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... :(((

It's My Life!

Last Saturday, Hubby and I went to watch the local musical "It's My Life!", the baby of husband-wife team Lim Yu Beng and Tan Kheng Hua, who are the director-writer and producer of the stage production respectively. Saw them in person at the theatre at the University Cultural Centre @ NUS too when we went for the show. They looked like really nice and smiley people -- no airs as celebrities at all. :)

Anyway, really enjoyed the musical. Wanted to watch it cos it's about teens-- the pains and struggles they go through, even though they might be from different backgrounds-- and my work life revolves around this group of people. :p Sort of got Hubby to go along with me, and was at first a bit worried that he wouldn't enjoy it cos he wasn't into it, but thank goodness for the wonderful acting and powerful vocals of the young people on stage! The songs, some of which were written by Corrine May, struck my emotional chords and got my tears flowing like water from an open tap during some parts of the show, after which I was desperately trying to use my shawl to absorb them and pretend I was ok sitting amidst the audience (Eeee... ya, had to dump my shawl into the laundry basket that evening :p).

The creative pictures/ drawings put up on big display panels. Theme: Teens, of course. :)

Was really impressed by the young talents on stage. The youngest star is a 16 year old from NUS High, and the oldest is a 20 year old from NUS. The rest are students at other universities, junior colleges or polytechnics.

Great performance and all the best to our young local talents! :)