Shopping Spree II!

The Johnson & Johnson sale was here again! Got my sister to do some stock-taking, came up with an order list and passed it to my father to restock. I think I made an error in the number of bottles of shower cream to buy. We bought 8 last year and still have 2 left, that means I should buy 4 instead of 6 right? Aiyah nevermind, next year buy 2 less lor.

Exciting day ahead! It's shopping time!

3 objectives:

• Mango sale. A few days ago, I happened to discover that the first day of Mango sale coincides with the start of my happy holiday! It's a sign!
• Buy gifts for my company's and JC gift exchanges.
• Use the Ben & Jerry's voucher given by mykrobe! Last day already!

Met with my sister at Suntec. Low budget lunch at the foodcourt. The beef noodle not bad ley.

Powered up! Chiong Mango sale now! Total damage of $60, consisting of:

• Red polo tee $15, original $30
• My sister's brown racer-back $13, original $19
• Zebra blouse $32, original $65

Refueled at Coffeebean. I wanted the Gingerbread Ice Blended, but my sister was afraid it would taste like ginger -_- so we had the Peppermint Ice Blended. Is the drink supposed to taste minty? Didn't detect any. Or supposed to suck the mint cane candy with the drink? $7.50 down the throat.

Started looking for Christmas presents proper. First stop, Friven & Co. Pretty useless candles. Coasters. Cutlery set. 3 for $10 towels. Will consider.

Royce. There's always the potato chips as backup if I couldn't find anything. I have called them up before and confirmed that they don't need refrigeration. On our way out, we were given a sample of their Nama chocolate. The whole piece, no less!

Stopped by a pushcart. 3 pairs of earrings at 1 go, now that I can change my own hooks. Total damage of $19.90, consisting of:

• Long necklace to match a new blouse, $9.90.
• 1 pair of zebra earrings $5. I didn't get it for the new Mango blouse in mind. Maybe just in a zebra mood today. Upon examination, I found none of the available stock is perfect. Took pains to choose the best one. So auntie.
• 2 pairs of earrings and 1 ring (my sister) for $5. Cheap!

Lift with a handle spotted:

Gift shop. Nothing suitable. The 捶背 stick looks fun, but $4+ only, must buy 3 to hit the $10 budget for my office. So odd to buy 3 of the same thing lor.

Walked around somemore. Finally I decided that I should get ________ from ________. Will fill in after the gift exchanges, in case got people drop in and see :P

Saw 2 loud hairstyles today. The first was a young lady in Mango. The style looked like she bleached the bottom half of her head white, shaved the top off and put a black wig to form the top half :O Too bad no photo. Next was a lao ah lian with purple pong hair.

Now to think about what to have for dinner. Should not be too filling to make space for dessert. How about a Subway footlong? Brother eat half, sister and I eat quarter each? I think my brother will flip. KFC? Too ex and filling. Mac? Just had for supper. Decided on Crystal Jade Kitchen.

There's free gift wrap service for minimum $80 spent. We decided we should get it done before dinner. Pay $2 for a Looney Tunes umbrella, but don't need lah. A lady borrowed our receipt to buy 1 more umbrella. The counter gave us a roll of gift wrapper, think it's for the gift wrapping service ba. Then we queued at the gift wrapping queue. The couple in front was taking a terribly long time. Or rather, the service staff was slow. A few regular cuboids only, so difficult meh? Started regretting... wait so long to wrap 1 gift for free? Later still have to wrap 1 myself :( When my turn came, I was pleasantly surprised that they wrapped both my gifts :D Didn't have to pass them the gift wrapper we had. So now got double free wrapping and 1 free wrapper!

I saw a lucky draw coupon collection box but no forms. The staff said the forms are at the counter at level 1. Form at level 1, but box at level 3? Win liao lor.

Last objective of the day!

Haiyoh wait until the last day to purposely come out and eat! And must purposely eat not-so-full also.

Phish Food, Chocolate Therapy, Jamaican Me Crazy

There was a ridiculous $88 item on their menu. It's the B&J version of earthquake, 20 scoops, 4 scoops of toppings and other stuff. Siao lor! Didn't know angmohs also into 发-like sounds.

Went Carrefour and then home, as usual.

Caution: Don't talk about sixth sense to strangers. You might get him started if he is a Christian.

Edited 23 Dec: I got the 24-piece plastic handle cutlery set from Friven & Co, 1 blue 1 red, with white polka-dots. Each set consists of six 4-piece settings (teaspoon, tablespoon, dinner fork and dinner knife). At first, I thought I wouldn't give cutlery, but it looks quite cute and it's good quality! Stainless steel and the metal extends into the whole of the shaft :D


全家福:

Such photos are really useful for keeping track of what I bought in what quantities. Must always do this in future.

I'm So Free

3/12 Monday
Surf net. Read papers online. Chat.

This can't go on. Can't keep surfing net all the time, wait somebody found out that I have nothing to do, and give me something to do, how? Decided to get started on a self-improvement ebook recommended by a friend, Getting Things Done. But I'm really not into such books lah, dozed off several times. I need something better for tomorrow.

4/12 Tuesday
Brought The Da Vinci Code in ebook! Now I can look busy with my eyes glued to the screen!

C shared with us some cakes and kueh for his daughter's full month birthday. I had an ang ku kueh. Haven't had such a delicious and big AKK for a long time. Prima Deli's salmonella fiasco just got round every corner, so I would rather not know where the food were from.

Later in the evening, A came round with an envelope to collect angpow money for C. The smallest note available in my wallet were $10s. Darn. Dropped 1 inside. Saw plenty of $10s, got $50s too. Very few $2.

So the AKK I ate cost $10.

DVC is an addictive read. Must slow down tomorrow to make it last longer.

5/12 Wednesday
Surf net, chat, read DVC very slowly. Aiming to finish it next Thursday when I go on leave. Read very slowly.

Went Tiffin Room with my team.

6/12 Thursday
Surf net, chat, read DVC very slowly.

Boss came by my table and asked if I have checked his email. I replied that I wanted to finish this chapter first :O 要死啊! But I think he didn't catch it haha. He came to tell me about a new CR I was to start on tomorrow. Sounds like something I can finish in 1 day, but he said something about handing over the work before I go on leave. Need so many days meh?

7/12 Friday
Started work on my CR. Finished it before noon. Now I have the whole afternoon to test my work. But testing was like so boring lor... I'm sure nothing is wrong with my masterpiece.

Test, surf net, chat, read DVC very slowly.

It's been raining non-stop everyday and I just hate to be on a motorcycle in wet weather. Why must the management be so busy now? It will be really nice to just relax in a car. He's not exactly a guai guai driver but it's still safer than a motorcycle and hell-driving cabbies in noisy cabs with non-existent suspensions.

10/12 Monday
Wrapped up my CR.

Discovered that my boss quoted 10 mandays for something I finished in 2 days, with lots of time wasted in between. Kaoz!

Surf net, chat, read DVC very slowly.

This is how life should be. No need for any coffee and tea too.

11/12 Tuesday
Surf net, chat, read DVC very slowly. I cannot take it anymore! It's not possible to make this book last till Thursday! Shall finish it off tomorrow.

12/12 Wednesday
Wrapped up some work in preparation for my leave. Finished DVC! Found it better than the movie.

After work was the department's Christmas buffet dinner.

13/12 Thursday
Surf net, chat, pack table. When the clock struck 1pm, byebye! See the office again on 24^th for a half day, then holiday again, with the option to extend!

Penang Place

Department Christmas dinner was held at Penang Place@Atrium, within walking distance from my office. But of course I was chauffeured there :P. The food was great!

I ate (those I can remember):

• Penang Laksa. Delicious, but too spicy for me. It was only a tiny bowl but I was sniffing before I finished it.
• Prawn mee. Not bad lah. The soup is the dark kind, which means dark soya sauce was added. I prefer the soup to be cooked entirely with prawns and pork.
• Nasi Lemak. No luncheon meat in sight. Not sure if it's affected by the recent China food scare, or it has been like that. Ikan bilis was a bit nuah already, but still nice because it's sweet.
• Steamed otah with chunky fish. Yummy.
• Char kuay teow. Only a small quantity was put up each time, so must chiong for it. Delicious! Got hum! But too spicy for me, especially when the penang laksa was still lingering.
• Chicken. Too tough.
• Beef. Ok lah, quite soft.
• 春卷. Too big lah! Skin is very crispy, generous with filling.
• Cuttlefish. Don't like.
• DIY shredded turnip wrapped in some vegetable leaf. Like that lor. Tastes like the 春卷.
• Nonya kueh. The kaya to go with them was delicious.
• Chendol. It's been a long time since I last had such good chendol. First of all, it's freshly shaved ice, not refrozen chunks like some other buffets. Coconut milk is thick, the sugar is of high viscosity! BEST!
• Mango pudding. No taste. Terrible.
• Satay. Limited quantities each time, must chiong for it. Meaty and tasty, but a bit cold ley. If limited quantities each time, how come it's cold??
• Ok to be fair, I put this down too. Free-flow coke.

Didn't eat (those I can remember):

• Rojak. No 油条 so I don't want.
• Fried chicken. Stomach no space.
• Curry chicken. Totally forgot about it.
• Fruits. C'mon...
• Ice kachang. Decent chendol is harder to find than decent ice kachang.

The CEO 赏脸 and joined us. But he left quite early.

The yearly department fund for such celebrations is $50/pax. With this dinner costing $21.80++/pax, the rest of the money was spent on gifts for each of us. Wallets! Ladies received a pretty Jane Shilton (retailing at $60 outside), but men's didn't look so nice :P How timely! I have been looking for a wallet!

Got a ride home. So 准 ley, my father couldn't take me home, and then there's this dinner! Can this luck persist after the cab fare hike?

Tiffin Room @ Raffles Hotel

My project finally rolled out and it's time for a celebration! Since an overwhelming proportion of the group was from country I and the leader was from country I too, it's natural that we have food suitable for people from there. Many of them were actually dying to try Tiffin Room @ Raffles Hotel for years, so Tiffin Room it shall be.

Curious, I googled. Indian food in a posh hotel. Expect attentive service. $49+++. OMG! So ex lor, no wonder the guys could only dream. I will NEVER pay $49 for curry, especially when I can't take food that's too spicy. It better be good!

On that day itself, I realised most people didn't know who's actually paying. Skarly go dutch how? Walau cannot lor! $49 for curry! NEVER.

Took the manager's car in the pouring rain, the cannot see the car in front kind of rain. Spent an eternity on AYE, no accident also, dunno how come so slow.

But there was a miracle. We did not pay any ERP to get to Raffles Hotel!

Yes, the horrible Raffles Hotel driveway. Instead of tar, it's gravel and I totally couldn't walk on it unaided. Trying to look colonial. As if it's not bad enough that it's raining! And there's no ramp, only kerb and steps. Sigh.

Tiffin room felt very spacious with its high ceiling. I'm sure the sparrows flying about felt the same way too. When we sat down, the waiter passed the manager the ala carte menu. Trying to trick him lor! Not all have arrived, so we sat there waiting, our glasses dry. Had to open our mouths to request for iced water.

I don't have much to say about the food lah, since I don't particularly enjoy Indian cuisine. But the spicines is acceptable to be. The curries and dishes are delicious, just that I couldn't eat a lot since they have to go with rice. Cannot just drink curry like that right.

Dessert was a mini cup of yoghurt with blueberries. Tastes good. My favourite is the ice-cream. It's not Walls (don't Raffles Hotel dare to serve Walls!), it's a home-made ice-cream with chopped walnuts. D, a 30-something commented that it's too sweet, but I downed 5 scoops. Got too sweet meh?

The ice-cream caught up with me soon. All of a sudden, I felt too full and could only drink water. Old already. 10 years later I will be talking like the 30-something.

D quizzed me on bt. Wa, how come he knows so much about my clandestine activity lor! Only 2 people in the whole place knows, and it's easy to guess who's the culprit. The management sure shares information. So close-knitted. Gossip about subordinates somemore! >_< Lower my profile now! *slithers into the darkness*

Hogged the place to chitchat. The evil waiters kept the coffee and tea a secret until somebody asked for it. I didn't mind, couldn't drink at this hour anyway.

Bill time. All bosses present offered to pay. Ya, good, I didn't bring $49+++ out lor. 谢谢老板!

Manager sent 4 of us home. We were rather quiet. Too full?

So I guess it's the country I dream come true. When can I go The Line?

Nice Candy

From Daiso. But it's very hard to find. Only found it in IMM before. Maybe loads of people like it too?

Double-sealed Rootbeer

No leakage, confirm guarantee + chop! Super hard to twist open too!

Blah Blah

Accumulated over a period in no particular order:

#1
My office was going to erect a new house for the manager of a project team that has moved over to my side. He was pleased to know that he would be getting a window seat and it's the only open-able window in the whole room somemore! When he returned from the weekend, his new house would be ready and perhaps we can have a house-warming party!

His happiness was short-lived. To his (and all our) dismay, the partitions essentially sealed off the windows because they must be positioned in a U shape.

__\ /___ wall with open-able window
+------+ dotted line is the new partition
|      |
|      |
Understand or not? Anyway, it means a few things:
1) No scenery. Haha Sotong the small fry still have scenery!
2) Cannot jump out of the window in case of fire. Fireman also cannot climb in to save us. Darn.
3) Someone who always hangs his wet clothings out when he's caught in the rain while on motobike, can no longer do so. Smelly!

********
#2
With my current project coming to an end, I was approached by a PM to do VB next year because "I am the person with the most experience in VB here".


I'M NOT I'M NOT I'M NOT!!! Can I erase VB from my list of competencies now? I so totally regret it. I'm supposed to be placing my future in Sun! KNS!

I could only give the huh look. As if she knew my concerns, she reassured me by saying I will still be doing some Java.

But optimistically speaking, it means I will have a job till May at least. Will I get a conversion?

********
#3
While walking with my boss to the car, he passed by a female colleague and they stopped to chat like super best friends. After they parted ways, he said, "这个人在背后捅我一刀。"

Wa O_O

At the lift lobby, there was another female colleague and they chatted for as long as the lift took to come. Not as super best friend-ish as just now. She was going up while we were going down, so I didn't have to stand around looking awkward for long. After she was gone, he said... I can't quite remember, something about she was quite a handful. And that in his position, everybody has to act friendly to everybody and talk to people they don't really want to talk to.

So does that mean the more you talk to the person, the more you dislike him/her?

I remember what he said about the politicking in this company. He better survive well so he can continue to take me home! I will always support him!

All this is so not for me. Isn't Sotong glad there's a pc for her to hide behind? Black face to all I don't feel like talking to!

********
#4
The secretary was busy photocopying stuff for the bosses' meeting over lunchtime. When lunchtime was almost over,
A: 你还没有吃饭啊？
S: 现在去吃！ (and she ran towards the photocopier)
A: 哇你吃纸啊？

-______-;;;

Crabs Again!

It's my project team's off day as well as back to Mellben day after 7mths! Slack the whole day and round it off with crabs, how's that!

The butter crab was good as usual. Unfortunately, this time the crab beehoon soup tasted somewhat diluted. But it was compensated by the crab shell, which had 2 biscuits of roe at each of the sides! Wa damn full after eating them! Poor potential crabs...

While we were eating, suddenly there was a voice repeating loudly over the speaker/loudhailer (didn't see what) "CARPARK LAI LIAO, CARPARK LAI LIAO". We spent a good moment wondering what is was about. Then we realized that it meant someone was coming to book illegal parkers. And yeah, the coffeeshop emptied by half ^_^'' So good ah, got special announcement service.

Sio Ah!

Move aside, 火舞黄沙 and Galileo! Heroes is here! Chiong ah!

The Reward For Working Hard

Boss: I will make sure we organize a BBQ for the team!

NO! Can he just make sure I get to go home at 6pm?

Rose Wine

Slurp~~


Dang! The cork broke.

When I Slack

Completed 山おんな壁おんな (Yama Onna Kabe Onna) last last week:

Very funny, yet not too low-class. Flying buttons, resting bosoms on the table, handbag with tits... >_<

Currently on 火舞黄沙.

Almost exactly the same cast as 金枝欲孽, also about people scheming against one another and revenge after revenge. Quite addictive lah. 32 episodes in all, I chiong!!! Because coming up next in the queue is...

Galileo.

I don't even know if it's nice, but I'll find out in due time *watches the % completed bar fill up*

Ajitei - Real and Fake Food

Met up with W and J again! It's been such a long time... and it's been a long time since I last saw open shops in a mall. Ya, lifeless, I know.

Carrefour@PS. Just stretch your hand in when you are thirsty. Wonder if there's a sensor above the entrance though.


Food time! Main course first.

My jaws were TIRED from eating this. It didn't help when I finished most of it. It's not soft like tofu by the way.

Raw salmon~~ *Slurp*

A slice of smooth and soft tofu covered in melted cheese. This dish is sinfully oily. We also had the potato version, which I preferred.

W had a bowl of salmon rice and J had some sushi with cheap ingredients, as we called it.

Desserts!


Really admire the Japanese for coming up with such realistic-looking fake food displays, which look better than the real thing sometimes. We wouldn't mind so much even if we had to queue for a table, can slowly think of what to eat! How come Singaporean restaurants don't do this?

Maybe because the portions we get change over time, cannot give us false hope.

A delicious-looking shop in Kappabashi Market, Tokyo.


As if all that weren't enough, we went to Daiso and looked at more FOOD! Bought 2 new Tohato snacks, but couldn't find the 黑糖 candy I had before... :( Passing criteria is a chunk of 黑糖 in the centre. Where... 在哪里 >_<

I'm *Almost* Affluent!

From the ST:
"Affluent S'poreans are mostly 'executive warriors'
THE affluent in Singapore are mostly 'Executive Warriors' - typically middle-aged male, like golfing, and travel frequently for business purposes, a survey by global research company Synovate has found.

The regional survey of 11 Asian countries, tracked 1,700 Singaporeans with a minimum monthly household income of $6,500 and grouped them under five main consumer segments - the Executive Warriors, the Work to Live's, the Gimme's, the HUMmers (Hungry, Urban and Mobile) and the Luxury Loyalists.
....
"

Minimum household income of *only* $6.5k is considered affluent? Their household got 1 person only right?

Time to Start Shopping!

Limited choices of overpriced earrings. Being ripped off by having to pay $2 PER HOOK (WTH!!!) for requesting to change the hooks to silver. A not-so-bad time when it's $1 per hook at SOC bazaar. Yes my ears have expensive taste, but I won't have anymore of this crap! Where can I buy cheap sterling silver hooks so I change them myself?

I came across a spree to buy jewellery components at Firemountain Gems.

The cheapest and simplest hook. USD1.49 for 5 pairs. If shipping isn't too ex, it would be worth it. *crosses fingers*

Browsed around and saw many interesting designs. Why not add more variety instead of hooks, hooks and hooks all the time?

Hinged earwire, USD1.60 per pair. Aiyoh so ex...

Hoop earwire, USD2.84 per pair. I dunno what I can hang on it, but for the sake of variety! Heartpain...

Decided against getting studs to save the trouble of working with glue.

$11.73 items + $1.44 shipping + $0.83 GST + $0.70 postpac + $0.50 postage = $15.20

Surprise #1: How come GST is 6.3%? How they count one? But since it's less than 7%, I'm fine with it heehee.

Surprise #2: Firemountain sealed the items very nicely in plastic packets. Must cut open one.

Surprise #3: After factoring the extra costs, my primary objective (the hooks) cost $0.61 per pair! Yay! But if anywhere is selling cheaper, I would like to know. And oh, fuck that pushcart in Bugis Junction for charging me $2 PER HOOK. Hope they have closed down already.

Should have asked not to use postpac. Don't think my items can get smashed since they are flat to start with. Unless they got twisted lah...

Can start expanding my collection now!

The I-Was-Here Evening

The HR organized a BBQ at a club near my office, commencing at 5pm. I think everybody didn't feel like going because they didn't enthusiastically reply "I'M COMING!!!" to the RSVP. I know, we get to get out of the office early, but we already have too much work to do and would rather not. What more, it's not for going home. I think our boss know us very well lah, he said we should recognize HQ's efforts and go if we can make it. What a subtle hint.

As much as I would like to be as late for the BBQ as possible, I had to leave for it at 5.30pm because I had to lompang my boss' car over. If I purposely missed the ride, I think it would be too obvious lah. Nevermind, I plan to leave at 8pm latest!

Food was not bad. Got mee siam, fried rice, fried beehoon, salad, packet Yeo's drinks, the usual fare like chicken wings, otah, marshmallows, and unusual stuff like sotong, salmon, crayfish, brocolli, lamb, beef.

It was really a show-face event. Almost everybody from a particular department has disappeared by 6.30pm. Some people want to lompang other other's car, so they left with the driver who happened to have to leave early. Some big bosses came and also left soon. By 8.15pm, there were probably not more than 15 people at the pit, excluding any who might be in the chalets.

Home-sweet-home.

Edited on 01/01/2008: That night, I was offered a lift home by a new guy claiming to be my new boss. Looks too young (and the car too beng, as I found out when I saw it XD). I was thinking "Are you sure you are my new boss? Do what one?" the whole time. Hope it wasn't written all over my face *whistles*

Sweets Review

Bought some candies from sprees recently. I dunno why, but each of the sprees were fraught with difficulties.

From USA, Tootsie Rolls and Brach's Root Beer Barrels.

From Japan, 王妃の白葡萄 (Ouhi No Shirobudo).

Tootsie Rolls
I originally order Tootsie Rolls Midgees during the period that I was super busy with work. So busy that I neglected to send the spree organizer my address, and this person also never remind me. Think I'm gonna treat you to candies? Wait long long! I emailed her about it and she took ages to reply me that my candies were no longer available (expected, I think they would have melted if she were so honest as to keep them for me) and she could either refund me or send me Tootsie Rolls in replacement. So I opted for the replacement.

So my sweets came via mail... the envelope broken. Apparently the postman tried to stuff it into my old-style mailbox, so hard that a wee bit of chocolate could be seen almost-oozing out of the wrapper. Got 20+ sweets for $3, inclusive of postage.

Review
Tootsie Rolls are chocolate flavored chewy candy, meaning I'm supposed to chew them, but they stick to my teeth, so I would rather suck. The chocolateness fell short of my expectations. Must put in the fridge or it will melt in my room.

Will I Buy Again?
No, I'm not that into chocolate-flavored candies anyway.

Brach's Root Beer Barrels
First, the supplier the spree organizer ordered from forgot her order. When he was reminded of it and sent out the candies, they got sent back to New Jersey because her address was written wrongly. It would cost USD73.50 to ship back. WTF!! But after investigation, it was found that the supplier was at fault phew~ They finally arrived, like more than 1 month later.

10 sweets*$0.20 + postage $0.50 + handling fees $0.20 + bubble-wrapping $0.30 = $3

Review
Brach's Root Beer Barrels are made with real concentrate from A&W Root Beer, to give you great old-fashioned root beer taste. It's a hard candy, melt-resistant. Yeah I taste the root beer, but it's a bit like Sarsi (which I don't like) minus the fizz.

Will I Buy Again?
No. Real root beer is cheaper.

王妃の白葡萄
Spree organizer emailed on 28 Aug (Tue) that the candies have arrived and said to give her till Friday (31 Aug) to mail out. But by 9 Sep, there was no word on whether she has actually done the mailing and nothing has arrived. I emailed her about it.

The very next day, I had a bulky package note on my table. Must be it already! It's my last outstanding spree. The postman had given up on stuffing it into my mailbox and no one answered the door when he went up to my house. Either my mum was out, or she couldn't hear the door (sometimes they "shout" like ants) or my sister was still sleeping (I won't be surprised). Anyway, I didn't want to risk the above 3 scenarios from happening again if I requested a resend, so I told my sister to collect from the post office.

Review
The brand is Kasugai, never heard of till now. Made from a mixture of chardonnay flavor and concentrated juice of highly prized white grapes. This is one special candy man! Upon opening the package, I could smell the wine-like aroma. This hard candy is actually FIZZY (funny that this is fizzy while those root beer candy makers cannot do the same). The strong flavor and fizz lasts from the outside right to the centre, where there's jelly. Chew on it! I love sweets with centres! It has 106g of vitamin C, but I don't care about this.

I left it on my table for everybody. My sister said my mum took one and later returned to grab a handful. Does she know it costs $0.38 per pcs -_-;;

$6.90 + postage $0.70 = $7.60. 20pcs in each packet.

Will I Buy Again?
YESSS! But not from sprees if I can. I think the organizer ripped me off. I googled a few websites and if I did not misunderstand the Japanese, each packet costs 180yen, which is approximately $2.40. The price disparity is so great! $4.50 for shipping? Yeah afterall, the organizer stated that the candy price is inclusive of shipping. But if shipping will not jack up the cost by 87%, I would like to import it myself. Is anybody going to Japan or has somebody in Japan?

Edit: The back of the package

Porte

Mmm~~ Light and airy cookie.

First 歌台/Auction Experience

Haven't met up with J and W for a long time. J suggested going to AMK Botak Jones, so there we went. It's the Hungry Ghosts Festival, but who says we shouldn't go out at night?

I could hear a 歌台 as I approached, but I didn't expect it to be right outside the very Botak Jones coffeeshop! Japanese-like hokkien songs, voices with no power shouting out songs... we didn't want to listen, but we had to.

The worst was yet to come. The auction ran concurrently with the 歌台. Sitting in between the 2 stages, we were blasted left and right. The auction was exceptionally loud for unnecessary human reasons (maybe they wanted to attract ghosts from afar). Maybe they were helping the sound system rental company test the limits of their systems, because I'm certain it wasn't that loud when they were doing the testing 123. As per industry standard, the host talked non-stop, promote the item, how much, repeat the current bid price *100, let out a HUAT AH, promote again, say 来，repeat the bid price again, ask people to bid.... but the people below were more interested in the food. Made the host look like 自high.


They sold a trophy for $2k. Said to help students score and do well in school. That person's kid needs it so badly? Aiyoh trophy got use meh? At least charcoal can be used in a bbq.

Needless to say, we couldn't hear ourselves the whole night.

Need a Better Name?

Looks more like Daily Giving.

CurL

Yeah, the Challenge ur Limits actual day! Learning from previous experience, I was "late" on purpose. Supposed to meet at 9am but I reached at 9.30am. Changed into the event tee and went for a spin at the pasar malam to look for breakfast. The oyster mee sua was not bad.

Before I had time to finish applying my sunblock, it was time for the preliminary race already. Like the previous time, it was just a man-powered cruise down the river for me. We came in second, which meant we qualified for the finals at 2pm. At this time, the sky darkened very quickly.

The floating platform. Don't bother looking, I'm not there.

I think this is a fireworks firing gadget.

Shortly after we got out of the water, it started raining. Sianz. We waited at a corridor to be told which holding room to go. The coordinator tried to occupy us by suggesting that we play peace by the river.

...

Thanks for the effort, but I think I've already outgrown that.

We were ushered into a carpetted, air-conditioned room with some sofas. Wow not bad! I played game on my handphone, chatted with the rest, stoned, but it soon got boring. It was just noon. The speed time passes is inversely proportional to your expectation.

Packet lunch came to occupy us. Rice with fried chicken, egg tofu and chilli kangkong I think. Not bad! Next up was goodie bags. Got not-so-nice JJ drink, beef 午餐肉, salty biscuit, mints, 1-for-1 happy hour voucher at Echoloft (dunno where), gym vouchers, some other stuff and the best of all, free scoop of Haagen Daz azuki ice-cream! But they purposely said not valid at Esplanade. Win liao lor.

Waited and waited and waited. Entertainment was balloon sculpturing, caricature drawing and face changing. The face changing fake one lor, I could hear a click, swoop and the face disappeared into the fellow's costume. Looking closely, he had layers of mask on his face -_____- 骗小孩子one.

It was still raining at 2pm. Upon enquiry, we found that we were to wait until 4pm for the prize presentation where everybody would be a winner. WTF? What medal? Boey tahan liao! Must get out!

Went Marina Square! Bought jeans! Smell perfume till my nose turned numb! Then to Millenia Walk, then to Suntec. Looked at Nissan cars. Dinner was at Sizzler. Quick, before the crowd comes!

The current Sizzler meal promotion comes with vanilla ice-cream potatoes! How special!


The ribs are dryyyy.

While we were blissfully eating, hungry souls queued outside. Wait for us, ya?

Do our stuff weigh 40kg?

Now to get home before the fireworks crowd did. For the first time, we made a mistake of calling a cab instead of queuing for one. Our cab seemed to be stuck in the Suntec roundabout jam while the taxi queue was shortening...

End of the day :D More like shopping trip hurhur.

Work <-> Life

Today at my company's annual brain-washing session, the big big big boss announced that they are going to focus on work-life integration.

Work-life integration indeed.

Non-stop OT since May.
Occasional Saturdays.
Work from home so that I can see the office 1 day less a week.
I miss having my dinner at 8pm.
I miss my friends.
I miss my computer.
I have a backlog of entertainment.
I have a backlog of blogs to enter and I don't wish to forget what I want to write. This entry is a backlog too btw, it's made on 2^nd Sep actually.

My work is becoming my life. I congratulate my company at their success.

Impossible deadlines, with the complexity of the system. Rephrasing, I'm incompetent.

This is really a weird place.

People who cannot differentiate between reason and excuse.
This guy is from the Pastes team, the project I joined when I first joined the company.
CM: Why did this-this-this happen?
Me: Because like-this and...
CM: That is not an excuse.
Me: I know this is my mistake and this is what happened. I don't mean this as an excuse.
CM: So what is your reason?
Me: (names reason #2)
CM: No, that is not an excuse. Can you stop finding excuses?
Me: (so wtf should I be saying? Care to tell me your idea of a reason?)

The moody middle-aged woman
She's been mentioned before here. When she's in a good mood, she's very nice and takes good care of me. But when it's foul, ha! Luckily she doesn't act up often, but it could become more frequent with age.

L suddenly popped by to say there's a problem with my work.
Me: Yes, I'm aware of that already. I am fixing it with the next release.
L: Ok, so let me test something else. (*press press*)
Me: No no, you can't do that yet, that problem is affecting the rest.
L: (angrily) Why can't I do that? I want to do that. (continued pressing) Why is it not working?
Me: ... (will I be insulting her intelligence if I repeated myself?)


The PM who knows his Math.
A conversation between PM and R at noon.
PM: So how long will you take to finish this?
R: 7 days.
PM: So today is Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, next Tuesday can finish lah?

I wasn't sure if the PM was joking.

BTW, the brain-washing session was a total waste of time. Dangerously crowded, I had to wade through a sea of people to register myself, wade through another ocean to get to the buffet which I can't eat because I was standing, and punish myself by standing for almost 45min to wait for the fucking doors to open. Then listen to the big big big boss talk about the company's achievements and how they aim to do more for the people. Ya, whatever they are going to do, I'm sure will not apply to contracts. I should have just stayed behind to get more work done, impress my boss and maybe become a perm. And do I care how well the company is doing? Got bonus for me meh? Doesn't matter at all, unless it's doing so badly that they are retrenching.

No Grape Is Created Equal

2 champagne grapes from the same bunch. The smallest vs the biggest. There are many raisins too, but no pictures of them, because they look like, well, raisins. And taste like raisins too.

By the way, champagne grapes are yummy. It's so fresh that there was even a dead spider among them, complete with something white, which I assume to be its web. It better not be bird shit or what...

Edit on 2^nd Sep 2007:
More inequality from my 2^nd box of grapes.

I find that ordinary grapes no longer taste as good as before. Hmm...

Equinox + 店小二 + Gloria Jean's

Equinox
The day didn't start off well. I almost wanted to cancel the reservation, but in the end, my family made it for the high tea at Equinox to celebrate my mother's belated birthday.

Our table was at private dining area on the 69th storey. Not that I specially paid extra for it or something, just that they were out of tables at the main area. Might as well, since the lift stopped right outside. If we got the main area, I would have to walk down a flight of steps. Although the buffet was a distance away, I'm not the one doing the walking :P It's just a pity that the table was not right next to the window :\ In a corner of the room was a table with well-behaved children eating quietly. Why, I was pleasantly surprised. Such well-brought up children!

Aha, no pictures of the food. There was main course food like porridge, sushi, which I didn't have much, because I was there to pig out on desserts :D~~ There was fresh, crispy waffle with MMM~~ ice-cream, wa dunno what brand one! The carbonara pasta was thick and creamy. Nice, but good thing it came in a small serving. The thin-crust pizza was delicious, but hey, I think it's hard to go wrong with pizza :X There's a chocolate fountain, but I only had a strawberry. No point filling myself up with fruits! Not into chocolate fountains at all. It's just chocolate-coated food, which means you eat more of others than the chocolate.

Lots of desserts but unfortunately I neither have their names nor their pictures. Most are tasty. A memorable one was an airy puff soaked in dunno-what (and you can't tell visually that it's soaked) which melted in my mouth. For drinks, there were the usual coffee and tea, Dilmah infusion teas and punch. There's only so much that a 25-yr-old stomach and entering decline can take. O I found that chamomile tea is excellent for washing away flavours so that I could eat somemore.

O ya, those "well-behaved" children went wild after they filled their stomachs and had nothing to do with their recharged bodies. So the usual running around, screaming and laughing ensued, their parents throwing half-hearted "hey, stop it, sit down" because they were too busy talking. The parents finally did something when one kid started bawling. Ya the usual ending.
The bill which gave me a shock.

What is that Mineral charge that costs a whopping $15?! Water? Their water so expensive ah?

Went to admire the view and took some photos before leaving.

Actually, if my mental sums skills are decent, I would have realized that everything still added up to $35 each. Luckily I didn't make any noise about it. It's not my nature anyway.

Something interesting: There are fruit flies in the restaurant. Neh, the drosophila lor. Very irritating.

After that, I went for a spin at Raffles City Convention Hall to look for a toilet while away time before meeting my friends. Wow they have nice, big and clean toilets. There are even comfortable sofas. Next time can get a drink from downstairs and laze here! Cheaper than Starbucks, less people and noise.

Met my JC classmates at 店小二 for early birthday celebration for E. Learning from our lesson, we ordered a set meal meant for 8, although we had 10 people. Or make it 9. Sigh, actually I suggested that place partly because I haven't ate there before, but I was too sugar-overloaded to eat anything already. I just had the white fungus pork soup (can taste the MSG), a piece of mushroom because it looked toooo inviting, and the dessert. The dessert was honey sea coconut, with SPRITE. Yeah, fizzy sprite. Peculiar. We were allowed to eat in peace. No over-zealous table clearers. Very good.

Then it's Gloria Jean's coffee. Shared a ice-blended chocolate with E. Not nice one. Spinelli~~
Partially described in my JC class blog.

Certified!

The blur, lazy programmer is finally a Sun Certified Java Programmer!

As previously posted, I originally resolved to get my certification before I got -argh-, but the planned got shelved because there was no crisis. So I slacked and studied on-off, never intensively, thus it my skills never seemed to improve.


The final push came when my exam voucher was approaching expiry. We are talking about $266.70. Unfortunately, I have been very busy of late, OT-ing almost daily and obviously not in the mood to study after I got home. Left with no choice, I booked my exam for the very last valid day. *the power of procrastination*

So it's more intensive studying than usual for 3 weeks. I bought my exam during a promotion where I can retake once for free should I fail, but it would be more convenient to pass it at the first sitting, right? No movies! Cannot watch my new Jap drama! T_T

I was primarily practising at the JavaRanch Rule Round-up Game, where I should be scoring 100% before attempting the exam. Horrors of horrors, I was scoring like 60% or worse consistently. I seriously suck at modifiers, classes, interfaces, inheritance, threads... Aiyah sibeh jialat lah. It's like I'll still fail CS1101 now, and that I've learnt nothing during my years of work. So demoralizing. Practised repeatedly, until I sort of memorized some answers and starting scoring 100% more often. Moved on to a 45-page Word document of practice questions I compiled when I was last enthusiastic about it. Only had time to go through half of it.

The big day came. I took annual leave instead of exam leave because I didn't want anyone to ask me about it. Like, what if I failed? So paiseh right!

My test centre was NTUC CertCentre@International Plaza. Took my sister's precious Nike jacket along as I recalled almost freezing to death doing an interview test 3 years ago. The staff is friendly and helpful. They have colored CCTV! Wa seriously, no cheating! There's even a switch on the table to buzz the staff to come in. I settled down, familiarized myself with the exam format (my FIRST time seeing the format *blush*) and off I went.

Time whizzed by and it was over. I decided to be kind and fill up a feedback questionnaire, which had odd questions like how I found the temperature of the room. Can change meh? Light a fire? I know can change a test centre, but I doubt they would go to that extent. I received my result slip at the reception (yes, it's instant) and went back to work. Yeah, although I was officially on leave. I didn't want to be accused of slipping the project schedule. Haven't looked at my results yet. Shall save it for later, when I get home.


Yeah my result. What if my boss ask me how come just pass only? *stress* Glad that it's over, and I didn't waste my money lah.

Auntie Sotong

Got to know from a forum that Triumph would be having a warehouse sale from 27^th to 29^th July, at Jalan Pemimpin! So near my house! Must go! I know I just bought 1 new bra barely 2 weeks ago, but 1 is not enough! And I still want to get more panties :P Told the other ladies in my family about it and they couldn't resist as well.

Plan for the day: Hit the sale once it opens in the morning at 10am, grab something within 30min, pack lunch and fly off to work. Perfect.

The organizers gave us transparent bags to hold our trophies. There weren't many people when I reached, so I browsed leisurely. So wrong I was. The crowd swelled quickly and it wasn't long before I had to squeeze my way to the baskets. It was hot (would have been worse if the sun were blasting), stuffy (at the lower deck of a double-storey carpark, which provided shade, ironically), crowded and tiring. So I just looked at the design and dispatched my sister to find one of my size (the reason why she HAS to come). At a sale, you just want to buy everything, so we put anything we vaguely wanted into the bag first. Take first, think later. Chiong ah!

The panties section was horrible. Everything was in a heap and women were furiously performing the routine of fishing-inspecting-discarding/keeping. I joined them. So auntie.

When we were done, we went to a side to filter the stuff. If only I could afford all, then no need to waste my brain cells to think and 忍痛割爱. Shape a bit funny, out. Color too bright, dunwan. No, cannot keep this, got a similar one already...

I think I spent more time filtering than grabbing. Went to take a seat around bored men and children while my sis and mum paid.


I ended up leaving the place at 11.30am. My mum was so happily shopping that she decided to forgo an interview, but ended up the interviewer was late, so she still had the interview. I went for lunch before leaving for work.

Total damage $58 only. Impressive! *applause*

三盅两件

Partially described in my JC class blog.

Went to the AMK Hub branch for my belated birthday celebration with my JC class. Wanted to go to NYNY, but they were so yaya that they wouldn't seat us if the majority hasn't arrived, hence the change of plans.

I was late. Got out of the house late because my dad was still bathing -_-;; but might as well, so I wouldn't have to queue. Then the lousy carpark was full as usual so we couldn't get in. And which idiot designed that building? The interior is handicapped-friendly, but what good is it when there isn't any handicapped access to get into the building? All I could see is stairs man! Maybe they thought the travellator was a good idea, but sorry, it's not.

The nice thing about 三盅两件 was they allowed us in although attendance wasn't full yet. Got 稀客! I haven't met CX since we finished JC can! And there's HY, it's been almost 1 year.

One must place order with a firm mind. There were 2 versions of the 10-man meal. I think the cheaper one has no dessert or something and some of the dishes are different, but I had no idea how much better the food would taste for that premium, so we decided on the cheaper one. But the waitress was well-trained. She persuaded us to upgrade our meal as our chosen set serves pork bone soup (iirc) while the set she's recommending serves freshly boiled chicken soup, which they just cooked today. Also we would get dessert. So we were just looking at one another and she promoting the dishes, until someone said ok and the rest followed suit. :|

The chicken soup came. Sweet and fragrant, delicious chicken wing. Breast meat was tough, but it's breast meat what. Ok, sounds like a better deal than the other whatever soup (Look, I don't even know what soup and I'm comparing. Ha.ha.).

O yeah the Samsui chicken. Wrap it up with a piece of lettuce, put some sesame oil-soaked ginger and eat! Salty, tender and BONELESS.

There was a super oily potato leaves (all vegees outside are oily, so I'm cool), a freaking big steamed fish, fried rice (bowl filled to the brim OMG!) and some other dishes. Dessert was white fungus with ginko nuts.

We are (nearly) all in our mid-20s and can't really eat anymore. I barely touched my rice (sorry...).

Tricks to make us go away soon

• Serve the dishes fast and furious -> no space for the incoming dishes -> discard unclaimed food
• When a dish was 3/4 gone, come to ask if we still want it, then while we stun, collect the plate
• If more than half the people have put down their chopsticks after the last dish, clear the table of everything. No bowl, no chopstick left behind. You can't resume eating even if you want to. Ask to serve the dessert. The slow-eaters will catch the hint and discard their food.
• Do the same for the dessert.

So ya, I'm a slow-eater. If given time, I could have at least finished my portion. Didn't even finish my dessert. Boo. The food is nice, but could have been better if I could savour in peace.

After we got out, I noticed that there was still a queue. Afterall, it's 8.30pm only.

Walked around as some of the guys wanted to buy things. E and S bought Anderson's ice-cream and said it wasn't tasty. Noted.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2004: Haven't started working yet
2005: Job too eng, a waste to take leave. Colleagues treated me to Cafe Cartel and super alcoholic cake. Anyway I was going to Ikoi in the evening, can go straight from work.
2006: Job too eng, a waste to take leave. Colleagues treated me to Gelare because it's Tuesday -_-;; But add this add that, also ended up quite ex lah.
2007: Went to work on this annual event, just like the previous years. Not that I like to bully myself, but I could make full use of time the if I were to "postpone" it to Friday. Taking leave on a Wednesday is such a waste. Wake up at 11am, and have to make sure I get back by 11pm and be in bed asap so I can still make it through the day with a cup of coffee the next day. So there.

The day was ok. Solved a few problems and let myself home earlier than usual. 7.30pm, that is. W sent me a mms with an animation of a cake. I couldn't play the song that came with it. Must be the phone. It made me think if I should get a cake, but... I think no need lah.

O the stupid Citibank called me about you-know-what again. But I forgot to scold them. Next time. Sure got next time.

When I got home, I saw an envelope on my table. My spree item has arrived! So 准! It's as if I sent a present to myself.

As I had guessed, my brother got me a cake :D After allowing my dinner to settle further down, it's time to eat the cake/blow out the candles/cut the cake/have the celebration!

The mmm~ chocolate cake. Only remembered to take photo of it after I started eating, so pardon the dirty and obviously licked spoon. Very moist! The biscuit-like sticks on top are actually sugar.

HSBC sent me a "present" too. I had a late charge dated exactly on my birthday. How cool is that huh. It's my own fault. I did try to pay last month, but didn't notice that the bank transfer didn't go through because I busted the daily transaction limit. But actually, it's the bank's fault too, for not displaying the warning in font 30, bold, red and flashing. I shall act apologetic and ask them to waive the charge. Else I shall transform into an unreasonable bitch and threaten to cancel my card. Heehee! But before that, I shall redeem all my points with Haagen Daz vouchers. Like, $60 worth.

So on Friday, I slept till almost noon and headed to Pasta de Waraku at The Central for lunch. The loooong wait was worth it, although it could have been avoided by waking up earlier. Tasty corn soup. Creamy, filling pasta. A half-portion pasta coming with a whole egg. Reasonable pricing. What more can I ask for? Too bad the desserts are limited and don't look interesting.

Then I went to Vivocity for the first time when shops are actually open. Tried Starbucks' Azuki Frappucino. Nothing special. In fact, I felt it tasted the same as the Mocha Frappucino, just that there were bits of red bean to nibble on. It was too sweet although I didn't put whipped cream. Coffee Bean's promotion looked better.

Bought 2 pairs cheap earrings at Harbourfront. Dapao Shih Lin's oyster mee sua to try and went home. Because not hungry enough for dinner :|

Settled my card! All it took was part 1. It's as if it's their company to waive by default. Phew.

Battered Coin

Today I asked my colleague to help me dapao lunch. This is what I got back for my change.

A bit blur, but you get the idea.



Contrast with this "normal" coin.


So seldom seen, that I asked my colleague what happened to her coin the moment she gave it to me. I wonder what the coin could have gone through to wind up like this, looking like a piece of crumpled Al.

Or maybe it's just counterfeit. I should feed it to something that wouldn't ask the question I asked my colleague, such as a vending machine.