I need to constantly remind myself to be thankful of what I have ~rule of happiness #1~ I've had a fun time today during mentor outing @AT house. To be honest, it was much much more fun than what I've expected. I didn't attend the previous one, partly becoz my "no man" behaviour won over my "yes man" behaviour (ref: Yes Man movie, starring Jim Carrey). So this time round, the 2nd mentor outing, I made it a point to attend it *partly bcoz I'm curious to see AT's hse hehehe...*. Anw, bf is in indo for this weekend, attending high sch reunion. So, no agenda for sat nite.  At first, I agreed with E to leave AT's house by 8pm. But then I got carried away with a mahjong crash course and a super fun but arm-killing Wii game----- a crazy-noisy-drunk-violent-babbling-rabbiD game. I'll surely wanna get this game if I own a Wii set. It was soooo much fun playing this game in a group of 4. So much laughter, shriek, scream and all sort of noises coming out from us. Oh ya, I won my first 2 games of mahjong. Beginner's luck. Too bad we weren't betting hahaaa... On the way home, I realize that I shd be thankful. Everyth ard me is not so bad after all. Not as bad as what I've felt few days ago. Good thing that my mentor grp still consists of nice n fun ppl. Good thing that I'm still here in the company. Although the pay doesn't really correspond to the workload, it's a good thing that I still have a job with average pay. Good thing, too, that I still get a bonus this yr. Good thing that, at the end of the day, I can still go back to a nice air-con room or chit-chat with my flatmates. Good thing that I have my JC friends as flatmates...... and the list of good things keep snow-balling.... making me even more content with my life. There are some colleagues who suffer in their mentor group. There are also some friends who have not found a job after few mths of graduation. There are other friends who want to quit their job badly but couldn't get another/ a better job. There are friends who have to live in unfurnished apartment for the time being. All sorts of real life problems out there.... So it's true. Like what my bf said the other day: I have to keep glancing down every now and then. I can't look up all the time. There are many more friends / people with worse life situation than I am. I should be thankful ^^

Are you annoyed by the numerous notifications appearing on your facebook when your friends take quizzes? I'm one of those. I mean I am the kind who takes quizzes (guilty as charged) and also the kind who gets irritated by the numerous notifications when my friends take silly quizzes. Some quizzes are ok, but some others are totally trash. So when facebook notifies me that a friend of mine took "how horny are you" quiz, I get irritated. Recently I discover -- and thus calling it my own theory --- why people (including me) take facebook quizzes. It's psychological. Put it like this: say you unconciously want to project the image of you being a romantic person, then you take "what kind of person are you" quiz and get "you are a very romantic person" kind of answer. Instinctively you would click "publish" when the system asks you whether you want to publish the result to your friends or not. So taking this quiz is actually a better option of letting your friends know abt this fact rather than typing " <your name> is a romantic person" on the status update box or your friends' wall. Apart from being narcissist, silly and all, the later option only shows 1 sided point of view. The quiz provides a 3rd party acknowledgement that you are indeed a very romantic person. Do you get it? It's alright if you don't. Most probably you are in the state of denial i.e. you know it's true but you are somehow embarrassed to admit it =p Some of you even retake the quiz over and over again just to get the result you wanted and then only publish it. Am I right? Oh yes, there is another type of quiz takers who take crappy quizzes (perfectly knowing tt the quizzes are crappy) and publish the crappy results to the entire world. My guess on this --- and thus calling it my own hypothesis ---- is that they are bored and want to look funny by entertaining their friends with crappy jokes. Some of those crappy answers did make me laugh though, so I'm not complaining  xD I am so gonna get this theory and hypothesis vetted by my aunt who is a psychologist, then take the "what is the most suitable job for you" quiz and retake it countless times till I get "you should be a psychologist" answer heheehe...

I saw a quote on TV mobile, and it goes like this: "Get a job that you love and you don't need to go to work everyday" I think it's true. If say, your get your dream job doing something which you really love doing, then you won't feel like you are working. It's more like you are doing some hobbies or leisure activities. But is it practical? One thing is, you still have to make a living somehow. And if your dream job is not able to provide you with a decent sum, I guess it's not practical to pursue it. I chose practicality over ideality. Sometimes I regret it. And I truly wonder how does it feel to have a job which involves things that I love to do. Being comic book illustrator? Professional jewellery maker? Interior designer? Or even fashion designer? (although I'll still need to learn the skill for some). I know there would still be stress involved such as deadline or maybe dealing with difficult customer/projects. But I guess if I really have the passion for it, then I wouldn't feel too bad abt all those. I would do the job happily and whole-heartedly everyday. Maybe even with new excitements everyday? No monday-blues and TGIF... Oh well... I should just be glad that I'm still earning enough money for now and still surviving in this job somehow. Maybe... just maybe.. one day I might still have the chance to get one of my dream jobs

It's been long since I last blogged here. Sometimes there is just not much energy left after a long day at work. Sometimes, it's simply the non-existence of the mood to blog. I still read other people's blog,though. It's a relaxing activity. And I complain silently when they do not update theirs as frequently as I want them to *selfish grin* As expected, I'm usually back to this blog when I've got smth to complain about. Yeah, it's usu better to squeeze all those complains dry here than on other people's ears. A blog can't say no and doesn't have the right to be irritated when I write a whole string of complain in it hohoho... The next available option out there will of course be my bf. He has the right to be irritated when I complain, but I know he loves me =p Back to the complaint. This time round, I think I'm somehow running out of luck. Big time. This is really serious. I've been known as the 'lucky one' throughout my whole extended family since the day I was born. I brought luck not only to myself, but to other people around me as well. Right now, I feel like I'm Lindsay Lohan in  "Just My Luck", who suddenly looses her string of luck after kissing a guy. And that guy gets all the luck she used to have... Firstly, I tripped over a low curb at a bus stop in front of novena square and successfully sprained my left ankle. Me and my 2 lovely A11s decided to have a rather long lunch at novena square tt day since we got nth much to do at client's place. What seems to be an enjoyable time turns out to be a painful one. Fyi, I was wearing a pair of high heels. To top it off, the incident took place exactly 2 days before my long-planned 1 week trip to Thailand with bf (2-8 May 09). Can it be of a better timing?! Oh well... I still went to Thailand and had a good time. Although my ankle was still insanely swollen the day before I went off. I don't really feel the pain when I'm walking, so I thought it was nothing serious. Just temporary swelling, like the doctor said. But maybe since I walked alot in Thailand (duh, what can you expect from a 1-wk trip overseas?), the injury did not heal by the time I came back to Sg. If I place my feet in a certain angle, it hurts so bad. So I visited a sinseh last week at a place recommended by my flatmate, Jef. Darn, it hurts so bad when the chinese lady massaged it. I must have looked like a woman giving birth. Imagine me lying on a bed with my feet dangling at the end of the bed and a lady in white robe tending to me in between my feet. Also, every now and then, I let out a squeal, bite my lips, inhale and exhale furiously, close my eyes so tightly and my hands grasping and twisting the sheets so hard it can tear any minute. Yeah, it was exactly how it looked like during the massage session. I've just came back from the 2nd massage session,btw. And I bought a cup of bubble tea to cheer myself up on the way back. For the record, I didn't cry. Second 'misfortune' is during the Thailand trip itself. Again, what seems to be an enjoyable time turns out to be a painful one. I lost my 3-mth old phone somewhen during the trip. Yeah, I don't even know exactly where and when I lost it. It could be the room service guy. It could be pickpocket along the road. It could also be my careless self who accidentally dropped it when I took out some stuff from my bag. I seriously dunno... too many possibilites *but 1 thing for sure, it's totally none of your fault, dear* Singtel has suspended the line after I reported the loss of my sim card. They said I can just activate it anytime by dropping by at the cust svc counter. Sounds easy? Hell no. The problem is that it is registered under my cousin's name since I was under-age tt time. And she now lives in Australia. It took me exactly 1 week to finally get a sim card replacement and transfer the ownership to my name. Now for the second and a half misfortune (it's only worth a half since it's not tt serious)--- the new phone I want to buy is now out of stock. Stupid me for contemplating way too long before finally decided to buy tt phone. Well, I'm no impulsive person, so I don't buy smth just like tt without a proper research, which obviously takes few days to do. But of course, budget is also a problem. Oh, there is another factor: guilt. I don't feel like treating myself to a nice expensive high tech phone after losing a 3-mth old phone just like that. No way. But for the record, I didn cry over the loss of phone.. Lastly, is the third misfortune (note that this only worth a half since it's not tt serious compared to the other 2)--- I've lost a mechanical pencil either at client A's place or at client B's place. Before you say anyth, it's not an ordinary pencil. It was given by my company, amongst the other stationeries, on the first day of work. We've got to return it to the company once we leave the firm. And it's purple. And it has my most favourite name piglet-sticker pasted on it.  ~!@#$-%^&*(+_  Got some superbly lucky clover for me to keep for the mean time, anyone?

...Can't shit for almost a week? And having this uncomfortable feeling in your stomach? Worry not! Here comes the easiest, cheapest, and painless solution: Rojak! It must not be any type of rojak. It must be this $2.50-chinese-type-of-fruit-taupok-with-sweet-peanut-sauce rojak which is sold by an old auntie at the hawker near my HDB block. Results are guaranteed within 1hr from consumption. Tested twice by me personally! Ok, don't get all the wrong negative ideas about the rojak. It really tastes good. In fact, the reason I bought it at first was due to a friend's recommendation and also the fact that I was craving for my home fruit rojak. But then, goodness, I can't stop gg to toilet for few days after eating that. The second time I bought it was with the hidden motive of facilitating my bowel movement (read: I've had constipation for almost a week! although I eat lots of fruits n veggies). And 1 hour after I finish eating the whole plate of rojak, I can alr feel it---the heavenly sensation that made me dash to toilet. It could be the sour-ness of the pineaple and mango slices. Or maybe there is this hidden ingredient that the auntie put inside the rojak. It's all a mystery. But one thing is for sure--- I'm definitely gg back to that stall whenever my constipation problem resurfaces ^__-

It all started with a job-booking cancellation on Monday due to unforeseen circumstances, so I was left with another 2 weeks of unassigned period. Die. On Mon night, I was greeted with a BUNCH (according to my definition, 4 is enough to be defined as 'a bunch') of filthy disgusting cockroaches. I was on the way to my dearest toilet cubicle to  *ahem* shit (which i've been holding on to since I left office). Aft spotting the freaky creatures, there goes my deepest desire to release my *ahem again* shit. Oh, and I swear they were not the usual type of cockroaches, judging from the extra humongous size, the sickening grey-brown color, and the loud clattering sound when they crawled for their life as I spray excessive amt of baygon ---  (although my bf laughed when I say all those, my flatmate n 'saviour' for tt day confirmed with me regarding this fact. He agreed that it's the kind of cockroach which usu come out of man-holes). They must have suddenly attacked my house due to no-warning fogging activity that happens few moments b4 tt at my hdb block. That night, I had the most un-peaceful sleep ever. With the lights on, of course *some might alr heard abt my theory of lights vs cockroach* Tues was extra-ordinarily good as HH helped me to get the overnight stock-take job booking for next week. I'll b  doing the job with her,too! On Wed, I almost die of heart-attack when I read my email. I was taken out of the stock-take for nxt wk and was put back into the old engagement. Tt stock-take was the only precious thing tt I really wanted for the wk >.< Anw, they give me a stat audit job for Fri, which is good. Eh, there was another bad stuff. I kept having an error msg everytime I tried to submit my order for company's free polo-tee!!! Darn microsoft access!! Give me my free polo-tee!!! On Thurs, I was ecstatic to see that my stock-take job booking is given back to me. But at nite, the AIC emailed me and said that my stat audit job for the next day is postponed to Mon. While HH alr took a leave for tml since she thought I'll b in office too anw. So here I am, on Fri aftnoon, still 'stoning' in office. Thought I could have lunch with Tam, but she's suddenly sent to client's place. Wad a luck I have T__T Oh, 1 more thing! I met Regi on the way to office this morning. Another weird encounter, I should say, as this has never happened b4 and our office is at diff building On a last note, I still cannot resolve the t-shirt order problem thingy up to now. IT dept can't help. And the guy who's supposedly in charge from the rec club is on-leave today. Deadline is mon, but I got a job out of office tt day. GREAT! $%^*(!~`@#

My job  booking for these 2 weeks is suddenly cancelled!!! GRAAAAARRRRHHH!!! @#$%^&*~ After few e-mails being sent here and there amongst me, rmt, and my aic [auditor in charge], it seems that the mis-booking is due to some oversight by rmt. Anw, lets not talk abt whose fault it was. The end result will still b the same i.e. me getting bored in office, perhaps entering an acute stage of depression, and bitching abt it in another blog entry Luckily, some of my 'cliques' somehow turn up in office yest n today. One has finished her job assignment earlier than expected. Another one suffers the same fate as me-- got her job booking cancelled at last minute notice. So at least I didn't end up being alone in office and rot silently.... Oh, and I felt so pissed off yest (due to the whole job booking cancellation drama) till I decided to stop by ntuc on my way home, and buy lots of cooking ingredients. I was saying to myself that I want to indulge more in cooking these 2 weeks. I shall cook more and more and more..try new recipees..cook smth that needs longer time and more effort; not like the usual practical-and-time-efficient dishes. Anw, i'll be home like super early aft work each day, due to no job bookings. And cooking has always been a hobby to me. It helps me to get rid of unecessary stress/ tension Today, me n my colleagues went for the usual-super-duper-early and long lunch break. It was cold and windy, but somehow we just did not bring any single umbrealla with us. We went to Far East square for some Hock Lam beef. Yummy! The beef flavour in the soup is really thick and tasty. I love it! Realizing tt it had only been abt 45mins since we left office, we decided to go for a walk. We stop by a pushcart selling shoes in one of those alleys in far east square. We tried on some shoes, with HH being the most enthusiastic abt buying one haha...  Then my eyes landed on this very nice pair of heels. I'm eyeing on the goldy-white color one *with ribbons, of course, since i'm a lil ribbon freak*, while HH and Tam prefer the velvety-red-purple color version of it. Anw, it's really a VERY comfortable pair! So cushion-ish, so soft... Too bad the shop owner didn't have my size. Out of curiousity, I just asked how much that pair costs. Guess wad the owner replied.... freaking 79.90 bucks! I was so shocked till I thought I heard it wrongly. She said it's made of real leather. No wonder it was so comfy.... We went back to office aft some more walk around Golden Shoe area and got succesfully wet due to the light rain. I made a mental  note to bring umbrella when gg out for lunch tml onwards. Seems like the rainy season is finally here...

That's my general principle in life. I always try to strike a balance in all aspects of life. Be it abt work, shopping, fun, or even food. Some say that drinking milk is good for your skin, but if you drink too much milk *like few glasses a day* you could get indigestion or simply get fatter. You probably know that drinking too much coffee is also not good for health. But research shows that drinking a little coffee in the morning aids in brain simulation. It's also best to eat different types of fruits n veggies everyday, so that your body can get different types of vitamins and minerals. You see, it's all about moderation… Food aside, I'm trying to achieve some moderation in my work life. However, things are beyond my control as for now. I didn't complain when I was unassigned for a week. Having nothing to do in office while still get paid can serve as a nice little break. I can go for an early lunch with my friends, chit-chat, read newspapers, play some excel games, and surf net etc… Then two weeks passed, and I still live up to my reputation as "stoning queen". Third week: I'm still totally unassigned. I started to search for alternative activities to make me stay SANE in office. Thanks to my bf's brilliant suggestion of reading e-books. Some novels by my favourite authors managed to keep me sane for another week. And now, I'm starting my 5th unassigned week!!!!! I can alr memorize the lyrics of all songs in my music folder [including Chinese songs]. I alr read every single blog I know. I've visited all websites I could think of *fyi, some like facebook are blocked by our IT department*. I've also played almost all games in my 2MB game folder.  I'm reaching my limit >.< Wah, are you still unassigned? So nice! Can relax… Errmm…. 1 or 2 weeks unassigned are nice. But after over 1 month, I start to be concerned about my mental health… Okay, call me irritating for bitching about being free in office while getting paid as per normal. But you can try it yourself  *if possible* and see if you are still feeling happy by the end of the month. As I said before, having too much of a thing is always not good. ~ Oh , God, please make me able to hang on till end of this week, somehow.  Then I can say bye bye to my off-peak period. I alr have a client waiting for me next week~ PS: Soon aft my peak period starts, there will be a post which contains all sorts of complaints abt being too busy at work, doing OT heheee...

I decided to read this book simply because of 2 unrelated reasons. First, I need to find smth to do to stay sane in office during this super-duper boring off-peak period. Second, Nicholas Spark is one of my favorite novelists. As I read the first few paragraphs, I alr knew that I will end up declaring this as one of my favorite novels. I seriously think that whether or not you like the novel you are reading has smth to do with timing. It could be that the character in the book undergoes similar situation/ problem that you are facing. It could also be that the author shares the same viewpoint with you, or he provides an answer to the question which has been bothering your mind for long. To me, this novel has them all. Oh! And plus the fact that reading this novel saves me from acute boredom while I'm in office. I can only say that it is the best timing for me to read "The Wedding" As usual, Nicholas Spark never fails to move me. Certain parts of "The Wedding" brought me to tears. But most of it makes me feel like saying "Yes! That's what I'm feeling, too!" Although I'm not currently in the phase of being married for 30 years like Jane [the female lead] does, I do experience similar feeling. You know the typical situation of being attached for few years and feeling like you alr know everything abt ur partner and both of you alr done everything possible together. It's like there is *definitely* love and care, but no new chemistry, not much surprises *and I do love surprises every now and then* This book tries to show that even after 30 years of marriage, it's still not too late to rekindle the romance. Just that, you have to try harder. "The Wedding" continues few years after the end of "The Notebook"  [another Nicholas Spark' piece which I love]. The plot now revolves around Jane [eldest daughter of Noah] and her husband, Wilson. Unlike Noah and Allie, who was known as the most lovey-dovey old couple by their family and peers, Jane and Wilson do not express their love explicitly. Romanticism had been out of their marriage life for as long as Jane could remember. Being brought up in everyday-is-a-loving-day environment by Noah and Allie, Jane found herself struggling to stay happily married to Wilson who had been taking her love for granted. The final blow came when Wilson completely forgot their 29th wedding anniversary. Nicholas Spark tells the story from Wilson's point of view. It helps me to understand why many guys find it hard to be romantic up to their female partner's standard. He also laid down the common fact: Women hate it the most when their men forget "certain dates". You see, Wilson made an honest mistake of forgetting his 29th wedding anniversary. He still failed to realize it was his anniversary night even after Jane, his wife, welcomed him back from work with his favorite dishes on the dining table. He then dug his grave deeper by saying "How was your day?" when Jane asked him after dinner whether there was anything he wanted to say that day. It only struck him hard when Jane cried silently on the bed later that night, whispering "happy anniversary..." It was really an honest mistake. After getting deeper into the story, you will realize that Wilson was not really a bad husband. He's just an unromantic one. He could still recall every single detail on the day he first met Jane. He could also recall many little events that bought the 2 of them closer during the courtship days. The only thing that he didn't do was to show or tell Jane how much he had always loved her. Women basically just need re-assurance. I, myself, was really surprised and touched when my bf remembers little details about our first few days being officially attached. And I have to admit that remembering the anniversary date itself somehow appears to be more important to me. But after reading "The Wedding", I felt that somehow my point abt remembering the anniversary date and expecting some romantic surprises on that day is justified. Like what Wilson finally realized, romance can fade with time although the love is still firmly intact. And he let it to happen. He then understood the importance of making smth special to Jane on their 30th anniversary. And he did not only create smth special. He created smth that people around him did not expect him to, even in 100 years to come. It was magnificent! Beyond the term 'romantic'… And it was part of the twist at the end of the novel. I didn't know whether I was too engrossed in the whole story or something, but the twist was a good one to me. I did not really expect it to come that way. And it was a really good surprise. Or should I say a fantastic one? So what was the special thing about anniversary? I could say that it is actually just an excuse. A perfect excuse to rekindle the romance with your partner. When each of you is so caught up in your daily routine/ work, you might not have the time to meet with each other so often. Even when you do meet up, you might not have the energy to do anything. If you let this to happen over and over again, maybe you will get used to it. And then a little new excitement may only come shortly before and shortly after you get married. After that, it will be back to the no-excitement life again. You will be even busier with work, which makes anniversary tend to be forgotten. Although you can now meet your partner everyday when you come home from work, there is nothing special. Few quick conversations will be passed on the dining table. Perhaps a little discussion about the children. And that's all. Romance will slip away just like that. Do you really want to fall into this pithole? I don't. That's why I have been trying to make each anniversary a special one. It's not just for a memory keeping sake. It's the only chance to really 'date' your partner once again. To really feel the romance and excitement once again. So why not put your heart into it and make the day special? It's just once a year! Is it really too much to ask for, guys?  I suppose your partner doesn't ask for a diamond ring for each anniversary. Even just giving a stalk of her favorite flower or arrange a simple romantic dinner on the anniversary day will be enough to make her feel really special and loved. You can celebrate your birthday with your other friends or your family. You also have the right to celebrate xmas or Easter with anybody you want. But there is only one perfect day to be celebrated with your partner. It's your anniversary. After all, making anniversary a special event may not be only women's thing. After successfully presenting the big surprise to Jane on their 30th anniversary, Wilson told Jane that he didn't do it just for her. He did it for himself, too. He wanted to win her heart back. He wanted himself to be sure that Jane doesn't regret marrying him.  So guys… planning something for your next anniversary yet? =p

He bought me 5 different flavour of Pie-Kia pies. Yummy! *one of my fave* He always asks whether I need extra money to buy whatever things I like He almost never fails to call me everyday aft office hours. Sometimes just to check whether I've reached home, or just to ask what I'm doing He sometimes call during lunch/ after lunch hour just to have a quick chat He went to check out the price of some external keyboard at CCK mall for me after work (I've been mentioning that I want to find a cheap external keyboard to replace the faulty wireless one) He always grins widely, says lots n lots of 'thanks', says that I'm such a nice gf, and kisses me whenever I bring breakfast/ brunch to his place on Sun He made an effort to come to my place on our anniversary day though he was super tired from work *he fell asleep at the sofa* =p He made 1 of my biggest wishlist come true -- a trip to HK together with him ...and the list may go on and on...   He may not be the most romantic guy I've ever met. But he does everything he can to care for me and love me   *Food-whore vs Cam-whore* Happy 3rd anniversary! Luv u as always ^^