Final day of 2008...

We've come to the end of the year... this year was certainly pretty eventful (but then again, every year seems to be so...). Am glad that I set up this blog cos it contains lots of great memories, both good and bad (luckily many more good ones than bad ones) and when I spent some time going through my entries recently, I realised how much life has to offer, and I know there are times that I will certainly cherish.

I've already established a brand new blog, which will be 'released' tomorrow...hee. Will post the URL here tomorrow. Am certainly not deleting this one... will wanna keep all my blogs if possible. Gonna do one blog per year and if many years down the road, if my blogs are still around and I get to revisit them, it'll be really interesting to go through the entries again and reminisce the times I've gone through. Did that with the old handwritten diary I kept in secondary school before and it was fun seeing what I wrote then (although I think I was kinda juvenile and naive, back in my adolescent years :p).

By the way, Miss Mini VJ's found a permanent spot in our home. Was in the bathroom just now and decided to take an updated pic of her in her new place. Haha. Managed to convince Hubby to keep her at home cos I couldn't bear the thought of leaving her in the office over weekends or holidays without anyone tending to her. So he gave in and agreed to have her do a service to us in exchange for staying in our home -- and that's to brighten up our bathroom. Now with her around, the bathroom in the master bedroom has a hotel/ resort feel. Haha.

And am so pleased to see that she's growing well! When she first came, Miss Mini VJ only had 2 bloomed buds. Now she's got about twice as many flowers on her! Yaaay! My fingers are finally GREEN! ;D

I can understand why tending to plants might be therapeutic to some. I think it's got that kind of effect on me too. Was pretty stressed the past two days over work... attended 2 full days of meetings, and was informed of changes to my workload only at the last minute, assigned new positions and greater responsibilities etc....well, basically everything was dropped on me (on most of my colleagues too, actually) like a bomb when it's only 2 days before the new school year starts. The only good thing was that I wasn't that reactive, unlike in all the previous years. Strangely, I think I've matured work-wise and am more ready to handle changes. After all, it's inevitable in my line of work, when every day could be a battle, and when change becomes the only constant. So when I got all these news, I wasn't angry or upset. I was more worried than angry. Worried about HOW to do well in the face of these changes. Worried about how to benefit the students as much as possible. Just plain worried.

It was only last night when I got home that everything seemed to sink in. But still, I wasn't angry, even when unloading all the events and thoughts to Hubby when he came home last night. Was just very, VERY worried. So worried that I didn't even sleep well and had nightmares and all.

But just now, when looking at Miss Mini VJ, I was sort of calmed. That little plant seems to exude strength in life, and is just growing and blossoming quietly in her own way. Then it struck me consciously that I wanna be like that too. I don't wanna be constantly worried or anxious about things. I wanna be in my own quiet control and just live the best I can each day. Then I thought back to what Hubby told me last night -- just do my best in whatever I am given. I'm not a newbie in the field. I've attained my own successes in my job and if I've been able to survive the past few turbulent years, there's no reason I can't do it again. Plus, as what Hubby also very smoothly reminded me before, I've got him plus he does all the chores, so what's there not to be happy about? Heh.

I know my heart still feels heavy because of various uncertainties I face in the job, but I will continue to remind myself that worrying doesn't help -- action does. So... *deep breath* 2009, here I come.

Silly photo game and sweet strawberries

Hehe... I HAVE to blog about yesterday. It was one of the best Sundays I've ever had. Haha.

Hubby, being ever so playful and creative, decided that we should play a post-lunch game using his camera. While I was doing the dishes, he went about the apartment capturing macro shots (zoomed to the max!) of objects/ parts of our home. It's amazing how the pictures turned out looking so artistic, but boy, was it tough to guess what each pic was! The interesting aspect of the game wasn't just the guessing -- it's actually the discovery at the end of the game of what each pic that wasn't guessed (many weren't, really!) correctly actually featured. SO SILLY BUT FUN!!! :D

Then later on, it was my turn to go around the place taking photos, and Hubby had to guess. Haha... this went on till the afternoon was almost gone and I finally had to get down to clearing some work. :p

In the earlier part of the evening, we went out for a refreshing brisk walk along Hubby's usual jogging route in the neighbourhood and had a great serious talk about our plans for next year. :)

And our evening meal ended with sweet Korean strawberries that Mummy gave us the day before. Ohhhh.... they're like the nicest and prettiest strawberries I've ever tasted! Sweet, not sour at all, unlike the darker ones, and they practically melt in your mouth when you bite into them. Best of all, they don't cost much at all. Think less than $4 per box. Compare this to those costing tens of dollars. These are good stuff!

Sigh... wish this day had lasted longer... so satisfying...

Pre, During and Post-Christmas 2008 ;)

Christmas was a simple, yet eventful affair in many ways for me this year. :)

On Christmas Eve...

I permed my hair! Hehe... actually I had planned to just go for my twice-a-year trim/ colouring/ treatment at the salon but the stylist convinced me to try a perm. Said something about my hair at the best length to do it. So now I've got a kinda Japanese girly hairdo that resembles the style in the pic on the right, just that my bangs are slightly shorter (and er... I'm certainly not that skinny. :p)

After the salon trip, which lasted several hours, Beebee (she got her hair coloured for the first time in her 23 years! For me, it was 26 years wor...) and I shopped around Jurong Point -- ahem, correction -- we walked around the SUPER MEGA NEWLY-REVAMPED Jurong Point. Wow! It's certainly huge! I even got lost when I entered through a new entrance and had to call Beebee for directions to get back to the old wing. Anyway, finally got a new pair of heels for work, a belt and a nice red top at 20% discount at Dano. Think will wear that for Chinese New Year. Hehe.

On Christmas Day...

I got up at 3am plus just to sneak the Christmas gift I got Hubby under the Christmas tree. Thank goodness he didn't awake to find out my secret hiding place that I usually use for his presents. Haha.

Anyway, got him a Loewe wallet that he said looked good when we came across it while out with HZ a few weeks back. Just wanted this to be my last splurge of the year cos Hubby got me the Rado watch as a very early Christmas present so I wanted to 'reward' him with something he liked too. :) But Hubby wants to put this wallet to use only after he's done with his current one. =.= But at least he returned my efforts with a 'gift' -- he removed the Loewe sticker on the carrier and stuck it on my watchbox, saying I have an expensive Loewe watchbox from him now! =.= (Hmm... but it does look more fancy with the sticker. :p)

Also got him a cute mini log cake from Polar the night before at Jurong Point. So adorable!

Spent the rest of the day chilling out at home and racing on Xbox and DS with Hubby, and we ordered a cosy pizza meal for two in the evening, which we enjoyed while watching F1 racing on DVD. That's life, man... :)

On Boxing Day...

Went out to town with Hubby and, cos I was ranting and raving about how famished I was, having eaten a light lunch earlier in the day, we ended up trying out a new Japanese restaurant at The Heerens, called Waraku Casual Japanese Dining.

The exterior of the restaurant. Belongs to the Waraku chain so the decor's quite similar to their other sibling restaurants. Yum... my chawanmushi... see the slice of lime there? That's the first time I've come across lime in chawanmushi. Adds a bit of zest to the taste. :) Check out the gigantic bowl that Hubby's seafood curry udon came in! Haha... and then there's my set order of kikyou -- Japanese vegetable and chicken stewed in miso broth and rice in beancurd skin. Presentation of food's really pretty! ^_^

Oh ya, how can I forget? That same day, Hubby also bought himself a 'PERFECT gift' at Kinokuniya. It's a book on how to repair watches, with lots of technical details and hand-drawn illustrations. Very cheem one. Sigh. Left me kicking myself cos I could have gotten something that satisfied Hubby more, and at a much lower price! Argh. Always happens to me when it comes to buying him stuff. =.=

Well, that's Christmas 2008 for me! Peaceful yet eventful. Had a good time. :)

Yeah... new foodie attempt! ^_^

Am so pleased with myself... hee. Yesterday, I attempted something new in the kitchen again and was awarded 70% for my efforts by my regular food critic. See below... TA DA!!!

Yep, this was my first try cooking spaghetti with mussels. I don't eat mussels but Hubby likes them, so when feeling a pang of guilt again at not being able to cook many nice stuff he enjoys, I got the fresh ready packed mussels from the fridge section in Cold Storage when we were out, and did some 'research' online on how to cook them before actually doing so. Luckily they already came in opened half shells so I could skip the part where they had to be steamed open. That means I only had to pry each of them out of their shell, which was easy, and pan fry them with sauce and spaghetti etc. Served them with white wine for Hubby's Sunday lunch, and that's when I happily accepted my 70 marks after bugging him for comments. (That's much better compared to his usual grunts of "ok lah" as comments. :p) Hee!

Greetings from MARVEL...

This week's Christmas week...

Two famous MARVEL comics characters currently residing in our home would like to wish all a Merry Merry Christmas...

Hubby and I agreed it'd be a good idea for these two to don lively red Christmas hats this season... it's easy to find them fitting ones since these two are life-sized anyway. So last Saturday, we got both hats at Watsons for only $3.90 and happily went home to make Spidey and Wolvie here put them on. Think they look good! (Although, as Hubby commented later, Spidey seems speechless at our gesture while Wolvie... ahem... he kinda doesn't look too pleased about it... :p)

Oh well, Merry Christmas anyway!!! ;P *~*~*~*

Photo Day

Yesterday was Photo Day, at least for most of the afternoon. :)

Beebee had made an appointment with Serangoon Broadway, a professional photo studio that's pretty well-established over the decades, for all of us to take family shots with the two of us in graduation gowns. So yesterday, we (minus Hubby who was still down with flu and couldn't be there) went off to the studio to have our pictures taken.

The service there was really good -- people attended to us efficiently once we got there and got us all ready for the shots. Beebee and I were fitted into our respective gowns and Papa was loaned a tie and jacket to wear for the shoot. No hassle at all. Then we were ushered to this cosy studio with lots of backdrops and props like tables, books and even teddy bears (it's just a pity Beebee didn't have the FF Bear Hubby and I gave her for her graduation and I didn't have my graduation Cthulhu that Hubby specially customised for me back when I graduated...sigh). Took several shots cos they wanted enough samples for us to choose from. Pretty professional service and attitude. :)

We ended up deciding on a 35" family grad portrait, a 24" picture with only Beebee and me in it and two 8" individual shots of us respectively. Altogether it cost about $1400. Sounds pretty steep to me but apparently, for professional portraits, this is already quite reasonable, plus it's at their promotional rates.

Sigh. Only regret that Hubby wasn't there with us... he wanted to be there too, but stupid flu bug wouldn't let him recover in time. Even Mummy repeatedly sighed that he should have been in the picture. :) But never mind, like I told him and Beebee, when Beebee gets married in future (I got a "wait long long" look from her though :p), we can all take a proper full family portrait together. This one counts as graduation portrait anyway. Hee.

PS. Now I'm down with a bit of flu too. Throat's not good and am coughing a little. Starting to get runny nose too. Argh! This flu bug going around has really upset many of my plans! >;(

My new baby... ;)

Lookie here... what's this?

Heh, it's my new charge now -- Miss Mini 'Vanda Joaquim'. Shall call it Miss Mini VJ (easier to spell also. Haha.) MIL brought this over along with some other items last evening after she asked to drop by since she had the day off. Guess she had to resort to bringing things over since Hubby would always refuse to take home most of the stuff she'd wanna pass us when we go over for lunch. :p Anyway, too bad she had to face a rather sullen Hubby yesterday cos he's been down with the flu and can hardly speak. The past few days have been quite gloomy and stressful for me too, and I woke up today feeling kinda under the weather too. Hope I'm not getting the bug too! :(

Oh but I digress. Back to Miss Mini VJ! Was quite delighted to see this pot of miniature orchid cos it's such a delicate, pretty sight. Brightens up my mood a little when I look at it. Hubby doesn't really care much for it, so I'm gonna take it to the office and put it at my workstation when I can. I've always thought of having a little plant around my desk to lift my spirits at work, so this'll do just fine. :)

Now I just hope Miss Mini VJ will blossom under my care. I can't say I've got green fingers cos every other plant that's been cared for by me before didn't make it after a while *sob sob* but I hope my plant luck will change for the better this time! :p

Christmas Tree (Part 2)

Tutorial: How to set up a Christmas tree (Part 2)

Okie, here's the follow-up lesson.

Step 8: Replace the broken lights with new ones. This time, use LED lights cos they apparently use less electricity and are brighter than the normal chasing lights. Hubby and I decided to switch to white ones instead of the previous yellow-orange kind cos we thought it was kinda special... white Christmas like that. :)

Step 9: Add thin snow strips to give the snowy dewy effect.

Step 10: Switch on the new lights and admire the completed tree! Hee. (Er, gotta tilt head a bit to see the tree upright :p)

Christmas tree (Part 1)

Tutorial: How to set up a Christmas tree (Part 1)

Thinking of setting up your own Christmas tree? Then just follow the steps below. It's as easy as ABC!

Step 1 -- Lay the parts of the tree in their different colour-coded sets

Step 2 -- Fix the parts together to form the tree

Step 3 -- 'Fluff' the branches to make the tree look 'plump'

Step 4 -- Add the classic ornaments like bells and balls, and of course the angel at the top

Step 5: Don't forget the adorable little TY Christmas beanies! Oh and the lights too :)

Step 6: Turn on the lights, and there! A nice sparkling cute Christmas tree! ^_^

Step 7: Place little Christmas plush friends around the tree to share the joy! ;)

But if you discover that a third of your lights don't actually work, for no obvious reason, you need to get new ones, like what Hubby and I are gonna do later this evening. :p And of course, wait for Part 2 to see the finishing touches that can be put on the tree! :)

My last one... I promise... I swear... I ...sigh.

I'm really a bad bag girl... I mean, bag bad girl... I mean... BAD BAD girl who loves BAGS!!!

Saw this new arrival at Tommy Hilfiger last Friday evening, was attracted to it cos of the Christmassy colours and youthful checkered print, then walked away from it, adamant about saving money and disciplining myself when it comes to buying bags.

So much for disciplining myself.

Friday night had me dreaming about myself happily carrying the bag around, then Saturday afternoon saw a very naughty Hubby 'encouraging' me to get the bag by citing reasons I should get it. (I honestly dunno why he does that to me all the time -- it's like he gets a kick out of seeing me torn and then finally give in to temptation. =.=)

Then here's how Saturday evening went:

8.00pm, after dinner -- walked about at Bugis thinking about the bag after Hubby mentioned it again

8.15pm -- still thinking...couldn't concentrate on window shopping

8.30pm -- walked into bakery, grabbed a loaf of bread with the intention of going home after that, then put the bread back and left, with the bag still in mind

8.45pm -- took train to city hall

8.55pm -- stood outside Tommy Hilfiger at Raffles City, staring at the bag in the display window

9.00pm -- still staring...

9.05pm -- still staring...and thinking... and staring some more...

9.10pm -- happily examining a new piece and chatting with the store people

I know... I know... I'm terrible! I'm practically an addict already! Someone get me going cold turkey please!

Later, on our way home that night, Hubby MMSed Beebee telling her that I'd finally given in and bought the bag. She'd commented the previous evening that the bag wasn't fantastic looking, and since I'd walked away from it, she must have expected that I wasn't gonna get it in the end. Sigh, it's no wonder after knowing that I'd bought it anyway, she replied Hubby's MMS with a "I look down on her..." T_T

Even my little sis thinks I've no 'backbone'. Argh! But seriously, this will be my last bag for the year! With only a few weeks left before 2009 comes, how difficult is it to make that statement come true? Er, right? RIGHT???

Hearty Discoveries & Great Company! :D

Great food! Good for the tastebuds, terrible on the waistline! But no serious regret at having sampled these delights over the weekend lah... Heeheehee.

SHOKUDO Japanese Pasta & Pizza @ Citylink Mall

Last Friday, Hubby and I met up with Beebee after her work for dinner and some light shopping. I'd been at work the whole day too -- physical work, that is, cos I had to relocate to another workstation due to a change in seating plan in the staff room. So by the time I got to town, I'd worked up quite an appetite already, and was whining about me starving. :p Good also lah, cos that evening, we tasted the following:

Cabbage Bacon Miso Cream Soup (So creamy and savoury! Yum!) & Hokkaido Kani Kaboch (ie. Pumpkin soup with crab meat)

Beebee's Beef Patty and Rice with Curry, my Chicken and Tomato Spaghetti in Basil Sauce & Hubby's Mushroom Cheese Burger with Fries

Umeshu cooler (nice plum alcohol drink!) & Fish with Cod Roe

Actually, the service there's not bad. Although Hubby waited for about half an hour before he got his burger (after asking about it once and requesting to cancel his order after the burger was still nowhere in sight), we were told that the burger meal would be on the house, and yup, we really didn't have to pay for it in the end. Hehe, that wasn't the first time Hubby encountered problems at restaurants where his order would come really late or simply got forgotten, but it was the first that he'd been offered a free meal to pacify him. Haha. But the good man still felt pretty guilty about eating for free later on even though it wasn't his fault. (Anyway, he shouldn't feel too guilty. It's Beebee who ate up most of his fries and the top of his burger in the end mah. Hohoho! :P)

Bakerzin @ Vivocity

Yesterday, Hubby and I met up with HZ and Jess for lunch here. HZ's recently received a promotion so he treated us to a fabulous meal there (congrats and thanks to him! ^_^). Even before we got there, his SMSes about how Jess was going bonkers over the menu managed to whet my appetite, so I was really in the mood for some good food. And I soon learnt that Jess had every reason to be raving about the menu! ;) What a spread we had in the end...

Summer Salad with Chicken & Tomato and Cheese Bruschetta (especially loved the latter! Seeing the picture makes me feel like just cutting up tomatoes, spreading them on slices of bread and melting cheese over them for a snack, although I know the taste will be far from this one...)

Clockwise from left: Jess's Spicy Aglio Olio Spaghetti with Bacon, HZ's Seafood Pasta, Hubby's Braised Pork Belly with Japanese Rice & my Spicy Linguini with Bratwurst Balsamico (gotta admit, this course contains one of the yummiest sausages I've ever tasted!)

And the pretty little desserts we shared!

Greenhouse Cafe @ Vivocity

Later that evening, Hubby and I stumbled upon this place at the 2nd level basement, which offers good weekend set meals at relatively reasonable prices and doesn't charge for either GST or services. Cool. So we had our own dinner there. It's really just a small cosy place with not many tables, but the place had a pleasant feel cos of the soothing jazz music it plays and a background of many flowers cos apparently, the place doubles up as a florist's too. :)

Hubby got this set of King Prawn Aglio Olio which comes with pumpkin soup, a fruity drink and a piece of peach cake as dessert, all for just $15.90! :) To minimise calorie intake cos of the fulfilling lunch we had earlier, I had pumpkin soup and grilled chicken salad. :) Liked the soup but didn't quite fancy the salad though. Pretty plain if not for the dressing and even the chicken tasted bland. But Hubby's prawns were fantastic!

Ugh... shoulder pain...

*Pain pain PAAAAIIIINNNNNN!*

My right shoulder is aching like mad now, especially the area nearest my neck. It's been like this for a couple of days already. Before that, I had already been feeling a mild strain for some time, the kind of feeling you get when you sleep for too long on just that one side of your body. But this... THIS IS BAD...

Can't even play ping pong properly now, can't lift up my right arm without going 'ow..ow..ow...', can't rotate my shoulder without feeling extreme ache. UGH!!! Last night Hubby 'forced' me to go through some reflexology treatment using our OTO electro-reflexology machine. Sat on the sofa with my right shoulder twitching uncontrollably and me whimpering for THIRTY minutes cos of the electric pulses sent to that part of my body. Sheesh. Still not much improvement leh.

So, I've decided to use another method. (Whatever helps, except for Chinese sinseh who might crack my bones @_@!!!)

Hubby's out there with a friend now, so I asked him to get me some salonpas medicated patches. Used to see Mummy and Papa paste such patches on their aching bodies, possibly more often as they get older, but didn't expect myself to have to 'suffer' the same fate at this age. Alamak.

Gonna paste one on my aching shoulder before bed later. Hope tomorrow when I awake, it'll be much better. Now I'm even afraid of slinging a bag on that shoulder. Gonna dig out one of my hand-carry bags later for use over the next couple of days.

Pain...pain...go away... :(((