Serious operation...

Hubby performed a serious operation recently... His sick patient's Mr. G.S, whom Hubby had known for several years. Mr. G.S is really quite senior, compared to the rest of his kind in our home. He needed new body parts and a 'heart' transplant, so Hubby decided to operate on him by himself. The clever 'surgeon' actually figured out how to do the entire job using simple tools without consulting anyone. The following pictures demonstrate parts of the operation.

**WARNING**:

SOME PICTURES CAN BE DISTURBING IN NATURE. VIEW AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Pretty skilful of Hubby, I must admit... pretty daring too... :p

New choc delight

One of the boys in my form class was so sweet today... gave me the latest type of Ferrero Rocher, the dark choc one. That's cos on Monday, I gave the class the original version of Ferrero Rocher as a treat for doing such a great job at the nursing home last Friday. So this fella thought he'd share with me some of the newer version of the choc today. Haha.

I quite like it. It doesn't have the nut in the middle though, just totally filled up with dark choc on the inside. Outside's dark too. Not too bitter, not too sweet. Pretty nice.

Ok, done enough blogging this evening. Gotta get back to work now. Tata. :)

MY new toy... (finally, yes! It's my turn to have a toy... haha)

Hello, I am Wall.E. You know me? Yes, I think I am famous now. I am the protagonist of the upcoming movie "Wall.E" by Pixar Animation. It is really cool. Above, you see me staring at you with my large doleful eyes, and the remote control that comes with me. Without it, I would not be able to move around as much. You see, that is because I am a thinking toy. I am a robot. Yes, just like in the movie.

This was the box I came in, and the one in the next picture is my friend, Clean n Go M-O. It is also another thinking toy. It is smaller in size but has a practical use. My friend actually acts like a mini-vacuum cleaner, sucking in debris for you if you like. But my friend cannot come out and play yet. The husband of this blog owner refuses to open the packaging and get him out. He thinks my friend is worth more when kept neatly in the box. My poor friend.

I am luckier. I can come out and play. In fact, you can watch the video below to see me in action as I roam about and make happy sounds.

Am I not a nice robot? I can do more, and you can programme me to do several actions in one go. My female owner is so tickled by me that she keeps going 'so cute...so cute!' when she plays with me.

Ok, talk to you again next time. I am going to go back to looking cute and guarding the TV lounge of my owners.

Food affair @ Jurong Point

Oooh la la... Went with Hubby and Beebee last Saturday afternoon to check out the latest Osaka food street, Shokutsu 10, at the new extended basement at Jurong Point. Too bad Qing Li couldn't join us cos she had to leave our home earlier to give tuition. (Had a fun morning with her btw :D). Was rewarded with a wonderful lunch (very late lunch, but totally worth it!)... it was at a cosy eatery named 'Men-ichi Japanese Ramen' at #B1-54. We ordered a main course each and some extra add ons. Everything was pretty tasty! We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the ramen soup... flavourful and reasonable in portion.

Now check out the feast we had... it really left us bloated and satisfied...

Yum... the various ramen we tried-- the spicy tonkotsu ramen, the salmon teri ramen and finally the Tokyo ramen... all good! :P Oh ya, think this eatery was featured in The Sunday Times before... :)

We added $4 to 2 of our meals each to make it a set that comes with Japanese steamed rice with omelette in some delicious sauce and a small plate of gyoza. Didn't realise the rice would be quite a lot, so maybe that's why we ended up so full. Just couldn't waste any of these! Next pic shows a plate of omelette with crabstick and mushroom fillings... yes, omelette AGAIN! Oh but it's so good... heh. And last pic's some lovely chicken wings with sesame seeds on them.

I was also impressed by the decor of the entire food street. Really Japan-like! (Especially the first pic of the giant crab, which is so similar to what Hubby and I saw back at Osaka last December, except that this one's stationary while the other one at Osaka can move one... haha.) See...see...

Wonderful students... :)

Not all teens are rowdy.

Not all teens are materialistic.

Not all teens are self-centred.

Not all teens lack compassion.

Not all teens are ill-disciplined.

Sure, there might be many teens who are the above... we often bump into such youths out there on the streets and other public areas, and for me, at my workplace. But I am really glad that I can make a firm statement about the fact that not all is lost, cos there for several gems out there who still shine through these many dark sheep.

Meet Irene, an ex-student of mine who graduated 2 years ago from secondary school. She was from the Normal Technical Stream and was in a class of kids whom I often had to coax and reward simply to get them to complete the simplest of all assignments/ tasks in class.

She, however, stood out. She was different. In fact, she was one of the best students I could have ever asked for. Self-disciplined and with intrinsic motivation to learn and do her best in even her weakest subjects, Irene was a star in her own right. Now she's studying at ITE, and is one of the most outstanding students there. A few days ago, she visited some of us in school. She just returned from an educational trip to Melbourne and was excitedly sharing her experiences with me. She even bought me a souvenir that had the print of a kangaroo on it, cos she knows that I love animals. :) Such a fine young lady. She might not be the most witty person to be around, but with her positive attitude and sincerity towards others, I believe she will be one who will attain success in life.

And today, I was impressed with yet many more students. I arranged for a class visit to a nursing home in Choa Chu Kang, and my class was involved in lots of activities -- conducting a mass BINGO game for the elderly residents, putting up mini musical performances, and going about shopping for food items to donate to the home before the visit. They did so well today, and we had so much fun at the home. What I was touched by was also the way they handled everything with maturity (amidst hilarious moments of playfulness... sigh, kids will be kids...) and were able to demonstrate patience and care towards the frail, old residents, even those who were less mild-mannered. They showed so much support towards these elderly, cheering and applauding loudly whenever any of them won a BINGO game, and doing the same when some of the residents loved their performances so much that they sang along to the tunes they played. It was such a fulfilling time, and as their form teacher, I was so proud of them. *gush with pride*

I sure look forward to discovering more teens with potential! :)

PS. Am looking forward too to tomorrow... Beebee's coming over with Qing Li to play ping pong in the morning, followed by Guitar Hero most probably. Then we'll all head down to Jurong Point to check out the new Osaka food street there for lunch... heehee. ;P

Hubby's new toy...

Remember previously I ended off saying that Hubby bought something for himself? Well, it turned out to be an item that was featured in an ad in 8days (hence the blame was on me, the more-or-less-faithful 8days reader, for inadvertently leading him to purchase it :p). Here's what the item looks like:

Yeah... that's it... presenting the G-shock G-9200 Riseman, which has an altimetre, barometre and thermometre. This explains why Hubby was so into it, and even after he gained possession of it, he continued spending hours and hours either reading the manual or surfing online and posting notes on watch forums about it. He's also having fun with it, trying out all the above features. Heh. There's the boy I married. :p

Oishi bread...

Hello... here I am again, slacking for a while after clearing some work-related emails, but it's a much-deserved break lor! Had such a long day today, and even had an argument with a colleague who gave me a difficult time earlier this afternoon when I was clearly in the right. So annoying. Am still seething from the conflict, although she relented in the end, but with clear reluctance. Hmmph. *scowl*

Luckily, the rest of the day was pretty good. Attended an external briefing elsewhere in the later part of the afternoon and then walked over to Holland Village with Sophia for dinner. Before that, we went to jalan jalan at some nice shops in Holland Village Shopping Centre. After we were done with dinner, she led me to this lovely Japanese bakery named "Provence" cos we both wanted to buy some stuff for our breakfast tomorrow. The bakery is so kawaii... Hee, it's such a cosy Japanese place. It's actually a bakery & cafe, so you can relax and hang out there amidst the yummy aroma of the bread.

The various types of bread are all displayed neatly either in pigeon hole sort of square cubicles, or on tables (for the larger-sized breads). Each type of bread's given simple names, but some are really pretty names. Japanese characters accompany the English name of the bread on each little signage. So cute. Really made me miss Japan, where everything's so neat, peaceful and sweet. *sigh dreamily* Anyway, ended up buying four of their items...

The soft egg roll bun and pizza are among the more common types of bread, but boy, do they look appetizing! I'm keeping the egg one for breakfast tomorrow. Tried a bit of the pizza one, and it's oishi ne! The pizza bread's got tomato and cheese as topping, but when you bite into the bread, you find black sesame seeds. Interesting! The rest would be for Hubby to eat when he comes home later tonight. :)

One of the lunch boxes of assorted small sandwiches -- tuna, egg mayo, potato, bacon/ham. They've got other types of sandwiches like Danish, toast etc. with other fillings in similar boxes. Will have that as lunch tomorrow... hee, it's gonna be a bread day! ;) The other one's called "Orange Moon", one of those pretty names. It's got orange custard-like stuff smeared on the bread, which is also orange-flavoured. Lying on the surface are bits of almond to add some 'zing' to it.

Looking forward to enjoying these cutsies tomorrow. Hee. Ok lah, gotta get back to clearing work now. Shall make myself some herbal tea too to 'cool down' from all the anger today. *force myself to inhale deeply... and exhale... Ommm...*

PS. Hubby SMSed me earlier in the evening saying he spent $270 on something for himself that he came across in the copy of this week's 8days that he bought for me. Even said it was 'all my fault' cos I read 8days. Hah! Let's see what he bought... it'd better be something good... couldn't figure out what on earth he purchased even though I went home to flip through every page of the mag...

Wii (Whee!)... a fun weekend! ;)

Today's Racial Harmony Day. It's turned into a large-scale celebration this year. Travelled to work in a yellow and blue floral print type of baju kurung that my HOD lent me. Ahaha... wowed several people I bumped into and got comments that I looked like such a demure, sweet Malay young lady, so different from my usual look... (eh, wait a minute. That means I usually look very chor lor and stern is it?! =.=)

Weekend was good! Even though I had work to clear and was still feeling rather overwhelmed, I had quite a few enjoyable moments. On Saturday, I went back to PIL's place with Hubby for lunch. MIL gave me this new Samsung mobile phone that she got from Singtel for free cos she extended her contract. Pretty nice-looking -- sleek, purple slide phone. Not as user-friendly as the model I'm currently using, but what the heck. Just accept it and use as and when I like lor, or as a back-up should my current one fail me one day. It's free anyway. Hee. :p Beebee kept asking if she could have it, but think not very nice to just pass it to her since MIL gave it to me, expecting me to be using it.

After lunch at PIL's place, Hubby and I went over to HZ and Jess's home to play games on Wii. They have this Wii Fit set that allows you to calculate your BMI and stuff and keep track of your progress in your aim to reach the best BMI. Apparently, the best BMI is 22, cos that's when you are least likely to fall sick. There are several types of activities you can do to move your body towards that healthy index -- yoga, balance games, aerobics etc. All you have to do is step on a sensory platform and follow instructions. Think it's pretty cool! :D

There's the platform that we had to step on in order for the Wii console to sense our movements. The next pic shows one of the balance games we played. I particularly enjoyed this -- had to move my head such that I hit soccer balls and avoid being hit other objects like panda's head, shoes etc. Not easy! But very fun...haha.

We also tried other games like Guitar Hero and Big Brain Academy. Wah... for the latter, I think it just further proves that my brain's quite inferior compared to Hubby's. Pit myself against him and lost so many times cos my brain can't process or analyse things as fast as he can. In fact, over last weekend, there were several moments of awe I experienced as Hubby showed how learned and intelligent he is through the things he says -- no kidding! Sigh.

Sunday was another simple but fun day. For lunch, I pan-fried cod fillet again -- second attempt! Hee. I really like cooking this (maybe cos it's one of the very rare 'real' food I can cook for Hubby :p). Was very much encouraged also cos Hubby actually said it tasted good the first time I cooked it. Hohoho... I got a star from my worst food critic! Anyway, besides the cod fillet, I also stir fried some vegetables and prawns. Then instead of rice, I boiled potatoes and carrots, lightly salted, for carbo. Also squeezed some lemon juice into a big glass of iced water to go with the meal. Hehe.

Recipe for pan-fried cod fillet (courtesy of mua, and after poring over a few recipe books to get ideas for marinade :p):

Oyster sauce (1 tablespoon)

Dark soy sauce (1 tablespoon)

Sprinkle of fine sugar

Water (3-4 tablespoons)

The above serve as marinade for the fish. Mix them well and marinade the cod fillet for at least 10 minutes. Save remaining portion of marinade.

Preheat pan and melt margarine/butter in it (I use healthier alternative -- olive oil margarine that contains 30% less fat and is cholesterol-free. It tastes just as good). Pan fry cod fillet, turning over occasionally. Add other ingredients as you wish. For Sunday's lunch, I added diced tomatoes and spring onions. The first time I attempted to cook this, I added mushrooms and onions. Once ingredients are half-cooked, pour the remaining portion of marinade over everything in the pan and simmer. Continue turning the cod fillet as and when necessary so it doesn't get burnt. Finally, garnish with Chinese parsley/ coriander leaves. Tada! It's done! HEEHEE. :)

PS. The marinade described above is also good for other pan-fried/ stir-fried dishes eg. brinjals, fried carrot cake, chicken etc.

In the evening, Hubby and I went back to Bukit Timah for dinner. Beebee let us try some special Ferrero Rocher from Switzerland that Qingli brought back. Yummy! I couldn't eat much of those, but at least tried the pistachio-flavoured one. Nice! (Even though I ate only half and the other half I passed to Hubby was the one with the actual pistachio in it =.=). There are a few flavours besides pistachio -- lemon, coconut, almond and hazelnut. All of them are white chocolate though. I'm not much of a white choc fan, but I still think it tasted pretty good. Sigh, and the lovely packaging's so nice to look at..

After dinner, Papa, Beebee, Hubby and I played a game of Scrabble together. Wah! Didn't realise Papa was so good at the game lor... really zhen1 ren2 bu2 lou4 xiang4 wor. Hubby was the grand winner (cos he wrote his name on the score sheet as 'winner' even before the game started???... Hahaha..) and I... the grand... LOSER. All cos of that letter 'Q' lah! So hard to use... end up had to get so many points deducted cos couldn't fit that anywhere. Grrr. Why am I always so unlucky at board games?!

*grumble grumble*...

Strawberry Love!

Ahaha... Changed the picture above again. Everything featured looks so yummylicious; just couldn't resist putting this up. Hee. Dunno why but am in a very strawberry sort of mood today. I've always loved strawberries... not necessarily because they are my favourite 'fruit', but cos they always look so bright and pretty. Just looking at them cheers me up on a bad day.

And today WAS a bad day. Ok lah, not bad as in really baaaaaddd... but it was a very mad day and I was thrown last minute stuff to do in preparation of a really huge event, so was feeling quite overwhelmed (yeah.. yeah, what else is new? Sigh.) Anyway, luckily at the end of the day when I finally returned home after such a horrid day, I really had something 'strawberry' to cheer me up! Hee.

*Drum roll* INTRODUCING LITTLE MISS STRAWBERRY TOFU... *cymbals*

Yeah! This here is pretty Little Miss Strawberry Tofu and the temporary home she came in... Hubby bought it for me as a little surprise when he went out shopping today. I love to eat tofu, and strawberries always make my heart melt, so what better thing to give me than this cute toy from the To-fu series? ;)

So yup, after the madness at work and a couple of hours spent after dinner completing 2 out of the 9 tasks on my to-do list for work before this coming Tuesday, I'm rewarded with the sight of this little thing sitting on our work desk, smiling at me in a pathetic but adorable way. :) Oh and I also got a new DS game from Hubby too! Hehe. Think I must encourage him to go shopping more often. :p

Still got loads of work to complete, but don't think can go on anymore tonight... mind's going bonkers already. Looking forward to visiting HZ and Jess tomorrow after lunch at PIL's place...will be an afternoon of Nintendo Wii games...hee. Too bad gotta come home and spend the evening working, but at least got the earlier part of the day to relax and have a bit of fun. :)

Skins! ;)

Sigh, been so busy either with work or other activities that I haven't been entering much here this month...

Maybe it's cos I was so overwhelmed with the ultra madness going on at work this week, that's why I started surfing frivolously during one of my free periods today, when I was taking a break from all the marking I was trying to clear. Then, I stumbled upon... SKINS.

Heh, I'm referring to blogskins.com, where you can browse and download fantastic skins for free. Got so enthusiastic about it cos I've been wanting to help my blog 'change clothes', so happily came home all bent on doing it. Spent part of the afternoon trying to download a new skin/template here, but argh! Either it didn't work cos the coding's not right, or it'll mess up my current configuration and layout. Decided not worth risking what I've accumulated here all this while, so just changed the top picture. Hee, very teenage-looking (so unsuitable for someone my age :p), but think it's a nice, pleasant yet funky design.

Then I chanced upon something quite meaningful at another blogskin design, which I intend to try to apply to my life:

Anyway, not much time to blog further, so will just leave it at that and update again next time. Tata!

What's New!

Hubby and I acquired several new things over the weekend! Here're some of the items that we lugged home over the 2 days:

A lovely Paperchase carrier we picked up from Borders for $9... I bought the mechanical pencil with a similar print too... just couldn't resist these. So adorable with all the fun animals printed all over! We made our first effort to save the environment cos after we got this carrier, we decided to put whatever small items we bought later on into this bag instead of using plastic/ paper bags that the stores provide. (Of course, this cute carrier made it easy for us to enjoy helping the earth... ehehehe.) Oh, and we have decided to continue this good deed by using this carrier as a shopping bag on future weekends. :)

Also bought my final set of mini food collection (cos the kitchen no more space for my mini food tower liao! Can only stack one last display container... *sigh*). Anyway, this one's a sushi collection! Thought must have cos Hubby and I do like sushi and most of the sushi items here are what I usually go for. Heehee. Wah, but must go back to the store to get the display container. Apparently, it's all out of stock cos over in Japan, stocks have been diminishing too.

And here's the new guitar we got with the Guitar Hero Aerosmith game we bought from Gamescore at Funan on Saturday evening. It was the store's anniversary celebration, and there was a sort of little party going on, with catered food for members. Hubby and I had our dinner there... heh. Not bad -- received a nice goodie bag (I love freebies!) and enjoyed discount on our purchases. It's just a pity our Xbox ain't working at the moment -- the last time Hubby played, it sort of froze every few minutes into the game. Luckily it's still under warranty so we can send it back to the service centre and get a new set in exchange for it. Hubby'll do that this Friday, so hopefully, if all goes well, we'll be rocking and rolling together! Haha... that's certainly something at the end of the usual hectic work week that I can look forward to!

The above's the belated (hmm... very belated :p) birthday gift that Beebee the 'cow' got for Hubby (even her wrapping paper's full of cows...LOL). We 3 were staring at this some time ago in a toy store at Millenia Walk and Beebee finally decided on getting it for Hubby -- a gunso. Heh, Hubby spent about 2 hours fixing it all up (after he 'bragged' that he could complete it in 1 hour 15 minutes max. :p) after dinner at Bukit Timah last evening. The man was in his world, fixing this intently while Beebee and I played Scrabble and laughed like hyenas during some hilarious moments. Haha. But I'm quite impressed by how Hubby can put all these little parts together so efficiently. Hubby says it's actually quite easy but I get so turned off just glancing at all these and the instruction manual! I like the final product though... hee. (See below.)

This weekend was really quite eventful! :) But haiz... tomorrow gotta get back to work. Feeling a little lazy now and wish I could just enjoy every single day like the weekend I had. Oh well. Guess I just gotta reset my mode when I wake up tomorrow and try not to be in such a holiday mood anymore! :S