Sleep Patterns

The sleep routine:

Sundays to Thursdays Nites: 11.45 pm to 6.20 am. (6.5 hours)
Friday & Saturday Nites: 12am to 11am and later.

The lack of sleep on weekdays lead to almost full day sleeping on weekends. Gosh, moi must really sleep earlier on weekdays to reduce the topsy sleep patterns. =)

So Sunny

For the past few workdays, i've been having external meetings which ends rather early. Some days, I am home by 5.30pm woa.. a luxury which i have never (almost lah) experienced before . The sky being bright and sunny from the windows of the homeland. Today, i managed to finish the novel which i had been reading by 8pm. Ahh..the price of leisure on a weekday. i so wanna find moi a job which allows me to knock off on time and yet bring home the moolah. Such wistful thinking i know.. just like the loads of work left undone because of the meetings. *signs*

Changing Times

More changes abound. More updates shortly. For one, the travel plans are getting more firmed up. If all goes well, we'll be travelling end April. Haa..

3 Days Already??

Gosh! You mean 3 days have passed already?! The long weekend came and is gonna be over soon. We've been sleeping late and waking late. Relishing the moments of simply doing nothing. The days passed in a blur.. We celebrated the MIL's birthday at a Zhi Cha restaurant nearby on Friday, plus trips to both the parents' place. The mommie was doing this qingming ceremony thingy today and we popped by. I really need to spend more time with the mommie. I so wish that she would move nearer to us. *Signz*

I think I'm having long weekend withdrawal symptoms and dreading work tomorrow. Pondering the meaning of a purposeful existence. Is work the end all and be all? Perhaps I'm simply overwhelmed having to cope with 2 portfolios in this transitional period at the workplace. *Aiz* I sure hope things pend out well...

Making Tiramisu

I was at Vivo City some time back and got some lady fingers biscuits ( Savoiardi biscuits) at Candy Empire. So, moi decided to try making Tiramisu. Managed to get the requisite Mascarpone at NTUC Finest, plus some brandy and cocoa powder. So, I followed a rather simple recipe. The dessert was yummy, although the lady fingers could be more well-soaked in the coffee mixture. I used very little of the lady fingers biscuits and the cheese mixture was spread rather thickly too. Will try to improve with a more complex recipe the next round. Buts..Hee, the dearie likes it!!

Limited Space

Sometimes I feel that I have quite limited space in brainy land. Strange that I just cannot seem to remember my debits and credits from the schooling days. My theory? That i forget stuff by modules. Ha ha.. obviously the basic accounting knowledge from the secondary and jc days have been totally squeezed out to make space.. ;p

Bottled Up

I wish that he would lead a proper life, I pray that he would come to his senses. I hope that he would one day become more sensible, responsible and rational. I so wish that he would make good of his life.. For her sake. Its not too much to ask for, I sure hope. He remains my greatest source of worry, even if I have to shoulder the responsibility alone. I will. Or perhaps, I am simply too harsh, my expectations of him too high. Whatever, will have to see how it pends out..

Mommie's Birthday

We took the day off from work. Am I sure am glad we did. Its the mommie's 56th birthday! We caught up on lost sleep before heading out for the day. The mommie had wanted to visit the Flyer, and so we did ( I know, we quite "mountain turtle" ah..going only so many months after the opening!).

Lunch at Popeyes

It was a rainy afternoon and the rides were temporarily suspended due to the bad weather. We had a late lunch at Popeyes while waiting for the rides. Luckily the rides resumed around 4pm and we gamely got our tickets despite the slight drizzle. Its a good experience, being able to view my favourite landscape and the construction going on at the nearby Integrated Resort. (Despite the pricey tixs and the short half hour ride.. ;p)

Still Drizzling Outside

Beautiful view of the City

Top of the Wheel

This was followed by dinner at Vivo City. Yup, we brought mommie to dinner at JPot. We chose Dinner Set B this round, and added some items from the menu like vegs and bean curd. We had the superior broth and Bak Kut Teh broth again and ended up totally stuffed. We had free flow longan tea and drank many many cups of the drink too. Dinner was yums, and reasonably priced as we had a discount coupon for $20 off. Hee, perks of being an auntie with loads of membership cards.. We ended the day with shopping at Vivo and moi brought back loads of goodies from Candy Empire.. ;p

Pasta Tonight

We brought some fresh chorizo sausages from the supermarket over the weekend. The chap at the counter mentioned about cooking the sausages with Pasta. So I did, for our dinner tonight. I was afraid there would not be any vegetables in the pasta, so i threw in some carrots, diced tomato and button mushroom to balance the saltish spicy sausage. Hee.. used up my sun-dried tomato sauce.. gotta go grab more. I quite like the pasta paired with the sausages combi. Will definitely be rustling up more sausage pasta soon.

A Boy and Dragons

Worked from home (or from the MIL's place rather) today, so i promptly shut off the work mail at 5 plus. We had an early dinner and took the darling little boy out to the movies. Its the first time that he's watching a show with his jiu jiu and jiu ma. So, of course we caught a cartoon, and a 3D one as well. Yup, we watched "How To Train Your Dragon". At $11 per pax, it sure is a pricey movie.. but worth the moolah for the 3D version.. ;p

I only knew it was a show about dragons, but golly.. its a great show. Simple story lines about misfit boy "Hiccup" saving the day.. but the whole movie rocks. I sure luv "Toothless" the cute Night Fury.. ;p Plus, the little boy enjoyed himself too. Its been a good day and start to the week, just like its been some time since we've last caught a movie.

A Moment

We had dinner at the Hawker Centre nearby with the In-Laws and the Sis-In-Law and the cute babies. The Zhi-Cha stall that we ate at is kinda famous and there is quite a crowd of peeps eating and ordering from the stall.

Most of the other stalls along the stretch were closed, except for this other lone stall selling economical rice. A lonely old man was manning the stall. There appeared to be quite alot of food left and in the one hour plus we were eating, no one bought anything from the stall that sells economical rice/nasi lemak. The old man started packing the leftover food into many bags. I felt kinda sad at the moment, thinking how sad the old man must have been, waiting for customers that never came. Packing away so much leftovers when the crowd at the place were all patronising the Zhi Cha store. I hope his business becomes better, or perhaps he should consider other alternatives besides hawkering. It must be quite devastating a hopelessness, a desperateness to sell away your perishable wares before the day's end. Its a sad nite.

Dearie's Pizza

Pizza baking in the oven

I got off the train one station after my usual stop and walked home instead of taking the feeder bus service. In the late evening coolness (although the air was hazy ah), walking in my high heels was actually bearable. Good for this lazy moi to get so exercise huh (aiz, especially in view of the ballooning dress size).

Came home to warm cheesy smells from the kitchen. Yup, the dearie made Pizza today. From stretch (almost lah) with Pita Bread as base. Just add pizza sauce, topped with honey baked ham, luncheon meat (or spam), pineapple pieces and mozzarella cheese and bake in oven.. Tat Da!! Easy home made pizza for dinner. The melted cheese was simply divine goodness! Add in some mushroom soup and the meal is complete. Although the canned soup would be better if it was home cooked.. ;p

Hee, starting to get overdose of western style food. Looking forward to other type of cuisine.

Dearie Cooks Dinner

Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta and Lobster Bisque

Hotdog with Italian Sausage

The dearie got home an hour before moi. He got down to cooking dinner. We had planned to do a simple Italian Hotdog meal with lobster bisque ( from a can lah!). However, the dear one was afraid that wifey would be hungry. So he did a pasta with sun dried tomato and poached prawns (weird combi huh) as well.. Hee i simply adore anything with sun-dried tomatoes. I can eat it just by itself.. *Slurp*

I'm been particularly hungry this whole day.. gobbled down my fishball noodles for lunch and had biscuits and choco for tea. Its been a decadent food day today.. so not very good for the diet plan. *Gluup*

This Sat

We managed to check out the Playground at Big Splash with the mommie. We had claypot cuisine at Claypot Fun. The food was alrights, but it din quite meet our expectations , although it could be that we had set our standards high as its a restaurant managed by Jumbo.

After lunch, we popped over to the neighbouring Old Town Cafe for drinks and some snacks. Mommie liked the "Ipoh" styled food served at the Cafe, so I gathered that we will be back to the area for more food. The place was not as crowded as I thought it'll be, and we strolled along, checking out the many stalls selling a great variety of items, new and old.

Went home to catch some movies, catch a few episodes of my current fav Korea drama and ended the day with a short trip to Ion with the sis-in-law and the 2 cute babies.

Its been a nice day, not having to worry about work. Or work at the new place. A rightful decision which was made 1 year ago to take the plunge, I'm certain. If not, I'll prob be struck at work (old workplace), managing the anticipated yet unavoidable surge in demand for our services, for this entire weekend. The perils of customer service. Plus, the crazy 8am to 9pm work weeks. Eeeps.. Now that's a rather scary thought. (Although I still miss the old pay.. ;p)

Wanderlust Again..

Blimey!! The travel bug bits again. I wanna travel.................................to London, Paris or the US, Switzerland. Aiz.. only in my dreams..

2 Days 1 Night

Just got back from the co's annual retreat. It took place on a rustic country club on our sunny island. A 2 days 1 night getaway from 'work' work. We had the usual presentations ( although i kinda found the presos interesting), a GPS related team building activity, workplans, discussions. Phewz, it was hard work walking round under the hot sun trying to spot landmarks. We ended day 1 with a bbq dinner at a rustic family themed restaurant. A rather novel way to end the day.

We played 'hard' after dinner. While the rest of the peeps returned home or to the lodge with the charted buses, the colleagues decided to stay for "Prawn Fishing" which was offered at the restaurant. Golly, I've not prawned for so long, and it felt good to rediscover a favourite childhood past-time. And the best part? It was "ladies nite" and there was a one-for-one offer. We got 4 rods at the price for 2, so it cost just $7.50 for an hour of prawning per pax. So shiok! We caught a grand total of 2 prawns between the 4 of us who fished and broke personal records in the one hour. ( ha ha..3 of erm had never done prawn fishing before mah ).

My room for the night..

This was followed by bowling at the club's bowling alley upon our return to the club. Gosh, it felt great to do a game of bowling. Another of my favourite childhood activity. I should really do it more often. We ended the day with some wine and a round of card games. A rather jolly time we had. Am glad I opted to stay overnight.

Of wine and Fun

Day 2 started with a round of "Yoga". Ha, I'm a mountain turtle, and its my first Yoga session. I enjoyed the session! Yup, maybe it'll be great to start having Yoga lessons. This was followed by more workplan sharing and team building activities. Although I was kinda slack in participating in the treasure hunt..;p Moi was totally exhausted by the time we ended the Retreat. However, the entire event was well planned and executed. I learned alot and enjoyed alot more at this Retreat that the others I've attended in the previous work place. Even more than the last one i attended, although i was the chairperson. Ha ha.. maybe coz i'm feeling old and it feels great to be just a "participant". Overall..this Retreat was less rigid, less repressive, more humane. More interactive despite the longer duration. I've learned loads and played hard in the last 2 days.. :)

Gotta Luv Her

So I confess, I'm a huge fan of J.K Rowling..and had thoroughly enjoyed reading her books. Here's a wonderful speech from Rowling for Potter and non-Potter fans alike. Strangely, I have no recollection of speeches at my own commencement ceremony many years back. Enjoy. :)

Packed Weekend

We had a fun-filled learning journey at work on friday. The theme was "Style & Glamour" and moi was roped in for the bags portion despite the fact that I'm no bag expert. Phewz, managed to hoodwink my way thru. We went to Vivo City for lunch and the practical part of the learning journey! It was kinda fun lunching out with the chaps at work. We had great fun walking round the place.

Met up with the sec school fres thereafter. We had seafood dinner at Marina Square followed by drinks at the lounge of Marina Mandarin. I so luv the place and ambiance, despite the pricey drinks. Eeeps..we even had 2 rounds of drinks. The company was great as well. We had interesting conversation, despite not meeting up often. This is representative of friendship through the years. Got home around 12.30 am. Glurp, so unused to late nites out..... :)

Had the last steamboat dinner of this CNY with the babes at the homeland on Saturday. Of course, cute Baby Kayson was present! The Mother-In-Law was wonderful. She helped moi prepare the items for the dinner, so it was a breeze. There was even yums lychee martini cake from Pine Garden which Jinny brought and a Cienna 2008 ,which was a gift from Hui for Christmas. I enjoy the sparking sweetness of the wine, although it was too sweet for Jinny and Noven. Its been a great weekend thus far. Meeting up with the fres. Something that should be done more often.

Lychee Martini Cake

A familar route

The bus service which I have not taken in years. The bro says its been 16 years since. Time flies. The feeder service i used to know so well in my teens. The route from school to home and home to school. The childhood home. We've always travelled by car to his place in the past 1-2 years we've visited. So it felt nostalgic, seating on the bus with the bro. Taking the once familiar route of my childhood. Sometimes life passes you by so fast, that you dun often remember the past. Yesterday's bus trip was one of those days where nostalgia sweeps over in waves.

The neighbourhood has changed, the buildings tinted white brown with the dust particles in the wind. The area now looks shabby, in need of refurbishing; so unlike the home from yesteryear. Just like how he's aged in the intertwining years. The greatest enemy of one? Its the passage of time.

Lunar New Year Meet Up

Met the JC folks today. A potluck gathering at Kris's place in Ang Mo Kio. I got sushi takeaway from Sakae Sushi and took a cab to his place. Most of the folks were already there when i reached. Fen was sick so she passed on the gathering.

There were loads of food, although I din manage to whip out the camera for photos. We had abalone porridge and durian puffs (from colin), fried bee hoon and curry (from Kris), prawns and tiramisu (from cecilia), my sushi, mc's nuggets, chix wings, satay, ice cream, jelly pudding, yu sheng etc. Loads of food again.

Of course we had a good time doing the "lo hei". My second time this new year. We chatted a bit and played some games. Its great to meet up with the friends. Ha ha, coz i dun have much of a social life to begin with.. ;p