Turning On The TV

Vegetating in front of the tv for even 2 hours nowadays is a luxury.

Home after a huge yummy sashimi and sushi lunch at Tatsuya, it was with much glee that I tuned out and simply focused on whatever Discovery Channel programme said. Of course it was a bonus that the topic was on marine life and climate change.

The torrential rain was an awesome accompaniment.

At the end of the programme, hey, I actually felt rested.

Another Black One

This baby is at least 20 years old. We have other bags, so we don't use this too often. So it's beautifully kept in its dustbag in a room with lower humidity and regular temperature that doesn't fluctuate too much.

When I look at the bags at home, I'm not inclined to go out to grab a vintage deal simply because the our bags are in almost mint condition. Not many vintage deals can match up to ours.

This baby is a classic XL jumbo. Sure, you get the updated versions now, but there's something about the lighter new leather and chain that don't completely match up to the quality of the older version.

I try not to put too many things into this baby. Even when I minimize the stuff, everytime I pick it up for an afternoon, I'm reminded that it's a 2.5kg bag. (I weighed it.) Not good to go shopping with.

Since I can't pair the jumbo with boots on this island, I make do with a light dress and slippers.

Wine & Cheese

It's very nice to have the colleagues back for a little while from their long sojurn in the UAE.

Their stories were most fascinating. Besides that, for some odd reason, we 'clicked' as an easy group to hang out together. I think many people are genuinely nice when they're taken out of the work context. (without an agenda)

I'm not a wine person. But it's an easy drink to have in a group. I can, at most, put away 2 glasses, max. Well, no one's counting. No one's looking to get drunk anyway. So my limit is just nice.

I was buzzing after a couple of glasses. It wasn't much. Just 2 easy bottles of forgot-the-name-of-the-house sauvignon blanc shared between 5 of us.

I didn't eat much at the early dinner elsewhere. I was saving my stomach for trifle and cheese here at Wine Company.

I'm just damn glad that this long work week has ended. I'm relieved to have a respite this weekend.

Taking Care Of The Hair

I have to wash my hair every morning before I step out of the house. I used to air-dry it.

Now that I have really long hair, it's quite irritating to have wet hair hang loose for half a day in office air-conditioning before it dries flat after lunch. FLAT! The hair is permed and it dries flat. HOW CAN?! Curls should be looose and bouncy with plenty of volume!!! But I can't achieve that look without hauling out the hair dryer and training it on the wet locks for a good 30 minutes. I don't have that sort of patience.

Many mornings, I never have time to blow the hair dry before I get to work. Alright, I never bother to learn how to blow my hair dry.

Sometimes, on peculiar days, I only have time for a very quick shower (no washing of hair) and I gotta be out of the house within 15 minutes.

On those days, it's called a bad hair day. I have to knot the hair into a tight bun. That's when it'd be ideal to have the limp and oily hair washed sometime in the afternoon.

If I want something done, I go to the hair salon. I have my usual 2 places where I pop in during the weekends. But it isn't anywhere near the office. I need a convenient quick-fix during the weekdays.

So that's what I did. I went out and found an unassuming hair salon near the office to grab a quick hair wash. For a mere S$18, service is efficient and decent. Even if I round it up to S$20 for the small tip to the girl who does my hair, it's so adequate that I end up popping in up to 3 times a week at this little shop for a wash and blow. For that small tip, she gives me a very good neck rub. I get to take forty winks too.

That's how I usually spend my lunch hour. :)

After A Drizzle

On my way to town, I saw so many people taking photos of the sky. Of course I also stared up lor.

I perked up.

Did you see the huge double rainbows late this afternoon at about 6.45pm? One arch was really brilliant and sparkling. The secondary arch was of course a little dull but just as large. The colors clearly shone through the setting sun.

What a lovely end to a trying day.

For some unknown reason, I've seen rainbows daily since Saturday morning. Today's rainbows are the largest, brightest and happiest.

My rainbow count for the week stands at 6.

A Day At Work

I'm absolutely grateful to be able to work with 2 great managers one after another. Like this one today.

At work, there was something that came up. It riled me. Party A wanted me to do something that I didn't want to do because it meant compromising the quality of the project. So I was really really annoyed. To the point of wanting to throw something at the wall just to hear that satisfying thud. Anything. Not my laptop. A cup maybe.

I whined rather loudly to the manager. Short of patting my head to commiserate, she calmly gave me an alternative to mull over. The alternative that I had earlier thought about and resolutely rejected because that meant a compromise that I wasn't ready to give in to just yet. It was "[my] your call", she said. She didn't push the issue. Somehow, she made it feel as though she knew I'd arrive at a satisfying diplomatic resolution, eventually.

Then I realized. She trusted me. Like the other manager, she gave me leeway to make my decisions. No matter that I'm quirky and capricious, they trusted me to make the right call. Trust at work is not an easy thing to have.

I re-read those emails. I went stomping up and down the corridor in my 3-inch stilettos. I pushed my mind around all scenarios and perspectives. With a huge sigh, I made a decision.

I cursed silently under my breath. KNNBCCB. I went to churri a cigarette from another colleague. Not the best way. But I needed to control my temper. That was the quickest way. So for the first time in years, I actually smoked at work. (in a corner of course!) Well, I could have opened up my emergency stash of single malt and swigged from one miniature. Somehow, smoking at work didn't seem as bad as drinking at 4pm.

I okay-ed this thing Party A wanted. In reality, it wouldn't flow smoothly, but there would be an added value. It wasn't so bad, really. Anyway, I made sure Party A knew the effort that my team had put in. But if it meant achieving a greater objective, so be it. (End of financial year, all rushing to hit KPIs. Fine, I'll do it!)

Okay. I'm glad I didn't throw a public tantrum. *angelic grin*

Sushi Makes Us Smile

It's strange how not eating sushi makes me grumpy.

It also makes me lose my appetite for other foods. Same goes for the man.

It didn't take us very long to decide on a venue, gather the friends and make a reservation for a sushi dinner. That perked us up immediately.

As usual, food was outstanding. The winner of the night went to the flounder fin (engawa) aburiya. We each had 5 good pieces of that.

*burrrp*

Flip Flops

Did I mention how damn happy I am today?

It's a Monday. And I flounced around in jeans and flip flops at work.

*flashes V sign*

The Girl In Pink

Parents may rebut. But babysitters might share my feelings. While I don't bond very much with babies, they're at the age when they are the easiest to care for.

You can shove a newborn or a baby to me for the whole day- I'm cool. Throw me a toddler and I'll be nonplussed. The toddler is so so fussy till it's quite a challenge for me to deal with. I only babysit toddlers I like. HA. I not only have to adhere to the parents' rules for the child, I also have to creatively manage the child's temperament and constant pushing of the limits. Each set of parents has different rules. I must always remember the child doesn't play by my rules. Eeek.

No wonder my conviction of not wanting children stands so firm. Each time I see the friends (who're wonderful moms/dads) with children in tow, I don't get the maternal instinct thing beep. I don't even get the "I want! ....but...." So till now, I don't know how that is supposed to feel. Well, more like I hope I'll never feel that. I'm very happy playing with the friends' babies.

Like this little angel who accompanied us through brunch, shopping and mudpies with nary a whine.

Pasta Dinner!

The man created his very own spaghetti with roasted pumpkin in white wine and vegetable stock reduction and sour cream.

The recipe below is not for pedants in the kitchen. In the man's own words, he says,

This recipe serves 3 - 4. Ingredients:

- 750g Australian pumpkin, cubed
- 200ml of good quality unwooded chardonnay
- 150ml of vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 large red onion, diced
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 leaves of basil, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons of lite sour cream
- 2 tablespoons of pine nuts
- Shaved parmesan
- White truffle oil

1) Brush pumpkin with olive oil and seasoning (eg, fries sprinkle, mixed dried herbs, powdered onion, ground coriander, sea salt, etc) Grill in oven for 25 - 30 minutes till tender.

2) In a saucepan, sauté onions and bay leaf for 4 minutes with ground pepper and sea salt. Add garlic, continue to sauté for another 2 minutes.

3) Add white wine and basil, reduce to half.

[In the meantime, boil pasta till al dente. Drain.]

4) Add stock and stir until pumpkin starts to break up.

5) Add sour cream and pine nuts. Stir till velvety.

6) Add pasta, toss, sprinkle shaved parmesan, drizzle white truffle oil and serve.

[Stylish utensils and cutlery optional.]

Pretty Yellow Pumpkin

During the week, the flat is dusty and not inhabitable. We don't even cook the weekly dinners during this period.

When the workmen and contractors are gone for the weekend, we put the kitchen to good use again.

Sunday is for roasting pumpkin.

The man's going to have it as a side for a pasta dinner dinner. He's also going to make pumpkin rice and risotto for the week.

Face Painting

We brainstormed and hit upon an idea for the department retreat.

But we had a tight budget to work with. Whatever we had, we'd prefer to spend it on food and little prizes for everyone.

I had a bit of fun putting together activity packs for one secret segment.

I decided that the materials and whatever required would come out of my own pocket. If I were to participate in this segment, I'd want to see a well-thought activity pack. After gathering all the materials, the cost, to me, was virtually negligible.

I hope everyone would be able to get some laughs out of this.

The Meet-The-People Session At My Estate

The man and I attended a Member-of-Parliament (MP) 'Meet-The-People' session at our estate.

When we first saw the flyer make its rounds, we decided to clear our schedules for that morning to attend. We were curious. It felt exclusive. We didn't know why they would schedule one specifically at our estate. Unlike other public housing estates which held weekly sessions, no MP held regular sessions here.

I thought hard about it. The units in this estate are largely tenant-based. Given that the owner-resident ratio is only 40%, I was quite sure that there would be very few Singaporeans who take an active interest in a Meet-The-People session. Those who do, might actually be ahemmm.....dubious.

The man and I know that a session here will be very different from those I attend with or on behalf of the old folks on my roster. Those sessions can be heartwrenching. It can be frustrating too if the social assistance schemes are so rigid that they do not fit the demography I represent.

Our 'exclusive' scheduled session will not focus on social assistance or bread and butter issues. That could potentially turn into a bitch-moan-whine meeting. The man and I do not want that to happen. That is something that we feel keenly about. The man and I share the view that ground sentiments cannot just come from a small representation. We need to make our voices heard too.

The man and I made it clear that we were there as interested residents; as alternative voices. We want to send a message that we are also part of the electoral vote that will swing either way come the next GE because we vote largely based on global trends, performance, track records and future possibilities. Not on party history and blind faith. (Well, if we get to vote, that is.)

Anyway, I do have a selfish agenda. I want to suggest installing a traffic light or speed strips along the popular road to the back entrance of the estate. Not for the convenience of the residents, but for the safety of all users of this busy road.

So we went. As expected, including us, only 10 residents turned up. It was done boardroom-style. Half of them sat on the estate's management committee. The man and I were appalled that these people ended up as committee members. That would only be possible because no others cared enough to be part of it. And those who do, are frankly not up to task.

Who am I to laugh at another's notions? What do I know? But some issues are so petty till it's painfully amusing. The 'politics' are so bad till I want to smack all of them and ask "How old are you guys?!" These people are older than us, and reduced to childish bickering. The man and I are like, "My goodness. You people presume to represent our thoughts?"

The man and I disassociated ourselves from the opinions of the management committee. We shared some positions and disagreed with others. We were also there to evaluate if our management committee was doing a good job of representing the estate's concerns or simply fulfilling their personal agendas. We probably made quite a number of them unhappy with our non-partisan stand and fairly objective viewpoints.

We do not envy the MP's job. It is trying and exhausting.

While we have met this MP at several social events, we have not properly met in a 'work' setting. Thank goodness that at work, this MP is the complete opposite of our management committee. The MP managed the session well, plucked 3 key issues to tackle and skillfully dealt with all topics raised. We are glad to know that our MP is attentive, not dismissive; sane and professional. Basically, it's great to have an MP who is not an idiot.

Let's see if I get my traffic light. :)

I didn't think I care. But I do.

Getting A Vintage Bag

Trawling through the shops at Far East Plaza one afternoon found me in a quirky little boutique.

They had the fakey eeky quilted synthetic leather/pvc bags with smelly metal chains. But sitting quietly in one corner, I spied something that looked real.

Upon closer look, it was indeed authentic. It was a vintage lambskin navy Chanel 2.55! Ooh. It was not in a good condition though. It needs quite alot of loving to oil the leather to get it back to a decent shine. Very well worn actually. But the chain was still beautiful and intact. For S$580.

However, I didn't get the it that day. Till now, I'm still thinking about it. :) If I really want it, I could get one off ebay anyway.

I could go get a new one I suppose. I don't have a 2.55 in this smaller size. But what fun would there be?! I like that worn look. It goes great with t-shirt and jeans topped with RayBan aviators.

If I do go back to the shop to grab it (if it's still available for sale), it will be my first vintage bag!

No Fun One

I thought it was a 2-hr show. Instead The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ran to 3 hours. I wasn't enthralled.

I got bored at the 1.5hr mark and spent the other 1.5hrs being grumpy.

So I was tetchy because I had plans for that extra hour instead of drumming my fingers on the armrest in the cinema.

1) I wanted to go show face at Velvet before it revoked my lifetime membership.

2) I wanted to meet the friends for a drink.

I wanted to do all these before I hit the sack at a decent time of midnight.

Since that 1 hour was wasted viewing gratuitous shots of Brad Pitt in his aviator shades (Oscar's Best Actor nominee you say?) whizzing down the roads on his bike, I obviously had to switch the plans. Or simply sleep later. I was feeling very very very disagreeable.

So I petulantly accused the man of spoiling my plans because he was the one who wanted to watch this movie. I was vehemently against wasting my time on this Oscar nomination.

I was obviously spoiling for a fight. The man just shrugged and drove into Kim Seng Road then Jiak Kim Street. He didn't say a word.

He was indeed wise. He didn't rise to the bait.

Game Night

We knew that the originally dismal bar at this club had revamped its whisky selection and boasted of a strong offering of single malts.

Tonight, we decided to have a casual dinner at the club and check out its bar after.

Put a bottle of Bowmore 18y.o on the table and we were sorted. Then the pool table was opened up just for us.

What followed were a couple of games with double players. We had not played on this table before. And we hadn't touched a cue for months. We bantered over the table. We had to do the requisite sets of warm-up games. Then, the serious single player games began.

Hmmmpf. The tiny 7-feet table was crappy. It wasn't well aligned. Tsk. The cushion was worn. The cue tips were rough and unwieldy. Like that, how to control the cue ball??! (Right, blame the table and the cues, never the player! ;p) We had to compensate for each stroke depending on where the ball was. Which meant, we could not draw the ball back to where we want it; we could not place a proper English and had to stick to striking dead centre; we could never thinly slice an accurate shot along the length of the rail because the ball would just veer off when it hit a bump. Growl.

Haha. It simply meant we didn't finish the game in our usual 1 cue or 3. We needed at least 5 or 6. We could do no more than 3 continuous shots (excluding the deliberate snooks and safety shots).

I was in 2-inch heels. Low by any standards. But too high for the 7-feet pool table. I had to bend really low to aim for shots. Plus I had to walk so around the table so many times. Not the most comfortable thing in the world. Remind me to wear flats the next time if I intend to play 8-ball.

I didn't drink much, just 1 glass. I don't like drinking alcohol when I play pool. It affects my hand-eye coordination. Sparkling water is the best when I'm on the table.

All in all, I had a really fun evening. And it wasn't because I narrowly won 8 out of 10 games.

Read Your FB Account's T & Cs

People are extraordinarily attached to their fb accounts. I wonder if anyone really scrutinizes its terms and conditions.

I read fine print zealously. To the point of being anal. There's a reason why I hate signing up for discount cards, lucky draws or any retail marketing gimmicky crap. I have an ongoing war with my cell phone operator about spam texts and SISTIC for being laissez faire with customers' NRIC numbers when collecting tickets from their counters in the shopping malls. So, to that note, I still refuse to get on the fb bandwagon.

I suppose all fb users would heave a sigh of relief at this being retracted and reverted back to its original T & Cs.

"Earlier this month, Facebook deleted a provision from its terms of service that said users could remove their content at any time, at which time the license would expire. It added new language that said Facebook would retain users’ content and licenses after an account was terminated."

(Article titled: Facebook Withdraws Changes in Data Use, The New York Times)

I hold hope that somebody, humans on this little red dot actually bothered to protest and contribute to the success in opposing the sneaky amendments.

Stretching Out

My regular therapist wasn't available till 9.30 pm. Oh well, I'll have to get a massage this weekend then. I filled up the evening with other matters of interest.

I was a little pooped when I got back to a very messy flat this evening to clear stuff. (3 more weeks to go for reno works.)

It had been a very hot day. Of course I headed straight to the cool of the pool.

V, you'll be very proud of me. Not about the timing, but the fact that the lungs and ass swam 10 more laps than the usual.

35 laps x 50m in 56m49s.

(update: YAY! V texted to say she "IS VERY PROUD OF [ME]." *beams*)

Not A Fan

I'm not sure if I betray all of womankind with this line. (Then again, I panned Twilight.)

But I'm neither into Confessions of A Shopaholic- the movie nor the books.

The movie is a pathetic excuse of a comedy without fashion cred nor substance in its script. I can suspend reality. I can't shelve disbelief at what they pass off for fashion in the movie. I'm sorry, Isla Fischer. In those clothes, Kate Moss and Hedi Klum would look alot better than you ever will. And no one, no one beats Sarah Jessica Parker in the individualistic kooky stakes.

I read the 6 books in the Shopaholic series in a single sitting under 3 hrs. I couldn't believe how shallow it was. There was all this hype, you know. I had to read it again to see if I'm missing anything.

It's mindless to the point of annoying. This is not the type of fluff I enjoy.

Becky Bloomwood is the exact sort of woman who irritates me. I find myself rooting for Derek Smead.

I do not like Sophie Kinsella. I'm not fond of this genre. But I do not mind the writing of Madeleine Wickham. While the topics, characters and settings are similar, there is a subtle difference in the phrasing, language and plot complexity in the hand of Madeleine Wickham.

Email Etiquette

I sent out a couple of emails to my friends' parents. Then I scrolled down the sent messages.

Something struck me. It's quite hilarious.

When I see my friends' parents in person, it's always a polite or a cheery "Hi Uncle/Auntie!"

But when I talk to them online or email them, it becomes "Hi Mr/Mrs [insert surname]" or simply "Hi [insert first name]".

The amazing thing is, these friends' parents know the darnedest online jargon that yours truly might be completely clueless about.

Like "RRR~!", "ILICISCOMK", "NTTAWWT", "NVNG" and even the simple "KMP". I had to google before I knew what they meant. And how could I miss out this rude favorite of the god-mother, "KMRIA".

Almost irreverent sometimes. I like.

Value Mapping

'Value attribution' is omnipresent.

Value attribution is not restricted to marketing communications and public relations or the domain of financial analysis.

When one says value attribution affects consumer behavior, we know that it goes well beyond the retail and financial sector.

Likewise, one can apply the theory of performance attribution analysis to different sectors and behavioural patterns.

If we can understand the consequences of value attribution, then we will not be so swift to judge. Nor would we be so quick to believe what the eye sees. There are flip sides, even when it appears to be dispositionally inherent. There are so many facets to a story. We need to dig deeper.

There are always variables. There is always a magic chalice that changes something.

Remember that.

One Example of Bad Copy

Since the food at this hotel lunch buffet wasn't nothing to shout about, I fiddled with the brochures on the tables.

I read one and cringed.

How on earth could the hotel's marketing department have let this brochure through? This was a brochure I expected to see at a second rate pub or a third rate hotel bar. Not at a supposedly higher-tiered 4-star hotel restaurant serving a buffet lunch at about S$42 per pax.

(Things like that get my gall.)

I'm sure it's a weekly promotion thingy. Well, maybe it isn't something that's worth spending alot of money on to make it all stylish and pretty. I don't have a problem with that. Print it in black and white for all I care.

But hor, can don't be so lax with grammar and image or not?

Mushroom Soup

I wasn't hungry. So I just requested for a bowl of soup for dinner.

The man prepped a simple dinner for us. He put a piece of rump steak on the grill pan for himself.

I wasn't interested in having any of the steak. So he blended a bowl of mushroom concentrate for me.

Tinged with just 2 drops of truffle oil, it was perfectly filling and very satisfying.

Double Bay

After hearing so much about Double Bay and its fish and chips, I couldn't wait to drag the girlfriends down to try.

It proved to be a surprisingly decent restaurant for food.

For the price and venue, I was just a tad skeptical of the quality of the food. However, whatever we had that evening turned out pretty good.

We randomly ordered stuff from the menu to share.

For the fish and chips, there were 7 different kinds of fish to pick from a chilean seabass to a marble goby (otherwise known as soon hock), ranging from S$19.90 - S$24. We picked the easiest barramundi in sumac and coriander batter.

The girlfriend squealed with joy at the tender scallops and squid. The gravy and ikura at the sides complemented the seafood brilliantly.

We loved the bite-size 110g piece of tenderloin which came with a beautiful blob of very tasty mash.

The mesclun salad had a really good salad dressing. It was simply burnt butter, balsamic, vinaigrette and olive oil.

The roast pork was done in the western style of cooking. I enjoyed it totally with the carmelized apples and raisins. If you only heart our Hong Kong style 'siew yok', don't order this.

We had so much fun with the food and conversation. The dinner was such a wonderful way to wind down after a heavy work week. At the end of the meal, we had no stomach space for dessert. Someone would have said "tsk".

The girlfriends heart the wide chairs (?) at the restaurant. Well, at least the chairs are big enough for my butt and bag.

I'm definitely going back to Double Bay soon.

The Springbank Vintage 1997

It was an evening of whisky at the club. A night when friends mingled and bonded over common interests and shared grouses.

There were many bottles of Bowmore and a bottle of Springbank Vintage 1997. The Springbank Vintage 1997 was rich and beautiful on the rocks. Do not ever, mix it with soda or sparkling water. That absolutely spoils the taste.

I liked the flavor of this Vintage so much till I forgot that the bottle of whisky is cask strength. I merrily drank and drank.

By and by, I realized I had sipped many shots of that whisky. The heat flush was spreading up my neck to the cheeks. I knew I had to leave. Now. Before the alcohol haze hit.

I went home and drank 3 litres of water. I waited for a bit. Then I stuck a finger down the throat and gagged.

I was determined to get everything out of the system. I do not like having alcohol course through the body while I try to sleep. By morning, that inevitably turns into a pounding headache which constitutes a hangover.

I heaved and heaved. Till there was no more left but bile. I wonder why I do this to myself periodically. Probably to remind myself why I should always drink in moderation. Getting drunk once a year is just about right.

So yes, the next morning, while I woke fine without a headache, I had a very delicate stomach though.

Valentine's Day

The house is always filled with flowers. We get them direct from the wholesale market/florist in big bunches.

I don't really like just a small bouquet of flowers. I like a roomful of flowers. And I like them at proper wholesale prices. So I will throttle the man if he ever waste money on buying useless flowers at triple the prices for me on Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day, is just another day. Recession or not, I make it a point not to spend money on dinners and gifts. There isn't a point. The man knows it. We have never celebrated Valentine's Day and definitely don't intend to. I is not going to pander to commercial pressure.

For us, this day is best spent watching mindless tv programmes. And of course a sushi lunch at Tatsuya.

Heh.

A Card

I'd be happier if they had actually written my name in the card. Or better still, sent a tiny bag along with it.

Ah well. So greedy. I'm no Hollywood celebrity. Haha.

A Basket Of Love

The most beautiful flowers I receive in my life always come from women.

I came home to a basket of beautiful roses and perfume.

And quite a lovely card filled with ladybugs. Heh.

I like ladybugs.

From my bestie, to remind me that I'm loved.

2 Points

Some people annoyed the hell out of me with their anachronistic thinking and sense of superiority. So in this rant, there are 2 points I want to make.

Point 1
Can I just put on the record that I bloody hate this particular column in our Sunday Times.

I was hoping this column would end after some time. But it seems to be going on and on and on and on without the end in sight.

I was hoping for greater insight from the columnist. She doesn't talk about anything else except harping on herself being unmarried in her mid-40s and wondering all about the what-ifs.

Seriously. This sort of writing and topics make the national newspaper on a Sunday? Goodness. One would have thought that it belongs in a blog. Make no mistake, her writing is very decent. She's got a rhthym. But her choice of topics, can die.

When I bother to read the actual newspapers instead of getting it online, I tend to glaze over and avoid reading her column. But when I scan the page, sometimes I still make the mistake of reading half of it. That's when I want to shred the newspaper into bits and yell, "Get a life woman! Stop whining!"

I find the lamenting and the overly self-reflective weekly posts absolutely disgraceful. Go on, give the orthodox society and our sagely ministers yet another reason to urge everyone in the society to get married and pro-create, otherwise one will end up like that writer.

Point 2
I have to stop myself from strangling this long chain of women who openly tsk at my choices in life.

It's MY BLOODY CHOICE and I AM HAPPY. I DO NOT SECRETLY FEEL LIKE THAT WRITER. What audacity to even think I would 'secretly' feel like that? Humans are pathetic.

I'm not too into being NORMAL and intransigent. I certainly do not scoff at YOU for YOUR CHOICES. So YOU DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO SNEER AT MINE.

Many enjoy marriage and children. They find joy and fulfilment in the 2 states. I respect that. So I need people to respect my stand too. I do not need marriage to validate my existence. I am me. I do not need children to 'complete' my life.

Years have moulded my habits. I forget my manners by never bothering to introduce the man sometimes. He usually introduces himself at social gatherings. Well. By now, I introduce the man by his name. He's just that- [insert man's name]. I do not put a label on him and identify him as "my boyfriend" or even "my partner". Friends who know me well simply ask after him as "[insert man's name]".

How many times do I have to emphasize this? For me, marriage is a choice, not a must. Having children is a choice and a blessing, not a natural progression.

Another One To The Family!

It's a wonderful feeling to come home to more pressies and cards that came through the mail.

When I took this cutie out of the wrapping, I was really touched and had to giggle at her gift.

She's really astute. Knowing how busy she is, she still took time to pick out a present for me.

I don't have a white bear. Now I have one.

Useless Tiles

For 2 weeks, there'll be plenty of contractors moving in and out of the flat. The flooring has to be re-done in a major way.

It's only been 2 years since we moved in. All the tiles have popped out.

When the contractors did the initial inspection, they suggested that we had somehow cracked the tiles. Right. All of them. Indeed. When the contractors saw that all the tiles were raised, hollow-sounding and cracked, they realized that there was a job that needed to be done.

What can I say? You use all these beautiful marble tiles and don't bother to lay it properly the first time round. Shoddy workmanship.

We don't have to pay for the new tiles. But it's just irritating that time and effort has to be wasted on these tiles after we moved in. Couldn't someone have done proper quality control before people move in?

There would have saved everyone a great deal of headache and screaming.

Naming This "Love Pollution". (See No.30)

Because hobomobo asked. Also because it's about music.

But doing 30 songs takes super long can! Ha ha. I think my ipod has its own sense of humor.

I'm not tagging anyone k? Feel free to go shuffle if you like.

a. Put your iTunes on "shuffle".

b. For each question, skip to the next song to get your answer. You must use the title of that song as your answer, no matter how silly it may sound.

c. Tag at least 10 friends who might enjoy doing this, as well as the person who tagged you.

d. Tag someone you think has good shit on iPod.

e. Tag someone whose music you dunno about.

1. What would you say if someone were to say, "Is this o.k.?"
Just Watch The Fireworks ~ Jimmy Eat World

2. What do you like in a guy / girl?
Don't Change ~ Rob Dickinson

3. How do you feel today?
Trigger Happy ~ Llyod Cole

4. What is your life's purpose?
Alone With The Moon ~ The Tiger Lillies

5. What is your motto?
You Only Live Twice ~ Coldplay

6. What do your friends think of you?
Bitches Brew ~ Miles Davis

7. What do you think of your parents?
Someone Has To Die ~ Maritime

8. What do you often think about?
Hear Me Out ~ Frou Frou

9. What is 2 + 2?
Feverfly ~ Electrico

10. What do you think of your best friend?
Black Dollar Bills ~ Hope Of The States

11. What do you think of the person you like?
Naked As We Came ~ Iron and Wine

12. What is your life story?
The Heart Of Life ~ John Mayer

13. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Waiting On The World To Change ~ John Mayer

14. What comes to mind when you see the person you like?
Happiness ~ Elliott Smith

15. What do your parents think of you?
Amazing ~ Josh Kelley

16. What will you dance to at your wedding?
Smack My Bitch Up ~ Prodigy

17. What will they play at your funeral?
Death By Melody ~ Folksongs For The Afterlife

18. What is your hobby / interest?
Eleanor ~ Low Millions

19. What do you think of your friends?
We're All In This Together ~ Ben Lee

20. What is the worst that could happen?
Mary's Surgeon ~ Amanda Palmer

21. How will you die?
Lady Marmalade ~ Christina Aguilera, Pink, Missy Elliot, Mya and Lil' Kim

22. What is the one thing you regret most?
Ashes Everywhere ~ Joseph Arthur

23. What makes you laugh?
Amelia ~ Joni Mitchell

24. What makes you cry?
Little Bombs ~ Aimee Mann

25. Will you ever get married?
Run ~ Snow Patrol

26. What scares you the most?
Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness ~ Smashing Pumpkins

27. Does anyone like you?
Gobbeldigook ~ Sigur Ros

28. If you could go back in time, what would you change?
Stupid Memory ~ Sondre Lerche

29. What hurts right now?
That Summer ~ Andy Stochansky

30. What will you post this as?
Love Pollution ~ Feeder

It Wasted 2hrs Of My Life

Well, I had to watch this movie at a work event. No one twisted my arm to do so. But it was part obligation and part morbid curiosity.

Given a choice, this is a genre I won't watch. Given the actors, I'd rather die than watch this show. It's like TCS 8 glorified to a nauseating maximum.

Those bloody product placements were so freaking obvious that one would think all the audience were blind. So for the record, I wanted to tear my hair out about 20 minutes into the movie.

This movie is directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham. I enjoyed his stage works and feature films. Even The Coffin is a good sort of b-grade movie. Great stills and angles.

But this one, good lord. I couldn't find a trace of his directing brilliance throughout this sugar-coated crap that is simply milking the PR machinery for all it's worth.

*spoilers ahead.

The 2 high points in the show were:

1) The scene where all the teddy bears and soft toys were strung up by their necks. (macham a scene of 'murdered' dolls in Ghost Whisperer- Season 4 Episode 9. So not cool.)

2) The woman's blue Hermès satchel. Did you see that?!! But her ah lian clothes clashed terribly with it.

That's all.

Love Thee, Love Thy Friends

The one thing about the man is, he is very generous towards my friends. I can't ever fault that.

He doesn't bother about the intricacies of politicking among women. Those who I call friends, are by extension, his friends too.

I'm not saying that we are one big happy family. Meshing friends and their halves is a complicated chemical formula that sometimes takes too much energy to do so.

Of course we don't do get-togethers all the time. Once in a while. Only if the occasion is suitable. Or if I can make an accurate guess that he'd be able to find common conversation topics with the other halves of my girlfriends. It's not easy to get the winning formula. (It doesn't have to involve alcohol! It must never touch on soccer or the economy. Invariably, the best would involve music- blues, jazz or indie .) But when we hit the right note, it's great fun to do double/triple dates and couple outings.

In honor of my turning 31, he treated my friends and their halves to a very good Japanese meal with the full works of a hotpot, teppanyaki, and an outlandish amount of sushi and sashimi.

For that, I love him very much.

Memories

A memento of a most wonderful vacation.

Big D's Grill

(Dawnie, this is for you.)

Big D's Grill has moved from east to west!

Its new location meant that I could eat there often! Awesome.

However, Chef Damian D'Silva doesn't do catering anymore. What a pity. We used to cater fabulous food from him all the time. Never mind, we can still tapau.

I couldn't wait to taste the anchovy pasta again! Like a bad penny, I turned up with high expectations for a yummy lunch.

Still fabulous. The crabmeat linguini was lovingly prepped. For S$11, there's nothing fake about the crabmeat or the sauce. Likewise, the S$17.90 anchovy pasta. The saltiness didn't linger in the mouth. That was from the anchovies. I was fairly sure there wasn't much table salt in it (if at all). That S$12.90 plate of sambal buah keluak was almost sweetish. A beautiful flavor in the middle of the day. It was terrific with rice.

I rather eat here any day over any Crystal Jade outlet.

If you can be bothered to make the trek to Holland Drive, it's going to be worthwhile. Very respectable food at very decent prices.

And only if you can tahan the heat in a non-air-conditioned and almost stuffy low-ceiling venue.

Big D's Grill (closed on Tue. Food is freshest between Wed - Sun)
Block 46, Holland Drive,
#01-359 Singapore 270046
(It's in the same coffeeshop as that XO fish beehoon stall, next to the tiny bus terminal.)

The Little Blue Box

I'm glad that the friends never bought me many items from its silver range. We think it's a little expensive to pay so much for silver. Unless, there is a certain design and workmanship that we fall in love with.

Well, one exception. The keychains. I love its keychains. They've got beautiful designs that are really practical too.

There is a particular design of a treble clef that I took a fancy to. I forgot why I didn't buy it back then. But it isn't available now. Too bad for me.

I don't wear bracelets. I don't wear necklaces often either. So I stick to rings and earrings. Sure, there are some the classic designs I like. However, I'd like it in white gold. ;p

Lately, I've been getting gifts of white gold that come in these little blue boxes. I've told them not to. But they insist. The friends are incredibly fond of getting me pieces that I'd otherwise never choose on my own.

I think it's a yardstick of our age.

Forget The Newspaper

I'm not too into reading the papers these couple of days. I just flip through them very casually and scan the headline and some paragraphs.

I've no patience to sit and linger over papers. All I want to do when I wake up, is to get out there and play.

International news of gloom and doom can take a backseat.

Did You Steal A Cow?

When the cut-out cows went up for Chinese New Year, I grinned at them.

What an absolutely wonderful time for them to be stolen. They'd look so festive out on the balcony or middling about in the garden.

The Chinese New Year cows had a stand-alone sign that stated "Cows Under Surveillance". I went naaah. No way. It isn't cost effective for them to monitor the cows that are put in a wide space. There simply aren't any closed-circuit cameras nearby that they could tap on. But I had very funny images in my head of humans popping up from behind trees and bushes to stop people from relocating these cut-outs.

Hmmm. For many reasons, I shall not steal a cow this time. (Not that I haven't tried. I failed.)

But I owned one because a sweetie gave me a cow! A proper gift, not loot okay!

I was highly tickled to read about cows getting stolen. moo said it best here.

So if you've stolen a cow, go and donate at least S$188 to the Home Nursing Foundation- adopted charity 2009 of Moove Media!!!

Eat Already Must Pay

The girlfriend bought me dinner at Inagiku last week.

We had to take a closer look at the bill because their machines were spoilt. Our bill was manually tallied and handwritten.

When they brought us the bill, after all the card discounts, the total bill was only S$45. What a steal! Just 3 seconds later, we realized that it was too cheap. Feeling honest, we told them that they missed out the plate of sashimi in the bill.

Heh. The proper bill worked out to S$70+, still a steal. We do want to return to dine at the restaurant, so we thought better to fess up! Otherwise I guess we would have snucked off!

(We kinda did that too at a bak kut teh place! Not that we meant to; we really forgot to pay and had to double back to sort out our S$14 owed.)

Did You Celebrate Nutella Day?

Nutella taste especially good on vacations.

I carry around small packs (not so hardcore...haven't graduated to the tub yet) of Nutella all day to slurp it up.

I must celebrate Nutella Day in a grand way!!

It's been my daily breakfast so far. With some raisin bread, it can be lunch.

It's such a great energy booster.

Turning 31

I love your wishes that came through emails, snail mails, texts, phone calls, hugs and every other way.

I especially love all those handwritten cards. I'm told that I have some more waiting for me at home. All these have been overwhelming.

I love being 31. I like where I am. For now, I am/my life is complete. I cannot think of anything else I want right now. I don't need any specifics to make me happier.

But friends remind me that I'm a true-blue Aquarian. I retort that I'm also prone to "fanatical eccentricity".

In contentment, lurks danger. There is the alarm bell going off when I feel joy. In that happiness, I mustn't be stagnant. That is something I can't bear. Hell, not wanting change is not a positive sign. So yes, I need to move my ass to do some stuff that I've always thought about. There're things I want to fulfil this year. I must always remind myself never never to lose sight of who I am.

I am not doing enough for the environment nor the world I care about. I have to do more. There ought to be a great deal beyond looking at God, self and family. I've been incredibly blessed with so much. I have to pay it forward and then some. This is something I don't write or talk about often. I usually just do it. Whatever I think I ought to do, quietly. Mainly so as not to sound like a self-righteous prick. Yet this is something that burns bright within, defining my existence.

When I blew out the candles on the birthday cake, I wished for a greater sense of environmental consciousness, good health, inspiration and direction- for my nearest and dearest, to the friends I keep near, to the people I meet, eat and drink with.

While I'm not too bothered if I live up to your expectations as a friend, I hope I've brought some measure of laughter into your lives. This is me, take it or leave it.

Thank you so much, people, for making the effort.

Watching The Grammys

In other news, I watched the Grammy Awards for only one you-know-why reason.

I squealed like a 16 year old when John Mayer took the Grammy for "Say"! Not one of my favorite songs and I think he has better songs in other albums. But who cares, John Mayer won! ;p

Did you guys catch the Bo Diddley Tribute??!! I love it! I really enjoyed the line-up which saw John Mayer do the rock and roll thingy (with Buddy Guy, B.B King and Keith Urban).

And of course, for Radiohead with a brass band backing "15 Step" for In Rainbows. Awesome. Well, we all heart Radiohead for its daring pay-as-you-wish digital model that shocked the record industry. Given the history, I'm just a little surprised that the industry allowed Radiohead to even be nominated.

That's why I want to blog about how happy I am about the 51st Grammy Awards.

Coffee

It's fabulous waking up to sunlight, kisses and a warm hug.

It's terrific to smell the coffee permeating the apartment.

I'm on vacation. I shall indulge a little. It's decaf. :)

Notice

I'm doing many many exciting things this week. Things to make me feel like a fluffy me again. All this excitement makes even sleeping a major inconvenience.

I will write. But I won't plonk in front of the macbook for a prolonged period. If I do surf, it's going to be out of a blackberry.

So the 'comment' function on this blog will be turned off for this week.

I won't be leaving many comments on your blog either. But I will be reading!

Black. Leather

I can't stop gushing about how much I love my leather jacket.

It's unbelievably versatile.

I'm falling in love with leather jackets all over again. It's so comforting to have one.

I bring this along with me everywhere. So much so till the friends decided I should let this one rest a little, even though technically, leather jackets needn't be washed. They got me another version in black from Veda by Lyndsey Butler.

*Double squeal*

Packing Like It's For Summer

The friends have the cheek to tell me that I should dump tacky travel bags.

One says, "A woman at 31 ought to travel with Hermès."

In my defence, these monogram bags are not new. Probably 6 - 7 years old. One cannot account for my taste based on things I bought years ago!

Ah well. As a travel bag, the print doesn't give me goosebumps. I don't use them often anyway. When I do, they're great for packing in lotsa stuff. They are fairly sturdy for the bellhop to lob around. I won't put these monogram bags into cold storage. They're good for another couple of years.

So I can't justify getting a new travel set from Hermès!!!

I Hate Surveys

There is a joint survey conducted by our manpower and education ministries to "gain a better understanding of the employment history and educational upgrading of local university graduates".

Well, the man and I received letters a couple of weeks ago to inform us that we have been selected to participate in this survey. That was that.

Just the other day, we received a reminder letter in pink, urging us to participate and telling us that after a month, the survey only received a 20% response rate. (HA HA.)

Well, I'm not going to do the survey.

I always kena selected to be a potential survey statistic for dunno-what stupid reasons. I find it puzzling that I'm always being 'requested' to do like, 3 - 4 officially-commissioned surveys a year.

Well, at least this particular survey offers an option to do it online. Alot better than MCYS' survey which involved sending a letter of notification and then conducting manual door-to-door visits without the courtesy of making an appointment or using their brains to call before rudely barging their way through my estate's security.

Needless to say, my suggestion for politeness and structuring an online system to MCYS and its consultants went unanswered. They didn't even give me an automated response okay! So I'm NOT apologetic that they didn't complete that particular survey because I was never home at a decent hour.

For this MOM-MOE survey, I refuse to understand why I should 'help' the ministries gain a better understanding of my employment history and educational upgrading. Well, somewhere down the road, it's going to help policymakers understand what Singaporeans need and what sort of qualifications corporations require.

Whatever. I know. But why should I bother?

The letter did not bother to explain the full rationale of the survey to me. The online site is practically useless in offering substantial information. I'm not some drone who could be persuaded to do their bidding in 2 bureaucratic paragraphs that are basically meaningless babble. (It's like how they answer letters in the Forum page.) And because I'm not the sort who would feel happy being told what to do in 2 paragraphs. A statement of intent is not going to persuade me to be cooperative.

Nowhere in the letter is the word 'compulsory' printed.

So. I'm not going online or anywhere else to submit information for this survey.

The man took one look at the reminder, shrugged and junked it. He declared, "I'm not legally obliged to participate in this survey."

At least we're polite. Unlike this rude and obstinate friend of ours who also kena the survey. He said, "F**k you, f**k your f**king consultants and f**k your survey."

Chiharu

(Chiharu has closed in 2010)

The friends and I thought this would be a comfortable time to visit Chiharu after it opened last November.

Opened by the good people behind New Majestic Hotel, Chiharu's clever interior decor with its subdued lighting and dark colors make the spacious restaurant seem almost cosy. The restaurant stands on the old grounds of Corduroy & Finch along Bukit Timah Road. Slightly off town, its location is a convenient point for us.

While I'd usually insist on a strict sushi and sashimi omakase at reputable Japanese restaurants, I wasn't confident enough to do that for my first visit to Chiharu. We opted for the omakase which included the grilled and simmered dishes.

Our starter included a baby abalone and the tastiest angler fish liver. That won my vote of confidence. The sashimi was very fresh. Naturally. It's flown in almost daily. I expected that from Chiharu. We announced that we loved otoro. So Chef Kng indulged us by being really generous with the otoro. What impressed me was that huge Japanese oyster in citrus sauce.

Frankly, Chiharu is not the best place for sushi. The fish is fresh. The sushi is definitely decent but not mind-blowing. Fresh fish is only half of what makes up a mind-blowing sushi omakase. It is a good venue for an overall experience of traditional Japanese dishes. Helmed by Patrick Tan in the kitchen, its grilled and steamed items are delicious and a few notches better than its sushi. It has omakase sets from S$80, S$120, S$150 and S$200.

Now, because the restaurant looks so good from the outside with its glass walls, I have to do something about not expecting the servers to open the door for me when I get out of the car. ;p

A LadyBug

When the colleagues asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I shamelessly asked for a Swatch.

A plastic Swatch. I love the plastics.

There's something about a Swatch. It reminds me of good times.

I haven't had a new Swatch for ages. Those I had in school were all thrown away. I'm left with none.

Now I have one.

The colleagues are so cool to get a design with a ladybug on it!

So cute!!! I wore it immediately! What fun!

Little Muffy

The collection of adorable bears at home is growing.

Little Muffy will sit quietly in her paperbag till it's time to be taken out to sit on the bed with the other bears.

My first girl bear. :D

Over Ocha

I didn't know that there was such a cool outlet at the basement of Raffles City till a new friend brought me to O Cha Cha.

I love green tea. But I wasn't interested in the cold stuff. I wanted hot tea.

O Cha Cha served up 2 sets of pretty good sencha and genmaicha. Best after a heavy meal.

It was a very nice thing to sit down to hot tea and conversation with the bubbly girl.

Sometimes, online personalities shine through to face-to-face meetings. But of course, it's always the conversation that is the scary part. Being polite online doesn't mean we have topics to talk about with each other. That is, till we meet up and realize that fundamentally, we're not very different in the way we treat our friends.

Naturally we don't have to agree on everything. Yet we agree on many. We'll hold different attitudes yet share some common values. And that is the beauty of it.

I'm not that brave to meet up with every blogger or online acquaintance. In fact, I shy away from most blogger events and invites. But some, are very sincere. That is so rare. I know many meet-ups to be strange sometimes. Because I am too much of a maverick. Plus this is a selfish blog. It is neither an authority on any topic or relevant matters. It is mostly irreverent.

I'm grateful for the ones who gave me courage to meet and then hold dear. Not all become friends. Many remain as acquaintances. By sheer luck and God's touch, the ones who are new friends are sane, warm and a blast to hang out with. They're kind, humorous and cheerful. I'm blessed by their precious gifts of time, laughter and conversation.

I really don't know what I've done to deserve such wonderful gestures from those who are initially mere strangers. Thank you dearies.

(I better show you my evil side soon.)

We're Connected

This delicate handmade card and pressie came in the mail today.

I swear my friends are psychic. This one is, most certainly.

Looking at the date of posting and considering she lives like 12,840 km away from the little red dot, I think she bought this black moleskin notebook the same day I bought the one in fuchsia.

Which means, across continents and timezones, we've been thinking about moleskin notebooks at the same time.

So so uncanny.

I so love this present in black. I have a secret use for black notebooks.

A Special Apple Crumble

The girlfriend is a gem.

She busied herself all day to bake us a lovely apple crumble.

She made special arrangements for it to be dropped off at our flat because she'd be on an early morning flight home by then.

We loved the apple crumble! It was a perfect balance of tartness and sweet.

The man's parents, who don't take much dessert, are absolutely enchanted by the apple crumble. They ummm.....fought over the original portion meant to be shared. So they each had seconds.

Epic Fail

So you know I can't tell the difference between a zucchini and a cucumber, a turnip and a radish.

Undeterred, a couple of weeks back, the man asked me to get him a turnip. I got him a parsnip.

The man was looking very hard for this furtive kent. He wasn't interested in the usual pumpkins. He could settle for butternut. But he insisted on finding the kent for the specific purpose of roasting.

I looked around at the baskets and pointed. "Oh that one! That looks good!"

The man eagerly descended in said direction. He paused. He looked at it rather solemnly. "Honey, that's a rock melon."

Oh.

Thoughts

One evening, the man and I strolled by the old estate that we used to live in.

After the en-bloc sale, the apartment stood all quiet and abandoned.

Now, it's been completely demolished. Out of that rubble, a new swanky apartment will rise.

We've been thinking about getting a flat. Not too seriously though, because there isn't a significant push factor for us to do that. I think we're damn spoilt that way. I ain't going to pick up his dirty clothes after him. He ain't going share the tv with me.

As an adult, I've mostly lived alone. While I'm not fond of company all that much, I'm not in a hurry for solitude. It's a wonderful thing to come home to piping hot meals and cold-cut fruit, and wake up to vitamin pills and tiny eats.

Ooh. Maybe when they launch the showflat, we'll come back. To see if we like the new apartment enough to finally get our asses down to getting a unit. It's a fun idea. It'd be so......nostalgic.

It might take a while though.

For S$12

The very sweet colleagues took me out to lunch at Sushi Tei.

I was very careful about what I order. I must be sure that it's something I'll eat at Sushi Tei. Cannot waste other people money! ;p

I ordered a very strange char siew ramen. There was a slab of butter in it! But it's so unlike any corn butter Sapporo ramen I've tasted. Anyway, I decided to scoop out the butter. I gave away the thick hard slabs of char siew too. I was hungry and ate my usual half portion.

Well, at least it tasted like good instant noodles.

What I cannot stomach is that the retaurant priced this bowl of ramen at S$12! I felt this twinge of guilt for the colleagues who are paying S$12 for my ramen that is nowhere near the excellent standard of one that is also S$12 at Menya Shinchan.

cOOkies!

I could hardly contain a squeal when I was given a big jar of fudgy cookies first thing in the morning.

Chocolate and walnut!! Homemade!!! All that effort over a precious weekend!

What a marvelous thing to wake up to.

I love it that the cookies look like nonchalant blobs instead of those proper squares or round flats that sit in the commercial bakeries.

I know the very zesty girl who baked them doesn't have too sweet a tooth. So the sugar level will be just right for an imp!

That jar is so huggable. Heh! I won't finish all lah. I will share.

人日 :: Claypot Rice

My resolve on eating less carbs always crumbles when faced with claypot rice.

Shang Palace does a pretty good claypot rice. (Yes, I've resorted to bringing my own tiny box of freshly chopped garlic. The chefs in the kitchen are always too busy to chop fresh garlic for diners.)

The thing is, I don't eat the sausages that seem to stem from dubious meat origins. Sure, those salty flavors seep right into the rice to give it that aroma. So I only like the end product where the rice is all nicely flavored with this thin layer of oil on each grain.

But there is no way I am going to just gobble up all that rice. I will however, take a good number of spoonfuls. Still, I feel slightly triumphant when I share the pot of rice with someone else. At least I don't finish the whole thing all by myself!

红包

The ang pows are usually chucked into the drawer and forgotten about till much later.

I just opened my embarrassingly numerous ang pows.

The total amount from the ang pows is stellar, like all other years. That is something I can't comprehend. Isn't the amount given in ang pows supposed to get smaller the older I get?

Anyway, the generosity of the givers of these ang pows will be recycled towards a needed cause. And by that, I don't mean getting another new Chanel clutch.

Where applicable, I'll send tax-exempt receipts back to the givers. As some would say, to help accumulate good karma all around.

Not Quite Journaling

For years, I've always carried quite a large notebook around. I needed it to jot down stuff anyway.

I lost the habit when I started on a desk-bound job.

As a new year present to myself, I got this small fuchsia moleskin notebook.

Besides the fact that it fits into most of my bags, I thought it really pretty. Just the right burst of color to my staid blacks.

It's not so much of journaling I want to do. It's just a neat way to jot down ideas/thoughts, inspiration for blog posts, dates, grocery lists, etc, rather than sticking Post-Its and memo paper all over.