The Original Juice

Just when I am Super dry in the wallet department, Zubair received some money and presented me with $10.

I felt... super duper touched.

PLUS, yesterday, he called me up to meet at AMK MRT station to go home together after his interview at his bandmate's workplace. I reached there first and was reading while waiting for him when he came up to me all smiles.

In my heart i was saying, "Oh this feels like a real date!" You know the kind before marriage where you'd be from two different locations and set up a meeting point?

Nicest day and night ever!

Thank God for BIG as well as small favours.

I'm torn actually. Between feeling excited and anxious to have a baby... and .... fearing the things the baby will take away from me.


Wait... I can't even IMAGINE myself being a MOTHER! Me? This pampered, childish me, A mother? Get real!


Well firstly, I dont want to lose my beauty sleep. Already my eyes are like Panda despite 7-8 hours sleep.


I look at my sister and i dread the day when the couple can't even eat peacefully without the babies disturbing them. In fact, they hafta take turns eating and watching the kids.


You can't even take your eyes off these babies cos something might happen and you'll be blamed.


Worst of all... All the attention will go to the baby.... And most prolly hubby and others won't even SEE me... =(


I WOULD leave my babies in another room, no matter what other pple might think.


Actually, i dont know what's the fuss all about. In the olden days, pple have 7 - 12 children and they were all left on their own, no problem what. So what is the diff now? Maybe... the more advanced electrical appliances ready at home? *shrug*


Even then, sometimes i wished i've never taken those Yasmin pills... but at other times i am grateful that i did and now my body is still readjusting back to normal that i'm still not pregnant yet.


But come to think of it, it's funny cos one of the reasons why i wanted to get married ASAP was bcos i want to deliver my babies before i turn 30! Hmmm

I first started wearing lenses back in 2003?


I started with a Honey colour blended bi-weekly ones. Crazy me. Then got that cornea ulcer. Stopped for awhile... and wore my specs... Daily.



I dont like to wear specs cos

1. they make my nose look funny, just look at this pic taken back in Oct 06. But it does reduce the tembam-ness or chubbiness of my cheeks somewhat.
2. I feel like specs are intruding my vision. i think its bcos of my SUPER LOW bridged nose, the specs tend to slide downwards and the rim descend to mid eye level. The rimless kind are much better but still funny when u can see it doesn't cover my eye wholely
3. i cant lean my face to the side when lying on bed to watch TV.
4. Irritating when HOT and sweaty.

Then in Dec 2006 just before my trip to Bangkok i bought 3 pairs of boxes of 1-day lenses and started wearing them DAILY!! It was such a fuss lah. Must remember to wash hand, must remember to put on before wearing cream. Worse was i always had problem taking them out! (but not after my cousin Nur showed me how to remove it easily then i became confident.)


A year later, those supplies depleted. And I am not alone anymore and hafta consider my expenses carefully... So i DID buy another 3 pairs of boxes but am rationing them very very carefully.


So now i only wear them for special occasion when i feel i wanna look my best or when i wear make up. But bcos of that, i dont stretch the usage anymore to 3 days, not even for another day. Cos its too damn tedious. When im not wearing lenses, i dont even wear my specs since i dont really need to look far much being in the office all day and all... and my degrees are just 100 and 150.


Somehow, lately, i feel a bit irritated lah with this blurry vision. Esp bcos it stopped me from getting to drive! Like everytime Ayah asked if i could drive, i'd say o oh sorry not wearing specs.


So now... im back on specs. And suddenly i feel much more confident with crystal clear (well not exactly) vision. But i suspect it will not be long before i chuck it aside again... sigh...


Actually this story has no moral. (Pte joke with my sisters: cerita takde moral!!! LOL) Just to exercise my fingers typing. haha

We've all heard of Food fusion, but i've created a Word Fusion.

Well... actually probably somebody else already practised it only i'm not in the know.

And the word is...............



"Jaldi Lah!!!"


Hahah Jaldi is Urdu word for Quick, HUrry up!

Lah is... Malay slang / additional word.


I didn't notice it actually. Z was the one who repeated what i said questioningly, "Jaldi Lah? What is that?" So funny!

I read this book by Marian Keyes all through last week.


Yeah i'm becoming a slow reader now that i hafta section my time. I was only able to read during lunch time and on the way to and from work. But i dont really like to read in the car for fear i might feel nauseaous afterwards. So i purposely went home on MRT just to read!


I knew she's a bestselling author but I've never read her book before. I tried but cldn't see it through. And also because her books like Watermelon and all that are readily available in the library that i thought, "Maybe next time." "Maybe its not so good?"


Anyways, this one kept me captivated and even curbed my addiction to games down a bit. I felt like she knows me (don't we all?) esp when she described how she felt woozy from the accident and how the skin around the cuts became hairy!!


My sister insisted i read that book. She said because she cried a lot! And because of that i could guess what was coming but that didn't deter me from tearing! In the office!


All in all, do read if you happen to get hold of it!

I drove for the first time today after 3 months of resting!

My Injured Hand, That's why.

Mummy has a day trip on her freelance job at travel agency. But Ayah is home and he let me drive to me 11 o'clock class! (like 500m away from home! LOL!)

Even before today, I believe I could start driving again.. but always no opportunity... cos i have abandoned my lens to go to work, so can't drive TO work nor back home. But today i started out from home so i took my powered shades.

Actually... it felt rather ordinary! Well... that is besides me being conscious of how different my left thumb feels. It functions... but i can feel that its different... like not up to old standard... (But i'm thankful nonetheless..) I am also thankful that the family car is Automatic now... So i dont feel the Funniness of my left thumb too often. Otherwise, i might just not stop laughing while driving! (Ok apa jer Aku ni)

He was the last person I thought could have caused me the frustration that drove me to tears.

I wasn't the right person for the job. But why did he give the task to me when there was somebody else assigned to do it and esp when she was being CCed in the email as well? No, in case you're wondering, he's not one who can add more roles to my jobscope.

Everything else i usually will do for all of them. Filing? Scanning? Copying? Forwarding email?

But this is totally out of my league. I felt total desperation bcos I did not know the story of the account right from the beginning. He did tell me to ask from her how to do it. In fact, a template was given. But the lingering question is... WHY??

Not wanting to be petty and say, "this is not my job." I did what i could. A thought did cross me that if i do this once, he would dump more and more things on me.

So, what i did was, return the work to him with my actual boss in CC saying,

Despite not having any prior training at all, nor knowing what’s the head or tail of this account, I tried my hand at the task you’ve instructed me to do with some help from S. As such, I extracted the information as best as I could from the broker's latest slip.

Please review them with a kind eye.

At least, this is a much much improvement than 2 previous employment. Only after 2 years with them that i first cry.

This time last week, i was on the way to Conrad Hotel.

It didn't seem like one week though. More like 2 days. Even my other RecClub member agreed.

It seemed like just two nights ago that i was screaming (shrieking more like) and i was shaking my head (and a bit nervous) at some scenes...

Esp bcos today was like de javu... i was wrapping the door gifts AGAIN!! hah.

I can be such an obnoxious customer if and when I want to. Ask Zubair. He's seen the extent of my fussiness and demands on shopkeepers.


Z has the opinion that "If you're not seriously buying that thing, don't ask too much Questions." And he always Let It Be if let's say the vendor has made a mistake.


One memorable incident was at this Bubble Tea shop in Capitol Building.


We wanted to get Z his 3 times daily fix of Chai (tea with Milk). I ordered for him and i said this, "One of the $1.10 tea, please. The hot one."

The girl nodded. But I saw her taking the usual plastic cup they use for making ice blended stuffs and even put pearls in it! I kept quiet, i thought probably she's making for another person or something.

But when she DID give it to us, I said, "No no no... I said i want HOT tea."

She looked confused and at a lost of what to do.

Zubair interrupted us and said, "No, No... It's ok. Its ok." While whispering to me, "Poor her, she made it already."

I said, "But will you drink this?!?!?!" He looked reluctant, so i proceeded with my demand.

But the girl said, "No we can't do HOT tea... just warm."

I said, "What is this poster for then?" Showing an ad for HOt tea with Milk at just $1.20 or something.

Another guy, prolly her senior, overheard the commotion and approached us and i told him i wanted HOT TEA like the one on your poster!! He said, "Oh. We dont do that anymore."

At this stage, Zubair really insisted that its ok he'll just take whatever they can make.

I walked away rolling my eyes and said, "Whatever."

*******************

Incident Two : A Clothes Shop in Golden Landmark


I was browsing the shirts hung and the saleswoman approached me and asked, "Can i help you?"

Me: Just looking

W: Oh this one is nice

Me: Ahhh... *putting it across my shoulder and looking in the mirror* Yeah Nice... How much?

W: (I can't remember exactly but let's say....) $38

Me: Ohh... *Look at Z asking for approval then browse other shirts*.... Do you have shorter ones?

W: Oh you want shorter ones eh... How about this one?

Me: *shake head*

W: Or this?

Me: Nope. But just now one nice... $30 can?

W: No lah... $38 is already after discount...

Me: Oh ok lah then...

W: But if you want i can give you $35

Me: No its ok... Im looking for a short shirt anyway to wear with skirts.

W: No this one also nice with skirts....

Me: Nah...

W: Ok ok I'll give you $30 lah since the shop is closing anyway...

Me: *give it some thought...* Thanks but no thanks... I really want a short shirt.

W: It's rude (actually she said... Tak Baik / not nice) you know to do this to me... I gave you discount already but you still dont want.

Me: No i dont want. *and walked away*

Z: Yeah lah you... If you dont think you dont wanna buy then dont make her show u things lah

Me: I didnt ask her to, she came to me. Besides, i REALLY would rather buy a short shirt. I have a lot of those kinda long blouses already anyway.


Then there was this other incident at Cavana Causeway Point also...

Yeah I'm cruel. Prolly she's the one i have mistreated and therefore i'm facing hardship now. Yeah that must be it. Retribution.


Another thing is... I won't hesitate to tell a shopkeeper things like "No that one's not nice." or "I dont like this kind" or "Errrrr!!!!! *shaking head*" or whatever. My sis would always nudge me meaning to say, "Hey, its rude." But Hey, its just my opinion what. And after all, i'm the customer, I'm the one who's gonna part with MY money (ok spiritually its NOT MINE lah... but technically it is), shouldn't i have MORE say to what i wanna buy? Shouldn't i DECIDE for myself?


They didnt create the term SPENDING POWER for nothing.

It is strange how most of us girls will never get tired of the colour Pink.

We wore pink kain / skirts as part of our uniform for 12 long years of our lives. I imagine we would have gotten tired of the colour.

Nay!

We grew fonder and more attached to the colour!

Hmm I already have probably 1 dress, 4 shirts, 1 pants and 3 tudungs in many shades and patterns of Pink. But if i am allowed to buy new clothes, i would go for more pink!...

See... im not even sure should i put

1. Deteriorates or
2. Deteriorated
3. HAS deteriorated

I have always had a problem with preposition.

1. Should i say "Can i speak to _____" or "Can i speak with _______" ?
2. Why is it I'm not IN the office but i'm AT home? When office and home seems to be the same kind of place you go INTO?

Worse... not sure should i use Simple present or past tense!

For example,

1. I AM an ex-student of ________ or I WAS a student at ________
2. What's the difference between "I walked a mile" and "I have walked a mile"?
3. Is it correct to say "She WAS my consultant"? Whereas she is NOT dead and still IS a consultant.
4. How about "She was the winner of YESTERDAY's contest." Wouldn't using a past tense mean that she is not the winner anymore? But the contest happened yesterday~ :S

Question: What other special words would "regulate" a tense other than "TO"?

But i most definitely am irritated when pple use Past Continuous tense somewhat wrongfully? Although i'm guilty of it myself.

Eg: I was telling him that he should do it like this.

Shouldn't it be, I TOLD him to do it like this. Because Past Continuous tense is supposed to be used when somehing else happens / happened (help!) while a certain action is carried out. Like, "I was walking down the lane when the rain started pouring down."

Anybody could clarify this for me? Or should i go back to school?

It's a wonder how i managed to scrape a B3 for English at O level and a C6 for General Paper at A level. Mind you, to pass GP is rather.... lucky? tough?

I am somewhat moved and touched by what a colleague practises in her everyday conversation.

She punctuates sentences with "Dear".

That time i asked her, "Your neighbour's gone out for lunch already?" She glanced up from her pile of work and answered, "I don't know, dear."

Wow! That sorta made my day. Like somebody actually cared and made me feel like a close friend even though we seldom talk to each other.

I should remind myself to be gentler and more caring lah.

I edited these thru PowerPoint and saved them as jpg files.


Files become very small in size 70kb but very small lah. Need to click on them for larger pic.

to finish all my back logs... BRB

Date: 18th April 08

Venue: Conrad Centennial Hotel

Theme: Shanghai Triad VS Italia Mafia

My Choice: Shanghai


I took the cab down to the hotel and reached there at 5pm promptly. Thank God that $19.40 is claimable. and Thank God 3 other regular members were there already.


Wow the place is HUGE. Ceiling not as high as Grand Copthorne's but just nicely so. The Cocktail Area is vast too.... and guess what? They have 3 Grand pianos!!! Sheesh! Not surprised if they have another 2 hidden out of my sight that night!


We went about setting up the registration table. We had poker cards for pple to write down their names and HP no to get to the Lucky Draw. I was in charge of the VIP registration, while there were "Shanghai" and "Italian" tables.It was 6pm already but not many pple have come yet, so we are encouraged to use the 3 pre-dinner activities before the crowd hit us.


There were: Body & Face Painting, Instant Tattoos and Instant Glamour Shot.


I wanted to do the Body & Face Painting but it will stick for 3 days so i hafta choose the location carefully ie not the body parts for ablution. But then there were more and more guys walking about so i had to abandon my plan.


Aah .. instant tattoos... They were nice but i wasn't able to figure out how to apply them stickers!


Of course then, i went for the Glamour Shot. I was their first customer! For the Whole night, i only took one shot. Don't know with who else to take since my dept pple havent arrived yet.

That's a Cheongsam i'm wearing. But can't see clearly lah. My head looks like a turtle's peering out of its shell!! LOL. Most of the Mafia gang were wearing black and they said the black background didn't do justice on their outfits! True.

Manning the VIP registration table has its hazards. I drank almost 3 glasses of COLD Drink and ate LOTSA peanuts. LOL! 2 years in the company, but still can't quite remember the faces of certain internal VIPs, Don't even know a single external ones.

That's our stage

Our host was Adam. The events company we hired is great. Well they HAD to be considering we spent almost 6k on them! Dinner per table is priced at SGD 600+ for 10 pax. Oh and this year, they actually serve individually so the Muslims or vegetarian and sit anywhere as long as there are 10 of the regular meal-ers on the table. And so i took the opportunity to sit with my RecClub members.

Food is soooooooooo fantabulous!!!! That's the first course of finger food: chicken satay, samosa and prawn + mango salad. DIVINE!

Then there was the soup course. Thank god it wasn't mutton soup! It was some shark fin soup with Scallop! Vege course: stir fried broccoli with scallop again. There were Fish, prawn kebab, Chicken in Lemak gravy and finally bee hoon goreng. Oh not to forget this curious dessert with aloe vera, jelly and the biji selasih otherwise known as tadpoles! (LOL) It was the first time i ventured to tasting something as exotic as aloe vera. haha yeah that's my exotic level of gastronomical taste.

The Dinner was sprinkled with lotsa games! No point writing them down specifically. But the theme for the whole night was to see who's the better team: Shanghai or Italians! Even our two bosses picked a side!

There was a Face Changer performance all the way from China. But his masks were so scary i didn't dare to look right at his face. But not wanting to attract attention by not watching him, i resorted to looking at his robe. *shudder*

Then there was the Best Dressed Gang (read: Table) award. 4 tables were nominated 2 from Shanghai, 2 from Italian. They hafta perform a short skit or something and the rest of us shall vote with loudest cheers.

That's my Dept table, all dressed up with Cheongsams doing their Chicky Dance. So funny, the song was so long and they had to do it again and again but they endured it all. And to a great end too. I shrieked so loud for them lah! And it felt good too to let out all those negative energies! Haha but afterwards, i felt dizzy and HOT (prolly blushing cos so crazy).

The D&D finished by 30min later every year! 2006 finished at 11, 2007 11:30pm and last fri it finished at 12midnight! No it wasn't even finished yet. That's just when the Bonus prize was drawn. The emcee wanted us to "dance" first. Yeah yeah whatever. All my fellow kakak2 (sisters usually referring to Malay/Muslims sisters) went back already.

Now about the Lucky Draw. 7 pple were picked from the bowl of poker cards compiled earlier. And they had to play a game. They hafta count 1, 2, 3 and so on one after the other. The catch is, You can't say numbers that are multiplication of 7 (ie 7, 14, 21 etc...) not numbers with 7 in them (ie 17, 27, etc...) Instead you hafta replace with AXA. So the first person who got it wrong will be eliminated and given the 7th prize and so on.

It was fun lah... but i wasn't picked... :(

1st Prize - $1,088 CASH

2nd Prize - $1,000 travel Voucher

3rd Prize - $800 travel Voucher

4th Prize - Star Cruice Voucher

5th Prize - Nintendo Wii!!!!

6th Prize - $600 CASh

7th Prize - 2N Stay at Orchard Scotts Residence

BONUS PRIZE....................

A Rolex Oyster - Unisex watch. *faint*

The CEO picked one card and Leng2 called the HP no on the card. Well... it was NOT me. haha

Its ok... everybody will get a prize. AT LEAST $50 voucher. That's something aye.

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I woke up in the middle of the night at the prick i felt when Z twisted my injured hand.


"Hey!" I yelped.


When he asked me why i was grasping his arms so tightly, I cried.


I realised that I was having a nightmare. A heartbreaking nightmare.


I told Z that in my dream, me and Ayah were praying and suddenly he so nonchalantly or even defiantly walked in front of us. Then... ok this part a bit funny... my dad broke off his prayers to swear at Z!! LOL But of cos, in the dream, i was feeling furious. Even more so when Z replied with a swear too! That was when i walked up to him, grabbed his two arms and kicked his *toot*.


Then Z asked me, where was it that the scene happened?


"In my old Tampines House kitchen" I answered thoughtfully.


I have always had issues with the image of my old house. I dont like it. I dont like the memory it brings me. Also, i feel that i didn't have a proper closure to seal the memory tightly. You see... It was my working Saturday when we moved. I went to work as usual in the morning, but returned to a new home. I didn't have the chance to say a proper goodbye to the house. Worse, i havent visited the new occupiers of the house, which i believe will make me come to terms with the lingering memory. And now its too late and it keeps haunting me.


After that short conversation w Z in explaining my dream, i slowly drifted back to my nightmare.


This time i was asked to sing for the D&D (which is this fri!!) ... and a DUET with.. at first i tot was Marc Anthony (LOL!!). But we couldn't find the Karaoke version of the particular song. Then we went hunting for it and got into an accident or something and i had to take over as driver lah bla bla bla... And by now my singing partner looks like Xiaxue's boyfriend, Mike! Complete with blood on the forehead following a Valentine's Day Tragedy. LOL


Ok this is turning out funnier written out that when i was living it!

I got a reply from HDB re my enquiry about buying a house with a Pakistani husband.

Her reply as follows:

We wish to inform you that the Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme allows a citizen above the age of 21 but below 35 to buy a resale flat from the open market with a non-citizen spouse who holds a long-term social visit pass (including work permit) of at least 6 months.

I got hopeful when it says 6 months of SVP as Zubair has been granted just that and which will start on 7th May.


So i scrambled to find the 3-room house to buy so that he is still "eligible" when we register to get the house something or other.


However calls with two house agents and i found out that:

1. Its the seller's market now
2. A lot of people are downgrading now
3. Causing a demand for 3- and 4 -room flats
4. And they are demanding AT LEAST 25k above valuation (of average 200k depending on location)
5. Which is payable in CASH

Hello??? Who has 25k in blardi CASh!?? If there is anybody, i will go and rob him! Yeah i'm THAT desperate! LOL!

But my friend told me not to give up. There might be some urgent sellers like divorce cases or demise of one of the owners, etc etc.

And now i just reread her reply and it says "including work permit"??? *faint

10Th April 08

Ok the video is lousy but i didnt take any pictures, so this should serve as "momentos"

Ayah treated us to a Karaoke night at his office's Recreation Room. It's a new building equipped with 2 karaoke rooms, a lounge, 2 pool tables, a Games' Room (Puzzle Bubble kinda machine u find in arcades) and of course, a GYM. They also had some musical instruments stashed one side.

Very nice! We all had a fun 4 hours of singing between 7 of us: me, Z, parents, Kak Long and two cousins. so much so that even at 10pm, we didn't wanna stop and had another 1 song on queue! And to think that mostly pple finish at 9pm! LOL!

The food is fabulous and CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. A chicken chop tagged at $4??!! Even the room is cheap lah! $28 for 4 hours compared to $10 per person at KBox and the like.

Zubair sang all his favourite Hindi songs and of course he sang flawlessly. There was this one song Dil Se Re. It's a rock song and we got shocked when he suddenly shouted, "DIL SE RE!!!" and it came quite a number of times over the next 5 - 6mins.

It's nice that the rest of the family made an effort to sing along with him the Hindi songs. so that it wont seem like he's singing alone and nobody else bothered. But the funny thing is, its quite easy for us to sing-along with him cos mostly they repeat the lines a lot but quite diff for him to sing along to MALAY songs.

Overall, we had a great time. At least i did.

1. D&D 18th April 08

Remember my email about getting my 200+ colleagues to vote from several D&D themes?

Turned out Shanghai Knight VS Italian Mafia won. And so, being a RecClubber, i hafta rent a costume which is claimable up to $60. I decided to wear a cheongsam cos at least its coverable than a supposed SEXY Mafia lady.

Just gotta know that the top prize is $1,000 cash!! And among other top 7 prizes are Travel vouchers and a 2N hotel stay and so on. But the best part for this year's D&D is... there is a BONUS prize that EVERYONE is entitled to. Yes even if you've ALREADY won the 1st Prize! And the BONUS prize is worth $4,700!!!!

Pray for me you guys! LOL

One of my friends seem to think that RecClub members should be excluded from the lucky draw! But hey, without us, the D&D won't be planned in the first place. If anything, we should deserve MORE! LOL


2. 21st June. Charity Day

I am, again, in the planning committee. I forgot how nice it is to be organising events!


It'll be a day for lotsa fun and games! Unfortunately, they deem it unnecessary to have a live band esp when 500 of our targetted audience are actually primary sch children aged 7 - 12yrs. Sorry, Darling.


This year is a special year for our Hearts in Action Committee bcos this year our offices all around the world including of course, France, Germany, US, London and so on will organise the charity event on the same day!


A French member even suggested and 2 degree exchange. like french delegates will go over to other countries' offices on 21st June to feel the volunteerism there. In turn, 2 volunteers from other countries will go over THERE in Paris to "help" with the event.


Sheesh! If i hadn't been in the planning committee already, i would straight up and volunteer myself with much enthusiasm to go lah! (but with a slight worry about food) Most excitingly, they volunteer their house as accomodation for the foreign Hearts in Action Teams. Most unfortunately, they asked that the cost of travel be included in the CHARITY's budget! Damn! Don't know why we can't put it as a regular business trip?


So, in conclusion, i can't go lah. Nobody is.


3. Company Retreat 3rd - 5th July 08

Votes are in. Bintan won against Sentosa.

I voted for Bintan for the nice place and gorgeous beach. But then... not too sure is Z can get a visa there! Ergh! *pray hard*

But when Z DOes get the visa, we will definitely extend for one more night!! Weehooooo

8th April 08


Really they should spell it Shakunthala cos everybody's pronouncing it like that and i take it that's the correct way to say it. The name is actually that of a Hindu God or maybe Goddess. But the Restaurant is Halal certified and has 3 branches.


We went to the one at Race Course Lane

We were their first dinner customer.

Just as well so i didn't feel shy to take photos!

All tables are equipped with jug & cups. A very Indian one at that.

The food on display looks yummilicious!!!

My $3 Poori Set

On the left is Pepper Mutton SEDAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP sangat!! and a Chettinand Fish which i feel might taste better if it were fish fillets cos im not fan of "real" fish with bones and all.


About 20mins after we came then the crowd started to come in! The place is huge lah, event got a so called banquet hall or otherwise known as function room. I thought, "Hey i wanna talk to the manager see if they want LIVE Hindi songs." They are also shifting to 66 Race Course Lane on 1st June 08. Don't know how big that outlet would be though.


Overall experience is 8/10! Place is clean, price tag reasonable. the most expensive on the menu is $13 which is Prawn and Crab! The other meat dishes are on average $4.50.



Although the waiter speaks relatively good english and were able to answer my countless questions, he tried to upsell his food lor which i don't like. He kept telling us to get the Hotplate Mutton $10 but we insisted we don't need that and turned out the $4.50 Pepper Mutton was delicious already! And then when that didn't work, he asked us to get chicken dish! Aiyooo


And i feel that they can improve their menu lor. I asked this question and i also heard it being asked by one diner also. "What is your Set Menu Super Meal $13 consist of?" Hell their online menu is more comprehensive lah!


And you still come out with the smell sticking on to your clothes too. Good thing i'm married (haha) and that it was dinner already and on the way home anyways.


Oh yes the good thing about this restaurant is that they also serve Chinese dishes like Horfun and other noodles variety. So if you have a group meal and a few can't take hot and/or Indian dishes, they can always order those things.


Total bill is $24. Including drinks and GST. No service charge.


Give it a try, you guys.


They also have another branch at Dunlop St which is after The Little India Arcade / Tekka Market.

I have a lot of stories... about 5 of them... but i can't write now... I'm feeling too down.

Be Right Back.

It has been two months since i last went to the gym.


That was the week before my Pakistan trip. And with my hand mishap, i had to recover and train myself to the washroom first before i can even think of going to the gym.


At first the two weeks of medical leave i spent at home was good in the sense that msot of the time i only had one meal a day bcos i woke up late and had a lunch-cum-dinner meal. But when i've started work... BFAST is ESSENTIAL of course, then always lunching out with my sister lah whoever else lah... then at night must eat lah since Mummy cooked already. Either that or i took Z out for dinner and so on...


As a result, i regained back 3/4 of what i had previously lost.


But i cant continue taking the slimming pill if im thinking of getting pregnant. so i hafta fast a lot and go to gym a lot.


And im proud of myself to have kept my promise of going to the gym during lunch today! Although i didn't use the treadmill, at least i've broken the ice doing the stretching machines or whatever you call it lah and the dumb bells and the steam room.


My initial fear was not being able to hang on to the dumbles as well as the handles of the treadmill bcos of my still delicate left thumb... But i kept telling myself, even while doing other things, i HAFTA do this. I MUST get better. i MUST return to normal.


I hope to do the treadmill tmrw.

I was once cheated by the Singapore Business Pages, barely 2 months since i started work too!

Let me recall the story now:

Just when i thought that my life could not get any more interesting nor bloggable... something happened!


Yesterday, an invoice of $4,462.50 came from Mukasurat Bisness Singapura (not the real name but its something like Yellow Pages, Green Book and the like) being advertising entry for the said publication.


The story began like this... about 2 months after i started work here.. precisely on 26th June 06, i received a letter to update our office address. through out my career years, i have received calls such as this letter to ask if there's been any change to the office address so that they could update their database so i 'thought' nothing of this letter.


Since it was not attentioned to anybody in particular, i took the liberty to read it and reply accordingly. this is because we had just moved from 25th floor to the 9th floor a few months ago and they still got our add as 25th. and the funny part is that because they got the add wrong, the letter came to me AFTEr the deadline to update our address which was 16th June 06. so i scribbled a 'cute' apologetic note saying "sorry for the delay, but the letter took its time being finally forwarded to us."


Just before sending out the fax in reply, i hesitated for a second. "Should i inform my boss about this?" was the thought that went thru my mind.... then i conceded that i shouldnt bother my boss with such a petty issue and that i could handle this myself and i proceeded to send the fax. For some reason, i hung on to my copy of the fax for a long while... (normally i would have thrash it into the bin after two weeks being in my tray)... i was thinking they should be getting back to me on this to acknowledge receipt or anything and when they do i dont want to be blur about it.


Exactly four weeks later, the invoice came. Oh no!!! What have i done?!?!?! I started reading the terms and conditions......

"Mukasurat Bisnes Singapura / Advertisement Contract : M2 - 3051381 / Advertisement Cost SGD 4,250 + GST per edition.

Terms and Conditions: I have read and hereby agree to the following terms and conditions and order the advertisement as in the company detail box shown below. im authorised to sign this contract on behalf of the company. Direktori Bisnes Asia Pte Ltd (not real company name) accepts cancellations only within seven days from the date of submission of this contract. All cancellation requests must be made in writing to Direktori Bisnes Asia Pte Ltd. All payments due to Direktori Bisnes Asia Pte Ltd will be settled within seven days from the receipt of invoice and must be paid before the publication is due. this contract is valid for two years with one payable edition per year. thsi contract is binding and final, alterations must be made in writing to Direktori Bisnes Asia Pte Ltd. The price for the advertisement as shown below is SGD 4,250 plus GST per edition. I authorise Direktori Bisnes Asia Pte Ltd to publish our compnay details. In case the payment has not been received Direktori Bisnes Asia Pte Ltd will charge an interest of two percent per month and additional legal fees. Terms and conditions herein shall be governed, construed and interpreted in accordance with the law of Singapore and parties hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Singapore.


Dear Sir / Madam,

To be included in the latest Mukasurat Bisness Singapura, kindly complete, sign, affix your company chop and return for Fax 6123 1234 before June 16 2006. Thank you for your participation.

Company Detail Box...."

I found a few loopholes and angles from which i could base my argument. And i call them up just to find out first whether they can cancel the invoice...

Me: Is this Singapore Business Pages?
Girl: er... yes
Me: Who is the person in charge of invoices?
Girl: Hm... there are two pple but they are both on the line. i will get them to call you.
Me: ok .. (give my particulars) btw who's that on the line
Girl: Mariam (not her real name)
Me: ok and what's the name of the other two pple?
Girl: Huh?
Me: The two pple whom u said will be returning my call? Surely u know their names
Girl: Oh.. er... one's Benjamin (not his real name) and the other i dont know who. im new here..
Me: Oh ok... from which department are they?
Girl: Benjamin's from accounts and the other HR... ill check and get back to you?
Me: OK then..Bye

(konon tu step garang ah)

A few min later, this Benjamin called back...

Ben: Can i speak to Miss Julissa?
Me: Yes speaking.
Ben: This is Benjamin from SBP
Me: Oh yes Benjamin... Which dept r u from?
Ben: Im from the accounts dept
Me: Right. can you get the invoice i mentioned cancelled? because our intention was actually to just update our address, not to post an advertisement.
Ben: Cancel? But in the contract, there's no qualifiers to say so..
Me: Qualifiers?
Ben: Like remarks or whatever to say that its just to update ur add.
Me: *roll eyes (too bad he cant see but i try to make it show/heard in my voice)* Ok but can u just get it cancelled?
Ben: Ok... can.. but we will need a written request from you. and there's actually a grace period.
Me: (waiting for more explaination but after a pause...) How long?
Ben: 7 days
Me: From when? (i asked straight away this time)
Ben: date of submission of contract
Me: Ok... but then how do i know that you have received and processed my fax when i didnt hear anything from you?
Ben: *defensively* Well.. usually the fax machine can tell us whether the fax got thru or not
Me: *irritatedly* Yeah.. USUALLY...
Ben: (made some more lame excuses of fax notification)
Me: Ok then. can i email to you?
Ben: Yes email is also considered a written request
Me: *roll eyes* (yeah like i dont know that) so what's ur email add?
Ben: You can find it at the foot of our invoice
Me: (helloooooo u think im blind?) Does this email go to you directly?
Ben: Yes it will be sent directly to me... and another colleague.
Me: (now that's not so direct is it?)
Ben: (went on about being quick to send cos of the window period bla bla bla)


At this point, i was already fed up with the conversation and decided to end it quickly and just send the email.

I drafted the email, asked my mentor to check it, he said its alright and went straight in to my boss' room to confess.

"Dear Benjamin,

This is our formal request to you to cancel the abovementioned invoice.

In consideration of these points, kindly invalidate our order:
1. Intention is to update our address
2. Julissa Adam is not an authorised person to sign such "contract" on behalf of the company
3. It was sent AFTER the deadline of 16th June 2006 as stated in the "contract"
4. The phrase in the "contract" is non-specific and misleading. Quote: To be included in the latest Singapore Business Pages.... Unquote.

Given that we do not have any idea whether our order was processed or otherwise, we believe that the grace period for cancellations should be extended to start from your next notification ie the tax invoice which was received by us yesterday 17th July 06.

As much as we would like to support you in your business, we hope that customer clarity, understanding and agreement are of utmost importance to you.

If you have any further queries, kindly contact my manager Mr M D@ 6999 9999or email him at blablabla@bla.com.sg

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you and regards,
Julissa"




Me: Mike, can i talk to you for a bit?
Boss: Yes, Julissa
Me: I made a mistake........ *cast eyes downwards* this letter came in *showed him the first letter that did* it wasnt attentioned to anybody so i took the liberty to update our add..
Boss: *giggled*
Me: Then an invoice came......
Boss: *suddenly turning serious... and more serious as he reread thru the terms & conditions* (i couldnt help remembering how Val said he had been very angry once and she had never seen he being so angry before and couldnt help imagining that he'd be angry at me the same way too)

*still reading the terms* (gosh this silence is soo deafning) ..... *finished reading* Ok......

Me: This is the draft email that i intend to send them
Boss: *shove it aside to pour down on the invoice instead*..........
Me: *nervous laughter*
Boss: *Finally took the email* oh.. this is quite a good email actually... *pause...* HOw did the first letter came?
Me: Thru the mail...
Boss: u mean like the snail mail.
Me: Yeah
Boss: that's not very professional of them is it?
Me: *enthusiastically* Yeah!!
BOss: (after a pause...) and its silly of you to have replied too...
Me: *sheepish smile*
Boss: Ok u just add at the last line for them to contact me for further query, send to them and see what they say.
Me: *nervously and not-quite-so-sure-ly* Ok..
Boss: Ok Julissa...


and that is it.... he's not THAT angry at me and i'm thankful... now im just waiting for the verdict from the other side... and now im going to make prayers to let this go thru freely.
(i also practised Fit's tip to say Ya Latif to lembutkan hati dia... Fit, if you're reading this... (tho u havent accepted my invitation to add as ur friend i multiply yet) Thanks)


So... Moral of the story is... Don't try to pandai2 yourself... Dont assume, always seek clarification. because that single 'thought' of my mine can lead to my having to pay $4k!!! that's like 2.5 months my salary sey!!


They have replied promptly (yesterday) to my email of which it looks very much like a standard template! they highlighted the benefits of advertising with them and offer 3 options:

1. ADvertising within the Mukasurat Bisnes Singapura for only year of the two year contract for SGD 4250+GST and we will offer you the second year absolutely free, or

2. Advertising within the Mukasurat Bisnes Singapura at a Special Discounted Rate of SGD 3500+GST for 1 year with the second year cancellation or

3. If you desire to cancel, we can offer your company a 30% discount of the cancellation fees of SGD 4250. The amount payable for the cancellation is SGD 2975.

However, for this option to be available we must receive full payment as shown in the option listed above from your company on or before Wednesday, 26th July 06.

The summary of the reply from MY boss is for them to reconsider our request again as i "returned the form in good faith considering it to be purely a change of address request" and that we would not benefit very much from advertising in this particular publication becos we are a very specialised insurance unit with a majority of our clients are overseas. Also that if they still dont agree then he "will need to take legal advice on the binding nature of your unsolicited 'Advert Contract'".


My boss is soo kind my heart goes for him. I went to him to say that ive seen is reply and that my friend said that in Australia this kindsa advertisement is common place and he said yeah hoping to find pple like me to fall for it. i said yeah.. im just so naive not to have suspected anything.


And today, I called Mukasurat Bisnes Singapura and Ben picked up d phone. he said yeah he has rcvd mike email reply n is lookin into it.

Me: can u please help me 2 cancel it cos ...they're gonna sack me & ive just worked here 4 3mths AND i hafta pay the 2k fee then wat m i gonna eat?

Ben: y u hafta pay 4 it?Me: cos im d 1 hu did d mistake wat.

Him: how abt he transfer to your other company instead?

Me: tt's out of d Q cos they are a totally separate entity

Him:ok 4such xtrem case where employee hafta pay we can reconsider our proposal if we see
hard evidence tt they are asking YOU to pay for it.

Me: Which they are...

Him: So ur boss not gonna help u? give to AXA Ins or wat..

Me: tt's not d issue. PLs help me ben

Him: *some reluctant noises*

Me: Ok thanks cos if u cant then i hafta tell d newspapers abt this 2 warn others not 2 fall into the same mess im in.

Him: ive already read in paper where they tell u 2 read d fine print careful even d lengither ones Anyway i leave tt up to u. but ill see what i can do.

Me: Thank u. i hope u hear from u tmrw.

Him: Yes ok.


And now today's newpaper article.

April 08, 2008
PAY FOR ADVERTISING IN DIRECTORY LISTINGS?
He nearly signs deal for
$4k until...





HE
spotted an error in his company information in the document which he thought was
from Yellow Pages.


Mr Simon Quek, 52, owns an audio records store but the document listed his business as 'communication, advertising and media'.
He wanted to amend the error, sign the document and then fax it back to the company.

But the document, which he received on 1Apr, wasn't from Yellow Pages. And if he had endorsed it then, he would have to pay over $4,250 for a two-year advertisement contract with Asian Business Directories (ABD), something which he did not ask for.

While Mr Quek didn't read the document carefully, he did the right thing by showing it to his brother-in-law, Mr Wee Cheeh Eng, a 65-year-old retiree, who remembered reading previous media reports on disputes related to some business directory.
Yellow Pages provides simple listings for free and charge only for display
advertisements, while ABD charges for any listing.

On 17 Mar, ABD published an apology to Yellow Pages in The Straits Times for 'having infringed their copyright in the Yellow Pages directories' and declared that they are not related to the latter. Yet, three weeks after the apology was published, Mr Wee called The New Paper, complaining that his brother-in-law received documents from the company.

Mr Wee said: 'How can a business deal be sealed by just faxing a document?'

MATTER CLOSED

When contacted, ABD's assistant general
manager, Mr Benjamin Koh, said its recent apology had nothing to do with the
similarities of the two companies' logos, publication names and business
directories.

Ms Sharon Liew, Yellow Pages' marketing communications manager,
said the company had accepted the apology and considered the matter
closed.

The Straits Times reported that Case and the Advertising Standards
Authority of Singapore have received at least 53 complaints since ABD's
registration in mid-2005.

Case executive director Seah Seng Choon told The New Paper it has received three enquiries on the matter since the published apology. If companies have already bought ad space in ABD and they are unhappy, they could turn to the Small Claims Tribunal.

Mr Koh noted that ABD was getting only 90 complaints a month about mistaken identity, from the 30,000 mailers it sends every month.

Mr Koh said: 'If they don't want to buy the ad and just want to amend their company details, they can just amend it on the document, but not sign it, and fax it back to us. This way, they won't be charged any fees.'

But Mr Wee feels that business owners may still unknowingly commit themselves.
He said: 'There're enough complaints and media coverage for something more to be done.'

Why don't they just close down for goodness sake??

1st April 08


Oops i forgot i had these pictures to write about.


Last Tuesday, we went to Taj Samudra. It is now located directly opp Mustafa centra so you can't miss it. I was craving for Fish Methi bcos everytime i wait for my dad at Kinta Road carpark i will smell it. And now after 4 months, we're back again!!!

Me in the very purple shalwar kameez that i got irritated with wearing it for the first time in Pakistan back then. But now i feel comfortable with it. It was probably my heavily bandaged hand (and the inability to wear tudung properly) that caused the heartache that time.

Ok we were so crazy hungry at 6pm that i suggested we ate paper thosai (EACH) at Komalas. And then went window shopping at Mustafa and THEN placed our orders for Fish methi. So he (note: only he) was not so hungry anymore and had to pack his mutton and we also packed the methi gravy altho the fish has finished. And it was just as well cos one of the following nights, he was desperate to eat something and we had just the thing!


Anyways, the new Taj Samudra is very much smaller than the old one but they have 2nd storey though i doubt its for diners. And they no longer have the plasma TV just radio to play songs. You will still leave the place with the cooking smell stuck on your hair and/or clothes. But the restaurant is tastefully designed and the food as nice as ever. The price tag still remains the same (higher end) but at least now they have a Lunch Ala-carte Buffet at $10 per person!


Let me know if you've visited them!

Facebook is blocked.

I have two major projects at work which im totally excited about. D&D 18th Apr and Charity day 21st June 08 which im roping Z's band to perform!

New Financial Controller starting tmrw.

We sampled Hei Sushi at Downtown East Sat night.

Finally finished watching All 8 Seasons of Charmed. I hate Paige. I always have.

Watched The Golden Compass too and it was extraordinary!

I always feel tired after the weekend.

What else can i say?

Monday I received a $50 Starhub Voucher in the mailer.

I was rather astonished as my contract will only expire in Sept and at the earliest you can recontract your mobile plan is 3 months prior to the expiry.


So i decided to call them to clarify.

Apparently, they are running campaigns giving out vouchers to loyal customers (i have been with Starhub for 7 years! Lol) and waiving the early termination fee of $100 for customers to upgrade their phone.


The catch is... If i wait a lil longer (3-4months) i will get $100 voucher instead of just $50 and also hopefully the price of my beloved w960i (I've been wanting it since 28 June 07 lah!) will go down some from the current $398 its retailing at.

The downside if i wait is... if my k800i trade-in price will fall below $100? and im still not guaranteed a lower price or if i will get the voucher at all! And besides, my hp is going haywire also. Like suddenly some the "options" button will read F:4322 or something like that.

But then again, i am not prepared to part with $248 now anyways.... I think i'd just wait till i get my July Bonus. I just hafta tolerate with my phone acting up.

used to look like this. Back on 18th Feb, that is 3 weeks after the incident.

9 weeks into the injury, it looks like this.

I showed my hand to my girl friends last Sun and most of them gasped! I am a bit torn in between feeling awful that this happened to me and feeling proud i braved thru this. Although i think im leaning to the latter as it seemed like a Love Scar.

Even Apple Juice now reminds me of the hurt on my hand. Cos when i was brought to the hospital without any bfast yet, i was given heavenly apple juice to drink up since i didnt have much appetite for other things.

My hand feels almost back to normal except for occasional "electric shocks" and the ugly scar that will... some day fade away.

It looks scary bcos last week i had a mosquito bite and rashes! An allergic reaction to this natural rubber latex on this plaster. That's why the scar looks black or dark or whatever. The doctor prescribed me some medicine and Zyrtec to stop the itch. I guess i hafta get Vitamin E cream myself.

In any case, I'm happy to have achieved several milestones. i can do stuff with left hand or both like:

1. 100% Dress on my own
2. Pull doors open
3. Turn the knob albeit slowly
4. Wash plates

That was why i felt confident enough to start spring cleaning my room last Sun. Up Next: Hand wash my 2 months old Shalwar Kameez *plug nose*

My desk didn't face the window, rather the door, but i heard commotion behind me and i kepo (busybody) a bit lah (which is actually unusual for me).


This is what they were looking at!

This construction worker was catwalking on a slim plank on the "roof" of prolly 11th floor or something WITHOUT any harness!!

He was trying to remove some metal thingy before he finally climbed back down.

Being an insurance company, my risk manager was like rambling on and on about how security has been breached and how the companies who are writing the Workmen Compensation would blow their top off if they were to see this!

I have! In the office!

Its part of RecClub email activities and i chose to write about April Fools but the history is so boring, i thought a mild prank would be nice! I scoured the net for ideas and improvised some.

This is what i sent to my 200+ colleagues:

Dear All,

As you might know, Your RecClub has not a big budget.
However, we so want to have a Big Bang of a D&D this coming 18th April.

We’re doing a Garage Sale to raise some money to, in turn, make a
great show that evening. So please take a look at the attached list of items
we’re selling and help Your RecClub to help yourselves!

Thanks in
advance!
Your RecClub

These are things we were "selling":

If you clicked on the expensive items, you'd get this pop up:

If you're a cheapo, this is what you'd get:

HEHEHE!!!