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Registered Company

Tmrw, my dept ceased to be a wing of the parent company but will be registered as its own company and w our HQ being in Paris.

As such, i have lotsa and lotsa and lotsa things to do!

I have a draft saved but cant finish it right now. Please hang in there. Got plenty to post soon-ish.

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Nice nice nice

After such a long time, more than 4 weeks, Zubair finally sent me to "Dreamworld" ie sleep. Happily too! Not grudgingly or with dragged feet.

He enthusiastically grabbed a book and snuggled in next to me. It was midnight and i was a happy girl feeling her hub next to her, the last thing she saw before drifting to a nice dream.

Another thing that made me happy was.. the book he was reading. Nehjul Balagha.

In the morning, while i was getting ready for work, suddenly his eyes slit open. He gestured for me to come to him. After a warm hug (God i so dont wanna go to work!) he mumbled something... i asked, "what's that?" and he said..


I love you.


No he wasnt sleeptalking. Bcos he usually sleeptalks in Urdu. and also bcos one minute into the snuggle, and he nudged me to go to work.

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The Flame of Friendship.
A symbol of spirit of unity.
The burning icon of love.
Undying picture of hope.
The hot symbol of oneness.
The Flame of Friendship.


And now it’s your turn to flame yourself! Meet new friends. Discover friendship. Make bonds.

Copy this post starting from the PICTURE ABOVE to the end and add your blog on the list below.

Let’s start FLAMING!

+ The People Who Accepted The Flame of Friendship +
Tiklaton: We are the witness
Janeth Vicy’s Life Journey
My Precious
Jean’s Live it Up…
Sharz - Pangit’s Journey In The States
JAM-Life:Thoughts & Inspirations
The Sweet Life
Me and Mine
D’ Cooking Mudra
A Mother’s Stuff
Housewife @ Work
Laila’s Thoughts & Tips
Purple Tulips’ Walking Through
Jussaemon's Ups and Downs of a Mixed Marriage

OOOPSS!! Don’t forget to invite your friends!
{END COPY HERE}

Just something to fill my blog today. =)

Actually i like the kinda tag that will ask you who's ur fav author, or where's ur hp now, or where was your first holiday. Maybe ill look one up and start the ball rolling.

BTW, i wanna tag

Nisa, Wana, and Fara

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Afro Latin Cardio a Disaster Five times over

Tuesday


I was knocked down in my chair when i read an email saying, "Reminder for your first Afro Latin Cardio Lesson tmrw night."


Mishap No 1: Hang on a sec. This email was sent the day before while i was on MC. Sheesh! The class is today! And i dont have my gear with me and i was wearing a kameez top, a white pants and my pointy bare back shoes.


But at that time, i was feeling on top of the world, nothing could stop me. So i called the darling Hubby and asked a favour from him to bring my gears for me. At first, he was reluctant, but i coaxed him w a promise of a special treat and eventually he agreed. In my mind i was prepared to go barefooted and in the current outfit.


Mishap No 2: Instead of bringing my white and blue long sleeve t-shirt, he brought my blue and black SWIMMING top! LOL... ok its better than nothing. PLUS he's got my pants and most importantly, shoes, right.


Mishap No 3 nearly happened when iw as trying to locate the studio on my own cos i didnt wait up for my other colleagues. It was at Palmer Road near Bestway Building. I nearly wanted to walk down till the end of Shenton Way.


So the REAL Mishap / Disaster No 3 was... The "exercise" was SUPER HIGH INTENSIVE. Most of us cannot make it lah. Although my HR already warned us NOT to expect a nice studio, it really was a run down place! And i couldnt help comparing Tuesday's instructor with Thursday's. Tuesday doesnt show us step by step movement. Nor wait us up nor slack a bit seeing that we all cldn't cope. All i can do is hope next one will be better. Either that or i'll just wait for 6 weeks to be over and its Belly Dancing Tuesdays. Well but i hafta say it was a good sweat lah after such a long time.


Its not enough that Three mishaps had already happened. At No 4: MY PAPERBACK BURST! the paperback that Z brought containing my clothes. Thank God class was already over. But it had to burst right at the toilet door with people looking on! ERGH! I just quickly stuffed everything into my bag and cradle my book.


Bcos i wanted to treat Z to dessert, our dinner could not be so heavy and we ended up by 20 sticks of satay at Lau Pa Sat for $14.


That's when Mishap No 5 happened: The dessert eatery is CLOSED!! Because they are located in town when its practically deserted after office hours, the operating hours for THAT particular outlet is 11am to 8pm!! and we reached there like 8:45pm!! BOOHOOHOOO I was sooooooooo looking forward to eating ice cream. Cheh!


5 Mishaps in a day were not enough to bring me down from the Top of the World feeling. It all felt tooo miniscule bcos Z was with me and i was feeling loved and appreciated. Hee :D

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I HATE MY STATIONERY SUPPLIER!!!

OREGON PRIME MARKETING! YOU KEEP GIVING ME THE WRONG COLOURED FILES!!! YOU SHITHEADS!


i think they failed their english miserably. Either that or i didnt deserve my B3 O level English.


In my order list i put 6pcs in Quantity for item "3" F4 Arch File Beige" and then in remarks i wrote, "exchange with 6 dark blue ones they sent the last time"

Tell me how unclear was i being?

THIS IS LIKE THE SECOND TIME ALREADY! ARGHHHH Ok lah prolly the last time because i didnt indicate the colour code but i said MID blue and they came NAVY Blue! How thick are they? 3 inch i'd say!


Sheer heartache! and i cant do anything about it cos its all controlled by an Admin dept!

This is putting a downer in my already down morning ok.

To think that yesterday i was breezing thru thinking i could take over the world. Today i was just shoving everybody, not caring about traffic and glaring out loud, "DON'T MESS WITH ME!"

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Sports CARNIVAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Volunteers had to be there by 7:30am.
I was ready by 6:50am (like 40min earlier than normal weekdays) and ready to hail the cab (since its claimable) but mummy and ayah insisted on sending me. Yayyy
I intended to buy another $10 of Bee Bee snack to supplement our sweets giveaway for game stall but the provision shop nearby was still closed. There was a coffee shop next door. While i thought it was unlikely they would carry Bee Bee stocks, i just surveyed and indeed i was in luck! However, they sell at 20cents each now! So when i could have bought 100pkt worths, i only got 52pkt! but better than nothing at all!
I was the first to arrive from my dept. Then about 45min later, Amos, followed by Val then Mathieu.

Looks like the kids are all busy in the telematch. We expected the family to start patronising our stalls first while the telematch was on the roll but they spectated the event. So we went for bfast first.

There were toasts with syrup, hashbrowns and scrambled eggs, as well as muffins!

So basically the first half of the morning was slack for us. Not many pple.... just some of the volunteers kids playing the games and some of us sampling the other stalls' games. If i were one of the children, i'd be jumping with joy with all those games that were available lah!

My Locks & Keys Station.

The locks and keys were supposed to be clipped on to a chain which should have been hung. But in the end the chain didnt come and just as well cos putting it on the table was way better. Look! the children are so small they cant even reach if we were to have hung it!

Topple the tin can station





Animals Hula Hoop Station

Paper Aeroplane station


Skip n Win Station


Unfortunately, i didnt get to see where i stand in the skipping skills.


MY FAV station! Puzzle Bubble or something.

You hafta pick up as many marbles with chopsticks in 1 min. The marbles are in that container of SOAP water. i was aiming for the Cookie Crisp mini packet so i just picked up 5 but they refused to give me any cos its supposed to be for the poor kids. At the end, they have loads to spare! Boohoohoo...



Fishing the Fish


My favourite boy! Antoine Tetard.


The name escapes me


Treasure Hunt!



Nice!

Look at the hardwork of nailing all those!

It warms my heart how the colleagues are so ingeneous at creating games out of recycled items like Boxes and egg trays and also how generous they are at buying the game set / items (there is this one stall giving out sand art pieces!! and even win some MORE prizes after you COMPLETEd ur art piece!) and lovely lovely prizes too.

By 11am, we were too busy i didnt even get to eat ANYTHING! Bcos one of my colleague went down to get food and never came back! leaving only 2 at the game stall where the action was and FOUR at the food stall! If it hadnt been so much fun, i would have cried at not getting to eat!


It was 1pm already. Prize giving time. But before that there was a tug of war between AXA's various group CEOs along with the Guest of Honor, a minister i shan't mention his name.

Thank god my mgr gave the green light to pack up. Most of our good prizes are gone but there were some balance left and we gave it to the marshal for the Red Team for him to distribute to his kids


By 1:30pm we left and my mgr even gave me a lift home. Phew!

We were also being featured in ChannelNewsAsia


AXA Group organises sports carnival for underprivileged families

By May Wong, Channel NewsAsia

Posted: 22 June 2008 1614 hrs

SINGAPORE: The AXA Group, which deals in insurance, organised a sports carnival for underprivileged children and their family members on Saturday. They partnered City Community Services and North East Community Development Council for the carnival. The event which was held at North Vista Primary School, attracted over 500 needy children. Whether it was to test their accuracy skills or aim for speed, children hopped from one game station to another. The event brought smiles with prizes being won. The event is part of an international effort under the AXA group, where over 17,000 of its employees volunteer their time to care for the community. - CNA/vm

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Was Busy Last Fri

with preparation for our Charity Sports Carnival the next day.


In the office, i was wrapping presents... then had to go for FREE Hassle Free fitness test, also had to do last minute pie charts before our Big bosses from Paris arrival on Monday.


Then at 3pm we left our office to the venue of our event to set up our stalls.


Mishap No 1: Taxi driver forgot to turn on the meter until we were already in Punggol! like the last 10min of the journey! (In the end, he charged us flat fee of $15 which would have been accurate if we did not detour to my colleague's place to pick up some stuffs)


Mishap No 2: Our hand pump was not working properly so couldn't blow balloons.


Mishap No 3: The sound system guys (of my cousin's contact) said they were coming at 12:30pm but reached there only at 3pm! They brought extra 2 speakers and almost wanted to set up at an additional location bcos of some miscommunication. Luckily, i went to meet them and had to go to and fro to clarify with all parties. He would have charged us $150 extra, dok! (which reminds me i need to tell my cousin to whom they should bill it to.)


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

I got Zubair to meet me at Compass Point.

Mishap No 4: I found a PLATINUM NTUC Credit card at an AXS Station! With only a microsecond of greed, i called up the hotline and told them i found the card. The officer on the line thanked me profusely and told me to hold on while she try to call the owner of the card. She got back to me and said the owner is waiting at the AXS station. and i returned her card. She simply said, "Sorry ah im so careless." and walked away.

After dinner at KFC and $20 at TimeZone Arcade (where i beat him at every game be it motor or car racing and that Slam Dunk thingy - Im such a gamer) we didnt really know where to go or what to do.

Z was itching to go home but i was adamant to spend some more time out.. cos otherwise he'd feel restless at home. So i told him, "Let's just... jalan jalan (walk walk)" Practising to "hang out", Chill... and before we know it... it was 9pm already! Metro was having a great sale and i managed to bag a shirt and smart pants for Zubair for $50.

Mishap No 5: The MetroCard that i had has been discontinued and replaced with UOB - Metro card. They told me it was since 29th feb 08 and i had no clue! It's been THAT long (in fact longer since Dec 07) that i havent used this card :) The downside of this new card? You hafta be earning 30k and above before u can apply. previous card rule was set to just 24,000 that's why i was eligible. Bodoh.

We took the bus home and unavoidably bought something at the bazaar. Of course, OTak2 for Zubair, after such a longgggg time it seemed!

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Excuse me

Please excuse my pening / be-migrained self.

This morning my head was ping ponging itself so hard i can't hear myself think. Even when i sleep, i dreamt that i was still having headaches.

And Big bosses from Paris are in town!

Im torn between dragging my feet to work and have a bad mood or try to sleep it off and feel guilty.

Naturally, i went with the latter option as apart from making them tea or giving them water, i dont really give any significance to their visit.


I have a lot of stories to write but going to the doctor soon. So you guys wait for tmrw ok?

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Klutzy Me

Is it me or mishaps just happen to have a crush on me?

Last week i didnt go to dance class. Reason? I forgot. Why i forgot? Bcos i was already DRESSED for it ie no need to change, didnt even bring shoes cos it was supposed to be yoga / pilates week.

At 11am last week i was hungry and sooo busy thinking of what to eat that come 12:03pm i realised, "Hey i was supposed to go to class! Er... how can i go now when im soo hungry??? Thank god its just yoga / pilates. Bye bye Class."


Today i was all geared up. As i was about to step out of the office, i realised im not wearing nor did i bring my specs. WOrse still i forget to pin my tudung (headscarf / headgear).


I was suffering from low morale so much so that i kept forgetting my steps! What a waste. Thank God the tudung was behaving its black self. Otherwise, i'd be grunting with inner anger! Only when i was eating that it went askew and i just kept my head low on my desk not looking at anybody.


Also, i think my muscles are totally imbalanced. I can circle my right hips but i got stiff when trying to do the left side. Hmmm


Only left 5 more sessions of these dance class of which 2 are the yoga / pilates thingy, and two hip hop / latin dance.


I'm also starting Afro Latin and Belly Dancing class on Tues nights in two weeks time. Also $30 subsidised by company. I hope i'll be good at it.

I wish i can have a personal dance instructor. I so envy these two colleagues who are already pro at it. I want i want! Why didnt my parents send me to govt sch where i could take up dance as co-curiculum.... (hahah ok they prolly know i'd turn out WILD if they did)

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Its Another One of Them False Starts Again

GV has a $6.50 per ticket offer every Tuesday for member.



So i thought it's a good opportunity to bring Zubair to watch an English movie.

Since im not a member yet, i asked my sis to book for me online but used my credit card. Somehow they say that there's a card number error. So thinking that i'd only save $1 anyway bcos of the booking fee, my sis left me to buy the ticket on my own at the counter.

So i met Z at Bishan at 6:05pm.

After some 10min of queueing, i was told that the transaction couldnt come thru! What? I tried my Diners... unsuccessful also... Wha..... what??


But that's not possible! The statement for Visa says i've only charged $300. I cant have spent $200 in the span of 1 week now could i? And my Diners also have free space of $100 ok!


i walked away with no tickets :(


And i was all geared up to watch it.. ok ok i shall wait for pay day and AFTEr i've settled my CC. I should also check with the bank that my card is not spoilt or anything. haha.


In the end, we just went to Bishan library and back. If we had known this were to happen, should have just stayed at home and save on that train ride fare! Ergh!

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The Best Part about Lunch ...

Besides the fact that i get to EAT...


Is that i get to thaw myself out in the sun, away from the cold freezing and dehydrating office.

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Mere Baap Pehle Aap

UPDATE

I forgot to write how loved i felt that night when Z took my hand when we were walking, crossing the road and in the theater. These small gestures made a big deal in my heart. As Z would put it, "My heart went blinking blinking." =)


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


I wondered all thru the movie what does the title mean... Only towards the end did i discover it means, "My Father, YOU first."





MERE = MY

Baap = Father

Pehle = First

Aap = You





At first i thought i was condemned to spend the last week and the next at home. That was until Rabiah, Zubair's friend who is very much MY friend now, asked us out! We explained to her our "Drought" situation but she said its ok for this first time, its her treat bcos she's been anxiously waiting for the release of this movie...


I was super excited to meet her for the first time! PLUS it also meant that i can buy them popiah from Qi Ji again. Just what i was craving for at that hour! (But believe you me... 1hr after i gobbled them up, i was craving for them again! By the time it was too late, already fastened in the movie and by the time it finished, Qi Ji would have closed.)


We had dinner first at that Indian coffee shop near Liang Seah Street. And i giggled non-stop w Rabiah showing the Malay side in her when she became outraged that i only ordered Murtabak for Z and myself. She said, "Eh please dont do this to me lah. Not nice you know..."


You see Malay has this generous yet polite mentality where one would feel insulted if the treatee orders a small meal when being given a treat by the treator when actually the treatee feels embarrassed to take advantage of the situation and make a dent on the treator's wallet. Funny aye?


But i insisted that i already have my popiah and that would be enough. However, when Rabiah couldn't decide what to eat, we decided to share the murtabak around while Z orders Chicken Briyani. We even had some left over Murtarabak that we packed for home for Z's supper!


Thru out that short dinner, Rabiah managed to practise her Punjabi, made Z WEEP craving for her mother's food every numerous times that she described how nice her mother cooks this and that this and that. LOL.


I almost leapt with joy when she bought Strawberry Pocky for the movie. MY FAVOURITE! Strawberry some more~ hehehe


After the movie, Rabiah had to rush home for a dinner date with her mother AND Salman Khan. LOL. on TV that is. So we didnt really get to hang out properly. Raincheck that after pay day alright! We'll go bowling next insya'Allah!


About the movie... well... its so funny it was down right rude! I am Malay at heart and in my blood and i cannot stand a child, however grown up they are, being RUDE to their parents. That is totally unspeakable. I was actually grossed out when people actually LAUGH when the son was "punishing" the father. Er... i dont find anything funny in there, people.


Besides, after seeing Kung Fu Panda, this movie is pale in comparison. OH well.. At least they've got the traditional singing and dancing and i get to sharpen my ears and look out for familiar urdu / hindi words being put into everyday sentences.

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Productive Me

Wow! I've finished my minutes of meeting!

Monday started a bit blue. As usual chatted a lot.

But somehow after a 40min Department Meeting at 10am, i suddenly felt geared up to finish all these labelling of files and get them out of sight on my counter!!

I even worked till 12:30pm! and started work promptly at 1:50pm. Normally by 11:30pm Lunch mood already cast in. and i will eat, read, nap, write, play w intervals of some work till 2pm LOL

I've started the drafts for the past 2 meetings as well as last week's minutes. And since today's content was very little, i pushed myself to finish all of them! OK ok, prolly the motivation to finish it came about when a colleague raised the matter in the meeting! LOL that the other colleagues not in the meeting would very much like to get updated on the goings-on.


But im proud of myself for not chatting much nor surfing / reading other pple's blog. *pat myself on the back*


Tmrw i aim to finish a stack of data entry, as well as 12 emails (containing over 100 certificates) worth to print and file (one of the many inefficiencies and redundancies that i wish to eliminate if i were a manager!) This will surely take up my whole day tmrw!


Wish me luck! haha

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Kung Fu Panda



OH MY LORD!!! THE FUNNIEST MOVIE EVER EVER EVER EVER!

Me, Long, Cousins Nur and Yayan and even my young Aunty Cik Girl (just 5 yrs older than my 1st sis) met at Cathay Cineleisure last night. (Nope i didnt even ask Zubair along) It was a Wed night but a LOT of pple!! The theater was 97% filled ok!!

After the movie, i understood why Yayan, despite having watched it (for free though) just the previous day, wanted to see it again. it was THAT good!

The Secret Ingredient to the Secret Ingrediet Noodle Soup is.....................

Hahha.. Nah.. I shan't spoil it for you.

One thing's for sure your gum won't get dry. Lol! That's a Malay way of saying, you can't stop laughing! Definitely a DVD to buy!

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WE HAD AN ACCIDENT!!!

This morning at about 8.12am, on the way to work, a taxi bumped us from behind!


We were travelling along the CTE (AYE). It happened somewhere near AMK Ave 3.




I felt the impact was SOooo great I thanked God i was sitting in front and wearing the seat bealt. I can't fathom what it would have been like if a passenger sitting behind didn't wear the seat belt. It was really very scary.


At first, i thought they was a major earthquake or something but didnt see anything happening in front of me. It took me a few nanoseconds after i saw my dad checking the rearview mirror to understand what had happened! But the instant (30 sec) after the fear subsided, I whipped out my hp camera and took pictures! Evidence, babe.

The Toyota Crown Taxi was unscathed! prolly a teeny wee bit hint of a crooked hood and one or two micromini dents.


I even took the driver's facial picture So he can't weasel out of this one. HAH!




The driver was SUPER UNFRIENDLY as well as RUde!


At first Ayah asked him, "What happened? Sleepy ah?" He said, "No Lah where got sleepy. Lucky i braked already if not worse!"


He was even reluctant to give his Name and IC and told us to make a report straight away. Er... Excuse me. How to make report if we dont even know your freaking name? That's what prompted me to snap a picture of his face. Like maybe he's a part time driver and the real owner of the taxi will get the blame?


Poor passenger. I hope she (a malay tudung clad lady) gets a discount or something.

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Office FaceLift

Last weekend the office had a minor renovation to allow more desks to be placed as we're expected to expand.


I packed up my things on Thurs cos Fri i was on leave.


I had 3 boxes in total, the other two in the picture is to send to Archive.


My Old desk setting. Note how we had to sticker every lose items on our table with our names that includes the CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse and phone. Even our chair!


Now you see it...


Now you dont!


No more meeting room for us!


The copier which used to be in the pantry is now stationed right next to the entrance as well as the other fax and stationery items.



Our Pantry. New addition to this cramped place are the two small cabinets


This is my newly arranged desk.

I brought my pedestal drawer out and station it right at the "entrance" of my desk giving myself the illusion of cosiness within my cubicle. My In Tray is also now ON my pedestal drawer so they didnt hafta "invade my privacy" to put something on my In Tray.

I had also pushed my computer a little bit further in, in the disguise of putting magazine folders as well as files and phone on the outer side. But i have a hidden motive there. LOL *wink*


I NEED A NEW MOUSEPAD! The old one that came with the computer was sooo dusty and yucky i had to throw it. And cos my table is white, i had to "alas" or cover with an orange paper below.




And i also need to new dust bin! Horrific!

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Night Rider

Dear Sir / Madam,


I am a satisfied customer of your Night Rider services. I was especially happy to know that it works in a loop plying from neighbourhood towns to City too instead of just city to home.


However, i am rather disappointed that it doesn't operate of Sunday nights. I'm aware that its a work night for most people, but there are several who still party all night too and movies also finish quite late on Sunday nights. Perhaps you can look into making it available on Sunday nights as well.


Another suggestion is to give discounts or incentives when we need to take 2 buses or more to get to our desired destination as buses only ply neighbourhoods to town and not to other neighbourhoods. Maybe cap it to $4 or even change to another for free!


I'm sure SMRT is a dynamic company that appreciates customers' feedback.


Looking forward to hear from you and see upgrades.

Regards,
Julissa

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Rachel's Holiday




To be honest, the beginning was quite a drag. The book easily put me to sleep. I couldn't get past 1 chapter before i close it and have a wink. It's not the "dont drop me" material for the train ride.


So much so that i had to chuck it aside and read Further Under the Duvet first. Initially, my reasoning was that the latter has an earlier expiry date but didnt wanna start reading it cos at first i tot it was just some stupid short stories but i have written that its otherwise in the review i wrote in previous post.


After finished Further Under the Duvet, i felt more akin to the author and could see that the main inspiration for this book is her own battle against alcholism. Slang being: Giving up the "Sauce".


That started me to view and read it from a diff perspective. and it became SUPER interesting!


So there.

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Beaufort Here We Come!


We've got news today that the venue for our Annual Seminar (aka Retreat) is changed from Bintan Lagoon to Beaufort hotel, Sentosa!
REJOICE!


I was despaired when i was told that a Pakistani cannot apply for Indonesian visa from Singapore whilst they are still on SVP. With no more single friends who are still studying (unlike 2yrs ago when Hidayah came w me) i had nobody else to ask except Rabiah, Zubair's friend who is now MY friend.



I sensed her apprehension when she asked me, "Are you sure? We havent even met yet." I replied, "But we plan on meeting this weekend." So when our date was cancelled, i decided, ok i shall go alone lah. And instantly got a nightmare at that very thought. Depression and loneliness lingering in my head.



Mon came and i was pressured again by my manager to give the detailed info of the pple going.


So this news of change of venue to Sentosa, Singapore is the loveliest thing the boss could do for me. Of course its not only for me. The rest are having some problem arranging for their family to go to Bintan also. Not so much Visa problem but transport, as they'd only come a day later.



When a colleague asked me, "you mean he cant get visa to Indo ah? Then how u go for holidays." Then i realised and told her, "We've never been to any holidays." My Lord, is that sad or what.



When i told Z yesterday, he only said, "ok." Instantly, my mood also plummetted. Why is he not excited? Ok prolly cos at tt time it was not 100% firm as yet as today. so much so that when my mgr asked is he excited i got depressed again and said, "I think he's tired of me now already." She consoled me by saying, "No lah.. its just that you've got to have time to do your own things alone ... and other times together..."




Ok i felt a bit better lah. But now im worried about food..... Hmmmm

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Busy

Yesterday it was resettling into our newly renovated office.

Today meeting occupied half of my day.

Result = no post until later.

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Nasi Goreng + Sambal Udang

Sat, 7th June 08


Everybody is away for the weekend, so i decided to cook Zubair's favourite dish. Sambal Udang. Since its funny to eat that one dish with just white rice... i decided to fry it.


Tragedies to follow...


I managed to get the instructions on the phone earlier from my mother who was in KL.


Fried Rice:

Sautee two scoops of blended onion, 1 green and red chilli each sliced in ur own style. Add a bit of water it wont get "kepul2" or... chunky? To add salt at this stage

Then put in the cooked rice. Mix well... If u want some more colour pour some soy sauce.

Mishap one: Rice finished! Just manage to scrape around to get just a lil under 2 cups. Thankfully its enough.



Sambal Udang (Prawn w Chilli)


Peel the $5 worth of Black Tiger Prawn completely. Dont forget to wash thoroughly. Then pour hot water in the bowl to cook them.


Mishap Two: I didnt get the desired effect like the one at Bilal where it was sooo spongy it was almost transparent!


And here i cheated a bit cos the Sambal was ready made in the fridge. I just poured half of the content to the pan, added water, tomato and chilli sauces.


Mishap Three: Chilli sauce also finished. Only managed to get 1 spoon.


Thank god it came out alright still... And Zubair loves it! Yayyy *beaming*


It took just about 30min to finish cooking. We got 7pcs of prawn each.


I shouldn't have finished ALL the rice cos i became so freaking full afterwards. and Z bcame hungry later w nothing more to eat.

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Long Lost Colleagues



The last time we met it was BEFORE my wedding. More than 1.5yrs ago.


Now they are both a mother of two.


Though we see each other online often enough, we didn't really send msgs frequently. So it was quite surprising for me that when we met on MOn night, we just couldn't stop talking. About families, school, houses, children, holidays....


We met at Vivo. I suggested to go to 2Hot Cafe, the one next to Long John Silver (LJS). I reached there about 45min earlier and window shopped (haha Julissa? Window shop?? Quite a rare catch.)


So after walking one to one end and finally located the LJS... i was shocked to find that the restaurant has been replaced with another! Ok ok.. i wasn't VERY shocked. After all the last time i was there was some 1.5yrs ago too and i dont know why but they dont seem to be able to make it.


We had to walk back to the other end to other halal eateries... we ventured to Fig & Olive, but one of them MUST have chicken that's fried and F&O didnt offer much of a choice... so we stopped at Secret Recipe instead where she had Chicken Cordon Bleu and i wished i had ordered that too instead of my, also nice but not fried, Tom Yam Kung.


S treated us to Coffee Bean and we hung around outside by the sea until each of us were itchy. Ant bites, we thought. Ergh!


It was 10:30 when we said goodbye. The ride home was painfully silent after having such a boiterous time.

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Claustrophobia

Yesterday i had a glimpse of how claustrophobic feels in enclosed spaces.


I was in the MRT on the way to work. A few stations after, i got a seat. To my left was a lady my right was a guy. While he was LARGE, i felt he was like invading my space. Some more, in front of me was a standing lady w her newspaper spread out, so was the person next to her.


I couldn't breathe. I wanted to scream!!! I couldn't sit still. Kept on Squirming.


Prolly due to lack of sleep also that i felt restless. I cldn't concentrate on my book, nor could i drift to sleep.


I wish this train ride to be over soon!


Thank god it did before i lost my mind.

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Further Under The Duvet


When my sister told me its a compilation of short stories, i got a bit worried.
But i just borrowed it anyway cos i'm soo into Marian Keyes at the moment.
I dont normally read acknowledgements page but im so glad i did cos i understood that its actually snippets of her actual life.
So it was so much like reading the blog of your favourite author. Only you dont hafta wait days till they post cos it's all in already!
Nice read, people. Unless of course you dont know her yet.

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Wow! Band Competition Results & BBQ Chicken

Disappointingly, out of 22 registered bands, only 9 came!
Which is just as well cos Youth Park is not so big, i found. Worse, One Way was the last one to perform!
The crowd turn out was another let down. There were only like 80 seats available and about 75% filled and from the instruments i saw, i gathered they were the participants!
By the time me and Nur reached the grounds @ 8:10pm, the second band was just setting up. The first two bands were into J Pop/Rock. And im sooo not liking it. Listening to the real thing is quite alright... but listening to amateurs trying to carry off a tune in low voice is making me puke. If i'm able to minus out the vocals and just listen to the instruments, then it would have felt more manageable. But mostly, the bands are such young people... like 20 or even younger... so they dont actually scream charismatic or anything except for one (read on).
And My God, i feel embarassed for the 2 MCs... Razia and CK or something from NUS' Radio Pulse? Yeah i supposed it WAS difficult to get the crowd to cheer since most of them are band members who wont clap for their competitors of course! Neither would the fiercely loyal supporters. And filling in the gap while the bands set up their eqpts was another chore too. Poor them.
Anyways, i felt like there was only one or two outstanding band. The one i love (shhh dont tell Z) is xcalibre or something. They are into heavy metal / instrumental / rock. Their 2nd song, though loud, was appreciable. The vocal was strong, the band showed maturity as well as professionalism, they dressed well... with great showmanship as well esp how the vocalist made the entrance by running in and grabbing the mic and tilting it. Oh! I felt like i was in a real concert and i really had to fight the urge to stand, jump and groove!!! (I havent been in a concert all my life. I think they are a waste of time and money since u cant get up close and watching from home is more comfortable and better view)
So that's when i found out that to get thru to the next round, you just hafta achieve points of 60% or more, no limit to the no of bands to move forward.
I have the videos shots of 4 bands but i cant upload them now in the office cos i dont want them to block my dearest blogspot. Video of One Way was taken from Nur's digital camera and they are 94MB for 4min worth... i dont know if can upload either!
And im gonna be upfront about my assessment of their performance. (it was my first time listening to them.)
I will say that its justifiable that they didnt make it to the next round. The vocal was shaky. No united dress sense. And as Z would say not really in sync cos of the bassist. I sympathize with the bassist. I think he has some esteem issues that made him nervous, or out of focus.
I suppose i felt a bit relieved that nobody else came to see them.
On the other hand, i totally dont blame them at all. I mean they're soo totally new together and had like less than 10 sessions of practice PLUS it's a new song too! It WOULD be a miracle if anybody wins on their FIRST ever performance together.
The best thing that happened on that night was i met one of the members' wife. And this is the one that is my next block neighbour. And she asked me why i havent come to their jamming before this? I said, "Dont know lah this Zubair why dont let me come. He said its not a good place for a wife of his. Something to do with keeping respect. Pakistani mentality." Too bad i forgot to get her number!
The event ended at 10pm.

Though Z wasn't too hungry, i got him to eat at BBQ Chicken at Cineleisure which he had ever told me about before.


I had a crispy Chicken salad. Nice but a bit toooo tomato-ey $7.90


Z had Chicken wings $8


Though it was nothing special, i rejoice at having yet another Halal eatery to hit the list. They have another branch at E!Hub i heard.

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Bilal Restaurant

Our initial plan was to go to Safra Yishun Country Club to try Eatzi SteakHouse (Halal version of Jack's Place) and to play bowling there.


But Z upon hearing that Eatzi is a western food restaurant, seemed reluctant.


Eager to please, i asked for a change of venue. And we came up with Bilal.


Just as Disappointing.


He ate Chicken Porridge in the hope to relive the Dalyan experience in Shahd's house. But to no avail. It was very bland. PS: Check out his innocent hair do



Ayah just ordered a vege dish! And mummy, at my insistance, ordered their special Bilal Supreme Fried Kway Teow. Which is decent lah.


I had Tom Yam noodle which is like two thumbs down! So dilute. Nothing can compare to Al-Ameen or Sakura's version!


But of course their JUMBO Satay is to die for!

However the manager made a mistake of making eye contact with us and asking, "How's everything?" So Mummy decided to voice out that their lontong (rice cake) was SUPER HARD. seemed like they've just brought it out from the fridge or freezer. Mummy said that they should have heated it with some splashes of water to keep it moist and soft.


Otherwise, the place the ambience is SUPER DUPER NICE. Clean Toilets and my dream transparent bowl of a sink (except the tap is not my idea).


Even a very comfy musollah (prayer place)

Afterwards, Ayah drove us to a reservoir in the vicinity of Yishun. Prolly its Upper Seletar?



We can see the brightly lit Golf course.

Some pple were having a picnic dinner by the shore on concrete hard ground. Ayah said there is a plan to make this road part of an expressway to connect to CTE or SLE or something.


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