For this week.

It’s been another week and I haven’t had time to switch on the laptop when home, much less update.

Managed to only clear my emails (sorry if I haven’t been replying to some of the regular emails from friends) during those quick breaks I’m supposed to regard as lunchtime.

But hey, I’m not complaining. This week has been relatively easier, with me scoring a 97.5% on this week’s assessment.
I’m pretty happy with it, considering I hate math to the core and there’s a lot of it in this week’s module of pricing, taxes and stuff like that.

I was a little snappy to the people around me in the first half of the week, and the Mr got a clear idea of how I hate repeating myself and being told what to do when having to deal with tiresome people at work. I welcome suggestions but I don’t like being pushed and insisted upon that I take up on an idea that others find ideal without me having some time to evaluate it first.
So yeah, the Mr got a earful and I even burst into tears because I was frustrated AND tired AND angry. During which he duly panicked and stuffed my face into his shoulder and calmed me down. LOL. It seems funny now when I’m thinking about it.

All in the process of adapting to a new work environment huh?

Anyway, the girls in my department have been really lovely and a cheerful lot to work with.
And since it was the end of the week yesterday, we decided to have some “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” time at The Coffee Connoisseur @ Boat Quay.

I found it a rather nice place, especially since it was a two-storey place and had lotsa low tables with bean bag seats on second floor.

 

From left: Hayati, Lina, yours truly, Sanchana and Dilip.

My good friend Daljit (whom I’m relatively closer to) isn’t in the picture because she insisted on taking a photo of us first.
I intended to have her in the picture as well so when I saw a member of the TCC staff approach, I asked if she would be nice enough to oblige us with a photo.

In which she rudely explained that we were not allowed to take pictures.

I don’t understand why we were not allowed to.
Like why?
I don’t have this problem at The Coffee Club, or any other place.
For F’s sake, I even went around snapping pictures at Al Dente @ Esplanade or La Dolce Vita @ The Oriental, Singapore. And no one’s even told me that I’m not allowed to.

So I don’t see why I cannot take pictures of OURSELVES at a coffee outlet.

And then she said, that we would have to delete the pictures.
To which I replied, “Make me.”

It definitely left a sour note on my impression of the place.
It’s okay if I’m not allowed to take pictures of the deco or the food items because they probably wouldn’t want to lose out to budding rivals.

If a franchise owner is so conscious about the brand image, they should strive on the service and food available. Even if I were to blog about it, isn’t it FREE and GOOD publicity?

The readership on my current blog may not be as high as the former, but still!?

With service like this, I don’t even need pictures!
Bloggers (who make up the majority of the regular netizens, I think) definitely won’t go to such a place if they’re not allowed to photo-jot down their memories.

This sucketh. Really.

Anyway, dear Daljit, I shall give you your dues by posting up your picture on this blog someday. LOL.

Daljit’s a real sweetie and she taught me the trick of rubbing Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Oil into the ends of my hair and spreading some lightly throughout to aid in dry hair.
I’ve never thought of Baby Oil being for adults, y’know. Heee.

Oh, and the girl has me severely itching to try on adventurous doses of eyeshadow.
I swear she must have a palette of every shade of colour possible at home to match her clothes everyday.
If M.A.C needs a local brand ambassador for their makeup, I’d recommend Daljit. Really.

Anyway, the weekend’s here, and I’m feeling on top of the world right now.
What has been bugging me for the past few years has been fully resolved and I am truly as free as a bird. Mentally, physically and financially.

Physically?

Yeah, the pain has been going off nicely now that I have discovered the sale of a Tablet Crusher at Guardian Pharmacy.
I have a problem with swallowing tablets. I think it’s related to my fear of drowning, because whenever a tablet goes into my mouth, my throat closes up and I choke.
So I always have to crush my tablets with some spoons (when my mum’s not watching, I use her expensive stainless steel spoons) before gulping down chunky pieces, hoping that I won’t die from having a piece stuck somewhere.

So today, I finally realized the invention of such a contraption and gleefully tried it out when I reached home.
I popped in 3 tablets together, and twisted the container, getting extra fine powder with no effort.

YAYYYYYYY.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, think pepper grinder.

Ahuh baby, all my problems are gone alright.

Stulang, JB.

As promised, I brought the family out to Johor Bahru, Malaysia today, for dinner.

I intended to get some titbits as well, since I have some trouble keeping awake in class now that I am doing the morning shift until the end of June, when training finally ends. So we agreed to drop by the Giant Hypermart at Tampoi first.

We left home at around 3.30pm, and since we all know how near my home is to the Woodlands Checkpoint, we were in JB by 4pm.
No traffic jam, thank God.

And yes, we went via public transport.

We bought some donuts at Larkin upon request of my first brother, who said he craved for some Dunkins.
I only like J.Co’s while the youngest brother likes only Munchy Donuts.

Anyway, we headed for the Giant Hypermart at Tampoi after that. By cab, it was only about RM7 and since there was only 4 of us, we went everywhere by cab today.

I love hypermarts.

They have everything.
And when I mean everything, it’s really everything. From stationery to bathroom and household accessories, furniture and even clothes & shoes.

I bought a black pair of maryjanes, SilkyGirl foundation and lipstick for only RM50.
That’s about $20 in SGD.

Now you know why I like to go to JB.
God bless the currency differences.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Batam, Indonesia is an hour away and not so accessible unless via ferry, I think I would make it my other favourite place to shop and eat.

Anyway, we hogged the titbits aisle.

I had a trolley of my own.

It’s not in me to go for sweets but I find them a necessity nowadays since I keep falling asleep around 9am to 11am everyday at work.
I’m fine for the rest of the day. But just for that two hours, it seems like I’m fighting a losing battle with the zzz monster.
So okay, sweets are my new best friends.
And marshmallows.
And strawberry yoghurt flavored Cadbury chocolates.

That’s my mother in the background.

Anyway, as you can see, I have a basket in the trolley.
I have this love-hate relationship when shopping for groceries.

I don’t know what the hell has gone into the trolleys other than groceries but it always looks like there’s strange rust-looking yet gooey brown muck in every nook and cranny of a trolley.
It just gets me man.
I don’t want my stuff to get that on them.

Bleargh.

That’s my stepfather on the left, my mother and my youngest brother.

The other brother couldn’t make it because he had some interview going on.
He has too many activities we can’t keep track of.
His loss then.

My youngest brother is the tallest in the family, and he’s only 14.
By the time he reaches 20, we’d all probably need a periscope to make eye contact with him.

He’s in the “radio” phase where his ears are constantly plugged with his Nokia earpiece so that he can stay tuned into Perfect Ten FM.

Several times, I have had to yank out his earpiece by either side to get his attention.
I told you I hate repeating myself.

We took a cab to Stulang, to have some seafood. Cost us about RM8 to get there.

I don’t know why I love Stulang and Senibong most when it comes to freshly-cooked seafood.

For those of you who don’t know where it is, or thinking of trying some good cheap seafood, you might wanna head to Stulang.
If you ask me, I prefer the first shop in the whole row; Restoran Talam Thai Seafood.

We had (from clockwise, in the picture above) butter prawns, black pepper chicken, sweet and sour siakap (seabass), seafood tom yam soup, kangkong goreng belacan (watercress stir fried with dried shrimp paste) with piping hot white rice.
My brother had some fried rice with ikan bilis (anchovies) instead.

Seeing all that food laid out in front of us really whetted my appetite.

I especially loved the sweet and sour seabass. The fish was fried to a crisp, and peeled out in such a manner of presentation that we didn’t need to overturn the fish to get to the flesh. The sauce was fantastic and the tomatoes were sweet. Since my mother doesn’t quite like fish, it was up to me and my stepdad to polish it off.

The kangkong was rather spicy, because there was ground cili padi (mini chillies which are really hot!) but it blended well with the rice.
Prawns were nice too, but I think it would have been better if the butter sauce was a little thicker. But it fared well.
The tom yam soup was the bomb. My parents loved it too. A generous helping of squid and fish, and mushrooms as well.
Black pepper chicken, I don’t know. When I have seafood in front of me, ayam wa tak pandang. (I don’t give a hoot about chicken.)

And for all that food, I merely forked out RM63.30. That’s about $30.

I spent more at Swensen’s yesterday with the Mr, when I gave him a treat.
He ought to feel special.

Anyway, I plan to make this a monthly affair with the family.
It’s just another reason to eat out and shop more. Hehehehe…

3 days of seafood.
I had crab on Thursday when my mum suddenly decided to whip up lemak (coconut gravy) on a whim.
I had crayfish pasta on Friday.
And seafood today.

That’s it, I need to go on a diet for the rest of the month.

In my dreams.

Note: You’d probably noticed that most of the pictures did not have “captions” in them. Photoshop decided to go all weird on me and produced TEENY-WEENY fonts no matter what size I chose. So fuck Photoshop. I hate it now.

Another week zoomed by..

God, it’s Friday again!
Sheesh!

Was this week fast or what? It was a public holiday on Monday; it being Vesak Day.. And then the remainder of the week was spent furiously jotting down notes during training sessions and having lots of hands-on practical sessions.

And today was Week 3’s assessment already.

Like, whoa! When I first started on the 8-week course, I felt like it was going to take forever. But it’s going to be Week 4 this coming Monday!

Anyway, I scored a 91% today. Wasn’t up to par in my standards, but still much better than the rest, since there were only a few who went above 90%. The rest scored in the higher range of 70% or lower 80%.

That means I have a 95% average so far. I just have to keep it up.

It’s just very tiring. Really.
The mental strain is far heavier a burden, than the days of physical training.

Anyway, today was my first full salary since God knows when, because of my health, my change in career and my pursuit of further studies.

I initially wanted the family and the Mr to meet up for dinner but then my parents thought of having a meal in JB, Malaysia tomorrow instead.
So I had a quiet (well, we tried, but the neighbouring table was just annoying) dinner with the Mr at Swensen’s, Causeway Point.

He enjoyed his Sirloin Steak so much, that he actually finished his food today.
I had my Pasta Crayfish of course.

It’s just a way of showing my appreciation with my family for being supportive and tolerant in the turbulent part of this year.
And the Mr’s support in my pursuit of a career and education.

~

I wanted to go on, but I suddenly went blank.
I am REALLY tired.

I shall go to sleep now. Good night.

Hmmmm..

I remember bringing home my notes.

I remember placing them beside me as I switched on my laptop.

I remember telling myself at 6.30pm that I’d take only FIVE minutes to check my personal accounts for messages and emails before starting on work.

I remember saying I’d do the ironing of tomorrow’s outfit by 7.30pm.

It’s now 7.51pm and I’ve done NOTHING at all.

I love my bed!!!
*stuffs face into pillow*

Need to let off steam.

I need to rant, really.
I got an unexpected comment from someone I barely know, and it really pissed me off!

Every morning, I try to have my uninterrupted ritual of having breakfast either at the cafe on the 2nd floor of the same building or in the office’s pantry. It’s almost the same everyday, either soft-boiled eggs with pepper and soy sauce or egg sandwiches, accompanied by tea with no sugar.

(Breakfast is important! I’ve realized that since I’ve started working mornings.)

Anyway, was watching Channel News Asia in the pantry today, waiting for the rest to come in before 8am when a young colleague walked in.

She’s 21 this year and about 4 months pregnant, having gotten married somewhere late last year.

I barely know her. I’ve spoken to her for a grand total of TWO times. And today, she decided to REALLY PISS ME OFF.

We had this conversation in Malay (she being one of those minahs trying hard to prove otherwise) because I can’t stand her grammatically-wrong English. I know I’m not that good either, but at least I’m not atrocious. AHAHAHA.

Anyway, here it goes in English.

Her: “So when are you getting married?
“Hmmm, I’ll think about it. MAYBE next year? Who knows?”
Her: “Yes I agree. You’re so much older than me. Yet you dress like a rock chick, with your jeans, your t-shirts, your sneakers, your hooded jackets and your wrist bands. And your taste in music? It’s just not befitting of your age. Besides, you’re practically covering the whole of Singapore with your boyfriend, so why don’t you just get married? It’s not nice for elders to see, is it?”

Wah! You tell me if she’s pressing my button or not?!

First of all: Whatever I listen to, however I dress, DOES NOT in any way affect whether I turn out to be a good mother, or a good wife. Like what the f is she talking about? Does she have a problem with Cradle of Filth and Helloween or something?!
Secondly: So what if my boyfriend and me are rather active in music? We don’t perform at gigs or whatsoever, and even if we did, it’s none of your bloody business is it?! It’s not like I’m doing drugs, or conducting swingers’ parties all around Singapore! I didn’t know that listening to our songs on my mp3 player was a problem to her!
Last of all: So you’re telling me that being only 23, I’ll be an OLD mother compared to you, who’s 21 this year?

So you’re saying you’re GOOD motherly material?

HELLO WOMAN. Cut out that holier-than-thou attitude alright.
Only last week you were going on and on about how your husband disallowed you from suntanning with a bikini, in your pregnant state?

So I suppose that despite your conservative nature, showing off that stomach to all and sundry is relatively NORMAL and MOTHERLY?

Argh!

Anyway, since I have brains, I merely smiled and replied in Malay, “Well, if that’s what gonna make me a bad mother, at least my parents and husband-to-be will be just as supportive.”

Bitch man. If I had my way, she’d be sitting in the pantry fridge!

~

Anyway, on a lighter note, the result of the 2nd week assessment is out!

FULL MARKS!
I initially scored 98% but due to a marking error, I was wronged for a right answer.
Got it corrected, and ta-dah!

Aha, and the only one in my team too.

Excuse me while I run around the kitchen and try to finish off my mother’s freshly baked chocolate chip cupcakes gleefully.

For laughs.

Just for laughs.

Note: The above featured comedians are nowhere as racist as what they portray to be. If you read up more on them, they’ve worked with just about anybody from all walks of life. Have a sense of humour, aight?

Ups and downs of the week..

Introducing, the new addition to the Mr’s family (and the cause of Titi’s immense jealousy)..

Putri Natasyah Insyirah! (or at least I think that’s how her mum spelled it to me..)

She’s the cutest thing. Weighing only at 2.6kg, we were all pretty sure that her mother was expecting a boy and a big one at that.
To think the product was such a tiny girl.

The funniest thing happened when I was taking her photo. She was sleeping and suddenly she smiled! While asleep! 

See! She’s smiling!

Her little tiny fingers curled around my finger when I touched her hand. Awwww, she’s really cute. Now I have another reason to go over to his house more often.

And all the while, Titi was curling at my feet, trying to get my attention.

Anyway, it’s been a few days since I met the Mr.
So he was also vying for my attention.

Is it me or does his smile get wider everytime we take a photo together? LOL.

Excuse my very tired (and oily!) face in the pictures, I’ve been running a fever on and off this whole week, no thanks to the centralised air-conditioning in the office and all my sick colleagues.
The virus is spreading like crazy.

The only thing the air-conditioning is good for, is helping my makeup to stay on.

I’ve been scoring an average of above 90% for all my training tests and worksheets, which I think is okay.
I want to try better though. Being top in the batch means I get priority in choosing my shift of choice.

On the home front, everything’s been okay.

Sadly though, my baby dwarf hamster is dying.

He’s had a very bad eye infection and his eyes are ‘glued’ shut.
I tried wiping it away with water, and for once he didn’t struggle when I picked him up.

He won’t eat, even when fed peeled sunflower seeds.
And he won’t drink, even when brought to the water tube.

It’s heartbreaking. He just lies there, as if waiting to die.

Mr says we’ll bring him to the vet when he comes home.
Sigh.

And it didn’t help when a friend commented on MSN that if I couldn’t care for a pet, what more a kid of my own?
He said I was being irresponsible; he likened it to a parent not bringing a sick child to the doctor.

Did I not say I was looking for a vet and waiting for the Mr to come home so that we could go?

I’ve never had a sick hamster before. Or any other sick pet. But the Mr has.
So of course he would know.

Like how would I bring the hamster then? Into my pocket and go to the vet?

Just forget it. I’m upset already as it is.

:””’(

Believe me when I say that I cry over my own cooking sometimes.

Cooked maggi goreng the moment I stepped home, because I was starving, and in the process, I put in too much chilli.

I have never wept over noodles before.
But today, it’s tears aflow.

Pedas nak mampos!!!! *pulls hair out*

Wednesday bliss.

My day is as blissful as can be.

Had a pretty relaxed morning and afternoon at work; we even squeezed in some time for trivia. Of all questions that popped up, we had one that went, “Who did Princess Leia marry?”
I knew she was with Han Solo, so yeah, I guess the Mr’s crash course on all things related to sci-fi flicks actually proved useful.

We had a surprise birthday party for one of our managers, Joe.
I’ve had cake three times this week. Yes, THREE. There has been FOUR birthdays, and two fell on the same day.

Thank God, or my diet would have gone down the drain.
It actually is working, this new diet.
I have rice or noodles say, three times a week, max.
And everything else is soupy stuff or plainly white meat like fish or chicken.
I had red meat on Monday, when my mother brought home satay.

So yeah, and even my ex-colleagues from the airport remarked that I lost weight when they saw me last Sunday.
YAYYYY..

So today’s Wednesday, and I need carbohydrates.

I couldn’t resist when I saw that Cavana brought Tom Yam soup back onto the menu.
I just HAD to takeaway.

It looks harmless. Not even a sign of chopped cili padi or anything to hint the robust spicy flavour.
I don’t know why I love this item off the menu at Cavana Causeway Point. The other outlets don’t quite have the same tinge of spicy and sour levels that I love.
There’s squid, mushrooms, fish slices, prawns..

I’m salivating again. *puts on bib*

Good news though.
The Mr’s sister in law has given birth to a baby girl!
He’s now an uncle!

Wait, does that make me an aunt of sorts?
Hmmmm..

Anyway, I cannot wait to buy toys and clothes for the little one!
I haven’t seen her yet, and I doubt they’ve named her too.

I really can’t wait to hold a newborn baby in my arms.
It’s been awhile since I smelled fresh talcum powder on baby soft skin.
Oh, succulent flesh…

*wipes drool with bib*

I’m just joking.

And as if the Mr’s cats know that there is a new darling in the house, Titi has been extremely affectionate towards me.
Always coming over to rub herself against me, mewing for attention.

She even let me take her picture, which is very rare as she likes to swipe at the handphone.

But when I try to get her attention on video (forgive me for the extremely bad quality, courtesy of the N80), she gives me attitude. (-_-)”
Sigh.

It’s not like you would..

Note: Pardon the grammar for this one.
It’s probably understood best in the way spoken by a true blue Singaporean e.g ME!

SAID ALSO DON’T LISTEN
LISTEN ALSO DON’T UNDERSTAND
DON’T UNDERSTAND ALSO DON’T ASK
ASK ALSO DON’T DO
DO ALSO DO WRONG
WRONG ALSO DON’T ADMIT
ADMIT ALSO DON’T CORRECT
CORRECT ALSO NOT HAPPY
HAPPY ALSO DON’T SAY

And repeat until point gets driven into YOUR head.

Disclaimer: This is just another random entry. Please don’t ask me what it’s about. I’m too busy trying to perfect my frown.