My impulse purchase

There are visitors from Australia and New Zealand staying with us right now. As a good hostess, I took them out for touristy stuffs yesterday.

We visited the Esplanade,







the art created by children along the underpass to Esplanade

the durian structured Esplanade roof terrace,










Merlion,










Fullerton Hotel and walked around Boat Quay. We spent some time at Orchard Road before heading to Newton Circus for our pre-Night Safari dinner. Night Safari was having Halloween theme, the animals were dressed up in Halloween costumes... nolah... the park was decorated with Halloween stuffs.










At the end of the day, it was a 12 hours outing...

okay... back to shopping... Let's blame it on the weather...

It was extremely humid after a short down pour. By the time we got to Orchard Road, my legs were aching from hours of walking and I was already in my "zombie" state. One of visitors wanted to get some Chinese CDs, so we went to HMV and headed straight to 3rd floor.

I wasn't thinking... and wanted to treat myself something to motivate myself to continue with the journey. Every girl knows that was very dangerous. I spotted "Jay Chou" album on the shelf. My instinct told me it's not released yet, and it's too light to contain a CD + a desk calendar... but... what the heck... I found another Mozart piano for duo CD that I've been searching for a long time. So... I headed to the counter and swiped my credit card... that was adrenaline rushing.

As I was heading out of HMV, I spotted another shelf with Jay's album and a tiny notice board next to it... stating "Pre-order Jay's album now and redeem the CD and toy on 16th Nov".

hehehe.... apparently I've pre-ordered the album, and the box only contains the desk calendar for 2008.













Later I found that I've paid 3 dollars more for the album, HMV always charges slightly more expensive to reduce the ROI of investing in the escalators.

I checked and confirmed that the album is going to be released on 02.11.2007. Maybe I was confused, but I remembered on that tiny board, it was stated 16th November.... grrrr..... and I'll be out of Singapore until 20th Nov - which means... I won't be able to redeem the album. So... I spent more money, pre-ordered the album, not able to get the toys and CD when it's released, and I have to go to Orchard Road again to get the album 18 days after the release date.

Anyway, now that I think about it, I'm glad that none of them wanted to do shopping for luxury items... if not... ooouch...

Lesson learnt. Always listen to my instinct. Always stick to shopping rule no 1 - never buy anything when I'm in "zombie" mode.

关怀

关怀是
施予对方想要的
接受回报之前，先有付出
每天都要努力实现的
自然而快乐的
虽然是小事，却是伟大的

载自 － 11楼，Han Sang-bok.

My birthday

Happy B-day to me! Thanks mom for giving birth to me... thanks for all the b-day wishes...

After 21, everything seems to be in a fast forward mode. Time flies. Tonnes of changes happening in our lives... I'm glad that I still have that beaming smile on my face.

This year... I'm 27, married, starting my family in Singapore. As a sign of maturity, yucky necklines starting to craw all over my neck.

So what's happening? Dan took a couple of days off to focus on spoiling me.

Got a Wii as pressie from Dan on Friday. I always wanted a Wii and finally it's officially launched in Singapore. Surprise... surprise... Australia beats Singapore by launching it last Christmas!

All authorized dealers are selling the console in a package. So, we got to choose two additional games for free from a list on top of Wii Sports. I chose Shrek the Third and Transformers. The free games are not so fun but I really enjoy Wii Sports. We bought additional controller so that we could play together. Now I can hit my husband by playing Boxing. Any nice game to recommend? I don't like RPG...

Slipped into my Havaianas, packed my bikini and sunscreen, we went overseas on Sunday as my bday getaway trip. It's really an overseas trip... We took a 50 mins ferry across the choppy South China Sea and landed on Bintan Island, Indonesia. I took up the WOT Hotel deal from Wotif.com where the hotel is kept secret until the booking is confirmed. I was hoping it's Bayan Tree Resort... and it turned out to be Bintan Lagoon Resort.

There is nothing much to do in Bintan. We just checked in... threw ourselves into the pool...

had some ice cream and relax...

The resort is not bad. We did not step out of the resort at all.
The currency used in Bintan Island is SGD. The employees speak excellent English in the resort and I didn't feel that I had actually left Singapore, except the fact that we did pass through immigration check points. There are nice and fine sands by the beach but the sea water was a bit muddy. We had Indo-Malay buffet dinner with excellent beef curry. However, the buffet breakfast was below standard.

At the end of the trip, I brought home with serious tan and 1kg weight gain from excessive eating... my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

Yesterday... on my actual birthday... we did some touristy stuffs. Dan took me to the Chinese Garden after my medical checkup. It's strange that both Chinese and Japanese gardens are in the same location. The Japanese Garden was a disappointment. It did not have much Japanese elements in it. It's relatively tiny in comparison to the Chinese Garden. There was a Live Turtle and Tortoise Museum and I had a great time feeding the turtles and koi fish.

These were Southern America turtles... I was on a bridge in the middle of the pond. The hungry troop swam towards me and it was pretty scary being ambushed by hundreds of them, even though they are harmless. One of them even tried to snatch the fish food away by its mouth. At the end, two packets of fish food were fed to the starved reptiles.

Beautiful koi fish were fighting for food...

To fulfill my gastronomical pleasure, Dan treated me dinner at San Marco Restaurant at the Fullerton Hotel. It's an Italian fine dining restaurant. We had a table by the window, overlooking Marina Bay.

The bread rolls were unique, it's small round roll in a meatball size. Wine pate and smoked salmon was served as amuse-bouche. It was very delightful. After having Foie Gras & Rhubarb for my entree, vanilla sorbet was served as the teaser to clear the palate. I had roasted kurobuta piglet for main. The pork was very tender and it melted in my mouth. The best part was it's served with my favorite apple sauce.

Dan had Seared Sicilian scallops for entree and 36 hour braised lamb shank for main. The scallops were mouth watering. The lamb was succulent but it's a bit bland to my taste buds.

We shared grapes pan roasted with raw sugar and brandy for dessert and it was sensational. The skins of the grapes were removed and I loved the chocolate ice cream. A complimentary plate of desserts was served with our tea. Chocolates, nougats, passion fruit Turkish delight and chocolate tarts were served. The Turkish delight was my favorite. The rests were just ordinary.

Oooh... the staffs were very attentive but I didn't feel easy as there were many eyes watching me eating. I couldn't understand our waiter's English. He was the only Chinese there and was mumbling all the time. The manager was suave and good looking. ^_^

I think i'm spoilt... in a good way.

周杰倫-牛仔很忙

Jay 新的MV. 很不一样的曲风，舞蹈很kawaii的说...

骗徒

讨厌。被电话吵醒了。

“喂，我是从某某市调公司打来的。我想...”
“没兴趣！”
“我还没说完你怎么会知道没兴趣呢？”
“你们打过电话来好几次了...”
“几时？”
“上个星期...”
“那谢谢你。”

我不是无知的老人，也不是贪心的妇女，我关心时事，就算90％的我还在睡觉，我就是不会给你什么好处。

现在的骗徒很勤劳，可能有个target,每个星期要拨几通电话，要有多少个人上钓，才会有花红分。这是第三次接到这种电话。

拜托，我的电话正在国际漫游，下次就算99％在睡觉也要狠很地给他们脸色看。

讨厌。我喜欢自然醒。不要吵醒我！

Beware of Garbage Trucks

This article is written by David J. Pollay.
Extracted from http://pos-psych.com/news/david-j-pollay/20071002426.
Enjoy.

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.

I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And for emphasis, he threw in a one finger salute, as if his words were not enough.

But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck™.” He said:

Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.

So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.

So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”

I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time is Walter Payton. Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way: Tiger Woods, Nadia Comaneci, Muhammad Ali, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, and Pele are just some of those players. And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way: Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King.

See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.

So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.

The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.

What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here’s my bet: You’ll be happier.

Ottogi Beef Jjajang

I'm super lazy especially when it comes to settling my lunch. Usually I wake up at around 12pm and slowly regain my conscious and have my breakfast in front of the TV, watching Discovery Channel. So, my lunch time is around 2pm.

I'm loath to confess that there are thousands of lazy bugs living in me. So, I avoid to go out to get my lunch at all costs especially under the heat of the sun right on the equator line.

Today I got up super late and there are no more healthy quick lunch fix (such as ham, lettuce and stuffs for sandwiches) in the fridge. So, it's time to explore and try something new.

Bought this Korean Ottogi Beef Jjajang from a Korean specialty shop near home. It looks so tempting from the box.
I'm good at preparing instant food. I followed the instructions...even though I couldn't understand a single word in Korean.

I opened the packet, and found that there is NO RICE in the packet. Okie... sometimes pictures can be deceiving. I thought it would be something like those packet meals that come with pasta or rice that I could get in Australia. It seems that I can't be a 100% lazy bug when it comes to Korean food...

So the instant meal is not so convenient... okay... so I continued...

Ting! Ting! (noise from the microwave oven)

It turned out to be the most disgraceful instant meal ever!! Again, picture is deceiving. In reality, it's a chunk of deep brown stuffs that is very close to black colour. It smelled awful!

At the end, it went straight from the microwave oven to the bin!

So... if your boyfriend/ husband treats you badly, "cook" him this meal in return... It costs about SGD3.80 and I'm sure it worths every single penny looking at him suffering from this shitty stuffs.

I'm evil...