don't do take-outs for noodle dishes!

But I found some yakisoba for Sito in the end:

Yes, it's yakisoba pan! The noodle and bread combo is very interesting on the tongue.....

We also went to Ikea nearby as M wanted to get home stuff. Y and I bought small stuff too, though my shopping trolley isn't exactly small :) My frozen oden thawed completely by the time we got back *.* But I popped it right back into the freezer! Should be fine la hor? :p

Tonight I must sleep early as I'm heading for the Chicago marathon tomorrow morning! As a spectator again :)

Bite into an Apple with a capital A

2011-10-07T22:17:00.000+08:00

Went downtown this afternoon and saw a crowd in front of the Apple store. They were looking at this:

I hurried on as I was running late for my appointment but on the way back, after buying a leather cover for our iPad2, I paused to take this picture, on my iPhone 3GS, no less! And now I'm blogging on my MacBook Pro.

Yes, I'm pretty grateful for what I make calls on, what I blog with and what makes my husband happy like a little boy.

Epilogue - Our journey with Apple products:

iPod Nano: January 2007, birthday present from Sito
MacBook Black: 2007, Sito's new toy
iMac: June 2007, mf's new toy
Pinky II: October 2009, to replace Pinky
MacBook Pro: August 2011
iPad2: September 2011

New toy! :)

2011-10-06T23:48:00.000+08:00

Congratulate us on our new toy!

But it doesn't have the smell of new electronics.. Too small? :p

It's been a very busy week so far, what with Kellogg classes, Spanish classes and all the socials! And very soon, I'll be tutoring a kid from the local elementary school! Here's a photo of my big ass on a tiny chair in the school during an orientation:

(See? You can't even see the chair anymore hohoho!)

(And, my hair is a mess!)

I was sitting at Jacoby's desk :)

Oxford through my nose

2011-10-02T16:31:00.000+08:00

The zip on my playboy bunny jacket wouldn't close, and I didn't want to wear my pretty coat to get milk. So I dug out an old coat I bought in Robinsons in 1999 before Oxford.

It's large and bulky, and frankly not fashionable at all. But it smells of Oxford. Or perhaps that is just the musky smell of the old wardrobe in my college room. Or the smell of Persil.

I sniffed at it for quite a while before I put it on. Happy :)

Birthday parties

2011-10-01T15:22:00.000+08:00

We were at a really lovely birthday party this afternoon - there were blue and white balloons floating in the whole lounge, a pretty table full of sweets and cakes and photographs, a long table of food and drinks, a table full of presents from guests and a table full of thank-you gifts for guests. It's by far the best birthday party I've been to this whole year.

The thing is, the birthday party was more for the guests than the birthday boy - the birthday boy just turned one today.

Honestly, I have no idea why parents hold birthday parties for babies. Babies don't know about birthdays when they're babies! Some babies even cry when they see so many people crowding around them! And guests must always say how cute the babies are - even when they're not!

Thankfully, the birthday boy today is a really cute baby, good-looking like his parents, especially the mum - no lies there. And he's super good-natured too. I carried him for a while and posed for pictures - he's so huggable and he knows how to pose for pictures! Made this aunty very happy :)

So, hold me to my word - I'm not going to hold birthday parties for our babies in future. No point putting in so much work for a big wayang. Yes, we will still celebrate but within the family. No decoration, no present, no wayang. Because all these will come, when they get old enough to want birthday parties. By then, I'll see whether I can confine parties to having cakes and birthday songs in the pre-school. This is called 走后妈路线 :p

Or perhaps, because I haven't burnt out from organising birthday parties since the beginning, I may - just may - have the interest to hold full-scale parties at home or somewhere. After all, at pre-school age, we run a much lower risk of having the birthday boy and/or girl cry for lack of sleep or milk halfway through their own party *.*

I think many kids like to have birthday parties through their childhood. I know I did although I had just two that I remember, some six years apart! But in the teens, well, maybe less so; birthday parties may begin to sound kiddish to kids who can't wait to grow up. The next big party will probably be for the 21st birthday though I'm not sure why - I don't remember my 21st birthday at all, but I've been to my intern's 21st birthday party and boy, I felt very old there!!

And all the years until old age don't really matter. What's the point of celebrating the same day each year for 40 years?! Not like my birth has been a gift to mankind! By 60 or 80, it will be a celebration of "hey, you've made it here!" :p Or it's just something nice that children and grandchildren like to do for the oldies. In the few years before my grandmother passes away, the cousins were very happily involved in the her birthday celebrations, and she happily just let us do whatever we wanted to do for her :)

So the next birthday coming up in this household will be Sito's 31st! As usual, no present from me haha! Unless you count the free ice cream cone he gets from the birthday promotion at the local ice cream store :p By then he would be done with all his recruiting and hopefully his birthday dinner will also be a celebratory dinner for a successful (read: lands good job in Sg) recruiting period!

A favour, please!

2011-09-30T22:05:00.000+08:00

Just back from a dinner where a few of us talked about Singapore stuff - there were Sito and I, a Malaysian who spent more time in Sg than Malaysia, and a couple from PRC who spent more than 10 years in Sg studying and working.

Now I have a strong urge to go back to Singapore - home is still best! I don't even mind working! :)

So I have an idea....

My dear friends, we need your help! Please join us in praying - in our respective beliefs - that Sito lands a good job in Singapore (needs to be better than his current job offer in the US!) so that we can go back after graduation next year!

May our collective prayers work.... Thank you thank you...

Delightfully huggable, or not

2011-09-29T11:34:00.000+08:00

Followed links to a recent TV ad by London Weight Management and read a lot of negative comments on it. Many people are denouncing the ad - trivialising post-natal depression la, demeaning women la...

I just found it funny, especially when the music went from depressing to bright and cheery as the woman looked enlightened, got up from her wheel chair, full of determination (crescendo) to.... head for a slimming centre.

The ad is just ludicrously trying to put all their target clients into one woman - women who has excess flesh after pregnancy, women who work in a place where image is everything, women who think that being slim will get them everything.

I can imagine that there are people who feel that their fatness is the bane of everything else in their life. Examples:
1) I'm fat, that's why he doesn't like me. If I were slim, he will like me. (Well, he may like your new body, not sure about you...)
2) I'm fat, that's why I failed the interview. If I were slim, I will get that job. (Sure, if you double your wits as you halve your weight..)
3) I'm fat, cannot wear that dress (perhaps to seduce said "he" above). If I were slim, I can fit into that dress. (But it may not suit you!)

Thing is, there are women like that. The developed world grows up learning that slim is good, fat is bad.

Sure, perhaps LWM shouldn't be encouraging such behaviour but LWM is a company, not MOE! There are negative influences everywhere. What I find the most funny is when some people asked where the censors were for this ad. I thought people didn't want censorship?? (And then the Abercrombie ad happened...)

Anyway, I would have forgotten this ad if not for Tuesday, when I discovered to my shock and horror what a summer of sitting in front of the computer (and the trip to the west coast) had done to my weight since May - I gained 5kg in four months!

I'm now at my heaviest EVER. Yes, I'm weighing more than my peak in Oxford. New record! I already have some ugly veins showing on my legs since my last Amazing Weight Gain 10 years ago. And I'm now 10 years older and no more fitter than last time. I think I'd better do something about this new weight gain.

But no, I'm not going to a slimming centre!! Although I must admit that I was once silly enough to have spent a few hundred dollars on slimming massages some years ago. I lost nothing from those massages but I thought I gained a thing or two from the nutritionist who came with the massages.

So why did I become "enlightened" and head for the shortcut slimming solution when I was only a little chubby from university days? (I eventually lost the weight from exercise and improved eating habits, e.g. 云吞面白的不要油 - didn't give up carbs :p)

Financial independence was an excuse. To be very honest, I have always had a body image issue.

I grew up as a tall and big kid among puny kids. I was still in primary school when I outgrew my mother's adult dresses. Hell, I was heavier than an uncle by the time I was nine!

At the same time, I love carbs - rice, noodles, pasta, savoury pancakes, potato. I love meat - red or deep-fried is always good. I love desserts - chocolate cake, brownies, cost chewy cookies, sweet pancakes. And I have no self-control sometimes. I don't crave for ice cream usually but if Sito goes away for days, I'll compulsively eat up all the ice cream. I bought a 20 oz can of unsalted roasted cashew nuts on Saturday and I finished it on Tuesday, and Sito had just one little cashew...

Oh, and ah, number (1) and number (3) :p

I still remember being inspired by Dove's Campaign on Real Beauty many years ago. It tells me to be less conscious of myself and to see beyond the physical of people around me.

I do know big men and big women, but the person within is bigger than the physical person. Unfortunately, the me within is not bigger than the physical me. I'm tinier than I look. (Or write, actually.)

For some time, I have accepted that I'll always have a bit of flab around the tummy and thighs; I'm delightfully huggable :) I didn't even exercise or control my diet for our wedding. But the latest 5kg gain is quite a shock. I'm still huggable but whether that's delightful now, I have to ask Sito haha!

I don't know if it's because of that that I didn't feel hungry today - I took an hour to eat lunch. But I knew even with lunch I would be hungry during the afternoon class so I force-fed myself *.* And then after dinner, Sito came back with cookies and a slice of really rich chocolate cake :) so despite not being hungry, I compulsively ate a cookie and the cake anyway :(

(I guess he must say I'm still delightfully huggable since he fed me sweets right? :p)

Now that school has started, I have classes every Monday and Thursday, and I go downtown every Friday. I'm not in front of the computer all the time now! I'll try to make Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays gym days to target the 5kg. Must keep fit and healthy!!

For now, I shall google for celebs caught without make-up to lift my spirits a bit :p

Update 2 Oct 2011

I think I wrote the above for nothing. We bought bathroom scales finally, after Sito convinced me that I could weigh myself often and avoid sudden massive weight gain in future. Then I found that our friend's old bathroom scales were just wrong - I didn't gain 5kg at all! I've gained maybe 1kg since May. (Our bathroom scales couldn't be wrong because they're new!) Very, very relieved... But it's not for sure that I wouldn't pile on more over the long winter when my body stores fats involuntarily. So let me not be slack with gym!

Random couply things

2011-09-26T23:00:00.000+08:00

Just some random stuff that happened these two or three days..

1)
Went to ka jiao him at his desk, standing next to his chair and just hugging his head against my chest. He then put his head under my shirt and stayed there for a while.

mf: Hmmm, I cannot suffocate you with my boobs *.*

Then he came out panting.

Sito: Your stomach is suffocating me..

!!!

2)
This follows from above.. So he pressed my tummy with a finger. The finger sank in. Then I flexed and told him to press again. Still soft :(

My turn. I pressed his tummy with a finger, and it sank in a lot!! Then he flexed and I pressed again, and woah, that was something! :p

I went with him to the gym after that, my first time in more than a month - he to up his oomph factor and me to get rid of the soft layer!

3)
We were quietly having our dinner and watching news clips on CNA when we heard this guy pronounce "feels" as "fuse". We turned to each other and went "fuse".

So mean!! :p

4)
Chocolate with 85% or more cacao is supposed to be a good brain food. So I bought some 85% cacao Godiva and fed him one square after dinner.

Sito: I feel smart already!

And he went to shit.

5)
Sito: *whispering* bah kwa...
mf: No.

Three seconds later..

Sito: *whispering* bah kwa...
mf: ... Ok la... (psst: I'm so nice right?!)
Sito: *light-bulb-moment look* Bah kwa has fewer calories than instant noodles!
mf: *glare*

As I turned to the fridge, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't fed him dark chocolate yet! So I fed him that instead of bah kwa :p

Five minutes later...

Sito: *whispering* bah kwa...
mf: Wa liao...

Now he has his bah kwa and is quiet.

A time to remember

2011-09-25T20:02:00.000+08:00

I just came back from a baby shower (my first!) and from visiting a new mum and her newborn downstairs, and I was thinking about babies when I suddenly realised that tomorrow would be 26 Sep 2011, the estimated due date of our Angel Baby.

How time has flown. Half a year went by just like that, and I had achieved nothing at all.

The other day, when I was at the Museum of Contemporary Art with WSY, I found a naked baby doll with wings at the museum store and almost bought it until I saw that it was a boy ^.^ Well, we don't know whether our Angel Baby is a boy or girl, although I think it's a boy - based on the mum's gut feel and from some website that churns out the gender based on some info, so far twice accurate for two JVs here!

Anyway, I thought it might be nice to get something concrete to represent Angel Baby. But nothing suitable seems to come by. I guess for me who throws out stuff every few years, perhaps a spot in the heart is the most suitable of all.

This year has seen us through extreme joy, extreme anxiety and extreme sadness. Not sure what I'm feeling right now, a bit down, but overall, zen...

Another familiar dish

2011-09-25T01:45:00.005+08:00

Ta-da! 干捞云吞面!

Followed the recipe from My Wok Life again, just that we don't have fried shallot oil. And I should have increased the amount of soy sauce for Sito cos well, I fed him more than a bundle of noodles :p

Been making familiar Singapore dishes lately - first prawn noodles then Hokkien mee. At first it was because Sito was getting saturated from all the angmoh outside food during his internship. Now it's to make him happy, relieve his stress due to all the recruiting for jobs in Singapore. Maybe I'll make chicken rice next week - using Prima Taste premix la, hoho!

Sito, jia you! :)

Then library, now...

2011-09-22T18:43:00.000+08:00

During my backpacking days some 10 years ago, I would highlight public libraries alongside key attractions. Why? For free internet access!

I still vividly remember feeling all anxious when I saw emails from the other seven mathematicians in my college saying that mods (name of our first-year exams) results were out on the board. I couldn't wait to see with my own eyes!

Now, who cares about looking for public libraries when you can use a smart phone? Don't care for high 3G bills especially if you're roaming? Look for free wifi - many hotels and cafes have free wifi these days. Or just head to the nearest Apple store where you can "upgrade" from squinting at a smart phone* to surfing on a 27" iMac :p

Of course, Sito would point out the part with the asterisk to me, and begin his usual sell, "But if we have an iPad..." and flash me his winning smile :)

So we're just waiting for the gift card from recycling our old Mac before buying the much coveted tablet. Useful for him - it's a new toy and it replaces his personal laptop whenever he's got to go out of town for work next time. Useful for me - I can watch dramas on a bigger screen while on the treadmill! :p

Writing then vs. writing now

2011-09-21T22:30:00.000+08:00

From this week, I have classes every Monday and Thursday, 10.30 am to noon and 3.30 pm to 5.00 pm. Just the past Monday, Sito and I walked to school together :)

And it was during one of the two classes on Monday, when the professor was talking about the final written exam, that a thought hit me.

How different writing has become!

Remember composition? It started with a sentence back in primary school. Then it become a para, a few paras, a few hundred words...

I remember those days when a few quick sketches on a piece of scrap paper were all I had to guide my composition on the actual exam script.

Now? I make my sketches by typing on this page before expanding on them into a full post. Similar? I don't think so. I think my entire thought process has changed.

For a simple post like this, I don't need an outline and I can write more or less continuously. For my long posts, I usually have an outline, but I'll keep editing - add, change, delete, more words, sentences and entire paras. I certainly don't remember having to do so much editing for my compositions years ago!

Maybe I didn't know or think too much when I was a student so I didn't deviate much from my outline, compared to now when I know and think more (although it's a different story whether I think coherently!). But I think it's more likely that I used to have a good idea of what I wanted to write. Now, I have simply become lazy with conceptualising my thoughts and instead taken the easy way out with very, very rough sketches, relying on text editing technology to compose my thoughts. Technology also gives me an excuse to have thought diarrhoea and type every little thing out before organising them together.

It's me feeling stupid again... Sometimes I feel that whatever brain mass I gained from all those years of schooling is useless outside the school. Seriously, who would ask me to prove Pythagoras' Theorem?!

Or just blame work - all that vetting and rewriting ruined me!

* It's feeling-unhappy day though there really isn't anything to be unhappy about.

miso: Say it out loud - P.M.S.

My sandwiches :)

2011-09-19T21:13:00.000+08:00

So when Sito is away at work, I'll often have a sandwich for lunch and/or dinner. Here are some of my favourites :)

Bah kwa sandwich

My favourite so far! It was an accident, really. I dropped two half slices of bah kwa on the floor while taking other stuff from the fridge so I washed the bah kwa (yes I did!) and layered them on a slice of cheese, topped with a generous handful of spinach and three drops of reduced fat three cheese ranch sauce.

But I forgot to take picture *.*

Sunny-side up sandwich

Um, I just replaced the bah kwa with the (hidden) egg :p

East-meets-West sandwich

I happened to have extra boy choy from the night before but I didn't fancy a bok choy sandwich *.* So I popped a hotdog into the microwave :p

Hotdog roll

Hotdog again?! Well, I happened to have some hotdog buns.. But I heathified it with chopped onions and a lot of spinach on the side, lightly drenched in vinaigrette. Thankfully I wasn't trying to lose weight.

Korean sandwich

Used left-over kalbi and fish cake! Look at the cut pieces under the spinach. It was really good.. Almost can fight with the bah kwa sandwich.

Meatloaf sandwich

I like to keep a stash of mini meatloaves in the freezer. Just reheat one with some chopped onions and pile onto a slice of cheese. Ta-da!

But this one doesn't look very good cos the onions were browned enough. Later versions with TWO mini meatloaves look better :)

Pizza sandwich

Sito brought back leftover pizza from his dinner. The dough wasn't terribly good when reheated but the chicken topping was good! So I scrapped it onto a bed of spinach :p

Vege sandwich

After having some meat at lunch, I decided to have a vege sandwich with freshly made pepper confit, lightly microwaved spinach and guacamole!

Beef patty sandwich

Hmmm, the beef patty isn't too obvious here.. Made a couple of beef patties with leftovers from making the mini meatloaves, topped with a really generous serving of guacamole as I wanted to finish it - if I were to add any more lemon juice to stop it from turning brown, it would become too lemony!

Cinnamon sweet potato sandwich

Went for pub food the day before and had some leftovers. The sweet potato was really, really yummy!

Breakfast sandwich

Well, we had a few cans of beans so I had my first open sandwich! No meat but still full of proteins..

Mushroomy and cheesy sandwich

Again from leftovers. Somehow we just couldn't finish the mushrooms and they were starting to wrinkle so I stir-fried them, with butter I think..

When Sito was in Nicaragua, I had some sandwiches as well, but they were all repeats of my usual sandwiches. I think I still have some bread left from two weeks ago haha! Keeping them in the fridge to soften brown sugar when I need it.

And today, I made a usual meatloaf, i.e. a big one! But it turned out crumbly and broke easily :( But it seems that it's also more moist this time. Well, one portion is in the fridge now so let's see if it remains moist tomorrow!

A very familiar feeling...

2011-09-18T23:30:00.000+08:00

I'm sitting at my desk, mulling over stats and logic, trying to justify and rationalise, searching for evidence to back myself up.

This could very well be a scene taken out of any of my regular days between 3 Nov 2003 and 9 Jul 2010, but no, it's 18 Sep 2011, when I, a housewife in the Chicago suburbs, decide to put some Singaporean thoughts to cyber paper.

This is giving me a huge headache. But honestly, I'm enjoying the process.

Maybe I'll ask Sito to vet later. Just maybe.

What did we do with leisure time before Facebook??

2011-09-18T21:02:00.001+08:00

That's a serious question.

Since my mid to late teens, I haven't been big on TV. I guess I read a lot. Got my first library card when I was seven or eight and I kept going to the library.

I think that was all I did in my leisure time before Facebook!!

Oh, wait. I have been blogging since end of 2004 too. And of course I went out with friends etc.

Now, how about a more specific question: what did we do with leisure time on the internet before Facebook?

Let's go back to the beginning...

When I first had regular access to the internet, it was in Oxford. And I was a full-time student who spent a lot of time on ICQ *.* and downloading songs *.* and watching Japanese drama *.*

But I was also using the internet to study! Ah ha! It wasn't all play :)

Back in Singapore, before mid 2007, I used the internet for mostly blogging and researching for holidays as I had no regular access apart from lunch hour at work. When I finally had internet at home, Sito and I used Skype a lot. And we would play Scrabble or something on Facebook together. But no, we weren't on Facebook all the time.

Then I had my iPhone. Suddenly, updating profile status becomes very easy.

And then we came to Kellogg. For me, work in the form of ex-employment, studies and household stuff isn't heavy. And Bejeweled is addictive. So addictive I killed Sito's mouse while he was in Nicaragua! And now I'm on Sims Social ALL.THE.TIME.

I'm so ashamed :( Sims Social (and other things) makes me less sociable :(

I should go back to a more disciplined life. Read. Blog. Research. I shouldn't spend so much time on Facebook. And this, is my start-of-school resolution.

Play Sims Social just once a day? *sheepish*

California sunshine!

2011-09-17T16:42:00.059+08:00

This has to be the most last-minute trip we've had so far. Settled tickets and hotels only five days before the journey!

Wednesday, 17 August - plenty of wonderings...

Welcome to Tinseltown, Mr and Mrs Sito! :)

Woah... Wait wait, not so fast... We had to take an airport shuttle to the Metro station, negotiate three different Metro lines and walk three blocks before we finally reached our hotel. Along the way, we saw plenty of freeways, empty spaces and ulu areas, and some looked familiar, like this:

Do we need a car? We wondered...

I found Hollywood Stars Inn on Expedia, conveniently located in the Hollywood area, with cable TV, free wireless, toiletries etc. But it also smelled of "air-conditioned smoke" - I don't know how else to describe it! And there were brown cigarette marks on everything - bedside table, dressing table, wash basin, and there were even tiny burn holes on the curtains!

Seemed like I got us a Hotel 81 heh? *.* We just didn't see any hourly rate on display :p But for $75++ a night, it was good.

We had a Metro day pass so we headed somewhere far for dinner - Little Tokyo! We passed by the toy district but all the shops were closed by then - it was only 7 pm! - and the whole area was very eerily deserted...

Is this a city?? We wondered...

But Little Tokyo was nice enough! We settled on San Sui Tei for ramen :) and gyoza :) and Sapporo draft beer :)

Trivial: On the way home, I was randomly reciting the Japanese alphabet. And Sito went, "ramen!" I hadn't gone to r, m and n yet!! *pout*

Thursday, 18 August - reaching for the stars

And today, we went deep into Tinseltown, after a satisfying breakfast at the Macs across from our hotel, no less.

We were walking along Hollywood Boulevard, the more ulu part of it, when we saw a small group of people standing in front of a gap between two buildings... It's the Hollywood sign!

We didn't bother crossing the road, just snapped a shot from afar :p

Finally reached the beginning of the Walk of Fame, but that wasn't our destination - we hopped on a bus to Warner Bros for a studio tour!

We were early and had time to explore the shop - plenty of Harry Potter stuff!

Opening next spring :( In the UK :(

Our guide brought us to a soundstage that was just starting to be disassembled - the set for Ellen where we saw a fat cat named Smokey. We also saw the filming crew for The Mentalist!! But didn't see anyone familiar.. Can't wait for the next season..

We also went to the largest soundstage where they filmed The Perfect Storm and Poseidon. It has a huge water tank for such scenes, under ground level.

They also have a forest, where the scene of the dinosaur chasing the jeep in Jurassic Park was filmed - apparently, they went around the short trail a few times to get enough footage! Later in San Francisco, we happened to watch Jurassic Park on TV - it felt...strange :p

This picture shows part of the forest where the front of a house stands...

And here's a shot of the soundstages from outside - looks familiar? :)

The studio is like a huge factory. They produce backdrops, rooms for sitcoms etc. There is a huge building of decorative stuff and furniture where set designers go shopping! And I heard with undisguised envy about the eight miles of wardrobe and three miles of shoes and bags! *drools*

You know when people break glass bottles on heads? Special bottles, like the one I was attempting to whack Sito with!

And all these are not just for Warner Bros productions - other people may rent their soundstages, rent their furniture etc.

Can you recognise this set?

Friends! So nostalgic..

We also went to two museums in the studio. The first was a transportation museum. Plenty of cool cars from Batman and Austin Powers, but my fave is this:

They even took a picture of us and superimposed on Hogwarts Express!

The second had the entire second floor devoted to Harry Potter! Now this was feeling like a Harry Potter tour :) We got ourselves sorted - I'm a Slytherin and Sito a Hufflepuff! :p No camera allowed, unfortunately.. But we had a lot of fun there.

We ended the tour with gelato at the shop, and skipped lunch totally! For good reason, you will see...

So it was "star search" time! We went back to Hollywood Boulevard to check out the stars. The signs are on both sides of the road but we only choose one side at a time as we walked down the boulevard. Nonetheless, we managed to find a number of familiar names - Arnold, Colin Firth, Gwyneth Paltrow, Pierce Brosnan, Steven Spielberg and even Disneyland and Shrek!

Chose to show Marilyn Monroe here as she was the first Hollywood star I heard of when I was a kid:

This was from our earlier trip to Chicago, on the way to Navy Pier. I think someone commented that "it's white".. Hmm.....?!

So Sito must take a picture with Shrek again! :)

And these were at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Sito with the original Spock:

mf with Julie Andrews - check out the date!

Then we HAD to have Hooters for dinner :p Plenty of wings, onion rings and quesadillas!

What followed was the Kodak Theatre!

No, we weren't just there to pose, even though I admit I would such a thing, ha! We were there for Cirque du Soleil!

We watched Iris, a journey through Hollywood, a new production schedule to premiere only in September - so we watched the preview! Before the show started, a few characters came out to interact with the audience. Quite funny, one of them had a big fake butt! During the show, my heart just went up and down as the characters swung up and down and through the air! And I gawked at the contortionists - at some points, I didn't know where I was looking *.*

Friday, 19 August - the walking day

Time for downtown!

We started with Olvera St, where we squeezed into a little eatery and ate with many locals. The food was simple but quite yummy. The eatery has an interesting "feel", rather unlike the bigger ones we saw later down the road.

This is me, making a wish at a wishing well.. But don't be fooled by the bright blue colour of the well - it's just that, colour! Well is dry *.*

There is a historical building, like a museum, so we went to have a look and understand the history of LA.

But generally, the whole street was kind of touristy, a bit too touristy.. The upside to this trip was....

NYPD??

NYC cabs? Hey, weren't we in LA?!

Yes, we were! And these were only the set for CSI: NY!

We walked a lot more to reach a more bustling area. We wanted ice cream but all we saw were smoothies and juices! How frustrating to not be able to get sinful stuff! But eventually we found one little store, and finished up with bubble tea :)

Then, it was more walking, bubble tea in hand, to find a cinema. Of course, we must watch a movie in Hollywood! And we finally chanced upon a Regal cinema! Watched Conan the Barbarian in 3D - expensive! $30! But we got to hold on to the 3D glasses :p

By the time we came out of the theatre, people were knocking off and the restaurants in the area were filling up. We prefered to eat cheap that day so we walked a little and ended up in Denny's. The food was ok but the brownie was amazing! Usually, the blot of ice cream is pathetic right.. But this one, the ice cream covered the entire brownie - and no, the brownie wasn't tiny! We were very satisfied :)

Saturday, 20 August - the bus day

We decided that LA wasn't a place we wanted to live in. So we escaped to San Francisco!

Took a Chinatown bus from somewhere far from our hotel. But we didn't get lost. The bus had some problem, however, and we had to change to another bus at our lunch stop. And that was where we encountered an asshole.

We were among the last to get on the bus and there were only single seats left. We asked a chap if he would mind if we swapped seats. And he replied YES! The reply itself was acceptable but it was the tone! And the assholey look! And the bus was supposed to be fully occupied, and this chap had his bag on the inside seat and refused to even move! We found seats nearer the back of the bus; I sat with a young boy and Sito with an old man. Later, we saw that the selfish chap HAD to move his bag anyway. Bah!

But the old man next to Sito was nice. He gave us tips on where to eat haha! There was also a baby on the first bus who was right in front of us. He kept playing with us and calling us 叔叔 and 阿姨! :)

We got into San Francisco a hour later than expected. But it was good, cos we had a nice room at SW Hotel in Chinatown! At $129++, it was one of the cheapest I could find in town. The room was tiny and the queen bed wasn't really queeny but it had everything, including fluffy white towels! And no smoky smell!

The next find was even better. 金山酒楼, or Golden Mountain Restaurant, was right across from our hotel. We had one of the most fabulous char siew EVER!

Yes, we ate ALL of that :) And the complimentary dessert - not in picture - was sago :)

Sunday, 21 August - three winey pals

It's mini road trip day!

YX picked us up at 10.30 am and we went on to Castello di Amorosa where we took a tour and did some wine tasting.

The tour was really fun! We think the owner is quite a fanatic from the way he built the castle. We also learnt a lot about European castle architecture in this tour, since we didn't take guided tours when going around Europe...

We walked through the castle court yard etc, but the main tour happened in the basement. Here's us in a tunnel full of wine barrels:

They even had a torture room! With torture equipment! Yes, a real castle would have a torture room!

We had a short barrel tasting session, a two-year-old barrel, before the main tasting session, where we tasted the same wine but four-year-old. We shared so we managed to taste all 14 wines available!

Before we left, I posed at the vineyards outside :)

At the end of it, we were rather tipsy *.* So we must absorb the alcohol with KFC and A&W! :p

Check out the red and white boxes - they say KGC. This isn't pirated ok.. KGC stands for Kentucky Grilled Chicken!

The restaurant has a sign that says that the theft of mugs would be persecuted. But our rootbeer float came in a paper cup, bah!

Deciding that we couldn't drink anymore, we tried to drive to Point Reyes. But keying in "Point Reyes National Seashore" into the GPS brought us to the visitor centre, which is 45 minutes away from the coast! It was past 6 pm by then so we decided to head back to town. It was about time for YX to sleep since he just arrived from Singapore!

Not to settle for driving for nothing, I had to do something.. Being in a car, the only thing I could do was the dog-sticking-tongue-out-in-the-wind thing!

Oh, had to pump petrol on the way back. We're so used to having someone help us in Singapore!

We drove in via the Golden Gate Bridge. This turns out to be the best picture of the bridge of this trip. You'll see why...

And so we said bye bye to YX... Next we see him, it'll be with SF! We were saying four of us could go on a cruise together! :)

Not hungry at all due to the late lunch, we lazed around in the room watching Star Trek for quite a while before we headed out. But it was my foot before our stomachs - I had foot reflexology!! It wasn't cheap like back home, but it was cheaper than in Chicago and quite good. My only regret was that I couldn't pull up my skinny jeans so the auntie couldn't reach my calves..

Dinner was simply wan tan noodles. And we bought beef hor fun in black bean sauce for part 2 :p Then we watched a lot of TV and slept only at 2 am after The Mummy Returns!

Monday, 22 August - google babies!

We woke early for breakfast at the hotel. They had a decent continental breakfast, with a toaster, various spreads, cereals, juices and hot beverages. There was also a board showing the history of the owner of the hotel, quite interesting.

Then, we headed down south to meet more friends!

YR picked us up at the Mountain View Caltrain station and we stopped by Ranch 99 for some groceries before heading for Google for lunch. We bought a mooncake! :)

We parked next to a cone bike that can seat eight persons. Apparently, people have discussions while travelling from one building to another. But the thing moves really slowly. I can imagine why - the poor machine has to move some 600kg of flesh and blood!

We also saw people riding Google bikes. This is Sito posing :p

This is good to read before heading for lunch!

And finally we met XY and YJ! And they brought Little P with them - she's so cute and cheery! More on her later...

So they brought us to one of the canteens for lunch. It was way healthier than we thought it would be! I really enjoyed the yummy salads! But Sito cannot work there - the food isn't unhealthy enough for him :p

Went to the Google gift shop after lunch and along the way, chanced upon a photo gallery of Meng. I just googled him, quite funny - click on the link.

Next was Stanford. Such a beautiful weather!

We walked the grounds and took a look around the Memorial Court and went to meet CH for tea at the Stanford Bookstore. He looked so relaxed! Of course la, no more work for a while!

Then XY picked us up to go to her place, a nice little house filled with kiddy stuff :) We then picked D up from school - he didn't change much since we saw him two years ago! He grew bigger, yes, but I could have used photoshop to enlarge a photo of him from back then! D has a reputation for being hard to manage. But apparently he was shy with Sito and me so he was quite quiet. But I think he has "potential" haha!

Dinner was at Cooking Papa at Santa Clara. More Cantonese food! There was a nice dessert whose name I can't remember... Some puff..

I was carrying Little P before YJ arrived with YR and YL - wa, so many Y's! - as XY had to jaga D. P did something funny.... I felt her little hand feeling for my boobs! Um, disturbing, haha! And she was nibbling at my shoulder, which felt soooo cute! :)))) Handed her back to mummy to nurse - the little girl was hungry! :p

It was nice catching up with them over dinner, even though XY and family had to leave earlier. YR and YL dropped us at the train station, and I realised we didn't take a single picture together!! :(

Back in Chinatown, we went to a bakery near our hotel for an old fashioned cream cake and a 烧饼 to end the day, with Jurassic Park on the tele!

Tuesday, 23 August - dim sum and then some!

Today, we had no breakfast. We went in search of 皇宫 for a dim sum brunch! :)

Random shot along the walk - reminds me of childhood :)

Anyway... The best part about this place it that it has a push-cart system! We had har gow, siew mai, char siew bao, char siew cheong fun, har cheong fun, carrot cake, prawn balls and beancurd rolls, and we were so full!!

Must show everyone the cheong fun - the char siew one was the best I've ever had!

Took two buses to get to the Golden Gate Bridge and this was what greeted us:

!!!

We walked a little and managed to get some pictures after a while, still shrouded partially in fog..

Then we hopped on another bus, changed to a tram and alighted at Castro St for tea. My tea was a vile concoction of peppermint, stinging nettle (!) and dandelion. Bleah. Please, remind me to be less adventurous food-wise next time...

We took the tram again, this time for the shopping district! Bought two tank tops :) Hiao :p And a passerby helped us take a nice picture at a corner of Union Square :)

Back in Chinatown again, we found another foot reflexology place. This time, I changed into my berms before going. And the way the lady rubbed my feet reminded me of the auntie with curly hair in People's Park Complex! Suffice to say it was really, really good...

And dinner was a familiar spread:

Chilli crab! Besides the sambal kangkong, we also ordered seafood hor fun but by the time it arrived, we'd already tucked into the crab so no photo :p They also gave complimentary dessert - pulut hitam, yum!

Being not very very full, we grabbed bubble tea before heading back to the hotel, and had our mooncake! :)

We had quite a bit of bubble tea in San Francisco - they call it boba, for 波霸 as in 波霸奶茶 or so we guess. But the milk tea was pretty thick, so thick it felt like coffee sometimes!

Wednesday, 24 August - bye bye...

We did the touristy thing and ate at Fisherman's Wharf - clam chowder in sourdough bread bowl! And that wasn't enough. We had a nutella banana crepe with Mexican coke! It came in a glass bottle and tasted like childhood :)

Now, why did we zoom into on these sea lions? Cos Sito spotted the gender of the light brown sea lion - hoho!

And after four recommendations on In-N-Out Burger, from the girls, YX, YR and XY, we just had to try it and so we did! And....it wasn't spectacular... I just liked that it had a lot of vege.

Random picture along the way - bear says "gimme some chocolate" and I couldn't agree more :p

And so we headed back to Chinatown, passed by a hair salon and decided to cut our hair! $7 for Sito and $13 for me - super cheap! Sito's haircut in Evanston usually cost $20 and that was already among the cheapest here! So we were very happy :) And if I had remembered earlier, I would have rebonded my hair too but we didn't have that much time by then :(

I thought we looked good :) Sito still does but my hair is all a mess now, sighs... Here's us almost immediately after the haircut, on the plane waiting for take-off:

It isn't very clear here but I looked like I just stepped out of the Shinji Matsuo in mid 2006!

Today...

.. is many days after our holiday! Time to plan for the next? :)

Update 25 Sep 2011

Just heard from friends that the cities of LA are more representative of LA than the downtown area we were in. Downtown is like "where mummy goes to work". We were so clueless! Well then, if we go again and if we drive...

Our new Mac is here!!

2011-09-17T02:17:00.014+08:00

Some people like smells that are floral. Or fruity. Or fried.

We like the smell of new electronics!!

That's us in the reflection :)

Can't believe it's been a month since we recycled our MacBook Black! Feels good to work on a Mac again :)

Just finished transferring files and installing everything except Sito's very pro Adobe (which is on its way from Sg) and Nikon's Picture Project cos Mac no longer supports that format or something. Ended up uploading photos from the past month using iPhoto and searching high and low for the files! I know, it's a cool app but I like to manually manage my photos. Very manually. Like rename-every-photo kind of manual.

Should sleep already. More updates later!

♥ this Mac :)

Emoticons galore!

2011-09-15T15:51:00.001+08:00

I think I'm a very smiley person.

Had an idea to count the number of posts with smileys:
543 with :) - woohoo!
36 with =)

And :p comes close at 536! *applause*

That's way more than the number of posts with un-smileys:
159 with =(
53 with :(

Seems that I use :) more often than =) to express smiley mf, and =( more often than :( to express un-smiley mf..

And then there are other emoticons..

More duh looks than un-smileys:
223 with *.* - *.*

Another duh look, I suppose.. Not sure what else it is:
27 with o_O or O_O - don't think I've used O_o, looks weird haha!

And another funny look:
18 with ~.~

I suppose I can replicate all these expressions on my pretty face!

PS1: You realise that the posts overlap right? Like this post has everything!

PS2: Add one to the numbers above with this new post! :)

听933庆中秋

2011-09-13T00:41:00.001+08:00

最近每天听933，有一种很熟悉的感觉。听到喜欢的歌曲，就上Youtube找K版唱两句。

933在我小四的时候起播。当时也没有常听，因为妈妈掌管家里的收音机，听的是咨询电台958，虽然也有播歌，却大多不是时下流行的。

高中时，终于有了自己的随身听。当年的随身听可是cassette player，不是CD player哦！因为听卡带比较吃电，所以在上学途中我都是听933的。还记得有一回，我正好想听许茹芸的＂突然想爱你＂，一打开随身听，刚好就听到这首歌，而且还是歌曲的第一秒！

Anyway, 今天是中秋节－中秋愉快！:) 玉兔妹妹今年可有提灯笼啊？:)

昨天晚上，就是新加坡周一早上，933一连播了很多首和月亮有关的歌曲，包括一些很旧的歌，就连Sito都会唱两句，真好 :) 我刚刚突然想到冰皮莲蓉月饼，虽然并没什么胃口，却很想咬一口!

今天也是二年级开学的第一天。去年因为中秋节是开学一两个礼拜后，我们有时间筹划一个formal的中秋聚会。今年虽然没有特别庆祝，但学校有一场欢迎二年级的野餐，中国学生也有一场informal的中秋+迎新会，最重要的是我们在San Francisco的时候吃了一个绿茶莲蓉月饼！*burp*

一口气说了三四个小时的话，还是中文，弄得我喉干舌卷的，不过能够见到一些熟悉的面孔又认识了几个一年级学生，还觉得很充实的。回来冲了个凉，喝了点水，又回到了933的怀抱，只是新加坡已经不是中秋节了。希望明年的中秋节，我们会在新加坡 :)

PS：正要publish的时候发现，这里也不是中秋节了！

Presents

2011-09-12T13:05:00.002+08:00

Sito came home at almost 1 am on Sunday. So nice to have my husband back! :) And it's not just cos he brought me presents!

A green angel keychain and a long pinkish chain that can be used as a necklace or bracelet - I used it as a bracelet on Sunday! And the little brown basket with purple threads too - a big knickknack to contain my small knickknacks :) Oh, there's another chain not in the picture - it was a sample that got left in his bag accidentally. He's trying to contact the person to arrange for payment now.

Sito was in Nicaragua for two weeks to work on a pro bono project for Fabretto, and these were made by impoverished Nicaraguan youths. Most of the cards have a handwritten name behind. The pink chain was made by a Roberto Meza.

Now, I'm not the present kind of person. I don't buy souvenirs when I travel. I find Christmas gift exchange a chore. I don't buy birthday gifts unless I happen to see something suitable. And if it's suitable, it doesn't have to wait until your birthday! But I'm not very observant haha! On the other hand, sometimes, I do just feel like getting a little something for someone - it could just be a cookie!

I don't expect presents too, not even on my birthday, unless the present is good makan company :) But I can appreciate the thought behind a gift. And Sito knows of course. When he told me over the phone that he got me presents, I felt both excited and strange.

Excited, not because of any anticipation for some exotic Nicaraguan gifts but because my husband got me something when I didn't expect anything! And half of the purchase price of these presents goes to the kid who made them, so they make me and another person happy :)

Strange, because all our money comes out of the same account - it's like paying for half my presents :p I know, it's not just the money but the actual act of thinking about the other person and choosing something suitable. So for these two years, we can just ignore the technicality and be happy :)

I love my basket of presents. I love even more that Sito knows what I like! :)

Hokkien mee....wannabe!

2011-09-11T21:24:00.027+08:00

Remember my 排骨虾面? Well, I froze a tub of soup to make Hokkien mee today! In fact, most of the ingredients today came out of the freezer - frozen yellow noodles and frozen pork ribs from last time and frozen prawns from a more recent trip to H-Mart. And my freezer still remains quite full :p

I roughly followed the recipe from Uncle Phil. Roughly cos I couldn't find thick bee hoon, I didn't add squid and bean sprouts, and I used pork ribs instead of belly pork and Shanghai greens instead of chives.

So here's the result:

Looks not bad right? But it tasted more like chicken mee than prawn mee! *.*

On retrospect, I should have boiled the ribs separately instead of in the little bit of prawn stock.. I didn't have enough stock in the end and had to use chicken stock and a lot of water :( And the ribs were not boiled long enough so they weren't tender like the last time :(

Well, at least it wasn't bland! We even had sambal chilli with lemon juice! (Cos I don't have calamansi - different but same same??)

I cooked a lot as I had to use up all the thawed noodles *.* so we had leftovers - just noodles, no more vege or prawn or pork - for another day! Maybe I'll add chicken bits instead of prawns..?

Freeeee and happpppy!

2011-09-10T15:26:00.004+08:00

I have relinquished my duty as a summer student director for this building, yeah!!

So my duty hours were weekdays 5.30 pm to 8.30 am and all day on weekends, and I worked alternate weeks with another student director. We were to attend to urgent matters like lock-outs and evacuation and flooded bathrooms etc. When there were upcoming maintenance like hot water outage or radiator works, we would send out mass emails and put up notices within the building. With the school year starting, we also dealt with check-ins.

There were fun things too - we organised a BBQ and an ice cream social for which I managed to get a store to sponsor 100 cups of the creamy stuff! We also had lunch with our bosses - their treat of course :p We had good response on our social events and everyone was happy. For this job, I didn't get paid but I got to stay here for free over the summer, which saved us some money.

Like all jobs, this job had its ills too. Some people missed reading the word "urgent". I mentioned the frustrating incident of the two chaps who called me at 3 am just to use the lounge. Another guy called on a Monday evening, claiming that the front desk was always closed and he had been waiting to get his parcel since Friday. When I went down and retrieved his parcel, it turned out to be a....bicep builder!! You urgently need to save your shrinking biceps hur??

And I was mistaken in not expecting stupidity from MBA students. This guy gave his keys to a friend who was going to come back after him so he ended up with no key, while this girl locked herself out of her room in only a towel. Twice. In the same week. At 7+ am.

For two weeks in July, we had a big group of visiting students from the Netherlands. One day, a twin room had an aircon issue over the weekend, and I had the most unpleasant encounter - hello, this isn't a hotel, and I'm not your maid! The usual residents were a lot nicer, yes, even though they may not understand the word "urgent".

But the most terrible thing - and most unexpected - had to do with "guanxi". In June, a graduating student asked me to open the apartment of this other student whom she knew had left so that her visiting parents could stay there for a couple of weeks. She did not want student affairs to know - why?! I felt quite bad for her parents too if they had to stay in a dirty room when they had to fly 14 hours to get here. And she had the cheek to ask me when all the interaction we had was an introduction. Anyway, I was at a loss - it wasn't that it could not be done. But I don't like to do sneaky things lor! How to reject nicely? In the end, after talking to Mum who happened to call, it was not a matter of nice or not; it was a matter of right or wrong. I told her to ask student affairs if she could rent an apartment.

Despite all my complaints, there were times when I enjoyed my work, when I met nice people, when I helped someone in genuine need. Like this chap who returned from a week-long trip at 4 am with his keys to find that maintenance had changed his lock! And the couple who found themselves in an apartment with a weird smell that couldn't be removed. Or the guy who smelled gas in his apartment. And today, a guy arrived at 7 am, waited in his roommate's room for a more decent time to call me for checking in - so nice right?

And through all the check-ins, I got to meet a lot of people, made a few friends, although at times, it was quite exasperating, like last night, I had eight check-ins in under four hours - I was barely changed and seated when I got the next call! And some people could not wait - they kept calling home and mobile, home and mobile while I was in the bathroom!

I've also learnt things about this building. Now I know the location of each of the 33 rooms on each floor, I know how to fix the stove for minor gas leaks, and - this is very important - I know that the five-second rule doesn't count here; carpets here have suffered floods from kitchen and toilet *.*

Being a student director, I also had a glimpse into the whole machinery behind our accommodation. It was, um, interesting *.* Suffice to say that I would be checking our bills very carefully and handling our own mail forwarding when we leave this building!

But now, I'm just basking in freedom :) Finally, I can sit through a meal without answering a call. Finally, I can sleep soundly without praying that I don't get a call in the middle of the night. Finally, I don't have to suffer the irritating ringtone from the duty phone!

And finally, Sito is coming home!! :) I have cleaned parts of the apartment so that he will return to a clean home in addition to a happy wife :) But actually our apartment is quite clean to begin with. (The guy who oversaw the radiator works couldn't help telling me so after going through more than 60 rooms!) He's probably flying over US airspace now.. Can't wait to see him again!

Update at 9.00 pm

Tamade, I rejoiced too early!! A few friends couldn't get the student director and called me instead! I don't mind helping my friends but I can't help feeling sour :(

Hello hello? Can you hear me?

2011-09-07T16:05:00.000+08:00

A thought popped into my head the other day. I've always liked to take photos as a keepsake for memorable times in our lives. And this blog, this writing of sorts, stores my personality in a way.

But I'm missing something - voice.

I really like my voice! But only the way it sounds to me. I've never got used to how I sound to other people. I have recorded my voice a few times just to hear what I sound like to others. And what a blow to narcissistic me the first time I heard my voice from a playback!

My speaking voice is rather nasal and tends to go sharp. I find it funny that I sound pretty bo chap. Quite a hollow voice. Or maybe I recorded a hollow monologue? :p

My "presentation" voice - I rehearsed for presentations at work :p - is still nasal but it's more low-pitched. Have to be, else too kiddish for work!!

My singing voice is the worst of all - nasal and hollow and screechy! So sad.. Better just sing to myself in future :(

But my cute voice is ok. It's, um, cute hoho!

I guess mine is not a voice that commands attention, just good enough to 骗小孩 :p

10 things I love/hate about you

2011-09-06T10:19:00.026+08:00

Suddenly thought of this movie "10 things I hate about you" that I watched with my OBS watch back in 1999. Um, I thought it pretty lame back then even though I was probably its target audience...

At first, I wondered if I could list 10 loves and 10 hates about Sito. Then I wondered, what if I had more hates than loves?! And then I thought, now that would be love, right? Haha!

So I started listing - not sharing! :) - and I have eight loves and five hates!! :)

I'm still not fully well from a cold I suffered right after we came back from San Francisco. Opened the window to air the apartment and ended up feeling cold - yes, summer is over!! :(

Anyway, so I moved to Sito's desk to stay out of the wind. Now I'm looking at the two photos of us on the wall next to the desk - one was taken before Christmas in 2007, with me in my mini mini skirt and Sito in his now-torn green polo tee which we liked very much, and the other was a wedding shot. I think I much prefer the Christmas shot where Sito had this really serene look, and holding my hand instead of my bouquet ha!

I had such a vivid dream yesterday morning. I felt very awake and turned to my left to laze a bit more. Then I felt Sito creeping into bed to sleep and his warm hand brushed against mine. When I suddenly opened my eyes, of course he wasn't there. Seemed like I had gone back to sleep right after turning on my side *.* But the dream was SO real! Miss his warmth..

Can't wait for Saturday when he'll be home :)

我的审美观

2011-09-04T17:23:00.003+08:00

31岁的我趁老公不在家，竟发了一个下午的花痴 ^.^

刚看完韩版动作片"City Hunter"，爱上了主角李敏镐 :p

我原本对李敏镐不怎么感兴趣，甚至只在电视剧预搞片和产品海报看过他，连名字都不知道。可是我发现李敏镐在很多角度不是象木村拓哉，就是象言承旭！*花痴*

在网上找出一堆照片做比较:

Kimura Takuya                    Jerry Yan                           Lee Min Ho

很象吧？要找短发的，又不眉开眼笑的，还真难！没用他们笑的照片是因为他们有时笑起来太美了，美到我这做女人的无地自容！*.*

其实还有一个演员跟他们长得相似:山下智久。但我对山下智久没有感觉，可能他的角色目前还不吸引我吧。

Yamapi

其实很多时候，我都是喜欢上剧里的角色啦。比如我很喜欢很喜欢"长假"里的瀬名秀俊，"流星花园"里的道明寺，"就想賴著妳"里的項羽平项大律师，还有现在"City Hunter"里的李润成。而他们又长得相似，我想我应该就是喜欢这类型的男生！^.^

miso: Um, Sito doesn't look like them leh... How?

*想* 我老公象吳尊啊！♥

Sito                                        Wu Chun

就嘴唇和（几年前的）身材 :)

之前找木村时找到松隆子。觉得有个表姐蛮象她的－ CY，记得我们小六时结婚的那个吗？

Matsu Takako

就两天前，我在全身镜里看着自己，发现我从小就讨厌的萝卜腿虽然不是什么美腿，却也不太象萝卜腿了，但曾拥有过的柳腰却不见了，和屁股二合一了！不看了不看了，看脸好了，至少有人说过我象孙燕姿，陈毓芸，甚至范文方和杨采妮！！！是有点莫明其妙... 大学时期还有人说过我象松岛菜菜子！

mf                                          Matsushima Nanako

这个，头发吧？我还是有自知之明的 *.*

24小时后....

刚看了1992年成龙和王祖贤主演的城市猎人，突然想起高中时期Tok曾经说过我象王祖贤！真是大众脸 *.*

Home alone on a rainy Saturday afternoon

2011-09-02T13:38:00.010+08:00

Omg, I just watched this 1993 HK movie "夏日情未了" - it's so 90s! Aaron Kwok's hair was a key feature, waist-high jeans were everywhere, and at the end, even waist-high panties made an appearance on Rosamund Kwan in a most wonderfully hilarious sex scene accompanied by the entire tune of "Only You"!

Aaron looked like a little boy then, very cute, also very macho *drool* It's ok, Sito knows I like Aaron - although I must qualify that I much prefer the older version :p

And Rosamund Kwan was so young then. I think she isn't very very pretty but she carries herself very well.

And the whole idea of a "romantic candle light dinner" was so funny. They were just sitting there, eating and looking at each other *.*

A pleasant surprise was hearing "让我欢喜让我忧" in the middle of the movie. I like that song.

Ah well, just completely random..

It was sunny this morning and I was sad that I couldn't go out. No hot water this weekend due to maintenance so I can only shower but not wash my hair.

And suddenly it's raining. I guess yesterday was the last true summer day, sighs!

Anyway, it's Saturday, but it doesn't feel like a Saturday. Or rather, I think every day feels the same these days hoho! Without Sito here now, I can't tell one day from another. Sometimes it's good to have a timetable :)

Re-discovering forgotten childhood games

2011-09-01T16:02:00.081+08:00

The other day, I went to wake Sito at 11.15 am. We ended up sitting across from each other on the bed, and trying to play 我家我家!

This is a genre of childhood games in my time that I forgot to mention in a previous post.

I have long forgotten how to play this particular games. That day, I tried very hard to remember how to determine win or loss but couldn't. I only remembered there was something about 公鸡, 母鸡 and 小鸡 :p

There are a number of such games, and they typically start with what sounds like "set set set", corresponding to the rhythmic up-down movements of both players' clasped hands , with the left palm facing up and the right palm down.

Oh, I think there's a variation of the chicken game that goes like: 我家住在大巴窑，大牌叫做 ABC，门牌叫做 do re me，我家养了三只鸡，公鸡母鸡和小鸡!

And somehow this leads to what sounds like 切! Which means it's time for scissors/paper/stone!

Then there is this super addictive game called 205. It's effectively scissors/paper/stone but with a twist. It's played by three players. If any two players show the same sign, they will go "合作愉快! 叉呀打呀!"

At "合作愉快", they'll shake hands while the third person opens up both palms. At "叉呀", it's scissors/paper/stone time and if they show different signs, they'll hit the third person's palms on "打呀"! They stop only when they show the same signs.

It hurts for everyone ok! When children hit people, they hit hard! Or maybe it's just those around me? Anyway, I found the game addiction but I never liked it much.

I tried looking for more info on these games but to no avail...

Oh, but I think I still remember how to play five stones :)

I suddenly remember finding childhood treasures in a museum store in Singapore a few years ago. I can't remember which museum it was but the store carried an old favourite of mine - bubble glue! You know, the small tube of glue-like substance that comes with a little straw to blow out bubbles? I think I have a picture of it somewhere but my portable hard disk can't be used on this laptop. In the meantime, check out this article on Super Elastic Bubble Plastic, its proper name apparently.

And then in primary school, board games and card games were all the rage. Think 飞行棋 (no, it's no chess), Old Maid, Happy Family, Uno and its variations like Snap and Heart Attack! Ah, so nostalgic!

This most resembles the pack I played with my childhood friends!

Source: fustar.info

Found an article on some of these games here.

If I recall more childhood games, I'll come back here to add on :)

Necessary, good to have, doing without

2011-08-31T23:34:00.001+08:00

I was drawn to a report on EIU's latest global liveability report. The EIU used New York as a baseline city and gave other cities "a rating of relative comfort for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure" (link). Cost of living was apparently not a factor.

Now I can't help noticing (1) how the top 10 are cities in Australia and Canada, and (2) that Singapore has been ranked 52nd!

I have never been to Canada but I was in Melbourne for a few days and honestly, I wasn't impressed. I mentioned why before so I shan't repeat here. Short of paying hundreds of dollars for the full report and ranking, I can't imagine how there can be so many cities before Singapore! No, I don't think I can be convinced.

But well, liveability is arguably subjective.

In my adult years, I have lived in three cities - Oxford, Singapore and Evanston, in that order. In all honesty, I find all three cities very liveable. Putting aside cost of living, if not for family and friends and two key pain points, living in Oxford or Evanston - or any other similar city! - sounds as inviting as living in Singapore.

The two pain points are actually on the national level, not really specific to the cities - taxation and healthcare. Of course I didn't pay tax in Oxford but if I did, it would probably be high, like the 19.8% Sito paid in his nine weeks of internship here. And while I had free healthcare in Oxford, it was painful - long waiting time, not to mention out of the way. As for Evanston, my doctor is just round the corner but guess what? My insurance will expire in, oh, 30 minutes!

Renewing my coverage will cost over $5,000 this year, with a $250 deductible and up to $1,000 out-of-pocket expenses. Getting a new plan with lower premiums doesn't save me any money because the deductible increases dramatically to $3,000 and more! In all probability, the insurance will remain that, an insurance.

So I'm going without insurance from tomorrow. When I wake up tomorrow, I'll be a good girl and no longer jaywalk, I'll be careful not to injure myself with my clumsiness, I'll self-medicate all minor illnesses. This doesn't make Evanston unliveable though; good healthcare is still available, just that I have to pay an arm and a leg for it. As if I'm not already paying an arm and a leg for it through the insurance, ha!

I guess Singapore probably scored poorly on areas I don't care about, like censorship. I'm happy we're not China and I have my Facebook, thank you.

But my choice is and - I dare say - will always be my Singapore. It has the necessary (think personal safety and infrastructure kind of hygiene factors) and the good-to-have (24-hour eateries? Yes, please!), and I don't have to do without anything!

Seems that I'm missing Singapore.. Sighs, I don't really feel that since I'm already at home with Mr Sito. But when we were in San Francisco and hanging out with old friends and having familiar food (and I'm the kind who can eat pasta every day) and feeling like Singapore in the 80s (um, that was Chinatown) and finding salons offering cheap rebonding services (for me only :p) and doing foot reflexology (again, just me!), we felt strongly about wanting to go back to Singapore after the MBA.

Well, recruiting season starts with the start of fall quarter in less than two weeks. Pray hard that Sito gets a good enough offer from a Singapore office to say bye bye to his BATNA!

An artsy and nerdy day

2011-08-30T21:22:00.001+08:00

Went on a little excursion to the Museum of Contemporary Art with WSY. Free admission for Illinois residents on Tuesdays! All we did was to state our zip code.

It was our first time at this museum, and we went there early enough to have lunch at the restaurant inside before taking a free guided tour. Before this, the two of us had only been out on group events so it was really nice to be able to have a good chat over lunch :)

The current exhibition features works by Mark Bradford, an artist from LA. His work reflect a lot of his background and significant events around him.

I'm not the artsy sort, and know nothing about contemporary art. Fine, I know nothing about art! So it was a good thing we had the guided tour, else we wouldn't have understood or appreciated anything O_O

Oh, also took the intercampus shuttle bus for the first time! I had wanted to take that to go downtown for a while but never did. I used my spouse ID card which is actually not valid on this bus unless the bus is not crowded (and the driver is nice). So I was lucky! WSY used her husband's card and the driver didn't even check the photo! Think I'll do that next time..

So, I'm not artsy, but I'm definitely nerdy - I thought of the Pythagoras' Theorem while in the shower just now and I wanted to prove it!

First, I realised I couldn't spell "Pythagoras" so I googled :p I resisted looking at the proof...

Then, as I got my pen and paper ready, I couldn't get started so to give myself a little hint, I took a little peek...

"...similar triangles..."

Ah ha!

But I confused myself by cutting up my triangle in a complicated way. I took a second peek for a second hint *.*

Then I proved it!

Happy :)

But sighs.. Had to peek! :( Twice!! :((

Anyway, must share happiness - got to talk to Sito for some five minutes this evening - he called! :)

Tap Tap Revenge, anyone?

2011-08-29T18:08:00.000+08:00

Sito hopped into bed one night to find me just done with my iPhone - I have developed a habit of checking emails or reading stuff on Pinky II before I turn off the light.

And so he took over, scrolled through and re-discovered Tap Tap Revenge. The next thing we knew, he was playing with one of the default tunes.

mf: Eh, this reminds me of last year - we were playing this in bed too!
Sito: I was thinking the same!

(And he missed a bar :p)

That must have been early 2010 when he had an iPod Touch issued from the school he never got posted to as he got accepted into Kellogg. We liked to challenge each other but I almost always lost *.* Even after he returned his machine, he would play on my phone. Once, he was either shaking the thing too violently or holding it too tight, breaking an angel figurine I had hanging from it! *pout* And he even bought the Owl City album as a surprise for me as I liked Fireflies! :)

Ahhhh, nice feeling :)

Sito is now in Nicaragua for a pro-bono consulting project. He left early Sunday morning and will be back next Saturday - I'm home alone again! No Skype this time as I can't use Skype on this backup laptop. Be getting a new Mac when he returns! Then I'll have pictures from our California trip and more..

Dual citizenship

2011-08-25T22:59:00.074+08:00

We are back in Evanston! More on our vacation later as I can't upload our photos yet...

The dual citizenship issue often comes up for Singaporeans who are planning to have kids while overseas. We are no exception.

Some Singaporean friends tell me to have a kid here in the US. And some non-Singaporean friends naturally assume that we would love to have US citizenship for our kids. Good to have US citizenship, they all say.

Good meh? I don't understand. I don't see how US citizenship is better than Singapore citizenship. Except when you want to work or study in the US - no need to bother with visa etc. It's convenient for a while but ultimately, our kids will be Singaporean cos the mum says so :p And since Singapore doesn't permit dual citizenship, any US citizenship will be given up at age 21 anyway.

It seems that many people don't understand dual citizenship in Singapore. Here are some facts:

1) Singapore does not allow dual citizenship. If your PRC colleague decides to take up Singapore citizenship, he will have to give up his PRC citizenship.

2) However, minors, i.e. aged 21 and below, can hold more than one citizenship. Why? Because generally, a person cannot renounce his/her citizenship before age 21. This applies to both born-and-bred Singaporeans and immigrants.

Example (a) Think the naturalised Singaporean from PRC who recently landed a President's Scholarship. An immigrant family came from country X and decided to take up Singapore citizenship. The parents have to renounce their citizenship from country X but the children are unable to do so because they're underaged. So until they reach 21, they hold both citizenships. Before the children turn 22, they must renounce their citizenship of country X, failing which their Singapore citizenship will be revoked.

Example (b) Say Sito and I have a kid born here in the US. The kid will be eligible for both US citizenship (jus soli) and Singapore citizenship (jus sanguinis), whether we're going to be living in the US or Singapore in future, and can hold both citizenships until he/she turns 21, when a choice will have to be made similar to the above case.

Fair? Fair.

3) Dual citizenship doesn't benefit Singapore. Ok, this may not be a fact; just my opinion. Every so often, someone will mention in forums etc that Singapore should allow dual citizenship so that we can attract international talent who may be less inclined to give up their citizenship or so that Singaporeans won't need to give up their own citizenship when migrating to another country.

Fallacy (a) If a foreigner is reluctant to give up his/her citizenship in order to take up our citizenship, why do we want him/her?! Where is his/her loyalty? Just stay as a foreigner, work in Singapore and contribute to our economy la! Unless he/she is keen to join us totally, I much prefer churning our foreign workforce, keep it evergreen. And I don't think we're short of people who want to be part of Singapore.

Fallacy (b) Singaporeans who are working in another country do not need to give up Singapore citizenship. Just work there as a foreigner or PR la! Countries like Australia generally do not differentiate between citizens and PRs, and sometimes foreigners get the same benefits as citizens. Want to take up other citizenship? Well, herein lies The Great Contradiction: On one hand, they dislike that immigrants in Singapore could hold dual citizenship (until age 21); on the other, they want to keep Singapore citizenship when they want to take up another citizenship. Fine, these may be two different groups of people but no reason to treat these two groups differently. Who is to say that an immigrant may be less committed to Singapore compared to a born-and-bred?

Side: It's like religions, right? Someone born into a religion could change his/her belief and become more committed to the latter compared to someone else born into it.

Question: Why do some countries like the US allow dual citizenship then? Actually, it doesn't disallow, but it doesn't encourage either. Read this.

4) No one can be a citizen of more than one county. Again, my opinion. How can I be Singaporean if I also call myself Australian or British?! There are exceptions though, e.g. when parents are from different countries, it will be difficult to choose one. 无解 cos I'm not smart enough :)

Anyway, Sito says I'm pro-PAP. Well, I just see myself as pro-Singapore. Because I'm Singaporean and only Singaporean.

PS: Just a note that we're not voting in the upcoming Presidential Election as we're not registered as overseas voters. Just as well, since we didn't really follow the campaigning. We only know our president will be a Tan :p And I'm not sure if it really makes a big difference when the whole machinery driving our system is much bigger than the state figurehead, and so long as the elected Tan will have enough sense and can stand tall among figureheads of other countries. Watching live discussions sometimes leave me scared, haha!

Tribute to our MacBook Black

2011-08-15T17:10:00.002+08:00

This is my last post on this old Mac =(

After this, I'll log out, clear history and pack it into a box to send off for recycling =(

I'll probably get some money out of the recycling though :p And I'll buy a new MacBook Pro! :)

Still, sad about this old Mac =(

OUR dumplings :)

2011-08-14T19:07:00.000+08:00

Decided to make dumplings today! :)

The ingredients laid out in front of my laptop for this photo op :p

I couldn't find minced pork! That was a meatloaf mix of beef and pork. Chopping the prawns was difficult - later when we were eating, I saw that part of a nail might have gone into the prawns *.*

The green pile was spring onions and chives. The yellow stuff in the bowl was minced ginger. I added soy sauce, salt and sesame oil to the ginger before pouring the mixture over the minced meat.

After mixing everything, I beat the egg and added more soy sauce and salt and oil again :p The egg made the filling gooey, like this - and the prawns were still visible!

So Sito and I sat down to wrap the dumplings. I arranged my dumplings prettily :)

Sito arranged his dumplings neatly in three rows. He also decided to have fun with different ways of wrapping the dumplings. So there was a ingot - see it? - and a 小龙包-wannabe - at the right side.

We cooked 20 and froze the remaining 30 (and a bit of filling). Added some seasoning to a little of the water used to boil the dumplings, and we had soup dumplings! :)

That was our dinner. I suspect we'll both get hungry later tonight :p

From an empty-ish theatre

2011-08-13T18:55:00.026+08:00

Sito's internship ended yesterday on a very good note!! :) So we must celebrate :)

We went out for Indian food and ordered so much that we had enough leftovers for lunch today :p After a good hour of food coma at home, we headed out for a late movie. I still can't believe we watched "Cowboys & Aliens"! Rather, I can't believe I watched this movie *.* I had checked "will never watch" on a feedback form after another movie a while ago. I mean, cowboys and aliens?!

But it was Sito's night. And he's a boy. And halfway through the movie, I actually thought it was quite good. But the whole idea of cowboys and aliens (yes, always in italics for me) was just wtf-able, especially in the trailer.

The movie was released in July so the theatre had only some 10 people.

I couldn't help remembering the neighbourhood Eng Wah cinemas. I used to stay near the Jubilee Entertainment Complex. Some 10 years ago, I saw a lot of people going in and out of the small building. There were only a few tenants - MOS Burger where I had a lot of fun with friends, a dress shop where I bought at least two dresses, a games shop, a bubble tea cafe, a spa, a maid agency, a Popular book store (which remains the most popular store in the complex now), a game arcade and of course the cinema.

I watched a lot of movies at that cinema. There was no digital display of showtimes. Instead, the showtimes of each day were put on a changeable letter board near the ticket counters. Well, at least there was no need to wait for the page with the movie I wanted to watch to appear!

One of the first shows I watched there was "Three" in 2002. There was a little queue to get to one of the two aunties at the ticketing counter. There were people playing in the game arcade while waiting for seating to commence. There was a little queue to get into the theatre. We found ourselves in a crowded theatre.

Fast forward a few years, only one auntie was at the ticket counter whenever I was there. I still remember what she looked like; she never smiled. The arcade was quiet. The theatre was quite empty. Some tenants like the dress shop and bubble tea cafe had left. And when AMK Hub was up in 2007, MOS Burger moved out too. The cinema at AMK Hub also drew a lot more people, it being more central and newer. I haven't been to Jubilee for a quite a long time too, and now when I'm thinking about it, I read that the cinema is closed. So is a similar cinema in a similar building in Toa Payoh where I watched one of the Harry Potter movies with my cousins.

I guess I just find it sad when I see empty places.

Now I have a couple of diverging trains of thoughts from here, one to do with empty spaces and one to do with invaded heartlands. But I'm getting sleepy so I shall be lazy today....

Customer service hotlines

2011-08-10T17:57:00.000+08:00

"Press 1 to apply for a credit card; press 2 to report loss of a credit card; ...; press 0 to speak to a customer service operator."

After pressing 3, then 1, then 4:

"Enter your credit card number and press the hash key."

Familiar? Yes. Irritating? Oh yes! Especially when the "press 0 for operator" option is not available at the first menu!

I still remember there was a Jacky Neo film that made fun of how many menus you got to go through before getting to the right destination..

But now, it is different.

The nice voice at the bank hotline just asked, "What is your credit card number?" After a moment of surprise, I just said the number out loud. After a short while, I got to speak with a real person.

Similarly, the voice at WSJ hotline greeted me and asked, "What can we do for you today? For example, you could say 'renewing my subscription', or ...." More prepared this time, I just said "renew", and I was promptly linked to a real person on the other end of the line.

I just have to give very simple replies. The first time I got this was when I called Apple. I answered in a complete sentence and it was too complicated for the computer to understand! So I got "I'm sorry. I will have to transfer to you to a customer service operator. Please hold." Or something like that.

The "conversation" make it more continuous than the "press n" menus. I can get used to this system :)

The experience would be perfect if the operator is nice. Most of the time, they all speak too fast and sound rushed. I guess they're pressured to adhere to service level agreements - complete calls within x minutes, put people on hold for no more than y minutes. I have been on the evil side of an SLA so I know :p

The best experience so far was when I called Citigold to ask about linking accounts today. No strange white noise in the background, no rush and plenty of help! "Oh, I can wait with you while you try again." Ah, so nice. But of course they must be nice la, it's Citigold! Oh, the Citigold here has a much lower threshold than in Singapore; just dumping in half of Sito's school fees made us eligible for premium banking services.

The worst is when operators are unable to understand my queries and 答非所问 *.* Or the insurance guy who cannot tell me if something will be covered for sure, must cover ass mah... And speaking about insurance, yes, his compulsory and my very expensive insurance, I called just now and didn't even get to any menu. I was told that the office was closed, and that their office hours were 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. I looked at the clock and it was only 5.16 pm! Crap!

Happy National Day!

2011-08-09T08:49:00.017+08:00

I know, it's almost the end of the day in Singapore, but my 9 August is barely starting! :)

This is the third time I'm spending National Day outside Singapore. The first was in 2003 when I was still working on my MSc; the second was last year when we went to Malaysia - of all places hoho! - to say bye bye to relatives and settle some admin on Sito's side before we came here.

I finally crawled out of bed at 7.45 am in my pink pyjamas - pink, i.e. a mix of red and white! But I think the NDP has ended by then. So many people were updating on Facebook!

Also missed reciting the pledge together with KLK and the rest of Singapore... But turned out that I didn't miss pizza - they couldn't get through to any pizzeria! So they gave up angmoh pancakes for Indian pancakes :p

I shall have a prata too :)

Update: Some minutes later...

My poor frozen prata suffered verbal abuse on Facebook. Kok even tagged me in a picture of him and a giant prata.. Apparently, my prata lost in the looks department, specifically size *.*

Update: At night

Just finished watching NDP webcast replay! And I saw prata men swinging pratas!! How's this for size?!

And Sito and I just burst into "Stand Up for Singapore"! A few songs are roaming in my head now - "Munnaeru vaalibaa munaeri endrum thoduvaan noakkuvaai", "There are five stars arising out of the stormy sea", "One people, one nation, one Singapore"... Just random, but nice :)

Took this during a short break in class this afternoon - mf wearing red and white!

I'm so glad I'm Singaporean :)

The pursuit of happiness

2011-08-08T11:33:00.003+08:00

This article is pretty funny.

"our idea of happiness is so screwed up that most of us wouldn't recognize the real thing if we saw it"

Wa liao...

I was watching "家, N次方" last week, and a character said that the hidden meaning behind the saying "rather cry in a BMW than smile on a bicycle" was that the girl who would rather cry in a BMW was unlikely to smile on a bicycle anyway.

Think I've said somewhere here before, happiness is a choice. But now I'm thinking that maybe it's (also) nature. If you're predisposed to happiness, I guess nothing will make you feel overall unhappy. If you're predisposed to grouchiness, nothing can make you feel overall happy.

I think I'm predisposed to happiness. But it's not that I don't get unhappy, ever. There is happiness, the overall state. There is happiness, the current state. I accept that I cannot be happy 24/7. Like now, while writing this, I feel neither happy nor unhappy. But I look out of the window, it's bright and sunny - it makes me happy. Then I think about our Angel Baby and I'm sad. Now I zoom out of myself, I look at my life as a whole - I have a family, I have my bare necessities and a little more, I am overall happy.

But if I really want to "see" happiness, well, I've fluffed about little things that make me happy a few years ago. Just re-read it and much of it stays the same except:

7) Daydreaming - about ~~my room,~~ my desired weight~~, my prince..?~~
10) Strolling ~~back from office - me time!~~
11) Sweating it out on ~~Saturday mornings - in the park, not with some handsome stranger unfortunately, but still happy :p~~ the treadmill

排骨虾面！

2011-08-06T19:54:00.006+08:00

Yes, I made prawn mee with pork ribs using a recipe from My Wok Life!

Was supposed to make char kway teow (using premix) but changed our dinner plans when I saw the prawns in H-Mart yesterday :)

I started with scalding the pork ribs which were then set aside:

Next, I shelled and de-veined the prawns! I thought they looked happy :)

Trivial: This was only the second time I handled raw prawns; the first time was in home economics class in sec 1! But that time, the prawns must have come shelled because I don't remember having orange fingers then!

I stir-fried the heads and the shells until they turned a beautiful orange:

A lot more heads and shells than prawns? Well, I froze half the prawns for another culinary adventure later.. Stay tuned...

Added ikan bilis and garlic and fried for a while more before adding everything else. See the ribs floating about? Looking almost like the real thing hur?

While the soup simmered, I had to attend to poor Sito who came home from Florida with the most horrible sun burn! The poor guy didn't apply sunblock properly; he was burnt in odd spots and the worst burns were on his right side *.* Applied some aloe vera and moisturiser on him.. (And just before this, I rolled a cold can of Red Bull on his burnt skin...)

For my effort, I was given a treat - Garrett popcorn! We saw that when we were at Navy Pier last Friday and Sito realised that I didn't know what that was. Today, Sito got me the Cashew CaramelCrisp. I love cashews! Thanks, Dear :)

Anyway, the soup was simmering... I know Sito likes fried shallots, which will go well with prawn mee. Well, I didn't have shallots but I had a lot of chopped onions in the fridge! Used the microwave instead of frying. The result was up to Sito's standard but the microwave stopped working for a while after that!! Fine, our microwave is pretty cheapo... I shall just buy fried shallots from an Asian grocery store next time..

And finally, at dinner time, I blanched the noodles, vege, fishcake and prawns, and we have 排骨虾面!

The soup had all the right tastes and flavours but it wasn't robust enough. I think I might have added too much water. Or, I should have borrowed a slow cooker. Or, blame the angmoh prawns! :p

The lomein noodles were rather tasteless unlike the yellow noodles in Singapore but the texture was there. I overcooked the prawns a little :p And I didn't have kang kong... The pork ribs, however, turned out amazing!

Overall, Sito said "passed"! :)

mf imagines..

2011-08-06T17:10:00.000+08:00

I first read Dilbert some 10 years ago as a student. These days, I read Dilbert when people post on Facebook, when professors flash some strips to make their point. It still entertains and educates me, perhaps more so than before since I've had some experience in the working world.

Today, I came across Scott Adams again, in his article, "The Heady Thrill of Having Nothing to Do" on how the eradication of boredom (largely by modern devices) is stifling creativity. Some element of truth there but....

I'm rather taken with this line in the middle of the article than the article itself: Imagination has a way of breeding disappointment.

Growing up with not much in material and familial satisfaction, I imagined having much more. I imagined what I would do if I had this or that. I imagined how happy we would be if we were one happy family. Being a avid reader, I even imagined how cool it would be if I were Nancy Drew or a princess in one of those fairy tales hoho!! Of course, the last bit was just a fantasy and I knew it. But I knew that the imagined parts could possibly come true, only that they never did.

On the other hand, in my adult years, I didn't have much time to be bored except when in transit. I imagined a whole host of other things which did me good. Imagining fitting into my skinny jeans made me go to the gym. Imagining positive work outcomes and being recognised made me work really hard. No disappointment here (even though the jeans were still a stretch).

Now that I have so much time on my hand, it isn't quite possible to occupy myself 100% of the time. And recently, there is just one thing on my mind and I tend to let my imagination run wild on that. Sometimes it makes me happy but most of the time, it makes me anxious and stressed. Perhaps being occupied all the time with no room for boredom isn't a bad thing for me now!

Managing our little household

2011-08-06T11:33:00.000+08:00

That day before he left, Sito sent me the pdf of his boarding pass with no further text in the email. So I asked him if he wanted me to print for him, but no, he had already printed it and he just sent it to me for my reference.

Since I'm the Secretary of Home Affairs, I dictate that we will go by this system in future:

Fyi - for reference, like the boarding pass, no action required
PP - please print, self-explanatory
F/U - for follow-up, like checking out a bah kwa recipe, deciding whether to go for an event

You hear, my dear? :)

And as I'm also the CFO, I'm in charge of our finances and lately, I'm troubled whenever I go to xe.com. We changed a lot of SGD to USD last year, when it was US$1 to about S$1.35. Now, it's US$1 to S$1.2 - we have "lost" more than US$20,000 *cry*

But I have come up with a devious idea - friends who want to buy things that are way cheaper here than in Singapore, do you mind transferring USD over or paying me at the old exchange rate? :D

I'm also troubled over our insurance. He has no choice but to pay for insurance, which he doesn't use at all *touch wood* I need to search for a cheap insurance for me, really really cheap because I'm not going to use it. I told my doc, and she said, oh, good luck with that *.* This country's system is quite screwed up...

Anyway, that's the white collar aspect of my job. The blue collar part is less glam...

I went to the gym every day for the past five days - proud of myself! - and while waiting for me to stop sweating after each session before I hit the shower, I cleaned here and there...

Lately, I inherited an old drying rack that had seen at least two earlier households. So I've started hand-washing stuff. Yesterday, I washed Sito's pyjamas so that he would have something to wear after showering when he comes back this afternoon; he tends to run out of pyjamas as he uses them as home clothes too. This morning, I took a toothbrush to his shirt collars to try to remove collar stains with dishwashing liquid. I'm soaking three shirts now.. When he's back, everything will go into the machine.

A few days ago when I asked maintenance to help with our old stove, I even found out that I could lift the top off. So I cleaned the stove more thoroughly. Greasy. Yucks. But now it's very clean. Now I can cook a big meal for dinner today! Hope to post pictures later..

I'm actually quite happy to be doing all these. To know that Sito and I will be comfortable in a clean, cosy environment, that's bliss :)

The best way to end my day

2011-08-05T10:46:00.000+08:00

Curl up on the couch with a book and some music, or watch a drama. And just within arm's reach, a mug of warm milk. Sip on the milk on and off. Never allow it to turn cold. When it's finished, go to bed straight away*. Don't bother about brushing teeth and spoiling the warmth with toothpaste and water. Now, sleep well :)

* Give Sito a goodnight kiss on the way when he's home

-- My thoughts last night after some warm milk :)

Time? I've got plenty!

2011-08-04T14:14:00.001+08:00

"But who cares? No big deal. I want mooooore!" (Tribute to the Little Mermaid :p)

Well, I have been doing almost nothing for weeks now...

Is this a payout for the past years of hard work? Or is this an extravagant waste of time that will see me pay back in time to come?

Anyway, as can be seen from my to-do list on the right, there are plenty to do.. But I just haven't got down to doing enough of them.

Yesterday, I finished transferring my handwritten notes on class handouts to softcopy so that I could dump the hardcopy. By dumping, I do mean recycling. But I'm still taking classes so there's more of such things to come when I get my hands on the softcopy...

Since Monday, I started going to the gym every day. It is a good development for health, fitness and entertainment - I have downloaded an app that allows me to watch drama on the treadmill! That's my whole motivation actually *.* The treadmill is just too boring otherwise!

And of course, there's the dreaded task of archiving my work. I have been procrastinating a lot on that. I did quite a bit earlier this week though. I should probably get to it again after this.

Oh, Sito is in Florida now. He just sent me a text from his hotel. I'm so envious! But this particular event for interns does not involve the spouse.. Anyway, so after seeing him off this morning, I went back to bed and snoozed until noon.. I haven't woken at noon for a very very long time! (As in, I usually wake much earlier than noon, not later!!)

The thing about laundry

2011-08-03T23:41:00.000+08:00

Is the smell.

I love the smell of the laundry room, not just any detergent but the mix of many varied scents churning in the washers and toasting in the dryers. It is also the smell of independence - I was finally living on my own! Although now I much prefer having a washer and a dryer at home, I still couldn't help smiling and taking deep breaths every time I pass by the laundry room of any random building :)

And the song, of course.

Back in Oxford in my first year, I could never accurately gauge the time it took for the washer and dryer to be done with my clothes. And I knew that if I were to be slow in getting to my clothes, someone could take them out for me. Saying that I really don't like other people handling my clothes is an understatement; I'll probably wash them again! Thankfully that never happened. And it's because of a song. I would always go to the laundry room early and wait for my clothes to be ready, and I would sing "Part of Your World" in the tiny basement room while waiting. Just that one song in an entire year - I just liked it. Btw, the acoustics were really good in there!

Just now, I sang "Part of Your World" again. Not doing laundry, just random, at my desk. And it felt good :)

无题

2011-08-02T10:59:00.000+08:00

昨天半夜两、三点躺着睡不着，发了封简讯给友人，回答他之前对于工作的一些抱怨。我说，有时候工作也可以是一种心理寄托，而现在的我什么也没有，不免觉得有点空虚，尤其是老公很少在家。

今早看到了他的回话：（工作）终究也只是一个寄托，不是一个选择。中学或高中一篇课文说到人因为考试而学习，剥夺了学习的乐趣，因为糊口而工作。这是人的悲哀。

我们都（曾）因为工作而牺牲了某些东西。我只所以视工作为寄托，是因为我的人生选择还没有落实。我老公不是为了糊口而工作；工作是他得到一种自我满足的途径。可能我们对那些所谓牺牲的评价不一样。悲哀的，恐怕是象我这样的人吧⋯⋯

赫然发现我从小一直最想得到的东西原来还是那么最远不可及。

Our moments

2011-08-01T14:22:00.000+08:00

Most of the time, we're seated separately at our respective desks and reading or doing random things online. Every so often, we will call out to each other about something we see or something totally random. Just last week, we had a couple of hilarious exchanges.

But the thing is, I only remember that we had these funny moments; I don't remember what they were exactly. Still, it brings on a smile whenever I think about these (very non-specific) moments :)

And I was going through my iPhone notes and saw that Sito gave me a 家用 of $50 on 9 Mar 2010 :) I think I simply ran out of cash that day, and Sito, ever paranoid of being stuck somewhere with no cash, passed me the money. My first 家用! :)

Also my only 家用 so far *.*

Colours

2011-07-31T14:38:00.000+08:00

So I spent some time playing with Photoshop yesterday afternoon, resulting in this new look for mf-ism! :) I've also changed the size of the text so that I don't have to enlarge it in every single post - used to do that as the polka dot theme I chose years ago came with very small, un-adjustable fonts, and I didn't want to squint. So all the posts before 1 Jul 2011 now have especially big fonts! :p

While pink works for my wardrobe, it just doesn't work for mf-ism, which is about everything, happy and sad, good and bad. If I write only about cute things, girly stuff, beauty tips, then pink is perfect.

Green, on the other hand, is pretty neutral. It's pleasing to the eye without being too in your face. It can be happy or sad, good or bad. It matches all my moods. That's why I went for a green theme when I left the polka dots behind. But that dusty green isn't really my favourite shade of green hence this most recent change.

I also like yellow. Bright yellow is super chirpy and cheers me up no end. Light yellow is like green - it can be anything.

Oh, I also have a decent collection of greens and yellow in my wardrobe but in Singapore. I miss my clothes!

Somehow, blue is not my colour. I feel strange wearing blue. Blue things neither attract nor repel. But I love blue skies. From the blue of bright clear days to the blue of clear nights.

Red is another favourite colour but it can be too intense sometimes. Unlike green or yellow, there's no light red - that's just pink right?! But National Day is coming soon and I WILL WEAR RED!! :) I like white too and it will be fun to wear red AND white on National Day! Let's see what I can do...

And today, I went for lunch in a light purple top and a low side ponytail with a maroon flower clip. I felt so cheerful, so summery! :) I'll go back to being boring when the cold descends upon us since everything will be hidden underneath a coat and hat *.*

Pet peeves in language

2011-07-29T09:54:00.006+08:00

This article on "Americanisms: 50 of your most noted examples" is hilarious!

Some of the top 50 are commonly found in work environments - reach out, touch base, heads up. I don't find them grammatically wrong. And I'm for jargon, if that's what they are :p

Some are just practical - saying "24/7" is so much easier than saying "24 hours, seven days a week", unless you want to emphasise on the round-the-clock nature?

And these may not all be "Americanism". It could have been dropped from common use or become less popular in the UK such that Brits, quite simply, don't like them. It's a good thing, this evolution of language. I mean, I'm reading "Sense and Sensibility" now and the old English is driving me crazy!

Or it's just how people of different places like to call certain things, such as carts vs. trolleys. Went shopping with JY for BBQ stuff and she gave no recognition (more like giving me a blank look!) when I said I was going to get a trolley *.*

I didn't manage to get through all the 1000+ comments on the article but I'm sure someone must have added "different than" to the list! Seriously, that's neither slang nor jargon, which I can accept; that's just plain wrong!

I have other pet peeves of "Americanism" too, with the grammatical atrocity above topping my list:

2) awesome - overused! Fine, I just don't like it..

3) like - it's appearing, like, everywhere! (Oops, I'm guilty!)

4) *ize - "organize", "realise".. It's "organise" and "realise"! Call me snobbish!

5) can't - how the Americans differentiate "can" from "can't" eludes me.... Ok, so I'm a Singaporean prone to dropping terminal consonants... But hey, I like my life a little easier...

Oh, how about a similar list for good old Singlish? :)

1) ever - not your typical Singlish but I've only heard this from Singaporeans.. I'm so disgusted by its misuse that it has its own post.

Um, I think that's it leh... Singlish itself does not irritate me unless it is used excessively. Exclamations like "la" can inject "feel" but please don't give me a whole string of Singlish such as this appalling line I found on wiki "Dis guy Singrish si beh powerful sia"! I'm even ok with "issit" when "is it?" just doesn't cut it! :p But at work or if I'm not with Singaporeans, I'll avoid such a response altogether and use "really?" or something suitable.

And of course, we are plagued by some "Americanism", especially the ubiquitous "like". What to do? The borders aren't clear-cut anymore.. At the same time, I have witnessed or heard of non-Singaporeans using Singlish too, more commonly just adding an exclamation at the end of a sentence, la - yes, with a comma *.*

And while I'm at it, let's do Chinese too!

1) 撞 - while it's easy to use this word correctly in writing, people (like my husband!) tend to pronounce it wrongly as chuang4 instead of zhuang4

2) 好彩 - or however you write that! I know this is Yan's pet peeve too.. Correct answer? 幸亏!

3) 吃, 喝 - what's so difficult about these two words? It's the pronunciation again.. It bugs me to hear chi4 and he4 instead of chi1 and he1..

4) 先 - it should be used before the verb, not after or - god forbids - before AND after!

Anyway, I kind of like how we Singaporeans can code-switch easily between English, Singlish, CMT and even foreign languages - who doesn't know what kawaii means? :p - AND still understand one another.

PS: Writing this gave me a lot of nerdy joy! :)

An unpleasant housework discovery

2011-07-28T21:01:00.001+08:00

I was trying to hoover the apartment after dinner and found that I could hardly push the machine across the carpet. It seemed that the carpet was...damp?! Even the kitchen floor felt clammy when I stepped in barefooted!

Utterly horrified, I shut the window and put both aircon (aircons? KIV next post!) to work! Imagine what gross and bad little things could be festering on a damp carpet!!

Now the carpet still feels a little damp in the living room where the window was open, but it's fine in the bedroom already.

So, we humans can take the summer humidity better than the carpet!

Update an hour later

The bedroom smells of Sito cos I didn't have pure alcohol so I sprayed a lot of his perfume on an ink stain on a shirt before washing and drying it in the room! The pleasant part of (unwanted) housework? :)

Good news!

2011-07-28T11:12:00.003+08:00

Just saw Doc's message and my lab report - I've got the all clear for my latest PAP smear! The April procedure took out the bad stuff. What a relief! :)

I think I'm all recovered now. And I've been good to myself in the past few months too. Ginger tea, red bean soup, lots of greens, and today I'm making chicken soup, although that's more for Sito cos he's been working so hard. But his project is ending this week so we're heading out for dinner in town tomorrow :)

All signs point to an amazing weekend :)

Vain pot Wednesday

2011-07-27T15:36:00.004+08:00

I really really love smooth legs :)

miso: Doesn't Sito have hairy legs?

I really really love MY smooth legs. I was nothing but fuzz since January; my last wax was in December in Singapore. No shaver here. Tried plucking but I'm too furry *.*

With the sun out (almost) all the time now, I MUST do something about it. So I rediscovered hair removal cream.

I tried that many years ago as a teenager but it didn't work well. Perhaps my hair was too coarse back then. This time, however, the hair just melted away, leaving me with silky smooth legs.. Ahhh... Bliss :)

The same - silky smooth - couldn't be said for the hair on my head though.. It's like grass *.*

I can't use conditioner every day because I tend to get residue from it. I just use leave-in conditioner when I go out. That smoothens it a bit but doesn't keep my hair in place. I only use hair wax for special occasions as it is difficult to wash off. Can't wait for rebonding next summer in Singapore!

In the mean time, I'm thinking of layering my hair as it's getting thick as it grows. But I'm ditching the pink hair idea - I figure I'll look strange with pink hair and stark black eyebrows *.* Um, pink eyebrows will be plain weird!

And I've been trying to keep to my routine of weekly foot scrubs. Did that yesterday after forgetting to do it last week. Also filed off the sharp corners of my toenails and trimmed the cuticles. And since last week, I've been applying moisturiser on my legs in the morning since I don't like to sleep with clammy legs. Now I'm having the best legs and feet since baby years woohoo! I'm also trying to keep my fingernails longer than usual - I'll see if I get used to it.

My perennial (and worldwide!) chapped lips are also getting better after I religiously apply lip balm. I think I may look like I haven't wiped my mouth after a particularly greasy burger... But I don't care. I just want my lips to not crack and bleed all the time.

And I was thinking of going to the gym. I went twice in the past few weeks since I stopped working. Pathetic! So the other day, I decided to do some exercises at home. I stretched and I pulled in my leg muscles to balance on tiptoe, all the while pulling in my abs the pilates way. But I didn't feel a thing after that. And yesterday, I had a ~~clever~~ stupid idea of doing kickboxing while watching TV. It didn't take more than a few hours to feel the muscles in my arms, legs and back complaining...

Muscles: mf, what have you done? Even if you don't feel old, WE feel old! *creak and ache*

But I like the ache haha! Think I'm going to do that again today, while watching The Shawshank Redemption.

Update 6.48 pm

It's about 24 hours since my mini kickboxing workout... I can hardly bend my arms *.* But the TV is on, the show is about to start, and I WILL HAVE ANOTHER MINI WORKOUT!

It's ALL your fault! .. Really?

2011-07-25T23:19:00.087+08:00

I'm supposed to be doing a case on negotiations but the excel is driving me mad - the result of not having been thinking for a while *.*

So I was distracted by a link on Facebook with the following extract:

"What the Prime Minister seem to have overlooked is that it is very difficult to relax when our public transportation system is as such, as it contributes directly to greater stresses at place of work, detrimental to our quality of life, and could also be a cause for Singapore’s falling birth-rate."

I don't know if I should laugh, cry or look constipated.

The birth rate is low because people cannot have kids or don't want kids. If they cannot, it's sad and may or may not be helped. If they don't want, empty trains can help meh??

Before we started living together, I used to think if you want kids, you would do anything to get there. I still think that, but with one caveat - there is a physical limit.

After a long day at work, I could hardly stay awake!

Yup, I was the limitation back in Singapore as Sito was then quite ok, being on a development course at work before Kellogg. But the short window of opportunity to make babies might not coincide with a gap in my work schedule! Now the reverse is happening, with Sito being (a lot) busier than me. But it's better when he's a full-time student - I know his school timetable - and not an intern - he's still at work at this hour :(

So the evil is actually time, or the lack of it due to work. CY was telling me about a woman who said in an interview with ST that the work culture in Singapore was poisoned; people saw her as a clock-watcher when she left on time. But well, work-life balance is a story for another day...

Anyway, my original idea was just to give my first impression upon reading the above extract, that when you don't like something, it's easy to blame every other bad thing in life on it! But obviously my ex-job hazard took over...

Alright! I must sleep now.. The case will have to wait for tomorrow!

My highest ever!!

2011-07-24T21:43:00.001+08:00

Yeah!! :p

Well, I've seen people scoring more than a million but this is still my best record so far and I'm proud of it ok!

Now, I should something more constructive now... Sleep? :p

Dealing with broodiness

2011-07-24T14:45:00.054+08:00

》.《

That's me, constipated from being unable to express myself in words just how I feel when I see something or someone cute!

(Um, no thanks, I have no wish to video myself - suffice to say I can become rather happily agitated.)

These days, there are so many baby McSquirrels and baby McBunnies in the McManus lawn. Super cute and furry. I swoon.

...

我也要一粒！人啦，not 松鼠 or 兔子.. And yes, my 量词 for babies is "粒"! :p

I think I've never been this drawn to soft, cuddly and cute things in my life. If this is not broodiness, I may be quite disgusted with myself *.*

Was with J at TJ Maxx the other day. I was browsing randomly when I thought I saw Zo-san and rushed over!

But it wasn't Zo-san =(

Zo-san is cuter :)

Went out with J again on Friday - she needed baby stuff and we needed groceries! As I was walking through the racks of baby clothes in Babies"R"Us, I said out loud to Baby - if you were still around, you would be wearing these soon! :)

Sometimes I would say things like that. Especially when I'm alone at home. And I would also talk to Zo-san and Kappa-chan who is now Zo-san's neighbour on the chest of drawers in the room.

"Zo-san, Kappa-chan, Sito is coming home today! Weee!"

"(to Zo-san) 可爱！(to Kappa-chan) 你屁股圆圆的，也很可爱！"

"你们是好朋友哦！"

And when Sito is home, I'll swoon at his cute actions, like rubbing his face with his fist - Doraemon?! :p - or giving me the blur baby look. Ya, we're crazy and we love it :)

Then yesterday, when I was doing laundry, it suddenly hit me that it has been almost five months since Baby left us. It felt like it had only been a couple of months..

Well, there's still going to be a new baby in September, just that it's not ours - J is popping soon and I've promised to be on call in case her baby decides to greet the world before her husband comes back from his internship!

Sito and I were just saying how we still felt like we were in our 20s. Then I read this article on WSJ, My Fertility Crisis, while sipping my mid afternoon red raspberry leaf tea. What the author said wasn't new to me. After all, I once researched on fertility treatment for my work. But at this point in my life, after Baby, I could feel her fear despite being 10 years younger. Guess this is probably the only aspect of my life where I feel my age, where I actually fear ageing.

Office, the mf version

2011-07-22T11:06:00.004+08:00

Dug up quite a number of photos so...

2004

I took part in MCDS Idol!! (And MCDS became MCYS later that year..) With Joyce Darling who were in the finals with me. We didn't win but it was quite an experience - I sang 张惠妹的《解脱》and went off-key at one point hoho!!

That was part of the corporate retreat so our whole division was there too

Later in the year, Ma'am left the office to become, well, Ma'am. This was taken during her farewell. That period of time was really fun. We used to play scrabbles during lunch!

2005

Division retreat at Ubin - this must be my team? :p

2006

I was seconded from MCYS to NPS from July, but we were still squatting in MCYS! So we joined in at the MCYS Sports Day - a mix of MCYS and NPS people!

My very first cubicle! Which was actually my second as they rearranged the cubicles shortly after I arrived. My very very first seat was near the window, premium leh..

Sat there for almost three years before moving to another cubicle in the SLF building as they were renovating the MCYS building. There, we squatted for some three months before the NPS office was ready..

Me at my new cubicle! I must be looking horrid that day :p

2007

We had our first COS. Our boardroom became our ops room. We ate and worked there from noon to late at night every day during that period. We even celebrated LY's birthday there! The most memorable time was when we marched out together just past midnight of the actual day, happy with our work :)

And we had our first retreat! This was the teambuilding exercise at Sentosa, just nice when we had a crop of new recruits :)

As we planned to grow more than originally expected, we had to rearrange the cubicles a little and shuffled some people around. So I moved away from outside LH's room to a new - but corner, premium! - spot late 2007.. This photo was actually taken in 2009 after I moved away.. But that box was mine, I think *.*

Salsa again at our year-end party.. Yes, that's me! Dancing with a 高手 ok..

2008

The PMO D&D! We gamely showed up in our retro gear for the theme!

2009

I was promoted and redesignated in 2008 but owing to a lack of space, I didn't have a room until July 2009.

2010

More cluttered a year on! I only worked in the room for about a year but it felt like forever *.*

2011

Now I don't have a cube or a room. I have upgraded - my work space is the entire apartment :) While I stay at the dining table for written work like school and blog etc, it's everywhere for houseWORK! *.*